Author Archives: colorway

Big March Of Music Is Upon Us Plus FAJ Solo Shows In Japan!!

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Hey gang,

Hope everybody made it through the storm okay and things are drying out where you are. I’m not gonna let Smarch fool me like it always does. There’s still messy weather on the way but at least we’re that much closer to spring . . . and that’s one step closer to summer. 🙂

Thanks to everyone who came out to Hawks and Reed last month when we played with rice: An American Band. We had a blast playing in a new room (for us) and I know that everyone who was there did too. Kara Kharmah posted a video of our new tune “Want To Be Everywhere” from the upcoming These Are The Days album. You can see that by heading over to our videos page.  You can also read a review and hear audio from that show right here. 

Brooklyn Tonight! (Saturday)

We’re about to head out to Brooklyn for a show tonight Saturday, March 3, at a rad place called Wayward Social. It’s in the Bushwick part of BK (at 35 Ingraham St) and looks dark, rad and real. The show starts at 7:30 (there are four bands) it is free to get in and we go on about 10:30pm. All the details are below. As always, if you know anyone in the area and could share this email with them, or invite them via our Facebook Event Page that would be awesome. 

Boston Next Saturday!

Then, a week from tonight, on Saturday, March 10, we will be at the intimate TOAD on Mass Ave in Cambridge for a nice and early set from 7:30-9:15. I’m super excited about getting to play here and I hope to see some of our Boston peeps out. It’s free and they have great food, to boot! Our buddies, the Jack Grace Band play the late set (at 10pm). Me and Jack go way back to the Drunk Stuntmen days when he used to book the erstwhile Rodeo Bar. Good times, they were. 

Winter Music Fest Benefit Next Weekend!

The night after that, Sunday, March 11 we are thrilled to be part of the Winter Music Festival, a three-day benefit concert for Homeward Vets, who help the valley’s homeless veterans. The whole thing happens at the World War II Club (The Deuce) and there is tons of music over the three days (see the lineup in the link above) but Colorway will be playing on Sunday at 6:40pmfor about a 50 minute set. Shokazoba closes out the whole event so stick around for that for sure. 

Tickets (available here) are either $20 a day or $25 for a three day pass. Even if you can only go to one day that extra $5 will go a long way to help out. 

Sheryl Hunter from the Greenfield Recorder wrote a nice piece on the fest. You can read that here. 

FAJ Japan Solo Shows!

To close out the month and ring in April I’m really excited and honored to be playing a couple of solo shows in Japan!

Friday, March 30 I’ll be at The Wex in Nishinomiya (near Osaka) and on Saturday, April 7 I’ll be at Good Heavens! in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. These are both absolutely free shows and if you will be there for the cherry blossoms or know anyone who will be please ether stop by or share this email.

And that’s about it, gang. Oh, and if you dig the new artwork at the top of this mailer that’s a little preview of the art for the new album, These Are The Days, which comes out on June 21, 2018 (pre-sale info coming soon). The photo of Colorway is by the estimable Julian Parker-Burns, the background photo is by the incredibly talented Jodi Nicholas, and the design is by Tom Pappalardo from Standard Design. 

We have a great spring and summer schedule shaping up. You can always go to our Tour Datespage to check it out and make your plans to come see us next. We’ll be so happy to see you. 

Thanks, as always, for your support, everybody. Hope to see you out at the shows. 

And on we go . . . 

~FAJ

PS: Make sure, if you dig what we do, to please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube or any combination of these. We realize that information comes at us all at a maddening pace (just like this email). And we would hate for anyone to miss out if they wanted to be part of a night of music with us. Thanks for staying connected . . . and appreciate those moments when we can live in the moment together. 🙂

 

 

Saturday, March 3, Colorway Plays The Wayward Social, Brooklyn, NY (TJO Presents)

Colorway will play a full set at Wayward Social (formerly Alaska).

When: Saturday, March 3
What time: 10pm
Where: Wayward Social
35 Ingraham St
Brooklyn, NY 11206
Directions
Public transit: L train to Morgan Ave
Ph. (347) 335-0419
Cost: No Cover!
FB Event Page

Saturday, March 10, Colorway Plays Toad in Cambridge, MA

Colorway performs a full hour and forty five minute set at one of the best and most intimate venues in the Boston area. 

When: Saturday, March 10
What time: 7:30-9:15
Where: Toad
1912 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
Directions
Public transit: Red line to Porter Square
Ph.  (617) 497-4950
Cost: No Cover!
21+

Join the Facebook Event Page here!

Stick around for the Jack Grace Band at 10pm

Toad on Facebook

 

Sunday, March 11, Colorway Plays The Homeward Vets Winter Music Fest

When: Sunday, March 11 (festival runs 3/9-3/11)
Colorway plays Sunday, 3/11 6:35-7:25 . . . Shokazoba closes out the night!!
Where: The Deuce (World War 2 Club)
50 Conz St (3.28 mi)
Northampton, Massachusetts 01060
Get Directions
Phone: (413) 586-3315
$20 PER DAY
$25 FOR ALL 3 DAYS
All Ages/ Kid Friendly Until 9PM
Advance tickets available here!.

Sunday schedule:

Color Killer -12-1235
Violet Maeve-1235-105
Mike Vallen-105-135
Buddy McEarns Band-135-210
Jim Eagan-210-225
John Cantallini Band-230-315
Orlean & Gabriel-315-330
Larry Dulong & Random Sighting-330-415
Seth & Ceremony-415-435
Mike Finnegan & The Tinkers-435-515
Singer Songwriter-515-530
Chicken Yard-530-620
Singer Songwriter-620-635
Colorway-635-725
Nate Martel-725-740
Beige-740-840
Chris Goudreau-840-855
Shokazoba-855-10pm 

A Benefit for HOMEWARD VETS
MUSICIANS HELPING VETERANS

Homeward Vets, aims to rebuild hope where it’s been damaged or lost. They work with veterans in need, who are underprivileged, and who are underserved, to rebuild their lives. Their focus lies on community efforts by educating and assisting veterans transitioning from chronic homelessness.

MUSICIANS HELPING VETERANS
This 3 day music event is brought to you from over 25 area bands and artists, vendors, collectors, community businesses and individuals coming together with the sole purpose to raise funds to support veterans transitioning from homelessness to having a place to call home. Funds raised at this event will go directly to Homeward Vets. Homeward Vets, aims to rebuild hope where it’s been damaged or lost. They work with veterans in need, who are underprivileged, and who are underserved, to rebuild their lives. Their focus lies on community efforts by educating and assisting veterans transitioning from chronic homelessness. Please check out their website at www.homewardvets.org

We look forward to seeing you at the shows and THANK YOU for the supporting Musicians Helping Veterans!

*FRIDAY MARCH 9TH KICK-OFF PARTY

*SATURDAY MARCH 10TH
The Fawns, Outer Stylie, Uncomfortables, The Leafies You Gave Me, The Bamboo Steamers, The Freqs, Celseìgh, Donut Kings, Graneros band, Bomber, Black Absence, Rest In Grief, Hanna Holman, Crowrider, The Prozacs, and more…

*SUNDAY MARCH 11TH
Colorway, Jim Eagan, Violet Maeve, The Buddy McEarns Band, Chicken Yard, Newton, Mic Finnegan & The Tinkers, Larry Dulong and Random Sighting, Orlen & Gabriel, Chris Goudreau, Beige, Shokazoba, Color Killers, and more…

$20 PER DAY
$25 FOR ALL 3 DAYS

All Ages/ Kid Friendly Until 9PM

Join the Facebook Event Page here!

Friday, March 30, F Alex Johnson Performs at The Wex, Nishinomiya, Japan

Alex makes his Japan debut at The Wex.
Brad Quinn plays at 8:30

When: Friday, March 30
Where: The Wex
203,205
Nishinomiya, Hyogo 662-0075
What time: 9:30pm
Cost: no cover
The Wex on Facebook

Saturday, April 7, F Alex Johnson Performs at Good Heavens!, Tokyo, Japan

Get your hanami (cherry blossom viewing) off to a great start with a stop in to Shimokitazawa’s best place for music and drinks. 

When: Saturday, April 7
Where: Good Heavens!
2F, 5-32-5 Daizawa, Setagaya-ku 
Tokyo 
Directions
South exit of Shimokitazawa station. Take a right, walk straight until you see the Mr. Donuts. Walk past and it is the second left from there and visible from the intersection. Just look for the British flag on the second floor.
What time: TBA
Cost: no cover
Good Heavens! on Facebook

Read what Time Out Tokyo had to say about Good Heavens! here. 
More here.

Alex J Performs Live On The Airwaves

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Check out a couple of interviews Alex did in advance of Colorway’s show with rice: An American Band on 2/17.

Click here to listen to Alex chat with Mark Bové on 103.3 WXOJ. Skip to 5:20 to hear Alex play “Always Been Summer” the single from Colorway’s upcoming album, These Are The Days out 6/21/18. Head to 21:30 to hear the title track.

Below you can hear him chat with Joan Holiday from 93.9 WRSI (skip to 4:00 to hear Alex play “Always Been Summer”.

Thanks for checking it out!!

 

The Shortest Month Has So Many Shows!

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Photo: Julian Parker-Burns

Hi all,

Hope everybody is doing well. 

Wanted to thank everybody who came out and filled The Parlor Room to capacity for two shows on First Night. What a blast. Here’s a video of one of the tunes from the second set. It’s a new song called “Keys To The Kingdom” and it’s gonna be on our next album which comes out 6/21/18.

Speaking of the new album, we’ve had a very productive bunch of days at Spirithouse Studios with engineering/production ace, Danny Bernini behind the board recording These Are The Days our third full length. Really looking forward to sharing the new music with you all. We are excited to have Chris Collingwood (Fountains of Wayne/Look Park) singing backups on two of the songs. We are honored, thrilled and blessed to have him be part of this new collection of songs. 

Though the official release date for These Are The Days is 6/21/18 (the first day of summer) make sure to mark your calendars for Friday, June 22 as that’s when we will be having our album release party at Fort Hill Brewery in Easthampton. It’s going to be a great time! We’ll have more info on advance tickets and special guests soon. 

You may have noticed a new band photo at the top of this email. That’s because one of the best photographers in the area came by while we were recording and took a bunch of great shots of us doing our thing. Julian Parker-Burns has been a part of my musical existence since moving to the valley in 1991. So happy he was willing to come in and work with us. You can see a bunch more of his pic right here. For anyone who may need photography done be sure to consider Julian. He loves what he does and it shows in his work. 

As for live music, February gets off to a running start with a bunch of great shows. 

This coming Friday, Feb 2 I’ll (Alex) be doing an early, two hour set at Fort Hill Brewery in Easthampton. The show runs 5-7pm and will be in the new music room that sounds sooo good! Come on out for a beer (or even a glass of the country’s best water) and hang out with me for a bit. Join the Facebook Event Page (and see who else is going) here. 

Saturday, Feb 3 we will take the stage at Luthier’s Co-op, also in Easthampton (one of our favorite places to play) for a show at 8pm. We’ll be showcasing a bunch of tunes from the new record. Kicking off the evening at 7pm is an amazing singer/songwriter, Rachel Mann. She has wowed the crowd at the open mic at Brew Practitioners so many time and I’m thrilled to get to see a whole set of her music (originals and covers). She’ll be joined by guitar ace Larry Dunn (all the info below). FB Event Page Here.

Sunday we rest for Superbowl 52. 🙂

The second half of February sees Colorway head north to Greenfield on Thursday, February 15 to make our first appearance at the Hawks and Reed Performing Arts Center opening up for a fantastic band, rice: An American Band. Advance tickets for that show are only $5 and available here and check out the FB Event Page here.

Rice has been making amazing music for many years now and we are honored to be a part of this show. 

Finally, on Saturday, February 17 I’ll be doing a solo show at Bread Euphoria in Haydenville, MA for part of their “Saturday Night Rise” series. Nice and early, once again, this show runs 5:30-7:30 and is absolutely free. I’m excited to play in Bread Euphoria’s new music room (nice to see so many new rooms for music!!). Come on out and get some amazing pizza (they have GF crust available) and a cup of Indigo Coffee and take it all in.

That’s pretty much it for the month, gang. We have a lot of shows in March, April, May and beyond. You can keep track of where we are playing right here. 

And remember to share us with your friends and anyone who you think would dig what we do. We can’t do this without your help so thank you for forwarding our email and for inviting folks to our shows via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram subscribing to our YouTube channel or just coming on out to see us. We love you for it!!

Rock on and see you at the shows!!

~FAJ

www.colorwaymusic.com

Friday, February 2, Alex Performs At Fort Hill Brewery, Easthampton, MA (solo show) 

When: Friday, Feburary 2
Where: Fort Hill Brewery
30 Fort Hill Rd, Easthampton, MA
Directions here
Fort Hill on Facebook
Phone: (413) 203-5754
What time: 5-7pm
Cost: FREE!! (tips appreciated)
This event is all ages!

Independent Music Award winner and Colorway guitarist, F Alex Johnson is back at one of the most unique places to see live music in the area: Fort Hill Brewery in Easthampton, Mass. On Friday, February 2, at 5pm come see Alex perform a full two hours of songs from his twenty-seven years of making music in the valley on the stage of Fort Hill’s new music room. 

Since it’s inception in 2014 Fort Hill has carved out a niche for themselves hosting local legends like Ray Mason, Bruce Korona and Wildcat O’Halloran on a regular basis early and free (and all ages) every week. Alex has become a bit of a staple at the brewery over the past two years where he is fond of imbibing some of the nation’s top rated tap water while playing to both beer aficionados and the under 21 crowd alike. 

Fort Hill Brewery is one of the areas best new places for fresh, craft beer made on premises. 

From their website: Our goal is to provide the Pioneer Valley with the best traditional German-style lager for a clean, refreshing taste you’ll always come back to. All of our beers follow the German purity law of Reinheitsgebot, meaning that our beers contain only four ingredients: water, malt, hops, and yeast. 

Not to mention they are the #2 thing to do in Easthampton according to Trip Advisor. 

Saturday, February 3, Colorway Performs at Luthier’s Co-op, Easthampton, MA

Come join us as we play one of the best rooms for live music in the valley.  Early and free!

When: Saturday, 2/3
Where: Luthier’s Co-op
108 Cottage St
Easthampton, MA
Directions.                                                           
What  time: 8pm-9:30pm
Phone: (413) 527-6627
Email: info@luthiers-coop.com
How Much: Free (tips appreciated)

Kicking this special night off at 7pm will be Rachel Mann, Rachel is recent transplant from Portland, Oregon. She brings with her to the valley a special blend of classic country sounds, heartbreaking originals, and tear-in-your-beer tunes that will leave you asking for more. Uncle Larry will be accompanying her with his special blues-driven guitar stylings. This one is not to be missed! See you there!

Thursday, February 15, Colorway Performs at Hawks And Reed PAC Opening For Rice: An American Band

Extremely excited to be making our first appearance at Hawks and Reed in downtown Greenfield (formerly The Arts Block). Colorway will play a 75 minute set opening for Rice: An American Band. 

When: Thu, 2/15
Where: Hawks And Reed Performing Arts Center
289 Main St. Greenfield, MA 01301
Directions
What time: Doors 8:30/Show 9pm
How much: $5.00 ADV/$8 DOS
Advance tickets here
All ages!!

Join the Facebook Event Page here!

About Rice: An American Band

Rice – an American Band was born in the summer of 2014 as a few friends got together to jam, and liked the results. A mutual admiration society developed and a love of performing music together was created. 

The band has already played clubs in CT, MA, RI, and VT. Festival plays already include Strangecreek Campout, Wormtown Music Festival, Jerry Jam and the Redneck Olympics and ski areas already include Stratton and Mount Snow. 

The band plays a combination of originals and covers including material from classic bands like Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Ray Vaughn. But lesser known material from bands like Woodbox Gang and International Anthem will play to fans like originals though they are written by past indie bands. 

See Rice: An American Band on Facebook.

Saturday, February 17, Alex Performs Solo at Bread Euphoria, Haydenville, MA

Alex plays two sets of tunes from his 25 years of creating music in the Pioneer Valley.

When: Sat. 2/17
Where: Bread Euphoria
206 Main St, Haydenville, MA
Directions here
What time: 5:30-7:30pm
Cost: FREE!! (tips/bread accepted)
This event is all ages!

______________________________________________________________________________

Remember, the new album is available at www.colorwaymusic.com on CD and 180gram vinyl, as well as at www.colorway.bandcamp.com for the digital download. And to celebrate a year of The Black Sky Sequined, through the month of May everything in the store is 20% off. But you can also pick it up an any one of these great Valley establishments. Support your local musician and support you local music store.

Turn it Up
5 Pleasant St
Northampton, MA

Platterpus Records
28 Cottage St
Easthampton, MA

Cup and Top Cafe (CD only)
1 North Maple St
Florence, MA

Electric Eye Records
52 Main St Suite 6
Florence, MA

Mystery Train Records
178A North Pleasant St
Amherst, MA

“No music, no life.”