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What If we could say what?

Hello Friends-

Good things have been going on since the release of "don't be scared, don't be alarmed." Yesterday morning we stopped in to MPR and recorded some songs for Radio Heartland. It was amazing to be in gorgeous Studio M. It sounds incredible in there. We played Catching You, Screendoor, and Forever. Mike Pengra, the amazing person who makes Radio Heartland happen interviewed us and Rob Byers engineered the show. Here's a photo from the session.

You can stream the show tomorrow at radioheartland.org. It airs at 9 AM and 4 PM central time Saturday, November 13th.

Also, we have to give three big cheers to KFAI Radio without Boundaries. We have been getting a lot of airplay on a number of KFAI shows and we are so thankful for their support.

Special thanks to:

Pam K of Stone Soup (Wednesdays 10am-12pm)

Pam Hill Kroyer of Pam without Boundaries (Mondays 10am-12pm)

Harold Tremblay of House Party (Wednesdays 4-6pm)

and*************

Ellen Stanley of Womenfolk (Tuesdays 2pm-4pm)***

Ellen Stanley named The Ericksons Womenfolk find of the month of November. She has been featuring us each week on her show! Thank you Ellen!

If you don't listen to KFAI you should start- it's awesome community radio! I know at least one local business- Terra Firma - who listen to it all day long and help me to know when The Ericksons get played. Thanks guys! Stream it at kfai.org or tune in at 90.3-Minneapolis and 106.7- St.Paul.

LAST thing I'll report today- We have a show tomorrow night at The Aster Cafe in Minneapolis. If you are in the Twin Cities Metro Area tomorrow come out and here us play. There will even be some drums. :) Also on the bill is local musician Kevin Steinman. This will be our first time hearing him, so we're excited!

The Aster is located in the beautiful St. Anthony Main area of Minneapolis.

Exact address: 125 SE Main St. Minneapolis, MN

We play at 9:00pm SHARp!

We love you. We love Minnesota. We thank you for your support.

-Jenny

Album Release

you will hear it like a symphony

Bryant Lake Bowl

September 25th

9:30pm

Tickets still available!

$10 in advance $12 at the door

Just a quick blog reminder about the show on Saturday. We couldn't be more completely ready to put it all out there. It's hard to believe that in a few days you will be able to take home this project, "don't be scared, don't be alarmed." Back in March 5 people put their hearts and souls into this album (thank you) and now Bethany and I can carry it into this new phase.

We love you and we love music. Thanks for sharing with us.

Love,

J

p.s. tune in this Saturday morning. We'll be live on television. Kare 11 Saturday Morning Show.

Agnes Martin

Agnes Martin

I am freaking out over this woman.

She speaks about art in a way that I've never heard before. I know that many artists who have dug deep enough, trying to understand what it is that they do could understand what she is talking about. But she speaks with such confidence and simplicity about something that so many of us work to attain, freedom. She is totally free -- talking about how her mind is empty, about how ideas mean nothing to her. It's like she has found a path to herself and therefore to happiness.

I just love watching her face as she talks about her painting. She is so humble and straightforward, cutting through so much of the bullshit that trips most of us up.

In my own small way, I do know what she means when she speaks about not muddling up the inspiration with ideas. I have never sat down, intending to write a song and come up with anything good. It's always garbage. The times when real songs come out are times when I am listening to something other than my own brain. The inspiration is there, usually clothed as emotion. But it is other than just emotion, which is why it is best referred to as an inspiration. Emotion is too simple. We all know what songs based on pure emotion sound like, just ask Scott Stapp. Am I right?

Watch her interview here. She has a lot to teach us.

love,

b

ps. Thanks to our friend, Rachel Egeberg, for turning us on to her. Rachel painted the album cover for our new album, dont' be scared, don't be alarmed.

quotes and news

Hey All,

I've been reading this quote a lot lately. Maybe it's just the season, but I've been feeling so grateful lately for having music in my life and really truly knowing my PATH. Music is my story to tell, it is my ultimate quest. (for better or for worse). We live in a time where a person can pretty much do absolutely ANYTHING, so it is easy to do nothing for a really long time. Since I was a young one I have had this drive to write music with my sister and play it for those who would like to listen. Every day I am thankful for that inherent drive. It saves me most of the time.

Anyway- here is the quote:

"Music is so awesome. I can't even say it enough. I feel so grateful for it. A new friend of mine, I mean YOU, pointed out an interview with the artist/painter Francesco Clemente on Charlie Rose's show. It was so great. Clemente says that the main quest of the human heart (even superseding the quest for love) is the quest for drama....a narrative, a story and a story to tell. Wow. I feel so grateful to be able to tell my story through music. I believe that the greatest human quest is the quest for union with a higher power...although the quest for drama can battle it and become entwined with it... I think those two are the supreme quests and their battle becomes our lives."

-Mason Jennings

.

Tickets are on sale for the CD RELEASE on September 25th.

Click here to buy some for you and yours.

NEW SONGS FOR YOU.

Summer. For me it has been a time of Minneapolis beaches, sunburned lips, friends, frustrations, anticipation, patience, weddings, births, love... I could go on... and I am fully aware that that all sounds pretty cheesy. Is that the word? Cheesy?

ANYWAY.

BIRTH.

Our album, "don't be scared, don't be alarmed" is finished (has been birthed if you will) and is set to be released. 2 SONGS are available NOW on our myspace page. They are our two singles, "Box of Letters," and "Forever." They will also be available as a limited addition vinyl this fall.

We love you,

J.

BRYANT LAKE BOWL: 9.25.10

We are excited to announce that we are having a release celebration and show at Bryant Lake Bowl on September 25th. The full band will be there along with some other special guests. Tickets go on sale soon- we will update you on this. Mark your calendar!

A mash-up, a release date, and a show.

We recently came across this mash-up. It involves our song Middle of the Night, Mason Jennings' The Light and one other song that I can't figure out. It's a creative, erie little remix. :)

Mason Jennings Mash-Up

In other news, we have officially set a release date for the album. We will be playing a show at Bryant Lake Bowl Theater on September 25th to celebrate the album release. The album, a two-track vinyl and many other goodies will be available that night. By your tickets now, it's a small venue!

BOOM.

Days are longer… happy summer solstice. Spring brought so much goodness our way. The album is officially mastered and off to the presses. We are hoping for a fall release. In the meantime, life feels different everyday. What do you do when the creative work is done? Sit quietly in a corner and try not to cry? Put a swimsuit on and ride an innertube down the apple river? Turn all of your jeans into cut offs? I could go on with ridiculous scenarios but, in all seriousness it’s hard to know what to do. The tracks we laid down in March are some of the best songs we’ve ever written and some of the best songs I’ve heard in a while. I feel lucky- I get to write songs and create harmony lines along side my favorite musician. I feel very lucky.

I tacked this quote to the wall recently:

“The future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens.”

-Rilke

So what do we do as we prepare for the future? Shit… I don’t know…I don’t know if it matters. I think we’ll rest, write more songs, work, prepare for a fall tour, stay sane(fingers crossed), bbq, turn all of our jeans into cutoffs, sit quietly in a corner…

- J.

The Album.

Album Art. A piece by painter Rachel Egeberg.

Work, Work, Work and a Show.

Song wall.

Work station: before (I'll post an after in a few weeks)

The Band and The Engineer. Our Best Picture.

The B and The Management.

Beau and His Station.

Although a few of these photos look a bit like a party, these people are doing a lot of work. And the work is getting done. After a few nights ending at 4am we finished up the mixes at Smart Studios. Hearing it in a room full of speakers is magic.

The summer will be one of hunkering down (in the sun) and getting this train ready to roll. The fall will look like an album release, the album on VINYL, a tour and much much more. We won't be doing a whole lot of shows for the next few months but we DO have one on the schedule.

May 13th at 318 Cafe in Excelsior, MN. Its a great venue and we love playing there.

"You will hear it like a symphony playing round and round in your mind."

Stay with us- it's all coming to you.

Could this be true?

Some people turn to the bible, others to meditation on life's spiritual journey. I wish I would have learned that it's "The BBQ CO." that has the answers.

If they really have the answers, as they claim, I hope that we can all donate to their marketing department. More people should know about this source of knowledge, THE BBQ CO.

M-m-m-mixing

set to mix. ready to mix. mixing soon. going to the studio to mix. how many mixes can we make. what kind of mix is the perfect mix. who's ready to mix?

anyway, that's what we're up to. Mixing. Next weekend, Madison, WI. Ready or not.

Ready?

or not?

answer: ready? or not?

Either way, I guess.

The mixes are coming along. They'll be done soon and you know what that means. SONGS, big time, SONGS.

Let's see...what else can I tell you? I'm listening to Wyclef right now; a little piece he recorded with Paul Simon. What a beautiful combo. I wonder if Paul Simon ever sang with anyone else? Probably not.

songs,

b-girl

The Laughing Goat Boulder, CO

Some beautiful photos taken by Jason Kraft

Westward

After a brief stop in Cozad, NE to kill some time, we finally made it to Denver. We continued on to Fort Collins for our radio interview on Tuesday morning. For those of you who couldn't listen, it went well. We talked a lot after we realized that the host wasn't going to ask many questions, nothing wrong with open air time. We told our story, we sang lots of songs. Thanks to KRFC for having us in. We've got some down time in the mountains before our show on Friday night, fresh air and sunshine.

Come on out if you're in the Boulder area.

The Laughing Goat

Friday, April 16th

8:30 PM

Hitting the Road

Tomorrow morning we'll hit the road bright and early. I'm thinking a 6 am start time. Our final destination for tomorrow is Denver, CO. Tuesday morning we have a radio interview/performance at KRFC 88.9fm in Fort Collins. We're on during their "Live @ Lunch" segment, which you can stream by going to their website. (Hint: click on KRFC 88.9fm, highlighted above to get you there.)

Then we've got a couple days off to enjoy the mountains until our show on Friday, April 16th at a place called The Laughing Goat in Boulder.

If you have friends or family in the area, tell them to come. We play at about 8:30pm.

We're really excited to get out and play for new people and we've got a lot of promoting to do in these few months before our album comes out.

Hoping you're all enjoying the spring weather.

see you soon.

Tornado Sunrise

FOREVER by The Ericksons

If you look at me that way,

I will love you forever.

If you look at me that way,

I will leave you, I will leave you, I will leave you, Never.

It seemed to me today that this first verse from our song Forever, which will be on our upcoming album, fit very well with the affectionate pictures taken on one of our walks during recording. The group was electric and in love. It was weird how it all happened. Beau Sorenson behind the controls. Josh Franke on bass. Jeff Sauer on Drums. Kimmy Quillin on everything and The Ericksons making it happen.

It absolutely rocked and the album that we've come up with leaves nothing to be desired. There are dance beats, there are spooky sounds and there is a smile.