WATER BEAR

It's Summer!

It feels like a lifetime ago we released 'Peppermint' to the world, and now we are ready to keep playing, keep writing and to start recording again. We were recently approached by Plaid Dog Studios to start work on our latest recording project, and let me say that we can't WAIT to get going! To be able to record at the same studio that captured the magnificence of musicians like Lori McKenna and Regina Spektor is absolute magic and an insane honor! We are very excited to offer more news on the recording front soon. (Keep your banana's peeled for future fundraiser info, merch and more!)

Continuing forward we are LOVING our now ONE YEAR OLD residency at Lost Towns Brewing on Friday nights for our 11 month run at OPEN MIC NIGHT! Every Friday night from 6-8pm has become not only our fave night of the week but like being with family. If you're looking for a safe space to perform or just to be with people that make you feel like one of their own, this sweet little microbrewery is the ONLY spot to be on Friday nights. Dog friendly, delicious craft brews, outstanding music and conversation with friends. This night is why Dave and I do what we do.

SO for now, we will keep updating our gig schedule and looking for your friendly faces in the crowd. Be well!

-AJ (WATER BEAR)

'Peppermint' hues... and shirts for your blues!

It's that lovely time of year. With the winter blues setting in we could all use a sweet reminder of what's important, and our new single 'Peppermint' is just that. The song premieres everywhere in the world on January 2nd, 2022, but you can hear the mastered song and watch the sweet YouTube video attached to it this Christmas Eve at 9pm, EST! We hope you'll enjoy us for this new holiday classic, and let the bells carry you away. We also have some specialty merch JUST for the winter season available NOW via TeeSpring! Find the latest collection here:

 https://my-store-c0fdb3.creator-spring.com/listing/WATER-BEAR-Peppermint

In other news, we are hard at work with lots of new material! The songs are popping and the new year's schedule is being made, complete with some sweet collaborations with familiar faces! We can't wait to share all of this with our friends and fans.

You can also download our whole discography now at 50% off for the holidays exclusively at Bandcamp.com! Come subscribe to our page and follow the link to get all our music for just $4.50! Give the gift of music this season and support a local band at the same time. It's a win-win!

Finally, OPEN MIC NIGHT at Lost Towns Brewery has been an amazing residency that we are so proud to host and be a part of. We've been loving live-streaming to instagram every week, and are looking forward to picking right back up THIS January 14th at 6pm! We want to thank the owners at employees at Lost Towns Brewing for being so kind, supportive and loving. We look forward to celebrating with all of you in the new year! We hope you'll join us in 2022 and share your musical gifts with us. It's made Friday night our favorite night of the week, all thanks to YOU!

That's all for now. We can't wait to keep sharing, writing, performing and loving with all of you friends and fans. We are so appreciative of all you give. We hope we are able to return the favor!

Much love and Happy Holidays,

A.J. (WATER BEAR)

Hey friends!

So many cool things happening! My newly officially named bandmate (and broheim extraordinaire) Dave and I are hitting the road to play all over New England (and beyond!) this year! From livestream to livingroom to live and in person own the club, we're making music and we won't stop until someone kills the sound system!

Dave and I are very excited to be working in studio with some very talented fellow players, and have some great new songs in the works. (Want to know more? Check out our YouTube videos on the Hole in the Wall page and hear some of what we've been working on at past shows and livestreams!) We are looking forward to releasing our new EP of tunes to the masses, so keep your eyes peeled on the Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter for the release date!

In more exciting news, at the end of this month WATER BEAR will be featured on the Craig Harris Show for Bluegrass Country radio. (88.5 FM for WAMU; the Washington, DC branch of NPR). We are excited to be part of such a wonderful program and can't wait for the show to air to the masses! A huge THANK YOU to the talented and humble Craig for asking us to be a part of this, as well as to NPR for supporting homegrown music and the songwriter/bluegrass scene as part of it's radio station offerings. Once we have an air date we will let you know!

Our next show is coming up at The Jungle in Somerville, MA. We will be surrounded by a cacophony of incredible artists; including Prateek Proddar, Aaron Shadwell and his outstanding band (comprised of Scott Mitchell on drums and Shane Allessio on upright bass), and Goldstar Blvd. This is a ticketed event with limited space, so grab yours RIGHT NOW on Eventbrite and join us for a night of brand new original music, never heard before by a live audience!

Hope to see your smiling faces at some of these upcoming gigs! For more hit up the reverbnation page or go right to FB and check out our events! Thanks again for the love, and we'll see you soon.

-WATER BEAR

Hey friends,

The weather may be rainy here in Massachusetts but it feels like a cleansing one. More and more musicians are coming back out to play, getting vaccinated and ready to share their gifts! While we are promoting the album 'Rusted Moon', we've been thankfully climbing the charts on FABchart.net, Reverbnation.com and many more! We know that without you we wouldn't be there, and it's beyond cool that the sound is appreciated and that people are connecting to the songs. Thank you as always for listening! Keep sharing, keep streaming and please do find and like or follow us on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and more! (If you have an opportunity you want to share, be sure to drop us a line to HoleITWStudio@gmail.com . It's gig season, after all...) 

So despite the NEW release of 'Rusted Moon' this past April 1st, we want everyone to know that the band is back in studio and working hard on the upcoming album 'The Wheel'; title derived from the creation 'Old Ferris wheel ' , which is just one piece of incredible artwork by Randy Purcell out of Tennesee. (Be sure to follow the link and check him out! He is a band favorite and we hope to enlist him for more artwork in future!) 

This album has a whole new run of songs, new members (like Ukelele/Guitar player and songwriter Dave Herrera) and we can't wait to share the new band line-up and touring group with all of you! More on that tour coming soon.

There is also a new songwriter livestream show being brought to us by Hole in the Wall Studio and Brother & Sister House Concert Series (a derivative of 'Bow Tie Studios'). WATER BEAR singers/players (A.J., Dave and more) will take turns hosting, playing songs with, and interviewing the musical guests for a one hour show in the HITW studio or on the Green Room couch at Chapel Apple House; a local house concert venue and A.J.'s home out of Warren, MA. We hope you'll reach out to us if you're looking to play, or to know more about the series. 

Lastly for now, WATER BEAR is going to be shooting, editing and releasing the NEW music video for 'Rusted Moon' at the Grand Hall of local hot spot and artist's gallery 'Workshop 13'. This place is a local favorite, and a huge supporter of the arts in the Western/Central MA community and beyond! We hope you'll check them out, support them, and keep you eyes open for opportunities to be a guest in the video!

There's a bevy of shows we're booking, and as soon as the dates as solidified we'll be sure to share them. Thanks for being here with us and for streaming, sharing and connecting. Can't wait to continue this adventure with all of you!

-A.J.

Hey there friends,

So good to be here on this beautiful Monday. It's the start of a new cycle, Spring feels like it's here and on top of it all there are some wonderful projects in the works for Summer and the coming 2022 season! 

As it is 'house concert season', and typically we would be booking and hosting more live shows at the moment, we've found a way (like so many of our musical friends have) around COVID. WATER BEAR has started live-streaming on a regular monthly basis, and we're introducing new band members too! Dave Herrera has joined the WATER BEAR band as a singer, use player, percussionist and even our own personal filmmaker! As the host of his own regular show, he has brought his musical talent and his recording equipment from Bow Tie Studios to the WATER BEAR vision. 

Along with our own livestream project, my personal passion project of promoting and sharing new music has lead to the Brother & Sister Concert Series. Dave Herrera and myself are going to have musicians either in studio or live-streaming from home so we can interview them from various locations. (The Chapel Apple House green room, Hole in the Wall Studio and more!) They'll tell stories, play songs for you and respond to the audience so you can get your questions answered and share in their gifts. I hope you'll join us for the first official B&S concert TONIGHT at 7pm EST for some WATER BEAR tunes and stories, and help us bring this vision to life.

To add to the fun of Spring, we will be filming our first music video at the end of May, 2021 out of Workshop 13 in Ware, MA. As such, we're looking for extras and actors who have had their vaccine and also are willing to work COVID safe on this great production. To know more, email HoleITWStudio@gmail.com and ask to get in on the fun and details! We would love you to be a part of this and the videos to come.

There's so much more to talk about, but I want to save some announcements for the next blog post! Stay safe and happy, and thanks for supporting homegrown music. We appreciate you. 

Until next time. 

-A.J. (WATER BEAR)

Hey everyone!

Well here we are in the midst of April, and 'Rusted Moon' seems to be climbing the charts! This week on Fabchart.net, the song 'Still Looking' climbed two spots to #22 on the UK based music top 30, and the band page on Reverbnation.com went from the thousands to #358 in the USA and #574 globally! My personal Reverbnation.com page shot up to #22 USA wide and #24 WORLD WIDE due to all the WATER BEAR attention! (That's all out of 2.9 MILLION other incredible artists mind you, so this feels pretty big!) 

I am both shocked and overwhelmed by all the attention, and so grateful for our friends and fans who see sharing and loving the album. All the music is now available all over the internet- from Spotify to iTunes Music, and our YouTube videos are being updated on the channel as we speak! We've got some amazing videos coming your way, and will be looking for extras who want to star in the show, too! (COVID shots preferred; state guidelines MUST be followed at all times to participate!) 

We have some great house concerts in the works, Facebook Live shows and more. Please do keep an eye out, and I'll be sure to keep everyone abreast of the excitement so we can experience it together.

Thank you again for supporting homegrown music. We couldn't do this without you!

Warm hugs,

A.J.

Hey Everyone!

Here we are at the end of March! Tonight is the Full Moon; a time for aspirations to be set and to let go of the old in place of the new. To me, it's the absolute perfect time to drop a new album!

I am so grateful for all our friends and fans who have reached out, and especially to Fabchart.net for including the track 'Still Looking' on their top 30 songs of the week, alongside such greats as Blackberry Smoke and even the amazing Suzi Quatro! It's both humbling and incredible to be counted with such greats as a brand new band. I am so thankful to be spending this time with all of you musically, and for everyone's input about the album, 'Rusted Moon'! (I would also like to point out that since releasing the digital sample, after just 24 hours we were already at 154 listens and growing on Bandcamp.com!)

I have a lot of shows in the works, but in celebration of this new moon and the Spring being on it's way I wanted to add this special offer JUST to our fans. If you read this blog, I want you to email us directly at HoleITWStudio@gmail.com. Just say "I read your blog and want my free track, please!" in the subject, type out whatever you'd like to send for a quick hello, and I will send you a previously unreleased wav file of a track off of the album that won't be out until April 1st! That's just 4 days to get a free track no one else in the world has and is ONLY available for purchase on Bandcamp after the album drops!

This is only from the new moon until Midnight on April 1st. I hope you'll reach out and say hello. Anyone who writes will automatically be added to our email list and hear about all the upcoming events from WATER BEAR the band and myself.

I look forward to hearing from you! Thanks so much for supporting homegrown music. We couldn't do this without you!

A.J.