Touring USA
Hi there.
It seems like it’s been ages since I last wrote anything, but it’s only been a few months, as I have been on tour in the USA and am just about to go to Germany with my band The Hedrons (thehedrons.com).
Our North American jaunt started in Canada, where we performed at Canadian Music Week festival in Toronto at the Bovine Sex Club. Before we got there, we were all wondering what the venue would be like. It turned out not to be a pole dancing club, but actually a really cool venue. The gig was great and the audience were well up for it. Toronto was a great place, but so very, very cold! After this, we headed to New York to play at the Knitting Factory in Manhattan, and then at Galapagos in Williamsburg. These gigs were amazing. New York is one of my favourite places in the world. I feel at home here and also love the energy I feel when I walk down the street. We’ve just signed a record deal with 4 West Records (myspace.com/4westrecords) in the USA, so it was great to be able to perform in the label’s home city for them. We’re really excited that our album will be released in the USA on 1st May 2007.
We then flew to Austin, Texas, to take part in the wonderful SXSW Festival. We played four shows over two days, and had an absolute ball. The gigs were packed out and the buzz was immense!!!! Austin is such a cool, vibrant place. Just walking down the street inspired me. The weather was fabulous too, so we managed to catch some rays when we weren’t busy working. We got to see some other bands including Joan Jett, who was super cool. We met her afterwards and chatted about what it’s like to be in an all girl punk / rock band. She looked amazing. I hope I look as good as her when I’m that age.
After SXSW, we flew to Los Angeles to embark on a ten-day tour of California, starting at the Key Club on Sunset Boulevard!!! This was an amazing venue, as were all the venues we played at on this leg of the tour. We performed in San Diego, Orange Country, LA, ending this part of the tour with an outstanding gig at the Roxy!!!!! During our time in LA, we got invited to Warner Studios and ended up meeting Matthew Perry!! We were all just hanging about on the set of his new show, Studio 60, watching it being filmed, and there he was, saying hi to us – it’s bizarre where music takes you!!! We also got to walk around the set of ER!!!
Before heading back to Scotland, we went to New York to play two more shows at Pianos in Soho, and take part in New York Tartan Week. We were part of a fashion show called Dressed to Kilt, were we had to walk down a catwalk alongside other Scottish musicians / actors. It was such a laugh!!!! This is something that we have never done before, and never thought we would. We’re a punk rock band who love performing on a stage and rocking out, so walking down the catwalk made us nervous. Never the less, we got on that catwalk and strutted our stuff, with the help of course, of a few whiskies!!!! This was a great end to our first American tour. We’re hoping to get back over in the summer, so watch this space……
Our album has also been released in Japan on Star Mole Records, I really do hope we get to go there to perform, fingers crossed!!!!!
I’m having some time off just now before embarking on our first tour of Germany. The tour is part of the British Music Week in Germany (britishmusicweek.de) and we’re playing alongside some really hot new bands from Britain. So I better go and practise my German. Until next time…
Oh… if you’ve got time to kill, check out our Scottish Lessons on youtube, they’re so funny!!!! (youtube.com/watch?v=_b9nH61acrU)
Take care,
Tippi xxxxx
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