Our heartfelt thanks to Michael Fortes for taking the time to visit us & to do a Parlour to Parlour episode on us!  We had a blast hanging out in the morning shooting for the episode, as well as a ridiculous amount of fun later that evening at the Hive Mind Halloween Party (c’mon guys, it was TOO successful for you to REALLY call it quits with no more of these).  A grand time was had by one & all.

In other news, we have solidified a date at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard for Wednesday, January 13th with our friends in Osaka Explosion.  We’ve been hammering & smashing up a few new song ideas as we get ready to track the second half of songs for our new album (trust us, we’ve tossed around a Meeeylion creative working titles over rehearsals, although all have been quite silly so far).  We’re to a point we know what we’re going to work with song-wise - now we just have to get them recorded.  We’re most assuredly hoping that minus any little unexpected bumps/quirks/catastrophes, we’ll be sending off a Batch O’ Songs for mixing/production by the end of May& get this thing out the door in the second half of 2010.

Hey All,

we posted a video of the song “Feel” from our gig at the commnet.  You can check it out here.

Thanks to all who came to the gig, and the other bands for rocking and C-monster for taking this video.

As Seattle withers in a rare heat wave, we’ll be playing the cozy confines of the Comet Tavern…

Yes - it could likely be very warm still… that’s what cold beer is for though.   We encourage you to come down & celebrate the return of normal Seattle Summer this weekend.

We’ll be playing with  Sneaky Thieves, Gertrude’s Hearse, & Nathan Wade & the Dark Pioneers - The Comet, 922 E. Pike St.  We will be playing first slot ~ 9:00.

We’ve just finalized details on a psychedelic-rock-oriented bill for Thursday September 3rd. We’ll be playing with The Upsidedown, The Pink Snowflakes, and Amsetrjam. We’re looking forward to breaking in this new venue (new to Half Light - Ms Smith has played there previously) as well as playing with some really cool bands. Mark your calendars!

Our next show on the horizon is Thursday July 30th at the Comet Tavern with Nathan Wade & The Dark Pioneers.

Seattle Weekly posted a brief preview for the festival yesterday (somehow they chose to run with some band called “Mudhoney” for the photo rather than us…)

Also, ”Sunday’s lineup begins in the middle of the day with the hushed, shoe-gazing intoxication of Half Light (12:45PM)” from the Seattle PI.

Look forward to seeing anyone who can swing by to catch our set tomorrow. One note - the process for loading bands in & out to keep the music on schedule is a little on the tight side… the organizers basically need every band to load & go after their set & get their one allotted vehicle the F Outta Dodge: ASAP, so we may not be lingering to socialize all that long after the set as we load & move The Silver Bullet Van.

Looks like our cd just got reviewed over at The Big Takeover by Marcel Feldmar.  Here’s a little snippet:

“This music feels like dusk and flows like dawn, and though it seems like it’s all tied to your dreams, it won’t let you sleep. It lifts you up and holds you brightly, showing you the chords and choruses that bring you back home.”

Wow.  Talk about amazing, kick ass sets by both Secret Highways & Levator.  These bands are flat out awesome. Also - great DJ-ing by DJ Jimi C.  What a freaking incredible evening - & a big thanks to all of the folks who turned out to share a night of music with us.  Best of luck to Levator on the tour.  We’re all gushy gushy happy over what a great time we had last night.  Next up for Half Light - some initial tracking for the new cd & then The Comet Tavern in March.

It’s been added to our press section, but we just wanted to share the good word with everyone…

From 2008 Year in Review: Klepac on the Best Seattle Albums of 2008,  Christian Klepac ranked us fourth on his list, and we’re keeping some really good company…

“This band’s Best Kept Secret status is under serious threat, as their impossibly heavy live shows win them a growing legion of converts. Druggy guitars, a cello, spectral female harmonies, a thunderous rhythm section, everything you could need for a classic 4AD-style blissout. Do not listen before operating heavy machinery. “

We required the requisite 2 hours to get rolling in the morning.  Barb and Mr. Breakfast located the best breakfast in the Tri-county area.  It was big, it was greasy, the coffee worked.  It was Barb’s birthday.  She bought us breakfast.  We thought this was kinda upside down given it was her birthday, but she would have none of us buying her birthday breakfast.  She had informed us that she would not be repsonsible for driving after the show.

So off to our next show in Fresno.  Mega thanks to the Sleepover Disaster, who set us up with a gig.  I was nervous to play with them because their recordings sound amazing.  They were playing with lablemates Light FM. We were excited and hit the road.  The scenery reminded us of our own Eastern Wa.  I got to see the backside of the “Plains of Giant Webbed Feet,” from the Half Light tune, Golden West, one of the first songs I wrote, many years ago, on my first tour ever.  This is alot of what we saw:

We made it to Fresno in the afternoon.  We weren’t sure what to do there, we found the venue:

The venue was not open, and there was no where to drink in the immediate vicinity.  We called our friend C-monster, to hook us up with the local microbrewery. One can always count on Charlie to be at or near a computer, ready to hook you up.  We eventaully made it to Seqoia brewery where we found a parking spot that would allow us to keep an eye on the gear (the van), always essential.  Here is some artwork in the parking lot:

They also had a happy hour, and well it was still Barb’s birthday.  They had the best Stout we had ever had, on nitro tap and everything.  I seriously considered getting a growler of it to bring home, but quickly realized that it would never make it, and someone would be too drunk to drive and that would not work.

We still had hours to kill. Some folks hung out in the van, some went shopping.  I needed a feline fix, so went walking in the neighborhoods, it wasn’t long before I was treating a sweet orange tabby to a killer petting session.  Finally I went to a great record store where I couldn’t afford the records I wanted, but I did pick up a sweet paisley dress for a Halloween costume.  Because, at this point it still seemed reasonable that I would survive the mega hour drive and make it home in time to go out (and want to).

Finally, we got to the Tokyo Garden and it was open.  It was quite some time before the other bands showed up.  Of course, we drank in the meantime.  Check out the Karaoke this place offers:

The proprietor is super nice.  He poured stiff drinks.  A super nice guy, who also served as soundperson, opened the show.  He had a really tasty Gretsch guitar, and great songs.  I am sorry I don’t remember his name, thought he is partially responsible for that, since he bought us all drinks at the end of the night, and that was a full Markers Mark.  Next up, Light FM, they were really cute and great.

We played, it was really fun.  Then Sleepover Disaster took the stage and slayed.  Anytime a guitarist is playing a Jazzmaster and splitting the signal between a vox and fender…well I’m a sucker for that, throw in some Ride-style drumming and killer bass and vocal harmonies….

Please buy all of Sleepover Disaster’s CD’s.  You will enjoy them.

Alright - we somehow managed to get our stuff into the van (it was actually raining in Cali) and get on the road about 1:30 or so in the morning.  Thus began our 18 hour drive home.  The first driver was Brian.  It was rainy.  The road between Fresno and Sacramento totally sucks.  Barb was co-pilot.  I got a bit of sleep.  So we have 6 people- driver, a co-pilot, 2 to the next seat, and 2 to the next seat and then a bunch of gear, surrunded by our backpacks and such.  It really isn’t very comfortable.  I slept for a couple of half hour stints.

Next it was Scotty’s turn to drive.  It was dumping rain.  It was dark.  I don’t remember much of it.  It was then about 5:30 am.  Scotty was beat, no one was up.  It was my turn.  I put in 7% solution’s classic “All About Satellites” and tried really hard to stay awake.  I had only been up for about 20 hours at this point, so it shouldn’t be too hard….I only hit the rumble strip once.   I assured Scott that I was just fine and finally found a place to get crappy coffee.  The crappy coffee burned such a hole in my stomach that I was kept awake not by the caffeine, but by the pain.  Ah, the road.

I played Lupine Howl, “Bar at the End of the World.“  Finally, it was almost getting light, but still dumping rain.  Scott had had it, and Jefff took over as co-pilot.  We made it to a pass, and put in Neko Case’s new record.  We found a hippie mart in Shasta and I got a great sun-dried tomato and corn Quiche.  It was awesome.  They were playing the Dead in the store which made me happy, because Half Light would not let me listen to the Dead (though, my accomplice slipped some in while they were sleeping…).  At about 9 am, Barb took over driving and I took co-pilot, which I was pretty useless at.  We finally made it to Oregon, and the sun came out, and we saw a rainbow.  Remember when I said the van wasn’t that comfy to sleep in?

I finally managed to utilize some skills I’d seen cats do, and curl up on the floor somehow.  I got a little sleep it was great.

Eventaully, we made it to WA:

Brian drove the last shift, and we rolled in around 7:30 pm.  I rushed home, didn’t even take a shower, threw on my paisley dress and go go boots (it was Halloween) and headed off the the Hight Dive to see Black Daisy.  I should have been tired, I’d been up for esentially 36 hours, but my body would not stop.  They were great.  I went home, and still could not go to sleep.  I thought this would be my last tour ever, but it was actually really fun, and I’m ready to do it again.

Well, we managed to get rolling on the lovely, typically sunny, california morning of October 29th.  My body was extremely pleased that I had hit the hot tub the night before.  Collectively, we had to do a little laundry and got some of the killer crepes from the killer crepe place in Pismo Beach.  Yumsters.

Then it was off to San Luis Obispo.  The first gig we booked on the tour.  A gig we had obtained press for.  A gig that we had lined up a local band for.  We had heard that SLO is a great college town and we were ready for a little juice bar and coffee shop action complete with a great gig.

SLO is actaully not far from Pismo beach, so we got there early.  Early enogh to hit the park for some relax time:  Some folks read, some slept.  Scott and I wote a new tune.

\

We killed a lot of time, and tried to stave off drinking until a somewhat reasonable hour. We made it until about 4pm, when we hit Downtown Brews.  DTB do actually brew their own beer, but being the northwest beer snobs that we are, we didn’t think it was amazing, well except for the happy hour $2 pint.  Half Light supports $2 pints of microbrew.   We also really want to play at DTB next time we hit SLO.  Some band called Senses Fail was playing there that night.  A lot of cute little punk/goth teenagers were lined up to see them.  I have to say I pretty much loved every single concert I got to see as a youth, but looking back on how it felt compared to how it feels now - well, I wish I would have known to love them even more.

we found a nice bar called the library directly across from the Frog and Peach where we were to play.  Now, they too had a nice happy hour and the extremely lovely bartender actaully topped off my generous pour of saphire gin before I left the bar for a comfy window perch.  This place could easily be a location for a scene in a David Lynch movie.  Half Light loved it there:

Well we cheked out the Frog and Peach, it was going to be a new record for fitting HL on the stage.  Luckily, the extremely cool and nice booker Hank, had let me know that we would be running our own sound that night, and the house PA was small (no monitors.)  I put my amp on the bar itself.  I have been a sound person before, so I dusted off the PA and got my mic plugged in and off we were.  The band we were going to play with had had a recent falling out with their drummer and were not going to make it, we weren’t checking our myspace regularily so we did not know that.  We waited a bit for them then we went for it.  We played ALL of our songs.  Dayna S., with her broken wrist and all.

Have you heard a band say, “well if it meant something to one person then it was worth it?”  I would like to extend a gracious thanks to the tye-dye hippie dudes that were dancing, and the nice young gentlemen at the bar who listened to our whole set and bough our CD.  The place was so not full, and the majority of people so not paying attention that i actaully manufactured cricket noises in my head after our tunes, beacuse most people did not notice that the band was playing.

We went back to the hotel, the first night that we had two rooms, and after the boys downed a 12 pack of PBR and the girls hit the Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, we got some sleep. It was the first night that I had slept in a bed in a week, and it was nice.  Next off to Fresno, then home….