RM Tour Diary #184: Last shows of 2011!
 
Red Molly closed out the year with a weekend of NY shows and special guests!
 
Thursday night at Rockwood Music hall we were joined by Roosevelt Dime drummer Tony Montalbano. This show rocked - in a folk/americana Red Molly way. Tony will join us again on February 19 at City Winery!
 
Friday we played two shows at one of our favorite old stomping grounds in Piermont, NY; the Turning Point. We had our album bassist from Craig Akin play the upright on a number of tunes- and that bass line sang! Abbie's dad Herb Gardner joined us on the piano and on his very own invention- the Altoon! It was pretty much a party. 
 
We drove up to Schenectady, where we were greeted with a Holiday Parade on Saturday afternoon. We had a great big crowd in the GE Theatre as part of Eighth Step Concert Series. Pat Wictor opened the show and lent his slide-guitar skills to a few of our tunes at the end of the night.  We can't wait to return to this area on May 11 for a show at the 1100-seat Troy Savings Bank Music Hall!  We hear it has amazing acoustics.
 
Sunday we played our first show at Beacon Theatre in Beacon, NY. Our friend Anthony da Costa brought along a terrific fiddle player Eric Lee to open the show with him. We collaborated on a few tunes at the end which was so fun it was hard to stop grinning. We love playing NY shows and seeing old fans and Falcon Ridge friends! 
 
Now for some long anticipated R&R. Which will include- but is not limited to- sleeping, laundry, songwriting, yoga, reading, practicing our instruments, cooking, sleeping (it bears repeating) & general merrymaking!
 
Thanks for all the support!
Molly, Abbie & Laurie

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RM Tour Diary #183: Five days, Five shows, Five states!
 
But first- exciting news- "Light in the Sky" was #1 for Folk DJ's in October- and this week it was #13 on the Americana charts- between Tom Waits and Gillian Welch!
 
Our recent tour was exciting from the start. Tuesday afternoon we flew into Nashville and, as we walked through our gate, Abbie did a double take and spotted Alison Krauss with Dan Tyminski! After brief Red Molly discourse, Laurie grabbed the one copy of Light in the Sky we had on us and walked over to pay Alison a compliment and give her a CD. The pair was very friendly and Alison commented on the Dolly Parton and Buddy Miller tunes on our album. We like to imagine that she is listening to it right now!
 
Wednesday we played a few tunes on WSM with Joe Limardi - Opryland was in the middle of getting its holiday makeover - and ran into our buddy Jim Lauderdale as well. Wednesday night we played to a nice crowd at the historic Bluebird Cafe. Our friend Amy Speace (co-writer of "It's too Late to Call It a Night") showed up just in time to hear us sing the song!
 
Thursday we drove the backroads towards Madisonville KY to play at the Glema Mahr Center for the Arts. And Friday night we headed to Charlotte's Web performing arts center in Rockford IL. Both of these venues have wonderful sound and lighting to boot- we love this! And we must thank Mary's Market in Rockford for hooking us up with some seriously good eats.  Best mac and cheese ever. 
 
Saturday we made our way to Goshen IN to play at LVD's. Our presenter Elva took pictures of us beside his beautiful 1940 Pontiac, which he says is named Red Molly. The whole crew here took good care of us. Special thanks to Al Kniola of WVPE who helped to promote the show and gave us a great intro. 
 
Sunday we returned to the Benton Harbor MI for our second show at the Livery - a terrific micro-brewery and restaurant. We had more time to spend in Benton Harbor this trip and went to the beach! It was a windy, grey day with choppy surf and half a dozen kites flying overhead. The Red Molly magnets on our rental van tipped off one family and Abbie was approached by a little girl who wanted to give her a rock … they traded. :) 
 
We are having lots of fun playing through the album start-to-finish. Just 4 more shows this year until our winter break.
 
Thanks for checking in!
Molly, Laurie & Abbie

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RM Tour Diary #182: New England's Finest... shows!
 
This weekend Red Molly traversed up and down New England for some wicked-fun CD release shows. We decided to play down the songs from the CD start to finish, with the help of some special guests. What a treat to have so many enthusiastic fans at these shows. 
 
Also this weekend our MOUNTAIN STAGE show aired- you can hear lots of good music including our set, as well as hear Vince Gill say nice things about us!
http://www.mountainstage.org/mtnstageaffiliates.aspx
 
Thursday night we returned to the Flying Goose in New London NH for a sold-out show. We love this lovely supper club- especially dinner. :) Friday we appeared on WFUV, Boston with the funny and feisty Dave Palmater. It's always a pleasure to visit WFUV!! 
 
Friday night at the Narrows in Fall River, MA. our buddy Chris O'Brien opened the show for us. Chris always blows us away with his voice and songwriting and this time had us rolling with laughter at some youtube videos backstage. (Clean ones, mind you - mostly involving cats). We also loved the Lego sculptures in the gallery and the ceramic rings we were gifted!
 
We drove back up to Vermont Saturday for a show in Randolph. The Chandler is a gorgeous old theatre and we were lucky enough to have long-time Red Molly side-guy Jake Armerding join us. Jake is a wonderful singer-songwriter and has played on our last three albums. He kicked the night off with a beautiful opening set and played mandolin and violin though out most of our show. What a wonderful venue and audience- we love Vermont!
 
We headed South again on Sunday and played two packed shows at legendary Club Passim in Cambridge, MA. Jake joined us for our sets there and we also employed the help of our friend Eben Pariser, singer and bass player of the Brooklyn-based band Roosevelt Dime for a few tunes. Opening both shows we had a reading by Scott Alarik from his new book, Revival: A Folk Music Novel. It was inspiring! 
 
Many thanks to promoters and sponsors and fans for making this weekend so much fun.
Molly, Abbie & Laurie

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MOUNTAIN STAGE!
We performed on this legendary radio show (with 4 other artists including VINCE GILL) back in August.  It's airing over the next week, starting October 21.  Click the here to see which NPR stations carry this wonderful show:
http://www.mountainstage.org/mtnstageaffiliates.aspx


 
 
RM Tour Diary #181: Red Molly loves Fall!
 
After three weeks off and the release of our new CD, Red Molly stayed close to home for our first CD-release shows. We've been playing mostly songs from the new album, with a few old favorites for good measure! 
 
Friday afternoon we appeared on Bethlehem's WDIY where we played a few tracks from "Light in the Sky" live in the studio. The three of us picnicked in the glorious Fall air before heading to Godfrey Daniels to play our 6th show at this historic venue! The sold-out crowd was overflowing and a few hard-core fans lingered in the lobby for wafts of song. We unveiled our new T-shirts at this show and they were a hit!
 
Saturday we headed to Music at the Mission in West Milford, New Jersey - Jersey may be the home of our rowdiest fans! We love it. It was our second show at this venue and we were joined by local favorites Mike Baglione and Anne Loeb as our opening act. This gig was noteworthy in part because we were served turkey w/ stuffing and cranberry sauce as well as hot spiced cider. Ahhhh Fall!
 
Lots of Northeast shows coming up and a trip to TN, KY, IL, IN & MI before the year is out!! Hope to see you at a show soon.
Thank you fans for keeping us going!
XO Molly, Abbie & Laurie

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TODAY'S THE DAY!  Here it is:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/RedMolly22

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ONE DAY TO GO! - "Light in the Sky" CD Release Date: October 4
Tomorrow's the big day!  We'll post a link soon so you can hear, see and buy the album.  YAHOO!

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ONE WEEK TO GO! - "Light in the Sky" CD Release Date: October 4
 
This week, we're having another FACEBOOK TRIVIA CONTEST, this time with harder questions!  The first person to answer all three of these questions correctly will get:
-A free advance copy of our new CD "Light in the Sky"!
-A free Red Molly T-shirt!
 
1. What instrument did Abbie play in her high school marching band?
2. What is Molly's favorite quote from our October 2010 tour to Alaska?
3. What is Laurie's favorite festival food?
 

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RM Tour Diary #180: Thank you, MerleFest!
 
MerleFest, we realize, happens in late April/early May, but after the resounding applause whenever we mentioned MerleFest at all of our shows this past week, we have to attribute our large crowds in North Carolina to this great festival!
 
100 people showed up to our Tuesday night show at the Evening Muse in Charlotte (party animals). We love this place!  Next we played to a sweet little theatre of folks in St James, NC, called Playhouse 211. Our good buddy Marc Douglas Berardo opened both shows and kept the audience and Red Molly entertained with his moving talent and his witty ways. 
 
Thursday we headed to Morehead City- but not before a quick stop at the beach where we laid in the sand and jumped in the surf! Our second show at the Crystal Coast Civic Center was a ton of fun, and we fell in love with our opening act Drew Wright from the first song, Lyle Lovett's "If I Had a Boat". Drew: sweet as pie. Oh- and some very kind fans picked up our dinner tab at Snapperz before the show- we must be in the South. 
 
Friday night in Durham, Strings Attached concert series was the place to be! The sound was perfect and the audience was wildly enthusiastic. We had one young fan dancing around in pink sequined sneakers, mimicking our stage movements and even being our roadie at the end of the night. And then we were asked to sign the green cloth diaper of our smallest fan yet! Half the proceeds from the show went to Urban Ministries- a non profit feeding and finding housing for families in need. A feel-good show to be sure. 
 
Our last show on this longer tour was in Staunton, VA at Mockingbird Cafe. This is a great spot for live music with great food; grass-fed beef and local produce. Our friends Dan Navarro (of Lowen and Navarro) and the epically funny Michael Clem (of Eddie From Ohio) kicked off the night with a great opening set. We traded dirty jokes backstage and generally had a lovely time. 
 
And now for a few weeks off!
In the meantime, look out for the new CD, "Light in the Sky", releasing October 4. 
10-4 good buddy,
Molly, Laurie & Abbie

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TWO WEEKS TO GO! - "Light in the Sky" CD Release Date: October 4
 
This week, we're having a FACEBOOK TRIVIA CONTEST!  The first person to answer all three of these questions correctly will get a free advance copy of our new CD "Light in the Sky"!
 
1. What is the first and last name of the person who named Red Molly's 2008 album "Love and Other Tragedies"?
2. In how many US states has Red Molly played, since forming the band in 2004?
3. Molly Venter joined Red Molly in 2010.  Where did her first official show (as part of the band) take place?
 
*WOW- contest was won in 30 minutes! Yahoo! Thanks for playing :)

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RM Tour Diary #179: Rhythm & Roots
 
This weekend Red Molly was invited to perform at the Bristol Rhythm & Roots festival for the second consecutive year. 
The entire festival takes place within several blocks, there were 20 stages this year and State street is a buzz of music and vendors and spectators. There was no shortage of giant turkey legs and garbage bags of kettle corn and we lusted after instruments, jewelry and boots. 
 
We arrived friday afternoon to do a quick TV interview and then hammed it up for the local newspaper. High temp friday was only 64, so we were bundled up walking down the street when Laurie decided we should run at the camera man. He captured the wild shot and it made front page of the paper Saturday morning! You can see the fun shot on Facebook.  
 
We played three fun sets to three great crowds and caught other acts like the Greencards, the Quebe Sisters Band, and Folk Soul Revival- a local group with a lot of soul! We felt especially famous when John Oates (of Hall & Oates) came to our Saturday show and told us "Vince Gill said I needed to see you gals." :)
 
Sunday we played to a full house at Mack & Mack in Greensboro, NC. It felt like walking into a room full of friends- the audience was so warm and responsive. We had a wonderful time there and were soooo appreciative of the swanky accommodations our presenter Bill Payne found for us. What a great way to start our NC/VA tour!
 
Thanks for the support!
Molly, Abbie & Laurie

THREE WEEKS TO GO! - "Light in the Sky" CD Release Date: October 4

This week, have a peek at our brand new T-shirts by visiting
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Molly/20466566337
 
T-shirts will be available at shows starting on the CD release date (October 4)!

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RM Tour Diary #179: Sisters!
 
Allrighty so maybe we say this often, but seriously, Sisters Folk Fest in Oregon is the greatest!!
 
We flew in a day early on the advice of festival director Brad Tisdel. And boy we were glad we did. Sisters Oregon is a sweet little town set in central Oregon's pine forests, about 30 minutes from Bend. Nearby fires didn't seem to faze the locals as they came out in droves for the festival. There was a bit of smoke in the air the final day of the festival, otherwise it was a picture perfect setting! 
 
With a day off to enjoy the music, we were able to watch our friends Dala, Matt the Electrician and Cahalen Morrison & Eli West. Saturday we caught two moving shows by Johnsmith and Mary Gauthier. We had a wonderful time at both of our Saturday shows- the Sisters audience is both demonstrative and attentive. Later on, Joe Pug and the 100 Mile Band were as good as their reputation, and Willy Porter immediately became our new favorite! Sunday we were mesmerized by the ever brilliant Anais Mitchell, and bopped to Hoots & Hellmouth and JT & the Clouds. 
 
It was an incredible line-up and such a great spot for friends and families to gather and enjoy music. Festival goers even pitched in and stacked chairs when the music was over. Afterwards, Rebecca Sokol hosted an impressive artist/staff potluck. Sitting in the grass, eating salmon, curried rice, fresh greens & tomatoes beside fields of cows and mountains beyond was one of the more magical moments of Red Molly history. Thanks to the entire festival staff (with a special thanks to Jay Mather) for this fantastic experience. We love Sisters!
 
OH- and Abbie & Molly enjoyed their first boot shine on the trip home. Executive Shine at the Denver airport is the place to go- they even do "pay-what-makes-you-feel-good!" 
 
Thanks for checking in & hope to see you at a show soon!
Molly, Laurie & Abbie
 

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FOUR WEEKS TO GO! - "Light in the Sky" CD Release Date: October 4
 
NOW, with the release of Light in the Sky, our stickers are getting an upgrade too!
 
Just go to our Facebook page to see:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Molly/20466566337
 
As always, you can get your free sticker at all Red Molly shows.

Send us photos of where you've put your Red Molly stickers - we'd love to see where they end up!

See you soon,
Laurie, Abbie & Molly
 

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FIVE WEEKS TO GO! - "Light in the Sky" CD Release Date: October 4
Everybody's been asking, "Which songs are on the new CD?"  You have questions, we have answers.  Here they are!
 
1. Dear Someone (Gillian Welch, David Rawlings)  
2. Walk Beside Me (Tim O'Brien, Darrell Scott)  
3. Come On In My Kitchen (Robert Johnson, Arr. Abbie Gardner)  
4. Do I Ever Cross Your Mind (Dolly Parton)  
5. Oh My Michael (Abbie Gardner, Jonathan Byrd)  
6. Does My Ring Burn Your Finger (Buddy Miller, Julie Miller)  
7. Ghost (Mark Erelli)  
8. Hold It All (Molly Venter)  
9. Hello Goodbye (Abbie Gardner, Herb Gardner)  
10. Your Long Journey (Doc Watson, Rosa Lee Watson)  
11. By the Mark (Gillian Welch, David Rawlings)  
12. It's Too Late to Call It a Night (Amy Speace, Jonathan Byrd)  
13. Why Should I Cry (Mark Erelli)  
Bonus Track: Fever (Otis Blackwell, Eddie Cooley)  

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RM Tour DIary #178: We're not in Kansas anymore.
We came to Kansas to miss the storm at home! This trip marked state 33 for Red Molly. We flew into a very manageable Kansas City airport and were greeted by our friend Craig Akin's kind parents, who lent us their mini-van for the first leg of our tour. Thanks so much! And sorry again about the parking break. (;
 
Thursday we drove down to play at the Blue Door in Oklahoma City, a very cool little venue. The fabulous trio of Raina Rose, John Elliot and Anthony DaCosta, joined by Andrew Pressman on bass, opened the show.  Each of these fine people have great records of their own and together they are just dynamite! We were tempted to do some band-swapping with our twin mini-vans parked side-by-side, but we couldn't quite come to an agreeable arrangement.
 
Friday night we played our first show in Kansas to a sold-out crowd at West Side Folk concert series in Lawrence. Craig Akin joined us on upright bass for the second night in a row, helping to make this show super high energy.  He also played with our opener Cindy Novello, who delighted the crowd with her fast fiddling and lovely songs.
 
After the show we made tracks clear across the state to the Tumbleweed Festival in Garden City. We saw nary a tumbleweed in our 6 hour drive across Kansas, but when we got to the festival, (held at the Zoo), we saw Caribou and Giraffes and a man dressed in a giant dinosaur suit… Archeologist, "Mr Bones". We ran into our new friends Sons and Brothers from Westcliffe, CO, and got to catch sets from 2 Austin bands; Del Castillo and Carolyn Wonderland, making Molly homesick for TX.
 
Tumbleweed is a great 20-year old festival, and promoter Willis Pracht along with the whole festival team make sure to take good care of their artists and give listeners a great variety of music. Weather was a steamy 102 degrees, but there was lots of shade, shaved ice, and no tornados, so who can complain! 
 
We returned home to find wet streets and fallen trees but trains running on schedule. There's no place like home…
 
Next up: Sister's Folk Fest in Oregon! Check out www.sistersfolkfest.org to see the killer line-up.
 
Thanks for stopping by,
Molly, Abbie & Laurie

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SIX WEEKS TO GO!
"Light in the Sky" CD release date: October 4
 
Every Tuesday until our new CD comes out, we're doing something special! This week, we'd like to share the CD cover with you - Enjoy!

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RM Tour DIary #177: Mountain Stage!
This weekend we drove 20 hours to play 20 minutes- and it was worth every second!
 
Mountain Stage is a weekly radio show taped in front of a large audience and distributed worldwide by NPR. This weekend's show was held in Bristol, VA and featured Vince Gill, Jim Lauderdale, David Mayfield Parade, and John Lilly. Tickets sold out in 48 hours!
 
David Mayfield, our friend from the band Cadillac Sky, has put together a positively high energy project with David Mayfield Parade and currently tours with the Avett Brothers. Jim Lauderdale has written songs for the Dixie Chicks & George Strait, plays guitar & sings w/ Elvis Costello and Willie Nelson. Vince Gill has sold over 22 million albums and earned 20 Grammy Awards. In other words, we were in good company. And everyone was so friendly!
 
Magic moments include sitting side stage with the whole line-up, including Mountain Stage's top notch house band, shaking our heads in awe at Vince Gill's voice, songwriting and guitar playing. He is humble and gracious and also funny! He got a lot of laughs when he said, "Great to hear Red Molly- I wish I were a Mormon so I could marry all three of them…. just kidding y'all." During the ensemble encore Pretty Polly he subbed in Red Molly and we practically giggled and blushed. Awe shucks y'all.
 
The whole show will air sometime early October- we'll let you know. 
Thanks for checking in, see you soon!

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SEVEN WEEKS TO GO!
 
We're SO excited to let you know the title of our BRAND NEW CD!  It will be called "Light in the Sky".  And, the official release date is OCTOBER 4.  
 
In anticipation of the release, we're going to do something special every Tuesday, until October 4.  These Tuesday announcements will appear:
1) on the HOME page of our website (www.redmolly.com)
2) on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Molly/20466566337)
 
Today, we'd like to share with you this fun video we made at Dead on the Creek in Willits CA on August 6.  Enjoy!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl3ptimv2YU
 
xo
Laurie, Abbie & Molly

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RM Tour Diary #176: Ahh, California, we can’t get enough!
 
Our third trip to California in 2011, this short tour began with a stop in West Sacramento at the CSA performing arts center. The Thursday night crowd was half composed of Kate Wolf Festival goers and we were thrilled to see these new fans back so soon. Our lovely and amazingly talented friend Raina Rose opened the show, accompanied by Andrew Pressman on bass and their dog Hopi on stage left. We love playing shows with these guys! Check out Raina’s music at www.rainarose.com
 
Friday we returned to Freight and Salvage, Berkeley’s historic music venue. Nothing quite compares to this space and the sound they have. This was our third show at the Freight and we are finding our growing audience there to be quite boisterous and demonstrative. We love it! Raina and Andrew opened the show and once more wowed the crowd.
 
Saturday we drove deep into the backwoods of Humboldt County California for Dead on the Creek Festival. This is an amazing little fest that’s been going on for the last 10 years. Only 150 tickets are sold each year, and price of admission gets you 3 scrumptious meals a day and all the refreshments you can enjoy. It’s a family friendly festival with face-painting and tie-dye stations, a swimming pond, and an enormous parachute that shields listeners from the sun. It was a magical show and we’d love to come back!
 
We ended the trip on Sunday in lovely Sunnyvale. House concerts are such sweet community builders, and these Californian’s sure know how to throw a potluck! Sunny and cool, it was a beautiful scene. “Wow,” Abbie gawked, “There are oranges growing on the trees here!” To which Laurie and Molly responded by bursting into a rendition of Lemon Tree by Peter Paul & Mary. (Our parents clearly listened to a lot of folk music). Thank you Bruce and Heather!  
 
Next stop- Mountain Stage! The show will be syndicated on national NPR stations across the country. We’ll keep you posted on the details.
 
Thanks as always for all your continued support!
Molly, Abbie & Laurie

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RM Tour Diary #175: Heat Wave! Lemonade & Lobster Rolls
 
Red Molly took to the road for 10 days in the Northeast last week. First we partook in the Prescott Park Americana Festival in Portsmouth, NH. What’s better than playing a festival with Mark Erelli & Jake Armerding and Lori McKenna? Eating fish & chips under a tree with these fine folks! This show was brought to you by Mad Mission Booking Agency. J Thank you Lori Peters!
 
Sunday we played at “Higher Ground” in Burlington, VT. This is a great big established venue with lovely sound and lovely staff! Nice reprieve to be indoors during festival season. Thank you Vermonsters for supporting us and treating us so special!
 
We had three luxurious days in Cape Elizabeth, ME thanks to Molly’s family friends the Rintels! We went boating, swimming, running- Abbie and Molly are making themselves sore from jogging in these new-fangled “5-toed shoes”. Very fun. We practiced songs, worked on art for the upcoming CD and enjoyed lemonade and lobster rolls. Thanks tons to the Rintel family for hosting the band!
 
Thursday we headed into Portland for a television taping at WSCH channel 6, you can see us here! http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=166384
 
Next we drove to the Ossipee Music Festival in Hiram, ME. Like many states last weekend, Maine enjoyed record high temps. Festival-goers scattered into shady spots and found reprieve in the river, though they were not deterred from their musical enjoyment! We loved hearing the Wiyos and Sierra Hull’s band.
 
We’d been expectantly schlepping around rain boots for 10 days in anticipation of the Falcon Ridge Folk Fest so, naturally, there was no rain! Returning to “the scene of the crime” as one fan said, we had a terrific trio workshop with “Red Horse” - John Gorka, Eliza Gilkyson & Lucy Kaplansky, and “Brother Sun” – Greg Greenway, Pat Wictor and Joe Jencks.  
 
We were honored to be a part of a very special tribute to the late, great, Jack Hardy. Musicians came out of the woodwork to pay homage to this great songwriter and inspiring teacher.
 
We played our main stage set on a beautiful Saturday evening. We were joined by Craig Akin on bass and Tony Montalbano from Roosevelt Dime made a special appearance on drums!  We stayed late to watch Greg Brown work his magic on the crowd.
 
Sunday morning’s gospel set was not to be missed! We collaborated on several songs with Brother Sun and Susan Werner, who was joined by Trina Hamlin and Natalia Zukerman. It was such an inspiring mix of music and voices and ended with Susan in giant Mickey Mouse hands leading the audience to a clap-along. Good Stuff!
 
Next stop, California!
Thanks for checking in,
Laurie, Abbie & Molly

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RM Tour Diary #173: Colorado Rocky Mountain High
 
We had an incredible visit to our 32nd state! Swallow Hill Music puts on a Wednesday night series in Glendale, CO. It rained on and off that afternoon but by 6:30 a great crowd gathered at Four Mile Historic Park. There were horses, teepees and old wagons- the weather was mild and we tossed a Frisbee. During our set we had a brave young fan wander up to us onstage. We let our 4-year old friend sing a tune to the audience. She got so comfortable that she came back up during Oh My Michael and Hold it All and hugged onto Molly’s leg.
 
Thursday we drove north to Ft Collins to appear on KRFC. Our hour-long “Live at Lunch” interview and performance was delightful and went by so quickly! We played that night at Avogadro’s number. The place filled up and we had our buddy Justin Roth get up and sing a song from his latest album “Now You Know”. Back in 2004 it was Justin who convinced Molly to go to Folk’s Fest in Lyons - which is where she first met Abbie; ahh two young eager song-schoolers.
 
Friday we headed to Westcliffe to spend the weekend at High Mountain Hey Fever Bluegrass Festival. Started by Ron Thomason – whom Abbie grew up listening to at Grey Fox Bluegrass fest in NY - this little festival is perched at the edge of a stunning canyon (photos on facebook). The yellow and white circus tent seats about one thousand and the festival grounds can be walked around in 3 minutes. This makes for an extremely manageable and satisfying festival experience. No lengthy lugging of stuff, no rushing around, no frenetic “what am I missing” thoughts that often go along with larger festivals.
 
Albert and his small crew were working so hard to keep all the acts sounding great. Volunteers brought fresh baked goods and made us sandwiches in the small performer’s tent. Laurie sampled some of the BBQ from a vendor and told the crowd it was perhaps the most delicious meal she’d ever had. (We were pretty hungry). “Grillers in the Mist” was immediately swamped and ran out of pulled pork sandwiches. They didn’t miss a beat, and offered us complimentary Dinosaur ribs, which were about the size of our forearms. The grillers then whispered “next time talk about the brisket.”
 
The icing on the cake was getting to go to Ron Thomason’s for the annual performer’s barbeque. We gawked at mountains from the wrap-around porch and ate popcorn in his recently built movie theatre. (Horse training is significantly more lucrative than mandolin playing, Ron informed us).
 
We were so glad to be invited to these bluegrass festivals; one lady said to us “You bring the blues part of bluegrass.” Another fan complimented us profusely on our class and posture- oh my! Bradley Walker is our new favorite voice- http://www.bradleywalker.com And the band he shared with Alecia Nuegent was downright inspiring.  All these players were.
 
We can’t wait to get back to this glorious state!
Thanks for all the support friends!
Molly

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RM Tour Diary #172: California & Kate Wolf
 
Where to begin? Our long weekend in California was chock full-o-fun. We flew into Fresno Tuesday night and wasted no time finding sunshine and swimming holes. Wednesday morning we made a day trip to Millerton Lake where we hiked and swam in the 108° desert heat. We played an upbeat show at Fulton 55, a great new venue in downtown Fresno that we hope to visit again real soon!
 
Thursday we meandered up Hwy 101 to Redwood City. On the way into town we caught sight of a sign “Redwood City: best climate as tested by the U.S. government.” Hmm… What does this even mean we wonder? Well, it was lovely there. Ruth Gerson played a fine opening set and then saved the day with a back-up E string.
 
Outside of Club Fox on the town square, Jurassic Park was being shown on a massive movie screen. Partway through the first set we heard the gnashing of teeth and the crunching of metal thundering in from outdoors. It was pretty exciting. Abbie almost left the stage to watch! Laurie was once quoted as saying “If it [TV/Movie] doesn’t involve murder or dinosaurs, I’m not interested.” She told our audience that sandwiches recently made the list. We enjoyed this show immensely.
 
Friday we made a quick stop at radio 95.9 KRSH before heading to Sebastopol for our second show at the Hopmonk Tavern. Guayaki Mate is headquartered in Sebastopol, and we’d been looking forward to returning to this venue and enjoying the fully stocked green room since our February show here (fully stocked with delicious mate that is; we were a bit hopped up by show time). Three Legged Sister, a local female trio, opened the show with some sweet harmony singing. These gals are lovely.
 
And finally: the Kate Wolf Music Festival! This was our first-ever festival in California and we’re not sure we’ll be able to top our experience here. The friendliness of concert-goers, volunteers, and musicians alike reminded us of the Kerrville Folk Festival & Rocky Mountain Folks Fest. We caught incredible sets by Houston Jones, The Wailin’ Jennys, Jorma Kaukonen (founder of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna), Mavis Staples and more. It was epic.
 
We played two shows to a hugely responsive audience; Californians are a happy bunch! We ate incredibly fresh and delicious food and even got massages. Now I feel like we’re bragging! We were very grateful to Duck and Weezie, the backstage massage volunteers. We think you guys should make a bumper sticker: “We got Ducked and Weezied at Kate Wolf”. Too much?
 
We spent a long time meeting new fans and signing CDs after our main stage set, and then an even longer time at our favorite clothing booth “Synergy”. Just keeping that festival economy flowing. J Thanks so much to Cloud Moss, Chris Bramble, and the entire staff!
 
In fact, thanks to all the fans and presenters that keep us coming to California; we’ll be back in 6 weeks!
Yeeehaw
Molly, Laurie & Abbie

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RM Tour Diary #173: Hot & Cold
 
If you live in New England, you know this past week went from 97 to 57 in a few days. Abbie's dad Herb Gardner came to our show Saturday and noted, "this part of the country doesn't have spring, just alternating days of summer and winter."  Someday soon we will learn to pack for this. 
 
Anyhoo- just two shows this past week. "Woodbridge Wednesdays"; a free outdoor concert series in Woodbridge New Jersey, a mere 30 minutes from our Jersey City hub! It was quite a steamy day and we brought Craig Akin to the show so he could rip it up on bass for a few songs. He also drove the matrix home, which was extra nice of him. Lots of our long-time fans came out to the show, we're so grateful for your continued support!
 
Friday we had the marvelous idea of driving to New Haven early so we could rehearse and get an early start for Saturday's show in Hartford. We thought we'd miss the traffic by leaving at 1pm, alas. The drive took 4.5 hours instead of 2! We posted a few pics from our thrilling afternoon on the road and one facebook fan commented; "I-95 + Friday + 5pm = 0 miles per hour".  Indeed. But laying in the grass, rehearsing outside, and having the Venter family cook us hamburgers that evening made it all worth it. 
 
Saturday was rainy and teeth-chattering cold and our show at Tom Sawyer day was moved indoors to the Mark Twain House. This was a pretty fun scene, with much music and activities and children & adult pirates roaming the building. We were glad to be invited and want to thank those who drove several hours to the show! After our set we each got the very best hug ever from 3-year old Audrey after the show. *sigh*
 
Thanks all for checking in!
Molly, Abbie & Laurie

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RM Tour Diary #171: The Wheels on the Matrix go...
 
We logged another 800 miles onto the Matrix this weekend with a trip to upstate NY. (I know- such a round number!)
 
Friday night we played at Folkus Projects concert series in Syracuse, NY. It’s pretty neat when our fans do some serious travelling of their own to see us. One family came from Ottawa and encouraged us to play the Ottawa folk fest. How nice are Canadians, eh?
 
Saturday we headed west to Buffalo to play at the Buffalo Friends of Folk Music. Again, folks drove in from Rochester and Alfred. Caleb Hawley opened the show for us, and, WOW. Caleb is a true triple threat- he’s an incredible singer, a fantastically groovin’ guitar player and a wicked-smart songwriter. If you haven’t already, you should check him out www.calebhawley.com.
 
Both shows were played in small churches, which always makes for a sweet time singing a cappella off-mic.  Now we’re driving through the green, green landscape of Western NY, listening to comedian Mitch Hedberg, and drinking copious amounts of coffee.
Life is good, we thinks.
 
Thanks for your support, which makes this all possible.
Molly, Abbie & Laurie

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RM Tour Diary #170: Commence!
 
Thursday Red Molly drove down to Maryland for our first show at the Mainstay in Rock Hall. We've noticed that “school night” crowds tend to be especially rowdy- like they're getting away with something. Rock Hall audience was no exception, and included our presenter jovially hassling the crowd about their contributions to our “pay what you like” bucket. Good times. We even had several Merlefest fans come out to see us and bring friends- we love this!
 
Friday we played a gem of a gig in Hamilton, NJ at “Grounds for Sculpture”. This place is awesome. We walked around the gardens seeing live peacocks, rabbits, sculptures that fooled us into thinking they were actual people, and many more haltingly beautiful scenes. Abbie and I filled our I-phone cameras with ideas for the upcoming album cover. The sound was really spectacular and we had a camera crew there from NJ public television! Clips from the show, along with a short interview, will be airing Thursday May 19^th and will be available online NJN.net on Friday 20^th. We were especially thrilled to see many of our long-time fans filling up the first few rows.
 
Saturday we headed to Wellsville, NY for our third appearance at the Wellsville Performing Arts Center. The show will henceforth be known as “the gig Bill Pullman came to”. (Not ringing a bell? Think the president in Independence Day.) The house was packed to the gills, in large part due to our friend and long-time RM supporter John Anderson, who routinely brings 20 people to our shows in Western NY.
 
As the head of Alfred College, John Anderson also gave us the opportunity to play our first graduation ceremony. It was the 100^th year anniversary of the college so the commencement was quite a spectacle with an impressive Scottish pipe and drums group, a speech from NY Senator Chuck Schumer, and Red Molly singing “Does My Ring Burn Your Finger” and “Honey on My Grave”.
… Just kidding. John wisely asked us to sing Laurie's original tune “Beaumont Rest Stop”, “May I Suggest”, and “Imagine” by John Lennon.
 
I'm pretty sure I didn't enjoy my own graduation as much as this one. Special thanks to the guys at Sound on Sound out of Ithaca, NY, for making an enormous gym sound great!!
Thanks to John Anderson, all our presenters & volunteers this weekend, and to our fans.
We have the best fans.
 
Thanks and have a great week!
Molly, Laurie & Abbie. 
 

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RM Tour Diary #169: Merlefest 2011!
 
Holy smokes, we can’t say how thrilled we were to have been a part of Merlefest for the second year in a row. This festival, named after the late Merle Watson, has been running for 24 years- with a few greats like Jerry Douglas and Sam Bush appearing every year.
 
The weather was absolutely perfect – sunny and clear and warm. We spent most of Friday afternoon listening to great acts such as the Wailin’ Jennys and Jerry Douglas. Abbie was obviously in heaven getting to catch several dobro greats including Rob Ickes and Andy Hall. Jerry Douglas played the funkiest, most rockin’ set ever with Omar Hakim and Viktor Krauss. Laurie and Molly can sometimes space out during purely instrumental sets- but all three of us were on the edge of our seats for the entire show. Where can we get a copy of this brilliant set?!?
 
We debuted at festival this year with a short Friday night set on the Austin stage. Admittedly the thumping bass from the Doobie Brothers show made it slightly hard for Molly to hit her modulated notes in “May I Suggest” – but what was cool was how we settled right back in without getting rattled. Who needs perfection when you’ve got band-mates like these? 
 
Saturday we played Cabin Stage under the midday sun and later on the Americana Stage facing the setting sun. Glad we brought our sunblock and slathered up! All the sound-techs and MC’s here were quite a hoot to work with. In fact, artist hospitality was tremendous all around at this festival. What would we have done without all the on-demand golf cart rides to and fro every commitment? Laurie joked onstage that she was gong to miss them on her Jersey City walk to the subway. 
 
Other highlights: The Casey Driessen set was dance-tastic and Crooked Still blew us away. Lyle Lovett is as earnest and gracious as he is talented and we swooned while watching his set from the side of the stage. We were honored to have Greg Lizst of Crooked Still, a.k.a. “Dr Greg” join us for Can’t Let Go on the hillside stage Sunday morning. Red Molly signed our first few body parts and smiled for pictures until our faces hurt.
 
The experience was amazing and we hope to be one of those bands that returns to this festival again and again!
We love you Merlefest!
Molly, Abbie & Laurie   

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RM Tour Diary #168: Hope for Rhode Island
 
Last thursday the Mollie's basked in the first deliciously warm sunny day of the season. Then Friday we took off, as is our custom, with optimistically little in the way of jackets for the short Northeast Tour. Well, you probably know the rest...
 
Rhode Island was our first stop, where we sang at "Lily Pads" in Peace Dale. As Abbie donned Molly's guitar to play the title track off her new solo album, one listener piped up; "Hey Abbie, Hope is the Rhode Island motto," to which Abbie admitted that, indeed, the entire album is dedicated to the fine state of Rhode Island. :) Kristi Martel opened the show. We loved this place!
 
Next on the agenda, we played our 6th show at Circle of Friends in Franklin, MA. Jake Jacobsen was one of the earliest Red Molly supporters and started booking the band in 2005. This venue has killer sound, killer lights, and killer accents on all the volunteers. "Lhaaawry" is music to Laurie MacAllister's ears.
 
Pesky J Nixon (whom we met at Falcon Ridge a few years back) opened the show. This fun band travels with a life-size ceramic monkey- we're still not sure why. We really like these guys and the crowd enjoyed a raucous rendition of "Can't Let Go" at the end of the night. 
 
Sunday we traveled to Putney, VT, a cute town just north of Brattleboro with a very fine Food CO-OP. Chris O'Brien opened up the show for this Next Stage concert series performance. We were having such a nice time belting out songs in the green room that RM decided to join Chris on "Black Tornado". Oh, Dan Bern. Here, too, the sound was strikingly good. We're getting spoiled- as is appropriate. :) 
 
Tuesday- oh my, today! We are back in the studio putting the finishing touches on the vocals. Then, let the mixing begin!
 
Thanks to all our presenters and sound techs this weekend - and to Sarah, Mike Billy & Tony for meatballs and trampolines!
 
Can't wait to unveil the new album to you, friends!
thanks for the support
Molly, Abbie & Laurie

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RM Tour Diary #168: Tracking
 
Our first week in the studio was so much fun! Seven people tracking together, and Mark Dann manning the helm in his TriBeCa studio. Mark Dann (it’s impossible to call him just Mark) is a wizard with engineering, and the big band had a lot of laughs recording. Our friend Brenda Wirth came and documented the events with her camera. We tracked most of the instrumentation in two days! Jake, Ben, Craig and Herb were terrific!
 
Friday night, after scoping-out some fun festival-season dresses, we had a night of pure musical enjoyment. A few of us Mollies went to the concert and live taping of our friends in Roosevelt Dime. It was a foot stomping, sweaty good time in Fort Greene. We can’t wait for the live album!
 
Saturday we zipped up to Dobbs Ferry, NY to play at Common Ground Concert Series. We saw so many of our Falcon Ridge friends at this large and very full church! The delightful and talented Carsie Blanton opened the show, and our buddy Craig Akin joined us again on bass. Thanks Carter for organizing the show! The home-cooked stew was much appreciated. J
 
Now we put our recording hats back on- time for copious amounts of listening and singing!
Thanks for all the support!
Molly, Abbie & Laurie

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RM Tour Diary #167: Gearing Up!
 
Hello friends! Red Molly has been working hard and excitedly gearing up for recording our new album- we start tracking Tuesday! We rehearsed last week with full band; which will include Jake Armerding on fiddle and Herb Gardner on keys, Craig Akin on upright bass and Ben Wittman on drums. 
 
Here is a tiny video clip of the band at Abbie's house. (One fan noticed our unintentional product placement of Abbie's new solo CD. Perhaps you will catch a glimpse!)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpRbMEAbppo
 
Saturday we took the short trip to Bayshore, Long Island where we played at the Boulton Center. It's a big beautiful theatre and Scott did a superb job with the sound. Ahh we love playing venues with a big Marquee and a spotlight.
We promise to play Long Island Cowboy next time we play Long Island!
 
Look for video/ photo posts on facebook and youtube of our upcoming fun in the studio!
Thanks for checking in,
Molly, Laurie & Abbie

RM Tour Diary #166: Collaboration!
 
Friday night Red Molly traveled to Kennett Square, PA for two shows. We’re thrilled to be able to put on two shows at the Kennett Flash venue! The late show was especially rowdy and called out their requests at will. We were happy to oblige. We also told them of our newest discovery- the Microtel.
Now we’ll tell you, should this information ever be of use. A person of modest height can sleep comfortably in the window seat in all Microtel rooms!
Yup, you heard it here first.
 
Our friend Phil Minisalle opened both sets at Kenneth Flash with his sweet songs and bluesy voice. He brought a killer harmonica player Bob Beach, and Phil and Bob performed dueling harmonica solo’s during “Can’t Let Go”. Phil was also joined by bassist Craig Akin- otherwise known as “that wicked-awesome upright bass player from Abbie’s new solo album.” Look for more of Craig in the upcoming months…
 
Saturday we played in Hartford, CT, our sixth show at The Sounding Board! It was a very full house and Molly’s brother Josiah played a stellar opening set. We brought him back up onstage to sing a lovely duet of “Gulf Coast Highway” with the whole band. What fun!
 
Another perk at the Sounding Board is that some kind soul spends the day baking enough homemade goods for 150 people. When the crowd does not devour all of these truly exemplary baked goods, they are wrapped in tinfoil and stuffed into a suspicious looking Toyota Matrix parked out back.
 
Up and coming for this week; Red Molly rehearses with full band and Abbie debuts her solo album at Rockwood Music Hall- 7pm Friday!
 
Thanks for checking in!
Molly, Laurie & Abbie

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RM Tour Diary #165: Dance Train
 
Just a few shows close to home this weekend. Friday we split a bill with Vance Gilbert at Appel Farm in NJ. This was Red Molly’s fourth concert at this lovely venue. One of the real perks of sharing a show with someone is being serenaded backstage. That Vance Gilbert is a killer vocalist and played us one of his new tunes while we kicked our feet up in the green room. He also schooled us on vocal care. Oy vay.
 
Saturday we played in Brooklyn Heights at First Acoustics. This concert series has had a terrific line-up and great attendance for a series just in its third season. The Brooklyn crowd was pumped up! We had our friend Pat Wictor open the show, and our friend Andrew Green from Roosevelt Dime played banjo on a few tunes. At the end of the show, during “Can’t Let Go” with all five of us on stage, there was an actual dance train of people that came down the center aisle of the pews (thank you, Tony!) “It’s not a Red Molly show without a mosh pit”- was Pat Wictor’s quote of the day.
 
Also at Saturday’s show, Laurie and I were teary-eyed as Abbie debuted her gorgeous single “Hope” from her new solo CD! The formal release happens April 1 at Rockwood Music Hall in NYC. 7pm sharp people.
 
We are working hard to begin recording the new RM album in 2 weeks!
 
Thanks for all the support,
Molly, Laurie & Abbie

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RM Tour Diary #164: Oh Me Oh My-O
 
This weekend kicked off in Ohio. We flew into Columbus and played at a funky little spot, Rumba Café. With all the rain Ohio has been getting (and it was pouring that night) we were thrilled people came out to the show Wednesday night!
 
Next we headed to Bowling Green, Ohio to play the long-running concert series at Grounds for Thoughts. This is clearly a favorite community event and the place filled to standing room only, the energy was fantastic! Also we got gift certificates to the book store and café- really a nice treat.
 
Friday morning we woke up to a snow-covered rental car, and as we drove East to Peninsula, OH, the landscape turned to a real winter wonderland. People in Ohio are apparently ready for spring to be here- but it looked absolutely majestic as we pulled into the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. After a short interview with Tom Ball of Just Plain Folk, WAPS, we played a very fun show to a very full house at the Happy Days Lodge.
 
Onward to the Windy City! Saturday night we played the Acoustic Renaissance Concert Series, held in a pretty little church in Hinsdale, IL. All the seats were full and the audience was incredibly generous with their applause. “Looking for Trouble” by Steve Goodman and “May I Suggest” by Susan Werner were big hits to this Chicago area crowd.
 
We didn’t know what to expect Sunday night as we arrived for our first appearance in Benton Harbor, Michigan. We landed in a great spot. The Livery is a locally owned and operated brew-pub. They took us for a tour of their giant kettles and kegs and served us delicious food. By the 6pm show time the bar had filled up with eager listeners who clapped and snapped and sang along at every opportunity. We can’t wait to come back!
 
Again and again we noted how nice our Mid-western crowds were. The sound was exceptional at every show, so big thanks to our sound technicians as well as our presenters on this tour! Also to our Banjo lenders for saving the day.
 
Thanks to all for coming to shows and supporting live music.
Molly, Laurie & Abbie

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RM Tour Diary #163: Hometown Shows
 
PLEASE NOTE: THE SHOW ON MARCH 13 AT THE LIVERY HAS BEEN MOVED TO 6 PM!

 
This weekend the band played 5 shows close to home, starting at the Rockwood Music Hall in lower Manhattan. This venue has been growing in popularity for several years due to its cozy vintage vibe and tremendous sound. They recently opened a second stage with a larger capacity, and we played an upbeat set to an energetic crowd!
 
Friday we headed to the Katherine Hepburn Theatre in Old Saybrook, CT. This was Red Molly’s first show at “The Kate” and will not be our last! The space is gorgeous and they do a terrific job with sound and lighting. We were thrilled to nearly fill the 250-seat theatre. Molly’s brother Josiah Venter opened the show and Molly joined him for a few tunes, including Simon & Garfunkel’s “America”- a family favorite. There were some proud parents in the audience.
 
Saturday we headed to Natick, MA, stopping off for lunch at Abbie’s sister’s place where we were introduced to two velvety bunnies. Laurie kept her eyes (and hands) on the fluffy white one, but they don’t make good road pets. We played at TCAN that night for our second time. The sold-out show had great energy. In fact, during our encore of “May I Suggest” a beautiful young couple got engaged! That’s a first for Red Molly, and we were honored to be a part of the special moment.
 
Our two Sunday shows at the Turning Point were also sold out. This is a funky downstairs spot right on main street in Piermont, NY, and one of our favorite hometown gigs. Abbie’s dad Herb joined us on piano for both shows and we were all grinning ear to ear. One of Red Molly’s newest songs is a co-write between Abbie and Herb, so the audience got a special taste of the family magic.
 
On a side note, our friend Gordon surprised us by leaving a stuffed animal fox on stage - a reference to one of our Alaskan adventures. We just may adopt this fox as our mascot. 
 
Before signing off, we want to give a special shout out to one of our long-time fans Arpie Maros. He’s been a loyal Red Molly fan since the beginning and he makes delicious fair trade coffee. Check it out here: http://www.fairtradecoffee.org
 
Thanks for all the good vibes!
Molly, Abbie & Laurie
 

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RM Tour Diary #162: The Alliance!
 
Once a year, folk musicians from around the country, Canada and beyond scrape together their dollars and pile into rooms at the downtown Marriott in Memphis, TN. That’s right, for the International Folk Alliance Conference! With hundreds of panels, workshops, and showcases going on 9am – 4am, and nearly 2,000 musicians, presenters, DJ’s and artist reps, the conference is always very stimulating.
 
We had a fabulous time this year. We made a schedule of acts to see and often scuttled about in a little pod, making friends and catching some incredible performances. We saw old favorites and folks we like to cover like Darrell Scott, Jonathan Byrd and Lynn Miles. Some new faces like John Fullbright and Danny Malone, and for the first time we got to hear Abigail Washburn with her band. WOW- we swooned.
 
There’s a lot of spontaneous collaboration; Abbie played with Phil Minissale in his official showcase, Laurie sang with Cliff Eberhardt- leaving the audience verklempt, and Molly two-stepped in the lobby with Johan Wagner.
 
We caught several cool pairings including Jimmy LaFave & Stonehoney, AJ Roach & Nels Andrews, Robby Hecht with Rose Cousins, and the electric Elliott, Rose & Da Costa trio. There were bluegrass jams in the stairwells and cinnamon toast being passed out in the hallways. There were showcases where you had to cover a song of someone who was in the room. There was hooting and hollering as we rocked out to our favorite new Brooklyn band Roosevelt Dime - high energy “Steamboat Soul” music!
 
Last but not least we had so much fun playing our showcases, so thanks to those who filled up the rooms!! And a huge thanks to Louis Meyers and all of the Folk Alliance staff. It was a fantastic conference. Sleep deprived as we were, we didn’t want to leave! Now onto the Northeast and then Ohio!
 
Thanks for checking in with us,
Molly, Abbie and Laurie

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Red Molly Tour Diary #161: Astronauts & Grapefruit
 
OK so we didn’t meet any Astronauts in Florida, but we did eat copious amounts of grapefruit and grapefruit juice. Abbie and Laurie flew in without a hitch while Molly narrowly dodged the Texas ice storms – flying in a day early for the three-show mini tour.
 
Our first time in Gainesville was a blast- with ticket sales high enough to add a second show at the Phillips Performing Arts center. Playing two days in a row at the same great venue was a first for us. Easy load in, no sound check; is this what Vegas is like? Plus the team of folks working there made us feel especially well taken care of – they even recommended some muy deliciouso Cuban food. Thanks to Michael Blachly and the whole crew!
 
We had a short drive to Tampa where we played to another sold-out show at the Straz Center. The sound was immaculate, the light show a special treat, and the crowd super peppy for a Monday night! We tried giving them the Gator chomp we learned in Gainesville but apparently Tampa and Gainesville don’t root for the same teams.  Who knew?  We're grateful to Michael Kilgore and the whole team at this awesome venue.  
 
We head to Memphis for the Folk Alliance conference next week. We’re excited to debut new tunes as well as our beefed-up arrangements of old favorites. We’re especially looking forward to catching up with friends and hearing some great music!
 
Thanks as always for all the support!
Molly, Laurie & Abbie

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Hello Redheads:
 
We had such an amazing time out West!  A warm sunny welcome to our new fans out there.  One of the highlights of the tour was the show at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley CA, and we've already been invited back - see you on August 5!  This month includes shows in Florida (2 of the 3 shows are sold out!) and the Northeast, plus a trip to the Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis.  Fun!  Click on TOUR (above left) for all details.
 
1) "JAMES" is #23!
We mentioned it last month, but it bears repeating that we're thrilled and honored that our latest CD, "James", showed up at #23 on the AMA's TOP 100 of 2010 (http://www.americanamusic.org).  The Top 25 is occupied by some of our musical heroes, like Darrell Scott, Patty Griffin, and Willie Nelson!
 
2) MORE BEST OF 2010
"James" also showed up on lots of other "Best of 2010" lists, including the following:
-TOP ALBUMS OF 2010 (#2): Folk DJ radio airplay chart (http://nwfolk.com/topfolk/topalbums2010.html)
-TOP TEN OF 2010: John Platt, WFUV (http://www.wfuv.org/music/best/bestof10_staff)
-THE BEST OF 2010, Ron Olesko, WFDU (http://www.folkalley.com/music/top-albums-2010/folk-djs)
-BEST ALBUMS OF 2010: Norm Mast and Al Kniola, WVPE (http://wvpe.org/index.php#/backporch.php)
-TOP 10 OF 2010: Jean Geiger, KBCS (http://kbcsweb.bellevuecollege.edu/downloads/KBCS_Best_of_2010.pdf)
-AMERICANA FAVORITES OF 2010: JC Shepard, No Depression (http://www.nodepression.com/profiles/blogs/jcs-americana-favs-of-2010)
 
3) RED MOLLY'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Subscribe to us on YouTube for instant alerts any time we post a new video!
http://www.youtube.com/redmollyband
 
Happy Groundhog's Day!
Laurie, Abbie & Molly
 

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RM Tour Diary #160: California Dreaming
 
Leg two of our West Coast tour started leisurely. We took our first Bikram Yoga class together in Eugene OR – whoa – and then were California bound.  After filling up our “feed bags” at the Ashland Food Co-op, we crossed over into CA where they almost confiscated our grapefruits! We spent Tuesday night in Mt. Shasta and woke up to a blue-bird day and snow-covered mountains. It was sunny skies from there on out.
 
We rolled into Sebastopol on Tuesday evening and treated ourselves to a lovely meal. We’d worked up a new a cappella tune on the drive and we debuted it to our chef after dinner! Then we peeked in on a seriously energetic open mic scene: guitars, banjos, washtub basses and washboard percussion! Wednesday morning we walked on the hike-and-bike trail and soaked in the outdoor hot tub. Laurie and I even ventured into the unheated pool while Abbie claimed not to drink water that cold.
 
Then back to work… We appeared live with Bill Bowker on 95.9 “The KRUSH”. Woohoo! Our show at the Hopmonk Tavern filled up with a boisterous crowd - several of whom had seen the band before in AK and NJ! We loved this funky little venue and the endless supply of Mate tea backstage.
 
We backtracked a bit and headed up to Arcata the next day. We drove right into Redwood territory, stopping to snap photos and walk “through” the trees… as in there were holes you could actually walk through at the base of these enormous beauties! We had a full house that night at the Arcata Playhouse and our fans were seriously fun to play for.
 
We woke early and headed to Berkeley for Friday’s show at Freight and Salvage. Almost a year ago RM played at the San Francisco Bluegrass and Old-Time Festival and we’ve been looking forward to returning to this gorgeous venue. The sound was impeccable (Thanks, Brian!) and we had a great turnout for our first headlining gig!
 
Our last show was Saturday night at the Nevada City Theatre – California’s longest continually running theatre. This is a gold rush era town with a real sweet vibe and it was a nice place to end the tour… Not that we are ready to leave this weather!
 
We’ve been warned that it is not always sunny in Arcata, nor it is usually 73 degrees in Nevada City in January. But we’re paying little heed to such claims as we fiendishly plan our next West Coast adventure. August!
 
One consolation is that we head to Florida in 10 days. Thank you, Lori Peters. J
 
We want to give a huge THANK YOU to all our presenters, radio DJs and fans for making this tour an extra special one.
We hope to see you at a show soon!
Molly, Abbie & Laurie

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RM Tour Diary #159: West Coast 2011!
 
Hello beautiful people!
We are ringing in the New Year with a most excellent West Coast tour.
We flew out of Newark last Wednesday… you may remember it as the day a massive snow storm hit the Northeast? Indeed. We changed our flights to early morning- a good thing since all subsequent Continental flights were canceled that day.  After just a few hours of plane de-icing we made it out to the west coast safe and sound.
 
Our first show was in Olympia, WA, playing to a sold out crowd at Traditions Café. We appreciated the intentional absence of wireless internet at this café and also the plethora of woolens for sale. The band debuted three new songs and the crowd was warm and boisterous. Laurie was even encouraged to demonstrate her now yoga postures while singing the Folgers theme song.
 
Friday night we headed into Canada- crossing the border through the commercial lane with the semi-Trucks. Those custom folks mean business. We arrived in Vancouver with enough time to get some delicious Vietnamese food, this being the restaurant capitol of Canada. We played to a full house at the Rogue Folk Club and had a great time! As we discovered last August in Nova Scotia, Canadians are serious music enthusiasts.  
 
Saturday we crossed back over the border without hassle to play at the Seattle Folklore Society- yet another sold-out show! Our friends Cahalen Morrison and Eli West opened the show with their mean picking skills and beautiful harmonies. We learned that Seattle folk do NOT like Starbucks. We maintain that it’s better than the alternative in many places we play. Still, by the end of the show our audience had made us a list of 15 local coffee spots. So we tried them all…
 
Sunday’s afternoon show was at the Mt. Angel Performing Arts Center in Oregon. Apparently Mt Angel is the “World Capitol of the Chicken Dance” because of their October-fest competitions each year, when 300,000 people descend into this tiny town. We tried to entice the audience to dance by doing our own absurd version onstage, but apparently they need the official music to really let their feathers fly.
 
Ahh well. We must note that after the show we enjoyed some of the tastiest – and certainly the most affordable – sushi we have ever had! Momiji’s Sushi in Salem Oregon is not to be missed!
 
We want to thank the states of Washington and Oregon for becoming Red Molly’s 30th  and 31st state to play in.  We now have a few days off and after 4 days of rain the sun is finally coming out!! We’re going to check out Ashland and Mt Shasta and keep taking in all the natural beauty.
 
Next up, Northern California; Sebastopol, Arcata, Berkeley and Nevada City.
Hope your 2011 is so far going swimmingly!
Molly, Abbie, Laurie
 
 
 
 

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Red Molly News - JANUARY 2011

Happy New Year, Red Heads!

1) TOP 100 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
The Americana Music Association just released their Top 100 Albums of 2010 - "James" is #23! And it's the only independently-released album in the Top 60. This is a HUGE honor, considering our company; the Top 25 is occupied by some of our musical heroes, like Darrell Scott, Patty Griffin, and Willie Nelson! We extend our great appreciation to all the folk and Americana radio DJs who played "James", and to our wonderful radio promoter, Lisa Grey. See the list here:
http://www.americanamusic.org (on the right, click on AMERICANA TOP 100 ALBUMS)

2) BEST OF 2010 FROM WFUV's JOHN PLATT
Our friend John Platt is a fantastic DJ on New York's venerable radio station WFUV. He's helped us get our music heard in so many ways; we love you, John! We made it on his Top 10 list for 2010, again with excellent company, including Josh Ritter and Richard Thompson. See John's list, and ALL the WFUV Best of 2010 Staff Picks here:
http://www.wfuv.org/music/best/bestof10_staff

3) LAURIE SINGS TV COMMERCIAL FOR FOLGERS COFFEE
You may have heard that in 2010 Laurie landed her first national TV commercial - singing the jingle for Folgers Coffee. Many of you have seen it on TV, but for those who haven't seen it yet, here it is! You'll hear Laurie's voice at the end:
http://www.youtube.com/redmollyband#p/a/u/0/g471Nd6a1Lc

4) VIDEO OF THE MONTH
January's video is Red Molly on Soundcheck with Alfa Garcia. We chatted a bit and played two songs, while sitting backstage at NYC's City Winery:
http://www.youtube.com/redmollyband#p/a/f/0/w9XWyHyzQS8

5) GEARED UP FOR 2011
We're super excited for a fun year of touring and recording, starting with a West Coast tour in January - see below for details. Then in February, we're headed to FLORIDA (Gainesville and Tampa). And, looking ahead further in the year, we've been invited back to MerleFest, where we'll get to play a bunch of shows (and see a bunch, too, including Lyle Lovett)!

Happy New Year!
Laurie, Abbie & Molly

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Tuesday, December 14th, 2010
TOP 100 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR!
We just got word from our excellent radio promoter, Lisa Grey, that the Americana Music Association just released their Top 100 Albums of 2010. "James" is #23! This is a HUGE honor, considering our company; the Top 25 is occupied by some of our musical heroes, like Darrell Scott, Patty Griffin, Lyle Lovett and Willie Nelson! We extend a huge thank you to all the folk and Americana radio DJs who played "James" this year. See the list here:
http://americanamusic.org


RM Tour Diary #158: Going out with a bang!
 
Our last tour of 2010 was incredible. We played first at City Winery in NYC with our friends Girlyman. It was a sold out show on a Wednesday night and we loved listening to Girlyman’s harmonies as well as their improvised tuning songs. These guys are so much fun on and off stage and we would do it again in a heartbeat!
 
Thursday we headed to Trenton, NJ to perform at the On Patriot Stage concert series. We were joined by our friend Pat Wictor and the very talented Woody Mann. The audience sat right on stage and we played with our backs to this expansive opera-house. It’s a great spot and everyone helping to run the show was a real pleasure to work with.
 
Next we met up with NewFound Road for our much anticipated Red Road Revival Tour. It was fantastic! We arrived early at our first stop in Sellersville, PA and worked up 4 songs to play together. Right away we knew we were onto something. These guys are hugely talented and a lot of fun to play with. Tim’s vocals are achingly good, and the crowd swooned when he and Laurie sang a duet of “How’s the World Treating You”.
 
Saturday night brought a rowdy crowd to Music at the Mission in West Milford, NJ.  Judging by the applause the audience very much appreciated JoshJosh’s dark songwriting and banjo picking as well as his cameo appearance during Red Molly’s rendition of “Fever”. The man can dance.
 
By Sunday night even Jamey was treating us each like one of the guys, and Molly popped onstage for a dance during “Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone”.  Mandolin Joe is electric onstage and he and Abbie had a wicked-good instrumental duel during our encore. The energy was palpable. You can check out a clip form Saturday night’s show on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk_UmVvgvZg
 
We might have to release Sunday night’s performance as some kind of i-tunes exclusive, it was that magical. We just adore our new good buddies of NewFound Road.
 
Now we take a much needed break. In addition to sleeping and more sleeping, we will be writing and working up new songs for the upcoming album, set to release mid-2011. Also over the next few weeks Abbie will be recording her new solo album!
 
We have an enormous amount of gratitude for our fans for helping to make this ride possible.  Thanks to everyone who keeps coming out to support us!
 
Gobble-gobble people, and Happy New Year!
Molly, Laurie & Abbie

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RM Tour Diary #157: Family and Felting
 
After playing Woody Fest this summer in Okemah, OK, the Guthrie family invited Red Molly to appear at Thursday’s “This Land Is Your Land” concert- a fundraiser for Huntington’s disease held at Irving Plaza, NYC. The line-up was great with Jonatha Brooke, our friends Hope Machine and more.  We were honored to be a part of the show and had a great time getting to know everyone involved with this special night.
 
Friday we headed to Fall River, MA, to play at the Narrows. This is a neat venue, overlooking the Taunton River from the top floor of an old mill building. Anne and Pete Sibley opened the show with stunning songs and vocals. We were so smitten that we worked out more harmonies and joined them onstage for a song. Check them out- they are lovely and talented people!
 
Saturday we played our first show in Rockport, MA to a sold-out crowd. The sound was great and it seemed we had a professional audience – we so appreciated all the hooting and hollering! And we’ll be back.
 
Sunday we played our annual show at the Waldorf School in Wilton, NH. That morning in Wilton we met sheep and chickens and were fed fresh chocolate-ship cookies at our friend Sandy’s home. We left wishing we had farm-fresh eggs everyday and a felting station by the fire!
 
Herb Gardner, Abbie’s dad, joined us for our set at the school and the crowd went nuts. Leave it to kids to applaud with unbridled enthusiasm. Abbie and Herb played a few duets while Laurie and Molly found prasols and unicycles backstage.
 
We love it that we not only get to play music for people but also catch a glimpse of different communities along the way. And even visit friends and family! (Thanks Sarah & Mike)
 
Wednesday Nov 17^th we’ll be back in the Northeast playing shows with Girlyman, Pat Wictor, and New Found Road!!!
 
Thanks for tuning in,
your Mollies:
AbbieMolly, LaurieMolly, and MollyMolly

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RM Tour Diary #156: Sweet New England
 
Wednesday evening the band convened in New Haven, CT where we filmed our monthly you tube video. This time we sang Woody Guthrie’s  “Oklahoma Hills” in honor of the upcoming “This Land is Your Land” fundraising concert at Irving Plaza, NYC. The show is Thursday night and we’ll be appearing with several bands including Hope Machine and Jonatha Brooke. You can watch the video in classy black and white: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6YK_5HKZ1k
 
The red matrix pulled onto rt 15 N on Thursday morning, the leaves all turning and weather a sunny 75 degrees. We sped off without a care in the world or a jacket in the car… Doh!
We played Thursday night in New London, NH to a full house at the Flying Goose Restaurant. It was a lovely show and afterwards Abbie spotted 6 out of 7 Pleiades stars in the clear New Hampshire night sky. She tried to show Laurie and Molly but they were busy foraging for leftover chicken.
 
With temperatures rapidly dropping, and still no coats in sight, Red Molly headed up to Burlington, VT to play the Lane Series at UVM. The UVM recital hall is gorgeous and the show was sold out early on Friday. The students had a Jack-O-Lantern carving station set up when we arrived and the foyer smelled like pumpkin guts… in a good way. We split the bill with the Wiyos- a super fun eclectic gypsy-folk group from New York. The gals tried to swing dance and Molly bought some sauerkraut off the Wiyos merch table.
 
Saturday night we played at the town hall in Tunbridge, VT; a sweet, all-wood hall with surprisingly wonderful acoustics. Before the show, locals had a potluck and Red Molly took notes on all the dishes: roasted veggies, bean & brown rice casserole, and half-baked chocolate chip cookies.
 
The three Mollies were happy as clams as we headed home after the short tour. We stopped for coffee in North Hampton, MA Sunday morning and spied some rad Halloween costumes.
 
Thanks to all who hosted us and came to shows this weekend!
Still to come in 2010- next weekend in MA, our big NYC show with Girlyman Nov 17^th, and a Northeastern tour with New Found Road! Also…. Jackets.
 
Many thanks!
Abbie, Laurie & Molly
 
 

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RM tour Diary #155: Alaska’s Finest
 
Where to begin? The trip was amazing. Sold out shows and captivated crowds- some more rowdy than others.
 
We played Tuesday’s show in Kodiak Island to a boisterous audience, thrilled to have live music. During our second set one man gifted us a dead fox. Yup- placed him on our monitor speaker. Several folks patted foxy and said, “oh he’s a nice one.” We were speechless…
 
The next day we took a driving tour of the island and saw a bald eagle, one seal and a dozen or so bison. At lunch we were eating the tastiest salmon burgers* on the planet, listening to Jimi Hendrix on the radio, when out the window we spied a great big mama bear lumbering across the road with her cubs. It was incredible.
 
We had a day and a half of down time in Sitka, with sunshine to boot! We went whale watching and saw sleeping otters, and humpback whales synchronized swimming. Captain Davey with Esther G Sea Taxi gave us a great tour, check out www.puffinsandwhales.com if you are ever up that way. Sitka Civic Center is beautiful and we sang to one of our largest indoor audiences ever! Thanks to Lon Garrison for bringing us to Sitka!
 
Incidentally we went out on the town that night - a rarity for us - and spotted Sitka’s other infamous wild-life; “Red Man.” Red Man dresses head to toe in Red and Black lycra and appears periodically doing outlandish things. We were startled and entertained, and we’ll leave it at that. J
 
The weather finally caught up to us on route to Ketchikan. October is notoriously rainy and stormy, luckily it wasn’t until flight #7 that we were delayed. We made it to Ketchikan in time to hold a workshop and then rush to sound check for our big dance set. And boy did they dance…
 
We woke in Ketchikan at 5:30 am to a power outage, dressed in the dark, and dashed to the ferry ride to the airport. We arrived in Juneau at noon and ate a scrumptious lunch at the Sandollar café. I managed a hike up Perseverence Trail- more glorious mountains and long vein-like waterfalls cutting through the hills!
 
Playing our last show was bitter sweet. After a total of 12 flights we are ready to stop moving, but Alaskans were so warm and welcoming, the scenery so beautiful, that we are feeling the inevitable lull after the rush. We will be coming back to Alaska- already looking forward to it!
 
For you New Englanders, we’ll be up that way end of October, and we’re psyched for our mini tour with New Found Road November 19-21^st.
 
Thanks for all the support,
Laurie, Abbie and Molly
 
*Side note: We learned that Alaska salmon population is well maintained by state-run fisheries; salmon is a sustainable food up there so we continued to eat it with abandon.

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RM Tour Diary #154: Greetings From Alaska!
 
Holey smokes, Alaska does not disappoint. We flew into Anchorage last Wednesday and spent Thursday morning acquiring new hats and puffy coats for the trip. We underestimated the cold! Although we are told by the locals that it is not, in fact, cold yet.
 
Thursday afternoon we took a small plane over to Valdez, a gorgeous little valley at the end of the Alaskan pipeline with jagged peaks reaching up out of the sound. Valdez gets tons of snow, 47 feet in the winter of 89’-90’, And 21 hours of sunlight in the summer. The Valdez crowd was extremely enthusiastic on Friday night- maybe due in part to the onset of winter?? We loved playing our first Alaska show to such a receptive audience!
 
Saturday we flew back to Anchorage to play at the Snow Goose theatre. Big thanks to Mike McCormick – our presenter for Anchorage and Palmer – for bringing us here and being such an entertaining MC! Both shows in Anchorage and Palmer were sold out and we are rapidly depleting our CD supplies. We’ve been having fun trying out new songs at the shows too!
 
We’ve talked a lot onstage about wanting to see wildlife. So much so that our Palmer audience interrupted our patter to point out a flock of geese. Where else can you see geese and mountains from the stage? We saw the famous “Star” in Anchorage, someone’s pet reindeer right there on 10^th and Avenue I. Kind of interesting and kind of strange. Still, as of Sunday evening we hadn’t seen any big animals in the wild.
 
Getting in the car I’ve taken to saying “Moose Hunt Twenty-Ten” - although Abbie is not entirely comfortable with that phrase. Yesterday morning we finally found a family of Moose in Kinkaid Park! We posted a short clip posted on Youtube for your viewing pleasure. Some folks have since commented that we were quite close to the moose – we were excited! We’ll keep a safer distance from the Kodiak Bears…
 
Here are some other fun Alaskan tidbits we’ve discovered:
 
1- Alaskans drink a lot of coffee, there are espresso booths on every other corner.
2- Because of the intense summer sunlight Alaska grows really sweet, really big vegetables. Palmer holds the world records for kale, kohlrabi, rutabaga, romanesco broccoli, turnip, and the green cabbage.
3- Alaskans eat more ice cream per person than any other state… they don’t wait for a warm day. We were told this by a gal at the one-stop shop for ice cream, espresso, and tanning.
4- The hotels all have really hot jacuzzi tubs, it’s very nice.
5- The salmon is delectable- we’ve had it every day!
 
We’ve still got another 6 days and 4 shows in Alaska and we are so grateful to be playing in this beautiful state! Thank you Red Molly fans and supporters!!!
Laurie, Abbie, Molly
 

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RM Tour DIary #153: PA, VA... and Tennessee??
 
We started our tour on Wednesday with a 9pm show at Stage on Herr in Harrisburg, PA. This was probably the funkiest venue Red Molly has ever performed in. There were flags and instruments hanging form the ceiling, an old bicycle and a wooden wheel chair on one of the landings, and a manniquen covered in pennies onstage with us. We loved the spot, and revealed ourselves as true folkies by frequently remarking on how late it was!
 
Next we travelled west and performed at the Pittsburg Arts Center; another eclectic venue with a great lounge vibe in the performance hall and 30 working looms up in our green room area. We appreciated the special intro from our friend Ken Batista of WYEP, and all the positive feedback from concert go-ers and staff alike!
 
Friday we survived DC traffic and arrived in Alexandria with enough time to grab some delicious Sushi and Salad at Whole Foods. Mmmm. Sunspot is a terrific venue with a fantastic sound system. Our sound engineer David gifted us a CD of Robert Plant’s new Project-  Joy Band. It was a lovely, lovely show.
 
Each day of this tour the crowds grew larger! We spent Saturday and Sunday at the 10^th annual Rhythm and Roots Reunion. We played our first set at the Paramount Theatre – where 750 people crowded in to watch the show! We literally ran onto the stage we were so excited.
 
Abbie greeted the crowd, “Hello Bristol Virginia!” And some folks called back that we were, in fact, in Tennessee. We thought they were joking with us but it turns out the state line runs right through the center of town. So we sang 3 sets in TN and signed CD’s in VA.  J
 
We loved this festival and would go back in a heartbeat. We watched some favorites like Sarah Jarosz and Darell Scott. We also saw our friends Cadillac Sky and New Found Road – we are so looking forward to touring with New Found Road Nov 19-21 in the Northeast!!!
 
It’s almost time for our big trip to the northwest extremity of North America! That’s right- we will play 7 shows all over the great state of Alaska Oct 1st-10th so please tell any friends you have up there to come to a show!
 
Phew! We are having fun.
Thanks for tuning in,
Abbie, Laurie and Molly
 

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RM Tour Diary #152: Hula Hoops, Bicycles, and Twitter
 
With just two shows this last weekend, Red Molly had lots of time to try out new things. We had a very productive few days in Jersey City where we started working up some new tunes and polished some old ones.
 
We’ve also been enjoying our new PRO-EQ instrument pre-amps, currently on loan to us from the fine folks at Fishman. It is sooo nice to get predictable instrument sound at every show. Our friend Chris Demaria took us for a tour of the factory last week and we watched a dozen or so happy people making guitar pickups… with their HANDS!
 
On Friday we made our 3^rd appearance at Garden Stage in Garden City, NJ. Our good friend DJ John Platt of WFUV gave us a great introduction and we had lots of fun making music for the crowd. We unveiled our masterful new tune- a 9 second theme-song for our friend Gordon. It took Gordon just 6 years as a dedicated Red Molly fan to receive his own song… GORDON!
 
The Connecticut Folk Festival takes place in New Haven, in lovely Edgerton Park; which is right across the street from Molly’s parents house! Molly remembers staring out her window into that park as a girl, listening to the Indigo Girls and Tracy Chapman on repeat… But I digress! The house was the green room for the festival where musicians and volunteers found overflowing platters of food. Thank you Venters and CT folk fest!
 
The festival line-up was super and to our delight, Susan Werner joined us on her song “May I Suggest”. She even surprised us by sporting red and white to match our color scheme. We were thrilled to sing harmony on two more songs during her set that evening. Susan consistently inspires and amazes us.
 
Red Molly found a little time for play at the Green Expo portion of the festival. Ever since we were re-introduced to hula hooping by our friend Lissa in Hamilton Park, Red Molly has wanted to shoot some kind of hula-hooping video. We’ve posted a fun and very informal video on Facebook of our first attempt. We posted another 30-second clip of our very own Laurie MacAllister speeding away in the “Silver Bullet”- a sleekly designed low-to-the-ground bicycle. Enjoy!
 
Sunday night Abbie had a slide gig with Pat Wictor in Brooklyn. She ripped out some notes on a distortion pedal during a Jimi Hendrix tune! Awesomeness. 
 
And finally, Red Molly has joined Twitter. That’s right, Twitter. So if you want to keep up to date on where we are playing and what strange and noteworthy things we see on the way there, you can “follow” our new Twitter account!
 
We heard Lois Morton sing “20^th Century Girl” on Friday night- a fantastic song about all this new technology stuff. She writes,
“We used to write out words, we used to even have to spell,
now it’s BTW and TTYL… 
Everybody’s Bloggin’ and I can’t even Login”
 
So if you relate to this sentiment, by all means keep it simple by visiting us here, or in a town near you!
 
Many thanks!
Laurie, Abbie & Molly

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RM Tour Diary #151: Good Sweaty
 
We started out the long weekend with an afternoon radio spot on Boston’s WUMB and had a great time with John Laurenti, who is so funny and conversational.
 
That night our Club Passim show sold out, yahoo! This was Wednesday, during the heat wave, and we were a room full of sweaty people. At one point Laurie said, “Oh, but it’s a good sweaty!” When pressed about what a bad sweaty might look like, Laurie paused then described having to beat an old rug in sweltering heat and getting the dirt stuck to your face and body…   so true, so true.  
 
Then on to Maine! Oh my we love LOVE Maine. So clean! So few bill boards! Plus Jud Caswell lives there. We adore Jud. In addition to being a killer songwriter with a voice “like buttah,” we enjoy his quick-witted and slightly off-color humor. He's one heck of a touring buddy, that Jud. Wicked fun!
 
Hurricane Earl briefly threatened to cancel Saturday’s show and wash us out to sea, but the big storm ultimately passed by leaving just enough wind and rain to clear out the heat-wave. Maine got more and more lovely the farther we drove! By the time we arrived in Eastport we felt as though we were back in Nova Scotia; our cell phones even thought we were in Canada. And I saw a real live seal.
 
All in all we put 1,300 miles on Abbie’s Matrix. Which is NOT, as it turns out, on the recall list – (not this week anyway) – because Abbie’s is a 4-wheel drive. Phew. Our tour soundtrack included Eva Cassidy, the Avett Brothers, Ray Charles, Dala, Darrell Scott & Tim Obrien, and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” for those late night stretches.
 
A huge thank you to our presenters who brought us to Maine, to the volunteers and wonderful sound and lighting folks, and to our friends the Rintels for making the trip better in more ways than one…
We’ll be back!
 
Laurie, Abbie & Molly

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RM Tour Diary # 150: Nice Things, Big and Small
 
Well if felt like Red Molly had the home-team advantage at both shows this weekend. Thanks to the many warm and familiar folks that came out, and to the new faces in the audience as well! – Abbie’s family got a nice shout out Friday at the Botanical Gardens, and Laurie dedicated “Beaumont Rest Stop” to Molly’s parents on Saturday. Our friends Sue, Allison and Gordon helped us sell CD’s at the shows. Thank you street team!!
 
There was quite a crowd Friday night for the band’s third appearance at the Botanical Gardens in Ringwood, NJ. We sang and stomped in the grass, so lovely! That night our friends Fred and Peg generously invited us to stay at their home while they were away – Ahh to wake up in the morning with a real teapot and cutting board! The little things are so sweet.
 
Of course, we appreciate the big things too. For example we loved playing at the Levitt Pavilion in Westport, CT. The immense stage was set back in the trees on the end of a peninsula. The lighting and sound were terrific – (oh my, do we appreciate not running our own sound)! We spotted real wine glasses and floral tablecloths in the sea of picnickers. Sophisticated and rockin’…
 
In other news, the Red Molly Mobile – Abbie’s Toyota Matrix – was recalled on Thursday ☹
We’ll get on that ASAP, safety first. ☺
 
We’re excited to play Club Passim in Boston this Wednesday. We’ll be appearing on WUMB radio at 2pm. Then on to Maine!
 
Hope everyone is soaking up the last of these summer evenings!
Thank you for all your support,
Laurie, Abbie & Molly

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RM Tour Diary #149: Friends & Family
 
Every so often, if you're a lucky band, you are invited to take part in a significant milestone of someone's life. Red Molly may not be your go-to wedding band - unless you are passionate about murder ballads - but we fit right in on Sunday, at a Country Western themed 50th Birthday Bash.
 
It was an intimate show, with much hooting and hollering, tears and cheers. We were honored to be included in the celebration and inspired to bear witness to all of the love and laughter and teasing that comes with family and close community. The group fixed Abbie's broken capo with a paper clip, and served us M&M's with "Red Molly" written on them. 
 
Thank you for sharing your special day with us Robin and Arnold! :)
 
Next order of business: working on some fun new tunes. Yeeehaw!
 
Many thanks from the Red Molly clan-
Abbie, Laurie & Molly

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Tour Diary #148: Taste of Southern Hospitality
 
Our first stop on this weekend’s tour was in Frankfort, at the Kentucky Coffeetree Café – a sweet little venue across from the old Capitol building. The small room was stuffed full of live-music enthusiasts, and after the show we were gifted homemade hot sauce labeled “Olde Angry Liberal Pepper Sauce” and a bottle of Ale 8, “A Late One;” Kentucky’s own soda-pop that’s high in sugar and caffeine, and impossible to get out of state. Pretty nifty and quite delicious.
 
Our presenter in Bloomington, Indiana got us a great article in the local paper which helped to draw a record crowd at “Friday Night Folk”. Also, as luck would have it, Bloomington is the nation’s 7^th ranked epicurean destination. Mmmm.
 
Saturday we drove back to Kentucky for the Henderson Bluegrass festival. These folks were so very hospitable, bringing us cold towels and providing a big spread of fried chicken, coleslaw, and peach cobbler backstage. It was a whole day of toe-tapping bluegrassy-goodness. Abbie noticed that Bluegrass pickers “play fast and talk slow.”
 
During our evening set we witnessed a spontaneous outburst of some kind of wonderfully wiggly chicken dance. Naturally, we invited our new friend to start a dance contest.
Holy smokes, we sincerely hope that a YouTube video surfaces of the event.
The Wiggly-Chicken was epic.
 
We’re looking forward to a couple days off, several days devoted to co-writing and rehearsing, and then back on the road for shows in Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine.
 
Thanks for checking in, hope to see you soon if we’re in your neck of the woods!
Laurie, Abbie and Molly

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RM Tour Diary #147: Lunenburg and CFA's
 
This weekend Red Molly was honored to be invited to the 25^th annual Harbor Folk Festival in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. (That’s Canada, friends). We discovered that Canadians aren’t just nice, but also truly FUN people.
 
Lunenburg is a stunning coastal town and the festival ran like clockwork. We had the opportunity to play with and get to know some super Canadian bands; “The Good Lovelies” and “House of Doc” being a few of our very favorites. We even got served up seafood chowder and fresh corn at the after-hours parties, where Abbie shredded it up on Dobro with the other pickers. What fun!
 
A CFA is a “Come from Away,” or, tourist/transplant in Nova Scotia-speak. Laurie told one audience that she thought this meant “Canadian from America,” and declared us as honorary CFA’s. The crowd approved.
 
Other highlights include salty sea air, hand-knit woolen goods, and the very BEST Cesar salad in North America. One word: Garlic. Thank you Knot Pub.
 
As the newest "Molly", I feel as though I’ve died and gone to heaven. (And I already felt like one lucky-duck)! I knew Red Molly fans were a wonderful bunch, and getting to meet your new Canadian counter-parts was heart warming. Leaving Lunenburg felt like leaving summer camp…    
Farewell to Nova Scotia!
 
Lucky for us, we fly to Kentucky tomorrow for several shows and a healthy earful of Bluegrass music.
 
Thanks for visiting us,
Abbie, Laurie and Molly

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RM Tour Diary #146: Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
 
We had some terrific gigs leading up to Falcon Ridge.  First was Tuesday, where HERO OF THE DAY Hank Soto fixed Laurie's banjo, which apparently was injured on the way home from Woodyfest.  He had the tools, he had the skills, he even had the strings!  Thank you, Hank, and thank you Stony Creek NY for the warm welcome.  Then onto Lake George NY where the weather got apocalyptic after 4 songs, so we invited the audience onto the backstage for an intimate unplugged concert.  So fun!  Thank you Randy Valentino for the hard work and great sound.  And Lebanon NH was gorgeous, with a wonderful crowd.
 
Our performances at Falcon Ridge were a blast!  The Family Stage was a great way to start it off.  The Budgiedome was a fun unplugged homecoming.  The Sweet Harmony Workshop with our fabulously talented buddies We're About 9 and The Brilliant Inventions was a dream come true; we've all come out of the Emerging Artist Showcase at Falcon Ridge and are so grateful.  The main stage on Saturday night was something we'll never forget.  Joined by Fred Gillen, Jr. on Gulf Coast Highway, we were in heaven.  Carolann said goodbye and thank you to the audience in the classiest of ways, and I imagine there wasn't a dry eye on the hill, and I don't mean due to the rain.  Carolann invites anyone who wishes to stay in touch, or sign up on her e-mail list, to visit www.carolannsolebello.com.  Then there was the Gospel Workshop with Vance and Gandalf.  I wish we could do that again TOMORROW!
 
Our next shows are up in Nova Scotia, where our new bandmate Molly Venter performs with us for the first time!  Thank you everybody for all your support.
 
Laurie
 

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Carolann & Molly 
 
Thank you Texas, for such a warm welcome!  We had an amazing time at the Kerrville Folk Festival this weekend.
 
Many of you have commented on how much Red Molly is growing - playing larger venues, touring nationally, etc.  It's true we're getting lots of nice offers, and are eager to see how far we can go!  As Red Molly’s calendar shifts toward extended national tours, Carolann will no longer perform with the band, but will instead pursue solo opportunities that allow for greater balance between the two loves of her life – family and music.  Her final appearance with Red Molly will be in late July, at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival.  Carolann invites anyone who wishes to stay in touch, or sign up on her e-mail list, to visit www.carolannsolebello.com.
 
We're excited to announce that Austin-based singer/songwriter Molly Venter will be joining Red Molly!  Molly first caught Abbie's attention as a New Folk Finalist at the 2008 Kerrville Folk Festival.  Laurie and Carolann met Molly for the first time in June 2008, when Molly opened for Red Molly in Arlington, VA, and both were stunned by the beauty and power of her voice.  That first opening slot led to eight more opening slots (in GA, AL, MI, OH, and MA), where Molly won over Red Molly's audiences night after night, with her gorgeous singing and undeniable charm.
 
We are deeply grateful for all the support and love our fans have shown us over the years.  Words can't even describe how appreciative we are and how lucky we feel!  We're so excited for what the future may hold, and hope you will welcome Molly warmly, the way you have always welcomed us.  Her first show with us will be on August 6, at the Lunenburg Folk Festival in Nova Scotia.
 
See you soon,
Laurie, Abbie & Carolann

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RM Tour Diary #145: Strawberry Park and The Turning Point

 
A big huge thank you to Karen Samuels for the beautiful custom beaded bass strap!  It's got hundreds of tiny little red and white beads, spelling out our names and both Red Molly logos (the original one and our current logo).  It's just so beautiful and we're so grateful!  We have the best fans in the world!  :)
 
We saw Karen and Jeff, as well as a whole host of friends, at Saturday's Strawberry Park Folk Festival in CT.  Highlights included playing right before Ron Thomason and the Dry Branch Fire Squad, watching the Greencards, and getting to see our friends Dala, Vance Gillbert, and The Kennedys.  Wahoo!
 
Sunday, we did two shows at one of our favorite venues, The Turning Point (Piermont, NY).  So many wonderful fans showed up, including Gordon, Gene & Isabel, Karen & Jeff, and more.  We also got to make some new friends, talk about office supplies, and sample the lovely Mexican food from upstairs.  Abbie's Dad, Herb Gardner, sat in on keyboards for the night, too!
 
Up next:  We're heading out West for the Kerrville Folk Festival!  YAY!  Click on the TOUR link above for details.

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RM Tour Diary #144: We gotta go to O-Hio!

What fun we had out in the Mid-West!  We started out at The Independent Media Center, a cool venue in the back of a Post Office in Urbana/Champagne, IL.  A nice big audience, even on a Wednesday night, and we got a chance to see some family in town, too!  Then it was off to our return engagement at the Canal St. Tavern- a listening room/bar that is one of our favorite places to play.  The best of both worlds!  The "Old Bag Factory" was way classier than it sounds and then it was off to Chicago for two nights.  We played Rich Warren's "Folk Stage" live radio hour and got to open for Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion at the Old Town School of Folk Music.  What a great theater, complete with balcony, and a school of folk music on par with no other.  Even the "gift" shop was legendary!
 
Up next:  Kickin' off Festival season at Strawberry Park and 2 shows at The Turning Point!  Click on the TOUR link above for details.
 
James is still holding steady at #4 on the Americana Charts!!

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RM Tour Diary #143: Susan Werner

We had the honor of splitting a show with Susan Werner Saturday night at Landmark on Main Street (Port Washington, NY).  This is the same venue where our friend Gordon came up with our last album title "Love and Other Tragedies."  As expected, Susan put on a stellar show with several new songs and selections from "The Gospel Truth" too!  Absolute highlights for us included having Susan sing a 4th harmony to our arrangement of "May I Suggest" and backing her up on "Did Trouble Me" and "Our Father."  It really made us think about stuffing her in the Red Molly Mobile and taking this show on the road!
 
Up next:  we head to off to the Mid-West!  Click on the TOUR link above for details.
 
James is holding steady at #4 on the Americana Charts this week!!  WAHOO!

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RM Tour Diary #142: Kennett Flash

This past weekend we headed to Kennett, PA for two shows in the 5th coolest town in America!  The people were wild and crazy- the early show nicknaming Laurie "O.J." right before she sang "Lookin' for Trouble" (which gave the song a whole new meaning).  Then the late show tried to get Abbie to sell her shoes.  But everyone had a grand ol' time and held up their cell phones for "Last Call."  That's right, people, embrace your inner cheese!!  Pat Wictor opened both shows and was featured on his co-write with Abbie, "A Little Love is Gonna Do."  All around, it was tons of fun.
 
Up next:  a split bill with Susan Werner in Port Washington, NY and then we head to Ohio!  Click on the TOUR link above for details.
 
PS- Did we mention the CD is now #4 on the Americana Charts!!  WAHOO!
 

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RM Tour Diary #141: MERLEFEST!!!

Our latest tour started out in Nashville with the Loveless Cafe's Music City Roots show.  WOW!  We got to perform with some amazing musicians including our buddies in Bearfoot and the legendary Peter Rowan, for a few hundred screaming enthusiastic fans.  Singing "Midnight Moonlight" with Mr. Rowan was a special moment.  Quite a welcome! Not to mention a daytime slot on the one and only WSM radio show, coming to you straight from Opryland itself.  Then it was off to the Blue Plate Special radio show out of Knoxville, TN for a live daytime split show with Cherryholmes, a great family bluegrass band.  We played an evening set with The Sweetback Sisters at the Knoxville Botanical Gardens and then headed down to the Carolinas for Merlefest.  Whoa.  This was a total dream gig.  Dierks Bentley, Sam Bush, Elvis Costello, Steve Martin, Jerry Douglas, Cadillac Sky, Bearfoot, The Avett Brothers, The Traveling McCoury's, and so many many more acts.  We were absolutely honored to have more than a thousand people turn out for our first set and even more for the three other sets.  We sold out of all the CDs we brought and hope that everyone's enjoying the music at home and putting those stickers on their trucks.  We'd love to see them next time we're in the South.  What a thrill it was to play "Oh My Sweet Carolina" for the crowd at the Austin Stage.  Trying out the Beard GRE model metal body guitar at the Lounge set was really cool, too.  All the volunteers were exceptional, especially the shuttle drivers who helped us get around the festival.  Ryan Adams had it right when he said "the the sweetest winds they blow across the south."  Our first Merlefest was an amazing, unforgettable experience and we do hope to come back!!  Please share any photos with us!
 
 
Up Next:  Two shows at Kennett Flash in Kennett, PA.  8pm show SOLD OUT, 5pm show just added.  Pat Wictor opens!
 

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RM Tour Diary #140: Adirondack Chairs and Big Black Bears

What an eventful weekend we had in Western NY!  We started out at the Crandall Library in Glens Falls, playing to a standing room only crowd who educated us on the difference between a "crick" and a "creek."  Then it was off to the beautiful Fredonia Opera House.  Along the drive we saw cows that looked like Oreos (big round fluffy ones with a big white stripe around their stomachs) and stopped in a beautiful town called Angelica for some salt-rising bread.  The show at Fredonia was a joy and we made a slew of new friends.  Saturday night we played our second show at the Walton Theater.  Two beautiful theaters with balconies in one weekend!  Lucky us!!  
 
As we headed towards home that night we took a wrong turn and ended up on a remote dirt road that went over a mountain.  We have a GPS named Betty, so there was no worry about getting lost.  But that's when the ride turned into a bit of a wildlife expedition!  We saw a beautiful black bear (we were in the car, don't worry, and he wandered off safely), as well as a herd of deer and two adorable porcupines.  We were hoping to see a hippo too, but no such luck.  Maybe next time!
 
Up next:  Nashville, Knoxville and MERLEFEST!!  See tour link above for details.

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RM Tour Diary #139: Upstate NY

All's well in Wellsville!  This picturesque town has an amazing creative arts center that was packed to the brim with happy people Friday night!  We had dinner at the Texas Hot retro diner next door, fully expecting Biff (from Back to The Future) to walk in the door.  After a great show and a bag of lemon cookies, we headed to Rochester for a morning interview on WXXI and a Saturday night show at The Golden Link in Penfield, NY.  The audience doubled (from 150 to 300 people!) from the last time we'd been to this concert series and they even had to use overflow parking.  That's a first!  We tested the audience on their knowledge of the 8 vegetables in V8 juice (not as easy as you think) and played tons of songs from our new record James.  The CD is holding steady at #10 on the Americana Charts and recently jumped up to #2 on the Roots Music Report!  Go James, Go!!
 
Up Next:  We're headed back upstate to Glens Falls, Fredonia and Walton, NY.  Click on the TOUR link above for details.  See you there!

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RM Tour Diary #138

Thanks so much for everyone who came out to the WUMB Member Concert this past Friday night!  It was so good to be back and the crowd was overwhelmingly supportive.  DJ Dave Palmater interviewed us during the show and had everyone cracking up.  Those of you who missed it, you can tune in on Thursday April 20th at 6pm to hear the broadcast.
 
Saturday was our 5th time back at The Sounding Board in West Hartford, CT.  This time our good friend Pat Wictor opened the show.  We couldn't resist backing him up during his set and even brought him back up to do a duet with Abbie on their song, "A Little Love is Gonna Do."  It was great to see so many familiar faces and meet some new friends, like 4-year old Kennedy, who wore her bright red boots to the show!
 
Stay tuned for more radio updates and come see us this weekend in Northwestern NY!  Click on the tour link above for details.
 

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Top 10!

James has climbed to #10 on the Americana Charts this week! We're also #1 on the March Folk DJ Chart and Red Molly is the #1 Top Artist (also on folk DJ). We've got five songs in their Top 20: "Jezebel" is #5; "Gulf Coast Highway," Tear My Stillhouse Down," and "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive" all tied for #8 and "End of the Line" is #20.

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Big News!

James is this week's TOP MOST ADDED AMERICANA with 27 ADDs and is debuting at #32 on the Americana Charts!

 
James is now featured as a "Signature Discovery" on
The Signature Sounds Label!
 

And here's the new album's
first review!!

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RM Tour Diary # 137: CD RELEASE PARTY!


We celebrated the release of our new CD James this past Friday, in Morristown, NJ at The Minstrel.  It was a sold-out show and we were sad to turn some people away at the door, but thrilled to have such a packed house!  The talented Fred Gillen, Jr. (male voice on "Gulf Coast Highway") lead off the night with sing-a-longs and stories about the band.  What a beautiful sound, hearing all those people sing "Hallelujah" together.  We played almost all songs from the new record, featuring Fred on "Gulf Coast Highway" and Herb Gardner (Abbie's Dad) on piano for "Jezebel" and "End of the Line."  So many great friends were there, as well as a ton of people who had never seen us before!  We even had a cake with a picture of the CD on it, thanks to Gordon.  (see pictures here) All in all, it was an amazing night.  Thank you!!

Saturday night we headed up to Reading, MA to play in the beautiful Ivy Chord Coffeehouse.  Our friend Brian Gundersdorf (from We're About Nine) was in town, so we featured him on a song.  It's always a "wicked good time" up there in Massachusetts!
 
The new CD, James, is now available on iTunes and online.
 
Up next:  WUMB Member's Concert (4/9) and The Sounding Board in CT w/special guest Pat Wictor (4/10).  Just click on the TOUR link above for all details.

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RM Tour Diary # 136: Red & Blue & Rain


What a packed weekend! We started out at Godfrey Daniels for two shows. It was our sixth time in this great listening room and we were excited to see several people stay for both the early and the late show! There were folks celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, people with coolers, and even someone crocheting in the front row (yup, folk music is WILD!).

Saturday night we braved the storm to team up with Beaucoup Blue at Concerts at the Crossings (NJ). We're honored by how many people filled the seats on such a rainy night- thank you!!

Sunday we played Jammin' Java for the 2nd time and had a real blast. See pictures of the show here (from Brandon Wu of The Washington City Paper).

The new CD, James, is now available on iTunes and online.
 
Up next: CD release shows in Morristown, NJ and Reading, MA. Just click on the TOUR link above for all details.

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RM Tour Diary # 135: Red Kennedys and Caffe Lena


We started out the weekend with two shows in Saratoga Springs at Caffe Lena. Highlights from the early show include Laurie singing her Folgers theme song and the audience singing Happy Birthday to Abbie! The late show was wild and crazy, with an extended numbers game that had everyone laughing and crying, including the band.

Saturday night we played to a sold-out crowd at the beautiful Emelin Theater in Mamaroneck, NY. We split the show with The Kennedys, who put on a stellar set, and we were also lucky enough to have specials guests from our new CD, Fred Gillen Jr. and Herb Gardner. What a memorable night! Here's a review and some photos.  

The new CD, James, is now available on iTunes and online.
 
Up next: shows in Bethlehem, PA; Titusville, NJ and Vienna, VA. Just click on the TOUR link above for all details.

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RM Tour Diary # 134: Playing with the boys

This past weekend we got to split bills and collaborate with Mark Erelli and Peter Mulvey, both extremely talented musicians and songwriters.  At the Iron Horse, we debuted "My Love" (written by Mark Erelli) during our set and also had him sing "Gulf Coast Highway" with us.  It was a blast to sit in with his band, Barnstar, at the end of the night and Jake Armerding played fiddle with both bands.  We were lucky enough to have Jake with us for 2 sets at the Finch Coffeehouse in Newburyport Friday night for a sold out show.  Amazing food there, and such a welcoming crowd!  Then it was up to New Hampshire for Saturday's split bill with Peter Mulvey at the Peterborough Players Theater.  Abbie's Dad sat in on piano for the night- what a crowd pleaser!  Other highlights include singing "Gulf Coast Highway" with Peter Mulvey, sitting in during his set, and getting to see our Northern "Mini-Mollies" who are growing up so fast!  (They're not so "mini" anymore!) 

The new CD, James, is now available on iTunes and online.
 
A special Wednesday night show in NYC this week, to benefit a friend of ours! Just click on the TOUR link above for all details.

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RM Tour Diary # 133: California Gold

Wow, what an adventure it was to get to California!  But it was soooo worth it.  We played 4 memorable shows for some of the happiest people on that green sunny stretch of earth.  From the Redwoods in Felton (Don Quixote's) to the Freight & Salvage in Berklee, from Valentine's Day in Fresno to Newman's beautifully restored West Side Theater... by the end of our trip we just didn't want to leave!  Thank you California, for making our suitcases light on the way home!  All the CDs you ordered were shipped Tuesday and we can't wait to make plans to come back!

James is now available on iTunes and online.
 
Or pick one up at a show!  Next, we're headed to Northampton, Peterborough and Newburyport for some big shows with exciting special guests! Just click on the TOUR link above for all details.

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We made it!  While we normally like to arrive at venues 2-3 hours before showtime, sometimes a MASSIVE BLIZZARD interferes with business as usual.  We pulled up to Don Quixote's at 8:30 for an 8:45 set time!  A minor miracle.  We're so glad to be in California!
 
We'll be in Berkeley, Newman, and Fresno on the rest of the tour - send your friends and family!  Just click on TOUR above for all the details.
 
:) Red Molly

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UPDATE 5pm

We're gonna make it! Two Mollies are safely in California, waiting for the third to land, just in time to rush to the gig! Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration, don't fail us now!

xo
Red Molly



UPDATE 9am

Abbie got on a plane and is on her way to San Francisco. Carolann and Laurie are on standby.

Wish us luck!

We will post updates here, if possible.

xo
Red Molly

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WINTER STORM
 
We were supposed to fly to CA today at 5:45 pm - but our flight was cancelled.  :(
 
We're going to the airport anyway, and will do everything possible to get to CA, on time for our 4 shows.
 
Check back here for updates.
 
xo
Red Molly

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RM Tour Diary # 132: ALL Y'ALL TEXANS

We figured January would be a nice time to head West for a Texas tour, soak up the sun and warmth... well, it snowed! But the people we met were so warm and welcoming that they more than made up for it. Second Street Live in Arkansas was an amazing way to start the tour, full of rowdy happy folks who had trouble believing we were city folks. Carrie Elkin opened the show in Dallas and we wish she'd been with us for the whole tour- what a cool and talented songwriter. Laurie actually got an "on the spot" royalty payment from a fan at the Austin house concert (Mountain House Concerts), for singing the Folgers jingle! Along the way, we got to visit Willie's Place (yup, Willie Nelson), several boot shops, and a strange rest-stop featuring items made out of beavers. A big shout out to Rockin' Robin Music shop in Houston and all our new friends in Dallas, Austin, Houstin and Fort Smith! You can see a silly video tour diary on our facebook page, for more of our adventures!


Pre-orders for James will be mailed out next week. Expect "him" at shows this month, too!

Next, we're headed to Woodstock and Oswego! Just click on the TOUR link above for all details.

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RM Tour Diary # 131: Plymouth and Framingham

We went up to Massachusetts this past weekend for a show at the Uncommon Coffeehouse and the Driftwood Coffeehouse. Saturday night we were lucky enough to have Jake Armerding (the fiddle player from our records) join us for the whole show. We backed him up on one of his songs and also got to play new songs from James, including one he wrote called "Falling In." A rare private concert was a special treat for us on Sunday afternoon- thanks Rawley and Nancy!

Next, we're headed to Texas and Arkansas! Just click on the TOUR link above for all details.

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RM Tour Diary # 130: The Turning Point and APAP

Our first gig back after the holidays was a blast.  We played 2 sold out shows at the Turning Point in Piermont, one of our favorite venues.  It was also the very first time Abbie's Dad, Herb Gardner, joined the band on piano!  What a thrill!  He's on the new record, James, and will be sitting in with the band from time to time to celebrate the release.  We played a slew of songs from the upcoming CD, which is at the manufacturer right now!  (To pre-oder, click on STORE above)
 
This past weekend, we hung out at the APAP conference in NYC.  Really fun to catch up with our friends from bands like Girlyman, Bearfoot, and New Found Road, as well as our folk buddies Susan Werner and Vance Gilbert.

Up next is a very special acoustic ballads show at the beautiful Brennan Coffeehouse (1/15), back to the World Cafe in Philly (1/17) and then a big opening slot for the Carolina Chocolate Drops at The Birchmere (1/18).  Just click on the TOUR link above for all details.

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PRE-ORDER THE BRAND NEW RED MOLLY CD, called "James"! Just click on STORE above.

RM Tour Diary # 130: Molly and the Mollies

We started out the weekend with our buddy Mark Douglas Berardo in upstate NY's Kirkland Arts Center. Our second time at this beautiful listening room. The walls were lined with watercolors, the people full of carrot cake, and our voices ready for singing! Thanks for making us feel so welcome KAC!

Molly Venter opened for us at The Circle of Friends Coffeehouse in Franklin, MA. Our 5th time at this venue- can you believe it?! We had tons of fun being Molly's backup band for a song during our set and played songs from our upcoming album as well as some old favorites. Thanks again to Jake Jacobson and the whole army of volunteers!

We're off from gigs until the new year, but check out our individual websites for solo gigs (see links at the bottom of the BIO page) and pre-order the brand new CD by clicking the STORE page above!

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RM Tour Diary # 129: Jiffy Lube

While driving around to our gigs this past weekend (NJ, PA, MD) we ended up temporarily naming our new record "Jiffy Lube!" Ha! That's what happens when you look out the window of a car to find your album title...

In any case, we had some great shows, starting out in Montclair, NJ doing our first headliner at The Outpost in The Burbs. Opener Joe Crookston made the night extra special, as did the three little mini-Mollies who surprised us with flowers after our encore! Sunday we played the intimate Psalm Salon near Philly and we had a great Monday night turnout for our Maryland show at The Institute of Musical Traditions.

This weekend we'll head up to The Kirkland Arts Center in NY and up to Franklin, MA for a return engagement at The Circle of Friends, one of our favorite venues. Just click on the TOUR link above for all details.

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RM Tour Diary # 127: NC/SC Tour!

We had such a good time on our NC/SC tour! We played our first ever ALBINO SKUNK FEST (yeah, that's right) and had a blast. Even rain couldn't put a damper (ha) on the fun - the audience just gathered close to the stage, under the awning. Thanks to everyone who came to NC shows for making us feel so welcome.

We're in the studio working hard on the new CD, which will come out in early 2010. We couldn't be happier with our choice of engineer, our new buddy Mark Dann.

We've got 5 great gigs coming up in November. Just click on the TOUR link above for all details.

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RM Tour Diary #126: The Folk Project

We had a great time last weekend with the good people from NJ's Folk Project. We taught workshops on harmony, song arrangement, songs of Gillian Welch and slide guitar, and also got to do two concerts! Big thanks to everyone who made it possible, all the attendees, Mike DelVecchio and to Vance for making us laugh. We even got to sing the TV theme song "Movin on Up" backstage with Vance and Mike! Fun!!

Coming up: Tour of North and South Carolina!! Click on the TOUR link above!

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RM Tour Diary #125: Nude Hampsters

We got to see some of our favorite Red Heads up in Wilton, New Hampshire (home of Norman, the yarn turtle who has become our dashboard mascot). It's so great to get to play for gaggles of pre-teen girls. They made us feel really famous, as they mobbed us after the show for autographs! :)

Saturday, we made our way down to the Homegrown Coffeehouse in Needham, MA. The series is "powered by carrot cake" and we can see why! Yum. Jud Caswell opened the show and then treated us to his version of a certain Richard Thompson song. The acoustics in this new venue are so great that we were able to do our encore, May I Suggest, off the mic in the center of the room. Thanks for letting us kick off the season at Homegrown!

Sunday we fought off the drizzle to play a real hometown gig- right in Hoboken, NJ at the bi-annual street festival. We followed an amazing singer from Australia, who specializes in those old Elvis & Sinatra tunes!

Coming up: The Folk Project in Bloomingdale, NJ on 10/9.

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RM Tour Diary #124: Pennsylvania 6500

We played to a sold out crowd our first time at Kennett Flash last Friday. What a rowdy group! Carsie Blanton did a stellar opening set and had all three of us Mollies dancing backstage. We did two sets of mostly music, some comedy and some weird talking about the crazy idea of walking around without socks on. I TOLD you it was a wild night!!

Saturday we got to play our first headliner at the beautiful Sellersville Theater. Our friends Beaucoup Blue opened the show and even joined us during our set for a little slide duel. We also got to perform "Oh America" one of the songs we recorded on their latest CD, Free to Fall.

We came home Sunday to play a home town gig at Joe's Pub in NYC. We split the show with The Nields, two sisters of folk and harmony who have been mainstays at Falcon Ridge for many years. It was nice to do an indoor show together!!

Coming up: Pine Hill Waldorf School in Wilton, NH  on 9/25,  The Homegrown Coffeehouse in Needham, MA on 9/26  and  Hoboken Arts & Music Festival in Hoboken, NJ  on 9/27.

Note:  Tour Photos  updated!

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RM Tour Diary #123: East Hartford and Stone Ridge

We got to play at the Center for Creative Education in East Hartford, CT on Friday, where they treated us like Queens. There was enough food to feed a vegetarian army backstage and setlists from bands who came before us, like Blue Highway and the Quebe Sisters. Abbie nearly lost her voice from a cold, but the show went on with Laurie stepping in to sing "Crazy in Love."

Saturday we headed towards the New Paltz/Woodstock area to play a gig at the Stone Ridge Arts Center. After dinner at the Rosendale Cafe, we relaxed at the Arts Center's upstairs yoga room. Wow, what a nice way to rest before a show!! The show was packed and we had a blast. Big thanks to Billy on sound, Ev, Cliff and everyone at the series.

Coming up: Kennett Flash in Kennett Square, PA  on 9/18,  The Sellersville Theater in Sellersville, PA on 9/19  and  Joe's Pub in NYC  on 9/20.

Note:  Tour Photos  updated!

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RM Tour Diary #122: Back to NY

After a short end-of-summer break, we got back to touring starting with City Winery on Sunday night. It was our first time in this swanky new NYC venue and we were lucky enough to open for Jonathan Edwards. He's a great performer and even joined us on "Long Gone Lonesome Blues" (playing harmonica and guitar).
 
Monday we spent the day at the Turning Point American Roots Festival in Piermont, NY. It was a beautiful day for an outdoor show and we were able to reconnect with old friends as well.

Coming up: East Hartford Community Center in CT  on 9/11,  Center for Creative Education in Stone Ridge, NY on 9/12. 

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RM Tour Diary #121: The Narrows and The Wolves

We started our weekend out with a hometown gig in New Jersey. The mayor of Rahway came out, as well as Red Heads new and familiar (I've been told not to call them "old" Red Heads!) We had lots of fun and the crowd made us feel like rock stars when they got up and danced for the last song.
 
Maybe that was a theme, since we got people to dance during "Old Dancin' Fool" on Friday night at The Narrows in Fall River, MA. What a great space, really open and big, in a loft-type place... not "narrow" at all! We were able to clean house, giving away a secret hidden stash of the 2006 Naked Folk Calendars (we're Ms. November!).
 
Saturday night we went up to Wolfeboro, NH for the Great Waters Folk Festival. What a classy place on the banks of Lake Winnipesaukee. The night kinda blew us away because we were on the bill with the fabulous Susan Werner, who worked up a 4th part to our arrangement of her song, "May I Suggest"! John Gorka graced us with his voice on our version of his song, "Houses in the Fields", and also invited us up to play and sing on the last song of his set! Let's just say we went home happy.
 
Coming up: City Winery in NY, NY  on 9/6,  Turning Point American Roots Festival in Piermont, NY on 9/7. 

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RM Tour Diary #120: How to bathe a chicken

It was our second time at the Bolton Fair and I think maybe this time we felt more at home among all the livestock.  Not sure if that's a good thing or not, but we made friends with a mammoth donkey, learned how to properly bathe a chicken, watched pig races, and marveled at the Flying Walendas!  Good times over a total of 6 sets!  Whew!
 
Sunday we finally made good on our promise to The Greenfield Energy Park!  Last year, after Falcon Ridge, we had to cancel our gig there due to the tornado and downed trees.  It's the only gig we've ever had to cancel like that, so we were thrilled to finally get to play in this beautiful park.  Especially while the sun was shining!
 
Coming up: Mayor's Summer Concert Series in Rahway, NJ  on 8/20,  Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, MA on 8/21 and Great Waters Music Festival in Wolfeboro, NH on 8/22. 

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RM Tour Diary #119: Cow Fest

Well, ok, so it wasn't exactly "cow" fest, but we did talk a whole lot about the art and hobby of cow-tipping.  Up in Rotterdam Junction this past weekend, Canal Fest was held inside a beautiful old barn.  The sound reverberated so well in this barn, filled with some really friendly folks who seemed to enjoy our antics and songs.  It was our second time playing this little festival and we hope to be back again.  Big thanks to Olivia, who helped us out as impromptu "roadie" after the show.

Coming up: Bolton Fair in Lancaster, MA on 8/14 & 8/15 and Greenfield Energy Park in Greenfield, MA on 8/16.

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RM Tour Diary #118: Pennsylvania

The Wind Gap festival this past Friday and Saturday was tons of fun.  We got to do our one-mic thing outdoors, thanks to Harry on sound.  With 4 sets and a harmony workshop, we played just about every song we knew and met some of the best bluegrass bands out there.  NewFound Road was one of our favorites- thanks for hanging guys!  We love your CD!
 
Sunday we opened up for the Gibson Brothers at Duke Island Park, which sort of DID become an island during the show!  The river backed up and backstage became a pond, but Abbie was able to rescue Carolann's car thanks to the Falcon Ridge red rubber boots!
 
Monday we returned to Musikfest and played on the Main Street Stage for a whole slew of people.  Lots of new faces and lots of people wearing the new Red Molly shirts.  We were lucky enough to meet Marie, the designer of the "Red Head" shirt, at this show.  It was great to see our new friends in Bearfoot, who played right after us.  Check out their new CD, if you haven't already, they're a fantastic band from Alaska!
 
Coming up:  Canal Fest in Rotterdam Junction, NY on Sunday 8/9.

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RM Tour Diary #117: Our 5-Year Anniversary!

Wow, it's already been 5 years since that fateful night we survived the Falcon Ridge rain and became a band.  I guess some things don't change much!  You may have seen Carolann and Abbie hanging out in the mud at Falcon Ridge this year, while Laurie stayed at home in Hoboken (dry, clean and eating lobster as usual).
 
Sunday night we performed in Harrisburg, PA at the Sunset Performing Arts Series.  It was a beautiful night for a concert and about 300 people showed up with their lawnchairs and blankets, ready for a show.  Someone from the crowd informed us that 5-year anniversaries call for presents made of wood...  ah, Laurie had fun with that one from the stage.  Too bad only the first anniversary is paper, but maybe we'll make an exception since we like office supplies so much!  Thanks to Joe Sr. and his wife for requesting "Mind of a Soldier" (dedicated to their son, overseas).  By the end of the show the crowd really let loose and was up on their feet, dancing and clapping along.  What a lucky life we lead!  Thank you Harrisburg!
 
Coming up:  AFBA in Wind Gap, PA on Friday and Saturday 7/31 & 8/1, Somerset County Concert Series in Bridgewater, NJ on Sunday 8/2, and Musikfest in Bethlehem, PA on Monday 8/3.

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RM Tour Diary #116: Bodles

Bodles Opera House in Chester is one of our favorite local places to play.  It's more of a pub than an opera house, really, and always seems to be filled with the most friendly, laid-back people.  I think the writers of "Cheers" actually based the show on this club.
 
In any case, it was a big night, with Carolann debuting her new solo CD "Glass of Desire" and singing a song solo for the crowd!  She hadn't performed solo in about 5 years, but really nailed it. 
 
We debuted a new Red Molly song called The Last Call, written by our opener Anthony da Costa (much to his surprise!).  He played his own set introducing his latest release "Not Afraid of Nothing" and even joined us on stage playing bass on Beaumont Rest Stop.
 
Coming up:  Sunset Performing Arts Series in Harrisburg, PA on Sunday 7/26.  This weekend is Red Molly's 5 Year Anniversary!  It's been a good 5 years for all of us and we can't wait to see what the future will bring!

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RM Tour Diary #115: Headbanging Tots

Three gigs over the past week or so, including opening for the Duhks in NYC's beautiful Madison Square Park last Wednesday.  We felt like rockstars with our backstage passes and giant stadium speakers!  WFUV's John Platt introduced us and the  big crowd of happy city dwellers couldn't have been nicer.
 
Saturday's Pleasantville Music Fest was the scene of "The Great Red Molly Sticker Heist!"  We had a whole gang of young kids right in front of the stage dancing, headbanging and putting our stickers on all parts of their bodies!  It made it so much fun for us on stage, watching all the little ones let loose.  :)
 
Yesterday we played the West Cape May farmer's market, where Laurie had so many crab cakes she started to walk sideways during the 2nd set!  A couple of fans drove 2 hrs to see us and another rode his bike 5 hrs!  We're so luck to have such dedicated fans!
 
Coming up: Bodles Opera House in Chester, NY on Sunday 7/19.  Anthony da Costa opens.

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RM Tour Diary #114: SUMMAFEST

We had a "wicked good" time up in New Bedford, MA this past weekend.  Summerfest is such an amazing festival, bringing together so many different acts in unique combinations.  We started our day Saturday by singing with Dala, a great female duo from Toronto who were making their US debut.  Then we had two main stage sets, one with The Kennedys and The Englishmen (rockin!!) and one with Roy Bookbinder and Antje Duvekot.  We were also lucky enough to sit in on solo sets by Antje and Cliff Eberhardt.  Highlights of our weekend include the fabulous Italian meal we had Saturday night, seeing our brand new "Red Heads" shirts on our fans, making it to the front page of the Times, and the awesomely strong coffee in performer hospitality. 
 
Coming up: special WEDNESDAY night show, opening for the Duhks in NYC at Madison Square Park (7/8) and our first time at the Pleasantville Music Festival on Saturday 7/11.

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RM Tour Diary #113

Our first show in California was so much fun. We knew we were in California (not New York) when backstage, instead of slipping in doggie doo-doo, Carolann slipped in guacamole! We played at the fabulous Levitt Pavilion in Pasadena, to a large and happy crowd, on a gorgeous sunny day. Abbie supported the local economy by buying a sweet new summer dress. But that didn't stop her from getting on her knees for a ripping Dobro solo at the end of the show. Classic Abbie. Even though we flew in on Saturday and out on Sunday, we still managed to squeeze in three fabulous meals, including what has become a fly-in tradition, Mexican food! This time it was El Cholo. Delicious. And for dinner after the show, we treated ourselves to Japanese food. Even more delicious. Nothing like saba (at least Laurie thinks so). Big thanks to Glen Williams, Liz Levitt, and Eddie Cota for their hospitality. Coming up: One of our favorite festivals, the unique Summerfest in New Bedford, MA.

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Red Molly Tour Diary #112: Breaking Things

We played an indoor set Thursday night in Hoboken, down by Sinatra Park (which is quite lovely in when it's not raining!). It was fun to do a show without any sound system at all, just for the brave folks who ventured out into the rain. We also got to show off our brand new Red Molly banner! Look for it this summer when we play outdoors.

Friday we headed up to the legendary Club Passim, where we had such a rowdy time in the green room that we broke a lamp! Crazy rock stars! Sorry Matt! But the show must go on, especially when it's sold out! Opener Judd Caswell drew everybody in with his songs about "fruit" (yeah, right Judd). We asked him back up during our set to play Millworker with us, and one more solo song about a motorcycle by Richard Thompson.

Saturday we were thrilled to be back at the 10th annual Roots on the River Festival, otherwise known as Fred X. The Sweetback Sisters were awesome and so was Hayes Carll, who tells hilarious stories. The festival gives away a vintage guitar each year and Abbie was shocked and honored to be awarded a 1930's Oahu.

We picked the winner of our T-shirt contest and are hoping to have the shirts in our hands by early July. See the winning entry by Marie Guglielmo here. Congratulations Marie!

Coming up: Red Molly heads to Southern California on 6/21!

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RM Tour Diary #111

Friday night we went back to Long Island and played for all the friendly smiling cowboys out there! The crowd was so happy and nice to us, even singing along to Long Island Cowboy and laughing at our bad jokes. We tried out a new tune- Gillian's "Miss Ohio" which is a different type of song for us... very groovy.

Saturday we played in Hyannis for a big high school fundraiser, dedicating "May I Suggest" to the students and getting to meet the great quartet, Tripping Lily. Sunday we headed over to the Sustainable Living Festival in Rhode Island, where Laurie got to sing backup with Marc Erelli for the first time. Then we played our own set, ate some uber-healthy food, drank some yummy Blue State coffee and walked around on our "sustainables" checking out the clean energy exhibits.

Coming up: Frank Sinatra Park in Hoboken, NJ on Thursday 6/11, Club Passim in Cambridge, MA on Friday 6/12 and Root on the River in Bellows Falls, VT on Saturday 6/13.

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RM Tour Diary #110: 350 shows so far!

The Living Room show with John Platt marked our 350th show as a band! WOW! How cool!!

This past Saturday we played the Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festival in Connecticut. It was fun to be a part of the Folk Stage, along with The Kennedy's and Tracy Grammar & Jim Henry. We tried out new individual vocal microphones at this show and had some fun with Lucinda William's song "Can't Let Go."

Sunday night we played TWO sold out shows at the Turning Point in Piermont, NY. Wow. Kind of hard to believe I was once scared to play the open mic there! But we did our best to keep all those people entertained and we certainly entertained ourselves.

Coming up: Garden Stage in Garden City, NY (Long Island) on Friday 6/5, The Living Room in Hyannis, MA on Saturday 6/6 and The Sustainable Living Festival in Coventry, RI on Sunday 6/7.

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