roman candle - OH TALL TREE IN THE EAR out May 12

Sep 21

Sept. 15, 09

This picture was taken at Messiah College, PA during our set from backstage by Sam Beam’s manager John. We are back home for a few days after a long week of great shows. This past weekend of shows was a real treat for us as we got to play with some great bands (thank you Wild Beasts and Iron and Wine) and we also got to meet a bunch of new fans and friends (thank you to Main Street Music in Philadelphia and all of you that came out for the North Star Bar show). We got a chance for a short week break in SC to rest but will be heading back out on Thursday for a few shows with Jason Isbell.

Also, below are a few pictures taken by a fan from our show supporting Iron & Wine. Each of these are taken from his facebook page. There are several more photos posted there.

(posted by Timshel)

Sep 8

Sept. 8, 09

Thanks to their uncle Keegan, our little ones got this drawing in the mail, done by one of our favorite filmmakers /artists Michel Gondry . Keegan’s record “Islands” comes out in the UK and US on vinyl and mp3 one week form today Sept. 15. 09

(posted by Skip)

Sep 1

maybe our favorite message we’ve ever received on facebook today:

Bashar M. added you as a friend on Facebook. We need to confirm that you know Bashar in order for you to be friends on Facebook.

Bashar says, “Hey there :) I am not sure you are THE Logan Matheny from “Roman Candle”…but anyways, i run an indie record store in Beirut, Lebanon (of all places….) and have been importing the band’s albums to this too often neglected part of the world for quite some time now. The feedback we have received from our small, yet hungry, audience has always been phenomenal. Keep up the good work! and thanks for the music!….”.

Huckleberry’s great pizza (rock island, il)

Thanks to all who made the last few weeks so much fun (especially ha ha tonka, the people at daytrotter and schubas, and all you who came out).

We are glad to be home for a few days before heading Northeast, to play with iron and wine, Wild Beasts , and to play our first legitimate headlining show in the great city of Philadelphia (sponsored by the great people at wxpn.)

We will be posting photos from the last couple weeks in the next few days. Meanwhile here are links for tickets:

tickets for Sept. 10 NYC show with Wild Beasts at Mercury Lounge

tickets for Sept. 11 09 Philadelphia show at North Star

(posted by Skip)

Aug 29

Noel Gallagher | Oasis

One of this band’s favorite all time songwriters and guitar players, Noel Gallagher quit Oasis yesterday. For anybody that missed his little note online to oasis fans, here it is (below). By the way I hope he gets a CBE soon. It would be wonderfully amusing. Noel and Oasis had a profound influence on our band. The picture to the right is Noel in the 90’s taken by a friend of ours (and great UK photographer Pat Pope)

On an entertaining personal note, we have all personally suffered from the same Oasis-cancelled-show that the kids in Paris did last night. In 1996 (when Logan was still in high school and I was at UNC) we all had tickets to an Oasis / Manic Street Preachers show (this was the manics everything must go tour!) in Charlotte NC at the hornets training facility. It was one of their more famous cancellations, as it happened about an hour before the doors open and either Liam or Noel (can’t remember which) was already on a flight back to England, effectively canceling the rest of the US tour. We were standing in line at the door with a bunch of kids in smashing pumpkins tshirts, when the people inside told us to keep our tickets and mail them in for a refund. It turns out we forgave them. the jackasses. If you’ve never heard of this band, listen to their early records and early b-sides. the later records are great too (often hit or miss) but, not a great introduction.

(posted by Skip)

___________(from Oasis website this morning)___________

Dearly beloved, it is with a heavy heart and a sad face that I say this to you this morning.

As of last Friday the 28th August, I have been forced to leave the Manchester rock’n’roll pop group Oasis.

The details are not important and of too great a number to list. But I feel you have the right to know that the level of verbal and violent intimidation towards me, my family, friends and comrades has become intolerable. And the lack of support and understanding from my management and band mates has left me with no other option than to get me cape and seek pastures new.

I would like firstly to offer my apologies to them kids in Paris who’d paid money and waited all day to see us only to be let down AGAIN by the band. Apologies are probably not enough, I know, but I’m afraid it’s all I’ve got.

While I’m on the subject, I’d like to say to the good people of V Festival that experienced the same thing. Again, I can only apologise - although I don’t know why, it was nothing to do with me. I was match fit and ready to be brilliant. Alas, other people in the group weren’t up to it.

In closing I would like to thank all the Oasis fans, all over the world. The last 18 years have been truly, truly amazing (and I hate that word, but today is the one time I’ll deem it appropriate). A dream come true. I take with me glorious memories.

Now, if you’ll excuse me I have a family and a football team to indulge.

I’ll see you somewhere down the road. It’s been a fuckin’ pleasure.

Thanks very much.

Goodbye.

NG.

Aug 22

photos from memphis

diaper change:

outside the hi-tone club:

the kids in the trailer:

inside da club:

in the van:

recommended eating: (bonus: 2 blocks from hi-tone club)

Aug 14

thanks to all of you who came out to 3rd and Lindsley tonight. We sold out first copy of “oh tall tree” on vinyl to Nate Yetton and Joy Williams (Nate also took the above picture from the back of the club). We will be selling vinyl at all of our upcoming shows.

Welcome to our new romancandlemusic.com website by the way. If you register (either with your email or through facebook connect) for the site and go to the downloads tab under media, you can download 2 free mp3’s.

One is an acoustic “you don’t belong to this world” from our a session we did at water music with Jane Scarpantoni (cello - Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen, many others). The other is an unreleased verison of Thad Cockrell performing one of our songs, “I can’t even recall”.

(posted by Skip)

Aug 10

Ep # 4. Here we go.

Aug 6

I found a recording today I have been looking for since 1996. It’s not that obscure really, I just could never find it. It’s a version of “almost like being in love” by the nat cole trio. If anyone can imagine back to 1996, it was still hard to locate music back then. I bought all uk import singles that schoolkids in chapel hill (r.i.p) did not carry through a mail order company called parasol out of Indiana. Needless to say, I had a hard time finding this recording even since we’ve years of internet. And thanks to lala.com I was able to hear it (though ironically not download it) this morning. I found it on amazon of all places later today. A minute and fifty five seconds long. I will post it separately.

(posted by Skip)

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Jul 31

Thank you Huntsville.

Thanks to Shelly Colvin, who was amazing.

Thanks to Nancy Cloud for the barbecue.

Thanks to Duquette Johnston and Beauford Warren for singing.

(The above photo is the King in Huntsville, AL 1975)

Jul 20

july 20, 09

This weekend we picked tomatoes:

and found an indoor “inflatable bounce stadium”

(in this picture: Skip under a giant boxing glove + strangers.) In this bounce stadium’s brochure they say they do corporate events.

We ate BLT’s and went to Crema. Also really had the song “Everyday I have to cry some,” by the bee gees in my head tonight. I found a (later) version of arthur alexander singing it, and it’s stuck with me. The recording sounds like somebody did it on a midi keyboard, drums and all, but his singing is fantastic.

Lastly the amazing Jason Lehning (produced Oh Tall Tree in the Ear) was interviewed on WRLT’s Music Business Radio program yesterday. Jason is an amazing producer / engineer / arranger / writer, and comes from a talented family (all in those dept.’s) The show aired last night on WRLT and will replay tonight at 11pm. Jason was kind enough to talk about us and the great Sarah Siskind.

Here is a link to hear the whole show.

(posted by Skip)

Jul 15

Doppelgänger

Ambrose Matheny (July 2009)

John Hartford 1971

(posted by Timshel)

Jul 14

Alterra Coffee, Milwaukee

Alice Cooper says in Wayne’s World, Milwaukee is pronounced ‘mill-e-wah-que which is Algonquin for the good land.’ And he’s totally right. This town surprises me every time we come up here. It’s clean, well-planned, and the people are really nice. we are sitting at Alterra coffee on S. 1st st waiting to go to soundcheck and the coffee here is really good! I couldnt help myself from having a double espresso AND a large coffee. The espresso is actually a lot like our (Drew’s Brews) Zappia blend. Although the shop here has a La Marzocco (older model) machine with normal portafilters, the crema on these shots were really nice and golden brown with even a touch of ‘tiger striping’ visible on top. The taste was really bright and citrusy, but not bitter or to acidic. Really good balance with a soft weight to it – seemed to have been properly dosed and tamped. Timshel had a cappuccino and really liked hers also. As far as method and technique goes – I really didn’t see anything out of the ordinary or new. The typical hand leveling, and tamping (although the Barista did use a few knocks to increase the dose).

The drip coffee was very good as well – they serve a ‘mild’ and a ’strong’ blend. I tried the ’strong’ – dark and earthy with a lot of good earthy and smoky tones. I’m thinking it was probably a blend of a couple of African beans…anyways – really cool shop with a lot of seating, and a really friendly staff.

—posted by Logan (who works at Crema in nashville. stop by for some great coffee if you ever in that neck of the woods)

170 S 1st St.Milwaukee, WI 414.765.9873
Hours:M-F: 6:30am-9pmSat: 7am-9pmSun: 7am-8pm

Jul 12

I think Chris Stamey is my favorite guitar player. We used to travel as his backing band with Tyson Rogers when he released the “travels in the south” record and when he released the record with yo la tengo back in 2004. Chris would wear this sequined jacket with a glittering horse on the back and play some of the most unpredictable exciting guitar I’ve ever heard.

Some evenings he would play 20 bars that all sounded as wild as the first time I ever heard the intro to “eight miles high”. Some nights he’d just wander around on a few carefully picked notes. Whatever he felt like it during the set. He’s a fantastic artist. And truthfully, I’m not much of “guitar person” and never have been. Keith Richards, Willie Nelson, Doc Watson, Johnny Marr, Jerry Reed. There. — that might be all the guitar players I’ve ever thought twice about (as guitar players).

I just got back from seeing Chris play acoustic with Jen Gunderman at the Family Wash (east nashville). Hearing all the songs he played from the new record (with Peter Holsapple) ”hERE aND nOW”, and his last few records, in a quiet bar with an acoustic guitar/wurlitzer was pretty revelatory. He’s an amazing writer and I don’t think I’ve ever read a music writer pull out half of what he puts into his songs. Some of the songs on “travels in the south” show a musical understanding and love for Brian Wilson I haven’t heard anywhere else. (not that I’m out pounding the pavement looking for people who understand Brian Wilson’s chord & melodic structures — I’m just saying go try and figure out “don’t talk put your head on my shoulder” on a piano. And then figure out Chris’s “And I love her”. )

He and Peter Holsapple also played at the basement earlier tonight (Jeff Crawford played bass, and Logan may have sat in on drums for a song or two). Some roman candle folks were lucky enough to play on their new record in spots.

And if you don’t know who I’m talking about, there’s a great article from this week’s nashville scene that can help.

(posted by Skip)