STAY TUNED for info about our upcoming EP, "Stomp & Holler! Live from Sun Studio!", which will be released on 11/15/2013!

"Never Seen the Devil" Official Video

Check out our very first music video, for our first single "Never Seen the Devil" off our upcoming album "Cold Holler".  Please share it with your friends!




Big thanks to our good friends Jared Thompson and Aaron Kuhn, and to Thompson Video Production for all their talent!

MOJO at the Kudzu Ranch

I love the feeling of still recovering from one weekend as we're heading into another one, and this past weekend/week/upcoming weekend is a great example of the frenetic, random, sometimes intoxicated energy I've grown to love.

Over Labor Day weekend we had the pleasure of traveling south to play a one night stand in Chapel Hill, NC and record two songs for an upcoming 45 at Rick Miller's studio in Mebane, North Carolina.

Knowing that we had made a date to record in NC, I decided it would be fun to book a gig as well.  We played a great little dive called The Cave on Franklin St. in Chapel Hill.  It was a small but good listening crowd.

Rick in engineer mode at the Kudzu Ranch

You may know Rick as the guitar guru/humorist/total complete fucking badass behind Southern Culture on the Skids, but on top of all that he owns a wonderful recording studio in NC (aptly named The Kudzu Ranch) and is a great studio engineer, as well as a hell of a nice dude.  What I really enjoyed about his studio was how comfortable it was; it was clearly designed to NOT feel like one of those sterlie, "Grandmother's parlor" feeling studios that every recording musician has ended up in from time to time.  Bright walls and an awesome vintage bent are punctuated with cool '60's kitsch (velvet paintings GALORE!) and comfortable furniture for an ultra-deluxe clubhouse feel.  Can't beat that.

Seth plays the Assmaster.

The idea for a 45 was born simply out of Seth and I being righteous, unapologetic  over-achievers and a love of vintage vinyl.  We decided the 45 should be its own thing and stand apart from our first studio album.  I had hazy memories of talking to Rick after a SCOTS gig in Thomas, WV (hazy because I was a drunk of pretty epic proportions that evening) and him saying that he owned a studio in NC. When Seth and I first started discussing doing a 45, I immediately thought back to that discussion, as SCOTS put out a lot of vinyl and have consistently put out very well-recorded, well-crafted albums.  A few emails were exchanged, and we set a date to go to NC and lay down some tracks.

We wrote one new song for the session, called Done & Gone, which will be the A-Side and is a quick-tempo'd rock-country "love gone wrong song".  I think it'll master up pretty well. Glad we brought Mojo recording drummer (and drummer for YFS) Jared Roy along.  He's got a great feel and a great ear.  

Seth is holding the Assmaster.

What would recording in Rick's studio be without utilizing some of his ridiculously awesome vintage guitars?  For the B-side we recorded an electrified version of Crowbar on a beautiful,funky, bright green ("pimp burst") custom guitar called the Assmaster. It was a long day, but a productive day.  We got everything tracked and put a basic mix on it. Now to get it (and the rest of the tunes from our upcoming album) mastered.

  

Tonight is the annual Randolph County Community Arts Center Gala, one of my favorite Elkins events of the year. Seth teaches at the RCCAC.  Tickets are $50 and benefit the RCCAC, it's a good cause and a great excuse to get dressed up and schwasted and eat fancy food on sticks (at least I imagine food on sticks)

This weekend we play the Allegheny Highlands Trail Fest- a festival that benefits the bike trail!  It'll be a good'un (and you can hear that new tune.)

  

   

Greetings from the Outerbanks!

Just a little uke strumming from the OBX.  I'm not great yet, but I'm learning.  I like nice little stringed things.

New show dates!

This live footage was shot by Jared Thompson & Aaron Kuhn of Thompson Video Productions.  They're the ones working on the music video of this same tune.  Pretty cool stuff.  This was taped at the Faculty Showcase for the WV Governor's School for the Arts, where Seth acted as the Instrumental Music Instructor.  Below are some of our upcoming dates for late summer/early fall.  More to come!


8/3/11- El Gran Sabor- Elkins, WV
8/13/11- The Sound Factory- Charleston, WV (this is actually our sister-band Young Funk Sung) Opening for Rasta Rafiki!
8/14/11- Mountain State Brewing Company- Thomas, WV- Blackwater Mojo opening for Rasta Rafiki!
8/20/11- Mountain State Brewing Company- McHenry, MD
9/24/11- Wedding (Private)- Arlington, VA
9/25/11- The Wonderland Ballroom- Washington, DC


Starting to fill out more of August/September, however I imagine most of it will be spend in the final stages of production on Cold Holler (our first studio album).  
More Later.

Upcoming video- "Never Seen the Devil"

We had the pleasure of meeting Jared Thompson and Aaron Kuhn of Thompson Video Production while working for the West Virginia Governor's School for the Arts this summer.  After Blackwater Mojo played a performance for the students during the faculty showcase, Jared made the suggestion that we should make a music video.  I don't know if he was expecting us to take him up on it immediately, but we did. 


Withing 24 hours, Seth, Jared, Aaron and I had come up with a concept and a date for our first shoot, a sort of underground Victorian hipster club feel to be shot here on D&E's campus during Augusta Heritage Center's infamous Blues Week. (Plus, shooting on blues week meant that the legendary Phil Wiggins, who recorded on the album track with us, could be in the video, as well as many other beautiful and awesome folks who come up for blues week every year)


Here are some good photographic shots from the shoot. 

We have one more shoot to go, in Thomas WV, which will have a bit more of a story to it.  


Thanks (of course) go to Jared Thompson & Aaron Kuhn of Thompson Video Production, as well as Phil Wiggins (harmonica) and Jared Roy (Drums) for sharing their talents with us on the album and in the video, and our absolutely unbelievably fucking beautiful collection of guest stars:  Rob & Derdlim Masten, Spinner O'Flaherty, Kat Barnett, Stan Hirsch, Vince Trimboli, Kelly Roidt, Diana Vera, Connie Linger, Andrew Guterman, Ian Walters, Joy Arico, Captain T, and Adrienne Sherrill. 


Also: thanks to Davis & Elkins College security & Melanie Campbell for letting us use the space (the library in Halliehurst, if anyone was wondering)


   

We've had a busy, wonderful couple of months, not to mention, an even busier, more ridiculously wonderful last couple of weeks.


Firstly, we have purchased, and almost entirely moved into, our first house: a beautiful yellow-brick home in glorious South Elkins.  Glorious, of course, meaning that we no longer live next to arson kids and death-threat guy, but instead next to nice old women who look like the type that will bake you pies.  Here are the new digs....obviously taken a few months ago when we were still enveloped in snowy awesomeness.

We've also been putting the finishing touches onto our first album, to be entitled "Cold Holler".  With only one tune left to record ("People Say", which will need horns and drums, beyond just us), all that remains is tweaking levels, mixing, mastering and finally packaging, etc.  We have the great fortune of having a fantastic artist friend (Michael Doig) who is painting an original piece for our cover art....amazing.  Can't wait until it is all said and done and we have our album.

We've been on and off the road the last few weeks, first to our nation's capital, than onto NYC.  Stopped a million and a half little places in between too, to shop and eat, and play some tunes.  Here is "Last Fair Deal" from the Wonderland Ballroom in DC's Columbia Heights...good stuff.


Good times! More videos to come!