Bright Men of Learning

We Love Football

2010-07-08T03:57:00Z

Sometime earlier this year, I checked out the Myspace for Football, Etc., listened to the tracks and friended them behalf of BMoL. This is pretty rare for me, as:

I think Myspace is awful and try to use it as little as possible.
I’ve never been one to follow a bunch of randos in a foolish attempt to promote my band. Take a look at our Myspace. If we’re friends with someone, they’re probably our real-life friends. Either that, or we actually, truly like their bands.

So it was with Football, Etc. We don’t know these people, but we’re friends of friends, and we dig their tunes. Now, we’re stoked to hear them on Friday when we share a bill at Dean’s Credit Clothing, downtown. FE is launching their tour. You should come and see them off. Four bands for $5. Ride the rail and make us part of your downtown evening.

Here’s a cool poster my friend Todd made. Todd describes Football, Etc. as emo. I call them good.

Update: Here’s the Facebook event page for the show.

Young Mammals on Amie Street

2010-07-01T03:15:27Z

Congratulations are in order to the Young Mammals for being prominently featured on the home page of AmieStreet.com, a bargain download service similar to eMusic in terms of catalog and clientele.

After little more than a week on the site, Carrots is now a Top-25 album. Also, since Amiestreet pricing is directly related to how popular an album / song is, the fact that the band has gone from zero to $4.77 in such a short time is impressive. I downloaded it earlier when it was still under $3.00, but I haven’t had a chance to hear it. Get it while it’s cheap!

By the way, Young Mammals (formerly known as the Dimes) released the record themselves. They’re pals of ours, and we’ve shared the stage a few times, so we’re pretty stoked to see them getting exposure to a national audience.

Old Men and Young Girls

2010-06-28T03:53:02Z

This Saturday we’re playing at Mango’s for the first time, and we’re excited to share the holiday weekend with two of our favorite bands, The Jonx and The Gary.

Mango’s, if you don’t know, used to be called The Oven back in the day. My first band, Wholesome Rollers, played there a lot. On a tiny little stage that had one load-bearing beam smack in the front. I think they called it the Oven because they sold frozen pizza there by the slice. Or maybe just because it got hot as hell in the summer.

Mango’s, however, is more than a name change. They’ve moved the stage so it’s roomier and unobscured by the architecture. They’ve also added an outdoor patio. Is it still hot? I don’t know. But on Saturday night, July 3rd, you’ll find out.

Anyway details are below. Even more information, including the scoop on the un-Google-able Young Girls, is available at Jonxy’s blog. And our compliments to the Jonx for putting together one of the classier posters we’ve seen. We love us some Tetris.

Two Tracks From Our new Record!

2010-05-24T12:16:59Z

It’s taken us forever, but we finally are just about ready to send our record off for manufacturing. We’ve got 14 tracks recorded, but we’re only putting the best ten on the physical product. Which will be vinyl, by the way.

There’s really no reason to put out a CD anymore. Instead, you’ll be able to download lossless tracks from us and build your own if you like. In a few weeks, when we can nail down a release date for the LPs, we’ll begin allowing name-your-price digital downloads of our MP3s via our Bandcamp site. All orders $10 and over will get an LP in the mail. And if you buy a record directly from us, we’ll give you a code for the downloads. Sound good?

We’ll let you be the judge of that. We’ll also be streaming the entire record, so you can try before you buy. Until then, we’re able to share with you the first tracks from Side A and Side B of Fired. We can also share with you the fine cover art Rene Cruz did for us.

Download here, or at Myspace. And let us know what you think.

The Gary Are Coming

2010-04-26T11:53:35Z

This Friday, we’re playing at Rudyards with two well-known Austin acts, The Gary and Arthur Yoria. Both have Houston ties so it should be a great show. We’re especially excited about playing with our pals in The Gary who are promoting their well-received new CD, Logan. You may remember the guitarist Trey Pool who played in the venerable Houston bands Celindine and Sad Like Crazy. Here’s some review snippets of the new record:

"What The Gary’s first full-length album is is an undisputedly tight, exuberant chunk of rock. Check back in a year and Logan is likely to be in a lot of ‘best-of’ lists, CD collections, and mp3 players." – Austin Sound

"The Gary’s still-untitled debut full-length, due in November on the same label, deserves to be one of the most anticipated of the year. Intelligent, honest, unpretentious, stirring, grassroots indie rock like this doesn’t come along as often as PR reps would like to have us think." – Ink 19

“The first half-dozen songs are fantastic; the last four don’t slouch either, especially "False Sunrise." It’s a bit of that tried-and-true Dischord formula: Loud, primitive music can be enlightened as well." – Austin Chronicle

And here’s the record, which you can stream straight from this page.

Logan – The Gary

Well, did you listen? Good. Now, here are the details:

Show is on April 30 at Rudyard’s

10:30 pm Arthur Yoria
11:30 pm The Gary
12:30 am BMOL

Second Saturday in a Row at Rudz

2010-03-25T16:03:53Z

I somehow missed adding a note about our show last Saturday with Miles Kurosky, but if you didn’t make it, you missed a really great show from the former Beulah frontman. He was generous with his time, talking with fans, before, during and after the show. I urge you to get his new record and his old ones, too.

Now for this week’s Saturday show at Rudz, we’re are stoked as hell to be playing with two Austin-by-way-of-Houston bands: Tody Castillo and The Sour Notes. Both bands offer some seriously hummable and sophisticated pop music, so if that’s your bag, you won’t want to miss it.

We opened last Saturday’s show, but we’re going to headline this one. So here’s what to expect:

10:30 pm Tody Castillo
11:30 pm The Sour Notes
12:30 pm Bright Men of Learning

Not at all sure what the cover is. Prolly $6.

Please note: Ben Murphy, one of our guitar players, also plays with Tody Castillo. He’ll be pulling double duty. Get there early and stay late to cheer on his ever-tasteful heroics.

The Kennedy Bakery Show 2/25

2010-02-18T13:37:14Z

On Thursday, February 25, we’re stoked to be playing a show with one of my pals from law school, Erin Rodgers, and her band, Kennedy Bakery. Also on the bill is Christian Staehely, who I’d never heard of, but who turns out to be kind of interesting: he’s a Princeton graduate who was also a 39th-round draft pick in the 2008 MLB draft. Now he plays minor-league ball for the Seattle Mariners. The above link to is for his Myspace, so you should check out his tunes. Fair warning: one of them is a dead ringer for Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So.”

Details:

2/25 | Rudyard’s Pub | 10 PM | $5 cover | 21+

Final note: I’ve updated our show listing. We’ve got two shows at Rudz in March, including an exciting opening gig with the dude from Beulah.

Fired for walking and Mr. Gnome

2009-12-03T11:40:56Z

Hey!

We’re playing on Friday. With Fired for Walking. And Mr. Gnome. Show is at Rudyard’s Pub (map). We’re the first band, and we go on around 10 pm.

And later that night, we hear there’s potential for snow.

There’s nothing quite like the tradition of leaving the house all bundled up to see the Bright Men of Learning, and then the next morning…snow covers the earth like a warm blanket of rock ‘n’ roll goodness. You tip toe downstairs, reach deep in your stocking, and grab two asprin before sitting down in a soft chair to remember the previous night’s catchy-as-hell musics.

Westheimer Block Party: This sunday

2009-11-12T02:27:27Z

This Sunday evening, we’re playing a set at the Westheimer Block Party. Our time slot is 5:50 to 6:20 at Helios (the upstairs stage), 411 Westheimer. Apparently 250 other bands are playing both days this weekend. So there will be other things to see and do. But make a little bit of time for us this weekend.

Also, thanks to the Houston Press for featuring us in their blog today. We did a bit on our parents’ favorite music, and I think it turned out pretty well.

Here’s the full schedule for this weekend’s festivities.

Two Chances to see us This Weekend

2009-11-03T03:13:21Z

Yep. We’re playing twice this coming weekend.

Saturday, November 7th, we’re opening a set at Rudz for two bands that generally rock a lot harder than we do—Ghost Town Electric and 500 Megatons of Boogie. To match their intensity, we’re planning to play a set with a bit more giddy up than you’re probably used to seeing from us, so definitely come out for less kind and gentle BMOL.

Cover is $5 and the show starts at 10:30. We’re the first band, so don’t dawdle.

Ah, but what if that’s too late? Then check us out at Big Star Bar the next day. One of Jman’s friends is having a party there and inviting all her friends to hang out. She also invited us to be the entertainment. This being a public place, you’re invited, too. At this second show, we’re planning to give listeners a preview of our upcoming record. We’ll probably play all but one or two of the 14 songs we’ve recorded. Because we’re the only band we might actually play a couple of sets. And our pal ADR is going to be spinning records, too.

Thankfully, the Sunday show should start in the early evening. Doors open at 4 pm, and admission is free.

FInally, I should note that if you miss us this weekend, you can catch us at the Westheimer Block Party on Sunday, November 15. We’re scheduled to play the 5:50 pm slot at Helios upstairs.