American Catapult

Winding Down, Not Out

amcatters — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 17:35:58 +0000

Here is the band, American Catapult, all four, hanging at a booth in the Down and Out waiting to play a set just before 10pm. It was a fine blast of noise.

(L to R) Mike, John, Tom and Shawn

The fall is fully settling in and 2011 is winding down for the band. No more dates set to play out for the year, thoughts of demoing new material floating in these minds, and more time to spend with family and friends into the holiday season. “It’s been terrific to play out this year,” says Tom, “more shows than I thought we might play, and we’ve become more adept at playing & trusting each other. It’s better than ever, really. Cannot wait to get some of this goodness down on tape.”. Thanks to you all who support AmCat and their endeavors, and all of you who’ve listened to All This Distance this year, and to you who have recently discovered this same band who used to make their name from rest stop shows and laundromats. We will keep in touch and bring you updates as they happen!

Further South

AmCat Next Show Oct 23 10pm

amcatters — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:52:17 +0000

This next show will be a good one, likely the final show of the season for AmCat. Strong lineup, great place to hear the band, cool downtown LA confines, cozy booths, etc etc. The band plays at 10:15pm, the first band The Shakedown starts at 9:30pm. Come out for some great music and say hello as the great AmCatters you all are!

AmCat @the Other Door Sept 29!

amcatters — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:33:48 +0000

the WIRE plan for Saturday

amcatters — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:55:31 +0000

As a first for us, we’re playing a 45 minute show with mostly covers and only a couple of AmCat songs at the WIRE show this Saturday night at 9. Not that we don’t enjoy our own music. And not that we feel good about playing other’s music, because we’re not so good at that. But we have found that covers have become easier for us lately for whatever reason, and we’re going to stretch ourselves a bit. We just feel like sharing those songs with whoever comes out, for a change. It’ll be pretty fun, and unique, all with James joining us on pedal steel. If you miss this you’re missing something you don’t hear from AmCat every Saturday. The Eagles, Petty, Van Morrison, Wilco & others are on tap.

Tom

Headlong Into Summer

amcatters — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:32:37 +0000

Halfway through these summer months, AmCat has played a couple of shows and is now taking a bit of hiatus until mid-August. They’ll pick up again and play a show locally in Glendora CA on Aug 28, then set plans for the Fall. Hopes for a few more shows, including some familiar larger venues and a trip to Bako, are on the slow cooker. We’ll keep you all posted.

Thanks to everyone who’s come out to see the band so far this year. John has acclimated quickly and brought his own spirit of adventure to the mix, and everyone is getting along famously. And if you’ve followed AmCat for any length of time now you know there’s always plans for more recording on the horizon, and this fall is no different. In fact they’d prefer to play fewer shows if it means more time spent creatively in studio. They’ll try to balance both before the end of this year.

The Setlist page is updated after each show now; check out what they’ve played (and what they don’t quite remember playing). The band has been more attentive to photo-taking as well this year, and you’ll find most of that work on the Facebook page. More group photos for promo are planned after the break.

Mike has recommended a short documentary called I Need That Record! about the decline of the old school record stores. Watch the trailer for it here. The band is a big supporter of keeping these mom and pops alive and kicking. Get down to Ameoba in L.A. or in San Fran if you want to spend a few hours browsing, and pick something up that will inspire you. And look for Trees of Mystery while you’re there, maybe in the clearance bin. Over time we’ve seen the promo CDs or the actual discs in various stores for sale.

Hope you have a good summer, warm but not scorching, relaxed but not lulling, tempered with good friends and tasty grilled treats. See you in August!

your friends at Further South.

Setlist for Wednesday pm

amcatters — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 02:56:00 +0000

AmCat plays the Down & Out in Downtown L.A. this coming Wednesday at 9:30pm. This is the setlist in progress:

Permission, Sight for Sore Eyes, This Time, Trees of Mystery, Be the Moment, Motorcar, On the Outside & Band Not the Weapon.

Kind of short set, less is more when four bands are on the bill. California Stars could be an encore if there’s time. The band will most always veer toward the hits when it’s a short set, without a lot of room to breathe.

Come if you can find your way around downtown on a Wednesday night, it will be a good evening and we’d enjoy the familiar company! There is no cover.

The Catalog Revealed

amcatters — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:50:12 +0000

The AmCat catalog of recordings, from Home of the Brave to the latest CD All This Distance, is now available for streaming on Grooveshark.com.

We are anticipating a means of downloading a number of these tunes as well from our site sometime this summer, so be on the lookout.

What we’ve not included yet are rarities, b-sides and the like, which have to be found first and then added. Of course, with a site like this, you can upload them yourself if you’ve got them. Beautiful Grooveshark. Don’t tell too many others about this site, cause it will close down before long.

The band is currently demoing some new material to finish off Band Not the Weapon this year.

The band’s playing out at least once each month this summer, starting with the Down & Out in L.A. on June 29 at 9:30pm — are you coming?

thanks for all the support — Further South

BNtheW live for the first time

amcatters — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 21:24:21 +0000

this is the title track from the upcoming CD Band Not the Weapon, with some recently finished lyric. John and Shawn aren’t exactly sure which lyric goes where on the chorus, and so they make each other laugh trying to sing something incoherent that comes close. anyway, hope you like it. the footage is cool since our friend and fan Pete roamed around with his camera. another friend Dave made a really nice bootleg of the show just for us. and probably a bunch of people online somewhere. it may end up on ebay. this is at the end of a set, and we’re a bit tired and ready to be done. old men, some of us. obviously not the pedal guy, or the bass player really. just the singer I guess.

If we played in your town we’d sure have more energy though! Invite us, and see for yourself. Give us some electrical power and a few friends, and we’ll rock it. We need to play out more, if for no other reason but to figure out how to properly sing this chorus.

Wired down

amcatters — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:08:25 +0000

Thanks from all of us to you who came out for the Wire show last Friday night, a good time was had by all! It was really good to see John in the mix and enjoying himself, jumping at will and very very happy. There were a few hiccups from the band which was understandable given the lack of playing out this past year. Hey we’re human. Hooray for humanness! Getting James in the mix on pedal steel was a sure bonus, he got to play for family and we all cheered for him. 18 and rockin the pedal; people there were wholly unsure what that thing was onstage until he played it, then they said, collectively, “Ahhhh that’s what that is!” and we just smiled. So Cal rock venues need to branch out more. Guess that’s what we’re here for. You’re welcome, the Wire!

The band is in process of booking a few more small shows around town, we’ll keep in touch on those and hope you’ll come. Michael and Yvonne are expecting their second child early May, and we’re looking to continue out by the end of the month after that momentous occasion. Sam’ll have some company soon, someone to use the Force on and get in a lightsaber duel.

The Wire show was shot on video, mostly so the band could have some more promo footage to use in getting into festivals and the like. Plus we realized we hadn’t really any footage of AmCat live since the Tour of the Brave days, wow. Well, a smattering of things here and there but not anything new to use. Until now, thanks so much Peter B! Also our friend Dave did a bootleg audio, which we can certainly use, he’s very good at that.

Now we’re just rambling. We’ll post some of that material soon. Thanks again –

Further South

Wire Show coming Apr 15

amcatters — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 00:58:11 +0000

AmCat’s return to the stage in 2011 begins at the WIRE in Upland a week from tonight, April 15 – they go on around 9pm but get there earlier to be sure to get a good spot and hear some other fine music as well. it’s a ten dollar cover, well worth the 45 AmCat minutes plus other local bands.

The setlist has already been posted, for those of you who know where to look. See you all at the show!

Further South