It feels like a lifetime...

... and yet only minutes...

For many reasons, this blog has been neglected, in fact it was never fully formed in the first place!

Someone asked me at the Weave magazine launch party if we'd been together for about a year, as it must say around the web or in the grapevines. I said, well yes, our first show was in November of 2007, but it has been such a weird year. With both of our instrumentalists going through severe illnesses that took them out of commission for about 2 months a piece, Wytold finishing up his PhD comps during one of these illnesses, myself re-entering the 8-5 workforce, well, needless to say it's been a bit nutty. So while it's only been about 8 months of actual BL-together-now time (and at least a month of that was spent getting ready to go into and being in the studio), yes, I guess it has been a year.

Still, it was 2 months to this week since our last show. That seems outlandish to me, it has been worth the wait. I sometimes take for granted that I work with two of the most talented instrumentalists in the city. They outshine themselves every time we play, though, and it is an honor. Even in our practices, there is a magic that I am blessed to be a part of.

So, with all that said, maybe we will still acquire a drummer one of these days! It seems predictable that it will happen sooner than later, with our CD coming out shortly before this acquiescence.

Thanks for those who came out to Club Cafe and YIV. Let's celebrate our year anniversary this Tuesday, 11/11, Veterans Day, 9pm at the Bloomfied Bridge Tavern!

Peace,
emay

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who came out and saw BL play at Club Cafe last night.

Special thanks to Zack Simmen, who booked the lovely evening, to Kevin Ross, for taking his usual fantastic portraits (see above), Chad Hammitt, for filming and sound recording even when he'd rather be watching the show, all our loyal fans (most of whom are now friends as well), for supporting us since the get-go, and all our new fans, for your encouraging and kind words.

Super special thanks to the band - Jason and Wytold, you guys f*ing rock my world.

love,
emay

Song Thoughts

"Once a day I want an experience that's like running into Rachel."

Something about the most valuable thing a person can give to you is their time. How, with so little time, it's hard to give anybody anything of value. Perhaps about wasted time as well... Is this In A Minute? Perhaps...

I had a moment of clarity after the NAMU festival, when Bob Dylan's staff slammed the door in Chad's face, and Keith Caputo told Chad & I he knew us from somewhere. Just thoughts on what kind of musician - and person - I'd like to evolve into. Read more here, eventually.

e

August 29th ~ CD Demo Release

Find our latest demo on the streets this weekend!
Come celebrate by receiving 3 additional tracks on August 29th at Club Cafe. Also performing will be Zack Simmen and The Lost Sea.

Tickets are $5 in advance, $7 at the door. Email us if you want advance tickets or buy them online.

Saturday Light Brigade and Erik Mongrain

Thanks to the crew at Saturday Light Brigade for having us on this past Saturday's show. Jeff Baron and the Bergers were great folks to work with and perform for. The show was archived and can be found via www.SLBradio.org.

And what a night Friday was! We really enjoyed opening for and subsequently watching Erik Mongrain. What a talented musician and nice guy, we look forward to hosting him at Your Inner Vagbond on another trip through Pittsburgh. Hope you all enjoyed yourselves as much as we did!

Summer show announcements are coming soon. In the meantime, join EMay on several solo shows (perhaps with Jason's third of BL) over the next two weeks while our much beloved Wytold is on vacation:

- Andy Warhol Museum's Youth Invasion on Saturday, May 10th. EMay is bellydancing at this event from 5-6pm (the event runs until 9 I believe).
- Calliope's Songwriter Circle performance at Club Cafe, Thursday, May 15th. EMay is performing alongside the talented John Hayes, Cathy Stewart, and more!
- Pittsburgh International Children's Festival on Friday, May 16th. EMay is performing a short kids set during the festival, and is also working on the crew.

See yinz soon!
xo
emay

Upcoming Pittsburgh Shows & CD update

We're back from tour! What a trip it was indeed. From filming on Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah area (see video on youtube) to visiting the Intentional-Community-Slash-Nature-Preserve-Slash-Record-Company of Orange Twin in Georgia, to singing for the wait staff at a Waffle House and hanging out on the main strip in Nashville with Mandolin Mike (before leaving a demo on Ani Difranco's tour bus, couldn't help myself) - needless to say, even off-stage, it was an exciting trip. Thanks to those wonderful friends for letting us crash on their couch/floor/beds, feeding us and keeping our off-stage hours full of joy - Ali, Emma, Jason, Vic, and the Lebings, yinz 'r great! And thanks to those who helped book and came out to our performances at the Lab (see evergreen video, more to come!), TT Reynolds and Little Kings - your support and kind words are invaluable and unforgettable.

UPCOMING SHOWS in Pittsburgh and around PA:

(BL beetle design by Chad Hammitt)

We're playing *this Saturday* March 29th at Skibo Coffeehouse at Carnegie Mellon University also. Haven't been to my alma-matter more since I gratuated than I have in the past few months, as BL's been recording there and now have a showcase! It's great to see CMU taking musical initiative with a new music mag and the updated PA system at Skibo (also the home of my first open-stage hosting gig). -This is a free, all-ages show which starts at 9pm-

Thursday, April 3rd @ Club Cafe - We are headlining this prestigious Pittsburgh stage, with our talented songwriting friend Zack Simmen opening. I can only imagine that some collaborative magic will occur! The last few of our Tour Demos will be available at this show, so get them before they sell out! We'll have our t-shirts, hoodies and Satin Pants (you heard me!) available as well. The show will be recorded! Did I mention that my mom will be in town for this show? SUPER SWEET! -Limited number of $5 advance tickets, buy 'em now! 8pm, 21+ $7 at the door

Friday, April 11th @ Your Inner Vagabond, we will be having a fund raiser for an *excellent* cause (IMHO) - Agnes Wired for Sound, Ishtar and Between Liberties are all working on upcoming albums. As to not dig holes in our pants pockets and sofa cushions looking for spare change with which to produce our albums, we are asking YOU, our fans, friends and family, to support this effort. There will be FREE GIFTS from each of the bands, as well as event-only merchandise, free giveaways, a raffle, and more! This show will be recorded! -8pm, all ages, $10 suggested donation (we'll take 20! ;0)

Friday, May 2nd @ Your Inner Vagabond - Erik Mongrain is coming to Pittsburgh! And Between Liberties has been invited to open for him! This is an extreme honor for us, and a chance for you to see a great international star at a beautiful local stage. Tickets go on sale at noon this Saturday, and a link will be available from YIV's blog

Between Liberties will be playing two festivals in April: Saturday, April 12th at Jozarts in California, PA (2pm set, a Cancer Benefit Relay Show) and Saturday, April 19th, at Kalidescope Arts Festival in Slippery Rock, PA (our set time is 5pm at the Brewery stage) and

For all upcoming events at Your Inner Vagabond, visit the website, and if you'd like to be updated about those events, join the email list from the blog. About 2x/month you will recieve updates on all the great local and touring musicians that are performing on our stage, as well as trailers for the free movies, benefit events, tastings of all sort, and whatever else is fantastic enough to grace our stage and space. www.YourInnerVagabond.com

For those of you who pray (in your own way): Josh Clary, a friend of many and a cornerstone of the jam-rock scene in Pittsburgh has been in the hospital for over a week now. His family, bandmates and friends have been trying to keep optimistic about his recovery and are hoping he will be able to continue making music and doing other things he loves when he does recover. Please keep this talented and kind young man in your thoughts, prayers and hearts. We love you Josh!

Hope to see you soon.
Much love,
EMay
Between Liberties
*BetweenLIberties.com has been Updated* to include photo galleries, video, merchandise information, all upcoming shows, and more!

CD's, Hoodies, and Satin Pants

Last night, we got a chance to hear some rough mixes of our studio sessions. Let me tell you, it's amazing what a little EQ and a smidge of reverb will do for a song. Child's Eyes is making me misty at the moment.

My respect for the musical ability of both Jason and Wytold has jumped up a notch - not to say that I doubted either of them, it's just that you hear your music so different in a professional recording. The precision with which they play their instruments is breathtaking, and they embellish the melodies in the most distinct and engaging way (IMHO ;0) And, for being sick half the time, and picky of my singing in general, I'm pretty happy with it!

The students in Riccardo's class have done an excellent job so far - one of the "satellite crew" teams seems to have added some delay on the Empty House vocals - super eerie - very nice! And Riccardo himself shows an expertise to his ear like none I've encountered. His knowledge of protools, the studio and each of our instruments helped to bring the most out of our humble demo.

With that said, we're about to hit the road, and we have stuff for people! We'll likely print out a limited-edition "2008 spring break tour" version of these tracks (perhaps with artwork by Chad Hammitt), as well as LE'08SBT Satin Pants, Hoodies, and a few fun and funky shirts. We'll bundle 'em up and you can take 'em home from any of our shows (or wherever you encounter us on the road).

Photos to come soon!
Peace,
EMay