PleaseRock

Finally, Y O U attended our first Corndogarama on Saturday. It only took 7 years to get there. Gorgeous hipsters, weenies on a stick, and a wide selection of PBR in a can made for solid pre-show preparation. Not to mention, we had our first encounter with the Firefly peeps from South Carolina. Our friend, and accountant’s main squeeze, Barbara at Music Incider took some sweet photos and posted them via MySpace. Here’s a sample:

The Nation of Smooth represented in full force at Deisel Tuesday night at over 350 strong.  Thank you for rocking the Yacht. There was no shortage of eat, drink, or free stuff during the whole cruise.  Even the cabin boy got to eat.  You’re welcome.  Witness the yachtiness and pick up your Yachty Photo Booth pictures HERE (courtesy of our friends at Mixtape Atlanta).

Of course, Three Dog Stevens is thankful for all of the sponsors that helped keep the event afloat, especially the fine young ladies of Sashay Creative Events.  3DS even debuted their first silent film!  You can check out the production complete with sound overdubs at the PleaseRock YouTube page.  Or, just look below.

You’re welcome.  Our version of fan appreciation happens tomorrow night from 7 – 10pm at Diesel in Virginia Highlands with our PleaseRock the Yacht event, presented by PleaseRock and Sashay Creative Events.

What You Get:  a preview of the new Y O U E.P., free food, a look at the new Yacht Rock tees and stickers, a screening of two new 3 Dog Stevens Webisodes, a yachty photo booth, free drinks, etc.

What You May Get:  You can win free passes to Thursday night Yacht Rock just for showing up, as well as Yacht Rock party passes and tix to see Pete Yorn or Y O U and lots of other cool things and stuff.  Stuff and things.

What They Say:  MixTape Atlanta conducted the exclusive video interview.  Blogs like Atlanta Music Blog, Atlanta’s A List, and Awesome Taste in Music all weighed in as well.

What You Do:  E-mail RSVP@sashayevents.com to get more chances to win the Yacht Rock ‘09 Cruise Pass.

OK Productions has hit up Y O U with another sweet show for this week, pairing us with New York’s Marah from the venerable Yep Roc label for an evening of unplugged fun at the Earl on Saturday night.  We’ll be using the cocktail drum kit and playing the new tunes from our E.P. that’s coming out next month.

LISTEN: Good Luck With That American Dream. Recorded live @ Eddie’s Attic, this somewhat yachty version of our track that appeared on an international Coca-Cola commercial gives a preview of some of the sounds you can expect at the Earl on Saturday.  Smooth?

Speaking of the E.P., we’re having a private listening party next Tuesday, June 30 at Diesel in the Virginia Highlands:  PleaseRock the Yacht – A Celebration of Y O U, Yacht Rock, and All Things PleaseRock. Presented by PleaseRock and Sashay Creative Events.

We’ll be blasting our new recordings, debuting a couple of 3 Dog Stevens webisodes (including their ill-fated trip to Yacht Rock), and explaining away the confusion regarding our many aliases.

We’re also giving away tons of free stuff:  free food from Diesel, free drinks from Atlanta Brewing Company, free tickets (Pete Yorn, Y O U, etc.) from Ticket Alternative, and perhaps most importantly:  The Yacht Rock Cruise Pass, which grants free admission to every Yacht Rock at the 10 High for the rest of the year!

RSVP to the party to get more chances at winning things:  RSVP@SASHAYEVENTS.COM.

Parting Shot:  Here’s me waxing poetic about product placement in an interview with Creative Loafing at Brew at the Zoo (half-way through this video):

We’ve made Going Down Swinging, a track from the upcoming Y O U EP, available in advance exclusively through the Save Paste Campaign.  Donate a bit to save this excellent music magazine and receive our track and dozens of others from Of Montreal, Jayhawks, etc.

LISTEN: Going Down Swinging live at the Earl in Atlanta, 3.11.09.

WATCH: Break (2006)

We recorded this song live in Clay’s studio one hour before Director Tyler James showed up to shoot the video.  The shoot itself was quick – a few passes of the song in front of a green screen.  But then Tyler printed out 10 frames per second, cut us out of the print-outs, and stop-motion animated the papers.

PS – Our new picture up there is by Patrick Williams.  Here’s a link to his blog where he posted some pix from our recent photo shoot.

Appearing for the first time together on stage (pronounced “staahhhghe), Y O U and the Yacht Rock Revue will headline Zoo Atlanta’s Brew at the Zoo early Saturday evening.

The doors open at 4 pm, if they aren’t busted by the elephants before that.  Stokeswood opens the show.

Y O U also appears Friday night for the Prince Tribute benefitting the St. Francis Table Soup Kitchen at the Star Community Bar in Little Five Points.  Bands start at 9 pm sharp, with Y O U appearing some time in the middle third of the evening. We’ll bless you with our renditions of Baby I’m a Star, Let’s Go Crazy, Head and (with the Greater Vavoom) Hot Thing.

We’ve been off to the far reaches of the country – North Carolina, Ohio, New York, Indiana – on various family missions. Mark saw Les Paul play in NYC.  Peter and I married off our college roommate in Cincinatti.

One such mission was my own wedding in the North Carolina mountains, at which several incarnations of the PleaseRock posse made appearances.  The jam session at the reception included friends from Y O U, Yacht Rock, Trances Arc, the Constellations, the Greater Vavoom, Lithp, Second Shift, The Rejects (my dad’s band), and .38 Special.

Bencuya, Dannells, and Freeman led a mini-orchestra through my arrangements of music ranging from Bach and Chopin through the Beatles and Sufjan Stevens for the ceremony.  Beau Dobbin was kind enough to record: flute, acoustic guitar, vibes, harpsichord, trumpet and violin in windy outdoor conditions are tough, but he did well.  Here’s the orchestra performing Moviekiss.

Ginger from A Moment in Time took photographs, proving as adept at rock photography as she was at the more traditional wedding-ish moments.

Overall, it was a fairy tale wedding.  Just like the wedding on The Hills…  with the exception of everything.

Remember the fella who posted the video below of YRR at the Dunwoody Beer Festival?  Turns out he’s representin’ on the ATL Journal Constitution tip.  Check out Rodney’s probe into the land of smooth to find out what truly personifies Nick’s stage presence at the AJC blog: Peach Buzz!

The Dunwoody Beerfest was a trip. The weather held off, the Tupperware Party opened, and Yacht Rock sold out of captain’s hats by selling them between verses on The Pina Colada Song. Here’s a fan cell phone video of the encore:

From sitting in with Kevin Spencer on We Are the Champions at 7:45 pm to rocking the final song – Born to Run – with English Nick after 3 am, it was an unbelievable final night at 500 Songs for Kids.

I’ll try to list all of the songs some member of Y O U or Yacht Rock played on:  Born to Run, With or Without You (with Julian from the Whigs), Waterfalls, I Touch Myself, I Like the Way You Move (Peter on rhymes, ?Mark on beats), Sister Christian, Hey Jude (Justin Kerenyi on lead vocals), We Are the Champions, In Your Eyes, Don’t Stop Believing, Let’s Get It On (backing Heather Lutrell), and our song: Like a Rolling Stone.

Personal Favorites: Injected’s badass reunion and Josh Rifkind’s impersonation of Jackson Heights’ own, Mr. Randy Watson.  His band Sexual Chocolate (or were they called Microsoft Word?) did a touching rendition of The Greatest Love of All.

We got some great love from Metromix and Mixtape Atlanta.  Here are some pretty photos by the Mixtapers and Metromixers, linked accordingly:

Last weekend’s Y O U / Yacht Rock gig marathon was exhausting, but ultimately pretty sweet.  Ponderosa’s new CD brings the thunder, and we got some 500 Songs coverage / photo love from both Mixtape Atlanta and Metromix.

I’m in Indiana this week playing in my dad’s annual rock history concert – American Pie.  Gina and I are making a documentary film about it called The Magical History Tour.  We launched a website for the movie this week.  Here’s our first rough edit – you can keep up with our progress at the site:

Micheal Curvey and Crossroads Rough Edit from Gina Niespodziani on Vimeo.

I’m flying back tomorrow and pumped for some good jams at the final night of 500 Songs for Kids.  Much love to Trances Arc, The Whigs, Arrested Development, Death on Two Wheels, Janelle Monae, Modern Skirts, Sonia Leigh, Aslyn, Chistopher Alan Yates, and all of our other friends who are sharing the stage with us.