Ringing in 2011

Hey everyone! So after wrapping 2010 with great success, we're off to conquer 2011. Let's take a minute to discuss the end of last year. We had a great time seeing some old friends in New York when we played at Joe's Pub. There's a short video you can see here. New York is my favorite place in the world, and it was so awesome to bring some No BS! love to the Big Apple.

We also played back in town for our 2nd annual canned food and coat drive. I don't know the totals on how much everyone brought in, but I know Rand had a big car load to take to the organizations the next day. Great job RVA! We also went up to play a private show for the Joker's New Year's Association in Philadelphia. Words cannot explain the awesomeness that is the Mummers parade in Philly on New Years. We were part of a pre-party celebration, and all I can say is these people are the real deal! Check out this link for a bit of an explanation.

New Year's Eve was a great time in Petersburg at the Sycamore Rouge for a burlesque event. For those who are unfamiliar, the theater in Petersburg is a great non-profit facility that regularly hosts some amazing shows. Check it out if you haven't already.

And last but not least, we had a great review from PopMatters. I think they hit the nail on the head, saying our "insistence on approaching [our] collective as a rock band seems to have served [us] well." The review does a great job vocalizing what we were trying to capture when we put out the latest record. Speaking of "No BS!" we are close to the official vinyl release. Look for more information as we get details.

We'll see y'all at The Camel on Friday Jan. 21 for the first gig of 2011!

No BS! Plays Joe's Pup in NYC!

That's right ladies and gentlemen, we're very much in an "Empire State of Mind." And on December 16, w're hitting the Big Apple. Ok, all Jay-Z references aside, we couldn't be more excited. Joe's Pub has hosted the likes of Elvis Costello, Alicia Keys, and Amy Winehouse, not to mention RVA's very own Fight the Big Bull. There isn't too much to say, other than if you live in New York, BE THERE! If you know people in New York, make sure they know to BE THERE! If you live in Richmond or anywhere else, BE THERE! We are so excited to have such an awesome gig in the heart of the country's music culture.

But that isn't the only part of the week. It seems like our activity comes in waves, and this time is no different. We play a variety show at the Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville on Dec. 15. Doing different types of gigs is always fun. We play a set of our own before taking part in various skits throughout the night. Look out SNL, here we come! Following up the show in NYC is a gig back in Richmond at The Camel. It will be the last show there for 2010, so we're looking for to sending out the year in style! The next night is Skaladays, a show at The Hat Factory put together by Richmond's Murphy's Kids. We are among 5 or 6 other bands that are there to play a kick-ass show in celebration of everyone's favorite month. We're really happy to be sharing a stage with such an awesome group of guys. The last thing is a private gig in Philly for Sunday. I'm told we're riding in a flat-bed truck and playing. Hmmmmm.

Well that's whats up on the schedule. Be looking out for some other cool stuff as well, including some Christmas tunes on the radio and a couple of (hopefully) great reviews in some very well-known publications. I'll be sure to keep everyone up-t0-date on that stuff. And don't forget to come dance off all of your Turkey calories with us on Saturday at The Camel to celebrate Thanksgiving!

Much Love,

Dillard and No BS! Brass

Sweet Press!

The media blitz is on! We're really feeling the love from the press. I thought it would be cool to have a collection of it here. It all comes from an extremely diverse group of people, and it's in a bunch of different forms.

Perhaps my favorite of all the kind articles written is by Eric Benson, (creator of "Inverted Garden," which AllAboutJazz defines as "A New York jazz chronicle offering weekly previews and essays on the music's evolution in the digital age"), titled "Dance Music and the Joys of the No BS! Brass Band." The whole idea is that our music is a social beast; it should be enjoyed with friends. He makes some nice comments about the new record too, saying "It was well recorded and inventive—tight funk with an ear for subtle hip-hop..." Eric's article has been picked up by NPR, AllAboutJazz, as well as a few others.

A close second on my list of favorite press, is an audio segment that aired on WCVE a handful of times. Long-time host of the jazz segment, Peter Solomon put together a great piece that is a great description of who we are. Pay careful attention to Marcus's initial feelings on our cover tunes!

There were some other great reviews of the record release show, including this one from the Commonwealth Times

It's so exciting to be this well-received in the media. Having a friend call you to say he heard you on the radio or read about you online is a great feeling. We're heading to Gainesville for The Fest this weekend. I'll make sure to give an update on sunny Florida.

See y'all later!

Dillard and No BS! Brass

WOW!

There are certain things in life that leave only a few words to express what really has happened. I think for the last 3 weeks, WOW might be one of the only words to describe all that has been going on. There's a lot of great stuff to talk about, so let's get talking.

First and foremost, our third album, "No BS!" debuted on Friday October 1 at a great show at The Camel. We always have a fantastic time playing there but I think that night was definitely one of my favorites. Everyone in the room shared in our excitement of the CD release. I'm told that we broke the attendance record for the club that night! Then Saturday night we did it all over again, this time playing a set at 8 for those who might not have been able to stay up late with us. The weekend was a huge success, and we really have Richmond and all of our fans to thank for that.

Continuing with the "Richmond-is-awesome" theme...

The Richmond Folk Festival was the following weekend. The RFF is always a great time, and I think it's one of RVA's best moments of the year. In fact, the banner at the Altria stage read, "Richmond at it's best." There was a lot to see and hear (and taste) as always. We were there to put the Richmond into the RFF. We played a set at noon on Saturday for a pretty packed house (well, tent) before leading a kazoo parade later that afternoon. Pace killed it a kazoo solo in "Moodring." Sunday (after yet another super awesome kazoo solo by Reggie) we had one more set to play. This time we drew in between 1,500 and 2,000 people. The energy that the crowd gave us that day was nothing I'd ever felt before. Here's a video from Saturday. THANKS EVERYONE!

We followed up that weekend with two more shows. Tuesday was VCU's Fall Brass Fest. Curt clearly had a great time playing with the lights while we were on stage. I now know what a rock star feels like when the lights go dark at the end of every tune. Thursday was a show at the ever classy Balliceaux. It was a relief to be able to play in the back room (the time before, there was no power and we had to pack into the front!).

So, that's what we've been doing this month. It's been an amazing ride so far. I'll be back later today with some links to some amazing press we've been getting as a result of the release of "No BS!" Stay tuned!

We love y'all,

-Dillard and No BS! Brass

NO BS! BRASS ALBUM COVER! by Nick Kuszyk!

Let the Countdown Begin!

As September comes to a close, let us take a quick look back on the last few months, before looking forward. May was great to us, we spent some time in Bryan's hometown, Birmingham Alabama. Our gig there was awesome, and we met a bunch of great people along the way. We've played in Asheville a couple of times now and it's always been a blast. Our monthly Camel gigs have been getting more and more successful, thanks to people like Jeb Bishop. We also started a monthly rotation at Balliceaux, rocking as hard as that place has ever rocked.

And now to the main event. We are less than one week away from releasing our self-titled record. To celebrate, we will be doing a 2 night party at our favorite place in RVA, The Camel. On Friday, we'll do our normal two sets, starting at around 10 PM. DJ Cool Paul will be spinning that night. On Saturday, we're mixing it up a bit. We'll do an early set at 8 PM, and then the normal sets at 10. DJ Harrison will spin, bringing that white-hot fire. Not to be outdone, we're releasing a double vinyl later in October.

I've never been so excited as I am for this. I hope everyone can make it out. Richmond has put its sweat into us, and now we're looking forward to putting our sweat back into Richmond. Come out y'all. Buy a CD. Buy a drink. Have fun. Dance. Party. Get down.

See y'all there,

Dillard and No BS! Brass

Jeb Bishop Trio

We're super excited to be playing with the Jeb Bishop Trio from Chicago, this Friday night at The Camel. Our own Bryan Hooten talked Jeb about his thoughts on different aspects of trombone playing, among other things. RVAJazz has the original article can be found here. I've put in a selection of the article below.

BH: It seems to me that Trombone players are a pretty tight-knit group of cats that get along really well. Do you agree, and if so, why do you suppose that is?

JB: That does seem to be the case and maybe it is because the trombone has a little bit of an ‘underdog’ status … there’s not much chance of being a star (although Trombone Shorty seems to be figuring it out!), so the ego/competition thing doesn’t come into play so much, and we can just commisserate, drown our sorrows, talk about mouthpieces, etc.

Could you talk a little about this trio, its formation and the unique compositional/improvisational options inherent in the trombone, bass and drums combination?

With a trio you give up some orchestrational options, but what you gain is a lot of flexibility and mobility, and the chance for the music to have maximum spontaneity and to be reinvented in performance. In terms of timbre, the trombone/bass combination is one I have always enjoyed — I like playing duos with bass players — so that feels comfortable to me. And Frank and Jason are both wide open in terms of how they approach their instruments coloristically and in terms of the role the instrument can play in the band. That is important to me, because a big challenge of a trio is for it to not sound kind of the same all the time.

Like many young trombonists, you were on the path towards becoming an orchestral player. What happened?

I reached a point at which it seemed to me that to stay on that path felt too narrow. I was very young at the time and had I had more knowledge and insight I might have realized that I could also learn about and pursue other things while working on being a classical player, but at the time, and in the music school environment I was in, that did not seem like a realistic option. So I left music school, but began checking out other musical areas pretty much right away.

We also want to give a shout out to Richmond Magazine for naming us one of RVA's top 50 local players on the local music scene. Check out the article, with sweet quotes from Reggie Pace. Also, don't forget to follow No BS Brass, Dillard, Bryan, David, and Reggie on Twitter if you don't already. It's the easiest way to stay up-to-date on all the goings on of your favorite brass band!