The Blank Page of the Road -- The Muellers Blog

2009-07-18T09:33:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone,

We hope that you are enjoying the summer! It's been one of the wettest, coolest summers on record (at least in our neck of the woods), but that hasn't stopped us from playing as much as possible!

I've just added a couple of new August dates to the calendar, so check it out and see if we'll be playing near you in the next few months. We'd love to see you at a show.

Tom M.

2009-06-22T09:19:00.003-04:00

We are still sorting through the pictures from our last road jaunt, but here's a few standouts that I've discovered so far.

Hanging out before a gig at the KASU bluegrass series in Paragould, Arkansas.

Karen and Tom waiting outside the aquarium at the Omaha Zoo during one of our off days in Nebraska.

Warming up a couple of songs while waiting for a soundcheck.

Tastee Treet! This little restaurant in South Dakota is a local favorite that has been around forever.

Laurah and Tom with Danny, one of the staff musicians at Silver Dollar City.

Laurah, Sarah, and Tom, standing outside our favorite barbecue restaurant/gas station/gun shop in southeastern Missouri.

2009-05-07T16:33:00.002-04:00

The album is done!

After a winter of late nights in the studio and 2 a.m. doughnut-and-coffee runs, our fourth album, The Muellers, will be available tomorrow. It features a bunch of originals and a couple of standards run through our tangy musical sensibilities.

Here's the track listing:

1) Drag the River

2) What a Beautiful Day

3) Love Please Come Home

4) Fire

5) Sound of a Lonesome Fiddle

6) Born Again

7) Train to Tennessee

8) Cold Hard Light

9) Bury Me Beneath the Willow

10) Silver Bells

11) Won't You Come and Sing for Me?

Come listen to a bunch of new tracks on MySpace and let us know what you think! The album will also be available for purchase on our website within a day or two, and should be on iTunes and other online sites by the end of the month.

2009-04-05T22:30:00.004-04:00

After a successful and fun run at the Florida State festival, we are slowly heading west to our next engagement at the Two Rivers festival in Leakesville, Mississippi. Our grandparents are travelling with us, and with their Camry and our trusty van, we form quite a merry convoy.

Laurah and Grandma

Trying to capture Tom's infamous "something-is-out-of-tune" look

Grandpa and his dream fish.

For some reason, postmodernism has never established a foothold in the family portraiture business.

2009-04-03T10:08:00.002-04:00

Hello all,

We are enjoying the sunshine and warm breezes of Florida! It's so different from Maine, especially during the spring (which Mainers euphemistically refer to as "mud season"). Last night we played our first set at the Florida State Bluegrass Festival amid heavy rain and tornado warnings, but we were pleased to see that quite a few people stuck around until the end of the night.

On Saturday, we will be presenting three different workshops for festival attendees. Tom will be presenting two: one on mandolin, and another on harmony singing and songwriting. After our set that afternoon, the entire family will be available for a Q&A session, talking about the nitty-gritty of being a family bluegrass band. We presented a similar workshop last year at Bean Blossom, and I was surprised at how many people it drew.

2009-02-02T10:30:00.000-05:00

Hi folks!

A couple of exciting updates today:

First, The Muellers will be opening for Claire Lynch at One Longfellow Square in Portland, Maine, on February 15. Details and tickets are available at http://www.onelongfellowsquare.com/. Tell your friends!

Also, I've just posted a couple of new tracks from the upcoming CD on our Myspace page, so skip on over there and give it a spin. Both tracks are available for free download as well! www.myspace.com/themuellers

2008-11-18T22:15:00.000-05:00

BIG NEWS

Two things:

First, the band has taken another lurching step into the 21st century, and now has a band instant messenging account. Add the screenname muellerfamilymus to your contacts, and hit us up. We don't bite--in fact, we'll be glad to hear from you.

Remember, that's:

muellerfamilymus

Second, we now have an account over at flickr.com, one of the internet's premier photoblogging sites. I've uploaded hundreds of pictures from 2008, and we'll be adding many, many more in the next couple of days. We're going to try to get about eight years worth of musical pictures posted, tagged, and captioned. So skip on over to our photostream and check it out!

2008-11-17T11:42:00.000-05:00

I've posted a few new pictures that our friend Jeff Pouland took at the Rex Theater in Galax, Virginia. You can check out some of his amazing photography work at http://www.jeffpoulandphotography.com/.

Now that we have a couple of weeks off, we are taking some time to polish some material that's going to be on the next record, and are learning a couple more songs: one of mine, entitled "Drag the River", an older gospel song called "River of Jordan", and we've been kicking around some ideas of "I'm Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar."

Stay tuned!

2008-11-11T10:22:00.000-05:00

This video clip came from the backstage at the Tennessee Fall Homecoming, in Norris, Tennessee. They have one of the most realistic looking Abraham Lincoln impersonators that I've ever seen. Lincoln always seemed to be breaking out his musical saw to play for people, so we asked him to jam with us on a few tunes. Enjoy!

2008-11-11T02:05:00.000-05:00

There are new kittens at Mueller central command! On the left, you'll see Delicious a.k.a The D.O.G., and on the right, you'll see Fluffy a.k.a. What'sup What'shappening.

It's the The D.O.G.!

Me, Laurah, and Sarah, at the Tennessee Fall Homecoming in Norris.

Hog scalding is pretty intense.

Well, which is it?

Boilin' down the molasses.

On a Mayberry's Finest advertisement.

Sarah was suspicious of the affectionate couple in the background--I think they were probably suspicious of us as well, judging by the look on that guy's face.

Hanging out with a marionette while waiting for our barbecue to arrive.

At the Gibson store in the Nashville mall.

MUSICAL HAPPINESS IS NEW GUITAR STRINGS

2008-11-05T15:46:00.000-05:00

I'm proud to announce that The Muellers now endorse GHS Strings! I've been using GHS products for years, but I'm glad that we can make it official. A big thank you goes out to Ben Cole, Melissa Eben, and all the fine people over at GHS who are helping us do what we do best...wear out guitar strings really quickly.

Check out their website and give their products a shot. Laurah and I recently switched our mandolin setups to one of their light gauge sets, and they sound and play great.

Here's a couple of pictures from the radio show last month. Bear in mind that these were taken in the early morning. The Muellers are a lot of things, but we are definitely not early birds!

Warming up in t

(We live in Red Sox nation, as you can see in the top left)

2008-10-16T14:05:00.001-04:00

We're glad to finally be settling back down in Maine after a couple of busy months of performing and travelling. We had a great time playing at the historic Rex Theater in Galax, Virginia, on their Friday night radio broadcast show, and ended our trip on a high note by performing alongside the Grascals and Dailey & Vincent at the Tennessee Fall Homecoming. It's always a thrill to play bluegrass in Tennesee.

You might have heard us on the radio or TV this week; we've played in the studios of B98.5 and 92 Moose, filmed some performing and interview footage for WABI (that's the statewide news channel from Bangor, if you're not a Mainer), and are looking forward to another studio performance on WMHB (89.7) on Saturday morning. WMHB streams live on the internet, so check it out if you get a chance!

2008-10-10T20:21:00.000-04:00

Here we are on stage at the Museum of Appalachia on Wednesday. It was pretty dang rainy, as you can see, but the weather had cleared by the time we played again on Friday, and it was a beautiful, beautiful day. As always, it was great to see and hear our friends in the Grascals and Dailey & Vincent. And I got to hang out with Charlie Acuff!

2008-09-04T13:02:00.000-04:00

Pictures from the Quebec mini-tour. Enjoy!

2008-08-28T14:47:00.001-04:00

We've had a great summer playing locally in New England, but we're starting to itch for some more road time. The Muellers will be appearing in northern Quebec this weekend, in West Virginia the next weekend, and then we'll be all over the place for a while. Look for us in Virginia and Tennessee in October and September. Hope to see you all down the road!

Also, we're going to be going into the studio after we return to New England to record our fourth album. The band is still batting around song choices at this point, so if there's a song that you REALLY REALLY like, and want to see on the new CD, you should tell us what it is.

I've got a couple of great live mp3s from some of our spring/summer touring that I'll be posting on our website and Myspace, so check back here often to make sure you don't miss anything!

2008-08-18T17:41:00.000-04:00

2008-06-20T13:26:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! We just rolled back into town after spending almost all of May and June on the road. It's good to be back home. Everyone is relaxing and recovering from the thousand-mile drive back from Bean Blossom, Indiana.

I woke up to a picture in the local newspaper of the girls and I singing at the Blistered Fingers festival, down in Sidney, Maine. They've got some great acts coming through this weekend, and I recommend heading on down there to check it out. You won't be disappointed!

The Muellers are now on iLike and Facebook, so please consider adding us as friends on those sites. Every little bit of help is appreciated--we couldn't do it without you guys!

While getting the pictures for the Facebook site, I stumbled across some great pictures that had somehow never posted anywhere. Hope you enjoy!

(this is the picture from the newspaper)

2008-05-20T23:24:00.000-04:00

So this one time (actually, on Sunday) we were leaving Maine on I-95, and stopped at the southernmost rest stop to stretch and use the facilities and pour more coffee. As we were walking into the building, we heard someone shouting "It's the Muellers! It's the Muellers!" Turns out, a student from Colby College in Waterville who had seen our coffeehouse show back in April was traveling back to Boston, and had just happened to be listening to a copy of our latest CD, Branching Out, before stopping at the very same rest stop. She happened to see the logo on the back of the van (as you can see in the picture) and flagged us down. Needless to say, we were pumped! We took some pictures of everybody posing around the van and autographed her copy of the CD.

Thank you so much for listening and supporting us, Sonia Booth and parents.

2008-05-20T03:11:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note to let you all know that we made it safely to Missouri after leaving Maine around 1 P.M. on Sunday. (The reason I know that is because they drove the van across town to pick me up from a car repair place, and the half-time station ID break for Prairie Home Companion had just come on the radio.) The only reason I'm still awake at this moment is the cup of coffee that I chugged at a McDonald's somewhere east of Paducah, Kentucky; I can't remember the name of the town, and I think that the reason I can't remember the name might be the same as the reason that I chugged the coffee in the first place: SLEEPY.

I've got a couple of great photos to post tomorrow. Highlights include an impromptu autograph-and-picture session with some fans that we met at an interstate rest stop, a Biscuit House sign in West Virginia, and a roadkill bat that we found lodged in the grille of the van, prompting a lot of Batmobile jokes.

But first, I'm going to sleep. More tomorrow!

Tom M.

2008-05-14T21:25:00.001-04:00

_____

Part 2:

The Muellers are honored to be the subject of a recent documentary produced by a group of senior students from Colby College in Waterville, Maine.

Kristen Barnico
Paige Clunie
Kara Dalton
Jess Egan
Brett Wagenheim

Brett, Jess, Paige, Kara, and Kristen did a great job, and it was a pleasure to work with them.

I've posted both sections of the documentary here; in total, it's about 17 minutes long. Go make some popcorn, make yourself comfy, and enjoy!

2008-05-01T00:01:00.001-04:00

Greetings from Hagerstown, Maryland! I had intended to write a travel update last night while attending to our last-minute packing issues, but managed to forget almost everything on my to-do list after realizing that neither of my guitars were in travelling shape. But, now that my guitars have spare G strings and capos tucked into their cases, I’m free to update you on our situation!

I’m not sure if this made the national news this week, but Maine has been absolutely inundated by the aftermath of a major rainstorm that came and melted the remains of last winter’s snowpack. There were a couple of tense moments last night when we were wondering if the bridge near my parents’ house was going to hold, but we woke up to a beautifully clear sunrise, and left Maine around 6.30 this morning.

It’s great to be on the road again! A lot of you have been praying for Karen’s health, and I’m glad to report that the new decaffeinated version of Karen is holding up very well after our first day out. (Travelling is surprisingly restful when compared to the chaos of the Muellers’ packing process.)

We are currently on our way to Chickamauga, Georgia, where we will be staying with some old bluegrass friends in between our sets at the Boxcar Pinion Bluegrass Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I’m also looking forward to attending a night of Fat Shirley’s Trailer Park Opry, a bluegrass musical in two acts that was written by my songwriting buddy (and good family friend) Tom Brown.

I’ve been taking lots of pictures of sights along the way, but realized during dinner that I left my digital card reader on my desk, so pictures will have to wait until next Monday, when we arrive back in Maine. They’ll be posted on Blank Page of the Road, the official Muellers blog, which you can always find at http://blankpageoftheroad.blogspot.com/.

Until then, be well, do good work, and stay in touch!

All the best,

Tom Mueller

2008-04-25T00:28:00.000-04:00

We're getting ready to go on the road again! We'll be playing two sets down at the Boxcar Pinion next week. If you're in the vicinity of Chattanooga and want some entertainment, I strongly advise you to come on over and check us out. The band will be debuting a bunch of new songs; some of the highlights include a very intense rendition of "Lost John" that Laurah and Sarah sing, a Curt-Laurah-Tom cover of Norman Blake's song "Ginseng Sullivan", and a new gospel song that I wrote over the winter, entitled "What a Glorious Day."

(click for a larger image)

Hiking has always been an interest of mine, and the unexpectedly sudden spell of warm dry weather has finally forced me outside. For lack of more content, here's a little panorama that I took during my last outing to Mount Desert Island here in Maine. Apologies for the dodgy Photoshop job--I didn't bring a tripod that day, and didn't bother to fine tune the exposure for good balance.

This panorama (not 360°, unfortunately) shows the view from the long western slope of Champlain Mountain.

The two peaks near the cirque lake are The Beehive and Gorham (Gorham is, of course, where i took the previous panorama.

The lake itself is called The Bowl. It's technically a beaver pond--there are two major dams on the west side--but it also appears to be a glacial rock formation as well. (A cirque is a bowl-shaped depression scooped out of the rock by glaciers.) You can see the beaver lodges in the middle of the lake, towards the right.

Moving right, you can see the village of Seal Harbor (there's a nice coffee shop there, as well as some sort of little maritime museum that my friend Tom and I checked out last summer during his visit from New Jersey), and the road running up the valley is rt. 3, which runs from Seal Harbor to Bar Harbor in the northeast.

The long ridge on the other side of the road runs several miles from Blackwoods to the top of Cadillac Mountain, which, at 1530' elev., is the highest summit on the entire east coast of the United States. There's a trail that follows the ridge all the way to the top, but I haven't hiked it yet--hopefully I'll get around to it someday soon!

--Tom

2008-02-12T22:34:00.000-05:00

Everyone who reads the updates written by the Momma of the band knows that I wait until news is long overdue before a word escapes my mouth. Well, this time is no exception but it hasn't been because I've been too busy, it's because I've been too tired! To all of you who have shown us so much kindness during my illness, THANK YOU! I appreciate your prayers for me and for the family as we get through this.

A lot of folks want to know just what happened and how things are, so let me just put it in the words of one of my doctors—"Even the Energizer Bunny runs out of batteries." Now there is a lot more medical jargon I could throw out there, in case that makes you wonder about the quality of my medical care. Lots of good doctors! Rest was number one on the list of things to do, number two was just getting rid of my big to-do list! So for those of you who have remarked that you've never seen me sit still (and there are a lot of you) well, guess what! I have learned how to sit still and do nothing! And I can do it without coffee! I know that quitting coffee will have a negative effect on the coffee vendors at all the festivals, but don't worry…I'm drinking decaf. Not buckets of it like before (!) but you'll still see me in the coffee line.

All joking aside, this has been an opportunity for our entire family to seriously ponder many things. Number one on the list was thinking about the many, many people who deal with serious long-term illnesses and how it impacts every minute of so many lives. What happened around here was a just a bump in the road compared to the situations of so many others. On the musical side of life, everyone, right down to George, has contemplated what our music means to us, and what it takes to be a traveling family band. While it is fun and rewarding, it takes a lot of work, I'm not gonna lie! And while the children have always been very helpful, and this has always been a group effort, they now know the importance of sharing the work even more. I'm so proud of my children for their commitment and willingness to work. They have a clear vision of where they want to go.

So there has been a re-division of labor, and while I am keeping my job as booking agent, I've been completely relieved of any tasks that have to do with managing the stage clothes, and let me tell you folks, that is huge! The kids are now in charge of the wardrobe department, so if you see George on stage covered in ketchup…well, ok…I'm still going to have a Tide-stick in my purse! Tom is handling a lot of management tasks in the band, and is helping me with booking as well. Curt is busy overseeing the whole big thing...and he is a dad that cooks, thank the Lord!

There's not enough space here to relate all the things that God has shown us about family, music and the limitations of being human. I've learned the most of all. And I'm so thankful to all of you for your prayers, emails, letters and gifts. I am still working at answering every email and I appreciate that you all took the time to write me.

We have a lull in our schedule right now with just a couple of shows here in Maine, but we are playing every night in the kitchen, working on a lot of new material, including some of Tom's originals. We're looking forward to hitting the road again May 1st. I'd like to let everyone know that we are now booking for the second half of 2008 and all of 2009, and it's full steam ahead. So ask for the Muellers by name at your local festival and we'll be sure to be there to play for you! And let me say 'thank ya'll' one more time. ~~Karen

2008-01-14T01:13:00.001-05:00

Well, we've had some bad luck. Karen (or Mom, as most of us know her) has been having some health problems related to a viral infection that she suffered while we were on the road in September and October of last year. We had hoped that she would be better in time for our national appearances this spring, but it looks like she's going to need a little more time to get all healed up. I've included a copy of a press release below. We'd appreciate it if you would keep Karen in your prayers.

###

MASTERSHIELD RECORDING ARTIST THE MUELLERS ANNOUNCE SPRING 2008 SHOW CANCELLATIONS

Due to a serious health problem in the family, The Muellers have been forced to cancel all national engagements until May 2008. Karen Mueller, our bassist, manager, and mother, was diagnosed with post-viral fatigue syndrome after collapsing in late 2007. She has made great progress in the last two months and we are confident that she will be back, better than ever, by late spring. In the meantime, she is receiving the very best medical care and the rest of us are busy preparing new material for our 2008 performances.

We appreciate all of the prayers and kind wishes that so many of you have already offered to us, and we ask that you please continue to keep Karen in your prayers.

All the best,

Curt, Tom, Bob, Laurah, Sarah, John, and George

2007-12-27T17:56:00.001-05:00

Here's some sheet music and tab to an Adam Steffey mandolin break from Jim VanCleve's 2006 album No Apologies. Adam Steffey is the man! He has the best matchup of phrasing and tone of any of the mandolin players I know. Check out the characteristic ascending slides. Good stuff. As always, if you want to learn this, I highly recommend checking out the original recording to get the exact phrasing and flow of

To open these files: click on each image, then right-click on the bigger picture that will display, click "save as" or whatever save option you have on your browser, and save it to your computer. You can easily print each page, or learn it right from your screen.