Upcoming live appearance

Escape Goat Orchestra doesn't play out all that often, so when we do, you should probably be there.

Live Footage.

Since the last time I posted here, Escape Goat Orchestra has released a series of live-videos. check it out-

New music/ videos.

My new/ current act is called Escape Goat Orchestra.

Dystopian indie dance-rock from the desert.

Find us online at EscapeGoatOrchestra.com or EGOphx.com.

Follow us online at @EGO_phx on Twitter and Instagram, @E.G.O.phx on Facebook.

Some videos-

New videos, shows, updates, etc.

My band Devil Grass has just released a new (our first!) official music-video!

Check it out!

Check us out live, our next show is scheduled for Saturday, April 9th, at Cactus Jack's in Ahwatukee (South-East Phoenix), with Zeppapotapuss.

I've also recently released a video from my much-delayed forthcoming solo-record... which could potentially come out at some point...? I recorded this thing last spring, filmed the video last summer, and finished editing it some time in the fall... and then pretty much forgot about it. This one's dedicated to my comrades in the bar-business.

Devil Grass- Debut Single, Upcoming Shows.

My band Devil Grass has recently released our debut single, "In The Cut."!

We recorded the track with acclaimed Phoenix-based producer Cory Spotts (Lydia, Stiletto Formal, Job For A Cowboy, The Maine... etc), who was absolutely phenomenal, and we can't wait to get back in and work with him again soon.

Take a listen here-

www.devilgrass.bandcamp.com

... or here-

To celebrate that release, and our "official" live-debut (that first run of shows was sort of a "test-run" ;) ), we're throwing a party! 

Saturday, February 20th, Rogue Bar, Scottsdale, Arizona. Be there.

We've hand-selected and curated the lineup for the night to make for a fun event... and Cultures has decided to release their awaited full-length album "Life Is Dream" that night as well! It should definitely be an exciting night, so mark your calendars. 

Shortly after that, we are opening for Shawn James and the Shapeshifters (check them out here, they kinda sound to me like if Man Man were from Arkansas...?) at Last Exit Live in Phoenix on Tuesday, March 9th.

Expect more fun news to come in the near future!

In the meantime... promoters, press, bookers, venues, etc... Consult our Electronic Press Kit for all the necessary details. ;)

New Music- Devil Grass

 

For those of you who follow me on various forms of social-media, this might seem like old news... but it's time to finally officially announce my new band- Devil Grass.

Devil Grass came together in early September of this year, thanks to the hard work, vision, and determination of our bandleader/ frontman, Michael Roberts. Somehow, within mere months of relocating to Phoenix from the New Jersey/ Philly-area, Michael had assembled a four-piece lineup of players who had all recently relocated from the East Coast. (If you understand the nod to that irony in our name, you win a prize. Message me.)

Devil Grass is a Phoenix-based desert-rock/ dark alt-country act. 

We are-

Michael Roberts- Vocals and guitar (New Jersey)

Joshua Motley- Keys and vocals (Kentucky)

Bernard LeVautour- Bass and backing-vocals (New Hampshire)

Craig Codrington- Drums and percussion (Vermont)

We played a series of three low-key, but super-fun, testing-the-water sort of live-shows over the last couple weeks... Look for information about a more elaborate and larger-scale "official" live-debut soon. It'll be fun, I promise.

As for "sound" and "content," we're going into the studio in mid-January to record our first single (peel your eyes), but in the meantime, check out this teaser-video we put together from some press-kit demos we tracked recently... This one's a cover of a Misfits song.

Follow us on social-media for full and regular updates, and fun behind-the-scenes content...

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Bandcamp

Enjoy, and let us know what you think! 

Hope we see you at a show soon!

ISO- Musicians- New Phoenix-based Doom-Country act "Here Lies."

Ok, Phoenix... I have a new act in the works, and I'm looking for players.

The band is called "Here Lies."

This is a live-show focussed, conceptually-driven project. The goal is mostly original-music (as opposed to covers), aimed at performing in music-venues (rather than primarily as bar-entertainment.) 

The concept? In simplest terms, maybe call this "Doom-Country." In a more specific sense, think old-school Country & Western (most specifically from the Murder-Ballad and Outlaw-Folk traditions) played in a slower, doomier, louder, darker, stompier, dustier, scarier, heavier, high-lonesomer high-lonesome, sense... The darker end of old-school country mixed with big-beat and doom-punk, if you will? 

I have recorded a demo-track to capture the sound in my head for this one... As an original-music, venue-focused concept-act, I'm aiming to keep cover songs limited to a maximum of two per set, but, in the name of demonstrating an example of what my sonic intentions are here, I decided to start by recording a cover-song. This is a 1965 C&W classic by Dick Curless, called "Tombstone Every Mile." (For other covers that might fit into future sets- think Cash- "Long Black Veil," Robbins- "Big Iron," Cave- "Where the Wild Roses Grow"... etc. Important additional influences, in terms of sound, include The Cramps, Bauhaus, Decemberists, Misfits, Joy Division, Soilent Green, Clutch, My Dying Bride... etc.) Check out the demo... and keep in mind that I recorded absolutely every instrument on this recording by myself (with the exception of some backing-vocals by my lovely-and-talented girlfriend Catherine Klabouch), so the sound will undoubtably become further fleshed-out by the influence of additional hands and ear-bulbs.

I intend to play bass (starting on electric, hopefully switching to stand-up once we get going) and vocals. I'm searching for a guitarist, a drummer, and "something else" (a dedicated lap-steel, fiddle, banjo, accordion, honky-tonk-piano, organist, etc. would be ideal... but a versatile multi-instrumentalist who understands the concept and desired sound would also be a good fit.) 

Please email me if interested... or feel free to share with friends if you think you might know people, or know people who know people. 

New content!

I have a new video out this week. This one's for the track "Houseful of Cats (...and it's complicated)" from my forthcoming solo-record "Future-Tense.". Check it out!

I've been continuing to add new tracks for streaming and download from that record to my Bandcamp site as well. 

www.levautour.bandcamp.com

I've also been posting a whole lot of new visual-art content on my Etsy site, including some props and set-pieces built for the new video above... and there's still a little bit of time left to get orders (in most circumstances) delivered by Christmas, but that time is running out... and original art and quirky decor makes phenomenal gifts! 

Project updates...

Having just returned from a somewhat tumultuous trip back east, I'm sitting at a Phoenix coffeehouse, loving being back in such a vibrant city, and excited for making fun and positive things happen for our future here... so I figured it was a good time for an update.

The Green Sea has changed formats yet again... because... why not? What we've been doing lately is some sort of live-improv noise that usually falls in a somewhat electro-punk-meets-comedy-rock vein. Basically, we've found that we thoroughly enjoy playing extended-sets without content, making absolutely everything up on the spot... which naturally incurs some hilariously unpredictable lyrics and sudden genre-shifts. We now have a site on Bandcamp, where you can stream or download loads of various fun content... We currently have four records up there- our debut EP from 2006, two live-improv mixtape records, and an ongoing collection called "...bits and pieces..." that houses lots of stuff that hasn't shown up or been appropriate for any of the other albums.

You can find all of that here-

https://thegreensea-az.bandcamp.com

We've posted some goofy videos from this phase, too, on my Youtube channel...

Such as these-

I've also begun working on a solo-record... (at the moment it's separate from the electro-jazz album I mentioned in the last post, but time will tell... I've got a few tracks from it up on my personal Bandcamp account since relocating to the desert... This is an indie-rock record at its core. I'm making the dusty, wild-west rock songs that occur to me, without trying to sculpt them into any particular context. This record is a snap-shot into my mind at the moment, as it evolves... It's called "Future Tense." 

Take a listen here- 

https://levautour.bandcamp.com

More tracks, and some videos, from that will be shortly forthcoming. 

And as always, new original art, prints, customized instruments, stickers, t-shirts, etc. are being added almost daily to the Etsy site where I sell my visual-art work... I've been pretty productive in that regard lately...

www.etsy.com/shop/levautour

...and more is to come soon. 

Hello, Phoenix.

It's been a hectic few months so I haven't posted an update here in a while, so I have a lot of catching up to do. (I plan to start frequent updates again, I've just had a whole lot on my plate lately.)

At the beginning of April, my girlfriend Cat and I relocated to Phoenix, Arizona. I had lived in the valley for about 5 years in the past, and absolutely loved it. After about 6 years back in New Hampshire, there were many elements of desert-living that I missed more and more, and was growing increasingly stir-crazy and ready for a change. Sometime around the second blizzard into the winter, we decided it was time to make that change, and started making arrangements. Early in the morning on April Fools Day, we loaded all our combined possessions into a 16-foot box-truck, loaded my little Kia onto a trailer on the back, and began our cross-country drive.

Upon arrival, we moved into half of a split-floorplan house in a nice suburban-ish section of North Central Phoenix called Moon Valley... We both lucked-out on the job-front, and were able to sorta-kinda "transfer" our existing jobs- I'm working behind the bar at a sushi/ Japanese/ nightlife spot in North Scottsdale called Sapporo that happens to be owned by the same company as the bar I worked at in Nashua, and Cat is working for an eye doctor in the Camelback Corridor.

Besides the "how we pay the bills" nuts-and-bolts, we are here primarily in order to advance our "actual" careers as working artists, in a scene and cultural-climate that I have always felt to be more exciting, vibrant, inclusive, and inspiring than that of the Boston area. (no offense to my New England people who are working hard and getting shit done, it's just an entirely different vibe here. I feel like desert cities have a sort of "wild wild west" take on creative endeavors- almost everyone's from somewhere else, so there's always a refreshing sort of "you're doing something interesting? Sweet! How can I help?" vibe that tends to be lacking in older-school, more established communities where everything's about how well you follow certain rules and who you happen to know.)

Despite a VERY busy couple months getting settled in and situated, we're well underway diving headlong into those sorts of goals. Here's a quick run-down of current and future projects in the works-

We've revived The Green Sea, a side-project act that I had maintained for a couple of years before leaving the valley the first time around and continued to collaborate with across the country during the intervening time. This former experimental side-project has now become our primary band- a high-energy, live-show-focused electro-punk trio. I'm on lead vocals and guitar, Wes Hopeless is playing synths, sequencers, and general electronic-wizardry, and Cat is on live electronic-percussion and keytar. We aim to be ready to start playing out with a spastic set of fun new songs by the end of the summer. In the meantime, like us on Facebook and check out some teaser-content that we're dropping a little bit at a time.

Cat and I have also begun work on an additional musical-project, a bar-entertainment cover-duo called Urban Forestry. Check out some basic info on what that's going to entail here.

In the meantime, we've both also been hard at work our various sorts of visual-art contents... check out my Etsy site at LeVautour to peruse some recent works of that sort. 

In writing-news, I have finally almost finished editing the book-project I've been working on writing since I finished grad-school... Look for updates on that soon. 

New solo-music and art.

I've added a second track to my slowly-evolving first solo-record (tentatively titled {ironically untitled}, without the pretenses of project-title, concept, experimentalism, etc... this one is simply intended to eventually be a stripped-down collection of songs that I would actually want to listen to. As strange as it sounds, with as many records as I've been involved with the release of (8 or so in the past 5 years, I think?) I've never actually done that.




In other news, I have new listings at my Etsy shop... and my "make an offer" liquidation-sale for friends and acquaintances is still underway, so email me if you want to barter or work out alternate delivery before you order.

Updates, art, etc.

A few updates...

My acoustic duo, Old Vine, is working on 3 simultaneous demo-records, and posting new content regularly to our Bandcamp page as they become available. One is our "real" EP, Cavernous Spaces... an album of original-material and original-arrangements of creative covers.

The second is a live-demo of covers from our bar-entertainment set, called Voodoo-Folk Live; B-Sides and Covers.

 The third is a record of oddball remixes of our tracks, called Voodoo-Folk Reconjured!

So... Listen, "like", and follow us on Twitter.

We are currently in the process of sculpting our content for two different sorts of sets, both as bar-entertainment, and playing original content in music-venues. We are always for hire, so book us as entertainment for your bar/ event/ party, or to play creative indie-rock shows in your performance-space. Email for details.



I've also re-started an old habit of posting video-demos of new songwriting material to my youtube channel... Here's a brand new one.

In other news, I'm having a sort of "friends and family" liquidation-sale at my Etsy site. If I know you personally, or you're "local" enough to know who I am in any sort of personal way, message me personally before making an offer on any pieces that you might want from my site... I have WAY more of my own material on the walls of my studio than I would like at the moment, so any reasonable offer will be considered.

Old Vine audio...

Old Vine is now on Bandcamp. That means... Lots of listenable Voodoo-folk audio for your ear-bulbs!

If you visit our site, you'll notice there are two records currently up on it. Both are works-in-progress at the moment... "Cavernous Spaces" is our forthcoming EP... original music, and a couple of original arrangements of creative covers. "Voodoo-Folk Live; B-Sides and Covers" is... pretty much how it sounds. An evolving collection of live covers and alternate takes. Alternately, "Cavernous Spaces" is our "actual" record, and our demo aimed at concert-venues, "Voodoo-Folk Live" is our demo as a bar-entertainment duo. Together, they should showcase pretty thoroughly what me and Mickey do as Old Vine.

Cavernous Spaces-




Voodoo-Folk Live-




We are currently also looking for suggestions as to where YOU'D like to see us play. (not just the city... we get lots of "play in Nashua/ Manchester/ Boston!" requests; we're looking for more specific suggestions... like, what bars or venues would you come out to see us play at?) We have two alternate sets- a longer bar-entertainment set (mostly covers), and a shorter, venue-focused set (mostly originals). Versatility is my favorite aspect of this particular act.

More Old Vine...

Old Vine  returns this Wednesday to Great American Tavern in North Reading, Massachusetts. (We are resident there every week, but the first one was different than most because we were up against World Series Game 1 [an interesting challenge], and the second was cancelled because of the sixth and final game of that series [go Sox!]... so this is our first "normal" week of our stint there.).

Here are some clips from our first night there...

"Like" us on Facebook, say "yes!" to the venue's event-invite, come down, drink some beers, sing along!

Voodoo-Folk!

"Old Vine"... details, explanations, etcetera.

OK, here goes something I told myself in the past that I'd never do.

I recently played a benefit-show, as a duo with my friend Mickey Fearon... it was for a good cause; we put together a 3-hour set of eclectic and entertaining covers, peppered with a few originals, to entertain a crowd aimed at helping out a friend in need. This was done somewhat spur-the-moment, with very little preparation.

Surprising to both of us, this worked out pretty well. Somehow, this collaboration turned into an actual "thing." That "thing" is now called Old Vine.

Here's the thing. Me and Mickey have been friends for a while, but we have pretty opposite tastes and musical-backgrounds. Turns out, that works out pretty well. Mickey is a classic-rock kid, I'm an indie-rock kid. I'm a jazz guy, Mickey digs the blues alot. Mickey learns covers note for note as a guitarist and NAILS them, I'm a performer first-and-foremost with a background in original music in concert-venues; I hadn't played or learned any cover at all in YEARS. Turns out, we balance each other out well. My weaknesses in regards to what we're doing are Mickey's strengths, and vice-versa.

Somehow, this odd outfit landed a residency.

We're playing Wednesdays, starting this week, at Great American Tavern in North Reading, Massachusetts. 8:30 to 11:30.

Sure, we're playing acoustic bar-rock. But I promise- our set is WEIRD. Me and Mickey's ideas of "standards" are VERY different... which should make for an interesting experience for just about any sonic-palette. We seriously cover everything from Cab Calloway to Outkast to Johnny Cash to Death Cab to Clapton to M.J. to Kanye... and pretty much everything in between. Expect to hear some hippie shit, expect to hear some hipster shit. All in the same set, mixed with stuff your grandmother might whistle along to. I'm not kidding. And then we mix an original tune in just to mix it up a bit. 

So, come out on some Wednesday and hang out. It'll be fun. And "like" us on Facebook... and check out some videos from that first event that got this all started...

New Music (Tonal Couture, Solo-stuff, Snazzmobb)

A few music updates. I've been pretty busy as a musician lately. Here's some stuff I've been working on.

Snazzmobb is still plugging away at refining our set, now that we've finally settled into a refined bass/ drums/ keys trio arrangement... we're currently polishing edges and editing our press-kit, hoping to start shopping it to venues and promoters soon. I'm not going to lie, it's been a tumultuous year for the outfit, with quite a few strange setbacks befalling the initial lineup I set up a year ago this month, with the intent to fast-track the act to playing out quickly and often by mid-winter of last year. Through that time-period, we ended up writing a set three times longer than it needed to be, featuring songs from all the various phases of the band's still young, yet already rocky, lifespan. That long-form set meandered and wandered, was probably interesting in some ways, but not at all moments what we had initially set out to do. We've recently sliced that set by a third, leaving the content that reflects what we sound like NOW, and we're really happy with what we're almost ready to unleash. Accordingly, the demo that we recently released already feels outdated, as it was recorded as a duo with a bit of a different focus... I hope to drop some sort of an accompanying single soon to demonstrate the current feel of our content.

I recently also started playing with a downbeat instrumental dub act on the seacoast, called Tonal Couture. This project is POLAR opposite from Snazzmobb, and I LOVE that. While the snazz is a rambunctious, high-energy, venue-focused dance act, Tonal Couture is super relaxed and ambient, better suited for swanky martini-lounges and chill-out-rooms. It's fun to play, and fun to listen to. We record our sessions, and we've made select cuts available on our Bandcamp page, as part of the possibly-fictitious un-album (quickly becoming a bizarre future box-set of some sort), called "Future Rarities and B-Sides Without A-Sides." There are 12 tracks up at the moment... check them out, and enjoy.



Also, I've started working on a post-LeVautourEnsemble phase of solo-content. This time around, I'm using my own name (well, sorta... I'm dropping this stuff as "Bernard LeVautour," which is how I've usually billed myself in recent musical-projects) and promising myself to drop the "experimental" schtick and finally make music that I would actually want to LISTEN to. Expect sparse, down-tempo electro-jazz type stuff, mostly... because that's what I tend to actually be most into. Here's the first track I dropped to debut that sort of content...

Snazzmobb album-release!

My indie-dance-rock trio Snazzmobb dropped our demo-EP, "The Violent Taste of Hot Sauce," last week!

It is available for free streaming and download on  our brand-new Bandcamp page... Five tracks are streamable live, plus four downloads rounding it out to nine if you choose to download!



Also, more of our material is now available on Youtube!

Updates... Etsy, Snazzmobb, etc.

I updated my Etsy site... in addition to the prints and original-pieces associated with the initial "5 Icons" series that I made the site to make available, I've now expanded it to include... well, pretty much all of the pieces of my work cluttering the walls of my studio that I would be more than happy to find a new home for. Accordingly, I think the listing-prices on this stuff are mostly pretty good deals... but nothing's set in stone, so message me directly if you want to haggle. Or if you live in the greater-Boston area, message me before ordering to see if it's possible to avoid shipping and fees.




Also, Snazzmobb is on Tumblr now! Check it out! Follow us, share us, like us... whatever it is you Tumblr people do over in Tumblr-land.

Help Wanted- Consummate Performer/ Snazzmobb Keyboardist.

Want to play the coolest key-rig in the business? My band Snazzmobb is looking to fill a hole in our live-lineup. 

We are looking for a consummate, energetic performer to join our show, to spazz out behind this contraption while filling in some holes in our live sound. 

While a skilled keyboard player would be the ideal fit, this role, to be perfectly honest, is not particularly musically challenging if the right person doesn't choose to make it such. First and foremost, we are looking for an absolutely electric performer with a basic working knowledge of music, the ability to push buttons and follow directions. Someone who is, say, usually a guitarist, with a good sense of rhythm and the desire to put on an explosive show, could be as good a match for this role as someone with professional synth experience.

Job responsibilities would involve playing some very basic keyboard parts (many of which are already written) on this rig, which is extremely simple and easy to use (it's built from a mid-'80's Casio- an ultra dummy-proof keyboard.). Additionally, this person would be responsible for controlling a rack of assorted noise-making junk... pushing play-buttons on sampling-devices, cuing loops, etc... basic tasks that would free up the hands of other members, to allow us to do more of our trademark spastic performing and less gear-juggling and button-jockeying. All such tasks are carefully and clearly documented on extensive set-notes ("$nazz-Note$") that we meticulously (compulsively?) update following each weekly session. 

This act has been practicing primarily as a bass/ drums/ vocal/ noise duo for the past several months, following some complications with the original lineup that was put together in the Fall of 2012. With this arrangement, we have an entertaining set of songs written, a demo, a press-kit, and a stage-rig, all nearly complete and ready to start booking shows, waiting mostly on finding the right person to fill this particular role. We also collaborate remotely with a cast of talented individuals for song-craft, sample-production, etc, such as Adhesiveslipper (Noise-wizard/ Headhat Records bossman), Sammie Ryan (Sinestetici), etc. 

Ideally, this act will perform live (hopefully soon) as an extremely high-energy bass/ drum/ keys trio. Despite the stage-rig built extensively out of modified pieces of mannequins (this keyboard rig is just one of several elements that work within a coherent visual theme) this is most definitely NOT a concept-art project. Our goal is is merely to entertain people, to make weirdos dance, to offer audiences a crazy good time, to turn concert-venues into really wacky parties while we play. If this sounds like something you could get passionate about, you might be the person we're looking for. If so, we practice on Friday mornings, usually 10:30 to 2 or so, in Hudson, New Hampshire. Email me at bernard.levautour@yahoo.com if you're interested in giving it a try. Feel free, of course, to share this with your friends if YOU'RE not who we're looking for, but you think you might know someone who is.

In the meantime, here are a couple examples of the sort of thing we're doing, a couple teaser-videos we've dropped with some content from our forthcoming demo "The Violent Taste of Hot Sauce"-

New Snazzmobb content!

My new band Snazzmobb posted a new video-teaser yesterday. This is the second released track from our forthcoming demo-EP "The Violent Taste of Hot Sauce." (watch the first one, "Real People, Real Sex," here.)

This one's the only content that we didn't write in our current set (ready to debut live soon... peel your eyes.) This is an original medley arrangement, with all due respect and reverence to His Purple Highness.

Enjoy, and feel free to share with your friends.