BIT 2009 Summer Tour Blog #2

We spent about a week at home before the road came calling. We packed up, got everything organized and prepared to be out on the road for almost a month. Luckily, for us, the first night was in Des Moines and so we piled in the RV for approximately 6 minutes before we arrived at the show. If only all road trips were this long.

Mike clearly won the cool photo contest for the night. From Des Moines we headed west to Lincoln Nebraska. As we approached the border of Iowa and Nebraska we were flagged down by a trucker. Immediately we thought we left the trailer door open or had a flat tire. Luckily it was just an open compartment door with nothing in it. We got to talking with the good samaritan and got a picture with him and his dog "Buddy"

After that little adventure we finished up the rest of the drive to Lincoln. We loaded into Knickerbockers, ate lots of $0.25 tacos, killed some time, and played a show. A very good band Conerstone Dub opened the night and Tim their trombonist joined us on stage for a good ole' fashioned jam. Overall a great first time in Lincoln!

Immediately after the show in Lincoln we loaded up and headed to Kearney, Nebraska. We didn't really know what to think of spending two nights in Kearney but they turned out to be two amazing nights. Apparently there isn't a whole lot to do in Kearney so everyone goes to the bar at night and parties. We were glad they did because we had a blast.

After our three days of fun in Nebraska we headed on to Colorado. Because we had 3 days off we headed to our friend Kate Veeder's farm in Longmont. We spent Sunday through Wednesday with Kate as our tour guide sight seeing, hiking, and of course we had to check out a few of the breweries in the area. 

This is Kate..... She's awesome.

This is Toni Frey with two of Kate's goats.

This is Toni and some ambitious BIT members trying to milk goats. Definitely a first for any member of this band.

This is John being a mountain man.

This is Mike when the Paparazzi showed up.

Brandon thought it would be a good idea to grow a mustache.

The breweries included New Belgium, Fort Collins, and Odell. 

This is John dreaming about hops and ......... things.

This is the whole group at Odell.

Mike thought he got so drunk he couldn't see. We told him he wasn't that drunk, he just had poker chips in front of his eyes. He laughed and finally stopped groping people.

This shot looks familiar????

Keep looking Mikey.... there has to be some in there somewhere.

And then we went to one of the coolest outdoor venues we've ever seen. We spent an afternoon at Mishawaka and had an impromptu photo session. You'll be seeing more of these pics in the future.

This is Chris.

Oh yea.... we also played a kick ass show in Boulder for a couple hundred crazy kids too! More to follow!

BIT 2009 Summer Tour Blog #1

Here we go again..... we've neglected our blogging obligations and so we are going to try and catch you up on all BIT happenings.

First, we took a trip down to Lawrence and Kansas City in May. The first night we played at The Bottleneck in Lawrence Kansas home of The Kansas Jayhawks. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!!! We played with The Supervillians a great band from Florida that we hope to cross paths with again. We woke up hit up some continental breakfast and headed to Kansas City. We spent the day in Kansas City enjoying the new downtown area and checking out some of the city's fine entertainment options. 

While in Kansas City we had the opportunity to meet filmmaker Eric Saperston. He gave us a copy of his documentary "The Journey" and we all loved it. We highly recommend the film to anyone out there chasing their dreams as we are.  After Kansas City we had a few days off before heading to Iowa City. 

Iowa City is always a fun town for us and this time did not disappoint. We played a very fun show before heading to Des Moines to meet up with Ballyhoo and B-Foundation for a few dates. Since we have all recently relocated to Des Moines it is quickly turning into our favorite place to play. We grilled out, played some disc golf, and did the usual Friday afternoon stuff before heading to The House of Bricks. Both Ballyhoo and B-Foundation killed it before we got up and played. 

From Des Moines we headed up north to Cedar Falls. Cedar Falls has always been one of our favorite places to play and this night was no different. All 3 bands were on the bill again and again we were honored to close down the night. After Cedar Falls we were all worn out and welcomed 10 days off. 

 

The next weekend was one of the few weekends we had off this summer so we decided to hit up the sprint car races in Knoxville, Iowa. For most of the band it was the first time at the race track but everyone had a blast. If you have never been to sprint car races..... you should.

SXSW, 311, New House, New Logo, and Much More

Ok. Its been way to long since we last blogged so we are going to try and catch everybody up in one shot. Imagine this being last season's recap at the beginning of this season's premier.
Here we go:

1) In January our pictures were featured in Billboard, Pollstar, and Radio and Records Magazines. Very cool. (even one full pager)

2) In March we traveled down to Austin, Texas for SXSW and played 3 shows in about 42 hours. This was our first trip to SXSW and we already have it scheduled in for next year. Austin is amazing and if you haven't ever been we highly suggest you attend. Lots of fun, little sleep, great music, and lots of new friends. 

3) Also this spring, BIT has officially relocated to Des Moines. Mike and Chris (our utility player) moved back from LA, John moved back from Arizona, Garrett moved back from Cedar Falls, and the rest will soon be following. Everybody moved into a Victorian Mansion built in the 1800's. Although it took a while to get it all cleaned up and liveable its an amazing old house that so far has been great for creativity and production (Yes we know its haunted but so far all the ghosts/spirits seem to like our music.)

4) In April we had the honor of supporting 311. 311 has been one of our favorite bands for a very long time so when the opportunity to open for them was presented we jumped on it. We'd like to welcome all the new fans and say thank you to all the old fans that attended.

5) We have a new logo. You'll be seeing a lot of it.

6) We have some new merchandise. Our online merch store will be updated soon.

7) The summer is approaching quickly and we will be heading out in late May for a full summer of shows. We will be adding more dates soon so continue to check back for updates.

Hope to see you all at a show this summer.
BIT
James "jelly bean" Frey
John "jalapeno" Schminke
Brandon "bearclaw" Clark
Mike "meat pie" Schminke
Kelly "krispy kreme" Powers
Garrett "grapefruit" Theilking

winter happenings

Just to keep everyone updated here are some recent happenings in the world of BIT:

1: KCCI.com the Des Moines CBS station has posted our video from Okinawa, check it out here: http://www.kcci.com/localmusicvideo/17981198/index.html

2. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier just did a very nice story, check it out here: http://www.waterloocourier.com/articles/2008/11/25/features/lifestyles/10776435.txt

3. We received a great review from Boston Based Neufutur Magazine, check it out here:
http://neufutur.com/?p=5737

4. Mike was seen in an episode of ABC's "Samantha Who", check it out here:
www.abc.com

5. Mike was also quoted in an article by The Pier, a leading reggae website/news service, check it out here:
http://www.thepier.org/Bestof2008-01.html

6. Our Myspace page was listed as one of the "50 Majestic Myspace Layouts", check the article out here:
http://mashable.com/2008/12/01/myspace-layouts/ and check our myspace out here:
www.myspace.com/blueislandtribe

7. There is still time to sign up for your chance to win one of five BIT Holiday Packages... All you have to do is sign up on our email list.