Showing posts with label james villa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label james villa. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

WATCH THIS: "A Song About Us" by Exit 380

So, we've been talking and talking about our new track "A Song About Us" penned by Borden and recorded w/ Salim Nourallah for the upcoming Hand Drawn Records Compilation, but it's time to put that money where the mouth is, and show you with a little proof in the pudding.

Ahem...I mean here's the video debut of the new song recorded and directed by our pal James Villa @ El Villa Films.  And hope to see you at the compilation release show APRIL 14th @ LOLA'S SALOON in Fort Worth, where they'll be giving away the album for free!

Enjoy,
blocker

Monday, February 20, 2012

TRACKING: Exit 380 at Pleasantry Lane Studios

Not sure if you've seen the curious post by Hand Drawn Records touting their upcoming compilation project, but the criteria lined out for getting onto the comp basically said, "New material. Cool material. Only."

Since we just released a record in December, the new material bucket initially seemed daunting.

I say initially because right around the submission deadline Aaron Borden hit the band with a demo titled "A Song About Us"; and it was righteous. Aaron and I did some multi-tracking on the tune, and as the HDR deadline continued to creep up we decided to give it a run for the disc.

Besides a quick two song Cities excursion with Alex Gerst in late-2009, the band has been tracking everything by our lonesome, and my, oh my, it was getting lonely. So, in a feat of email-ery we asked producer extraordinaire Salim Nourallah (Producer of the Year 2004-2010; Old 97's, Deathray Davies) to let us come hang our hats on him, and wouldn't you know it, he had a rack for us at his aptly named Pleasantry Lane Studios in Dallas.

Yesterday we rolled into the studio and I was able to catch a couple of quick iPhone pics in-between takes; which you can see below. They're grainy, but don't worry; our great friends and photo contributors James Villa and Jen Winters were on-hand to shoot stills, as well as, a video to accompany the comp release!

The release date for the Hand Drawn Records - Compilation Volume 1 has been set for April 14th @ Lola's Saloon in Fort Worth. We'll have more hoopla for you on that as we get it!

-blocker

Salim Nourallah at the console.

Jody a One-Take Wonder.

Jerm-andolin.

Borden Micro-Managing The Hutch.

Blocker...blurry.

Borden...boots.


CD Release Show:
Hand Drawn Records Presents: a compilation. volume 1.
“Bedrooms and Backdoors. Friends and Neighbours.”

FREE CD w/ Admission: Featuring 12 amazing artists!

Where:
Lola’s Saloon (2736 W. 6th St., Fort Worth, TX)
Doors at 8pm. Show at 9pm. All Ages.
http://lolasfortworth.com/

When:
Saturday, April 14th

Performing:
Exit 380
Secret Ghost Champion
Desidera
Abby NormL

Monday, November 28, 2011

EXCLUSIVE: Limited Edition "Townies" Prints

Perhaps over the last few months you've seen bits of James Villa's photography for our new Townies album on your cpu screen, but believe us, the digital viewfinder will never replace the real-deal physical print, so Hand Drawn Records has inked up an extremely limited number of posters (sixteen total), solely to give away at the two album release shows next weekend!

The limited prints are large, and mighty fine, so we are excited to get them into your hands. 

Since such a small quantity is available, old Lady Luck will determine the who-gets-what in the form of a free raffle at the gigs.  Of course, the band will sign them with the ink and marker; so there's that too.

-blocker

In case you haven't seen the pics, here are a few of the cropped shots (don't worry we won't spill the milk into the bagful of cats by showing you the full meal deal).





What is the "Townies" Project?


Last summer Hand Drawn Records commisioned long-time Exit 380 photo and video contributor James Villa to shoot album art for the band's new full length album Townies.  The photographer spent the following months shooting vintage gas stations, dried up putting ranges, and drive-in movie theaters all over the backroads of Texas.

The sheer volume of quality shots returned to the label far exceeded the usage for the album panels, so alas, something small became something big.

Townies CD Release Shows:

FRI., DEC 9th @ LOLA'S SALOON (Fort Worth, TX) w/ Secret Ghost Champion and Igneous Grimm. All Ages. Show 10pm.


SAT., DEC 10th @ CLUB DADA (Dallas, TX) w/ Grant Jones, Eastwood and Secret Ghost Champion. 21+. Show 9pm.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Townies: HERE'S THE DEAL

Townies Machismo
By Dustin Blocker


The late, and often great, Macho Man Randy Savage used to say, "Here's the deal...", then he would go on to tell you what the deal was; and of course, he always put a little umph in it. So, since we are all die-hard machismo fans, we thought we would keep you in the land of knowing-the-deal with some full-disclosure of our own.

Earlier posts describing Bobby Shoes departure from the band to pursue his individual Bobby-isms have led our guitarist Jeremy Hutch into the studio’s cave for a double-stamp of his Hutchdom onto our upcoming Townies record by laying drums and guitars (as well as some fancy mandolin work). This has created an undeniable paradigm shift in the way we track, as the whole of the music has been arranged and written while in the studio as individuals. All the while his older brother THE Hutch has continued to lay the fattest lead bass this side of the Tarrant County Line.

The award to “the guy who sits in front of the tracking monitor the longest while still tracking guitars and writing songs” goes to… Aaron Borden, who has been holding producer’s court in his Fort Worth studio, with exception to my minor textural contributions (see: keyboards, harmonicas, rhythm instruments) and vocals, which I track at my house in Dallas.

It should be wholly apparent why the process has dragged a bit long, but we are at the end of overdubs and early mixes, which means the mastering studio is close at hand. Then off to Chris Whitehead at Hand Drawn Records to promote, print, and hopefully launch into some low lying stratosphere?

Another currently happening is Borden taking a job for a few months in Kansas, where our former road manager Dallas Rob currently resides, and where he is undoubtedly giving Borden the old Mid-West Way.

Our great friend and longtime contributor James Villa (who is about to launch his own official website) has been shooting photos for the Townies project for the last few months all over the Texas plains, and this week I was able to finish the album art design proofs from those shots, compiling them into the slickest disc art we will have to date.

On the last of the To-Do List is grabbing a new drummer for the live version of this act, which will ramp up the show dates calendar in accordance with the Townies album release dates.

That will conclude the deal for now. Thanks for playing!

"A Drive-In” Photography by James Villa
Digital Artwork by Dustin Blocker

Hand Drawn Records © 2011

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Watch Exit 380's New Music Video "Moonshiner Run"


Exit 380
"Moonshiner Run"
Townies


Rockyard Records / El Villa Films
Copyright 2010 Fite Lite Productions

Read more about the video shoot and song lyrics from our BLOG HERE!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Shooting "Moonshiner Run" Video & Lyrics

This weekend the band will be celebrating Patriot Day by linking up w/ our favorite photographer James Villa to shoot a live action concept video for our newest Townies track "Moonshiner Run". Villa's still photography has been integral over the last few years to our visual presentations; (see below) "The Broken House Session", "The Life & Death Of Mr. & Mrs. Alexander Stone", "Guillitine Clothing", and "Cities Townies", as well as, various live shots from DFW venues. So, we're excited to see how his art will translate onto a moving picture!


We'll be shooting the scenes in and around the Stockyards and Downtown Fort Worth hoping some Cowtown flavor will drip onto the final cut. It should be ready for posting in the next couple of weeks...Stay tuned!


James Villa Photography / Exit 380 (2008-present)


















LYRICS: "Moonshiner Run"

Get a move on boy!
Them feet they move like stone.
Don't ya drop that jug.
Johnny Law's among us....

Moonshiner run. Don't ya leave that gun.

Runnin', runnin', runnin' through the swamps and fields.
You know we're runnin', runnin', runnin' through the trees and hills.

Get a move on boy!
It's time to leave them toys.
Ma won't feed ya son.
If you don't get to Mount Glenn...

Moonshiner run. Don't ya leave that gun.
Ya need to trust me son.
For this Moonshiner Run.

Runnin', runnin', runnin' through the swamps and fields.
You know we're runnin', runnin', runnin' through the trees and hills.
Come on "faster, faster, faster" till ya come unhinged.
Ya know "come on, come on" two more miles to go.

Moonshiner run. Don't ya leave that gun.
Ya need to trust me son.
For this Moonshiner Run.

lyrics: blocker