Booking shows

I've said it before, but this time I mean it. I'm attempting to book a bunch of shows for the spring/summer right now in MN/Wisc and hopefully the Midwest for myself as a solo act, the MB & Gentlemen Trailblazers group, and Lonesome for Handsome (the new band I'm playing in.)


Contact booking@mikebehrends.com


If you're bored, listen to some songs on Myspace or Broadjam. Also, I probably (for now) update the MB Facebook page the most, so head over there and "like me" to stay abreast of the latest shows, recordings, and other happenings.

New band, etc.

Hello,
Here's some "news" pieces I thought I'd hit you with. I'm about to leave the country for a month and a half to spend time with my girlfriend who is in South Korea for a year. So no shows or music making coming up in that span BUT I've been playing with a new band called Lonesome for Handsome. As I've said in previous posts (if you check this regularly and find yourself being frustrated that a nobody like me doesn't update the blog enough), it's my four favorite dudes in the whole wide world from the band Fever in the Ox + me. We've had a few rehearsals in their practice space in downtown St. Paul and have a few songs put together but once I return in mid-February we'll hit it a little harder, finish up rounding out a set, and then put some shows together in Mpls/St. Paul hopefully. We have ambitions of recording a record in a barn in southern Minnesota, too, but we'll see how that shakes out. I've probably got a couple records' worth of jams that I've written in the last four months that are ready to be recorded so who knows. Nothing'll come of those in the near future, but let's be optimistic going into the second decade of the first half century of the year 2011.

Ok, that's the update. I'm curious to see if anyone reads this at all. Soooo, I've made a "favorite songs of 2010" mix CD that my friend Eric Drommerhausen (from Fever and Lonesome and life) encouraged me to make so we could exchange. If you'd like me to mail you a copy of that + 1 free 5-song 2009 flannel clad self-titled EP, comment on this post with your email address and I'll email you to get the details and then I'll send it your way. Tis' the season of giving, right? Why not give you an old, dusty, 5 song EP plus a favorites mix tape that you may not enjoy? See? It's a win-win (or a "win-win-win" for anyone who watches The Office).

Ok, that's it for now. Next stop...Seoul, South Korea.

Sincerely your ears' for life,
Michael John Behrends

Vidz

Thanks Heavens For House Fires EP promo


Fever in the Ox video from Palmer's Bar


Reporter getting poop in his mouth

Duluth show tonight CANCELLED

This will be the 4th time I've had to cancel a show in my 7 years of playing. The weather here in Minneapolis is getting worse as the first snowfall of the year swings through Minnesota and it is only worsening in Duluth (the fine gentleman at Amazing Grace, when I called to cancel, said, "Yea, it's gross up here," and I'm guessing he was referencing the weather and not taking a shot at his beautiful hometown). Knowing the amount of local talent in Duluth, I'm sure the kind folks at Amazing Grace will bring in someone else from 8-10pm tonight. So go down there and be warm.

This show was it for a while for me. I'm starting to grow tired of playing the songs solo, as there are so many different instruments that I hear in my head, and that you can hear on the records. So if anything more surfaces with the folks I'm playing with in Minneapolis right now, I will make sure to post about that up here (who am I talking to right now??). But until then, nothing until the spring.

New, free EP

Here's a link to a FREE download of a two-song, digital 7" EP that we made.

And here's the information:
The Gentlemen Trailblazers
Thank Heavens for House Fires EP
1. The First Time I Saw The Devil
2. Pontch-Ar-Train

Recorded October 2010 at Studio D
Produced by The Gentlemen Trailblazers
Mike Behrends -- guitars, banjo, synth, singing
Lance Owens -- bass, engineering
Mike Grunder -- drums and other percussion, xylophone, trumpet

songs written by Mike Behrends, arranged by The Gentlemen Trailblazers

St. Paul Art Crawl, October 8th

The St. Paul Art Crawl is this coming weekend (October 8,9, and 10). I'll be performing at one of the stops inside the Lowertown Lofts Building downtown (St. Paul) on the first night, October 8th, from 7:00pm until 8:00pm or a little after. My friend Brady E. is going to rub on some drum kit-related things while I make noise with a banjo and acoustic guitar and mouth organ. We'll be selling CDs, waiting for big spenders' tips (large, unmarked bills only please), and making sure the between-song-banter stays on the border of appropriate. Make sure you're coming to support the wonderful artists who make this possible. We're just here to hurt your ears in between stops.



Also, I've got a new musical crush. Julie Doiron (above), a songwriter from Canada who has been making noise for almost a couple of decades now, might be the coolest music-making chick since Feist or Aretha or Mama Cass. She's a family woman -- a mother and a wife with tunz of indie cred -- who usually rocks as a two-piece. Fuzzed out electric guitar and drums. Anyways, I feel bad that I didn't hear about her until more recently but whatever. Check out this performance of her song "The Wrong Guy." Or check out another favorite of mine, David Bazan, doing a cover of one of her jams called "Will You Still Love Me In December?"

"New Feet" featured on Spanish podcast

Hotel Arizona, a Spanish podcast that features a pretty great selection Americana music -- this week's episode featured Neil Young, Damien Jurado, Ox, My Morning Jacket -- played three songs off the CD we released a few months back. It was pretty great to hear Church Songs, Grover McGill, and Darling Leave played amongst other artists that I've spent a good deal of time listening to. Click here to listen to it. If you speak any Spanish, let me know if you can make out what the announcer has to say about New Feet (47 minute mark).

-MB