Hey friends,
We have been playing the great cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul for many many years now and just about every time we’ve been there it’s because of an ass kicking music lover of a promoter by the name of Sue McLean. If you’ve ever wondered why we play in that town so much, it’s because she brought us there and nurtured the relationship between this band and our Minnesota fans.
Sue McLean lost a quiet battle with cancer yesterday and I wanted to send my love and prayers first to her daughter and family and second to the bands that loved her as much as she loved them.
Rest in peace Sue, thank you for Minnesota. You were a rock star to all of us and you are loved and will be missed dearly.
God bless and keep you.
Put in a good word for all of us scallywags with the man upstairs.
Brandi
Amazing show tonight with the Nashville Symphony! Thank you so much Nashville xobc
Hey!
When the twins and I first started touring we used to pull over at truck stops all over the US. We’d buy funny little truck stop things like dream catchers, powdered donuts, 80’s DVD’s and jars of jam, this is how we discovered the eclectic subculture of trucker music. It started with just one trucker album, then one thing led to another and we began calling the US highway system a pinball machine and drifting off to sleep swaying in the backseat to the sweet stories of Red Sovine and his crew. We had long nights discussing the perfect CB handle and how we would dodge the “smokies” if we were all hardened truckers. We named ourselves Phantom 309 as an alter ego. All this led us to why named our summer tour “The Hard Way Home Summer Convoy”. We heard it in a trucker song and we knew that was how we would conquer the majestic pinball machine this time…Like the song says - “we got a great big convoy moving through the night”.
First and foremost, I’m thrilled to announce the return of the amazing Mr. Gib Droll! For those of you who are new fans, we have been playing with Gib on and off for about 8 years and we managed to talk him into coming along this summer to school us on guitar and various other stringed instruments! He’s been a strong mentor to all of us in different ways and I’m gonna ask him to teach me some slide guitar moves this summer! He’s always responsible for instigating after show jams, whisky swilling and then the inevitable way too violent wrestling match to follow…I’m already lifting weights and preparing my liver.
Jeb Bose will be showing up in random cities as well! He’s splitting time between our band and his other band with Gregory Allen Isakov who has a record coming out this summer! You can count on seeing The Twins, Josh and Konrad all summer long as usual. But this tour is really special for us and we’re all learning how to play some different instruments, so the stage will look a little different than it normally does!
In NYC we were introduced to The Lone Bellow. I was so excited and impressed that we promptly asked them to join us all summer long on tour. We started covering Angel From Montgomery on the very first day, so I’m thinking that was the beginning of many more collaborations to come…. Check those guys out in advance, you’ll love em!
I’m completely obsessed with the Red Rocks show with Blind Pilot. People, it’s all I can think about. I’m determined to top last year somehow…I might orchestrate an incredibly epic 80’s power ballad medley to close the show, or light the twins on fire! So if you haven’t made your travel plans yet please make them for the mountains of Colorado. We won’t let you down and it’ll be the night of all nights for us!
The music is better than ever and we are beyond excited to get back out there with you guys! We need rock and roll guys… Turn us loose!
See you out there!
xobc and the twins
Thank you Bottle Rock! We hope you’ll have us back next year… xobc
Hey guys,
Don’t forget to check us out live at the miner family winery stage at the Bottle Rock festival today at 5:45 PM PT…
Go to http://www.BottleRocknapavalley.com/ for more information on how to watch the webcast.
xobc
Hey everyone, In honor of my 32nd birthday on June 1st, I’d like to yet again encourage my loyal and generous fans and friends to contribute to charity: water; helping to build freshwater projects for people in developing nations. For my 31st birthday last year we raised an incredible $6425! by asking everyone to donate $31. So this year, in the name of tradition, we’re going to step it up again. I’m turning 32, so I’m asking people to donate $32 (or whatever you can afford) and the Looking Out Foundation will MATCH the total raised! A billion people in the world are living without clean water; this is completely unnecessary and unjust. What we see as a natural and accessible resource is a luxury to some, so think about this next time you turn the faucet on! I am incredibly blessed and I have more than I will ever need, so it’s my birthday wish this year to give clean and safe drinking water to those without it. Charity: water ensures 100% of all donations go directly to water projects, and each donation is “proved” and tracked to the village it helped when projects are complete. Please help this amazing organization continue the vital work they are doing in the communities that need it the most. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, xobc
Hey guys,
We’re really excited about a new campaign we’ve joined called @Global Citizen. It enables our fans to win tickets to our shows through positive action to seek justice for 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty. It’s a really fun and impactful idea and you can earn points through raising awareness, campaigning and working towards really effecting positive change.
It’s inspiring to me how music can galvanise people into taking action and we’d love to see some Global Citizens in our audiences this summer! Check out how to sign up here: bit.ly/gct2013
xobc
Hey everybody!
We got to say hello to President Obama for a second time this week!
It was a tremendous honor. We all behaved just like you’d imagine - shakey inappropriate laughter, the occasional trip over our own feet, but he was nothing short of lovely.
Catherine and I got a couple kisses and congratulations, all in all an amazing evening!!
Then the next morning I awoke to find that he had mentioned me alongside Stonewall and Jackie Robinson in his next speech! Such an unprecedented honor. I can hardly believe it today as I consider the leaders who have truly made these milestones possible for all of us.
God bless the President. Today lets all wish him success and thoughtfulness, regardless of what political lines we’ve drawn.
He’s got the gig, let’s help him do it justice.
xobc
Hey everyone,
RED ROCKS IN JULY!!!!!! Ok, I couldn’t contain myself - the secret is out!
I hope you all had a great Easter?! The daffodils finally came out and my dogs are still running around the yard finding the Easter eggs all the kids didn’t get to yesterday!
As the summer is fast approaching, I wanted to tell you all how excited me and the twins are to get back out on the road. We have some new tricks up our sleeves and some incredible shows lined up. But the show I am most excited to tell you about is RED ROCKS!!! That’s right, they asked us to come back on July 13th! We’re really proud to welcome our special guests, Blind Pilot and The Lone Bellow. It’s going to be an incredible show at the most stunning music venue in the country! Fan pre-sale begins at 10am mountain time on Tuesday, April 2 - so make sure you get your tickets! We’ll also be offering a “Hearts Content” ticket package for an extra special Red Rocks experience, the proceeds of which will benefit the Looking Out Foundation.
We know how many of you traveled from all over creation to see us last year and we want you to do it again, you won’t regret it!
I’ll meet you in the mountains of Colorado,
Love Brandi and The Twins x
I love New York!
Thank you so much for having us back all these days after Hurricane Sandy.
I was so sad to see the shows canceled but in their stead, I got to see what people are talking about when they say New Yorkers know how to come together during difficult times.
To come here this weekend and make these shows up with you feels like a celebration and a triumph for ALL of us!
Until we meet again NYC!
xobc