AirPlay Direct Unveils the Winner for the "APD Win an Americana Record Deal" Contest: The Hello Strangers!!! 1/18/12
We are humbled and thrilled to announce that we have been hand-picked by AirPlay Direct and IMI Music as the winners of an Americana record deal! This is what we've been working toward for years now, and to have an opportunity like this one far exceeds our expectations of "getting to the next level!" We want to thank Robert Weingartz from AirPlay Direct and Steve Ivey from IMI Music, along with the team of professionals they have assembled for this contest. We are so excited to work with everyone and have a little more Nashville in our lives! Check out the official press release HERE. We thank you all for your love and support over the past years as we worked to get to this point. Our honky tonk hearts are bursting right now!
xoxo, The Hello Strangers
BIG News for The Hello Strangers! 11/8/11
Do we have some *NEWS* for you! Coming in April, a Baby Stranger will be born! That's right, Larissa is expecting her first child. We're excited for this baby to be born into such a creative atmosphere, especially after the baby spends 9 months rocking out on stage in utero. Things with the band will continue on mostly as usual, though we will take a 6-month "maternity leave" from gigging, March-August 2012. This time will be spent rearing Baby Smith, recording and writing. We hope you will join us at one of our remaining gigs before the baby arrives!
Speaking of which, we unfortunately have had to make a few CANCELLATIONS recently due to a death in the family: We will not be playing on November 18 at Cafe Nola or November 19 at Hempen Hill! Please check with the venues, as the bands we were sharing the bills with on those nights are most likely still performing (Pale Barn Ghosts and June Star, respectively).
Our NEXT GIG will be December 2 at Hill Country BBQ in Washington, D.C. Come check out our Austin-inspired music at an Austin-inspired venue!
Fun Fall News, 10/11/11
Time flies when you're having fun, and we've been busy gigging, rehearsing, recording, and getting ready for one of our favorite nights of the year: HALLOWEEN! We will performing for the third year in a row at Flannery's Tavern on the Square in Mercersburg, PA the night of October 29th at 9 p.m. Mightychondria will be joining us for a DEAD PROM themed night of ghoulishness. Hate the prom? No problem, just come in your favorite Halloween get-up for FREE fun!
If you live in the Frostburg, MD area, be sure to join us at Dante's on October 22 starting at 8 p.m. with Brown Chicken Brown Cow String Band!
Aside from continued work on our forthcoming album, more BIG news is on the way, so stay tuned!
And don't forget to follow us on Twitter!
This Review Makes Us Blush! 8/10/11
Whew! Sorry for the slacking on the news front, folks. As Elizabeth Cook so eloquently put it, "Sometimes your best just isn't good at all." Well, we've certainly been doing things this whole darn summer, we promise! LOTS of recording...some travel and vacations lakeside. And, recently, lots of Twitter. We now have a Twitter account, so please follow us!
Speaking of which, Twitter is how we got connected to No Surf Music in Cleveland, OH, who just recently wrote a *rave* review of our EP, "Introducing Max Schmidt." Not only did Jason, our reviewer and fellow pistachio pudding lover, do his research, but he was ever so kind in his review of us. He made us blush! So check it out, y'all! And please help us spread the word about the review, our band, and No Surf Music.
We Love Publicity: Recent Press for THS, 5/4/11
After a busy month of March in Austin and an April full of gigs, we have been working hard to get back into recording mode. Most of the work will be done this summer, but we will be having a recording "slumber party" at the studio this Friday/Saturday to get our heads on straight and get crackin'. We are so excited to bring this first full-length album to you all, but we want to make sure it's a stellar piece of work, so please bear with us.
We have had some great new press recently. Greg Yost wrote a great article about us in Hagerstown Magazine that features some fantastic new photos by Ryan Smith Photography. Thanks, Greg and Ryan! Thanks, also, to Lauren LaRocca from the Frederick News-Post for her article about us preceding our recent gig at Cafe Nola with Lucas and the Lovelys. It was a great show and we're so looking forward to playing there again on June 11 with The Dearhearts!
Austin Update! 3/17/11
Happy St. Patty's Day! We are in the midst of our Austin visit and having a great time. We opened for Dale Watson on Saturday at our friends' wedding, which was fantastic. Got to meet the band, and we played a great show. The wedding was beautiful and it was nice to mingle in the mild evening temperatures under all the live oaks.
Since then, it's been a slew of live music (even before the official SXSW music festivities started), great food, and running around the city. We've all had opportunities to split up and do our own things, as well as run around as a group. Last night was two-stepping at the Broken Spoke with Dale Watson, and today brings another round of trying to decide which of the thousands of bands to see. And we'll also be gearing up for our gig at G&S Lounge on Saturday at 11:30 p.m.!!!
The Hello Strangers Head to Austin! 3/9/11
We are so thrilled to be returning to our old stomping grounds of Austin, TX, this weekend! We will have the honor of opening for honky-tonk legend, Dale Watson, at our friends Max and Erin's wedding this Saturday.
We will also be playing Cow Island Music's "Spring Round Up" at G&S Lounge on S. 1st Street, Austin, on March 19 at 11:30 p.m (sponsored by 3rd Coast Music and KOOP Radio). Click here for the Facebook event!
We can't wait to visit old friends, eat Torchy's tacos, and go two steppin' at the Broken Spoke! Woo hoo! Give us a holler if you're going to be down that way!
We will be making updates to our WEBSITE and FACEBOOK page during our trip, so please follow along on our journey with us!
A New Year! In the Studio and Off to Austin! 1/2011
We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. We spent the month of January working on recording preparations for our new, first full-length album entitled, Another To Tell. We will have some guest appearances on pedal steel, dobro and more. We are excited to be tracking new material never before recorded!
We are also getting geared up for a 10 day trip to Austin, TX, our old home, in March for several appearances. We will have the great pleasure of opening for honky-tonk legend, Dale Watson, at our friends' wedding. We will also be performing for the Cow Island Records/3rd Coast Music Showcase at the G&S Lounge on March 19. We are so excited to get back down there, see old friends, meet new ones, and eat some freakin' tacos!
Hot Off the Press:
The Hello Strangers in the Daily Local News!, 11/29/10
We'd like to thank Denny Dyroff for our interview and article for the Daily Local News about our upcoming gig at The Grape Room in Philadelphia tomorrow, December 1! You can view the article here.