Somewhere between the cracks of paralyzing ice storms, government upheavals and inexcusable Presidential interviews during Super Bowl coverage (c'mon man!) lives a band from Columbus, Ohio called Ghost Shirt. And this is what's going on with said band...
It appears as though 'Daniel' will be released on vinyl in time for our end-of-March tour (more on that in a second). As we speak Jon Chinn is mastering the album for vinyl release and Ryan Besch--the person responsible for the 'Domestique' artwork--has started work on the album art. I'm not sure I can adequately express how lucky we are to have Mr. Besch and Mr. Chinn work on not only one, but two of our albums. They truly are masters and we owe them big time for taking the time from their more important work to lend their talents to our "little" project.
We are also in the process of getting t-shirts made and as such we hope to have them in time for our March tour (more on that in a second). So for those of you who have been asking, your time has come. Unfortunately, we will not be printing the "36 is the new 52" t-shirt though I'm still mad a Branden for voting that down.
As for the singles project of 2010...we will be releasing all of the singles--newly remastered--and will be offering them up on our bandcamp page in what I believe to be two volumes. So for those of you who missed some of the singles, most of the singles or all of the singles, this will be your chance to get them and enjoy them. We will also include a few songs that were never released. My guess is that they will be available in a month or so. Branden is busy remixing all the songs now since some were mixed and released with little time to sit and fine tune the things that needed finely tuned.
Tour 2011. We will be embarking on a ten day run through New York and the south starting March 25th in Buffalo. So far we have Buffalo, Jamestown, and NYC booked with more to come. For those of you who have been asked to help, thank you so much for lending your time to help us book these dates. Much like everything we do, we would accomplish far less without the support of those who like not only our music but indie-type music in general. After the tour, look for Branden to be playing a ton of solo shows across the country with the band joining him when we can. We will be posting all our upcoming shows, including tour dates, solo shows and such very shortly. You can either check here or on our Facebook page.
Rumors:
I have heard a rumor that Ghost Shirt will be performing a last-time-ever front to back performance of 'Daniel' in Buffalo. It hasn't been confirmed yet but that's what my sources tell me.
Merf may or may not have fallen on his ass during the last ice storm. We are still efforting for the video evidence
It's been said that Ryan is on a personal mission to rid this world of all Yankee fans up to and including a Mr. Carver who apparently never tires of being wrong.
Branden has recently included in his writer for his solo shows what can only be called a heroic amount of Pistachio's to be placed on his guitar amp.
Sam giggled today.
Cheers all and may spring come faster than an 18 yr old boy touching a boob for the first time in the backseat of a steamed up Subaru.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Thursday, December 30, 2010
In like a tiger out like a lamb
I'm not really sure what the hell this is, how it's gonna read or even who is going to want to read it; but I wanted to put something down about what happened during the past year in regards to the band and the project that turned out to be more burden than beast early on but out of the ambition to do something more than drink, bitch and fuck came a bunch of really good songs, an album that we are very proud of and memories that I will never forget.
I'm sure most if not all of you have heard the given title of this post applied to that mind-fuck of a month, March where beaten and battered from December to February we circle said month as the time when winter loosens it's grip enough for us to wipe the crud from our eyes as we promise ourselves that this year things will change. Then we wake up and March greets us with a coat of freshly fallen snow and twenty-mile an hour winds and we say, "In like a tiger, out like a lamb" then we fall back into bed with the realization that even though we want things to be different, everything just depends.
Winter: The Singles (January - March)
Enter 2010 and your favorite band (add string of qualifiers here) starts it's 52 singles in 52 weeks project in a crowded practice space with equipment that barely works. Eight eyes staring at a dirty floor wondering what the hell are we getting ourselves into. All things considering, the first three months went pretty well. The schedule we were keeping was hard and the songs were coming but lost somewhere in the ignorance of loving music the cracks in the foundation started to form.
Favorite Singles: Ghost Shirt / Radio Fire / Zanne / Sleep
Spring: The Singles (April - May)
I suppose if you were to survey the members of Ghost Shirt this period would be the time where everything nearly fell apart. Dead-end jobs, bad decisions, too much drinking and not enough talking obliterated the bonds that made us who we thought we were, as a band and as a group of friends. The songs were still good but how long can you strike a rock expecting to find water instead of blood? Meaning: this is the part of the movie where all seems lost. The heroes have taken their capes and gone home, the devils are running the city and the heroine has lost all hope of salvation...all hyperbole aside, to simply say this was a rough time is not enough as each member contemplated hanging it up. But we made it through thanks to the songs and our friendships. The cracks in the foundation may have become big enough to damage the house but in the end there she stood, hobbled but proud. Eventually, decisions became better, the tap was turned off, and the conversations started flowing and by the end of May all was well in cartoon land.
Favorite Singles: Library / New City
Summer: The Singles (June - August)
The reverend, the wedding, the honeymoon and some of my favorite songs of the year. Branden was a beast as he unleashed some of his most cathartic and at times scathing lyrics to date. These songs were downright violent and beautiful and I suppose if you caught him in a good enough mood he would tell you that something bigger was starting to brew in that giant head of his. But if it was gonna come out then something was gonna have to change with the project, the pace of writing, learning, and recording a song a week was too heavy of a chain to allow any idea to mature. This time also featured some guest musicians sitting in (Shane and Micah / Dane Terry / Nate Rothicker) as vacations, weddings, and a honeymoon threw a wrench in the recording schedule.
Favorite Singles: Clay Stained Fingers / Pike Bishop / Electric Heart / No Audience
Fall: The Singles (October - December)
Branden came to me with an idea that he had came up with about the songs he was writing. It went like this:
Branden: "Listen to these songs" (Branden plays songs)
Me: "Wow, they seem to have a theme"
Branden: "Yep. I want to make an album, with all of us doing what we love"
Me: "I love trying new drinks, and looking at pretty girls"
Branden: "You're an idiot.
Me: "What about the project?"
Branden: "I think this could be bigger"
Me: "Sold."
Enter Sam and Merf:
(Branden plays songs.)
Sam: "Wow, let's do it. I have a kazillion ideas...(giggle)...(giggle)...(snort)...say what? don't fuck with me Haye"
Merf: "I took a poop at Tim Horton's today"
And so right there in an alley in downtown Columbus, we decided to redirect the project and to make an album that we all hoped would be good. The recording saw us and at our best--pulling good ideas out of nonsense, settling disputes during smoke breaks, wondering who in the hell broke into the practice space and drew Darth Vader on the wall--all while feeling the smirks and fielding the criticisms over "abandoning" our project (Thank you Chris DeVille). Initially we were going to put 16 songs on the album then we culled it to ten. Then we argued over how to release it, and when. Then we took some rough mixes to Wigginstock where we realized that maybe these songs were actually pretty good. What came out of this chaos was "Daniel". An album about something.
Winter (again): End of 2010
At this point we are ending the project. We will finish up the songs that are written and partially recorded but that will put an end to 2010. We didn't get 52 but I/we feel the sum is greater than parts, so if we disappointed then sorry but we ask that you cut us at least a little slack as nothing exist in a vacuum and if that's not good enough then I would be more than happy to have a conversation. You know how to find me. We now have a shit ton of songs to learn how to play since we only learned them well enough to quickly record them. We have a lot of shows coming up with some incredible local bands (see: show schedule to the right) and we have a tour coming the end of March.
Two-thousand and ten, in like a tiger, out like a lamb.
Jerk Shirts.
I'm sure most if not all of you have heard the given title of this post applied to that mind-fuck of a month, March where beaten and battered from December to February we circle said month as the time when winter loosens it's grip enough for us to wipe the crud from our eyes as we promise ourselves that this year things will change. Then we wake up and March greets us with a coat of freshly fallen snow and twenty-mile an hour winds and we say, "In like a tiger, out like a lamb" then we fall back into bed with the realization that even though we want things to be different, everything just depends.
Winter: The Singles (January - March)
Enter 2010 and your favorite band (add string of qualifiers here) starts it's 52 singles in 52 weeks project in a crowded practice space with equipment that barely works. Eight eyes staring at a dirty floor wondering what the hell are we getting ourselves into. All things considering, the first three months went pretty well. The schedule we were keeping was hard and the songs were coming but lost somewhere in the ignorance of loving music the cracks in the foundation started to form.
Favorite Singles: Ghost Shirt / Radio Fire / Zanne / Sleep
Spring: The Singles (April - May)
I suppose if you were to survey the members of Ghost Shirt this period would be the time where everything nearly fell apart. Dead-end jobs, bad decisions, too much drinking and not enough talking obliterated the bonds that made us who we thought we were, as a band and as a group of friends. The songs were still good but how long can you strike a rock expecting to find water instead of blood? Meaning: this is the part of the movie where all seems lost. The heroes have taken their capes and gone home, the devils are running the city and the heroine has lost all hope of salvation...all hyperbole aside, to simply say this was a rough time is not enough as each member contemplated hanging it up. But we made it through thanks to the songs and our friendships. The cracks in the foundation may have become big enough to damage the house but in the end there she stood, hobbled but proud. Eventually, decisions became better, the tap was turned off, and the conversations started flowing and by the end of May all was well in cartoon land.
Favorite Singles: Library / New City
Summer: The Singles (June - August)
The reverend, the wedding, the honeymoon and some of my favorite songs of the year. Branden was a beast as he unleashed some of his most cathartic and at times scathing lyrics to date. These songs were downright violent and beautiful and I suppose if you caught him in a good enough mood he would tell you that something bigger was starting to brew in that giant head of his. But if it was gonna come out then something was gonna have to change with the project, the pace of writing, learning, and recording a song a week was too heavy of a chain to allow any idea to mature. This time also featured some guest musicians sitting in (Shane and Micah / Dane Terry / Nate Rothicker) as vacations, weddings, and a honeymoon threw a wrench in the recording schedule.
Favorite Singles: Clay Stained Fingers / Pike Bishop / Electric Heart / No Audience
Fall: The Singles (October - December)
Branden came to me with an idea that he had came up with about the songs he was writing. It went like this:
Branden: "Listen to these songs" (Branden plays songs)
Me: "Wow, they seem to have a theme"
Branden: "Yep. I want to make an album, with all of us doing what we love"
Me: "I love trying new drinks, and looking at pretty girls"
Branden: "You're an idiot.
Me: "What about the project?"
Branden: "I think this could be bigger"
Me: "Sold."
Enter Sam and Merf:
(Branden plays songs.)
Sam: "Wow, let's do it. I have a kazillion ideas...(giggle)...(giggle)...(snort)...say what? don't fuck with me Haye"
Merf: "I took a poop at Tim Horton's today"
And so right there in an alley in downtown Columbus, we decided to redirect the project and to make an album that we all hoped would be good. The recording saw us and at our best--pulling good ideas out of nonsense, settling disputes during smoke breaks, wondering who in the hell broke into the practice space and drew Darth Vader on the wall--all while feeling the smirks and fielding the criticisms over "abandoning" our project (Thank you Chris DeVille). Initially we were going to put 16 songs on the album then we culled it to ten. Then we argued over how to release it, and when. Then we took some rough mixes to Wigginstock where we realized that maybe these songs were actually pretty good. What came out of this chaos was "Daniel". An album about something.
Winter (again): End of 2010
At this point we are ending the project. We will finish up the songs that are written and partially recorded but that will put an end to 2010. We didn't get 52 but I/we feel the sum is greater than parts, so if we disappointed then sorry but we ask that you cut us at least a little slack as nothing exist in a vacuum and if that's not good enough then I would be more than happy to have a conversation. You know how to find me. We now have a shit ton of songs to learn how to play since we only learned them well enough to quickly record them. We have a lot of shows coming up with some incredible local bands (see: show schedule to the right) and we have a tour coming the end of March.
Two-thousand and ten, in like a tiger, out like a lamb.
Jerk Shirts.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Ghost Shirt t-shirt Contest
So it's painfully obvious that Ghost Shirt has little in the way of merchandise to sell at our shows. We have 'Domestique' our first full-length Cd, we have an e.p. that no one can locate, we have a bunch of singles scattered about the internent and for one show only we had a special preview to our upcoming album that is now sold-out.
What we need are t-shirts, but none of us can seem to come up with an idea we all agree on. My idea of a shirt that simply read "Steeler Nation" was quickly shot down; Merf wanted a wolf with huge tits and a big swinging dick; Sam wanted a violin with whiskers; and Branden simply wanted his face superimposed on the body of Simon Lebon. Though all are special in their own right, none seem to have that special oomph that we are looking for. So after much debate and name calling we have decided to ask you what you would like to see on a t-shirt. We are totally serious about this. Come up with a design or an idea and send it to us. We will sit down and decide which one we like best then get them printed. As an extra incentive the winner gets their very own show featuring, yup, Ghost Shirt. Please keep in mind that you will not be allowed to invite any of your friends or significant others and we will ask that if you have kids that you send them to a movie with the wife while we perform for you. Actually, we won't really be performing, we will simply stare at you while we play our new Cd at very high volumes.
Here are the rules:
1. No bears, Cameros, unicorns, boobs, deer or hawks
2. No yield signs, stick men, or pictures of monkies urinating their own mouth
3. No tie-dye or arrows
4. No statements that end with "...for lovers"
5. No wolves, full-moons, upside down crosses, or anything else that would sit comfortably on the cover of a Rush album
So if you have an idea that you would like to see simply email that idea or a mock-up of your idea to: thatghostshirtband@gmail.com
We are excited (read: terrified) to see your ideas.
Show updates:
Nov. 13 w/ Maidson Square Gardeners and No No Nots @ the Treehouse
Dec. 4th Benefit for our friend Felicia @ the Treehouse
Jan. 8th Cinci show w/ our new friends the No No Nots
Coming soon: Wigginstock update / Album update.
cheers,
ghost shirt
What we need are t-shirts, but none of us can seem to come up with an idea we all agree on. My idea of a shirt that simply read "Steeler Nation" was quickly shot down; Merf wanted a wolf with huge tits and a big swinging dick; Sam wanted a violin with whiskers; and Branden simply wanted his face superimposed on the body of Simon Lebon. Though all are special in their own right, none seem to have that special oomph that we are looking for. So after much debate and name calling we have decided to ask you what you would like to see on a t-shirt. We are totally serious about this. Come up with a design or an idea and send it to us. We will sit down and decide which one we like best then get them printed. As an extra incentive the winner gets their very own show featuring, yup, Ghost Shirt. Please keep in mind that you will not be allowed to invite any of your friends or significant others and we will ask that if you have kids that you send them to a movie with the wife while we perform for you. Actually, we won't really be performing, we will simply stare at you while we play our new Cd at very high volumes.
Here are the rules:
1. No bears, Cameros, unicorns, boobs, deer or hawks
2. No yield signs, stick men, or pictures of monkies urinating their own mouth
3. No tie-dye or arrows
4. No statements that end with "...for lovers"
5. No wolves, full-moons, upside down crosses, or anything else that would sit comfortably on the cover of a Rush album
So if you have an idea that you would like to see simply email that idea or a mock-up of your idea to: thatghostshirtband@gmail.com
We are excited (read: terrified) to see your ideas.
Show updates:
Nov. 13 w/ Maidson Square Gardeners and No No Nots @ the Treehouse
Dec. 4th Benefit for our friend Felicia @ the Treehouse
Jan. 8th Cinci show w/ our new friends the No No Nots
Coming soon: Wigginstock update / Album update.
cheers,
ghost shirt
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Daniel
Hello again everyone, it's hard to believe that we are now in middle of October. What a year it's been so far.
Those of you who have been following our project over the course of the year have probably noticed that the singles have dried up a bit. We are currently on single #26 which is no small feat but that number puts us far behind our goal of 52 for the year. In all honesty the project proved to be much more difficult than we anticipated what with family, school, work along with the need to function as a band who loves to play shows and practice. Needless to say it's been daunting. You might be asking yourself, where are the singles? Well, after Branden pointed out that the songs he's been writing seemed to have a similar theme and after talking about how much fun it is to actually write and record an album we decided to hoard the singles and release them all at once as an album.
The working title is, 'Daniel'.
As of right now we are seven songs into the album with the goal of having the final total be approximately 13 songs. We will release them for download and if the response is good then we will find a way to package them and make them available in other forms (vinyl, cd, tape, Glee, Grey's Anatomy). As is expected, we are extremely thrilled about the songs at this point. Without the constraints of writing, arranging and recording a single in five days time, the process has become much more collaborative and enjoyable. And the songs themselves have--in this humble bass player's opinion--become better. Better in that the twisted individual minds of each of the members can be heard on these songs, along with the very talented young minds of Pickerington's High School Orchestra. Don't worry there are no songs with children chanting about pudding, or meat while questioning the need for any sort of quality formal education.
If I sound like a fan it's because I am, and I hope that you (if you're still reading this) are too. Isn't that what it's all about? Being in a position to love what you're doing with people you love to do it with is something not everyone gets to enjoy. If you find yourself in that position, then enjoy it. Fuck the critics.
Speaking of critics the people at Front Porch musing had a few nice words about us:
www.frontporchmusings.com/2010/10/11/ghost-shirt-ghost-shirt-ep/
We have a few shows coming up where I'm sure we'll be playing some our new songs so stay tuned as we update the site and be sure to check out the other Columbus bands as they play around town.
Cheers.
Ghost Shirt.
Those of you who have been following our project over the course of the year have probably noticed that the singles have dried up a bit. We are currently on single #26 which is no small feat but that number puts us far behind our goal of 52 for the year. In all honesty the project proved to be much more difficult than we anticipated what with family, school, work along with the need to function as a band who loves to play shows and practice. Needless to say it's been daunting. You might be asking yourself, where are the singles? Well, after Branden pointed out that the songs he's been writing seemed to have a similar theme and after talking about how much fun it is to actually write and record an album we decided to hoard the singles and release them all at once as an album.
The working title is, 'Daniel'.
As of right now we are seven songs into the album with the goal of having the final total be approximately 13 songs. We will release them for download and if the response is good then we will find a way to package them and make them available in other forms (vinyl, cd, tape, Glee, Grey's Anatomy). As is expected, we are extremely thrilled about the songs at this point. Without the constraints of writing, arranging and recording a single in five days time, the process has become much more collaborative and enjoyable. And the songs themselves have--in this humble bass player's opinion--become better. Better in that the twisted individual minds of each of the members can be heard on these songs, along with the very talented young minds of Pickerington's High School Orchestra. Don't worry there are no songs with children chanting about pudding, or meat while questioning the need for any sort of quality formal education.
If I sound like a fan it's because I am, and I hope that you (if you're still reading this) are too. Isn't that what it's all about? Being in a position to love what you're doing with people you love to do it with is something not everyone gets to enjoy. If you find yourself in that position, then enjoy it. Fuck the critics.
Speaking of critics the people at Front Porch musing had a few nice words about us:
www.frontporchmusings.com/2010/10/11/ghost-shirt-ghost-shirt-ep/
We have a few shows coming up where I'm sure we'll be playing some our new songs so stay tuned as we update the site and be sure to check out the other Columbus bands as they play around town.
Cheers.
Ghost Shirt.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Two Cow Garage: 'Sweet Saint Me'
Well it seems our fall tour with the now defunct and way too short lived super group of Franz Ferdinand and Toto--FROTO--has fallen through due to stylistic differences within the ranks of said super group. The bad news is that our planned Renaissance Festival tour of the Midwest with previously mentioned sword rockers is now canceled (deepest apologies to Springfield, OH). The good news however is that we have been added to our dear friends Two Cow Garage's CD release show, September 25th at Rumba Cafe. As you can imagine we are very excited for this honor and the fact that Shane and Micah will only permit us to address them as "Sir" and "Duke" respectively was in no way a deterrent to us performing on this night.
So, calling all Groton boys, Buffalo punks and any other ruffians (Shane's word) we have met along the way over the last year--we expect to see you there. And to our Columbus friends--come watch Two Cow play what I personally believe to be their best album yet.
And to our Renaissance nerd fans, fear not, the age of FROTO has not passed.
cheers.
Ghost Shirt.
So, calling all Groton boys, Buffalo punks and any other ruffians (Shane's word) we have met along the way over the last year--we expect to see you there. And to our Columbus friends--come watch Two Cow play what I personally believe to be their best album yet.
And to our Renaissance nerd fans, fear not, the age of FROTO has not passed.
cheers.
Ghost Shirt.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
We Fall Hard (see what I did there?)
Hey kids, lots of good stuff happening with the band. First of all our album 'Domestique' is finally getting it's national release in September. I believe it will drop (oh yeah) on the 24th of September which means you will be able to buy it at your favorite local record store which probably lies in your program folder on your computer. But yeah, Itunes, EMusic, Amazon will all have the album available which means you should go buy it; memorize the words to all the songs and then come to our shows and try to out scream Branden and Sam while Merf and I throw shit at each other.
Secondly, we have a lite schedule of shows booked for the fall in Columbus so that we can refocus our attention on our 52 singles project. This thing has been a bitch but I'll be damned if we aren't proud of some, most, all of the songs. If you haven't been keeping up then now is the time to head on over to www.donewaiting.com to download the singles. While you're there go to the message board and find out when your favorite local band is playing again. We will be playing the Independents Festival on Sept. 18th in downtown Columbus. We are thrilled about this and thanks to Andy Dodson and the boys at Central City Recording for the invite. And that's it for shows in Columbus for the rest of the year, we may pick up one here or there but if you want to see us then do it on the 18th.
We will be in Buffalo NY on October 2nd w/ the Wolfpack!!! If you've seen us together before then you know you won't want to miss it. And finally, October 31st we are playing Wiggenstock in Mississippi with some of the best musicians from one the best labels in America, Suburban Home Recording. This is invite only but we are pumped to be heading south for Halloween.
Lastly, thanks for a great year so far and for supporting us and let me leave you with a couple of suggestions...Give the new Shout Out Louds album a listen to, it's great (Work) and also The Soft Pack are amazing listen to them and be sure to find a copy of the debut album from Columbus locals New City Gypsies. These guys are great live and I'm sure the cd is going to be the shizz.
out.
Secondly, we have a lite schedule of shows booked for the fall in Columbus so that we can refocus our attention on our 52 singles project. This thing has been a bitch but I'll be damned if we aren't proud of some, most, all of the songs. If you haven't been keeping up then now is the time to head on over to www.donewaiting.com to download the singles. While you're there go to the message board and find out when your favorite local band is playing again. We will be playing the Independents Festival on Sept. 18th in downtown Columbus. We are thrilled about this and thanks to Andy Dodson and the boys at Central City Recording for the invite. And that's it for shows in Columbus for the rest of the year, we may pick up one here or there but if you want to see us then do it on the 18th.
We will be in Buffalo NY on October 2nd w/ the Wolfpack!!! If you've seen us together before then you know you won't want to miss it. And finally, October 31st we are playing Wiggenstock in Mississippi with some of the best musicians from one the best labels in America, Suburban Home Recording. This is invite only but we are pumped to be heading south for Halloween.
Lastly, thanks for a great year so far and for supporting us and let me leave you with a couple of suggestions...Give the new Shout Out Louds album a listen to, it's great (Work) and also The Soft Pack are amazing listen to them and be sure to find a copy of the debut album from Columbus locals New City Gypsies. These guys are great live and I'm sure the cd is going to be the shizz.
out.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Ghost shirt - THE UPDATE
Hey all,
We here at camp ghost shirt are quite busy. things you should know:
1. yes... we know we are behind in the singles project but we are getting caught up as fast as we can. keep watching www.donewaiting.com - this is some frodo and sam up the mountain kind of shit here
2. Branden (Big Singsly) will be hitting the road starting august 10th for a tour through the sound with Micah Schnabel from 2 cow garage. Weekend and Bernie's-esque, we need a corpse. dates posted soon.
3. You can get our debut EP "Domestique" at shows and local Columbus record stores but will be pushed out for national release on Anyway records/revolver midhaven early september. this means interweb too.
4. Branden is no longer married. yeah.. that happened.
5. We thank you all very much for all your support and love.
We here at camp ghost shirt are quite busy. things you should know:
1. yes... we know we are behind in the singles project but we are getting caught up as fast as we can. keep watching www.donewaiting.com - this is some frodo and sam up the mountain kind of shit here
2. Branden (Big Singsly) will be hitting the road starting august 10th for a tour through the sound with Micah Schnabel from 2 cow garage. Weekend and Bernie's-esque, we need a corpse. dates posted soon.
3. You can get our debut EP "Domestique" at shows and local Columbus record stores but will be pushed out for national release on Anyway records/revolver midhaven early september. this means interweb too.
4. Branden is no longer married. yeah.. that happened.
5. We thank you all very much for all your support and love.
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