Push out the Jive, Pull in the Love

There's been some changes here in Bearland, so it seemed time to maybe mention those. First and foremost, our friend Jordan has left the cave, so to speak, and SLB will miss her, but wish her luck in all her future endeavors. Jordan's vocals and harmonies have been a joy in our music, and it's been a pleasure to work with her for many years.

We've done a few shows as a trio in the meantime, and though they were fun, and we felt good about hearing the songs in a new context (we did a few acoustic trio shows and one electric), we also collectively have decided that we really want to play some new songs and experiment a little bit, and with lives being busy and all that, this goal wasn't going to happen unless we made it a priority.

So we've been jamming and writing, and not scheduling any shows for a bit, with our goal being to not perform live again until we have a set of whole new material to play for people. And it's been a blast so far! We can't wait to hone it all down and get it shiny and sharp and tight and full of love and dreams and come back and play it for you guys.

In the spirit of newness, we created a new logo graphic for the website - hope you like it!

Our music player deal quit working on this page as well (stupid computers), so we've sought out the assistance of the fine folks at Bandcamp, who make it really easy to put your music on the web. If you don't have our EP yet, you can check it out at: stronglikebear.bandcamp.com

Thanks for everyone's support, and we look forward to making lots of musics real soon - it's a kick to be in pure creative mode again, and we're talking about recordings and shows and all kinds of stuff in the not so distant future!

Summer Time, and the Living's Easy

Been awhile since we've blogged! Not due to lack of activity, nope, there's been lots going on, but it's tough to sit in front of a computer when it's all hot and sweaty out and there's summer to be had.

Over the summer, our drummer, Rachel, was in Albuquerque on an internship. We did two shows with our friend and guest drummer James Doxon (of Mumford's and Ladysoal fame, and a great chef and stand up guy in general), we did a few acoustic shows with just Jordan, Greg, and myself (this was about the last band configuration we hadn't explored!), we wrote some new songs, and I did a small tour with Mumford's and Utopia Park on their much longer Conquest of Dreams tour, playing guitar and seeing crowds along the East Coast.

All of which was a lot of fun, and rejuvenating, but now I'm in Albuquerque, and tomorrow is Rachel's last day of work here in New Mexico, so we're getting ready to return to Ames for good, get the band all back in one geographic location, and start rocking again!

Check out our upcoming shows to the left, which we're excited about, and we're also looking to record a track at Sound Farm Studios for their Sonic Harvest compilation, and we have a few other tricks up our sleeves we'll be talking about soon as well (including getting back to work on the first SLB full length album).

Ames Progressive 3rd Anniversary Feb. 5th

I don't even know what to say about this show that hasn't been said, and even if I said it, I'd probably just soil myself again...  Check out this lineup and deets.  There is so much going on in Ames right now it's ridiculous, and it all freaking rocks:

12 HOUR NONSTOP MUSIC MARATHON! 2 STAGES ALTERNATING ALL DAY! HERE IS THE LINEUP:

Noon - The Poison Control Center (acoustic)
12:30 - Jordan Mayland
1:00 - Maid Marian
1:20 - Cup of Tea
1:45 - Jojo
1:50 - Tom Russell
2:20 - Skye Carrasco
2:50 - Douglas Kramer Nye
3:10 - Lipstick Homicide
3:30 - Sam Royse
3:50 - Unwavery
4:10 - A.N.D.R.E.
4:30 - Arise, Devilfish!
4:50 - Morning Sex & the Good Weed
5:10 - People With Heads
5:30 - Mary Tiedeman
5:45 - Strong Like Bear
6:05 - Laura Bosworth
6:15 - Aly Peeler
6:35 - Andrew Lopez
6:45 - Kick Like a Lion
7:00 - Sean Huston
7:30 - MRPF3
7:50 - Derek Lambert
8:10 - The Freemasons
8:30 - Holly Figueroa
8:50 - Nuclear Rodeo
9:10 - Julie Hallman
9:30 - The Workshy
10:00 - Pennyhawk
10:20 - Ladysoal
10:40 - Coyote Slingshot
11:00 - Longshadowmen
11:30 - Utopia Park
11:50 - The Poison Control Center
12:20 - Joe Terry
12:40 - Mumford's
1:00 - Christopher the Conquered

FOR ONLY $10 YOU'LL GET A WRISTBAND THAT WILL BE GOOD FOR THE WHOLE MARATHON, SO YOU CAN COME AND GO AS YOU PLEASE. THERE WILL BE SOME FOOD AVAILABLE POTLUCK STYLE. IF YOU WANT TO BRING SOME FOOD TO SHARE, PLEASE DO! IF WE RAISE ENOUGH MONEY AT THIS EVENT, WE'RE GONNA GET A NEW P.A. FOR THE SPACE! HIP HIP HOORAMES!

Couch Concert at Cactus Joe's in Madison

SLB at Cactus Joe's Couch Concert

Whilst in Madison, we had the honor and privilege of being part of Cactus Joe's Couch Concerts, a great series of stripped down videos of bands traveling around the country.  And Joe sat in with us on bass!  Enjoy three SLB tunes and a cover of a tune we've been loving, an obscure power pop song by Imperial Drag.  Thanks, Joe!

Madison, 1/7/11

Joe and Jordan harmonize

Our first show of 2011 was a momentous one - we traveled to Madison, where our good friend Cactus Joe had set up a show at The Dry Bean, a restaurant/club with a killer stage.  We were told it used to be a country music club many years ago, but now it caters to music of all types.

Unfortunately, our regular bass player Greg couldn't make the jaunt, but Joe volunteered to learn a set and play with us.  The show was for his birthday party, with his kick ass band The Guppy Effect headlining, so Joe had to do double duty on his own birthday!

Buzz and his drink

We sent Joe a set of tunes to learn, and he agreed, liked them, and asked for more!  So we ended up doing nearly two sets' worth of material.  Joe is an animal, and put in the time to learn the whole thing, and nailed the set.

Rat jams on Pedro's set

The Guppies were very generous to us, letting us use their drum set, and in return for learning all our material, Joe asked us if we'd learn the vocals to a White Zombie song, "Black Sunshine."  We listened to the song over and over again on the van trip out to Madison, and during The Guppy Effect's second set, Joe invited us up, creating a hybrid we dubbed "Strong Like Guppy."  It was a blast having that many people on stage, and we may have biffed a lyric or two, but, overall, it was a great way to celebrate a birthday, the union of rocking.

Joe, sporting his SLB shirt

The next morning we were all pretty tired, but by afternoon we were once again filled with the rocking spirit, and we recorded one of Cactus Joe's famous "couch concerts," where Joe invited musicians from all over to sit on his couch and play some acoustic tunes, which he then records and spreads across the interwebs.  It was great fun, and once it goes up, we'll have a link for you.

Madison is a very friendly, very musical place to be, and we were happy to bring a slab of Ames musical love, and bring back a little bit of Madison with us in the process.

SLB Jukebox/New Song sample!

If you look to the left on our page, you'll see a little bear.  He's actually an mp3 player, and if you click on his belly, the play button, you can stream our whole EP, "Seeking Ghosts," and listen to it anytime you want!  And the bear will even shake his little bear head for you, mostly in rhythm to the music.

As a bonus feature, at the end of the play list, there's a sample of a new SLB track we're working on in the studio, called "Shoot the Moon."  This was put together in response to a contest that NASA is running - the last shuttle mission is this year, and they always have a "wake up " song for the astronauts.  So they're having a contest for people to submit for the very last wake up song on the very last shuttle mission ever - and it just so happens that SLB has a song about the space program, so we decided to send it to them.  They have a 2 minute limit on submissions, but we thought you may be interested to hear what we've been up to in the studio during the cold winter months.  Enjoy!

Wheatsfield 12/11/10 w/Tom Russell

Just a couple of pics from our last gig of the year.  The Wheatsfield Co-Op Membership Appreciation Days are always great fun - the staff are always extremely nice to us, there's a steady stream of shoppers and friends coming past, and we usually try to do something stripped down and special for these shows.  This time our friend Tom Russell sat in on some banjo, and we did some bluegrass type arrangements of SLB tunes, as well as some tunes that Tom brought in (including some original music and even a Leadbelly song).  Lots of pickin' and harmonies joined together, while the weather outside got more and more nasty.