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Autumnal greetings, friends.
We’re playing our last local show of 2008 this Saturday, November 22 at the Sunset Tavern, and you’re invited. RJM is headlining, backed by Kate Tucker & the Sons of Sweden, Caught in Motion, and By Sunlight. Cover is $7 and the whole thing kicks off at 10pm. Be there!
After taking a week off to drink wine, eat turkey, and forget our songs, we’ll join our partners in crime Nathan Wade & the Dark Pioneers for a pair of year-capping road gigs. On Friday, December 5, we’ll venture into the wilds of Roslyn, Washington to rock the historic Brick Tavern. After sobering up and shaking the twigs from our hair, we’ll hop a ferry on Saturday, December 6 to play the Red Bicycle Bistro on lovely Vashon Island. Both shows are sure to end with a twenty-minute all-star jam on “Whipping Post.”
We’re currently mixing our second record, provisionally titled Lovers Lookout, and determining how best to get it into your hot little hands in the first half of 2009. One way or another, it’s going to happen, and you’re going to love it! Big thanks to our pals Ken Stringfellow and Kip Beelman for helping us bring it to life.
Stay tuned, and as always, thanks for listening. Hope to see you all at the Sunset this Saturday!
Dream on, child(ren) of change,
RJM
November 15th, 2008
Friends:
It’s imperative that you join us next Thursday, October 23 at Fremont’s High Dive for an evening of industrial-strength crooning and swooning, featuring our good pals from Salt Lake, The Devil Whale, and Seattle ork-pop auteurs Grand Hallway. RJM opens the show at 9pm.
Seriously, folks…The Devil Whale are an incredible band (as their most recent record, Like Paraders, will attest), and we’re very happy to be sharing this show. Please come out and make them feel welcome.
In other news, we recently spent a productive weekend at Soundhouse Recording with legendary engineer Jack Endino, tackling string arrangements with our pal Eyvind Kang and otherwise wrapping up tracking on album number two. That’s right—tracking for RJM’s as-yet-untitled second opus is complete, and the results are absolutely thrilling! We’re sure you’re going to love this album just as much as we do.
We’ll spend the remainder of the year mixing the album with the incomparable Kip Beelman (aka Denzel) and gearing up for a Spring 2009 release. Brace yourselves!
Be sure to check the Shows page for recently added dates, including a November headlining appearance at the Sunset Tavern (our last Seattle show of 2008) and December expeditions to Roslyn and Vashon Island with comrades-in-arms Nathan Wade & the Dark Pioneers.
Finally, our good friend and benefactor Seth Wonner took some incredible photos at our August 29 High Dive show. Check them out for a preview of the 2009 Red Jacket Mine rock-pose calendar, coming soon to a kiosk near you.
See you all at the High Dive next Thursday!
xo
RJM
October 17th, 2008
Ballard bums and other Seattle pals:
Red Jacket Mine is overjoyed to participate in this year’s REVERBfest, sponsored by the good folks at Seattle Weekly.
It all goes down in beautiful Ballard this Saturday, October 4. Red Jacket Mine will play the Lock & Keel stage (kitty-corner from the Tractor Tavern on Ballard Avenue, right next to Conor Byrne) at 9pm sharp.
Full schedule (65 bands! 9 venues!) and all other pertinent info is available on the 2008 REVERBfest site. The more prudent among you may proceed directly to the wristband-purchasing area ($8adv/$10dos).
RJM’s 9pm set leaves plenty of time before and after to catch the other great acts involved. Some suggestions:
That should be enough to get you started. Hope to see you all there!
xo
RJM
UPDATE: The REVERBfest Pull-Out Guide in the October 1 edition of Seattle Weekly features a nice little write-up on RJM courtesy of Brian J. Barr (no releation). Check it out on the Weekly site, or on the Press page. Big thanks to Brian for the kind words!
September 29th, 2008
Ladies, gentlemen, randies and young lions:
We, servants and warriors in Red Jacket Mine, humbly request your presence, warmth, and adulation this Saturday, September 20 at the Sunset Tavern for our first headlining show of the year, also featuring longtime Seattle comrades Nathan Wade & the Dark Pioneers and PDX pals The Dimes.
Music starts at 10pm with the fabulous Dimes. Nathan Wade & the Dark Pioneers will be celebrating the release of their Chroma Session EP, and Lincoln will join the band on guitar for several electrifying numbers. Shield your eyes, children!
We’ve spent the summer honing our sabres on the backs of touring acts, and now we’re ready to cut loose on our home turf. This show is not to be missed! Rock out the remainder of the summer with us!
Love,
RJM
September 14th, 2008
Friends:
Your attendance is requested at Fremont’s High Dive this Friday, August 29, wherein the following musical acts will vie for your affections, then battle to the death in a brutal, devastating conclusion:
Pickwick
Steve Carson Band (Los Angeles, CA)
Red Jacket Mine
That’s last-to-first, just to clarify; RJM will open the show around 9:30pm. We’ll be stretching out a bit after a summer of quick-and-dirty support slots, so expect some slo-jams from our forthcoming opus and perhaps even a dip into the back catalog. One can never tell…
We’ve recently added a spate of summer-into-fall shows to the calendar, so bop on over to the Shows page and keep an eye out for more, including a soon-to-be-announced (oops, there it goes) appearance at the Seattle Weekly REVERBfest in October…details coming soon!
It’s all happening,
RJM
August 25th, 2008
We hope to see you all this Saturday, August 2 at the Sunset Tavern for CHOPPERFEST: A Benefit to Benefit John & Donna Fisher, featuring:
Duff McKagan’s Loaded
Guns & Rossetti
Girl Trouble
Red Jacket Mine
The I Love Myselfs
This disparate-but-righteous cast will join together for one night only to raise money for our dear friends John & Donna Fisher, who have recently suffered an unthinkable (and wholly disproportionate, as any major dude will tell you they’re some of the finest folks around) amount of misfortune.
On June 20, John & Donna’s infant daughter Sarah passed away due to complications. This devastating blow was followed almost immediately by a loss of employment and forced relocation. We don’t know why things like this happen, but we’re throwing an epic rock show to try and raise some money to make their lives a little easier.
The cover is $8, but you’re welcome (and encouraged) to give more if you’re able. We’re told that limited-edition t-shirts will also be available, with all proceeds going to the Fishers.
RJM will take the stage second, around 9:30pm, but plan on coming early and staying late…it’s going to be an incredible night, and I can’t imagine a more worthy cause.
More RJM news very soon, but for now, it’s all about the Fishers. Hope to see you all Saturday night.
xo
RJM
July 29th, 2008
Take note, friends:
Your pals in Red Jacket Mine are very happy to be playing at Fremont’s High Dive this Friday, July 11, opening for Duluth, Minnesota’s mighty Retribution Gospel Choir, featuring Alan Sparhawk (vocals, guitar) and Steve Garrington (bass) of the legendary LOW.
Those familiar with Low’s magnificent output over the last 15 years can imagine how excited we are to be sharing this evening. Red Jacket Mine will open the show at 10pm sharp, followed by recent Seattle transplant David Karsten Daniels. Tickets are $10 and available from Brown Paper Tickets.
We sincerely hope to see you all there. Those without weekend plans would do well to catch Low (and many, many others, including Fleet Foxes, Beachwood Sparks, Flight of the Conchords, etc.) at Sub Pop’s SP20 Festival the following Saturday and Sunday (7/12-13) at Marymoor Park. What better way to kick off an incredible weekend of music?
Many other wonders to come, including a very special benefit show in August. Stay tuned for details! In the meantime, check out this video of RJM performing Television’s “Venus” at the Tractor Tavern on June 26.
It’s in the drugs,
RJM
July 6th, 2008
It’s been the busiest month in recent memory, but I’ll do my best to re-cap. Please forgive me if I miss anything!
First, thanks to everyone who came out to the show at El Corazón this past Saturday. It was our first all-ages show in years, it seems, so we weren’t quite sure what to expect, but it ended up being a great night, with lots of new friends made and CDs sold…so thank you all! Special thanks to Teitur and Jessie Baylin for having us on the bill! It was great to get back onstage.
We’d spent the three weeks prior in frenetic rehearsal mode, leading up to a whirlwind six-day session at Soundhouse Recording in Ballard, wherein we tracked all ten songs that will comprise the next Red Jacket Mine album, masterfully assisted by producer Ken Stringfellow and engineer Kip Beelman. The objective: track all ten songs to glorious, exorbitantly-priced two-inch tape, recording all instrumental tracks live in the room (with few or no overdubs, just like Grandma made) and tracking the vocals immediately afterward, also to tape. Our modus operandi left little room for error and/or indecision, but that was the idea.
Lucky for us, we had good help! The best, even. Ken pitched in on keys (also tracked live with the band…so nice to have a fifth Beatle…or Ian Stewart!), background vocals, and frighteningly-good tambourine, while Kip handled most of the knob-twiddling and Facebook-prowling. Our good friend Ian Moore even dropped by with his ‘56 Les Paul Junior and a crusty, lovely tweed Deluxe to lay down some ferocious guitar licks and spook-tacular background vocals.
It was a daunting task, but we did it! And we simply could not be happier with the results. Seriously—I know this kind of bravado is expected any time a new album is in the works, but I truly believe that we’ve got something magnificent on our hands. Everyone was on top of their game, and we are extremely proud of the result. Immense thanks are due to Messrs. Stringfellow and Beelman, without whom this surely would not have been possible. We can’t wait for you all to hear their tremendous craft(s) at work!
I intend to post a characteristically-verbose account of the session in the next week or so, but feel free to consult Ken’s blog in the interim for his take on the proceedings…we’re in there, amidst tales of the Posies‘ 20th anniversary shows and other highlights of his Seattle visit. Thanks for the kind words, Ken! We can only hope you enjoyed the session as much as we did!
We’ll spend the remainder of the summer licking our financial wounds and chipping away at the album’s loose ends (a few string arrangements from our pal Eyvind Kang, et cetera).
We’ve also got some incredible shows coming up, the first of which will take place on Thursday, June 26 at the Tractor Tavern. We’ll be sandwiched between the lovely Miss Kristen Ward and our aforementioned pal Ian Moore, who will be playing a very rare (around these parts, at least) full-band show. Advance tickets are available from TicketWeb. Get ‘em while you can!
In site news, I’ve updated the Press page to include a recent review of Hello, Old Cloud from Hugh Miller’s excellent Unfinished web zine. I’ve also updated the Favorites page with nods to my recent obsessions…dig!
Speaking of obsessions, everyone go out tomorrow and buy the new Centro-matic/South San Gabriel split-double album, Dual Hawks. These kind-eyed Texans continue to inspire and excite me about the prospect of making American rock & roll music, and this album promises to be their best yet. So check it out—you won’t be disappointed.
Me, I’m going to tuck into this bottle of Punto Final malbec and enjoy an evening of hard-earned quietude. Thanks, as always, for listening and caring about what we do. Hope to see you all at the Tractor on June 26th!
xo
LB
June 2nd, 2008
Warmest thanks to all who came out the Sunset on Saturday and helped us celebrate the release of Hello, Old Cloud. Despite a number of unanticpated technical issues and a surplus of spilled Maker’s Mark (fine bedfellows if ever there were such), it was a great show, if a bit more Replacements-like than usual.
Regrettably, due to poor planning on our part, it seems that many of the show’s attendees didn’t get the free CD they were promised. For this we sincerely apologize. If you can be counted among this number, please get in touch with us. We appreciate your support and we’d love for you to hear the album.
Alternately, the particularly generous and/or wealthy among you might be interested in purchasing a copy of the album on CD Baby and iTunes. For the Seattle folks who’d prefer to keep it local, the album is available at all locations of Easy Street Records (Queen Anne, West Seattle) and Sonic Boom Records (Ballard, Capitol Hill) for the low-low price of $8.99.
Wherever you choose to buy, we thank you for listening and hope you enjoy the album very much. Please take a moment to post a review on CD Baby or iTunes—they really do help all the prospective listeners out there! Besides, they make us blush…
Now that we’ve finally let go of Hello, Old Cloud, we’re wasting no time getting started on album #2. In late May, we’ll kick things off with a whirlwind six-day session at Soundhouse Recording in beautiful Ballard, WA, joined by Messrs. Ken Stringfellow and Kip Beelman. They’ll be handling production and engineering duties, respectively, and we couldn’t be more excited to be working with such talented and charming individuals.
You all may know Mr. Stringfellow from his band the Posies, now in their 20th year, as well as his stellar solo career (recommended listening: 2001’s Touched and 2004’s Soft Commands) and his integral role in the re-formed Big Star. He’s also spent the last few years touring and recording with a little band called R.E.M.. These days, he’s most excited about his Oslo-based rock troupe the Disciplines, slated to release their debut album later this year.
On the production side, he’s probably best known for helping out our pals the Long Winters on their 2002 release (and our personal favorite), When I Pretend to Fall. Needless to say, we’re huge fans and very much look forward to his contributions.
Mr. Beelman’s name might not be as common, but if you’ve paid any attention to the records coming out of Seattle for the last 10+ years (particularly those that Ken has been involved with), you’ve surely been privy to his mastery. He contributed some stellar mixes to the aforementioned Long Winters album, engineered the last Posies album, Every Kind of Light, has generally produced, engineered, and mixed his way into our swollen little hearts (via our ears). He’s also a fine photographer. We’re very excited to have him aboard!
We’ll forego live performances in May to prepare for the album sessions, drink yerba maté, and listen to the Band, but June will find us back in the saddle, opening for our very good friend Ian Moore at the Tractor Tavern on Thursday, June 26. Advance tickets are available right HERE.
Once again, we’d like to thank all of our friends for their help and support. We hope you all enjoy Hello, Old Cloud, however you may find it. Here’s to the future!
xo
RJM
April 28th, 2008
Just a reminder: we’ll be celebrating the release of our new album, Hello, Old Cloud, this Saturday, April 26 at the Sunset Tavern in beautiful Ballard. We hope you all can join us on this joyous occasion!
We’ll take the stage second, around 10:30pm, but you’ll want to come early and stay late for our good friends Burning Rivers and North Twin. Cover is $8, and paid admission gets you a copy of our new album! Oh, the value!
This show will very likely sell out, so don’t say we didn’t warn you. The more prudent among you may purchase advance tickets right HERE.
In other news, we’re very happy to announce that Hello, Old Cloud has been added to rotation at our favorite radio station in the whole-wide world, KEXP 90.3FM, and we need YOUR help make sure it stays there! Please give them a call (206-903-KEXP) or email (dj@kexp.org) and request your favorite tunes from Hello, Old Cloud!
More exciting things coming very soon! We’ll see you all this Saturday at the Sunset!
xo
RJM
April 21st, 2008
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