We are finally home after notching over 200 concerts this year – and it’s been an incredible ride!

It’s also been slightly exhausting, so now we’re winding down to spend the holiday season with friends and family. This year has taken us to the four corners of the United States, put 35,000 miles on the ole van, and brought drastic haircuts to Jonathan and Tyler (to support breast cancer awareness – check out the videos).

Although we will cherish this season with our families, we can’t wait to see what amazing things are waiting down the road in the new year. Until then, get your Kris Kringle on by visiting our store for some great holiday specials. Use the coupon below to get 40% off all official Tin Cup Gypsy Merchandise.

Thanks again for a wonderful year – we’ll see you in 2012!

Click here to claim your coupon to get 40% off.

See, I’ve had this little battle in my mind for the past several years. It seems like in today’s music industry there’s a line in the sand. Are you an emotional artist or will you craft your music the way a fine violin maker labors over his creations? It doesn’t seem like there is much crossover between categories – you create well-crafted music and people will think its shallow, you create emotional music and people will forgive poor musicianship as being “deep”.

In recent memory, one of the few (but exciting) exceptions is Adele, with her recent release “21,” a musically pure record that outsold Lady Gaga by almost a million copies. Musicianship, song writing, and vocal performances are top notch, and I think one would be hard pressed to find anyone who doubts the emotion packed into the material.

Confession time. I have a degree in classical violin performance. I know what you’re thinking, “you? NO!” But alas, it’s true. So, as a classically trained musician, I spend a good deal of time listening to the likes of Beethoven, Brahms, Debussey, Stravinsky (mostly romantic), and it has struck me that a good deal of my favorite classical music was both intensely emotional AND that generation’s version of Pop Music. At what point in our musical heritage did we begin deconstructing the craft of music in favor of emotional abstraction?

When did we stop caring enough about our music to be satisfied with poor execution? Would Beethoven have dumbed down his creative vision because a vocalist or instrumentalist could not get the part? No. In fact, when rehearsing for the opening night of the 9th Symphony, one of the female vocalists asked Mr. Beethoven to re-write a section that was slightly outside of her range. He replied with, “Practice. The note will come.”

Maybe I’m naive, but I want to believe that an artist can spin an emotion or experience into a masterpiece of execution – knowing that every little detail the listener hears is intentional and designed to elevate the mood.

– Jonathan

Tin Cup Gypsy steps up and steps out for a cause that touches us all.

The band needs your help in spreading the word about this fight – Breast Cancer.

When the video hits 50,000 views, band member Tyler Oban will chop off his hair in an effort to bring awareness to this issue.

Click here to share: http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knDLvOzTcuQ

The hair is being donated to Pantene Beautiful Lengths.

Susan G Komen Foundation

Music by Tin Cup Gypsy – “To the Sea”
www.tincupgypsy.com

Well hello, world wide Internet.

We drew straws for who would be the one to give you all the dirt on the past two months of nonstop touring with Orla Fallon and needless to say, I swiftly grabbed all four straws. Even though I have a reputation for forgetting, losing things, and generally being a space cadet from time to time, I firmly believe that we women have an amazing ability to find all the “movie moments” in life and keep those in a special treasure chest in a secret corridor of our hearts…

The challenge of blogging to make up for two months worth of memories is finding the perfect balance between giving all the tiny details that make you feel like you were with us and not making you fall asleep to my novel of an entry. So….here are the gory, but condensed details.

Day 1, hour 1…
Hahahaha, just kidding.

All in all, we rocked It out for two months…and not in the “we’re THAT amazing and we think  highly enough  of ourselves to brag and be narcissistic” type of way. I just mean mathematically.

Math? Cassandra and math? No way….o yes, it’s happening.

Math in the sense that the odds of ANY band being in tight quarters (I’m talking 15 passenger van, 9000 logged miles, and up to 4-5 people a night in ONE room more often than not, with one bathroom) for that many weeks and not killing each other is pretty low. Needless to say we’re all alive and smiling. With all of our teeth.

As the only chick in the band, I unconsciously carry around a sort of “little brother/sister” mentality. You know where they try to act brave and put together and trot alongside side your shadow, five running steps to every one of your strides? So I would try my best to smile when I wanted to cry from exhaustion or frustration that the schedule wasn’t happening like my little OCD brain wanted it to, or put on my headphones and blast opera music to calm down when we took the wrong exit for a thirteenth time. And when our trailer wheel almost fell off as we were driving down the turnpike in New York and we had to go rent a Uhaul and transfer ALL the gear as cars and trucks were zooming by at 70mph, I pushed my scared,completely out of shape,un-athletic body to superman heights so i could pull my weight and TRY to be as helpful as the boys. There’s nothing amazing or outstanding or heroic about any one of us in particular-especially not me–but it was the team effort that turned us into a force to reckon with. Yeah, I said reckon. With each trial and tribulation we became closer, with more strength, more momentum…more gusto– instead of clawing, bickering, and putting distance in-between the group…. So if getting lost and breaking down and being tired were the worst of our problems, the good DEFINITELY outweighed the bad on our trip!!!!

So here’s what I found out about the pros and cons of being on the road for SO so so long:

PRO’S:
-Staying in gorgeous hotels which were always spotless and dog hair free.
-Getting to see a TON of the USA, from Utah all the way to New York
-Meeting amazing people in every city
-Playing in breathtaking historical theaters
-Being spoiled rotten by our fans who would bring gifts to the show
-Having an excuse to wear red lipstick every day
-Being around and playing music with three of the most amazing men I’ve ever known
-Getting to fly my mom out to Washington DC to see our shows
-Exploring all the towns to find treasures for my art/accessories
-discovering local restaurants and diners with insanely delicious food
-working with one of the sweetest artists we’ve ever met (thank you Orla Fallon!!!!)
-discovering microbreweries in each town
-lots of time to daydream and scheme about how to get all our friends on the road with us
-BEING A FULL TIME MUSICIAN!!!!!

CONS:
-missing my bed, friends, and dogs
-trying to eat healthy and usually failing at fast food places(I can honestly confess that when I stepped on the scale after tour, I had gained 11lbs. not EVEN exaggerating. whoops!!!)
-not being able to cook(are u seeing a pattern yet?)
-dragging suitcases to your room after a show at 1am-knowing u have to drag it back in just a few hours for call time
-not knowing what day of the week it is. Ever.
-being at the mercy of a different weather system(and time zone) every day
-trying to get comfortable on a seat bench or dressing room couch to sleep (actually that can be a fun challenge if you’re up to it hahaah)

So with that, we’re safely back in Nashville with our smiles and our sanity and we’re soaking up the southern way of life until we head back out for a southwest tour in a couple of days…and while we bask in the glow of familiarity, our little gypsy hearts will be dancing when we head out to our next great adventure…desert heat HERE WE COME!!!!!!

No we haven’t forgotten about you. No we’re not breaking up. Yes we still love you.

Hahaha, sorry we’ve been incognito everyone. It seems like writing journal entries gets pushed down to the bottom of the list when you’re an indie band trying to gear up for a big tour. I just wanted to let you know we’re still here and excited as ever to see you on the road! If you haven’t gone to our tour page, please check it out and see if we’re going to be anywhere near you this spring. We’ve been anxiously putting together our show to go out in support of Orla Fallon (amazing singer and harpist from Celtic Woman), and we hope you all enjoy it as much as we have enjoyed preparing it!

To give you a quick update, we left Nashville Tuesday and arrived in Arizona for a refresh and 4 shows before heading up to Salt Lake City for Orla’s first performance. AAAAND, as I’m writing this we just broke into a spontaneous chorus of Blink 182. Weird. Aaaaaannnyway, it has been a crazy last couple of months of preparation, both for the tour and for the Calico Picture Show (which we hope you have been enjoying). But now all the hard work is paying off and we should have some pics and vids for you to check out soon from our life on the road.

Cheers!
Jonathan

Nashville, TN – February 8, 2011 – Folk pop band Tin Cup Gypsy announced they will be touring with Orla Fallon, of Celtic Woman fame.

Fallon is a singer/harpist from Co.Wicklow, Ireland. As a solo artist and with the critically acclaimed group Celtic Woman, Fallon’s audience members over the past six years have included the Pope, US Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and Irish President Mary McAleese.

Tin Cup Gypsy possesses a musical styling that far exceeds their time, considering the band members are only in their early twenties. Their unique blend attracts a diverse group of listeners. This is attributed to the use of a variety of instruments including the mandolin, violin, concertina, percussion, three-part harmonies and acoustic guitar. Blending jazz and bluegrass with earthy lyrics and rich melodies captures the essence of their roots-rock genre.

Tin Cup Gypsy released their first full-length album, Calico, on January 4, 2011 to an enthusiastic fan base, following their tour with country music superstar Sara Evans.

Evans’ celebrated career includes the accolades of the Academy of Country Music’s Female Vocalist of the Year and the Country Music Association’s Video of the Year for Born to Fly. Evans collaborated with acclaimed producer John Shanks on her 2007 Greatest Hits album release.

Tin Cup Gypsy will be on tour with Orla Fallon this spring, beginning on March 24, 2011 in Salt Lake City, UT and going through May 2, 2011 in Minneapolis, MN. Dates and venue information for the tour is listed below. For more information on Tin Cup Gypsy, visit: http://www.tincupgypsy.com.

Date – City/State -Venue

March 24 – Salt Lake City, UT – Jeanné Wagner Theatre

March 26 – Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater

March 27 – Beavercreek, CO – Vilar Center for the Arts

April 1 – Harrisburg, PA – Whitaker Center for the Arts

April 3 – Roanoke, VA – Shaftman Performance Hall

April 5 – Philadelphia, PA – World Café Live

April 6 – Washington DC – The Barns at Wolf Trap

April 7 – Washington DC – The Barns at Wolf Trap

April 8 – Easton, MD – Avalon Theatre

April 9 – Bayshore, NY – Boulton Center for the Arts

April 10 – Tarrytown, NY – Tarrytown Music Hall

April 13 – Northampton, MA – Calvin Theatre

April 14 – Bellows Falls, VT – Bellows Falls Opera House

April 15 – Ridgefield, CT – The Ridgefield Playhouse

April 16 – Somerville, MA – Somerville Theatre

April 17 – South Orange, NJ – South Orange PAC

April 20 – Buffalo, NY – Kleinhaus Music Hall

April 21 – Geneva, NY – Smith Opera House

April 23 – Albany, NY – The Egg

April 28 – Columbus, OH – Southern Theatre

May 1 – Indianapolis, IN – Murat Theatre

May 2 – Minneapolis, MN – Guthrie Theater

We want to say thank to all of you who have helped us along the way, and all of you who have encouraged us this past year. Its been quite a journey, but we believe the best is yet to come.

If you’re reading this, then chances are you already know about the record. We hope you like it! We are really proud of it, and are so excited to share it with you.

-Tin Cup Gypsy

To order the new album…click here, its also available on iTunes and Amazon.

- Prof. Jonathan