Album Released For Digital Download

I am pleased to announce that the new album, Ghost Towns, is now available for digital download at johnstatz.bandcamp.com for $10, or $1 per individual track. Along with the download, you will receive all artwork, and can read all of the lyrics and track information at the bandcamp site.

The physical album is currently available at the shows I am playing in Alaska right now, and will be available at the CD Release Show in Madison on August 12th and for order online at that time as well.

Also, I'm giving you two great reasons to keep checking this blog in the coming weeks. First of all, I am currently touring Alaska (in Fairbanks at the moment), and will be posting pictures and commentary as I travel along, as I have for past tours. In addition, I am going to try and post a little bit about every song on the new album, giving you some insight into my inspiration and providing the lyrics.

Thank you for your continued support and interest, these are exciting times!

John

Planning Alaska

In a little over a month, I will be headed back to Alaska for a tour and a wedding, with twice the amount of shows that I played last year. I spent my afternoon today sending out posters to the venues, contacting the Alaskan press, and planning my travel arrangements, which, I must say, are pretty crazy. Now if you've followed this blog in the past, you'll know that I have had some pretty crazy travel connections, especially when training and busing it all over Europe, but I think that this trip will take the cake.

For your amusement, my itinerary:

Wed., July 21st -

Drive four hours from Madison, WI to Minneapolis, MN to fly out from there. Why not just fly from Madison, or closer cities such as Milwaukee or Chicago? Well I was using frequent flyer miles, and for some reason it was way cheaper and affordable totally using miles when flying out of Minneapolis.

That day's flight schedule: Minneapolis -> Detroit -> Anchorage -> Fairbanks

Thurs., July 22nd - performing at the College Coffeehouse in Fairbanks

Fri., July 23rd - playing a House Concert in Fairbanks

Sat., July 24th -

catching the 8am train from Fairbanks to Denali Nat'l Park, where I am opening a show that night at the Denali Salmon Bake, an Alaskan institution. Here I am also meeting up with some friends who I will travel back to Anchorage with.

Sun., July 25th - driving down to Eagle River (outside of Anchorage) for a 3pm matinee show at the Alaska Fine Arts Academy, and then down to Girdwood (south of Anchorage) for an evening show at the Silvertip Bar & Grill.

Monday-Wednesday morning - hanging out in and around Anchorage with my friends

Wed., July 28th - flying down to Juneau from Anchorage (Ted Stevens Int'l Airport), meeting my friend Chris for a drink, and then catching a midnight ferry to Haines...

Thurs., July 29th - hopping off the ferry bright and early in Haines, hopefully crashing for a couple of hours, and then performing at the Southeast Alaska State Fair at 2pm. After enjoying the fair for a few hours, I have to hope another high-speed ferry around 7pm to Skagway, where I am performing that night at the Skagway Brewing Co.

*As a sidenote, the State Fair folks said that there might be room on the VIP plane which is flying festival headliners from Juneau to Haines. I am greatly hoping for this option, as it will not mean a sleepless night on the ferry.

Fri., July 30th - getting back on an early morning ferry to Juneau for...

Friday and Saturday - Wedding Festivities!!!

My good friend from high school, Chris, is marrying a lovely gal from Juneau, and I am one of the groomsmen in the wedding. So once I step off the ferry, Friday will be spent doing the rehearsal dinner and such, and then Saturday will be the wedding. I'm really looking forward to what I am positive will be a beautiful wedding and night to remember.

Sun., August 1st - hanging out in Juneau, and then playing that night in town at the Alaskan Hotel, the last show of my Alaskan tour.

Mon., August 2nd - a 6am flight home... Juneau -> Seattle -> Minneapolis, and then a 4 hour drive home.

So lets recap on the modes of transportation on this trip:

Car -> Plane -> Train -> Care -> Plane -> Ferry -> Plane -> Car

Crazy, awesome, fun-ness. I will sleep for a week afterwards, but it will be well worth it.

Alaska Tour '10 - Dates Posted

picture from last year's Alaska Tour, May 2009

Dates have been officially posted to www.johnstatz.com and www.reverbnation.com/johnstatz for the summer Alaska tour, but for your convenience, I'll post them here as well:

July 22nd - College Coffeehouse, Fairbanks, AK @ 8pm ($5)

July 23rd - House Concert, Fairbanks, AK

July 24th - Denali Salmon Bake, Denali Nat'l Park, AK @ 9pm ($5) *opening for The Cooks + Salmon Bake's 26th Anniversary Party*

July 25th - Alaska Fine Arts Academy, Eagle River, AK @ 3pm ($10)

July 29th - Southeast Alaska State Fair, Haines, AK @ TBA

August 1st - Alaskan Hotel & Bar, Juneau, AK @ 9pm


In between those tour dates, I'll be vising my good buddy Matthew in Anchorage and standing up in a wedding in Juneau for an old friend. This tour will involve some crazy combinations of transportation, including planes, cars, and even a ferry or two. Can't wait!

Euro Tour 2010

So I am currently working on my second European Tour, which I will be embarking on in January of 2010. Just like last time (Jan./Feb. '09), it will be just me, my guitar, and my backpack, riding the rails and buses of Europe. Unlike last time, this will be more business than pleasure, and I will probably spend a shorter amount of time in each city. Cities that I know I will hit for sure are Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Ljubljana, and Parma, all cities that I played the last time through. I also plan to hit Germany this time, as well as hopefully Belgium, the Netherlands, and France, and I already know that I will be starting in Rome, so I will be trying to get a gig there and in other Italian cities along the way.

If you are currently living in any of these parts of Europe, have lived there in the past, or have close friends or family there, I would appeal to you for any help you can give in the way of finding gigs. Booking shows in foreign countries is a daunting task for this folksinger, as language barriers and a lack of experience over there often get in the way. By help, I mean that if you have any information on venues that I should play, please send them my way, and if you have any interest in hosting a house concert in your home let me know. I played a wonderful house concert in Prague last time, and would love to do more. Just send me an email to johnstatz@johnstatz.com and I can give you more information on house concerts.

Also in the works for 2010: A tour to the west/southwest in March, for sure including stops in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and everywhere in between, as well as a tour to Alaska in July.

Now back to work for me!

Tour/Travel Photo Albums Compiled

I store pretty much all of my touring and traveling pictures on Facebook, because it just easiest for me and I haven't gotten into the whole Flickr thing yet. However, that means that only my friends on Facebook are able to see them, and I'd love to share them with all of you. Luckily, Facebook gives you the option to share albums with others by providing a link, so below I have posted the link to all of my travel photos. Hope you enjoy, and feel free to add me as a friend on FB if you wish!

2009 - Recent Travel Pics

Europe - January/February

Warsaw, Poland
Krakow, Poland
Prague, Czech Republic
Prague, Part 2
Budapest, Hungary
Budapest, Part 2
Vienna, Austria
Zagreb, Croatia
Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Julian Alps/Soche River, Slovenia
Venice, Italy
Verona, Italy
Rome, Italy

March Tour Out West
Part 1 - Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada
Part 2 - California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota

Alaska Tour - May

Older Albums

First Tour Ever (November 2006) Part 1 - Ohio and Pennsylvania
First Tour Ever (November 2006) Part 2 - New Jersey, Washington D.C., Maryland, Philadelphia, New York City

Southern Tour (April 2007) Part 1 - Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas
Southern Tour (April 2007) Part 2 - Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas

East Coast w/ Dad (September 2007) Part 1 - Cleveland, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Delaware
East Coast w/ Dad (September 2007) Part 2 - Pennsylvania, New York City, Connecticut

Southern Tour (April/May 2008) Part 1 - Illinois and Missouri
Southern tour (April/May 2008) Part 2 - Kansas City, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Dallas
Southern Tour (April/May 2008) Part 3 - Austin, Houston, New Orleans

Summer Tour w/ My Brother (July/August 2008) - IL, IA, NE, KS, TX, OK, AR

East Coast Train Tour (December 2008) - Chicago, Philadelphia, New York City, Wilmington

One Last Hike in Alaska

I was taking the red eye flight out of Alaska on a Sunday night, so there was time for one last hike just outside of Anchorage that day. Matthew and Olga took me up to Powerline Pass, picture above, and we hiked up a mountain overlooking that pass and the city of Anchorage.

Hiking up the spine of the mountain. This is where it finally got easy, the ascent until this point was one of the more grueling hikes I've ever been on. Apparently they don't believe in switchbacks in Alaska, and prefer to hike straight up a steep mountain.

Down in that valley lies Anchorage. Its simply amazing how easy it is to get outside of the state's largest city and into nature.

The descent was much easier, as it involved sliding down this snow field on my butt. The gray covering over the snow is actually ash from the Redoubt Volcano which has been erupting on and off since the beginning of the year.

More pictures from Alaska...

Performing at the Whole Wheat Radio House Concert in a cabin in Talkeetna. Pay a visit here to check out this amazing concert space. Jim and Esther open up their home to have musicians perform. While there was a great, intimate audience, there were also people listening in over the internet. Thats where the 'Radio' part come in, Jim broadcasts the concerts via internet radio, and anyone, anywhere can listen in and interact. We even had listeners that night in far away places like Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, and a few European countries, as well as a number of American states. This was probably the coolest concert experience I've had to date, and I hope to make it back soon.

Stopped at this mountain lake on the way back from Talkeetna with Matthew and Olga, pictured above with their dog.

Enjoy the scenery...

Road Trip to Talkeetna

Houston, AK, on the road between Anchorage and Talkeetna. Fireworks and flags, yeehaw!

My friends Matthew and Olga, amazing hosts. I went to college with Matthew, we played in the Wind Ensemble together. He is a lucky man, because his awesome Russian wife Olga is cool as hell, and one badass cook. Here we are hanging at the Susitna River in Talkeetna.

Mountains in the distance, one of which is Denali, too clouded to see. Talkeetna is the starting off point for people climbing Denali. From here they take small planes up to a glacier and base camp.

Olga giving Winston a bath in the river because he got really muddy. Cutest little puppy.

From the Muddy Banks of the Susitna

First Pictures from Alaska

Beluga Point in the Turnagain Arm with some gnarly mountains situated on the Kenai Peninsula

looking out over Turnagain Arm

a beautiful blue river up on Turnagain Pass

Glacier

Back to Turnagain Arm, looking at the Kenai Peninsula

Falling behind...

So I've been terrible at keeping this blog updated lately, shame on me.

I want to get the rest of the European travel pictures posted before I head to Alaska in early May so that I can live blog that tour. In an effort to do that, I am going to neglect actual posts about my tour out west in March, and just post links to the Facebook albums instead. For you viewing enjoyment:

Part 1
Part 2

And I promise that I will get the pictures from Italy up this week.

Ciao!