hill & holler

The Rascal’s Bar show was laid back, a few drawbacks with the sound, but nothing to dampen spirits of anyone there. We played for a great group of friends that Brian knew and local Winona bar dwellers and enjoyed being away from home for the first night. After Will and James played their set through and did a great job, The Absent Arch played and really captured us with their emotion, as well as their songs. Waldo played the last few songs of their set standing off stage near the crowd, and Anthony paced on the stage, hitting his drums whenever the music asked for it and whenever he just felt compelled. Everyone in the audience was able to share in their emotion. Anthony puts on such a performance - his expressions and excitement about the music they’re doing makes it really fun to watch. You can’t help but smile and laugh with them when you see how much fun he’s having on stage. The optimism of the show relaxed us all after the long day and gave us a lot of positive feelings for the rest of the tour.

After the show, Elise, Brian’s girlfriend, made us dinner and we were given a place to sleep. The night went late and everyone gathered up and shared and traded off songs in a circle, wine and whiskey passed around to add to the intimacy.

Right now we’re staying in Madison WI. I’ll update again tomorrow with more photos of the Madison and Milwaukee shows.

Internet connections might be limited the farther we go along but i’ll try to keep everything updated as regularly as possible!

-Lauren

Hi everyone!

The Hill and Holler tour has finally kicked off! After weeks of preparation, the team packed their bags and set off for a two week adventure, starting at the Hexagon Bar in our home city, Minneapolis. I have never seen such anticipation and excitement as they showed during that performance. The first show couldn’t have gone better, from the sound and audience, to their enthusiastic performances. It definitely felt like a good sign for everyone.

The day of our actual departure from the Twin Cities began rainy and surprisingly cold for mid August. Jame and Jonathan Waldo’s folks kindly let us use their van and all that was left was the packing. Everyone was cold and damp, but excited and happy as we packed up and drove over to Will M’s parent’s house for pre-tour food and goodbyes. Everything was going along smoothly, as we didn’t have to be at Rascals Bar in Winona until eight. The time was 1:00 and we only had a couple hours to drive. We got a little comfortable, feeling confident in our abilities to overcome any possible obstacles we would surely face.

After food, chat, and lots of pictures, we proceeded to start the van. Nothing. Dead. Perfect..

We spent a couple hours staring at a van that didn’t work, hoping our positive thinking would miraculously kick in at some point and give us a jump start. We went and bought a new battery, as the old one was leaking powdery battery acid. I remember thinking, “wouldn’t it be funny if the car was in drive?” I expressed this inwardly and dismissed the idea immediately. The battery was installed, we cranked the engine with nothing. At this point, we’re debating unloading the van and taking Will’s parents new car, which none of us were very comfortable with, but it seemed like the only alternative.

I made a joke to Will and Anthony “maybe the car’s in drive. ha-ha”. Brian went to investigate and surely enough…

the consensus was that we needed a new battery ANYWAY ;). Either way, we managed to get back on the road and to our destination, a few hours later and now more tense than we had planned.

I took some photos from the front passenger seat of the sites along the way. It rained steadily all day and night and into the next day. The clouds hung on the mountains and the cold made everyone more cozy packed in the van, all of us just very thankful to have a working van :). A great story for us to remember and a bit humbling if nothing else.

-Lauren

So it went something like this: 400 digipaks, 400 white CDRs, eight computers (first one, then two and eventually four bowed out), 440 printed inserts (just in case), a few dozen markers and steady hands to guide them. Partial DIY with 21st-century technology intervention. And, lest we forget, the 50 or so beers for endurance.

some inspired, some functional, all handmade in the moment. work, yes, but worth it.

More figures: 10 songs (five absent arch, five will garrison), $5, $7 with shipping (or cheaper if you convince us otherwise). if you’re interested write us at bvoerding@gmail.com.

see you soon.

Hi all,

No new news. Nothing confirmed, anyway. Still working as the tour draws nigh.

In the meantime, we’re lining up a few good local shows (eyes to the right). The guerrilla art show in particular will be fun. And no, we don’t know exactly where it’s going to be, either; we’ll have to follow the signs, too.

We’re also taking the first steps toward making merchandise for the tour. Absent Arch and Will Garrison seed caps, anyone?

James landed a show yesterday at the MOMO (Cafe Montmarte) in Madison. Details will be to your right in a few days. It’s a hip place to play and we’re grateful to have the chance to play.

One more checkmark on a growing list.

We’re working on Winona, La Crosse, Duluth and Milwaukee. Know anybody? Let us know.

The clock is ticking but we feel good. A little tense, yes, but not panic-attack overwhelmed.

Bird by bird.

See you all soon. Thursday, if you can.

Will and James have new demo songs. They’re fantastic, in my unwavering but biased humble opinion. Go here.

Tour planning continues. Practicing continues. Those of you in the Twin Cities should come check out the Absent Arch this Thursday at Mears Park in downtown St. Paul; the show starts at 6 p.m. Will M. will play a half-hour solo set, and then the full band will be on for an hour. After that, stick around for Chris Koza.

– Brian

Hi all,

We recently finished recording new demo songs for the Absent Arch, which you can find here. Waldo also just completed mixing and recording new demo songs for Garrison. They’re not up anywhere yet, though they will be soon. Stay tuned. Stay excited.

Tour planning continues, slow but sure. We’re still aiming to pack up the van sometime around August 17 and head south along Highway 61 (yes, that Highway 61) to Winona, Minn., and La Crosse, Wis., the former stomping grounds for me and Waldo, respectively. And then through the Midwest into Chicago and beyond, and then into the southeast into Tennessee and beyond, possibly to Georgia, and then the long ride home. More details soon.

Until then, the madness continues on computers and phones and late-night conversations. Bios and photos and songs and gigs and miles and miles to go. Sometimes it’s tense but mostly it’s exciting. Slow but sure. Say it again, like a mantra.

We want to visit you and we want you to show off your city to us. Tell us where you are; we’d love to connect.

– Brian

Photos taken during recording sessions in apartment basement in early July below Treehouse Records in Minneapolis. The result is Will and James’ first demo recording.

A few photos I (Brian, that is) took during demo recording in the basement in June.

Hi everyone.

This is Brian, one-third (or fourth, as it may be soon) of the Absent Arch. Lauren and I will team up on this blog from now on as we prepare for the August tour.

An update, in a sentence: We’ve been busy. An equally brief addendum: Not too busy to forget about you.

Absent Arch has been recording a few songs for a demo. We lead these separate, imbalanced twentysomething lives—Will M. sells records, Waldo fixes databases (or something like that), and I write stories and essays for each and every magazine that will have me. And then when those lives end each evening, we congregate in stuffy basement air, drink cheap beer, hook up expensive microphones (thanks, brother Steve) and hope this night will be the night our instruments sing.

Sometimes they only howl. And sometimes there are moments when certain melodies rattle the ventilation ducts, frequencies clashing and leaving and returning in harmony like every conversation that begins tentative and ends in beauty.

Some of those melodies come from Garrison’s bass and banjo, and we’re more thankful for them each time he plays.

We plan to mix the demo next week and have new songs up. Thank you for your patience. We’ve also booked a few new shows (look to your right, eyes on the screen now).

Garrison has also been playing with the other Waldo (read: budding cello virtuoso and younger brother James). James has been diligent in working Madison, in hopes of securing a venue for all of us. No luck yet but opportunities and isn’t that always the case if you can keep your fingers crossed.

Again, the update: We’ve been busy. But it’s been good. We’ll be writing here more regularly from now on. Please check back.

And when we’re not playing music, we’re planning a new local arts, music and literary ‘zine. But that’s another story for another day.

– Brian

hi everyone!

sorry it’s been a while since the last update on here. Everyone has been extremely busy working on booking and ideas for the tour, as well as practicing for shows here. Garrison and James Waldo have started working together on some of the older songs on Garrison’s “Christmas Record“. James is playing the cello and really transforming the songs into new pieces. I’ve been able to hear them practice and it’s amazing how well those two work together and understand what the other one is thinking musically without the need for words. We’re excited that he’ll be going on the tour with us. They will be playing some entirely new pieces that most people haven’t ever heard before.

I haven’t been able to see Will and Waldo recently but i know they’ve been writing a lot and playing some shows. The last show i saw of them was at the 400 bar. Garrison and I missed most of it because of the horrendous parking, but what we heard sounded great. Waldo got some recordings of the live performances that I’ll have Garrison put up here later. The sound turned out okay. Also don’t miss The Absent Arch show on the 12th of July when they play Mears Park!

As for the tour, Garrison and I have been trying to tackle Chicago. Once we get a venue for everyone to play there we’ll feel at ease. Daniel told us tonight that he got us Bloomington and Louisville, so if we can get more of the Midwest places, we’ll have a good start. We drove out to Madison WI a couple weeks ago to hear the band Mittens on Strings perform. They are a band from Chicago who Joe from Elephant Micah suggested we meet. We managed to talk with them after the show about possibly getting some venues in Chicago. They suggested a couple places and radio shows and will be in touch to help us out more. Also, James is going to be trying to get us a show at Memorial Union in Madison WI. He told us that the student union chooses who plays and the turnout would be massive because all the students fill in to see whoever it is, regardless of whether they know the band or not. He’ll be in Wisconsin until the 24th, so hopefully we’ll know something more concrete soon.

oh! check out the newly updated art section!! I’ll try to get on the posters and stuff and put more on there.

I’ll update with some pictures of the previous shows tomorrow when i’m not so exhausted. Good night!

-lauren

The art crawl turned out to be really laid back and fun; just a lot of local artists sharing their work with everyone. There was a humbleness in the way they had their art set up for anyone who happened to filter in and take a look. The day was gray and damp by the time Garrison and I got there. After getting lost for half an hour, we found a parking spot that we were almost certain wouldn’t get us towed. We met the guys outside Waldo’s apartment. I took some photos of the city while everyone smoked and waited for the show to start back up. The city is great! I had never been in downtown St. Paul and was surprised by how antiquated and charming it is. It felt like an artist’s city.

Later, we all went in and Garrison and I looked around at some of the art stalls set up in the lobby while The Absent Arch got ready to start playing again. I talked to a couple of the artists there about their pieces and i could tell that for them, showing their work was not about selling and making money, but about a desire to communicate with anyone in a way that would be both rewarding and humbling through their art. One guy used a translucent silk with pencil outlining the painting underneath and stretched it over canvas so the painting looked 3D. It was pretty awesome. It was a nice milieu for them to play in- casual and open. The area where they played was a modest setup facing the artists. I tried to take as many photos as i could. I learned pretty quickly that taking photos of musicians in the middle of playing is damn hard when you don’t have a tripod. I’m sure i came across as a crazy stalker fan-girl with my excessive photo-taking.

I heard a couple songs that I’d never heard The Absent Arch perform before that were really outstanding, a little more folky. Garrison also played just a couple songs at the end. He played “Long Hand Luke”, one of my favorite songs of his, and one that he’s promised to play in his set on the tour.

We ended the day unwinding with a few drinks and making some plans for the tour. We decided that the last two weeks of August works best for everyone. The next couple months are going to be busy and exciting as we prepare. The readiness to travel and experience the unknown is something we all share. I’m glad to be able to take part in this and i’ll continue to share my experiences of the Hill & Holler tour with all of you throughout the next few months. Take Care!

-Lauren Treece