Just got this news flash from Hands Up Houston - pass it on:

On Saturday night after their Houston show, Engine Down's van and trailer were stolen from the parking lot of the Red Roof in on NW Freeway in Houston.

All of their gear, 3 laptop computers, cameras, merchandise and personal items are all gone. ANYONE WITH ANY TIPS or information about this crime should contact the Houston Police Department. Case #132442904T.

Also contact Lookout Records - Cathy Bauer, General Manager 510 450 8310 x22 or cathy@lookoutrecords.com

See the lookout records web site for more info. This sucks - help 'em out if you have any information, or make a donation to them if you're feeling really generous. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 12:03 AM -

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  Today, catch our friends The Lymbyc Systym, interviewing with Ian on his Sunday evening jazz show ... 6-8 pm on KTRU, 91.7 fm. (Bet you didn't even know Ian had a radio show did you? Well, now you do. Rumor has it he'll even play some tracks from the new Jacob Fred studio CD - don't want to miss that, do you?)

The LS guys will also be playing a show tonight at the Rhythm Room, so head on down there around 9:30 to catch the brothers Lymbyc doing their funky improvisatory thing. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 11:43 AM -

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  Another fine evening was had by all last night at Brasil. Nick played his heart out, and is now (sadly) en route to New Mexico, to figure out the next stage in his life (which will probably involve using his EE degree from Rice in some cool musical way.) We'll miss ya, Nick. We taped the show, so if anyone wants a copy, let us know.

Tonight, Ian will embark on a strange musical journey, playing a show with the legendary Linus Pauling Quartet. The group is making a rare foray to Rudz, supported by Austin's excellent ST-37 (and Houston's own king of weird music, Muzak John). The prophet will most definitely make an appearance. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 5:30 PM -

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  Tonight at Brasil, we'll play a farewell set with Nick Anaya, sax player extraordinare, who is leaving town soon. Nick has sat in with us on several occasions. Here are a couple MP3s of improvised jams we played the last time Nick sat in (May 28th at Brasil, with Thomas Helton on bass):

Jam 1 (MP3, 7:16, 8.5 MB)
Jam 2 (MP3, 5:10, 6.1 MB)
Jam 3 (MP3, 8:46, 8.4 MB)

This is heavy stuff. Don't listen right before swimming, or while operating heavy machinery.

So, if this is your idea of a good time, Brasil is the place to be tonight. Save room for dessert. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 9:00 AM -

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  We spent the early part of the evening yesterday over at Essential Sound, mastering Leap with Allen Corneau. The audio quality is fantastic! The artwork is being finished as we speak, and it'll go to duplication next week.

After leaving the studio, we headed over to Super Happy Fun Land to catch The Lymbyc Systym. These guys were outstanding! Super high energy, great communication. To quote Brad Martin of the Psychodillos:

For those of you that snoozed on Wed night. Lymbyc Systym (out of Phoenix) played at Super Happy Fun Land; these kids are absolutely amazing! Fans of MMW and/or Drop Trio will eat this sh*t up. The good news is that they'll be back this Sunday night at The Rhythm Room at 9:00 PM sharp, followed by the GoodTrain Sessions. Save a little energy for Sunday this weekend. You'll be glad that you did.

Hear hear. And you can catch them on KTRU being interviewed at 6pm on Sunday, too. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 12:29 PM -

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  There's a great show TONIGHT (Wednesday) at Super Happy Fun Land. It's a nationally touring band called The Lymbyc Systym. They're an awesome instrumental drums and keys duo (two brothers). This show is a last minute addition to their schedule, which is why you haven't heard much about it. Here's the dirt:

The Lymbyc Systym
Super Happy Fun Land - 2610 Ashland (The Heights)
Wednesday, Aug 25th - 9pm (doors at 8) - $6
http://www.lymbycsystym.com
http://www.superhappyfunland.com

You can catch 'em again Sunday (8/29) interviewing on KTRU (91.7 FM) on Sunday at 6pm, and later that night at Rhythm Room. Definitely go by Super Happy Fun Land tonight for an amazing show. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 12:05 PM -

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  Cool show on Friday night at Brasil. It was the first outing for the new Prophet 600, and it was immediately apparent that this little guy opens up whole new realms of sonic possibilities. Should also be an aid in working up our new prog rock song cycle, "The Robot Suit Trilogy". Haha. Um, that's true, actually. Anyway, thanks for coming out, we appreciate you.

Also, thanks to Joe Montes from Smokin' Joe's Roadhouse on KPFT for the shout-out yesterday. Joe was at our show on Friday night, in the front row, and he's kicking around plans for a Drop Trio-based supergroup to throw down some Saturday this fall for a live broadcast of Joe's Roadhose. Look out for it ... 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 3:33 PM -

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  Tonight, we're descending upon Brasil in our semi-weekly ritual: funk jazz fridays. We've got a new tune that we wrote this week, which will be making its debut tonight, along with the aforementioned Prophet 600. So come on down and get your weekly dose. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 9:16 AM -

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  Ian just picked up a new toy this week. It's a Prophet 600, picked up from a new friend named Mike R. We had a practice last night and got to unleash its sonic brutality for a few minutes. OK, well, maybe sonic brutality is the wrong phrase. Anyway, it's really cool, and makes tons of weird sounds.



Rumor has it Ian might try it out at Brasil this week. Be warned.

(Also, just a reminder to anyone who didn't get the memo - our show with the Mike Clark Trio originally scheduled for tonight was cancelled a couple weeks ago, so don't go showing up at the Meridian looking for us. Stag's head, maybe, but not the Meridian.) 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 4:56 PM -

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  Check it out - Drop Trio was just invited to play a showcase in the North Texas New Music Festival, which is held in Dallas at the beginning of October. We don't know our time slot yet, or any of the other bands who'll be playing. More info will come as soon as we've got it. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 2:23 PM -

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  We had an excellent time yesterday at Revolution (in Bryan, TX). The show went off without a hitch.

Wish we could say as much for the journey, though. As Patrick and I pulled out of Houston, heading north to pick Mike up in The Woodlands, we noticed the van's battry light had come on. No big deal, we thought; the engine started, right? But as we drove, the battery indicator slid steadily into the red. Despite the fact that Patrick and I have about as much collective car knowledge as a barbie doll, we realized that this is a "bad" thing. Fortunately for us, Mike has a pickup truck! So rather than risking it choking half way to Bryan, we made the executive decision to cram (and I do mean cram) our gear into the bed of the truck (thank God for good weather) and wedge ourselves into the front for the 2 hour journey.

Did we make it? Yes. Were we happy? No. Let's just say that we're much closer now.

Gnappy was playing when we arrived, and they kicked ass as usual. Their new material really shines. We are totally psyched to be playing not just one but three gigs with them (and Bagg) in early September.

$tephen, a fan in Bryan, was there to meet us with his video camera when we arrived. He taped the whole show, plus some "behind the scenes" footage including all 3 of us looking silly before and after the show. If you ever get a chance to see it, you'll realize why we stick to playing music and avoid stand up comedy (mostly).

Good looking lady: "My nickname is Mojo."
Ian: "Yeah? Mine is 'the singing duck'."
Good looking lady: (silence)

The set was incredible - 2 sets, actually - and we played till 2am. Everybody was grooving with us - we had a particularly cool run in Melody-Melody, which, even though it's a song we play a lot, never seems to lose its ability to inspire weird tangents and extended jams. We even had a dude get up and rap spontaneously in the middle of one song.

The trip home was ... well ... long. Ian chased some ducks around a Whataburger, Mike had an extended conversation with a hand puppet, and 1-800-MATTRESS was called at least once. We also learned that if Patrick falls asleep, it's best not to wake him up suddenly; he comes up fighting.

After dropping Mike back in the Woodlands, we transferred all the gear back to the van and crossed our fingers for the ride home to Houston. Obviously, we didn't cross them hard enough. 2 hours later, the tow truck driver found Ian and Patrick asleep in the van on the side of I-45, and there was a beautiful sunrise. Stupid car batteries! 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 2:06 PM -

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  We had an incredible time last night at Cezanne. There was a great crowd, and we were happy to get a chance to play with a real grand piano. If they weren't so heavy, I think we'd start bringing one to all of our gigs. :)

We got a recording of the evening, but the instrument balance wasn't great, so we're not going to post the whole thing. But here's a clip, for just a taste of what the evening was like:

- Second First (MP3, 2:09, 2.5 MB)

Huge thank-you to Bill (the bartender) and Erin (the waitress) - you guys make Cezanne a great, friendly place to be. Huge thank you also to Doria from The Red Pub for putting the show together.

We're heading east today, bound for Bryan, TX, where we're playing a show at Revolution (211B South Main). Spread the word to any Aggie friends! Gnappy starts at 9:30, Drop Trio goes on at 11:30.

And for those of you chilling in Houston tonight, you have 2 great choices. The Psychodillos are playing a special all instrumental jam funk set at Funk Jazz Fridays at Brasil. Also, over at Shoeshine Charlie's Big Top Lounge (next to the Continental Club - 3700 Main, Houston), you can catch Clouseaux's release party for their new CD, and the going away show for drummer Claudio De Pujadas. Go over and wish him well on his travels, and pick up a copy of their latest. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 9:23 AM -

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  Tonight, Drop Trio makes our debut appearance at Cezanne's, one of Houston's best jazz clubs (and best kept secrets). We'll start at 9:00pm sharp, and do two long sets. Ian will be playing Rhodes, Organ and Piano! We've got some new material, reworkings of old stuff, and free improv for you tonight. Best of all, there's NO COVER. See you there! 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 9:18 AM -

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  Sorry to inform everybody, but it looks like the show on Aug 19th at the Meridian with Mike Clark's Precription Trio has just been cancelled, due to lack of tour support.

Don't worry, it's not a big college town. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 10:51 AM -

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  Last night we played a last minute gig at a new place, Matthais', in north houston. They have a zillion kinds of beer, and we'll play anywhere that has that kind of beer selection. Plus, they have great food. Not a huge crowd, but the folks that were there got a sneak preview of some tracks from Leap, and a few of the tunes we'll be pulling out at Cezanne's on Thursday. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 11:43 AM -

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  We had a killer time last night, playing our second set at Brasil with Mark Sound. There were some incredible moments, including (but not limited to) a tribute to the late Mr. Rick James, and some wacked out sounds from a vintage "Sequential Circuits" keyboard that Mark brought along. If you missed out, we got a good recording of the show, just email us if you'd like a copy.

Next week at Funk Jazz Fridays, don't miss a special all-instrumental set from the Psychodillos! 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 6:49 AM -

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  Tonight at Brasil, come join us for Funk Jazz Fridays - a free evening of music from Drop Trio.

Tonight we've got a special guest guitarist sitting in for a few tunes - Mr. Mark Sonnier, a frequent contributor to the Free Radicals and member of the Rebel Crew, too.

Show starts at 10pm. Mmm, baked goat cheese ... 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 10:12 AM -

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  Breaking news: thanks to you all, Drop Trio was voted in as "Best Jazz" and "Best Funk / Soul / R&B" in this year's Houston Press Music Awards! And we have nobody but YOU, our listeners, to thank for it. So, thank you!! We also got critics choice in both categories, which was an unexpected bonus. Come celebrate with us at Brasil tomorrow night! 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 5:32 PM -

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  We had a blast playing the w-fest last night at Last Concert Cafe. The Cafe was packed, and we got to play sandwiched between Carolyn Wonderland and New Monsoon, which is better than we could have asked for. (Somebody told me we even had some of our set streamed live over KPFT, unbeknownst to us, which is pretty cool.) We ate watermelon, we drank watermelon, I think at one point I was even sweating watermelon. Ew. Anyway, we loved playing and hanging out with all the cool folks that were there. Way to go KPFT! 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 4:16 PM -

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  This is the Watermelon festival weekend! If you didn't already go by yesterday, make sure you head to Last Concert Cafe today to check out one of Houston's most original and enduring festivals, where tons of bands take the stage and spread the love of watermelon and music to the Houston masses. Drop Trio takes the stage tonight around 11pm, just before New Monsoon rocks the house, so make sure you get there!

NOTE: Just found out that our set goes 10:25 - 11:10 pm, so don't get there too late! 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 9:38 AM -

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