Thanks to What's Up Magazine for publishing our 'Tales from the Road' for the December issue!
Tales From the Road with Polecat!
A few days after our bass man Richard sailed in from an epic voyage on the wooden boat he restored (yeah he's cool like that) we set our sights on our own adventure - a 4,000 mile tour around the Northwest U.S. - here is our tale.
Our first stop was the Top Hat in Missoula, a recently restored, legendary downtown venue, full of 500 college kids and young professionals ready to get down to the stomp - this place knows how to party! After nine hours on the road, it was clear that the proper course of action was to down all the tapas and Jameson provided for us and play til 1:45am...a great way to kick things off! The next night we found ourselves in Billings, an old railroad town, where we played to a small but enthusiastic crowd, and stayed at a hotel called the Dude Rancher...yep. The boys had a great metal session and drank Old Milwaukee brew inside the walls of Micheal Bolton, our trusty tour van. Don't worry, we were parked at the Dude Rancher. Yeah, we listen to metal. Cayley doesn't like metal. That's OK. The next day, after a snowy drive through the tundra of northeastern Wyoming, we set up at Galloway's pub (affectionately called the G-Spot) in Casper, and played for a great attentive audience full of Santiagos! Yeah, Austin is from there, and his family and friends are so great to us. They threw us a party at their amazing house, complete with an atrium, secret bookcase rooms, and many, many bottles of booze.
A night off in Fort Collins was welcomed with Olive Garden, movies, and bad TV - hey sometimes you gotta go there. The Fort is cool town full of breweries and college kids, but it doesn't quite have the knack of going out on Wednesdays like Bham does...maybe we should play more reggae. The next night in Denver was epic - Cerevantes is a great venue and has built up Thursdays very well - we played from 11 'til 2 and there were still people ready to rage. We should note that by this time on tour, Jeremy was in a crippled state from a wisdom tooth coming in - ouch! The guy can really stand a lot of pain, and continued to tear up the telecaster each night. Next stop was Boulder, an idyllic, forward thinking town at the base of the flatiron mountains. It's almost too nice. We played a fun room right in the heart of downtown on Pearl street, which is ONLY for pedestrians. How cool is that? Winter Park is a sleepy ski town at 10,000 feet, but it comes alive at night, and we finished our Colorado run with a rowdy crowd, coin-op laundry in the green room, a $100 drink tab, and a night all by ourselves in a giant creepy old hotel! One red fox sighting, no ghost sightings.
Headed west, Michael Bolton flew through the mountains where he discovered an incredible hot springs for Richard's birthday - huge steaming pools in a forest of Aspen trees, snow falling, and sun shining through the clouds. Pure magic. Nothing is open on Sunday evenings in the middle of Utah, but Yelp guided us to a a truly epic feast at a diamond in the rough, wherein we all ordered the same thing: chicken strips, mashed potatoes, rolls, full salad bar, and dessert. For $8 each. We drove all the way to Salk Lake City that night, slept, and left early in the morning. So we still can't really say we've been there. Bolton glided past the Great Salt Lake, through the flats, and into glorious, desolate Nevada, destination: Reno. We arrived in the Biggest Little City bumping Luda and T-pain, checked into Harrah's, and got DOWN with the desecration. Free drinks, great weather, cheap food, and slot machines soon took hold in a joyous way, and we really went for it. Jeremy celebrated his birthday wearing a large blue squid hat Cayley and Richard won for him in an arcade, and many drinks of varying liquor and flavor were had with much delight.
36 hours in Reno was plenty, and we were soon on the road to Harlow's in Sacramento, a great room filled with Davis students ready to dance - can't ask for better on a Wednesday night! Halfway through the set, Karl noticed the crowd throwing crumpled up dollar bills on stage (for reals!) and while at first each of our souls took a swift plunge into confusion and despair, we soon realized this was a great new enterprise, and we didn't even have to take our clothes off! Well, Richard teased 'em a bit. When they say every show is different...believe it! Tens of dollars richer, the next day found us by the sea again, driving over huge bridges and through hilly streets, to a very hip bar in a very hip part of the MIssion district of San Francisco - Anmesia. It's like being inside an old ship - oil lamps, exposed wooden beams, red carpet stage - it was a cool return to the coolest city. The next day we crossed the Golden Gate and ran around the Marin headlands, rejoicing in the salty air and sunny weather.
Headed east and north, we made it through terrible CA traffic just in time to load in to the Crazy Horse in Nevada City, where we played to one of the best crowds of the tour - the packed room was dancing from the first note and we played all night. The venue has a condo upstairs for bands, complete with Nintendo, and Aaron crushed some Excite-A-Bike until he realized we had an eight hour drive the next day...all the way to Florence, OR - right on the coast, where we played a weird, long gig in a restaurant full of locals, half of them in Halloween attire (almost a full week early.) We got put up in a tiny cabin on a lake where the men demonstrated their not-so-amazing wood chopping skills and we built a bonfire. We spent the next day exploring the wonderful Oregon coast, ate at Mo's, and arrived in Astoria to play Fort George Brewery - a huge building with a chill staff, great beer, and great pizza, and by great, we mean delicious and endless. This was a Sunday, so we weren't expecting much, but the place filled up and folks had a great time! An enjoyable last night on the road was had, complete with after-show fun in our 'family suite' hotel room - yes, bunk beds, bean bags, and Wii bowling.
A few days back home was filled with Halloween preparations, and we quickly descended upon the Green Frog in Bellingham and the Tractor Tavern in Seattle ready to do our thing. In the past, we have presented The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, and Sesame Screeech - our fourth Halloween proved excellent with our Disney Villain theme. We learned a wide variety of songs and tags during our tour and it was a joy to weave them into our set. This was the first time we brought Halloween outside of Bellingham, and 250 Seattleites threw down very nicely, but there's something special about Halloween in our beloved town. Thanks for such a sweet stomping homecoming, and to those who couldn't get tickets, we will see you at the Wild Buffalo on New Years Eve for a 007-themed night, complete with Casino Royale upstairs, a seven-piece symphony playing along with us, champagne toasts, and much more! There you have it folks, Polecat's Fall 2013 Tour in 1,200 words.
Keep in touch!
 photo by Kenneth Kearney
When this much time goes by without an update of our Polecat adventures, it only implies that there are many being had. Indeed, in this case that is exactly the what has happend.
(Karl demonstrating an example of an adventure)
Last we checked in, we had just finished our new album 'Fathoms' and enjoyed a blowout celebration here in Bellingham. Well, we have since been out spreading it around the NW in some of our favorite summertime cities and venues.
June was a wonderful kick-off for the summer! it started off perfectly with a trip to the Oregon coast for a beautiful concert series on Waikiki Beach to a crowd of enthusiastic new listeners. Then we got in full festival mode with our first heady fest appearance at Conscious Culture Festival with our good friends Acorn Project. We also had some pretty epic battles and karate exhibitions.
(Jeremy kicking things off)
There was no better way to end the month than to play at the Make.Shift benefit in the Boundary Bay beer garden. Thanks to all who came and raged with us and helped us kick off the summer right.
We had been anxiously anticipating July for a while, and what an adventure it was! We started things off with a raging Northwest String Summit pre-party at Nectar Lounge in Seattle with our old buddies Giraffe Dodgers and our new friends Betty and the Boy. Then we kicked off our favorite summertime hometown event, Downtown
Sounds, to a huge crowd of dancing Bellinghamsters. A big thanks to the Bellingham Herald and Matt Mcdonald for this video (click HERE to view).
(the view from Aaron's cell phone at Downtown Sounds)
After a killer show at the Ballard Seafood Fest in Seattle, we geared up for a slough of some of our most anticipated shoes this summer. We were so excited to be a part of Northwest String Summit this year, and it lived up to our expectations. Hornings Hideout provided a beautiful location for an abundance of music, food and summertime fun. We had a great set at the Ninkasi stage after our good friends and camping compadres Giraffe Dodgers and Bothers Comatose. Then we played two raging sets on Ken Kesey's Furthur Bus!
We headed to Selma, OR for Mystic in the Trees with our buddies the Polyrhythmics (narrowly escaping the death grip of the poison oak forest) and had a great time playing for a lot of new fans. Off to Portland, Oregon for an abundance of sunshine and beer at the Oregon Brewers' Fest. it was great to be part of such a huge event (plus, we got lots of free beer). After a beer soaked day in pdx, we played a beautiful wedding at Cannon Beach and then headed to Tahoe for the official after Phish show with Sam Bush. Aaron and Jeremy went to see Phish and then we opened for the legendary Sam Bush at a the Horizon Casino to keep the party going. We even had a chance to meet and hang out with him.
(Jeremy with Sam Bush)
After a long drive, we got to one of our favorite cities in the NW, Bend, OR, for the Tumalo Creek Pickin' and Paddlin' concert series. It was a great show and we got to enjoy a much needed rest on the river the next day. We ended our run in Chelan, WA at one of our favorite little venues, the Vouge, with a slammin' evening party.
We are glad to be home for a few days to rest up before we head back out on the road to visit more beautiful cities for some more epic summertime musical adventures. Check our schedule for whats next and we will see y'all soon!
(Richard experimenting with accessories)
The album is finally here! We are so proud of this CD and so happy to share it with everyone. You can now find it online at CD Baby HERE!
Recorded at Bear Creek Studios as well as at the Roost and Fairhaven Studios by Russ Fish.
Artwork by Laine Nichols.
Printing by Bison Bookbinding and Letterpress.
You can also check out our silly video 'The Making of Fathoms' for a behind the scenes look at us recording and goofing off :)
The Making of Fathoms
What an incredible party Saturday turned out to be. Tons of warm fuzzies all around from being surrounded by so many wonderful and supportive people. Thank you Bellingham!!
A few special shout outs to some extra kind and talented folks who helped us pull off this huge event:
- Russ Fish (Live sound and our recording engineer for our new album)
- Todd Templeton (Live sound, stage, and lights)
CHECK OUT: Bellingham Sound's page for your live sound and event needs!
https://www.facebook.com/Bellinghamsound
- Jonathan Gipaya (trumpet master and photographer)
CHECK OUT: Jonathan's awesome band, the Prime Time Band, playing a FREE and all ages show up at WWU on Saturday the 18th!
https://www.facebook.com/theprimetimeband
-Sarah Day (live music and event photographer)
CHECK OUT: Her Facebook page and hire her for your next show or private event!
https://www.facebook.com/SarahDayPhotography
- The McLaughlin Irish Dancers
CHECK OUT: Their Facebook Page!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/McLaughlin-Irish-Dancers/111149455636955
- Stephanie, Della, and Chip (Juggling and general awesomeness)
CHECK OUT: These fine folks performing at Vaudvillingham this Wednesday the 15th!
https://www.facebook.com/events/170055239821915/
- Bailey (face-painting goddess)
CHECK OUT: Her Facebook page and hire her for your parties and private events!
https://www.facebook.com/bailey.martinet
- River (Kurly's Kart curly fries)
CHECK OUT: His web site to find out where the cart will be during summer!
http://kurlyskart.com/
- Laine Nichols (album artwork)
CHECK OUT: Her Facebook page and see her other work!
https://www.facebook.com/LaineNicholsIllustration
- Bison Bookbinding and Letterpress (album cover printing)
CHECK OUT: Their web site and their store in Bellingham!
http://bisonbookbinding.com/
- The Majestic Ballroom
http://bellinghammajestic.com/
- Mt. Baker Distillery
http://www.mountbakerdistillery.com/
- Kulshan Brewery
http://www.kulshanbrewery.com/
- Maritza and Josh (accordion and violin serenading)
- Mike and Jason (dapper drink slingers)
- Rick Farr (holding-down-the-fort security)
And all of our friends and family who volunteered their time and efforts to make this run smoothly:
Phoebe, Zynet and Rob, Maureen, Kelsey, Angie and Isobella, LeeAnn and Spencer, Marissa, Caitlin, Dawn and Vicky, Deborah and Mike, and so many more!!!
Now we are off to play some really fun shows in Washinton and Oregon, and hopefully get some copies of our new album out to you all!
Since the humble beginnings of Polecat 3 years ago, the five of us have felt immensely grateful to all for the undying support and encouragement at home and abroad. The day we shook hands (March 2, 2010) and sat down to play our first notes together, we realized that there was something very special happening. March 2013 brought all of the work, emotions, relationships, creativity and music full circle in a lot of ways.
March 2013 marked the largest tour and most successful jaunt across the West Coast in our touring history. WA, CA, ID, NV, CO and UT were all included in our adventure. Some of these places we had visited before, and others we invaded for the first time. 22 Shows and 9,000 miles later, we feel more happiness and excitement than ever before. It is an amazing feeling to hit the road, play unfamiliar and unknown places, and have people all over smiling and dancing as if we were right at home. The interest and enthusiasm for the music we are making is incredible.
Speaking of home... Bellingham, there's no better home to return to than you. You sent us off with an unparalleled party of epic proportions at the Green Frog for St. Patrick's Day, and you always welcome us home with a smile.
Just for that, we have something very special in store for you! As you all know, we have been slaving away finishing up our second full-length album. We are almost done and are preparing to thow the party of the year at the beautiful Majestic Ballroom on May 11th. We have lots of surprises in store! Stay tuned in here on the site, as well as on Facebook and other social media sites. Keep an eye out downtown for posters about the event!
see y'all soon! stomp
Well, these days a month off just ain't a month off. Though we were absent from the stage for the duration of the first month of the new year, we certainly stayed busy!
We are so happy with the progress of the album. We spent a lot of collective time and effort in different studio settings this month exploring new, exciting and uncharted Polecat territory! We are feverishly anticipating the album's completion and and can hardly wait to get it into y'all's hands in May 2013.
February will bring us back together on the road and the stage to get back in touring mode with some great local and regional shows at some of our favorite spots. Check the calendar and come stomp with us! March is going to be one of the busiest months in our career as we will will travel all over the west coast into WA, OR, MO, ID, CO (for the first time!!), UT, CA etc! We are very excited to bring the stomp to some new thriving scenes this winter. We have already booked and are continuing to book a lot of awesome festivals for spring and summer. We will keep y'all posted on everything that we are doing as things continue to fill up for the year.
Our appreciation and gratitude for the city we live in and fans we have becomes more and more overwhelming every year. This year we were once again nominated for two catagories in the What's Up! Magazine awards: Best Live Band and Best Highway Americana. Thanks to all of you who voted! We won them both and couldn't be happier for the support and recognition. In a town with an endless well of talent and enthusiasm, it's so special to be recognized. Thank you all!
We made it!! Happy New Year everyone and thank you for all of your support and enthusiasm in 2012. We stomped in the new year with style along side our good friends the Polyrhythmics. We had rockin' shows in Seattle at the Crocodile and in Portland at the Edgefield Mcminamins. A big thanks to all of you who came out!
Here's the scoop: we are taking January off to rest up from a crazy year of touring and get ready for an even crazier one. Our new album is well under way and we will continue to focus on it this more as we get ready for another year of live Polecat starting in February. Our album release date it set for late spring/early summer and we are so excited to bring you Polecat version 2.0.1.3! Until then, catch us at some of the great venues coming up including Wintergrass in Bellvue (check it out here) and many more!
We hope that everyone had a very happy Thanksgiving and restful holiday break! The turkey coma seems to have finally worn off. That means only one thing... back to work!
Wednesday we leave for a short tour though California with stops in Chico, Sacramento, San Francisco and Arcata. We are very much looking forward to getting down south into some sunshine.
After that we return to lots of rehearsing and a killer weekend of shows in Oregon and Washington including two themed shows with one of our favorite bands on the circuit, Fruition. Check them out HERE. We start our themes with "Western Formal" at the Star Theater in Portland, Oregon on Friday December 7th (more info HERE). Then, we bring them home to the Wild Buffalo for Saturday December 8th's "Canadian Tuxedo Night!" Portraits a Go Go (www.portraitsagogo.com) will be joining us to add to the party. We will be posting give-aways to Twitter (go to Polecat's Twitter page HERE),Facebook (more info HERE) and here on our site for this show over the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned to win great prizes!
But the excitement doesn't stop after that. December 17th we hit Bear Creek Studio to hole ourselves up for five days and record a brand new stompin' album for spring/summer 2013! We can't wait to give you all the best record to date for our favorite time of year here in the PNW.
Y'all spread the word about all of the shows coming up and come dance, dance, dance and send us into the studio with all of the love and enthusiasm we know you have!
First of all, a huge thank you goes out to all of our contributors to our indiegogo album fund! The success will launch us into Bear Creek Studio in December even more motivated to provide all of our fans with the best album yet.
October proved to be another exceptional month for the band in many ways. First, Halloween is without a question our favorite holiday to play. This year we were pleased to bring the "undead" Court of Versailles to Bend, Oregon.
Halloween proper proved to be another Bellingham throw-down of epic proportions at the Green Frog as we unveiled Hellmo, Big Bird, The Count, Oscar The Grouch and Crackie Monster to a majorly sold-out and incredibly enthusiastic crowd of Sesame Street gouls. We love our hometown!!
We also had the pleasure of playing the Mt. Baker Theater with the legendary Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and participate in a two day run of shows with the amazing Infamous String Dusters!
We are gearing up now for a great run back into MT and ID. Then, a nice little break for Thanksgiving after which we will motivate our tryptophan induced bodies down the coast for a nice run to San Francisco and back!
Bellingham we want to see all of you out December 8th at The Wild Buffalo and classed up in your nicest denim to send us off into the studio with our Canadian Tuxedo Night romp with Fruition!! Y'all give us some more boundless love and energy to put into our next album!
See y'all soon!!
Summer just doesn't want to rest, but we must!
After a great run of shows over the last couple of months, we are taking a much needed rest in order to get ready for the upcoming madness of fall and winter...that's right, Halloween, a new album, and New Years.
We will be returning to the stage Wednesday, October 24th to open for The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at the Mt. Baker Theater! Following that we will be doing a run of Halloween shows: Friday, October 26th with The Blackberry Bushes at the Olympia Ballroom, then Saturday, October 27th at Mcmenamins Old St. Francis School in Bend, Oregon, and of course Wednesday, October 31st at the Green Frog for another wild and crazy Bellingham Halloween celebration.
November will put us back on the road as we will travel through Oregon, Idaho, Montana and California. After that, a small break and a lot of turkey will fuel us for Bear Creek Studio and the recording of our 2nd full length album.
Thank you all for your continued support of Polecat! We have a whole lot of fun in store for the upcoming months.
-polecat
So...much..happening...all..the...time...Whew! Well, summer is now taking a back seat to fall as the leaves are changing and there is a chill in the air. We have had an amazing summer and the fall and winter look to be the same!
July marked the busiest month for the band in our touring history as we spent the majority of the month on the road all over OR, ID and MT. We played some great shows to a lot of enthusiastic fans! We were blessed to be a part of so many great festivals and street fairs this summer including: Folklife Festival (Seattle, WA), Alive After Five (Boise, ID and Bozeman, MT), Ketchum Alive (Ketchum, ID), Subdued Stringband Jamboree (Deming, WA), Summer Meltdown Festival (Darrington, WA), Bumbershoot Music and Arts festival (Seattle, WA) and many more! Oh but wait, it's not over! We will be heading to Norther California to play the Humbolt Hills Hoedown Festival with some of our favorites this month. A bit more summer yet!
Here is some most exciting news for the upcoming months! Of course we are always very antsy for Halloween in Bellingham and this year promises to be a doozie. Be on the lookout for details. Around the fall holiday we will also be visiting Olympia, WA and Bend, OR for some crazy Halloween celebration! But, what's got us most excited is our return to the studio. With pre-production underway, we gear up to hit the glorious Bear Creek Studio in Lynwood, WA in December to record our 2nd full length album. Our goal: give every Polecat fan the most stompin' exciting music yet for their spring/summer 2013 adventures!
As always, make sure to keep up with our schedule right here on our site so we can see all your beautiful faces smiling in the crowd! See you all soon!
A great crowd at Bumbershoot in Seattle, WA!
Someone filmed this at Alive After Five in Boise, ID YouTube Video of 'Land Down Under'
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