Welcome back to another Tuesdays With Lazerbeak! Let’s kick things off today with some new Doomtree-related music. I recently got the chance to remix one of my favorite bands, Speedy Ortiz, for their new Foiled Again EP. They just dropped the collaboration last week and it features some guest vocals from Lizzo and top of Sadie Dupuis and the band’s original takes. Super happy with how it turned out. Check out the “Puffer” Lazerbeak remix below, followed by the original song for context, and make sure to grab the full EP when it comes next month.

Speedy Ortiz ft. Lizzo – “Puffer (Lazerbeak Remix)”

Speedy Ortiz – “Puffer” (original version)

Speaking of new albums, our good friend Astronautalis just dropped his awesome Cut The Body Loose project last Friday and both Cecil and myself have beats on that bad boy. Check out “Guard the Flame” (produced by yours truly) and “Running Away From God” (produced by Cecil Otter) below and then definitely go pick up a copy for yourself right HERE.

Astronautalis – “Guard the Flame” (prod. by Lazerbeak)

Astronautalis – “Running Away From God” (prod. by Cecil Otter)

Now for some huge Doomtree shows coming up over the next couple of weeks. This Friday, May 20th the “Gentlemen of Doomtree” will be smack dab in the middle of Denver for a Project Pabst afterparty at the Marquis Theater. Our dudes Input and Sean Anonymous will also round out the totally stacked bill. Dessa is out in NYC working on some literary projects at that time, so I have taken it upon myself to put my hair up in a power braid, slap on about 50 silver bracelets, and belt out deep cuts like “Mineshaft” and “The Crow” in her stead. Should be one for the history books. Grab your tickets HERE while you can. Just got a count update and they’re going fast. See you Friday!

Next Saturday, May 28th I’ll be playing a very rare show with Mixed Blood Majority as we headline the annual Memory Lanes Block in South Minneapolis. Tons of great artists on the bill for this one like Bones & Beeker, Eric Mayson, Little Fevers, and Shannon Blowtorch. Should be a ridiculously good time and a great way to warm up for Soundset the following day.

And speaking of Soundset (SEGUE!!!), the entire crew will be posted up at the new Minnesota State Fairgrounds location on Sunday, May 29th for the biggest hip-hop festival in the world! I’m extremely excited for this one. Can’t wait to see Anderson .PAAK, A$AP Rocky, The Roots, Future, Mick Jenkins, Lexii Alijai, and 9th House either. Grab your tickets right HERE and we’ll see a ton of you next Sunday.

NEW SHOW ALERT: It was just announced that P.O.S will be performing a solo set at Long Beach, California’s Music Tastes Good festival this September alongside greats like De La Soul, Dr. Dog, Gallant, and Sylvan Esso. Tickets are officially on sale now and you can grab them right HERE.

One more quick show to talk about before moving on: Our best buds over at Totally Gross National Product are throwing another one of their excellently curated Red Bull Sound Select events this Thursday at Amsterdam in St. Paul. They’ve brought in the excellent Empress Of to headline and local crushers Dizzy Fae and RONiiA will be opening up. Should be a total blast. You can RSVP right HERE.

OK! Now for a little recap of one of the greatest nights of my long-legged life. Last Friday night the Wifepiece and I headed out of town with her brother and his girlfriend to attend our very first country casino show. Rodney Atkins was in town and he’s basically theeee guy that got me into new country around five years ago. I’ve had a soft spot for it ever since, which mostly flares up in the spring and summer when all the award shows air and road trips and cabin trips are most abundant. This seemed like the best way ever to kick off Country Season 2016. Here’s me and Cam posted up in the Camry on our way up to Mille Lacs Grand Casino.

Oh man, was it something. I hadn’t been out of the city in awhile and the only country show I’ve ever attended previously was Kacey Musgraves and Lady Antebellum in a huge basketball arena. This was pretty much the exact opposite of that. We got to the casino and I realized the abundance of hunter camo uniforms all around me. I had most definitely overdressed in my black sweater. Strike one. The show listed a 7:30pm start time, but we figured there’s no way Rodney would go on until at least 8:30, so we decided to hit the huge casino buffet first and get a solid base going. Turns out Fridays are Seafood Night at the casino, which adds about $10 extra per plate. Strike 2. I’ve never seen a longer line for crab legs in my life. They just could not bring those things out fast enough. Grown men stacking 6-7 crabs vertically on a plate. A true site to behold. I spent a good amount of time just taking in the scene before settling on fried chicken and selections from the unexpectedly expansive Jello bar. We ate fast and headed over to the “venue” to see what was going on. BAM! It was 7:45pm and the show had already started. No openers. No house music. Just Rodney. We ran as fast as we could to our seats just in time to see the man himself give some shoutouts to our section. Classic.

I don’t really know how to put what transpired next into a ton of words, but I’ll give you the quick highlight reel: 1,600 people all sitting down in hotel chairs inside of a hotel conference room. The spotlight for the stage was operated by a man in the back on a lift with what looked like a high powered flashlight in his hands. Rodney forgot verses to at least three songs and just played on through without singing for minutes at a time. Rodney’s wife joined him for three songs and then played a solo song of her own which was written about the very casino we were sitting in! At least half of the songs were performed in Drop-D tuning, something I never associated with country music before. The amount of guitar picks thrown out into the crowd was borderline wasteful. Three separate mic stands were brought up in order to accommodate that overzealous pick flinging. Men apparently don’t really clap at country shows. They just mutter phrases like “Sweet guitar” and “Go get ’em, boy” in between songs. It was just me and the ladies handing out the real applause. Towards the end of the show, during highlight “If You’re Going Through Hell,” about 100 people finally rushed the stage and began dancing up front, blocking everyone’s seated view. Casino security instantly formed a barrier around the stage and shut it down. No encores. Just 70 minutes of awesome music and they were out. Here’s the only video clip I was able to get, but I think it does a pretty good job of painting the picture. Note the spotlight operator in the back and the rowdy group of college kids to our left.

And just like that it was over. This is what the inside of a casino conference room looks like at 8:45pm on a Friday night.

We spent the rest of the night breaking even at the tables and slots and eating waaaaay to much pizza before heading home the next morning, changed forever. What a very strange but very enlightening experience. Huge shouts to Rodney Atkins, his wife Rose, and the killer band for playing all the hits. I promise I will never forget it. Now for some serious Country Bonus Jams in honor of such an excellent evening. Enjoy!

Rodney Atkins – “Watching You”

Rodney Atkins – “If You’re Going Through Hell”

Rodney Atkins – “Farmer’s Daughter”

Rodney Atkins – “Friends With Tractors”

I’ll leave you with some Bonus Baby Pics before calling it a day, although I think I’m gonna have to come up with a different name for this section since our kids have been growing like crazy recently. Here’s Penny on a fun date with her Grandma Rosemary at the Mall of America this past weekend.

And here she is making her current favorite thing in the world: SLIME. She apparently has this process down to a science. Hasn’t quite figured out how to not get it stuck in her hair yet, but we’re working on it.

 

We’ve been loving our new house and settling in more and more every week. I finally got a Lazy Boy for the basement after about a 12 year drought and “Daddy’s Chair” has been a big hit with all the kids. Here we are watching My Little Pony for the 750th time. Might need to get another one of these chairs to accommodate everyone.

And there you have it! I hope you all have a wonderful week watching insane basketball games (still shocked the Warriors let that one get away last night). Looking forward to seeing a ton of you out in Denver this Friday. Keep your eyes peeled to this site because the onslaught of new Doomtree music is just starting to ramp up. See you next Tuesday!

— Beak

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