In The Midst Of My Big Ride

So we are at our second rest day here in Missoula, MT. We have biked almost 600 miles in the last eight days and aside from being a bit sore I feel terrific. Beautiful weather, friendly people, amazing sights; it really doesn't get much better than this.

Please feel free to follow me (and many other riders) at; www.youtube.com/AndrewFersch and please do consider donating still (the link is in the top right of the page or go HERE).

Thanks for your support~!

One Week Until The Big Ride Across America!

One week from today I will be boarding a plane for my big ride. I'm excited, nervous; I'm ready. I'm up to just over $6,600 and aiming to put that over $7,000 before Friday.

If you would like to write me during my Big Ride Across America, here are the addresses. It is recommended that you mail the letter at least ten days before the ‘Date of Arrival’ so it makes it there on time. If you'd like to e-mail, feel free at; onehundredyears@gmail.com. You can also follow me at my YouTube Site HERE.

Thanks so much, this will really make my day to get a letter and to know that people are supporting me and my ride!

Date of Arrival Address

Thursday, June 24 Riverside Station, 904 W Riverside Ave, Spokane, WA 99201

Monday, June 28 Missoula Main Office, 1100 W Kent Ave, Missoula, MT 59801

Friday, July 09 Rapid City Main Office, 500 East Blvd, Rapid City, SD 57701

Friday, July 16 New Ulm Main Office, 27 S German St, New Ulm, MN 56073

Wednesday, July 21 Madison University Station Office, 441 N Lake St, Madison, WI 53715

Thursday, July 29 Burton Main Office, 14525 Main St, Burton, OH 44021

Wednesday, August 04 Gettysburg Main Office, 115 Buford Ave, Gettysburg, PA 17325

Sample address below:

Big Ride 2010
Mr. Andrew Fersch
General Delivery - Gettysburg Main Office
115 Buford Ave
Gettysburg, PA 17325

Hunters and Runners Album Review

'Of Classic Renown' starts off with the same sort of wonderfully reminiscent garage punk rock that Titus Andronicus brought just a little while ago to critical (if not any other) acclaim. “Bring Your Own” is everything you hope for in a rock song; catchy, upbeat but not chipper, and tough without being too reminiscent of the music that your high school’s biggest meathead listened to.

For whatever reason, Hunters and Runners start doing some wild stuff vocally on the second track, “The Sims”, sounding more like they’re trying to get on the Warped Tour with pre-teens and their mothers as their audience, than an opening slot at the Rat (R.I.P). This is hardly the only change in their style during the album though; sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. “Father’s Porsche” is some pretty basic classic rock, and pretty pleasant at that. Musically they get a little off track as well, dabbling in easy listening on “I Used to be Lonely” – very reminiscent of Mike Patton thinking he can do whatever he wants because he used to be in Faith No More.

Their reggae stylings on songs such as “Baby’s Eyes” and “Badman” are not as welcome either. It sounds un-rehearsed, it sounds like your older brother’s band that he formed to meet girls. This is especially unfortunate because if every song on the album was as good as “Die”, this could have been as, if not more, successful than Titus Andronicus.

Singers Brady Oh and Liam Farrell have the abilities requisite to really rock; their voices carry emotion well, the have the power, fairly strong range. The band also knows how to play. It just sounds as if they haven’t really decided, as a group, what they want to do with all of this accumulated talent.

1867 Recording Studio

1867 Recording Studio is a rock and roll temple; literally and metaphorically. Located just outside of Boston, the building itself served for a long time as a temple, and was constructed in 1867, hence the name. Owner and musical mastermind Chris McLaughlin hasn’t always been recording for others though. He first made his mark in music while playing guitar for Aberdeen City (Columbia). Already an accomplished home studio producer, crafting chunks of Aberdeen’s releases, Aberdeen provided McLaughlin with not only a chance to tour the world, but also to work with and learn from such producers as Steve Lillywhite, Nic Hard and Sean Slade – often times collaborating with these big names on the production end of things.

Since opening his studio he has relied entirely on word of mouth; which has been more rewarding since it’s opened him up to new music as well.

“The best part about the whole word of mouth thing is that bands usually recommend other bands that are really great or I end up really loving. Because of that I’m so proud of the records I have gotten to work on.”

And there are plenty of reasons that bands keep recommending that their friends record there.

The first band to record to in the space was Polarbaron, thanks to a recommendation from Township’s Marc Pinansky.

“I felt like I had this amazing secret I wanted to tell everyone,” Pinansky shared. “Having already gotten to see what Chris was capable of as an engineer and producer and now seeing this new, ridiculously vibey, huge room, a Temple nonetheless, I wanted to make sure that all my friends got a crack at it before the word spread and he was booked solid for years on end.” The second project, upon completion of Polarbaron’s “Winter/Summer” EP was Township’s follow-up album, “Township.” “We were all so excited to be in such a grand location to make a record The room itself was why I wanted to put horns on there and strings! Lots of strings. That place LOVES strings. Maybe it has something to do with the Colonial times? Anyways, it was great to watch Chris work in this new space that was worthy of his talents.”

There is a dark power within in this studio and its surrounding, aged city that is both comforting in its history and endurance and mysterious in its obscure imagery and impeccable craftsmanship. The magic of the main room itself, a 50 x 50 x 30 former meeting hall for a mysterious fraternal order, is wielded by the contagiously upbeat McLaughlin. Like the order themselves, the denizens of 1867 have been a word of mouth society that have sought out like-minded musicians and welcomed them into this secret world. The members of the 1867 Lodge continue to grow, now including such major acts as Fanfarlo and The New Pornographers, but the studio still remains very much a temple. A perfect balance of modern and, well, ancient, elements combine to make records where the space very much informs and inspires the band.

McLaughlin realizes how special this is too and takes none of it for granted; “In general, I can’t believe how lucky I have been to have such great friends helping me with this whole thing. None of it would exist without them. There is so much that goes into this, that being able to call someone or just having friends helping you without you even having to ask, means a ton. The bands that have come in here have always ended up being super supportive when they leave and it’s the same with freelance engineers. I feel like I’ve been adopted by a really great community of people and it seems like it’s really the only way this industry can work.”

Website: www.1867recordingstudio.com

Seven Weeks Until the Big Ride

Just under $4,500 has now been raised for the American Lung Association thanks to some wonderful co-workers, the spectacular customers of Concord Teacakes, in West Concord, MA, and absolutely amazing parents. Still aiming to raise at least $1,200 more within the next three weeks, if you can help out, please do so HERE!

My training videos will keep going HERE; if you'd like to join me for a bike ride, please don't hesitate to get in touch. If you have any questions, I would be more than happy to answer them! Thanks

Big Ride Training and Fundraising Update

Hey folks! So I'm back from a trip south which included a 100-plus mile ride from Purcellville, Virginia to Washington, DC and back (on the beautiful Washington and Old Dominion Line).

I've set up a YouTube account (which you can find HERE) where I will be sharing choice training videos, and then I will be uploading videos daily during the trip to keep people on top of what I've been doing!

Anyhow, I hope everyone is well, thanks so much for the support, and if you are able, please donate HERE. Thanks again!

Thank you to the customers and the wonderful staff of Concord Teacakes for the $179 in donations over the last week, you are wonderful people, and I am incredibly grateful to you all.

Phil Ashworth Interview

Phil Ashworth was raised in Corning, NY, Phil left there when he became a man and traveled to the greater New England area. While on his quest he was properly educated at the Rhode Island School of Design. After graduating in 2008 he became a boy again, returned home, became a man again, and now wonders what he is doing every single day. During all this he has done several editorial assignments, album covers, designed a skateboard deck for Steez, and displayed his work in several galleries, including the Nucleus Gallery for SILA 47. He most recently exhibited his work along with a childhood friend at Homegrown Boardshop in Ithaca, NY.

What would you say you are most influenced by in your artwork?

I try to make every piece I create contain the grace, fluidity and raw emotional power of Jim Carrey's performance from Dumb and Dumber.

What about skateboarding do you enjoy the most?

It's nice to not have some coach or your parents trying to live vicariously through you. You never have to worry about someone yelling at you for losing, and huge companies haven't completely sucked all of the enjoyment out of it, yet.

What makes great art?

If it costs a lot of money. It matches the rug and the curtains, and if it helps you gain some sort of social status.

You designed a skateboard for Steez, tell me about that experience.

Basically, Joe gave me a basic idea of what he was kind of aiming for and just let me go from there. I shot him a few sketches I had done of some silly fat guy and another one of a grandma throwing the horns/that thumb and pinky, universal surfer "brah" hand signal. Joe dug the fat guy, we made some minor changes, and that was about it. I think, overall, it took about a week. It was a pretty mellow project.

Who are your favorite musicians? Why?

Animal from Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem, Tom Waits, and The Clash. Head and shoulders above the rest.

You can hang out with any three people, living or dead, for dinner, who do you invite and why?

A Neanderthal. JFK. Charles Bukowski. Total party animals!

Yarn Live Review

Stone Church // Newmarket, NH // February 11, 2010

Real bluegrass music is about technical skill and emotion. Country music tends to be about lyrics. And folk music seems to be strictly about emotion. Brooklyn’s Yarn is a bit of each of those styles and has all of those attributes in spades, particularly during their live show.

The “intimate crowd” didn’t noticeably bother lead singer/guitarist Blake Christiana and his merry band of musicians. Almost immediately it was clear that Yarn is a band who takes playing music seriously; they are masters of their instruments. Mandolin/Harmonica player Andrew Hendryx may have appeared to be climaxing during some songs, who can blame him though when he plays the fiddle so flawlessly? Guitarist/background vocalist/David Cross look-a-like Trevor MacArthur also showed why this music could just as easily be called bluesgrass – it has real soul to it, even when it is impeccably technical. This is a band that takes practicing seriously, and because of it, they have a seriously impressive live show.

Comparisons to Ryan Adams are unavoidable (especially because of where they hail from). In reality though, Christiana has a better voice, and although Adams’ songwriting is key in his greatness, Yarn’s songwriting shows creativity and originality (and a good dose of humor and humility). Comparisons to Cross Canadian Ragweed and Reckless Kelly would also be in order for their live show because they do not shy away from rocking out.

It was no surprise to find out that Christiana previously played with a jam band. The live Yarn show was filled with ‘impromptu’ solos, with band members passing solos to each other, something that takes an awful lot of practice to make sound good.

A skilled, and fun, live show by a band that knows that if you are having fun as a band, the crowd will be having fun too.

Township – Vol. 1 Album Review

A rock and roll revival is underway and it would be sheer ignorance to not place Township at the very top of the list of bands that are making it worthwhile. Thanks to King Yum, a collection of the ‘best of’ Township has been compiled that includes some of the harder to find music from their earlier days.

‘Lady Ann’ is proof positive that singer Marc Pinansky has a hell of a sense of humor, whether or not you get it doesn’t matter though, because the music speaks a whole other truth, this is real rock and roll. On songs like ‘The Major’ and ‘Highway’ it is impossible to stop your foot from tapping, let alone your whole body from wanting to get involved; on ‘Big Bad’ and ‘Beaver Fever’ , you’ll be transported back to the dirtiest rock club the late 70’s had to offer where they very well could have opened for Judas Priest. If there was a ballad on the album, it would be ‘Baby Rock Me’, which sounds more like an actual love and pain, and real life song, than Skid Row could ever conjure, even in their most heartbroken moments.

It shouldn’t be a challenge for a song like ‘Gunnin’ Thru The Nite’ to end up in regular rotation, but alas, watered down seems to be the order of the day on commercial radio and it’s a damn shame because too many people are missing out.

Township is not a cover band, or even a tribute band, but their style is a tribute to what has disappeared from commercial rock and roll these days; a whole lot of talent, a sense of humor, an attitude, and a pair. And this album does a great job showcasing the lyrical and musical talent that the group has.

King Yum Records / http://www.myspace.com/thefamilytownship

Big Ride Fundraising Continues!

Well it's been two weeks since I started to raise money for my Big Ride Across America and I'm up to just under $1500. I still need to raise a lot to make my goal of $6000, so any help you can offer is great! If you'd like to donate you may go HERE.

An article was recently published in The New Hampshire (the college paper of the University of New Hampshire; where I went to grad school). You can check that out HERE.

If you have any questions, ideas, suggestions, comments, well, anything you want to tell me, feel free to e-mail me at onehundredyears@gmail.com

Thanks for your support!

Biking Across America For A Great Cause.

Hello everyone. This summer I will be embarking on a 48-day bicycling trip from Seattle, Washington to Washington, D.C. in order to raise money for the American Lung Association. I'm in the process of training right now, and I'm also in the process of fundraising right now. I'm going to keep readers up with my weekly progress on this experience, physically and mentally. If you have any questions or want to know anything about the trip, please be in touch.

If you'd like to donate to the ride, please click HERE to do just that. Five dollars or five hundred, it's all going to a great cause!

Thanks for reading, and thanks for your support!

Questions? Comments? E-mail me! onehundredyears@gmail.com

Boston band Girlfriends - Prompts

I asked two of the three members of Boston-based Girlfriends to answer some prompts, which they kindly did and are here for your reading pleasure. If you haven't had a chance to listen to them, I'd highly recommend it. Sort of reminds me why I got into punk rock in the first place. Their MySpace is here.

Benny:

"Music is....a series of noises played in succession to elicit a response from the player/listener. Some genres include pop (short for 'popular'), rock, blues, jazz, classical, etc. Then there are the subgenres. This could take days. We should stop right here. That's basically all you need to know. God invented Google so you could learn the rest just make sure you search for 'harsh industrial noise' and 'rocksteady' at some point. The part about a mutant warthog with a purple mohawk is incidental, but interesting.

If you can't make it to our show, that is unfortunate, it's like....Sweatpants in church. So depressing, you know? Like 'I just couldn't make the effort to pick a real outfit or buckle a belt' or whatever. You probably slept in those. If you're going to pull this off at all you'd better have a matching sweatshirt on. Or no shirt. And what if you get a boner? God will totally see it. Actually wearing sweatpants to church is kind of awesome.

Outside of music I....make it a point to do little else. But I eat four times a day or so, sleep an average of 6 hours for every 24, and picked up flossing recently. Flouride mouthwash and vitamin D softgels, too. So I'm pretty okay right now. Habits are a good thing to have, I think. I started smoking as a New Year's Resolution, but I quit soon after. I was disappointed in myself until I started getting all the high-fives."

Andy:

"Music is.... my favorite thing in the world although sometimes I need to take a break from it and give my ears some rest. Because of ear infections, I had tubes put into my ears several times as a child. That, combined with years of smashing cymbals with no earplugs is a quick route to tinnitus. But I am going to try to be better about all of this starting RIGHT NOW. It's difficult because the combined
experience of feeling yourself hit the drums while getting low thud and high crash blasted to your ears is so comforting. But I want to be able to hear my girlfranz for a long time so I am going to need to keep those earplugs in and start to use my imagination a little bit, to imagine what it feels like without the earplugs in. It's a hard thing, music is filled with so much imagination, it's quite incredible.

If you can't make it to our show, that is unfortunate, it's like...there are so many bands in Boston, and I understand that you may have gone out to see another band. It does seem like people are going out to see music much more these days, it's good for everyone to hang out and to constantly surround themselves with each other in the presence of music, even if every band isn't you favorite. Supporting bands
makes the bands better, it makes them feel as if they are not alone in playing music and being human. Most of our shows seem to be on Fridays and Saturdays these days,
which is convenient for most people. I am glad that I can always make it to our shows because our shows cheer me up, they give me something to look forward to. I think it is important to find something special, and for me that is music, and I love supporting others, and I love it that people support me too.

Outside of music I.... love to drive my stick shift car. I went to buy my car with my friend Paul a few months ago and when we showed up at the dealership, it hadn't opened for the day (it was relatively early on a Sunday). He knew that I couldn't drive stick shift, I had a friend take me for a few drives years ago, but never really learned. So we went for a lesson. Within an hour, I was in Harvard Sq,
jolting, freaking out. We came back to the dealership, they asked if I wanted automatic or manual, and Paul convinced me to go with the manual. So there you have it, like that. It's been a few months now, and I have days where I hate the thing and think I suck at it, but then there are other days where I just love the thing so much and I downshift into 3rd and I feel like I have done something special. The decision to get a stick shift represents something for me: it is me making a decision and dealing with the ups and downs, but ultimately realizing that it would be fine either way."