Tour Update!

Things I’ve loved about our Spring tour in no particular order:

1. The standing-room-only-jam-packed-room-of-wonderfulness that was Ugly Mugs on Saturday night
2. Tasty granola bars that Tyler lovingly made for me from scratch.
3. Listening to Carolina Story and experimenting with bgvs.
4. The incredible weather this morning that demanded an outdoor work out and walk to the local coffee shop.
5. The deliciousness of the quesadilla explosion salad from Chili’s.
7. This morning’s coffee shop doubled as a pharmacy.

I’m a bit sad that no matter where I go, I can’t seem to find an almond latte of the same caliber as the one I enjoy from Ugly Mugs. Oh well, you can’t win ’em all.

We have shows this week in Scott, AR; Mena, AR; Lawton, OK; and Ft. Worth, TX. Check out the full schedule over at our website: www.jennyandtylermusic.com.

Hope to see some of you this evening!

Tour updates & the beauty of Alison Krauss

I’ve been a bit of a slacker when it comes to blogging this week, and for that I do apologize. It’s been a busy, busy week. And it’s going to just keep getting busier, because tonight….

THE TOUR COMMENCES!!!!

Yes. Tonight.

If you’re in Nashville you should come out to Ugly Mugs tonight for a lovely little show. We’re sharing the stage with our friends Carolina Story and Adam James.  The songs and storytelling begin at 7pm.

Tomorrow we head west for Arkansas. In a few days we’ll be in Oklahoma and then Texas. I’m really excited. Take a look at our tour schedule and see if we’re coming near you.  We’ll be making our way east in April, so have a look even if you’re not a Texan.

Groupon offered half of tickets to the Grand Ole Opry this Friday. Alison Krauss and Vince Gill were on the bill, so we thought, hey, can we really live in Nashville and not attend the Grand Ole Opry even once? Admittedly, lots of it is pure cheese, but it’s a fun kind of cheese, and seeing Alison Krauss is more than worth sitting through a little cheese.

Oh my goodness. I felt like I was reliving my childhood. Riders in the Sky played, The Oak Ridge Boy were there, and Bobby Osborne played Rocky Top. I’m not really a fan of today’s country music and of course there was a little of that. They saved the best for last. Alison Krauss came out and sang, “I Know Who Holds Tomorrow.” It was breathtaking. She makes singing look so effortless, and her performances are always flawless. I found this video of her singing the song on youtube and just have to share it with you:

Well, I’ve got to get packing for this tour! Hope to see many of you in the coming weeks!

The One-Eyed Cat Video Shoot

Hello friends.

We’re headed home after a wonderful weekend in Indiana. We drove up Friday afternoon and began shooting for the One Eyed Cat music video on Saturday morning. I’m really excited because this video is going to be entirely animated (aside from the two of us of course). We shot everything in front of a green screen. Tyler and I are super awkward in front of the camera, but hey, it’ll be a genuine video for you to enjoy, right?

Tyler and I met about six years ago at the University of Delaware. My freshman year I asked Tyler to go to a dance with me that my a’cappella group was hosting. Tyler, of course, said yes. I’d never seen Tyler dance prior to that evening, and let me tell you, I was in for a surprise. When he started dancing that night, I honestly thought he was joking. It was THAT bad. I kept asking him to “dance normal” and soon realized that I’d really hurt his feelings. He was so upset that he walked off the dance floor and we had to have a little talk. I apologized and soon enough we got to dancing again. I decided to just embrace Tyler’s terrible dancing and I actually had a lot of fun just being goofy on the dance floor.

Yesterday we had to dance a lot for the video shoot. At first we tried to be sort of serious about it, but before long we decided to just be ourselves. Tyler danced in his crazy way and I basically laughed the whole time. So get ready friends. You will soon realize the awesomeness that is Tyler’s dancing.

I think the video will be released in May, so we do have a bit of a waiting period, but don’t worry. We’ll be sure to let you know when it’s ready!

Goodnight!

Some musings…

Good morning.

The coffee is strong this morning and for that I am grateful. Despite my sleepiness last night, I had trouble sleeping. I don’t understand why that happens.

Anyway….

I’m really excited about this weekend. Today we’re driving up to Huntington, IN and tomorrow we’ll be hanging out there, shooting a music video to One-eyed Cat. I AM SO EXCITED! I don’t think that the video will be available for your viewing pleasure until April or May, so you’ll have to be patient. But I really really really think it’s going to be awesome.

Tomorrow night we’re playing a show in Ft. Wayne, IN at The Church at Jacob’s Well. We’re really looking forward to it. We’ve had a great time relaxing at home over the past month and a half, but we’re itching to play shows regularly again. So if you’re in the area, come out tomorrow night. It’s an early show from 6p-8p and it costs $5. We’d love to hang out.

In other news, we’ve had quite a few awesome reviews and interviews happening. Here are a few links:

Interview w/ All About Worship.com

Faint Not Review

Faint Not Review

Fun Interview

Check ’em out if you fancy and pass them along to your friends.

Have a lovely day friends.

Last Night’s Session!

Last night we had the incredible opportunity to record in Studio A at MTSU for FREE! How did this incredible opportunity come about? Our good buddy Paul (he co-produced Faint Not with us) is a grad student at MTSU. He’s studying recording engineering and gets lots of free studio time. So we set up a session.

We recorded the free acoustic EP that we give away on our website more than 2 years ago. While we still love it, we decided that it’s time for a change. It’s time to start giving away music that better represents us today. And hey, you want more free music, right?

After much deliberation, we decided to record Song for You, Faint Not, This is Just So Beautiful, This Isn’t a Dream, Love Through Me, and Do Not Follow Your Heart. We recorded live, meaning we played and sang like we do a live performance at a show (I did overdub the bells later), and recorded in one take, meaning we recorded entire performances. It was a really fun way to do things and felt very “us.”

Some photos for your viewing pleasure:

The set up:

Look! It's the suitcase drum in action!

We pose so well!

Paul in the control room:

Yay Paul!

Awww…we’re so cute:

All in all, it was a lovely evening. We can’t wait to share the finished product with you.

just a little update

What a weekend.

On Friday we trekked to Jamestown, TN (basically the middle of nowhere) for an overnight young adults retreat. We had way too much fun singing together, stayed up wayyyy too late, and ate altogether too much pork. Seriously. Pork for three meals in a row? I was craving a salad when we made it home on Saturday afternoon.

We had a low key night in with our roommates on Saturday night. Free pizza + good movies + lovely kitties + wonderful friendship = much happiness.(And I did get my salad too)

AND the weather turned lovely yesterday in Nashville. We walked to the grocery store in our short sleeves and took pictures of each other in the sunlight.

Our good friend Paul (co-produced Faint Not with us) has some free studio time lined up for us this afternoon/evening. Our plan is to record some acoustic versions of the songs from Faint Not and give them away to you guys in a few months or so. I’m excited!

We posted a few new dates over at the website. Check ’em out: http://www.jennyandtylermusic.com

 

The quest for the perfect suitcase..

Those of you who have seen us live in the past four months or so know that when we play Tyler uses a suitcase for a kick drum. If you’ve watched the Faint Not video you may have noticed the clip of Ty playing the suitcase and me playing a little tambourine. Sometime on our last tour Ty’s suitcase cracked and is subsequently out of commission. Tyler spent a long time looking for that suitcase. It was an old school hard shell case that had a nice sound when we stuffed a blanket inside and mic-ed it up. Here’s a photo of the old suitcase in action:

may she rest in peace

Alas the suitcase is no more. Thus, the search for the perfect suitcase begins again.

I went to the dentist this morning (I promise I’m getting somewhere with the suitcase story). I really don’t like going to the dentist. My dentist actually compared visiting her office to having a spa day. I’ve never had a spa day, but if it’s anything like visiting the dentist then I don’t intend to.  After a good cleaning and running a few errands (we needed socks!) Tyler mentioned that he really wanted to find another suitcase. There are a few thrift stores on the way home from the dentist. There’s one in particular, Southern Thrift, that we haven’t visited before. I suggested stopping there. Tyler didn’t think it was a great idea. He knew of a lady in town who had a yard sale back in the summer and was selling a bunch of old hard shell suitcases. We didn’t need one at the time. He suggested trying to find her house and inquire as to whether she had any left. But I really thought we should stop at Southern Thrift. I had a gut feeling that they would have a suitcase. I knew like you know about a good melon (movie anyone?).

So we went. And lo’ and behold, out of 4 suitcases, they had the perfect one! The first suitcase took a full year to find, but this one only took 1 day! We were so excited!

yay!!!

And it looks so much better than the first one!

I can’t believe I’ve dedicated an entire post to a suitcase. But you know, it’s the little things, right? And now you can all experience the joy that is the kick drum suitcase at our shows this spring. Huzzah!

 

Simplicity/House Shows

I’ve been thinking a lot about simplicity lately. I try to enjoy the simple things in life. I’m not always successful. In fact, the statement, I’m not usually successful may be closer to the truth. Last Sunday it was sunny so we decided to walk to church. At first I didn’t want to because despite the sun, the temperature was somewhere in the 40s. After much prodding, Tyler convinced me. We don’t live far from our church. Maybe a mile and a half or so. We walked. And it was amazing. The birds were singing. And after a while I didn’t even need my coat.

After the service we walked up to one of our favorite coffee shops. I had a bagel and cream cheese and we shared one of their special lattes called the warm & fuzzy. It’s a double latte with cinnamon, vanilla, and honey. So creamy. So delicious. Practically perfect. When we’d finished our latte we walked home. It was a really lovely afternoon.

I’ve been thinking a lot about simplicity when it comes to what we do. I’ve never been a fan of big productions. I don’t see the point of going to a concert if the artist is going to have to dance or run around the stage so much that they can’t actually sing. I don’t like lots of costume changes or stages that expand and contract. I’m not saying that there isn’t a place for stuff like that. I understand that a lot of folks want to go to a show and have it be just that, a show. I just think that sometimes the music gets lost in all of it.

House shows are my favorite shows. We set up in someone’s living room and embark on a journey of story-telling and singing together. There might be a string of Christmas lights or candles somewhere near the stage (which is generally just a corner of the room) to add to the ambiance. Sometimes we drink coffee together and partake in delicious food. By the end of the evening it feels like we’ve made 40 new friends.

Not sure why I felt the desire to post about my thoughts today, but coincidentally this a great lead in for an invitation to all of the house shows we’re playing this spring. Sometimes folks feel nervous about coming to a house show if they don’t know the host. Let me tell you, everyone who is hosting a show this time around is extremely generous and hospitable, and is very excited about opening their home to everyone–even strangers. So don’t be shy.

House Shows this Spring:

3/10 Denton, TX
3/12 Keller, TX
3/18 Waco, TX
3/20 Abilene, TX
4/22 Frederick, MD

We’ll also be adding a show in Columbus, OH. For full details on the house shows (and all of the other shows we’ve got planned) visit our tour page. If info for a show isn’t there shoot us an email at: jennyandtyler@gmail.com

Hope you are all having a wonderful day.

Faint Not music video is up!

Good morning! My french press is strong this morning and I ate two chocolate chip cookies for breakfast…shhh…don’t tell!

Exciting news! Last night we posted the new music video for the title track of our latest record, Faint Not. We filmed the video one wintry night here in Nashville. The forecast called for 3 inches of snow that night, and turns out, the weather folks were right! We started shooting right around midnight and when we wrapped at 3:30am, all 3 inches had fallen! It was beautiful.

It’s funny, I never thought that we’d be able to make music videos. I figured that’s something that “real” artists do, and because we’re such a small operation I forget that we’re “real” artists too…whatever that means. It still amazes me that independent bands are able to accomplish so much. We couldn’t do any of it without help from our friends, and this video really was a group effort. Our good friend Nathaniel Schweinberg (fightthecurrent.org) shot and edited the video, and our friend David Gould was our sound and lighting tech….he held a boom box and wore a ridiculously bright light on his head. Hehe. Yes, the fun parts of being independent and not having a real budget for the video. 🙂 But it was so fun and it’s things like that that make for great stories and bonding experiences!

Now that I’ve rambled on a bit, I leave you with the video:

 

Curry

Many of you know that I have been on the quest to make delicious Thai green curry for quite some time now. In fact, I even had it on my list of things to do before I turn 25 (happening in just 6 weeks now!). Alas, I fear I will never master the art of curry making. However, I may have found a nice alternative.

The other night Tyler and I went out for Thai. Tyler came up with a wonderful idea: Why not buy curry sauce directly from our favorite restaurant? We inquired about whether or not this was a possibility and discovered that they were willing to sell us 8 oz of the sauce (without veggies and things) for $2. We bought red and green and put it in the freezer when we got home. Now we shall see if the curry freezes well. If it does, then we may have found a way to eat curry without spending $10 per plate. I’m so excited!

Tomorrow we head back to the construction site for painting and finishing. I’ll be sure to post photos of our progress!