Neutral Uke Hotel Kicks Off Tour in Boston April 20th

Neutral Uke Hotel, who took the world by storm last summer with their live performances of Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over The Sea are about to embark on a short tour this April. But Neutral Uke Hotel isn’t your average cover band; they play this beloved album entirely on ukulele. They will be joined for most of the tour by Golden Bloom and The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library, two bands that contain members of Neutral Uke Hotel. Click Here to Read More..

Shawn Fogel to Uke it up in Roger Greenawalt’s Beatles Complete on Ukulele January 15th

You never know when a ukulele will come in handy. It’s a good thing Shawn Fogel (Golden Bloom, Neutral Uke Hotel) plays a mean one, because he’ll be putting it to good use as he takes part in Roger Greenwalt’s The Beatles Complete on Ukulele January 15^th at Brooklyn Bowl. The event, spanning two days, will feature Greenwalt and a host of special guests playing every single Beatles song on ukulele. This year, guests include The Zambonis, and Nellie McKay. Last year’s shows featured guest appearances from, Ryan Miller of Guster, Adam Green, The Pierces, and Ben Kweller.

Shawn Fogel is officially in the ukulele camp, as evidenced by his recent project Neutral Uke Hotel. The band played Neutral Milk Hotel’s beloved In the Aeroplane Over the Sea live to packed rooms of singing, stomping fans all over the country. Fogel says of this project, “It’s one of my favorite records ever, and the album doesn’t just have fans. The people who love that album are obsessed with it…. The goal of the project: [is] to strip these songs down and get people in a room to share their love for this album.

Last year was a big year for Shawn Fogel, who joined the likes of Ben Kweller and Guster's Ryan Miller in Brooklyn and at SXSW and played sold out Neutral Uke Hotel shows across the country. His project, Golden Bloom, is currently in the studio recording the follow up to Fan the Flames (2009); shooting for a release this year. He’s already tracking songs with Ryan Ball and plans to work with producer Peter Katis again.

Roger Greenwalt’s The Beatles Complete on Ukulele
Saturday, January 15th
Brooklyn Bowl
61 Wythe Ave., Brooklyn, NY
http://www.brooklynbowl.com
Doors 6pm
Show 6pm
$10 (http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/24861)
21+
With: The Zambonis, Nellie McKay and many more surprise guests

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Neutral Uke Hotel and Michael J Epstein Memorial Library Play Cafe 939

Michael Epstein has his hand in a lot of things, so it’s not peculiar that he should be playing in two different bands on the same bill. This time around he’s debuting a new project, The Michael J Epstein Memorial Library and playing baritone ukulele in Neutral Uke Hotel September 11th at Café 939.

The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library was formed when Epstein began recruiting band members on Facebook and Craigslist. “Most are intentionally people that I didn’t previously know very well. I wanted people with fresh perspectives and few prior expectations about the operation of a band and about how the music scene and music industry works.” The group numbers ten total: nine women and Epstein. He describes their sound as “Downtempo, indie folk/pop with alt-country and anti/counterfolk tinges”. Intrigued yet? You should be. Because everything Epstein does is designed to be interesting.

Neutral Uke Hotel have been playing sold out shows to enthusiastic crowds who were encouraged to sing along, and they haven’t been shy. Shawn Fogel (vocals, ukulele), Josh Cohen (melodica), Matt Girard (trumpet), along with Epstein, play the classic Neutral Milk Hotel album, In the Aeroplane Over The Sea from start to finish in a stripped down way that makes it that much easier for the audience to shout their favorite album’s lyrics.


Epstein’s band, The Motion Sick, recently played a Boston show entitled “The Rock Primary”, which was promoted by a series of campaign, scandal and faked press videos featuring the all the bands on the bill. Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, another of Epstein’s musical projects, is inspired by the 60s spy show The Prisoner. Their EP, The New Number 2 features a song each for five of the show’s episodes.


Neutral Uke Hotel and Michael J Epstein Memorial Library
Saturday, September 11th
Café 939
939 Boylston Street, Boston, MA
Doors: 7:30 PM
Show: 8:00 PM
Tickets: $10 Click Here to Read More..

Golden Bloom Shows Are Back Sharing Stages with Hey Marseilles, Telekinesis and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

Golden Bloom gets their power pop back into action playing shows with Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Telekinesis and Hey Marseilles. Shawn Fogel is becoming the busiest man in “indie” rock. In fact, he’s so busy with his bands Golden Bloom and Neutral Uke Hotel; we having a feeling that if he ever took time off, he would quickly be scooped up to work on another music endeavor. In addition to the August Neutral Uke Hotel tour, Golden Bloom has squeezed in a few excellent gigs in between.

On Thursday, August 5th, Golden Bloom opens for Seattle’s Hey Marseilles at Northampton’s Iron Horse Music Hall, and Tuesday, September 7th, Golden Bloom heads to Cambridge’s T.T. the Bear’s Place to play with Springfield, MO’s Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin and Seattle's Telekinesis.

Golden Bloom Tour Dates:
8/5/10 Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, MA, with Hey Marseilles.
9/7/10 T.T the Bear's Place, Cambridge, MA, with Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin and Telekinesis

Neutral Uke Hotel Tour Dates:
8/16/10 Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH
8/17/10 Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, MI
8/18/10 Southgate House, Newport, KY
8/19/10 Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL
8/20/10 Gabe's, Iowa City, IA
8/21/10 Kitty Cat Klub, Minneapolis, MN
8/22/10 The Frequency, Madison, WI
8/23/10 Cosmic Charlie's, Lexington, KY
8/24/10 Treehouse, Columbus, OH
8/25/10 Mid City Café, Washington, DC
8/29/10 Luckey's, Eugene, OR
8/30/10 Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR
8/31/10 The Sunset, Seattle, WA
Click Here to Read More..

Neutral Uke Hotel Kicks Off Mid-West and West Coast August Tour

Neutral Uke Hotel, who have been taking the world by storm with their live performances of Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, are about to embark on a 12-city tour beginning August 16th in Cleveland. Neutral Uke Hotel isn’t your average cover band; they play this beloved album entirely on ukulele, giving the original songs a fresh, new upbeat take. Road trip anyone?

The group, made up of Shawn Fogel (vocals, ukulele), Josh Cohen (melodica), Matt Girard (trumpet), and Michael J. Epstein (baritone ukulele), have been playing sold out shows to enthusiastic crowds who are encouraged to sing along. Epstein, who also fronts The Motion Sick, said, “People were encouraged to sing, clap, and stomp along...and they weren't shy!”



Never fear, avid Neutral Milk Hotel fans, Fogel, front man of Golden Bloom, and the rest of Neutral Uke are quite reverential for Jeff Mangum’s classic. Fogel says of this project, “It’s one of my favorite records ever, and the album doesn’t just have fans. The people who love that album are obsessed with it…. The goal of the project: [is] to strip these songs down and get people in a room to share their love for this album.’’

Neutral Uke Hotel Tour Dates
8/16 Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH
8/17 Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, MI
8/18 Southgate HouseCincinnati, OH
8/20 Gabe's, Iowa City, IA
8/21 Kitty Cat Klub, Minneapolis, MN
8/22 The Frequency, Madison, WI
8/23/ Cosmic Charlie's, Lexington, KY
8/24 Treehouse, Columbus, OH
8/25 Mid City Caffé, Washington, DC
8/29 Luckey's, Eugene, OR
8/30 Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR
8/31 The Sunset, Seattle, WA
Click Here to Read More..

NPR and Blender Magazine Catch Ukulele Fever

We knew it was coming. I don’t know how. But we knew. Even at the very early stages of Neutral Uke Hotel, the tiny four-stringed instrument known as the ukulele, was gaining momentum as a “hip” instrument. Now that NUH has a rabid following online, we can only hope that this had added to the popularity of the ukulele that has increased dramatically over the past year.

Blender Magazine recently wrote an article titled “The Ukulele's Unlikely Renaissance.” Writer Conrad Doucette affirmed; “That's right: the humble ukulele has outgrown its nearly provincial roots to become a semi-ubiquitous and fully trendy lead instrument for a growing number of artists looking to distinguish themselves sonically or challenge themselves with an unfamiliar palette. Don't think that the ukulele is back (that is, if it was ever here)? Read on.”



Doucette mentions not only mentions NUH, but also the very unexpected release from Amanda Palmer, formerly of punk-cabaret band The Dresden Dolls. In July she will release an album featuring covers Radiohead songs on the uke. The album is aptly titled Amanda Palmer Performs the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele. Much of this growth spurt of this now fashionable instrument began with Paul McCartney playing it some 10 years ago and then the ongoing The Beatles Complete on Ukulele project(an inspiration for the Neutral Milk Hotel via uke project Neutral Uke Hotel).

Once thought as a limited instrument primarily used in Hawaiian and Latin music, the majority of people’s knowledge of uke music comes from either Hawaiian musician Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s cover of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and the oddly charming 1968 hit Tiny Tim’s “Tip-Toe Through the Tulips” (which was kind of awesome). Dare we say this is a new hipster trend? Well, no because it’s being played by so many diverse kinds of people in so many various styles. Bonus of the stringed instrument: it’s small and easy to transport!

NPR recently ran a feature on the “comeback” of the referring the uke as a “musical underdog.” I don’t know if I’d say it’s a comeback, when it’s only recently that musicians have learned the versatility of playing the ukulele to any genre of music. Scan YouTube for “ukulele” and you’ll be amazed at the viral impact of this new movement. People of all ages are covering songs of all genres from soul, traditional and indie rock. For a new documentary “The Mighty Uke: The Amazing Comeback of a Musical Underdog,” NPR interviewed the filmmakers about the “return” of the ukulele. Documentary director Tony Coleman and producer Margaret Meagher traveled across the country documenting the varying kinds of musicians playing the ukulele. "Initially," Coleman said in the NPR interview, "When we decided to make the documentary, the thing I was interested in was the musical surprise. But I was blown away by the little instrument's power to bring people together." “Coleman also credits Paul McCartney who in 2002 performed a concert in tribute to the late George Harrison — a big ukulele fan. McCartney brought out a ukulele Harrison had given him and sang ‘Something,’” said NPR’s Susan Stamberg. Click Here to Read More..

Neutral Milk Fans Not Afraid to Sing-along - Neutral Uke Hotel Announces Six City Tour in June

Neutral Uke Hotel will bring their unique pop spin to Neutral Milk Hotel’s In The Aeroplane Over the Sea – by playing on ukulele on a six-city tour.

It took just one show by Neutral Uke Hotel to blossom into an in-demand tour. Golden Bloom front man Shawn Fogel (you should probably know his name by now, considering he's got so much going on that it offers an almost endless stream of things to write about), has sparked Neutral Milk Hotel fans into a frenzy with the announcement of a June Uke tour, beginning with a June 15 date at the Mercury Lounge in New York with The Handsome Family. Even Fogel can't believe it (look at that picture, hah)!

“It’s one of my favorite records ever, and the album doesn’t just have fans. The people who love that album are obsessed with it…. The goal of the project: [is] to strip these songs down and get people in a room to share their love for this album,’’ Fogel says.

Website Mango Nebula attended that now-famous first Neutral Uke Hotel show at The Armory. They described the show in great detail to make us all jealous and were able to capture some quotes from Fogel. "At the very end, Fogel encouraged the audience to meet each other saying, 'You now know you all have at least one thing in common.' As the audience was filtering out, he sat down with his band mates and the acoustic loop opener, Daniel Harris, to tell the stories of how they each found Neutral Milk Hotel, which after a while eerily started to sound like recalling first sexual encounters. The group planned to have the show be only a one night event, but the response has been so overwhelming that they booked a small east coast tour."

Neutral Uke Hotel Tour Dates:

6/15/10-Mercury Lounge – New York (w/The Handsome Family)

6/16/10-The Rongovian Embassy to the USA, Trumansburg, NY

6/18/10-The Painted Lady, Toronto (NXNE)

6/20/10-Mohawk Place- Buffalo, NY

6/23 - Acoustic Cafe - Bridgeport, CT

6/22/10 - The Khyber - Philadelphia, PA

6/25/10 - The Basement - Northhampton, MA


Click Here to Read More..

Neutral Uke Hotel & Golden Bloom Showcase at NXNE in Toronto

We all know Shawn Fogel is a hard-working guy. But he's definitely been outdoing himself lately. Taking on the amazing Neutral Uke Hotel side project and self-reviewing his concert experiences in our new feature Thank You, Good Night. Now he's really taking the cake by playing two shows at this year's NXNE (North by Northeast) festival in Toronto.
On Friday, June 18th, Shawn (and some "friends") will play Neutral Milk Hotel's acclaimed album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea on ukulele. Shawn's first sold-out show as Neutral Uke Hotel was an amazing experience, so look out, Toronto, here comes Neutral Uke Hotel! After wowing folks on Friday, Shawn and his bandmates will play as Golden Bloom on Saturday the 19th. Audiences are sure to love the power pop they'll be serving up.
Tickets to NXNE available here!
Neutral Uke Hotel will perform Friday night, June 18th at the Painted Lady at 9:00 PM and Golden Bloom will perform Saturday night, June 19th at Czehoski at 11:00 PM.
Now in its 16th year, North by Northeast Music Festival and Conference (NXNE) has become the Canadian festival destination for new and emerging talent—unsigned bands, indie favourites, and major-label headlining artists alike. Seen as the most anticipated summer music event in Canada, NXNE has cemented itself as an essential showcase opportunity for the best in new music.Five-day wristbands for music events are $50 CND. One-day wristbands are $25 CND. photo by Kenneth Parry

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Thank You, Good Night: Part Deux of Neutral Uke Hotel

"Thank You, Good Night" takes a birds eye view of what it's like for a band to play a show that can only described as a pinnacle experience for the band themselves. In Part 2 of the debut Netural Uke Hotel show at the Arts at the Armory, Mike Epstein shares his experience.


Mike Epstein, lead singer of The Motion Sick and enthusiastic "Thumbs Up" guy on Facebook, had as much fun playing with Shawn Fogel as part of Neutral Uke Hotel as the audience did watching it. He was also completely terrified and nervous up to the night of the show. He had to learn to play the ukulele and fast. For "Thank You, Good Night," Mike described the evening events in his own words. We've also included a live video of his performance and even more description of what Mike is doing for the love of Neutral Milk Hotel.

"When Shawn asked if I wanted to participate in any way in Neutral Uke Hotel... I was immediately terrified. I can't say that I considered the idea much less than blasphemous. Nonetheless, I am a big fan of Golden Bloom and I thought, if anyone can pull this off, Shawn is it. So, I pondered how I might contribute and asked if I could play an outtake from Aeroplane. I thought it would be a nice way to take part without breaking or altering the flow of the record by changing singers.

So, I borrowed a ukulele from my bud J-Krafty (the number one arts and crafts gangsta rapper in the world) and took to learning, "Oh Sister," an unreleased sequel to "Oh Comely." I had an extremely hard time memorizing all of the lyrics (though I only fumbled a couple of words at the show) and an even harder time trying to decide how to deliver the song. The two existing recordings contain somewhat different lyrics and very different melodic delivery. I did my best to learn to play the song in a form that captured the simple melodic beauty coupled with the harsh, grated strains and the chaos of the song.

As for the rest of the show, Shawn kindly agreed to have me strum along to a bunch of other songs. I would have done even more, but I didn't have the time to learn them all on an unfamiliar instrument."



I was really looking forward to the show, but great trepidation remained. Would the sold-out audience react by taking offense? Would they understand the spirit of the project? Shawn made it clear at the beginning of the show that it was not about a band/audience delineation. We were all there to celebrate music that had deep and powerful meaning. People were encouraged to sing, clap, and stomp along...and they weren't shy!

The set began and I watched everyone in the room breaking out in smiles. By the time the instrumental break "The Fool" rolled around, it was obvious that every single person in the room was rapt. We had all been waiting a decade to catch NMH live, and NUH provided a way for a group of devotees to join together to quell the anticipation and desire, the magic and the beauty of Aeroplane.

It was amazing not only to hear the music come alive, but to watch the audience reactions. Just as (Jeff) Mangum's lyrics celebrate the immortality of beauty, dreams, and love, they teach us that there is nothing in this world for the pure of heart to fear.

I should have known all along that the show would be nothing short of magical and that the experience of merging performance and audience would be achieved. I am extremely honored to have taken part in it and I hope to get to experience it again."


Click Here to Read More..

Neutral Milk Hotel Fans: Cheap Thrills Gives Pair of Tickets Away to Neutral Uke Hotel Show Tonight!

For all you darling Neutral Milk Hotel fans in Boston who were shut out of the Neutral Uke Hotel show tonight at the Armory, Cheap Thrills is giving away one pair of tickets to tonight's show when you name your favorite Neutral Milk Hotel lyrics. So what you are waiting for?

 The Boston Globe produced an excellent feature that highlights (among others) tonight's sold-out Neutral Uke Hotel show at The Armory in Somerville, MA, performed by Golden Bloom's Shawn Fogel and guests.

Oh, The Boston Phoenix also chose Neutral Uke Hotel as a pick of the week, even though it is all sold out!!! We can't stop saying that!

In the Boston Globe piece "Covered in Glory," writer Jonathan Perry discusses three, dare way say, "cover bands," all with Boston-area shows in one week. In a span of a week, three musicians/bands will salute Todd Rundgren, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham.

First this week, there was Road to Utopia: A Tribute to Todd Rundgren, helmed by musician Gary Backstrom. With a nine-piece band, the evening paid homage to the '70s power-pop pioneer 's extensive career from his early days with Nazz to his popular solo work and that unfortunate Utopia phase (ugh).

Perry also talked to Golden Bloom's Shawn Fogel about tonight's show and Fogel's ukulele take on indie icons Neutral Milk Hotel's album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.

“It’s one of my favorite records ever,’’ says Fogel, whose guitar-pop outfit Golden Bloom sounds nothing like NMH. “And the album doesn’t just have fans. The people who love that album are obsessed with it.’’ So our Golden boy told the Globe. He went on; “I think its easy for people to look at it and say, Oh, it’s a gimmicky, shtick-y thing — and it’s not,’’ Fogel says. “One of the things that makes the Aeroplane album incredible is the layered production and all the really fuzzy distortion and tape loops, and the nonpolished nature of it. But under all of that, these are unbelievable songs. That’s the goal of the project: to strip these songs down and get people in a room to share their love for this album. If everything goes well, it’ll feel like a campfire singalong.’’

If you haven't gotten your fix, Perry presses you to see the awesomely titled Buckingham cover band The Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society, Saturday, May 15 at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge.

Golden Bloom will be back to Boston on May 20th to headline The Middle East Upstairs and word has it a Neutral Milk Hotel cover ala ukulele may make it into the mix.

Amazing. Eat your heart out AC/DC and Led Zeppelin cover bands. This is how it should be done.



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Magnetic Fields Get Uked for Neutral Uke Hotel

Tickets are all sold out for Shawn Fogel/Golden Bloom's evening of Neutral Uke Hotel this Friday, May 7 in Somerville, MA. We all know Fogel's gone uke crazy and we're not the only ones taking the instrument more seriously.

The Motion Sick's Michael Epstein and Fogel have collaborated many times and a little birdie (named Michael) told us he's going to make a special appearance at the Neutral Uke Hotel. The thing is, he needs to learn how to play the tiny guitar first. So he thought he'd give another seminal indie band a ukulele spin. Epstein decided that he'd learn to play by converting songs by The Magnetic Fields onto the ukulele. Epstein has captured many of his sessions on live video and shared us the links to see a handful of the videos.

Here's our favorite (today): The Magnetic Fields' "All the Umbrellas in London"
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Ukuleles Rule! Just ask Shawn Fogel.

After his buzzed-about performance of The Beatles Complete on Ukulele Festival in Austin at SXSW this past March, with the likes of Ben Kweller, and his project Neutral Uke Hotel, Golden Bloom's Shawn Fogel has done the unthinkable. We say unthinkable because how often do you hear of a company giving away a Ukulele endorsement?! We don't even know if Tiny Tim ever got this kind of offer.

Fogel's love for both indie pop icons Neutral Milk Hotel and the littlest-guitar-that-could -- the ukulele -- Eastwood Guitars is sending Fogel a brand new Airline electric ukulele to play at his upcoming Neutral Uke Hotel shows and for all future ukulele jams!

Take a peak at the Eastwood Guitars website for a peak of the sleek new ukulele.

Some info about the new uke: "New for 2010, Airline® Guitars releases their Electric UKULELE. The KOA top and chambered mahogany body combine with the Piezo pickup to give you a truly authentic Ukulele tone and playability. When you want to take is a step further, have some fun through your favorite guitar effects pedals!" Click Here to Read More..