Sideways Media

So we usually don’t use this space to rant and rave but we came across an incredible new app for the iPhone that could end up being a  lifesaver/money maker for bands and pretty much any brand or merchant one the road. This app from Innference allows you to process credit cards through your phone. There is no need for a wireless connection or the need to lug any machinery around. We are holding tight for the API for this app to be released or for them to add some sort of email function where you sign up for the newsletter. Having someone’s email and credit card info on hand could turn every band into it’s own mini iTunes. If you already have an account with a band and all you have to do to buy merch, music and tickets is to enter your email address and password bands would sell a lot more. The key here as it is with commerce in general is the path of least resistance. If you make it easy for customers and fans to buy something they will. You make is hard only the die hards will make the effort. Yes, there is a lot legality that will have to accompany people handing over their credit card info, but the possibilities of the numbers speak for themselves.

Coachella Review

Listen to the Full album Streaming at AOL

THE GREENCARDS–the Austin-formed/Nashville-based band who’ve earned critical acclaim for their mix of country, Americana, blues and bluegrass—have already toured with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, earned the Americana Music Award in 2006 for “Emerging Artist of the Year” and in 2008 landed a Grammy nomination (“Best Country Instrumental Performance” for Viridian). Consisting of singer/bassist Carol Young and multiple stringed-instrument master Kym Warner from Australia, and violinist/violist Eamon McLoughlin from the U.K, THE GREENCARDS recently performed at the SXSW festival in Austin and just barely escaped legal problems, as they blogged on the band’s website. As Warner was driving to pick up the group, he allegedly ran a red light and was to be summoned. But a sympathetic policeman saw all the group’s instruments in the car and told McLoughlin, “We know you can’t afford to pay our salary,” and let the group off with a warning. “Only in Austin? I think so!” says McLoughlin.

The new album Fascination (Due out 4/21) —which features the title cut as the first single–is the band’s most daring accomplishment to date. Meticulously crafted arrangements serve as springboards for exhilarating improvisations. Acoustic textures and Carol Young’s moving vocals shimmer in the light of Jay Joyce’s innovative production. “We’d heard all these great records that Jay had made with Patty Griffin, John Hiatt and so many artists we love,” Young says. “But how would he utilize the fiddle, cello, mandolin, bouzouki, and bass–the core of the band–without putting layers and electronic sounds on it? We were very pleasantly surprised at how he just wanted us to play the songs and let our instruments speak for themselves.”

DATE CITY VENUE
Fri 4/3 Athens, TX Lakeview Lodge
Fri 4/17 Driftwood, TX Old Settler’s Music Festival
Sat 4/18 Brooksville, FL String Break Festival
Sat 4/25 Wilkesboro, NC Merlefest
Sun 4/26 Wilkesboro, NC Merlefest
Mon 4/27 Vienna, VA Jammin Java
Tue 4/28 Annapolis, MD Rams Head On Stage
Thu 4/30 Boston, MA Café 939 at Berklee
Fri 5/1 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
Sat 5/2 Pittsburgh, PA Rex Theatre
Sun 5/3 Philadelphia, PA World Café Live
Wed 5/6 Cleveland OH Beachland Ballroom
Thu 5/7 Chicago, IL Abbey Pub
Sun 5/10 Kansas City, MO Knuckleheads
Thu 5/14 Winters, CA The Palms
Fri 5/15 Crystal Bay, NV Crystal Bay Club Casino
Sun 5/17 Chico, CA Sierra Nevada Tap Room
Wed 5/20 Tuolumne, CA Black Oak Casino
Fri 5/22 San Francisco CA Great American Music Hall
Sat 5/23 Santa Barbara, CA Lobero Theatre
Sun 5/24 Yosemite, CA Strawberry Bluegrass Festival
Thu 5/28 Fall River, MA Narrows Center for the Arts
Fri 5/29 Preston, CT Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festival
Sat 5/30 Preston, CT Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festival
Sun 5/31 Saratoga Springs, NY Caffe Lena
Fri 6/5 Knoxville, TN BijouTheatre
Sat 6/6 Hiawassee, GA Roots and Music Festival
Thu 6/18 Telluride, CO Telluride Bluegrass Festival
Fri 7/10 Buffalo, WY Big Horn Mountain Festival
Sat 7/11 Buffalo, WY Big Horn Mountain Festival
Sun 7/12 Snowbird, UT Founders Title Festival
Sat 7/18 Somerset, KY Master Musicians Festival
Sat 8/8 Henderson, KY Bluegrass in the Park
Sun 9/6 Pagosa Springs, CO Four Corners Folk Festival
Fri 9/18 Winfield, KS Walnut Valley Festival
Sat 9/19 Winfield, KS Walnut Valley Festival
Fri 11/6 Brooksville, FL Riverhawk Festival
Sat 11/7 Brooksville, FL Riverhawk Festival