Tenessee

Well the last two nights in Tenessee were very interesting. Neither wound up as expected but both wound up being fun. We played Memphis on Thursday, and since it was an after-hours club the Silver Apples did not play. we got to meet him and hang out with him for a while, which was really cool even though he didnt play. after the show we hung out from the guys in boston chinks and the barbaras and stayed at their crazy house called the Pop Dungeon. in the morning we went to goner records and got kirk a new drum head. the drive to Nashville was the shortest drive of the tour so far and we got to the exit/in at around 5. we check into the festival and got a bunch of free swag. we played and the people were a little standoffish but the seemed to still be into it. the pink spiders and a bunch of nashville bands all played. we then went across the street and played pool for a few hours, and drank some more beers. matt (from pink spiders and mean buzz records) got us a hotel room and we got well rested. but we never got moonshine, damn.

(written Thurs. Sept 6, 2007)

Hey, It’s been a few days since I updated this thing we’ve had some pretty serious driving and some cool shows. I’m sitting in a room at Dan Collin’s parents house in Tulsa, OK with my head throbbing from too much free Pabst. The past few days have been really exciting and we got some great shows coming up. Let me give you a little recap.

The morning after the Vegas show we left Bobby and Louise’s place for Guitar Center to go get a spring for the kick pedal that got busted the night before. Guitar Center didn’t have the part, but some guy in line said he had it at his house. At this point we had no other option but to go with the guy, first to Home Depot, then to his house. To make a long story short, the guy wound up being one of the members of the Blue Man Group, and fixed our drum for free. Thanks Vince, you rule!

The drive out of Vegas to Albuquerque, NM took us about nine hours, and we lost an hour in time zones. We drove over the Hoover Dam, passed through the pines of Flagstaff and clear cross the whole state of Arizona. We arrived at Burt’s Tiki Lounge while the Dirty Novel’s were already playing. Luckily Dan’s cousin was at the club and told the people we caught on the road, and not flaking out. We played a fun show, to a rather intimate, Tuesday after Labor Day crowd. The Foxx and the Dirty Novels were both very good. After the show we went to a bar owned by the guys from the Dirty Novels and hung out until last call with plans to hit the road in the middle of the night. That obviously didn’t happen, instead we got some food at a 24-hour diner/Mexican food place and we found a hotel charging $21 a night. When Lenny talked to the man at the front desk he said rooms were $50 a night and to “never believe what you see in Albuquerque.” We really didn’t want to shell out some money to sleep in some dumpy motel so we found a dark spot in the road and crashed out for a few hours. I slept in the driver seat and when I woke up at 6AM, I drank a mate and started driving. It was a good thing, that I did since we didn’t arrive in Tulsa until 6PM. We got to Dan’s parents house and ate our first homemade food of the tour. Was also my first time eating crackers with jalapeño jelly and vegan cheese, which was amazing

Our show in Tulsa, at the Soundpony, was our most well attended of the tour so far and the people of Tulsa are really great. The whole club was really having fun during our set, and they all wanted to hang out and chat afterwards. The club also gave us unlimited free Pabst beer, and I’m paying for it right now. The other bands Wighead and Ghost were both very cool.

Were gonna head out on the road to Memphis pretty soon. Were playing with the legendary Silver Apples in Elvis’s hometown tonight. If you’ve never heard of the band you have to check them out, google it or something, and listen to their first two albums. If you like Krautrock, psychedelic music, Stereolab, or anything with an oscillator, you will definitely like the Silver Apples.

See you in Memphis!
-Danny C.

Vegas

Waking up in Vegas all rested, on my part at least. Played a fun first show at the Double Down despite drum problems throughout the set. were gonna hit a drum shop and get our stuff fixed before we hit the road. the crowd was pretty decent, all in all a good first show of the tour. the drive to vegas was very smooth despite the so called "labor day traffic" which would only have been a issue if we were coming back to LA. the drive took about 5 hours with some good tunes provied by our Farfisa-ist Dan (played Love "Forever Changes", Dave Allan "Cycle-Dellic Sounds", Can "Tango Mango", DIY Stary Eyes comp, Velvet Underground "Loaded" and im sure a few more choice cuts). in vegas of course you have to gamble and i turned my $20 into $100, which should come in handy along the road. we got put up by some good folk from the band the Pandas, louise and bobby (an ex member of the warlocks), and also wound up hanging with a cool dude, Jason, from of all places Chino, CA who seems to share many of the same friends. vegas was fun and we hope to be back here soon. no pictures this time. see you in albuquerque!
-danny c.

Leavin' Here

hey, its the night before tour and were here at lenny pops house wrapping up with friends we won't see for 2 weeks. we leave tomorrow morning at noon and will be spending the next 2 weeks on the road. we hope our friends from the bullet weekender (a mod dance party w/ lots of friends djin' and playin in bands) stick around for an extra day to catch our vegas show. we'll see, should be fun and hot! here are some pics from today. see you in 2 weeks los angeles
-danny clodfelter (bass)

Quick Bio

Hey it's Danny the bassist of the Red Hearts and also a staff writer for the Mountaineer Newspaper. For those of you who don't know the Red Hearts let me give you a quick introduction. The Red Hearts are a rock n roll band formed by Lenny Pops in 2004 originally featuring an all girl rhythm section. In August of 2006 Pops recruited myself on bass, Dan Collins in Farfisa organ, and Richie on drums. Richie has since left the band (he's now in the Clorox Girls) and has been replaced by a series of drummers. After the departure of our last drummer Justino two weeks before the tour, our good friend Kirk (of ThExamples) came to save the day and will be doing the tour with us. The band has one 7" vinyl record, released in November 2006 on Mean Buzz Records, with the all girl lineup. Prior to forming the Red Hearts, Pops was in the infamous psychedelic band the Brian Jonestown Massacre (if you've seen the movie Dig! you'll know about the band's reputation, though he's not in the movie), as well as the Snakes, and the Morlocks. We are leaving for the band's first major tour tomorrow, heading through the south and i will be giving you updates when ever i get internet access.

For some sample songs you can check out the Red Hearts at:
www.myspace.com/theredhearts

Sep 3 2007 - Las Vegas, NV @ Double Down Saloon
Sep 4 2007 - Albuquerque, NM @ Burt's Tiki Lounge
Sep 5 2007 - Tulsa, OK @ The Soundpony
Sep 6 2007 - Memphis, TN @ Printer's Alley w/ SILVER APPLES
Sep 7 2007 - Nashville, TN @ Exit/In w/ The Pink Spiders
Sep 8 2007 - Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn w/ Beat Beat Beat
Sep 9 2007 - New Orleans, LA @ Circle Bar
Sep 10 2007 - Houston, TX @ Rudyard's British Pub
Sep 11 2007 - Austin, TX @ Emo's w/ Dark Meat
Sep 12 2007 - El Paso, TX @ TBA
Sep 13 2007 - Phoenix, AZ @ TBA