Hello again!

It's been a long while since our last post, as we have all been busy with other projects and general life business. The Mayflies are starting to rehearse again, however, and as a result, we will start playing more and more shows. Our next one is this weekend in Des Moines at the Raccoon River Brewing Company. Saturday Nov 8th.

Some fun facts about the Mayflies individual members' outside projects;

Benj Upchurch is not only a fantastic mandolinist, he is an accomplished ceramic artist and instructor. You can see his work here: Benj's ceramic art


Natalie Brown is a very busy musician, teaching High School Orchestra in Cedar Rapids as well as playing in several projects. Catch her many performances here: Natalie Brown

Stacy, James and David also play in an increasingly popular Grateful Dead tribute called Winterland. Winterland focuses on the Dead's early 70's/late 60's era music. Here tis: Winterland

Stacy and Benj also play in an original folk act, The Feralings, with Patrick Bloom (founding Mayfly) and Nicole Upchurch (Awful Purdies). Here we are; The Feralings

Hope you all have a stellar autumn!

-The Mayflies

Mayflies Hiatus and Benj and Stacy's new project!

Hey Gang,

The Mayflies are on a brief hiatus, as our fiddle player, Natalie will be studying traditional fiddle in Scotland for 9 months. When she returns, we will begin making our brand of earth scorching bluegrass rock. :)

In the meantime, Stacy, our singer/guitarist, has a new project that includes Benj Upchurch (Mayflies mandolinist) and Patrick Bloom (former Mayfly and founding member) as well as Benj's lovely lady Nicole Upchurch on banjo/vocal. This project is The Feralings and here is a link to our first 3 song demo. I hope you lke it, and will consider visiting our facebook page to sign up and show your support.

Peace!

Mayflies new album, "Saturday Afternoon Girl" leaves the mixing stage!

Hi folks,

Our latest sonic effort, "Saturday Afternoon Girl" has gone from the mixing stage, to the mastering stage, which is to say that it will be released to the public in about a month! We will be pressing this one onto vinyl, as well as CD and as always digital downloads.

We are very excited to share this one with you all. Please stay in tune for more information!

Peace,
The Mayflies

Updates on the recording

So, The Mayflies have been back at Flat Black Studios for the past several weeks, slipping in for a few hours here and there, to lay down tracks for our 5th album. (yes, I say album because I grew up in the 70's)
Our pal, (and co-founder of the Mayflies), Patrick Bloom, is producing the record. It is a departure from our last one, A Thousand Small Things, in that it is much more introspective, mellow and spacey.

As soon as we have a track mixed, we'll post a sneak peek, so keep checking back.

Bye for now!

April 30th with Cornmeal!

Hey friends!

We are pleased to deliver this early warning about our show with the wonderful band Cornmeal, on April 30th in Iowa City at The Blue Moose Tap. Tickets are going fast, so you may want to order them now. If you haven't heard Cornmeal play yet, you are in for a treat. These folks play fun, fast, and freaky bluegrass...and put on a stellar show. Click on their name above to go to their website for links to video.

In other news, The Mayflies are nearly finished tracking the new album (as of yet untitled) and we are very excited about what is coming out of our instruments, and are so grateful to have the opportunity to record our songs with the production help of our very talented pal, Patrick Bloom.
Hope to see you at The Blue Moose!

Peace,
The Mayflies

Announcing the birth of yet another new Mayfly!

The Mayflies family is so pleased to announce that Samantha Blickhan (who sang harmoniously on our last record, A Thousand Small Things) is now a bonafide member of the band! You may not see her at every single performance, as she does play with the wonderful Wandering Bears and the vivacious Vagabonds too.
However, she is a fine addtion to our ranks.

In other news, we recently discovered that our talented fiddler, Natalie Brown, is also a talented piano player...so look for some more change-ups in our instrumentation! Natalie just released a great solo record, by the way, called "Violin Crossings" Check it out! The Mayflies do a funkified version of' Devil Went Down to Georgia' on it.

In other, more additional, extra news, The Mayflies have begun work on our next record! We are in pre-production currently, and will be going back into Flat Black Studios in early December.

Well, that's about it....oh yeah.....come to The Mill in Iowa City on Halloween eve 10-31, as we will be dressing up as, and attempting to channel the music and energy of one of our biggest influences...The Grateful Dead. This show should be a spectacular, so please spread the word and come on down!!

Grateful for Jerry's Jam

Well, this past weekend we headlined Friday night at the 12th annual Jerry's Jam (celebration of Garcia's birthday) at Hidden Acres Music Farm, and we had a transcendent experiance. The people were so loving and kind and fun to spend time with. What an exceptional tribe of people.

We learned about a dozen Grateful Dead tunes for the event, and they came really well. My favorite moments of our set were Eyes of the World >space> Stella Blue and Half Step Mississippi > Franklin's Tower.

Thanks to all the avid fans who made us feel so at home!

Love,
The Mayflies

Video from the Yacht Club show 5/21/10

Our good friends at Little Village magazine shot some video the other night at the Yacht Club, and you can see them here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXJul4GOUzY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXXyHjXyoCU&feature=related

If you like it, please leave a comment and some thanks to the good folks at Little Village.

See you soon!

The Mayflies

Stacy Webster interviewed on Taproot Radio and Podcast!

Last week our singer/guitarist, Stacy Webster, was interviewed by Calvin Powers of Taproot Radio out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Calvin has been a big supporter of The Mayflies' music, spinning our new record (A Thousand Small Things) with flattering regularity.

Click here to hear the podcast.

Spread the word!

Love,

The Mayflies

Proud to announce the arrival of a new Mayfly!

Hey folks,

The Mayflies' have experienced a couple of line-up changes in the past year, and we have been on hiatus all winter working these new members into the mix. As spring arrives, we will be performing more and more, so keep an ear to the ground.

We have added Gabriel Baillergeon on mandolin, and Natallie Brown on violin!

Gabe comes to us from Springville Iowa. He has grown up playing music with his father, Richard (an accomplished member of the Waubeek Trackers) and is currently a music student. Gabe brings a healthy dose of bluegrass, old country, and folk to the mix. He is influenced by the likes of John Prine, Gram Parsons, and Split Lip Reyfield among others. Plus he's a damn nice kid.

Natalie is a native Iowa Citian who grew up studying classical violin but broke off from the Suzuki mold to ravenously pursue jazz, traditional fiddle music and rock music. She has a classical player's chops and musical knowledge, but can improvise effortlessly with a wide musical pallete. She even plays her violin thru a Wha pedal sometimes. Wow.

Needless to say, we are thrilled about the new sounds being created in the basement reheasal space and we can't wait to share it with you all. Our nest show is Sunday March 28th at El Bait Shop in Des Moines.

Love,
Mayfly Central

hiatus my ass!

Well friends, we have been on a winter hiatus from gigging, but that doesn't men we haven't been busy. We have been working the airwaves with our latest release, and here's what has been happening.

The Mayflies' new album, A Thousand Small Things, has entered theEuro Americana Chart at #15, has entered the Freeform American Roots chart at #19, has reached #10 on the Roots Music Report Roots Country chart, and is holding at #1 on the Roots Music Report Iowa chart!

We are also getting our material prepared for the next record. Can't wait to get into the studio again.

Keep an eye open for shows in the spring.

Love,

The Mayflies

Mayflies new record enters the Roots Music Report at #25 worldwide!

Yes, we are very excited to announce that our new release, A Thousand Small Things, debuted at #25 worldwide on the Roots Music Report. (the number one independent music chart ezine in the world) Our sincere gratitude goes out to the DJs who have taken interest in our music.

Additionally, we are #1 on the same chart for Iowa based musicians. Needless to say, we are blushingly grateful.

Call your local public radio station and ask for us by name!

Review of "A Thousand Small Things"

May 21, 2009

CD reviews

The Mayflies

"A Thousand Small Things"

Mud Dauber

Iowa City's rambunctious pan-Americana purveyors The Mayflies have undergone a slew of band name and personnel changes in their decade-or-so existence.

That said, their current moniker matches their original one (after two alternates), founding members Stacy Webster (lead vocals, guitars) and James Robinson (drums, vocals) have remained constant, co-founder Patrick Bloom continues to feed the group terrific original material from the wings, and rock-steady Dave Lumberg (bass, vocals) has done much to anchor The Mayflies' rhythm section and emotional core.

On "A Thousand Small Things," co-producer/engineer Luke Tweedy (Will Whitmore) captures the band with an early-Seventies vintage treatment that perfectly suits The 'Flies' loose-limbed amalgam of folk-tinged country-rock.

There's a strong whiff of The Dead (circa "Workingman's..." and "American Beauty") throughout -- particularly on Bloom's "All These Desperate Angels" and Lumberg's "Mississippi Soul" -- and outgoing Jon Eric's idiosyncratic banjo adds a trace of The Dillards' electro-'grass hybrid.

But it is Webster's singing -- evoking James McMurtry's dusky, slightly-flatted intimacy or a young Pete Seeger, as well as the romantic, precise-diction stylings of Michael Nesmith in his groundbreaking, high-concept First National Band recordings -- that shapes/defines The Mayflies' sound.

Webster's notched-up guitar playing also is a revelation, and yet, ultimately, it is a group triumph from pillar to post.

-- Jim Musser

Video footage from our Colorado tour!

Here is some footage from The Summit in Durango Colorado. Bruce Hayes is the mandolin/lap steel player. Ripping it up!!! Our pal, Mysto the Magi provided the camera work. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=TheMayflies&view=videos

Colorado tour!

Hey folks,

We will be embarking on our Colorado stint on April 17th, and we can't wait to see our friends out there, and the gorgeousness that is Colorado. Stacy Webster (our singer) lived there for most of the 1990s and that is where he met Patrick Bloom, songwriter extrordinaire, and therefore Colorado is the genesis point of The Mayflies!

Tour dates are as follows;

Denver- April 17th Dulcinea's 100th Monkey
Nederland- April 18th The Pioneer Inn
Boulder- April 19th Mountain Sun Brewery
Salida- April 23rd Bongo's Salida Cafe
Durango- April 24th and 25th Summit Durango

We have two very special guests sitting in with us for these dates, Marty Humphreys (Denver, Boulder and Nederland) and Bruce Hayes (Salida and Durango). Both will be playing mandolin and are sure to wow you with thier skills!

In other news, our new album, "A Thousand Small Things" is currently in pressing, and we will have it available in Colorado.

See you on the road!

Live from Studio One!

The Mayflies are pleased to announce that we will be playing on Karen Impola's Live from Studio One, on Monday March 23rd at 7pm. It is broadcast on KUNI 90.9 FM. We will be discussing the new album, and playing lots of songs from it, as well as songs from our back catalog.

Tune in, turn on and drop out!!!

Tracking finished for the new album!!!

Last weekend, we finished all the basic tracking for the new record, titled "A Thousand Small Things", at Flat Black Studios here in Iowa City. The record is estimated to be released in spring (late April) but we're not committing to that date yet. The song titles so far are...(many of these tunes have been staples of our live shows recently some are have not been heard before!)

Caroline

All These Desperate Angels

Maybe Maybelline

Petaluma

Mississippi Soul

Spooky

One Fine Day

Half the Time

Flying

Shit Creek

Mares

In my Time of Dying

Salt Creek

Welcome to New York

Keep an eye out for some early samples as the mixing comes along....

In other news...we are playing only a few shows near home through winter, so we can focus on the album, so keep an eye peeled and don't miss the few shows we'll be playing!

Peace,

The Mayflies

Fall Frolic Fun

Well, last weekend we played at a brand new fest in the beautiful rolling hills of Northwest Iowa. The Fall Frolic.  It was their first year, but they really had it all together. The people were super cool and kind. The sound was excellent. The vendors were great. Make sure you go next year, cuz it's one hell of a great party.  

This coming weekend, we have shows in Madison Wi, and Ames Ia. Friday Oct 10th, catch us at Mr Roberts in Madison.  Saturday, Oct 11th we'll be at Papa's Corner in Ames. 

We'll also be in Cedar Falls Ia at The Hub, on Monday the 13th for a get out the vote rally sponsored by Students for Barack Obama.

Hope to see you out!

Peace,

The Mayflies

Album Update

Well folks, at this time we have completed almost all of the tracking for our new (as yet unnamed) album. So far, the highlight has been James Robinson's drum work. I doubt James has EVER had so much fun in a studio. Rolling, thunderous, latin inflected grooves are the overriding theme for this session. Keep checking in, as we may post some rough mix samples soon.

Flat Black Studios is the place, and Luke Tweedy is our esteemed engineer. That man has great ears, and a keen understanding of the science of recording. Not to mention stupid-good microphones.

More to come.....

New album in the works!

Pardon the sparseness of our first blog entry, but we needed to at least get our motors humming. A new album is on the way, and is being recorded at Flat Black Studios in Iowa City by Luke Tweedy. Songs to be recorded include those penned by band members Stacy Webster, Dave Lumberg, and Jon Eric, and five additional songs by Patrick Bloom will be included in there as well. Keep in touch, 'cuz it's gonna be a scorcher...