Houston, TX’s O Pioneers! have played another round of musical musical chairs, this time welcoming Toronto’s Junior Battles as vocalist/guitarist Eric Solomon’s backing band. To celebrate their matrimony, Kiss of Death Records has announced the release of a split 7” between the two bands, recorded during a marathon practice session in Toronto last month. Both bands have offered up a new song, with O Pioneers! contributing “That’s My Blood” to coincide with Junior Battles’ “Passing Out.”

You can head over to O Pioneers!’ MySpace page to check out “That’s My Blood” and to Junior Battles’ MySpace page to hear “Passing Out.”

This pairing marks the eighth line-up change for O Pioneers! in half as many years, as half a dozen rhythm sections have done time alongside band mainstay Eric Solomon. Solomon elaborated:

“In December, we did our big month-long tour. Everything was awesome; all the shows were great, we weren’t struggling on the road, and then we got into a sweet van accident that totaled our van. So after dealing with all of that, getting everyone and everything home safely, I was stuck with myself in Houston and band mates in Indiana, with no economical way to get back and forth between the two. So at this point, I was looking to call it quits on this band. The dudes in Indiana didn’t really want to come down anymore, so I just said, “Fuck it. We’ll do Harvest of Hope, and that’ll be the last show. We’ll be surrounded by friends and family, and we’ll go out on a high note.”

When I started to break the news to said friends and family, people got bummed. Which kinda took me by surprise, because if you know me, I don’t think anyone likes my shitty band. I started talking with Sam from Junior Battles and Bryon from Kiss Of Death, and they basically persuaded me to not stop doing this band, with the promise of hugs and kisses. So I agreed, and kinda became the guy who has a back up band. Pioneers! played a couple of shows around Harvest of Hope with New Bruises filling in, and shit was epic. It was so fun, it made me excited to play music again. A week later, I flew up to Toronto to write and record the O Pioneers!/Junior Battles split 7″, and although I was only in town for 5 days and we only had 10 hours to practice, we wrote three of the best songs this band (with any members) has ever produced. Also, setting up a tour with these fine gentlemen to and from Rad Fest was a no-brainer. So although Pioneers! is really, really different now, I’m really excited for what the future has to offer for once.”

O Pioneers! and Junior Battles will be touring together in May on their way to Wilmington, NC’s Rad Fest. Dates are listed just below the “more” button.
(more…)

The second annual Harvest of Hope Fest (HOH Fest) has announced another round of bands confirmed for their multiple-stage music festival that will take place March 12th – 14th in sunny St. Augustine, FL.

Added to the already impressive lineup will be High on Fire, Kid Sister, Gringo Star, Port O’Brien, We Are The Union, Cheap Girls, Avi Buffalo, The Dig, Yelawolf, Young Brother, Barnaby Jones, The Duppies, Umoja Orchestra, Sunbears, Liquid Limbs, The Takers, Glorious Johnson, Bent Left, No More, Cassette, Antarctic, Toby Foster, Paleface, The Pauses, The Attack!, Premadonnasaurs, Scum of the Earth, Towers of Hanoi, Company Man, Lighthouse Music, The Ones to Blame, The Cougs, The Ex-Boogeymen, Superfish, 3rd Stone, Made of Hemp, Mindrise, BLORR, and Christina Wagner.

Harvest of Hope Fest recently announced a diverse roster of national and international acts confirmed including Billy Bragg, Dr. Dog, The Mountain Goats, 7 Seconds, Leatherface, Rogue Wave, Delta Spirit, Senses Fail, Anti-Flag, Dead Prez, Kimya Dawson, Dead Confederate, Torche, Strike Anywhere, Anvil, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Dr. Octagon AKA Kool Keith, Small Brown Bike, Portugal. the Man, Black Sheep, Danielson, Man Man, forgetters, and over 150 more artists joining together to raise awareness to the plight of migrant farm workers! Harvest of Hope Fest is the only festival of its kind that has such a large group of musicians donating their time and performances to charity. A full list of confirmations can be seen by clicking “more” below.

Three-day tickets are on sale now and will rise in price as the festival draws closer. This will be the last week to get tickets at the early-bird price of $39.50. From February 12th to March 11th, they will jump to $49.50. Walk-up 3-day tickets will be $60.00. Single day tickets will be available for $25.00/day in advance and $35.00/day weekend of. Three-day camping passes are also now available at $19.50/person. A small number of VIP passes are available at $99.50 per person. The VIP pass includes access to the VIP camping area, a three-day festival pass, and extra surprises.

Proceeds from the charity fundraiser festival will benefit the Harvest of Hope Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides emergency and educational aid to some of the hardest working and often overlooked people keeping our agricultural economy moving – migrant farm workers. Harvest of Hope distributes funds to migrant farm workers and their families to help pay for food, medical services, clothing, rent, educational scholarships, and more.

For more information on the Harvest of Hope Festival, including ticket information, camping info, and the most up-to-date line-up, please visit http://www.harvestofhopefest.com.
(more…)

O Pioneers! are heading out for a month on the road, where they’ll tackle the entire United States, spend a couple days in Canada, and share the stage with bands like Against Me!, Lemuria, and Roll The Tanks. You can click on over to the tour page to check out the dates.

Houston, TX’s burliest high-five dispensers O Pioneers! have announced the recent release of their album “Neon Creeps” on cassette format care of Mightier Than Sword Records. The limited-edition lime green cassettes are available now from Mightier Than Sword and the band themselves.

“Neon Creeps” was officially released on February 10, 2009 on CD by Asian Man Records and shortly thereafter on LP care of Kiss of Death Records. The record garnered much acclaim and respect from former fans and naysayers alike, receiving comparisons to Hot Water Music, Fugazi, and early-era Replacements. Evil Needles Website said of the band, “If the post-hardcore scene was to have an epileptic seizure, O Pioneers! would be the foam at it’s mouth.”

If you missed the boat the first time around, you can still stream the record over at their Punknews.org band profile.

O Pioneers! will be heading north in June for a short run through Canada with long-time tour buddies Bridge & Tunnel. They’ll also be joined by natives Yesterday’s Ring, Junior Battles, and Orphan Choir on select dates.

Click “more” below for the dates!
(more…)