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Finally feeling back to normal. I wanted to kill everyone, and I promise they wanted to kill me back. I am THE WORST sick person ever. My mother can attest. I am just the worst! It was a really rough 4 days. I was so sick and miserable that I barely remember them. What I do remember is that my eyes were so watery, I had to play the show in Cleveland with my eyes closed the entire time. I wanted to make sure I apologized to the two guys that said they were from Atlanta. I felt like I blew you off and I'm so sorry. I was just so completely out of it. Thank you so much for coming! I also wanted to thank one of the sweetest people ever. BUFFALO BOB! He was morally supporting me on the side of the stage all night. He gave me a very thoughtful gift and one of the sweetest notes I've ever read. Thank you so much for the reminder of why I do this job in the first place! Everyone here thanks you so much for your support. I am so happy you were able to make it to the show. 

Over the course of the next couple of days we apparently played a few more shows that I really can't remember. I was sleeping every chance I got, (during drives, during soundcheck, in between songs, during our set etc) and also taking fair amounts of DayQuil. I would also like to give a shout out to the creators of 5 hour energy, ibuprofen, singers remedy throat spray, afrin, tissues, and green machine naked juice. All of which, I would not have made it through without. Thank you. 

I learned that neck pillows are completely uncomfortable and useless for me! However, I did find that if you are a forward/stomach sleeper like myself. They come in handy if you take a normal pillow and place the neck pillow on top. You can stick your face in the neck pillow almost like a massage table. This makes it able for you to breathe and it also keeps hair and light out of your eyes. I'm such a genius! 

It's sort of like this...

Here is my favorite ad in sky mall.  

... and I want one.

Our trailer is falling apart for real. The welded on fender came off as a repercussion of the trailer flipping accident that happened when the tour started. The sides are protruding out because 50% of the screws that hold it together have fallen out. Not to mention, we have trash bags covering all the cracks and holes so things don't get wet. Touring in the Winter is so much fun. We look so ghetto. 

We haven't had a day off in a while. We have been driving about 6-7 hours and playing shows everyday for the last week. 

Wish I had a hot tub. 

Robbie.

I'll start out by saying that we were lucky enough to fly across the country to start the tour in Boston. We have to thank our amazing tour manager, Jerry, for spending 4 days driving the van and trailer so we didn't have to do it for the billionth time. 

It's the first tour we have started where I wasn't already completely exhausted on the first show day. This was such a huge luxury. Thank you Jerry!

With the exception of two of the most poorly behaved children I've ever seen, directly behind me, screaming and kicking my seat for the entire ride, it would have been a fine journey. We made it safe and sound to Boston. Our hotel was completely booked so we were unfortunately stuck in the last remaining smoking room. So much for my tide, mountain fresh laundry... now cigarette fresh. 

It was neither here nor there once we played Boston. Our tour posters arrived and they look awesome!! 

Our first show was sold out and we had such a great time. Thank you Boston for always being so good to us! 

The next day we drove up to Portland. We had never played in Maine before, but the Portland crowd was wonderful. We can't wait to come back. 

On the drive to Burlington today, I made a lame imovie video about green rooms. 

Enjoy! 

In case you missed us on The Tonight Show this week, here we are with a little help from our friends. 

CLICK HERE TO WATCH

So much driving. 

Utah to Vancouver. 

Spent my birthday in Vancouver again. We got a lesson in sword fighting.

Vancouver to Seattle. 

Seattle to San Francisco. 

Sold out show in San Fran tonight! Homeward bound tomorrow! yay!!

We had a great time in Minneapolis. Thank you so much to those of you who brought us DVDs. We now have a giant bag in the van. It felt like Christmas. 

We left Minneapolis and made our way back to Chicago to catch a Bulls/Magic game. 

I bought a pair of gloves. Then I lost them. They were fingertip-less. They were awesome. So bummed.

Today we drove 5 hours to St. Louis. 

Now we are here. Now we play. Tomorrow is Kansas. 

Ann Arbor!!!! Holy cow! We did not expect that at all! A million thanks. 

Definitely made up for the super sketch green room. 

I really need to get a panoramic function for my phone. You guys really aren't getting the full 'green room' experience here. I've been debating uploading videos of full venue/green room walk throughs.  

After the show we drove straight to Chicago. After about 4 glorious hours of sleep we woke up to play the WGN morning show. 

Currently back stage at The Lincoln Theater in Chicago. One of the nicest green rooms and venues we have seen on this tour. Cleanliness goes such a long way! 

SOLD OUT SHOW tonight! Here we go Chicago... Lets do it.

Hi mom. Hi dad. miss you. xo

The sold out Bowery show in New York was amazing!

Thank you New York! We won't forget this one! 

Green Rooms...

Philadelphia. Graham is not the only exhausted one in this photo. Can you find Robbie?

FYI *Green rooms are dark and I don't have a flash on my phone, therefore.... some of these pictures are not ideal. 

Exhibit A. Boston.

Going on soon here... 

watching The World Series before we play. Go Giants! ;)

OH MY WORD! THAT IS WHAT A CROWD IS ALL ABOUT! 

Despite all of the technical difficulties and unexpected improvisation we had to do last night, you guys made it one hell of a show. Thank you for showing up early, standing in the cold, showing optimal support and being so phenomenal. We won't forget this one!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

So... I'm sick again. Some kind of cold virus I think. ...The watery eyes (basically just looks like I'm perpetually crying) , runny nose, tickle in your throat kind of thing. Certainly not the least bit annoying.

Dad, I know your'e reading this and I know you are probably shaking your head right now. 

First of all... Yes, I have been taking my vitamins and second of all... I HAVE been eating my greens. 

Unfortunately, I haven't been fortunate enough to get adequate sleep in a while. Some of the questionable places we've been sleeping doesn't do much to help either. Robbie and I were lucky enough to get, what I'm pretty sure was, the only 'smoking' room that existed at the super 8 the other night. 

Great sleep for the vocalist for sure. The yellow tinted pillows were a nice touch as well. They really outdid themselves with the stale raisin bran and rock hard biscuits at the continental breakfast the next morning. Mostly I'm just super(8) excited that all of my belongings smell like cigarette smoke now. 

Anyhow, enough fun. 

Lets catch up. 

We were in Austin for about 3 days. We played an amazing show with The Civil Wars at Stubbs. 

This was the first green room we have seen all tour and we were completely spoiled. It really made me want to tour with The Civil Wars again. 

Even though our green room was more of a general seating/lounge area for everyone that worked there, we still had a refrigerator with food in it, a couch to sit on, and a TV . So exciting!

The show was fabulous. The crowd was huge. Thank you to The Civil Wars for having us back for this special show. 

After Austin, we had a 10 hour drive day and stopped in New Orleans for the night. Just enough time to grab some gumbo for dinner, a beignet for dessert, and about 6 hours of sleep that night. 

The next day we made our way to Mobile Alabama. We stopped by the local radio station for an acoustic session at 92Zew and played a show at the Music Box that night. It was a pretty good turn out for a place we have never been to. Very cute town too. Maybe youve heard of it. It's home to a very popular leprechaun...

see this youtube video for further explanation....

The next day we drove to Nashville, played an acoustic set for lightning 100, played an in-store acoustic set at Grimeys record store, and a show at 'The High Watt' that night. 

Forgot to grab a picture of the green room last night, but I promise you weren't missing much.

Super exhausting day in Nashville, and seeing it through don't go chasing waterfall eyes was all the more exhilarating. Wish we could have stayed longer. Honestly, we all love Nashville so much. If you've never been, please do NOT look to the new show, 'Nashville', for an accurate representation. It couldn't be more contrary. Nashville is wonderful. I suggest seeing it for yourself. 

After another fabulous 5 hours of sleep last night we drove South for Birmingham. 

It's been a year since we have been here and it is great to be back. We spent a lot of time in Birmingham the last time we were here. It holds a very special place in our hearts. 

I am currently backstage at what is probably our first official green room. Get excited. They do it a little differently here in Birmingham. 

They also give you free socks and bug spray. Welcome to the South.

Now that you are up to speed dad, I'm going to stop typing and take some more vitamins. I'll have to have someone proof read this for me though, since I've been typing this with my eyes closed the whole time. 

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the common cold? Time for me to use my neti pot again. 

Mom, I want nothing more than to curl up in bed with you, read people magazines, watch the E channel, drink tea and gossip. Miss you guys! Can't wait to come home for the Holidays. 

talk soon. 

- congested and cranky Marlana 

We have started our 6 week adventure across the country. The first two stops included Tucson and Tempe Arizona. As promised… I will be including the segment ‘Tonights Greene Room’ in this tours blog posts.

These first two shows were pretty easy. See below.

What you see here is the inside of our van. I’ve become quite the expert at quick changes in the back seat. Though I did realize after our show in Tucson that I had my shirt on backwards the whole night. ;)

Two shows down and no green rooms yet. We did get a case of water though!

On the upside, we are back at our favorite hotel in Phoenix. It’s definitely a stop we always look forward to. Today is a day off. We are soaking up the sun before it goes away and we start to enter into the Fall weather. I’m actually looking forward to wearing a coat.

Tomorrow we start on our trip to Dallas. ah… road life.

Dallas was wonderful. Definitely one of my favorite shows this run. After the show we had a self induced photo shoot on the back patio of The Granada Theater. 

We heard there was a bar across the street with a pool, so of course we had to check it out. It was quite the establishment. They had one of those digital jukeboxes, so Robbie put in a few bucks. He searched for us for the hell of it and low and behold… there we were, right before our eyes. It’s a pretty cool sight to see your own music so accessible like that. Honestly, it was a little emotional. Everyone was a few drinks deep at this point, so having the opportunity to play our own record in a random bar in Dallas, Texas sounded like the best idea ever. As soon as “What’s The Matter” started, Robbie shouted at the top of his lungs, several times, “This is my band!… This is my band!” 

He definitely got a few disconcerting looks…. but we didn’t care, we thought it was awesome. I can promise that we won’t forget our time in Dallas.

Yesterday we drove to Austin for our day off. We wanted to experience the city without the craziness of SXSW. Last night we got to be something we rarely get to be… an audience member. We attended a Beach House show at Stubbs, a venue we were fortunate enough to play the last time we were here, and afterwards walked two blocks over and watched our friends from LA, White Arrows. 

We had a great time in Austin. Today we head to Houston. 

Only two shows left with The Walkmen. :(

Excited for New Orleans though!!

So far so great. Another tour, another date. 

Tonight is Orange county. I cant wait! 

Had a blast at the JJ Redick foundation golf tournament this weekend in Roanoke, Virginia. Here are some pictures from the trip.

 

Today we released the official video for ‘Perfectly Aligned’.

……………

The last few days have been busy, to say the least. I haven’t had time to give an update until now. 

Oh hey!

18 days left until the album release... and we are doing something really special with the pre-order.

You can preorder the CD, Digital or Vinyl and pick up an exclusive poster with select packages. 

All of the pre-orders on the Milo Greene webstore include instant mp3 downloads of "1957" and "Don't You Give Up On Me"

Just go here http://store.warnermusic.com/milo-greene

We are beyond excited and anxious for you all to hear what has been two years in the making. 

Thank you so much for all of your support over the last year! 

Hope to see you all this summer!  http://www.milogreene.com/live ;)

big smooch, 

Marlana

(photo via Daouda Leonard)

Well, you don't see that every day! 

6/16/12 - Make Music Pasadena 

What. A. Day. 

Phoenix was so hot! Unfortunately, the air conditioning in the rear of the van does not work... so... if you're in the back it gets a little toasty.

Really fun show that night. Great White Russians too! ;)

We couldn't have been happier that the hotel we stayed at that night not only had beds for us all, but a water park as well. Seriously.... a water park called 'The Oasis'!

BIG thank you to Robbies dad for the amazing hook up there! It was definitely nice to experience some luxury after a night of couch surfing in San Diego. 

Here is a video of Graham and Robbie enjoying the water slide at 'The Oasis'....

.... Wedgie City!

On our way to Denver we made a detour to The Grand Canyon. Now that's what being on tour is all about! 

Here we are again. After a brief hiatus, we are back on the road. The trailer has new wheel wells... Yay! The little things in life. 

Last night we played UC Riverside. We felt a little rusty since it was our first show in a while, but we still had a blast. Gardens and Villa rocked it! They are the nicest of guys too. 

Today we drove to Santa Barbara. Currently sitting at the bar in the venue we are playing tonight (Soho) ... waiting for the clippers game to start. Game two baby! We love our B-ball! 

So excited for this tour. For some of these shows, we are the headliners. Woot woot. There are definite perks to being the headliner. 

Perk one...

You can get to the venue early, have an extended sound check (give yourself lots of verb), and lots of time to make the stage look awesome. Like this... 

Perk two...

The green(e) room... filled with lovely refreshments catered to our liking. 

I. Could. Get. Used. To. This. 

If you don't receive our news letters, you might not have seen this yet...

July 17th! Can't wait!  

This week we announced a bunch of Summer tour dates.

We also announced that we will be playing Lollapalooza!

Make sure to grab your tickets! See you soon!

For the where and when details... Visit:

http://www.milogreene.com/live

...We run errands. 

Today we got Bruce a smog check!

Passed with flying colors!

I also got a free Shasta Cola! Win Win! 

It is currently 3:30am here in Austin. We just got back to the hotel. This was definitely one of the longest days ever. South By is just as crazy as I had anticipated. I'm writing this blog post, not because I got a second wind, but because (super anticlimactic)... I'm waiting for my hair to dry. My dad always told me never to go to bed with a wet head. He said I would get sick. Not sure how that works, but regardless, I always listen to my dad.

Unfortunately, if you're a girl, then you know how long it takes, and how annoying it is to wait for your hair to dry. I'd use a dryer, but the boys are trying to sleep (super courteous right?).  :P    We have to get up in another 5 hours and do it all again. I'm total zombie status right now. Can't tell you my right from my left. The days are all a blur. 

Here is a quick recap of the last couple days....

Yesterday... we did things that you do at South By... 

now on to the good stuff...

After we finished our South By deeds for the day, we booked it to San Antonio where we saw The Spurs vs The Magic (those are basketball teams... for those of you who aren't well versed in matters regarding The National Basketball Association). Admission was free thanks to JJ Redick. He reached out to us a couple months ago via Twitter. Him and his wife are big fans of the band (Twitter is crazy/all things amazing for this reason). It felt like Christmas. We were all so giddy and excited. We Milo's love our basketball!

... Our seats were something pretty wonderful. What. A. Guy.!!!! Thanks again JJ!! ... and thank you Twitter. 

I can't even begin to explain how exhausting today was. South By Southwest is complete chaos. People, music and food are everywhere. I. Mean. Everywhere. 

I'd go into more detail but it's not really necessary. Just think of a time you were the most exhausted you've ever been and a time when you were in a very crowded place. This is how I feel. This is what South By is like.

In any case... we are still enjoying our experience. Looking forward to tomorrow/today.

I should really utilize the 5 hours of sleep that I am allotted tonight. I'm delirious. 

Sweet dreams Austin! 

First day of travel today. We made about 11 hours of progress. Pretty painless. Still no running lights or wheel well on the trailer. Can't believe we haven't gotten pulled over yet. We did eat dinner at Sizzler though...

this is what happens in the van sometimes...

I feel pretty bad for not updating the blog over the past week, but you must know that the schedule has been absolutely crazy. I will recap the series of events starting from where we left off. 

……

We played ‘The High Dive’ in Seattle on Wednesday. Prior to the show, we got an invite (via Twitter) to have dinner with a few gals who lived down the street. We quickly accepted their food and new found friendship and ended up enjoying a wonderful salmon dinner that they had prepared for us. Their hospitality was unreal. The after show bon fire with smores made for a night we will never ever forget! Thank you to all the ladies at ‘The White House’ for welcoming us into your home! We hope to see you next time we are back in Seattle. Oh the power of twitter…

…..

Next day was Portland. I’ll admit, we were a little skeptical about the venue when we walked in. It was a restaurant by day, bar/music venue by night. As we ate our free (delicious) sandwiches, we watched them assemble the stage that we would play on. I have to say that it was unbelievable to see that people had actually come out to see us play music. Complete strangers. It was blowing my mind. The energy was great and so was the venue. The Bunk Bar was definitely a pleasant surprise, and Portland was such a pleasure to play for. 

After the show, I took the night shift and drove for a few hours to get started on our long drive to Sacramento. We pulled into Eugene around 3am, got about 4 hours of sleep and took off early the next morning for Sacramento.  

Sacramento…

It was great to be back in Sacramento. Andrew and I have spent a lot of time both living and playing music there. It holds a special place in our hearts. It was great to see some familiar faces and to be back in the city of trees!

We played in San Francisco the next night!

Wow! The sold out crowd at ‘the brick and mortar’ was more than memorable and humbling for us. Our minds could not believe that there were over 300 people that came out to see us… some of which were actually singing along. The energy was unbelievable. We had smiles on our faces the whole time we played. Thank you so much San Fran for a wonderful night. It couldn’t have been a better evening!

We are finally back in LA. But not for long. 

Last night we payed the first night of our residency at The Satellite. The turnout was great! Thanks to everyone for coming out and supporting. We will see you next monday. 

Tomorrow we head to San Diego. The fun just never stops!

-marlana

We are just about finished up here at Bear Creek and are about to hit the road back down to LA for our residency. 

Be sure to come see us while we travel down the coast.

Click on the live tab to see tour dates, locations and tickets. 

Hope to see you there!

We have now moved on to the mixing phase. When doing this… it’s best to get the control room as vibey as possible. This includes… lava lamps, lit crystals, and candles galore. The darker the better really.

This is a little clip to show you just how we like it. All you can make out are the little numbers and dials on all of the equipment. Perfect for music mixing!

We have the weekend off here at Bear Creek and it's snowing! We couldn't be happier to have such a beautiful scenery to look at while we are all cozy inside this magical music barn. 

Recording has been going really well so far. The days are very long and busy... so it's hard to give periodic updates, but I will do my best to keep you up to speed (okay mom?).

The process of recording music is something I think the average person has not the slightest clue about. They find it hard to understand why it takes so long and all that is involved in the process...which is totally understandable... it's quite the process. It's a complete headache to my parents whenever I try to explain it to them. But what matters is the end result. If I'm happy, then you'll be happy... I think... I hope! 

Being in a band isn't as carefree as it sounds. There is a constant pressure to do well that lingers on the mind of a musician 24/7. At the end of the day, all we want is to share a little piece of what makes us happy with others. It's funny though, the more our audience grows, the more pressure I feel to captivate. It's really a terrible way to look at it, but I am a complete stress freak, so these things are perpetually on my mind. 

There is a pressure to do well, a pressure for people to accept the music, a pressure to make an actual living doing this, and always... a pressure to make our families proud. :)

These, of course, are all pressures that we (maybe just me) put completely on OURSELVES! It's so silly, but music really scares the hell out of me sometimes. Think about it. You are really putting yourself out there. It's slightly terrifying. Here I am on my laptop, writing to a few people on our little blog. These few people reading may have actually made some kind of connection to our music. Enough of a connection to actually want to read about updates on our band! This blows my mind! Another kicker is finding youtube videos of people covering a song that we wrote in the living room of our tiny apartment!

Songs are funny. They are personal feelings or convictions and experiences about your life that you put out into the world, in hopes that by some diminutive chance there are a few people who might actually like to hear it, or might relate to it, or connect to it in some way. It is so crazy! I mean, everyone has those songs. Songs that really affect you emotionally or bring you back to a specific point or place in time. The power of music is amazing this way. That's why we all want to make it. The idea that someone could be affected by your music is such a trip. 

I'm trying to calm myself down here. Knowing that we will be putting this record out into the the world soon is freaking me out to the max!

I just want people to fall in love with what we have dedicated the last two years of our lives to. Of course there will always be those who critique it for the worse and who don't connect, but we can't win them all. All we can do is make the best music that we possibly can. How the world will perceive it is completely unknown. This is the scary part. 

But blah blah blah... knowing that making music is my stress in life right now makes me feel completely lame. I've got it good. No, I've got it great! So much to be thankful for. 

Sorry for the rant. Less verbiage in the next post I assure you. 

I'll leave you with a song that always makes my heart hurt... in such a good way.

cheers!

-Marlana 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAePJ3cpmn8

After a much needed holiday break, we are happy to be back at Bear Creek!

First day...

we did some tracking....

then we played some Cranium...

(this is Curtis' attempt at drawing vitamins???!!)

...not bad for the first day!

You've seen '1957' in a cave... now see 'Silent Way'

The last few days have been pretty crazy. We are winding down the tour and our bodies can definitely feel it! We are all pretty exhausted. It was a struggle for me to get through a couple of the last shows. I was fighting a pretty nasty infection. A trip to the urgent care , a prescription for antibiotics, and a full day of rest was all I needed and we were back on the road.

Today we enjoyed a lovely lunch with the Civil Wars crew. We had an epic leaf fighting battle afterwards on the Agnes Scott campus. We were stopped short when Joy realized her wedding ring was missing from her finger. 
12 people, 3 hours and 2 metal detectors later… Still no ring! We felt awful. That’s what you get for having fun apparently!

Every night our dressing room/green room is completely different. Sometimes it’s a small room with a couch, and other times its non existent. The Norva in Norfolk was one of the most awesome and unique ones yet! Not only did our room have all these fun toys in it, but we arrived early that day because we heard the venue had an indoor basketball court and a jacuzzi! We absolutely took advantage of both of these amenities. 
We had a great show that night and met so many nice people. It was Grahams birthday that day, and I’m pretty sure it will live as a memorable one for him!

Last night we played in Charlottesville, Virginia. Another wonderful audience! One of the highlights of the night was the fabulous crepe spot called ‘The Flat’, located right outside the Jefferson theatre! I think they were the best crepes we have ever had! The crepes alone will guarantee our return!

Long drive to Charlotte, North Carolina today! :)

I keep telling myself not to blog at night, because typically I’m half asleep, with one eye open and making foolish errors with homophones (like spelling idol and not idle or symbol, not cymbal).
The realization of my stupidity doesn’t come until the next morning when I decide to proof read it then, hours later, preying (intentional pun) that only a few people were up as god awful late as I was to catch my epic fail at the English language. I keep telling myself I’m not that illiterate, but who knows, maybe I am. Maybe I’m just not reading enough these days and I’m off my game.

I’m often told it’s bad to point out your flaws to others. I do it all the time. I think people find pleasure in other people’s stupidity, so I tend to share to get a laugh… At least from good friends.

I’m so tired right now, I don’t even know if what I just said made any sense. Oh well, guess I’ll find out in the morning.

We finally drove a day without snow today! We made it through the top of Texas and through Arkansas.

Todays highlights include:
1) Our first time at a Cracker Barrel! Oh man oh man where have you been all of my life?! Our service was unreal. That good old southern hospitality never seems to let me down. It’s good to be back in the south.
2) the first exercise room we have seen in days! I was beginning to feel that weakness you get in your legs… like when you’ve been sick and in bed for days, then when you get up it feels like you can’t even stand. Maybe I sound delirious, but this analogy makes perfect sense to me.

I should get some sleep now.
Really long day ahead of us tomorrow. About 15 hours. Lets hope it goes smoothly.
Goodnight.
- Marlana

Annnnd…… We’re back!

After a much needed break, we are back on the road! This morning we left for the East coast again. Graham has some scheduling conflicts and has to take a flight out to meet us. How convenient! :P

So, currently occupying the van is Andrew, Robbie, Curtis and myself. We are taking a different route this time around. Todays drive spanned the length of Arizona. This desert drive is absolutely beautiful. I was really dreading spending the next four days doing nothing but driving, but today’s drive was quite pleasurable. If you have any emotional bone in your body, then you know that driving in the rain is one of the best ways possible to listen to music. That, and the beautiful desert scenery made it one of the best music listening experiences I’ve had in a while.

We are currently stuck in Arizona just outside of Flagstaff. We have been stuck in a line of traffic for almost an hour. We are going crazy. We have no idea why we are stopped. We are all starving and have to pee. There are no signs of this line moving anytime soon. It. just. started. to. snow. :S … Day 1.

Check us out this week in Entertainment Weekly! Pg 72

This was a complete surprise to us, and we are so excited! Yay!

*Updates about the last few shows coming soon!

If you haven’t seen this yet, check out the acoustic version of ‘1957’ we did with “In The Open”.

Indianapolis was loads of fun. Graham expressed his love for the Pacers and won the hearts of a fair few in the audience. A really nice guy introduced himself to me after the show and told me I had a great handshake! Ding ding ding! Jackpot! This honestly made my night! If you know me, then you know how seriously I take my handshakes… and you know how overly excited I would get if someone actually took the time to tell me that mine was of grade A caliber.

You can tell a lot about a person from their handshake. It took a couple ex boyfriends and a couple wrong handshakes to my father for me to understand its complexity. Nothing irks me more than a dead fish. It’s just the worst!! Here are a couple guidelines I use…

1. Make it firm, but not too firm… I’d like to keep my fingers please

2. Don’t linger too long (if you do… it just gets weird)

3. Eye contact!

Too much to ask for? I don’t think so.

All handshakes aside… Indy, you were fabulous! We can’t wait to come back!

…………………………..

Chicago was a whirlwind! Andrew and Graham found other sleeping arrangements in the city which left room in the budget to upgrade a little on our hotel.

If you have ever used Priceline before, then you know how great it can be and also how terrifying it can be. When naming your own price, you have no idea where you will end up. You submit your offer and they just place you in any hotel they have available that matches your specifications. We ended up a bit further away from downtown then we would have liked, but our accommodations were pretty radical! The Hyatt Regency certainly had its pro’s and con’s. Pros… the unbelievable fitness room that I never wanted to leave, the pretty lobby, the lovely bar/bar tender Gabriel (who is the man!) and the complementary toothpaste. Cons…. nothing is free. In fact, they charge you for just about everything you can imagine. I don’t even know how I’m typing this blog right now because they charge for internet. I must be picking up someones wifi in another room. They charged me $5 for a chapstick downstairs. Breakfast here will run about $20. Even a banana from the little market cost me $2. Insane if you ask me. The weirdest part of all was that this is a massive hotel (feels like a compound) geared towards business people. So picture this… me, marlana, walking around this gigantic hotel in my PJ’s with my $30 coffee, no make-up and bright blue kswiss tennis shoes, surrounded by sophisticated business people in perfectly placed skirts and suits rushing to meetings and talking about stocks, plate tech tonics and god knows what else. It’s safe to say I got a few looks.

If you ask me… I think I prefer the Best Westerns of the world. I’ll take free wifi, free breakfast and a single treadmill over a fancy lobby or complex fitness room any day. It’s the simple things in life…

We did have a great view though!

(The bar in the Hyatt. Chattin it up with Gabriel)

…………………

The Show at the Vic was so much fun! What a great crowd! Again, Graham showed his support (this time for the Bulls). He busted out his jersey, slyly hidden beneath his normal show attire, when we played ‘Chicago’. We were so excited to finally play that song in this city! You guys were wonderful! Thanks for making us feel so welcome here!

(soundcheck. view from behind the drum kit via curt)

(Graham and I on merch duty)

Last night Graham’s folks took us to a fabulous Mexican restaurant and treated us to a show at Second City! You have to love when parents are in town! Thank you so much Marty and Aimee for a wonderful time!

I apologize for the length of this blog. The intensity of the coffee here at the Hyatt has me completely wired. Think I’ll hit the gym one more time before I crash!

See you in Milwaukee tonight!

* disclaimer - please excuse my grammatical errors and run on sentences. I know they exist. Too lazy to fix.

Marlana here.
If you’ve been keeping up with the blog, then you might remember me mentioning once that I am the one who writes the blog posts. It’s kind of the duty I’ve bestowed upon myself. I let the boys handle twitter. I find myself needing more than 150 characters most days.
I’m still battling with whether or not I should be writing in first or third person. Today I thought I’d go first. Mainly because I wanted to share about an email I got from my mother.

There is no question that my parents are overwhelmed with excitement about this tour… They have been the most supportive parents any child could ask for. They even learned how to use the Internet, just so they could read the comments on our Facebook page!

…But parents will be parents, and no matter how well you are doing in the world, they will always make sure to tell you about the areas that need room for improvement.
This week, my mother emailed me telling me she really enjoys the blog posts. However, (and there’s always a however) I use the word ‘amazing’ too often. She proceeded to send me a list of synonyms, of which I’m sure she looked up in her thesaurus. Thanks mom! You’re always lookin’ out for me! Everyone says hi to you and dad! love you and miss you guys!

On another note, I wanted to update about the last couple of shows….

Toronto was amazing! Michigan, you were amazing! We met some amazing people and had an amazing time. Meeting so many new people is definitely one of the most amazing parts of this tour. Simply can’t explain how AMAZING it has been!… ;)

… I should be expecting an email from them now with the subject line reading ‘smart ass’ :P

Its been a busy last few days! It has been nearly impossible to update the blog until now.

Lets begin where we left off.

Philly…

(photo cred: @Junberi via twitter)

The Trocadero was an unbelievable crowd. Seriously so good. The energy in that room was undeniable. We were in love with Philly!

We left early the next day for THE BIG APPLE! That city surely knocked the wind out of us. Two shows in two days there. So much excitement we were exhausted. Here are a couple pictures of the madness at the merch table after our set at Town Hall. CD’s were selling so fast, we ended up assembling them as we were selling them. We learned that next time we needed to have more prepared, but the chaos was pretty exciting.

We said goodbye to New York and headed to Boston. The Berklee Performance Center was beautiful. Big thanks to the crew there! You guys were amazing!

We thought for sure we had made plenty of CD’s for this show, but there was more madness at the merch table that night. We ran out of CD’s within minutes and so we feverishly assembled more throughout the night.

twitpic via @erochellem

These last few shows have been absolutely unreal! We can’t thank The Civil Wars enough for taking us on this tour with them. Our minds are blown every night that we get to perform for so many amazing people!!

(photo via Thomas Haydon)

DC! Wow! You guys were unbelievable. We were in disbelief when you gave us a standing ovation. You don’t see that too often for an opening act. We couldn’t believe our eyes! Thank you so much for being such an amazing audience. We can’t wait to come back!

Special thanks to Wayne for snagging the necklace that night! What a guy!

(photo cred… amillionparachutes via twitter)

Here we are in the middle of Chinatown at the Trocadero in Philadelphia. So excited for tonights show. Lets see what this city of ‘brotherly love’ can show us!

Earlier today we did a little acoustic rooftop set for the interns at NPR. Thanks so much for having us!

We spent the day as tourists in DC yesterday. I think we could have spent a week walking through all of the amazing museums alone! Needless to say… we all feel very patriotic at the moment.

Currently sitting back stage in the dressing room at the Lincoln Theater. So excited to play here tonight and be back on the road with The Civil Wars.

Tomorrow we make our way to Philadelphia! Bring on the cheese steaks!

Our last day in Nashville, we met up with the folks from Grouplove and enjoyed just about the most amazing lunch we have ever had… EVER! ‘Monells’ was beyond amazing… Family style food like we have never experienced. We all sat at a large oval shaped wooden table… the Grouplove crew, the Milo crew, and a couple strangers (At Monell’s, you are likely to dine with people you have never met… part of the beauty I like to think). You take a seat, and they start to feed you…. then they feed you some more, and they feed you some more. You eat until you can’t eat no more! It works like this.. They bring one giant bowl of amazingness at a time, (cornbread casserole, biscuits to die for, baked apples, stuffing, mac and cheese, fried chicken, apple pie… the list goes on for days) and you take some and pass it down the table. It felt like Thanksgiving! We were never in short supply. If it looked as if we were running low on something, they just brought us another gigantic bowl of it! We stuffed ourselves to the max! This home cooked meal was made to perfection and fit for a king! I don’t think anyone can say they have truly experienced Nashville unless they have dined at Monell’s. Simply to die for!!!

Later we….

And after that we…

(insert picture of burger and sweet potato fries) :P

…We said adios to Nashville the next morning.

………………..

Atlanta came and went far too quickly. We had no idea how absolutely beautiful it was there.

Thank you so much, Midge, for putting us up in your home that night and feeding us more home style cooking to die for (mashed potatoes, chicken, pork, beets, veggies etc.).

Even the venue fed us that night (rice, chicken, veggies, cookies… and in the green room… chips, cereal, donuts etc)!!! Are you starting to understand why this blog post is titled “The Get Fat Tour?” … It only gets worse I promise.

The show was great that night! We had so much fun in ‘Hell’ with The Belle Brigade and Grouplove at the Masquerade in Atlanta.

Those of you who purchased Milo sweatshirts looked smashing! Those things are selling like hotcakes! An enormous thank you goes out to those of you who came to see us that night. We were so humbled to meet all of you!

While the rest of the crew called it a night after the show, Marlana and Graham took to the W hotel and got their dance party on with the Grouplove gang. Fun doesn’t even begin to describe this night! We hope those guys have an amazing rest of their tour! We love you and will see you back in LA soon!

…….

The following day we made our way to Greenville, South Carolina to stay with Robbies grandma or as we all call her… Nana!

Nana is unbelievable and that is all you need to know!

I’m scared to tell you how much food we have eaten here in only one day!

Living in California comes with a pretty serious price tag. We have all momentarily considered moving to Greenville. Here’s why…

………………..

We will be spending the next few days with Nana in Greenville until we hit the road again with the Civil Wars. From then on it’s a non stop journey until we make our way back to the West Coast! We simply cannot wait!

See you all soon!

It has been a very interesting 5 day adventure getting out to Alabama the last few day, but we made it! We are so excited for our first show tonight at the Alabama Theatre in Birmingham, with the Civil Wars. We went to see Death Cab For Cutie at the venue last night and… wow, just wow! We were all giddy as ever walking around this beautiful and historic venue.

We feel so lucky to be living the lives that we do, that we wanted to find a way to give back to the community and to those less fortunate. Along with some awesome new merch for this tour, we will also be selling something very special and unique. For every show of this tour, Marlana will be wearing a necklace made of recycled drum cymbals (graciously donated by Chime Designs). She will wear that necklace during the show and will be selling it afterwards for $50.

100% of these proceeds will go to a local LA charity, A Place Called Home. It is an amazing organization that provides a safe haven for underprivileged kids to get involved in programs related to the arts and education.

Each necklace is individually crafted and unique. There will be only one sold per show. If you feel so inclined to help us help this amazing charity, all it takes is to walk up to Marlana after the show and say you would like to purchase it. She will be wearing it until someone buys it! Lets give back!

We can’t wait to see all of your faces this Fall! Here…. We…. Goooooooo!!!!

Laurel, Montana.

Didn’t think we’d be spending as much time there as we did.

After filling up, nearly an entire day, yesterday with many failed attempts at trying to get the trailer lights situation fixed, we were beyond bummed when Ford broke the news to us that they needed to keep the car overnight :(

An entire day of travel lost!

We went nearly 50ft from the Ford spot and got ourselves a room at the Best Western. It was 5:00pm. What the hell was there to do in Laurel, Montana?

We were all throughly upset about the loss of travel time and we all felt, in a way, defeated. We knew there was really only one thing to do…

Go bowling, eat terribly amazing food and get drunk!

Laurel, you treated us well! We had an amazing time last night.

Bowling Alley: Onion rings, sweet potato fries, spicy chicken wings that really made us break a sweat, and serious/not so serious game faces.

Moving right along… Spotted a sign for $3 margaritas at a bar across the way.
All. Over. It.
Katie, the bar tender, said our skinny jeans and leathery shoes gave away the fact that we were out of towners. The only other two gents in attendance at the bar questioned the 4 guys to one gal ratio. Katie suspected, we must be a band.

Thank you Katie, for the best strawberry/coconut (pun master Graham coined the term ‘stro-co-nut’, Though Katie definitely took it as ‘stroak-a-nut) margs we have ever experienced. Not to mention, the greatest bar popcorn and game of darts. It was no normal night for her to say the least.

The night was a definite success considering a days worth of travel was lost.

After nearly 4 hours at the Ford spot this morning, the van is finally pumping enough voltage to power the trailer lights!! Success! We hit the road by noon and finally said our parting words with Laurel.

What an adventure! … And it’s only day three!

We are currently in route with no destination for tonight in mind. We will drive ‘till we can’t drive no more!

Birmingham… We are still coming for you!

And the days go by…. at Bear Creek.

We are all thoroughly exhausted, but in the best way possible.

Rehearse, record, rehearse, record… so on and so forth.

As much as we love being at Bear Creek, we can’t deny the fact that we just can’t wait to hit the road. We are so excited about the tour. We should be expecting our tour merch to arrive tomorrow. yay for pocket T’s!

This is where we’ve been busting our chops in preparation for the tour!

Bear Creek Studio/Milo Greene rehearsal space

Unfortunately, we won’t be taking the Steinway on tour… Our trailer just isn’t quite big enough! :(

Andrew twittering Robbie twittering. 

Marlana blogging Andrew and Robbie twittering. 

Shesh…

Thanks so much georgie! After a crazy/unexpected/beautiful thunder and lightning storm last night, the sky has cleared and we are packing it all in! Seattle here we come!

We are headed to the post office as we write this.

Because Sunset Junction was unfortunately canceled this weekend, we will now be playing at Hotel Cafe, in Hollywood, Saturday evening.

Click here for details:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=186293278107331&notif_t=event_name_change

We hope to see you there!

We are very pleased and excited to announce our fall tour with the Civil Wars, along with a couple dates with Grouplove and Belle Brigade. 

click here for details and tickets http://milogreene.com/live.html

Oct 07 Alabama Theater w/ The Civil Wars Birmingham, AL 

Oct 08 Bijou Theater w/ The Civil Wars Knoxville, TN 

Oct 09 Presser Hall w/ The Civil Wars Atlanta, GA 

Oct 10 Presser Hall w/ The Civil Wars Atlanta, GA 

Oct 11 Mercy Lounge w/ Grouplove and Belle Brigade Nashville, TN 

Oct 13 Masquerade w/ Grouplove and Belle Brigade Atlanta, GA

Oct 19 McGlohon Theater w/ The Civil Wars Charlotte, NC

Oct 20 Page Auditorium w/ The Civil Wars Durham, NC

Oct 21 The Norva w/ The Civil Wars Norfolk, VA

Oct 22 Jefferson Theater w/ The Civil Wars Charlottesville, VA

Oct 23 Lincoln Theatre w/ The Civil Wars Washington, DC

Oct 25 The Trocadero w/ The Civil Wars Philadelphia, PA

Oct 27 Town Hall w/ The Civil Wars New York, NY

Oct 28 Berklee Performance Center w/ The Civil Wars Boston, MA

Oct 29 Amphitheatre Du Gesu w/ The Civil Wars Montreal, Canada

Nov 01 The Phoenix Concert Theatre w/ The Civil Wars Toronto, Canada

Nov 02 Michigan Theater w/ The Civil Wars Ann Arbor, MI

Nov 03 Lincoln Theater w/ The Civil Wars Columbus, OH

Nov 04 The Egyptian Room w/ The Civil Wars Indianapolis, IN

Nov 06 Vic Theater w/ The Civil Wars Chicago, IL

Nov 08 Turner Hall w/ The Civil Wars Milwaukee, WI

Nov 09 State Theater w/ The Civil Wars Minneapolis, MN

Nov 13 The Vogue Theatre w/ The Civil Wars Vancouver, Canada

Nov 14 The Neptune w/ The Civil Wars Seattle, WA

Nov 15 The Crystal Ballroom w/ The Civil Wars Portland, OR

Nov 17 The Fillmore w/ The Civil Wars San Francisco, CA

Nov 18 The Lobero w/ The Civil Wars Santa Barbara, CA

Nov 19 The Wiltern w/ The Civil Wars Los Angeles, CA

Nov 20 The Marquee Theatre w/ The Civil Wars Phoenix, AZ 

Thank you so much to KSwiss for letting us invade your showroom this morning. We couldn’t be more excited, especially to exercise… in style! 

Big thanks to Jessica Chong!

Kswissel while you work…

Kant touch swiss….

Swissky business ….

Rumor has it that this was the biggest crowd the ‘Also I like To Rock’ series has seen to date. Over 2100 bodies filled the courtyard that night and we could feel the energy!

The audience was amazing and we had a fabulous time!

Thanks to The Hammer Museum, KCRW, and Buzz Bands for having us!

photos by Laurie Scavo

photo by Timothy Norris

If you couldn’t make it out to the Hammer Museum this Thursday, you definitely missed out! Fortunately, we will be playing at the Bootleg this Monday.

The Bootleg Theater

 2220 Beverly Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA
 

We’re playing the final night of the Races residency! 

FREE. 21+

8:30 - Pageants
9:30 - Milo Greene
10:30 - Races
11:30 - The Neighborhood

Hope to see you there!

…A recap of the hammer show to come soon!

KCRW and the Hammer Museum Present

Also I Like to Rock

Come see us play with Grouplove at the Hammer Museum

It’s free and all ages are welcome.

Be sure to get there early!

10899 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
6:00 pm - 11:00 pm

1957 Limited Edition white 7” and T-shirts!

The 7” features two songs: “1957” and “Silent Way”

Pre-order includes immediate download of “1957”, with download of “Silent Way” upon release.

Click Here For Details and To Purchase

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. “

Had to memorize these words in High School. I don’t think I will ever forget them. Powerful stuff.

Somehow I think a bonsai seems more practical. 

The vinyls are coming!!

Have a listen to ‘Silent Way’ and ‘Autumn Tree’

Check out ‘1957’ placed in a Levi’s sponsored web series!

The LA weather may be pretty dreary lately, but we cant complain.

The Echo show was so much fun! The room was packed and it gave us endless energy. Pre-show margaritas and a Mavericks win helped too. Thanks so much for those of you who came out! We had a fantastic time!

great instagram pic via @tadpoleaudio

It’s back to the recording process for Milo. You have to admit, the ability to work from home is pretty amazing. Unfortunately, living in LA means living with neighbors very close in perimeter. Someday we hope to have our own ‘House de Milo’. A place of our own, on acres of land, filled with musical toys to play at any hour of our liking…. Oh to dream… 

Last nights show was everything we could have hoped for! We received such an overwhelming amount of positive response from everyone there. Thank you so much to those of you who came out last night and arrived early for us! We had an absolute blast. It was so much fun playing at such a legendary venue, and it felt so good to see so many people singing along! 

See you at the Bootleg next Monday!

Photo courtesy of our friends… Superhumanoids!

Have you ever spent time with the board game Candyland only to find it’s the worst game EVER?? Really, its meant to be for 3 years old exclusively but we here at Milo Greene have come up with some alternate rules to the timeless classic Candyland that allow your family and friends above the age of 3 to have a bit more excitement while following the rainbow trail. 

(play using the regular candy land rules with the following additions)

• To start, deal 3 cards to each person. On your turn you may play one color no matter how many cards you have of that color. Total up the number of candy cobblestones on the cards in your hand of that color and move that many spaces forward. (Example: if you have 2 cards with yellow cobblestones - two cobblestones on one card and one cobblestone on the other - move forward three yellow cobblestones)
• When you get to king kandy go back to the starting point and begin again. The first to finish 3 laps on the rainbow trail - wins.
• If you finish your turn and land on a licorice cobblestone - you may draw more cards (only 3 cards at most in your hand at all times) and play again.
• Playing a candy-card after you’ve passed its candy landmark point on the board allows you to go past king kandy, back to start and proceed to that candy landmark - now one lap ahead. (example: like in monopoly when you get a card to go “blah blah railroad” and proceed past go and to that point on the board). Think of it like the multi-colored cobblestone at the end is connected to the starting point. 
• On the third and final lap, candy-cards with candy landmarks will take you backwards to that point if played after that landmark has been passed. You can not get rid of the Candy-card if you don’t want to play it. It must stay in your hand and count as one of the three cards for the remainder of the game. 

We, MILO GREENE, are happy to announce our second show at Spaceland, The Satellite, on Thursday April 14th!

We will be opening for Yuck and Porcelain Raft!

Show starts at 8:30 21+

1717 Silverlake Blvd

Los Angeles, CA

Buy Tickets here: $10 http://tinyurl.com/3wrzrcb

RSVP http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=165302853523398

http://la.thedelimagazine.com/

“It’s not quite indie, it’s not quite folk, and it’s not quite pop but a blend of all three that conjures memories of spending time on a sun drenched porch of an east coast home.”

… We are all beaming! Thank you for these kind words.

andrew knew marlana; he met robbie and curtis in school, and was introduced to graham at the greene house. andrew is milo greene.

marlana knew andrew; she was introduced to curtis, doesn’t remember how she met robbie, and welcomed graham into the greene house. marlana is milo greene.

graham met robbie over sushi; he was introduced to marlana, curtis  and andrew at the greene house. graham is milo greene.

curtis and robbie and andrew were school friends; robbie introduced graham to curtis, and andrew introduced curtis to marlana. curtis is milo greene 

robbie met andrew and curtis at school; robbie introduced graham to marlana, curtis and andrew at the greenehouse. robbie is milo greene 

who is milo greene?

We had an exceptional time at the Bootleg last night! We rocked it out and sweat it out. Big thanks to Honey Honey for putting us on the bill…. you guys blew us away! Cant wait to do it again on the 28th!

“I play a lot of cards. Obviously. “

From our mouths… to our computer… to your ears…. to your heartstrings.

Sooo good after a late night rehearsal! Full on samples!

It’s time to start rehearsals. Lets get this show on the road.

Looks like team Milo is getting into yoga.

5 . LIFE (cinnamon) 

4. Cheerios 

3. Recess Peanut Butter Crunch (even though there is an allergy to peanut butter)

2. Ohs 

AND …

1. Cocoa Pebbles

ode to mothers : your hands, my hands.

santa margherita, italy.