Man, I didn’t realize how much I missed this until I sat to begin this first blog. As you all know, we didn’t choose to hit the road this summer, so a tour blog was unnecessary. I suppose I could have written a “stay-at-home-and-get-shit-done-and-miss-Rudy-while-he’s-at-camp” blog… but it just wouldn’t have been the same. So, now we’re here, on the road agin, even if for a short time, and I’m stoked to get my “Snoop Bloggie-Blog” up and running. Although, I must say I’ve never felt like such a poser as I do right now. Picture this white girl sitting in a Starbucks, on my rose gold MacBook, donning my purple velour tracksuit, listening to “Nu-Funk” on Spotify, getting down while fully administering my rights to the perfectly executed “White Man’s Overbite”, while I make my neck work and type about our little adventures. If there ever was a time to relate to the lead character from Office Space at his famous red-light encounter with another driver while he was blasting his rap music, this was it. But I dig in, dig deep and remember that I am the proud daughter of a big, funky, soul, funk, and blues drummer, and I was raised right and funky. Boom. Welcome to the blog.
First of all, we love naming our tours. Sometimes it’s a heartfelt theme, a call to power and message, or something uniting with other acts we’re traveling with. This time, it was just silly, but so in line with who we are. If any of you were at our album release at The Airport Tavern, you may remember us being joined on stage by Jared’s friend, and the producer of that album, JP Hesser. Well, if you WERE there and you DO remember him, you will recall that he showed up in a burgundy velour tracksuit, looking both comfy, fly, and ready for action all at once. An ensemble so inspiring that when we were putting together this tour with our new drummer, Walker Sherman, we began to hatch a plan to pay homage to JP’S vibe, and get matching velour tracksuits. But, since we wanted to maintain a touch of individuality, we got different colors. Thus, the “Velour Tour” was born.
I think we look damn good.
Day One:
About fifteen years ago, when Champagne Sunday was kicking off our training wheels and touring up the coast from sunny So Cal, we landed a gig at a weird and historical landmark in Tacoma, WA called the “World Famous, Bob’s Java Jive”.
Yep. Dudes, this place is WILD. An absolute wreck of a place, held together at this point by duck tape, and the drunkenly played chords of literally thousands of musicians who have played here since it opened 93 years ago. But, despite its ragged appearance and whispers from the innards to “please kill me”, Bob’s is an absolute gem. Full of personality and literally percolating with character, in true Tacoma fashion, the rough exterior is just a guise for a soft, squishy belly, full of laughter, good beer, great staff (see Sam Cori- Karaoke hostess, and Derek Walden, owner and bartender).
So, here we are, about to go BACK to So Cal for a mini tour, and it was apropos as hell to kick it off at ol’ Bob’s! And what a kick off show it was. Absolute banger of a show. It’s been so long since we’ve had a constant drummer and Jared and I are really living our best rock star vibe now. I promise you that lurking deep in the shadows back there…is indeed a drummer!
Speaking of our new drummer… let me formally introduce you to Walker Sherman!
Walker has been a Tacoma staple for about as long as we have. Our paths have crossed several times at open mics, shared bills, and he has been seen behind the kit at the last two album releases for Champagne Sunday. In March, Walker was at a crossroads and needed more than musical partners, he needed friends and a place to hang his hat (and ALLLLL his gear) for a couple years while he completed his degree in therapy, rented out his house, and got some life things back on track. Jared and I were all too happy to help. With the new living arrangement, we found we had a lot of shared time and space now to get into some serious rehearsals. After a few months of hashing it out down in our basement, we decided it was too good of a fit to waste on a couple of concerts and began planning a short tour. We already get along swimmingly, may as well hop in a truck and take this show on the road. Aside from being an incredible drummer, he is also a powerhouse singer/songwriter. So we have options for him to open for us at shows on this trip and that is AMAZING! We can’t wait to show off this new trio to all our fans!
Check us out at one of our venues:
Thursday, Oct 23: Margarita Villa 6-9
Friday, Oct 24: Ojai Underground Exchange 7:00 (You can tune in online, as well!)
Saturday, Oct 25: Twisted Oak 8:00
Also, while in Ventura, we will be recording our new single, “Hope”! After much request for this song everywhere from our gigs at SeaTac, festivals, and intimate venues, we finally decided to get on it and record it. It’s a much needed message, and we’re excited to put it out for Christmas.
So, at the end of this sweet, funk-induced text, I will bid you adieu and let you know how happy I am to be back at it and I hope to see you all out shows or commenting on our blogs, posts, videos, etc. You all are a huge part of our life and the driving force behind why we do what we do.
If you’d like to contribute to the tour to help us out in anyway, here’s our Venmo link. Thank you so much.
