28 North Speaks

PACIFIC NORTHWEST

2012-01-10T16:58:00.000-08:00

Next stop was rainy, rainy, rainy Seattle, Washington. Yah, it rained. But, we had a superb time doing the touristy stuff like waltzing around Pike Street Market and visiting the Experience Music Project, a most excellent museum located at Seattle Center near the Space Needle. The building itself is a massive, labyrinthine, sculptural composition designed by Frank Ghery.

Immediately upon walking inside, Ghery's unique architectural style is eminent. The centerpiece of the main lobby is occupied by a tornado of guitars, bass guitars, and miscellaneous drums. Some of the instruments contain automated playing devices. The museum consists of two themes: music and science fiction. There is a wonderful portion exhibiting the history of guitar which contains many rare relics of this mystical instrument, including Jimi Hendrix's legendary white Stratocaster which he used at Woodstock. There's also a section dedicated to the music scene of the Pacific Northwest as well as an interactive area, tons of Hendrix shit, and plenty else to preoccupy one's rainy self on a rainy day.

We enjoyed visiting the Troll under the bridge in the bohemian atmosphere of Fremont. When visiting this ominous under-dweller you will notice that he is grasping an old Volkswagen Bug in the crushing grip of his left hand. And of course, we visited Jimi’s grave, and Jon did his thing as always. It is quite the vibe in Seattle, we dug it.

DOWN THE 101

2012-01-09T16:11:00.000-08:00

After our Seattle experience it was time to make our way south back to Los Angeles. We took the opportunity to make a trek down the 101 freeway through some of the most stunning natural beauty this great country has to offer. First, the rocky cliff coast of Oregon. We spent our time driving and stopping sporadically to take pictures and soak up the incredible sights.

We stopped in a small town called Newport, Oregon for the night. We were welcomed and joined by very kind, hospitable Oregonians. We performed at the open-mic night at the Café Mundo and proceeded to get appropriately drunk.

Onwards, our journey brought us through Northern California and the majestic Redwoods. And wow, what an amazing experience it was to mingle with these coniferous giants in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park. And mingle we did, for amongst these botanical beasts, one feels immersed in a mysterious community of aged spirits. The air feels calm yet intense around you and it reeks of wisdom. But esoteric rambling aside, this is an area of the country which is a must experience for anyone who has not been here.

At this point we had used up all the time we had for gallivanting and it was time to get back to L.A. for the completion of our recording. We had an incredible winter vacation that we will remember forever. Cheers to everyone and the New Year, let's make it the best yet!

A LITTLE WINTER VACATION

2012-01-09T15:29:00.000-08:00

We have been living in Los Angeles since July. There is only so much incredible weather that you can tolerate right? So naturally we decided to point our compass north and head to some of the coldest places with the shittiest weather in the country. Granted, it has been, so far, one of the worst snow seasons in the past many years for most mountain towns, so our dose of weather was considerably tame.

Our trek to Missoula was packed with gorgeous scenery, especially through Idaho, where we did encounter a snow storm for a stretch. Fortunately, this was the only real storm we had to endure. The only other "obstacle" we ran into involved waiting for a herd of cows to clear the road, unless you consider keeping our eyes on the road instead of distracted by the surrounding beauty, an obstacle. We stopped in Jackpot, Nevada for the evening and had an authentic night of tomfoolery in this gambling ghost town.

Missoula’s environment was brimming with beauty; rugged yet serene, with rolling hills and rivers. We enjoyed hiking around the parks on our time off. We began our 2012 with a gratifying dose of J.J.’s chicken-fried steak from the Oxford Café. Most everyone has indulged in chicken-fried steak and certainly nearly all meat-eaters are privy to the excellence of the greasy, fried awesomeness that is the chicken-fried steak. But you haven't had one this incredible, unless you've been to the Oxford in Missoula. It's a monstrous treat that could only be forged by the appetites of the robust. Among other activities we did to kill time was a healthy dose of billiards. None of us are any good, maybe lucky sometimes. And we had to pay a few fines according to the rules clearly stated at the bar.

Stay in tune for more about our trip down the coast.

NEW YEARS IN MONTANA

2012-01-06T21:19:00.000-08:00

We had a grand ole time ringing in 2012 in Missoula, Montana at the Top Hat. We received a warm welcome and were provided a most excellent night of partying for our first time through this beautiful town. We can’t wait to come back. Thanks to Ian and all at the Top Hat for taking care of us. Happy New Year!!

In The Studio with David Kershenbaum

2011-12-28T15:27:00.001-08:00

Oh how we love the studio, one of our favorite places to be. And it's even better when we get to record our best batch of new songs with the legendary producer David Kershenbaum. It's been two days in the studio now and everything is rolling along as smooth as pie. Our experience in pre-production rehearsals informed us of the inspired, clear vision that David possesses and our time in the studio instantly made us aware of his impeccable ear. The groove is alive in his mind, his ability to immediately recognize the smallest details and quickly edit them is unbelievable.

The studio where we have been working is Matt Sorum's (Guns 'n Roses, Velvet Revolver) Drac Studios in West Hollywood. It's a beautiful spot with a vast assortment of drums, amps, guitars, and all the outboard audio gear you would ever want. Ty was in heaven just oogling at the all the incredible snare drums available, and Mike thoroughly enjoyed the Guns 'n Roses themed pinball machine. A couple of adorable little dogs keep us company too.

All in all, the songs are grooving, thumping, and shining like funky acrobats in suits of polished armor. We cannot wait to share these new tunes with all of you and we'll keep you in the loop.

Pre-Production with David Kershenbaum and Mitch Perry

2011-12-10T15:31:00.000-08:00

In the past weeks we have been diligently rehearsing the songs we plan to record this winter under David Kershenbaum’s (Duran Duran, Tracy Chapman, Joe Jackson, Bryan Adams, Supertramp, Cat Stevens) direction. Mitch Perry (Cher, Edgar Winter, MIchael Schenker Group, Deep Purple), David’s right hand man and guitar extraordinaire, has been assisting us with crafting these songs into finely tuned, bastions of fortress 28 North. Every little detail is being intricately analyzed in order to serve the essence of these songs. Reworking, repeating, and reconstructing until nothing else makes them better is our main objective.

Up to this point the focus has been on individual instrument parts and simultaneously the dynamic arc of each song. We began, on Mitch’s insistence, by having the guitar sounds stripped down to their barest form: no pedals, minimum reverb (you can never have no reverb), in general no additives that can potentially “cheesify” (definition below) a song. One by one and little by little, the effects were added which were considered intrinsic to the emotional landscape of the tune. In result, Mike and Taylor have removed much clutter from pedal-world and purified their tones into wailing angels of six-string glory.

Ty and Jon have been approaching drums and bass parts with similar intent. For this the respective instruments are isolated, the drum part being stripped to only the kick and snare drum pattern. After insatiable looping of the parts and cutting and adding we will have the rhythms sealed tight as a drum (pun intended as always should be, or was that just a play on words, I'm not sure). The same applies to the guitar parts, which are given the surgeon’s knife treatment. With each song there have been endless stops and starts and looping and deliberating with David. We absolutely adore working with David and Mitch. They have both contributed to vastly improving our songs already in these early stages and we cannot wait to share these beautiful compositions.

Overall we have probably played these songs approximately a bajillion times in the last month. It is actually quite draining work and we will continue until our songs are ready to present to the world, which won’t be too much longer.

*Cheesify (cheez-uh-fye) - to purposefully or inadvertantly produce something of substandard

Pink's

2011-11-15T13:51:00.000-08:00

In continuation of informing you of our questionable gastronomic adventures, we hereby offer you Pink's Hot Dogs. Yes, another classic Los Angeles staple in the late night eatery and unhealthy, novelty food category.

Starting as a mere hot dog cart by Paul and Betty Pink in 1939, Pink's is now a famous location in Hollywood. The Great Depression rendered most with tight purses and light wallets, but a chili dog with mustard and onions could be purchased from Pink's for just ten cents. Over 70 years later, Pink's is still going strong with long lines out front every day. Pink's now has a location in Las Vegas and Pink's hot dogs are also sold at Cedar Point amusement park (hell yah!) in Sandusky, Ohio.

Pink's menu is chock full of artery clogging, indulgently attired items such as the bacon chili cheese dog, the mushroom Swiss dog (grilled mushrooms, mayo, Swiss cheese, what!?), and the epic Three Dog Night (3 hot dogs, 3 slices cheese, 3 strips bacon, chili, onions, wrapped in tortilla, wow). Adorning the walls of the dining area are many signed photos of celebrities, some of which have signature dogs named after them. The Martha Stewart Dog is a 10" dog with relish, onions, bacon, chopped tomatoes, sauerkraut, and sour cream. The Ozzy (Osbourne) Spicy Dog has nacho cheese, American cheese, grilled onions, guacamole, and chopped tomatoes. Nutritious and fun, right? It's like our manager Jerry Heller says, "I used to go to Pink's all the time in college. You go get a chili dog at three am, get sick, and go home."

Philippe's!!

2011-10-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles has much to offer in the category of cuisine and dining. A place where people migrate to follow dreams and revolutionize history with gastronomic creations. You can find just about anything that suits your fancy; from sushi to In-N-Out Burger, and tacos to Thai.

So in Chinatown, one would naturally think Chinese cuisine to be the standard fare (and it is). But there is one place that stands out, boldly serving up what it claims to be the original French dip roast beef sandwich. That place is Philippe's. Since 1918, this famous establishment has been serving this staple of lunch time fare to citizens and visitors of downtown Los Angeles. Another restaurant, Cole's Pacific Electric Buffet in Los Angeles, also claims to have started the trend of the French dip, but that's another story and another lunch.

Philippe's is a must for any fan of the French dip. The only mistake I made was not getting the "double dip", which I plan on getting next time as this is definitely a place to revisit. And the hot mustard is unbelievable.

Happy B-day Ty @ San Diego Zoo

2011-10-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

We took the day off on Ty’s birthday to visit the San Diego Zoo. The polar bear showed some love, Jon got real friendly with a statue, and we discovered that Jaguars eat ribs very rare. Totally epic zoo. In fact, the best zoo. Other highlights include the tacos in San Diego. Happy Birthday Ty!

Fall Tour: Young the Giant in Denver

2011-10-27T12:10:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic fall tour through the desert and mountain regions this month. There were stops in Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Aspen, and two shows in Denver. It all started with Taylor’s 21st birthday in fabulous Las Vegas. It was our first experience taking on the challenge of rocking Sin City, we did not fail. Vegas was a blast and Taylor’s birthday was spent amid the lights and swagger that are sure to remain happy, yet slightly blurry memories for a lifetime. After Vegas we went off to Salt Lake City, Utah. The drive was gorgeous and the city was warm and welcoming. Another first time city for us, we had a great show at which we made many new friends and fans. Special thanks to Matteo for taking care of us, hope to roll through again soon. The following day was off for us so we stopped to visit friends in Carbondale, Colorado. A day off in the Rockies amounts to a heavenly experience; beautiful scenery, hiking, and rafting on the Mighty Colorado River. Next stop on the tour was Aspen, Colorado. Again, it was another new town for us, but not to worry, we discovered this beautiful Rocky Mountain town is abound with enthusiastic music appreciators. We were also very fortunate to share the stage of the beautiful venue Belly Up with two fantastic bands: Chamberlin and St. Bernadette. The venue was truly one of the best we’ve ever experienced. After Aspen it was time to hit Denver for a huge sold out show at The Bluebird with Young The Giant. All we can say is wow. We had an incredible night at another fantastic venue with a stellar band. It was truly an honor to share the stage with such a talented group of young guns who are taking the world by storm. It was truly an epic night. The following day we took a trip up to the stunning Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado to soak in what is touted as the best venue in the entire world.

The tour ended with another show at Denver’s Larimer Lounge. It was great to see repeat customers from the previous night’s show amidst friends and fans. Denver is, like all of Colorado, a place where music is consumed with great appetite and appreciation. We can’t wait to return, rest assured it will not be long.

On a more scary note, during our ride back to California we had the exhilarating experience of a tire popping off of our van on I-70 just outside of Grand Junction, Colorado. At around the 3 am, those sleeping were jolted awake by a sudden POP and a resulting grinding noise accompanied by a sliding, skating sensation. Fortunately there was no surrounding traffic as it was the middle of the night, so the van was safely guided to the shoulder where we stepped out to investigate. As you can guess we were baffled to see the left rear tire….missing. Overall we were extremely lucky to be just outside Grand Junction and not in the middle of an isolated pass through the Rockies. More luck was encountered when the van was able to be repaired next morning in the matter of a few hours. Overall the tour was a great success and a lot of fun.

Moving Out – 28 North Style

2011-10-20T13:57:00.000-07:00

As those of you who have been following us know, amid much anticipation and excitement, we are officially moving out to Los Angeles to immerse ourselves fully in the left coast music scene. While we are ecstatic about this, and feel like we’re riding high on a wave of amazing possibility, it is not without much nostalgia and heartache that we are leaving our hometown – Pittsburgh, PA. Pittsburgh, the three-rivered jewel of the rustbelt is a blue-collar paradise – one of the last bastions of urban virility where a yinzer can wag his mullet with pride, gloatingly point out to house guests a framed photo of his deck hockey team hoisting the over-30 league trophy, and wear his Penguins jersey to work at least once a week. We love it and we’re going to miss the hell out of it.

Along with saying so long to our amazing fans and friends in the Burgh, we had to vacate our long time home in Shaler. The six and a half years of our rock and roll residence has left us with a Hoarders-worthy accumulation of stuff: instruments, furniture, computers, glasswear, and even the occasional guy on the couch who invariably overstayed his welcome (seriously Stewart, we’re moving to LA and you have to go home).
The sensible thing may have been to call over friends, girlfriends, family and anyone else who might help and to go through our belongings savoring the memories and sorting the things we’d keep from the things we’d donate. But shit man, we’re musicians and the veneer of dirt, ash, and beer that coats everything and smells like something we call ‘home’ is enough to suggest that Goodwill would consider our donation an insult and sense fled this house long ago like one of those True Blood vampires when Sookie says “you aren’t welcome in my house”.
No, we approached the problem in a way that would make our Yinzer brethren proud: we rented a big-ass dumpster, put the Iron Maiden album on repeat, and threw everything we had away. I know what you’re thinking, but take comfort friend – we carefully set aside anything heavy and glassy enough to be smashed, fired up the Flip cam and indulged our destructive impulses. Mike’s old desk that he had been pledging to clean out for five years – screw it dude, smash it. The once-white couch, now piss-colored and reeking of Floyd and vagrancy – smash it. The massive rear-projection television – SMASH IT! Indulge your own inner-Neanderthal and check out the video below.

KTLA Channel 5 Morning Show

2011-10-20T13:48:00.000-07:00

We had a great experience playing on KTLA Channel 5′s Morning Show. What a perfect way to kick off Mike’s birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!!

Thank you to all who tuned in. For those of you who missed it, check out the interview and performance below:

INTERVIEW

SURRENDER

2011-08-30T15:33:00.001-07:00

Last night we went to a party at our friend Ronnee Blakley’s house. Upon arriving, Rick immediately dove into the pool, and we went directly into the fridge to become familiar with the alcohol situation (Tecate and tequila…nice!). Ronnee asked us to play a few, so we busted our ‘wandering minstrel’ set-up. There was no shortage of musicians in the house, and on a break many a talent would use our gear. Chad Watson played Jen (The P-Bass) on a stirring rendition of “You Ain’t Going Nowhere”. At one point, while I was enjoying a libation on a recently broken lawn-chair, Mike rolls up, all excited: “Do you see who’s playing my guitar?” With a glance, I saw it was Rusty Anderson, a man who helps Sir McCartney facilitate all those great songs by that one band…The Beatles. Before I could finish another sip, Mike and Rusty were playing “Across the Universe” and trading original songs. The party focused on the duo with rapt attention – it was the musical high-water mark for the boozy night. Mike is now Rusty’s sub in case he ever has to skip a gig with Sir Paul.

Practice, Practice, Practice

2011-08-30T15:29:00.001-07:00

So living in an RV just north of the Angeles National Forrest is not exactly conducive to a rehearsal space. Seeing as we would all go insane without playing our instruments and as we are genuinely dedicated to keeping our performance well oiled and squeaky clean, a place to practice for us is essential. We have been extremely fortunate to find just what we needed at the Guitar Center Studios in Woodland Hills, CA. This beautiful facility houses dozens of practice rooms for either individual instrument practice or full band rehearsals. So for the past few weeks we have frequented this wonderful practice spot to keep our chops in check and to work on new material. The equipment that is provided in each room is top notch and the entire facility is run smoothly and professionally. We are even able to record our practice session directly to a CD. Huge thanks to the staff at Guitar Center Studios, you’ve been a great help to us! Instrument lessons are also available at Guitar Center Studios, and it just so happens that the director of guitar teaching is a guy named Adrian Galysh. Oddly enough, Adrian is a fellow Duquesne University music school graduate and we met him randomly at one of our shows at Harper’s. He was a very nice guy and we hit it off right away, small world after all.

Los Angeles

2011-08-13T12:48:00.001-07:00

We're very happy right now.

28 North Tour Wrap-Up

2011-04-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Pittsburgh!! Yes, 28 North is finally home from our six week-plus tour. We had an incredible journey through this beautiful country of ours. Viewing glorious landscapes and meeting wonderful people was the story of our lives for the past month and a half, not to mention playing music every night. It can be said, without a doubt, that this tour has been our absolute best experience on the road of the past four years. The mission of promoting our new album, A Long Walk Home, was a complete success made possible by the vigorous support of all the beautiful people that came to our shows. It was a wild ride through many regions of our handsome country; from the east coast to the Rocky Mountains. Thanks to everyone that gave us love along the way!

Our last week on the road consisted of shows in St. Louis, St. Charles, IL, Indianapolis, and Chicago. Our appetite for performing seemed to increase with every one of these shows, each night felt more lively and exciting than the last. Whether this was a result of anticipating our homecoming, or an aversion to the inevitable sad ending, or a combination of both; we had an absolute ball during these last four shows. The Atomic Cowboy in St. Louis was a pleasurable new venue for us with great sound. Playing with our friends Alabaster Brown was a gas as always. The House Pub in St. Charles, IL was fantastic, it's always wonderful to see our friends from Train Company in that neck of the woods. In Indianapolis, at the Rock House Cafe, our set reached a new level of depth and maturity; much thanks to our extremely appreciative and tenacious fanbase in Indy. And finally, The Elbo Room in Chicago was a treat to play as it always is. It was certainly our best night yet at the Elbo Room and we can't wait to get back and visit our favorite venue staff! And thanks so much to everyone who has graciously posted on our Facebook wall, you make us all blush!!

So 28 North is home for a while, but busy we shall remain. We have recording projects, a lot of writing and rehearsing to do, and not to mention more shows!! In the coming months we will be playing regionally at some of our favorite spots. Check out our schedule at 28North.net. So take care and we'll see you soon!!

Until next time,
Ty

28 NORTH UPDATE

2011-03-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the road! As I write, 28 North is currently cruising on I-70 West towards our next destination: St. Louis. We are heading out of Colorado where we had a beautiful experience in the Rockies. Our shows were fantastic in Denver and Boulder. I have been hearing word for years about the kindness and appreciation of music that Colorado's inhabitants possess and these expectations were most certainly fulfilled. Our tour has brought us from the East Coast, down through the Southeast, then West to our current location. It's been an incredible five plus weeks of traveling, playing music, and meeting new friends and fans.

HIghlights include playing favorite venues such as The Grape Room in Philly and Arlene's Grocery in NYC, meeting lots of new people in new cities like Tom's River, NJ; Hagerstown, MD; and Pittston, PA. Playing with European meatal bands in Wilmington, DE was an unexpected pleasure, immersing ourselves in the fabulous songwriting community of Nashville was a treat as always, connecting with old friends in Baltimore and Washington D.C. felt great, playing with The Silver Comet while revisiting one of our newer favorite venues, Smith's Olde Bar, in Atlanta was fantastic, basking in the phenomenal sound stage at Outer Banks Brewing Station was wonderful, sharing the bill with Protomen at The Live Bar in Greenville, NC was truly exciting, witnessing the glorious harmonies of Pearl and The Beard at Houston's Super Happy Fun Land was enchanting, and playing at Birmingham's The Nick was an authentic, old-school, rock club evening. On top of all that we had a magical night in New Orleans (best city in the country) packed with authentic swagger in the form of music, food, attitude, and general merriment. Playing at Checkpoint Charlie's on the border of the French Quarter is one of our absolute favorite experiences. (see below for some cool New Orleans vids)

Here we get to Austin, and the world renowned South-by-Southwest Music Festival. This portion of our trip is deserving of its own paragraph and simply two words: Wow. Wow. We spent a beautiful week in Austin soaking up the sun, the music, the fine Mexican cuisine from taco trucks, and general madness amongst other things. As you may have heard, we were blessed to have the opportunity to play the Spin Magazine party at Austin's legendary Stubb's BBQ. It was a dream come true to share the bill with such talented and relevant artists like TV On The Radio, The Kills, OMD, Skrillex, The Vaccines, The Smith Westerns, Electric Child, Dom, and Young the Giant. We had an incredibly fun time at this show; there was dancing, laughing, networking, all the great activities that go on during SXSW. Our second show was at the Chuggin Monkey on E 6th St. where the heaviest foot traffic and craziest action tends to happen. Every store front has music pouring out of its windows and patios all day long during the week and fortunately we were able to coax passersby into the Chuggin Monkey for a kick ass set that surely won't be forgotten by the packed crowd that we performed for. Other highlights in Austin include catching Middle Brother's set (best show of the week in my opinion) at Auditorium Shore, getting to see Raphael Saadiq (big fans) and The Questions at Stubb's, and watching our friends Hollis Brown and Courtesy Tier play at the beautiful sounding Belmont. Overall, SXSW is an unforgettable whilrwind of an experience that you MUST have in your life. I strongly urge anyone that has not been to plan on it for the future.

Well, that's all for now, we've got shows in St. Louis, Chicago, and Indianapolis to round out this extensive six week plus tour. Come check us out if you are in one of these areas, we are supporting a new record, A Long Walk Home, slated for release in early May, but you can purchase it from us at our shows currently! You will also here a lot of this new material performed live if you can make it to any of these last few shows, so don't miss out!!

Thank you to all who have supported us on this tour and made the time to appreciate our art, you make it possible for us to do this!!

Until next time,
Ty

Feb 18th The Grape Room

2011-02-20T13:19:00.000-08:00

The Grape Room
Philadelphia, PA

We spent the day outside of Philly at Jon’s parents’ house. It was quite a relaxing day. Jon’s mom made us breakfast and some of us went to guitar Center to get some new gear. While in there, we were spotted by some people who knew our band, which made us feel ultra famous! We told them about the show at the Grape Room later that night and went back to Jon’s dads. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, t-shirt weather in the middle of February. We unloaded the entire van and spent a few hours revamping our pedal boards, this means zip ties and patch cables. It is such a great feeling to have your gear working properly, as nothing is as quite as frustrating as when you’re at a show and your gear just stops working, trust me! But with my new set up, this should be happening less. We got all dolled up and drove the 35-minute drive to Manyunk. The first thing we did, after congratulating Scooter, the manager of the Grape Room, on becoming a father of twins, was try and park the van in one of those spaces that seems too small to parallel park in, but tenacity will tell you differently. We ended up squeezing in the space with just enough room, but we forgot to factor in the fact that opening the back of the van is very important when unloading gear. But it just meant waiting a little longer to load in. We checked out the bands, the first was Chris Piola. Opening the night was a solo artist who had a great Jeff Buckley vibe going on, really great songwriter and singer. After that was a band with lots of synth pop going on. Following them, Brooklyn band the Energy rocked the crowd with their Killer’s type sound mixed with some 90’s pop. Good band. With the crowd foaming at the mouth, 28 North took the stage. Great vibe going on too, a lot of eagerness for the Philly fans to hear our new guitarist, Taylor Netzler.
Set List:
Clockwork
Trails
Call me Up
Two Hearts
The Shine
Dreams
Sneaky Woman
Pride
Brother
Panic
Home Side Up
Set it Down
What You Get

Encore:
Baba O’Riley
Travellin’

We closed the night and had a great response from the crowd. They always bring their dancing shoes and make us feel very welcome in the City of Brotherly Love. Come to think of it, this was the first time we didn’t get cheese steaks after a Philly show. And for the record, some of us like Pat’s and some of us like Geno’s, but we all know Jim’s is the best! We went back to Jon’s parents’ house and passed out after a job well done1

We got nothin’ but love!
28 North

Tom's River, NJ

2011-02-18T10:20:00.001-08:00

The first tour date of the 'Long Walk Home' winter tour is in the books. The place was called McIntyre's and was a big old Irish bar about 20 miles from the Jersey Shore (Situation). We walked in after long drive from Pittsburgh and immediately made ourselves at home at the bar. The day was filled with preparation for the tour and we were ready for a beer and some music. The first band wad a local Indie rock band that brought the passion and culminated with their drummer removing his shirt. The second band was called Accidental Seabird and they were pretty Rad. Like a psychedelic version of the Fleet Foxes. After they tore the house down and the crowd calmed down from a blistering jukebox box rendition of 'Love Shack', 28 North hit the stage. Before the performance, the MC of the night, Brandon Hans, rocked some acoustic songs solo, until We were set up and joined him on a blues original called "Tranquillizer". After an epic blues ending, we began our set.

Pride
Dreams
Sneaky Woman
Clockwork
Panic
Take What's Mine
Trails
What you Get

Encore - I Want It That Way (in the van)

Good night..good people..we drove two hours post gig to Colman's parents house. Arriving around 4am, trying to be quiet, we proceeded to come within seconds of burning their house down. We put a backpack on the fireplace...too bad it was on. Thank the lord for barking dogs.

On our way to Guitar Center. Rocking The Grape Room in Philly tonight!

Nothing like a Situation at the Jersey Shore.

Peace out
28 North

Taylor Netzler joins 28 North

2011-02-06T12:15:00.001-08:00

After five incredible years, Alex Stanton has decided to leave 28 North. The decision came as a surprise, but Al feels the need to go and experience something other than music for awhile. We sincerely wish him all the best and will always appreciate the unwavering contribution he had supplied over the years, not to mention his talent and his constant ability to make us laugh...Salute!

But as one door closes, another opens, and no more than two weeks after Al's departure, we told Cleveland native and Waterband guitarist Taylor Netzler of the news, and Taylor immediately showed interest in joining the 28 North family. We sent Taylor the records, he learned them and drove to Pittsburgh with his guitar. I'm happy to report that within two minutes of playing "Pride" together, we knew he was an absolute prefect fit. Taylor will be touring with us and we couldn't be more excited to show you all the incredible guitar wizardry he posseses.

Much love, see you on the road!
Michael, Tyler, Jonathan, and Taylor.

www.28north.net for a Free Download of 'Call me Up'.

And check out the tour dates leading up to SXSW!

Winter Tour Recap!

2010-12-15T07:52:00.000-08:00

Greetings again to all of you faithful, loyal fans!

We have just concluded a short winter tour, trekking from east coast shows in Philly, New York City, and Boston, to midwest venues in Barberton, Ohio (outside Akron), Indianapolis, St. Charles, Illinois, and Chicago. It was cold out there, but we were anxious to hit the road again after our month-long residency in New York City. Our time there provided a period for song-writing incubation and an opportunity to marinade our performing abilities. It was exciting to bring our newly-nurtured skills to some of our favorite audiences: the shows were fantastic, and we had a great time playing both the new record material and many of our older songs. After recalculating the importance and meaning of our songs, and the art of songcraft in general, it feels as though our catalogue has attained a seasoned maturity. We look forward to a new year in which to present our latest and refined inventory, and to further cultivate its maturation.

Our new record, still untitled, has entered its last phase of the mixing/editing process. We intend to sign off on our final cut by the end of this week, and then proceed into the ever-nebulous mastering stage. It takes a true audio specialist to provide the finishing sheen that a master recording possesses, and we look forward to working with the industry's finest during this intricate process.

We also have a rough draft of the album's artwork, which we will be discussing and revising over the next three weeks to establish a visual product reflecting the character of this collection. After that, it goes to print, onto shelves, and into your ears! All in all, we have roughly a month and a half of work to do on this album, our anticipation growing stronger with every day.

For the time being, you can find us in RELIX Magazine's December issue! We are extremely proud and excited to be featured in "On The Verge:" a section dedicated to profiling new and diverse musical acts. The magazine is distributed nationwide, so pick up a copy before it's too late! Their website also features an exclusive video of 28 North live in the studio from Brooklyn, NY. Find it here!!

In other news, we will be performing at the WDVE Christmas Show Live with Jim Krenn and Randy Baumann in Pittsburgh, PA this Thursday December 16th. The show takes place downtown in Market Square starting at 7 pm, and will be broadcast on the WDVE morning show the following (Friday) morning. Don't miss out on our second annual appearance at this fantastic even, which also includes Pittsburgh greats Donnie Iris, Joe Grushecky, Scott Blasey of The Clarks, and many more! See you Thursday night, Pittsburgh!!!

Love,
28 North

2010-03-30T07:29:00.000-07:00

Hey ya'll!!
We are back
Starting later haha

Facebook | Tia Bright

2009-11-16T13:08:00.000-08:00

Facebook | Tia Bright: "hey"

Hey!

Fun w Dewey beach

2009-10-04T14:29:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who came and saw/met us at the Dewey beach conference this weekend. We're still on our way back to the burgh and crapped out from this awesome time. Check out the new 28north.net for some pics and behind the scenes videos from our up coming rockumentery.
We saw some awesome bands down there; Filligar, Lowercase Blues, the Shells and more, We also had about the most fun that can be had with a bullhorn, a camera crew, guitars, a 3 foot shark, and some oncoming traffic. Thanks for eveyone that come to check us out. Hope to see some of you at the 8x10 in baltimore next week!

2009-07-07T16:49:00.001-07:00

I'm so mung
Tell you all about it
I'm so mung
Tell you how to shout it

-- Post From the Road

Pitstop

2009-07-07T06:44:00.000-07:00

I herd somewhere that NASCAR drivers go through more gas in a race then we do in a year. Maybe that's all the drivers in one race compared to one persons yearly guzzlage, or maybe it's hogwash. We're getting ready to leave on leg two of our tour after a seriously relaxing break (only two gigs in four days at home!). From here on it's all uncharted territory so we're pumped for new adventures, meeting new people and bands, and planting our flag in new places including our arguably too friendly neighbors to the north. We'll have some awesome pictures from the firelighting at Farm Jamma Lamma up soon at the brand new myspace.com/28norththeband soon so check it out and look forward to hearing from us.

-- Post From the Road

Utica new York

2009-07-01T10:12:00.001-07:00

-- Post From the Road

Big dog

2009-06-30T17:24:00.001-07:00

You can't really tell how big he is, but rest assured he's big. Thanks to everyone who came and checked out our hot topic show ion outside providence!

Post From the Road

2009-06-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

Can never get enough of these.... Jon Colman for your enjoyment

2009-06-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

Here are three 28 North favorites from 2008's Mystery performed live at The Scarlet And Grey Cafe in Columbus, Ohio last Saturday. We're going to be uploading more of these as the tour goes on, and including new songs, obscure songs, and songs from our upcoming record, enjoy!

Turn:

Nothings Wrong:

One or the Other:

Morgantown

2009-06-22T12:44:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone who came out to club octane to rock it with us on a Sunday night. Again not quite the setlist we ended up playing but who cares?
Later to day we are going to be posting some recordings from the first week of tour, a 28 north speaks exclusive, hand written, performed, recorded, mixed, and uploaded from us to you. Check it out.

-- Post From the Road

2009-06-20T23:46:00.001-07:00

Scarlet and grey cafe in Columbus Ohio setlist, as initially invisioned, actually show differed greatly.

-- Post From the Road

Picnic tables need love too

2009-06-20T19:15:00.001-07:00

That's hot

Cleveland: rocked, stickered

2009-06-20T09:45:00.001-07:00

Driving between Cleveland and Columbus, ripping the shit out of 2000 stickers. Why do these things come in rolls? And why didn't we pay the 50 bucks to have them cut? It is strangely satisfying however. Ask for one when you see us!

-- Post From the Road

And they're off

2009-06-19T12:29:00.000-07:00

The ship has sailed, and the 2009 28 North summmer tour is officially under way. Look forward to some inspired hijinks, less than practical jokes and interesting musical exclusives to appear here shortly.

-- Post From the Road

Nice Little Saturday

2009-03-19T19:24:00.000-07:00

28 North hits up the Cincinnati Zoo for a nice little Saturday between shows in Cincy and Athens. So without further adieu.... Jon Colman

2009-02-25T14:40:00.000-08:00

album titles being thrown around for our upcoming release:
Night of 1000 Eagles
Lets get tender
Covered in Blood
Panic!
Lonely Midnight Sentinel
Unbelievably Sweaty
Waint Warriors
Whisked Away
Everybody Talks...
Shaven & Beaten Senseless
John Candy's Monkey
We Like It Rough
OohOoh, we know how you need it
secretly asian
Dance on Table
Frog Prince Blues
Hot Dumb Nudity
Tough Questions, Dumb Answers
Everybody Cries... (alone & listening to Jeff Buckley)
Tultimate
Death to Floyd
Fun Kid Stuff
Boom-Bat, Ba-Boom Bat
Hello Sir
Paperboat Party
Frog Prince Fiasco
The Fix
Huge Dancing
Recreational Condescension
Deep breath
Somebody Sauce
Turkmenistan
Catch the Haps
JMFB
You Should See the Associates
Whispy Swayze
Away Boys! Place Left to See
Hamburger David
Sweet, Sweet Mediocrity
Finger Me Dennis
Humanitarian Defense
Pressure Head
Shepard Radio
More Greed Evil
Pirates
There it is
Selfish Vagabond Poet
Chalk Frog
School Band Rock Van
The Sad Good Americans
Album Title
Scunt
A dip. The Bread.
The Regulars
Live from Earth
Rounds
Ain't No Ghost
Some of it
the Seems
Drastic Leisures
the Farce
The Four Quarters
Manic Profession
Crazed Horticulturalist
Cost in Cats
Horse
YAY
Sun Tea
Night of Soaring Eagles IV
Night of Passion
Cajun Satalite
Remembir the Deer in Canada
Blankets that don't exist
etc...

Making The Video

2009-02-06T07:15:00.001-08:00

Here are some Pics from the set (our house) of our upcoming video for the song 'New York'. We've been having a great time filming and the video is going to be a great blend of awesomeness and more awesomeness, with a taste of humor and a bit more awesomeness. The video and our 3rd album will be released simultaneously sometime this spring, and its shaping up to be one of those magic monumental epic cultural events like 'Lord of the Rings' or The Pittsburgh Pirates in '09.
more to come...

This is how Colman actually sleeps

Floyd is clearly the best actor amongst us

2009-01-13T07:56:00.000-08:00

28 North speaks Highly of West LA Music
Featuring Rick

Music recommendations. For the greater aural good!

2009-01-13T06:26:00.000-08:00

Hey Music Fan,
Jon from 28 North at your service! I love turning people on to new music. Being the avid music consumer that I am, I feel compelled to share what has been filling my ear drums over the past year or so. Here we go!

*not in any particular order*

of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
Danceable, Fragmented, Sexually Robust, Emotionally penetrating; Kevin Barnes has created an endlessly fascinating electro - booty pop adventure! Not for the faint of heart nor the homophobic.

Q-Tip - The Renaissance
Produced by Q-tip himself, the renaissance is a breath of fresh air into a industry filled with "Ring - Tone Rappers". Q- tip's ever conscious lyricism is complemented by several special guests; including D'Angelo, Raphael Saadiq, & Norah Jones. Guranteed to make your head bob.

Marco Benevento - Invisible Baby
For his solo debut, Benevento enlists the help of bassist Reed Mathis and drummers Andrew Barr & Matt Chamberlain. This record would be the perfect accompaniment to a film; ambient & atmospheric, contemplative & reflective, upbeat & engrossing. Make Invisible Baby the soundtrack to your next road trip.

Thievery Corporation - Radio Retalliation
Hypnotically danceable, globe - spanning instrumentation; Add this to your playlist to ensure a sensous evening.

Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
Glorious use of synthesizers combined with memorable melodies/songwriting makes for high replay value. PLUS, they pull it off live! (God Bless em') Check out "Ready for the floor"

: Throw - Back :

Michael Jackson - Off the Wall
You already know the hits, but obscure tracks like "Working Day & Night" are worth giving Off the Wall and second listen. Take note of the inventive percussion parts, as well as the awesome 80's slap bass sounds. Get on the floor and dance!

Check out this music! and if so inclined, let me know what I need to wrap MY ears around.

JDC

Preaching on or around the Golden Shore

2008-12-17T07:27:00.000-08:00

At long last we are days away from our first ever West Coast Performance, and we're jazzed to say the least. Since our Tour Manager/Bus Driver/Employer/Photographer/Business Partner/Lindner's Dad/Designated Line Crosser When It Comes To Sick Jokes departed in a MIL Transit School Van packed with all things 28 North last Sunday, we've been without our equipment.
Practice, however, does indeed make perfect so we've improvised by using some of the spare stuff we have in the storage wing of Chateau 28 North. Which has both sucked (solid state amps) and been a pretty good time (Always look for an excuse to bust out the Sitar Pedal). Either way the show must go on and we're fired up and ready to get out there.
The aforementioned show is at the Whiskey A-Go-Go, which is the world famous stomping ground of The Doors and countless others, and maybe someday will be given historic landmark status for its role in our conquest for world domination. We also have a show in Denver on the way home (same thing applies).
So we will go and we will play, and hopefully bring home some bacon, or other pork related metaphorical food item. We're packed with gigs for early 2009, and we've finished tracking on our new album, which we will mix and serve promptly.
Fewer band updates and more random shit to come.
-Alex

NEW 28 North EP

2008-10-30T06:37:00.001-07:00

So we've at last begun our next recording project, which as of now is an untitled 5 song EP. We have our first date with sweet lady studio late next week, but right now the buzzword is 'hone'. We've chosen songs based on several things; Songs that have been a big part of our shows since 'Mystery' being the most important (was that a good use of a semi-colon?). We want to really capture the mix of Hard rock, pop, funk, and heart warming americana that is our band, and get a good balance of our different singers, songwriters, and soloists. We feel we've come up with a strong list, which consists of mostly songs written in the last few months or over the summer, and a few even older.

So 'hone' being the buzzword, we are going to spend this week and most of next doing trial recordings, instrumentally, and vocally. The goal is to get the parts down to their essence so that we can record all of us at the same time, as opposed to laying it all down piece by piece with a cacophony of overdubs. We'll experiment with how best to do this so as to sound warm, true, and razor sharp, while keeping some aspect of spontaneity and well... fun. If we can do it without coming out with a basement style record flimsy as un-corrugated cardboard I think we'll have succedeed.

More on the 'honing' later
-alex

Musikal kombat

2008-10-19T20:33:00.000-07:00

The first chapter of an absurd weekend for us was a short performance at the Thunderbird Cafe on Butler st in Lawrenceville. It was a taping for Chanel 11's Raw Talent Pittsburgh competition which is a Battle of the Bands. As you may or may not know, we've sworn in the past that we would never again partake in any sort of Battle of the Bands event. I mean how can you decide an epic battle between a biker/metal/hair band that just busted out 'Carry On My Wayward Son' and Joe sad guitar guy, or Norah Jones jr. I mean sure you could say that one band is better at metal than the other is at alt country, but isn't that like saying the the Steelers are better than the Pirates (not that they aren't but the comparison is nontheless unfair and meaningless). We've lost in the finals and been told we needed to do more drugs (believe me we're trying, its on ongoing effort and we just have to keep at it every day). We've lost in the finals to a band who's bass player arranged the gig which was the prize for the competition, if you could call it that. We've also won when we we're good friends with the judge, which I believe to be a legit victory because we rocked pretty freakin hard, but still... There are so many bands out there these days and only so many gigs, pay to play, pre-sale of tickets by musicians, and battle of the bands are all symptoms of the current atmosphere, and they all suck. As lovers of many musical genres we all have to choose whether to spend our seven minute car ride listening to either Tool or Wilco, and surely some of us (not in this band) would sooner severe their ears then sit through the new Metallica, or 'Music Box' by Mariah Carey, but its all just different music, none of it better or worse.
Ideology is great, but not as great as seeing 28 North video aired during a Conan commercial break, so here is a link to our Raw Talent video, Don't forget to vote!

http://www.wpxi.com/rawtalentpittsburgh/index.html

Alex

photobooth

2008-10-16T07:51:00.000-07:00

By far the best use we could find for having a computer on our last tour was photo booth. Never has there been a more mindless form of entertainment for four passengers, guitarless and moving 70 miles an hour to pass the time with. It started with classic funny faces and slowly moved in more artistic directions, by the end of the tour we were masters of shadows and light, of immitating aliens with down syndrome that also happened to be Hiroshima victims, and becoming different people with great timing and facial virtuosity. Here are some of the fruits of our labor:

2008-10-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

potential album cover?

Ryan Adams should let me stand up

2008-10-08T13:20:00.000-07:00

he really should...
I love the guy, but after a beer or two and a little somethin somethin I don't want to sit the whole time at a concert that contains no acoustic guitar. The event I'm referring to was Ryan Adams and the Cardinals at the Palace Theater in Cleveland last week. Me Ty, Lindner, and Tia (Mikes best gal) made the weekday concert run that we do on the regular because god forbid any national acts make Pittsburgh a priority. The curtains came up on an awesome rock show including some space age lighting and a monolithic gong holder, not to mention an unbelievably tight band that cranked out almost 3 hours of music. Nothing about the concert invited sleepiness, in fact many of Radams slower numbers we're performed as juiced up Headbangers and like I said the acoustic so prominent on all his records made no appearance. So what was wrong? SEATS!
this leads me to believe we need to set some rules for 28 North:
1. If you sit, we sit. A sit down audience should not be rocked at, but reflected with
2. If we're all sitting, we'll play acoustic guitar. Acoustic guitar is great and has an especially potent effect when performed in the presence of people whos knees are bent 90 degrees, go figure.
So if we rock out, you rock out, and if we reflect, you do to. Thanks radams
-AS

Zall and Roates

2008-09-26T07:35:00.000-07:00

Drive children to school, practice our music songs, and play tonight in the burgh and tomorrow in the Philadelphia. We've been tuning 4 new songs and making them a part of regular performance. They are entitled 'Rainy Day', 'New York', 'I Could', and 'Go Get Her'. Although they may be new material to the universe, 'Rainy Day' and 'I Could' are both songs that Mike wrote over a year ago and demoed in acoustic balladeer fashion, in the strange way things happen they've both become stadium-esque rockers. This tends to happen to material brought to the group, especially when its been aged on the hard disc of the basement recorder like a fine cheese. 'Go Get Her' is the first 28 North song to employ the talk box, and its only describable as the answer to the question what would happen if Hall and Oates and Zapp and Roger met in a darkened ally. Zall and Roates? Happ and Oager?
Peace
AS

the start of something

2008-09-23T07:58:00.000-07:00

28 North writes music, drives children to school, and rocks pretty damn hard live. But there's more to it then that and this fall your going to be let in on intricacies and challenges of rocking pretty damn hard, and a bunch of other stupid shit. till then...
-28