The Dodos tour in support of new effort

Visiter, by San Francisco band The Dodos, is their second full length and first for Frenchkiss. Originally formed in 2006 under the moniker Dodobird as a one man acoustic act, Meric Long would gig around SF playing folky guitar with a combination of loops and ambient keyboards.
Having already studied West African Ewe drumming, Meric got turned onto country blues fingerpicking and sought to create a band where the drumming could be a center role and help bring out the syncopated rhythms coming out of the acoustic guitar. Through a chance introduction by a roommate, Meric met Santa Cruz transplant Logan Kroeber, who had also been experimenting with drumming, but in the area of progressive metal.
Eventually the band changed their name to the Dodos, through constant harrowing from first tourmates Peter and the Wolf, and got a rehearsal studio where they'd spend long hours improvising the music that would become their first record& nbsp; Beware of the Maniacs. The band quit their day jobs as a line cook and a printer and hit the road in Oct. 2006.
The Dodos' principal concept behind Visiter was to reconnect with the energy and intensity of their live show. They decided to return to Type Foundry Studio where Beware of the Maniacs had been recorded. With producer/engineer John Askew back at the helm, they began expounding upon what they had learned since the previous record. The basic drum and guitar takes were recorded live simultaneously with very minimal post production. Type Foundry's warehouse-sized live room led to experimentation with mic placement, capturing a variety of ambient & natural sounds.
At one point during tracking, the audible din of a thunderstorm inspired an impromptu horn session between Meric and guest trumpeter, Cory Gray. A small section of this can be heard between the songs "Fools" and "Joe's Waltz" on the record.
Visiter was completely written while on the road from the fall of 2006 to the summer of 2007. The name of the record came from a drawing a kid did for them when they played for his special education class at Dorsey High in South Central on a road trip down to LA.
With all of their time being spent on the road, Meric's lyrics drew heavily from his experiences while touring. They would come home for days at a time, and then leave for a month, always coming and going, which pretty much shaped every relationship the band had during that year.
The Dodos toured in 2007 with Les Savy Fav, Akron/Family, Jennifer Gentle, Wovenhand and Peter and the Wolf. 2008 will bring even more touring for them with stops at the Noise Pop, SXSW and Culture Shock festivals.

US TOUR
Feb 27 2008 6:00P SF Bay Guardian presents: Happy Hour/Visiter listening party @ Doc’s Clock/San Francisco @ 6:00 pm San Francisco
Feb 28 2008 9:00P Cafe Du Nord/Noise Pop (Advanced tickets are sold out, tickets available at the door) San Francisco
Mar 7 2008 7:00P USC/Los Angeles, CA w/The Ohsees Los Angeles
Mar 8 2008 8:00P The Smell/Los Angeles (all ages) w/The OhSees Los Angeles
Mar 9 2008 8:00P Bar Pink Elephant/San Diego w/The OhSees San Diego
Mar 11 2008 8:00P The Line Bar/Juarez, Mexico w/The OhSees Juarez
Mar 12 2008 8:00P French Kiss Showcase @ The Mowhawk/Austin, TX @ 12 am Austin
Mar 13 2008 2:30P American Songwriter Day Party @ Tap Room/Austin, TX @ 2:30 pm Austin
Mar 13 2008 6:00P Solar Stage @ 6th and Lamar @ 6:00 pm with Slim Cessna’s Auto Club/ O’Death Austin
Mar 14 2008 1:00P Hot Freaks Day Party @ The Mohawk/Austin, TX @ 1:00 pm Austin
Mar 14 2008 8:00P Leafy Green Showcase @ Emos Jr. 9:00 pm Austin
Mar 15 2008 8:00P SFXSXSW Day Party/Austin, TX @ Bourbon Rocks 6th St 4:00 pm with tons of great SF bands Austin
Mar 16 2008 8:00P Mohawk/Austin, TX with Silje Nes Austin
Mar 18 2008 6:00P Good Records/Denton, TX instore performance Denton
Mar 19 2008 8:00P Lola’s/Ft. Worth, TX w/Silje Nes Ft. Worth
Mar 20 2008 8:00P The Conservatory/Oklahoma City w/Silje Nes Oklahoma City
Mar 22 2008 8:00P Ballroom/Marfa, TX w/Silje Nes Marfa
Mar 23 2008 8:00P Mink/Houston, TX w/Silje Nes Houston
Mar 25 2008 8:00P The Bottletree/Birmingham, AL w/Silje Nes Birmingham
Mar 26 2008 8:00P Lenny’s/Atlanta, GA w/ Silje Nes Atlanta
Mar 27 2008 8:00P Harvest Records/Asheville, NC w/Silje Nes Asheville
Mar 28 2008 8:00P Bull City Headquarters/Durham, NC with Megafaun and Silje Nes Durham
Mar 29 2008 8:00P Tea Bazaar/Charlottesville, VA w/Silje Nes Charlottesville
Mar 30 2008 8:00P DC 9/Washington D.C. w/Silje Nes Washington D.C.
Mar 31 2008 8:00P Death By Audio/Brooklyn, NY with Battleship Brooklyn
Apr 2 2008 8:00P Cafe 9/New Haven, CT with Silje Nes New Haven
Apr 3 2008 8:00P Terrace Room @ Princeton/Princeton, NJ w/Silje Nes Princeton
Apr 4 2008 8:00P Black Cat/Washington DC w/Les Savy Fav and The Big Sleep Washington DC
Apr 5 2008 8:00P Theater of Living Arts/Philadelphia w/Les Savy Fav and The Big Sleep Philadelphia
Apr 6 2008 8:00P Mercury Lounge/New York w/Silje Nes and TBA/TBA New York
Apr 8 2008 8:00P Divan Orange/Montreal, QC Montreal
Apr 9 2008 8:00P El Mocambo/Toronto Toronto
Apr 10 2008 8:00P Bard College/Annandale on the Hudson, NY Annandale on the Hudson
Apr 11 2008 8:00P Mohawk/Buffalo, NY Buffalo
Apr 12 2008 8:00P Garfield Artworks/Pittsburgh, PA Pittsburgh
Apr 13 2008 8:00P Cleveland TBA Cleveland
Apr 15 2008 8:00P Cafe Bourbon St./Columbus, Ohio Columbus
Apr 16 2008 8:00P The Pike Room/Detroit Detroit
Apr 17 2008 8:00P The Note/Chicago Chicago
Apr 18 2008 8:00P Shoreland Ballroom/University of Chicago Chicago
Apr 19 2008 5:00P Culture Shock Festival at Indiana University/Bloomington Bloomington
Apr 20 2008 8:00P Replay Lounge/Lawrence, KS Lawrence
Apr 21 2008 8:00P Hi Dive/Denver, Co Denver
Apr 26 2008 5:00P Coachella as part of Akron/Family’s band Coachella
Apr 27 2008 8:00P Great American Music Hall/San Francisco w/Les Savy Fav San Francisco
May 14 2008 8:00 Rickshaw Stop/San Francisco (All Ages) San Francisco
Jun 28 2008 8:00P Sled Island Festival/Calgary Calgary
Jul 2 2008 8:00P Downtown Boise Summer Series Festival Boise

www.dodosmusic.net
www.myspace.com/mericlong
www.frenchkissrecords.com