Hello, hello!  I hope this email finds you a little less rain-soaked than I am at the moment.  I have been a bit MIA from so I wanted to let you all in on the recent going’s on in my musical endeavors.  And just a little heads up for you too, Chucks + precipitation = soggy toes.  Makes it harder to dance in the rain.   First off, for my friends down in Indiana, I will be playing back at The Verve in Terre Haute this coming Friday night, opening for Jeff Randle and The Sunday Best.  I love getting back there, and it’s always great to see Jeff and the boys play.  I open the show/night at 9:30pm.  

Next, in May, I have a fantastic show in Chicago lined up.  In the words of Taylor from  Tough Love, O. M. G. am I excited.  Watch it, trust me, you’ll love it.  

On Sunday, May 10th (7pm), I will be playing an All-Ages $5 show at Schubas (www.schubas.com)  with my good friend, Mike Chorvat (from Treaty Of Paris).  We did this last August at The Double Door, and we had so much fun that we had to do it again.  He plays a set, then I do a set, and then we end the show playing a handful of surprise songs together.  May 10th is Mothers Day, so take Mom out for a nice lunch/dinner, and then head on over to Schubas to finish the night.  Kevin Prchal opens at 7pm, then Mike Chorvat, then myself, then us together.   Can you hear the giddiness in my voice?!  Sorry.  Probably the XL DD coffee talkin’.  I also have a couple of new songs that I will be very excited to play for you that night.

Finally, I just found out that I will be performing at Summerfest in Milwaukee, WI again this year.  I had a blast last year, and thanks to the Refugee Stage team for having me back.  I play at 4pm on Monday, June 29th.  I don’t have the exact location of the stage yet, but I will definitely send out an announcement once I do.  They have already started announcing the dates and line-ups for this year.

Oh, and I’ve decided to make the leap, and I’m now on Facebook and Twitter.  Please drop me a line to chat.  I will have some summertime merch with me, along with my regular things, at all the shows. As always, show info is always posted on my Myspace page, and if you have any questions about any of the upcoming shows,  please don’t hesitate to message me here.

-RP

So Friday night, I'm standing outside of Double Door, getting ready to hand out flyers, and this guy walks up next to me and is kinda fumbling with a wristband, obviously coming from a show.  He glances over at me and asks if I have a knife, suggesting he is looking for a way to rid himself  of those annoying strongest-paper-in-the-world-made rings that shows use.  I look at him and apologize because I had left my fishing knife in my tackle box  at home this evening.  He states that it's no problem, and I respond back, questioning if his name is Mat.  He inquisitively looks back at me and confirms, and I say, Mat Kearney, I love your music man.  He smiles and says thank you.  He asks what I am doing, and I let him know I am promoting my upcoming residency at the venue he is about ready to walk into.  He reaches out to grab a flier, and I excitedly hand one over.  I make small talk, asking if he'll be back in Chicago soon, and he let's me know he's recording now.  More music small talk, very polite and nice guy, and he wishes me luck with the shows, we shake hands and he heads into the club, my flier tucked into his pocket.   The guy has sold a ton of records, but still was that polite kid from Oregon.  Very very cool.  I was geeking out about it.  Since I was flying solo that night, with no one to turn to, I looked left and then right, and I literally said to myself, that was awesome...

I am happy to announce that I will be playing three special shows for an August residency in The Double Door's Dirtroom.



This "With Friends Like These..." Series occurs on the last three Mondays in August (8/11, 8/18, and 8/25) at 9pm, the first one being a week from next Monday.


The Dirtroom is the intimate downstairs lounge located inside The Double Door. The entrance for these Monday nights will be on the Milwaukee side of The Double Door, right under the Marquee.

Sounds like a speak-easy doesn't it?

This is a unique event as I will be playing different setlists, and various friends will be joining the show's lineup each night. Each act will be performing acoustically, and I definitely have some surprises in store for you.


Monday nights will be perfect for this intimate and rare series, so be sure to make it out. Doors open at 9 and show starts at 9 as well. Tickets are $5.


See you there, be sure to check out my myspace page or website for updates, and let me know if you have any questions.



Here are the details and lineups:

The Double Door's Dirtroom presents
the "With Friends Like These..." Series featuring:

Ryan Powers
August 11, 18, 25 - 9pm start

The Double Door
Dirtroom (downstairs lounge)
1572 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Chicago, IL 60622
www. doubledoor. com
Entrance for these shows is on the Milwaukee side of The Double Door, just under the Marquee

Line Ups For Each Night:

8/11 - Ryan Powers
Matt Hoffer (of Holding Mercury)
Larry Schroeder (of Regal Standard)

8/18 - Ryan Powers
Frank (of Life Number Nine)
Amanda Sena

8/25 - Ryan Powers
Mike Chorvat (of Treaty Of Paris)
Tim Maeder & Jeff Feeder (of Perfect Red)
DJ Poseur

Tickets are $5 and are on sale now through Ticketmaster, The Double Door Box Office and at the door day of show.


Talk to you soon, and let me know if you have any questions.


-RP

Yes, oh yes, it's finally here.  Summerfest, "The World's Largest Music Festival" is upon us.   Summerfest is an annual 11-day music festival that takes place on 75 acres along the shores of Lake Michigan in downtown Milwaukee, WI.  Summerfest has everyone from John Mellencamp to 311 to Gavin DeGraw playing, plus many many more...

I was lucky enough to be selected to play The Refugee Stage on Sunday, June 29th (6pm), Tuesday July 1st (noon), and Thursday July 3rd (6pm).  The Refugee stage is a small independant stage featuring unsigned artists.  The Refugee Stage is located inside the Summerfest grounds at the southern end of the Lakewalk.  If you visit the Refugee Stage myspace page (www.myspace.com/therefugeestage), there you can find a map in their pictures section that shows the exact location of the stage.

So if you are planning on being at Summerfest for one of those days, please stop by and say hello.  Summerfest is a great time as you can always spend the day their walking from stage to stage listening/discovering music.  There are a plethora of other acts playing on the Refugee Stage, so if you do find yourself there at any point during the festival, definitely check out who is playing.  The organizers of that stage have a great thing going and we as artists are lucky to be involved with what they are doing.

Also, I'm picking up the new T-shirts later this week!!!  I know, you're peeing your pants aren't you... ;)  Seriously though, I will have new Tshirts for sale at the merch booth there by the Refugee Stage, along with my CDs and all the good stuff.  These items will be up for sale for the duration of the festival, so please check them out.  I've got some new tanks for the girls, all sporting the logo:

Fun Stuff.  Also, I'll be doing something unique and very fun with some of my friends this August at one of my favorite venues in Chicago.  More on that later.  But, yes, Summerfest.  See you there.  And let me know if you have any questions.  Here's a quick review:

Ryan Powers
@
Summerfest (www.summerfest.com)
200 N. Harbor Dr.
Milwaukee, WI  53202
-
The Refugee Stage (South End of The Lakewalk)
Date/Time:

Sunday, June 29th - 6pm
Tuesday, July 1st - Noon
Thursday, July 3rd - 6pm
www.myspace.com/therefugeestage - add them!!

www.summerfest.com

 

Don't forget your shades and flip flops... See you there.

-Powers

 

 

My thanks to eZine Review Chicago as they have chosen me as their featured Artist Of The Week.  Review Chicago is a brand new Chicago based information site featuring news, entertainment reviews, and all things Chicago.  Take a minute to check out their nice write-up on me, and the other Chicago articles as well.   Very cool.

Review Chicago Artist Of The Week

-Powers

 

Dude... DUUUUDE... Last night was a blast.  A sweaty blast albeit, but a solid blast nonetheless.  Thank you so much for all of you coming out and singing with me.  You have pretty voices.  Thanks to Schuba's and Down The Line for having me as well.  I told you we would dance our asses off while they played.  I will have some pics posted soon from last night's show as well.

Also, the promo video is coming along nicely, thanks to Mr. Shen, and I'm recording more as we speak.  This has been a fun time for me, and thank you all for being a part of it.

"Be my baby tonight, tonight..
Take me out of this crazy life
Be my baby and make it all worth while"

 

Oh yeah, and also, Saturday, November 3rd, 8:30, "Rock The Room 07" CD Compilation Release at Elbo Room, sponsored by 312unes and Breakthrough Audio.  I go on first and be sure to pick up a copy of the compilation they are giving away.  They have put my unreleased track "All That I Have" on there, along with the other artists that are playing that weekend.  Thank you to Elbo Room for having me be a part of it.  Here's their myspace www.myspace.com/elborocktheroom

 

 

-Powers

 

 

*disclaimer -  no sweaters were intentionally harmed in the making of this blog*

Things have been rolling, and it's been a fun ass start to the fall.  I've been playing quite a few shows, finally have some merch, playing with some great new bands, and working on recording, all at once.  It's great because I decided to take August off of playing and focus on some of the other things musically that I needed, and now it's definitely paying off.  It drove me crazy in August because if I'm not performing or pushing, I feel idle and complacent and for me, that's the worst feeling in the world.  But, I needed time to get merch together, promote hard the September shows, and try and get some of the back end stuff done.  Things have been good.  I'm working on recording another new song too.  I'll add more to this later, but thanks to everyone for coming out to my shows around the midwest.  I'll be back out to those cities again soon.

Peace,
-Powers

 

Hey, thanks to everyone who came out to the Double Door on such short notice.  That was a fun night.  It was my first time seeing/playing with White Light Riot, and they were fantastic.  Good good tunes.  They are from Minneapolis, but I think they are coming back to Chicago soon, so definitely check them out if you get the chance.  The Features were great as well.

Also, my good friend Chris Shen (ABV bassist and video production editor) was nice enough to shoot video of the show.  Chris gave me a teaser clip of the video he is putting together for me and I have put it up on my main page of this profile.  The video looks great and I will be excited to see the final cut.

I'm looking forward to this weekend's Play Stl: Fest.  I'm heading down there on Friday to check out a few shows like Go Van Gogh's and The Feed.  Then I have two shows as part of the festival on Saturday.  I play in the late morning in the Market Loop, and then later that night at Cicero's on the singer/songwriter showcase stage.  If you are going to be in the area, shoot me a message and I'll let you know how to get a wrist band for all the shows. 

-Powers

I am excited to share with you all the new recording of my song "All That I Have".   My buddy Mike from Treaty Of Paris had some down time and was nice enough to help me lay this song down.  I just added it to my player today and have been ecstatic about it since we finished it late last week.  I had always heard kind of a retro-street-corner-ish vibe to the song and I think that was captured.  Really fun stuff.  Big thanks to Mike and his Stained Glass Studios for helping me out.  Oh, and if you pay close attention you'll even hear him showing off his piano skills and singing some back ups with me as well.

As always, thank you for listening and for your support.  It means so much.  I felt like this song was a bit of a step in a different direction for me, so I am very excited and I hope you enjoy.

-Ryan Powers