Tunesday Tuesday - The School

WE'VE MOVED! The post you were looking for can be found at our new blog HERE: RANCHOCOCOA.COM

Tunesday Tuesday - the Music Tapes

The band of the week is one of my favorites, the Music Tapes! I always enjoy seeing the Music tapes perform, but this time was especially special. The band had a custom circus tent made for their shows! The tent was there, and so were games, prizes, bells, and blindfolds.






The game where you had to ring the bell by tossing a penny while blindfolded was really difficult, but I did hear some people win this game!










We didn't get to the Flood game, cos the show was ready to start! We went into the tent and were treated to cartoons before the show began.


There were many different "acts" in the show, so there were songs, then mini performance pieces throughout, sort of like a vaudeville show. This was one of our favorites, a must see! I won't tell too much of what Robby is doing here, but it is so neat - you just have to see the Music Tapes for yourself!






Julian played the singing saw, which is really neat to see. The only other singing saw I saw (haha) at a concert was John from the Coctails!
















The snowman portion of the show was especially exciting, too!










Here is the miniature version of the tent within the tent! This was another favorite part of the Music tapes show - when the miniature tent was revealed, and the inside of the miniature tent was shown, I was so excited. I love miniatures, so this was really adorable. I even imagined a miniature version of myself in the tent.




It was so much fun getting to hang out in the Music Tapes tent for a bit! I can't wait to see the Traveling Imaginary again!

Tunesday Tuesday - Grand Buffet

The last show of last year was a great one! We got to see my very good friends Grand Buffet perform at the 40 Watt. They were on tour supporting Dan Deacon. Grand Buffet were top notch that night, and I am pretty sure they won over the people that were there for Dan Deacon.






Grand Buffet were so funny on stage, asking everyone if they had a VHS copy of the Jerky Boys, and if they liked Subway or Jimmy John's. It's a toss up, really.


They were super energetic, funny, and and so good. This is one of the best times I have seen GB perform, and it was really good to see them again. They are from my home town of Pittsburgh, so it made me feel really at home to see Jarrod and Jackson again!






Yay! Go see Grand Buffet, they are not to be missed!

Tunesday Tuesday - Alessi's Ark

Today I am happy to spotlight one of my all time favorites, Alessi's Ark! I have loved Alessi's music for quite some time now. I first read about her in Amelia's Magazine and I have been hooked ever since. Her music was hard to find in the US for a while, until today! You can get her first album Notes from the Treehouse right here. You will be glad you did, as it is a fabulous album.




We had the pleasure of meeting Alessi when she was recording her next album right here in Athens! What a surprise to me when I heard she was recording right here where I live! We made plans to hang out and had so much fun together. I really love Alessi! She was so busy recording, so I am glad we had some time to squeeze in some fun. We showed her around Athens, had some nice food, and saw some great bands, too!


We also got to go thrift shopping some! Here is Alessi trying on a great skirt that she took home to London with her!




We also had fun eating grilled cheese, meeting our pets, and coming to the Ranch with her! We had such a good time, it makes us miss Alessi! But at least I can listen to her music, even though she is far away.


Alessi has such great style! Check out her little necklaces and charms! ❤

Now let's take a listen to some of her music - it is like candy for your ears. I hope you like it.


I think this is my favorite song from her last album!

Tunesday Tuesday - Summer Twins

I wanted to share a band that is fairly new to me - they are called Summer Twins! They play vintage inspired dreamy catchy pop songs! A friend of ours turned us on to Summer Twins. They are from Riverside, California, the town where Raoul grew up. I really like their songs, and they are perfect for the end of summer weather we are having, so they have been in my ears lately.

Tunesday Tuesday - Chocolate USA

Today's Tunesday Tuesday band is Chocolate USA. I got into this band because I was an avid fan of They Might Be Giants, and both bands started on the small indie record label called Bar None. When I was in high school I used to buy albums that I thought had cool covers. I had seen Chocolate USA's album "All Jets are Gonna Fall Today" in ads for Bar None, and I thought the cover was pretty cute, so I bought it without ever hearing the music.


I liked what I heard, so I wrote the band a letter. Honestly, I did not expect to hear back (though I did send a SASE just to see if they would use that to write back to me), but Julian did write back! I was in heaven just to get a letter back from a band I wrote to! It really meant a lot to me, and it still does. I still love this music.


This was 1994 or so. I was at the end of my high school career, and I had turned my friends on to Chocolate USA. I put their songs on mix tapes and gave them to my friend Todd and my pen pals. I laughed at the Doogie Howser part with my younger brother. My cat even liked Chocolate USA!


Needless to say, I HAD to go see them when the band went on tour! I begged my parents to take me and Todd! I begged, I pleaded, I bought my Dad a Hershey bar. I think it was the Hershey bar that put him over the edge. They took me and Todd to see Chocolate USA, who Dad called Chocolate America. This band was a band that wrote back to me more than once, and when Julian did not write, his grandmother sent me a postcard. This really meant so much to me. It still does.


I really really enjoyed the Chocolate USA show I got to go see. In fact, I am almost sure that Todd and I were the only ones who were there for their music. Anyways, these are photos from that show. The next time they came round (fall of 1994) my friends and I drove to see the show, but alas, we got there too early and missed them! Julian did phone me up, I remember, and said something like "don't think we can't get you in if you are not 21." I think we were going to be "roadies" and carry equipment, but that never happened.


Chocolate USA was my "gateway" into Elephant 6. I am still an E6 fan to this day, and I don't think I would be where I am today without this great connection.










I love this picture because it looks like he is floating!


So here I am at 18, and in awe of a really creative band of musicians who I truly admire. At 18, I used to think that Julian, Bill, Liza, and Eric were so much older than me, when in reality, they were not much older than me at all! But here they were making music, touring, and doing all this stuff that I was interested in, but I was never a great musician. Instead I drew comics, wrote zines, and wrote letters, all while listening to their music.


I was shocked and sad to hear about the passing of Bill Doss last week. I was happy to have met him this day when I saw Chocolate USA play, and I had kept up with his other bands over the years. I have been thinking of all the nice people and friends I have made through E6, and I wish them the best at this time. ❤