This Sunday, July 27th DOLOREAN will be playing for free at RONTOMS (600 SE Burnside). Show starts at 9 PM. Thee radical CAJUN GEMS will open. We’ll unveil about a half dozen new songs that we’ve been working on. Weather permitting we’ll be out on the back patio. Also, due to rocky economic times my resolve has wavered almost entirely and I set this up for new songs I’ve been working on… Enjoy.

Mark Yer Calendars:
***Sunday/July 29th/Rontoms/Dolorean/Cajun Gems/9 PM
***Friday/Aug 8th/House Party in NE PDX/Dolorean/Tenlon’s Fort
***Sept 5,6,7/MusicFest NorthWest/Dolorean/Crooked Fingers/Death Vessel/etc… Doug Fir Lounge

What do Skip Spence, Fela Kuti, Graham Nash, Dennis Wilson, The Wipers, and Nigerian Funk all have in common? I (Al James the Unfazed) will be playing all these records and more this Friday, May 23rd at Olio United to help celebrate the art opening for David Burke and Ben Hull. More info here at Olio United’s page. Just don’t miss it- great artwork, good tunes and heavy snacking. See you there AJtheUF

Olio United
Friday, May 23rd
7PM ’til late
David Burke and Ben Hull
1028 SE Water (across from Clark Lewis Restaurant)

I never saw myself getting involved in Portland politics, but here it is close to the mayoral primary election on May 20th and I’m pouring over the newspapers and blogs daily, watching it unfold. My interest started when a close friend, Megan Ponder, was chosen to organize the fundraising for Sam Adams’ mayoral campaign. Megan knew I was extremely qualified to assist at these fundraising events for a few key reasons- I have a natural ability to smile and shake my head, I have a large van and uninjured back, and mostly, I POSSESS A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO FREE WINE AND HEAVY SNACKING. At each of these fundraisers I’d mingle with judges, small business owners, transportation planners, and teachers. I found creative ways to word my jobs that leveled the playing field… “I’m in importing, ever heard of Burgundy?” or “I’m a local musician, you haven’t heard of us?… oh, well our fan base is more established in rural Holland.” After a little socializing the host would introduce Sam Adams and he’d give a talk. Commissioner Adams usually covered his main points each time - Education, Transportation, and Preserving Portland’s Livability. His points were always solid and he is a clear communicator. What impressed me each night though, was his ability to answer questions that people posed. He could field very detailed questions from folks that ranged from Portland’s sewer system to small business grants, transportation taxes to education funding. Sam knew his stuff. The more times I saw him speak the more I understood his commitment to Portland and preserving what is great about it. Because of this, I want to provide an opportunity for others to hear Sam Adams speak and field questions- specifically questions concerning his plans for ARTS AND CULTURE IN PORTLAND. Please join us for a great night of music, and come hear special guest SAM ADAMS speak. His vision for the future of Portland includes all of us!

SAT, MAY 3rd 7-9 PM
@ MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS
JACKSTRAW
DOLOREAN
special guest speaker mayoral candidate SAM ADAMS
$8.00 advance/$10.00 at the door
*****THIS EVENT WILL SELL OUT, PLEASE BUY TICKETS IN ADVANCE HERE*****

(crosstitch by “John Shrimper 3/22/88″)
Friday night’s Neil Young Tribute Night was a ridiculous success. Thanks to everyone that came out. Thanks to everyone that played. Sorry to friends that couldn’t get in. Learning a few new Neil songs and getting together to play once a week has the Dolo-crue riding a new wave of enthusiasm and creativity. I’m focusing the energy of the previously mentioned “The Unfazed” collection of songs back toward the band for arrangement help. The boys are playing out of their heads these days. Benny Nugent has retired the brushes and picked up the sticks. I’ve finally got the telecaster a bit more figured out. Jay Clarke is learning to tear hearts out with the lapsteel and Adair’s bass tone gets sweeter with every mortgage deal that closes. Douglas Fir show is coming up on TUESDAY, MARCH 18th with young guns ESKIMO & SONS opening, and our friends DAY OF LIONS celebrating the release of their new record. We’ll be on at 11 PM sharp. No excuses folks!!! We know that everyone stays up to watch the Daily Show and The Colbert Report from 11 to 12 anyway! So come out and catch the show. You can still get home by 12:15 to watch bratty college kids hack their way through Paul Simon hacking through African music on Letterman or Leno.

Also Dolorean co-founder Jay Clarke has a radical blog that’s back on the air. Check out his ROEK INDUSTRIES musing on art, music, and culture here. Clarke has a masters. ‘Nuff said.

I’ve posted information concerning buying CDs and LPs directly from Dolorean (via PayPal) on the “Recordings” page. For the upcoming Neil Young tribute the Dolo-crew won’t be digging deep for Neil cuts. Looking more recently at the “Sleeps With Angels” “Silver and Gold” era Neil… Lots of diamonds in the rough…

Friday, January 25th, 10 PM
Mississippi Studios
Portland, Oregon
BARTON CARROLL
AL JAMES THE UNFAZED
$8.00
Barton will play songs off of his new album “The Lost One”
Al James will play an entire set of new songs to be recorded this Winter as THE UNFAZED.

Friday, March 7th, 8 PM
Mississippi Studios
Portland, Oregon
Pabst Blue Ribbon presents:
DOLOREAN
MATT SHEEHY
MBILLY
DEATH SONGS
*****NEIL YOUNG TRIBUTE NIGHT******

Tuesday, March 18th, 9 PM
Douglas Fir Lounge
Portland, Oregon
DOLOREAN
DAYS OF LIONS
ESKIMO & SONS
$7.00

The Dolorean site has been off-line all summer due to a number of circumstances (I lost interest in the internet, I was completely burnt out on “promoting” the band and the music, my hard drive crashed, I wanted to spend time with people not keyboards and screens, this website refused to join me in swimming or riding bikes and is snobby about Coors Light, and did I mention I lost interest in the internet?)… But, I’m feeling like there will be a few more transmissions coming from the site here and it’ll still serve as the portal into Dolo-world until I get the site built that I really want built. My hope for Dolorean on the internet will be to cut out the sort of rambling that I’m participating in now and simply have new, updated music on a regular basis.

We do have some shows to announce:
11.03.2007 Castellón / Tanned Tin Festival 2007 [E]
11.04.2007 London / The Luminaire [GB]
11.07.2007 Brighton / Prince Albert [GB]
11.08.2007 ’s-Hertogenbosch W2 / Concertzaal [NL]
11.09.2007 Hellendoorn / Lantaarn [NL]
11.10.2007 Haarlem / Patronaat [NL]
11.11.2007 Venlo / Perron 55 [NL]
11.12.2007 Brussel / Anciènne Belgique [B]

There should be a couple more shows on the 5th and 6th booked in the UK as well. These shows will be supporting the now forgotten Dolorean release “You Can’t Win”. After the tour we’ll get back into the studio and start on another release for 2008. Thankfully we’re now label-less and have very few relations in “the buisness” that was bringing me down for so long. Before the tour, however, I’ll be recording a record called “Al James The Unfazed” up in Seattle with Eric Fisher, Jenna Conrad, Damien Jurado, David Brocker, Barton Carroll and the rest of that whole WA crew. “The Unfazed” will be an austere affair focusing on turning 30 years old, growing up, giving up, finding unebelievable happiness in being honest with the people around you and living very simply.

Thank you for continued patience and interest in this project. It feels like we’re entering an era of incredible depth and creativity. I can’t wait.

Yeah, well, I know… I won’t make a ton of excuses, it’s just that summertime in Portland is the best time in Portland. Everyone is generally quite a bit happier. Strange love blossoms with horrible timing. It stays light until 9 or 9:30. Spontaneous bbqs break out for no reason. For instance, just yesterday, I stopped by a friend’s house to have him show me how he likes to re-string electric guitars. Next thing I know we’re downing French Rose, Pinot Blanc from Alsace, and grilling the thickest, rarest sirloin steaks I’ve ever seen. This was just a Monday afternoon after another 8-mile wildflower hike up Dog Mountain in the gorge. So you see, sitting in my cave posting about this stuff seems crazy when I’m missing out on pickup softball games, bike rides, and beach-bongo bonfires on Sauvie Island. There are a couple things to report though, and then I’ll get back to troublemaking:

****This Sunday, June 24th Portland, Oregon****
@ The Douglas Fir Lounge/9 P.M./$7.00
DOLOREAN
MATT SHEEHY
HELLO DAMASCUS
(this will likely be our one, proper show for the summer, first band is on @ 9, we should take the stage by 11.)

****European Tour, Nov 1-12****
We’ll be playing overseas to support YOU CAN’T WIN for a two week tour in the Fall. Dates will be posted as they come in.

****Summer and Beyond?****
New Dolorean website (more content, archives of unreleased material, less talk)
Al James - The Unfazed (uncharted territory)
Musicfest NW (likely, I suppose)

Our sincere thanks to everyone who came out to the performances on this tour. Thanks to Kristin Hersh, her family, and bandmates. Thanks to all the friends and family that we stayed with on the tour. You all know who you are. There are too many to list. Reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones made this tour unforgettable. My deep gratitude goes out to Jonathan Drews, Barton Carroll, and Dov Friedman for their musical collaboration, patience, and friendship.

–Our four song set and interview on KEXP is available at kexp.org
–Our OPB Live Wire performance will be broadcast on Saturday May 26th and Saturday, June 2nd @ 8PM on FM 91.5
–Our full set recorded live for The Loft on XM radio will be broadcast
Monday 6/25: 9:00pm
Thursday 6/28: 3:00pm & 9:00pm
Friday 6/29: 4:00am
Saturday 6/30: 7:00pm
(Eastern Standard Time)

Also:
FRIDAY, JUNE 1st @ The Artistery
(4315 SE Division / Portland, OR)
Damien Jurado / Al James / Alela Diane

“GUIDE US ST. BUDDY”

New York/Bowery Ballroom - Raw, spirited, loose, pleasantly sloppy. Overall a really fun show - tons of friends came out early to see the set, including a mess of Portland ex-patriots.

Arlington/Iota - What felt like the first great performance of the tour for an extremely receptive D.C./Arlington crowd. We achieved full lift off Boston Third Stage style during the middle section of “Hannibal, MO”.

Asheville/Harvest Records - Mark and Matt at Harvest Records hosted us for a familial instore. Brian at the The Grey Eagle invited us down for an open bar tab and timeless guitar shred via Hollywood Red.

Chapel Hill/The Cat’s Cradle - A Sunday night during finals week…All I can say is that thankfully OCSC was nearby.

Atlanta/The Earl - A fine show for a Monday night, but the real magic happened afterward.

Austin/The Cactus Cafe - Hands down one of our best shows. Got to hang with Amy Annelle from The Places, Brother Will from Brothers And Sisters, and Dolo-brethren in GRAILS. All in all, a rejuvinating stop and spiritual battery charge.

Lubbock/Dan’s Backroom - This is one for the recordbooks and will likely never happen again. Texas Tech wunderkid Derek Pierce invited us out for a show since we had a night off between Austin and Albuquerque. We expected a mellow Thursday night affair but had a full blowout with the Thriftstore Cowboys. Seems that Derek had been spinning all three Dolorean discs over the last four years on the local Texas Tech radio station so we actually had quite a few fans in this remote Texas outpost. Had a blast playing for a bunch people that acutally knew the records. A Twilight Zone type night never to be forgotten.

Albuquerque/Golden West Saloon - For Dolorean, a show on Route 66 during Cinco de Mayo weekend is more confusing that you might think.

Phoenix/Modified - A genuinely sloppy grey-blue “jazz” set from Dolorean that resulted in three times the normal merch sales, reminding us all that touring is completely nonsensical.

Tucson/Plush - Highlights for this one had nothing to do with the show. Mostly enjoyed screening the new Will Farrell film entitled “Blades Of Glory” in an air conditioned multi-plex. Also, we were lucky to stay with Tom Walbank, one of the only legitimate blues artists in existence these days - An absolutely real-deal Englishman via the Arizona desert.

A couple reviews for YOU CAN’T WIN from the UK Press - Q and UnCut:

****TAKE NOTE THAT DOLOREAN WILL BE PLAYING ON FRIDAY, MAY 18TH ON OPB’S LIVE WIRE RADIO SHOW AT THE ALADDIN THEATRE IN PORTLAND, OR / TICKET INFO HERE****