2/27/08
The swamp needed a good cleaning so we took January off to straighten things up a bit. Got rid of some wilted lilly pads, patched a leak in the pirogue, restrung the guitar and wrote a few new songs (check out our myspace site to hear new songs and new songs in the works).
Spring is going to be a fun time for the The Swamp King boys as we return to some of our usual clubs as well as a few new interesting ones. For you in-town folk we will be at Schooner Bar in Minneapolis a few times this spring. The Schooner is on Lake Street a block East of Hiawatha Ave. next to Rainbow foods. The staff and patrons of The Schooner are energetic and make this bar one of our favorites.
We had a fun night at The Sage Wine Bar in Mendota Heights on Feb.9th. Swamp music in a upscale wine bar? It couldn't have been better. Owners Bob and Kristen Kowalski and staff Hillary, Emily and Chef Jeff serve up a great selection of wine, a great gourmet meal and host a wide range of entertainment 3 nights a week. The Sage Wine Bar gets our vote for the best new venue in the Twin Cities. Check our calendar..we will be back at The Sage soon!
The Swamp Kings were recently invited to play at the annual blues festival at The Twins Bar in Duluth on May 25 2008. We have the first slot at 2 PM followed by Ajure de Jure, Virgil Cane, Ross William Perry and Cool Disposition. C'mon up to Duluth!
Get out and support LIVE MUSIC...We need you
Thanks,
Tom, Matt and Connor
1/5/08
The Swamp Kings want to say thanks to Charlie and Mel and the staff at The Blind Pig in Mankato for a great New Years Eve party. Normally this is a night we don't venture far out of the swamp but Charlie at The Blind Pig caught us and asked us a week before New Years Eve to come out and have some fun at "The Pig". Fun we had!!! They have been open only a few weeks and plan a grand opening in March. Great menu and a large modern room. This is a fun place! We look forward to playing The Blind Pig again and wish them the best of luck!
Thanks to Brenda Sheppard of The Blue Monday Monthly for helping us out with our new Myspace page. You can get there by clicking on the Myspace button on the left of the page or going to Myspace.com/theoriginalswampkings. Stop by our Myspace page and let us add you to our friends list so we look popular and important!!!
We are taking January off from the live schedule to work on some original songs and catch a bit of R&R. We will be back in February performing about every weekend through March (check the see us live calendar). C'mon out and catch one or several of our shows.
Happy New Year and thanks for stopping by the swamp.
Tom, Matt and Connor
12/20/07
The Swamp Kings will be celebrating the holidays in December with 2 shows. December 22nd at The Channel Inn in Warsaw Minnesota and December 29th at The Schooner Tavern in Minneapolis Minnesota. Both are Saturday night shows and both down-beat at 9 P.M. (Swamp Time). Be sure to sign our guest book and y'all c'mon out and have some fun with The Swamp Kings.
Tom, Matt and Connor
11/18/07
The Swamp Kings are wrapping up 2007 with some fun shows and a change in our rhythm section.
On November 24th we will be at the Austin VFW with Plan B for The 3rd Annual Salvation Army Food Shelf Drive. The show will start at 7:30 with The Lovers followed by The Swamp Kings and wrapping up the night will be Plan B. A Donation of $5.00 and a non-perishable food item will get you in this event.
On December 8th we will play a benefit for Toys For Tots at the Shokopee Eagles Club with The Tommy Love Trio. Donating a toy gift for a child is what will help out with this event. There is at raffle at this event with many great donations from sponsoring businesses. A few purchased raffle tickets will almost guarantee you a great prize!
The Swamp Kings will say good bye and good luck to Jesse Nelson as he will be leaving us soon. After auditioning many great drummers we have chosen Connor McRae to take over on the drum throne. If you are a local drummer you may know Connor from the best drummers store in the Twin Cities, Ellis Drum Shop. Connor has been with Ellis for 3 + years now and is a wealth of info for drummers. Connor's style of drumming is a natural for The Swamp Kings and we look forward to having him on the Swamp King's stage.
We will be working on a recording soon with Connor in time for a hopeful spring release. Check back to theswaqmpkings.com for more info on a release date.
Y'all sign our guest book now.
Tom, Matt and Connor
8/28/07
Hey Fellow Swampies,
First of all...Thanks to Sue, Sherry, Sister Kim and Larry and all the Mazominee Point / Cove Bay partiers on Lake Mille Lacs last Saturday night for a great day on the point. We had a blast!
The Swamp Kings continue a busy schedule in September and October (see the "see us live" page for details). On September 6th The Swamp Kings will be at The Pizza Shop weekly car show in West St. Paul for an out door show ( 6pm to 8 pm weather permitting). Come out for cars, blues and pizza to one of the Twin Cities best car shows. The following evening on September 7th The Swamp Kings will be playing a benefit for Iraq war soldiers at The Midtown Tavern in Mankato. Benefit starts at 6 pm. On September 8th we will make a rare inner city Minneapolis appearance at Schooners Tavern on Lake street.
The Swamp Kings will help bring in October at The Happy Gnome's October Fest Tent Party on September 28th opening for Big Walter Smith. 8 pm show time. The Happy Gnome will continue the party for the weekend with live music, food and a huge selection of micro brews on tap in the tent (see thehappygnome.com for details)
The Swamp Kings will again play The Original Famous Dave's in Hayward Wisconsin at the Grand Pines Resort on October 6th. Call ahead and reserve a room or cabin for the night and party with The Swamp Kings.
Fashion...oh yes my Swamp friends. The Swamp Kings have T-shirts for sale at our shows. The shirt comes in your size with Big Al the Gator both sides of the shirt!
Pick up a copy of Blue Monday Monthly and find out where, when and what blues music is doing for us. Listen to Hammered By The Blues every Sunday at 1 pm with your host John Hammer on KOWZ 1170 AM..
Please Support Blues Music....Go see a Blues band...Buy a Blues C.D. ...Go to a Blues festival...Go to soul-fixin.com...Listen to a Blues show ............
Thanks for your support,
Tom, Matt and Jesse
7/3/07
July is here and we are swamped! Alright, I had to say it.
July 4th the Swamp Kings will be at The Harbor Bar across the river from Red Wing Minnesota. This is an outdoor show starting at 5 pm. The Harbor Bar is a fun bar with a marina and camp ground and their claim to fame at the bar is their Jerk chicken sandwiches.
July 6th we will be at the Faribault Eagles Club for our first time playing there. July 21st we will be at the original Famous Dave's in Hayward Wisconsin for an evening show. Check the See Us Live colander for other July dates.
Just in....official Swamp King T shirts. We will be selling the shirts at our shows. They feature our Swamp King mascot Crocodile on both sides!
Come out and party with the KINGS!
Tom, Matt and Jesse
5/20/07
The water is receding and our calendar is getting wetter!!
The Swamp Kings have a busy schedule for June and July and are working on dates for August and into the fall. A big thanks to our new and old friends who support The Swamp Kings by coming out to support the venues we play at.Your bucks spent at the venues is what supports us as well!! Thank You.
The latest news from The Swamp.....
We are looking into having T-shirts printed. Of course the crowned alligator and name will be featured on the shirt but we could use ideas for a wise crack comment to be used as well. If you have an idea, sign into our guest book and let us know. Hey, we'll give you a shirt if we use your idea.
Check our calendar for upcoming shows including The Original Famous Dave's in Hayward Wisconsin, Saturday July 21st. Ribs, beer and the blues.....hmmm...sounds good to me.
Our buddy John Hammer from The Blue Monday Monthly will be helping us out with some advertising. Blue Monday is a great resource for local and regional Blues news. You can also hear John Hammer's radio show Hammered By The Blues on KOWZ 1170 AM on Sundays at 1 pm.
The fish are biting...I gotta go.
Tom, Matt and Jesse
4/29/07
Ladies and Gentlemen (and all of you who would like to be ladies and gentlemen),
The Swamp Kings are currently working on more swampy songs and filling our summer calendar. Although we have mainly been performing south of the Twin Cities in the last couple pf months we will be working our way into the Cities and North of the Cities in the next few months. So soon you will have no excuses for not getting out and having a big old bucket of beer with us!
Join us The Swamp Kings at The Harbor Bar in Hagar City (www.redwing.net/~harbor/) across from Red Wing on the Mississippi River on Sunday May 27th (Memorial Day Eve.) from 5 to 10 PM. This is a nice venue overlooking the river. A great mini road trip!
oops, gotta go...Ben is in the gator pit!!!
See ya'll soon,
Tom, Matt and Jesse
3/31/07
We were put to the test in front of some rather large audiences at our March shows. A big thanks to The Pub 500, The Happy Gnome, The Boat House and our swamp friends for their support of The Swamp Kings!
A 3 song demo c.d. and a promo pack are now available to anyone interested in hiring The Swamp Kings. The promo material can be obtained by contacting Tom at t.harkness@comcast.net. Please leave us a phone number to contact you when you e-mail us.
As the weather warms we will be playing some outdoor shows so check our See Us Live calendar for upcoming dates and locations. We want to see ya there!
Thanks for your support,
Tom, Matt and Jesse
3/3/06
Thanks for stopping by www.theswampkings.com. The Swamp Kings are currently rehearsing with our new drummer Jesse Nelson and finishing a demo recording. We will have a few tracks on the site soon.
Our see us live colander will be filling up with spring and summer dates soon. We plan on playing 4 to 6 nights a month. If you have a favorite bar you would like to see us perform at let us and the bar owner know. The Swamp Kings can also be hired for your next private party for a very reasonable price.
March 17th / St. Patricks Day:
Join us at The Happy Gnome, 498 Selby Ave. for their St. Patty's Day Tent Party. The Scottie Miller Band will kick off the event at 1 p.m. followed by The Swamp Kings at 3:30 and The Sweet Colleens at 7 p.m. The Gnome will be pouring micro brews in the tent along with Jameson shots so get out and get Irish this St. Patty's Day. You can check out The Happy Gnome's website at www.thehappygnome.com.
The Swamp Kings are all about having a good time...all the time... so please don't drink and drive.
See you soon,
Tom, Matt and Jesse
Big Al
