4.25.08

Hey there Lazy Susan fans! Spring has sprung and the band is on the move! This weekend we are at Ruby's on Friday night and we've added shows at our favorite lil' Stillwatering hole through the rest of '08 to the tour page so check that out! Saturday we have been reserved for a private rock-out that you can not come to, but we'd love to come play at your private function! Send us a note!

03.20.08

After a couple of weeks off we are back at 2 of our favorite haunts next weekend. Stillwater's own Ruby Begonia's and Decoy's in Hopkins! Check out the new shows added to the summer schedule! See you soon! Note that Dixie's on 4/5 has been rescheduled...

03.06.08

Has it really been 3 months since anything new was written here? Well 2008 keeps the Lazy Susan trian rolling. We're back in Rochester this weekend for 2 nights at CJ's. Then after a short break for a Doc's Kids tour, we're back the week after that in Stillwater and Hopkins. See you on the road!

12.20.07

Happy Holidays to all from the Lazy Susan Band!! We had a blast at Dixie's last weekend and we will be back there very soon. We hit the Half Time Rec this Saturday, then j. bell has a couple of solo acoustic shows in Hopkins and Winona between Christmas and New Years.

***SPECIAL SHOW ADD***

j. bell has been asked to open for Alison Scott at the Honky Tonk Cafe on 1/30 in River Falls, WI. Tickets are only $10! Check out the tour page for details!!

11.27/07

As the year winds down the Lazy Susan band does not let up on the remaining shows of 2007. This weekend j. bell takes his solo acoustic show to the hip little bar in Waconia called the Witz End. The year still holds blowout shows at Ruby Begonia's, Dixies on Grand and the Half Time Rec. We're not done with '07 yet. Come join us, the smoke free is fantastic!

10.24.07

Yes it has been a long time with no new postings other than to the schedule page (which is heating up by the way). Here's some new news to get you going again:

1) Many of you know that Memphis Evans recently returned to the LSB lineup to fill the vacant relaxed fit jeans of Rob Weaver, but unless you've been to a show recently you wouldn't know that he is now playing keys. You really should check this out. It adds a whole new dimension to the band!

2) There are some sweet solo acoustic j . bell shows on the schedule right now too. Solo shows have been added at Witz End in Waconia; Acoustic Cafe in Winona; Decoy's in Hopkins and look for some soon at Ruby's Lounge in Stillwater!!

3) On Friday November 9th the Lazy Susan Band will play at Decoy's in Hopkins with Jonathan Earl on guitar. We will be recording this show for a LIVE EP release. I even heard rumors that it may be a FREE EP available with purchase of any other Lazy Susan CD or possibly for a brief time right here on the zatchymusic.com site!!

It has been a while, but that was news that was well worth the wait. See you out there in the glorious smoke free rooms!!!!

09.13.07

Okay. We are back up and running with our new hosting company and server. Mad props to our new buddies at godaddy.com.

We survived a jammed packed July & August and things are quieting down. We can't wait to get back to Ruby's this weekend and Floyd's in 2 weeks. We promise update the blog and calendar very soon so please check back.

P.S. In our "off" week next weekend go check out Doc's Kids at the Aster Cafe in Minneapolis. Really cool little spot and we will have the one and only Rob "Magic Fingers" Weaver opening up. It's all ages and free so no excuses!

08.10.07

Note from j bell:

Man, I played a show last night for the top high school choir students in the state at WSU. What a cool group of kids! What I thought was going to be a really stale lecture on the music biz turned out to be a great little show and I met some of the next great musical talents in Minnesota. My thanks to all of my new friends and good luck on Saturday!

jb

07.15.07

Sorry about the long time without an update. We just rocked Ben's hometown of Madelia this weekend for Park Days and took Saturday off to recover. July and August are very full for the Lazy Susan Band so there is no excuse not to come out and see a show because there are a ton of them!! This week we hit Stillwater on Thursday for Lumberjack Days and then back to the Boathouse on Saturday for the usual highjinks. Hope summer is treatin' you all well.

06.12.07

We had a nice weekend off and we are taking the next weekend off too in order to make room for j. bell's side project Doc's Kids to make a special 2 person duo appearance in Mankato at Pub 500. Fear not, the rest of June is packed with Lazy Susan Band shows at Ruby Begonia's, Serum's, The Halftime Rec and a new room in Chaska. Plus a very special solo acoustic show on Tuesday 6/19 at the Grand & Snelling Dunn Bros. featuring Peggy Gantt opening the evening up. See you out there...

05.25.07

Time for another update from our pals at Garageband.com! Could we be metioning this because we are totally ruling the crap out of that place? Or maybe we just want to change the world with our music. Let's call it somewhere in between.

Anyway, our totally amazing tune "X's and O's", that is so NOT about tic-tac-toe it's not even funny, has scored another "Track of the Day" award (for May 27), this time in the "Folk" category. We know, that song seems to be even less about "Folk music" than it is about tic-tac-toe. But when you consider that the site lists Bob Dylan in the Folk category, and Neil Young and Counting Crows in the "Folk Rock" category, suddenly we don't seem too far off. Jeebus, who can keep track of the all the crazy new genres and trends on the internets anyways?

So this is less about genres, and more about how we're generally rocking so hard at Garageband we are literally melting peoples' minds as we speak. And since "X's and O's" made it into "Round 2" of the review cycle, the legions of Lazy Susan zombies can only get bigger. Then maybe one of them can explain to us what exactly Round 2 is.

But hold us back! If we keep talking like this, they might file us alongside our heroes Children of the Unicorn. Much as those guys can shred, we don't think that would make a good pairing.

Enough! Feast your eyes on those sweet badges at right. Randomly click on one to see which sweet tune of our you get. And we'll see you at Floyd's next weekend!

05.15.07

So long since we have written. We're sorry. We keep playing in Mankato and forgetting to update. All of our shows lately have been top notch except for Buster's running out of Corona before we started on Cinco de Mayo. Nothing Mexican about Miller Lite...even with a lime in it. We're heading back into Wisconsin this weekend to the Wooden Nickel and then off to our favorite Stillwater hangout Ruby Begonia's. We'll see you on the road!

04.22.07

Earth Day makes us pause and wonder about all the great ways our music helps the planet. Let's see, we use recycled wood to make our guitars, solar power to run our amps, and bicycle to every gig.

OK, so none of that is true. But we still give a crap about the Earth and whole mess of other stuff too, so we're dedicating this day's news entry to all you vigilant recycling warriors out there. You make a difference, and so we can only hope to give you some sweet tunes to hum to while you're planting a tree or something else totally awesome.

Speaking of tunes, we've recently received some more good news from our pals over at Garageband.com, where random people from all over the world listen to our music to tell us if we suck or not. So far, NOT SUCKING! In fact, apparently we are the OPPOSITE of crap! "X's and O's", our latest contribution to the fight, has been named "Track of the Day" for April 28th! That makes THREE sweet "TOD's" that we've scored off our latest album, and FOUR total!

So...you know the drill by now, right? Click on those badges under our pictures to see how freaking sweet people (RANDOM people, not paid "promoters") think our stuff is. Then once that song is jarred in your head, go plant another TREE!

04.05.07

As per usual, we came back from the Commander Bar with far fewer stickers than we came with and they ended up with far less whiskey. A special thanks to Jaimee (with 2 e's) for forcing us to spend our time in between shows remembering how to spell her name. We won't see you all again until after the holiday weekend when we have a rare 2 weekday and no weekend show week. Tuesday at Dunn Bros. and Thursday at Serum's. If you miss us this weekend, check out the new blog.

04.01.2007

Happy April Fool's Day, tune fans! Well, we have more news to celebrate this week, and it's definitely no joke!

As mentioned last week, "Missing" will be "Track of the Day" for this Wednesday, April 4th - but THEN, "Cassandra" will be "Track of the Day" on April 5th! So we'll be featured at this quality site two days in a row. Doesn't quite stand up to two rockin' nights at Breezy Point, but it's still right up there on the "pretty sweet" charts.

Click on the badges on the right to check out the righteous things Garageband members have been saying!

03.28.2007

We interrupt this broadcast of drunken bliss with some important news: We've been kicking some pretty serious tail on Garageband.com lately. Seriously! Check it out:

1. "Cassandra" has chunked out an average rating of 4.9 stars. And that's out of FIVE! Imagine if the scale went to ELEVEN!
2. As a result, "Cassandra" has moved on to the "second round" of reviews! We don't know what this means either, but we're excited anyway!
C. "Missing" has only been on the site for a few days and it's already been honored with "Track of the Day" for April 4th!

Click on the links below our photos at right to see what folks have been saying!

03.26.2007

If Lake Waconia was full of booze... it still wouldn't have been enough for the crowd at the Boat House on Saturday night. Those rowdy folks had the gall to start partying before the Lazy Susan Band even got there... like 10 hours before. Well the 1st set felt like a 3rd set and we will need the few months rest we have before we get back there again in May. Come to think of it, we need a few weeks off from super rowdy, high energy, rock & roll crowds that really REALLY know how to party... oh crap, we're at the Commander Bar this weekend. Okay Lazy Susan fans, take a deep breath, tip your glass and hold on....

03.12.2007

What a great road trip we had. Pub 500 was fantastic and the Lazy Susan Band just fed off the energy of openers "The B quad". Winona was even better than usual becasue Brad Draper's percussion lit it up! Thanks to everyone that came out.

This weekend we are going to use rock & roll to soooothe the savage beast that is St. Patty's Day. That will be no small task at an already rowdy watering hole like Ruby Begonia's in Stillwater. For backup we are bringing BPZMAG of Doc's Kids to push the rock over the edge. By the way, we've added another 6 months worth of Ruby's dates to the tour page as well as at least another return to Mankato, so check it out!!

03.01.2007

Welcome to the new web site! As you can tell, it is the shiznit. So, we promise this is the last time we do a redesign. You'll find most of the usual suspects here, just a bit easier to get around. And we still have some basic stuff to add, but don't worry, it'll be along soon. Until then, enjoy!

02.25.07

We hope you all survived the blizzard this weekend. The Lazy Susan Band spent the weekend in hibernation hiding from the weather and preparing some new material for March shows! We will debut the new tunes at Floyd's in Victoria next weekend with Memphis Evans taking over the rhythm guitar spot. We are all very excited for our small road trip to Mankato and Winona on 3/9-10. The Mankato show at Pub 500 is going folk rock! We'll see you out there.

Last weekend saw the return of Memphis Evans to the Lazy Susan Band line-up. Memphis was the first guitarist for the Susan way back when and after 4+ years... he's coming back. We plan on seeing more of good old Memphis in the future, but this weekend we caught the Weav(e) in between vacations, so he'll be on stage in all of his glory at the Commander Bar. We'll see you there.

01.22.07

Last weekend was overflowing with Lazy Susan brand rock & roll! Ruby Begonia's is always fun and we survived our trip back down to Blue Earth with little damage and a new found love of "smiley fries". We have a much needed weekend off, but we are heading to the west metro on 2/2 to visit Maple Lakes for the first time and after that I think we will be recovered enough from our last trip to Breezy Point to try again. See you out on the road... it don't take no guff. While we're taking a break, go check out our myspace page!

01.16.07

Hey, with all those cancellations a few weeks ago, it was good to get out and rock the west metro in Victoria and Waconia the last few weeks. And to make up for lost gigs, we figured it was time we added one of those LAST MINUTE deals to the "sched". Yep, the "sched" is how us bone-crushing rockers refer to our tour when we simply don't have time to mince multiple syllables. More on that next time. Until then, you can feel the love this weekend in Stillwater on Friday and we just added a trip to Blue Earth on Saturday - yep, time for another cold-weather visit to the Double Play! We're warmin' up the Susanmobile as we speak. You should warm up your vehicle of choice as well, 'cuz clearly we all need to suck some more fumes if we're gonna make it through this month. See you this weekend!

01.05.2007
OK, so the folks at Serum's must've gotten wind about how much ass-kicking we were going to do tonight, realized they were in no way prepared with enough beer, and we had to cancel. Or maybe not. In either case, tonight's show in Anoka is CANCELLED! Take it from us, however, the fact that this is the second gig in a row to cancel is pure coincidence. We WILL be in Waconia tomorrow night and so will you. Right? Cool. See you there.

01.02.2007
Happy New Year from the Lazy Susan band, everyone! As you can tell, we slacked off over the holidays and enjoyed the usual gluttonous distractions while we ate and drank like kings. Now it's back to rockin', with TWO dates this weekend! Can we pull it off? Pfffgh! Have we ever let you down? Well, besides that night in Tijuana? We'll see you this weekend as we bowl over Anoka and Waconia.

12.15.2006
OK, so we were all set to rock out tomorrow night at Whiskey Junction, and then we hear that the venue is NO MORE! We're sure musicologist detectives around the metro are on the case, desperately trying to learn the skinny on this fascinating development, but we figured, hey, we don't know the WHY, but we sure as heck know we're not gonna show up tomorrow evening and we wouldn't want our die-hard fans to show up and be bummed out. So you heard it here first! Sort of. Uhh...see you IN 2007!

11.29.06

So, THAT was a sweet Turkey-Day Weekend, especially when we saw the look on Jim's face when we showed up at Serum's with TWO bass players! Surprise! Mike D. pulled a fast one and showed up to play a rare gig on guitar while T&A held down the low end on the 6-string bass. Mike managed not to screw up too bad, so it might actually happen again. Maybe.

Comin' up this month, we plan to rule the crap out of a few of our favorite places to play, like Whiskey Junction, which we haven't revisted since our stint there as a house band for a few months in 2004. That'll be an all-original show with the Jonathan Earl Band, which you may recognize as the engineer/producers of "Something Else Entirely". And hey, speaking of THAT, you can NOW download songs from "Something Else Entirely" on iTunes! Try this link or search for "Justin Bell" within iTunes if that doesn't work. Happy downloading!

11.17.06

OK, so it took us a little while to sort of..."recover" from our CD Release Party and our recent trip to Breezy Point. The webmaster has been slacking off so here's a bone to tide you over until our new web site kicks off in a few weeks (we hope):

THE NEW CD IS AT CD BABY!

Click HERE to go the the CD Baby site and get yourself a copy (or 2, or 3) if you don't already have one. Or if you're lucky enough to own a copy, why not write us a glowing review?

11.03.06

BREAKING NEWS : ASS KICKING ROCK TO COMMENCE TONIGHT AT THE NOMAD!

If you don't know by now, read all about it below. Or quit wasting time READING...just get yer arse down to the Nomad Pub for 9 pm tonight!

10.25.06

OK, so that ploy yielded so many new mailing list subscribers, we're cancelling our plans to threaten disco covers at our next show. So NOW, here's the nugget we were offering to subscribers: an mp3 of our new song, The Same. Click on the link to download the song for yourself and rock out! If you think THAT tune sounds good, imagine a whole record full of those! Kinda makes you drool, huh? OK, so it's not really like FOOD...but it makes us drool anyway. Maybe we should seek help. But we eat this stuff for breakfast! Wait...arrgh!

Anyway, we also totally have some news about the CD Release Party next Friday, Nov 3rd. (HEY! THAT'S NEXT WEEKEND! HOLY CRAP! What are you gonna WEAR? NOT that pink leotard again, please. Spare the masses.) We're sure you know about the $5 cover, and even though we think the party is totally gonna be worth droppin' Lincolns like John Wilkes Booth, we decided to give everyone through the door a coupon good for $5 off ANY merchandise purchase that night from ANY of the three bands - us, Mighty Fairly, and Suede Baby.

So let's add up all the reasons to go to our CD Release Party (don't worry, "Because we rock" didn't make the cut):
1. There's not one, not two, but THREE bands releasing CDs
2. There's a whole mess of other cool merchandise available, way cheaper than normal.
3. The Nomad Pub is probably the coolest new venue in town
4. Justin will be naked sometime that night. (Maybe not at the NOMAD, but hey, that's a small detail!)
5. We rule the crap out of this stuff.
6. You thought this list would add up to five or ten, huh? You lose. Now you must come see us to redeem yourself!

And if you just can't wait, catch us at a Halloween weekend gig this Saturday at Floyd's. It's Mike's first show back, and you know it'll be a scorcher. Like spicy Indian food. Crap! There we go again...

10.3.06

Only one month until our CD RELEASE PARTY! In honor of this stupendous moment in anticipation, we're giving you this opportunity to sign up on our mailing list on the right of this page. Why? Cuz mailing list members (an exclusive club) are going to receive an ULTRA MONDO special preview of our new album sometime in the next few weeks - WAY before anyone else can! So sign up now!

(You might be saying: "Wait. I signed up on that mailing list and haven't gotten anything in years. What's up with that?" Well, we lost a whole bunch o' addresses around New Year's 2006 (darn bonfires) and have had to rebuild. Granted, we haven't sent out anything since June, but if you didn't even get anything THEN, you need to sign up again. PLEASE?)

Don't make us angry. You wouldn't like us when we're angry. We turn pink and shrivel like frightened turtles.

09.21.06

NEWS FLASH: LAZY SUSAN PLANS TO RULE THE CRAP OUT OF THE WEST BANK (AND A WHOLE MESS OF OTHER STUFF TOO) ON NOV 3RD

And we didn't even charge you 25 cents for that little nugget. And if that wasn't enough to inspire you, check out this performance. Playing instruments that spontaneously disappear - now THAT is talent!

09.10.06

After suggesting we cover an Eddie Money song, Mike has been temporarily kicked out of the band for a few weeks to recover his senses. Not really. But he did have a kid, boy #2, "Kyle", last Thursday, September 7th. Solid proof that Lazy Susan music totally gets you laid. So Mike plans to return to the lineup shortly before our CD release party, where he'll split time on bass with Tom "the Monster" Adams, aka "T&A" from Doc's Kids fame. T&A also graces several tracks on the new record, which is sounding so hot it has actually melted ice cream cones a few blocks away. You gotta get your mitts on this sh*t - seriously, though, you're gonna need the oven mitts to keep your hands from being fried by the pure molten rock that only we can conjure.

09.01.06

BIG NEWS FROM THE "HOLY CRAP THAT ROCKS" DEPARTMENT:
It's official. In the books. Totally on the level. We're not messing around this time. No speculation, no guesses, no "maybes". You can put this in your permanent record...or, like, your calendar or something. Anyway, take note! The CD release party for our new album, "Something Else Entirely", will be on Friday, November 3rd, at the Nomad World Pub on the West Bank in Minneapolis.

In honor of the occasion, we've cooked up a little eye-candy tease for you at right. That's right, do not adjust your internet. That's our new album cover. And if you think it LOOKS pretty damn sweet, wait'll you HEAR the freakin' thing. Why did it take us so long to get here? File it under the "taking things to the next level" category, cuz this record sounds so good, your stereo might actually reach orgasm when you slip it in.

So how do you get your hands on this priceless work of ass-kicking? Show up at the Nomad in November, that's how! And if you think we're gonna let you forget about this between now and then, you got ANOTHER think comin'! Cuz this is just the beginning of the media blitz that is soon to come. Stay tuned for more details, or show up at one of our upcoming shows to witness the power of our rock first hand.

08.24.06

After a weekend of ruling the crap out of Stillwater, we're totally ready for road trips to new venues this coming weekend. The first is a short one to the Decoy's in Hopkins on Friday, where we've been invited back after a long hiatus. Let's just say we're gonna take it to the next level at this show. You'll just have to make an appearance if you want to find out what that means...cuz we don't even know just yet.

And if that didn't make us kings of the road and a whole bunch of other stuff too, we'll be launching the Susanmobile up north to Cross Lake on Saturday to visit the old "New Exchange", currently called the less confusing "Log Jam". See the tour page for the deets!

Now the webmaster's gonna go and take a shower after sweating out the new dialup connection. We'll keep you posted.

08.08.06

Well, well, well. You're back. Nice to see you for a change. We hear you've been hitting the bottle pretty hard lately. Hey, calm down now, there's nothing wrong with that! We've been known to down a diet Pepcid every now and then ourselves. Of course, that's just because we're legendary in certain circles. Did you hear that we broke down and set up a PA system in FIFTEEN minutes last weekend? Yup. Never been done before. Folks at Floyd's thought we were nuts. But we did it - just cuz some itty bitty rain threatened to spoil our party, we moved it inside and rocked even harder.

So it's time for a weekend off while we polish the PA Olympics trophy that we totally won. Then, next weekend, we head on out to Ruby Begonia's in Stillwater for yet another night of 3-piece rock. That's right, the Lazy Susan power trio will be back in action while the Weave tends to his duties as head of the Gordon Lightfoot fan club. Where will we be beyond that? Well, that's for us to know and you to find out...which of course, if you look to the right....no, ABOVE the "montage" thing. THERE. Knew you could do it! Maybe them bottles don't kill brain cells after all...

07.24.06

Whew...what can we say? Mike D's official last weekend in Breezy Point was one of the best we've ever had. When not one, but TWO bachelorette parties show up, how can we beat that? With nonstop rockin', that's how. Do we rest on our laurels after a stand like that? No. Do we get complacent and figure we're the greatest? No. We bring it again, this time for the locals down here in the cities. Because we know you're a glutton for punishment! You YEARN for the soul-whipping we dish out every night, and that's why you'll see us at the Beach House Bar & Grill this Saturday night. Check out the tour page for details and bring your codpieces!

07.17.06

This past weekend the Lazy Susan bandwagon learned how to cool off from the kick-in-the-groin heat we've been experiencing all around the country. Of course, as soon as we figured that out, we did the opposite. We decided to give summer the su-fi and rock even harder than is humanly possible. We sweat. We bled. The heat beat every drop of moisture from our bodies and we stood there and said, "Okay. NEXT SONG."

And THIS weekend, we're bringing that attitude up north to a special place we like to just call "Breezy". And since we're in dire need of a road trip, we figured we'd head up early and set up stage on THURSDAY. And we simply won't leave until the rockin' is done well past midnight on Saturday. So when the smoke clears, your ears stop ringing, and the smell of tequila is washed from your collar, don't blame us if you can't remember it all. If we do our jobs, it'll all just be like a hazy dream - with a kickass soundtrack.

07.04.06

Happy Fourth of JULY! At this moment, hopefully you're kicking back in a lawn chair with a can of Premium, some Pork Rinds, and a Roman Candle by your side. The wife beater hangs loosely around your spare tire while the smell of bug repellent mixes with the sulfur of your backyard fireworks. Of course, your neighbors don't know that by day you're working for the CIA as an undercover operative...

Sorry, wrong effing blog! Back to the Lazy Susan newsmachine, which has been simply TEARING it up in downtown Stillwater so much they had to name one of those 32oz beer mugs after us. So what's that mean? Time to get outta Dodge! (Wouldn't want anyone to actually recognize our names...that would go COMPLETELY against our marketing strategy.) Yep, a Lazy Susan trio will be heading down to lovely Fairmont, MN for some steak and rock. In that order. If you find yourself in the near-Iowa portions of the state, perhaps you should head on over this Saturday. The worst thing that could happen is your cover could be blown...

06.10.06

Let's face it, most of the time, work pretty much blows. When it doesn't blow, it tends to lean toward "slightly less sucky than root canals". Those of us who actually enjoy their day job are usually quite twisted, like the Lazy Susan webmaster, or lucky enough to be rock stars, ball players, or DMV employees. Maybe even all three. But in a great city like St. Paul or Minneapolis, there's one saving grace to the 9-5 grind: happy hour. More specifically, happy hour TUNES. So that's exactly what the a**-kicking machine known as Justin Bell & Lazy Susan have dialed up for you this coming Thursday: FREE admission to an outdoor concert in downtown St. Paul with beer, food, sweet merchandise and two great bands: Mighty Fairly and well, us of course. Sorry if you're disappointed it's not the Winger/Warrant "Hairspray Across America" double tour.

Nope, only us rebel mofos who play by their own rules are invited to gig at Mears Park for St. Paul After Hours. We'll be taking the stage at 5 pm, just as the beer starts to flow. During this 75-minute set, you'll see something you won't see at one of our typical bar gigs: only 2 or 3 covers. Yep, we'll be showcasing your favorites from "you...up in lights" as well as a bunch of new, never-been-played-onstage original songs that will probably be your one and only preview of our upcoming album slated for release this fall. And given how long we've been TALKING about this album, you can only imagine how excited we are to actually PLAY these tunes in front of a live audience. And if you haven't seen Mighty Fairly yet, well this is your chance to see what all the fuss is really about.

So if you work in downtown St. Paul, there will perhaps NEVER be a better time to catch an original showcase of Justin Bell tunes, full-electric band style, than this Thursday at 5. But even if you DON'T work in St. Paul, you know how you and your pals feel come Thursday afternoon. You're itchin' to blow off work early, get a head start on the weekend, and hit the town. You face two choices: sit in traffic for an hour just to make it home in time for "Walker, Texas Ranger" or come see us rock in Mears Park.

The choice is clear. We'll see you Thursday.

05.21.06

Who knew that beer could be so good? Well, we found out last night at the second annual "Beer is Good" celebration at Floyd's in Victoria. We knew it was going to be a great night when we pulled up and there was a mechanical bull next to the patio! And it was JUST warm enough to keep the nighttime chills away - provided the right mix of Justin Bell tunes and beer, of course.

If you were there, thanks for making it a memorable night. If you weren't, well, these are the things you've been missing? What on earth do you hit the water cooler with each Monday? Saturday Night Live sketches? C'mon, man, get with the game!

05.17.06

OK, so we haven't exactly turned over a new leaf here. Come see us at Floyd's this weekend. It is your mission in life.

04.26.06

TEN DAYS. It's been TEN DAYS since the loyal, courageous, Lazy Susan faithful have seen an update on these pages. Well, that just tells you how long it took us to recover from our weekend at Serum's. We'd tell you it was the hard rockin', the steep stairs, the bachelorette parties, or the unending demands for more, still more rock. But we'd be lying. It was the... uh, well...use your imagination. Now double that, and put it on the stairs. Not that we're complaining - we LIVE for this stuff! We only share the tantalizing lack of detail so you can come see it for yourself next time. When's that? May 5th, baby - in Stillwater! We'll see you there!

04.16.06

Since J.Bell simply can't keep himself out of the spotlight (it FOLLOWS him, we swear), he decided to fill his weekend with spectacular shows at the Bryant Lake Bowl with our label-mates Doc's Kids, and then headed down to Iowa for even more Mighty Fairly gigs. A little fly on the wall told us that all the extra work is bringing "crossover" fans to ALL these groups (something about panties being thrown at the stage), and we in the Lazy Susan camp say, more the merrier! And what better way to check out what all the fuss is about than to join us this coming weekend (4/21-22) at our favorite place to play in Anoka, Serum's Good Time Emporium? Wild things have a way of happening at Serum's when we're there, and we're pretty sure it's because of our loin-stirring brand of rock and roll. Or maybe it's just the totally sweet wings they have there. Either way, if you go, you're bound to end up with some extrapalicious "water-cooler" stories to help lighten up your crappy day job next Monday. And when people stare at you like they don't get it, you can just say "BAH! You had to be there" and walk away coolly like the mysterious stud/babe that you are.

04.04.2006

Special thanks to all the friends & fans who came out on super-short notice to join us at Ruby Begonia's last Friday night in downtown Stillwater. For those of you who missed it, the bottom line is we kicked some serious 3-piece tail, avoided burning ourselves on the stageside coffeemaker, made some really cool new friends, and generally had a quagmire-free time. We're pretty sure that a few people even managed to score that night. No one in the band, of course, but the good times were flowin' quite freely. The city of Stillwater was so blown away, in fact, that we've added no less than SIX (count 'em) Stillwater gigs to the tour page. Heck, anymore and we'll just park the Susanmobile there permanently. Naw...

This weekend we head down the legendary Highway 61 to J.Bell's hometown of Winona to light up the Acoustic Cafe stage like only we know how. An acoustic version of the indie-pop sensation Mighty Fairly will be opening up for us at 8:00, followed by the Lazy Susan conspiracy. Stop down to hear percussion as only T&A can provide it, and watch Justin pretend he knows how to play the mandolin. We promise your time will be decidedly sweet, if only because we know the coffee and sandwiches alone are worth the trip. It'll be like the time you went home for Thanksgiving break and hooked up with that crush from high school, then totally went out with some pals the next night just to clear your head.

03.31.06

LAST MINUTE GIG NOTICE!! We've been invited to fill in at a new venue (for us, anyway) in historic downtown Stillwater. Being as how our ass-kicking rock tunes tend to stun new club patrons into euphoric shock, we're counting on a few of you die-hards out there will catch this in time and make some plans to join us at Ruby Begonia's tonight (Friday) at 9:00 sharp. That way you'll be able to reassure those stunned into drool-dom that it's OK to believe their eyes and ears. By the way, Ruby Begonia is a two-level club, with a jazz lounge upstairs and rock downstairs. So if you don't recognize us at first, you're looking at the wrong band. Get another beer, find the stairs, and seek us out at a lower elevation. There will be plenty of breaks for you to soak up the smooth jazz tones in between our floor-shaking sets. SEE YOU THERE!

03.17.06

Happy St. Patty's day, Susan fans! As the webmaster sits back with a celebratory stout this Friday eve and types this entry, our labelmates from Doc's Kids are busy entertaining the folks down in Mankato. As for the Susan itself, we'll be sparking up the Susanmobiles again next Friday to head west to our favorite little bar in Victoria, Floyd's. And if the Susan can't rock Floyd's, well, the Susan has to stop referring to itself in the third person! And you know THAT'LL never happen! So if you're in the area or in the mood for a short trek down Highway 5, join us for the party. You won't regret it!

And lest we leave you without any more news, be sure to check the two new gigs we've added to the tour page, and we're gonna tease you again with the fact that we'll be in the studio a whopping THREE times next week. So the light is visible at the end of the tunnel for a new album. Sure, that light is still the size of a pin, but hey, it's there! Seeing as how this record will soon be heard on airwaves throughout the country (Inn and Suites in Topeka, KS), think about how cool it'll be to tell your friends you were there every step of the way (in spirit)!

02.21.06

Late night drives. Bowling alleys. Pizza joints. Dance floors. Frozen highways. Hotel rooms. Greasy sppons. These are just a few of the sights, sounds, and smells that the Lazy Susan has encountered on their recent trips to outstate Minnesota. First, we went south, to Blue Earth. After we conquered the south, we went north, to Breezy Point. Leaving a trail of sweat, blood, and sweet-ass rock songs, we did what we do best in a big way the past two weekends. If you were there, you could totally be in possession of a token of our appreciation, a great conversation-starter enabling you to say "Yeah, I was there, and it rocked. Now can I interest you in an appetizer this evening?" Your companions may doubt the stories of the unbridled rocking that you witnessed, but then you'll just have to bring them next time, won't you? This phenomenon cannot be truly served with words - it must be experienced to be understood. Hey, we can rock pretty hard, but we can't change the laws of physics. Only Chuck Norris can do that.

02.07.06

After a brief weekend hiatus (recovery?) from the bar stages of Minnesota, the Lazy Susan is ready for a new BART: Big-Ass Road Trip. That's right, we're packing up the van (actually it's two pickup trucks...but "the van" sounds WAY more "indie" so we really need you to be OK with our little fib) and heading down I-35 to a new venue in a new town. Blue Earth, MN is our destination this Saturday night, and we're hauling down some brand new songs to boot. So if you know anyone in that corner of the state, be sure to warn them about the chaos that is about to reign at The Double Play Sports Bar & Grill. Check out the tour page for the same vague details that we'll be using to find our way to the gig. Then when you get there, just look for the van!

01.30.06

This past weekend, the Lazy Susan kicked the rock wagon into high gear at Serum's in Anoka, and the result was just short of cataclysmic. The floor shook. The beer flowed. The blood and sweat stained the stage carpet. The fans and friends who attended were stunned into strange reactions, such as simultaneously screaming and banging hands together at a rapid pace. It was pretty much the best rock weekend ever, but you'll never hear about it outside of this space, mostly because the witnesses are still recovering.

So the Lazy Susan ass-kicking machine has been put back in the garage, traded in for a comfy multi-person hammock that we'll set up in St. Paul for an acoustic and coffee-flavored showcase at Dunn Brothers on Grand & Snelling. This gig is going to be more than just J. Bell and his guitar, so be sure to roll on down to check out the special guests as they attempt to drown out the cappuchino machine. It's a perfect contrast to the wild rock of our recent past, and just the tonic for some mid-winter blues.

01.17.06

We would be extremely delinquent if we failed to notify you in advance of the intense arse-kicking tidal wave of rock and roll about to be released upon the legendary Minnesota Music Cafe this coming Sunday. This may be your last chance to hear about it, unless the webmaster gets off his rear to send out a mailing list. Needless to say, the Lazy Susan will be doing what they do best - rocking. But they're totally good at a whole bunch of other stuff, too, just ask their moms.

And for those of you who weren't at our recent St. Croix Live show, this is your chance to catch the insanity you missed. Let's just say that drunken dancing and encores were heavily involved. Not necessarily in that order. The authorities have asked us not to discuss any further details until the arraignment.

Cheers!

- the Lazy Susan webmaster

01.02.06

Happy New Year, Lazy Susan fans! We hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season, and are ready for a great new year and some new years resolutions. We have some of our own. Typically when you see new year's resolutions from bands, you'll see really lame stuff like "Rock Harder!". Yeah, we're a bit more creative than that, as we hope you already know.

Top Ten Lazy Susan New Year's Resolutions
1. Finish the new album
2. Get Weaver a new t-shirt about mullets
3. Get Mike some meds for his "control issues"
4. Keep Ben awake on the ride home
5. Get a fan for Justin so he doesn't sweat so much
6. Get some press (negative or otherwise)
7. Write a theme song for the bird flu
8. Spin the negative press from the bird flu theme song
9. Create distractions to hide the fact that Mike lost the band's mailing list addresses
10. Rock harder.