Ah, the sweet smell of Spring below the Mason-Dixon line... When we left the good ole US of A in early April for the Old World, god's green earth was just beginning to stir, sporadic blossoms here and there among the many stark naked trees. Upon our return a mere month later? The Earth screaming green and vernal! Glorious! Well, George said all things must pass. Even winter, I suppose.

Our travels across France and Belgium and jolly ole England were triumphant and invigorating. We sang songs. We rode trains. We released a record. We met old friends. And made new ones, too. And we made a video. A real music video. The French call them clips. We call that cute. Our French clip is lovely, if we do say so ourselves. It's for a song called Fistful Of Swoon. We'll release it soon. We promise. But for now, you can click that fancy link below to see the moving picture we synced up with the tune. Devilry!

So much to share, where to go next? Ah, vinyl! Yes, we're proud as peacocks to announce the arrival of our very first 7-inch. A limited edition run whipped up extra-special like in conjunction with Providence's Supply & Demand Music, our very first 45 RPM record features two new tracks, Turpentine and Woolgathering, both of which will appear on our new and as-yet-unreleased-outside-of-France'n'Belgium'n'Switzerland record. Why wait for the full length when you can enjoy two new tracks today? For more information on the Turpentine b/w Woolgathering 7-inch, please skedaddle over to www.sad-music.net. To help celebrate the birth of our very first vinyl, we've lined up a healthy string of shows stretching as far north as Maine, as far west as Chicago, and as far south as Nashville, with lots of other stops in between. For more tour date info, please see the shows listed on this very MySpace profile...

So much more to share with you so very soon. All in due time. Yes, all in due time.

xo,
vndvr


Fistful Of Swoon

So we've found ourselves here, in this the twelfth and final month of 2008, looking forward to a grand yet uncertain 2009, with sharp corners to turn, with a stiff wind of change in the air, and with buckets full of hope that It. Will. Get. Better. Sooner... Later... Eventually... Everly.

But before we get there, wherever there may be, a bit of business...

So many wonderful goings on went on the previous eleven months that we would feel remiss not to reminisce, if only for a brief moment or two...

February... A new record began to take shape, shifting and stretching, hinting at new things to come.

March & April... A long overdue romp through great Midwestern America. There was Iowa. There was Minnesota. There was Illinois. Ohio, too. And somehow, my old Kentucky home. And, what the hell, West Virginia for good measure.

May... The official French release of "Grace & Speed", followed by an utterly exhilarating and triumphant tour through that great republic, replete with cheese and wine and baguettes and the many smiling faces of greater France.

June... In a word, Glastonbury. The mightiest of festivals in that most United of Kingdoms. Before and after, glorious touring for weeks on end from the southernmost to the northernmost -- all of it jolly, filled with fish & chips & ales, and that sweet, unshakably kind British sensibility.

July... Said new record, having shapeshifted into something recognizable, was given a name. Thenceforth it was to be known -- as it will be known to you next year -- as "Divide & Conquer". Having liked what we heard, we began the long journey that shall eventually end at your iPods, your CD players, your turntables, and your gramophones.. Do stay tuned.

October... What's that you say? Go West Young Man? Well, by golly we did! From San Diego to Seattle, and many points in between, we finally found ourselves touring the mighty Pacific coast, kicking ourselves for not doing so sooner... How we miss thee already!

November... Speaking of things missed, what would 2008 have been without a follow-up visit to the many great cities of France? I'll tell you what -- it would have been unbearably -- no! insupportably! -- heartbreaking. And so, we suited up, we hopped the pond, and we found ourselves stirring up the falling leaves of France, singing songs from Toulouse to Lille, from Rouen to Tours, from Bordeaux to Paris to Orleans and beyond! Oh, how we, too, miss thee already, fair France. How we'll see you soon.

And so, that brings us to today. The very first day of December. Just a few remaining shows, then a long holiday nap. Those of you in the DC and NYC areas, please do visit the SHOWS section on this very page. How we'd love to see your shining faces before the new year comes.

Finally, to ALL of YOU, we say THANKS! A thousand times over, for your time, your attention, your ears, your eyes, your hearts, your high fives, and your support.

May 2008 pass with great warmth and cheer for you and yours. And may our paths cross many times over in 2009!

xo,
VNDVR

dear friends,

flying in the face of sound, conventional economic wisdom, vandaveer has chosen this very moment in our history to tour the western portion of this great, flailing nation...

perhaps not unlike the titanic, 1929, or the hindenburg before it, vandaveer shall ignore all warnings of imminent doom and venture westward to share stories in song form, staring our collapsing economy squarely in the eye and regaling it with song.

we will be joined by our favorite east coast cousins these united states, turning this journey into a family affair of sorts, complete with lampoon-worthy hijinks and sure personal ruin...

please! do! join us! before california secedes and locks us all out for good!

specifically, we shall storm the following stages:

10/14/2008 Silverlake Lounge ~ Los Angeles, California
10/16/2008 Lobot Gallery ~ Oakland, California
10/18/2008 The Partisan ~ Merced, California
10/19/2008 The Crepe Place ~ Santa Cruz, California
10/21/2008 The Great Pacific ~ Pendleton, Oregon
10/22/2008 Whitworth University ~ Spokane, Washington
10/23/2008 Holocene ~ Portland, Oregon
10/24/2008 Yakima Sports Center ~ Yakima, Washington
10/25/2008 Sunset Tavern ~ Seattle, Washington

for more information, please line dance on over to:

www.vandaveer.net
www.myspace.com/vandaveer

be well!
foreverly,
xoxo,
VNDVR

And so here we are, our twelfth day in France--time for a brief report, yes?

Vandaveer loves France... We hope those feelings are mutual. We think they are. Maybe if we hope it and think it and hope it hard enough, we'll make it true. Vandaveer loves the idea of France loving Vandaveer... And so the hoping and thinking and hopeful thinking continues...

Where to begin? The moonlit steps of Sacre Coeur, a shin-numbing spider bite in Orleans; bottles of Champagne in Champagne; bottles of Bordeaux in Bordeaux; even more bottles of Bordeaux outside Bordeaux; towering cathedrals anchoring every town, casual and plentiful, but nothing less than stunning, each and every one; birthday singalongs in Lille; Belgian sunrises; stoic French police faces; smiling French civilian faces; open arms, spreading ever wider each day.

Miles and miles (and kilometers too) under our (sometimes bare) feet, bruised and cracked and bleeding, asking nothing, demanding more...

And then, the shows... fabulous shows... with fabulous hosts... and fabulous bands... like Scout Niblett... like Bon Iver... humbling and epic and honest, yet friendly to the core. Smitten, we are. Positively.

One week and a thousand more stories to go... We'll take good notes... Promise...

Hoping,
Thinking,
Loving,
xoxoxo,
V.N.D.V.R.

Knee-deep into Vandaveer record 2, I suppose now is as good a time as any to update this ole blog (I did it! I did it! Look, ma! I'm a blogger!)... As I type, my dear friend Justin Craig (he of Scourge & Apparitions infamy) is recording a positively creepy and spine-tingling piano track for a brand new song we're calling "The Sound & The Fury." I started tracking this record in December in DC, packed up a suitcase full of tracks in early February, and hitchhiked down to Lexington, Kentucky to continue the process with the George Martin to my Badfinger, Sir Duane Lundy...

My lovely sister Rose flew in a week later to sing her giant heart out, but that's where things went a little haywire... See, Ms. Rose and I both came down with righteous winter colds rendering our pipes almost entirely inoperable... Bummed as we both are about the coughing, sneezing, sniffling, shivering, and not-singing and whatnot, there is an upside to all this rigamaroo--the Hot Toddy.

Not sure how I managed to steer clear of such a wonderful, god-loving, life-giving beverage for so many years, but it has been my saving grace these past two weeks. And though Vandaveer record 2 might be a hair delayed due to our mid-winter illnesses, both Justin and Vandaveer/Scourge/Apparitions/These United States drumming wonderkidwizard Robby Catholic Cosenza are doing their damnedest to make this batch of tunes purtier, scarier, drummier, and pianoier than all Vandaveer songs that've come before... Can't wait for you to hear it, friends... Can hardly wait to hear it myself, actually...

In the meantime, I suppose I should also start spreading the good word about some early spring touring we've been whippin' up... Ole Vandaveer will embark on a not-too-terribly-long Midwesternly tour at the end of March finally passing through such fine towns like Chicago, Madison, and Minneapolis, among others... And if you've read this far and you'd like to know just how many days we're gonna spend in, say, Iowa, well have yerself a scroll-down to the Shows part o' this here page!!! Go for it! Like Rocky V!

In other exciting news, we've read all the fine print, finalized all the garish terms, and learned just enough French to proudly announce that "Grace & Speed" will officially be released in Napoleon's great republic (psst, France!) in May 2008. Rumor has it we'll even be touring those idyllic parts that very same month, fueled by the awesome power of cheese and intoxicating wonder of Bordeaux. Je peux à peine attendre!!! Seriously!

That is all for now... May your hearts beat steadily and your toes tap verily...

With love and kindnessssssssss,
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo,
V.N.D.V.R.

hear ye, hear ye, ye millions o' myspacers!

when vandaveer was a wee little chap he played bob cratchit in his middle school's production of "a christmas carol." we were 12, 13 years old tops, but the feller who played ebenezer coulda easily passed for 25 at the time. the guy sounded like he'd been drinkin' whisky for at least a dozen years... green with envy, was i. i was also what one might've called a pipsqueak at the time--one of the many reasons i was passed over for the role of mr. scrooge...

why am i telling you this? beats the dickens outta me (ba dum dum), but i think it has something to do with christmas, gift-giving, and the importance of not being (too) stingy. or something like that.

so, with that in mind my good sister rose and i have whipped up a little three-song xmas ep, cleverly titled "VNDVR XMSEP." you, good friend, can download your very own free digi-copy of said xmas ep here:

http://www.vandaveer.net/index.php?v=2

if you fancy yourself a record collector, we have a limited run of handmade, hand-stamped, machine-sewn copies that would look, well, totally awesome inside a loved one's stocking come christmas morning. not to be entirely out-scrooged, we're selling the CD version for five whole USD. if you'd like a physical copy (really, they're quite nice), just send us a message at dear.vandaveer@gmail.com and we'll take it from there.

sincerely hope 2007 has been all that you wished for and more. we've certainly enjoyed ours...

xoxoxoxoxo,
happy xmas,
vandaveer

Legion of Myspacers,

I'm feeling down, unfit, unsure, and just a little bit lonely right now. What I really need right now is a 3500th friend. Is that too much to ask? In this crazy world? I mean, I've seen people with 12,000 friends and more. Wow! How's that for popularity? I don't know about you, but I've always felt like I had a good grip on the coattails of coolness, but have never had the distinct pleasure of wearing the damn thing myself. I mean, I *know* cool people, but that's as far as it usually goes...

So what would really make me happy right now is a 3500th friend. We don't even have to chat, or post comments, or pretend to like each other's music (if you make music). We just need to sync up on the interweb and never find each other's profile ever again, 'cause Myspace sucks something fierce when it comes to searching for friends in your friend list, friend.

And though our friendship may be short-lived, I'm willing to raise the stakes, double down, push all my chips in, etc. and give that special 3500th someone a totally free advance copy of my upcoming debut CD, Grace & Speed (to be released in March, 2007). Now that's what I call friendship.

Biz,
Markie // Vandaveer