U.S. Rubdown 5.

U.S. Rubdown 4.

WOW! In only 4.5 days since we 1st posted, we've already RECOVERED THE FULL $9,450 LOST IN THE EQUIPMENT BURGLARY!! To our fans, friends and family- thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!! We are entirely humbled by your generosity, spirit and support and are moving on recharged and inspired, all thanks to YOU! There truly are no words...

Our guitars were extremely precious to us, and we are doing all we can to recover them (details on the instruments below).

Being robbed of such dear belongings can make the world look like a dark place. However, any such feelings were quickly and vigorously extinguished by the overwhelming kindness of the community around us. We've left with a deeper appreciation for the music, for each other and for all who help make our livelihood and the livelihood of all artists possible. We never thought for a second we'd be unsafe spending an hour in a coffee shop with the van locked and chained in a busy, broad daylight parking lot (we normally bring the guitars in with us wherever we go, and will definitely be using part of the money to invest in a serious alarm system). Regardless, Jack was lent an amazing '76 P Bass and Curt found a gorgeous Nash Tele here in Toronto for us to carry on with, and the shows since have been excellent. 

We truly cannot say it enough. THANK YOU!

Love,
The Bright Light Social Hour

Tickets on sale now!

Friday afternoon in Saskatoon our van was broken into and we were burglarized of over $15,000 worth of our most beloved equipment, including Jack's custom P-bass, Curt's custom Telecaster guitar and Dr. Z amplifier, and nearly all of our luggage. We're trying our best to stay positive and move forward, but this loss will be a very difficult one to overcome. Therefore we're asking for your generosity and taking donations to help get us back on our feet and through the rest of the tour. Please follow the link to donate and find more details, including a full list of everything taken. Please pass this on, as even $1 helps very much. Although our insurance should cover roughly half of the financial loss, the guitars were invaluable to us, as they were built to our custom specifications and entirely one of a kind. Thanks so much to all our fans for your infallible support, and to everyone at Ness Creek Music Fest; a weekend deep in the woods with such loving people, great music and no internet or phones was immeasurably therapeutic.

Here is a list of everything taken. Information on any of the missing items would be deeply appreciated.
-Fender Custom Shop Telecaster, sonic blue with heavy physical wear (responds to Levon Helm) - $3450
-Fender Custom Shop Precision Bass, vintage blonde with heavy physical wear (responds to Harriet Tubman) - $2699
-Dr. Z Route 66 Amplifier, blonde - $1649
-Dave Smith Prophet '08 rack mount synthesizer - $1050
-Variety of DJ Equipment - $1700
-Luggage/personal belongings - $4900

The theft occurred between 3:30 and 4:30pm Friday, July 20 in the parking lot of Centre Mall (3510 8 Street East, Saskatoon, SK). The security video revealed that two males in a grey 2000's Dodge Caravan quickly and methodically dismantled our vehicle door lock and emptied it of valuables. Unfortunately no clear faces or license plate numbers could be seen in the tapes. The police have serial numbers for most everything and are doing what they can. Here are photos of the guitar and bass.

Thanks all, much love,
The Bright Light Social Hour

Just crossed back into the States after opening for Aerosmith at Festival d'été de Québec in Québec City. Wow. To all who welcomed us so warmly to Québec, THANK YOU! Please enjoy photos, be back down on earth soon...

Details here.
7.5.12: London, ON - Call The Office
7.7.12: Ottawa, ON - Ottawa Bluesfest
7.8.12: Ottawa, ON - Ottawa Bluesfest
7.9.12: Peterborough, ON - The Red Dog
7.10.12: Burnstown, ON - Neat Coffee Shop
7.12.12: Quebec City, QC - Festival d'Ete de Quebec w/ Aerosmith
7.14.12: Cincinnati, OH - Bunbury Music Festival
7.15.12: Maumee, OH - The Village Idiot
7.17.12: Chicago, IL - Double Door
7.21.12: Big River, SK - Ness Creek Music Festival
7.23.12: Thunder Bay, ON - Crocks
7.26.12: Hamilton, ON - The Casbah
7.27.12: Toronto, ON - Indie Fridays @ Yonge-Dundas Square
7.28.12: Guelph, ON - Hillside Festival
7.29.12: Guelph, ON - Hillside Festival
7.31.12: Providence, RI - Providence Social Club
8.1.12: Portland, ME - Bayside, ME
8.2.12: Cambridge, MA - The Middle East Downstairs
8.3.12: Amityville, NY - Ollie’s Point
8.4.12: Montauk, NY - The Surf Lodge
8.7.12: Philadelphia, PA - North Star Bar
8.8.12: New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
8.9.12: Washington, DC - DC9
8.11.12: Turin, NY - moe.down 13

Today we are very proud to announce we've signed a record deal with Maple Music Recordings in Canada. They'll be re-releasing our debut album across Canada, as well as helping with our next record. We're elated to join MMR's roster among the likes of My Morning Jacket, Fitz and the Tantrums, Radiohead and many more. Read Maple Music's press release here. 

Here's a list of our confirmed Canadian tour dates. Check back for more!

6.14.12: Toronto, ON - NXNE @ Horseshoe Tavern
6.15.12: Burlington, ON - Sound of Music Festival
6.16.12: Toronto, ON - NXNE @ Gladstone Hotel Ballroom
7.5.12: London, ON - Call The Office
7.7.12: Ottawa, ON - Ottawa Bluesfest
7.8.12: Ottawa, ON - Ottawa Bluesfest
7.9.12: Peterborough, ON - Historic Red Dog
7.10.12: Burnstown, ON - Neat Coffee Shop
7.12.12: Quebec City, QC - Festival d'Ete de Quebec w/ Aerosmith
7.21.12: Big River, SK - Ness Creek Music Festival
7.23.12: Thunder Bay, ON - Crocks
7.26.12: Hamilton, ON - The Casbah
7.27.12: Toronto, ON - Indie Fridays @ Yonge-Dundas Square
7.28.12: Guelph, ON - Hillside Festival
7.29.12: Guelph, ON - Hillside Festival
9.15.12: Victoria, BC - Rifflandia Music Festival
9.15.12: Victoria, BC - Rifflandia Music Festival

I'm sitting down, taking a breath, trying to work out the cricks in my neck and ouchin' something fierce. A.J. just popped in asking me to help him jump his car. I was wondering what happened to him, saw him last at Wakarusa two days ago when he decided he was gonna stay behind and see it out til the end, in spite of rumors of an impending hail storm. We've been on the road since SXSW, starting in Canada (so good to us) then counterclockwise to just about every corner of this handsome country. Last week we had a quick break in Austin where we picked up our freshly degreed PR and mgmt intern Kelsey for the final leg. Before leaving we were rehearsing a new one when suddenly the sounds of instruments transformed to screams. I turned around to find two giant snakes dangling from a rafter, twisting wildly (Kelsey just happened to be recording on her phone, check out the video). We tried to beat them out with a broom but they slithered back up into the attic. It turned out later they were just harmless rat snakes, but the pest guy confirmed they were definitely mating. Word. Anyway, the Texas dates were amazing, namely Homegrown Fest in Dallas where we got to hang with Austin greats Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears and The Octopus Project, and someone gifted me the biggest cowboy hat I've ever seen. Later our uninhibited Dallas hosts busted out the Franzia and the costume box, culminating in a surreal yet fetching game of late night backyard volleyball. 

From there we darted up the midwest to Ohio, where we kicked off the MidPoint Music Fest Summer Series in Cincinnati's Fountain Square. Opening were the hard, lovely southern rockers Buffalo Killers. If you haven't heard them you gotta check em out, they deliver the meat. A few days before, our original bassist Ryan (when we started the band I was just singing, doing some keys while Badcock, as he was known, held down the 4-string) called asking to be saved from his new home in Cincy and whisked back to Austin. We were more than willing, swooping into town for just long enough to do the show then through the night we rode to the magical hippie wonderland that is Wakarusa Fest in Arkansas' Ozark Mountains. We set up camp and felt right at home among all the great music and friendly madness. 

After our Saturday evening set we rolled down to the tucked away Satellite Stage to enjoy the late night DJ sets. As soon we got settled into the vibe the blaring music stopped abruptly and a voice came over the sound system urging everyone to get back to their camp sites immediately, as there were severe storms, massive hail and tornadoes in the area about to come through. Everyone snapped back to reality, and the frantic mass exodus left poor Kelsey saying her prayers (btw - she really took the whole touring and being stuck in a van with a bunch of stinky dudes thing like a total boss). The mood was lightened by a kid in the crowd repeatedly yelling, "I don't want to die a virgin!" Of course, after we woke up everyone in our camp and forced them from the tents into the van, it rained for 15 minutes then all was perfectly fine. In the morning we were all awakened, still sitting upright in Vaniel, by the frantic stage manager asking where the hell we were. We rushed over to the Outpost stage, where somehow we put on a decently lively and together show for a surprisingly lively bunch. We wished our Saskatchewanian pals The Sheepdogs good luck, caught a few of their juicy tunes and darted out just in time to miss the next incoming storm.

It's great to be back home for a minute. Later today the rest of the guys are coming by, and we'll get to work on some new tunes uninterrupted for the first time in a long time. Wait, scratch that, Alex just reminded me in 8 days we're flying to Toronto for NXNE. But after that we'll be uninterrupted for a good while (2.5 weeks?) before heading back to Canada for even more killer festivals. Anyway, here's some photos. Stay in touch!

Love,
Jack

We're very excited to announce that we'll be performing at this year's Wakarusa Music Festival at Mulberry Mountain in Ozark, Arkansas May 31st - June 3rd! We'll be performing TWO SETS and joining the ranks of tons of phenomenal bands including The Avett Brothers, Pretty Lights, Umphrey's McGee, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Fitz & the Tantrums, Girl Talk, Matisyahu, Ghostland Observatory, G. Love & Special Sauce, Keller Williams, Blitzen Trapper, Split Lip Rayfield, LA Riots, and many, many more. Check out our artist spotlight, filmed at our recent performance at The Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS. 

Purchace tickets and get additional info here. We'll see you there!