The gospel set last night at the Golden Nugget was so moving. It felt like church, and I mean church in the good way where you feel hopeful about life and inspired and you love everybody. And it was fun, too. Willie doing what he loves, with the family he loves, for fans who love him.
I really did see the light, too.
“Keep an eye out on our posts for a release date! #newrecord #workingoutthedates.”
Micah’s vibrant and colorful Space Gnomes manifest in this poker-sized playing card deck, featuring all original hand-drawn art. The perfect stocking stuffer for the holidays, get your Gnomes here!
Space Gnomes Playing Cards
$10.00
Micah’s vibrant and whimsical Space Gnomes manifest in this deck of poker-sized playing cards, featuring original hand-drawn artwork and characters. The perfect stocking stuffers for the holidays…much better than fruitcake.
SHIPS DECEMBER 4, 2013 Thank you!
The first 200 card decks will be signed and numbered on the packaging. You can purchase signed decks by selecting the other deck in the store. Thanks for supporting the production of the Space Gnomes Playing Cards!
The first 200 card decks will be signed and numbered on the packaging. You can purchase signed decks by selecting the other deck in the store. Thanks for supporting the production of the Space Gnomes Playing Cards!
Halloween show TONITE!
October 31, 2013
The Lyric Theater
520 N. La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, CA
Listen to an exclusive preview of the band’s new album, streaming live at TEAM COCO now.
Team Coco’s “Fresh Noise” is like a secret club with tomorrow’s hot new music, and absolutely no hand stamps. We’re proud to premiere the trippy new self-titled album from retro-psychedelic rockers Insects vs Robots, which won’t be available until Nov. 5th.
You can pre-order Insects vs Robots on InsectsVsRobots.com.
Funded by fans via PledgeMusic.com, the focused but frenzied six-track, self-titled collection is mixed, mastered and almost out the door. All it awaits are the finalization of business details and the completion of band-created multimedia touches that will complete the multi-sensory Insects vs. Robots experience. A limited-edition vinyl pressing will feature original cover art by IvR violinist Nikita Sorokin, band-created artwork, while the digital release will encompass videos inspired by the music. But “right now we are just sending the digital album to industry folks and labels,” says band member J. Micah Nelson.
The new record finds Insects vs. Robots further exploring their musical horizons. The three-part, eleven-minute epic, “Eucatastrophe” exemplifies the band’s creative rekindling. Starting in barefoot acoustic territory, it’s a push-and-pull through feverish peaks and mellow valleys. “I’d originally written it on charango,” Micah says, “then [guitarist] Milo [Gonzalez] ran with it and we brought it to the band. Once everyone gave their input, it became really beautiful.” Actually, most of the songs – like schizophrenic “Time to Rest” and freaky “Fej Gruv” – materialized that way. “Sometimes the foundations or skeletons of our songs just pop up out of the ground during jams or manifest out of thin air like spirits,” Micah says. “We have to catch them and then add the flesh and blood… and get to really know what their souls are.”
Never ones to rest on laurels, Insects vs. Robots also played several shows in New York as preparation for a tour behind the still-unnamed album. Prior to their appearance at Farm Aid 2013 on September 21, IvR played in Port Chester with Willie Nelson (Micah’s father). Afterward, the group planned to play a show or two on their own in NY. They even worked on their days off. “We played on Sirius XM radio,” says Micah of Insects vs. Robots’ appearance on Freewheelin’, which aired September 24 on Sirius XM channel 128, Road Dog Trucking Radio. And in true IvR fashion, “We then busked in Washington Square Park and made new fans/friends.”
Switching coasts, the band headed to California for shows in southern California and a performance at the 27th Annual Bridge School Benefit Concert at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA. Insects vs. Robots will take the side stage at the all-acoustic event on Sunday, October 27 just prior to performances starting on the main stage at 2:00pm. The concert, which will feature Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Queens of the Stone Age, My Morning Jacket, The Killers, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, fun., Heart and Jenny Lewis, benefits the nonprofit school founded by Neil and Pegi Young for children with severe speech and physical impairments
Insects vs. Robots, whose collective talents include illustration, painting, animation, poetry and filmmaking, are also continue to work on a video game – IvR: Tone Quest. In addition, the band is developing ideas for music videos, creating a new t-shirt design from Micah’s illustrations and developing new merchandise to sell at shows.
Insects vs. Robots formed in 2008, immediately birthing “a universe for creative people.” Their sound – a swirling vortex of trippy sounds – acoustic and electric guitars, vocals and vocalizations, bass, violin, percussion and far-out effects – fuels communal, inclusive performances that make instant fans of anyone in attendance.
Insects vs. Robots is Tony “Grandma” Peluso (drums, synths, screams), Milo Gonzalez (electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals, engineering), Jeff “FEJ” Smith (bass, grooves), J. Micah Nelson (charango, guitar, vocals, percussion, vocals, noises, whispers, drums), and Nikita Sorokin (violin, guitar, vocals, whispers, screams).
Micah Nelson and Insects and Robots, at Farm Aid 2013, Saratoga Springs, NY (9/21/13)
For more information, visit www.insectsvsrobots.bandcamp.com.
Rock ‘n’ roll-loving menswear designer John Varvatos is apparently going a little bit country, tapping Willie Nelson and the singer’s two youngest sons, Lukas and Micah Nelson, to be the face of the brand’s fall 2013 advertising campaign.
Shot by photographer Danny Clinch, the campaign images capture the troika of Nelsons in full family portrait mode at the Salisbury House in Des Moines (a ’20s-era Tudor Revival manse built for cosmetics magnate Carl Weeks). Willie is wearing a black, two-button, notch lapel JV “Hampton” tuxedo, a white dress shirt with a wing collar and French cuffs (paired with his own boots, we’re told).
Son Lukas Nelson (in the middle in the above photo) wears a black, one-button, peak lapel “Austin” tuxedo, black, double-breasted vest, a silk, micro-polka-dot scarf and blue velvet boots. Micah Nelson rounds out the sharp-dressed trio in a black, two-button notch lapel “Hampton” suit, black dress shirt, pinstripe vest, silver skinny tie with black and white “Fleetwood” boots.
Varvatos has a long track record of tapping musical talent for his seasonal advertising campaigns (this one, like the last 18, conceived with advertising and branding agency Yard and shot by Clinch), most recently Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and blues singer Gary Clark Jr. (spring 2013), Paul Weller and Miles Kane (fall 2012), Green Day (spring 2012) and the Roots (fall 2011).
The younger Nelsons (whose mother is Willie’s current wife, Annie D’Angelo) have apparently followed their 80-year-old father’s footsteps into the music business, 24-year-old Lukas Nelson with the rock band Promise of the Real and 23-year-old Micah Nelson with the band Insects vs. Robots. (According to Willie Nelson’s official website, Micah also contributed percussion to select tracks on the country star’s latest album, “Let’s Face the Music And Dance.”)
art by J. Micah Nelson
Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real, with Micah Nelson, at TRI Studios.
Cherie from Texas took this great picture.
The new campaign for the John Varvatos brand pairs country music legend Willie Nelson (who recently celebrated his 80th birthday) with his two sons, Lukas and Micah Nelson, also emerging artists.
The black and white images were shot in Des Moines, Iowa, by photographer Danny Clinch at the historic Salisbury House, where the three sharply dressed Nelsons epitomize a stately family portrait.
Nelson is one of the most recognized American singer-songwriter icons as well as a celebrated author, poet, actor and progressive activist. In the late 1960s and early ’70s, Willie was one of the main figures of outlaw country, a subgenre that developed as a reaction to conservative Nashville sound and recorded the critically acclaimed album “Red Headed Stranger.”
He grew up during the Depression, wrote his first song at age seven and joined his first band at 10. In the ’80s, Willie had a series of hit songs including “On the Road Again” and “To all the Girls I’ve Loved Before.” Now based in Austin, Texas, and Maui, Hawaii, Willie is married to Annie D’Angelo, mother of his two youngest sons, Lukas and Micah.
Willie is on a North American tour and gearing up for his annual Farm Aid benefit concert to be held in upstate New York in September. The 24-year-old Lukas Nelson leads the American rock band Promise of the Real and along with brother Micah, they regularly collaborate, tour and perform with their father. Micah Nelson, 23, has his own band Insects vs. Robots and performs acoustically as the Particle Kid.
Willie Nelson says, “John Varvatos and his team are great — his clothes look and feel good on your skin and are made for every man…and his sons.” His son Lukas Nelson adds,”It was a great pleasure to get to know John and hang with him. We all seem to have a similar outlook on life and it was nice to have my whole family together in the same room for this shoot.” His brother Micah Nelson comments, “When you dress sharp in John Varvatos, it’s easy to feel like the biggest gangster badass in the room. It was a special day.”
The full campaign was shot at the 1920s historic museum Salisbury House in Des Moines, Iowa. Known for its outstanding Tudor Revival architecture, rare decorative art, and inspiring landscape, Varvatos felt this location was the perfect backdrop for the campaign’s 3-minute 16-second short film, which premiered JohnVarvatos.com on July 9.
Photographer Danny Clinch adds, “Willie Nelson is classic and timeless. He stands for living your life on your own terms and being respected for it. He will never go out of style. This was yet another great opportunity for our team to work with someone we admire. The shoot showed the strength of the Nelson bond and the film showed the camaraderie and special heartfelt connection between father and sons.”
“In all the iconic music ad campaigns we have shot over the last eight years, I have never been so moved as I was working with Willie Nelson and his sons,” says designer John Varvatos. “Willie is a true American Icon and it runs deep in the bloodline. I am proud to be friends with Willie and his beautiful family.”
In the brand’s Fall 2013 campaign, Willie wears a John Varvatos black “Hampton” two-button notch lapel tuxedo, white French cuff shirt with wing collar, eyewear and his own boots. Lukas wears a John Varvatos black “Austin” one-button peak lapel tuxedo, black double-breasted vest, silk micro-polka-dot scarf, blue velvet boots and eyewear. Micah wears a John Varvatos black “Hampton” two-button notch lapel suit, black dress shirt and pinstripe vest, silver skinny tie with black and white “Fleetwood” boots.
For more information, visit johnvarvatos.com.
Janis and I got to see Micah Nelson and the Insects versus Robots perform three times on our recent adventure: at Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic in Fort Worth, at the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Back Yard, in Austin, and then as part of the Nickel Circus, at the White House Ranch Gallery, in East Austin.
Janis and I flew into Austin for the WN&F show at the Back Yard, after seeing them, in Quataw, OK, and you have to give us credit, it was late, but we wanted to see Micah and his band at the Circus. The gallery was in a neighborhood, it took us a while to find it, but it was worth the search.
There were games and challenges and animal balloons, contortionists, and one act I couldn’t watch, that involved drills and nails and it looked painful.
An insect showed up, but no robots, maybe they came after we left.
At one point, he jumped down and started twisting his body into shapes, amazing the crowd
The world’s most limber guitar player ever and Janis from Texas.
Keep up with the band, find out about their shows and new album at their website:
http://insectsvsrobots.bandcamp.com
Here, they perform Mosquito.
It’s always exciting at the end of a Willie Nelson & Family show when other artists or family members come on stage to sing with the band, and it’s especially fun at the Picnic, when the artists who played during the day sing gospel tunes with Willie, and whatever other songs Willie leads them in. . Some folks had to leave for other shows or other reason, but the stage was full.
Willie Nelson and David Allan Coe
Willie Nelson and Jamey Johnson
photo: Danny Clinch
Willie Nelson has an illustrious resume — music legend, outspoken marijuana advocate, honorary doctor — and now, a model for John Varvatos’ latest campaign, which launched this week. And the designer and Fashion Star mentor has released another batch of photos from the campaign, which will appear in magazines this fall.
photo: Danny Clinch
Willie Nelson and John Varvatos
