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Saturday, July 23, 2011

The Foundry, Vegas and Fizzy Fuzzy in its entirety!


Hóla Peacemakers,

OK. Uncle.
It’s hotter than Hades here in Houston. The sweltering combination of high humidity and 100+ degree heat makes my beloved Sonoran desert look like an ice box. I haven’t felt heat like this since I spent a summer in Taipei. Until this moment, I’d been proud to gloat that I was a desert-denizen, one who could endure the planet’s hottest summer with nothing other than a popsicle (or margarita) and a sombrero. No more. Gotta give it up. Those of you who reside here and in the Midwest and who have endured summers like this before get the blue ribbon for heat-hardiness. I’ll take AZ’s dry heat any day. This is madness. Y’all are tough! Or crazy. Probably both. At least that’s what we’re counting on. We’ll be taking the stage at the Firehouse Saloon in Houston around 10:30. The club owner tells me the A/C works and the beer will be ice-cold. Come, brave the heat and we hope to see you here and sweat it out together on a Texas Saturday night!

We have two more shows remaining on this tour. We’ll rock Houston tonight and San Antonio mañana. This, our third 2011 tour, almost ground to a halt before it really began, and I want to again extend our gratitude for your kind words of support and to all who threw a peso or two into our online tour-support kitty. RCPM operates without sponsorship subsidies or record label funding. We’re a proud, DIY, ma-and-pa, American independent rock and roll band. However, without your help, the weight of the past two tours’ succession of extra costs in parts and repairs and hotels and show cancellations would have sunk this tour. We came perilously close. In our time of need, you became our sponsors, our tour support, our “santos invisibles” (invisible saints). Thanks for keeping the rock rolling. Yes, and though we oft declare ourselves an “independent” rock and roll band, I’m humbly happy to declare that, with you, we are also an “inter-dependent” rock and roll band. Everywhere we play feels like a home coming and we can’t do it without you. Gracias, familia.

Our next show in the comparative coolness of Phoenix will be a week from today (Sat., July 30th) at a groovy new venue, The Foundry. It will be our second show in our hometown since we released Unida Cantina in April. I am looking very forward to the familiar, fiery feel of our legendary dry heat! It’s been a long time since we’ve been home, so we’re going to play a long time. We’re going to begin with an all-acoustic set. Here, on this site, is a way to tell us which 12 or so tunes you’d like to hear as acoustic versions. Let us know, (cast your votes) and we’ll work ‘em up acoustically. Post your song requests as a "reply" or "comment" to this letter. Send us your selections by this Friday so we’ll have a day to work on ‘em. For our second set, we’re gonna kick over the barstools and turn up the volume. Come to rock! (And pace yourself….)

Vegas!
Somehow the House of Blues already leaked that we’re going to play “Fizzy Fuzzy Big and Buzzy” in order and in it’s entirety. True. I was planning on announcing it at the Foundry show, but might as well fess up now; that rumor is true. The Labor Day show in Vegas will be another long show; another “evening with” Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. We’ve never played our seminal album top-to-bottom, even in The Refreshments. It’s going to be a fun trip. We hope you’ll come along. I’ll don a loud Hawaiian shirt and my red Converse on for the first set, and will pull on my trusty, dusty Mexican cowboy boots for the rest of the show.

Just a few days after the Vegas show, we’ll be back in the saddle again, back on the bus, back on tour, to complete our string of US dates. It’s our 4th US run, our longest-ranging tour of the year. We’ll be starting in Colorado, getting all the way to the East Coast, and then heading back to Arizona through the Midwest.

It’ll be about 8,000 miles round trip, but our trusty Stallion is chomping at the bit. I’ll keep my fingers crossed our steed doesn’t throw a shoe, y’all keep sending positive vibes, and RCPM will be hitchin’ up at a saloon near you soon. I hope you’ll be at the Homecoming.

Muchas gracias and peace be with you,
Roger

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Online Tour Kitty

Dear Peacemakers,
Below is the email address to RCPM's online fan-supported Tour Kitty using PayPal.
Those who wish to donate need to go to www.paypal.com. Please send your tour support donations to:

Donations can be sent using your own PayPal account or a banking account for free. Or PayPal charges a small fee for debit/credit card donations.

Thanks again to everyone who has helped us with your words, your continued attendance at the the shows, your patronage at our merch booth and online store, and your online Tour Support donations that help make RCPM's national touring a sustainable prospect.

Every little bit helps keep us on the road.
Please check back soon, we'll be offering an RCPM Tour Support t-shirt, all proceeds from sales will go to keep the rock rolling!


Sunday, July 10, 2011

Roger letter, 7/10


July 10, 2011

Hóla Peacemakers,
I’m writing you from a hotel room in Plano, TX.
The heat here is amazing, literally breathtaking.
We were supposed to be at sound check in Little Rock, AR by now, but, alas, for the second time in a week, we’ve had to cancel another show.
Our faithful, vintage tour bus (“The Stallion”) had her engine seize in Anaheim on I-5 on the first day of our May tour of the Western US. After a month in the shop, her engine repaired, we planned to meet her in Dallas yesterday and move our gear from our vintage 1994 tour van (“Honeybucket”) and trailer and get back on-board our trusty bus. No go.
Yesterday morning, we got the call that our beloved Stallion made it 1400 of the 1425 miles from Anaheim to Dallas, but fell short of the finish line because of another mechanical problem.
We’re staying a few days here in hopes we can get her repaired. (We’re on the hunt for a “miter box” to fit a Detroit Diesel 6V92. Drop us a line if you’ve got one laying around or if you know someone who can rebuild them!)

In the meantime, we found ourselves nearby one of our favorite Texas roadhouses, Love and War, here in Plano. They graciously invited us to come by, have some brisket and beer and play tonight after their Shiner Sunday show wraps up. We’ll go on at 8 and play for a couple of hours. There’s no cover, so if you’re in the neighborhood, come on by. It’ll be a hot one, but there’ll be plenty of cold drinks, rock music, and good company all night.

Since the Stallion’s breakdown in May, we have been consistently, persistently, very generously asked by many, “how can we help?”

Firstly, just showing up is the most important thing. Coming to the shows to support the band, turning your friends on to the music, buying a ticket and a t-shirt, and/or visiting our online merch store, are our bread and butter. Without you at the shows, and without your support on-line, we’d not be able to keep the rock rollin’.
We’ve also fielded a number of requests to set up an on-line repair kitty; a fund that anyone may donate to in order to help with unforeseen and costly bus repairs. For a number of reasons, mostly stemming from pride, I have been reluctant to accept or even address the issue. But with an exhausted repair fund and another big-ticket invoice looming to threaten our tour’s operational viability, I find myself inclined to humbly accept such resolute good-will and persistent generosity. We’ll have a tip-sombrero on stage tonight. Our web-team behind the scenes will set up an account which will gratefully accept on-line donations. If you feel inclined to drop a peso in, we humbly thank you. All tips will go into a fund reserved for repairs only.

It doesn’t matter if you do or don’t throw a peso in the tip-sombrero. Really, it’s the thought that counts. And I’d like to point out to you all that we’re grateful for you, the “World’s Finest Rock and Roll Audience.” Thanks for your kind words, cheers, tequila shots and beers, and for the groundswell of generosity to help keep us on the road. You’re the best.

Muchas gracias and peace be with you,
Roger Clyne