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It was a busy summer and fall for Portland, Oregon’s Blind Pilot, Israel Nebeker (vocals, guitar) and Ryan Dobrowski (drums). Following being hand-picked as iTunes’ “Single of the Week” (the week of 7/08/08), and recently chosen by Starbucks to be Starbucks’ “Pick of the Week” (the week of January 3, 2009), the band recently signed on to Big Shot Touring, with owner/president Kevin French as their booking agency. This means that Blind Pilot will continue to tour in support of their debut full-length, “3 Rounds and a Sound” (Expunged Records), throughout the winter, spring, and summer.
TOUR DATES:
3/05/09 – Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR
3/06/09 – The Empryean – Spokane, WA
3/07/09 – Neurolux – Boise, ID
3/09/09 – Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City, UT
3/11/09 – Hi-Dive – Denver, CO
3/12/09 – Waiting Room – Omaha, NE
3/13/09 – Picador – Iowa City, IA
3/14/09 – Stage Door @ Orpheum – Madison, WI
3/16/09 – Schubas – Chicago, IL
3/17/09 – Off Broadway – St. Louis, MO
3/18/09 – SxSW – Austin, TX
3/19/09 – SxSW – Austin, TX
3/20/09 – SxSW – Austin, TX
3/21/09 – SxSW – Austin, TX
3/24/09 – The Mercy Lounge – Nashville, TN
3/28/09 – Khyber – Philadelphia, PA
3/30/09 – Middle East – Cambridge, MA
3/31/09 – Mercury Lounge – New York, NY
4/02/09 – Beachland Ballroom – Cleveland, OH
4/04/09 – 400 Bar – Minneapolis, MN
Blind Pilot recently released a video for their first single, “Go On, Say It” (the song that was “Single of the Week” at iTunes).
“Go On, Say It”, the “Single of the Week” on iTunes from 7/08-7/15, helped the band hit the Billboard charts, coming at #149 on the Top 200, #22 on the Top Independent Albums, and #13 on the Top Digital Albums charts the week of July 15th.
Not bad for a duo from Portland, Oregon who, due to the iTunes success, have made friends and fans out of numerous industry people, including Aimee Mann, whom proclaimed Blind Pilot her “new favorite band”, and asked them to tour with her on the East Coast (which didn’t happen due to lack of funds on Blind Pilot’s part).
Friends since college, Israel and Ryan have traveled many a mile to get to where they are today – literally. Last year, Israel and Ryan embarked on a West Coast bike tour. This wasn-t a tour where they road bikes, and had a van hauling the equipment. They hauled everything on their bikes. No gas. One hundred percent leg-powered.
With big signs on the back of their bike trailers that read “BLIND” and “PILOT”, a lot of concerned motorists screamed about the “PILOT” leaving the “BLIND” guy behind. Playing little towns that don-t often get shows by “touring bands” – they were able to share their brand of music with people who weren-t particularly familiar with indie pop, or indie anything. But they found that heartfelt lyrics and beautiful music appeal to just about everyone. In fact, they completely sold out of their EPs.
They returned to Portland anxious to complete their first full-length album. The long road to this album has paid off in spades.
Blind Pilot sounds something like a wistful mix of The Shins with a bit of Iron & Wine folksiness. But these comparisons don-t give a full representation of the unbelievable beauty of this album. As Willamette Week-s Casey Jarman proclaimed, “Front man Israel Nebeker sounds like a less theatric version of James Mercer: every bit as sincere and captivating, with vocal control and style to spare. And this band has songs coming out of its ears: deep, clever guitar-driven tunes fleshed out with soaring horn arrangements. Listening to and thinking about these songs has kept me awake at night lately.”