Packed house at Antones tonight. Playing with Hayes Carll and the crowd got here early to check out the set.

After finally getting over our German jet lag, we’ve been back to work for a week before taking a week off for the Holidays. This week we had shows with the Resentments, Bruce Hughes, and with the Randy Rogers Band. This week some of us are headed out of town and some of us are sticking around Austin drinking egg nog by the gallon. We’ve been writing some new songs, trying to get some studio time in, and having a good time looking forward to next year. After a couple more shows right around New Years we’ll be off to Colorado for a couple weeks, and then back to Germany and the Netherlands for three weeks. What can we say, we love ice and snow.

Our manager Ethan Bessey has done a great job of compiling live show recordings over the course of the past year and now we’re giving those recordings away through the “Extras” link on our website. Check them out. We’ll try to keep adding live shows as we get them, as well as any video we find on youtube that tickles our fancy. So go download all you want. Spread the word. And if you have any videos, live recordings, or photos we’d love to see them. Don’t be afraid to send them our way and our management will try to get them up on the site. Send an email to info@bandofheathens.com.

Here is some video footage from our recent shows in Germany:

Also, I thought this was pretty cool. A few days ago we started getting emails and phone calls from people at Billboard in New York. I guess the album is charting on some kind of Heatseeker chart and some indie music charts. Not sure what all that means, but it sounds great to me. Check it out:

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?g=Albums&f=Top+Heatseekers

It’s been a great year. It’s been a blast recording and releasing our first studio album as the Heathens, touring all over the country and Europe, and meeting so many true music fans everywhere we go. Kindred spirits all around. Thanks for spreading the word like a like a hurricane this year.

Warm regards and egg nog from The Band of Heathens!

The River in Reverse… Aka a reverse travelogue.

Just finished playing our first gig overseas and it was good fun.

We performed for about 2 1/2 hours, capped off with a funky little encore of
40 Days – I’ve Got a Feeling – Jenny Was a Keeper.

Some rock n roll, some acoustic, a little bit for everyone.

We had a near-capacity audience at a very cool venue (Tonenburg). Imagine a centuries old castle, complete with overhanging balcony and exposed beam work, stocked with the finest German beers on ice and you’d be in the ballpark.

The crowd was very generous, both listening and being actively involved and vocal.

We rolled into town from Frankfurt at about 4pm, enough time to grab a coffee and some dinner before soundcheck. A 3+ hour ride in our new Black “Darth Vader” model sprinter had us in good comfort and space.

Thomas, our tour manager met us at the airport and got us on our way… I’m really happy that we have someone to help us navigate this whole journey, I could see it being a nightmare otherwise. Let’s just say our German isn’t anywhere near… ummmm…. passable? Yeah, it’s actually just useless. The only bummer is that he didn’t meet us with a sign that had our band name misspelled (see Spinal Tap for the reference).

Besides being a good driver, Thomas seems like a really cool guy, looking out for our best interests, and you can never really have too much of that.

Lots of flying, checking bags and walking through airports proceeded our arrival in Europe. In a nutshell it went like this in reverse. Frankfurt>Washington, D.C.> Austin. Bad food, good vibes being sent to our guitars in the baggage area, and sleep deprivation were the order of the day(s).

Was that all confusing enough for you? Good I’m glad, I feel the same way. I actually thought it would be a neat gimmick to try and write something in reverse chronological order… It was harder than I thought, and probably less effective than I thought it would be when I started… But I’m too far in to stop now, so it’s what you’re stuck with if you’re still reading!

Time for some sleep.

I’m so tired I haven’t slept a wink
I’m so tired my mind is on the brink
I wonder should I get up and fix
myself a drink
No, no, no.

Wishing you were on the road here with us.

Love,
TBOH