Karaoke List, Etc.

Hey there, hope you're well. It's been about a month since I posted an update here, and I wouldn't want you to think we were just sitting around, twiddling our thumbs!

First off, the Grumpy's DT residency has been going just fine as usual! These are always so cool. We're coming right up on Live Band Karaoke night - here are the songs you can request to sing the night of karaoke without having to email a request (sorry, no more requests are being accepted - we're all booked up):

John Anderson - Seminole Wind
The Band - I Shall Be Released
The Band - The Weight
The Beatles - Oh Darling
Black Flag - Nervous Breakdown
Garth Brooks - Friends In Low Places
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bad Moon Rising
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Who'll Stop The Rain?
Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues
Cyndi Lauper - Money Changes Everything
Exploding Hearts - Modern Kicks
Exploding Hearts - I'm A Pretender
Stevie Nicks w/ Tom Petty - Stop Draggin' My Heart Around
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Listen To Her Heart
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Apartment Song
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Rebels
Pogues - Streams Of Whiskey
Prince - When You Were Mine
Ramones - Cretin Hop
Real Kids - All Kindsa Girls
Replacements - Bastards Of Young
Replacements - Achin' To Be
Replacements - Can't Hardly Wait
Replacements - Left Of The Dial
Replacements - Treatment Bound
Reigning Sound - You Aren't As Pretty
Rolling Stones - Jumpin' Jack Flash
Bruce Springsteen - Atlantic City
Bruce Springsteen - I'm Goin' Down
Them - Here Comes The Night
Thin Lizzy - The Cowboy Song
Thin Lizzy - Runnin' Back To You
Undertones - Teenage Kicks

I make no promises that we will play these songs perfectly, but I do promise that we will be able to make it all the way through any of these! And that's 9/10ths of the battle.

(And of course, you could request any of our songs to sing. But would that be weird? That might be weird. "Rudes And Cheaps" wouldn't be TOO weird...!)

Our next full-length, Live At Grumpy's, has unfortunately run into delays at the pressing plant due to the increasing - rebounding? - popularity of vinyl. Look for an official announcement in early Spring 2016. ADD Records is handling the vinyl, Rum Bar is releasing it on CD. It may turn out that the CD version comes out a little earlier... or not!

We have many exciting things bubbling under the surface for April and May (a show with a power pop legend... a show with a legendary alt-country band...), so stay tuned, but in the meantime, see you at Grumpy's, eh? Make the Sunfly proud!

Once more! February Residency At Grumpy's!

Hi everybody, it's the middle of January, it's cold outside even by Twin Cities standards, but it is with a warm heart and clear eyes and all that stuff that I am happy to announce yet another upcoming Saturday night residency at Grumpy's in downtown Minneapolis! We always have so much fun at these. Hell, last time around, we recorded a live album! It is our hope that we will have this available on LP for you at our residency finale on Saturday February 27th.

As usual, each night, the music will start at 10pm, with a short opening set by the Blue Diamond Band. Then, two of our friends' bands will play, and then finally at the end of the night the BDB comes back to close it down all raucous and radical... except for the night we do Live Band Karaoke! That night, it's just karaoke all night long. If you don't know how it works, here's the deal: you email two or three song requests to natopaisano@gmail.com, the band picks the one that works best, and then on the night of Live Band Karaoke, when your name is called, YOU SING THE SONG! Backed by Nato Coles & the Blue Diamond Band! Oh, you can also specify whether you'd like to sing earlier or later in the night, as we will be doing two karaoke sets. Last, there is a "master list" of cover songs we know for whatever reason. If you've seen us play anytime in the past year or two, you probably can guess what some of them are, but others might surprise you! I'll post that list online a couple weeks before LBK night.

Here's the day-by-day breakdown...

Saturday February 6th will feature Lutheran Heat and The Boot!

Saturday February 13th will feature Diver Dress and Xerxes Palomino!

Saturday February 20th will feature Live Band Karaoke all night!

Saturday February 27th will likely be the release party for our live LP called Live At Grumpy's! And this last night of the residency features The Right Here and Mono In Stereo (IL - Rum Bar Records, ex-Mulligan Stu which is a band a couple of you probably remember...). We will also be performing a tribute set to Motorhead/Lemmy Kilmister!

Again, we're always so stoked to do these, and hope you can make it to one or two of them. They're always free, 21+, and they start at 10pm every Saturday night in February.

Salud!
-Nato & the BDB

November Update/PTD Reissue Reviews

Howdy, folks! Over here in Blue Diamond Land, we've been working as usual on new songs and various projects. For example, on Friday, we're playing a Replacements tribute show at First Avenue (the main room, friends. The MAIN room!). Those songs don't learn themselves... not even "Treatment Bound"...

Live At Grumpy's is now on track for a late winter 2016 release on ADD Records. "Is there a chance the track could bend?" "Not on your life, my rocker friends!" Anyway, we're gettin' it done!

We've had some reviews of the Promises To Deliver deluxe reissue on Rum Bar come in as of late, and they're all pretty damn positive! Well, what I can I say... we like it, too. I've collected a few, for you to read/discuss:

Faster And Louder (scroll down to November 9th)

Jersey Beat (you'll need to scroll down a bit)

VERY in-depth review at Real Gone

Carolina Orange

Rat Boy '69

And finally, the track-by-track discussion of the CD I did with 53rd & 3rd

I had a great time writing that last one, by the way. I hope you check it out.

As winter approaches, we've got a ton of cool shows around the upper Midwest coming up, so look out for Earth Van chugging into your town! Emphasis on "chugging". Until next time, amigos!

-Nato & the BDB