The Van Burens

THIS IS WATER – By David Foster Wallace from The Glossary on Vimeo.

A cap tip to Mr. (Jim) King, one of our guiding forces in our education over the years.

First and foremost, you are all beautiful out there.

Second.  We are playing two great venues this weekend that we are very excited about!  We will be performing at Harlow’s Pub tonight in Peterborough, NH with local legends Run Gazelle Run.  Tomorrow night we will be at the Pizza Stone in Chester, VT rockin early from 7-10.  Cider Magazine named the Pizza Stone their “favorite party spot” of 2012.  We love pizza, partying, and spots–so come hang with us.  The VB’s “Eager EP” also had a stellar review written up in the current issue of Cider, so pick up a copy if you can!

Thirdly, our pal’s Rocky and the Pressers released their album Dance at the Playhouse.

It kicks total ass, just like their live show–so get the album now!  Also be sure to keep an eye on their tour schedule, and they will be joining us at Jerry Jam this year.

The Van Burens are eaters. We’ll come to your home, eat your food, laugh with our mouths open, and love every minute of it. Recently, however, our dietary restrictions have grown and in order to maintain our badass eating reputation, we’ve had to hire some help.

Enter Joel. The Slow Cooker.

Joel’s enthusiasm for 7/4 time signatures and fart jokes is only surpassed by his  great love of food. You might have heard tell of his “hacked” slow cooker: The Sous Vide. It’s a device that leaves your meat so tender, you’ll think you just went on a date with one of the Camden kids from Seventh Heaven.

Joel and his lady friend, Rachel, have entered into a lamb cooking and eating contest and are asking for your help! If you go to Fans of Lamb – Boston and vote for ”Harissa and Date Lambanadas,” our very own slow cooker will have the chance to represent The VBs and cook a lamb meal with a local chef.

Also, check out Rachel’s great food blog Fork It Over, Boston!

The Van Burens are sorry to sat that tonight’s show at the Rosebud in Davis Square has been cancelled due to the manhunt/lockdown going on in Boston and the surrounding areas.  We urge our Boston friends to stay safe and we hope this is all resolved soon.  You can catch us back at the Rosebud on Friday, May 17th and always, check here for more show dates.  Sorry again.

The Moon 3.25.13

Happy weekend, everyone.  We are hunkering down for a show-less Friday and Saturday as we prepare for our overnight recording session with Joel at Q Division this Monday.  We are planning to record six of our songs live without vocals and have been practicing them that way all week to get ready.  Oh boy, is that tricky.  It has been a challenge, much like appreciating a slice without any parm, but in the end we are happy to have made it through.

To further the theme of preparation, here is an amazing “prepared piano” improvisation by Hauschka!

Stay tuned for studio updates!

And safe travels to all of you road warriors who are rolling on the pavement this weekend…

Google Street View Hyperlapse from Teehan+Lax Labs on Vimeo.

Let’s do this April.

St. Patty’s 2013 @ Barnaby’s in Brattleboro, VT

4.2 Tuesday Night Secret Sessions @ Church.  Come get groovey with us as we support the Jauntee kicking off their April residency.  We play from 830-10, so get there early!  We are very excited to be joined by the Dick Johnson Memorial Horn Section –these guys are real monsters and we love having them.  Off to rehearsal, see you tomorrow!

We will also be performing at the Half Door in Hartford, CT on Wednesday, and have an exciting weekend of birthday parties in the great “Live Free, but don’t drink on stage” state.  Can’t wait to see everybody, and happy spring.

Our dearest saxophone player, Joel “Slow Cooker” Edinberg has been on a quest in recent history to make a few changes to the walking tour of Somerville. Was some urban planner of yesteryear, anticipating an artist community ripe with brilliant minds, leaving a trail of puzzle pieces to be connected? How did a once run-down subcity swell to such a paradise, bursting at the seams with innuendos and wordplay? Is Joel simply a genius for making this connection for us?

What follows is part history, part guided directional tour, and part vision for a future where we won’t need to hide behind vague innuendos and can just come out and say what we truly believe. The Slow Cooker has our beat:

Martin drives to Connecticut through snow and potholes with little “Adults” tucked into a carseat and wrapped in a blanket.

VB: “Hello Mother Brother Studios, meet “Adults.”"

MB: “Oh, hey “Adults,” it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

And then they stared into each other’s eyes with fondness and wonderment; And didn’t sleep for three days.

But seriously, mixing our newest track at Mother Brother Studios has been an awesome experience. You should check out their work or artists they work with.

Aaaand, you should be very much ready for the release of our next song from our next EP.

stay tuned

The VBs are hitting up our fave Boston-area haunt this (Friday) evening: The Rosebud(!) in Somerville’s Davis Square. We’ll be joined by the highly talented and a super-great-guy Samily Man. We’ll be joined in the highly-literal-on-stage sense by the super-sexy, all-natural Dick Johnson Memorial Horn Section, consisting of the Slow Cooker and Mr. Clean III. Tomorrow night we’re playing the grand opening of the new Barnaby’s bar in Brattleboro, VT (formerly the Rocky Top). Needless to say, the Van Burens could only overcome their excitement for the weekend and get some sleep this week by way of horse tranquilizers and numerous forceful blows to the head.

Which reminds me:  It’s St. Patty’s Day Weekend!  And hey: Facebook!

Click here for the Rosebud, Davis Square Friday 3.15 FB Event

Click here for the Barnaby’s Brattleboro, VT Saturday 3.16 FB Event

We Van Burens often ruminate on how much ownership we have of our music once it has left our amps and our mouths. At one point does the music cease to be ours and begin to belong to the person in the audience? At one point does that person’s experience shape the music in a way that we perhaps never intended?

I often like to think about the ripples of sound echoing across space, that every show, even that ones where not a soul is present, is somehow accessible with the right access point. One of my favorite podcasts is The Memory Palace (you might remember the John Wilkes Booth story I posted a few weeks ago). An episode I recently stumbled upon profiles a man who thought he could build a radio to access all those lost VB shows and late night conversations.