News Tue Apr 12 2011

When we first met Chicago nomad Netherfriends at Pitchfork Festival last year, he was working on an epic journey of 50 songs in 50 states. The idea was simple; stop working a day job, give up your lease, tour in a van and play anywhere, and record a song in all 50 states.

Well, countless miles, one broken and abandoned van, and one recovered laptop later, Netherfriends have finished their quest. And are releasing the first collection of recordings from the tour, Angry East Coast, complete with an mini-magazine detailing some of the hijinks and adventures from the tour. Here are some of Shawn/Netherfriends thoughts and reflections on the 50 Songs 50 States tour:

Alaska: Played a house show the night of my birthday in a huge log cabin with a spiral staircase in the middle and slept in this crows nest at the top of the cabin looking out over Fairbanks.

Mobile, Alabama: Running out of gas in at 3AM caused me to miss recording in the state. Got handed a bag of mushrooms for playing "a decent set.

Casper, Wyoming: Playing a steak house with Chad Lorne the tap dancing/beer on the head balancing act. INCREDIBLE! Taking that dude on the road at some point.

North Carolina: We got asked to take a picture with a bunch of dudes because they thought we were famous and then causing a handful of teens to do the same. When they asked who we were, we told them that we weren't really allowed to say, but they will find out soon.

Clearly ambitious, Netherfriends will now be heading back to the East Coast to face a new challenge: bike to each show. Bicycle Tour 2011 will start and end in Philadelphia, and I'm looking forward to the reports from Shawn of the many interesting stories and thoughts that I'm sure Netherfriends will encounter on this tour.