Best Warped Tour Video Blog yet! Hurricanes, Hillbilly Road Cases, Crazy shows, and more!

Warped Tour VIdeo Blog 2 – In this video… The Band bowls for charity, Rev. Peyton wears a  t-shirt (bowling team shirt created by Warped Tour), we meet Mike T, a really cool fan of the band that made a bid for charity, Breezy dances, we learn that Jasmine cannot bowl, and More!

Warped Tour Video Blog Volume One.  In the Video, pre-warped party at SideOneDummy Records.  If you saw the Justin TV live performance a few months ago, then watch the Johnny B, Flava Dave re-match.  Plus footage from Warped Day one.  Video Created by Big Damn Band Merch Tent Coordinator, Jasmine Norris.

The video for The Rev. Peytons Big Damn Bands new song Clap Your Hands was shot in one day in a barn in Indiana. All of the dancers, artists, freaks, weirdos, cowboys, kids, donkeys, bunko steerers, chickens, and regular folks, who are all Hoosiers, all volunteered their time and talent because they believed in the song and the band. The video was directed/produced by the acclaimed music video producer Kevin Custer (Lil Wayne, Soldja Boy, Flogging Molly) who remarked the day of the shoot, it would have cost a fortune to get all of these props back in NYC. To which The Rev. Peyton replied, These arent props they are just crap you find in a barn!

Special thanks to The Blue Monkey Sideshow, the Hilltop Dancers, Creme De Les Femmes, Bangofla Dancers, belly is Dark Side Tribal, The Weapons of Rhythm, and the hundreds of friends and fans that helped us make this possible

We are devastated about having to cancel the European tour due to the Iceland Volcano. Our plane was canceled, and there was no way to get another one scheduled, and no guarantee that if we did… it would fly anyhow.

There is not much you can do about a giant hole in the earth spewing ash and fire, but we still want to apologize to everyone who helped put this tour together, the promoters, street teams, and especially to the fans.

If you want to help, and get something awesome in the process, then click the link below to buy this VERY limited edition poster signed by the band. These posters were intended to be sold on the Spring European Tour, but now this is to be a poster for the tour that never was. This very limited edition, and collectible item looks great, and will never be re-printed.

Buy Now From CCNow

Buy Now From CCNow

What a great summer, and  look at  this beautiful fish I caught while on the Warped Tour.  Like all fish this one’s got a story, but first…

It  looked like the  mountain was floating thanks to a mirage in the Great Salt Flats of Utah.

Wendover Will greets all visitors to West Wendover, Nevada.

I have a soft place in my heart for Monster vehicles.  This  is a great Monster car somewhere  in Kansas.

On our way to Canada we  stopped off to see our pal Jason Webley.  The boat ride he took Breezy and me on was one of the highlights of the summer for me.  Jason lives in a houseboat along the Snohomish River in Everett, WA.  It is a great slice of America.

There are a lot of folks that live in boats along the river, and  there are a lot of abandoned boats as well.  This is a beautiful shipwreck if there is such a thing.

Very cool little stilt house on the  Snohomish River.

Breezy snapped this shot this picture from the bow to the stern.  Jason and I look starboard.  Jason is a great songwriter and adventurer.   I am lucky to have  him as a friend.  We saw a lot of old friends  on the trip, and we made some great ones as well.

Breezy rides in a boat along the Snohomish River.

This  is at the Vancouver Folks Fest in Vancouver, BC.  There was a weird glare on this pic, but I wanted to include it anyway.  The crowds were huge at the festival, and they were really fun as well.

This is a shot inside the Full Throttle Saloon in Sturgis, SD.  We played here for the Sturgis Bike Rally.  It was a really fun and funny time.  It felt a little like being in a Mad Max movie.  Leather and engines, and look at the layout of the Full Throttle… Full Train Trestle on the left (200 feet long brought  in one piece to the saloon), Old signs, old bikes, on center right you can see the Wrestling Ring for the  MWF.  Midgets who wrestle in the  Micro Wrestling Federation.   While we were there Tru TV was shooting a reality TV show about the place.

Great shot of the MWF.  They sell shirts that say, “I support Midget Violence.”

This picture  is proof that there are not a lot of rules at the Full Throttle Saloon.  It is a pretty fun place, and somehow all the shows are free to the public.

There  were people selling bike tires at the  Full Throttle Saloon, only catch… They want  you to burn out your old tire until it explodes.  I have to admit it was pretty fun to witness, but louder than target practice.

A black bear inside of Yellowstone National Park.  Yes we were that close.

Here is a picture to prove it.

North  American Moose inside Yellowstone National Park.  We never have time to stop at Yellowstone, just drive through, but these fellas were just by the side of the road.

Little Bighorn, Custer’s Last Stand.

Taking a picture of a picture is lame, but I thought this said so much.

During the Warped Tour we had to hire a driver, because the load in’s are so early and the drives so long it wouldn’t be possible to make the trip.  This picture is of Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band and crew… Tour Manager Dave, Driver Dakota, Breezy, Rev., and Jayme.  Dakota is a friend, and she was a fun addition for the weeks she drove for us.  We all got along very well, and she  is such a great sport.   You need  to be to ride with us!

The Warped Tour was such a great experience, and we had a great time.  Nothing could have prepared us for it though.  The first day we were the only band without a merch tent.  So we made one.  Most of the other bands had really nice custom tents with flags and  banners  that they purchased.  We spray painted ours at a self car wash in Boise, ID.

Here is the tent in action.  Jayme at the wheel.

This is a picture of us playing at the  Warped Tour.  Matt Auclair took this picture.   We made  so many friends, and everyone treated us so well.  Not to mention… The shows were awesome.

I was invited to go fishing with Kevin Lyman, the guy who started and owns the Warped Tour.  I was pretty excited to be invited, and then I pulled this beast out of the water.  We were fishing at “The Gorge” in  George, Washington.  It  was the prettiest venue I have  ever been to.  It was a really special day.  Thanks to Kevin, Sarah, and all the crew for making us feel so welcome.  This beautiful Rainbow trout fed 6 people.  Don, one of the bus drivers, just happened to be a professional fishing guide with a grill on hand.  He prepared it beautifully.  Check out his page… http://rocknreelfishing.ning.com/

In the middle of this picture is Ethan Suplee.  He is on My Name is Earl, Mallrats, American History  X, and more.  We have a mutual friend, and he has been to a handful of our shows.  What a great guy.  Ethan came out to see us on the Warped Tour, and he became the last person to sign a custom made guitar I am going to auction off for charity later this year.  It is signed by a lot of great musicians we have played with.  Keep watching the  blog for more details.  Thanks Ethan!

These Canadians  stopped to help us when we got a flat tire on the way from Calgary to Vancouver.  Our jack broke, and they came  out with orange vests, power lug nut guns, emergency triangles for the road, blocks for the tires, walkie talkie’s to communicate back and forth, two ton hydraulic jack, and they even had tire chalk to mark the hole in the flat.  JR and Tammy are their names, two professional drivers married to each other.  Man did they come at  just the right time.  Like Canadian angels.  It started pouring down rain after they left.

One night Dakota was driving, and we were all asleep.  I was awakened by a screaming police officer outside of Medford Oregon.  He had a THICK Scottish accent, and kept repeating, “You’ve got no wheel.”  What transpired is a hilarious story, but not one for the  blog.  Apparently Dakota had a flat on the trailer, hadn’t noticed it, and this is what was left of the wheel.

While we waited for the tire place to open the Stumpmaker pulled up.  He drives this massive rig back and forth from Alaska twice a month.  Check out the Moose splitter on the front.

The second to last night of the Warped tour there was a big after hours party.  This fella must have partied too hard.  I bet our tour manager Dave that he wouldn’t spoon with the  guy, and Dave did it.  I was impressed.

This is some kind  of giant freak corn somewhere in California.  Pictured  is the Big Damn Band and our driver Dakota.  Dakota isn’t as used to corn as us, and  I scared her  talking about Corn Snakes and Corn Spiders.  She wouldn’t get too close to the corn so she is out front.  The corn was 10 to 12 feet tall.  It was unbelievable.  I have seen 25 foot stalks at the state fair in Indiana, but never a whole field of freak corn.

Big Rig Doll House, Kingsman, AZ.

Sea Lions, Monterey, CA

One  of the  coolest things that happened while on the Warped Tour was almost everyone on the tour participated in a big volunteer project.  Different groups did different things, but our group collected seeds at Fort Ord in Monterey Bay to be used to regrow indigenous plant life.  We had to be given a lecture on watching out for bombs since it had once been a test site for government weapons.  We found these bullets on the ground!  These were blanks, but there were a lot of small arms ammo.

The Warped tour was such a great experience, and now we are home for a little while.  People ask about the Southern Indiana Hills where  we live  a lot, so  I am putting in some pictures.  This is one of the openings of Twin Caves in Spring Mill State Parks.  Look at that limestone water.

The other opening  of Twin Caves.  These are in Lawrence County, Indiana.  We are going to be playing four shows in the state of Indiana in September.  Look at the show page.

Inside Twin Caves.

Another of the Opening to Twin Caves.

Blind Cave Crawdad.  These southern Indiana caves are one of the only places in the world where these  things live.

The white spot over the  rock is a blind cave fish.  This picture is terrible, but I included it, because we may be the last generation of people to see these things.  They are super endangered.  I felt like it was important.

This is inside of Blue Springs Caverns.  This is in Southern Indiana, and it is the  longest underground river in the USA, and possibly the world.

Inside  Blue  Springs Caverns.

The opening to Blue Springs Caverns.

The blog ends here.  This Crawdad was inside  of Blue Springs Caverns, and it is the biggest crawdad I have ever seen.  This photo does this no justice.  It  was at least 12 inches long and so blue.  I thought it was a toy lobster or something at first.   It was bigger than a lot of lobsters I have seen for sale at grocery stores.  It was just a river crawdad though.  What a great summer, and there is still some great days left.

Well we are back from our trip to Europe, and we have put together the biggest Photo Blog – Road Journal ever.  We were robbed, we ate some good food, we ate some really crappy food, and we had some great times, and great shows.  Above all some great shows.

Our plane was late, and we had to spend 24 hours in Philadelphia.  This was one of the first things we saw once we finally got to Ireland.  Already we were confused.

This is a row of Irish Pubs in Kilkenney, Ireland.  They look an awful lot like Irish Pubs in the US, and they have Budweiser on tap everywhere!  John Cleere’s is the white one with red trim.  We played there, and it was killer.

A church in Kilkenney, Ireland.

We were told that you could get a pint and a prayer on every corner.  Here is yet another cool church in Kilkenny, Ireland.  This time with graveyard.

This is an alter inside the Black Abbey in Kilkenny, Ireland.

Kilkenney Castle, Kilkenney, Ireland.

Weird Statue in Kilkenney, Ireland.

This  is outside of Buckingham Palace.  I believe that is a giant pile of poop.

This is one of those soldiers who doesn’t talk or move.  London, England.  A couple of them did give me a dirty look and a nod for getting too close.

Protesters very close to Big Ben.

Near Buckingham Palace, Breezy feeds a squirrel rice krispy treats.  Two things here… One, Who knew squirrels love rice krispies.  Second, if you look back through the blog archives here you will see that this is not the first time Breezy has fed animals by hand.  She is like the beastmaster.

Near where Breezy fed the squirrels the Rev. Peyton stands in front of a famous London Plane tree.

The  London show was one of my favorites, and we had seen some amazing things.  Little did I know the clothes I was wearing in this picture, in front of Big Ben, would be the clothes I would wear for the next two and a half weeks.

This was the menu at Water Rats, the venue in London.  Toad in the Hole with Gravy?

The changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.  These fellas dress old fashoined, but their firearms are mean and modern.  I wouldn’t mess with them.

See what I mean.  Mean and modern guns.  A guy near their said it like this, “They are proper soldiers.”

This is Rainer.  He was our driver for a lot of the tour.  He had to bring the bad news, that while we were playing  the show in London… All of my things were stolen.  For two weeks I had to wear the same clothes.  I just  hand washed them in the sink.

The thieves busted the window out of the van, and got my computer, clothes, medicine, and song journal.  Everything.  I still had my guitars though, so thank god the tour continued.

This is  the world  famous Brighton Pier in Brighton, England.  It was beautiful, but really really cold.  I have never felt wind outside like that except for during a storm.  The donuts on the pier were killer.

Amsterdam is beautiful.  There is water running down the streets like Venice, Italy.  You can take a boat taxi.  I was amazed at how clean Amsterdam was.

Jayme and the Rev. Peyton stand in front of the Flying Dutchman as it makes it’s way down a  canal in Amsterdam.

In Amsterdam we found an “ethnic” grocery store that sold American food.  This is a picture of the stuff in the window.  We couldn’t help but laugh… and buy a bunch of crap.  Jayme and Breezy bought Mountain Dew.  I got Root Beer.

I knew that there would be legal weed in Amsterdam, but I didn’t expect stuff like this.

They really frown on taking pictures of the working girls in the red light district in Amsterdam, so I had  to take this picture on the sly.

Small European truck in Amsterdam.

Big Dutch Shoe.

We stayed on this boat in Harlingen, Holland.  The beds were pretty comfortable.  Beats the floor any day of the week.

This was the bathroom on the boat.  The shower was right above the toilet.  No curtain or anything.  You just shower over everything!  See the drain!  We ran into a few of these kind of bathrooms.

I took this from the boat at night after the show.  Pretty awesome.

Jayme feeds a zebra.

Jayme is a Zebra.

The Rev. Peyton stands in front of the fun statue of the “Bremen Musicians,” Bremen, Germany.

A gold wall in Bremen, Germany.

This man stood in the middle of the square tapping a book and shouting toward the sky.  I asked some kids what he was saying, and they said he was crazy, and I said yeah, but what is he saying?  They said he is talking about Jesus.  A street preacher, I thought to myself.

The police then came and arrested him.  This freaked us out a little bit.  Some of the crowd cheered, but an old man took up his cause for a while. No one could explain it to us exactly.  I wondered what his crime was.

An old couple walks under an old tower in Ulm, Germany.  Birthplace of Albert Einstein.

This was on the door to the reception area of the hotel we stayed at in Ulm, Germany.  I know the first line is “Love is.”  The second line is still a mystery.

Dave, our tour manager, challenged people all over Europe to a drinking contest.  He was undefeated.  First up was Rainer our driver.  Rainer gave him the best competition, but still lost.  We had a lot of fun with Rainer.  He was a good guide.

Next up was our next driver Lars.  Dave beat him pretty bad as you can see.  Lars was one of the nicest people I have ever met, and I think Dave freaked him out with his speed drinking.

Lars ran out of gas on the Autobahn.  Dave and Jayme went looking for gasoline.  Jayme returned and said Dave kept going and he decided to come back.  30 minutes later we see Dave running with a gas can.  We measured it out, and we think Dave had to run almost 4 miles to get the gas.  Lars was amazed.  Between the drinking and the running, I think he was freaked out.  Dave did it all in 30 minutes, half of it with 10 liters of diesel.

In Ulm we had our only real day off with no travel or transportation.  We went to a carnival.  Here we are eating Brats that are a half meter long.  They are broken in half and doubled over the bun.  Pictured are tour manager Dave, Jayme, Driver Lars, and The Rev. Peyton.

This is maybe the scariest ride I have  ever seen.  Breezy and our tour manager Dave rode it.  Jayme, our driver Lars, and myself watched from the safety of the ground. Ulm, Germany.

Jayme is on this Space ride at Carnival in Ulm, Germany.

Most of the rides had English names and/or American themes.  This was the “American Grab.”  It was a big bunch of “Crane Machines.”

This ride was strange.  “Swing Time.”  Kids just  stood up and bopped around while this thing tilted and spun.   It was like a weird dance party.

Most of the food that  in the United States we think of as “German Food,” is actually Bavarian Food (Southern Germany).  Brats, Kraut, and Giant Pretzels like this one in Ulm, Germany.

I was a little bummed out being around all these American style rides and a fireworks show at a carnival that except for a few things  might have been in the US.  I really wanted an elephant ear.  I kept talking about it.  On the way out we saw this  guy getting ready to put ham and cheese on what looked like an Elephant Ear!!!!!!  I stopped him, and I asked Lars to see if they had cinnamon and sugar.  They did!  And even though the  guy thought it was weird to put cinnamon and sugar on a “langos,” he agreed and I got my Elephant Ear.  It  was awesome.

A couple of  tractors work the German Countryside.

This is how you work the laundromat in Germany.  All in German.  We were clueless.

Every now and then things would be lost in translation.  I think they mean “Live Show.”  In the red light district  of Hamburg, Germany.  Just  like Amsterdam’s only smaller.

This is a public toilet in Hamburg, Germany.  The lights depict these little fellas peeing into a pot of gold.  That  really struck me funny.

The Tyrrhenian Sea part of the Mediterranean Sea, Livorno, Italy.

I don’t know what this fella was doing in the Adriatic Sea near Cesena, Italy.  It looked like he  might have  had little things floating around  in the ocean too.  If you know what that device is let us know.

Breezy and  I stand in front of the  Leaning  Tower of Pisa.  Man it was pretty awe inspiring.  I can’t explain it.  Huge and it really does lean.  Looks  like it is gonna  fall.

Street musicians in Oslo, Norway.

Field of yellow flowers in the Czech Republic.

This was an energy drink/condom combination we  saw in Germany.  Pretty funny.

Swiss lake.  That water  is really that  blue.  That cliff is really that tall.

Another section of the lake.  It was massive.

Bird bath statue of a boy strangling a goose.  Near Livorno, Italy.

Castle in Cesena, Italy.

Strange Statue in Cesena, Italy.

The Moon looks  down on Cesena, Italy at night.

A pair of Norwegian Moose.

The pedestrians in Norway are sharp dressed.

Happy Troll statue in Norway.  Norway loves trolls!

Norwegian Lake.

We had  to take the van on a bunch of ferry rides.  This is from the ferry in Norway.

Breezy walks down a hill in Norway.

This is quite a vista in Norway.  Check out the giant waterfalls.  They look like little white lines.

Norway is pretty far North.  I part of our travels took us through a place that looked like this… In June!

We stayed in this house  for a couple of days.  A lot of Norwegian  houses have grass on the roof.  Pretty cool I thought.  From far away they blend in with the  mountains.  Like camouflage.

These  kids came  in second  or something in a  “Norway Idol” type singing competition.  We were told they were  famous and we should get our picture with them.  Here it is!

This is a Viking dog collar found in a burial mound of a viking.  Even their dogs were bad ass.

This a ship at the Viking Ship museum.  This is an actual ship that was buried with a Viking Queen.  They buried the whole ship filled with treasures and artifacts.

This is the Oslo lighthouse and a giant Stena Line Ferry.  We rode the Stena Line from UK to France.

Breezy in front of a cool boat in an Oslo Harbor.  Oslo, Norway.

This is Oslo, Norway.  That giant ship in the back is the Stena Line.  It is pretty far back there.  Then there is the broad side of a huge sail boat.  Look at the cars over to the side for perspective.

One  of the coolest shows of the whole tour was put together by our friend and Norwegian Promoter Andree.  It was in a big Junkyard.  you can see some of the cars in the right.  That car to the left of  Breezy has a big ax stuck right in the  hood.  You can see the handle to the left of Breezy.

Breezy in the  Junkyard.

The  Rev. Peyton in the  Junkyard.  Norway.  The  trip was a real adventure, and we made  so many friends.  If you have any pictures send ‘em in.  Get ready for a killer Summer.  Festivals and shows all over the USA and even Canada.  From the Vans Warped Tour to Austin City Limits Fest.  From Indiana to California.  Please help us get the word out, and thanks for all the help at home and abroad.  your pals, The Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band.

Well gang, our video has been picked up by MTV Latin America, and we think it turned out to be a pretty fun video.  Watch as we shoot stuff with Potato Guns and play Mama’s Fried Potatoes.   And in case you were wondering, I think she does make the best Fried Potatoes in the whole wide world.

Click the picture and watch the video.

The Folk Traditions museum at the Center for Folk Traditions by Traditional Arts Indiana has an exhibit right now on our family.  Scroll down to see some pictures that are included in the exhibit.  It is all interactive, so you can see some actual instruments, listen to interviews and music, read lyrics, and look at pictures.  What an honor for us!  If you find yourself in Southern Indiana check it out, if you can’t make the trip to the hills of Brown County, IN then go to the website here or here for more details.

We were playing the Persimmon Song in this pic.

Buckets and Washboards are serious instruments that make killer percussion sounds – it is a long standing tradition.

Here is a pic from the road that they use in the museum. Thomas Richardson took all of these fun pics, and he made the field recordings for the exhibit.

Hello All, we are looking for some help in promoting our upcoming shows. If you live in a town we are coming to, we would love to get you on board and help us poster/flier & promote. In return for your big damn help, we will hook you up with a pair of tickets to the show and some BIG DAMN T-SHIRTS. email our manager at management@bigdamnband.com for details.

Thanks,
The Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band

In this edition of our road photo blog, Lunch with Naomi Judd, Big Damn Band Tattoos, and some killer photos from Texas.

Well we had an amazing time at the AMA Festival in Nashville, TN. We played on a great bill with Christopher Denny and Ben Kweller, and the next day we had lunch with Naomi Judd. What… Yes… We had lunch with Naomi Judd. It was random and fun. She just happened to be eating at the same restaurant as us in Franklin, TN. The restaurant actually sat us at the same table as Ms. Judd, and we had a great time sharing road stories and talking current events. At the end of the meal we spent about 45 minutes talking on the porch of the restaurant, trying to solve the world’s problems. This photo was Naomi’s idea. She wanted it to look like an old time family photo with the women up front. So I made it sepia in honor of her request. I can tell you this she was among the nicest people we have ever encountered, and as she left she was blasting the “Whole Fam Damnily” in her car as she drove down the road. So loud in fact, we could hear it on the next block!

Another fine Big Damn Band Tattoo, shown to us in Kansas City!

The sun sets over a West Texas Windmill field.

The rest of these photos are all taken at the Granada Theater in Dallas, TX by an amazing, published photographer named Bill Ellison! Enjoy!

Rev. Peyton at the Granada Theatre, Photo by Bill Ellison

Breezy at the Granada Theater, Dallas, TX, Photo by Bill Ellison

Jayme, Working hard at the Granada Theater in Dallas, TX photo by Bill Ellison

Breezy at the Granada Theater – Photo by Bill Ellison

Rev. Peyton at the Granada Theater, Dallas, TX, Photo by Bill Ellison

Breezy at the Granada Theater, Dallas, TX, Photo by Bill Ellison

Rev. Peyton at the Granada Theater, Dallas, TX, Photo by Bill Ellison

Breezy at the Granada Theater, Dallas, TX, Photo by Bill Ellison

Rev. Peyton at the Granada Theater, Dallas, TX, Photo by Bill Ellison

Rev. Peyton at the Granada Theater, Dallas, TX, Photo by Bill Ellison

Rev. Peyton and Breezy at the Granada Theater, Dallas, TX, Photo by Bill Ellison

Rev. Peyton at the Granada Theater, Dallas, TX, Photo by Bill Ellison

Breezy and Rev. Peyton at the Granada Theater, Dallas, TX, Photo by Bill Ellison