music calms my soul..

Martin and I were shopping in Santa Cruz, heard a song being played in a store, asked the guy working there who it was, and he told us. Mumford and Sons. They're from London England, so they've got great accents, and they play "folk rock," which is kind of my new thing. Anyways, the song is called the cave. I have their cd in my car, and this one is my fav.

Also, The Swell Season, is one of our favorite bands, and I think you would love them. They won an oscar for a song they wrote and performed in the movie once, and it's amazing. I fell in love with that song and bought the piano sheet music and fall in love with it more and more everytime I play it. We went to their concert a few weeks ago, and they are inspiring. A guy and girl duo with a band. Guy is irish, girl is czech; so both have great accents, and they're wonderful. Here's a song they played at the show.

{I've been wanting to share the Swell Season with you for a while, I hope you enjoy. And of course I hope you're having a wonderful weekend.}

another regina sample..

I'm getting pretty excited about Regina's show in a few weeks, and so I figured I'll share some of that excitement with you!



folding chair, by regina spektor, live

I love love love love Regina Spektor!

on our way home..

We finally made our way back home!! The band and I had a wonderful trip, but could not be happier that we're back. Making our way back down the coast was great. We stopped in Portland, had a show at The Buffalo Gap Saloon, which is an amazing restaurant and bar. We went to the Saturday Market in the heart of Portland, which is like an arts and wine festival, very cool.

A friend of Martin's, Julia Dawn, opened the show for them. She is an amazing artist, living in the Portland area.

Then in between shows in Portland and our last in Humboldt, we camped along the Smith River, which I think was my favorite part of the trip. The River is so gorgeous; crystal clear water surrounded by cliffs of rock, we couldn't ask for more. Martin, Daniel and I found some amazing places to jump from, and with the water being so clear and deep, it was surreal.

daniel and I making our way to the top, we managed to go much higher, and then jump, it was frightening

The last show of the trip was a second visit at Six Rivers Brewery, one of our favorite places in california. After the show we decided to drive straight through the night, arriving in Fremont around 7 in the morning. Home sweet home.

some humboldt pictures

a few days in... Portland!!

Portland was a short but great visit. We stayed with friends of Jeremy, Laura and Ted, who were amazing hosts for us. Not only did they offer us their house/backyard (we all decided to amp in the backyard since we keep late hours and some people actually go to work early in the morning) but they showed us around the city! Tuesday morning we woke up to some fresh blueberry pancakes whipped up by Ted (they have a wonderful garden in their backyard; blueberries, pumpkins, carrots, peas, tomatoes) and then he showed us the town. Portland has a great public transit system, at a very affordable rate, free! The four band mates, Ted, and myself, drove into the city, parked (for free) and then took a free train further into the city.

The actual downtown Portland is very similar to towns you would see around the bay area; like Palo Alto, or something to that effect. The buildings are just a little bigger, and most likely older; a very classy and quant downtown. The group stopped off at Powell’s Books, the legendary independent bookstore, Martin and I both made a good purchase. For lunch Ted suggested a brewery/pub named McMenamins, I believe is a northwest chain, which was by far our favorite stop yet! The food was so amazing and such a good price. $2.50, anything on the happy hour menu! With hummus, artichoke dip, 3 bean chowder, a loaded cheeseburger, and more, we were more than happy. After the walk back to the train and a short drive back home, we relaxed for a few and headed to the show!
The band played their Tuesday night show at the Mississippi Pizza Pub, a small pizza restaurant on the outskirts of Portland. Free pizza and drinks made it quite enjoyable, but even without, it was a great night. Chris, a friend of Jeremy, and our hosts Laura and Ted made it to the show, and with some help from the local kickball teams (apparently it’s a big thing out there), so we had a decent audience. The boys played late into the evening, enjoyed another slice or two and we packed up for the eve. Definitely a venue worth playing again, or at least to stop by for some delicious pizza.
Today we took our time packing up and enjoying the morning. Ted took us to a wonderful Mexican food restaurant with breakfast burritos, we did some laundry, and a little grocery shopping at the local Safeway (which always makes you feel a little more at home). I’m writing this as we make our way in to Washington, Seattle is just a few hours away!!

I've had problems with video, but hopefully I'll get a few up soon!!

a few weeks on tour..

Martin and the band are going on a short Northwestern tour, and I get to go with them!! We're leaving Friday and driving up the coast, through northern california, oregon, and washington (unfortunately, no longer to Canada).

The dates of the shows are as follows...

Saturday, July 4th @ 8 pm
Six Rivers Brewery
Mckinleyville California

Tuesday, July 7th @ 9 pm
Mississippi Pizza Pub
Portland Oregon

Friday, July 10th @ 11 pm
Egan's Ballard Jam House
Seattle Washington

Saturday, July 11th @ 10 pm
The Buffalo Gap Saloon
Portland Oregon

Wednesday, July 15th @ 8 pm
Six Rivers Brewery
Mckinleyville California

And to kick of the tour we're having a fundraiser lunch at Outback Steakhouse tomorrow, Thursday, at 12 pm!!! The band will be playing a show, and lunch will be served. Tickets can be bought at the door for 12$.



Sorry for the last minute invite to the Outback show, but we would love to see you there!! Kids under 4 are free!!

And if you have ANY suggestions for where to eat or visit or camp in any of the cities we're travelling to, please let me know!!!

I'll miss you friends and family!!

xoxo
Kristin :)

a night in the city..

On Saturday, Martin and I headed out to the city to see Brett Dennen live at The Fillmore. We assumed it would be an amazing show, considering we both love Brett Dennen, and Martin had seen him before. But, to add to the amazingness of the show, Angus and Julia Stone, a brother and sister combo, opened and they blew us away. It is so mind boggling to me that there can be such incredible artists, with so much talent and stage presence, and I've never heard of them before!! So I'm going to do my best to spread the word. I uploaded some of their songs onto my playlist at the bottom of my blog, I believe they're at the bottom of the list, please check them out!






http://www.brettdennen.net/
http://www.angusandjuliastone.com/