The National are happy to be part of a great design project that Soundscreen Design has done with award winning designers, Brain Roettinger (Hand Held Heart), Seripop, and Jay Ryan (The Bird Machine).  The three designers picked bands they wanted to work with to create an exclusive, premium line of t-shirts, vneck t-shirts, hoodies and tote bags, which would be sold as a collection.  The end result is the Soundscreen Design Summer 2009 Collection, of which we are thrilled to be a part of.  Our design was created by Jay Ryan (The Bird Machine).

The garments are really amazing, made from 100% organic cotton and bamboo (for the totes).  They were custom sized and custom died to the designers specifications.  They fit incredibly well and feel better than anything we have come across.  The collection is limited, as it will only be available during the Summer season.

You can pre-order to ship on May 19th.  Go to http://soundscreen.hasawebstore.com/artist/22413 to pre-order today.

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On May 6th, 2009 The National will be performing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Click on the link below for a chance to watch them perform live and you will be directed to our “Band Bench” Sweepstakes entry form. Enter for a chance to win seats on our band benches and an opportunity to surround the stage during The National’s performance.

Please make sure you include the following band code: NAT, in your entry form.

http://www.fallonbandbench.com

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We are pleased to announce Dark Was The Night – Live , a concert commemorating the newest Red Hot release: Dark Was The Night.

The show will take place Sunday May 3 at Radio City Music Hall and will feature several of the artists that contributed to the compilation including Dave Sitek, Dirty Projectors, Feist, My Brightest Diamond, The National, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings plus more to be announced in the coming weeks.

Tickets will go on pre-sale this Wednesday, March 11 (password: badger) and then on public sale this Friday, March 13 at 11am via Ticketmaster:

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1D004269C6AF4AF0

Dark Was The Night – Live begins at 8pm (doors will open at 7).

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ABOUT THE RECORD:
Dark Was The Night was released by 4AD on February 16th/17th 2009, and was produced by Aaron & Bryce Dessner of The National. The compilation, comprised of 31 exclusive tracks, benefits the Red Hot Organization – an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV and AIDS through popular culture.

This week also sees the release of several videos directed by groundbreaking filmmaker Vincent Moon. Moon shot the Dark Was the Night contributors The National, Dirty Projectors and Yeasayer each performing their song from the compilation in early February. These clips will roll out, one a day starting March 10, premiering on Pitchfork.com and Pitchfork.tv.

More info here:
http://www.darkwasthenight.com/

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All the best,
/the national

Hello All,

A quick note to let you know we have just added some new shows:

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24 MAY: WASHINGTON DC - 9:30 CLUB (Late Show 11.30PM)
Tickets: http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?orgid=3595&pid=6465664

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04 AUG: COPENHAGEN, DENMARK - TIVOLI THEATRE
09 AUG: ROTHENBURG, GERMANY - TAUBERTAL FESTIVAL
10 AUG: LONDON, UK - ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL

More info + ticket links here:
http://www.americanmary.com/shows2/

There is a pre-sale for tickets for Royal Festival Hall, London on Wednesday, 4th March.
To buy tickets call the following number and quote this password: 'dark was the night'
This pre-sale is ONLY by phone: 0871 663 2500

Tickets will be available to the general public through http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk on Thursday 5th March.

And look for a few more shows to be added across the summer months, in the coming weeks.

See you out there ...

Hello everyone!

We hope you're staying warm through the winter! Actually, it's 58 degrees in New York City today which is both wonderful and unnerving at the same time.

Meanwhile, we have lots of news to announce...

Firstly, we have scheduled a short US / Canadian tour in late May. We'll be trying out new songs and playing some old ones too of course! The shows are listed below with on-sale dates.

You can find links to buy tickets here: http://www.americanmary.com/shows2

21 May: Kool Haus, Toronto (on-sale Feb 14th @ 10:00 AM)
22 May: Metropolis, Montreal (on-sale Feb 13th @ Noon)
23 May: House of Blues, Boston (on-sale Feb 20th @ 10AM)
24 May: 9:30 Club, DC (on-sale Feb 14th @ 10AM)
25 May: 9:30 Club, DC (on-sale Feb 14th @ 10AM)
27 May: Variety Playhouse, Atlanta (on-sale Feb 13th @ NOON)
28 May: Lincoln Theater, Raleigh (on-sale Feb 13th @ Noon)
29 May: Electric Factory, Philadelphia (on-sale Feb 20th @ 10AM)

Secondly, the charity compilation that Aaron & Bryce produced for the Red Hot Organization, "Dark Was The Night", will be released this coming Tuesday, February 17th (February 16th outside the US). Please help us support Red Hot's effort to raise money and awareness to combat the HIV / AIDS epidemic and go out and buy yourself a copy next week. It is well worth the money and you'll be contributing to an important cause. The record features 31 exclusive tracks and will be released digitally, as a double CD and triply vinly LP! You can learn more about the project and stream songs here: http://www.darkwasthenight.com

Thirdly, if you live in New York City, be sure to catch Clogs (link to: www.clogsmusic.com), featuring Bryce, Padma, and Aaron along with special guest vocalists, on Thursday, February 26th at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. They’ll join Bell Orchestre (which features members of Arcade Fire) and the Brooklyn Philharmonic as part of BAM’s Shuffle Mode series.

You can get 20% off tickets by using promo code 9826 when ordering their tickets by phone at 718.636.4100 or online at: http://brooklynphilharmonic.org/?q=shufflemode&subcal=true

Finally, tickets are available now for Bryce's contemporary music festival, Music Now, which takes place this year March 11th and 12th at Memorial Hall in Cincinnati, OH. Kronos Quartet will perform on both nights. The Books will also perform on March 11th and the renowned Kora player Toumani Diabaté will perform on March 12th. The first evening Kronos Quartet will play two new pieces commissioned for the festival, one from Tyondai Braxton, of Battles and one from Richard Reed Parry, of Arcade Fire and Bell Orchestre in addition to work by J.G. Thirlwell (Foetus), Glenn Branca, and Michael Gordon. The second evening the Quartet will explore music from around the world, including Africa, Mexico, India, Greece and the Middle East.

You can learn more about the festival and buy tickets here: http://www.musicnowfestival.org/new/

Ok, thats all for now!
Thanks so much!!

Hello all!

Over the next several weeks the Dark Was The Night myspace page will be streaming one new song a day from their compilation!!

Dark Was The Night will be released on February 17th, 2009.  Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National produced the album, and John Carlin, the founder of the Red Hot Organization was the executive producer. A total of 32 exclusive tracks have been recorded for the compilation. It will be available as a double cd/triple vinyl/download and will benefit the Red Hot Organization - an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. Red Hot was founded on the premise that even without a cure, AIDS remains a preventable disease – and music is a great vehicle to raise money and awareness for it. This is the 20th year of Red Hot, and this is the 20th release!

Hello All.

Happy Holidays!! We hope you're all doing well and staying warm!! We're busy writing songs and enjoying being home.

We have some news to report:

First off, Aaron and Bryce have produced a charity record called "Dark Was The Night" for the Red Hot Organization that comes out on February 17th worldwide on 4AD. All profits from the sale of the record will go to fight the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The album features 32 exclusive tracks (!) and will be released as a double CD and on triple Vinyl. We wrote and recorded a new song for the record called "So Far Around The Bend". Aaron and Bryce also collaborate on the record with Bon Iver and Antony Hegarty respectively. Please help us support this very important cause by spreading the word and picking up the album in February 2009.

The full artist list:
Andrew Bird
Antony + Bryce Dessner
Arcade Fire
Beach House
Beirut
Blonde Redhead + Devastations
Bon Iver
Bon Iver & Aaron Dessner
The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues
The Decemberists
Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
Kevin Drew
Feist + Ben Gibbard
Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear + Feist
Iron & Wine
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Kronos Quartet
Stuart Murdoch
My Brightest Diamond
My Morning Jacket
The National
The New Pornographers
Conor Oberst & Gillian Welch
Riceboy Sleeps
Dave Sitek (TV On The Radio)
Spoon
Sufjan Stevens
Yeasayer
Yo La Tengo

Secondly, we are very honored to have been invited by Philip Glass to play the Tibet House Benefit concert at Carnegie Hall on February 3rd, 2009. We will play a short set of two or three songs. Patti Smith, Vampire Weekend, Philip Glass and others will also perform. If you're in New York City, please come support the Tibet House.

More info on the Tibet House Benefit:
http://www.tibethouse.org/component/option,com_jcalpro/Itemid,70/extid,138/extmode,view/

Tickets for the Tibet House Benefit:
http://www.carnegiehall.org/article/box_office/events/evt_11914.html?selecteddate=02032009

Thirdly, we have put a lot of merchandise in online store ON-SALE to make way for new designs, so head on over and do some holiday bargain hunting! http://www.merchco-online.com/thenational/

Finally, we are in the early stages of making the follow-up to Boxer. We will let you know when we can what the plans are for its release, but it's likely to find its way to you in 2010.

Thank you all for carrying us through the past year and a half of touring around the world. We had an amazing time and we're incredibly thankful to have had the opportunity to play for all of you. We'll come back as soon as we can.
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thanks for your support!
/the national

http://www.americanmary.com
info@americanmary.com

new releases:
http://www.beggarsgroupusa.com/national/

previous releases:
http://www.brassland.org

The National Forum
http://allthewine.2.forumer.com/