We are beyond fired up to be heading to Kansas City today for the 26th annual Folk Alliance International. There are so many great friends to catch up with, so many new friends to make, and so much music to be made over the next five days. Amazing artists will be flowing into Kansas City from around the country and around the world and we are honored to count ourselves among them. 

Monocle Band will be performing as a trio in KC (Monica, Bill, & Ben) and, as you can see here, we've got a weekend chock full of private showcases in front of us. These rooms are will absolutely be going off with amazing sounds all weekend. Come hang and pick if you're in Kansas City!

If you haven't heard of Folk Alliance, it's really a great organization. These folks are doing the good work of keeping roots music vibrant in the 21st century. Check 'em out here!

Every picture tells a story.  We are filled with gratitude for the opportunities we had, the people we met, the friends we made and the time spent doing what we love!  Here's to 2013!

Hot damn, folks! After 18 months of planning, well over 200 shows, more than a year of on and off studio work, and a historic flood that tragically destroyed the studio where we lovingly crafted our songs...our debut CD is here! We couldn't be more thrilled with how it turned out and are beyond excited to share it with you. And we think we might need a nap :)

The CD is already getting some great reviews, some of which we posted below. 

What's that you say? You don't have a copy yet? Go ahead and grab yourself one on iTunes! 

On Saturday night we were honored and humbled to be included in the "Wake of the Flood" benefit at the Fox Theatre in Boulder. In a spirit befitting and benefitting our close-knit community, musicians from all over Boulder County came together to play music, hug each other, and raise money for victims of the recent catastrophic Colorado floods. Monica, Eric, and Bill from Monocle Band were there on Saturday to hang and jam with members of Hot Soup, Danny Shafer and the 21st Century, Dead Phish Orchestra, The Motet, Mountain Standard Time, and Jet Edison. We were proud to do our part to help raise a bunch of money for flood victims. We were overwhelmed by the sense of community and we were overjoyed to just rock out with our musical friends. 

It wasn't all sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll / bluegrass on Saturday, however :)  Hanging and playing at the Fox, we were very aware of the community we were there to represent, the community we are a part of. Monica and Eric moved to Lyons this summer and, like all Lyons residents, are now Boulder County refugees, crashing on couches and in basements around town. The Jamestown Mercantile, where we've enjoyed some of our best evenings of music, now sits in a devastated and inaccessible canyon. Our beloved friend and musical ally Danny Shafer lost his family's home to the flood. Planet Bluegrass, where we competed in the RockyGrass band competition this summer, has been overrun by flood waters. 

And, as the vicissitudes of nature would have it, one of our dearest friends and closest musical collaborators was one of the people hit hardest by the flood. At the end of June, just before Telluride Bluegrass, we finished our debut Monocle Band album after working lovingly for nearly a year with David Tiller at his Distillery Studio in Lyons. Located about 20 meters from the St. Vrain River, David's studio is now in shambles, he and his wife Enion's home also destroyed by the flood. After living in this home for three years, David had built a beautiful studio last summer, and finished it while we recorded our album, only to have it destroyed not three months after. You can see some heart wrenching photos of the Tillers' place above and below this post. Except for a few musical instruments, David and Enion and their young son Aesop have lost everything in the flood. There is now a fund drive to raise money to help them out. Please check it out and consider donating here. We love the Tillers. They are our friends. They are a family of musicians who have left an indelible mark on the hearts and ears of ourselves and everyone in the greater community. 

In the face of such adversity, it seems natural to despair. However, for the people of the Boulder music community it seems the most natural thing is to come together with the friends and family we love, to lift each other up, to try to heal each other with the power of song. That's what we did at the Fox Theatre on Saturday night. That's what we can do by helping out the Tillers and the people close to us who are in similar need. Because, you know what friends? This is life, and we're in it together. 

OK...it's go time!

As many of you know, our debut CD is done, in the can, ready for release...and, if we may say so ourselves, it's awesome! Seriously though, we're extremely proud of this music and can't wait to share it with you all. 

If you were one of our amazing Kickstarter backers, you've already got this music in your hands. For the rest of the world, the album will be...


             available online and in select record stores on Tuesday, October 15!

Suffice to say we are pumped, so pumped, in fact, that we couldn't wait any longer to share a few tracks with you. You can stream our songs "As Fast As I Can," "Falling," and "Far Away" on monocleband.com. Also, if you too can't wait for this music, you can pre-order a copy of the record at themonocleband.bandcamp.com. You'll get three songs right away and the rest of the album on release day, 10/15/13. 

We've also got a great Colorado CD release tour in the works... Stay tuned!
 
     

Whew! June was an absolute whirlwind of epic proportions...what fun! We finished our debut album, played 9 shows, got a ton of cool Monocle merch made, and took the band down to Telluride for the Bluegrass Festival. We've finally got a minute to catch our breath and say hello. So...hello again friends! 

In this photo you can see us playing in the final round of the Telluride Bluegrass band contest. In other words, on Saturday morning of this year's Telluride Monocle Band got to play on the main stage of the festival. We can't tell you what an honor and a joy it was to look out at the Telluride box canyon and play music on the same floorboards that have been graced by so many of heroes. And...so many of YOU, our friends and fans and family, were out in the audience that morning, rocking fresh Monocle t-shirts, singing along, and making us feel absolutely blessed by your support and energy. Thank you so much!!!

We ended up taking fourth place in the band comp and were up against some seriously talented groups. Friday we played in the preliminary round of the contest in beautiful Elks Park in downtown Telluride. We were just thrilled to move on to the main stage given how great the other bands were. And, coolest of all, yes, this was a competition, but the camaraderie between the bands was so fantastic. We made some great new friends who we will no doubt be making music with down the road. Check 'em out folks: Brown Chicken Brown Cow String Band, The Kitchen Dwellers, Quiles and Cloud, Sweetwater String Band, That Damn Sasquatch,  And, big props to third place winners The Flatland Harmony Experiment, contest runners up The Barefoot Movement, and 2013 Telluride Bluegrass champions Front Country!

So once again it's goodbye for now to Telluride. Thanks for the music, memories, friends and good times. 

Next up...RockyGrass! We'll be playing in the band contest in Lyons this month as well and can't wait. In the meantime we'll be rocking a few weddings, getting out some sweet rewards to our amazing Kickstarter backers, planning our upcoming CD release, and picking, hanging, and kicking back. We might even pop a cold brew or two into our shiny new Monocle Band beer koozies....

Stay tuned for a lot more to come soon!

Love,
Monocle Band 

Oh yeah...it's that time of year again folks. Festivaaaaaal! We're headed down to Telluride Bluegrass today and couldn't be more excited. We'll be playing in the band competition on Friday and are really looking forward to it. There is a very cool cross-section of bands from around the country that will be participating in the contest this year: bluegrass groups from Colorado, California, West Virginia, Tennesse, and Indiana, among others. How fun! We cannot wait to hang with some new musician friends, swap songs, and pick our hearts out on the contest stage. And that's just the beginning. The 40th annual edition of Telluride Bluegrass promises a amazing lineup of musicians for four days of music. And then, when the stage lights dim and the moon comes up, it's time to pick all night in Town Park. Do you get the sense that we're excited?!? Let's do this!

We have been hard at work preparing for the summer season!  Amidst writing, rehearsing, playing , singing, gigging, envisioning, and creating, we are discovering a whole new Monocle.  Expect great things in the near future.  Sprinkle in more three-part harmonies, a new mandolin player who is equal parts bluegrass-savvy as he is crooner and carouser, and new picks from times of old and new, and it's certain Monocle will be blooming with the newly sprung tulips.  We are so excited to announce that we will be competing in the Telluride Bluegrass Competition this June and have been working our heiny ho's off to prepare.  Lots of new and exciting things coming your (and our!) way!  Just in time for spring.  =)

Thank god. Computers can be annoying. That is all. Happy Monday!!!!

We're thrilled to be a part of Couch by Couchwest 2013! CXCW is an ingenious website festival for up and coming bands to post videos. For all us who weren't able to travel to Austin for South by Southwest, this is a great site to post some creative music. We made a cool video of Can't Get By...check it out below or at the CXCW website.