timblane's Journal
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Friday, April 17, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
If you are gonna take some time off from touring, it's nice to have a
good reason. So I'm happy to say that my November and December were
well spent, even if I wasn't playing shows. I got a chance to do a
really cool project for Apple. We filmed a bunch of beginner lessons
for learning guitar and piano that will come with each Apple computer
sold, as part of their recording software, Garageband.
The big unveiling was at the MacWorld Expo in San Fran, and I was
lucky enough to spend a couple days there soaking in all of the Mac
related fervor.
I got a shout out in the Keynote speech from Apple Sr. VP Phil
Schiller- here he is talking about our "Learn to Play" software.
Then we had a surprise performance by Tony Bennett, which was really
great- not surprisingly he sang, "I left my heart in San Fransisco"
I did a huge double take as I then walked over to the main convention
area, as I saw this giant poster of me (playing an E7 chord) that hung
above the entrance.
Inside was pretty wild. Apple had a giant presentation that included
rows of computers for people to test out their new software.
And 100's of other companies showed off their latest and greatest
goods. There were tons of iPhone cases, data recovery services, new
games, etc.
Even Berklee had a booth, where I got to reminisce with John and
Mike…I was an intern in their Berklee office for a while. They
admitted to being the only people laughing out loud during the Keynote
speech: "Didn't that Garageband guy used to make copies for us?"
There were some good ideas… who wouldn't want a SEXY laptop bag?!
Some bad ideas
And some that were seemingly at the wrong event, like this Delorean
pimped out to look like Doc Brown's time machine.
Oh, and Sinbad was there. Naturally.
Current music: Coconut Records
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
More than a year ago (3/30/07 at about 6pm to be specific) my friend Ben pitched me an idea for a music video for “Me Being Me” from our about-to-be-released album.
It was, I thought, a million dollar idea, and we agreed to get to work on it.
For various scheduling reasons, we didn’t start filming until this April in NYC. Ben then came up to Boston and we shot a bulk of it two weeks ago. And we are supposed to finish the shooting this month.
Things were looking great, and I was so excited to get the video out there this summer.
Then we got TOTALLY SCOOPED.
Weezer’s video for “Pork and Beans” came out today, and it’s almost the exact same thing as we are currently shooting. Same idea, same references, everything.
Eff.
I’m sure all of you will see the Weezer version soon, cause it’s about to spread like wildfire. But I guess I just wanted to assure those of you who read this that we arrived at the idea independently of them, (and most likely way before them.)
I love Weezer- they are a fantastic band. And I have no reason to think our idea somehow got floated to them.
It’s still frustrating.
But we are gonna put out our video anyway. And maybe in the end Weezer’s video will help spread ours on youtube. At least, here’s hoping…
Current music: Weez...oh dammit
Friday, May 2, 2008
The next week we had a quick swing out to Syracuse and PA. In Syracuse we played at Upstate Medical School and beforehand hit up our favorite roast beef joint and brewery, Clarks. We were sitting enjoying our roast beef sandwiches (touring rarely equals eating healthy, btw) when a dude walked in carrying a satchel of beers. Turns out he was entered into the world beer cup in San Diego, and he had samples of his beers. So naturally we made friends with him immediately and got to try the official entries. I don't know how he fared in the competition, but he came in 1st place at the Tim Blane Band beer cup.
The next day Adam had to fly back to Boston, but James and I then headed to Pennsylvania for a cool bus tour with the Clinton campaign. We started out at Central Penn College with a show at around 9am. And considering the common bond that musicians and college students share- late wake up times- I imagine it was a struggle for not only the band. But the Dunkin Donuts coffee perked us all up and after we played we got to hear Erika Alexander (Maxine from "Living Single" and Pam from the "Cosby Show") speak, as well as Jehmu Green (founder of Rock the Vote) and Chelsea Clinton.
Then it was on to Franklin and Marshall U. in Lancaster, PA. Here are Misters Franklin and Marhsall.
By the time we played it was noon and sunny and warm, so there was a big crowd…
At both stops Chelsea spoke for a bit and mainly took questions from the students. She's already been getting rave reviews for her performances at these college stops, and I heartily agree. She was poised, funny, and clearly knowledgeable about all the issues and her mom's take on them. Well done, Chelsea. :)
Here's a pic from F+M.
Finally it was on to Philly, the site of the Obama/Clinton debate. Unfortunately timing issue meant our show was cancelled there, but we got to walk around the streets and hang with all the supporters of both candidates as they chanted and cheered and held up banners.
I'm not sure, but I don't think that's actually Hillary…
James doing his impression of the big inflatable arm guy…
Ted Danson working the crowd a bit…
And couple of other assorted photos from Philly..
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
To whoever stole my bag with my laptop, iPod, GPS, and other assorted things...
I'd really like them back. There were also some non-replaceable things in there, so please send them to me. No questions asked.
Email me at info@timblane.com or just leave it on stage at one of my shows.
I'll put "Thief" on the guest list at the next 10 or so shows, so you won't even have to pay the cover. -tim
Thursday, March 13, 2008
I’ll share a story I’ve been telling on stage recently, cause I just get such a kick out of it.
My brother Kevin was getting his car fixed last week, and there were few enough repairs needed that he just waited in the lobby for them to finish.
At one point he sees the mechanic come out, so he figures his car is done. But the guy is out there to help another customer. So while the mechanic, (we’ll call him Bob) is talking to the other customer, he notices my brother also standing at the counter. Here’s the conversation they have:
Bob (completely straight-faced): “Oh…hey. Sorry for the delay. Your motor has fried chicken.”
Bob turns back to help the other customer.
Kevin: ????
Bob: (minutes later, now finished with the other customer): “Yeah, like I was saying, your motor has fried chicken, but it’ll be done soon.”
Kevin: “Um….I’m not really much of a car person, so I don’t really know the slang. What does ‘my motor has fried chicken’ mean?”
Bob: “It means there was a big-ass piece of fried chicken inside your car’s motor.”
Kevin: “umm…ok. How did it get there?”
Bob: “Beats me. I’d ask the last guy that worked on your car.”
Kevin: “Uh…ok.” (presumably looking around for Ashton Kutcher)
Too good. I really think that “Your motor has fried chicken” is gonna be my new comeback from now on. How does someone respond to that? It’s both seemingly mean and utterly random at the same time. Perfect.
Friday, March 7, 2008
It was a fun week and a half of touring at the end of Feb. Johnny D’s was a great time as always. My favorite part was playing the funk classic “Pass the Peas” with our horn section taking sweet solos. Then we brought the opening band, our buddies Pie Boys Flat, back up on stage for renditions of “You can’t always get what you want” and “Dixie Chicken.”
If anyone has photos of us all on stage, please email them to me!
James and I headed to Waynesburg College in SW Pennsylvania, where we met a couple, Matt and Michelle, that had just gotten married and used “Drifting and Driving” as their wedding song. So they got up and slow danced to it while we played, which was extra great considering they were wearing workout clothes.
We also hit up IOTA in Virginia, opening for Deep Blue Something. You might remember them from their big hit in the 90’s "Breakfast at Tiffany’s." So that was pretty cool/weird. You could see the place perk up when they played that one. Say what you want about one hit wonders…all I know is that they showed up in a GIGANTIC tour bus. So obviously residual checks are still coming in strong.
Though it was pretty hilarious when, after they played the hit song, one drunk girl said too loudly to another, “THAT’S weird. They just covered Vertical Horizon.”
Awkward.
Anyway, while in DC, James and I did the downtown mall thing, which is always fun. It’s weird that I grew up in DC but didn’t do the cheesy tourist stuff much. I guess it’s kind of like now living in Boston and I’ve never walked the Freedom Trail. But I digress.
We spent most of the afternoon at the Natural History museum seeing the dinosaurs and stuffed modern animals.
Below is James getting eaten by a dinosaur. He got out ok.
Also, maybe I’m just childish, but couldn’t they have made this drawing look a little less like there’s some dinosaur sexy time going on?
On Friday we hit up the Cutting Room in NYC. Let’s just say that a night isn’t going to plan when you get bumped by a famous sock puppet. That’s right, Lamp Chop was in town for a benefit. Shown here with her handler, a ventriloquist and dummy, and for some reason, Janet from Three’s Company. 
The benefit was supposed to go until about 9 or 9:15, then my friend Erik was gonna play, then we were supposed to play at around 10:45. Well I guess the Chop got on a roll and did several encores, cause we didn’t get to start playing until almost 1am. Thanks to those of you who stuck around- my apologies for the lateness. And for those of you who left- I totally understand. We’ll be back to NYC in May, so please come back. ☺
Finally, we headed up to Loon Mountain for WBOS’s “Music on the Mountain” series.
It was a fantastic weekend there, despite the fact that because of the huge snowstorm we had to leave after the NYC show and drive through the night to New Hampshire. But we managed to play a couple sets on no sleep, and they set us up in a sweet lodge for the weekend.
And clearly I was going by my alias “Tim Blain” Bunyan. Sad that I’ll never be as big as my brother Paul.
They also hooked us up with lift tix and snowboard rentals, so James and I hit the mountain on Sunday. I’ve been a couple times, so I can at least get down the mountain. James has never skied or snowboarded. So, while I didn’t have a camera there, let’s just assume this image is him…
Current music: Sondre Lerche
Friday, February 22, 2008
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
When I was younger, I always thought that doing an acoustic set at a radio station would be super-cool. I've done a few now, and each time it makes that giddy child inside me very happy. So I was understandably excited to play at WMFO Medford last week. We had a live show at the coffee house downstairs, an in-studio acoustic set, then an on-air interview.
"If you could come back as a kind of food, what would it be?" was one of the questions posed to us. I can honestly say that was a question I was not prepped to answer. I believe I said Honeydew melon. Which is lame, but I don't know if there's any good answer to that question anyway.
Here are some pics from the performance, dedicated to 13 year old Tim Blane.
What was funny was the "John Ashcroft is watching you" signs all over the studio. C'mon guys- get the signs updated. Mike Mukasey is the one watching us now...
Current music: Vampire Weekend
Thursday, January 31, 2008
I've now officially played my first gig in International waters….sort of. I went on the "Rock Boat" which sailed from Miami to Jamaica and back. It was a great 5 days of nice people, sun (some of the time) and great music. I wasn't an official performer (artists like me are known on the boat as "stowaways") so I had to resort to guerilla tactics like playing next to elevators (and sometimes in them.) Below is a pic of the beginning of one such show with my buddy David Andrew Smith.
It was overall a really cool experience, and I managed to avoid sea sickness, which is always a bonus.
My favorite band on the boat was the Alternate Routes (pictured below onstage with Stephen Kellogg, Kyle Riabko and the Sixers) and they killed it as usual.
I also heard a couple of new bands that I really dug… Sons of William and Bain Mattox.
And then of course there were the bigger headliners such as Sister Hazel, Matt Nathanson, Pat McGee Band, Josh Kelley, Stephen Kellogg, etc. All putting on pretty sweet shows each day.
Josh Kelley, clad in bathrobe and big sunglasses, hosted an open mic I played. He was hilarious. Below is our (seemingly electric) handshake…
Most importantly, I managed to avoid leaving with an attractive tan, cause I'm Irish and that's what we do. Oh well.
Current music: Who's That Pack
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Happy January, everybody.
It’s been a great first couple of weeks- spent the last two weekends rehearsing with the Who’s That Pack in Brooklyn. I’m more than a little excited about our upcoming tour.
Patrick conducted “Man on the Street” interviews with inanimate objects, Chad and Syd incorporated drums into our set, and Todd… well, let’s just say Todd is so dedicated to rehearsal he will literally sleep in the studio. (Sleep, of course, being a code word for “Passing out accidentally.”)
Shifting gears...
I generally like to keep my politics and music on separate wavelengths.
I don’t write overtly political tunes, nor do I use the stage as a pulpit. Just not my style.
But considering our first gig of 2008 was at a political rally in front of 3500 people, I’ll at least mention it. A friend of mine works for the Clinton campaign and she hooked us up with the sweet gig of getting to perform at the pre-election day rally for Hillary in Manchester, NH.
Now, I’m not taking full credit for Hillary’s win the next day, but I’m thinking that other campaigns should really pay attention to the patented Tim Blane Band bump….
Also, for those of you into comedy that’s a little bit out there, check out ‘Tim and Eric: Awesome Show, Great Job.” (The Tim is Tim Heidecker, not me.) They have a video podcast you can download for free, which will likely make you wanna buy “Awesome Show, Great Job” on iTunes. That and the Duchovny show, “Californication” are my current new obsessions.
Current music: Lupe Fiasco
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
A few thoughts about this past year…
2007 was a great one for me and the band. We got to play 107 shows (give or take a few) in 21 different states. (That count doesn’t not include states such as drunk or confused. That’s for another list)
There were a whole lot of firsts for us:
First radio play ever (thanks WBOS!)
First album recorded with actual band members on the album (thanks James and Adam!)
First magazine cover (Thanks Metronome!)
First Boston Music Awards nomination (Thanks, voters!)
First Boston Music Award loss (Thanks a lot, Montbleau! I kid, I kid)
First festival performance (Thanks Earthfest!)
First radio chart appearance (Thanks Powderfinger!)
First Red Sox Rally performance (Thanks Mardi!)
First appearance in the Boston Globe (Thanks WBOS!)
First headlining shows at Johnny D’s and the Paradise Lounge (thanks, fans!)
Like in any year, there were downs too. One big down is that our fantastic keys player, Steve Mossberg, is gonna be leaving the band. It’s a completely amicable break, and we honestly wish Steve all the best. He’s gonna be focusing on teaching music and composing more music of his own. So it was just too difficult for him, schedule-wise. But he is a true talent and wonderful guy, so we will miss him.
Thanks to all of you who have supported us this year. I think everybody is aware of how hard it is to make it as a musician these days. So every time you come see us play, buy a cd, or even just tell a friend about our music… it matters to us. And we love you for it.
I’m so honored when people tell me they drove for hours to come see a show, or that they have been listening to our cd’s on repeat.
One fan emailed to say a tune of mine helped him get through difficult cancer surgery. One couple had lyrics from one of our songs engraved on their wedding rings.
And I literally started crying on the streets of NYC when our friend Vera G played me a voice mail of all the six year olds she teaches singing “Undone” at the top of their lungs. Amazing.
Maybe one day I’ll get jaded and these things won’t matter to me (God, I hope not). But for now they make the whole thing worthwhile. So, a heartfelt thanks to everybody.
Here’s to 2008 bringing more music, more fun, and more great people into our lives. ☺
Happy New Years!
-tim
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Hmmm, wonder why I haven't heard from James and Adam in a while...
Fall has been great so far- nice being back on the road a bit, especially returning to colleges like Uconn-Avery Point, Bucknell, Wentworth, NEC and Salve Regina, and seeing some familiar faces there.
We've been lucky to have James join us on a bunch of college dates, if nothing else for his artistic interpretations of hotel sculptures.
Of course, in his defense- wtf is going on in that sculpture?
Yesterday we joined the Red Sox, Dropkick Murphy's, Mayor Menino and a couple thousand Sox fans in City Hall plaza in Boston for "Rally Monday." We got to play one song, and then join the Standelles and the other bands on stage for renditions of their Boston classis "Dirty Water" and of course Fenway staple "Sweet Caroline."
It was pretty amazing. My first summer in Boston I went to see Guster play at the City Hall stage, and always wondered what it would be like to play on it.
Maybe one day we'll have our own concert on it, but for now, Rally Monday was pretty damn cool.
Adam, a lifelong Sox fan, was pretty much giddy the entire day. He also brought a Standelles cd he got as a kid and had them sign it.
Here's a slideshow of the day...
Current music: Mandy Moore. Yes, Mandy Moore.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Other than Notre Dame being 0-2 so far, fall is shaping up nicely.
I went skydiving a couple weeks ago (Here’s my landing):
We did a backflip out of the plane at 13,500 feet. I’m pretty sure I either blacked out for that part or my mind is repressing it, cause I honestly don’t remember much of the first 20 seconds. But it was an incredible experience- it really only feels like you are falling for the first little bit (while you are still accelerating) after that it’s more of a flying sensation. I was a bit nervous going in, but my fears were generally allayed by the presence of a grandmother in our training class. So I figured if she (and President Bush 41 at age 80) could do it, I probably could.
We also played a really fun Booze Cruise with Chad Perrone and OSB. (Here’s the view from the boat.)
It’s been nice hitting the road again as well- last week we played 4 colleges and a club in Philly. We’ve been bringing James along and for the college shows (which tend to be in coffeehouse settings) he’s been playing the Cajon. Don’t know what a cajon is? Well, head here, silly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajon
Thursday, August 30, 2007
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