The Bowerbirds are on (or just finished being on) tour with John Vanderslice...now they're going with The Mountain Goats...other than being extremely lucky to be touring with such unbelievable bands, what's the connection between them and john/john?

Is it that they're just an awesome band? or is there something else?

I dunno... I remember JD talking about them in LPTJ fairly recently... other than that, no idea.

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it was actually 2 7"s btw and the mastering date was 5/1, I cancelled it this a.m.

This is why you should be nice to everyone.

yeah other than the fact that john's a fan and asked them to join on tour, i don't think there is a connection.

he's written about them here and here

John likes bringing local NC bands on tour.

That's what he did with Prayers and Tears, I guess JV heard of them through JD and his tour started before The Mountain Goats' tour.

and they are an amazing band. i saw with the JV in san diego. sooo good.

mm, love the one song of theirs i've heard

also, for those in the NYC area, the Bowerbirds are playing a free instore on Wednesday night at Sound Fix in Brooklyn.

The Bowerbirds were really great Sunday night. Anyone who has a chance to see them should.

Yeah I really loved their set, unique instruments used to create a sort of open, ringing sound that's very natural. Some real smooth, great 3-way vocal harmonies too. Will be looking into their album in the next couple days, and if you can see them either opening for tMG or just on their own I would reccomend it

I don't know about "really great band" They were a fine opener at the Minneapolis gig, but they kind of meandered to a close with each song, as if they could not remember how to end. With no real bass or drummer they had a hard time keeping time. The songs were nice and I liked the acoustic sound. Also, they came out promptly, played, and kept it short.

Man, don't bowerbirds have an accordion?

John you should totally do what you did with many bands drummers, JV and his gang, and Prayers and Tears.

Bring them out during the last few songs and completly rock the fuck out.

I liked em, but my feeling throughout their entire set was "I hope they finish soon so tMG hurries on out".

I would hate to tour with tMG, I think.

Well the earliest connection is from about 12 years ago, when I was in college and a couple of them were in high school, their band at the time and my band at the time would play shows together on campus. We all went our separate ways after graduation and growing up, but then independently of each other moved to North Carolina a few years ago. When I found out that they were here and still making music, John and I started going to their shows and of course loved their music. John decided to ask them to tour with them and the rest you know.