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OBLiO



Last Updated: 11/17/2009

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Status: Single
City: A Story of Nashville
Country: US
Signup Date: 7/29/2004

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Friday, July 03, 2009 

Current mood:  grateful
All of us at Oblio want to say how great last night's show at the Mercy Lounge was, and how grateful we are to all the great people and musicians who were a part of it. 

The show was entitled "Me and My Arrow: a tribute to the music of Harry Nillson". In case you don't know, we owe our band name to Harry, and we (along with a lot of people) think that he's the bee's knees (or cat's pajamas). Anyway, last night the idea was to have several of Nashville's finest come out and play a few Nillson songs to have fun, and help raise some money for our singer Terry's medical bills. Again, in case you don't know, Terry contracted Ramsey Hunt syndrome in February and it put him out of commission for quite a while. Ramsey Hunt syndrome is very similar to Bell's Palsy, except that it also has a few fun extra symptoms like SEVERE vertigo. Terry doesn't have health insurance (like SO many of us) and had to miss a lot of work, which put a strain on his and his fiance Kat's finances and well-being. 
After our good friend and man-about-town Mike Grimes (owner of world famous Grimey's Record Store and The Basement) and our good good friend Aaron Adams heard about Terry's predicament, they decided a benefit show was in order, and furthermore it should be a Nillson tribute. Next thing you know, some of our favorite people in Nashville are siging on to play great songs and have a good time at the Mercy Lounge the Thursday before the 4th of July. On the roster were:

*James Wallace and the Naked Light
*The Features
*Hey Penny
*David Mead
*Grimey and Friends - which included Brendan Benson of the Raconteurs, Carl Broemel of My Morning Jacket, Daniel Tashian of The Silver Seas, Marc Pisapia of Josh Rouse's band, John Rogers of Hot Pipes, David Mead, and several others whose names I didn't catch but were incredible
*Eureka Gold
*Pico vs. Island Trees
*Your's Truly (Oblio)

Everyone did an incredible job - some of my favorite moments were Heypenny breaking into the riff from "Frankenstein" during "Lime in the Coconut" (I think that's what they were playing?!? I was kinda drunk and they were having their way with the song arrangements - but it was awesome), Carl Broemel absolutely KILLING IT, bringing the house down on "I Can't Live (If Living Is Without You)", and Bryan and Jeremy from Pico vs. Island Trees doing "It's Early In The Morning" in bathrobes and slippers (also KILLING it). 
We had a good time with our songs too, and thanks to all who stuck around to the end to hear us. We were joined by our good good friend Bern Kelly (batting the cycle on keys, acoustic guitar, AND bass!), and our new friend Crystal Thomas who has the voice of an angel - she's on our record. 

The last - and possibly most important - thing that should be said about last night was how refreshing it was to have all these bands and artists under the same roof playing music purely for the love of doing it. For those of you who don't know because you don't live here, in Nashville music is big business, and we can all get caught up in doing things for weird reasons and letting stupid things get in the way of what's most important about music. But last night really felt like that was taken away because of the tribute/benefit nature of the show, and having so many talented musicians who are aware of each other playing good music for fun and without ego was a really special thing. 

Thank you all for everything, a million times. We are humbled.
 
-Travis 
(on behalf of Oblio and the Bangsmash family).

Friday, May 29, 2009 
Hello Everyone.

We just got back from Cincinnati and we are tired.  I can't begin to tell you much fun and how rewarding it was to play with Camera Obscura over the last few nights.  We have met a lot of bands, but they are one of the nicest we have met.  Very sweet people.  Not only are they one of our favorite bands ever, they were also very nice and welcoming.  We should have a few photos up soon.   

anyway,  thanks to everyone who came to the shows and who came to meet us afterwards.  We really enjoyed meeting everyone.  

also, our new record is done being mixed and should be mastered in the next week or two.  So, once we figure out artwork and such, we should have it out soon.


hugs and kisses
terry

Currently listening:
Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi
By Camera Obscura
Release date: 2004-10-12
Monday, February 02, 2009 

Current mood:  sassy
Hey gang-
Big news in our world! First off, we are about to start recording the second half of our upcoming full-length album that we plan to release later this year and we're really excited about this. Our producer, Neilson Hubbard, has been super-enthusiastic and great to work with, and we think that the results will be our best efforts to date. We're also due to get back some of the first batch of songs we've recorded and we'll put those up for your listening pleasures ASAP.
Second, we just had a pretty fantastic weekend of shows down in Georgia with some great bands (and great friends!). Friday night saw the triumphant return of Macon, GA's prodigal son Benjarvis Dumas to the Hummingbird, where we shared a bill with the ever-evolving and face-melting Iron Hero (also some of Macon's prodigal sons, via Athens, GA). We had a great time, honed our dart and pool skills, and enjoyed some of the finer tater tots to be sampled in all the land. Many thanks to Iron Hero and everyone who made it out to that show! And the jury is still out about those beards, Jordan....
The following night (Saturday) we had another incredible show at the completely sold-out 40 Watt club in Athens, GA. We shared the bill with Atlanta's Constellations and Athen's very own darlings Modern Skirts, who both put on terrific shows. We had a terrific show as well, and the crowd was awesome! Classic City Cavalcades, anyone? One of the big highlights from that night was "inviting ourselves onstage" for the Skirts' encore (read: we crashed their encore!). They were great sports though - we were 100% half drunk but meant well, and we didn't get in the way or anything... however, as we were making our way onstage, a gentleman in glasses asked if we had another Tamborine he could use, which we found.... and then realized that the gentleman was none other than Mike Mills, bass player extraordinaire for Athen's own R.E.M., who produced a song for Modern Skirts - which was the song chosen for encore. So, in other words, a half-drunk Oblio got to share the stage with Modern Skirts and Mike Mills @ the 40 Watt, in Athens. We felt good about it :) Also, it should be known in the not-so-celebrity gossip world that we think a budding bromance might be evolving between the Skirts' singer Jay Gulley and our own Travis Vance... sources reported much hugging and drinking at the after-show bro-down until 6 am.... The Melvins rule.
Thanks for reading gang, and make sure to come check out our next show on Friday February 13th @ the Basement, with Hotpipes and Shoot the Mountain. That will be a KILLER show, and a good way to spend the night before Valentine's Day!
Love, Oblio
Currently reading:
Life of Pi
By Yann Martel