The Cactus Moons

Next Tuesday is the Day

2011-09-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

A once in a lifetime recording experience three years in the making and exactly 1 year late. :)

It's for you to listen to. We love you.

Tuesday, September 20th.

Emporia.

Record Finished and a Very Special Show

2011-06-07T10:30:00.001-07:00

The record is finished. It will be released exactly 1 year late. :)

Meantime, join us this Friday in Bushwick for a very special show. It's the grand opening for The Pine Box Rock Shop, a new rock venue in our home neighborhood.

Just jump on the L train to Brooklyn. Get off at the Morgan Stop on the L (come out the back exit at Bogart). Walk 1 block to your right as you're leaving the station. Then look left.

10 Grattan St.

close

2011-02-09T18:41:00.000-08:00

Backing vocalists are finishing their last bit of tracking for the record. We started working on this record 3 years ago. Some songs are almost 6 years old. While we think the record will be mixed and mastered within the next 2 months, it is unlikely that it will be released before September. Yeah. . .2 years behind schedule.

This has been one of the most ardent periods in recent memory for us. But I feel like what's coming is going to make people happy.

And that's why we do it.

Europe Dates Released

2010-09-10T08:32:00.002-07:00

Lowry/Steve Waitt Europe 2010 Dates:

9/24 't Gildenhuis Ruplemonde, BE

9/25 Het Kasteel (TBA) Ho

lland

9/26 Projekt 072 Alkmaar, NL

9/29 Atomic Cafe (TBA) Munich

9/30 Tonenburg Hoxter-albaxen, DE

10/1 (TBA) Koln, DE

10/2 Mondial Club Hamburg, DE

10/3 Madame Claude (TBA) Berlin

10/5 Madame Claude (Acoustic) Berlin

10/6 Lokation Bad Salzuflen-Schötmar, DE

10/7 Alter Bürgersaal Hannover-Bissendorf, DE

10/8 Die Weberei Gütersloh, DE

10/9 Cafe del Sol Bad Salzuflen-Schötmar, DE

10/10 Cafe live Aalfeld, DE

10/11 Propaganda Prague

10/12 Propaganda Prague

10/13 Tortilla Factory Warsaw

10/14 Tortilla Factory Warsaw

10/15 Verve Bielefeld, DE

10/16 't Guildenhuis (TBA) Ruplemonde, BE

10/17 Buckshotcafe (TBA) Groningen, NL

10/20 Bonnefooi Brussels

Dates labeled TBA are subject to date and/or venue changes.

Europe Dates to Be Announced Soon

2010-08-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

Following completion of our new LP, European dates will be announced starting in late September. We will be touring with Songwriter/Folkster Steve Waitt. Stops will include shows in Holland, Germany, Belgium & Poland. Please keep an eye out right here for those dates as well as album release announcements.

Meantime, catch us at the Before the Bridge Festival in Philadelphia (Collingswood) on September 18th at 7pm.

Find out more about BTBF here or here.

The Record Begins in 2 Weeks, Rockwood Music Hall

2010-07-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

After delays in the construction of the new Engine Room studio, we'll finally be putting music to tape this August. It's been a long wait, but we've been able to create many new sounds that may not have happened had we recorded a year ago when the studio sessions were originally scheduled.

Meantime, catch our last show of the summer on Friday, August 13th at the big, beautiful new Rockwood Music Hall (room 2). We'll be performing right before Jody Porter (Fountains of Wayne).

Much love.

Brooklyn Bowl Show Announced - Residency Extended

2010-06-09T11:34:00.001-07:00

The winter/spring residency at Spike Hill was bangin. It officially ended in May and the club asked us to do one more month. So we're taking June off and we'll be there every Thursday at 11pm in July for our final month of the residency. As usual, every slot on each night will be spectacular.

On June 29th, we will be part of a live event at Brooklyn Bowl that will feature the talents of Dinosaur Feathers and The Casey Shae Band. This event will focus on the release of the Dino Feathers new music video. This event will be free to the public. Please join us. We will perform a live set at 10:30pm.

We're currently finishing pre-production on our new record. It's scheduled for release this fall.

Lowry Spike Hill Residency in Motion Now. . .

2010-02-17T10:46:00.000-08:00

Lowry 2010 from JRL on Vimeo.

Come to Our Residency as a Cartoon. . .

2010-01-28T14:04:00.000-08:00

2nd life has found its way into our universe. Streamjam is a new alpha program that allows you to interact with us at our concerts, even if you're not there.

If you're not in NYC this spring, join us at our concerts virtually. . . just click here on Thursday evenings around 8 or 9.

Teaser for the new record. . .

2010-01-20T16:20:00.000-08:00

See it here.

Record Release Date Announced! Also, a Very Special Spring Residency Announced

2009-12-15T17:36:00.001-08:00

As we approach the recording sessions for our upcoming record, we're pleased to announce that the national release date will be September 1, 2010. It is being released on the Engine Room Recordings imprint in NYC. We begin recording in March.

Also, it is our distinct pleasure to announce that Lowry will be the house band at Spike Hill for the entire Spring of 2010. It is a rarity for a music club in Williamsburg to hand over such valuable stage time for such a long period of time. We're honored to do it.

The residency begins on Thursday, February 4th. We will be there every Thursday until the end of April. All shows will be free of charge. The night will include dj's, comedy and other distinguished musical acts from NYC and surrounding regions.

Spike Hill is located directly in the heart of Williamsburg at North 7th and Bedford.

Into the Nothing. . .

2009-11-10T12:23:00.001-08:00

So we're going away for awhile. . . on a little trip. A trip to a land called Studio. It's a place where magical things happen and little creatures come out from their gestation/hibernation places of warmth and rest.

2010 dates include stops in Germany, Belgium, Holland & France. Most of our dates early next year will be stateside and almost exclusively in NYC.

:)

CMJ --- Spike Hill Residency --- Apple Orchard Festival

2009-10-09T19:59:00.000-07:00

Our CMJ showcase this month will happen Thursday, October 22nd at 8pm at The Suffolk in the LES. Please join us.

Also, our October residency is in full swing. Our next show at Spike Hill is next Friday, October 16th at 10pm. We'll also be doing a special outdoor concert on Sunday, October 18th at NOON at the Apples on Orchard festival. It's located on Orchard between Rivington and Delancey in the LES.

The record is coming. We promise. We want to make sure it is very good for you.

Noam Chomsky

2009-09-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

So I spent some time with Noam Chomsky this week. He agreed to meet with me at his office in Cambridge on the M.I.T. campus. With what time we had together, I opted to skip talking political issues with him as I felt we wouldn't reach any original conclusions. . .being that I agree with him on most critical observations of the natural and political world.

We spoke mostly of the innate ability in children to understand language, music and time. We talked about music in general. And, we spoke of free will (and whether it exists).

I recommend spending some time reading some of his published work. He is important.

More Free Shows Announced

2009-08-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

We're gearing up to record our 3rd Studio Album this fall and in the meantime, we'll be performing for free in New York City and Brooklyn. Join us at the Living Room on September 18th at 11pm. Please arrive early if you wish to be seated.

Lowry will also host a residency every other Friday in October at Spike Hill in North Williamsburg. If you live in the city, it's an easy stop. Just grab the L train to the Bedford Stop and walk across the street.

We hope to see you there!

Charleston Residency

2009-07-24T11:30:00.001-07:00

Starting tonight, we're in Charleston for 10 days doing shows all over town. Keep an ear out on for us on 105.5 The Bridge as they will be spinning Whiskey & One Thing all week. More shows will be announced as the week goes on.

Tonight: Voodoo

Saturday: Johnson's

Tuesday: Island Bar & Grill

Wednesday: Awendah Green "The Barn Jam"

Thursday: TBA

Friday: O'Malley's

Saturday: TBA

This will be out last tour in support of our latest record "Love is Dead". A new record is coming this fall.

A Free Show

2009-06-28T17:45:00.001-07:00

We'll be doing some free shows in the coming months. The first of those will be Friday, July 10th at the world famous Living Room in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Apparently, it is quite lovely sounding in there. This will be our first performance in such a space. Please join us at 10pm.

Summer Residency in Charleston - Late July

2009-05-26T12:23:00.000-07:00

We're in the process of setting recording dates for our new record. The record is due to be released in January of 2010. We're extremely excited to be working with Drew Fischer again as producer. Mark Christensen will be the executive producer of the album and has a fantastic ear for sonic loveliness.

Meanwhile, we're doing 8 straight shows in Charleston, South Carolina in Late July. We'll be joining our friends Deepwater Soul Society on all of the shows. In order to find out more about DWSS, check out www.deepwatersoulsociety.com

Capping off the residency, we'll be at the Pour House on Thursday, July 30th.

What it looks like falling into a black hole. . .

2009-04-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

The Richmond Sessions

2009-04-15T11:49:00.000-07:00

The folks at The Sound of Music Recording Studio in Richmond, VA graciously granted us an entire day of recording and rehearsing. It has been a nice escape from tour. The studio includes 3 levels including a lounge floor, main recording space and secondary recording space on the 3rd floor. The rooms are enormous and provide massive sound structures for tracking.

Lowry to Headline 1st Night of Deli Festival May 6th

2009-04-11T13:04:00.001-07:00

Lowry will headline the first evening of the 1st annual Best of NYC Festival on May 6th at Southpaw in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The band goes on at 11pm. Tickets can be purchased in advance here.

"Whiskey" Debuts on $99 Videos

2009-04-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

go to the following links for high resolution, full screen versions:

http://www.99dollarmusicvideos.com/

http://www.99dollarmusicvideos.com/musicvideos/episode/99MV_20090409

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVG2VKSukFo&feature=channel_page

Lowry Set to Debut "Whiskey" $99 Videos this Thursday

2009-04-07T09:59:00.000-07:00

From the man who brought MTV to the world (back when it was cool) comes a new web based television show, $99 Music Videos. In conjunction with Verizon Fios, Next New Networks' $99 Vids couples young talented directors with new music talent in order to produce a video that is truly a joint effort between the musicians, actors & directors. The rules for the video are simple: create a music video with a $99 budget. . .shoot the video in one day. . .edit the video in one day.

stuff

2009-03-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

Here.

April Dates. . . .New Record--Summer 2009

2009-03-16T11:18:00.000-07:00

We're going to do another round of dates in April in North Carolina, South Carolina & Georgia this April. This will likely be the last round of dates in support of Love is Dead. While we will endlessly continue to cover music from this recording, our focus will shift a bit towards a new recording.

We're very proud of L.I.D. It's the best piece of artwork I've ever been associated with. It's taken awhile for it to catch on. I really didn't realize how dense the recording was until I realized that people were giving it 3 or 4 spins before they were into it.

Please refer the music to your friends if you have the recording. It's a slow listen.

Keep an eye out for our April dates.

Athens Soundies -- Jukebox Heart & One Thing -- New Videos

2009-03-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

Lowry: One Thing
Uploaded by eikonproductions

Lowry: Jukebox Heart
Uploaded by eikonproductions

Whiskey to be included on $99 Videos

2009-03-05T06:52:00.000-08:00

We're filming another video in support of Love is Dead. The band will participate in a brand new web television program called $99 Videos. It's a killer idea that basically asks a production team, film crew & band to film, edit and release a video for a band in one day and with a budget of $99.

We loved the idea and wanted to participate immediately. Find out more here. Also, keep an eye out for a new video for Zipped Up the Lost Coat.

Charlotte this Saturday, The Muse 10pm

2009-02-25T11:16:00.001-08:00

Cool bit about Heidi here.

Southern Tour - Atlanta Show Next Week - Friday, February 20th @ Star Bar

2009-02-13T12:34:00.000-08:00

Go here.

2009-01-21T22:36:00.000-08:00

http://www.onlinerock.com/CDreview/review_lowry.shtml

Music Hall of Williamsburg - January 31st

2009-01-14T09:22:00.000-08:00

So we're doing a show on January 31st at the Music Hall. It's the cd release for Guilt by Association Vol. 2. It's also my birthday.

We're on at 8pm sharp.

New Video by Tyler Ribble

2008-12-25T13:51:00.000-08:00

We're working on a new video for "Zipped Up the Lost Coat". It should be out in January. Meantime, it's important to note that on the first 1000 copies distributed of Love is Dead, 'Zipped Up' is misnamed on the album artwork. It reads "Zipped Up the Lost Coast". lol.

Some trivia.

Meantime, here's Greg during our -20 degree rooftop shoot of Zipped. . . note the misery in his face. . . there's some additional footage below. . .

Williamsburg Music Hall -- Friday Night -- 8:00pm

2008-12-18T14:03:00.000-08:00

We're scheduled to perform a 35 minute set tomorrow night at The Music Hall of Williamsburg. Should be a nice night of music. It's a benefit for Common Ground put on by jezebelmusic.com. Lots of great talent on this evening.

Yeah, We Did a Cover

2008-12-12T12:01:00.000-08:00

Engine Room Recordings put out a compilation last week. We're on it. We did Africa (Toto). The idea is that the songs are all covers of our guilty pleasure songs from the 80s and 90s.

Never really been big on covers. But it was fun to do.

The album can be purchased on iTunes and Amie Street.

Crash bought me a copy of Stranger In a Strange Land. I'm going to dive into that now.

Heidi Performing Solo Friday at Public Assembly

2008-12-10T14:43:00.001-08:00

Heidi is performing some of her solo material this Friday, December 12th at 7pm. She is joining friends in celebrating the cd release for Matthew Peverly. Please join us.

Public Assembly
70 N. 6th
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Friday, Dec. 12th 7pm

New Video from L.I.D. --- "Face Behind Your Hands"

2008-12-10T14:20:00.000-08:00

Tyler Ribble has directed another video for Lowry. This time for the song "Face Behind Your Hands" from their new LP Love is Dead.

Also, keep an eye out for a new video for "Zipped Up the Lost Coat" from L.I.D. to be released soon.

Video Released for Arkansas from "Awful Joy"

2008-12-10T14:11:00.001-08:00

The Ribble Effect. That's Tyler Ribble to you. He's directed several of Lowry's videos. This is a video that we shot for Arkansas. It's the only video we released from Awful Joy.

Enjoy!

jezebelmusic.com helps make roofs for the roofless

2008-12-03T22:04:00.000-08:00

It's become a tradition of sorts for us over the last couple of years. Gabe over at Jezebel has asked us to perform at his annual benefit for Common Ground again this year. Jezebel Music is one of the most amazing little indie companies promoting music in NYC. We accept every year and we always have a wonderful time.

The cause is fantastic. Gabe and his peeps over at Jezebel are lovely. We'll be performing on a bill of exceptional music. I hope you will join us.

The Jezebelmusic.com Annual Benefit for Common Ground

A Benefit for New York City's Homeless

Friday, December 19th, 2008
Williamsburg Music Hall
Kent & North 6th, Williamsburg Brooklyn
Doors at 7pm
$15

www.jezebelmusic.com

Stories (the long entry)

2008-11-27T17:41:00.000-08:00

Emporia, Kansas. . . trailer parks, farms, crystal meth, Iowa Beef Processing, land of the lost, truckstops, UFOs. . .furthest from the oceans.

It began with "Dirty Steve", a garage band specializing extremely loud music. We recorded one record. It was self titled. To my recollection, there are two copies in existence. The whereabouts of one of those copies is in question.

I was mostly interested in experimental music at that time.

*******************************************
I spent most of my early musical years in an amazing fog.

Then I moved away from the plains to the diametric opposite sort of place. I spent a great deal of effort on my travels towards NYC. I remember many different types of people on that journey. I lost a great deal of weight. Other things happened.

The details are rich and deep. In the self-important closets of my mind, my recollections of those experiences fall short only when speaking in terms of Robinson Caruso or the Count of Monte Cristo. It was in that initial period that Awful Joy was conceived.

I wandered about in NYC awhile. I was distraught. I did stupid things for money. I lost more weight.

But there were gigs here and there.

The first gig I landed in NYC was playing guitar for a former superstar singer from Albania. After a couple of gigs in front of Albanian gangsters, I opted out and grabbed the piano player and drummer of the band while I was at it. We worked on a short project called 'Sangre' which included prog rhythms, latin beats and ridiculous lyrics. More prog shit. I couldn't get out of the way of it.

We lasted 2 gigs. But the piano player, Anthony Garcia, helped me craft some of the first important songs from AJ. He's a classically trained pianist and, while some of his arrangements were a little more classically oriented, the melodic seeds of what is Lowry today exist because of Anthony.

I remember writing Knots, Jukebox Heart, What You Got, Traveller, Bedford & Kensington Cowboy in Anthony's living room in Kensington, a really depressing neighborhood in Brooklyn. I had just left a disastrous relationship with the girl who inspired "Taking Away My Good Feelings" and Anthony allowed me to move into what was formerly his living room. I was destitute but happy. I wrote Good Feelings in the basement at The Sidewalk Cafe in East Village a couple of weeks later. We drank much alcohol and smoked cigarettes out of the kitchen window in a run down apartment complex off of Ocean Parkway.

What I took from that period was a certain need. I was interested in writing cathartic music, that's for certain. What I also took from those years was the notion that I could create an alternate universe for myself and the band. It was a manifestation. One built from a river of surrealistic fabric that also contained eddies of real experiences running through the basic programming code of the music. A fantasy world in one instant. . .a very realistic world in the next. I felt like we could just move in and out of each of those variants at will. It was a very liberating musical experience that we felt together.

Later that year, I ran into Claire and Sarah Bowman & Eric Feigenbaum. It was The Sidewalk scene. By that, I mean the Anti-Folk scene in NYC. And the above mentioned entities didn't encapsulate the scene. . .they're just the people that I ran into. I won't pontificate on the anti-folk scene either. I'll only say that it was there. The Bowmans and Feigenbaum would be the next turn in the road.

I started into the Sidewalk Cafe scene sometime in mid 2004. That's when things started getting interesting.

Eric caught me playing 'Arkansas' one evening at The Sidewalk. We had mutual friends in Ian Thomas. He had recently produced Ian's first album (a great album) 'Young Man's Blues'. He felt he might be a good candidate to produce what would become Awful Joy. I agreed and that was that. In the same time frame, I met the Bowmans and they quickly became a part of the project. . .Sarah as a cellist and Claire as a backing singer, booker & tour manager.

This would prove to be the path that led us to our first multi-state tour. Claire and I organized aroadtrip into the midwest. The tour featured Ian Thomas, The Bowmans and then Lowry as the headliner. Amazingly enough, Claire was able to put together a month long tour for 3 completely unknown acts. We played 30 shows.

I consider Awful Joy to be our true debut record. It was released in 2005 on Oddmob records and was distributed to indie record stores mostly on the east coast. It was also my first record to be digitally distributed to the world wide web.

We did several tours over the next year and I sat back and considered turning what was essentially a glorified solo project into a band. The sound itself was slow to develop. Suffice it to say, the project spent many years as a solo project that could have been a band project at certain junctures.

However, Crash and I made friends with Heidi Sidelinker while doing a residency in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Heidi Sidelinker, a highly accomplished singer & songwriter in North Carolina, happened upon the band through mutual friends during one of Lowry's southern tours. As fate would have it, during our residency in North Carolina, she hung out with the band enough to pick up on some harmonies. We asked her to sing with us on a couple of shows that summer. She did. Two years later, she now she plays banjo, guitar, synths & sings with us.

*********************************

Enter Greg Touhey.

In passing one afternoon, Crash had mentioned that perhaps we should ask Greg to have a sit down with some of this music. I had known Greg at some level for several years but hadn't even remotely considered him as a potential replacement for 2 other musicians. A Berkley trained jazz guitarist, Greg was a busy guy. First, with his own band and secondly with a multitude of other artists in the city that demanded his level of expertise on the guitar. I wasn't sure he was right for the band anyway. I had experienced guitar players with way too much skill and not enough taste. It had always ended miserably. Fucking wankers.

The wisdom of Crash is sort of like a building being demolished mixed with a ballet. It's a juxtaposition of high intellect and complete self annihilation.

But then again, how many degrees of wrong could Crash actually be? I decided to have a sit down with Greg. We found him to be highly tasteful.

We immediately went to working on our follow up to Awful Joy in December of 2007. It would be a record recorded with myself, Heidi, Crash & Greg. I arranged a better portion of the bass lines for this recording. At the time, 3 years had passes since we had last released a full record. In the interim, we had released 3 EPs - Live in Atlanta & The Magazine EPs V1 & 2. Live in Atlanta was a full acoustical show recorded at Eddie's Attic in the spring of 2005. The Magazine EPs consisted of some studio outtakes and some live takes from a show we performed at Belly Up in Aspen in the fall of 2007.

In February of 2008, we self released our new record, Love is Dead. It was a very close look at love and hope. Maybe too close for some. The title, meant to be ironic, was suggested by Heidi. It is a line in the song "Face Behind Your Hands" from L.I.D. It was too perfect to ignore. To this day, this record is one of the finest pieces of artwork I have ever been associated with.

There is a band that is called Lowry. Symbolically, it is all of us together.

We want to bend time a little. . . to maybe help it to go slower (or faster - depending on your disposition). It has been a way to stay in the moment. . . a way to stay in the present at all times. . .to not get mired in the past or spend our existence always thinking about the future. This is our little world. We are particularly interested in time. Because, for whatever reason, you can't get it back no matter how hard you try.

The world is a cosmic painting filled with love, conspiracy and probably UFOs. It's been a very long time since Thunderbird Trailer Court. But those memories don't go away.