Late last week we shot a bunch of quick videos to promote the upcoming North American tour (starting Friday next week in Toronto). And these are the blooper out-takes…

Last weekend in Boston coming up. We fly out to Canada on Wednesday. Now in the last phase of rehearsing & tying up any loose ends before hitting the road.

Checkya tomorrow.
Fires out.

Heavy rehearsals underway for the tour, starting next Friday in Toronto, Canada. Feeling a little better as we get closer to the start, the 2 months of set-up and prep nearly done.

Weather’s getting better here. It’s up around 40 degrees during the day (5 C) – which feels like a heatwave. Still plenty of snow. It’ll be a while before it completely melts away.

Checkya tomorrow,
Fires out.

We got this lovely email from Woz…

“Hey Max & Marty,

I believe in you guys, you have the talent and drive to make it, and hope that this is your opportunity!!!! I know you will give it your all and then some. It has been a privilege, from your first cd launch to the present, to see you & your music evolve. Its been a gas to help you guys in any way I can.

Looking forward to hearing your new music & stories later in the year!!!

Ciao,
Woz”

We stayed with Woz, at his place way out east of Melbourne, November/December of last year. It was an awesome way to decompress after a year of touring. We’d pull the chairs out & sit in the field, overlooking gum trees and surrounding farms. Freekin’ fantastic. The pic above was taken on Woz’s property.

Checkya tomorrow.
Fires out.

If you’re not careful, when you’re a long time away from home, you’ll look too long at a picture like this (puts a lump in my throat). This, folks, is where Max and I live – Melbourne, Australia. Abbotsford to be precise. This is the main street at the end of our street.

And the lovely lady in iridescent blue, Kim Allen standing next to partner in crime, Stalk.

Kim and Stalk, Pledged for a bunch of tour items last week. I think there are a couple of a sweaty t-shirts in there? Kim, do you want me to wash that thing first… or send it as is? Stalk, you’ll be fine…

When we’re home, we get around to Stalk and Kim’s place, hang out, drink beer & shoot the breeze, usually on the back verandah there. It’s the coolest place. Half of Abbotsford seems to breeze through there.

Anyway, huge thanks to you Stalk & Kim (kisses, hugs, all that).

Checkya tomorrow,
Fires out.

This time last year – what have we learned?

Actually, this was an awesome day, February in Poland. We were driving between shows and Pawel, tour organiser, pulled over by an ancient medieval castle. We hung out there til we got too cold. I think we were there for a couple of hours, walking around inside the buildings. Amazing.

Things are thawing here in Boston. Above freezing temp for most of the day, today.

Checkya tomorrow,
Fires out.

Our third week here. It’s become a regular day & night out of the apartment – we’re at Gulu Gulu Cafe for another Wednesday Open Mic. Capacity crowd tonight, a hundred people in here. This part of Salem feels to me like a cross between Brunswick & Smith Streets (Melbourne, Australia). It feels good (beer helping). Home constantly on our minds at the moment. Max and I are developing an unspoken pact. No talking about home right now (when we start, it ends in teary eyes). In two weeks, we’ll be out on the road for a huge tour (need to focus).

American accent. Are we getting one? Sometimes I hear Max talking and it’s happening. Rolling of the R”s. Other times, everything sounds ‘normal’, whatever that is. Well… it is what it is (that’s what they say in the South). I love that saying, ‘It is what it is’.

Mojo, our dog, has a particularly ugly head (we call it a ‘regal ugliness’). He’s a Staffy (Staffordshire Bull Terrier). Someone once said (I think it was Clive), Mojo has the head of a bullfrog and the body of a wombat. True. But all the same, I really wanna kiss that head right now. We both do.

Checkya tomorrow.
Fires out.

Just uploaded a bunch of pics from the road (this year and last year).

Check em out on the Photos page.

Checkya tomorrow.
Fires out.

Last week we announced tour dates for North America, with more to come shortly. Check the Shows page for details – and check out the first dates announced for China in April/May.

Our first tour show is two weeks from this Friday in Toronto, Canada as part of Canadian Music Week 2011. We’re here in Boston, preparing for the coming months on tour. Last week the weather felt like it was moving toward Spring. But the last 2 days have turned arctic, and the snow’s falling again out there.

At least we’ve got some practice walking on it now. Heart is always in my mouth (ready to fall on my arse) every time I’ve gotta negotiate walking across the ice to get out of the apartment.

Checkya tomorrow.
Fires out.
PS: Going nuts with cabin fever.

Mat Ward is our Pledger Of The Week.
What a guy! Here’s a little about Mat:

“I pledged because Max and Marty have been present during the best and the worst times of my life and they’ll never have anything other than my complete support. They are great friends who make great music and deserve to be very successful so that when they’re rich and famous I can sponge off them.”

Much love and thanks to Mat (and that really is him in the pic).

Become a Pledger to The On Fires ‘Chook Raffle Tour USA’, just like Mat, by Clicking on this pic (or the pic to the right of this page).

You’ll visit our official Pledge page. Once there, you can sign up & download a free MP3 – and view our Pledge tour campaign.

And that’s where things really get interesting…

For as little as $10 you can join us on this US tour, with exclusive updates, pics and tales from the road & goings-on inside the tour bus. We’ve also got an exclusive MP3 ready for you to download when you sign up. And we’ll be giving all our Pledgers an exclusive EP download, recorded live across America, on this tour.

Pledging to our upcoming US tour will give you a more intimate experience, inside the touring world of The On Fires.

But wait, there’s more:

You can also Pledge for some amazing tour stuff. Fancy a pair of drum sticks, signed by our drummer (that’s Kent Aberle, folks)? Or how about a personal bed-time story from the road? A personal tour of the tour-bus just for you? Signed tour posters? Our tour t-shirts (straight off our backs)? Wanna introduce the band on stage in New York City?

There’s a bunch of fantastic stuff you can Pledge for. Join us on the road this US tour, starting next month – Pledge to The On Fires.

Checkya tomorrow.
Fires out.

We’re proud & very pleased to announce American live music website URockHard.com® as the major sponsor for our forthcoming US tour.

The North American ‘Chook Raffle Tour’ starts March 11th at Canadian Music Week before we fly to Atlanta, Georgia to meet the URockHard® film crew. We kick off the US stint of the tour in Tennessee aboard URockHard’s tour bus, heading south through Alabama, Georgia and Florida before longhauling to the north eastern states (New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania). The final leg of the tour will take us through Maryland and the Carolinas back to Atlanta.

URockHard.com® founder, Kevin Belanger, heard of us after a rave review from a show in Athens, Georgia last year. Inspired to catch our live show, Kevin asked to film us in Boston during last year’s tour.

We formed a bond (Kevin’s a great guy!) and now in 2011 URockHard.com® will create a ‘rockumentary’ featuring our March/April tour on the UrockHard® tour bus. They’ll also record live performances of bands we meet along the way. URockHard’s mission is to show the world real people and raw music with The On Fires as their centrepiece. We’re pretty happy about that!

Checkya tomorrow.
Fires out.