8MS - TOP 30 ALBUMS

Hey Y'all,

Check out this piece on EightMillionStories.com in which me and 8MS film guy, Jon Zelazny list our top 30 albums of all time and then make fun of each other's choices.

Love,
Allie

ON THE BEAT - FEBRUARY

Check out this month's column!

NEW ON THE BEAT

Hey, Y'all! My January On the Beat column is now up on EightMillionStories! It's a virtual tour of North 15th and Gem!! Enjoy.

TOUR DIARY

Hey All! I've written a tour diary of sorts for my column on Eight Million Stories.

Check it out! It has pictures!

On the Beat - Tour Diary Edition

HELLO AGAIN!

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. Everyone needs a blogcation, right?

Despite the blog slacking, we have a lot going on. We're gearing up for the CMJ Music Marathon 2009! Our showcase is on Wednesday, October 21st at the Alphabet Lounge (Avenue C and E. 7th Street) at 10pm. Here's the schedule for the night:

7pm - Heath Street
8pm - Jones Street Station
9pm - Blair
10pm - Bel Air

Notice anything about this list? Two "street" bands and then Blair and Bel Air. The CMJ schedulers have an interesting sense of humor. When Wyatt was in Masculine Feminine he played a CMJ showcase with Junior Senior and Mommy and Daddy.

The weird thing about this bill is that it actually makes sense. Heath Street is folkie singer/songwriter kind of stuff, Jones Street Station (who didn't get to play at last year's ill-fated pig roast) are great country rock featuring our friend Jon Hull on harmonica. Blair's songs are really interesting - influenced by Neil Young and alt-country but not in an obvious way. Then us. You know what we sound like: kind of an amalgamation of all of the above.

Besides CMJ, we (read: Wyatt) have been working on our brand new OFFICIAL WEBSITE!!! It's your new one stop place for all things Bel Air. It has photos, a store, our twitter feed, news and MORE. Check it out! We're excited about it.



We've also been working on our fall tour-de-south. It's coming together. Here are the dates:

15-Nov-09 The M Room Philladelphia, PA
16-Nov-09 Juggling Gypsy Wilmington, NC
17-Nov-09 The Garage Winston Salem, NC
18-Nov-09 The Bobo Gallery Asheville, NC
19-Nov-09 8th and Rail Auburn, AL
20-Nov-09 Hang Fire Savannah, GA
21-Nov-09 Slims Raleigh, NC

I've started chronicling the process of booking/planning/doing a tour in my Eight Million Stories column. You can read the first installment here. The next one will be posted next week (Oct. 16th).

Thanks for reading this long-winded post. I guess I'm trying to make up for lost time!

XOXOXO

ON THE BEAT - TOUR EDITION

Hey there. My September On the Beat column is up! In it, I begin what is looking like it might be a 2 or 3 parter about planning a tour as an indie band.

CHECK IT OUT!

We might be jumping trains if we don't secure a van soon...

8MS - ON THE BEAT - AUGUST

Hey Y'all! My August edition of On the Beat is now up on Eight Million Stories. Check it out!

8MS - JULY

Hey Y'all! My July On the Beat column is now up on eightmillionstories.com.

Check it out!

Here's a pic of one of the coolest guitar players ever, Jason Groth, that got cut from the column:


photo by the Tuze

I swear, everything that this guy plays is solid gold magic.

Last month's column marked the one year anniversary of On the Beat. Whoops! I forgot to celebrate. That party would have been a rager. Oh well. Next year...

ON THE BEAT - SUMMER EDISH

"My skin's soaked right through to the skin!" (R. Starr,1965)

It may not feel like it with all this rain - but in a few short days it will officially be Summer. Check out my recommendations for Summer Festivals in my latest On the Beat column for EightMillionStories.com. It's 10% information, 90% rambling.

8MS

Sorry, Jersey. I had to rag on you a little.

Check out my latest On The Beat column on EightMillionStories.com in which I expound on this post.

BOYS...

You can't have a band with them... pass the beer nuts.

Here's Jeff's list of most influential albums, unabridged:

marquee moon - television
revolver-beatles
gp/grievous angel - gram parsons
sticky fingers - rolling stones
exile on main street - rolling stones
being there - wilco
everybody knows this is nowhere - neil young
piper at the gates of dawn - pink floyd
doolittle - pixies
songs of leonard cohen - leonard cohen
magnolia electric co. - songs:ohia
nowhere - ride
isn't anything - my bloody valentine
stone roses - stone roses
appetite for destruction - g'n'r
velvet underground - self -titled 3rd album
highway to hell - ac/dc
crooked rain, crooked rain - pavement
seamonsters - the wedding present
louder than bombs - the smiths
music from big pink - the band
workingman's dead - the grateful dead
bayou country - ccr
hunky dory - david bowie
lady soul - aretha franklin
everything the kinks recorded from 1966-1970
plastic ono band - john lennon
dusty in memphis - dusty springfield
sweetheart of the rodeo-the byrds
funhouse - the stooges
tim - the replacements
closer - joy division
gilded palace of sin - flying burrito bros.
faith - the cure
daydream nation - sonic youth
modern lovers - modern lovers
pyromania - def leppard
#1 record/radio city - big star
pink flag - wire
entertainment - gang of four
your living all over me - dinosaur jr.
mezcal head - swervedriver
yerself is steam - mercury rev
xo - elliot smith
i want to see the bright lights - richard & linda thompson
viva last blues - palace
galaxie 500 - on fire
violent femmes - s/t
slowdive - souvlaki

No list yet from Wyatt...

Speaking of gender issues in music (something I have a chip on my shoulder about sometimes) my March On the Beat is up.

NO JOKE

Hey there. My February On the Beat column is up on Eight Million Stories. In it I discuss the instrument that separates the men from the boys. Go to it!

EIGHT MILLION STORIES - DECEMBER

Check out December's On the Beat column in which I expose Christmas music for what it really is.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

WE'RE BACK!!

Sorry about the long absence. I had to take a break from the blogosphere. It's like how people take a month off of drinking once a year so that they can come back a refreshed and better-than-ever drunk. I promise to be a better-than-ever blogger. Consider it an early New Year's Resolution.

Here's some stuff that happened:

We got a write up from Tris McCall

My November On the Beat column

8MS

Hey!

My new 8MS article for September is up:


eightmillionstories.com

Enjoy!

P.S. We're playing a pig roast on Oct. 10th.

EIGHT MILLION STORIES

Hey there! My newest On the Beat column is up on EightMillionStories.com. If you enjoy reading about frat boys and beer pong you should check it out.

On the Beat - August

ON THE BEAT

Hey-o!

My newest On the Beat column is now up on EightMillionStories.com! Check it out! This month's report is on TV's SCARY switch from analog to digital in early February, 2009 and it's effect on the music industry in NYC and rest of the US.


Here's the link!

CHECK THIS OUT

Today marks the debut of the new column that I am writing for Eight Million Stories. The column is called On the Beat and it is about any and all aspects of the NYC music scene. It will run on the 3rd Friday of every month. Check out my first installment!

EIGHT MILLION STORIES!

INTERVIEW IS UP

Last week Bel Air was interviewed by Kevin Heald of Eight Million Stories, a web magazine about NYC culture. Check out the interview here:

http://eightmillionstories.com/archive.php?gvID=48

It's a slightly drunk conversation about our new album and how we formed as a band. Kevin had some nice things to say about our album, as well.