We regret to inform you that Erin “Ernie” Payne passed away earlier today. Erin was our fearless leader, mastermind, puppet master, and friend.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday August 23rd at Rugger’s. A message & summary from his loving wife, Lynn:
No funeral. No fuss. No muss. He asked to be cremated. Please come say goodbye to the love of my life and best friend by having a drink and sharing a story.
If you are reading this it is your personal responsibility to tell your friends about Ernie and the Berts. Should you choose not to do this, your favorite animal will lose a whisker, and that whisker will be found by some weirdo that will take that whisker and use it to paint warhammer minis. Do you want your animals whisker to be used to paint pewter toys? I didn’t think so. .. Ernie and the Berts are starting to record our debut record for the second time. If we get to 325 likes I will tell you what I intend to title this masterpiece. Tell your friends. Save the whiskers. Love each other. Don’t Do drugs. Bake a pie. Eat breakfast. Enjoy your life. Even if you paint warhammer figures with whiskers. Good night.
-your pal Ernie
Michigan invades Pittsburgh next Friday! The showdown’s at one of our favorite spots in Bloomfield…
The Bands:
Empty Orchestra– Facebook / Twitter / MySpace / ReverbNation ⍈ We are Empty Orchestra, and we are an American musical group from Flint, Michigan. Our songs are fistfights of traditions and generations and genres and tempos and hope and doubt and death and punchlines. Our roots are in punk rock and our ambitions are for song creation without boundaries. We are a community. We love making songs, we love playing songs, we love you. Thanks. This is fun.
Shores – Facebook / Twitter / Tumblr / ReverbNation ⍈ “Shores will pull you into a wintry, slowpaced haze and crescendos rising from the tinkling intros envelop you in a haunting, yet calming musical blanket. Shores make it all sound so effortless: subtle melodies twist their way around carved out guitar lines and prominent drums. It’s clean without being over-produced and offers dark and moody vibes, strung along by the constant promise of a climactic finale. Very much compelling, charming, subdued, delicate and mesmerising…” -Emily Kearns, rocksound.tv
So, when Ernie and the Berts opened for the Real McKenzies at the Altar Bar, we were approached by Jamie & Blair of AZ Productions HD to do an interview. Why wouldn’t we? I mean we are rock stars, right? I believe this is our first video interview. We had a blast! They also got some live footage, and put together some nice shots for our performance of “Toybox” during the set that night. Check it out:
We’d really appreciate it (& I’m sure they would too) if you watch it & like it on YouTube (Also add it to your Ernie and the Berts playlist if you’d like. You have one …right?), share & like it on Facebook, share & +1 it on Google+, Tweet it & Re-Tweet it, pin it, share it on tumblr, blog it… show it to your mom on your cell phone. You know, do what you do.
Check out AZ Productions HD all over the internet:
You’ll note that the video has a shout-out to Turner’s for our sweet free Tea-shirts(sported by Bert & Bert)! We’d like to thank them for the hookup! Check them out on Facebook & Twitter too! Maybe someday we’ll get the Tea-Bird (or maybe the truck) to come to a show!
☯
If you ever get photos or video at a show, please send it our way! We’re narcissists & we feed on it. Mmm… Media.
So, we have some photos to share from the Altar Bar & Howler’s.
The first set is from our friend Heather. She got some great shots, and we’re glad to have her taking photos at shows! They’re up on her Facebook page:
We’ll be rockin’ the shelter with three very different solo artists on Saturday June 23rd. We’re used to being the odd men out. This time the difference will be rather obvious. There’s three of them… and three of us, but they’re all one at a time.
Ernie and the Berts 