Happy New Year everyone!!!

A few things to update you with.

Nate and Buddy's new project The Blackjacks will be having their CD release party January 30 at Jammin Java in Vienna, Va. This will be an all ages show.


Nate will be doing an intimate solo set at Iota in Arlington for DC101's Local Lix radio show. He'll be showcasing all the new songs from his forthcoming record as well as a few oldies ;). This show will be 21+. Sorry :(

Nate's solo record is in the works right now. Lot's of guest appearances by former members of the band and a few other great local musicians. You can expect a sampler early this Spring and tour dates to follow. Album release TBA. You can catch some of the demo versions on his site www.nateihara.com (thanks Cem!).

We hope everyone had a great 2008 and we wish you the best in 2009!

Buddy and I have a new little project we're doing called The Blackjacks www. myspace. com/blackjacksmusic . It's Anthony Fiacco on lead vox, Buddy Speir on guitar, Mike Smirnoff on drums, and me (Nate) on bass.


We're doing Last Band Standing for DC101 THIS SUNDAY APRIL-27, 2008.

If you remember the old skool days we played the cook-off as Welbilt. We need your help to do it again!!! This is the final competition to open the cook-off on May 10. The more people we have out, the better. To those of you who made it out last night THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! It was amazing hearing you cheer for us.


The bands playing along side us are Dance Party and BOB. Both are truly great bands and put on incredible live shows. Be sure to get there early. THIS WILL SELL OUT!!! There are no set times until the day of to ensure that all the band's fans make it out for the whole show. Doors are at 7pm. First band starts at 8pm.


We want this like you wouldn't believe so please come out and make as much noise as you can.
The show is 21+ so make sure you strap on a good buzz for us! Like I said, THIS SHOW WILL SELL OUT!!!

Thank you sooooo much for helping us make this happen! We'll see you soon!

-Nate

Hello friends!

Since our parting in November some of us have gone on to other things. Buddy and Mike are playing with an AMAZING band called The Blackjacks. I’m filling in on bass as well as doing a solo record. You’ll probably hear Buddy and Mike on the album as well as other friends. Mike is playing with a great band No Second Troy. Patrick is playing with the talented Taylor Carson as well as The Pat McGee Band.

Sunday April 20 The Blackjacks featuring Buddy, Mike AND Nate will be playing Last Band Standing at the Clarendon Grill in Arlington (Clarendon). Check out www.dc101.com for details. If we get enough votes we’ll go on to open the Chili Cook-off! It also happens to be my birthday at midnight. What better birthday present could there be than playing in front of 40,000 people?!!?!?

We’re still doing Martini in Centreville on Tuesdays at 10pm. Our friend Cal Stamp from The Speaks is playing bass. It’s a great time. You should try to come out (you know you can’t live with the guilt...haha). I have my music page up, www.myspace.com/nateiharasongs. All my show listings are up too. You can catch me on Thursdays at Champps in Fair Oaks. I’m on at 10. Some new teasers are up for your listening pleasure as well.

Well that’s it in a nutshell for now. I’ve listed everyone’s page below so you can keep up with our endeavors. Thank you so much for all your unending support through the years. Who knows, maybe a reunion on the way...(Fairfax Fair).

:)

Nate

Buddy-http://www.myspace.com/buddyspeir

Nate-http://www.myspace.com/nateiharasongs

Pat-http://www.myspace.com/patrickthornton70

Mike-http://www.myspace.com/glasscityone

Cal-http://www.myspace.com/calstamp


also check out:

http://www.myspace.com/thespeaks

http://www.myspace.com/nosecondtroy

http://www.myspace.com/patmcgeeband

http://www.myspace.com/blackjacksmusic

Hello friends!

Since our parting in November some of us have gone on to other things. Buddy and Mike are playing with an AMAZING band called The Blackjacks. I’m filling in on bass as well as doing a solo record. You’ll probably hear Buddy and Mike on the album as well as other friends. Mike is playing with a great band No Second Troy. Patrick is playing with the talented Taylor Carson as well as The Pat McGee Band.

Sunday April 20 The Blackjacks featuring Buddy, Mike AND Nate will be playing Last Band Standing at the Clarendon Grill in Arlington (Clarendon). Check out www.dc101.com for details. If we get enough votes we’ll go on to open the Chili Cook-off! It also happens to be my birthday at midnight. What better birthday present could there be than playing in front of 40,000 people?!!?!?

We’re still doing Martini in Centreville on Tuesdays at 10pm. Our friend Cal Stamp from The Speaks is playing bass. It’s a great time. You should try to come out (you know you can’t live with the guilt...haha). I have my music page up, www.myspace.com/nateiharasongs. All my show listings are up too. You can catch me on Thursdays at Champps in Fair Oaks. I’m on at 10. Some new teasers are up for your listening pleasure as well.

Well that’s it in a nutshell for now. I’ve listed everyone’s page below so you can keep up with our endeavors. Thank you so much for all your unending support through the years. Who knows, maybe a reunion on the way...(Fairfax Fair).

:)

Nate

Buddy-http://www.myspace.com/buddyspeir

Nate-http://www.myspace.com/nateiharasongs

Pat-http://www.myspace.com/patrickthornton70

Mike-http://www.myspace.com/glasscityone

Cal-http://www.myspace.com/calstamp


also check out:

http://www.myspace.com/thespeaks

http://www.myspace.com/nosecondtroy

http://www.myspace.com/patmcgeeband

http://www.myspace.com/blackjacksmusic

Hola, Privet, Bonjour, Hi Everyone!

As you all can see I'm couchin' it tonight writing in to say hi (cuz I miss you guys). I posted Remedy from our final show. Listening back to it gave me goosebumps. I can't begin to thank you for making that night one I will always remember. My mom was there and you made her cry with the way you sang our songs at the top of your lungs! Truly a beautiful evening. I also found a live copy of "Little Red Pills" from a show at GWU recorded in like 200 B.C. I thought it would be in the holiday spirit to post our default picture as Buddy getting a $%&job from a Christmas ornament. Enjoy the new posts! Talk to ya soon!

-Nate

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to thank everyone who came out to our final show on Wednesday. TT's was packed, there was a line around the building, and an amazing energy throughout the room. I can't begin to describe the feeling I got when you all sang all the words to all the songs. Most of you even knew the old stuff! It was truly an amazing night that I will remember forever. We got to have Nick Briscoe (O.G.) up to play some bass. Patrick Thornton hopped in as well. Cal Stamp from the Speaks has been filling in since Pat left to tour with Pat McGee (thank you for your talents. They didn't go unappreciated. I owe you some money too...) and he's been killin' it! Shout out to Dave PREVI (sp edit, sorry man) and his beautiful wife Theresa for coming from NYC. Thank you to all the bands we've gotten to play with over the years. It's truly been an honor and a privilege. Most importantly, thank you to EVERYONE of you here and all over the country for being a part of this wild and amazing journey. I'll be posting a more detailed thank you blog over the next couple of days. There are so many people who are responsible for our success and we don't want to leave you out. You know who you are. ;) As they say onwards and upwards! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We'll be around so keep in touch!

P.S. Cafe Martini on Tuesday nights you can still get a little acoustic fix with special guests sitting in all night. We start at 10pm and go till 1am. We'll be doing that through November and December. It gets a little crazy so bring your drinking shoes.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Happy Holidays!

Nate and Buddy

Cafe Martini
13840 Braddock Rd
Centreville, VA 20121
(703) 543-8056

October 15, 2007

Dear friends,

After five and a half years of playing shows, writing songs, recording records, and making new friends, I am sorry to say that we are coming to a close. Welbilt was a journey/adventure that I think will last an eternity in my memories. Through every shining moment and pitfall I learned something new. It was by performing for all of you and seeing you welcome and receive us with open arms that I found myself.

PJ Skidoos was where it all started to incubate. I think it was the summer of 2001. Bill Ledbetter and I were previously acquainted through a mutual friend. I had recently escaped a musical disaster with a group that shall remain nameless (mostly because I can't remember the name). We started playing an acoustic set with me on guitar and vocals and Bill on hand drums. Wednesday nights were slow there. A lot of the time it was us playing for our friend Todd, the bartender and manager. We played our hearts out never the less. Slowly but surely we started to build a small crowd. Familiar faces returned week after week. The connections were made, drinks were consumed, and friends/fans were gained. Soon the nights were ending with a good buzz and me driving Bill home while he was hanging out my car window screaming at girls walking by.

We'll fast-forward 6 months now to the basement of my parent's house in Herndon, VA. It was early spring or late winter, I forget which…whatever. Bill and I were now plugged in and cranked up. We had packed his drum kit into my little Honda Civic and set up a rehearsal space there. With a shitty PA and a guitar amp that was way too loud for the music we were writing, Welbilt began. We threw together about eight or nine songs and decided we should probably add a bass player to our line-up (little did I know the White Stripes would be HUGE a few years later). Nick Briscoe was the man for the job. He and I had met in a previous (still nameless, still can't remember) band. He was a guitar player turned bassist and a monster singer. We arranged the songs and prepared for our first show. At this point in time I would like to thank my parents for putting up with the banging of the drums, the feedback of guitars, and my flat vocals.

After a few months of rehearsing, going out and partying, and waking up hung over, we finally booked a show at the locally legendary T.T. Reynolds. It was located in the heart of Old Town Fairfax, Va. and was pretty much where every great band in the area was coming out of. We were opening for a band named Mile Post Nine. They were an excellent acoustic/electric alternative band from the area. The date was June 1, 2002. The house was packed. The journey began. From that point things just seemed to accelerate to immeasurable speeds.

Booking shows seemed to fall in our laps after the first show. Tuesdays at T.T. Reynolds became a residency for us. We would load in our gear, drink, set up, drink, and play (drink). Eventually a mysterious, long haired, and amazing guitar virtuoso named Buddy Speir would sit in with us and play electric while I played acoustic. Little by little the room started to fill up. More and more people (soon to be friends) would show up and the infamous Tuesdays at T.T.s started.

The following spring we were picked to open the DC 101 Chili Cook-off with Soul Asylum, Puddle of Mudd, 2 Skinnee Js, and a ton of other great bands. This is the only account that I can recall in which Nick got so wasted he couldn't even call home to tell his wife where he was. Ha! I can't say that it's a good idea putting a dozen kegs of FREE Budweiser beer backstage and letting musicians and their friends run amuck. Tour buses get broken into, fruit and other foods are launched into the air, band members get kicked out of their own show. It's just a bad combination. Enough said.

Let's fast-forward shall we? The summer following the Cook-off brought us the Hard Rock Café Live series. We packed a few hundred of you into buses and brought you to the Washington, D.C. Hard Rock Café. Weeks later we went to the Towne Fair in Latrobe, PA. to play with Outkast, Nickelback, Godsmack, POD, and Tommy Lee among others. It was because of all of you that we met our good friends Andrew "Mudrock" Murdock. It was because of you Virgin Records picked us up on a demo deal and we went to Los Angeles, CA to record what would be the beginning of "A Beautiful Mess". It was because of you that we went back and finished the record out there. Thank you for making a dream come true. Wow, could I be anymore sappy? ;)

Upon our return from the West we immediately started touring. We opened for tons of national bands and played with locals all over the country. By the time winter rolled around we were headlining the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. and selling out other venues in Virginia. All the while we were just trying to stop our heads from spinning off our necks. Absolutely amazing is the only way I can describe it all.

Budweiser and King Wholesale took a serious interest in us and signed us on to the Budweiser True Music program, which helped us fund our next record, "Due to the Current State of Things", and put us in front of a ton of new fans. I'd like to take a moment and say thanks to our sponsors and encourage you all to grab a… O.K. I'll stop there but you get the picture. Budweiser and Co. have been nothing but amazing to us. Thank you.

About a year after the EP D.T.T.C.S.O.T. (I'm not writing that all over again. I'm sure you can figure out the acronym.) Nick Briscoe our bassist decided to part ways with the band. We wished him the best and still remain in contact to this day. We quickly started holding bass auditions and our friends Matt Waller stepped in and took the reigns. We did another long run of shows all over the mid-Atlantic and into the Midwest with him. Good times, good times.

At this point in this long ass letter I'm going to state my disclaimer and say that I have not listed certain events in the Welbilt history lesson. This is not because I don't want to put them in but merely because I would be writing a goddamn book if I did. I am trying my best to avoid that happening.

So moving along…

We lost Bill and Matt last January. They moved on to other things with their lives. Marriage, jobs, and children are not an easy thing to balance with touring and writing 24 hours a day. From that point on we played musical band members. Dave Prevy played a few gigs with us on drums, Pat Thornton took over the bass with 24 hours to learn 30 songs, and Michael Smirnoff took on the drumming after Prevy. Oh, and I can't forget our friend Kevin Bearce from Shane Hines' band The Trance. He tackled the drum throne for a couple of last minute shows and killed it. All the above listed are outstanding musicians and I hope I didn't leave anyone out who filled in on a whim.

So here we are at the end of 2007. Patrick went on to play with our friends Pat McGee Band so Cal Stamp from another great local band The Speaks joined us to play bass. Michael is still hittin' the drums behind Buddy and I. I can't say that I regret anything at all. Maybe the classic "if only" line faintly echoes somewhere off in the distance of my brain but 99.9% of me couldn't have asked for more.

With the last few shows around the corner I find myself reminiscing and wondering what those of you who we lost contact with are doing. We'd love to hear from you. As far as I know we will be keeping the MySpace page up and running so you can write in and say hi and we can write you back. You can still get our Cds online on iTunes and various other download sites. We'll be selling the last of the merchandise at our final show at T.T. Reynolds in Fairfax, VA on Wednesday night 11-21-07. Please come and hang out with us. We'd love to see you there. All the old songs are being pulled out as well as a few unreleased new tunes.

I can't begin to thank you all for the unending, undying, and truly genuine support you have shown us over the past few years. It has truly been an honor and a privilege playing for you. Sometimes I can't believe the times we've spent together whether it was at a show or just hanging out a local club getting trashed and bullshitting about whatever. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and everyone else in Welbilt. Thank you to Matt Flynn who has spent years helping us by booking shows, managing our taxes, van, and accounting among a thousand other things. He did a lot of this while planning a wedding and a baby. How you did it my man should be the 8th world wonder. Thank you to our families who supported us in a very hit or miss career choice. Thank you to everyone at the bars and clubs we played at where we didn't know anyone who stayed a minute longer to hear us play. Thank you to all of you who believed and still believe in us as a band and as individuals. You have become part of our hearts, memories, and souls. We love you. Thank you.

Love Always,

Nate Ihara

and

Buddy Speir

Hey everyone,

Our beloved soundman Brandon aka Tuna, is leaving us to move to Atlanta. He'll be working with our friends City Sleeps down there. We're throwing a HUGE goodbye party at TT Reynolds in Fairfax, Va. on Friday July 20, 2007. This will be his last show with us
:( so please come out and say a final goodbye and watch him barf from all the shots we buy him. He's been a great friend and amazing soundman to the band. I don't think we tell him enough (but then again, it might go to his head).

We wish him the best with his future as a City Sleeps "Boy" (ha). Check them out at www.myspace.com/citysleeps. Their new album comes out soon...it's gonna be badass.

Can't wait to see everyone at the show.

TT REYNOLDS
10414 MAIN ST.
FAIRFAX, VA. 22030

10PM
21+

TUNA DRINKS JACK DANIELS AND JOSE CUERVO ALL NIGHT.

PORTIONS OF THE DOOR CHARGE WILL GO TO THE "PAY FOR TUNA'S HOSPITAL VISIT FOR ALCOHOL POISONING" BENEFIT....j/k...We're hoping he just throws up a lot. (luv you bro.)

We're gonna be on MHZ Spotlight on May 25th at 8 PM. It'll have a live performance and and interview.

Go to http://www.mhznetworks.org for details and Go to http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=254248999 for video of the show... Posted soon!

-Welbilt

for hosting one of the best parties we've EVER played...

Things to remember:

Nate crowd surfing while singing Dilemma (and not breaking anything)...
Lots of bikinis...all on women, thankfully...
The guy in the leotard and speedo...WTF!!??!!
Playing until about one thirty, then recycling about half our set and playing another hour...
Cheap tequila...and my awful hangover...

Thanks again guys, we had a BLAST.  If anyone has any pictures that they'd like to send in, we'd love to post them and give you credits.  So please send 'em out!!!

----Welbilt