Video : The Music Tapes, Live from My Living Room

The Music Tapes, the wonderful current project of Julian Koster whose multi-instrument work you know from Neutral Milk Hotel, made a stop in my living room in East Nashville to play some Christmas songs as part of their surprise Caroling tour. It was fantastic.



The Music Tapes - Levitating Bow / Oh Christmas Tree from Hard to Find a Friend on Vimeo.


The Music Tapes - Freeing Song For Reindeer from Hard to Find a Friend on Vimeo.

Backstage Session : Bon Iver

This video is exclusive content of Hard to Find a Friend.
Recorded 3.10.2008, Exit/In, Nashville, TN.
C. 2008 (Jagjaguwar Records)

Hardtofindafriend.com
myspace.com/boniver
Jagjaguwar.com

These ones were recorded before we got our HD cameras, but damn if we're not proud of how good they sound. Recorded a couple weeks before we recorded Fleet Foxes in the same room.
Both would, obviously, be far too big to play Exit/In again about 2 months later. It was a fun spring.
Thanks for the fantastic performance, Justin.

Backstage Sessions : Bon Iver - Creature Fear from Hard to Find a Friend on Vimeo.

Backstage Sessions: Bon Iver - Flume from Hard to Find a Friend on Vimeo.

Backstage Session - Fleet Foxes

This video is exclusive content of Hard to Find a Friend.
Recorded 3.19.2008, Exit/In, Nashville, TN.
C. 2008 (Sub Pop Records)

Backstage Sessions : Fleet Foxes - Innocent Son from Hard to Find a Friend on Vimeo.

Backstage Sessions : Fleet Foxes - Oliver James from Hard to Find a Friend on Vimeo.

Backstage Sessions : Fleet Foxes - Katie Cruel (Cover) from Hard to Find a Friend on Vimeo.

Hard to Find a Friend's Backstage Sessions : Centro-matic

Centro-Matic
June 24, 2008
Mercy Lounge
Nashville, TN

When Centro-matic frontman Will Johnson started singing his songs for us backstage at the Mercy Lounge a very fitting scene began to form. Situated on a hand-me-down sofa in front of a cracking brick wall, Will sang a song about loss and frustration as the sun set and a coal train slowly churned along behind him. Perfect.

Stream the HD version here!
[mp3] Centro-matic - Trust to Lose [Live - Backstage in Nashville]

Stream the HD version here!

[mp3] Centro-matic - Counting The Scars [Live - Backstage in Nashville]

Buy Centro-matic's new double disc LP featuring side-band South San Gabriel here.

Backstage Sessions : The First Ten Episodes - An Audio Recap

I realized today that the posting of the second installment of our session with Ingrid Michaelson marks our tenth episode of The Backstage Sessions. I know some of you have not yet hopped on board, so I wanted to post a little easy to download sampler zip. The zip contains my favorite performance from each of our sessions, and for your convenience you can also download each track individually. Of course you can see the HD video of these performances and grab the mp3's not included on the mix by clicking on that shiny "Backstage Sessions" tab above you.

Don't worry, we're still in full-swing, I'm actually working on editing the wonderful Centro-matic session as we speak for your consumption.

[Zip] Hard to Find a Friend's Backstage Sessions Sampler [Episodes 1-10]

[mp3] The Lonely H - Rollin'
[mp3] Headlights - Towers
[mp3] The Whigs - Like a Vibration
[mp3] Bon Iver - Creature Fear
[mp3] Fleet Foxes - Katie Cruel
[mp3] John Vanderslice - Numbered Lithograph
[mp3] Via Audio - Lizard
[mp3] Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Oceanographer
[mp3] Sea Wolf - Middle Distance Runner
[mp3] Ingrid Michaelson - The Way I am

See & Hear more Backstage Sessions here

What do you think of the series so far?

Hard to Find a Friend presents: Headlights w/ The Winston Jazz Routine - 6.16 @ The End

That's right good citizens, we're presenting the Headlights show next Monday at The End. Headlights blew us away in February, and now they're back for more in-between dates of their stint opening for Mates of State. The even better news? We got to suggest some support for this one, and I'm happy to tell you that The Winston Jazz Routine will be opening the evening, so this will certainly be an event you won't want to miss! See the rest of Headlights dates here.

[mp3] Headlights - Get Yer Head Around It
[mp3] The Winston Jazz Routine - A Ghost Beneath The Tower

Buy Headlights records.

Hard to Find a Friend's Backstage Sessions : Sea Wolf

The Exit/In was a less than desirable place Friday night. It's our favorite venue in town for sure, but we'd never ventured backstage during the summer months (we only started Backstage Sessions in February) so we weren't prepared for the lack of air conditioning in the all concrete space on an 89 degree day. It was excruciatingly hot. Thanks for being good sports.

Sea Wolf - Middle Distance Runner


Stream the HD Version Here!

[mp3] Sea Wolf - Middle Distance Runner (Live - Backstage Session)


Sea Wolf - You're a Wolf

Stream the HD version of this video here!

[mp3] Sea Wolf - You're a Wolf (Live - Backstage Session)

Via Audio & Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin : Hard to Find a Friend's Backstage Sessions

Via Audio & Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

The Hi-Tone
Memphis, Tn
April 29, 2008

This was the funnest session we've ever done. We spent 2 days in Memphis: seeing movies, trying to find vegetarian food (apparently hard to do in Memphis - one girl responded with "yeah, we have salad...and chicken), going to the park, Stax, and watching music. The sessions were crazy, Via Audio & SSLYBY performing each other's songs together as a super group of sorts, banging on pots and pans, cheese graters, basketballs, guitars, and singing into fans. We shot a lot of footage which we'll edit into a mini-doc of sorts soon. There are also some fun covers to enjoy below...

Lizard [Via Audio - unreleased]

Stream the HD version here

[mp3] Via Audio & Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltin- Lizard [Live - Backstage Session]

I Can't Focus [Via Audio]

Stream the HD version here!

[mp3] Via Audio & Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltin- I Can't Focus [Live - Backstage Session

Oceanographer [Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin]

Stream the HD version here!

[mp3] Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin & Via Audio - Oceanographer [Live - Backstage Session]

The Beach Song [Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin]

Stream the HD version here!

[mp3] Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin & Via Audio - The Beach Song [Live - Backstage Session]

Heart Shaped Box [Nirvana Cover]


Stream the HD version here!

NOTE: Vimeo seems to be confused and saying the video does not exist: it does. Click on the HD link to watch it.

[mp3] Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin & Via Audio - Heart Shaped Box (Nirvana) [Live - Backstage Session]

Bonus mp3:
[mp3] Via Audio & Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin - Weird Fishes (Radiohead)

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Buy Via Audio Records
Buy Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin Records