Strong Like Bear

Push out the Jive, Pull in the Love

2011-10-29T07:31:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

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

2011-02-01T14:42:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-10T20:22:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-10T11:45:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-01-10T11:31:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-13T11:04:00.000-08:00

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.

Iowa City EP Review

2010-12-06T16:50:00.000-08:00

http://littlevillagemag.com/content/2010/12/03/album-review-strong-like-bear-seeking-ghosts-ep/

A very nice review of our EP by Iowa City's Kent Williams. Maybe it's time SLB plays there?

AP Costume Party - win this guitar!

2010-10-25T19:54:00.000-07:00

This Friday, October 29th, we're playing a release show at the Ames Progressive. We have a great line-up of local bands helping us celebrate: Pennyhawk and Longshadowmen. We want everyone to come in costumes, and, if you're brave enough, we'd REALLY like it if you came in drag, and helped make Ames a little weirder for the night. We plan to.

Besides great music and some surprises in store already, we'll be giving prizes for the best costumes and drag kings and queens, including this custome, one of a kind, Strong Like Bear mini acoustic guitar!

Friday night, 6-9 PM, so you can still go catch our good buds The Workshy at Thumbs afterwards, or go vandalize the city in drag. Either way.

EP Cover Art

2010-10-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

We thought you may like to see an advance preview of the cover of our EP. Austin and Cassie at Sleep on the Floor Records designed it, and it looks great. Can't wait to see the final disc in our grubby paws!

Our first release show is at DG's Taphouse on October 8th. We'll also have new shirts for sale and a bunch of other stuff, too, and will be playing with The BreezeWay and Peace, Love, and Stuff. Hope you can make it!

Release Shows A-Go-Go

2010-09-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

Check out our growing calendar of shows - the next few months are going to be busy ones in SLB-land. Save a couple dates to come and celebrate with us. There's going to be more announcements and surprises galore in the near future, so stay tuned!

SLB Completes EP!

2010-08-31T11:29:00.000-07:00

We're very happy, thrilled, ecstatic, and whatever other words you can pull out of a thesaurus to announce the completion of our first EP, titled "Seeking Ghosts." The EP, to be released on Des Moines' Sleep on the Floor label, will have 6 original songs and one remix (by You Are Home's Matthew Dake). The release date is set for October 26th, and there will be a series of CD release parties around this time to commemorate the occasion. More on those as the dates get locked in. We really hope you'll come out and celebrate with us! We'll have new t-shirts available, special guests, and surprises galore!

Recorded entirely at The Spacement studio in Ames, the EP is representative of SLB's sound, and features the great Kate Kennedy playing sax on the closing track, "Valley of the 9s."

"Seeking Ghosts EP" Tracklisting:

1. Trust in Me

2. Down in Arcadia

3. Shut Up

4. The Shark

5. Wheelspin

6. Valley of the 9s

7. Wheelspin (Bearhome remix)

Ames Tribune Article

2010-07-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

http://amestrib.com/articles/2010/07/11/ames_tribune/news/entertainment/doc4c37933a81f02819030613.txt

This is a great article by our good friend Nate Logsdon about Benny Black's local music show, "The Garage." It gives a good overview of the local scene, and it's nice to give Benny some love - he's doing a great job over there at 105.1.

Gigglin' Goat Pic

2010-06-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

This is a pic of us after the benefit show at Gigglin' Goat in Boone. The show was a lot of fun, and the benefit was successful. We got a few pics out of the deal, too, this one taken and artfully edited by Elza McGaffin.

The Garage podcast link

2010-06-14T12:06:00.000-07:00

http://kccq.com/cc-common/podcast.html

SLB was on 105.1's The Garage last night with Benny Black. If you missed it, or would like to hear it again, see the link above to download or stream the podcast version.

We debuted two new studio tracks from our upcoming EP, "Shut Up" and "Trust in Me," and did an in-studio acoustic performance of "Barn Sour" live on the air!

We also got to chat with Joe Lawler from the Juice, and Benny met us at the bar afterwards for a couple of beers. A fun night!

SLB Anibears

2010-05-14T17:18:00.001-07:00

Summer Fun

2010-05-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

We don't currently have many shows scheduled, which is unusual for us! You may be wondering, "Hey, what's up with that?" If so, rest assured all is well in SLB-land. We decided to take a mini-breather from shows to learn some new material, both original and some choice covers (we've got a smokin' version of "The Kids are Alright" by The Who we can't wait to spring on ya!), and also to FINALLY take the time to work on our very first SLB disc! We really get stoked on playing live, so we'll probably start off by recording an EP at The Spacement, then schedule some release shows. Look for us to be back hitting it hard again soon, though, and hope your summer's rocking!

In the meantime, check out a couple of videos from our last Milo show. Enjoy!

"Court Martial" at Cafe Milo

2010-05-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

"Sonar" at Cafe Milo

2010-05-10T11:09:00.000-07:00

Pink Velvet Under Bears

2010-02-06T12:51:00.000-08:00

Here we are at Des Moines Social Club. I love it that they have video running in the background. We look like Pink Floyd or the Velvet Underground at The Factory or something...

Photo by Signe Newman.

Insider Iowa Video

2010-02-06T08:48:00.001-08:00

Erika, the nice woman from Insider Iowa, stopped by last week to tape a couple songs for their Insider Sessions series. We are honored to be included with a bunch of great bands in here, including a great bit with Gogol Bordello!

Here it is:

http://insideriowa.com/index.cfm?nodeID=19457&audienceID=1&action=display&newsID=6092

Update

2010-01-29T14:42:00.000-08:00

Hey, Everyone. Been a bit of a lag since the last blog, but between school, Finals, holidays, a vacation, and school starting up again...well, you get the idea.

We've been hard at it, though, and, after our last Cafe Milo show (which was a blast, and thanks to all who came out and made it that way!), we've decided to up our game on our more rocking, electric set. Not that we're abandoning our acoustic side; but sometimes it's fun to let your inner rocker out for a bit. We've been learning some choice covers, electrifying some of the acoustic stuff, setting Jordan up on an electric guitar, and even doing some recording and songwriting along the way.

2010 is looking to be a very cool year for us. We're starting to schedule some shows already, and our new friend Erika from Insider Iowa stopped by the Spacement the other day to shoot a video of us performing a couple of stripped down tunes for their great site - more on this as it develops.

SLB Featured on Ames Progressive Comp CD

2009-11-16T06:28:00.000-08:00

SLB was recently asked to contribute a track to the upcoming Ames Progressive compilation CD, which will be distributed with their first-ever music issue (subscribers get a copy for FREE!), and will also be sold at the Progressive here in Ames. All proceeds from this disc go directly to supporting the costs of maintaining the Progressive space and publication costs (so it’s a worthy cause that SLB heartily endorses). The disc will feature Leslie and the Lys and our good friends Arise, Devilfish!, amongst many other local musicians. You can also donate and check out online content at www.amesprogressive.org.

SLB's contribution is the song "Trust in Me," recorded in November at The Spacement Studios, and is actually the first time we've collectively done any studio recording. Hopefully more to come!

Ames Progressive pre-Halloween show!

2009-10-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a cool show. We're pretty excited about it. Hope you'll join us!

Ames Trib Cover

2009-10-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

Jordan and Buzz made the cover of the Ames Tribune for playing the city's music walk! It was a casual, loose affair that drew quite a few crowds and had the Main Street district hopping. Here's the link to the cover photo and some others, both us and some of Ames' finest musicians:

http://amestrib.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=25644944&event=839725&CategoryID=46209

And here's the cover photo (for those who require immediate gratification):