Kayo Dot / Maudlin of the Well

The Knight Errant adds to their impressive litany of incredible opening tracks

Dear friends,

You may have heard me talk on the socials about my trio with Mario Diaz de Leon and Jeremiah Cymerman, Bloodmist, a lot in the past year and a half. It's all because of this album, Arc, which we recorded in Novermber 2020 and is just about to be released. We came up with a new sound for this one through some serious chemistry and situational vibrations, and I walked away from the session feeling like this band was a huge missing piece of the puzzle of my musical life. Making this record set my mind in a new direction and I haven't yet realized the affect it's going to have on all the other music I make– but it'll be huge.
The album comes out June 3, but we're releasing a intense and exciting premiere track today: "Battle Mountain." Check it out over at my Bandcamp page.
https://kayodot.bandcamp.com/album/arc
What's more, ICYMI we had good success trying out the Bandcamp vinyl pressing service a year ago with Bloodmist's previous album, Phos. Those LPs just came in a couple weeks ago, and we couldn't be happier with them. Because it went so well, we're making an attempt to get the new one, Arc pressed on vinyl through the same method. This one's a longer album so it'll be a 2xLP. Because Bloodmist's music is totally self-released and self-funded, the only way for us to get vinyl pressed is to go the pre-order/crowdfund way. If you're interesting in seeing this come to light, please don't hesitate to pledge to the campaign! There are some very special exclusive bonuses for supporters, too, and the campaign ends in just 30 days. The link for that is the same as the above.

I also wanted to let you know that Bloodmist will be playing at the very prestigious festival, FIMAV, in Quebec this month. We all couldn't be more excited about that. It's a festival I personally have wanted to be a part of since as long as I can remember, and for Bloodmist's first out-of-town appearance, this is an amazing standard to set. We feel extremely fortunate for the opportunity and for everyone's well-wishes.

Thanks very much for everything, and stay tuned for some more good news and announcements coming in the next few weeks.

Yours, Toby Driver

KAYO DOT announces full-album, original lineup "Choirs of the Eye" performance at Complexity Fest, Netherlands!
Hello,

I couldn't be more excited to share with you all that after a 3-year pandemic-related live hiatus, Kayo Dot will be returning with a performance at the next edition of Complexity Fest in the Netherlands, Feb 25, 2023! In celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the band and our debut album, Choirs of the Eye, we have reassembled the original Choirs... lineup of maudlin of the Well ex-pats: Greg Massi, Terran Olson, Sam Gutterman, and myself, plus additional members Matt Serra (Wet Math!!!), violin and trumpet powerhouse Timba Harris (Secret Chiefs 3, Alora Crucible, Grails, etc), and woodwind multi-guy Jeff Tobias (Sunwatchers), to perform the album in-full! We have never before toured European shores with this music or lineup, despite some smatterings of reorchestrated Choirs... songs on a tour or two around 2010, so this is really exciting for us. Tt's been a long time coming. And furthermore, it's been a few years of Kayo Dot playing with a minimized lineup so I'm super stoked that we're now getting back to big!

Tickets are now onsale for Complexity Fest at this address:

One month away, Kayo Dot's “Choirs of the Eye” 20th Anniversary Tour begins

Toby Driver | Kayo Dot
Wed, Jan 25, 8:07 AM (2 days ago)

Hello, I'm writing this to you from the back of a tour van in the midst of a long, full-day drive from Grenoble to Brussels on a grey and snowy day. I've joined my friend Charlie Looker, playing bass for his crushing project Extra Life on this trip, which has lasted the full month of January and traversed almost the entire UK and France. The music and hangs have been deep, the hospitality has been loving, and the heating has been almost entirely nonexistent. After the past few years of staying off the road due to the wills of external forces, I'm so fortunate to have the opportunity to join Charlie on this run. I enjoy touring and find it to be an essential facet of my vocation on this Earth, even in the role of a backing musician, and the relative absence of it in my life in the past few years has hurt. But here I am again in the right place, blessed to travel and blessed to be with my head above the surface, engaged in the arts with immediacy.

Only three weeks after returning home from this trip with Charlie, I'll set out again, this time in the bandleader's role with my own long-running, chief project Kayo Dot. This year is the project's 20th Anniversary, and to honor the milestone, I've gathered the original lineup of the fellows who formed the band out of maudlin of the Well to perform our 2003 debut album, Choirs of the Eye in full. The first leg of the tour hits a few places UK and Europe (see below) because this music was never really presented over there. By the time Kayo Dot started touring Europe, Choirs of the Eye was a few albums in the past and the band no longer had an instrumentation that could support the music's proper orchestration. Some of the ex-maudlin guys that are coming along for this trip left the band before ever having the chance to go on a European tour, so this is exciting in many ways. To even further exploit that vibe, we're preparing a few additional songs from the Kayo Dot repertoire that have never once been played in Europe. How about that!

It's very meaningful for me, far beyond the words I can say, to have the opportunity to bring this music back on the road for you. For Choirs of the Eye, but also for Kayo Dot as a project in general. If I had it my way, Kayo Dot would tour all around the world for 150 shows a year. But, I think since 2016 Kayo Dot has only played about 60 times. In 7+ years. That's horrible. I really want to remedy that situation with a ton of music and a ton of live concerts, and this Choirs of the Eye tour is the first step towards that. So, I really hope to see you at one of these upcoming concerts to encourage me along this path. Make sure you buy pre-sale tickets as soon as possible because it allows us to know how to better plan for the trip in terms of merch production and other resource investment. The dates and the ticket links are below.

But first, one more very exciting thing. We're being joined on this tour by our longtime lyricist and former maudlin of the Well vocalist, Jason Byron, who has never been on the road before and was only seen once in public at the MOTW reunion performance at the Stone NYC in 2015. He's bringing copies of his two novels, Blasphemy and Amalia, to sell at the merch table. Kayo Dot fans will recognize those titles as being closely related to Byron's words and stories in our music– and the novels go a lot further to expand upon the universe. He is limiting this first printing to only 50 copies of each. Preceding each concert, we're holding a special pre-show event in which Byron will read a little from his books and then have a Q&A session with the audience and other members from MOTW. The pre-show events are limited-entry, and you can find out more about how to get access at the ticket links below.

24 Feb, London UK at Signature Brew Blackhorse Road
https://dice.fm/event/ayg5q-kayo-dot-uk-exclusive-24th-feb-signature-brew-blackhorse-road-london-tickets?lng=en
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25 Feb, Haarlem NL at Complexity Fest:
https://www.ticketmaster.nl/artist/complexity-fest-tickets/994553
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26 Feb, Berlin DE at Urban Spree
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/usu-pres-kayo-dot-urban-spree-tickets-493975733717
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28 Feb, Warsaw PL at Hydrozagadka:
https://goout.net/pl/bilety/kayo-dot/acpq/
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01 Mar, Krakow PL at Klub RE:
Fb event: https://www.facebook.com/events/712136530028492/
Ticket link: https://goingapp.pl/wydarzenie/kayo-dot-us/marzec-2023
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02 Mar, Prague CZ at Underdogs:
Tickets: https://www.goforboom.com/events/kayo-dot-choirs-of-the-eye-20th-anniversary-tour/order

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/666880521665504
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03 Mar, Belgrade SB at Elektropionir
(no tcket link available yet)
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04 Mar, Graz AT at Wakuum:
They sell memberships and it's a free show for members, or pay-what-you-wish.
www.wakmusic.at
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05 Mar, Mantova IT at The Academy:
https://k2music.bigcartel.com/product/kayo-dot-the-academy-mantova-biglietti

One final thing. Last week, I launched a fundraiser to help cushion some of the risk involved in undertaking such an ambitious tour. In the past week, we reached our goal thanks to our generous fans and friends, for which I'm profoundly grateful. If you would like to contribute, the fundraiser is still open, and everything raised will go towards making the tour an easier and less anxious experience. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your belief in what I do.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/kayo-dots-20th-anniversary-tour-fundraiser?qid=da48484f64450af2476a656eb81f0930

Many thanks for reading, and hope to see you out there! Any questions or desire to unsubscribe please let me know.

Toby td at kayodot dot net