The Smart Brothers stopped by my neighborhood last week for a special Sunday morning, Beverly Glen Canyon edition of our Garden Party series. The Brothers, played their tunes “Battles” and “Song Bird Sing” plus covers of Wreckless Eric’s “Whole Wide World” and the 50′s tune “You Belong To Me.” The band is about to depart on a month long tour through Southern California and the South (Alabama, Florida and Mississippi), with a stop in Los Angeles on August 15th at our Free For All Festival. This is a must-see live band: utterly charming, beautiful songs….how I love them Brothers. More videos from the shoot are after the jump.

The Smart Brothers- Battles

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I met up with Nashville (via New York)-based musician Reno Bo last week in Tennessee for a special Southern edition of our Garden Party series. Reno, who has spent time in the Mooney Suzuki and Albert Hammond Jr,’s band, played a couple of tunes from his latest release Happenings And Other Things (out now via Electric Western), including “Baby, You’re Not Feelin’ Me Tonight”, “I See Stars” and “I Just Don’t Know Where I Stand Anymore” as well as covers of George Harrison’s “Id Have You Anytime” and Crosby, Stills and Nash’s “Helplessly Hoping.” Reno’s about to finish up a month- long residency at the 5 Spot in Nashville. If you are town, definitely head over this Tuesday, September 29th for the final night featuring Reno with his full band and other local acts. More videos are after the jump.

Reno Bo- I See Stars

Reno Bo- Baby, You’re Not Feelin’ Me Tonight

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We met up with New York-based band The Morning Pages on our recent trip to New York for a special East Coast edition of our Garden Party series. The Pages played a couple of their tunes including “Smokey Mountain Hideaway” and “The Time Will Wash Away” as well as a couple of Dylan covers (“You Ain’t Going Nowhere” and “Quinn the Eskimo”) for our listening pleasure. They also just released their debut full length record, Rising Rain, earlier this month via Itunes. It’s a brilliant record that features sister duo the Pierces providing backup vocals on over half the tunes. I highly recommend checking it out. More videos are after the jump.

The Morning Pages- Smokey Mountain Hideaway

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We met up with Charlottesville, Virginia band the Hackensaw Boys when they came through LA for a special Venice version of our Garden Party series. The Boys played a couple of tunes including “End Time”, “Coming After Me” and “Cannonball.” The band is currently on the last leg of their months long US tour and will be hitting up NYC on November 22nd. So grab your dancing shoes, throw back a couple of rounds, and make sure you get out there and see ‘em. These boys do not disappoint. A special thanks to our director and editor Rafael Pulido. Remaining tour dates and a couple of more videos are after the jump.

http://www.vimeo.com/2269137Hackensaw Boys- Coming After Me
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For our first Garden Party feature, we choose to film one of our favorite Los Angeles bands, Leslie and the Badgers. We met up with them on Sunday in Griffith Park and they sang us a number of tunes including “Salvation”, “Don Juan”, “Silly” (Deneice Williams cover) and their new song “Los Angeles” ( I do believe this is a World Premiere, folks). The Badgers have a West Coast tour coming up in July that will take them to San Francisco, Reno, Salt Lake City and more. I seriously recommend you check ‘em out if they are coming through your town. These guys are the real deal. A special thanks to our director Rafael Pulido and Abby Fuller for their help!

Leslie and the Badgers- Silly (Deneice Williams cover)

Leslie and the Badgers- Los Angeles

Leslie and the Badgers- Don Juan

Leslie and the Badgers- Salvation

Upcoming Tour Dates

Jul 18 2008 Fishlips with Paul Chesne Bakersfield, Ca
Jul 19 2008 The Pasadena Convention Center Pasadena, CA
Jul 25 2008 The Hotel Utah Saloon San Francisco, CA
Jul 26 2008 Dave’s Distillery Reno, NV
Jul 31 2008 Velour Live Music Gallery Provo, UT
Aug 1 2008 Urban Lounge with BAND OF ANNUALS Salt Lake City, UT
Aug 2 2008 The Naughty Knotty Pine-(w/ special guest & Master of Ceremonies Katie Brickley) Victor, Idaho
Aug 12 2008 The Echo with Or The Whale Echo Park, CA
Aug 13 2008 The Cinema Bar with BAND OF ANNUALS Culver City, CA
Aug 19 2008 The Kibitz Room with Paul Chesne Los Angeles, CA
Aug 23 2008 Pappy and Harriet’s with Paul Chesne Pioneertown, CA