Sometimes, I really feel like I'm getting old. Joints ache. Hangovers last. And music festivals can quickly go from being fun to feeling like a huge pain in the ass. The crowds! The dirt! The horribly overpriced beer! Good thing there's the Huichica Music Festival that could have been designed solely to shut up my lame crotchety side. Nestled in the hills of the Gundlach Bundschu (that's gun-lock bun-shoe) Winery, Huichica is a well-curated, well-run, perfectly delightful little music festival. It's small. The food is awesome (this year included Salumeria, Craftsmen & Wolves, and Namu Gaji from [...]

How often do we forget the value and power of our individuality? I mean it's not something one dwells upon daily but do you realize that your genetic makeup is one of a kind and that every feeling, emotion, thought, inclination or breath you have is unique to you an only you? I'm not talking about corny stuff like the clothes you wear or music you listen to, I'm talking about YOU, not the society version of you but the person deep inside... We are free when our acts proceed from our entire personality, when [...]

Uniting the leaders of Vetiver and Fruit Bats , the Andy Cabic and Eric D. Johnson Band performs at The Chapel this Wednesday, May 8th, for an evening of songs from both songwriters' catalogs and some covers too. We've got two tickets to the show, and they can be yours! Email contest[at]thebaybridged.com with the subject line "Andy Cabic and Eric D. Johnson" and include your full name for a chance to win. The Andy Cabic and Eric D. Johnson Band, Neal Casal, Bart Davenport The [...]
Visit Indie Shuffle to download. Sounds like: Fruit Bats, Blitzen Trapper, Alabama Shakes Song: Dr. Dog - Lonesome [download here ] What's so good? Here's the [...]
Visit Indie Shuffle to download. Sounds like: The Little Ones, Sea Wolf, Helio Sequence Song: Rogue Wave - College [download here ] What's so good? [...]
This playlist has about as many mood swings as the characters in The Breakfast Club . Of course, they were high school students, so we can't necessarily hold it against them. But seriously, while listening to this playlist you might find yourself happy one second and a little contemplative the next. At one point, you might want to dance. Either way, i think you'll enjoy it. Thanks for listening.
Visit Indie Shuffle to download. Sounds like: Ra Ra Riot, Local Natives, Fleet Foxes Song: Born Ruffians - With Her Shadow [download here ] What's so good? [...]

This month, Starbucks' music label Hear Music and Concord releases Holidays Rule , a new compilation featuring 17 new takes on classic Christmas tunes by contemporary favorites. Chicago's own Fruit Bats contributed a cover of the 1951 class "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas". The band add their own folksy edge with twangy guitars echoing on behind a mandolin twinkling like lights on a tree. Eric D. Johnson doesn't try to go all Bing Crosby on the vocals, which works out well as his gentle delivery is just as warming. Grab [...]

Makin' my way back to blue // Follow Owl and Bear on Facebook and Twitter for contests, MP3s, and links that don't make it onto the blog.
![[anticipation] Holidays Rule](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4566082_lg.jpg)
More holiday tunes to look forward to! Starbucks’ label, Hear Music , and Concord will release a compilation of artists covering holiday classics on Oct 30th. Holidays Rule will feature the likes of The Civl Wars , Eleanor Friedberger , The Head and The Heart [...]

Following Sufjan and Will Oldham' s lead, Starbucks is offering its own collection of music for the holiday season. On October 30th, the coffee company's label Hear Music and Concord will release Holidays Rule, a 17-track compilation feature a bunch of great artists covering a bunch of great holiday tunes. You've got "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" by Paul McCartney , "Wonderful Christmastime" by The Shins , "Auld Lang Syne" by Andrew Bird , and "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" by Fruit Bats . There's also a duet [...]
Quick Picks: 5 Tasty Jams You MUST Hear Amy Meredith- Pornstar Field Music- From Hide And Seek To Heartache Fruit Bats- The Ruminant Band Fyfe Dangerfield- When You Walk In The Room MNDR- #1 in Heaven Alicia Atout
In the debut of the " Deschutes River Recordings ," Eric D. Johnson , maestro behind The Fruit Bats - one of my favorite bands ever - puts his own spin on The Byrds' "Ballad of Easy Rider." The song was written by Bob Dylan and Roger McGuinn. The idea behind the Deschutes River Recordings is to get great musicians (upcoming songs coming from Laura Gibson and Blitzen Trapper) to sing river songs by a river to benefit the Deschutes River Conservancy. Anyway, this was a no-brainer for posting as it combines [...]

For more on Bumbershoot 2012, check out Candra Kolodziej's review of Day Two. Eldridge Gravy & the Court Supreme, live at Bumbershoot 2012 Fruit Bats, live at Bumbershoot 2012 All photos taken by Steven Smith and are not to be reproduced without permission.
Lots of good things happening at Bumbershoot this year. When was the last time Jane's Addiction played in Seattle? Does anyone remember that Porno for Pyros song "Tahitian Moon"? Were you there? Did they play "Mountain Song"? Saturday Don't Talk to the Cops (1pm on Fisher Green Stage) - A few weeks ago a reader berated [...]
Lots of good things happening at Bumbershoot this year. When was the last time Jane's Addiction played in Seattle? Does anyone remember that Porno for Pyros song "Tahitian Moon"? Were you there? Did they play "Mountain Song"? Saturday Don't Talk to the Cops (1pm on Fisher Green Stage) - A few weeks ago a reader berated [...]

Bob. Now here we are, closing the books on Forecastle X . Like a Christmas list we wrote down our wants and desires of musical acts on which to set our sights to on a schedule and posted it on our timeline (will saying 'timeline' date this post?) for all of our Facebook "friends" to see. Did you get everything you wished for? I sure hope you did. If not everything, then at least the cool stuff, right? Bob, pictured above, got what he wanted. He wanted Jeff Tweedy to pick him up by the [...]

Bright Side of the Savanna ? The Fruit Bats have been around for a decade or so now, releasing great, Elephant 6 Collective-influenced, quirky pop - without doubt one of the better unsung bands of this millenium (all 12 years of it). There's a definite Beatles influence permeating much of their music, but on their most recent release, August 20112s Tripper , they headed in a different direction. And when I say "they," I actually mean Eric Johnson, who in many ways IS the band - the rest of the band lineup changes on [...]
I think Sean and I would both agree that Day 3 of Louisville, Kentucky's Forecastle Music Festival might have been our favorite. Not only because it boasted the most musical acts of any day, but also because it was a day full of surprises and fulfilled expectations from some of our favorite bands. Walk The Moon, Charles Bradley & [...]

[Photos by acidjack] The alchemy of this outstanding Fruit Bats concert at the Knitting Factory was easy to figure out. Take a Monday night on a week with a big fat holiday in the middle, add a young, ready-to-party and revved-up crowd, and finish off the mix with a well-traveled, fun-loving band at the top of their game. While the Fruit Bats can certainly pack larger venues - I last caught them at Bowery Ballroom back in September - tonight at the Knit they played like the world's greatest bar band. Frontman [...]