Photo of the Day

First off: DAMN!! It was cold up there. Not freezing, but not far off. Good thing I took plenty of warm clothes. Bill(Lava) and Kristena, and a few others said it was funny to see me not in my usual shorts and t-shirt.

After Kyle picked me up at the airport, we went to his house and he showed me his surf music collection, and his gear (Damn!!) that he had at his house. He said he had lots more at the in-laws, Double Damn. Around 4 pm we took off to go to Thatch. Its a new tiki bar, but has alot of old tiki decor that used to be in the Old Kon Tiki in Portland, then was in The Jasmine Tree (asian resturaunt), but is now in this new tiki bar, that just opened. Its got a great vibe of a old tiki bar because of the decor, but you can tell its a new business. We were only there for a short time, but the 2 drinks we got were perfect, (Mai Tai and a Trader Vics version of a Zombie) and the food that others had smelled great. Check it out if in the Portland area. Then we went over to the Alibi, for the annual pre show-meet up. There were between 20 and 30 surf and tiki people there for the gathering. Its always great to have some spare time before or after a show to talk to people in person that you usually only talk to over the net. So where ever you go, make plans to meet up before or after with others that will be there too. It helps to make it more of a friends/family vibe, than just people at a show.

Inland though it is, the Rec Center at Barnes Park in Monterey Park CA was a hot spot for instrumental surf bands in the mid 60's. The Lively Ones and The Surfaris traded off weeks as the main event of the night...Dick Dale even played there now and then.. Sometimes another band or two would be brought in to fill when they couldn't make the gig. One night I remember a three piece band played that consisted of a very nervous young man with a brand new pearl white Jag, a drummer and...the guitarist sister on the.....accordian! The young guy on guitar was having a rough time of it trying to get tuned up...after a bit his Dad came out on stage, took his guitar and tuned it up for him. As you might imagine the band started their set with two strikes againist them. As they broke into the first number, the crowed booed, heckled and otherwise would not give them a chance. At last, the promoter came on stage and after the band left, told everyone to sit tight as they were trying to get The Lively Ones to come in.....no luck. Announcing the situation to the unhappy crowd our moderator stated that there was no one else to call and that the young band wanted to come back out and "do their best" to entertain. Now, how many of us would have the guts to do that? To end this long recollection, they came back out fired up and rocked the place...they had the crowd yelling for more when they were done..the kid played a cover of Miserlou that burned up the joint. They left the stage to cheers not jeers. I don't remember their name..never saw them play again...but anytime I want to feel sorry for myself for dropping a note or two I remember these guys...it's why we play.

The NPR program Weekend America is going to run a segment on the outstanding For a Few Guitars More tribute to Ennio Morricone that was released in 2003. They have interviewed Moon Dawg, Ferenc Dobronyi, and Spanky Twangler, so it should be a very interesting segment.

The show airs at different times in different cities, usually on Saturday afternoon. The stations and times are listed here. Podcasts of the show are available after 3pm Saturday also, check here.

Hopefully this will renew some interest in this outstanding CD. Ferenc is working on getting another pressing going as well. Congratulations guys!

The Thunderchiefs debut Lp is out now on Wormtone Records.

Order your copy from Wormtone Records today!

Read more to see the cover art...

Vote for the Flyer of the month december 2006 till 10.02.2007. You can watch and vote for your faves HERE

Check out the winning flyer of the last round -> THE WHYS


Also have a look at the bandlinks:

WAY OUT WEST
DEADBOLT
THE SATELLITERS
ROBERT AND THE ROBOTERS
THE LONGBOARDS

Enjoy!

Hello all;

The Madeira will be returning to the Melody Inn in Indianapolis on Friday, January 26th. We will be playing with three non-surf, hard-rocking bands: The Vacancy (Pittsburgh), Razorblade Skyline & Imperial Battlesnake (Chicago). This will be a great opportunity to expose some new people to the amazing, powerful sound of a full-on surf band pounding out that reverb!

Nothing scheduled for February at the moment, but looks like March and April will see us playing a bit more. More details once they're confirmed.

In other news: we have been hard at work on new material for a second full-length CD, which we hope to record in the late summer and release early in '08. Also, our Myspace site has been updated with two new tracks from the debut album 'SANDSTORM' as well as performance videos of the songs "Ricochet" and a new original, "Surf Fidelis." Go check 'em out!

Please take a gander at the new Event Calendar and leave your thoughts in this forum thread.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated!

Our 2006 mp3 compilation is now complete and available on archive.org at the following URL:

http://www.archive.org/details/SG101_2006_MP3_Compilation

I am really knocked out by this years compilation! I want to thank everyone who contributed. Great job everyone!! Special thanks go to ButchDelux who created the CD case front and back artwork!

Please spread the word about the above link, and please continue discussing this very special project in the forum thread.

I'm looking forward to next year's!

Hey Everybody!

Well, winter has certainly set in and the Pyronauts have retreated to their cave to begin hibernation. We will be making special appearances throughout the winter (Mammoth Mountain) as well as local gigs. Check the website frequently for more info on shows.

It's time to finish your Christmas gift shopping! Scratch everybody off your list with a copy of the new CD "SURF AND DESTROY"

Oh yeah, and Phil Dirt gave it 5 STARS.

But where can we buy it?

Online at CD Baby with special discount for more that one copy!

Download at iTunes

Download at RickShaw

Also for those of you looking for out of print Pyronauts CDs a very small stash of them can be found at DWM Music. Please note that these are very limited quantities and that you may never have another chance to purchase.

T-Shirts: our new T-shirts are available at shows, but are also available at Lake of the Pines Music.

As always if you'd like to order any of our merchandise through us, please contact us through email.

Surf's Up! Go buy some CDs people!

Thanks!

The Pyronauts
www.thepyronauts.com
www.myspace.com/thepyronauts

Submitted on behalf of Paul Johnson

SEASON'S GREETINGS, friends and guitar music fans! -

I've got TWO major new items to announce that just might add a little extra cheer to your holidays:

1) The brand new DVD, "IN CONCERT WITH THE DUO-TONES," is now OUT and available exclusively at PJMOTO.COM... AND...

2) After months of preparation, I have just today "gone live" at my website with our biggest-ever content UPGRADE there! LOTSA new stuff for you to see and hear...

I will tell you all about these below, after I remind you that our catalog of TEN CDs (+ one DVD now as well!) offers many great gift ideas for the music lovers on your list. We are READY AND EAGER to help you scratch some of those names OFF your list; so we hope you'll do some of your holiday shopping with us at PJMOTO.COM, where you can listen FREE to about 200 of my tunes (dating from the '60s to today...) and then conveniently order what you like online.