2/9/06 - Well, it's time for Bear Claw to come out of hibernation and play some damn shows. We took a break for a few months to try and get the new album written but time flew by a little too quick. The music is getting close to being done, but lyrics need to be written by me(rich). We're hoping to have the album recorded by the end of the summer. Let's cross our fingers on that one. We also have a number of shows coming up, so check out the shows page for details.
11/8/05 - …So a few of you are probably wondering what the hell has been going on with Bear Claw. Nearing two months without an update and what not but alas here I am to fill you all in on the recent world of Bear Claw.
We are TRYING to take a break from doing live shows in order to concentrate on writing new songs but that’s easier said than done. We are doing one more show on 11/27 w/ Quatre Tete and Black Level Embassy (from Australia) at the Nite Cap Lounge. This will be our last show for sometime probably at least until mid January if not later. I know we said that our last show on 10/8 at Subterranean was going to be our last one but we really wanted to play with Black Level Embassy while they are in the states as well as do one last jam with our buds in Quatre Tete. So this is the last one for a bit.
In related news, the first discussions on a new album have begun and Sick Room Records will be putting out our second full length release. We are planning in a very tentative manner to go into the studio at the end of spring or in early summer to start recording. The album will be recorded at Electrical Audio with Steve Albini at the helm once again. We may use both Studio A and Studio B for this project…we’ll have to wait and see how it develops. We also recently secured a new practice space and plan on spending some time there writing and preparing for this new album.
We are planning on redoing the site in the near future so we’ll keep and eye peeled for that. I also am going to finally put up some pictures and other goodies from the July Tour.
So that’s about all for now…I’ll be making more of an effort to keep the site in a more updated fashion. See you soon…
8/20/05 - I am a lazy, lazy man… actually I’ve been really busy. No really that has to be the reason as to why I haven’t update the site in over a MONTH! My apologizes everyone… So lots of news… First, tour was great! It was very fun going out on the road and spreadin the word of Bear Claw throughout the east. Special thanks to everyone who helped out in general, shared a stage with us, let us crash at their place, fed us, allowed us to play at there establishment, and any other nice action that helped us on the road. Extra special thanks goes out to Steve Calhoon of Pretendo who saved our ass in New York by allowing us to crash with him for 3 days! Steve, you rule! I plan on putting up a picture page from the tour along with some video if I can make it work. We’re also looking into putting a tour diary up on the site as well so stay tuned for that.Copper Press did a 4 page article on Bear Claw and it is in the current issue #24. We also have a song on the CD compilation packaged with the magazine. Make sure to check it out if you can as it is very nice.
Future plans are as follows: we will be playing a few local shows in the meantime. We also will be doing a 2 day weekend in October. After that we plan on taking a break from playing shows for 2 to 4 months. During this time we will be writing and doing other things. There are no plans as of yet to record any new material but we are working on ideas and new songs for fun because that’s what bands do but also realize that some of this would be going to a future full length down the road. Well, that’s about all for now make sure to check back as I’ll be updating the site more frequently now that I got off my lazy ass…
7/13/05 - We leave for tour tomorrow and we are really excited. Special pre-thanks to Steve Brydges @ 43 Rocket Booking for helping us make it happen. All the dates are now set and confirmed for the tour. They can be viewed on the shows page. The tour will consist of 14 shows in 17 days starting east of Chicago going down the east coast and coming back through west through North Carolina and Tennessee. We also will have a 2 day "vacation" in Myrtle Beach, SC. I personally plan on keeping a tour journal which I will put up on the site. We also will be taking lots of pictures and video. It is my hope to put up a tour page on the site archiving the adventure. Everyone hold hands and pray for the van. We have faith in her but we also have respect and that's key for the relationship if you know what I mean. See you in a little over 2 weeks!6/20/05 - Long time no talkie talk...I've been extra busy lately and have neglected my website updating responsibilities. My apologies to all. The tour is nearing the final stages of being finalized. All confirmed dates are listed on the shows page. There are a few dates yet to be announced but stay tuned as they are coming soon. Our next show is at the Beat Kitchen on July 9th and it is with a slew of other great bands so make sure to not miss it. More soon...
5/6/05 - New pictures from the show at the Todd Wehr Hall w/ Shellac have been added to the picture pages.
5/3/05 - Another warrior weekend vanquished... Thanks to everyone who came out to the shows. We had a wonderful time all 3 nights partly in fact to sharing the stage with the amazing Self-Evident not to mention Sounds Like Braille for 2 nights as well. However, the ride home from Minneapolis for myself was "a Demon Hell Ride" to quite Mr. Willis. Tom's keg/fridge got me again! Anyway, it was fun and can't wait to do it again real soon.
Tour dates are coming along nicely including a warrior weekend + 1 for mid May and a nice weekend following that. Check the shows page for details. Sometime real soon I'm going to add a merch page to the site so that you can order Bear Claw shirts and whatnot. That's it for now, stay tuned as much will be developing soon.
4/20/05 - Back from a weekend of shows. We wanted to extend our appreciation to all of Shellac for inviting us to open for them in Milwaukee. It was a great time and a very fun show. Also, special thanks to Rob Sieracki and Tom Stack for them making the show a great success.We have added a link on the shows page to a page listing all of the confirmed tour dates for July. More dates will be added as they are confirmed. We also have several shows coming up in the next few months before the tour, in Chicago as well as regionally. The next local Chicago show will be on 4/28 @ Empty Bottle. This will be a great time as we are playing with some other fine bands. Also, WLUW will be airing a live set that we did for their Radio One program on 4/21 around 7pm. You can listen to this broadcast at 88.7 FM (if you live in or near to Chicago) or online at WLUW's website. Thanks and more to come soon...
4/9/05 - A few breaking developments... First, the east coast tour that was originally slated for early May has been move to July. More specifically July 14 - 31st. Dates and venue info will be released as soon as the info is available. We have a lot of shows coming up in the next few weeks so make sure to check the shows page out for details on that.We took some new promo photos and have posted them on the pics page. Feel free to check us out expressing our dorkiness through the magic of Scott Duggan's and Pete Aimaro's photo genius. We had a great time doing it and special thanks to Scott and Pete for taking the time to shoot the pictures. Stay tuned as much will be developing soon...
3/29/05 - Two live radio sets have been scheduled in April. One will be in early April on WNUR 89.3 FM and then again in late April on WLUW 88.7 FM. Check the shows page for details. Tour announcements are eminent. Stay tuned for details. We are planning on adding a merch page to the site soon where you will be able to buy Bear Claw T-shirts. By the way we have new T-shirts and they will be available at all future shows. If you'd like to see what I'm talking about here is design1 and design2. Much more soon...3/22/05 - A poster by Tom Stack for the upcoming Shellac / Bear Claw show has been added to the shows page. Do please check it out as it is uber cool. In other news, the tour is progressing well thanks to the help of Steve Brydges. Keep checking back as much info is on the verge of being released. Some show changes have also taken place so make sure to check the shows page for all the latest details. More press and interviews up as well. Copper Press will be doing an article on Bear Claw in the upcoming print issue of Copper Press as well. Thanks and we'll have to get together soon won't we?
3/9/05 - Lots of new shows! We are pleased to announce that we will be playing lots of shows in April followed by a tour between May 6 - 22nd throughout the midwest and east. One show of note in April is a Milwaukee show with Shellac but for a list of all shows check the shows page.
We've also been getting more reviews back and so far its been going quite well. One other thing of note is that Steve Brydges of 43 Rocket Booking has been added to the Bear Claw team and is handling booking duties for the May tour. Special thanks to him. We're all looking forward to working with him in the future. We also are in the process of getting some new shirt made which will hopefully be available starting in April. We'll keep you up to date on that. That's all for now, check back often as things are developing as we speak...
2/17/05 - Reviews have been steadily coming in and are put up on the press page as soon as they are available. Make sure to check it out. The site has had a revision of the pictures page as well as some new pics added. Hopefully this will allow everyone to navigate the pics section better. Let us know what you think. That's it for now, Otto's show on 2/26 with Local H...see you there.
1/31/05 - Quick update, well sorta...First, thanks to all the bands and people who came on out to the Beat Kitchen show. It was a great time and awesome bill as a whole. We have some great shows coming up soon. Reviews are still in the works. We're starting to get word back from some and they are looking positive. Tour plans are in the works too. Its looking like May 5th may be the departure date. We'll keep you posted on that. We also have some "warrior weekends" in the works too so hopefully some new shows will be shortly confirmed.
Also I have to mention that Hot & Heavy will be doing a Double Door show on 3/15. For those of you who don't know what Hot & Heavy is you should look here. Hot & Heavy features two members of Bear Claw as well as the infamous Mike Martin.
And finally I would like to announce with great pleasure that "Old Besse" (as I like to call her) but known to most as the Bear Claw van, officially passed the Illinois emission test. We're still not exactly sure how but WE"LL TAKE IT!
1/15/05 - "Find the Sun" has been voted as the #1 local Chicago release by WLUW 88.7 FM. We are honored and thankful to WLUW for such kind praise. If you would like some more details on this news, please visit the press page. We also have a new review up on the press page and several other reviews are in the works. The site has also been revamped a bit thanks to Rob and Rich's expanding Javascript skills. You know your a bunch of dorks when you sit around at practice and in between songs talk about Javascript code. I think we may have just lost some fans...
In other news, we have 2 shows in the next few weeks including one at the Beat Kitchen with some excellent in town and out of town talent. Make sure to check it out if you can, its guaranteed to be a memorable night of rock. We will also be making a quick trip up to our northeast neighbors located in the providence of Michigan. Grand Rapids, MI to be exact. We are in the early stages of planning a 2 week stint out east for late April. We'll make sure to keep you posted on that as it developes as well.
The album offically came out 10/25/04 and is now available at Sick Room Records as well as lots of other places thanks to Southern. In other news, some reviews are in the works on the album. One will be posted at Ghetto Blaster Magazine shortly. We also will have a track on the upcoming Copper Press comp which is packaged with every Copper Press magazine. Good stuff... Several more reviews are being conducted as well speak so watch the press page for updates. Thanks for stopping by. Over and outie...
