Three Weeks and Counting!

We're now three weeks out from the release of our second LP, Now or Heaven, and we're getting very excited. We just posted tour dates for our first tour for the new record -- check 'em out:

9/09 Denver, CO @ Hi Dive
9/10 Omaha, NE @ Slowdown Jr.
9/11 Iowa City, IO @ The Picador
9/12 Madison, WI @ Orpheum Stage Door
9/13 Minneapolis, MN @ 400 Bar
9/15 Chicago, IL @ Schubas
9/16 Pontiac, MI @ Pike Room
9/17 Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
9/21 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
9/22 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East
9/23 New Haven, CT @ Cafe Nine
9/24 Washington, DC @ Rock n Roll Hotel
9/25 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
9/26 Mt Pleasant, SC @ Village Tavern
9/28 Nashville, TN @ The Basement
9/29 Memphis, TN @ HI Tone
9/30 Denton, TX @ Dan's Silverleaf
10/1 Austin, TX @ Mohawk
10/4 Los Angeles, Ca @ Spaceland


We're most likely coming near your hometown, so come out and see us.

Also, you can stream and preorder Now or Heaven from Merge Records by clicking here.

Hope to see you all soon!

New Record! NOW OR HEAVEN -- Out Sept 9 on MERGE RECORDS

Hi all. It's been a long, long time since we've updated the olde blog. We just returned from a quick jaunt up the West Coast, culminating in an appearance at the Sled Island Festival in Calgary. The tour was a ton of fun -- no doubt the fun quotient was augmented a great deal by the presence of sound man/TBW best friend/recording engineer Anthony Caruso. We should be able to post some photos from the tour in a few days.

Meanwhile, Merge Records will drop our second record, Now or Heaven, on September 9 here in North America. We're pumped.

Hope you're all well.

Love,
The Broken West

Obama For Your Mama

We here at The Broken West HQ (or more specifically, me, Ross) rarely -- if ever -- get all political on your ass. Generally speaking, we're too busy writing songs, jamming out, drinking beers, and eating tacos to take time to be all preachy. But now's the time to speak out. I urge ALL of you who read this blog (and, admittedly, "ALL", I know really just means my mom and maybe a couple of other dudes) to step up and be on the right side of history -- and by "the right side of history", I mean supporting Barack Obama. Now, if the handful of you who do read this blog happen to live in VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, D.C., WISCONSIN, HAWAII, RHODE ISLAND or TEEEEEXXXXASSS or OOOOHHHHIIIIOOOO AND you're a DEMOCRAT, get out there and vote for Mr. Obama.

I am and always have been a HUGE political junkie, which means I'm fascinated by and deeply cynical of nearly all presidential candidates. Until Obama. Never in my life have I been as inspired by a political figure. Bill Clinton is, admittedly, a fantastic politician, and his tenure in office really seems like the salad days compared to recent times. However, he is ultimately a huge douchebag and a phony -- as good of a speaker as he is, I always sensed the bullshit right below the surface. (This Frank Rich piece from the NY Times this weekend is worth reading to get a sense of how far the Clintons will go -- just how much they're willing to destroy -- to ensure victory.)

There's none of that with Barack. I damn near welled up with tears watching his speech after he won the Iowa caucuses. I'm no historian, but it seems there have been 3 truly transformative Presidents in the last 70 years (regardless of how you feel about their politics): FDR, JFK, and Reagan. Which is to say, these were leaders who seemed to transcend the humdrum of political machinery and give people a sense of hope and optimism about America. I believe Obama could and will join their ranks. (Interestingly, these guys seem to come ever 20 years or so.)

I really feel in my gut that Obama is, to quote Sam Elliott in The Big Lebowski, the man for his time and place. I truly believe he's the only person who can make the changes we need to get our country back on track, to begin to reverse the myriad bad decisions Bush has made over the last 8 years. That's why I'm writing this.

Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, and no matter where you live, take a good, hard look at this man. Guys like him don't come around very often.

Teddy Headphones interview with The Broken West

From Crackle: Teddy Headphones interview with The Broken West

Day Five, and sadly, our last day

Sorry we forgot to post the last two days. We've been having a ball, and we've recorded what they in the buz call "basic tracks" for six songs, and they're sounding good. Thom Monahan is a Zen audio master and he's taught us a great deal in the few days we've been up here. Unfortunately, the heater in the studio broke, so we're going to have to end this session earlier than planned -- we were supposed to record until Wednesday, but we're leaving tomorrow morning. Here are some pics. Talk soon.

Day Two!!!

Here are some more pictures. I can't figure out how to place the pictures in the middle of the post and then do captions. We spent all of yesterday getting some killer drum sounds. We should start recording today. Above you will find Danny's guitar station, Brian in his sleeping quarters/the piano room, Robbie banging on the kit, and Danny dressed as a druid. It's mighty cold here in Sacramento, but we're having a ball.

3, 2, 1...and we're off.

Today marks our first day of tracking for our new, untitled record. We're at a studio in Sacramento with the trusty and talented Thom Monahan producing. The day has been great so far -- this place is like Disneyland. Which is to say, there are a crazy number of amps, synths, guitars, pedals, pianos, organs, etc. to play with. We went to Safeway earlier today and stocked up on provisions, as we're staying here too. More to come...we'll try to post everyday.