WHAT A WEEK! First of all, tremendous thanks to everyone who came out and supported us last week at any of our shows. It was ridiculously busy but well worth it. Between Monday and Saturday, I played 7 shows with 4 bands.

On Monday night, I joined Coffee Project on stage at 1982 for the song that I recorded with them for their upcoming album release. We played with our good friends, Greenland is Melting, and rising songwriter sensation, Frank Turner. Check him out…

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Michael Claytor and His Friends trekked across the north half of Florida with Paleface, Lauris Vidal, Andy Zipf and Damion Suomi. These three nights, I enjoyed some of the best shows I’ve ever been a part of musically! Paleface is the most original, unique folk-core band I’ve EVER seen. After three nights in a row watching them, I wished I were on tour with them for a month. I’ve been humming his songs ever since. We’ll see ‘em again at Harvest of Hope Fest, thank God! Maybe this will give you some idea of what they’re like:

Friday night, Umoja Orchestra and The Babylonians held a benefit concert for Haiti relief at our trumpet player, Zach Tetreault’s house. It’s a good thing he has a huge backyard… Supposedly, about 550 people donated to get into the show and Gators United for Haiti raised thousands of dollars.

With Austin Lucas and the Choir, we played a free bluegrass festival in the middle of nowhere outside of Ocala. We drove for two or three miles down a dirt road to get to this place and once we arrived, we discovered that the festival was a benefit to pave the road we drove in on! Needless to say, we saw some great music and met some really friendly people.

That night, we played our first headline club show as “Austin Lucas and the Choir” with Greenland is Melting and The Enablers (back in action!). What a great farewell-for-now to Gainesville as we prepare for our first tour together.

Thanks for a great week, everyone! We’ll see you back at Flaco’s this Wednesday!

<3 Michael and the Friends

BIG NEWS

This coming Tuesday, the Friends and I will embark on a miniature tour with our dear friend, Lauris Vidal and soon-to-be friends, Paleface, Damien Suomi and Andy Zipf. That’s a lot of new friends. We’ll be playing Tuesday, 2/16 at the Engine Room in Tallahassee, Wednesday, 2/17 at Will’s Pub in Orlando and Thursday, 2/18 at Durty Nelly’s in Gainesville.

If you’ve never heard of Paleface, read this:

Paleface

“Fun-lovin and high energy Indie-Folk duo featuring Paleface himself and darling drummer Monica “Mo” Samalot on a US tour in support of their Ramseur Records debut, The Show Is On The Road, which features guest performances by labelmates The Avett Brothers -”songs you’d be glad to hum for the rest of the day” PASTE. Schooled personally by friend Daniel Johnston, Paleface was discovered at an NYC open mic by the legendary Danny Fields (The Stooges, The Ramones, MC5), 1990. He’s released over a dozen records including two major label releases (Polydor Records, Sire Records). He’s toured with the likes of The Breeders and Billy Bragg, and he’s been a mjor influence on artists such as Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches and Beck…”A great songwriter, a generous friend and a big influence on my early stuff” says Beck of Paleface in Annie Leibovitz’s book ‘American Music’.”

–Blurb from the Engine Room’s website

Wow… I didn’t know that until i just googled him. Come check us out, and tell your friends if they live in any of those cities.

Also, for all of you Gainesvillians, come check us out tonight at Spin Cycle for a Haiti relief benefit show at 8:00 and later at Common Grounds with The Takers and outlaw country singer Willie Heath Neal!

<3 Me ‘n’ the Friends

Here it is, a special treat to our readers. The first michaelclaytorandhisfriends.com web exclusive.

I Must Walk

I hope you all enjoy it. Spread the word!

P.S. Friend Evan came up with the title to this post.

FRIENDS,

First of all, thanks to everyone who joined us last night for the 2 year Flaco’s Wednesdays anniversary spectacular. What a zany night. We all earned it; happy anniversary to all who have joined us for the past two years. We LITERALLY couldn’t have done it LITERALLY every single week without you.

In other news, we got another shout out in the Gainesville Sun (<–click the link to see it) about our show this Friday at Common Grounds with Wait Wait and The Footlights (<–click the link for details). Thanks for the XXL photo on the website, Sun!

Also, Michael Claytor and His Friend, Samantha Moss, will be taking their show on the road to Tampa with Coffee Project this Thursday. If you know anyone in Tampa, tell them to come check us out at the New World Brewery Thursday, 1/21. Yeah!

Michael and Sam at the Exchange

Check back for some February tour dates with Paleface and Lauris Vidal and maybe some coverage of our 2 year anniversary spectacular courtesy of Joel Mora and the Gainesville Sun!

Come back soon,

michael c.

Okay, okay… So I know it’s been a while since we released our debut album, We Have an Elephant. But for those of you who don’t know, here are a couple of songs to preview. Check it out!

If you’d like to pick up a copy, visit digstation or come and see us at Flaco’s Wednesdays.

Solidarity forever and ever.