Crew,

The area around NYC’s South Street Seaport has been hit particularly hard by the storm surge from Hurricane Sandy. Many of you have personal connections to The Seaport, as do we, and this news hurts our hearts. We want to help the Seaport and contribute to the clean-up and rebuilding effort.

For those who don’t know, Erica, our melodica player, began her tall ship sailing career as a volunteer on the Pioneer and then a deckhand on the Lettie G. Howard in 1997.

Erica’s message -

As a child growing up in NYC, South Street Seaport was a much loved destination and those experiences led directly to my desire to become a sailor as an adult. The connections I made at the Seaport have become life-long friendships, and many of those friends have since become an important part of the community of the band as well. This community, which is now spread all over the country, will always be family to me, and I will always be able to trace that network back to my seaport days.


We had already been planning to offer our entire digital catalog as a package to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of Sharks Come Cruisin.
Now we’ve decided that all proceeds from this digital package will go to help rebuild the Seaport.

This package is only available for the month of November AND ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TO THE SOUTH STREET SEAPORT MUSEUM.

For a suggested donation of $20, you will receive digital download codes for:
- Hardtack EP
- A Past We Forget That We Need To Know
- The Providence Piers Sessions
- Four Years before the Mast
- Live at Jakes

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

T-SHIRT Deal
For those of you who prefer something more tangible than a download code, a $30 donation will get you a limited (updated) re-production of the first SCC T-Shirt design (the “We’ll Rant and Roar We’ll Roar” Shirt) updated for our South Street Friends

Crew,
We’re back from our long loop around Lake Erie. We want to thank the Kinderhook Crew (Dave, Julia, Amy & friends) and the Buffalo Crew (Kate, Rich, Scott and family) for opening their homes and backyards up to the SCC sing-along.

EXCITING NEWS: The Hardtack EP is now streaming right here. Use the player in the lower left hand corner of the site to give the songs a listen.

This EP is a collection of unreleased songs recorded during the Providence Piers and A Past We Forget sessions. While you’re checking out the songs, be sure to preorder the EP which will be released on authentic sailor hardtack..  The EP will be avalable for digital download on July 24th.

These tooth-breaking biscuits are packaged in a handsome tin with EP artwork and a digital download for the record. Numbers are limited to the amount of hardtack I want to make, so order NOW.



To support the release of the Hardtack EP, we’re playing 3 shows here in New England:

• 7/19 – New Bedford, MA @ No Problemo w/ our friends The O’Tooles
• 7/20 – Providence, RI House show w/ Barn Burning Anthony, Cedros Cabral & THE HALL AND OATES CHALLENGE! Email mark@sharkscomecruisin.com for details.
• 7/21 – New Haven, CT – the Schooner Quinnipiack Shanty and Ale Sail. Ticket info here.

Hope to see you at the shows, enjoy the streaming songs and preorder that EP.
Talk soon.
Mark/SCC

Crew,

We sail on the Schooner Quinnipiack out of New Haven this Saturday. For tickets and info, go here: http://schoonerinc.thundertix.com/ (scroll down, the shanty and ale sail is listed 3rd).

Erica and I will be playing 2 shows in NY State at the end of June, check out the full schedule below. We would also love to play in Detroit and/or Cleveland area the first week of July. If you want to host a house show, or if you know anyone in the area that would, email memark@sharkscomecruisin.com

Hope to see you at a show.
Mark/SCC

Upcoming Shows
June 16 - The Schooner Quinnipiack, New Haven, CT
June 29 - Kinderhook Lake House Show, Niverville, NY / Contact mark@sharkscomecruisin.com for details
June 30 – Buffalo House Show , Buffalo, NY / Contact mark@sharkscomecruisin.com for details
July 21 - The Schooner Quinnipiack, New Haven, CT
Aug 11 - The Schooner Quinnipiack, New Haven, CT
Sept 15 - The Schooner Quinnipiack, New Haven, CT
Sept 22 – Prescott Park, Portsmouth, NH
Sept 29 – Working Waterfront Festival, New Bedford MA


COMING SOON: The SCC HARDTACK E.P.
The HARDTACK EP is 4 unreleased songs (2 from the Providence Piers Session and 2 from the A Past We Forget… Session) that will be released as a digital download on limited edition authentic sailor hardtack. You read that right, hardtack. What Crewmember doesn’t enjoy a good piece of hardtack? Pre-order will be up on the site soon.

Crew,

We can’t control the wind, but we can adjust the sails. Things are changing with SCC. As with other iterations of the band, the current line-up is in flux and I’d like to take a minute to explain what’s happening and what you can expect in the near term.

After five years, 100 + shows, three trips up and down the east coast, one to the mid west and countless nights at Galway Bay and The Box, James is shifting his focus from nightclubs to classrooms. James is finishing up his associates degree this spring and will be continuing his education this fall. Given his busy school schedule, James will have less time to dedicate to the band.

I’ve been asked “Is James is quitting SCC?”. The answer is no. James is focusing on different parts of his life right now and that means he won’t be playing as many shows. I’ve also been asked “will you find another drummer?” The answer is, not right now. Right now, we’re figuring out where the band will go next.

Erik, Michael, Erica and James – these are the people I hope to grow old playing music with. The shanties are the songs I hope to be playing with them. I’ve felt this way for a while now and with James taking this break, I feel it more strongly than ever that we’ll all be around for a sing-along, just sometimes we may not be singing along at the same time. We are lucky enough to be playing a few more shows with James this summer on the Schooner Quinnipiack in New Haven before he starts getting wicked smaht this fall.

As for SCC, we’re adjusting. We’ve done a number of acoustic shows so far this year and it’s been really fun at times and really uncomfortable at times. Uncomfortable for us and maybe uncomfortable for you too. As humans we are uncomfortable when things change, as Rhode Islanders it’s practically unbearable. Don’t believe me? Take a left where the Almacs used to be. The nice thing about change is what comes of it. If SCC never changed, I would have never had the opportunity to play music with James and I’d still be doing the open mic at The Custom House Tavern, which is weird because The Custom House has been closed for a lot of years now.

We will be taking the next month or so to chart the course for what’s next for SCC (pun totally intended). Until then, please join us in thanking James for all his massive, arena rock drum fill endings and wishing him well on his road ahead.


Upcoming Shows:
- Sat May 19 New Haven CT - The Schooner Quinnipiack
- Sat Jun 16 New Haven CT - The Schooner Quinnipiack
- Sat Jul 21 New Haven CT - The Schooner Quinnipiack
- Wed July 25 Providence RI – House show w/ Jason Kutchma of Red Collar
- Sat Aug 11 New Haven CT - The Schooner Quinnipiack
- Sat Sep 15 New Haven CT - The Schooner Quinnipiack
- Sept 22 Portsmouth NH – Prescott Park
- Sept 29 New Bedford MA – Working Waterfront Festival

In the lead up to record store day, I thought it would be fun to hear about all the records that got away. What is the one record you wish you never sold?  What's the one you're really glad you didn't?

I tell the story often, and I’ll tell it again….my journey to becoming financially responsible started at In Your Ear on Thayer St. When I started working at 15, I would drive with friends to Providence and spend my entire paycheck on records. When I turned 16, I stopped buying records long enough to save $500 to buy a car, then I would drive myself to Providence to buy records. I think my first car ride out of Warwick was to Thayer St to go record shopping. With a car came car insurance, so when the insurance bill came due, I would bring a milk crate full of records to In Your Ear and sell back enough to pay the insurance, then when I got my next pay check, I would buy those records back at a much higher price than what I sold them for. Thinking back on it now, the record store was kinda like a hock shop for the 16 year old me. 

The lesson learned, if I spent a little less on records each week, I could keep my records and pay my insurance at the end on the month.  Vinyl economic.

The one that got away. I really wish I hung onto that Side By Side 7-inch. Not sure why, just wish I did.


The one that didn’t, The Clash City of the Dead.  The last time I sold records was to Fast Forward, when they were on Steeple Street. I brought in my milk crate and they gave me a price for all but 1 record. Judy handed me back The Clash Complete Control / City of the Dead single and said “you don’t want to sell this.” She was right, I didn’t. Thanks Judy!

Michael recently returned from China where he took these photos of May (aka Xia), SCC's biggest fan in Beijing.

For over 2 decades I have been moving band t-shirts from apartment to apartment, and now to the basement of my house. I’ve said for years that I want to make a punk rock quilt out of them. What’s more punk than a quilt? I don’t know how to quilt, so until I learn I will be posting pix of these vintage gems and remembering when. I will call this series T-Shirt Tuesday.


I graduated from college in 1996 and for much of that year the cassette from Lp recording of Gameface's 'Three to Get Ready' was in heavy rotation in my VW Super Beetle. When it was time for me to begin down the road of a career, I was hearing “All packed up with no where to go, a thousand miles with only one show and just enough gas to get us nowhere” everyday, over and over.

Listening to that record, all I wanted to do was get in a van with my best friends, travel and play music. That summer, that's what we did.  There is something very powerful about that experience of traveling and performing together.   It’s funny, just this week I was listening to an interview with Ian MacKaye on NPR and when he is asked If he misses performing he says "sure", then he goes on to explain what he really misses are the 6 hour drives with the guys, because those moments are so hard to come by in life.

This shirt is from the Gameface Summer Tour 97 when I saw them at the Middle East in Cambridge, MA. They were a long way from home that night, but I bet there was no place they would have rather been.

Here’s Gameface’s June:



And here’s a link to that interview with Ian MacKaye: http://www.npr.org/2011/12/01/142998596/steady-diet-of-everything-the-fugazi-live-vault

This will probably be our last sing along of 2011. Also, we’re gonna hold a coat/hat/glove drive at the show, so donate something warm for someone that needs it!
We’re really excited to play with The Jesse Minute and stoked to be playing the speakeasy @ 121.

For over 2 decades I have been moving band t-shirts from apartment to apartment, and now to the basement of my house. I’ve said for years that I want to make a punk rock quilt out of them. What’s more punk than a quilt? I don’t know how to quilt, so until I learn I will be posting pix of these vintage gems and remembering when. I will call this series T-Shirt Tuesday.

BYO is a record label out of LA. They started releasing records in the early 80’s and I became interested in BYO in the late 80’s because they put out many of the early 7-Seconds records. I must have sent away for a BYO catalog to see what other bands were on the label and that must have led me to sending a well concealed 10 dollar bill to California in hopes it would come back to RI in the form of a T-shirt.

Two funny stories about this shirt -

I was playing a show at a space called Under the Hut. Under the Hut was “under” an indoor skate park called Skate Hut in the Olneyville section of Providence. Under the Hut seemed like it was open for less than a week before it closed down, but there were a few great shows in its brief existence.

I was playing in Common Ground and we played with Go! and Bad Trip from NYC. At that show the coolest of cool punk rockers and singer for The Wurst, Rob Phelps, told me my BYO shirt was cool. The punkest of the punkers gave me a compliment on my T-shirt. I was floored. You have to understand, getting a compliment from Rob was like getting blood from a rock, nice words did not come easy. His forte was ripping hardcore bands to shreds in his article in the nicepaper. He once wrote that our band "looked retarded" for covering an LL Cool J song, now that I write that, we probably did.

Story #2, I was on Thayer street, walking by In Your Ear, when a dude offered my $20 for the shirt. I thought that was interesting because I bought it for 10 and he could have done the same thing. Plus, what if I went for that deal? Would he have given me his shirt? Would I have had to return home shirtless. I didn’t sell it to him. I thought the guy that made me the offer was the guitar player for Puzzlehead, but looking at the photo on their 7-inch, none of them look familiar except for a very young Ted Leo. These t-shirt Tuesday’s teach me so many interesting things.

Until the next shirt, take a listen to this Bad Trip song