Monday, March 21, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The Wilderness Gang Sculps Mr.Beaver at the Slots!
A week or so ago, our riot of wonderfully creative woodsmen and women got together to create a snow sculpture for the first time ever. Grand Marais's Art Colony was hosting a county-wide commission to have snow sculptures made. They assigned our team the Grand Portage site, which is about an hour north of Town and on the reservation.
I couldn't believe that the casino was putting us all up for free for 4 days just to make a snow sculpture in their front parking lot for the customers. The Art Colony also paid each team $150 bucks just to do it! So we binged of course, getting all the fixings for some margaritas and making beerfloats (if you want to know, they were created by our dear friend the MadMan Luc P. Guerber, Esq. and essentially instead of rootbeer and icecream, you use beer). We came up with 'Rocky and Bullwinkle' version 1: Rocky Road ice cream and Moose Drool beer. But if you ask me, version 2 will probably be better: Moose Tracks ice cream and Fat Squirrel New Glarus.
Anyway, I digress...so they hosted us for free, for which we dearly took advantage of the pool and sauna and television (we live without much technology beyond the internet) and had a great time sculpting. Here are some photos to narrate perhaps better than I am doing at the moment:
I couldn't believe that the casino was putting us all up for free for 4 days just to make a snow sculpture in their front parking lot for the customers. The Art Colony also paid each team $150 bucks just to do it! So we binged of course, getting all the fixings for some margaritas and making beerfloats (if you want to know, they were created by our dear friend the MadMan Luc P. Guerber, Esq. and essentially instead of rootbeer and icecream, you use beer). We came up with 'Rocky and Bullwinkle' version 1: Rocky Road ice cream and Moose Drool beer. But if you ask me, version 2 will probably be better: Moose Tracks ice cream and Fat Squirrel New Glarus.
Anyway, I digress...so they hosted us for free, for which we dearly took advantage of the pool and sauna and television (we live without much technology beyond the internet) and had a great time sculpting. Here are some photos to narrate perhaps better than I am doing at the moment:
Mr. Beaver In His Top Hat Winning the Slots!
Open Mic Nights
So what have the Rail Yard Ghosts been up to lately?
We recently attended two of the great North Shore's area open mic nights. Now, this may not seem like something you could actually WRITE about, but when you live in the middle of the woods an hour away from the nearest town, this was something we DID one night for fun, enjoyment, entertainment, etc.
So we all piled into the big red jeep, Will as our roadie, and headed down the Trail to Lutsen where I played my first ever open mic night show! Riley and I performed a couple of good old standards that we wrote together, to the applaud and enjoyment of everyone involved. It was really great to meet other musicians in the area, which we hadn't experienced yet, and we've been living up north since this past Fall. Some of the musicians we met work at the local radio station (everybody tune in! WTIP in the house!) and invited us to send along copies of our finished album. Going to play at an open mic night was great; this had a lot of 'pomp and circumstance' to it, with all the lights and the stage and the sound equipment. Riley and I are just used to screaming loud folk punk on a street corner for money, so you can imagine how different this was. It was just so Ritzy!
As of right now, we are still in the process of recording. The demo, for free download at http://porker.blog.com is finished, but we'd like to do a little more tweaking, add some instruments here and there and send a really finished copy out. You can probably also download the live open mic night show.
Our friend and camp companion, Drew Heinonen, came along and met a fellow luthier who he coincidentally went to luthiery school with.
At the end of a great evening, everyone got up on stage and jammed out a tune, as the barman, from Lousiana came around with free shots of Jameson, orange juice and chocolate vodka, I believe. It was delicious!
Then, this past week, we found another open mic night, slightly cozier, just 10 miles or so outside of Grand Marais (which we woods folk lovingly call "Town"). Held in a lodge, and bundled in a tight-knit circle of avid musicians, they have an Irish music night twice a month. Some more area musicians who we had run into previously but not musically, invited us to take up chairs in the circle and we all went round picking a tune to play for the entertainment. There was a nice offer from one of the waitresses/bartenders after she said she'd overheard the owners, who'd been present, saying they really liked us (The Rail Yard Ghosts, of course...) and we exchanged the hopeful information of e-mail to perhaps get a gig there sometime, earning our wages by tip jars, free dinner and all the beer you could want.
On that note, please, please, PLEASE! help yourselves to all of our FREE music at the link provided. There is lots more from both of us individually as musicians, and also our friends. Together we are known as the Dirty River Music Collective. Enjoy!
Yessirree, it sure looks like things are shaping up in the world of music for the dear little rabbit and coyote!
We recently attended two of the great North Shore's area open mic nights. Now, this may not seem like something you could actually WRITE about, but when you live in the middle of the woods an hour away from the nearest town, this was something we DID one night for fun, enjoyment, entertainment, etc.
So we all piled into the big red jeep, Will as our roadie, and headed down the Trail to Lutsen where I played my first ever open mic night show! Riley and I performed a couple of good old standards that we wrote together, to the applaud and enjoyment of everyone involved. It was really great to meet other musicians in the area, which we hadn't experienced yet, and we've been living up north since this past Fall. Some of the musicians we met work at the local radio station (everybody tune in! WTIP in the house!) and invited us to send along copies of our finished album. Going to play at an open mic night was great; this had a lot of 'pomp and circumstance' to it, with all the lights and the stage and the sound equipment. Riley and I are just used to screaming loud folk punk on a street corner for money, so you can imagine how different this was. It was just so Ritzy!
As of right now, we are still in the process of recording. The demo, for free download at http://porker.blog.com is finished, but we'd like to do a little more tweaking, add some instruments here and there and send a really finished copy out. You can probably also download the live open mic night show.
Our friend and camp companion, Drew Heinonen, came along and met a fellow luthier who he coincidentally went to luthiery school with.
At the end of a great evening, everyone got up on stage and jammed out a tune, as the barman, from Lousiana came around with free shots of Jameson, orange juice and chocolate vodka, I believe. It was delicious!
Then, this past week, we found another open mic night, slightly cozier, just 10 miles or so outside of Grand Marais (which we woods folk lovingly call "Town"). Held in a lodge, and bundled in a tight-knit circle of avid musicians, they have an Irish music night twice a month. Some more area musicians who we had run into previously but not musically, invited us to take up chairs in the circle and we all went round picking a tune to play for the entertainment. There was a nice offer from one of the waitresses/bartenders after she said she'd overheard the owners, who'd been present, saying they really liked us (The Rail Yard Ghosts, of course...) and we exchanged the hopeful information of e-mail to perhaps get a gig there sometime, earning our wages by tip jars, free dinner and all the beer you could want.
On that note, please, please, PLEASE! help yourselves to all of our FREE music at the link provided. There is lots more from both of us individually as musicians, and also our friends. Together we are known as the Dirty River Music Collective. Enjoy!
Yessirree, it sure looks like things are shaping up in the world of music for the dear little rabbit and coyote!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Presto-Chango! We Got A Show!
Now announcing, presenting to you now, children of all ages, (including anyone still hanging around from the Stone Age [please no mammoths])---
If you are brave of heart, come find us in Solon Springs, WI, December 11th (a Saturday). I say brave because we will be winter camping, yes, outside, yes, in a canvas tent, and yes with a wood-burning stove! A strange place to have a show, you may think? Well, it is! We are playing our first paid gig (woo-hoo!) at a "mercantina." This, in short, is a hardware store with a liquor store/venue attached. Only in Wisconsin, I suppose....
We met the man who is responsible for creating a very popular kind of tent for winter camping. After hearing us play some of our tunes at a different winter camping event, he got our info and asked if we could be the entertainment for this event in December.
He has offered us a tent to sleep in and it is free. If you are brave, and would like to come camp along with us during that evening, we can bring some people with. Please let us know in advance so that we can e-mail Duane and ask for enough tent space. I'm sure we can all squeeze into one and be cozy and warm with each other. We will be playing 3 sets throughout the afternoon and into the evening. There may be a warming tent/beer tent outside as well. If you just want to drop by for the music, we would love to see you there! It is about 30 minutes south of Duluth, though I don't have any further directions yet.
If you cannot join us, please be there in spirit, as we say a big Congrats, Na Zdrowie (to your health in Polish/Russian), Gratis! and Huzzah to the Rail Yard Ghosts as we kick off our first show! Lets Dance in the Name of Dirt!
Coming Soon: audio of our music for this here blog thing. Maybe even some video from the show!
P.S. Please also stay tuned for links to our individually recorded music, we are excellent, if I do happen to think and say so myself. :) Please send us links to your art, music, poetry, zines, whatever! We could always use a new pen pal.
If you are brave of heart, come find us in Solon Springs, WI, December 11th (a Saturday). I say brave because we will be winter camping, yes, outside, yes, in a canvas tent, and yes with a wood-burning stove! A strange place to have a show, you may think? Well, it is! We are playing our first paid gig (woo-hoo!) at a "mercantina." This, in short, is a hardware store with a liquor store/venue attached. Only in Wisconsin, I suppose....
We met the man who is responsible for creating a very popular kind of tent for winter camping. After hearing us play some of our tunes at a different winter camping event, he got our info and asked if we could be the entertainment for this event in December.
He has offered us a tent to sleep in and it is free. If you are brave, and would like to come camp along with us during that evening, we can bring some people with. Please let us know in advance so that we can e-mail Duane and ask for enough tent space. I'm sure we can all squeeze into one and be cozy and warm with each other. We will be playing 3 sets throughout the afternoon and into the evening. There may be a warming tent/beer tent outside as well. If you just want to drop by for the music, we would love to see you there! It is about 30 minutes south of Duluth, though I don't have any further directions yet.
If you cannot join us, please be there in spirit, as we say a big Congrats, Na Zdrowie (to your health in Polish/Russian), Gratis! and Huzzah to the Rail Yard Ghosts as we kick off our first show! Lets Dance in the Name of Dirt!
Coming Soon: audio of our music for this here blog thing. Maybe even some video from the show!
P.S. Please also stay tuned for links to our individually recorded music, we are excellent, if I do happen to think and say so myself. :) Please send us links to your art, music, poetry, zines, whatever! We could always use a new pen pal.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Orange Juice and Drusna
These are a few of our favorite things!
Welcome ladies and tramps, hoboes and heathens, circus freaks and railyard geeks, welcome, welcome, welcome one and all to the outstanding, amazing, two animal band showing inconveniently right here, for one night only, on the street corner. We'll be busking all evening for your listening pleasure. Find us in a city nearest you, we're probably already there, in fact, we've been and gone so many times you may have finally noticed the funny man in his strange top hat, the talking beer skull and the flowers he carries in his left front breast pocket. He's not asking much, just come on in for a listen, some beer floats, and let the sounds of folk punk rock take you away with:
the RAIL YARD GHOSTS!
no need for applause, no need, but thank you and goodnight all the same!
follow us down the rabbit hole.........
Welcome ladies and tramps, hoboes and heathens, circus freaks and railyard geeks, welcome, welcome, welcome one and all to the outstanding, amazing, two animal band showing inconveniently right here, for one night only, on the street corner. We'll be busking all evening for your listening pleasure. Find us in a city nearest you, we're probably already there, in fact, we've been and gone so many times you may have finally noticed the funny man in his strange top hat, the talking beer skull and the flowers he carries in his left front breast pocket. He's not asking much, just come on in for a listen, some beer floats, and let the sounds of folk punk rock take you away with:
the RAIL YARD GHOSTS!
no need for applause, no need, but thank you and goodnight all the same!
follow us down the rabbit hole.........
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