This might be the ultimate fashion accessory

I'm very excited to present the first Shackleton beer koozie.  We are going to do these in small, 50 count runs.  Every run will have a different design.  We are selling them for a measly $4, so come down to our show on Saturday and get one before they are all gone.

Racing a train is hard!

So I got out of the office a few minutes later than I wanted and had to race to the train stop as fast as possible.  It is only just over 2 miles to the train stop, but it is almost entirely up hill.  So I crest the last part of the hill and look down to see the train pulling into the stop.  I flew down the hill, turned into the parking lot, raced down to the tracks, jumped off my bike and ran across the track just in time to step into the doors mere seconds before train closed up and pulled away.  It was pretty exhilarating, but I think I'll try to not replay it again.

How long has it been since a band blew your mind?

I think it has been long enough, don't you? Lucky for you I have the perfect medecine for your condition. This Sunday The Eric Mcfadden Trio is playing at Burt's Tiki Lounge (726 S State St, Salt Lake City, UT a private club for members) What? You haven't heard of The Eric Mcfadden Trio? Well, my friend, it is time you introduced yourself and saw them in a nice little dive bar, because they will soon be playing venues for thousands of people rather than hundreds. Honestly I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday evening during a three day weekend then have my ass rocked clean off my body. I hope that some people read this and decide to come out... Shows this great just don't come around that often.

Join the Shacklton Army

This, my friend, is hard to stand

god bless the bands that play SLC on weekdays.

If lil' "g" doesn't bless them, who will?

I just witnessed an amazing show. As a witness, I count myself among a minority. The worst part is, at one point, there was a reasonable crowd. Sadly, they came out to see the one local band that whined their way into playing before the touring bands and left before the bands that mattered ever played their first chord. I can't say I blame them... I myself was getting tired.

As a local band, they broke some pretty basic rules.

Sorry for any of you that are tired of my preachifying:

Rule #1:

Unless the band has a dediciated following, they rely on the local band to bring out the crowd. This often requires that the local band play at the end of the night. Even if said local band has to work, or go to school, or jerk off in the morning. It doesn't even matter if your band will sound like dull drillbits, drilling into your rotten teeth, after the tour band. The locals do what they must to create the best possible crowd for the touring band.

Rule #2:

Bands should set up and tear down quickly. This is especially true for local acts, and even more true on weeknights. It's a fact. On a Wednesday night, everyone in the bar is probably concidering the wisdom of their being at a show/bar, when they have to work in the morning. The sooner you allow the other bands to play, the better. The better for you, because your friends will be happy to see some great touring bands. The better for the touring bands, because there are poeple there to have fun, cheer and buy merchandise. The better for the bar, because people don't get bored and leave; and finally, the better for the fans, because they were able to experience a band that they had never heard, but fell in love with, before they decided that they should be in bed.... or what ever else they think they should be doing...

I hope Turdus Musicus (latin for swallow song) plays in Utah again. They are an amazing band from Norway. They certainly don't need to play here. I'm pretty sure they lost money to play tonight... I also hope that Underminer plays SLC again. The "promoter" who will go nameless, made no metion that a Mr. Karl Alvarez (of The Decendants and ALL and, let not forget, the Massacre Guys, among others) is the frontman of this band. One of the true legends for punk rock played in SLC to, maybe 5 people beyond his friends and the staff. It made me want to cry...

So

To any members of any local bands out there:

Support the touring bands you play with. Think of your selves as supporting bands, not openning bands.

Be okay that you may play to a hand full of your most devoted fans, because the rest of your fans just discovered their new favorite band, before than whimped out and went home to sleep.

Don't rely on the bar, or a promoter. The bar does what they can, but let's be honest, most promoters survive by taking money that should go to the musicians. Hell, tongith the promoter didn't show he ugly face. It probably a good thing. I would have been tempted to kick it where it resides... deep up his own ass...

Love,

Nate

Raspberry Porter

Have I mention that I love to brew?

I'm very excited about this batch. I'm brewing a nice, dark porter with:

6 lbs Amber Malt Extract
1/2 lb Black Patent Malt
1/4 lb 120 Lovibond Crystal Malt
1 0z Galena hops for Bittering
1 oz East Kent Golding hops for Flavoring
1 oz East Kent Golding hops for Aroma

I am using the Wyeast British II culture. This will be fermented for 1 week, before being transferred into a secondary fermenter with 2 or 3 pounds of raspberries. The sugar in fruit is slower to ferment than malt sugars, so I plan on giving it 1 month to ferment in the secondary before taking it off the remenants of the raspberries that will settle to the bottom and placing it in a 3rd and final fermentation to allow it to clear up as much as possible for about 2 weeks. So, somewhere around mid to late October this beauty should be ready for the drinking.

Now I've been asked a lot lately. Nate, why the hell do you do all this when you can just go to the corner store, liquor store, or beer store and buy a couple twelve packs. Half of me thinks, "If you are asking the question, the you are probably not the type of person that appreciates waiting for unique and wonderful things.", The other half of me thinks. "show me a beer store that sells Yarrow Ale or Raspberry Porter and I might" There is some magical about tasting something you created after waiting months for it to finish. Of course, I've always been one to like to make things when ever it is feasible and doesn't require too much expense or active time. We are so spoiled by convenience in the modern world. So many people don't want to do anything if it isn't served to them on a platter and then when something comes along that disrupts their normal consumerism (like $4 gallon gasoline) than they freak out and act like it is the end of the world. I've got an idea, how about walking, running, riding a bike, taking public transit or carpooling somewhere? Okay, I won't stay on that rant because it could go on for quite a while and I have a lot of things that I would like to do today, like bottle the Yarrow Ale, weed the gardens, pick tomatoes, and maybe go out and support some live bands tonight.

For those of you that want to come over and experience the Yarrow Ale, we will be having a gathering at our place to celebrate Calli's birthday (yes I know her birthday was at the beginning of the month, but this month has been to busy to do anything yet, by her own choosing)

It's a good problem to have...

It's time to start another batch of homebrew... but I'm not sure what to start. I suppose it is going to be heading in to fall by the time the beer is ready to drink, so I should think about something that fits the changing weather. Raspberries are become readily available... maybe I will do a raspberry porter. That sounds yummy. I've always wanted to add fruit to the secondary fermenter and never have. That will require are longer period of aging, but sounds fun. So many "fruit" beers are actually made with flavoring or essence, so the beer ends up tasting a bit like a scented candle. Commercial brewers do this because real fruit is very unpredictable, but as a homebrewer, unpredictable sound interesting. Alright, I've talked myself into it. Raspberry Porter here I come. The brew will commence on Saturday or Sunday.

Honestly, how cool is Pandora?

I remember hearing about Pandora a long time ago and thinking that it sounded like a great web site, but misfiled it in my brain and lost it.  It was lost that is, until I got my iPhone last week and saw the free Pandora app.  You don't know what Pandora is?  I'll tell you what it is.  It is the best damn radio station you will ever listen to.  You create stations by entering in a band or a song that you really like and it starts by playing a song by the artist you entered that exemplifies the artist's style and then continues on play songs and artists that have a similar style or feel, as rated by other listeners.  You can voted thumbs up or thumbs down on each song and it fine tunes its selections.  It is a great way to discover new music.  If you hear something you love so much you have to own it, then there is a iTunes link right there on the screen to grab it.  Now, stop reading this and go try it out. 

confessions of a musician with a tragically relative sense of hearing

Damn those people with an perfect inborn sense of pitch.  I've spent my whole life as a musician struggling to instantly recognize intervals, let alone distinct pitches.  I can't image how much easier things would be with this ability.  Well, I suppose there are two possibilities.  1) This is a talent some people are born with and the rest of us just have to deal with not having it, or 2)Some lucky assholes take to it right of the bat, but pitch and tones are like a language that can be learned.

Since I don't want to sentence myself to a life of struggle and noodling with things until they sound right... I'm starting some tone training that I found in the app store on my iPhone.  I'm curious if a month or two of identifying intervals, chords, pitches, and scales will effect my ability.  I suppose there is only one way to find out, so here I go!

A call to arms

Shackleton really tries hard to rock our guts out and I'd like to think that it shows.  People are getting more and more enthusiastic at our shows and being the attention whores that we are, we mop it up.  It's the enthusiasm that I want to make a plea to.  We need as much help as we can get.  We need help from artists to design logos, t-shirts, webpage backgrounds, an album cover, and anything else that Shackleton inspires them to create.  We need help from photographers for both studio pictures and live performance pictures.  We need people that know how to put together a great webpage.  We need people to blog about us, tell their friends about us, place our widgets on their websites.  Basically we will take any help we can get.

We have entered the Boru Vodka "Defend the Bar Band" contest and would love to make it into the Top 15 bands.  We need to ramp up the level of our online image to do this and we can't do it by ourselves.  So, if you can offer any services to us or know people that you think would be interested, please let me know.

What is in it for you?  Well, we are all kind of broke, so money will likely not be involved (at least for now)  But you will earn our gratitude that we won't soon forget and we will forever be looking for ways to payback the debts of gratitude to everyone that helps us along the way.  

What is the least you can do?  If you don't already have a Reverb Nation account, then go to www.reverbnation.com and sign up as a fan, add Shackleton as a favorite, add our songs to your playlists and share our music with people you know.  It is actually a pretty cool networking site built completely around music.  There are over 200,000 bands from all over the world that you can explore and listen to, there is a radio service that will play the type of music you want to hear.  The site has all sorts of different widgets and tools that all work very well.

Okay I'll get off my soap box, but please let me know if you can help and pass this blog along to people you know.

Tonight's rock and roll birthday extravaganza

For anyone that doesn't know, it is the most beautiful woman in the world's birthday today. So any of you that are tough enough should come out and wish Calli a happy 19th birthday. If that wasn't enough, it is all Jerm, from Burt's Tiki Lounge's birthday too. To help them celebrate there is a great lineup of bands playing is playing tonight at Burt's (726 S State St. SLC, UT)

First there is The Front. This is a great punk rock band from the windy little city of Casper, Wyoming. Don't let their humble root fool you, this is a great band of really great people. Head over to the myspace site and check them out. You won't be disappointed.

Next, we have Resistor Radio. I can't tell you anything about them. I don't know where they are from and what they sound like, so it'll just have to be a surprise.

Negative Charge is also coming out to for the celebration. This is a good band that just keeps getting better. They are fast becoming SLC's best street punk band.

And, of course, Shackleton will make an appearance. If you missed our last show come out and enjoy the new songs.

Come be in denial that the weekend is over.

My first Trekfeast

After months of "meaning to" and procrastination, I actually road my bicycle 8 miles from my house to the train station.  I'm now sitting on the train happily typing away on my keyboard instead of staring at the windshield trying to not fall asleep.  I work about 50 minutes away from my house, so the commute is brutal.  At least I do go the opposite way as the majority of traffic, but I still feel like I waste two hours a day.  Now I can read, type, work, knit, all sorts of stuff that I was having trouble fitting into my schedule with that commute.  Not to mention that it gets in some nice aerobic exercise daily.  I should have done this earlier.  I feel great, so damn alert.  It's funny how our brains trick us into thinking exercise is a chore and one that it would like to keep at the bottom of the list, because when you do get in some good exercise your brain and your body are all, "that was great, let's do it all the time."  

So, anyway, I am going to try to rely in peddle power and public transit when ever possible until it's too damn cold to ride my bike.  and the I'll try to rely in sole power and public transit.

Okay, I'm done being self-righteous...

Shameless self-promotion

It's a sad truth about being a musician that there is just too much competition out there. I'm not just talking about other bands. I remember when going to shows was the preferred way of having fun on most nights of the week. Now it's hard to get people to stop playing Xbox, or watching TV long enough to get them to listen to new music. My band Shackleton is coming up to a crossroads. We must decide whether to keep our band as a great hobby, or turn it into a career. Next week we are going to begin recording our first full length album. This album will be the first full release from my record label, Recidivist Records.

So, here is where the self-promotion comes in. I need to introduce Shackleton to as many people as possible and create a nice big mailing list. To do this I need a street team. A few of you have said that you would be a street team member and here is you first assignment:

Introduce Shackleton to 10 new people and supply me with their email address for the mailing list. The easiest place for people to listen to Shackleton is at www.reverbnation.com/shackleton

The reward for completing this assigment will be a limited edition Shackleton - KAGM t-shirt that will be limited in production to only the number Street Team volunteers that complete this task. I am working on the artwork now and will post it when it is done, but you can bet it is going to be nice.

Please go to www.reverbnation.com/shackleton and send us a message if you are interested. Once you have 10 new email address, then send them to us at reverbnation. Once the new people confirm to be on our mailing list, I will send you the shirt.

Help Shackleton take over the world!

DABC shows a rare bit of common sense

It's been a long time coming, but breweries and distillers no longer have to send there high-point (above 3.2 ABV) products to a hot state run warehouses and then have them sent back to their bar or store to sell them. Not only that, but brewpubs can actually serve beer with higher alcohol contents on tap, provided it was brewed on premises. If you want to know more, then read this

This rekindles my dream of openning The Dead Philosopher Brewery and Philosophy Institute. The concept here is to have a bar that has class rooms off the main area. People could sign up for various philosophical courses and then have a great time getting pleasantly buzzed while learning about and discussing philosophy. I don't know about you, but being a sheet or two to the wind is my favorite state for "deep" conversation. Of course we would have unique course offering like: Punk Rock Ethics, philosophy in science fiction, metaphysics and atheism, etc.)

So, if you want this dream to because a reality, send me lots of money.

Adventures in brewing with Yarrow part 2

Today I moved the yarrow ale from the primary fermenter into a secondary fermenter.  This is done to get the beer off all the sediment that settles out while the beer is fermenting.  Mostly the sediment is yeast that has run its life cycle and settled to the bottom if a beer. If the beer is allowed to sit on the bed of yeast for too long, then the yeast starts autolyzing (eating itself).  This is not a good thing and makes the beer taste funny (Think cheesy beer).  

So, this move is always a reason for excitement, because it is the first chance I get to steal a little taste and see how the beer is shaping up.  I was especially excited for this batch since I've never brewed with Yarrow before and guessed at how much was needed and how long it should be boiled during the brewing process.  I'm happy to announce that the beer is tasting very nice.  It has a great yarrow aroma that hits your nose as you put the glass to your mouth and again in the aftertaste.  The yarrow provides a nice amount of bittering to balance out the sweetness of the hops.  The wheat malt I used is also adding to the flavor with a nice nutty flavor.  Mmmmm  this is making me thirsty...

For the homebrewers out there, after 7 days the gravity is now 1.022.  It should get down to about 1.015 when it is done fermenting.  For the non-homerbrewer out there specific gravity is the weight of a liquid compared to water.  So the starting weight of 1.060 tells us it was .06 units heavier than water.  A good portion of the sugars in the starting liquid have now been eaten be the yeast, which creates alcohol and carbon dioxide and in the process makes the weight of the liquid lighter.  When the number stops dropping, you know the beer is done fermenting.  This is handy because if you bottle beer before it is done fermenting, then you end up with nice little glass shrapnel bombs.

In another week or two it will be ready to bottle.  I can't wait to taste it completely fermented, cold and carbonated.

The impending rock and roll show

It seems like I've been waiting for months to play.  Tonight Shackleton (the music playing in the background silly) is playing at our favorite dive bar of all time, Burt's Tiki Lounge.  We have played a lot of other venues and Burt's might not have the best drinks, the best smell, or the most courteous bartenders (although they get my vote for best, just remember: 1) don't shout at them from down the bar, they see you and are working towards you 2) don't wave a couple of dollars trying to get their attention, see reason #1 and 3), Unless you are paying on a card, tip every time you get a drink, even if it is water), but it feels like home to us damn it!  Now that we have some bar etiquette out of the way, let's talk about the bands that we have the pleasure of sharing the stage with tonight.  Our friends and fans have had to sit through some pretty terrible bands through the years, but tonight is one of those rare nights when we are playing with good bands on a Friday night.

First, we have the other local support, Fail To Follow

Fail to Follow, or as we Sachez renamed them "Succeed to Lead" are one of the tightest punk acts around.  They have a anthem style akin to bands like Good Riddance, Pennywise, and Avail, but do create a unique sound all their own.  They always play great and are nice chaps to boot.

And then we have Cobra Skulls

Cobra Skulls are one hell of a rock band.  They meld a variety of styles (punk, reggae, rockabilly, and more) together and have an amazing stage pressance.  They are the kind of band that get people that haven't ever seen them or heard them before singing along and dancing.  They were listed in Alternative Press as one of "100 bands you need to know", bands that will "restore your faith in music".  

 As for Shackleton, all songs from our debut EP are available for purchase from our Reverb Nation site, as well as Myspace.  We are going in to the studio to record our first full length album in August.  We hear that a good number of people are coming out to support us tonight and that means a lot to us, we love all of you.

This could change things

There is a little electric car company out of Canada called ZENN, who is already producing low speed electric cars that are okay for driving around urban areas, or neighborhoods, but that is about it. That really isn't very exciting and I don't feel like spend $14,000+ to go 25 mph for about 30 miles per charge. What is exciting, is they are developing a new vehicle with a Texas based energy storage company which uses a revolutionary type of "battery" called a super capicitor. There is not a lot of information out there yet about EEStor Inc and their new technology because they are privately held and the target of hungry oil, auto, and utility companies that would like to purchase them and their technology and bury it somewhere deep where no one would ever find it. Their super capacitor is able to store up to 10 time the energy as a regular battery, can be charged in as little as 5 minutes, is contructed out of common elements, is less expensive then traditional batteries, and is completely nonhazardous. The uses of their technology are vast: storing and transporting renewable energy, powering everything from cell phones to houses, and of course cars. Okay, now go read about the ZENNcity. I tell you what, I'm going to start saving my pennies to buy one as soon as they are available, hell, I'm tempted to buy stock in the company.

adventures in brewing with Yarrow

I've been intending to brew a beer using yarrow for years, but hadn't gotten around to it. Well this year has been a great year for brewing and I had some nice big yarrow blossoms in my yard, so I decided the time had come. If you don't know what yarrow is, it looks like the image on the left. It is a very hardy flowering herb that grows all over the world. It was once widely used as a bittering ingredient in beer before hops gained popularity and is sometimes called "field hops". Years back I tried a beer brewed with yarrow and it was interesting stuff. Not only does it taste good (although different then you are used to), but the buzz that the beer will give is very different than normal. It's almost like drinking a big cup of coffee while you are drinking a beer. The recipe I put together is as follows:

5 gallons water

3.3 lbs (1 can) Cooper Amber Malt Extract

4 lbs Mutons Dry Wheat Malt Extract

12 oz. 20 Lovibond Crystal Malt

2 oz. fresh picked Yarrow blossoms

1 oz. Cascade Hops (used for aroma only)

Wyeast British Ale Yeast

If you want to know the times for each of these ingredients in the brewing process, then ask, but I figured that would be a bit much for most people. I brewed on Sunday and the beer was off to a nice fermentation on Monday morning, so in 10 day or so I'll be able to pull a taster to see how my experiment turned out. For those of you that want to drink it, well it should be aged and carbonated in about three weeks.