“Stratospheric” (the new video from Story of the Running Wolf)

The best thing on the internet just went live today. Hardy Howl Films presents this nostalgic gem for the LA duo Story of the Running Wolf. I’ve embedded the video below, but do yourself a favor and watch it in 720p full-size to enjoy all the glory of the especially well done film-to-video-transfer and 80’s-television-look goodness.

Story of the Running Wolf is Josh D’Elia and Jeffrey Chernick.  While other acts may be attempting a return to all things 80’s, D’Elia and Chernick do it with a precision and flair that leave all others in the dust.  Not only that, but they are not simply imitating the past with covers (like most 80’s-return bands trying to access via corny, clumsy comedy), but are instead writing their own original material that could easily and seamlessly mesh with any video line-up circa 1983 MTV.  Think Naked Eyes, Asia, A-Ha, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, New Order and you are on the path to Story of the Running Wolf.  These guys remind you what the 80’s was all about.  When you see and hear them one might first be tempted to cringe at just HOW MUCH 80’S they have conjured, but NO ONE who was alive in that decade can resist the mysterious day-glo neon and checkerboard-bad-3D-cool that some how sucks you in (because it IS cool whether you like it or not).

The video for “Stratospheric” is a mash-up of originally imagery in the style of The Never Ending Story (they made a freaking LUCK DRAGON!) and Labyrinth.  Let me just say that D’Elia as Bowie is spot on, but literally each and every visual element and piece of the story does it’s part to transport the viewer right back to a time when Aquanet was as ubiquitous as OP.

Even the motion logo at the beginning of the video got my pulse pumping with nostalgia.  The way D’Elia (who did much of the post work on the video) and Hardy Howl captured the “Sit, Ubu, Sit” and “Stephen J. Cannell Productions” feeling (remember the guy pulling the piece of paper from the type writer and flinging it into the air so it turns into the “c” of the logo?), right down to the warbly audio and cheesy-quasi-industrial video music queue, is just perfection.

Perhaps the best thing about this video, however, was how it transformed a room packed full of LA-hipster-douchebags at the Sayers Club in Hollywood last Saturday night into a screaming mob of 8-year-old little girls.  It was magical to see the mass of scarf-wearing (IT’S 90 DEGREES OUTSIDE!!!), pretentious a-holes drop their guards and literally scream with joy when the music started pulsing, the video rolled, and FREAKING FALCOR came flying across the screen.  Not even the scenester elite could deny the awesome.  The performance from Story of The Running Wolf that followed the video’s premier was nothing short of magical (and was mystically enhanced by the AMAZING and legendary sound system at the Sayers Club).

And kudos to the folks at Hardy Howl for bringing CUPCAKES to the event! The staff didn’t know what to do with themselves (the manager commented that no one had brought food to the club… ever) except abandon their reserved cool and climb aboard the life-sized Falcor that Hardy Howl brought to the club for PHOTO OPPS!!! Seriously… slutty club girls sans underpants with faces filled with a joy and innocence that would have brought tears to their daddies’ eyes.

If you EVER get a chance to see Story of the Running Wolf live, do NOT miss the opportunity. And if you can see them at the Sayers Club (this was their second performance at that venue), do anything and everything you can to hear them amplified by electronics that I can only assume involved some sort of pact with the devil.

A new album (including “Stratospheric”) is slated to drop in the near future, so for now you’ll have to sate your SOTRW hunger by downloading the single from iTunes and watching the video over and over and over again.

Alternatively, you can catch the tasty flava of Story of the Running Wolf in the remixes they’ve been doing at the behest of various bands on the LA Scene including an upcoming remix for Fitz and The Tantrums.

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So, evidently bands are still putting on shows...

Props to Of Montreal for rocking it 70's style.

(photo thanks to mattpicasso via Flickr)

Grammy... nomination concert? WTF?

As if the Grammy's aren't bad enough, last night they televised a Grammy Nomination Concert. Are you freaking kidding me?

And while I appreciated the humor in the Foo Fighters singing Carly Simon's "Your So Vain" (I looked it up on You Tube) it still sucked. Can you say "lackluster?"

And on top of all this, they aired the damn show during the only program we watch fairly religiously (Criminal Minds... you just gotta love Reed!). We'd been making fun of the Grammy Nomination Concert ads all week, but then when we turned on the t.v. to watch our show and found out that's when Garbagio Fantastico was airing... it was enough to make me gouge my eyes out.

Luckily I have regenerative powers like a Cheerleader.

p.s. Live DBi3 show at The Laughing Goat tonight in Boulder (17th and Pearl, 8pm, no cover). Drew Brightbill will be joining me on stage. Be there or be square! ...or something.

Devotchka Plays Live in a Snow Globe!

Yesterday E and I headed to Keystone for some winter fun time. I boarded while she hung out and read a book (she actually likes to do that sort of thing). Apres Ski (ooo, fancy!) we headed to Breckenridge and grabbed dinner at Modis. We just kind of stumbled onto the place, but it was actually great. Erika had the fish special and I had lamb. Maybe the best lamb I've had in a decade? Nice find. The ambience was pretty good too, and we were there early enough to avoid the wait (2 hours at 6:30p) and get a great table on a balcony overlooking the whole restaurant.

But here's the real fun: post noshing we heading back to Keystone to catch a free Devotchka show. It was fantastic. I was wondering how they were going to keep their instruments in tune, let alone keep their hands from freezing. I've played outside in the fall in the mid west, and that was bad enough. But to make things even more tricky, it starting blowing crazy snow right before the band took the stage. Blizzard type stuff. Devotchka plowed through (eh-heh-heh) and it was AMAZING. It looked like they were playing inside a snow globe. There was a three-person video crew, so hopefully they got the best concert footage ever. I captured a little bit of it with my digicam, but it of course doesn't do the event justice.

Super cool.

See another video with even better snow here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiOLsXf9ODs (don't forget to click "high quality")

For all you late night hep cats...

I'll be playing a late night set in Denver tonight.

Let's call it 'Round Midnight. I've been told that it'll be a little earlier than that, but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

So if you wanna catch some good singer-songwriter stuff in Denver tonight, Wednesday, November 12, come on down to the Meadowlark at 27th and Larimer. It's a great venue.

Artists take the stage at 9pm and cover is $6.

line up (in no particular order): Dan Beahm and the Invisible Three, Chris Nelson, Ryan Brackin, Erick Rudolph, Jimmers

Short Notice: DBi3 this Saturday in Denver

Just got added to an all ages show in Denver this Saturday, October 4, in Centennial at a place called LIFEspot. The show is a kick off for the tour of Jonathan Stark (Denver-pictured left) and The Jox (Kansas). Check out their music, I think you'll dig it.

Hope to see some of you out at the show!

I'm Playing a Show In Indy On My Birthday!

Well what do you know? Birdy's in Broadripple (Indianapolis) has been kind enough to host a Birthday Extravaganza Show on my birthday, October 21!

I can't wait to play for the home town crowd! Come on out and wish me a happy birthday (doors open at 8pm, but the place has food, so you can show up and grab a bite to eat with me before that).

I've put some calls out to old buddies in the area, so we'll see who joins the bill in the next few weeks.

Hope to see you there!

Last Night's Lack of WiFi vs. Tonight's Abundance of Fun

So anyone who tried to tune in last night was met with an annoying blank stare. Turns out The Meadowlark's WiFi was down. Bummer. Apologies. I taped the show, so hopefully we can get some of that footage up on YouTube soon.

Tonight, there will definitely be WiFi, so we'll try it again. Drangefest starts around 5p, but I don't imagine we'll play until later... I may just let the set up run, so feel free to check in anytime between 6p and 9p. You might just get a glimpse of the Drangefest Cornhole Championships!

I'll post highlights at a later date.

Rock.

The links again are UStream.tv and the window below.

Dan Beahm streaming live at 9pm Mountain Time!

Howdy, all. We understand The Meadowlark has wi-fi, so we'll be streaming the show tonight! Tune in by either coming back to this post and clicking below, or by finding us on UStream.tv.

You will have the joy of hearing/seeing the cello stylings of Talia Dicker. We've got some new songs to play, so it should be a good show!

Hope to see you tonight, even if you live fa', fa' away!

Cafe Semolino in Hays, KS

So Kansas is my favorite new state to gig in. The people are friendly and attentive, and it's extremely laid back.

Thanks to Brendan of Audio Spaghetti and Tapioca Booking for help setting up the show and making sure everything sounded good and ran smoothly.

Thanks also to the two ladies behind the counter for the delicious sandwiches and for introducing us to the dressing whose name I forget that is apparently only available in Kansas. Whodathunk Kansas had it's own state dressing?

Back home again in Champaign

It's always nice to be "home" again, and having lived in so many locales, it's easy to get that feeling in a lot of places. Last night back "home" was Champaign, IL. However, we played a venue that I had somehow missed during the years that I lived there. Mike 'n' Molly's was great. We played outside in the beer garden. Bob did a stellar job of running a really great sound system. We even had fancy lights! [smile] I'm not sure that I've ever heard "outdoor" music sound so fine. I'm sure that will be the best sounding show of the tour.

Not to mention having Talia back on board. Things always sound better with cello. Period.

I'm really looking forward to the first week of July when Talia is actually in Colorado with me, playing some shows and laying down tracks on two of the three upcoming Dan Beahm projects. Keep an eye on the Renaissance Boy Calendar to see when and where we'll be playing in Colorado.

It was grand to see all our Champaign-Urbana friends. Thanks to all who braved drinking on a school night to enjoy friendship and music in the beauty of Mike 'n' Molly's beer garden!

And thanks to Murph for being such a swell guy.

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The good people of Salina, KS

After last night's show, I can only hope that all of people of Salina, KS, are as good a folk as the people who populated the audience... a fine breed indeed. I felt like I was back in Indiana -so much warmth and generosity.

When we arrived at the venue (111 Ultra Lounge), I was a little worried by the lack of sound, which is to say that there was no PA. The issue was quickly resolved with a trip to the establishment's basement. "Should we call somebody to make sure it's OK to use this stuff?" I asked the bartender. So special thanks go out to Rich for letting me use his personal PA.

Extra-special thanks to John as well, for making sure there was a full house. It would have been an entirely different show had he not brought along so many people. Thanks so much, John. Hopefully we'll get to see you again soon. (John also negotiated the work for the show flier created by Jordan --so thanks again to John and also to Jordan).

So many new friends (that felt like family); I can't wait to get back to Salina for another show!

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We'll be streaming live on Thursday!

Thanks to the magic of the internets, even those of you who can't make it to Boulder, CO, will be able to watch the show at The Laughing Goat on Thursday, February 28th at 8pm Mountain Time.

Mark your calendars and make sure your hi-speed's working!

I'll be joined by my good friend Jeff Caylor. I'll probably open up with some acoustic stuff, then Jeff will play some of his tunes, then I plan on playing some louder stuff (perhaps even revisit some old DB3 favorites) and wrap up the whole shebang with the Amplifier "hits."

Or maybe we'll get there and just play whatever feels right. Either way, tune in and see what happens.

You can find the direct linke here:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/dan-beahm-and-the-invisible-three

Or you can come back to this post and watch in this window.




Or you can head over to the good people at Ustream.tv and search for "Dan Beahm."

That's three ways to make sure you see the show, even if you're in Timbuktu! Rock.

For those of you who are actually coming to the show, we'll have the brand new copies of Amplifier available, fresh from the factory. You'll be the first to see them.

See you Thursday!

Rockin' out at the coffee shop.

You gotta love second billing to the craft show.

Sweeeeeeet...

Comin' atcha live on the Internets!

Check it. I'm playing a show with my buddy Jeff Caylor this Friday, December 7, at a place called Nemo's in Colorado Springs. We'll be doing mostly stuff from his new album, Okay (I'm playing guitar, singing, jumping up and down, etc...), but I plan on interjecting a few tunes of my own into the mix (worry not --he's ok'd this).

Anyway... Jeff has set up a web stream for the event, so those of you 1500 miles away (or more) can watch the show live, streaming on the web.



You can come back here and watch the show on the screen above, you can go to Jeff's blog, or you can go to the site that is providing the service. Either way, 7pm MOUNTAIN TIME is going to get you a live show worth tuning in for.

Hope to see you there.

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Live Dan Beahm Ramones cover posted to MySpace

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Handclapper Dave recorded the WPGU live performance with his trusty boom box (circa 1987). After I figured out what the rectuangular plastic housing containing two wheels and a long string of dark ribbon was (a "cassette," it turns out), I converted it to MP3, and it's now posted on the MySpace page for your listening enjoyment.

Check it out.

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Surprises...

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Part of the fun of performing live music is all the surprises that come down the pike: what bands you get put on a bill with, where you play, what kind of crowd is at the venue, how the venue treats you, etc...

Last night we played a show at The High Dive in Champaign, IL. I thought it would be, as the name implies, kind of a dive. Wrong. It was actually one of the nicest places I've ever played. It was clean. It was well laid out (a large bar in-the-round that wraps around a two-story wall that divides the venue, stage and plenty of space on one side, lounge and booths on the other side, pool tables upstairs, large smoking deck out back). The lights were great and run really well (good balance between ambience and spots). And probably the best sound system I've ever heard in a place that size (probably around 500-600 capacity). There was great equipment, but the caliber of the audio was largely due to Jimmy, the sound guy. He really knew what he was doing. That was awesome. How many times do you tell the sound guy what you need in the monitor and he just says, "Sorry, can't do that." Not Jimmy. He pulls cords and makes it happen. And he actually spent time eq-ing the lows on Talia's cello to minimize feedback. Killer.

The other suprise was the "genres" of the other bands. Especially when you're new in town, you get put on bills that don't necessarily reflect the style of your music. Last night was one of those gigs. And I don't mean for that to come across as a bad thing. Sometimes it's really fun to get pushed out of your boundaries. You make new friends. You make new fans. It's part of the beauty of live music.

We opened the night to a pretty small crowd. That kind of comes with the territory of being the early evening opening act, but last night it was particularly bad as "unofficial" (a campus wide drinking holiday that the UIUC crowd really goes in for) did a number on our numbers. Anybody in the student crowd who would've been coming to see us play had likely started drinking at 9am, so were in no shape to walk, let alone get across town to the High Dive. But the sound was fantastic, we played a tight set, and those who were there really dug it (and Andy and Jodi finally made it out to a show!)... a great experience and one that I hope we can repeat on another night that doesn't conflict with the campus's largest drinking holiday.

After us was a band called The Fuz. They were definitely very, very "jammy." Their set lasted nearly an hour, and I think they played maybe five songs. But they were good at what they were doing, they were definitely having fun, and they brought out a good crowd that was obviously there to see them. It's been a while (the days of shooting photos for John Mullins Band) since I've been in that type of a patchouli/hemp fueled throng. ps The guitar player looks exactly like George Michael, Jason Bateman's character's son from Arrested Development.

The second band was the VilleBillies from Louisville, KY. I had heard a couple of their songs on MySpace, and I was thinking kind of "Kid Rock meets Limp Bizkit," but seeing them live caused me to rethink that. There were ten guys on stage. That in itself is a force to be reckoned with. They've got kind of a "southern rock with rap" thing going. To re-label the previous hybrid mentioned, I'd say they were more like a cross of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Eminem with a little Rage Against the Machine thrown in for good measure. And I actually mean that in a good way. They played music that had the "you must sing along" feel of classic southern rock, but the chest thumping crowd pumping drive of "new" rap. It really won the crowd over. I could see them totally ripping up a huge crowd at an outdoor festival. The bass player had a six string bass, and was definitely a driving factor in their music. They used a lot of loops and the drum machine, but the drummer kept it going throughout, and he was no slouch. Adam was probably my favorite. He played the acoustic guitar and the banjo, and definitely added the southern flavor to the stage presence. Not necessarily the kind of music I'd listen to at home, but damn they were fun in a club setting.

The last band was Eclectic Theory. You wouldn't believe me if I told you, so I'm just going to post a clip I video'd with my phone at the show (turn your audio way down; it's "concert volume" captured with a phone, so the audio is less than stellar).

Pics from The Canopy Club

Michael Davis just sent me a link to a couple of the photos he took at the CD release Feb. 11, at the Canopy Club. I love the fact that there's a band to look at. Thanks for snapping, Michael.

I haven't had a whole lot of time to record new music lately, as I'm trying to catch up on all the "money-making" that didn't happen while I was recording the album (http://www.waldenholdings.com/, http://www.acompleteseasonofsoccer.com/, etc...). The absence of writing music is killing me, but we've got a show March 2, at the High Dive, so that should help abate my woes.

Driving to Elmhurst Saturday morning, we took Lake Shore Drive and had Sufjan Stevens', Illinoise going on the iPod. The snow was tinkling down on an angry Lake Michigan. The waves, the grey, the city... it was gorgeous. How great that there's actually a soundtrack for that vision now. Thanks, Sufjan.

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The Illinois CD Release Show is set.

Well, the CD Release show is coming along nicely. The venue will be the Canopy Club on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus, and we're kicking off the new series "New Sound Sundays" on Sunday, Feb. 11.

We'll have a wonderful cello player (Talia Dicker), a killer drummer (Gordon Kay), and the lovely vocal harmonies of one David Ward (oohs-and-ahhhs).

The show starts early at 8:30pm, and it's only a buck, so even though it's a school night you've got no excuse for not being there.

Rock.

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