The Grapes

Happy New Year

thegrapes — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 22:59:47 +0000

To celebrate the new year here is an unreleased, unpublished, unadulterated, unabashed free track for you to download. From our show on July 2, 1999.

Happy New Year from all of us. Peace and love in the months to come.

CLICK HERE

(right click the link to do yo’ thing)

11.28.2008 on Archive.org

thegrapes — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 03:25:08 +0000

Hey Folks,

Our show from Thanksgiving weekend is up and available for your listening pleasure.

Thanks to Sloane Simpson for all his time and effort.

Our set list that night was:

Set 1
1. I Can See Clearly Now (Johnny Nash)
2. Come Along (Charlie Lonsdorf) >
3. Fly (C. Lonsdorf)
4. Been Gone Too Long (Steven Fink)
5. Sweet Angeline (Romin Dawson)
6. You’re A Big Girl Now (Bob Dylan)
7. Living in the Future (John Prine)
8. If I Were a Carpenter (Tim Harden)
9. What the Hell (S. Fink)
10. New Song (C. Lonsdorf)

Set 2
1. Freewheel (C. Lonsdorf)
2. Walking Under Ladders (R. Dawson)
3. Fate (R. Dawson)
4. On the Farm (C. Lonsdorf) >
5. Mississippi Moon (Peter Rowan) >
6. Strangest of Things (R. Dawson) >
7. Farm Reprise
8. Let it Go (C. Lonsdorf)
9. Pocohontas (Neil Young)
10. Six Days on the Road (Carl Montgomery/Earl Green)

Encore:
1. Year In Hell (S. Fink)
2. Big .45 (R. Dawson) >
3. Dream The Night Away (R. Dawson)

Fall 1992

thegrapes — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:00:14 +0000

Almost two years since I joined the band, the Fall of 1992 seemed to be when we hit our stride. Although tumultuous times were ahead I look back at this season as a special one. The six piece was tight and we were rugged on the road.

This past year we unearthed some old videos we had recorded. I came across some footage from the Georgia Theater of a show I thought stood out amongst the rest and put together this short movie. I’m no editor but this was a labor of love.

Not all of the footage is from that show. But it’s all from the Fall of 1992.

Watch The Grapes – Fall 1992

You can listen to that entire show here

Much love,
Schroeder

One Week To Go

thegrapes — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:55:38 +0000

Less than a week to go in until the show.

Finishing touches are being placed.

To whet your appetite here’s a free download from the secret secordings of Doug Hoffman taken from our rehearsals in September.

Download

See you Friday. Can’t fucking wait.

Clearly Now

thegrapes — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:08:55 +0000

As the time drew near for the band to have our full squad rehearsals a few weeks ago, I found myself feeling giddy, like a kid anticipating some big family trip to the amusement park, complete with out of town family members attending. I had not seen Charlie or Steven for some time, and looked forward to just seeing them. We booked Studio A at Crossover Entertainment Group, and made all the final arrangements. We had two days in this incredible room to ply our trademark sound. A few old friends were invited to join us.
Arriving at Crossover Saturday morning, I soon realized that the others must have had the same feeling I did. Rick and I had set up our rigs the night before, and we rolled in the remainder of the gear and were set up by noon. Chris had everything miked up, monitors running, and soon we were making some sound.

Upon sitting behind my rig, a very familiar feeling hit me, although much more clearly now. I had taken the time to get it set up much the same way that I had it back in the day. It felt like an old pair of jeans. I checked every drum and every cymbals position. I played a few patterns with Rick and Charlie. Slowly, the other guys got to their instruments, and we were there. Romin said, “Come Along ….” , and we did.

As we meandered into the song, it too, felt comfortable. Although Romin, Rick, Steve B., and I had been rehearsing the past couple of months (with the BIG help of Robert Nichols), this was different. There was that big, freight train sound. Slightly rusty on the surface, the structure underneath was solid. Just a little cosmetic work to be done, and this old machine would be shining. Song after song, the old drum fills came back to me. Some of them I executed exactly, others I heard in my head but changed them to something new. The freight train just kept throttling up, and I was one of the locomotives. We broke for supper, and came back for a long evening session. I was proud of everyone working so hard, but having so much fun. Smiles were everywhere. As Sunday rolled around, we assembled again to first shoot some video, then run through as much as possible before having to wrap up in the evening. The afternoon session began, and I found myself in an intense workout. As the band wound its way through some of our old standards, I found my way much easier. The jams went to places that I only dreamed of having them go in years past. “The locomotive keeps coming around”.

The path seemed wider, more smooth, and I see it much more clearly now.

- Preston Holcomb

Videos from our Rehearsal Weekend

thegrapes — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:55:12 +0000

Thanks to Keith Matthews of LiveJams and crew for these videos.

Water to Wine

New Song

Mississippi Moon

Stepping Back in Time

thegrapes — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:36:52 +0000

We’ve done this before. But this time it felt different. It felt different since January when we chose to do this. There’s many reasons, I suppose.

We did this in 2005. There wasn’t much fanfare. More like a party. The Wayside Riders were there. Brooks and I did a few tunes that we worked up to start the evening. We quietly got together at Jake’s Toadhouse. We had played a million places like Jake’s. But only on the road. Jake’s was a celebration that we were all still playing in some form or another. Some of us in active bands. Some for a living. Some writing to write. Some trying to find their break. But it feels different this time around.

Before Jake’s we hadn’t been on stage together in six years. December 18th, 1999 at The Variety Playhouse. We played with our old friends who were now called Deep Blue Sun. We were at a familiar place and we had a familiar mood. I’ll leave that open for interpretation. We played six months before that and another six months before that was our first reunion. Three shows in 18 months. Then not again for six years. Now we’re back three years later. Cobwebs have formed on some of us since 2005.

This time though it’s different.

Everyone in the room last weekend knew it.

We’re refreshed. Healthy. Joyous. We stepped back in time last weekend to a time we only reminisce about now.

- Steven Fink

Pictures by Sandi Hill