new things we march to

March was an amazing month for us here at stitched tire(several awesome shows and a new accordion!). The month started off a little slow but the middle things started to get exciting. We hosted another pluckluck at a different location with Cedar Boy Bailey(Sergio from Buxton), Phillip Foshee, georgia's Horse, and Sew What. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable time. Sadly, Phillip had an incident with some hot wax but pulled it off with style, even changing the words in one of his songs to lighten the mood. Cedar Boy Bailey and georgia's Horse are always amazing to hang out with and see play. Sew What has started playing some new songs and I got to pull out the accordion for the first time.

The next day found us in the woods(yes, the woods) to hear the stylings of Robert Ellis and Geoffrey Mueller as they traded off songs, and the always delightful listenlisten. Dark Dark Dark had planned to play in the woods as well but they arrived a bit late so we all ventured back To Robert's house. Let me just say, I love these guys. They were simply amazing, even if the cello player was absent. Better still is when Robert, Geoffrey, and the folks in Dark Dark Dark started jamming at the end of the night. You wouldn't believe how great this sounds, unless you get to hear the recording of course!

THEN, a few days later some New Orleans friends, Hurray for the Riff Raff and Sam Doores, made a visit to our (un)fair city to play a show with Sew What. I wish there had been more folks there but it was SXSW so everybody was probably busy with that. Despite the lack of people all these guys still played their hearts out. It was simply amazing.

The end of the month brought the Westheimer Block Party, and we all know everybody loves that so I won't write too much about it. THE END.

LIVE COMPILATION CD IS COMING SOON!

februaryy losses

Our good friends Neil and Kate from Lazyhorse spent their last month here in Houston during the month of February. The last show was at Boondocks with Lenny Briscoe. I love the split set idea they always do, it provides a more entertaining evening that's for sure. They will be missed, but hey now we have a reason to come to Tennessee!

Sew What played two shows this month, a small set for our friend Jessica's birthday and a show at Amy's Ice Creams with Robert Ellis and Bloomington folk duo Ghost Mice. There was actually quite a good turnout for this show and everybody got awesome ice cream.

Unfortunately I don't have any photos or live sounds for any of this. Sorry!

i'm slow i know.. pt 3

We hosted another Airon benefit here at the Stitched Tire House in early January with Aunt Belle, Ellis Mueller and Hart, Lenny Briscoe(acoustic), and Sew What. Everybody brought food and beers and listened to some great tunes. Geoffrey joined Robert Ellis and Will Van Horn on their amazing bluegrass, country, gyspy tunes. Sew What played a cover set and Lenny Briscoe did a probably once in a lifetime acoustic set. We love house show/potlucks as if you couldn't tell yet...

At the end of January we held our LAST Secret Saturday show since things at the tavern had grown quite uncomfortable. Included in this huge blowout was Ghormeh Sabzi, Sew What, Sad Gorilla, sIngs, Guitars, The Mathletes, Time Machine Veterans, and The Takes. It was a great way to end our year+ endeavor in trying to bring something wonderful to this little big city.

Sorry this is short, I'm way behind on things and my writing abilities seem to have digressed a bit. More on the way...

The Ups and Downs of Winter

Pt 2 of 3 on the updates..

December -

Sew What played two wonderful shows with our friends Listen Listen in two different cities! The first show was hosted by Art Storm at the Caroline Collective and also featured The Wild Moccasins and Austin's Peter and the Wolf. It got pretty cold that night and we could hardly feel our fingers as we were playing outside but it was quite a great night of music under that make-shift canopy.

On the 20th we took a caravan trip to New Orleans to play with our friends Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship? at the Sidearm Gallery. We love this city and didn't have enough time to hang out as much as we wanted, but the night we had sure made up for it. Sew What started off the evening with a bang, albeit a quiet one somewhere in the distance that still seems to seep through you just as intensely. It was our first time to play my song, Here in the Desert, with trumpet parts. Listen Listen followed and played one of their best sets if I may say so. The crowd started to warm up for WAWBSABS with some swaying and slight dancing to the waltz like nature of the new songs from the forthcoming Hymns from Rhodesia album. And thenn.. something thats a little hard to put in words(or there are just a lot of them?), Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship?. These guys put on an amazing show and the crowd loved every minute of it. Coming from Houston it's pretty rare to see an entire room full of people swaying, dancing, singing, and outwardly enjoying the music during a set. Walt, the singer, plays accordion with a passion and is backed up by a rotating cast of members playing various brass and percussive instruments. The end result is an array of emotions scattered throughout a song with rhythms that just make you start to move before you even notice it. (We're going to see them this weekend with O' Death, Hurray for the Riff Raff, and My Graveyard Jaw. Be jealous..)

On the down side of things, our good friend, Airon Paul Dugas, was involved in a scooter accident that has required quite a few surgeries and some needed help. A benefit show was organized for him in late December with Butch from 30 Foot Fall, Teenage Kicks, Wild Moccasins, Guitars, Friendship, and Dannzig. He's a great guy and a great musician and everybody was more than happy to help him out in a time of need. Plus it was a fine show with great music and a keg and a raffle...

Where have you been my darling young one?

Well it sure has been awhile, look at all those comments I got wondering where I had gone to...oh wait. We've had quite a great time in the past couple months and I guess I'll try to sum some of it up in the next couple posts.

November -

We had our first show here at the Stitched Tire House and it turned out very well.. Broman opened up the night with a room full of laughter, Bigfoot and the Bear went up next with his first amplified set and tore it up, and Airon wowed us as always and played one of my favorite tunes I've heard from him yet.. Our New Orleans friends, Steve Eck and the Midnight Still, filled in the middle with some lovely, dark folk featuring guitar, banjo, and stand up bass. The next half of the evening was started by Tiziano(just underwent hand surgery? lets he hope gets well soon) and he pleased the crowd as always, Sew What played a few of our newer tunes, and I played a special all banjo set.

Sew What also played two art events in the latter part of the month. The first was during the Art Crawl at The Foundry, where our lovely Rachel T. sold her first piece of art, and the second was the Vaudeville for your Maudeville show put on by Bootown. The Bootown show also featured our new friend, Lucas, playing as Grandfather Child. Lap steel + fast drums + extra guitar = a foot stomping good time. The show also featured a comedy act, a bicycle riding act, and an awesome puppet show.

December to follow. Songs from the House Show are below. Be on the lookout for a Stitched Tire Compilation in the near future..

FileFactory.com

Pluck Luck 2!!!

The second show in a delightful series of potluck house shows went down recently and it couldn't have been any better. This edition was hosted at the Patillo Family Home and featured Airon Paul Dugas, Ellis and Hart, Sew What, and Robert Ellis. There was endless amounts of wonderful food, just the right amount of lovable characters and some great music to boot.

Our favorite texas folk/country/blues wonder, Airon Paul Dugas, started the night with his tear jerking, throw you on the floor and stomp on your heart till there's hardly anything left mix of songs. Check him out this Friday at our house show and then Dec 4th at The Continental Club with Paris Falls as his backing band! Holy shit, that is going to be amazing..

Next up was the newly formed bluegrass duo, Ellis and Hart. This was, by far, my most favorite part of the night. Robert on guitar, Will on banjo, and my head spinning from the fast paced folky bluegrass. I hope so dearly to hear more from these guys in the future. They are both great guys and ever since I saw them I've been wanting to build a bass just so I could play with them(though they don't know it yet).

Sadly, I didn't get a chance to record our Sew What set due to me playing and getting caught up in all the commotion. My banjo skills don't even come near to Will's but I think we did quite a good job despite the little bit of practice we have had in the past couple weeks.. We will be playing at the house show this Friday as well.

Last up was Robert Ellis with his quiet, beautiful, moving tunes. He played a wonderful Gillian Welch cover and gave us a pleasant ending to another great night. I can't help but stare at his fingers when he plays, moving up and down the fret board with what looks like very little ease. I didn't get to record any of his stuff either but I hear he has a new album coming out soon, or it's already out??

Anyways, here's a few tunes from Airon Paul Dugas and Ellis & Hart. Please enjoy and come out this friday to our house show if you can. 1506 Caywood Ln. 7PM. Bring booze, bring snacks, bring your ears, and bring a friend..

FileFactory.com

Stitched Tire House Show!!

Stitched Tire is putting on our first house show on November 14th. We've got a great line up and we want you to come share the evening with us..


Bigfoot and the Bear
Broman (silly songs from JD of Lenny Briscoe)
Tiziano Dominico
Steve Eck and the Midnight Still
Baby Hurricane (Rachel of Sew What on ukulele)
Cory Derden
Airon Paul Dugas

Our friend, Steve Eck, is on tour from one of our favorite places to hang out, New Orleans, and you should come help support all of us. 1506 Caywood Ln. Bring your own booze! Bring some snacks if you want! Come enjoy a great evening with great music. Here's a couple teaser songs...

FileFactory.com

It's really not a secret

Everybody else has said it so I'm going to say it too... We probably had the best stage(lineup and sound-wise) at last weekends Free Press Block Party. We were set up in a new location behind the soon to open Austin Layne Hotel, surrounded by buildings on all sides so hardly any of the other music seeped into our area, making for quite a beautiful day. The lovely Rachel T. of Sew What has a new toy and happily lent it to me so I could capture some of the sounds during the day. With that said, here are a few!!

FileFactory.com

EDIT: Had to switch filehosts and mp3 player due to bandwidth problems. Hopefully we will have our own hosting site and domain soon.

So yah, there's what I captured during our fun at the block party. I'm thoroughly impressed with this field recorder considering this was outdoors with 2 to 3 other bands playing at the same time and people standing in front of me and the speakers.. Tell me what you think...

Galveston to the rescue??

After a two week hiatus from our Saturday shows due to the wonderful hurricane Ike we finally got back into the swing of the things with two wonderful bands from the Galveston area. Come to think of it, they are probably the only two actual bands from Galveston and they are both doing amazing things...

Come See My Dead Person is an 8 piece fire and brimstone, bone shaking, vaudeville nightmare of the blackest crows and dead bodies(in a good way of course). Even with a small, sparse crowd these guys all played their hearts out like there was no tomorrow. They are a little bit heavier and darker than your usual vaudeville-era style folk band but they sure know how to play. All of the songs are very well written and crafted and nothing was lost in the wind as some bands with 5 plus members can easily fall into. They are starting to make their way onto the Houston scene and are definitely on top of the Galveston scene(once it gets back into operating order). Check them out at the Westheimer Block Party next weekend, if you aren't at the Secret Saturday Show stage that is.

Come See My Dead Person - Sunday Monrin' Dreaded Day


Last weekend we had the great Darwin's Finches come and join us with their loud folky garage rock. These guys are one of the best local bands I've seen in some time now. I had just met the singer, Justin, earlier in the week and since they are spending time here in our fair city they were more than happy to fill in last minute for us. I'm very excited to see more of these guys around as I suspect are most of the folks who happened to see them play..

Darwin's Finches - Canary in a Coalmine


We won't be having our regular Saturday show this weekend, October 11th, since we have a stage at the Westheimer Block Party. We have an amazing line-up(the best I would say) and you should definitely come see us. We are behind the Austin Layne Hotel across the street from Helios/Avante Garden. Some of the highlights include News on the March, Studemont Project, ListenListen, Buxton, Lenny Briscoe, Balaclavas, and Phillip Foshee. Noon to 9pm.

SSS fun

And again and again we had another delightful show at the tavern on saturday. The weather was probably the nicest it has been in some time for us.. We even had half a dozen dogs or so roaming around with us. I'm going to start bringing my camera one of these days to capture some of these moments. Our lineup was Campfire Stories from Rosharon, Phillip Foshee, and The Small Sounds.

Campfire Stories is a two piece instrumental band from Rosharon, TX. We once knew some folks that "lived" in Rosharon at some point or another... Apparently most of their songs start off as improvisations and work their way into songs which seems like a good process for these guys. They work very well together and have great chemistry.. They also help put on the up and coming shows at the Alvin Bowling Center(300 Motel Drive). Check em out tomorrow, September 9th, with Halffnelson, Lenny Briscoe, and Airon Paul Dugas. 6 bucks for the show or 10 bucks for the show and two hours of bowling! I'm ready to knock down some pins..

I really enjoyed Phillip Foshee's set this weekend. He is another person I've been meaning to check out recently but never got the chance. Acoustic guitar, some harmonica, and a great voice made for a wonderful show(AND a NOFX cover song). Seriously, that was amazing. Go see Phillip at the Mink Backroom on September 12th with our dear friends listenlisten and Buxton.

Phillips Foshee - The Rest of the Time


And finally was The Small Sounds, who had just released their self titled full length album. I had listened to a few of the tracks on myspace and enjoyed them a great deal but the live set was even better. Great songwriting, and beautiful music. They sometimes remind me of Damien Jurado but maybe with a little more rock involved, like his earlier albums. Look out for these guys, they've got a nice thing going for them...

The Small Sounds - Leave Virginia Girl


Up next week is..........

Pluckluck House Show

Last Sunday was one of the best nights I've partaken in for some time now. House shows are wonderful and all but turn it into a potluck and it's a million times better. Many thank yous to the house of Lenny Briscoe for putting this together. The food was beyond excellent with some mexican cornbread, enchiladas, mango guacamole, seafood gumbo, mac & cheese, red velvet cupcakes, and tons more...

After filling our faces(for the first time) everybody began to settle in to listen to Robert Ellis. He had just gotten back from a short tour with The Lovely Sparrows and mentioned that he hadn't practiced his songs in awhile but I don't believe anybody noticed. His delicate fingerpicking and quiet yet strong voice kept everybody on their toes, intensely watching him play.

Robert Ellis - Changin' Man



Next up was AWAKE, playing their all acoustic set with an upright bass, very very simple drum kit, and two guitars. Theses guys are usually loud and noisy, which I still enjoy, but their acoustic set is amazing. Apparently they are going on an indefinite break and this was their last show. I'd say if you have to go out, this show would be the right time to do it. I hope to see some more stuff these guys in some form or other down the road..



I feel weird writing about myself but I think it went pretty well.. This is what one of the guys from AWAKE said, "Cory Derden. Rules. That's about it. One man. Beautiful sounds built up. Feels like you are being washed by sound." Here's my newest recording..

Cory Derden - In My Heart


The closer for the night was Airon Paul Dugas and he couldn't have done a better job. This is beer drinking, toe tapping, trying to hold back your tears music at it's best. For somebody that hasn't played out until fairly recently he certainly knows how to keep the crowd on the edge of their seats. The sincerity in his songs is something I haven't felt in some time. It's a most welcomed thing here in the land of alternative/garage rock also known as Houston..

Airon Paul Dugas - Twilight Hours


I hope these pluckluck shows continue on because it would be a shame to miss out on events like these. They draw people together who are actually willing to listen to the music instead of being in some bar where most people don't even realize something beautiful is happening right behind them. The show was also recorded and if I happen to get ahold of it, I'll post something from AWAKE and maybe the other guys.. Thank you again to JD and Stacey from the house of Lenny Briscoe.

Two Great Secrets Revealed

The past two weekends at our beloved Secret Saturday Shows has given me a chance to hear and meet two wonderful musicians, Tiziano Dominico and georgia's Horse. I had always wanted to see georgia's Horse (Tiziano is/was the bass player) when they used to play out more frequently but somehow I always ended up missing out. I was probably being a flake or forgetting things as usual.

Tiziano played with Female Demand, St.Elias from Colorado, and our favorite co-conspirators Lenny Briscoe. Lenny sounded quite fresh that day, and had an added bonus as Neil from Lazy Horse laid down some smooth bass lines to spice things up. I love these guys and their music is just as swell as the people. Tiziano took the stage afterwards and began to stroll through his songs on electric guitar. His voice is smooth and lovely and seems to rain down softly on all those watching. I'm still trying to place my finger on who he sometimes reminds me of, like a mix of the Blackheart Procession, Patrick Wolf at his good moments, and maybe some Beirut. Definitely worth checking out when you get a chance. Female Demand ended the day with their two piece drum and bass show and I was quite impressed. Drum and bass as in real instruments not some jungle/d&b electronic act. Those guys played fast and loud and sounded great together. I'm sure they will be around again.

Lenny Briscoe - I Am An American


Tiziano Dominico - A Hidden Sun



Georgia's Horse played the next weekend with Wolves at the Door and SSS regulars Lazy Horse. I was very excited for this and I think I still am. Seeing georgia's Horse has been on the top of my to-do list for some time now and I finally got to check it off. Now I only have 21734619 more things to do... She's got such a great vocal range and very entrancing voice, it will leave you wanting more for sure. In fact, I've been listening to the cd-r of her set quite frequently since then and I can't get enough. She told me her label, fire records, will be releasing a few 7"s of hers and a digital download of all 8, yes 8!, of her albums in January I believe. Wolves at the Door played next and I was blown away. These kids have got a great sound going on and I'd like to see/hear more of these guys. They have a wonderful experimental indie rock thing going on with bits of trumpet flailing through the mix and catchy rhythms(though not poppy at all). Lazy Horse finished out the day and killed it as usual. They seem to get better and tighter everytime I see them play. Charles was back for this show to provide some leg kicking and I don't think Neil even broke a string!!

georgia's Horse - Oh Come Hollow Horse


Wolves at the Door - Gray Bears


Lazy Horse - Pimp Bot


These past two weekends have been great for our Secret Saturday Shows at the Shady Tavern, as they are most every week. Come experience it for yourself every Saturday from 2-5PM! 1206 W 20th St. Oh yeah, it's free too..

stitched tire!

new label and blog! yup.