Band Talk

I find myself mentioning our band here and there on the blog, but it's been a little while since I've given any real updates on my work-life outside of the internet world.  At the turn of the year we lost some members of the band, but gained some fantastic new people.  I definitely miss my old mates, but I'm certainly in the honeymoon phase with these new players.  It's bittersweet, I guess.  In total, I'm pretty sure Johnny told me that we've been through 10ish- a dozen rotating members.  That feels crazy, but having the time to commit to this without getting burned out or just generally tired is really important.  Johnny and I work well in this setting because our schedules are very flexible.

Other than holding the title of "front-person" (sorta... it's complicated), one of my big jobs in The Mixtapes is social media and design.  Since we have some new, adorable faces, I've been spending some hours on new images for the band.  The unicorn (above) is my personal favorite at the moment. I think all I've ever wanted in life is to ride a pink unicorn.  Or be one.  Again, it's complicated.


We've been traveling quite a bit since the turn of the new year, and it's been really good.  Sometimes we end up at a generally large venue and other times we'll be playing a pretty small, divey place, but both extremes can be a crazy amount of fun.  It all depends on the energy level, really.


(photos by Levi Andrew)
 

(photo by Pablo E Ortiz)

(photos by Levi Andrew)

We really lucked out to find such talented and fun multi-instrumentalists.  You should see Ivy play the drums-- the girl is KILLER.  I basically have a music crush on every one of these people.

Anyway, there's a small update on what our fun little band has been up to.  I'm looking forward to all the adventures this year will hold for us!  If you're interested in more information (or just peeping out of curiosity), you can follow our Instagram and/or Facebook!  My goal is to get lots more videos posted over the next several months while we're up to our ears in shows!  xo.

Band Trips and Birthdays

Johnny and I (and the rest of our band) had the pleasure of traveling out of town for shows on Wednesday and Thursday last week.  Wednesday also happened to be our our best friend/guitar man's birthday, so we tried to make the absolute most of it.  We celebrated over brunch, rode go-carts, and did all the touristy things we had time for in our old town.  Visiting Lake of the Ozarks is so much more enjoyable for us than living there ever was!


(Last picture photo cred)

I sure do love these people and I'm so thankful to have all of them in my life (even though our sweet bass gal, Lauren, somehow didn't make it into any of these photos)!  Happy Wednesday, friends!

A Weekend Well Spent

This weekend was nothing short of jam packed and wonderfully wonderful.  Typically after a weekend of multiple shows and juggling home life/work life, Mondays always feel like they've come too soon.  Fortunately, this past weekend was energizing (and exhausting) and extremely positive.  I love it when it works out that way.

The photo above is technically from Thursday, but I had the pleasure of taking the girls to the ballet to see Snow White.  We actually went to the dress rehearsal, since our weekend was booked, but we got dressed up any way and really enjoyed ourselves.


(Show photos by Brenna Stark)

Friday and Saturday looked like this.  The Mixtapes road tripped out of town for a show and stayed over night on Friday.  The next day, we went to thrift stores and explored the town, then rushed back home to get ready for a show in Springfield that evening.  By the time our set was over, we were ready to collapse and scarf pizza... which is exactly what we did.


Sunday was for getting the girls back from the grandparents and relaxing.  Poesy is newly into video games (she calls it "Mario Down the Drain") and it's pretty fun.  I remember that feeling as a kid-- waiting for the second your mom says it's okay to pull out the Nintendo.  Pure bliss.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  Did you do anything exciting?  Did you spend your weekend relaxing?  I'd love to hear what you were up to!  xo.

Band Life

I haven't really given a band update in a couple of months, so I thought I'd share some photos our friend Whitney Houseman took for us recently.  We spend most weekends playing right now, sometimes back to back nights (Friday/Saturday).  The Mixtapes have been doing more and more regional traveling and we're getting pretty excited about how it's all taking off.  There are some new/fun things on the horizon for our little band and it looks like 2015 could be a really great year for us.  Here's a fun photo from a charity event we played this weekend:


It was pretty crazy, and honestly, a little strange for us to be playing in the middle of the day.  We finished the night playing with another band at a local venue and by the time we made it to Sunday, I was happily exhausted.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  It's time for me to buckle down and make this week really count!  xo.

Our Little Band "The Shel-Tones"

I didn't start playing any musical instruments until I was about 21.  I've always been really into music, but I was too scared to put myself out there when I was younger.  It's honestly taken me a lot of years to get the point where I truly love playing in front of people.  For whatever reason, that confidence hasn't come naturally for me.  It's been a journey of learning to believe in myself.  Sometimes I'm great at it and sometimes I still have to give myself all the pep talks.

Johnny and I have been doing The Mixtapes for about a year now, and I didn't realize how spoiled we've gotten!  Playing in a band setting has its difficulties, but I love the unity and energy there.  This weekend we dusted off the ol' song lists and did a 3 hour night just the two of us.  We figured out it's been 3 years since the last time we played an intimate set, and boy, was it different than our usual gig.  I really loved it, but talk about putting yourself out there.  Acoustic singer/songwriter folks, all the love to you.  It really feels like pouring your heart and guts out.


Our friend Dillon has very appropriately named us "The Shel-Tones".  (Our last name is Shelton, get it?)  I love it because it sounds like a band straight out of "That Thing You Do", which is one of my very favorite movies of all time.

Anyway, it ended up being a really great night.  I'm really looking forward to doing it more and more.  Sometimes it's nice just get out there and play just to play!

Also, thanks to my sweet friend, Lauren, for snapping some pics for me!  Next time I hope to get a little video to share with you all!  Happy Monday!

Snapshots

Hope and I had some special "girl time" earlier this week.  I let her pick where we go and she almost always pick this tiny little mom-n-pop burger joint, Taylor's.  It's become our place and I love that.


We've been spending plenty of time outdoors over the past couple of weeks, since the weather has been so nice around these parts.  These are a few snaps from a park day last week.

We had a band photoshoot recently and it was pretty fun.  I needed new photos for some new collage-style posters.  The .gif was made with the new Party!Party! app that ABM just released.  (You may have to click the photo to see it move.)  So fun!  You can follow our band on Instagram, if you'd like!

I can't believe it's Thursday already!  I hope your week is great so far!  xo.