CD release party!

The time has come to celebrate the release of our long-worked-on record, "Buttons & Bows." We're thrilled and delighted to be playing our CD release party opening up for one of our favorite Bay Area bands, The Heavenly States. I first saw them opening for Superdrag at Bottom of the Hill in 2003, and once again opening for Spoon at The Fillmore a couple of years ago. I liked them the first time, and LOVED them the second time. (Fun fact: They were the first rock band to play in Libya. Seriously.) It's their LP release party, too.

Come on out to the beautiful Red Devil Lounge in SF this Saturday, and make sure you get there on time—we play first at 8:30 p.m.

Farewell Typewriter CD release party
w/ The Heavenly States & Kill Moi
Sat. April 16 @ 8 p.m.
Red Devil Lounge
1695 Polk St.
San Francisco, CA
map
21+
$15 (buy tickets)

The album is nigh!

Well, it only took a year and a half, but our record is almost ready for you. Seriously this time. CDs are being ordered, a CD release party has been booked, and—oh look at that! It's the cover for our new record! It's called "Buttons and Bows," it has 11 of our best songs, and you can read more about it here. Enjoy kiddies.

Almost

We're almost done, folks. The record is mixed. It will be mastered next week. Copies will be pressed. Digital files will be made available. Shows will be booked.

We appreciate your patience.

We hope you appreciate our record.

Help us finish our record, and get cool stuff!

Dear friends, fans and family,

Nine months ago, we started making a record. It was originally going to be a 6- or 7-song EP—a followup to our 2007 release “Selfish,” capturing the best material we’ve written since then. Once we got into the studio, though, one thing led to another and we wound up recording 11 songs. We can’t explain how, but these things happen. And let us tell you this: the thing sounds amazing. There’s bells, organs, vintage amps, synths, tambourines, timpani, banjos—all kinds of crazy stuff on it. We literally pulled out all the stops (on a Hammond B3 organ).

In any case, we’re done with the recording phase and are about to send off our tracks for mixing and mastering. Trouble is, making a record this way isn’t cheap! We need $5,830 to finish this beast. Hence, this letter.

Click here to chip in now!

As our fans, you have the opportunity to help us finish this record soon, and own a little piece of the process. Here’s what you get by donating to help us out:

$10 or more: early digital download of the record + inclusion in the “thanks” section of our liner notes
$25 or more: above + signed CD
$50 or more: above + Farewell Typewriter T-shirt
$100 or more: above + customized video thank-you note
$250 or more: above + recording of a song written just for you
$500 or more: above + Farewell Typewriter house concert (San Francisco Bay or Sacramento areas only)
$1,000 or more: above + “executive producer” credit + permanent guest list spot at all of our shows (whenever possible)
$5,830: above + a song on the record named after you + our eternal gratitude

We appreciate whatever you can give. This fundraising drive only lasts two weeks, so if you’re kind enough to donate, please do so by Aug. 4. Thanks for considering and we’ll see you soon.

Love and many thanks,
Grant, Steve, Jason & Audie

A special Farewell Typewriter show

Now that we're finished recording (!) our second record, the as-yet-untitled Farewell Typewriter LP 1, we are getting back into the swing of playing shows. This next one is a must-see: we're playing at Mission Coffees in Fremont, Calif., where Grant got his first summer job far too many years ago. The whole night is ours (no openers, closers), and we'll be playing special arrangements of our tunes. It'll be a mostly acoustic set with some special instrumentation.

We'll be playing tunes from the upcoming record, our first EP, "Selfish," in its entirety (provided we can remember how to play "Lost"), and a handful of covers. Jason and Grant will each do some special solo and duo performances, and the whole time we'll be wearing tuxedos. If we can find free tuxedos by then. Otherwise, just our PajamaJeans and muscle shirts.

Mission Coffee Roasting Company
Sat., July 10, 2010
151 Washington Blvd.
Fremont, CA
All ages
$15

Return to rocking

Hello. We are all done having babies for a while. Now, the only thing we will be birthing is a record, a bunch of shows, and new songs.

Our first show back will now be May 26 at The Uptown in Oakland, a place we love and adore. No cover, new tunes, good bar – let's do this.

By the way – did you know that we're on Twitter? Of course we are. Follow us: @faretype.

And if you're not on our mailing list already, sign up now. We email no more than twice a month (usually less) and it's the most reliable way to keep up to date on upcoming shows, album releases, etc.

XO
Farewell Typewriter

Charles Shellen

We are proud to announce the arrival of our newest Farewell Typewriter family member. Charlie Shellen was born on March 29th at 11:44 AM. He weighed in at 9 lbs., 3 OZ. and was 20" tall. Grant and Heather are super excited to be parents. The rest of the band is really excited to have a new fan.

As you all know, Steve had his son 12 weeks ago, so with the arrival of Charlie, we now have 2 Farewell Typewriter kids. Feel free to harass Audie and Jason about when they will be joining the 'parenting while in a rock band' club.

Oh, for all you die hard fans, we will be back to playing live on May 7th @ The Rockit Room. After that, we are working a show at Bottom of the Hill. Then, if all goes well, keep and eye out for our CD release show in the next few months. The new album is sounding incredible!

Alright, here is some video footage from Grants last show before fatherhood!



Farewell Typewriter at Great American Music Hall

See us play, help Haiti

We'll post some more details about both of our upcoming shows soon, but we wanted to let you know that if you come to see us play at Red Devil Lounge in San Francisco Feb. 12, 25 percent of the ticket price goes to Doctors Without Borders, who are helping Haitians who are obviously in need of serious medical care in the wake of the Jan. 12. earthquake.

Additionally, we'll be giving out free CDs with any donation made to DWB, and T-shirts for any donation over $15. We're a struggling band, but there are folks who need your money A LOT more than us.

More details about our February shows, as always, on our shows page.

In which Stephen bashes a cymbal

We had a fabulous time at the Great American Music Hall on Wednesday. Check out our opening song, "Better Things To Do."

Last show of the year at Great American Music Hall!

As you're probably aware, we've almost reached the end of 2009. And with it, the last show of the year is upon us this Wed., Dec. 9. In fact, this will be the last show of ours for a couple of months, as Steve goes on high baby alert due to the impending birth of his first child. It's also a very important show for us for the following reasons:

1. It's at the Great American Music Hall, one of San Francisco's oldest and finest venues.
2. It's a benefit for Music in Schools Today, which is a cause we feel is important.
3. Did we mention: the Great American Music Hall?!?!

Buy tickets here (this link gives you a $5 discount on the VIP and "huge fan" tickets) before noon on Wed., Dec. 9. Hope to see you there.

Wed. Dec. 9, 2009 @ 7 p.m.
Silicon Valley Rocks (a benefit for MuST)
Great American Music Hall
859 O'Farrell St.
San Francisco, CA
map
$15 / $30 / $70 (buy tickets)

Tonight: Music, comedy & burlesque @ Elbo Room

Tonight, we play with our friends The Actors at the lovely Elbo Room in San Francisco. Phil from The Actors has put together a great show, with headliner Mass Fiction as well as the comedy of Lauren Siegal and the burlesque act Cheese Puffs. This is our second-to-last show for a while (babies, etc.) and is right in the heart of the Mission. We'll play 10 percent harder tonight to make it worth your while to come out.



Next week, we close out the year with a show at Great American Music Hall. While we hope to return there this may be your only opportunity to see us at such a beautiful, historic venue. It's the Silicon Valley Rocks show, a benefit for Music in Schools Today, so get your discount tickets here and check us and some other great Bay Area bands.

Also check out this interview we did for SV Rocks' blog: "Farewell Typewriter: Musicians. Artists. Barbers." It's all true.

Wed. Dec. 2 @ 9 p.m.
w/Mass Fiction & The Actors
Elbo Room
647 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
map
21+
$6

Vodka + Farewell Typewriter = who needs to go to work Monday?

When our friends at St. George Spirits (makers of Hangar One Vodka) in Alameda invited us to play at their annual holiday party, we said, "Are you sure?" But then we said, "yes." This gig will be a little different – it's an open house, so there's food, booze and we'll be playing a lot of covers, mostly from that most glittery of decades, the 1980s. There will be Spandex.

The open house takes place from 1 - 6 p.m. this Sat., Nov. 21 at the distillery, though we don't play until about 3:30 p.m. (guitarist John Clarke will play before us). Tickets are $40 in advance or $50 at the door (call the number below for tickets) and will be worth every penny.

We've got a couple of gigs coming up in December that you won't want to miss, either: Elbo Room Dec. 2 and Dec. 9 at Great American Music Hall. More about those in a bit. Also some photos from our recording sessions in Sacramento, and more exciting surprises (hint: Steve naked).

Sat. Nov. 21, 2009 from 1-6 p.m.
St. George Spirits
2601 Monarch Ave.
Alameda, CA 94501
map
$40 advance or $50 @ door
Call (510) 864-0635 for advance tickets

Recording...

Recording was rad... Stay tuned for new songs.

Also, come see us at Cafe Du Nord on October 25th. It's going to be a fun time, I promise.

Starry Plough and more...

Hey if any of you missed us at The Starry Plough last weekend, then you should know that you missed something special and that you should cry. We played with out Audie, our favorite tambourine player. So the three remaining members went punk rock. We played fast, loud and out of control.

The place was packed, as most of our shows are. It smelled like The Starry Plough, which is good and the people there were fun to be around.

Other news... We just landed a couple big shows. We will be returning to Evergreen Lodge in Yosemite on November 14th. If you want a vacation and you have always dreamed of going away with Farewell Typewriter, this is your chance.

AND... We will be back at Cafe Du Nord on October 25th. Playing with The Disciplines Featuring Ken Stringfellow of the Posies.

We are also recording our new record next week and partying hard forever.

Have fun!

Elbo Room TONIGHT!

We're having a great summer, having recently played in Yosemite, and a couple days ago in Sacramento, and we're totally excited to be playing Elbo Room again, tonight! That and it's with our friends All My Pretty Ones (who rock the vocal harmonies like no other) and our new friends The Phantom Kicks - this is going to be a memorable show. Last time when we played a Monday show it was a blast - this time it's summer so we're planning for a definite repeat of that kind of energy...if you're going to be in San Francisco, or would like to be; whether it's to escape because Monday ruined your weekend, or because Monday is your weekend - forget school, forget work, think summer and come on out and party with us!

Farewell Typewriter with Phantom Kicks and All My Pretty Ones
Elbo Room

647 Valencia

San Francisco, CA

[map]

9 PM | 21+ | $5
(and $2 drink specials! woot!)

See you tonight!

Yosemite

Hey everyone, we just got back from out weekend getaway in Yosemite. We stayed and played at Evergreen Lodge. It was an average of 103 degrees the whole weekend, which made hiking and biking a sweaty good time. Out door ping pong at midnight was rad and the food was really really good. (I had Venison... it's like eating Bambi).

We played on Saturday night to a packed crowd, mostly dancing and screaming girls. Show started at 10, we played 3 sets ending sometime after 1 AM. We mixed our original songs in with a bunch of cover tunes including... Toxic, Maneater, I Saw Her Standing There, Mr. Brightside, Whip It, and many more.

We will probably be playing up there at Evergreen again next fall. Hopefully you can all join us next time, it's like a non stop party up there.

Cafe Du Nord

Hey, thanks to all of you that came out to support us and hear some great music at Cafe Du Nord. The other bands we played with were really cool, All My Pretty Ones and Miniature Tigers. We highly recommend checking both of those bands out in the future.

If you have never been to Cafe Du Nord, then you are missing out – it's a great place to see a show. The bands that play there are good, the vibe is great and it's on the basement level of the street.

Anyhow...thanks for coming out to the show. Check out the other bands' websites:

All My Pretty Ones

Miniature Tigers


See you at the next one.

FT on the Radio!! 90.1 FM

Hey everyone, stay home Wednesday night the 27th, watch some TV, cook dinner... Then at 9, turn on the radio to 90.1 FM. Farewell Typewriter would like to fill your house with music and entertain your whole family.

If you can't seem to get that station in your area, don't worry. You can stream the show online at:

http://kzsulive.stanford.edu/

Enjoy the show.


Also, don't forget to check us out at Bottom of the Hill on June 11th. We will be playing with Love Is All, from Sweden.

Bottom of the Hill
June 11th, 9:00
ALL AGES
$12 in advance, $14 at the door

To purchase tickets in advance, in case it sells out, go to:

www.stubmatic.com/bottomofthehill/event/811

Ok, see you later.

FT

Berkeley 5/14, SF 5/16

We'll be returning to Berkeley this Thursday, May 14 for a show at The Starry Plough, a great little pub on Shattuck, to play with Boy in the Bubble and The Clarences Kid With Katana. Show is $7, 21+ and starts at 9 p.m. We're excited about this show and want you to join us for a pint and a good night of rock music. That sounds really corny but it's true.

We're also playing a show at House of Shields in San Francisco on Saturday, May 16 with Leilujh and Jon Garcia. This show is $5, 21+ and also starts at 9 p.m.

Bottom of the Hill

OMG... Thank you so much to all the people that attended our Bottom of the Hill show. It was one of our best shows. The place was packed, people were dancing, screaming, cheering, crying, dancing more, yelling, drinking, crying again, dancing faster, talking, hollering... Well, people were just doing stuff.

If you missed it, you can see the videos online.

Next show is at Starry Plough in Berkeley, on May 14th. Try to come see us and bring a friend.

May 14th @ Starry Plough
3101 Shattuck Ave
Berkeley, CA

21+, 9 PM, $7


Last song from Bottom of the Hill. Song is called Patience.