Without a doubt, we cannot thank our fans enough for the amazing moments that we shared both on stage and off.   Through hurricanes and fires, gigs small and large, we appreciate and love you all.  We will never forget what you gave us.

Thank You.

The Barisal Guns (Ken, Ben, Liam, Marc, and Ashley)

For those who haven’t already discovered, the Guns have a new Tuesday night home at Banks St. Bar in New Orleans.  Starting this month (including tonight….), we’ll be rocking there every Tuesday night.  We’ve started to dig in a bit now and its becoming the place to hear new tunes fresh out the pressure cooker.

Oh, and did we mention that it was free?

So come on out.  Have a drink.  Break up the week with an little rock and roll.

We’d love to see ya….

-BG

For those on the fence about tonight’s show at the Varsity (w/ the Revivalists & the State St Survivors) we suggest you listen to Tiger Weekly and 225 get your ass out to the show.

And for a little BGuns lagniappe to sweeten the pot, we’re releasing a couple of live favorites from the last time were there, bootlegged by our friends from Kosmic Nod (thanks guys!):

(Click to stream or right click to save and download)

Just Singin (Live at The Varsity)

Postal (Live at the Varsity)

Just a taste, we have more tracks where these came from.  Come pack the Varsity tonight, and we might just have to release the rest…

RocknRoll.

What a week we had.  Overall I’d say our SXSW debut went really well.   By the time we played on Saturday night at Headhunter’s on Red River, we had a packed club that was more than ready for some vintage rock and roll.  The response was great and met a bunch of new friends.

Of course, all of our usual shenanigans was aided by our good friends in the Wild Bills from Amarillo, TX.   Seriously, I know you’ve heard us talk about these guys.   They are the real deal. Rock and roll as it should be.  Check them out if you haven’t already.   All of them can flat out play, and lucky for all of us, they have a new record coming out soon.   I can’t wait.

Moving forward,  we’ll be making an appearance at the 3rd annual Storyville Fashion Show, playing a couple of acoustic numbers over the course of the night.   If you are in the Baton Rouge area, make sure you get your tickets before it sells out.   The Harveys really know how to throw a party.

And April 1st…..there is no excuse.  We’ve put together a killer lineup for our show at the Varsity Theater.   BG, The the ever impressive Revivalists (from New Orleans), and one up and coming kick ass group of  guys the State Street Survivors.   Screw what anyone else says.   Spring Break starts Thursday night at the Varsity.   It will be THE rock show of the semester for all you LSU area folks.

Gear up for the next week and come rock out with us…. you won’t regret it.   I’ll leave you with a couple of shots from our Texas swing courtesy of Allie Stevens (Thanks Allie!):

• 3/11 @ Tipitina’s Uptown -  Tomorrow night we’ll be hitting the stage at 9:30pm for Homegrown Night.  Come out an support us.  The more folks we bring out, the more opportunities we’ll get there in the future.  Let’s make it happen.
  

• 3/19 @ Headhunter’s in Austin, TX – Barisal Guns will be making it’s SXSW debut here on Friday night at 7:00pm.  We are super amped up for this one.  SXSW is rocknroll Mardi Gras.  We get to play and party with over 3000 bands and thousands of fans.   If you are gonna be out there, come see us, hit us up on twitter (@barisalguns),  it’s gonna be a wild ride.

• 4/1 @ The Varsity Theater -  This is our first headlining spot at the Varsity.  Come out and help make it a memorable show.  We’ve been playing around BR for a few years now, so this one is gonna be special.

And that’s not all!  Check out the shows page for all of our dates.   And, as always, follow us on facebook and twitter, for the latest news on shows, music, and all things Barisal Guns!

www.facebook.com/barisalguns

www.twitter.com/barisalguns  (@barisalguns)

Much Love and Rocknroll,

Ken/BG

Needless to say, after days of uncertainty, it became apparent that most everything we had was a total loss.  We were, however, able to dig a few charred instruments out of the rubble with the help of Mr. Bill, Ben and Liam’s dad.  Never did I think that I would be so happy to see waterlogged, burnt, and barely recognizable guitars.   There is a good chance that one or two might see the stage again in some form (after extensive restoration of course).

As bad as the fire was, something truly amazing started to happen in its wake.  Because so many artists and bands had been affected by this tragedy, it gave the arts community in Baton Rouge something to rally around.  A wide variety of artists, non-profit organizations, businesses, and members of the community all wanted to know how they could help those musicians affected.  Now in the weeks since the fire, this effort has become organized into From the Flames, a diverse yet united group of community interests that are working together to achieve more than any could do individually.   FTF is organizing a number of projects to benefit these artists, including

• a donation fund set up through the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge
• a benefit CD featuring the music of affected artists
• a website
• a festival-style benefit event

Barisal Guns urges everyone to follow From the Flames for the lastest news on the benefit effort.

http://www.fromtheflames.net

http://twitter.com/fromtheflames

http://facebook.com/preserveourmusic

We here in Gunsland want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and hope y’all have a great holiday season. 2010 is sure to packed with some great Guns stuff. Things we have in the works for the new year: a new EP, a live album, video releases, tour dates.

As a little Christmas bonus for y’all, we have a preview video of one of our new songs from a project we are working on with our friends, Shylight Productions. This is “Seedy People” live from our show at the Varsity Theatre in Baton Rouge earlier this month.

Enjoy!

We’ve been pretty busy as of late.   Hitting the road, recording, new songs, new instruments…lots of good stuff happening in the land of the Guns.

First things first, thanks to all who’ve come out to our recent shows at home and on the road.   We just got back from Austin this week, and had the chance to meet some new friends.   We had a great time hanging out, and look forward to coming back your way real soon.

Those that came out to our show earlier this month at the Varsity in BR were treated to a special performance of “Postal” with our friend David Polk sitting in on sax.   It was a blast playing with him, and we hope to do it again.   Be on the lookout for another Polk sighting or two at future shows.

In other news, we are very excited to be working on another video project with our friends, Shylight Productions.   They have been hanging out with us recently, filming record sessions, interviews, and live shows.  We are going to be putting together some great pieces featuring our new material as well as old favorites.

One last reminder, we  invite all our Baton Rouge folks out to Chelsea’s this Saturday (Dec. 12th).  We’ll be opening for our partners in crime The Last Chalaron celebrating the release of their new CD.    This is going to be our last show of 2009 and we promise to make it a memorable one.   Get there early, stay late (and pick up a CD or two!).

Till next time,

Ken/BG

….a little snapshot from the road:

 These new recordings will  include live favorites such as ”Roll On” and “Just Singin’” as well as freshly baked goodies “Nobody’s Fool” and “Seedy People.”   We’re even prepping a track that’s not out the oven yet…(I think even Ashley has only heard it once.)  

We’ll be documenting the process for everyone, and are excited about sharing it.  Stay tuned right here to www.barisalguns.com for the latest happenings of the weekend and beyond.