Stuff Goin' On

So, as should be the case with blogs like this, I feel compelled to inform everyone about what I've got going on these days. Musically, that is. (After all, this is supposed to be a music blog, right?)

Truth be told, I've got several irons in the fire that I am really excited about, so I'm gonna take some time to let you all in on them.

First of all, the incomparable Hillary Hand has an EP coming out in about a week that I can't wait for everyone to hear. We've been working on it for several months now (well, Hillary and her producer have been working on it for months... I basically just jumped in & out whenever I was needed) and the finished product is something truly great. It's definitely one of my favorite projects that I've ever been a part of: the songs are awesome, the arrangements & instrumentation are awesome, and getting the opportunity to form a rhythm section with the legendary Matt Bissonette is all kinds of awesome. I'll definitely be posting all about it both here and on my Fbook when the EP drops, so be ready. There are some other exciting things coming up for Hillary in the near future, as well, so stay tuned-in to everything she's got going on.

I've also been performing along with one of the Colorado music scene's most notable up-and-coming bands, Modern Suspects. They recently released an EP of their own and sought me out to help them perform the songs live. (I know, I know.... what in the world could they have been thinking?) Truthfully, though, this
has been a great experience already in the first couple months that I've been working with the guys and we've got a slew of shows & festivals coming up all across the front range. If you're in the area, be sure to connect with them and come out to a show. The Suspects have been getting some radio play here, too, and are really close to cracking into some of those larger markets, so it probably won't be long before you're hearing their stuff all over the place.

Oh, yeah... there's also this.

The North American dates haven't been posted yet and I haven't gotten the call to go to Europe, but... come September, I will be on the road for at least some of Alex G's first solo tour. So, please, make sure you come and check out a show. Especially if you happen to live in places like Canada or San Diego or anywhere on the east coast. It's been too long since I've gotten to play for all of you.

Anyway... that's what's going on these days and I'm going to try to keep things nice 'n' updated here on the blog. Keep tuning in, my friends. I'm hoping to see every last one of you very, very soon.

~

Making The Most

So, a few weeks back my wife and I headed out on the road. She had a conference to attend in Phoenix just a couple of days before rehearsals were scheduled to start in LA for Alex G's CD release show at The Mint. So, as we are so often wont to do, Mrs. Burns and I concocted a fairly last-minute plan and did our best to make the most of what could have been separate trips, weeks apart, and, for me, the potential frustration of being stranded away from home with no transportation and nothing to do.

Instead of going alone, we went together. Instead of flying, we drove. We cobbled together an itinerary that consisted of six different room accommodations over the span of two weeks, threw everything we would need for both work & leisure in the back of our car, and headed out on a rather impromptu road trip
adventure.

And, after 3,200 miles and close to 48 full hours of drive time, I can confidently say - IT. WAS. AWESOME.

Alex G's #bones

Three-and-a-half years ago, there was this.

A month later, she snuck into this one.

And then came the moment where everyone actually fell in love with her.

Which brings us to today. Video number 100. The new single off of Alex G's very first full-length album.

I've had the pleasure of kinda being around to more-or-less witness the entirety of Alex's career. I've been fond of telling people lately that if the opportunity to play drums for her had been presented to me just a couple of years ago, I probably would have passed. At the time, she was still just sort of figuring things out and happy performing other people's music. People were noticing, sure, but nothing all that "artistic" was going on.

Then, God flipped the switch.

Somewheres in the there, Alex G the artist - not cover artist, not YouTube artist, but artist artist - began to emerge. And I remember when I noticed it, too. She was opening for T-Ward on one of our tours and it hit me like a truck while I was watching her solo acoustic set one night: "G's frickin' good."

And she just kept getting better.

Her Found EP in 2012 was a big hint. Artists sometimes take big steps forward, sure. This new album, though...

Well, I guess we'll all just have to wait and see, won't we?

So, congratulations, G. By the grace of God, you've done it, you're doing it, and you're gonna do it. It's been sort of wild for a guy who knew he wanted to be a musician 15 years ago to get to watch your journey from almost the very beginning and see how quickly you've grown into what you are today. And I can't say how excited I am to be a part (even just a little tiny part) of it.

#bones

Time Lapsing in Portland

Check out this time lapse video shot by students at the University of Portland, our hosts this past weekend for a show that featured Tyler Ward & Alex G opening for the incomparable Andy Grammer.

We had a fantastic time playing Rock The Bluff, and I can't say enough about the way we were taken care of by everyone who put on the show. From taking us out to the legendary Voodoo Donuts immediately after picking us up at the airport, to meeting all of our backstage needs and getting up early the morning after the concert to make sure we made our flights home, everyone at the U of P went above and beyond to make this show happen and to make sure that us musicians - and not just the students - had a great weekend.

At about the 1:24 mark of the video, you can see yours truly (in a bright teal-colored tee shirt) setting up his drumset on the side of the stage while Andy Grammer's band was soundchecking. (Look closely, and you'll probably be able to make out the entire T-Ward Crew, as well.)

Also, for some additional U of P hijinks, check out this interview the campus newspaper conducted before the show.

Days Like Today

Sometimes they just catch you off-guard. The days, that is. Sometimes I find myself blown away by just how much can be accomplished in one day, how much you can get done in the 16 or 17 hours you're awake. Other times, I can't help but be stopped in my tracks thinking about the cumulative effects of all the previous days that led up to this one.

Like today, for example.

Honestly Tour 2013 - Nürnberg

And so, the German leg of Tyler Ward's 2013 Honestly tour came to a close in Nürnberg. The show included the requisite final show pranks - including flour dumped all over my drumkit, Barba masked behind a cardboard cutout T-Ward face during the opening tune, and a few choice jokes of our own for openers 3A & Alex G. And, despite the tiny closet of a green room backstage, it was a great sendoff for a truly unique tour. The next day, it was onto our hastily assembled Rock Your iBalls Off Acoustic Tour (that wasn't purely acoustic) for the rest of the continent. 

The city of Nürnberg opened itself up to some short schedule sightseeing the next day before our departure to Switzerland. We had been through the city before, but, like so many others, never really seen it. (And, to be fair, I still don't believe that I've really seen it. But, the ever-curious travelhound in me digresses.) Our hotel happened to be located within the city's old town, and the combination of delicious restaurants, classic architecture, small streets, and beautiful churches (not to mention the stalwart medieval-era city walls) made for a captivating final memory of Germany in 2013.

The Honestly Tour's final night.

Delicious food, beautiful churches, medieval fortifications:
Nürnberg's got it all.

Honestly Tour 2013 - Freiburg

There's nothing quite like playing on a stage Miles Davis once performed on. For a cat like me, getting to do that was a pretty rad experience.

And Freiburg itself was, in a more total sense, a pretty rad experience. The stage and the room were sort of bizarre and cool, the crowd was great, and the overall vibe affected how we performed the show. It was a bit more loose and not as high-strung. More jazzy, if you will. Which, when you're playing at a venue called the Jazzhaus, is a good thing.

Another great memory from that day was running into a few of our fellow countrymen whilst doing our laundry down the street from the venue. We Americans tend to notice each other in places where English is a second language, so we invited our new acquaintances to the show later that night. So far, not all that unusual. What was more unusual was the fact that they actually showed up. Here's hoping we played well.... wouldn't want to be a bunch of ugly American rock stars and embarrass the other foreigners, now would we?

Click.

Honestly Tour 2013 - Frankfurt

So, there we were, on the outskirts of Frankfurt, performing our show at a venue called Batchskapp. (Everyone say it with me now: Batchskapp. Batchs. Kapp. Batchskapp!)

I possess several great memories from that night: the single best pre-show meal of the entire tour (some homemade schnitzel worth slapping your sister for), Alex G sporting a Muscle Milk tee during her performance, and a classic encounter with the blatant lies of the entertainment media: an interview conducted a few days before for a German music magazine found its way backstage and we all had a rollicking laugh over a few things Tyler most definitely did not say. (If you know Tyler at all, you know one of the things he would never think to do during an interview about his career would be to compare himself to Sigmund Freud.)

Don't trust the media, folks. As we say here in Colorado, take what they say with a huge grain of salt. If they're willing to just make up lies about a little band like ours, I'm sure you can deduce what they'd be willing to say about other more prevalent celebrities.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I just intimated that we're celebrities. Weird.

Batchskapp.

Backstage nap time.

Honestly Tour 2013 - Köln

And so it was that the Tyler Ward Band returned to Cologne's Live Music Hall once again - the site of the infamous birthday concert in March of 2012. Again, we were warmly welcomed and taken care of (the Live Music Hall can rightfully boast of presenting the best pre-concert spread of the tour). And, it just so happens that the Cologne Cathedral is one of my absolute favorite places on earth to visit. This time around allowed us to happen upon a mass, complete with church bells ringing through the rain and organ music playing inside.

To say that Cologne is a beautiful city would be - (just as it would be for most of the European locales we've been blessed to perform in) - a massive understatement.

Außen

Klassiker

Time for church.

Honestly Tour 2013 - München

Ah, München. "By the monks' place". I mean, come on, what's not to love about a city found by a bunch of Benedictine's, right?

I have to admit, I love this city. Spending three days here at the beginning of the tour to do some rehearsal and prepare for the LAUT show was pretty serene. It's gorgeous, it's historic, it's Bavaria.

Coming back to it later on for an official T-Ward show was great, too. The fans in München have always been great to us: they've helped us put on some really great shows the past couple of years. This tour's performance was no different. It was a cool club, surrounded by (of all things) some really sick spray paint art.

And, thanks to WardHeart, at 2:03 everyone gets to see one of my favorite moments of the entire tour.

 

Just putting American spray paint to shame.

Autumn in Munich & the Hofgarten.

The Rathaus-Glockenspiel: keep telling yourself it's just a clock.

Honestly Tour 2013 - Bielefeld

The venue at Bielefeld was one of those rooms. 'Ya know, one of those where you have terrible buzz on your acoustic guitar for no apparent reason, weird sound bouncing everywhere, and yada yada yada. Despite that, the early-arriving Meet-and-Greeters were all good sports (despite the excruciatingly long, boring sound check) and the crowd turned out to be great. In spite of the technical difficulties and the weird room, I must say that I think we all enjoyed ourselves in our first time in Bielefeld (despite the loss of a favorite beanie on my part).

PS: This video captures one of the long-running inside jokes of the tour (every band and every tour has their own). This time around, we found ourselves singing any '90s-era grunge rock song we could think of in a ridiculous caricature of the vocalists of the time. It was one part hilarious impression, and one part sentimental memory of all the music we grew up listening to. As with any inside tour joke, we definitely got carried away with it at times, but if the local crew guys and fans don't think you're completely out of your mind, you're not doing it right.

Not gonna lie: I totally horked this picture from Keber's Instagram. But, it's one of the best pictures any of us took during the entire tour and it says "Bielefeld" beautifully.

Honestly Tour 2013 - Hamburg

The Große Freiheit is... well, let's call it a special area of Hamburg. The Beatles made a name for themselves there. Tyler Ward impressed the powers-that-be there in 2012, convincing Sony Music to ink a deal. (There are a few other reasons, too, but those don't need to be explored on this blog.)

The venue we played on the Honestly tour was the same stage we played on that fateful night the year before - Großen Freiheit 36 - so the club certainly holds a special place for us (and not just because of the delicious döner restaurant right down the street).

Hamburg, too, is a captivating city. I'd never gotten a chance to spend any substantial time there before (beyond the Große Freiheit), so I was happy when I saw a day off in Hamburg on the schedule. (And none too soon, either: I was exhausted by the time October 22nd rolled around.) A little walking around resulted in stumbling upon the beautiful St. Michaelis church, the Johannes Brahms museum, and another of the many gorgeous outdoor parks scattered throughout the cities of Germany.

They tell you to always leaving them wanting more. Hamburg most certainly did that.

Hamburg from the spire of St. Michaelis. 

Autumn in Germany.

Christmas In September

Today is a big day.

To wit:

Hello. Love. Heartbreak.

Alright

Found

Never has $17 gone so far. 

I didn't have the pleasure of getting to play on Alex G's record, but I do get to spend a month traveling around Europe getting to see her perform. And my, my, my, what a difference a year makes. Ms. G has come so far in such a short amount of time and her latest release proves it.

To say that it's an honor to get to work with such a talented group of people is in all ways an understatement. In the midst of this very confused (and confusing) era of popular music, to be directly involved in the recording & release of such truly musical offerings is an exciting experience, to say the least.

Can't wait to hear everyone's feedback on the new releases. I hope you all enjoy listening to them as much as I enjoyed performing on them!