October 6, 2008

We have a big show coming up as part of INDIE WEEK in Toronto. Please join us at the Horseshoe Tavern on Friday, Oct. 10 for a big celebration of independent music in Toronto!

July 12, 2008

Thanks very much to everyone who came out to our gig at Revival on June 7. It was a great turnout and we were very excited to showcase some of the new material.

Speaking of...we've gone through pre-production work for a lot of the new songs. You can download and listen to most of them right here on this website. Let us know what you think:

To download, Right click and save as

Slow Pour         Pistachio         Lost and Found         Astronautica         Galaxity (Night Drive)         King Henry VIII         Beasts of Burden        

January 22, 2008

Lickpenny Loafer on itunes!!!

Happy New Year everyone!   What have we been up to?   A couple things- for one, learning HTML so we can update this site!   Wow we have insane amounts of respect for web developers out there...learning how to make even the most basic changes require us to be on a serious learning curve.

But most importantly- we official launched our digital release of our debut EP, Introducing Lickpenny Loafer.   In addition to the 4 original tracks, the digital release features 3 unreleased songs in the form of 2 live tracks and another as an acoustic recording.   The official track listing is as follows:

1) Bonded
2) Climbing Trees
3) Sweetest Things in Life
4) The Haunt
5) In Retrospect (live)
6) Missed Kiss (live)
7) Paratoxic (acoustic)

You can purchase the whole album or just specific songs at itunes, emusic, napster, puretracks, rhapsody, and several other online stores.

April 28

The distinguished and tremendously respected Toronto music critic John Sakamoto has included Lickpenny Loafer ("The Haunt") in his weekly Anti-Hit List featured in the Toronto Star!

"The musical and emotional climax of this Toronto band's debut EP recalls the almost palpable ache of "Coming Home" by City and Colour, but also evokes the late Kevin Gilbert who, apart from co-writing a good chunk of Sheryl Crow's Tuesday Night Music Club, pursued his urbane pop muse in the form of jazzy introspection such as "Tea for One." Words of wisdom: "A dream that slips away/Leads to a life of slow decay." (From Lickpenny Loafer, myspace.com/lickpennyloafer)."

If you can't pick up a copy of the paper, please visit http://www.thestar.com/article/207680 to check it out. As well, "The Haunt" is featured on the Anti-Hit List podcast- to listen, visit Toronto Star - Lickpenny Loafer. Obviously, we're thrilled!

Mar. 22

Spring has sprung at last!  Sometimes we felt it would never get here.  But here it is, along with the excitement of new life and new beginnings for all, and thrill of  new adventures just around the corner for Lickpenny Loafer. 

By now we hope you've had a chance to visit our site at  Redipe.ca, the world wide web's newest showcase for  indie-music.   We are very proud to be Redpipe's first ever featured artist.  Be sure to add yourself as a fan of Lickpenny Loafer. 

Cameron House is hosting another one of our fan favourite Lickpenny Loafer Dream Softly performances on Friday May 11.  These gigs are a great opportunity for fans to catch Lickpenny Loafer up close and personal, playing a broader variety of material, in a warm, intimate setting.  Please do join us.  Come back and visit Modus Operandi often to find out more information about upcoming Lickpenny Loafer shows.

Visit SilverBirch Productions to hear samples from each of the tracks off of Lickpenny Loafer's EP, and purchase your own copy. 

Thank you all so much for your love and support.  We really do appreciate all of your help with sharing our music around the world. 

Lickpenny Loafer

Feb. 12

Lickpenny Loafer featured on the Toronto Independent Music Podcast, Episode #57!  Listen here.

Jan. 17

It’s done.  The EP is finished.  And it’s a good feeling.  It’s been a fascinating last year for us, filled with many ups and downs, but there is tremendous satisfaction in completing this record.  We hope you take a listen.  You can purchase the EP online here, or at an upcoming show.

Nov. 14

Tunnels have light
And so do dreams
But this is no end,
Only beginning.
In one month
You will hear us,
they way,
we really sound.

June. 7

Maybe you're wondering- where have we gone? Maybe you’ve already forgotten…that’s ok- we cannot hold it against you. But inactivity is difficult to measure as most progress is made with intangible steps. We enter the studio in less than 3 weeks to begin work on the EP. 4 songs- and hopefully the beginning of a record. If you read this and it rekindles your interest- check back here regularly to the thoughts section, as we will be keeping a constant journal of the doings. Also, we hope to start playing gigs again once the summer starts. Hope to see you all of you at a venue soon.

 With all our love, Lickpenny Loafer

P.S. – We have reposted the acoustic Climbing Trees sketch as well as a preliminary sketch of a totally new song “Galaxity” - Another sketch from the Devin archives in sounds for you to snack on. The song is still very much in its infancy stage with no vocals yet to speak (although pieces of lyrics are floating here and there inside my head). We wouldn’t normally put something up this early in its construction - which is precisely why we are doing it.

Feb. 2

Yo my sonicular peeps,

We have big news on short notice. Kind of like a tub of ice cream with only a butter knife to eat it with. Or...maybe not like that at all. WE are playing LEE's PALACE. We are extremely excited about this. To be exact, we are playing LEE's PALACE next Friday February. 10. Details for the show can be found HERE.

This is a very big gig for Lickpenny Loafer, especially considering we have a weekend slot. Like its counterpart, the Horseshoe Tavern, this is one of the most special venues to play in all of Toronto.

We would really, really, really like you to come out and support us if you are around. Your support would mean a lot to us.

Hope to see you at the show.

Peace and Love, Lickpenny Loafer

Jan. 9

A reminder to everyone that we are playing Cameron House on Sat. Jan 14.  Details can be found HERE. If you've never been to this venue, it is a real treat to enjoy the warm, intimate atmosphere and cold beer to complement any live music (we are playing the Backroom). This is another in a series of Dream Softly gigs, and thus will include a much longer performance as we have the place to ourselves for the night. We are aiming for two to three sets, showcasing a broader range of our material, as well as exploring some choice covers, and employing both acoustic and full band settings to convey our message. We hope you can join us.

In addition, we have just finished recording a sketch version of another one of the new songs. Please visit SOUNDS to hear/download "Bonded".

And last but not least, Happy New Year everyone- may your dreams come true, and your resolutions be short-lived.
 

Dec. 12

The Lickpenny flame is still burning bright as we head into winter, and there are many projects in the works. 

First, we are in the studio with two very talented and gracious music professionals, Steve and Asher, who have offered their time and equipment to help us record a proper demo of "The Sweetest Things in Life".  Thus far the process has been a real learning experience, both from a technical standpoint and from a songwriting one.  It's truly amazing how much time and effort goes behind creating a professional sounding recording - the fine attention to detail and subtleties of producing this song in a studio are not something we generally worry about in the live setting.  In fact, it is expected that this version of The Sweetest Things in Life will be quite different from any of those heard yet. Needless to say, we were a bit surprised to find that our initial 8 hours in the studio only produced 45 seconds of "keepable" material!  However, based on what we've done thus far, we feel the end-product is going to be phenomenal and well worth the time and effort... 

One of the most exciting aspects of being a musician is writing new music and hearing your ideas come together in a band setting.  Playing new songs live re-energizes the band and, we hope, keeps our audience interested.  At long last we have completed two new songs - their tentative titles are "Bonded" and "A Simple ‘I Love You’ Will Do".   Sketches of these songs may be heard on the "Sounds" section of the website.  These songs are quite different in structure and mood - The Bonded is a short, crisp, energetic and highly rhythmic tune based on an unusual chord progression, while "A Simple ‘I Love You’ Will Do" is a longer, softer song with some subtle nuances in timing and harmony.  We look forward to including these in our upcoming shows.

Our next gig is at The Horseshoe Tavern on Thursday Dec 29. - a post-Christmas, pre-New Year's soiree, if you will.   We'll rock that Johnny Mathis tune out of your head for good!!! (at least until next Christmas.)  If you are in Toronto for the holidays, please do join us- the place should be packed and we really want to make an impression.  Also, we have been invited back to play at The Cameron House on Saturday Jan. 14.  This is a great venue, and we'll have it all to ourselves!!!  Expect some unusual covers thrown in with the originals...As always, we appreciate your support at our gigs and hope to see you at the shows.  More details are on the "Modus Operandi" section of the website.

As much as we love our songs in their current incarnations, many of them lend themselves (or were meant) to be performed by more than a three-piece.  Certainly, the addition of a piano, a second guitar , back-up vocals (unfortunately Devin can't sing...yet) etc...would only serve to elevate many of our songs to greater levels, and, hopefully, realize their envisioned potential.  Essentially, we’re looking for a talented musician who can help us do just that by adding to each song what is necessary.  This could well mean playing different instruments depending on the song (particularly guitar and bass).  To this end Lickpenny Loafer is seeking another band member, hopefully a multi-instrumentalist with skills on bass, guitar and keys.  Interested musicians from the Toronto area are invited to e-mail us at arunachal@lickpennyloafer.com .  Also, if you know a musician who might be a good fit, give them our website address or tell them to check out a show.  We refuse to use the word audition- We are clearly not the New York Philharmonic…but it would be cool to get together and see if there was a fit.

Sep. 20

Summer can be a cruel joke. Like hummingbirds which have to eat every 20 minutes to stay alive, we dart from plan-to-plan, commitment-to-commitment, and obligation-to-obligation. Was it fun? Sure it was- it was a blast. But it leaves you in mid-September feeling like you just popped out of a wormhole that connected you inside John Malkovich’s head – namely, a feeling of “What just happened?” I guess life is also what happens while you’re busy honoring plans.

For many of us, this fall will be a return to a more secure, stable, and routine lifestyle. For Lickpenny Loafer, it will mean more gigs, new songs, and more/new recordings. Please check out Sounds for some added recordings from the last Horseshoe Tavern gig (Aug. 13) as well as a Demo version of The Sweetest Things in Life. We have entered this Demo in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest- you never know what might happen. Plus, there is a pretty nice loot bag for the winners.

I’d also like to introduce at this point, to those who haven’t yet had the pleasure, to our drummer Mike Cunningham. Mike came on board in May and has played on most of our gigs since then. He sky-rockets the number of people in this band all the way to 3.

In addition, we are also in the coming weeks, setting our fall schedule for gigs. Right now we are confirmed for Oct. 26 at the Horseshoe Tavern, but we hope to play at least one more gig before then. If you haven’t joined our mailing list yet, please do. We hope to see you all at a show this fall!

July 5 – A million gracious thank-yous to all of you who were able to support us at our first-ever gig at the Horseshoe Tavern on June 15.

The great news is that we have been invited back for a prime spot in their Saturday line-up on August 13. Please click here for details, and please do come by! Two new ear morsels for you- Climbing Trees and The Sweetest Things in Life recordings turned out quite decent from the June 15 gig- have a listen, download, sing along… Finally for me, a once childhood impossibility is realized as I finally get to see the great Mexican Archeologist Black Francis and his Pixies for the first time ever…River Euphrates, La La La Love You, and Ana would be a dream…

Jun. 5
We have one gig lined for the month of June and it is TRES IMPORTANT. Please make every effort to support us on June 15, at the hallowed stage of the HORSESHOE TAVERN. For details click here. If you are coming, please send me an email with the names of whoever is coming with you so I can put you on our list- cover is $4. We really, really appreciate the support.

As well, as per request of some people, feel free to listen and download the acoustic sketch of the newest song, The Sweetest Things in Life.

Thank you all for making the shows in the month of May a success. If they are any indication, there will be plenty more live music to follow in the coming summer months.

In addition, Devin took the time to sift through archives of past four-track tapings of various songs, and found some intriguing recordings. One was a hasty acoustic sketch we did of Climbing Trees, one of the newer songs, early last fall. This song has drawn considerably more attention from us recently, and so it was interesting for us to hear this earlier recording of it and notice that not much has actually changed. On the other hand, this 3 year old recording of In Retrospect from the Cottage Sessions, was a bit surreal to listen to- a lot has indeed changed, and yet, we found that defining qualities of the song were present even on this very early recording. Lastly, we have an old acoustic recording of My Generation, one of the first songs I ever wrote, back when I was 18. It’s neat to know it has found a way to stick around. To listen to these please go to Sounds.