The Away Team

The Away Team is Away - Pause Press Play launched on September 11, 2011

2011-09-12T08:21:00.001-07:00

The Away Team is on two coasts, Penny in NYC and Nik in San Francisco for the ten year anniversary of September 11, 2001. In San Francisco, Nik performed his piece "Requiescant in Pace" to a montage of footage by Lenny Charles taken on 9/11 at Ground Zero, and the music video Topsy Turvy World was shown at the Herbst Theater. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaVe1WV_YEs

Penny is in NYC to do follow up interviews for an addendum to her film "9/11 Dust and Deceit", and a showing of her film as part of the PAUSE PRESS PLAY project and Health Help 9/11. The showing at the Walker Stage in NYC included a wonderful presentation by healing consultant Ama Lia Wai-Ching from Singapore.

In Miami, the event at the LMNT Contemporary Art Space included an art installation/exhibit, "The Pause Towers" - a plexiglass sculpture filled with prescription bottles and medical packaging from ten years of prescription based treatments from health survivors of World Trade Center illness. The Miami event at the LMNT Contemporary Art Space included an art installation/exhibit, "The Pause Towers" - a plexi-glass sculpture filled with prescription bottles and medical packaging from ten years of prescription based treatments from health survivors of World Trade Center illness.

PAUSE Project Director Rachel Hughes who has struggled with the health effects the WTC Syndrome for the past ten years, says, “Pause delves deep into the questions I face on a daily basis. Because of my illness I have been forced to ‘pause’ and reflect on the questions surrounding 9/11.” This project launched on the 10th anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2011 launched with film showings, art exhibits and presentations focused on solutions.

The 2006 film “9/11 Dust and Deceit” by Penny Little examines the questions of the health problems suffered by thousands of first responders, volunteers, workers who were exposed for months to the toxic dust in lower Manhattan.

For more info:
http://www.911dust.org/hh911.htm

Posted via email from theawayteam's posterous

Moving Along, Being in Motion

2011-08-16T22:30:00.001-07:00

Moving is not fun, especially for cats. Cats do not do so well with change and being in motion. Our Weegie cat, a part Norwegian Forest Cat, especially does not like changes in his world. After all, did he give us permission to do so?

Yesterday, we went to visit Weegie in the "cat slammer" aka Humane Society cat boarding. Great facilities, but it's still a jail. Weegie apparently hissed at one of the volunteers, a very un-Weegie like thing to do. Hissing is a sign that a cat is afraid. So, he's back home now that we've made our move. He's been purring for nearly 4 hours straight. Little does he know that we're going on the road soon, and that life will soon change again drastically. We're hoping for foster cat care instead of jail for Weegie. He has totally adapted to a new environment. He seems purrfectly happy right now. It took him 2 months to come out of the closet when we moved last year. Maybe all it takes is a little practice, getting used to upheaval. And I suppose that's what we humans need to learn as we prepare for our next leg of our journey. Before we left our wonderful abode, we had four weekends of house concert parties which were fantastically fun for us. At each party, there were some of the same folks and some new folks. We invited other musician friends to perform, like Love Lightning and Randy Lamb. We left a memory imprint and sold a few souvenirs aka Topsy Turvy CDs. And as we emptied and cleaned and cleared out, the musical set up was the last to go and finally the Yamaha piano sat alone in the living room, a few boxes here and there in the house, and another era ended.

Moving along. We're in motion..

Posted via email from theawayteam's posterous

The Away Team to play at the October Coalition Gathering in DC October 7

2011-07-31T21:37:00.001-07:00

October 2011 is the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan and the beginning of the 2012 federal austerity budget. It is time to light the spark that sets off a true democratic, nonviolent transition to a world in which people are freed to create just and sustainable solutions.

We call on people of conscience and courage—all who seek peace, economic justice, human rights and a healthy environment—to join together in Washington, D.C., beginning on Oct. 6, 2011, in nonviolent resistance similar to the Arab Spring and the Midwest awakening.

A concert, rally and protest will kick off a powerful and sustained nonviolent resistance to the corporate criminals that dominate our government.

Forty-seven years ago, Mario Savio, an activist student at Berkeley, said, "There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all."

Those words have an even greater urgency today. We face ongoing wars and massive socio-economic and environmental destruction perpetrated by a corporate empire which is oppressing, occupying and exploiting the world. We are on a fast track to making the planet unlivable while the middle class and poor people of our country are undergoing the most wrenching and profound economic crisis in 80 years.

"Stop the Machine! • Create a New World!" is a clarion call for all who are deeply concerned with injustice, militarism and environmental destruction to join in ending concentrated corporate power and taking direct control of a real participatory democracy. We will encourage a culture of resistance—using music, art, theater and direct nonviolent action—to take control of our country and our lives. It is about courageously resisting and stopping the corporate state from destroying not only our inherent rights and freedoms, but also our children’s chance to live, breathe clean air, drink pure water, grow edible natural food and live in peace.

As Mother Jones said, "Someday the workers will take possession of your city hall, and when we do, no child will be sacrificed on the altar of profit!"

We are the ones who can create a new and just world. Our issues are connected. We are connected. Join us in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 6, 2011, to Stop the Machine.

http://october2011.org/musicians

Posted via email from theawayteam's posterous

Launching into Spaces That have No Landing Places

2011-07-21T10:49:00.001-07:00

CD UNLEASED PARTY JULY 16, 2011

July 16 is the anniversary of my mother’s accident. It was a rainy afternoon in Eugene Missouri, and she was coming back from shopping with a friend. Some drunk hit her.
I was thousands of miles away in Waipahu, Hawaii, had just returned from a dance class, in the mid afternoon. I started having some vision problems with my right eye. It was like looking through the world through a kaleidoscope of broken glass. I took a bath and it went away temporarily. Then it came back even stronger. I was beginning to be really worried; maybe this is what a stroke starts out like, or a brain tumor, or some misfire in my brain, or my retina has become disconnected, thoughts bordering on panic.... Around 5 pm my sister called and said “Mother has been in an accident. She hit the windshield, has some internal injuries and lost her right eye. She’s still in intensive care” At that moment, my eye cleared. Earlier today I was struggling with my feelings of loss, and jumped into that river for a few minutes, and cried like a baby about losing her, about losing my friend Cherie, about possibly losing our home, our cat, the life we’ve known. All those big losses came back through me in waves, past, present, future. My mother lived quite a few years after the accident, and in most photographs it’s hard to tell that she had one glass eye. That accident gave her the money that my father’s pension did not, and she moved to warmer winters in Georgia. I told myself that every big change, every big loss is a new opening, and we have to do whatever we can, and sometimes it’s all for the best.

So here we are at the precipice of not knowing again. We either need to (a) find housemates in the next couple days or (b) start making plans to leave and (c) “What about your cat?” - who is staring with discontent right now So we’ve decided to have a gig-party every weekend until we (a) stay, (b) find a new place or (c) go on the road. Option (c) requires some sleight of hand to procure some worthy gigs for August/September ....The house is now a music venue, with the Nexo system and our pared down live rigs.

All I can say is “I’m putting my faith in God, the Universe, whatever you want to call it.” This is truly one of those times in life when we’re launching into spaces that have no predesignated landing places. This paraphrased version came from Orthobionomy founder Arthur Pauls,who inspired me to write a song about that - a song residing in the archives of the hundreds of tunes I’ve written.

pastedGraphic.pdf Download this file

The first CD Release Party on July 16 party was wonderful, and some of us danced till we dropped.
After we played, I was having a strange vision issue -- that kaleidoscope of broken glass began to cross my left eye, in waves. It didn’t cross my entire vision, but was annoying. I remembered it was my mother’s anniversary of her accident and the streaks began to fade. What is that about? I wish, just like the cat who talks to me in “meow”, that these messages would come in plain English. Why can’t I see? Why can’t I translate the message? What is she trying to tell me? Where are we going to go? What are we going to do? Should we look for a new place? Our landlord is traipsing people through our space every day. Will we find compatible housemates before he finds someone to rent the entire house? Or are we supposed to give it all up, and hit the road and promote our new album? Our friend Dawn who accompanied us on Unconventional Tour 2008 asks, “Why did we make an album if we didn’t intend to promote it?”
I’m scouring connections, reaching out to anyone who might help us book gigs, applying to Festivals in the Midwest (again?).... And, until we stay or go, I’m pretending we’re on vacation in our beautiful house in Santa Barbara. In this beautiful house we’ve called home for the past year, we’ll add songs to our set. We’ll get our media together. We’ll be really ready to launch, into spaces, where there are no landing places.

Posted via email from theawayteam's posterous

The Away Team at Summer Solstice some Pics from video

2011-07-03T16:30:00.001-07:00

On the Main Stage at the Solstice Festival - screenshot of video shot by Ron Dexter

Shot from Dawn Perrine Video

Screenshot form Ron Dexter's video

Posted via email from theawayteam's posterous

The Away Team at Summer Solstice Festival in Santa Barbara

2011-06-26T10:50:00.001-07:00

Summer Solstice. It was a beautiful day. After a week of June gloom, a familiar weather pattern in Santa Barbara, the sun came out for Solstice. It always does. Nik and I got down to Alameda Park, loaded in quickly, the stage manager and folks were really great - helpful, friendly and seemed to know what they were doing. I parked the car about three blocks away while Nik set up.

This was our first gig in a while, and our first gig using a computer as a sequencer and a software program called “Ableton Live”. In the days preceeding the show, Nik was doing the all the programming because I was so busy on the logistics side of things for Solstice. The sequencing program had acquired a new name: “Evilton Live” or “Ableton Evil.”

Twenty-five minutes before we were supposed to start, Nik was hunched over the computer screen, barely visible in sunlight, in headphones, frowning. There was a glitch*: there was no audio coming from our sequencer - not through the external interface nor through the native audio out of the computer.

I went to park the car, helped Dawn set up two cameras, spoke to someone in volunteer check-in, and looked at dancing fairy wings. About five minutes before we were supposed to perform, I returned and looked at Nik’s body language - I knew he had fixed it*- Sighs of relief: we were not “The Away Team” unplugged. The show went on.

I couldn't really see much from the stage - the sun was blotting out my vision. I took off my purple tinted prescription sunglasses because they were falling down my nose; then I really couldn't see. I'm fairly nearsighted, anything past about twelve inches becomes wonderful impressionist painting.

About one minute into the first song, the stage monitor mixer-guy turned up the volume in my monitors so loud with only the backing track, the sound was only a loud rumble - almost impossible to tell what was going on- I was straining to distinguish between distorted rhythms and tonality. I couldn't hear my vocals at all. Neither could Nik; he was lip reading. The mixer guy kept messing with the monitor mix; it got worse. Finally I turned around and asked him to turn it down. Things got better after that.

Then after the show, even though our "official band packet" said that we could load and unload on Micheltorena Street right behind the stage between 11 a.m. and 6 pm, the cops were officious and would not let us get near the loading area. Finally, after an hour or so, and three requests to cops and traffic wardens, two trips to pick up car and driving around, one of the traffic patrol people said she could open the barricade for me, but then threatened to call an officer over to arrest me if I even looked like I was heading closer to Santa Barbara street (still a block away). It took us 3 hours to get our stuff out of there. Because they wouldn't let us load out when it was "safe", now we had to wait for the parade to be completely over. Some guy who had heard us at some other gig --got a few of his friends to help us carry all the equipment. Otherwise Nik would have had to have done it all by himself, since I needed to be guarding the equipment. Even backstage with a stage manager and bouncer, it's not really safe to leave things unattended. In the past, I've had $300 mics and miscellaneous other things disappear during the load and unload between bands.

I thought I would get to film the parade, but I didn't even get to see it cause I was dealing with trying to get our gear out. I spoke with the Festival Director, who says she has trouble with them every year. When the organizers all sat down together in their meeting with the police regarding the event, this was discussed and they agreed to let bands in, but that information obviously did not filter down to the lowly little fascists on the street. Nik told one of the traffic wardens that they "were exercising power just because they could". She aksed: “Why didn’t the organizers take care of this?” Nik said, “They did, but why has everything changed.?” The cop said it “was the fault of the organizers.” Why this failure to communicate down the ranks? Intentional or not, other bands certainly would be having a similar problem.

Other than that, it was a beautiful day. ;-)

We're thinking of having a house party concert in the next couple weeks where we have control of the sound, the elements.

Links:

http://www.solsticeparade.com

http://www.noozhawk.com/multimedia/article/062511_santa_barbara_summer_solstice_2011/?order=18

http://www.theawayteam.com

*****************************

*For geeks and musicos who deal with technology, all of the audio preferences in Ableton had changed. Nik is not quite sure exactly why this happened. It must have been the heat of the moment.

Posted via email from theawayteam's posterous

The Away Team at Summer Solstice Festival

2011-06-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

We’re “live” again! We are performing songs from our new album “Topsy Turvy World” for the first time at this year’s Summer Solstice Festival on June 25, at 12:15 in Alameda Park in Santa Barbara.

"We’re honored to play at the Solstice Festival -- it’s a celebration of life, art, music, culture which is truly unique and special. Solstice embodies the spirit of cooperation, creativity, is people powered, green, and a whole lot of fun - and for me, work ;-)

The Summer Solstice Celebration, in it’s 37th year, is Santa Barbara County's largest arts event, bringing 100,000 people to the street to see the parade, and 40,000 plus to the Festival in the park which for the first time has expanded to a 3 day event, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The theme this year is "jungle" and it's looking like it's going to be huge parade and fantastic festival. For more info on the Festival: http://www.solsticeparade.com

We’re also just releasing our album digitally through JMD Records/NGrovve (a partner of Universal Music Group)Below is a June 19, 2011 press release from them.

The Away Team is singer-songwriter Penny Little and musician Nik Green, both keyboard savants that turned tickling the ivories into danceable, quirky pop rock ditties. They come from different worlds but together they create a new one, a topsy-turvy realm that cannot be ignored.

How did The Away Team's Penny Little and Nik Green come from playing classical piano end up doing heavy rock? It seems a long way but it was a journey worth the destination.

Penny Little aka Little Savage used to be a solo pianist mixing in improvisations with classical pieces. After touring in Japan, she met guitarist Ben Hurley in Hawaii and they recorded the album 'In a Light Garden'. She became the vocalist for band White Feather and toured around Europe. When she returned to the US, she also dabbled into film making, including working with Academy Award winner Barbara Trent on the documentary short, 'Waging Peace'.

Then there's Nik Green, a native of the UK who has been producing electronic dance/ambient music since the 1980's. He recorded and toured with the band Blue Murder for seven years and engineered several hit albums. Nik considers John Adams, Charles Ives, Steve Reich, and Percy Grainger as his music influences.

In 1994, Nik and Penny formed The Away Team and as a duo they've performed in the Unconventional Tour 2008, joined by other musicians during their eight-city 7,200-mile tour of the US. For their latest album 'Topsy Turvy World', Nik and Penny collaborated with Ben Hurley yet again, producing a collection of modern pop songs with splashes of dance, country, jam, rock, world, and lyrics that are at times personal and political. The Away Team performs anywhere: rallies, festivals, anti-war demonstrations, clubs, house parties - you name it, they've probably played it.

If The Away Team were to describe their sound, it's definitely 'out there' and that's not exactly a bad thing. The Away Team is not boring and they've got the music and talents to back it up.

Download The Away Team's album 'Topsy Turvy World' at iTunes distributed by JMD Records/INgrooves (a partner of Universal Music Group).

Enter The Away Team's world at the following:
CONTACT them at:
Email: home ( @ ) theawayteam dot com
Phone number: 805 320 7981

http://www.1888pressrelease.com/away-team-s-album-out-now-making-waves-in-this-topsy-turvy-pr-311889.html

VISIT their Official Website: http://www.theawayteam.com

The Feal Good Foundation, a non-profit organization helping First Responders

2010-11-08T20:34:00.001-08:00

For immediate release: November 8, 2010
http://www.artistpr.com/press/6/The-Feal-Good-Foundation,-a-non-profit-organization-helping-First-Responders.htm
Nov. 8th: Hollywood The Feal Good Foundation, a non-profit organization helping First Responders from 9/11 who are ill from the toxic dust at Ground Zero, is pleased to be the recipient of a fund raising campaign by California pop duo The Away Team. The first 100 people who donate $15 or more to the Feal Good Foundation will receive a free copy of The Away Team's album, slated for release in November.
Feal Good Foundation Founder John Feal, commented, “I am humbled and floored by The Away Team’s compassion and dedication to our cause.”

Singer/songwriter Penny Little says, “It is really a gift just as our music is a gift. Can we afford to do this? No, not really. This is not some clever marketing strategy. We really believe in this cause. These are people who selflessly gave of themselves. We have friends who have been sick since 9/11, and we want to bring more attention to the issue. We want to do something real and tangible to help those affected.”
Penny’s Film ‘911 Dust and Deceit" premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in 2007 and has been used extensively as a fundraiser for the first responders of 9/11 who went down to Ground Zero in the recovery and cleanup effort -- many of whom have been denied help for years, some have died waiting, and many are too sick to be advocates for themselves.
This issue has recently been in the headlines. The US House of Representatives on September 29 passed the 9/11 Health Care Bill which will provide billions of dollars for medical treatment to rescue workers and residents of New York who suffered from the dust and smoke. The Senate version of the bill still needs to be passed in order to become law.
Keyboardist Nik Green, who has worked with Jimmy Page, Roy Harper, Blue Murder, commented, “It is a topsy turvy world where trillions of dollars are spent to kill people in wars abroad, yet it appears difficult to get money at home allocated to care for the heroes of 9/11. Approximately 900 people have died directly as a result of exposure to the toxic dust of 9/11, and we’re in the early stages of this unfolding disaster.”
The Away Team’s album “Topsy Turvy World” is not specifically about 9/11; rather it is a personal reflection of life in a post 9/11 world. The album features Penny Little on vocals, keyboard, and guitar, Nik Green, synthesizers and programming. They teamed up with former White Feather guitarist Ben Hurley, who recorded his parts “remotely” - from Hawaii.
“Topsy Turvy World” is an eclectic mix of modern pop songs, electronica, hard rock, world, jam band, even a little bit of country thrown into the mix.
“Personal and original!” -- Ron Dexter, ASC
“Definitely not evil! Gorgeously packaged quirk pop with elements of creative genius.” --Bret Hughes. political writer.
“Tuneful exploration into electronic pop - somewhere between radio friendly and out there; The Away Team are musical chameleons” Carla Scaletti, Symbolic Sound.

PO Box 20281
Santa Barbara, CA 93120
www.theawayteam.com
www.fealgoodfoundation.com

Website: www.theawayteam.com
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Away-Team/185956875604
Sonicbids EPK: http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk_link_code.asp?epk_id=62364
Topsy Turvy World: http://www.theawayteam.com/Album-Topsy-Turvy-World.html
Little Savage: http://www.littlesavage.com

The Away Team - Artwork
In the search for art which might represent a topsy turvy world, Penny googled “topsy turvy world”, and “crazy world”; the first image which came up in the search was the outsider art of Franciscan Priest Andrew Lewandowski. Outsider Art is “art from outside the art world.” It has been defined as a genre of art made by untrained artists who do not recognize themselves as artists. Coined by art critic Roger Cardinal in 1972 as the English synonym for “Raw art” or “art brut”, outsider art is created outside of official culture, but it can also mean folk art, ethnic art as well as art produced by prisoners, the mentally ill, or those who do not make their work to sell.
Father Andrew donated use of his work to The Away Team for their album cover.
Andrew Lewandowski: “The act of creation is one of the best qualities we human beings possess. I rely on an intuitive process. I ‘look’: into myself and allow whatever is there to emerge and express itself in images born in my imagination. The result is a work that is spontaneous and childlike. I use form and color to describe this inner world which is sometimes jubilant, sometimes sad, but always honest and direct. “
Posterous is the place to post everything. Just email us.
Change your email settings or unsubscribe »

Posted via email from theawayteam's posterous

Album Cover Ideas -Finalists

2010-04-06T11:33:00.001-07:00

We thought it would be interesting to hear what people thought about our album cover ideas and it has been a fun experiment. Taking the input from all of you, plus face to face comments friends, we've narrowed our choices for our album cover ideas to two: Crazy World and Bay City by Andrew Lewandowski.

It was suggested that we use both, having a booklet rather than just a simple insert. Or, if we must choose between the two ideas here are some of the thoughts which we've collected:

Crazy World 1 -- "It has to be this one" "Really crazy" "This is more about people, maybe you need to call the album Topsy Turvy People." "Stunning" "Love the bright colors" "Bold" (Crazy World got the most "votes" from our surveys)

Bay City 2 - "This is more like the world." "There is hope in this one". "It includes city and country, but no people" "More flow"

We like the boldness and brightness of Crazy World. We also like the "worldly-ness" and more "peaceful" (but with undercurrent) feeling of Bay City. Both feel complementary to our eclectic music. We really need to lthink in terms of which one will attract the eye if it's sitting on a shelf or in a row of albums on an Internet site......

What do you think?

Thanks for taking a look!

Penny & Nik

The Away Team

http://www.theawayteam.com

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from theawayteam's posterous

Notes from the Away Team in the Studio "All the People"

2010-04-02T21:09:00.001-07:00

Notes from the Away Team in the Studio:

Ben Hurley:

This song brought out of me my love for African Electric Guitar and musicians...In particular, Ali Farkar Toure. He has since passed away but has left an imprint on my being...For this I would like to dedicate my guitar playing on this piece to him.

I also took the liberty and went a little "Ladysmith Black Mambazo" on the vocals as I wanted to keep it "native" sounding and add that "world music" feeling. I also did a little "Aaron Neville" on the "crying" part...

Nik Green:

This song contains a strong message relevant to the world today. The people in charge who are largely above the law, often act outside of the law and get away with it because they can. There has to be a better way than this. This song is political and addresses a centuries’ old problem from a slightly different angle.

Both Penny & I worked on drums and various keyboards. I added the bass to the mix, in 12/8 rather than 6/8, so it feels like it’s going across the beat, but it’s not really. Then I came up with a little marimba ostinato riff in 13/8 to weave around the vibe part which Penny was doing in 12/8. They create an interesting interaction like a tapestry in the minimalist tradition as used by the likes of Steve Reich, etc. The way we end the song live takes those same riffs and play them together until we are playing in unison. It’s an interesting technique very rarely used in pop music.

Penny Little:

I didn’t really write this to be a political song. I just wrote it straight from my heart one morning singing over the marimba part. I truly believe that we are the power, that we must claim it, we must dream it, give up our fear of dying, begin living, take the risks, believe in ourselves, to create the world we want to live in. I guess that’s political. We’ve performed this at several anti-war rallies, and the song made it into the set on the Unconventional Tour 2008. I wanted the song to feel more “organic” and less electronic than some of our tunes, so I recorded some live shakers and some live congas to mix in with the electronic drums. Ben added exactly the feel we were looking for, plus some great "tribal" vocals.

Posted via email from theawayteam's posterous

Understanding Deep Politics Conference – May 14-16, 2010

2010-03-31T19:28:00.001-07:00

Announcing the Understanding Deep Politics Conference

– Revealing the Driving Forces Behind World Events and Creating Alternative Solutions

University Inn & Conference Center Santa Cruz, CA May 14 – 16th, 2010

611 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz, CA 950

With Speakers: Cynthia McKinney, David Ray Griffin, Peter Dale Scott, Ellen Brown, Ian Crane, Annie Machon, Jim Marrs, Michael Parenti, Peter Phillips, and Barrie Zwicker

Understanding Deep Politics will bring together ten distinguished speakers and hundreds of concerned citizens in one weekend for the purpose of challenging the mainstream perceptions of political reality – revealing the hidden forces behind many widely accepted historical and current events.

This unprecedented and provocative conference will span three days, including an early
Friday evening meet & greet get-together.

Please join us at this sure to be historic conference and expand this critical, deeper
understanding of the causes of our political challenges and help us fashion new
possibilities for the betterment of all.This unprecedented and provocative conference will span three days, including an early Friday evening meet and greet get-together.

Conference Details:

For complete information visit: http://understandingdeeppolitics.org

Please contact the University Inn & Conference Center Reservations at 866-827-2466 and tell them you are booking for the “Understanding Deep Politics” conference to get the conference rates. Please note – you will not be able to book your reservations online.

"Just a Guy with some chords and words..."

2010-03-27T11:03:00.001-07:00

Our friend Randy sent us this link to a performance of his original song "The Santa Ynez" at Alisal Cellars in Solvang, California, 24 January 2010.
Randy weaves stories of reality, unpretentiously telling it like he sees it. We think he’s great. He also is a wonderful photographer and did our promo pictures for the first incarnation of The Away Team band -- and photographed Nik’s hand holding the remote on our first album “Aliens on Line”.
He says: "I'm just a guy with a guitar and some songs. I have three cds: "Coffee Drinkin' Music", "Can The Rich Get To Heaven?", and "Back On My Feet". I made up the songs and I wrote them down. I've known a few people and done a few things. I've had a lot of jobs. My life is a work in progress. But, the songs speak for themselves." --from http://www.myspace.com/randalll
And this song "Folk Singer" made us smile. He's a folk singer and he's got "chords and words" to take him home.....delightful!

Download now or listen on posterous

I'm a Folk Singer.mp3 (3276 KB)

Posted via email from theawayteam's posterous

Away Team Campaign Continues

2010-03-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

We will give away CDs to the first 100 people who promise to write a review of our new album and donate at least $10 to the Feal Good Foundation. We are asking our dedicated fans to consider contributing to our costs of replication and our first promotional campaign, so we can start this fundraiser on April 22, 2010. The album will be ready for release shortly, since we're in our final mix stage.

Even though the recent proposed settlement in New York is a victory for those heros who helped on 9/11 and now are sick because of the toxic dust, the Feal Good Foundation continues to work towards getting HR 847 James Zadroga 9/11 Health Compensation Act back on the table. For more info, contact us

For more info on the Feal Good Foundation you can check out the Feal Good Foundation.

Here's how you can help with our first replication which will cover our costs:

What the Birds Say

2010-03-11T21:39:00.001-08:00

I’m so happy this song is making it onto this album. “I want someone to tell me what the birds say; the world is changin’ and I don’t know which way” I wrote this line in my song a long time ago but didn’t finish the verses in the song until 9/11. On that day, there were no sounds of cars from the freeway, no planes overhead except military jets late in the day. There was a very deep silence which I’d never heard before. I went into the studio to try to deal with my feelings, finished the verses and recorded a rough arrangement of “What the Birds Say” for the first time.

In 2007, I looked at this song again – after I had completed my film “Dust and Deceit” about the plight of those exposed to the toxic dust of 9/11. It seemed even more relevant. If you have not checked out my film, there is a trailer at http://www.911dust.org/preview.htm

Those who are sick from the dust of 9/11 are like the canaries in the mine. If there is another incident, how will the government respond? What have we learned from 9/11?

Sometimes it’s impossible for me to separate politics and music. So many of the songs I write are about what I see and feel. Songs are my way of coping and communicating, and I really hope that somebody does hear what the birds say……they are disappearing you know, by the millions, and it would be tragic to lose their songs. The Audubon Society reports that some species are down by up to 80 percent because of dramatic environmental changes. Here are some excerpts from a CBC special in Canada: http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=372

I am really feeling like I can’t wait to share this music. Songs are like sending letters out to my friends, letters to the world. At first I wanted to name the album “Letters to the World” but then “Wild wild land” seems so appropriate. It’s crazy wild times we live in; and I really “don’t know know what this is all for….” this song encapsulates what I’m feeling about living in Twenty Ten.

Here's our first Rough Mix of the Song, "What the Birds Say"

Birdssaybouncejan28
Download now or listen on posterous

BirdssaybounceJAN28.mp3 (9838 KB)

Posted via email from theawayteam's posterous

2010-02-27T21:43:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

This is the latest permutation of our "Wild Land" video with Penny Little, Nik Green and Ben Hurley.

2010-02-25T18:39:00.001-08:00

Click to Play

Rough mix and rough video edit from song for new album "Topsy Turvy World"

Hold on to Your Dreamin'

2010-02-15T20:17:00.000-08:00

This is commentary about this song by Penny Little "All the People (Hold on to your Dreamin')

Ben Hurley:

“This song brought out of me my love for African Electric Guitar and musicians…In particular, Ali Farkar Toure. He has since passed away but has left an imprint on my being…For this I would like to dedicate my guitar playing on this piece to him.

I also took the liberty and went a little “Ladysmith Black Mambazo” on the vocals as I wanted to keep it “native” sounding and add that “world music” feeling. I also did a little “Aaron Neville” on the “crying” part…"

Nik Green::

“This song contains a strong message relevant to the world today. The people in charge who are largely above the law, often act outside of the law and get away with it because they can. There has to be a better way than this. This song is political and addresses a centuries’ old problem from a slightly different angle.

Both Penny & I worked on drums and various keyboards. I added the bass to the mix, in 12/8 rather than 6/8, so it feels like it’s going across the beat, but it’s not really. Then I came up with a little marimba ostinato riff in 13/8 to weave around the vibe part which Penny was doing in 12/8. They create an interesting interaction like a tapestry in the minimalist tradition as used by the likes of Steve Reich, etc. The way we end the song live takes those same riffs and play them together until we are playing in unison. It’s an interesting technique very rarely used in pop music."

Penny Little:

“I didn’t really write this to be a political or message song. I just wrote it straight from my heart one morning singing over the marimba part. I truly believe that we are the power, that we must claim it, we must dream it, give up our fear of dying, begin living, take the risks, believe in ourselves, to create the world we want to live in. I guess that’s political. We’ve performed this at several anti-war rallies, and the song made it into the set on the Unconventional Tour 2008. I wanted the song to feel more “organic” and less electronic than some of our tunes, so I recorded some live shakers and some live congas to mix in with the electronic drums.”

Rough Cut of new video

2010-02-13T00:10:00.000-08:00

This is a rough edit of our video for "Life Changes" from the Away Team's upcoming album. Penny filmed this with the camera sitting on her art table, with a paper green screen, then edited in some clips from a public domain video from the 50's and WW 11, some other footage, a letter sent from her great, great uncle to his sister Edna during the war. The idea was to show different lives, different times. Featuring Penny Little on vocals & keyboards, Nik Green on Keyboards, Ben Hurley on guitars. This is a rough mix of the tune.

Name that album by The Away Team

2010-02-09T20:39:00.000-08:00

This is the last dance before Cinderella must run for the Pumpkin Coach and leave the ball --the last gasp before the end of our Pledge Music Campaign. I know I secretly vowed I wouldn’t talk about this again, but I just heard from Benji at Pledge Music who gave me another pep talk, so forgive me.

“Please tell me we’re not a ‘lost Pledge Cause’” I said... “I mean there are other artists on Pledge who have made $29,633! And maybe that guy is cute....Go check it out, on the front page: http://www.pledgemusic.com The Damnwells are doing damn well! While Wild Wild Land sits there on the last page . . . .Is it because our project begins with “W”? I know there’s a bit of a stigma about that letter now.

From our Ground Hogs Day email blast, we got emails back from people saying things like, "i would send money but here i am debating whether i should buy my dental floss..." "Great songs! thanks, wish I could help you guys." Why is the economy frozen, and why are we all sitting here freezing, waiting for the thaw? No one seems willing to break the ice, especially the banks who get billions handed to them from we the taxpayer/serfs.

So maybe we need to change the name of our album to get away from the "W" stigma. We've been trying to figure out more ways to create more interaction between us and our audience, for you to experience the process. So here is one idea: We want you to vote on the album title. Recently a fan mentioned that he liked the album name -- "Letters to the World", which was an early working title. We've kicked around other names from songs on the album like: "Topsy Turvy World". Right now the album is still "Wild Wild Land". We, of course, have had dozens of other ideas, but we're interested in what you, the music fan, thinks. Anyone? If you'd like to have some input, you can take the poll here.

http://www.learnmyself.com/poll38284x27f81Eb4

And if you're interested in checking out our project, here's a link at Pledge Music to The Away Team

What the Birds Say

2010-02-08T21:50:00.000-08:00

“I want someone to tell me what the birds say; the world is changin’ and I don’t know which way” I wrote this line in my song a long time ago but didn’t complete the song until 9/11. On that day, there were no sounds of cars from the freeway, no planes overhead except military jets late in the day. There was a very deep silence which I’d never heard before. I went into the studio to try to deal with my feelings, finished the verses and recorded a rough arrangement of “What the Birds Say” for the first time.

In 2007, I looked at this song again - after I had completed my film “Dust and Deceit” about the toxic dust of 9/11. It seemed even more relevant.

And just this past month, the Obama administration has expressed its refusal to support HR 847, the 9/11 First Responders Health Bill.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius made clear that “the administration does not support any kind of funding mechanism that’s built into the bill”. Bronx Representative Eliot Engel said, “They find money for everything else, they need to find money for this.” Then, as if in response to the outrage, Obama announced that his administration will double the budget for treating sick responders to $150 millionby 2011. When one considers the more than $100 billion spent per year in continuing and expanding Bush’s wars, it seems like a token PR effort.

Those who are sick from the dust of 9/11 are like the canaries in the cage. If there is another incident, how will the government respond? What have we learned from 9/11? From Katrina? It is the responsibility of government to take our tax dollars to protect and serve. In the case of the toxic dust, the heros of 9/11 who went down to Ground Zero to help were lied to government officials and the media. They were told over and over that the air was safe to breathe, documents were manipulated, and as a result, thousands are suffering, many have died.

Please check out the Feal Good Foundation if you would like to help first responders of 9/11.
http://www.fealgoodfoundation.com/.

A rough mix of “What the Birds Say”
is available at Pledge Music.
http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/96/updates

Addendum: I’ve heard that the birds have been disappearing, tens of millions of them not showing up at their regular migrational places. What have we done to make the birds disappear? We’re losing more than their songs. The Audubon Society reports that some species are down by up to 80 percent because of dramatic environmental changes. Here are some excerpts from a CBC special in Canada: http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=372

We cannot lose the bird song, we cannot lose our songs, our soul. There is going to be a change, and I hope it’s going to be from us.

I am really feeling like I can’t wait to share this music. It’s like sending letters out to my friends, letters to the world. I wanted to name the album “Letters to the world” --but then “Wild wild land” seems so appropriate. It’s crazy wild times we live in; and I really "don’t know know what this is all for...". this song encapsulates what I’m feeling about living in Twenty Ten.

The Away Team

The Away Team is Away - Pause Press Play launched on September 11, 2011

Moving Along, Being in Motion

The Away Team to play at the October Coalition Gathering in DC October 7

Launching into Spaces That have No Landing Places

The Away Team at Summer Solstice some Pics from video

The Away Team at Summer Solstice Festival in Santa Barbara

The Away Team at Summer Solstice Festival

The Feal Good Foundation, a non-profit organization helping First Responders

Album Cover Ideas -Finalists

Notes from the Away Team in the Studio "All the People"

Understanding Deep Politics Conference – May 14-16, 2010

"Just a Guy with some chords and words..."

Away Team Campaign Continues

What the Birds Say

Wild Wild Land © 2010 The Away Team

Life Changes © The Away Team

Hold on to Your Dreamin'

Rough Cut of new video

Name that album by The Away Team

What the Birds Say