The Motion Sick: Tour Blog – 3/5 – Indianapolis – Mike

We got up and out before the sun came to visit. We trudged through a tiring 10 hour drive to get to the high school in Pendleton, IN, home of WEEM 91.7 FM. WEEM is a great radio station run by high school kids under the supervision of Jeff DuPont. (You can see a video of Jeff and student Nick in the video section for today.) We got things going in a classroom with a modest, but cool recording setup and recorded three tracks and did an interview led by Jeff and Nick. They were really nice and patient with us getting rolling and into the groove, they brought us coffee and water, and they asked really good, interesting questions that brought up issues that I think are of interest to an audience. It was a fun time and we appreciated how nice and hard-working those guys are. The recording sessions taped at WEEM are also brought into the pool for potential inclusion as posted sessions on My Old Kentucky Blog, which I’ve been reading for years, and on Sirius satellite radio. So, not only are these guys super nice and accommodating, but they’ve got the potential for triple usage out of the session, which is really nice for bands. They’ve had a bunch of bands that we really like in previously, so we feel a bit humbled by the excellent company we’re in. We recorded a brand new song (that we’re still working on) called “Winged Bicycle,” which has been going over really well at shows largely due to some really cool trumpet leads (by Matt), simple, but catchy guitar riffing (by Pat), and some great dynamic drumming including literal percussive reactions to the word “dynamite” (by Travis). I don’t actually have to do much of anything on the song. Anyway, we hope it gets posted and that you all like it. It’s still ripening some, so it’s nice for us to be able to get it out to the world so early in the process.

After WEEM, we headed on down to Birdy’s in Indianapolis. The room is a really awesome, tall-ceilinged box with a nice corner stage, excellent-quality sound, and posters covering the walls and much of the ceiling. We were billed in the local media as “Morning Sick” and “Morning Stick,” which adds to our collection of incorrect band names that has past included: “The Motion Stick” and “The Magic Sticks.”

At Birdy’s, we played with the hushed and lovely acoustic melodies of Kendall Ludwig (who was accompanied by a beatboxing bongo player), the catchy, raucous, and sassy ladies, The Peggy Sues, and ended the night with the improvised family-and-friend poetic musings of Jascha (and his guitar Emily). It was a really nice, albeit diverse bill of really nice people. I interviewed all three acts and got performance video of The Peggy Sues and Jascha, but unfortunately was unable to catch any of Kendall’s set on tape. As you can see in the videos, The Peggy Sues are a really, awesome, fun, girl-rock troupe with a focus on party songs and searing riffs. They were all good players and they put on a killer show. Jascha’s light melodies soared with some boosts upwind from his friends and his brother and sister. For some reason, I heard a lot of Crowded House in his voice and his style, but it seems like the wrong comparison…either way, you can check it out in the video section.

The Peggy Sues were very kind to let us crash in their corporate offices and we were given ample opportunity to cuddle with the charming Lulu Bear, arguably the world’s sweetest creature. Lulu didn’t want us to leave and we didn’t have room in the van for her, so we all sulked on our drive out of town…