Cassavettes

As  you may know, in November 2008, we had the honor of opening for the Toadies at the Paradise Rock Club. What this meant to us is hard to put into words, though I will try. You see, in 1994, the Toadies (of Fort Worth, Texas) released an album called “Rubberneck,” which was as close to required listening as it comes for 9-year-old boys growing in Dallas-Fort Worth in the mid-90s.  In fact, since Cassavettes started in 2005, we have routinely cover a song called “I Come From the Water” off that album. So, what a true delight it was to get to play with a band so revered in our hometown, a band that meant so much to our musical education. And just how lucky are we? Well, we’re getting to play with them again.

On Sept. 14, we are headed back to the new-and-improved Paradise Rock Club to once again play with the Toadies. We are thankful for the opportunity because 1) due to the over-before-you-know-it nature of shows like this, we didn’t get to see as much of their set last time as we had hoped, and 2) we are getting that giddy feeling of playing with the Toadies all over again. So, that’s the pitch:  a special night with a band who is quite special to us at a place that is quite special to us.

Tickets to this one are hot, so be sure to buy yours soon — we’d love to share the party atmosphere with all of you!

For full details, including directions, visit the Paradise’s website.

Hello friends,

This Saturday, we will be returning to our favorite bar in Kennebunk, Maine: Federal Jack’s. We will be playing a long, rowdy set, from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Best of all, it’s FREE!

The following day, Sunday, we will be back in Boston and joining our good friends Bearfight to raise money for Spaulding Rehab. The charity show will take place at the Lansdowne Pub, 9 Lansdowne St., near Fenway Park. Bearfight plays at 8 p.m., Cassavettes takes the stage at 9 p.m.

Discount tickets available here (use promo code’ BAND’) for $10. Tickets will also be available at the door. All ticket proceeds benefit Spaulding Rehab in Boston!

It’s a good way to wrap up August in style!

Love, Cassavettes

As the summer winds down, we’re keeping the feelings fancy free. That’s how we like to do it. And with those good vibes, we return to the stage of Tommy Doyles in Harvard Square (96 Winthrop St., Cambridge — formerly the House of Blues) this Friday, Aug. 20 for a fun night o’ tunes. We take the stage at 10 p.m. for the 21+ show and the cover is $5.  For more details, including directions, click here.

Also, this Saturday, our own Glenn Yoder will represent Casssavettes in the second annual One Night Band, presented by Boston Band Crush, at the Middle East Downstairs. This unique, innovative musical experiment brings together 40 random musicians, places them into temporary bands, and lets them loose onstage. This year’s installment will be filmed for a documentary and has already received plenty of hype, press, good vibes, and what not. Read Glenn’s advanced interview, in which he talks about a dream supergroup, Bocephus, and his creepy infatuation with Nick Balkin’s bass.  The show starts at 8 p.m., tickets are $10 in advance, $12 day of, with all proceeds benefitting Zumix. Don’t miss it!

Ahoy there Cassafamily,

After a fun string of shows, including an acoustic set in NYC last week followed by two-fer weekend (a festival in N.H. and a wild show in Kennebunk, Maine), we are back in greater Boston this week with a free show at Toad on Saturday. Head over to Cambridge early for our set, which starts at about 7:30 p.m., because Toad fills up quick! The show is 21+, and as always, very free. Come have a drink and catch two hours of Cassavettes action!

Want more details? Click here.

Hello Cassafamily,
As you likely know by now, each year around this time we celebrate the band’s birthday. Tomorrow, Saturday, we will celebrate a major milestone:  our fifth year in existence. It has been a whirlwind ride up to this moment with many highs — performing at the Paradise and the Middle East, touring the country in our trusty Cassavan, and sharing the stage with huge acts like the Allman Brothers and Kings of Leon — plus our fair share of lows.

But truthfully, playing in this band has almost always a dazzling, dizzying high, which has made these last five years probably the most rewarding, memorable experience of our entire lives. They will always be the “golden years” — the saccharine memories we’ll be telling our kids about over and over. For that, and well, for everything, we thank you.

From the first show, we have had supporters who weren’t merely fans of our music, but rather a close-knit and staunchly loyal group of friends. I’ve often remarked that Cassavettes feels like it has far more members than just Mike, Scott, Matt, and myself, which is exactly as it should be. Music is a communal experience, and we’re all experiencing this together. Your love and loyalty has buoyed us for five years. And that, my friends, is a great reason to celebrate.

Tomorrow, we will ring in five years on one of our favorite stages in the entire world, The Middle East Downstairs, with world-renowned talent, Heartless Bastards. We go on around 10 p.m. and our first 50 friends to visit our merch table will score a special five-year anniversary poster designed by Greg Klee. It’s going to be an event, that’s for sure. Click here for full details on the show.

We hope to see you tomorrow night, right where you’ve been for the last five years, singing along with us.

Much love,
Cassavettes

Hello Animal Friends,

To say thank you for five glorious years, we will be pressing and releasing a special gig poster (below) for our five-year anniversary at the Middle East Downstairs. The first 50 people through the door of the Middle East Downstairs on Saturday, July 17 can snag one of these babies, designed by our friend Greg Klee, for FREE. Just come visit us at the merch table. Here are the complete show details, and don’t forget to order your tickets in advance!

Poster designed by Greg Klee

Cassavettes Five-Year Anniversary Show w/ Heartless Bastards, The Builders and The Butchers, and Peter Wolf Criers

Middle East Downstairs, 472 Mass. Ave, Cambridge, MA

Saturday, July 17. Doors at 8 p.m.

We here at Camp Cassavettes like parties. We like celebrating birthdays and anniversaries and what not. So it makes sense that each July, we throw ourselves the biggest party of the year — a celebration of the founding of the band. Self-indulgent? Surely. A super-fun party? You bet.

This year’s edition — our FIFTH! — will be held at the Middle East Downstairs on Saturday, July 17 and feature the prominent national acts Heartless Bastards, The Builders and The Butchers, and Peter Wolf Criers. Advance tickets are available now! Get yours today, because, as I mentioned, this is one party you don’t want to miss!

Those NYC thug(s) who robbed us and smashed our van’s window last month don’t scare us! They can’t keep us away! Why else would we (foolishly?) head back just one month later? EXACTLY.

We’re playing an early set at Pete’s Candy Store (709 Lorimer Street, Brooklyn) this Saturday. 9 p.m. sharp is when we start. Hoping to hang with you!

• Directions to Pete’s Candy Store — official site
• Join the Facebook invite and invite your friends!

After more and more people began inquiring about the van break-in/robbery over the weekend in NYC, I figured I’d post this summary I sent to our friend Ryan (of Ryan’s Smashing Life). He has been a kind supporter, offering to help however possible. We appreciate all the support we’ve gotten so far. Just to fill you in, here’s what went down…

We played at Pete’s Candy Store in Brooklyn and afterward drove to a friend’s apartment about 3/4 mile away. We parked, admittedly in a sketchy area, and walked two blocks to his house. Upon arriving, I decided to go back to the van to check if it was violating any parking orders (last time we were in NYC we had some bad luck in this department). It wasn’t in violation, but I took note of the building across the street as it had all its windows missing (foreshadowing!) and considered moving the van closer to the party. In retrospect, I obviously wish I had…or left NYC altogether. But hindsight is 20/20. Anyhow, I returned to the party, which we stayed at for a very brief period (15-20 mins) before returning to find our back passenger side window smashed, and missing Scott’s bass and Matt’s kick pedals. Now, obviously this sucks for a variety of reasons, but we are fortunate that we 1) weren’t cleaned out entirely, 2) weren’t present at the time of the crime (who knows what would have happened? if they have the capacity to steal, they perhaps could harm in other ways) and 3) didn’t have the van stolen. So, it’s a good time to count our blessings. That isn’t to say we’re at all thrilled with what was lost: Scott just recently purchased that bass, at quite an expensive pricetag, to replace YET ANOTHER stolen bass. So, he is not feeling too great now. Furthermore, my van’s insurance doesn’t cover the instruments (only items “attached” to the car) nor does it cover the window, since they slyly priced it slightly under my deductible. Of the ladder, I am actually quite surprised and pleased, however, as I expected the window to be a $1,000+ job as most of the van’s expenditures have been as of late. Still, I’m paying for something I don’t want to, and money’s tight, so it’s just a bad situation. Either way, the only conclusion I can draw is that we did something to piss off the city of New York, as our last few trips have been an insane spiral of theft, parking tickets, towings, and what have you. All this after over four years of peaceful trips to NYC. What gives?

Anyhow, we’re still sorting it all out. Initially, I considered having some sort of fundraising effort to help pay off these accruing debts. Now I’m not certain if I want to do that. I think this is just an occupational hazard of being a musician, and frankly, we’re fortunate to not have endured a break-in until Saturday. And as I said, it could have been far worse. Truth is, I can’t think of what we could have done differently besides avoid the situation altogether, but how often is that going to happen? It’s a coin flip, really. Do I go to the party and risk getting robbed? Who would have known that was a distinct possibility? It’s NYC — of course you can get robbed at any time! So, the only thing I may do different is bring a big ole blanket around with us to throw over the stuff in the back, as to not have any shiny objects catch the eye of passersby. Even that seems like it could attract more attention (also, I don’t like this idea of always removing the instruments, because it’s A LOT of stuff — who shows up to a party for 15 mins with all their gear?). Finally, I think I will invest in ASCAP’s musical instrument insurance. Clearly, that would have been a good idea to have. Again, thoughts after the fact.

Hopefully we get the equipment and window replaced promptly (I can’t keep driving around with a cardboard window), and just put this whole ordeal behind us! We shall see.

The LSAT doesn’t scare me, but what it implies for the band does frighten me a little bit. I take the test in June. I would enroll in a law school (somewhere) next fall. I know that the demands of law school’s first year are so high, and that playing in this band simultaneously is nearly impossible. I also know that this plan may require a move. Does this all put an expiration date on the band? A ridiculously close expiration date? Well, I’m not giving up that easily, nor am I delaying my future. In fact, I think it should fuel us to work even harder than before. Look at it this way: We have one year to see how far we can get, and then re-evaluate (who knows what happens at that point? If things within the band are going great, then maybe I delay my first year — but it all depends on what we do now). That’s why my work ethic needs to change. That’s why we all need to recommit to the band. We owe it to ourselves and to each other. There’s a lot invested in this band, personally and financially, to not try to see what the potential pay-offs can be.

I suppose the good news about this LSAT prep class is that when I get busy, I keep myself even busier. This is true: the most productive years of my work in the band’s business side coincided with a hectic schedule of college classes, a part-time nights and weekends job, an unrelated editor’s job at the college paper, and, of course, the regular duties of a hard working, big dreaming rock band. This isn’t to say that my post-college life hasn’t been busy, but it hasn’t kept me fueled my passion in the same way. That’s for certain. If anything, I have just felt bogged down, and have found trouble mustering the mental energy to work my ass off again. Well, consider that changed.

This band needs to get back on track. That’s why on this day I’m blogging an original blog for the first time in months — not merely some show announcement or press release. The principles that we enacted very early on in this band seemingly worked: believe in yourself, in each other, in your hard work and, most importantly, put yourself in a position to succeed and see what comes of it. In this fickle industry, nothing is guaranteed. Talent and hard work are more often than not unrewarded. But that doesn’t mean you can’t try. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. Therefore, this is about getting the four members of Cassavettes back together.

This has been a difficult, weird few months and I think we all felt more estranged from each other, and our collective goals, than ever before. And it’s hurt us professionally. Despite putting out arguably our “best” work in November, we find ourselves at a crossroads just a half-year later. We started putting the pieces back together during our great SXSW trip this year, which was the result of a lot of hard work (by me, and by Creamer) and paid dividends interpersonally that I think we continue to enjoy. But a lot to needs to change still. We need to consistently play well — obviously, you may not play every note correctly, but that’s music. But we need to play for each other, and play for the band. The selfishness that hinders us is creeping back into our playing, and often makes me feel like this whole thing isn’t worthwhile. Anyone else? Playing these songs is about putting the song first, and everything and everyone else taking a backseat. We made considerable progress at that for awhile, but the problem is that bad habits sneak back in a lot. We need to get people excited about the band, and that starts with US getting excited about the band again. I’m there, and I trust that my cohorts can be as well. We need to diversify and show off our versatility at shows, if it’s indeed true that our live shows have grown stale. Fine. We need to increase our web presence, and also get back to the traditional means of promotion — word of mouth, flyering, flooding bloggers’ inboxes, Facebook invites. That’s how you get people through the door. That’s how you get people excited. It’s harder when you’re older, and out of college, of course, because there isn’t that “community” anymore. But it’s not impossible. We need to approach the schedule as a series of steps again instead of a random smattering of shows, as it has been. That one’s on me. I got it. We need to build up regionally, and the steps are being taken for that to happen. And finally, we need people to believe in us again. That’s the hardest thing to accomplish, but it comes from believing in ourselves. At one point, it was a top priority for me to have everyone who hung out with us and came to shows to feel connected to the band, as if they were in the band themselves. I think the fracturing within the band has led to a divide with our friends, fans, and audience. It’s not an impossible chasm to cross, but it will require another leap of faith. I’m willing to work for your trust again.

A lot of this is up to me, and I am willing to meet the challenge. But this is a band, and it’s not about what I do as an individual. It’s about how we work together, how we play together, how we dream together. Because this whole thing started as a dream. It’s time to start dreaming big again.