Tour Journal: September 1st 2011, Day 1 of tour.

Okay. Let's just get to it. 

This morning we woke up, and Shawn went out into the fields where the horses were on James' Island in South Carolina, just oustide of Charleston, and after the horses were rounded up gave a hand putting up a new fan in a horse stall, climbing the metal jailbar doors with his boots on to plug the fan in. 

So, yes, last night we stayed on a Horse Farm. Or a horse stable. Or a plantation, on the outskirts of the salt marshes, and the coast. There was a 600 foot dock that was leading out to the river, that was full of brackish water, where our friend Rachel, the horse keeper, informed us there was bioluminescense. We tested this last night at 2am, when it was so dark the milky way stretched from horizon to horizon and the sky was navy blue and indigo. And sure enough, after skipping over some missing planks in the so-long-it-is-surreal-to-walk-on dock, we saw it. Spashing your feet in the inky black water made ripples and fireworks of copper-green, waves of glowing hues, and spray of lime greens on a sable backdrop.

Tour Day One Video Below. 

A few hours previous we were hanging out at the Tin Roof, getting advice on pinball, enjoying Pabst Blue Ribbon, and learing that our good friend Josh Roberts (and the Hinges) have a shot there named after them. Big thanks to Lesley and Nick (you have a badass Honda CL175 motorcycle there buddy), as well as Shawn, Trey, Brittany, Justin, Eric, Mollie, Rob (the Throb), Jaime, Tara, and Philip  at the Tin Roof for their kind words and hospitality. And thanks to Rachel for being crazy enough to let us chase horses around in the middle of the night. 

Recap: Tour Kickoff at the Local 662: the Beauvilles & Have Gun Will Travel.

Well friends in Florida, we will wiss you, and we will see you at the end of September, but last night was one hell of a tour kickoff. For the few hundreds of people that were there at the Local 662, it proved that sometimes it is a great idea to let the audience up on the stage and let the band get down on the floor.

Photos courtesy of Jon Wolding of Ground Up Films 

Also, if you haven't heard of / seen Have Gun Will Travel yet, now is the right time to check them out. Good friends of ours, and an amazing, hard touring band, the guys just got signed to Suburban Home Records, and are headed out on the road at the same time we are, but doing a loop out west. If you are into the new Americana move going on right now in independent music, these guys will be right up your alley. 

---->Have Gun Will Travel Link to Tourdates<----

As for the Beauvilles, well, we are also happy to be on the road again. Check out our calendar dates for our east coast tour here: The Beauviles East Coast Tour Dates: Fall 2011 

What the hell is going on and why do we smell like Transmission fluid?

After a long haul up the east coast and back, the month of May was spent with each Beauville taking time to himself to ponder his place in the universe and lick some wounds. 

Jason went deep sea fishing, played with his dog and opened a project studio. Max went camping and grew a beard fit for a woodsman. Shawn fixed his Triumph Bonneville, and killed a 1966 Mercedes 250se during a test drive. 

The boys got in a Tascam 48 Reel to Reel, and a matching vintage analog console. It got hot as hell in Florida. And now it is June. 

The tourvan (#3) is beat, and being retired. Tom Cruize Control will be put out to pasture. Like an alcoholic uncle that you can no longer take anywhere, Tom guzzled and vomited only the most expensive full synthetic transmission fluids all over I-75. This, like the alcoholic uncle makes anyone nervous about showing up anywhere on time without altercation. We will miss your leather heated seats, Tom. But we will not miss the lack of legroom. 

So, friends, it looks like it will be a hotter than hell summer. We will likely not be back on a long tour until August, but we will be sticking it around the Southeast. Friends from West and North If you are down south give us a shout.

Jannus Live: the Beauvilles headline at Jannus Landing.

the Beauvilles at JannusOnce upon a time, there were fellows that flew airplanes when they were basically home made contraptions made of balsa wood with little motorcycle engines in them and wings held together with horsehide glue. All these dangers were offset by wearing a very stylish leather helmet and goggles.

One such fellow named Tony Jannus made a humble living out of flying one such contraption, apparently having solid balls of russian steel...

Departing from a location on January 1, 1914, near the downtown St. Petersburg Municipal Pier on Second Avenue North, Jannus piloted the twenty-three minute inaugural flight of the pioneer airline's Benoist XIV flying boat biplane. A crowd of 3,000 gathered at the pier to watch the history-making takeoff at 10 a.m. and were told by Fansler that "What was impossible yesterday is an accomplishment today, while tomorrow heralds the unbelieveable".

(Jannus went on to die at the young age of 27 while training russia pilots over the black sea, he nor the bodies of his crew were ever found).

Fast forward almost a century later, Jannus Landing (recently rechristened Jannus Live) is a state of the art concert venue, and just plain huge. On December 3rd The Beauvilles performed their biggest headlining show to date and had the pleasure to play there to a very willing audience.

the Beauvilles perform at Jannus Landing Live

Shawn Kyle

Also performing were the reunited Ten Spoke Indies (formerly the southeastern based band, Harry Dash) and also recent prodigal sons returning home after hiatus, the very excellent garage rock - pop sounds of Tres Bien, who aside from the French name similarities the Beauvilles also really really like. 

*all photos by John Wolding of Ground Up Films