thanks for the hospitality!

the more we tour, the more we appreciate good hospitality.

a special thank you goes to following people and establishments who have made us feel so welcome in their town:

matt & megan in wichita, for putting us up and letting us sleep all day.

rock island live, also in wichita, for giving us a bar tab and having an awesome sound man.

tessa & nate in KC, for passing the hat at our show, setting us up with a place to stay, and being great friends in general.

reggie's in chicago, for feeding our hungry asses whatever we wanted on the menu, letting us nap in the booth, having booths to nap in, killer sound, all-around awesomeness.

sarah, todd & family, for putting us up, taking us to awesome breakfast (again!), and being our favorite relatives in chicago ;)

paradigm in sheboygan, for having a legit stage and sound system (in a coffee shop!), for feeding us yummy and fresh food, for collecting tips for us at the counter, and for creating a great space to hang out in, complete with cozy furniture.


tonight we play at Art Bar in Milwaukee, then we begin our trek back westward, with a show in minneapolis on sunday and aberdeen on monday.   we have a couple days to get to montana (we're hoping to have time to drive through yellowstone), then we play in bozeman and finish things off with our friends in boise.  we can't wait for that show!

until the next,
s

Getting frisked in Mississippi

Red is a very cautious driver.

he's not quite on the level of that insane car puttering along in the right-hand lane that even slow trucks eventually have to pass, but he's close.   

his caution did not help us in mississippi.

what happened:

we were driving down some state highway when we passed two cop cars hanging out in the median. Red checked the speedometer-- yep, 5mph under the speed limit. all good.

a few seconds later the red and blue lights were flashing in our rear view.

the cop didn't say why he pulled us over, but he asked Red to step out of the car.

Red politely obliged.  

He was gone from the car for a long time.  Finally the cop approached my window and asked to see my ID.   Is this your current address in California?   Is that man your husband?  How long have you known each other?  Where are you coming from?  Where are you going?  What venue did you play at again?   Huh, never heard of it.  Where did you stay last night?  Have you ever been arrested before? Has he ever been arrested before?  What instruments do you play?  What instruments does he play? What kind of music is it?  Where are you going?  Where did you stay last night?

just over and over and over.

Finally he stopped interrogating me and returned to the other cop (who had continued questioning Red).

Several more minutes of waiting before Red returned to the car.  He had been frisked and was asked the same questions as me.  The one cop spit on the ground a few times while they talked, which Red still finds hilarious.

They couldn't find one single reason to give us a ticket.  They had no reason to pull us over in the first place.  California plates in Mississippi.  Apparently that was reason enough.



We have more tales to tell from our first tour to the South.  I'll get to it one of these days, hopefully.  For now I'll just say this-- Cajun Country (Lafayette, LA) is awesome.  It's definitely on the list of places we'd like to spend a month writing music.  Other places from this tour are Las Cruces, NM and Bisbee, AZ.

until the next,
s

pre-tour madness (a list)

1.  build (or re-build) the box that houses our PA (we have a new PA!  we're much happier with the way things are sounding now.)

2.  screen-print more t-shirts (have i mentioned we're doing it ourselves?  with thanks to this awesome company that burns screens.)

3.  somehow mess with / fix the blue spells insert in a way that makes me like it and not think it is just a silly waste of paper and ink.  i see paint and paper-ripping in my future.

4.  stamp CD covers (yes, we are returning to our DIY roots and hand-stamping our CDs once again.  we'll still have some "official" copies on hand (full-color eco-wallets with bar code, yada yada))

5.  scramble together more last-minute shows (hey we'll be in austin for five days!  we have two shows on the same day.  will you be there?  do you live there?  let's play!)

6.  tell people we're coming.  this is the part that gives me the most stress.   try as i might to be a promoter, i am just.not.

7.  update websites.  there are so many.  so very many.

8.  don't panic.  remember that once we get on the road it'll alllll be fiiiiine.

9.  pick up my new keyboard stand!  it came!  finally.  good lord i hope i can figure out how to use it before our first show so as to avoid looking like a total spazz.

10.  remember that looking like a spazz on the first show of tour is rather inevitable.

11.  find my old tape recorder.  if i can't find it in the buried rubble that is our practice space, hope/pray that one finds me.  because i've recently remembered that recording noises to tape pretty much rules, and the idea of doing it again makes my skin tingle.

hope to see you out there!
s


currently listening to:  Mogwai (Rave Tapes!)

SXSW + tour dates + patches!

We invite you to please welcome the newest addition to our merch case-- Patches!  Yes.  Our practice space became a screen-printing factory for a day, and we're very happy with the result:

They'll be accompanying us on our first tour to Austin... woohoo!  We're finally getting to SXSW!  We've talked about going for years.  I don't know if we're more excited to play, or just be there surrounded by music happening everywhere.  Okay, both.  Definitely, both.  We'll be sure to send an email from the madness next month.

Here's where we're playing next:

Mar 5 - San Luis Obispo, CA Mar 6 - Fullerton, CA Mar 7 - San Diego, CA Mar 8 - Phoenix, AZ Mar 9 - Taos, NM Mar 10 - Amarillo, TX Mar 11-16 - Austin, TX March 19 - Houston, TX Mar 20-22 - tba Mar 23 - Lafayette, LA Mar 24 - Hattiesburg, MS Mar 25 - Tulsa, OK Mar 26 - Amarillo, TX Mar 27 - Las Cruces, NM Mar 28 - Sierra Vista, AZ Mar 29 - Phoenix, AZ Mar 30 - Los Angeles, CA April 10 - Sacramento, CA April 11 - Nevada City, CA April 12 - Berkeley, CA April 18 - Reno, NV April 19 - Salt Lake City, UT April 22 - Denver, CO and many more tba!!

Visit our tour page for show details

until the next!
s

articles from the internet / we're on the radio tonight!

just read an article by one of my favorites, about our system's absurd need for relentless growth.  this is the shit i find comforting on those days when i feel particularly struck by the ridiculousness of this civilization we've created.  "Life is a looping and spiraling thing.  It is pulsation and vibration, expansion and contraction, inhale and exhale in constant and eternal flux. Force it to stick to just one hard polarity – in our case, bigger and faster and more – and watch your species die." (Mark Morford)

my favorite comment:  "Economsits (sic) say the economy must continue to grow because the population keeps growing. However, they also say that the population needs to keep expanding in order to grow the economy. One can only conclude that most economists are bloody idiots!!"

hahaha
but it's not all bad.  i'm super pumped about the driver-less car (would make touring SO DOPE!!), and also the airpod.  holy awesome.

we're going to be on the radio tonight - Rock the Nation with Dr. Stahl.  tune in at 8pm PST to listen, and call in if you'd like to ask us something.  that would be groovy :)

until the next,
s   

cool things, one by one

One new vox pedal, for experimentation purposes.

"One stripped down acoustic song performed under a lemon tree in Berkeley."  what's this?  The Lemon Tree Sessions

One On-Stage keyboard stand, to replace the funky lunky one that Red made four years ago.  oh!  but it was such a conversation piece!  and, bye bye.

One free scoop of ice cream when you buy our albums (or any item over $10) at Rasputin Music in Berkeley!  (it feels like spring in the bay, so you might as well eat ice cream =D)

One reverb tank, to hopefully fix the problem Red's amp has been having as of late.

One new clip of live footage, from our recent show in San Diego.

wishing you all one hell of a monday.

until the next,
s

shout-outs and thank yous, and the word jaunt a few times

we're back from our fun little winter jaunt.

(the word 'jaunt' implies little, i know, but it was so short i can't help but emphasize.*) 

special shout out to SAC!  Shine Cafe (so nice, and Kombucha on tap!), Lob Instagon, Slow Motion Dive, All About Rockets, and all the beautiful people in attendance!  Thank you!  Yes!  We can't wait to come back!

it was also great to see so many friends in Santa Monica.  there was a lot of history in that TRiPpy room (wah wah).  thank you all for making our first show in LA (as a duo) so cozy :)  yes cozy.

san diego, we like you more and more every time.  it was a pleasure to play with The Gift Machine again, and with Karl Blau for the first time.  we got footage of everyone!  with any luck we'll get some stuff up on youtube soon.  

we have lots more exciting news to announce, so stay tuned!

until the next,
s / callow

*being on tour at all is way WAY better than not, to be sure.  but four days is just simply not enough.  that is all. 

we love this so much we have to share it with you

We watched this video five times last night, and again this morning.  This guy is awesome.  We resonate so much with what he has to say that we had to share it with you:

Benjamin Zander: The transformative power of classical music

Speaking of videos, we're planning to make a lot more of 'em this year.  We're always open to collaborating with folks, so if you're interested in video-making let us know!  And, if you just want to stay updated, subscribe to our youtube channel.

We're also working on new merch!  We've had some requests for patches, and patches you shall have!  We're screen-printing them ourselves, and we hope to have them available sometime in February.  Don't want to wait?  Order yours now!  We like the pressure.  

We're playing a few shows around California this weekend, beginning Thursday:

Jan 16 - Full Circle Brewery, Fresno
music begins at 8p, we start at 9pm, $8, 21+

Jan 17 - Shine Cafe, Sacramento
with Slow Motion Dive and All About Rockets
8pm, $5, all ages.  we play first

Jan 18 - Trip, Santa Monica
with Backdrifter and Gilded Flicker
8pm, 21+, no cover.  we play first

Jan 19 - Brick by Brick, San Diego
with Karl Blau and The Gift Machine
8pm, $5, 21+

That's all for now, but we'll have more news soon (including tour dates, festivals, a new video or two, and so on).  Wishing you all the best until the next, Red & Sami

"Unabashed, relentless and unapologetic." - Delusions of Adequacy "It's like taking a magic carpet ride with the devil's fiddling hands themselves!" - Magnet Magazine

bandcamp   itunes  amazon  direct


*this post is copied from our newsletter.  if you would like to subscribe leave a comment or visit our main website.  thanks!

social networking is like being force-fed candy when what you really crave is fruit. (and other things you might not know about us)

twitter.  i've tried to like it.  mostly, though, it drives me nuts.  every time i attempt to reduce whateverthehell thing i have to share to howevermany characters they require, i feel ridiculous and insincere.  (Red avoids it altogether, wise bastard.)  and i DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT HALF OF YOU ARE SAYING. 

on the upside, any amount of time spent being "social" online reminds me how much i prefer to be out in the world, having in-person interactions.  fresh air and trees and sky, and the neighbor saying confusing things while i stare at his strange haircut... yes, that is what life ought to feel like.  am i old?  i might be old.

speaking of outside, you might not know that when we're not doing Callow stuff we're weeding and pruning trees and planting flowers and so on.  sometimes plants are more pleasant than people.  (and sometimes not.)

something else you may not know:  we used to have a dog.  his name was Willis (billy boy).  he went everywhere with us, including tour. 

 

there we are, with our rig.  that was in january of 2010.  Willis was 13 and approaching his last day.

his wasn't the only death we experienced in the early stages of our musical life together.  death rather shaped us, in the beginning.  music has been one of the ways we've allowed ourselves (and others, i think) to grieve.   

anyway, we don't tour with the trailer anymore.  just the van.  (may it live forever.) 

we'd like to get another dog.  some day.  a border collie, most likely.  or maybe a pug.

we just went to visit our neighbor in the hospital.  he had water on the lung because his heart is only functioning at 25%.  the doctors told him he has to stop eating salt.  no more bacon, ham or sausage, he said.  lots of fruit, we told him.  eat lots of fruit.

i'm going outside now.

until the next, 
s

the blog is dialed. have some bellowphone

i'm happy to say that my confusion gave way to clarity, and our website is now integrated with this blog (and vice versa).   OH happy day.    

now- to celebrate- here is a random bit of awesomeness which made me giggle with glee right until the very end.

(it's a video that i can't embed: Leonard Solomon playing the "Majestic Bellowphone")

cheers and have a delightful (yes delightful, though the word makes me cringe a little) holiday.

sami

my not-so-techie self

we have a new blog!  i'm still trying to get the header dialed in to integrate with our website, so please bare with me.

i found this great article online, that shows you how to replace the header with an image map.... only my not-so-techie self has had a few issues.  

i'm hoping to have all the technical difficulties worked out very soon, and all the links you see at the top of the page will actually take you some where.

that's the deal.

thanks for being here :)

until the next,
s

:0)

we have a new website! www.callowmusic.com new content and layout; easy to read, navigate, and listen... with more features coming soon!  take a look (and please do let us know if you find any glitches). Just for the Holidays: Order a Blue Spells CD directly from us, and we'll give you an Orb Weaver CD for FREE! BUY NOW
We're happy to say that the Blue Spells Cassettes are here, and they look awesome!  Many thanks to Yarn & the NXNW Records family :)  Comes with a free download! order yours here »

amarillo

every tour has at least one show that is completely, unexpectedly, awesome.

there have been a few of those on this tour, (the Harlem show is definitely up there), but the most surprising this time was Amarillo.

we had just spent two days traveling from Maryland, with a quick stop over and show in St Louis, when we arrived in Texas.

our bodies were stiff from all that sitting, and our brains were delirious.  (we came up with a brilliant plan to tour via horse and carriage next time.  we really entertained that shit for a solid several minutes.)

so, yes.  delirium.  that was our state when we rolled into the 806 in Amarillo.

we had no idea what to expect from the 806, and we were pleased to roll up onto a funky cafe in an happening part of town.  we were running super late, but our friend Toby- of Former Friends of Young Americans- was there and ready to go.  so he helped us unload our gear, and just as soon as we were set up he began his set.

the crowd was small (though perhaps not, considering it was 10pm on a Wednesday), but they were attentive and enthusiastic.  and i think any musician will tell you that it's way more fulfilling to play for a handful of receptive and interested people, than a room full of people that couldn't care less about new music.

by the time we got to the last couple of songs of our set some more faces had shown up at the bar, and they wanted us to play more, so we played more.  it was awesome.  they were awesome.

one of the guys who came to the show at the end offered to let us crash at his place down the street.  his place just happened to be a gigantic print-making studio, where he and another band mate also live and play music.

it was huge and dope and comfortable and awesome.

((Foxfire Experiment, if you happen to be reading this, thanks again for putting us up!!  you guys rock.))

there are many more stories i could tell, but i'm sick of writing now.  maybe i'll tell them some other time.  and i do need to let you know all about the madness/not-so-madness of NYC.

until the next,

s

currently listening to:  Joy Division

hi from new york

we made it across the country!  more than 3000 miles, a shit ton of toll roads through the midwest, and outrageously beautiful fall foliage in upstate New York.

The shows have been all over the place.  We got heckled by an old man in Oneonta, and i found my inner New Yorker when someone requested Journey in the middle of a song.  (it might just be my favorite rock n' roll moment to date.)

New York pizza totally lives up to its reputation.  Our new favorite bar is Burn Castle, where the Barley Wine is strong and smooth and noise is kept to a low hum with a periodic and gentle 'shhhh' from the bar tender.  (That sounds weird, but it was perfect.)

Also - we bumped into Louis CK on the street!  He was eating ice cream on the corner with his kids, it was almost too perfect to believe.  We tried to be cool, but given the fact that he is awesome and we love him, we couldn't help but loudly identifying him and then saying "you're fucking awesome!"  (because i am a jerk who drops the f bomb in front of children.)  he gave us a side glance and a nod, and then got the hell out of there.

Last night we played at the Shrine in Harlem (pictured above), and it was hands-down our favorite show of tour so far.  The space was funky-- plastered in posters, records and other music memorabilia, the vibe was warm and friendly, the music was eclectic and groovy, and the sound man NAILED it!!  Mati, if you're out there, will you tour with us and be our sound man?!?  :)  seriously.

Tonight we play at The Way Station in Brooklyn!

yay.  i love tour.  and i definitely LOVE new york.

until the next,

s

chicago

We busted ass across the west half of the US - through snow, construction, fall foliage, and the craziest lightning storm either of us has ever seen - stopping twice to play in Denver and Lincoln, before pausing for three days in Chicago.

When we arrived in the windy city we were met with a sudden rain storm, a perfectly ominous setting for our visit with Fearless Radio on Michigan Ave.  Listen to the podcast.

That night we played a cozy show at Uncommon Ground with Brice Woodall, and then proceeded to enjoy the shit out of being tourists for the next two days.

The Art Institute, the river walk, Handlebar in Wicker Park... those were some of the highlights.  and the bean, of course.  (aka Cloud Nimbus 9)

The architecture, the lines, the stainless steel train cars, the brick and grit and industry of it all... Chicago, we like you.


until the next,

s

news and denver and so on

we've been back from the last tour (and first trip to denver) for a couple of weeks now.

it was all awesome.  denver was good, salt lake city was good, camping and not being able to check email/facebook/anything 3G-related for three days, was GOOD.

now we're home and our new album drops in a few months and we're touring to new york and back in october and we're writing new songs that are fucking seriously grooving.

that is all.

hey, do you know anyone with a label that might want to release our album on vinyl?

if you do, or you are, let me know.


currently listening to:  red play a new song on his acoustic.

driving across the desert

i've always thought the nevada desert was not much to look at.  but right now, in the blue-gray swallows of dusk, it has me utterly captivated.

we're rolling along, homeward bound, after our first tour to denver.

there's a feeling i always get on my way home from tour, a kind of premature nostalgia.

i'm staring out over a barren landscape, thinking about the shows we played and the people we met.  i'm pondering all the things we've talked about doing when we get home.  red wants to brew beer, i'm going to start making my own kombucha... and wouldn't it be nice to buy some land or least move into an actual apartment, but fuck all that let's tour more!...  the desert is vast and muted as we head west with the setting sun; as la-la-landia as my thoughts, and big enough to hold them and let them run wild all at once. 

the desert is brilliant like that.  and so is dusk.  everything is just so fucking magical at dusk...

"did you know that you always bite the straw?" red interrupts my reverie.  "i do not!", then glancing over at the straw coming out of the cup; "oh shit, i guess i do."  he's asking me to stop it please, but then realizes i'm not going to, and just who cares anyway.

we drink water from a to-go cup when we're making long drives.  

this particular cup is from a mcdonalds in wyoming, and i'm not proud to say it.  i truly hate mcdonalds and everything it represents, but sometimes you need exactly what it offers-- convenience, speed, and something sorta resembling food that will at least hold you over til the next stop.  (and in our case, a cup with a straw.)

"do you think anyone ever uses these buttons?" red wonders out loud.  he looks the plastic lid over and pushes in the star-shaped button marked 'other'.  "they don't even use them", he adds.  we decide it's cool that the lids are still made with those buttons, even if no one uses them (except for us, this once. and probably kids.)

i fetch my phone from my purse and take a photo of the lid, chuckling to myself about posting it on instagram.  i ask red for a silly caption but he's not having it; "you are NOT posting a photo of a mcdonalds lid on instagram!"  i realize that he's totally right.

i put the phone away and return my gaze to the desert.

currently listening to:  Nulla Cur (this has become the only thing we listen to while driving long distances.  it's great for mind-wandering.)

we like lamp

we have a hot new lighting fixture, which we made from metal pipes and random re-purposed finds from urban ore.

we rocked it for the first time at our recent show at brick and mortar music hall.

we'll be rocking it again at our next show, at hotel utah.

prepare to marvel.

[ha. ha ha]

the new song we're working on is siiiiiick.

but you won't get to hear it for a while.

or maybe you will?  

we're touring to the east coast for the first time ever, this october.

our second album will be out in november.



and so on.



until the next,

s

 currently listening to:  utensils rustling and plastic bags crinkling.

more canada

a house show came through in Calgary on saturday night. it was rad.

no, rad doesn't do it justice. it was one of those nights when the world is magical wonderland of yum.

because of the flooding- and the mass amount of devastation, displacement, and all around confusion that ensued- there was a very palpable sense that people needed an excuse to come together, kick back, and enjoy a night together.i feel pretty damn lucky that we got to be part of that night, in the midst of such a strange and record-setting moment in Calgary.

i decided to auction off a poster (which i randomly made for the festival), made of old poster cuttings and so on.

it sold for $30. proceeds went to a local organization helping flood victims. groovy.



canada is awesome. the people, the culture, the vibe.... the scenery. damn. the whole time we were there i could see the wheels turning in both of our heads: how might we move to Canada someday?

(it should be noted that we have this thought every time we visit a new place that we really like.)

canada is special, though.  folks are nice.  drivers are courteous.  there isn't this angst-y, angry energy flailing about everywhere like there is in the states. 

the only shitty part about going to canada is dealing with the border.

we got shook down, sweated, and car searched on both sides.  of course.  "do you smoke?"  "no"  "why do you have a lighter?"  "uh, candles."

what.  a person can't just have a lighter without being suspect?
   
the US border people freaked out at me for leaving to use the bathroom.

there were some french kids at the US border who accidentally found themselves there (not intending to leave canada at all), and were getting their car searched. thoroughly. bienvenue aux etats-unis.

anyway.  people that work at the border are power-hungry jerks.  that's all.

when we returned to idaho- to uncover the treasure we had buried for ourselves there- we were shocked and dismayed to discover that our stuff had been stolen.   

yay, america.  welcome home, let me slap you in the face!

why do i feel like that sort of thing wouldn't happen in canada?



until the next,

s


currently listening to:  Jill Scott

oh, canada

in an early-morning happyexcited haze yesterday, i wrote a big long blog entry about the incredible time we were having at the fest.

i mentioned the mandatory evacuation, and how some shows were shut down before they got to start, but that we ignored it all and continued to find open spots with great music.  i even got my dance on to some dirty, gritty nyc beats.  (goddamn, it was delicious.)

we were so fucking stoked to have two more days of music, inspiration, and fun.

my blog entry got erased, and i was too spent to re-write it, so i went back to sleep instead.

i awoke a couple hours later to the news that sled island was cancelled.  images filled our motel tv screen... a roof getting carried down the river, parts of downtown under several feet of water.  oh shit, that evacuation thing was no joke.

we ambled around our neighborhood in a stupor, feeling lost, confused, and horribly disappointed.  no explosions in the sky!?  no more bouncing from bar to bar catching random shows and unexpected finds (like the Chairs show in the Palamino basement)?  no more shaking my booty at the club at the end of the night?  no artist lounge?  but we didn't even use all of our free drink and food tickets!  and so on. 

but then the sun came out.  hope returned.  we discovered that 17th ave still had power, and many of its bars and restaurants were open (though not tubby dog, dammit, where we might have still cashed in on a free pint and two mini dogs.)  we bumped into other bands that didn't get to play at all and were scrambling together last minute shows.  i felt very lucky that we got to play our show (and might i add- the sound man was fantastic, and the venue was intimate and warm and wonderful.)

we ended up at a bar in the burbs, where many sled island artists migrated for a last-minute show.  biblical, from toronto, closed the night, and they might be my favorite band of the whole festival.

so, the rock doesn't stop. 

and, because our motel won't refund our money if we check out early (WTF), we're here for another day. 

we'll see what shakes out.

until the next,

s