You want a toe? I can get you a toe.

In true Aloud fashion we’re spending our last day before driving home watching The Big Lebowski and drinking white russians (though I’ve switched to vodka and soda). We’re at Thee Jamie Leigh’s house in Jersey hanging out with her family. We drove through the night from Virginia and early D.C. traffic and got here about 9am. We’ll leave early Friday morning for the last five hours to Boston and some kind of a semblance of normal life. I am very tired. I suppose it’s a good time to go home and let us sprained ankle heal.

A couple days ago we were in Greenville, NC for our show at Live Bar. We had a pretty good last leg of this tour. North Carolina was good to us. As folks walked into Live Bar they came up and said hello and that they’d checked out the band online. It’s real nice knowing people are this interested in new music in some places. I had to lay off the rock and roll dancing on stage due to the ankle. The crowd were real engaging and like I said folks were just friendly and kind. We ran through the bulk of CDs from the last of our tour supply that night. Thanks Jay for booking us and running sound as well as thanks to Tyler, Eric, Miranda, Tate, Clay and Daniel. Henry got his 34th Johnny Depp that night and a Jack White. Turns out we’re not the only Bostonians coming through Greenville either. Shoney Lamar and the Equal Rights are on their way soon.

Next day a little goodbye lunch with the parents and then off to Chesapeake, VA for the LAST show of this tour. What a heavy day. Its such a weird feeling of life as you have known it coming to an end (albeit temporarily) throw in being at your folks place with all the kids in the house again and the pain from a sprained ankle and it’s all very odd. You think about all the things you’ve got to take care of when you get back. Little things. I stepped on my glasses this week and have to get them fixed when I get back. New van, booking the next tour, interviews and promo for the homecoming show, taxes, auditions and finding a little work for the interim. There’s a host of smaller things to prepare before next tour as well. We put in for new t-shirts today, etc. All that’s in my head on the way to Winston’s. We’re on first which is good because when you reach last show and you know everything that awaits you in a few days all you want to do is get through it and feel better. And so we did. Wesley and Doug from Long Division came by. They helped us book this show and shared a CMJ showcase with us at the start of the tour. Some good bands that night and more awesome people (Isaac, Eliot, and more I’m forgetting). Isaac is part of a team shooting a documentary on sex trafficking in the US. Special thanks to Robert of Musicplayer and Yolinda for having us and for the kids who bought the last of the Exile copies we took on tour.

More coffee please.

About 2am we started out for the nearest Waffle House with Fugazi’s The Argument on the speakers. Many necessary cups of coffee later we got in for the six hour drive. Virginia seems endless when you’re driving through it and much worse when you start nearing D.C. traffic around 5am. Goddamn GPS always goes nuts when you hit the capital too. Managed to get back on the proper highway when we realize our Fast Lane transponder isn’t working. Eh. That’s kind of a nuisance. Add it to the list. I’m a bit of a 7 year old really. 9am, pull into Jamie’s driveway and immediately pass out till 5pm and now… time for the Dude. There’s a little snow coming. Seems like the right way for Boston to welcome us home. That and the 13 degree temperature.

I want to say THANK YOU to all the wonderful people we met on tour who fed us, housed us and made us feel so welcomed in all their towns. It is SO VERY MUCH appreciated. We’re coming back to your towns in Feb/March and the best way to know is to sign up on that mailing list if you haven’t already. Another big hug and kiss have to go to our manager Annie Burns for putting most of this thing together, holding the fort at home and keeping us sane. And of course we couldn’t have made it this far without all the Exile backers who put us on the road in the first place. Seriously, THANK YOU. It’s a good job. It’s the best job. We’ll be doing it again soon and in the meantime we’re planning a big homecoming bash at the Lizard Lounge on the 29th. Let’s have a drink together.

After our set at Winston’s Henry and I put together a little video message for you. Dig.

Cheers,

Jen

P.S. Charles has a special message: When making toast butter both sides and remember to wipe.

Delilah and Jake in the way of everything

Stuff happened and it didn’t happen all of last week. We were off for the holidays and spent it here in Raleigh, NC, at my folks’ house. We left James back in Camden to spend it with his family. It was nice having a couple days off and both my brother and sister are here now, so we had a decent time bothering the hell out of each other. I also have these amazing dogs we refer to as the Moocows. There’s the spotted one Delilah, the large one Blondie and the papa dog Jake. These dogs sleep on beds and couches and awkward spots in the hall way where Charles trips over them in the middle of the night waking up the whole house. We spent the days working on the upcoming Spring tour; looking up bands and venues, etc. And at night we’d act like children drinking soda, eating chocolate and playing board games. Which board games? Apples to Apples, Uno (of course), The Game of Life (Simpsons edition) and Trivial Pursuit (only once, coz it blows).

On Xmas day, though, Charles came down with something. Now, Charles and I had both drank quite a number of wine bottles the previous night, so we thought this was a bit of hangover, but he was getting the chills and such. By next day it’d gotten worse and it was hard for him to swallow and talk. Throw in a snow storm that no one around here knows what to do with and the whole town is shut down. We took him to an urgent care the next day and the after hours and hours of waiting, the doctor pronounced him to have the “worst case of strep throat I’ve ever seen”. Charles has heard this twice in his life. Yay, for medicine and soup which made him feel better and even had him leaving his room at random points in the night to stare at us funny and say ridiculous things.

New Years Eve @ Slim's Downtown, Raleigh

I played catch up with the family and did some shopping. Henry and I got ourselves some badass peacoats. New Years was all right too. We all went down to Raleigh First Night and hit up Slim’s Downtown for some drinks. We played Slim’s a couple years back on the Fan the Fury tour. Mark, who booked us, was bartending and so we had a chat with him. Again, copious amounts of alcohol were consumed and as a result I learned what leachates are (thanks Emmy). We started the year off right by taking in a viewing of the Big Lebowski (yes, again) and slept in till about 2pm. We had a gig in Charlotte that day and had to leave by 4pm. Plenty of time to get ready. Loaded up the van, drove off and met James there. His friends Jonathan and Bethany came along. Great people they are. Might I say that the staff and the crowd at the Milestone were some of the loveliest people we met all tour. Andy, Christina, Hyatt, John, KP, Joe and yes, I know once again I’m leaving people out. Many thanks to KPSoloman 5000 (ack, can’t find a website) and Evelynn Rose for sharing the stage. It was a pleasure.

It was necessary to have some days to off to catch up on the mountain of things that get pushed behind when you’ve got to spend 6 or 7 hours in a van off to the next location. It’s crazy to think we’ll be in Boston on Friday. What? Crazy. It’s Sunday, but you’ll probably read this on Monday. We’ve got a show tonight in Chapel Hill at the Cave. I love Chapel Hill. I’m glad we could grab up something there. After that it’s Raleigh tomorrow, Greenville and then the final show in Chesapeake, VA. Part of me is happy to get back home and dig deep into the next tour. The other half wants someone else to do that, so I can just keep playing. I will be seeing you soon Boston and you will get big hugs.

Cheers,

Jen

This one's not to be missed! Saturday, Jan. 29th. (Poster: Erin Genett)

Home again.

It’s been a long journey and it feels like it’s been ages since the gang trekked out into the great wide open. They’ve logged close to 13,000 miles and 50 shows all over the US.

Next month, after being away from the stage for nearly five months, Aloud is finally coming home.

The Boston Phoenix is calling this one a stacked bill in their winter preview. Aloud’s friends This Blue Heaven, Oranjuly, and One Happy Island round out the evening with their respective sonic brands of awesome.

Aloud is hitting pavement again shortly after this show (more on this below), and their next Boston area show may not be for a good long while. Don’t miss this one!

Anything else you need to know about this show? How about…

Feed us your pictures.

Did you see Aloud on the 2010 Exile tour? Were you a little trigger happy with your camera? If so, we want to hear from you. The band is currently speaking to Performer Magazine about possibly publishing a tour diary piece early next year, and we need your photos!

The pictures could be anything, whether it’s Aloud performing, or of you hanging out with the band offstage.

Please send your full name and any high resolution photos you have to pics@allthingsaloud.com with the subject “Exile 2010 pics“.

Road again.

After a short holiday sabbatical, Aloud resumes the tail end of the Exile tour’s first leg with dates in North Carolina and Virginia. The Exile tour’s second leg begins at the end of February, and dates are already being posted! Aloud is returning to many cities they hit on the latest tour, a few new cities, and places they haven’t seen since the Fan The Fury tour.

Aloud will also be in Austin during everyone’s favorite March pastime (the one that doesn’t directly involve gambling on college basketball, anyway).

Below is a list of the latest to date:

As always, more details and the latest up-to-date info is available on the Performances page. Tweet buttons and links to the event pages on Facebook (where available) are easily accessible from there as well. Tell everyone you know about it!

…anything else?

Yes: whatever you’re up to, everyone here hopes you have a fantastic and mostly safe New Year. Thank you all for being rad and supporting Aloud. See you in 2011, everyone!

Photo: Christopher Brown

Hey, Boston…

After months on the road and even longer since the album release show, Aloud is returning to a stage near you this January! Aloud’s homecoming show will be at Lizard Lounge. The 21+ show is only $10.

Aloud hits the road again shortly thereafter, so if you’ve been meaning to catch ‘em, it’ll be a while before you can do it again. Don’t miss out!

Joining the band on the bill are One Happy Island (who also happen to be releasing an EP that night), Oranjuly, and This Blue Heaven.

Here’s what you need to know:

And speaking of This Blue Heaven…

Picking up where Jen left off in September, Henry chats with This Blue Heaven’s MacKenzie Outlund for the latest of her Wednesday Duologues. The early days of de la Osa/Beguiristain songwriting, weird stuff seen on the road, personality tests, and Hallmark cards for nihilists are all part of the discussion—all while Aloud zips through Texas and Oklahoma.

Click here to read the whole danged thing: http://thisbluesinger.blogspot.com/2010/12/wed-er-thursday-duologue-henry.html

Latest tour dates.

Two more dates back east have been added just this week!

As always, please spread the word. Tell all your friends to come to the shows, like Aloud on Facebook, and follow ‘em on Twitter.

Working off those Thanksgiving carbs.

Lastly, here’s a video from the road of the band performing “Counterfeit Star” at Burt’s Tiki Lounge in Albuquerque the day after Thanksgiving.