We’re driving on some backwoods highway through bum-fuck Indiana, damning our GPS’s guidance in return for a shorter, more scenic route, and we’ve been in so many Starbucks our sweat has taken on that caffinated, corporate-America aroma, but we washed that off in the lake we (no joke) bathed in yesterday, which was our first bathe-sesh on the tour. We’ve got 4 more shows before we make our way back to Baltimore for our last show. So far it’s been: A trailer deep in the Pennsylvania mountains, a cafe’ in Columbus, OH with a huge moon…like, extra-big, and a basement in Bloomington, IN. We’ve had to compete with the Deer-Dan-Age Round Robin show, twice already (damn those enticing Deacon people tunnels…it’s where all the kids wanna be) If they come ANYWHERE near you, you should definitely go see it, if only to get wasted and thrash around to No Age (so fun!!!).

We’re on our way to Chicago to play at the Ottoman Empire (2820 W. Lyndale St) and Unique Chique is gonna come out and play too!! Woohoo!!

Tonight is our last show with Secret Mountains and European Swans, which is pretty sad. We’ve had a fuggin’ amazing time. After tonight they are headed to Michigan for a couple of shows, Akron, OH, and Pittsburgh. These guys are the reason we’re on tour to begin with so, if you’ll be in these areas, check out they’re myspace for the specifics on these shows (myspace.com/secretmountains).

Alright, soldiering on down this curvy country road of cornstalks and abandoned barns, blanketed with little to no phone reception…CHICAGO HERE WE COME! We can’t wait to have your historic wind in our hair.

-Beau

One of our long-hiatused A.S. writers, Caleb Moore, has embarked on his first tour with musical project Lands & Peoples.  He’ll be intermittently tour blogging until he comes back for the hometown show opening for Kurt Vile @ the Talking Head on Aug. 11.

Hello my brothers and sisters. Today we embark on our first tour ever. A mixture of fringed nerves, excitement and blind jubilation. Right now I’m putting together a play list for the car-ride while I burn more copies of our EP to sell on the road. Last night Beau and Grace stayed up and helped sew the rest of our album sleeves together. They look so pro! We’re selling them for $5-7 on tour, still to be decided.

Ok, so musics thus far include:

• Atlas Sound’s Micromix’s #20, #21
• A Jen’s Lekman mixtape called “The Summer Never Ends” that I just found on Tumblr
• Some new (to me), lo-fi electro pop projects: Neon Indian, Memory Cassette/Weird Tapes (same guy), and of course a vinyl rip of Nite Jewel (so good, don’t be a dummy)
• Wye Oak’s The Knot, still haven’t given it a good listen, but I love those kids
• Yacht – “Psychic City” — try to listen to that song only once, JUST TRY IT
• A good mix of newschool fuzzy, garage rock n rolllss — Wavves, Flight, and the like
• The triumvirate of mellowbliss: Grizzly Bear, Beach House, Deerhunter (I try to keep their music on my person at all times)

We will be sharing the wild open road with our new good friends the Secret Mountains and European Swans. Check them out, spread the love like butter on burnt toast. Tonight we make our first stop in Boiling Springs, PA at a house venue where we will be playing their backyard methinks. Will keep you kids updated when we can, trading off entries.

Much love, Caleb.