Junebug on the BandSoup blog

Junebug was recently featured and reviewed on the BandSoup.com blog.
Check it out here.

Movin' right along

In our rehearsals lately we've been working on material for our next album, Modern Day Fairy Tales. For those that have been following Junebug for a long time, many (or most) of these songs will be familiar to you. Strangely, our second album will be made up of our older material. Songs such as "Jumpstart My Rocket", "I'm a Bad Mamma Jamma (Who Works at Wendy's)" and "Found My Boogie" will be included as well as other old favorites. If you're relatively new to Junebug, it will be new to you!

The most interesting part of this has been taking songs that are a number of years old, reworking them and teaching them to and receiving input from our bassist. Nick has been with us for just over a year, and these old Junebug staples are new to him. So we've been introducing these songs to our live sets, little by little, as we become more comfortable with the new arrangements.

It's been good, and we're moving right along. We've been in talks with Gabe Masterson, who, along with Dan Hartwig, engineered our first album, Share. Gabe is in Nashville now and we're working on plans to record with him in early 2010.

It's our next phase, and it's exciting.

The Dug Out in Mahtomedi, MN is blacklisted

Musicians and patrons alike - beware.

Our bassist, Nick, is originally from Mahtomedi (in the northeast corner of the Metro) and last night was to be our first performance in his hometown. There were a lot of people that made plans to be in Mahtomedi last night, to enjoy a drink and to enjoy some great party music from Junebug and The Isles.

All members of both bands arrived at the Dug Out and set up their gear. Two drum kits, guitars, amps, turntables were all put together and ready to go. Junebug had fully soundchecked with a very decent on-stage mix in our monitors. It proved to be a very rockin' reprise of our shows in Okoboji. We were all pumped and excited, of course. Tonight was going to be nice.

We ran over quickly to Brother's Burgers & Beers to grab a drink at Nick's family's restaurant and headed back over to the Dug Out. Upon my exit from the restroom at exactly 9:20 p.m., Tom Bartholomew, the owner of the Dug Out came up to me (tony) looking all stressed and panicked. "Who's in charge, here?!?" he asked. "Uh, YOU are, what do you mean?" I confusedly spit out. "Who's in charge of the bands? I'm losing money just by having these lights on!" Since Nick was the one that set up the show and I had no idea was was happening, I passed the buck to him.

Tom did not think there were enough people there, so he wanted to shut the show down - early in the night, and before the show even started. It was calmly explained to him that we knew for a fact that people were on the way, and the Vikings game was still happening and Favre Fever was in full force. We asked him to be patient because people were coming.

That wasn't good enough for Tom Bartholomew. He ordered the sound guy (who, I might add came all the way up from Lakeville, and might not have been paid) to start tearing down mics.

We took a cue from that and started tearing our gear down as well. Two full bands who promoted the show and took time and effort to be there and get people there were tearing down their gear by 9:30 p.m. on a Friday night, before a majority of the crowd even got there.

Well, we all got on our cell phones and began calling our people telling them to turn around and go home. Because another thing you have to know is that Mahtomedi is not really any of our neighborhoods. People made plans for their Friday to come up to this guy's establishment. So we had to tell these good people that the show was off and asked them to spread the word. We all sent messages to Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, the whole nine yards.

As we were loading out, however, people were arriving for the show. These were people who do not know any of us, but people who planned to come to the Dug Out simply because they knew there was live music and they wanted to have a good time at Tom Bartholomew's establishment. They approached him and asked what was going on and he rudely put his finger in a lady's face and responded that he did not have to answer to them. They left, yelling "F--- the Dug Out!"

What is this guy thinking? He books a show, does no promotion himself and then expects the place to fully packed at 9:20 in Mahtomedi. He then kicks the bands off the stage before the performance begins, and is rude to customers who want to hear music.

This guy is a real piece of work. None of us will go to the Dug Out again. We spent the rest of the evening spreading the word down the block at The Flame, which was very inviting.

Musicians -- If you ever get a gig at the Dug Out in Mahtomedi, BEWARE. You might not have a gig after all. Have a backup. In fact, play it safe - don't even book there.

Patrons -- If you ever go to the Dug Out, you might get a finger in your face and treated horribly by the owner himself. Play it safe - don't even go in. Grab a burger and beer at Brother's or go down the block to The Flame.

Join Nick's Facebook group: "The Dug Out in Mahtomedi is NOT a Music Venue"
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=143184185618

Spread the word. Write a Google review. Or something. Don't let Tom Bartholomew get away with this kind of treatment toward bands and patrons alike.

Thanks, you guys.

We want to take a moment and thank everyone who had a hand in getting us to the Fox 9 Battle of the Bands. We didn't win, but the fact that we performed in the finale means that we have incredible fans that contributed thousands of votes to us. Many of you spent a lot of time and energy remembering to vote for us every single hour and getting other people to do it as well. It couldn't have been JUST the lure of free tacos that got you to do it. So from the bottom of our collective insect heart, we thank you for putting yourselves out there in order that we might succeed.

Our fans are awesome.

Chosen Ones video Released!

Junebug - Chosen Ones from SIX-TON PRODUCTIONS on Vimeo.

Directed by Sidenberg|Tesnow
Produced by Six-Ton Productions
Edited by Erin Hael
Lyrics by Anthony Bergman
Music by Junebug
Costumes by Junebug

Junebug wins! We'll play at the Block Party!

I'm rocking the Junebug shirt today in celebration of last night's Basilica Battle win. Junebug got second place behind Section 30, which means both bands will play at the Basilica Block Party! Junebug will play on Friday July 10. Further details will be relayed when we get them.

It was a really fun night and all the bands were really great. We were in good company. See you at the Block Party. This is awesome.

http://www.basilicablockparty.org

We remember Farrah

This is one of the walls in our rehearsal space. Farrah was a true love of ours and we miss her already. Our love affair with Farrah began years ago in Aberdeen. At the Red Rooster Coffee House there was a mug adorned with her likeness and it became a pre-show tradition for us to all drink from the Farrah Fawcett mug to ensure a great show. We put up photos of her in our Pauer Sound rehearsal space in Aberdeen and she's been with us in every rehearsal ever since. Poor, poor Farrah. She'll always be a part of Junebug. She is now our guardian Angel.

Fox 9 top 15

I received a call today from Lauren Freeland of Fox 9. She informed me that we have been selected from many submissions to compete in the top 15 for the Fox 9 Battle of the Bands! The next step is online voting which begins next week. Further information on how you can help us through this round will be passed on as soon as it is received!

Spontaneous "Crossroads"

This was shot during a break from filming during the "Chosen Ones" video shoot.  We went to Cody's for some drinks and food, Cody was getting some screw-around footage of us just hanging out and then a song happened.  Enjoy!

Junebug Sings! from SIX-TON PRODUCTIONS on Vimeo.

Teaser photo

Taken on my phone at one of the "Chosen Ones" locations today.

Chosen Ones filming

I think we're going to be shooting for the "Chosen Ones" video today.  We're supposed to meet at the location at 11:00 and shoot all day, but I just got this information from Six-Ton at 2:25 a.m.  I've tried to contact the others, but hopefully Six-Ton already took care of that.  If not... that's our Junebug!  It wouldn't be a Junebug thing unless there was some gap in communication causing a snafu.  What can I say?

Testing mobile blogging.

Testing mobile blogging.

We're through to the Basilica Battle Finals!

We made it through the first round in which Cities 97 received 70 submissions and picked Junebug as one of twelve to compete.  Then last night, we battled it out in the second round against two other bands for a spot in the finals on June 25.  

We got the official word today that we won last night's battle and we're now on our way to the finals with a 50/50 shot at playing the Basilica Block Party!

Last night's round was determined solely by audience vote, so I cannot stress enough how much we appreciate the folks that came out to support us!  People came out of the woodwork for this one and it was so great to feel the love.  We did it!  And by 'we' we mean Junebug AND you lot.  We literally could not have made the finals without you.

The winning bands will be selected by a panel of judges.  Wish us even more luck!

Further evidence of fame

Banners hang in the Aberdeen airport advertising various aspects of the town. There is a banner promoting the annual Pig Out festival, and look who's there!

Chosen Ones pre-video

Here is the pre-video for "Chosen Ones" shot in three takes and edited in 30 minutes.  Six-Ton wanted some test footage to try out a piece of equipment before we shoot the real video.  They decided to make a fun, fake video out of the footage and this is what came of it.  Again, not the "real" video, but fun.

New Blog

And so it was that Junebug created a blog.  It's intended that as many members of Junebug that wish will contribute their thoughts to this blog.  Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't.