TOrcH: News

I have not updated the news for quite some time, so I shall get to it right now while I have a minute...
We are planning on recording our October 29th show at the Elephant Room in Austin. John Harvey and Mary Podio, the kind folks at TopHat Recording, will be doing the honors. We are hoping to get something to go on the new record....did I say new record?

...yes, the hope is to have something out by December, but we're not going to push it just for a deadline's sake. Some new songs and covers (perhaps a cover of a fellow Austinite's song)...so keep your eyes open for that later this year and come on down to the show and have your clapping and drinking recorded for all the world to hear.

Chris Vestre has been in the studio working on his follow up to "Jazz Camp" which will include fellow Torchian Jon Greene on drums. Jon has been busy playing drums for Matt the Electrician, Walter Tragert, Craig Ross, Jud Newcomb, and a pile of other folks. Seela just got off the road with Matt the Electrician and is still doing a weekly Tuesday gig of original material at Cedar Street Courtyard.

They finally opened their eyes and booked him!!

If you didn't hear me going on and on about Chris' SXSW show, if you have not seen the Mohawk, Chris' fashion manifestation of his current songwriting style, if you've been totally satisfied with the crap you hear on the radio....then perhaps you don't already know.

This is NOT a show to miss.

the band is BIG and the TUNES can handle it.

find out more at
http://www.chrisvestre.com
Tuesday, April 18th
the Elephant Room
315 congress ave
9:30 -1:30
free show

No LUNA gig this month, but we'll be at the Elephant on the 30th. We're loving playing with David Chenu on the sax. You can check out more on him at www.davidchenu.com
Look for us in San Antonio in May and June.

it has happened.

http://www.myspace.com/seelamusicpage
check it out. if you hate it, you can still come here (for now). but I gotta tell you, it's a whole lot cheaper and easier than managing 2 websites.

TOrcH will return to LUNA and The Elephant later this month. In the mean time, tell every club you know to book the fabulous Chris Vestre Group, who recently BURNED DOWN the elephant room during their SXSW show. Ahhh, music...sweet, sweet Music.....

Prime Rib. Mm-m-mm-mm-mm! Big thanks to Luke for hooking us up! Let's all eat more sandwiches!

So this is the deal. TOrcH for sure plays once a month in Austin and once a month in San Antonio. This is true and is what I know. Take it and be at peace. Sometimes we do other shows...if you're on the mailing list, you'll know all about it.

I (seela) have a rock band called "four eyes" or "seela and friends". We play every Tuesday at Cedar Street. The truth is, Cedar Street told me that as long as I'm singing I can do whatever I want. So since Chris Vestre (TOrcH) plays with me on Tuesdays as does Jon Greene (TOrcH) and sometimes David Chenu (TOrcH and Paris 49 and other stuff) we do jazz stuff, too. So if you go and you say "what is this crazy music?" hold tight a second, order a drink and see what happens.

hope to see you out.

As you may have guessed from the title of this entry, we have 2 exciting shows coming up!

The first one is in Pittsburg, TX. It's teeny, it's tiny, but it's the home of Los Pinos Ranch Winery. We got the chance to play here for Valentine's Day and Jeff and Dana have invited us back for their Christmas Dance. You can get more info at www.LosPinosRanchVineyards.com/The_Events.html This place is beautiful and the folks are very sweet and make some kick ass wine. (I like the Syrah...nice and spicy)

The second show is our New Year's Eve show at LUNA in San Antonio. This will be our second time ringing in the new year at LUNA. This time our good buddy Evan Jacobs will be holding down the bass (left hand) and keyboard parts (both hands...and a foot). Marcos is taking reservations now, so get all the info you need at http:///www.lunalive.com I am hoping to buy one dress and wear it to both shows.

We are taking January OFF for some reflection and studying and napping and dieting. We'll see you again after all that is over.

We had a really good show at Luna last week. I was in a bit of a funk on the drive out there because it seemed like we'd just played that club and we were going back too soon, but the truth is that with all the new folks sitting in lately, it had been a while since the 4 piece had a chance to play alone. It was pretty nice. We were really listening to eachother; trying new things. I enjoyed keeping things mellow and not pushing my voice much...just letting things sit soft and heavy... I wound up having a really good time.
That being said, our next show is going to be a 6 man show! With Evan Jacobs on keys and David Chenu on sax. It will be a party. And I'm really looking forward to it. I think I'm going to try to change the orientation a little more often just to see what comes out. It's a delicate balance of listening with out thinking that used to scare the crap out of me that I think I'm just beginning to step into.

So, for the rest of the month of September, all of the money made on the Tuesday happy hour shows at Cedar Street will go to the Red Cross. I hear that if you donate at Whole Foods, they match the donation, so that's our plan....we're going for at least $1000...we have a long way to go. Please come to the show and help out. CD sales, tips...all of it goes to the Red Cross. We'll be playing a little bit of jazz, a little bit of pop...it's a little different every time, which is why I like it so much. Also, if you stick around after the show, Ceril Neville will be playing after us.

We've been enjoying playing with Evan Jacobs of Polyphonic Spree. He will be joining us in San Antonio for the first time this weekend. Chris Vestre has been writing some catchy, funky stuff that sounds fantastic with the addition of Evan's hair-floppin' electirc organ noises.

This Sunday we'll be at the Elephant.
Chris Vestre is back from a tour with singer/songwriter Michael Shay. Be sure to ask him about that...David Chenu just had a birthday...and Jon Greene's student is getting ready to go off to college!! What the..? Tuesdays are still happening at Cedar Street (6-8) and it's a little different every time. Chris will join us for the next 2 weeks. We'll do a combo of my stuff and some jazz stuff. And there will be beer.

The last few gigs have been a lot of fun due to some new friends. David Chenu on sax! and Evan Jacobs on piano! Evan is on the road with Polyphonic Spree for a while, so we'll be missing him, but come out to hear Torch + David. You can check him out at
http://www.davidchenu.com David will join us on our next show on August 28th at the Elephant Room.

Hey, kids. Check out the latest review for "Before the Night is Over" on the Press page. A big thank you to MIcheal Corcoran at the Statesman.

http://www.austin360.com/xl/content/music/xl/2005/07/cdreviews_07-07-05.html

I really wanted to do more updates while we were away, but we had pretty tight schedules the last few days and getting to a computer was not always on it. Our last couple of shows were fantastic. Club Ikspiari is beautiful and the treated us so well...huge dressing room ( with showers, I might add) and delicious food. The show was well attended despite it's "remote" location in Disneyland. There were a couple return audience members...that was cool...and I think we put on a pretty good show. FAB was a blast, also. That show started the new set list: a bunch of "up" tunes back to back in the first set, very few ballads overall. It worked well and we kept it for the rest of the tour. The show was also filmed for TV to be aired at a later date.
On our day off we all went to a baseball game. We drank a bunch of beer and Jon got tossed a ball from Alex Ramirez of the Swallows. I ate something on a stick with sweet sauce. It was good.
Our last show in Yokohamo was at Thumbs Up, which is an American themed bar/cafe. There were about 150 people in there and they were the rowdiest of all of our audiences. (Japanese and rowdy are rarely in the same sentence.) I'm going to try to get pictures up this week, so check back for all that. We were very sad to leave. Very, very sad. It was nice to sleep in my own bed last night, but I miss my new friends, our charming promoter Kiyo, our highly professional and cool as cucumber sound crew Nori and Fukumoto and the man who made it all possible, Doug Allsopp from Buffalo Records. I miss the awesome noodle place next to the hotel in Shibuya. The brilliant design and high efficiency in every little detail. The insanely good stage sound we got every single night..and mostly: playing to such a courteous and appreciative audience. I was truly spoiled.


Oh!...and if you're reading this: Hi Emi! Hi Jun! We miss you already!

Lats night's show at ENN was a trip. We were like deer in headlights. They were so quite and polite and attentive we didn't know what to do. During the break we went back stage and re-grouped and came out kicking. The second set was much better and more confident. I'll get some pics up as soon as we get home. Doug took some really good ones. Our crew, Nori and Go, kick butt. Kiyo rented a green Pearl kit for Jon in all his favorite sizes. The kit sounds beautiful. Chris is using a Roland Jazz Chorus and we're all a little freaked out at how clean he sounds.
This morning we left Sendai for Osaka by plane. There were some very enthusiastic school girls in the airport happy to meet Texans. Now after checking in and eating something I can't honestly identify, I'm about ready for a nap. We sound check at 4:30. Tomorrow we go back to the Tokyo area.
We are off on Friday and are thinking about catching a baseball game. We'll see what happens.
So far still having a really good time.
GENKI !!!

I am in Tokyo with a healthy case of jet lag. It was bright and sunny at 4am, so here I am at a 6th floor Internet cafe to tell you all about it. We did a radio show last night that went pretty well except I babbled like an idiot, like I tend to do when on air. Today we have a in-store show and another radio show. Tomorrow we leave for Sendai for our first gig. Yes, I'm nervous. But very psyched.
So far we have only seen a bit of Tokyo due to the need for sleep and our fear of wandering too far from the hotel. Later today Jon and I are going to take the subway to some place we can't read and see if we can get lost. Shouldn't be too hard.
The hotel room is tiny, but sweet. There are all these little details that are brilliantly designed and indispensably practical...such as the console attached to the headboard of the bed from which you can control (including dim) any of the lights in the room. It also has an alarm clock in it. The cars are small, roomy and efficient. The streets are clean and very quiet for a big city.
There are birds here 3 times the size of grackles. I'm afraid to look directly at them. They are big and black with a beak the size of my fist. And they make a noise that sounds very much like an adolescent boy disagreeing with his mother.
The flight over here was tough. None of us slept much. Mike is speaking the most Japanese out of all of us by far. We would not survive here without Doug, our label guy and Ki yo our promoter. Jon and I have managed to get coffee, whiskey and this here computer time with out knowing any Japanese ( I can say thank you and excuse myself when I burp, that:s about it)

We leave Friday for Japan. We're living the dream...

We have our tickets, our work visas, our new haircuts....In my mind I am packed. One more show tomorrow and then, ready or not...here we go.

Wish us luck. I hope they like us.

Thank you to those of you who braved the threat of rain and showed up at the Big Red Sun show last night. We had a blast...the second set was especially fun. After the show we bought some creepy-outer-space looking plants for Jon Greene's office.
I'm really looking forward to the 3 Cedar Street Courtyard shows we're going to do for the next 3 Tuesdays. It'll be the same line up as last night : Jon, Chris, Seela, and Mike. I've been dying to get the full band on that stage...the sound is magic.

We are the Earbuzz.com Buzz of the Week! Check it out! AND you can get the CD for a discount!! Just for this week, though, after that it's full price, which is still good because this on-line store gives 100% of the money to the artists! We love new friends!
http://www.earbuzz.com/torch
check out the review they gave us, too.

Torch is taking a brief break. Our next show as a full band is on March 24th at Zin Bistro in Austin. Chris Vestre is in Mexico on a motorcycle. Jon Greene is still drumming his little heart out with Matt the Electrician and Walter Tragert, Seela is playing her own original material with her rock band, 4-Eyes...and we are all enjoying the sunshine before it turns deadly. Late March also includes: A show for our friends in San Antonio at LUNA (3/26)(www.lunalive.com) and another out-late-on-a-school-night Elephant show. (3/27) April will bring a Big Red Sun show!!! (4/20) and a lot of getting ready for our trip to Japan. In the mean time, you can catch Seela and Chris Vestre as "Superfantastic Duo" every Tuesday at Cedar Street Courtyard during happy hour. (6-8) Chris Vestre on nylon string guitar and Seela on the microphone in the ivy lined downtown Austin courtyard. Ahhhhh....

Holy Cows, we're going to Japan. I've never been to another planet before. A big thanks to Doug at Buffallo Records, our reps in Japan for hooking us up. Traveling the Earth playing music. We are truly living the dream.

The Cd release was a blast. Eli, Ephraim,Stan... and the Cactus Cafe. Thanks, y'all. Hopefully we'll get to do it agian. Tonight was the first night of the Superfantastic Duo at Cedar Street, and though there were few in attendance, we had fun and are looking forward to next Tuesday. Tell all your friends! Superfantastic Duo (seela and Chris) Tuesdays at Cedar Street Courtyard. Happy Hour 6-8!

So it's all coming down to the wire. I've got a little more than a week left before the CD release at the Cactus. We're rehearsing with Elias Haslanger on Tuesday (he and Ephraim Owens will be our horn section for the evening). Also the band will be playing live on Eklektikos Tuesday, Feb. 15th- the day of the show. Go to the Calendar page for links and times.

It was a packed house at Luna on Saturday. Mike Porter joined us on bass as Chris Maresh is out being a supa-star with Eric Johnson. They recorded the show for a "Live at LUNA" cd. Torch will be one of 6 bands on the cd which will be sent out for review and available for purchase. Keep your eyes open for that later this year.

also...

we got great news from Japan! The new record (www.cdbaby.com/torch2) has been out a little over a week and they already have to re-press!! Hooray! There is a good chance we'll get to go over there this Spring for a mini-tour.

Holy Cows. The Chris Vestre Group played at Rutamaya last night and blew my curly little mind. Ok, so half the guys in the band are my band mates, but that has nothing to do with it. All the more reason for me to want them to be awful. But they are not awful at all, unless your idea of awful is TOTALLY ROCKIN'! Check them out www.chrisvestre.com

So I was still tweeking this site a bit until a minute ago. now she is done. Have a look around and sign the guest book and all that stuff. This is the place to go if you ONLY want to know about Torch gigs and not the other Seela stuff.

peace to you all
kirk out

Ok, so we're trying something new. This is the TOrcH website, sweethoneytree.com

It's named after the first song Chris Vestre and Seela ever wrote together...awww.

You can still get here from the old site (which will continue to exist), this one is just dedicated to the Austin based jazz band, TOrcH.

So have a look around. Sign the guestbook. Listen to some music, check out some photos...make yourself at home.