Design a commemorative poster for Big Head Todd
Posted by Stacey on Thursday 19th of August 2010 04:24:46 PM.
Design a commemorative poster for Big Head Todd & the Monsters' upcoming show in Philly!
The winner receives a $200 licensing fee, a signed copy of our new album "Rocksteady" and two tickets to a Big Head Todd & the Monsters show of your choice this Fall. Click Here for details!
On the Road Again - Cops and Corn -- MIDWEST!!!
Posted by Jeff on Wednesday 18th of August 2010 09:02:29 AM.
Just the other day, Sunday, AUG 16th, a nice Prevost XLII coach with trailer attached pulled up to our office. It's time to roll out again......
I drove the driver to a local Golden CO area hotel, and then back to the office and was at my desk at around noon. I spent the next 11 hours putting all of the pieces of this upcoming leg of our summer 2010 tour, and also managed to find time to load all of our equipment in to the trailer, with the help of Jeremy, our keyboard player. I hate for him to risk breaking a finger helping me out, but he is careful and I'm too old to do it myself. I spent the remaining time trying to finish up advances for the 10 shows on this leg, working on hotel reservations, putting together tour books, and packing up all the things I need to help with my jobs on the road. At 11PM I was picking up the driver and heading back to the office. As we pulled up, we noticed that 3 of Golden CO's finest were positioned at the front end of the bus in their vehicles. I parked, walked over and said Hi to the officers. They said something like "Hey we're here to meet Todd", and at that point I knew we were in no trouble of any kind. Turns out they just noticed the bus lights were on and they thought the bus was "running" (it was just the generator), so they were making sure nothing was wrong. We WERE parked the wrong direction on the side of our road, but it's a quite area so they were cool about it. We had a couple laughs, I thanked them for their strong patrol work of our neighborhood, and after giving them a signed 8 x 10 they were on their way. Good to have them on our side, AND they are fans of the band.
Shortly after midnight, we rolled east towards Lincoln, NE. Rob S has a particular aversion to their college football team (N is for Knowledge, "Bug eaters") but we all agree the people there are a very friendly bunch. We played at the Rococo Theater, a beautiful 1928 ornate property adorned with intricate architecture on the inside. Sadly for us, the outside includes many floors of condos above, so we were forced to, as our Moms used to tell us : "KEEP IT DOWN!". They had a noise restriction in place. Our FOH engineer, Rob K, did a masterful job of making the best of the situation.
After the show, the band signed autographs for a while, then we loaded up and rolled east towards Springfield, IL. But no bus run for us is complete without bus TROUBLE. WED morning I awoke to the sound of the air compressor at a truck stop taking off our front tires to have them checked out and balanced. A shimmy/shake in the steering wheel has developed and we will monitor the situation as we roll. Fortunately, the deer that our driver saw in the middle of the freeway last night made it to the side of the road just before rolled by. Man, it's always something. We have "racked up" three deer in 20 years. We would just as soon not make it FOUR.We will be stopping in Springfield IL (home of Honest Abraham Lincoln, right? ) for the day and then roll overnight in to Indianapolis for a radio visit in the morning and a show on THU night. Can all of you Indy fans make the trip to see us?
Cruising through Columbia, MO, Vandalia, Bowling Green, Pittsfield, and Jacksonville and landing in Springfield in a few hours..... lotsa corn out here....
Jeff
Check out the "Beautiful" video on AOL Music!!!
Posted by Jeremy on Monday 16th of August 2010 02:23:17 PM.
Hey, check out the video for "Beautiful" on AOL Music here:
http://music.aol.com/video/beautiful/bi ... 1753622001
Watch it!! Tell your Friends!!!!!!
Radio contests: Vote for "Beautiful."
Posted by Jeremy on Wednesday 11th of August 2010 10:23:16 AM.
We always appreciate when you guys help us out online, and when you tell us about contests, radio promotions, etc.
Here's a great example, on 92.9 DAVE FM in Atlanta:
http://929dave.radio.com/2010/08/09/fac ... more-19832
Please, if you have a minute, go check this out, and vote/comment for Big Head Todd (if indeed you like the BHT song better) and it will help us out!
In addition, if you ever find any contests or things like this on other similar sites, please post them here, so we can all vote and help too!
These kinds of things where radio stations ask for your opinion are usually much more effective than just calling the station and asking for the song.
Thanks for helping!
On the Road Again - there's just not enough time
Posted by Jeff on Friday 30th of July 2010 11:47:50 AM.
Wow. Time just keeps catching up to me. I have so many things to be responsible for when we re on the road, but I still have not figured out a way to slow, or stop, time. I'm not giving up, though.
I'm skipping to the recent fun shows we have done...
We flew in to my home town of Philadelphia, late on the rainy night of TUE, JUL 13. We made our way to a hotel on the Jersey side of the Delaware River, from where we would base our operations for the next 4 days.
In the morning, we rolled to the airport to pick up Todd, who flew in from Chicago, then we headed down 95 south towards the Baltimore area. We made a detour to Towson MD, where Todd did a radio visit at the college. Then we continued on to Baltimore to the Rams Head Venue, where we loaded in and got reacquainted with Dave, our guitar tech, who flew in to BWI that morning and was shuttled to the venue to meet us. See all these logistics that have to be taken care of?
Had a good show in Baltimore. Very fired up crowd. Usually turns out to be a good night when we start with Her Own Kinda Woman. Shout out to Greg, a long time friend, for visiting, and to Mike, a Cruiser Fan who we had take some photos for us.
After the show, we had a long ride back to the hotel in Jersey. (Have I mentioned that my nickname is Jerzey Jeff? -- Philadelphia Jeff was already taken, and it's a bit long). We were convoying in a pair of late model mini vans, which we often do on "fly dates", and at one point made a rest stop in one of those fancy places off the highway. Dave got lost on his way out and went out the wrong door and couldn't find us. Brian tracked him down after 10 minutes on the other side of the building, and we got a laugh out of it and eventually made it back to the hotel. The next morning, Todd and I were up way too early. I had to drive him to the train station, where he BARELY made his train to NYC to do some press. I offered to go along with him, but we had a promotion gal waiting for him at Penn Station. He spent the whole day running around to radio stations, etc. and then he got on a late afternoon train back to Philadelphia. I was there to meet him and give him a ride back to the hotel. In the interim, I drove out to West Chester to visit my Mom for the day. We had a nice quiet time and caught up a bit. Time is so short with family. I so often wish I could slow it, if even for a bit, for both family and work.
The following morning we all loaded up and made our way to the edge of the Delaware River, to the Camden NJ waterfront, for what we knew would be one of the best shows of the summer. It was the XPoNential Festival, put on by WXPN, the Univerity of PA radio station. We have developed a strong relationship with these folks, and they are proud to play the band very often on their station.
This was a big day for me. After we got the band sound checked, and I got Todd through 4 phone interviews, we had some down time. But I had some family and friends come to the show, so I spent as much time as I could visiting. Never enough. Those I visited with are some of my oldest friends, and some family friends, and one or two new friends I hope to keep for a long time, circumstance permitting.
Thousands in attendance for this wonderful show on the waterfront. Great night. I didn't want it to end. My Mom headed out before the band finished, to get out and home safely. She was home by midnight, safe and sound. Without going in to any "late night" detail, we all managed to make it to our plane the next morning, a little weary, but with a good memory of a great Philly show. I'm always extra happy when that happens. I love being able to put my home town on a pedestal. Go Phils.
We flew home. Most of us got some sleep on the flight, a 4 hour lift in to the wind, with plenty of bumps approaching Denver. What else is new.....
We landed rather early in the Mountain time Zone. Gave us enough time to eat breakfast, load up a truck, then roll to South Broadway, back to where it all started for this band in Denver, to Herman's Hideaway. This is an old club that the band used to play nearly every month, developing a local following, getting signed to a Management deal, and meeting lots of girls. I used to sell t shirts right off the side of the stage while simultaneously tuning guitars. It was then that I knew a 9 to 5 office job would not be the way to go. This was just too much fun.... We have come a long way. This was a private album release party hosted by the Denver radio station that the band has had a relationship with for many years. You couldn't buy a ticket, so we had quite a guest list. 4 pages! Great night and we made the room work for us, despite its audio and lighting shortcomings. It was more about the history of the band and the club. That was one of the longest days ever. A 24 hour marathon by the time I was home in bed. 8 hour work days? HA! Wish I could actually SPED up time that day, just to get in to my own bed a bit sooner.
I'm trying to catch up the tour we are on currently. When time slows enough, I'll get er done. I sure could go for a ride on a boat.....
On The Road Again - Memphis, Des Moines, RED ROCKS!
Posted by Jeff on Monday 05th of July 2010 12:24:02 PM.
I had originally planned on having the bus driver stop in eastern Alabama for our day off. It was basically half way from the coast of South Carolina to Memphis. But after talking with him, he decided he would go all the way and not charge us full price. We arrived early in the afternoon, and it was hot. Hazel was with us on this run. She reminded us that we were in HER neighborhood now, and the humidity is simply a part of life. Seriously.
We had the night off, with the show happening the next day. A bunch of the band and crew guys went out for some ribs at a place called Rendez Vous Ribs. I decided to hang back on the bus and ended up getting a ton of work done. I think I made a PB and J.
The next morning, I showered, went outside to the bus, and started sweating. We made our way to the Minglewood Hall, a newer venue that we had not been to before. Great room, and we hope to return each time through that part of the country.
I have a feeling that Memphis is a really cool town. Sadly for our band and crew, we rarely get to experience all that these cool cities have to offer, as we get in and out of town in such short order.
Minglewood Hall is a great room. First time we have ever been there. Spacious, good people, good crew. I recall that during sound check, the band tried practicing the new song "Beautiful", and it sounded really good from the front of house. They played it that night it sounded great. (If you have not emailed your local radio station yet to request the song, we NEED you to do it. So take a moment right now before continuing on...)
After the Memphis show, we rolled for an overnight drive on the tour bus towards Des Moines, IA to meet up with our old Promoter friend Tom Zmolek. Good guy, likes our band and enjoys booking us in the Iowa area. We loaded in to another new venue called People's Court. Been there a few years, but it was our first visit. Another band from Colorado called Head For The Hills opened up the show. A solid bluegrass sounding band that did very well. We rocked out for the last time before our biggest show of the year.
We woke up the next morning on our way home. We made plans to unload the bus and trailer upon our arrival, and to get the band members over to KBCO Studio C for an afternoon session that was broadcast live to the Colorado area. The gear went from the bus trailer to a 24 foot box truck the evening before the show. The next morning, I woke up, drove to a hotel to pick up Dave, our Guitar tech, and then headed to the office. We loaded up the merchandise, grabbed a couple Go Fast Energy drinks, and headed to the best venue in the country, RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATER.
We loaded in our gear, I visited with the sound and lighting teams to be sure we were all on the same page, and then we began the process of assembling backline and preparing for our sound check. Always a very busy day for us here, as we don't have the same large number of crew that national touring acts have for such a large venue. But we have the drill down pretty well.
This was one of the best years we have had at Red Rocks in a long while. Everything went very smoothly. We had a few minor things that made the show memorable, however. If you were there, you will remember that pesky little rain shower we had to endure. It was actually fairly intense, but thankfully it was short lived. Also, it was warm out, so at least the state's largest wet t shirt contest didn't lead to any sort of chill in most of the crowd. It stayed warm, and the crowd cheered the rain, almost daring the rain to continue. It stopped in pretty short order and the crowd applauded even more. The secret surprise we held for this show was revealed when the band took the stage. I walked them upstairs to stage right and into the bulkiest stage prop we have ever used, THE COLONEL. This was the van we traveled in for a few years when we first started making road trips east to Chicago and west to San Fran and all points in between. It served us well for a good while, until, of course, it started to "age". We had to retire it and move on up to the next van, "The President". The Colonel was relegated to Brian's property up in Nederland, where it sat for around 18 years until we maneuvered it to the stage on JUNE 5th. The band members crammed in to the van, and we rolled in out on to the stage, where they exited and made their way to their gear, amidst the "smoke" we shot out from under the van simulating a smoking engine. We thought it looked pretty cool.
The band then began the show by playing the Midnight Radio album from beginning to end. Very memorable. After the last song, they retreated to the van, climbed in, and we rolled them off the other side of the stage. Within a few minutes, they were back on the stage to finish out the night with another 20 songs (or so) of old and new BHTM. We hope everyone enjoyed it. By the time we loaded out, unloaded back in Golden, returned the truck and drove home, it was 3:45AM when I crawled in to bed. Long day.
Next up, notes from our New England Fly trip.
Jeff
New and Improved Street Team!
Posted by Stacey on Wednesday 16th of June 2010 05:37:17 PM.
We have fired up our STREET TEAM once again, with the help of Fanmanager.net. It's really happening now, with all sorts of information you can use, and it's now easier than ever to help promote our band. Social Networking tools are now a major focus, and you can earn redeemable points for your efforts. Check it out!
http://www.fanmanager.net/teams/bighead ... hemonsters
REMINDER: Get your "select-a-set" in by 06-16 Midnight!
Posted by Jeremy on Tuesday 15th of June 2010 09:40:25 PM.
If you live in Colorado, or anywhere for that matter,
Get your "Select-a-Set" suggestion in by TOMORROW (Wednesday, June 16) at 11:59 PM.
The idea is you pick a 3-song "set" of songs that have a common theme, and submit them to KBCO to play during their "Select-a-Set" segments during the weekend.
http://www.kbco.com/pages/select-a-set.html
Herman's is a 500-seater dive bar and a big part of the band's history, and mine as well. So, if you want to see a "unique" show, please check it out and submit a "select-a-set."
My recommendations: Pick three songs that have a unique "theme", that are songs you think KBCO will play. Don't pick 3 songs from the same band, or three songs that have too much of an obvious connection.
Like this:
Jack Johnson, "You and your Heart"
Donovan Frankenreiter, "What cha Know about"
G-Love and Special Sauce, "Philadelphonic"
Jack Johnson, G-Love and Frankenreiter are all surfers, and all three appeared on Frankenreiter's 2005 album, "Some Live Songs". The album was also produced by Jack Johnson.
Jack Johnson also wrote G-Love's song, "Philadelphonic", which appeared on his 1999 album of the same name.
G-Love guest appeared on Johnson's new album, "To the Sea", and also on the Frankenreiter song "What cha Know about."
Yep You're welcome.
On The Road Again - IA, MO, SC tons of miles
Posted by Jeff on Friday 11th of June 2010 06:42:37 AM.
Later that year.....
A week or so after Mother's day in June, I was instructed to call Jefferson County, CO about appearing for jury duty the following Monday morning. Sure enough, my number came up. I was actually looking forward to serving this time around. The last time, in Boulder County, I was picked and interviewed by the attorneys in a domestic case, but was excused. Something about not having any children.
I hung out at the courthouse Monday morning for a few hours and was excused. Oh well. Maybe next time. The timing would have been good here though, as we were scheduled to hit the road the following week, and those trials rarely exceed 3 days.
The next week came around, and we were off. On May 25, we loaded up the bus and trailer while our new driver, Duane, slept ahead of an overnight drive east towards Council Bluffs, IA. I picked him up at the hotel, rolled back to the band office and warehouse in Golden, Co, and off we drove into the night, with plenty of water, Budweiser, and a bottle of Vodka just in case.
We had been to the Whiskey Roadhouse in the Horseshoe Casino several times, so we knew the routine here for sure. Always a good show, always a good crowd, and always a fun time signing autographs at the merchandise table afterwards. Just a bit of sarcasm in that last statement. As some of you may know, I am the guy that TRIES to move that line along, getting everyone all "autographed up" without having to spend the night. I can tell you that after doing this for quite some time, the biggest hang up we have in this process is peoples' inability to properly operate their cameras in an efficient manner. The photo ops take a long time to complete. I long ago prohibited folks to come around the back of the signing table for autographs. It just takes too long. And as soon as one person does it, everyone decides that's what they want to do as well. Add on to that the aforementioned "camera challenge" many people have, and you can see why the line would move so slowly. And after a long work day and big rock show, it's tough. My vow is to try to have the band sign autographs if time and space allow, and we all hope the picture taking is smooth. Tough to hold a smile while the camera is being turned on, focused, etc.
Anyway, in Council Bluffs, we signed. Lots of cameras, but we pressed through. Our new merch person, JC, did a great job on his first gig. Thanks to all of you who purchase the new shirts, DVD's etc. It means a lot to the band.
In a rare touring exception, after that show, we did NOT drive off in to the night to the next town. We loaded up the bus and simply rolled back to the local Council Bluffs hotel, where we spent the night. This is usually the spot in the story where a rock band would write about how they had a big party on the bus with chicks and beer at the hotel and threw TV's from the windows down in to the pool and were fined by the hotel manager. No such behavior with us however. Just a quiet night in our own rooms that were provided by the promoter. Our next show was the day after next, a Friday, at the outdoor Rib Festival. So we took a nice simple day drive and arrived the evening before the Rib Fest gig, checked in the hotel and had the night off. I took the short walk from our hotel before it got dark, down the hill from our hotel to see the Arch. I've seen it a bunch of times, but it still amazes me as an architectural marvel. It's three sided for crying out loud! Remarkable. I took some fun photos, did some people watching, and then eventually headed back to the hotel, and soon after, a handful of us gathered to walk down the street for some dinner. I think we made a bad call on the restaurant choice, TGI Friday's, but any port in a storm. It was a bit run down, not exactly sparkling clean, but we just made jokes about it and got fed. No coroner, no foul I reckon.
The Rib Festival is one of our favorite gigs. We have known Larry, the Production Manager, for years, and he enjoys having us because we are so easy on him. We set our gear, but could not sound check due to the proximity of the outdoor stage to the businesses in the area. We simply struck our gear and made room for the other two acts on the FRI night bill, Shooting with Annie and Shooter Jennings. (so much violence....) Good crowd, good time. Great weather for an outdoor show. I had everyone amped up for a quick load out and pack up. Why? Try Mapquesting this -- St Louis MO to Isle of Palms, SC! Management and Booking and even the band had inquired to me about having to make this very long bus run, but hey, I didn't BOOK the shows. I just prepare to get us TO the shows. Originally this was going to be a "fly" weekend, but it soon grew in to a bus trip, so I set up our driver for success by getting him maximum rest before this nearly 900 mile drive to the ocean. We got their at around 4PM, as I had hoped and planned, so all worked out. Duane slept long that night. While he slept, we rocked. The first two nights at the Windjammer were sold out for Memorial Day Weekend. We had a good time with Bobby, who runs the joint, and he took good care of us as he always does. On Monday, early afternoon, some of us even jumped in Bobby's boat with him and took a fun ride in over to Mt. Pleasant for a couple Coronas and some BBQ'd scallops and shrimp. Bobby always gets the royal treatment, so we felt like kings at this cool outdoor bar. It's always smart to hang out with Todd in these situations, as he will sometimes draw a fun crowd to shake hands and get an autographs, etc. Good way to meet folks. After our lunch, we jetted out past Ft Sumpter, then headed back towards the intercoastal, where we stopped briefly to see if we could catch any fish. No luck, but we only hung out for a few minutes fishing because we had to get back to work in short order. Monday night was ALMOST sold out, but we were certainly happy with the crowd and the three day attendance. After the last show, we packed up, and after Bobby gave us some Chicken Salad and bread for the road, along with ice and water, we hit the road again, heading west now, towards the Volunteer State.
Continuation coming soon...
Jeff
Video trip down memory lane
Posted by Jeff on Saturday 22nd of May 2010 12:27:57 PM.
I found this on the KBCO web site:
http://www.kbco.com/cc-common/videos_on_demand/
click on B and then scroll down for some old band videos from back in the day.
Oh, and while you're at their web site, request Beautiful!
Jeff
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