Sticks Downey

Sticks Downey has never played a house party, and I personally haven’t done one in years. So, when we got invited by our new pals in Bling Theatre to set up shop in their basement and kick some verbals, we couldn’t say no. We weren’t sure what to expect, but everyone there was really cool, really into the music, and really nice to us. Good group. Good crowd. Sharp bunch. Solid taste in music.

(I’m going to be linking to some pages from Eli Duke’s Flickr page, so I want to give him the credit. Thanks for taking the pics!)

Longwood Soul Review opened the show, and they were solid. I think they said they’re just sort of getting going with this group (though they seemed to have a bunch of other projects happening presently as well), but they didn’t seem wet behind the ears. Big beats and fun rhymes. My type of group.

We went second, and you can check some more photos from our set here. It was hot down in that basement, but the crowd was into it and Foots and I gave them what they wanted: songs about washed-up pro athletes, dead musicians, and gambling. They seemed to dig it. And like I said, they were all cool. Looking forward to getting sweaty in that basement again.

The incomparable Buttery Lords were next, and like us (me, specifically), they brought the sweat. You gotta work for it. They know that. They busted out a bunch of new material, and Foots and I even hopped back up there for a rousing rendition of “Sticks of Butter” towards the end of their set. Love doing that song, and though we’ve rocked it a few times live before that, this time was the best so far. Verses were nailed.

Our humble hosts Bling Theatre wrapped up the evening’s entertainment, playing to their home-field crowd and not hitting the stage until after 2. Good mix of elements there, and everyone was really into it. I continued to sweat while enjoying their set. They kept it short and sweet, because they know - like we do - that that’s the way to do it.

We’re hoping to play another Harney House show at some point, so keep it here for details. I’m going to start updating this site more, I promise. New music is being made, and new words are being placed next to each other. Things are happening.

We got a call from our new friends Bling Theatre asking us if we wanted to team up with them for a fun-filled raptastic Thursday at The Tonic, and we couldn’t resist. Foots and I had to dust off our mics and get our tag-team chemistry back in order, but once we decided that she would be Ax and I would be Smash, there was no chance of anything short of complete demolition.

The show was a fun one, and though we hadn’t played in far too long (I am the laziest show-booker of all time), we fell right back into it. And it felt good. Bling Theatre brought a sweet crowd and some equally sweet raps, and needless to say, mics were rocked. Hope to do it again soon.

But for now, it’s back to working on new material. Seriously, I am. Stick with me.

Be there.

A little something for your Halloween party playlists. Listen to it, download it (click the play button to listen, title to download), do what you want with it. And please feel free to give a copy to friends or point people in this direction. My first journey into seasonal song territory. Hope you like it.

I’ve included the artwork above to appease you fellow anal-retentive iTunes users out there who can’t stand to have blank art gaps in your library. I feel your pain.

I can also post the lyrics if anybody’s interested.

Happy Halloween, you ghouls.

Update: Z from Hipster, Please! was nice enough to include this track on his most recent Halloween podcast. Check it out here!

I had a fun time putting this together; thought I’d share it with you.

Not sure what I’m going to do with it. I like the way it turned out, but I either need to add more samples from the movie or drop some rhymes in there. Maybe both.

Give it a listen, won’t you? And many props to Rick Dees.

Making beats and writing rhymes. Had a hectic past two months, but now it’s time to get down to some business. Working on booking some shows and recording a bunch of new songs. They’re coming out nicely, but far from polished. Eh, that’s the fun part: the tinkering.

Hey, check it out: we got our own little page on Urbnet.

Some stuff:

Z at Hipster, Please! has been kind enough to feature us (again!) on his Radio Free Hipster podcast. Check out the Pajama Jams episode here.

Urbnet Magazine reviewed When the Belt Changes Hands and had some nice stuff to say about it/us. Check it out here.

Some photos of the Sticks Downey/Coolzey/Rhombus/So Sadly Fucked mini-tour can be found here.

Any interest in a Sticks Downey t-shirt? I’ve got a ton of ‘em. If you want one, drop me a line or leave a comment. They should be on CD Baby soon, but I just haven’t made that happen yet.

If you’re not following us (me) on Twitter, you should be.

Werd.

My apologies for taking such a long time to post this. The last few weeks have been mad hectic. I’m settled back down now, and ready to get back to the business at hand. So, here we go.

We played at The Space in Salem on July 2nd, and though the show was sparsely attended, we had a good time. Emerson Valentine Lyon brought the skewed R&B/hip hop dopeness, and was cool as shit. I hope we get to play with him again soon. My main man Mike Daily opened the proceedings with some spoken word, and as always, he brought the goods. Somehow I failed to get any usable photos of any of this. Bummer. But I may come up on  some.

Our set at The Tonic on July 9th was slightly amended because there we so many acts on the bill (see the full list in the preview below), but I think it may have been our strongest outing yet. Lots of sweat, lots of energy, and a great crowd. And the best part: we got to watch all the other artists do their dang thing. The photo above is from the show, and yeah, it’s a bit blurry. Trying to see if anyone has any better shots of this show, too (I’m having camera issues).

Another couple shows under our belt, and some more fun times. I’ve been on a vacation for the past few weeks, but now it’s back to it. Keep it here for more shows as we book ‘em.

In addition to the aforementioned Tonic Lounge show on July 9, we’ve also lined up a set at The Space in Salem exactly one week before. Here’s the breakdown:

Thursday, July 2
The Space - Salem, OR
Emerson Valentine Lyon
Sticks Downey
Mike Daily
9PM - Free.

We played The Space during our initial string of first shows and had a helluva time. It’s a great little spot, and Salem, though it never gets any credit, has a tight-knit and dedicated music scene. Looking forward to watching Mr. Lyon; he seems like a character.

Thursday, July 9
Tonic Lounge - Portland, OR
audio©RIP
Onemachine
Drugstore Cowboy
Mr. Viced Honest
Sticks Downey
Pecos B
Michael Bruce
9PM - $5

Huge props to Mike D. from Mr. Viced Honest for putting this stacked-to-the-gills show together. Sticks is going on right around 10, so if you want to catch us, get there by then. I haven’t played at The Tonic in years. Really looking forward to it. Wonder if they still have that projector?

I listed the acts for both shows with the headliners at the top, btw. So, reverse order, I suppose. You’re sharp. You can figure it out.

Hope to see you at one or both. We’ve got plenty of t-shirts, stickers, buttons, and CDs to badger you into buying. Just let it happen.

Sorry for the delay in posting this; I’ve been trying to get this new site design in order. Now that it’s all ship-shape, I can recount the tales of our mid-May Saturday night at the good ol’ Ash St.

It had been a long while since I had set foot on that stage, and it was nice to be back. Heather, the booker/soundlady/showrunner is always easy to deal with and I’ve been lucky enough (as I think every musician in town has) to get to know her over the years, but even luckier to remain on good terms with her and the venue the whole time I’ve been playing shows in Portland. So, it was nice to know it would go smoothly, and we were also looking forward to being backed up by a reliable sound system, given our shaky start (I’m looking at you, Report Lounge).

Local new jack crooners The Beauty opened the show, and though I’d listened to some of their stuff online and had heard they were great live, I was not prepared for their stage show. In fact, they didn’t even use the stage, instead opting to work the floor and randomly serenade members of the gaggle of friends and family they brought along. One of the Beauty dudes was celebrating a birthday, and they had the whole place in party mode from the get-go. Three-part harmonies the likes of which I had never heard before, but I wish to one day hear again. I really hope we get to play with them in the future. Next time I will remember to take a picture of them.

My old pals The Buttery Lords were up next, and as usual, they were electric. It’s clear they’ve been in the lab–the boys are breaking out more and more new material each time I see them, and it’s been consistently great. As with any good Buttery set, things got sweaty, Hub stripped down to his tank top, and the ladies swooned. This was the first Sticks Downey/Buttery Lords bill, but there will, I’m sure, be many more. Though the word on the street is that they’re considering changing their name to Boner Patrol, so if you see that on a poster, you know what’s happenin’.

We were up next, and the highlight of our set was getting the Butteries back up on stage for a rousing rendition of “Sticks of Butter.” Hadn’t played a game of Pass the Mic in a while, but I wasn’t as rusty as I feared I might be. The rest of our set went just fine, and we had a blast up there. A good amount of friends turned out, and even some unfamiliar faces, which is always nice. Though I was disappointed at the lack of drunken hippie dancers, because that’s usually a mainstay at the Ash St. Maybe they’re trying to keep the riffraff to a minimum these days. Other than that, I can’t complain. We had a great time, and both Talik and the Footstress were fantastic up there.

Another group of old chums closed down the show, The Wall Hits. They had been booked randomly, but I’ve known these guys since high school. They just keep changing their band name, so it’s hard to keep up. They’ve stepped up the visual aspect of their show since I saw them last, and it (their projection screen rolling video insanity) made for some good watchin’ and listenin’.

So, yes, a fun night. A hot night. We were all perspiring. Here’s a picture of me and Foots hawking the wares post-set:

You can’t see it, but my hat was soaked through. And my beard was glistening.