News

We are SO excited. For a limited time, Girlyman will be taking PRE-ORDERS for our brand new full-length studio album, SUPERNOVA!

Pre-ordering SUPERNOVA means that you’ll receive your copies sometime early next year, before the official release date, which is yet to be determined. Doris, Ty, Nate, and JJ will lovingly sign each copy and mail it to you stat!

The cost of $25 per CD includes domestic shipping and handling and helps Girlyman to recover some of the costs of recording and manufacturing the new CD.

But here’s a way to sweeten the deal:

Share SUPERNOVA with someone in your life. Pre-order two or more CDs, and give the extra copies of SUPERNOVA to friends/family/co-workers whom you know would love Girlyman. As our thanks for spreading the Girlyword and maximizing your support, we’ll send you a download of a BONUS TRACK that will not be on the album! AND, for some rainy day listening, we’ll also send you a copy of “The Tuning Songs Collection, Vol. 1.”

Girlyfans have always been the engine of this band. Your pre-order literally and directly helps us to keep touring and making music. All of us here at Girlyman Central thank you for supporting independent music!

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER!

ABOUT THE CD:

It’s hard to explain how excited we are to be releasing this CD out into the world. We feel like, in many ways, SUPERNOVA is a bit of a miracle.

With Doris’s diagnosis of leukemia last November, we didn’t know if Girlyman would even continue. But continue we did! Doris has had an incredible recovery, inspired in very large part by playing, touring and writing.

As it turns out, a supernova is the death of a star. To be exact, it’s the explosion of a supergiant star that shines with the brightness of 10 billion suns before fading out. But here’s the thing that really floored us: the shock waves from supernova explosions can trigger the formation of brand new stars.

This seemed to encapsulate everything we’ve gone through over this last year: death of a way of life, massive change, transformation, fear, and ultimately – new hope and a new start.

Thrilled to still be out there making music again, we’ve really put our hearts and souls into this project. For most of the last couple of months, we’ve sequestered ourselves away in Nate’s home studio, with piano, drum-set, guitars, bass, banjo, organ, and mandolin all within arm’s reach. We began by sitting in a circle facing each other, and just played through each song, recording as we went. Many of the final arrangements on the CD are taken from these initial run-throughs. Doris is playing bass on a lot of the tracks, a first for her; Ty has been acting as “lyric ninja,” writing and re-writing lines; Nate is playing lots of piano and pulling triple duty as engineer, co-producer and musician; and JJ has dusted the cobwebs off her first drum-set (a vintage ’79 Gretsch) and started playing with sticks to get an even bigger drum sound. Everyone is producing and arranging. Some songs have already been in rotation during our live shows, like “Supernova” (of course), “The Person You Want,” “Best I Could,” and “Soul of You.” Others were written over the past year but have just now been arranged. Still others were songwriting collaborations that didn’t come together until the final weeks of recording.

We are so excited about how it’s all sounding – rich, upbeat, reflective, and very, very Girlyman! We’re thrilled to be recording for the first time with our newest member, drummer JJ Jones. Even our besties Coyote Grace make an appearance on a few tracks. And, while we’re in NYC next month, we’ll mix the CD with one of our favorites in the business, Ben Wisch, whose sublime artistry helped make our last CD, “Everything’s Easy,” into the record it is.

We can’t wait for you to hear this thing!

Thanks again, and don’t forget to PRE-ORDER!

There are a lot of dates that we could conceivably use to celebrated the anniversary of Girlyman . There’s the date that we first performed under the name “Girlyman” (Feb. 3, 2002), the date we first arranged “Montpelier” for three voices in a car together (Aug. 1, 2001), the date Doris & Ty met (Sept. 1981). But the date that we most often use is the date that we scheduled our first rehearsal: Sep. 11, 2001.

Doris, Ty and I were living in an apartment on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. Doris had a therapy appointment in Manhattan that morning, and Ty and I spent much of the early morning complaining about how annoying the music business was (ignoring the blaring sirens of fire trucks outside). We lived through that day unscathed, but what happened put us in a state of shock that lasted for months. In New York, there were anthrax scares and constant rumors of further terrorist attacks. We had a feeling that any day could truly be our last on on Earth. And there was an overriding feeling of helplessness – we couldn’t really help anyone who had died or lost a loved one on that day. It seemed there was nothing we could do to prevent either another terrorist attack or the belligerent foreign policy our nation was beginning to pursue. In a state of not feeling safe and not knowing what we could do to help, we just started to make music together.

As we’ve mentioned in some of our previous posts, our next CD will be titled Supernova. A supernova is a dying star, a giant explosion that can outshine an entire galaxy before fading away into darkness. A brilliantly traumatic event that incinerates everything nearby, it also emits shock waves and materials that form the basis for new stars and planets. That day of our first scheduled rehearsal was deeply traumatic, and the flag-waving foreign invasions that occurred over the next few years made it feel worse. But the shock of these events pushed us to make the music we do – the music that we want to hear. It also gave us material to work with (e.g., “Amaze Me”).

A little over 9 years later, when Doris was diagnosed with leukemia, I once again found myself feeling shocked and helpless, not knowing if we’d ever play another show together again. This year has been one of shock, relief, and reevaluations. Is touring what we want to continue doing? Can we even do it? We know that we want to make music together, but, as we knew on September 11 ten years ago, things will be different.

Last week (almost 10 years later to the day), Doris found out she’s in full molecular response (i.e., in remission). And 21 million light years away in the Pinwheel galaxy, a small white dwarf star (SN 2011fe) has burst into a type 1a supernova. For now, we’ll keep on keeping on, continuing to make the music we want to hear in the world.

All good things must come to an end, even Girlyman mini-tours. The band, their 7 string-instruments, drum kit, hardware, cymbals, tambourine, djembe, and pimped-out accordion are well on their way back to Atlanta by now. Just a quick post to thank everyone who followed the online tour diary through Ohio and Kentucky!

For those of us not lucky enough to be catching Girlyman at their next gig, in Colorado, at the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, or to end up with one of JJ’s drumsticks to remember this tour by, there is always smooth Kentucky bourbon to soften the blow.

On my way out of town, I stopped for a distillery tour and bought myself a bottle to take home. For $3 extra, they even engraved it.

As they wrap up the tour and head home to start work on their new album, Girlyman answers your questions on touring, the song they love playing most, and more.

Q: How many instruments do you bring on tour?

According to sound tech and instrument wrangler Ary, Girlyman goes on the road with a total of: 7 string-instruments, drum kit, hardware, and cymbals, 1 accordion, 1 djembe, and 1 tambourine.

Q: Technical question: How many sets of strings/drumsticks/rods/heads do you take on tour? How often do you change or replace them? And what are your favorite brands?

For the baritone guitar, Nate changes the strings about every six months. He uses custom-sized bulk strings that he gets from juststrings.com.

The guitars’ strings need the most frequent changing – about once a month. Ty and Doris both use long-life Elixir strings. Doris used to change her strings every two or three shows. But more often these days, she and Ty share instruments on stage, and that’s cut down on string-changes.

JJ uses Aquarian Studio-X coated drum heads, and changes them every 6-9 months. Her drumsticks are Lightening Rod. And she replaced one of them just today, after she accidentally flung a stick into the audience at last night’s Louisville show — and some lucky fan got a souvenir. JJ uses Blaststicks and Regal Tip Jazz brushes. They last about 6 months, barring unforeseen circumstances.

Q: Who drives? Does the tour van have assigned seats?

It’s like a lot of chores: whoever wants to, or objects the least, can drive. As for where to sit — If you’re feeling social or just want to take in the view, you can sit in the front of the van. If privacy or quiet is more your speed, the back, or up in the way-back loft, is the way to go.

Q: Do you always appear in the same order on stage, from (the band’s) left to right: Nate–> Ty–> Doris?

JJ moves around from show to show, because her position depends on how the stage is set up. But Nate, Doris, and Ty have always appeared in the same order on stage. Except for once, in Canada.

Q: By the way, what’s your sign?

Nate – Aries

Ty- Cancer

Doris – Sagittarius

JJ- Cancer

Q: What’s been your favorite new song to play on this tour?

Ty, Doris, Nate and JJ agree, it’s “Michelangelo.”

Q: What kind of music do you listen to, other than your own, when you’re on tour?

Music is pretty much out of the question in the van, because the engine is so loud. Unless they listen with headphones on their iPods. The one thing they listen to together is a vocal warm-up tape. It’s a recording of a voice lesson that Ty took back in 2002, when the band was just getting started. They use it to warm up in the van on the way to every show.

Q: What do you listen to when you’re not on tour?

Most of the band members say they sometimes find they listen to surprisingly little music in their off time. But JJ has a ready list of artists whose new albums she’s looking forward to hearing, including Edie Carey, The Weepies, Vienna Teng, Paper Raincoat, and Meg Hutchinson.

Q: Do you have a pre-show ritual?

Vocal warmup, group huddle, and setting intentions for the show.

Q: Do fans give you presents?

Just last night, a fan brought the band these amazing cupcakes:

Q: Any packing advice for the rest of us? One thing you never go on tour without?

Almost anything you forget can be borrowed or bought. But the things you’d be in big trouble without are listed in this useful little mnemonic tune that Nate sings when it’s time to pack up and leave for the next town:

Do you have your wallet?/Do you have your keys?/Do you have your cell phone and your computer?/Do you have your chargers for those last two things?… And/Do you have your toiletry bag?

Q: Last question. What would you do for a living if you weren’t a musician?

Nate – Cinematographer

Ty – Novelist

Doris – Pastry chef, and open a bakery called “Effin Good Bakery”

JJ – Either a neuroscientist or an astronaut

Ty took these on Friday night at the Cain Park show in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

So we’re three days in, and I’m learning pretty quickly that touring is 15% rockstar, 85% driving. I’ve been driving in my car behind the van, sort of Mama duck/duckling style…let me tell you, these guys do a lot of driving. Today’s route was 6 hours – from Cleveland, Ohio, to the show in Louisville, Kentucky.

This morning when the van got ready to leave the hotel, Nate called shotgun in my car. I drove the whole way — a very willing Morgan Freeman to Nate’s Miss Daisy. So far, this little tour diary hasn’t focused much on Nate, and this gave me a chance to spend some time with him.

We talked about a lot of things, and a lot of it was me asking all kinds of questions. I asked him about what makes a good show?* Do you like to be the one driving?** Do you like to look for the regional cuisine?*** Are you able to nap on the road?**** Finally, most important, what do you want for lunch?

We were hungry.

At this point we were driving into Cincinnati. This led to some quick Yelping on the iPhone. We found Vietnamese sandwiches at a place called Findlay Market:

It was crowded.

___________________________

* A good show is different every single night. And the difference isn’t where it is or whether it sells out. It’s about the energy he brings to it, and being in the moment every time.

** If the driving is challenging, like if the weather is bad, sign him up – then he likes to drive. But they all take turns.

*** Oh yeah. New Mexico: tamales. Alabama: barbeque. New Orleans is po-boy country. And in San Francisco, it’s all about the Mission-style burrito.

**** Not till he got this hat. Now, napping is no problem.

Back in its heyday, Van Halen insisted the venues they played at provided a bowl of M&M’s – no brown ones.

But all Girlyman really wants is a good mirror.

Doris told me yesterday: “A mirror. That’s all we ask for, really — a mirror!”

Ideally, they really need a few mirrors.

It’s like a bunch of siblings — and their friends (Coyote Grace – they also have to get ready to go on stage). They’re all getting ready to go out. And it’s date night.

That’s no good. There is makeup to put on, glitter to apply, neckties to tie, and maybe a hat to try out. Everybody needs a little space to make the magic happen.

Makeup

Glitter

Neckties

Maybe a hat

Tonight’s show is at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. The green room here is a good-old-fashioned theater dressing room, with counters you can sit at, big, bright light bulbs, and long mirrors running horizontally along the room. I’m sitting in this room right now, writing this, listening to show through the floorboards and the sold-out crowd going wild for Girlyman’s  new song “Michelangelo.”

This was the scene up here earlier, before the band took the stage tonight.

The result: Rockstars.

******

Thanks to everyone who’s posted questions! On Sunday, I’m riding along in the van to Lexington, and Ty, Nate, JJ, and Doris and I are going to play 20 Questions. If you’ve been shy about posting questions, there’s still time!