February, 2010
We hope everyone had an awesome holiday and that the new year is kicking off the way it you hoped it would. Things have been a bit hectic in gogo-land the past month or two with lots of personal changes and transitions for everyone which has, in turn, taken us away from playing much. Hopefully, the road ahead is straightening and we'll be ready to get down to the business of rocking by the time the weather warms up. The new album was shipped to everyone who pre-ordered at the cd release party, so it should be in your hands by now. We will also have plenty of copies at upcoming shows, including the Common Market on 2/20, Snug Harbor on 3/20 and the Evening Muse in April. The new record will be up on I-tunes, and other digital distribution sites in the next few weeks. You can tune into www.metronetradio.com to hear us, too. Stay tuned! As always, it's gonna be interesting. Cheers! - Jeff
November 3, 2009
OK kids. the new cd is ready to drop! We hope you'll make plans to join us on Friday, November 27th for our official cd release party at the Evening Muse. We'll be playing the early show so family members and friends can come out and celebrate with us. The new songs sound great! We will be putting the final touches and mixing the record over the next few weeks and will upload a few new tracks to whet your appetite. Hold tight! Jeff
June 30th, 2009
Man. thanks to everyone who has come out to our past few shows (Evening Muse, The Money and The Visulite). seems like we have gotten bizzzz-eeee the past few weeks. We have one more next Thursday, July 9th - at Amos' in South End (opening for Last November) then it's back in the studio to finish up the record. The break has been nice. the band is playing great and we're really trying to stay on top of things so that when the record comes out we'll be ready to roll. We're running into a lot of friends and meeting some new folks. That's really kind of what it's all about! I fully expect us to finish up by the end of August and be ready to release it in September when the weather cools off, school is back in and everyone is back from vacation. In the meantime, hope you enjoy the summer! I'm gonna do a lot of skateboarding and work on finishing finish up this bad ass record. See ya soon! Jeff
April 15, 2009
Happy tax day everyone! We decided to book a show a week from Saturday (April 25th) at the Heart and Soul of South End gallery crawl. The event will take place at the corner of Camden Rd. and Park Ave., in the street between the Phat Burrito and the new South End location of the Common market, near Blacksheep and American Appearal. It's also the grand opening night of the new Common Market, which (as everyone knows), is our favorite bodega! We play at 7:00 p.m. and wrap up at 8:00. We'll be debuting a couple of new ones. Come on by and have some micro-brews and check out some art. Gonna be a sweet time. And, oh yeah, IT'S FREE!
April 3, 2009:
Ha ha! Can’t believe we haven’t updated this site in so long… I guess it’s because so much life is happening and the updates have just been pushed aside. It could also be that we are simply slack! The last year has been fairly eventful for all of us… Chris got married, Tom had a beautiful baby, Jeff broke his ankle skateboarding, Reeve became a teacher and Matt… well, Matt got a little older, thank goodness. So, what’s the news??? Well, the news is that we are currently working on our new record! We started back in January, at Joe Kuhlmann’s studio, recording drum and bass tracks (or the “cake” as we like to call it). From there, we are taking the “cake” to Jeff’s studio (Wasteland) where we are adding the guitars, vocals, percussion, ooh’s, ahh’s, etc. (The “icing”). The plan is to finish up mixing back at Joe’s and hopefully have it out early-to-mid summer of ’09. The new record will probably be a nine or ten song affair and it is currently untitled. Hopefully, we’ll think of something clever soon… if not, maybe it will just be called “gogoPilot”. The tracks are sounding awesome and we are very amped about this record. More details to come… check back in a few weeks and hopefully we’ll have a preliminary mix or two up for your listening pleasure. We will return to the stage in June… we didn’t want to book any shows while working on this record, as it usually just delays us getting the final product out. We’ll be back soon with more updates… In the meantime, we’re gonna try to get out and enjoy the weather. You should do the same!
Cheers!
ggP
Bio/HistorygogoPilot is an indie rock/pop outfit from Charlotte, NC. The band formed in 2003, as a mostly acoustic ensemble featuring pretty, melodic songs, eclectic instrumentation such as violin, cello, accordion and lap steel, and the standard bass, guitar and drums. Original influences included a diverse collection of artists, ranging from the Beatles, Burt Bacharach and the Zombies, to modern acts such as Wilco, Guided By Voices and Those Bastard Souls. gogoPilot also mixed post-punk influences like early Echo and The Bunnymen and Lloyd Cole and the Commotions with the political leanings of the Clash thrown in for good measure. The band is the brain-child of singer/songwriter/guitarist Jeffrey Williams, whose past projects have included Lodestar, Iodine and Cellophane.
Though band members have fluctuated in past years, 2005’s six song “maxie-e.p.”, Armageddon Lullabies, was primarily recorded with the help of guitarist and sidekick Chris Ravenscroft, drummer Chad Wilson and bassist Chris Lonnon. Other musicians appearing on the record include Rodney Lanier (on lap steel, accordion and guitar), Ben Kennedy (cello and violin), Vance Carlisle (on piano), Reeve Coobs (on vocal harmonies) and Chris Walldorf (percussion). Produced by wunderkind Joe Kuhlmann, the result is a c.d. that features strong song writing, melodic instrumentation and introspective songs about everything form the current political environment to very adult problems such as alcoholism, the drudgery of working life, relationships falling apart, and people-watching in an Italian train station…
In mid-2006, gogoPilot shifted artistic directions. Williams’ songwriting drifted back to the familiar power pop/indie rock terrain of his former band, Lodestar.
Released in July of 2007, the band's second studio album, "Mañana, mon frère", (Tomorrow, my brother) was recorded in Williams’ home studio (Wasteland). Williams is also filling his time playing the role of producer for Reeve Coobs' debut solo recording, which is due out in 2007. (Coobs is a member of gogoPilot as well as one of Charlotte’s most popular female folk outfits, The Near Misses.)
gogoPilot’s current line-up is Williams on guitar and vocals, gogoPilot veteran Chris Ravenscroft on guitars and Tom Stanfel (formerly of Static and Clifton) on drums and percussion. Matt Mangum joined the band on bass in 2007. Reeve Coobs plays piano, percussion and provides harmony vocals with the band.
