Local band excited to play music in front of actual live people on August 26

Lazy Susan Trio
The guys are wicked excited.

All apologies to The Onion and Hard Times for the clickbait headline, but we just couldn’t resist, after all the craziness that this year has coughed up. But it’s not a joke, folks: the three vocalists in the band (J.Bell, $2, and BPZMAG) will be serving up sweet harmonies alongside pub pizza and beer two weeks from tonight! Join them at Carbone’s in Minneapolis (get your reservations!) for some socially-distanced rock and roll, outside on the patio. You know you want to go!

Join the LSB virtually until you can join us in person

Hello LSB fans! We sincerely hope you are all staying safe and healthy in these turbulent times. We care deeply about all of our friends, family, and fans, and it is hard to see all the troubles going on in the world. However, we also know that music (and a little bit of humor) can be a powerful healing agent, and so we’re working hard to keep things going, while still being responsible and safe ourselves.

Toward that end, if you’re looking for a distraction lately, there are two ways you can join us for some music from the comfort of your own home. One is our latest video (above), for which we individually shot some footage for the song “Devil I Know”, from our latest album Unreliable Witness. The other way is by following us on Facebook, where we’ve been streaming small shows almost every Wednesday night at 7:30 Central. We’re hoping to even stream the whole band a some point, as soon as our schedules can align. And we’re holding out hope that some day we’ll be able to celebrate the release of Unreliable Witness in person with all of you.

Thank you so much for all of your support. Take care of each other.

Join us tonight for a virtual celebration about “Unreliable Witness”!

Right! So, tonight was supposed to be our big CD release party at the Amsterdam, and we were all ready, with new CD’s pressed, a whopping set list, guest acts lined up…

Photo of j.bell and the Lazy Susan Band
BPZ is taking this stuff very seriously.

…and then Coronavirus had other plans. Well, we’ve rescheduled the show for July 10th, and we hope many of you can still make it then. But, to mark our original plans, tonight at 7:30, we’ll be streaming over on Facebook Live and we hope you can join us from your living rooms. We’ll show our latest video, Justin will play some songs from the new record, and we’ll discuss our favorites. Plus, we’ll take questions from fans afterwards. So, if you haven’t gotten your copy of Unreliable Witness yet, head on over to our merchandise page to order one (if you like having a physical copy) or find out where to buy digital copies or stream on our music page. Hope to see you tonight!

Help us spread the news about “Unreliable Witness” and our rescheduled release party

Greetings Lazy Susan fans! Friendly neighborhood bassist and webmaster Mike D. here, checking in on the second day of #StayHomeMN and hoping you all are washing your coughs and covering your hands. Or, something like that. (Please don’t rely on us for medical advice!)

Anyway, I think the above photo sums up the range of emotions we’ve been feeling as a band lately: concerned, exasperated, and laughing uncontrollably at our collective absurd fate. Hey, at least it hasn’t been boring!

And this weekend, we’re sharing some of the good news that we have:

  • First, “Unreliable Witness” is now available for purchase on all your favorite digital platforms like iTunes and cdBaby …we’ll get more links up here eventually but search for it and you ought to be able to find it! You can also order a physical copy, along with some sweet gear, on our new merchandise page.
  • Also, our CD release party at the Amsterdam Bar and Hall has been rescheduled for July 10th. All of the original acts we signed up for our first attempt are on board for the new date, so hold on to those tickets and mark your calendars!
  • Finally, to mark the occasion of our originally planned release date of 4/4, we’re planning on some kind of live stream like J. Bell has been doing on Facebook Live. Follow us over there for details coming this week.

On a parting note, I know I’ve made some lame attempts at humor in this post, but in all seriousness, we hope you are staying safe and watching out for each other. These are difficult times and we know the situation is not a laughing matter. But we also know that music can bring us together…even if we have to stand 6 feet apart. Take care of yourselves!

News about our 4/4 CD release party

To our dear fans, friends, and family:

It is with a heavy heart that we confirm for you today that our CD release party for “Unreliable Witness” has been postponed. We recently learned that the Amsterdam is postponing all of their ticketed shows (like ours). If you’ve already bought tickets, hold on to them for now – they’ll still be good if we’re able to reschedule for another date with the Amsterdam.

We were very sorry to hear this news, but we do support the decision, because we’d be even sorrier if a bunch of our amazing fans got sick because they attended one of our shows. For now, we’re discussing our options to get this music in your hands and celebrate in other ways. Keep the 4/4 date circled on your calendar, because we’re planning on some kind of virtual celebration that we hope you can join us at.

The five guys of the LSB get into heated rock and or roll arguments in a virtual meeting.
The band very seriously discusses their options in an online meeting.

Because, as hard as recent times have been, we think it’d be harder without music. And we’re hoping our songs can help a few of you get through this. We love you all and hope you stay safe and take care of yourselves and your loved ones.

Check out our video for “Next Best Thing”!

Hey, look at the calendar, Lazy Susan fans! Exactly one month from tonight, we’ll be rocking with you at the Amsterdam Bar and Hall in St. Paul, celebrating our 7th album as a band. We’ve been carefully choosing the songs, rehearsing, and debating the advantages of various facial hair patterns in preparation. In other words, we’re really excited to share this record with you!

But since you can’t see us tonight, what’s the next best thing? Watching our newest video! That’s right, below you’ll find all five of us rocking out to the leadoff track on our new record. It’s called “Next Best Thing”, and we think it’s a song you’ll really enjoy. (Much thanks to Jason Narverud with Cute Fox studios for filming our antics for the day and compiling this video for your viewing pleasure.)

See you on April 4th!

Our video for “Next Best Thing”, the lead-off track for Unreliable Witness

Tickets on Sale Now for “Unreliable Witness” Release Party

Happy President’s Day, Lazy Susan fans! Mike D. checking in here, relishing the last winter holiday before “March Madness” kicks in. (Not sure what that means for you, but for me it means shoveling snow with a heavy mud component, as in, “I must be mad to be doing this.”) Anyway, we in the Lazy Susan band are all hoping you’re staying safe and warm this winter.

Hey, you know what will give us a warm and fuzzy feeling? If you buy advance tickets to our CD release party at the Amsterdam on April 4th! They’re only $10 right now, and you’ll be securing yourself a spot to see not only us, but solo songstress Sarah VanValkenburg and young wizard Samuel Dubois (who is also releasing an album that night). Plus, rumor has it there’ll be a little standup comedy sprinkled in. It’s going to be a great night and we want you there to celebrate with us!

So, mark your calendars for 4/4 and buy your tickets now….and to tide you over until the magic of April, you can visit the band page to find some new pictures from our recent photo shoot. Plus we’ll be dropping our next video soon, so don’t wander too far!

Mark your calendars: 4/4/2020 at the Amsterdam

Happy “Day After GroundHog Day”, Lazy Susan fans! Wait, did something else happen yesterday, too? We can’t remember. Oh yeah – we made a major announcement! 😉

Mike D, J.Bell, BPZMAG, $2 Bill Turner, and Kent

That’s right, it’s official: we’re releasing our SEVENTH full-length album, “Unreliable Witness”, on April 4 at the Amsterdam Bar and Hall in St. Paul. We’re still working out all the details, but we know this: we’re planning to pull out ALL the stops at this show folks. We’re going to be rocking the big stage, so we’re gonna pull out stops you didn’t even know were in there! So we figured you’d want plenty of time to plan attendance for yourself, your friends, and your step uncle-in-law. Because it’s going to be worth your while.

Follow along here or on the BookFace for more details as they come out!

Looking back and looking forward

Wow, we just had the most amazing weekend as a band. First, we get all kinds of love from the folks at Carbone’s in Minneapolis; this picture only partially shows how much fun we had! (Where’s $2? Somewhere out of the frame. We’ll work on that.)

And that was just Friday! Little did we know we were going to have a similar experience at the Cannon River Winery, where a spectacular, attentive crowd treated us like stars. Thus concluded our “Pizza & Wine Tour”, but we’re still riding high.

Looking forward, we’re planning some big news for this spring. But first, next up on our gig list is a rare “acoustic quartet” show, with J.Bell, $2, BPZMAG, and Mike D. at Caydence Records, February 7th. We’ll be sharing the stage with our new friends, the Soo Line Loons, who invited us to join them and singer-songwriter Mike Chew for an all-ages acoustic show. Hope to see you there!

LSB Pizza & Wine Tour Kicks Off 3 Weeks From Tonight

Happy 2020, Lazy Susan fans! The guys in the band are looking forward to this year so much, we’re celebrating with a full band mini-tour at the end of this month. I’m dubbing it the “Pizza & Wine Tour”, because those two things are awesome together, and they represent the venues we’ll be visiting.

First, on Friday the 24th, catch us at Carbone’s in South Minneapolis (4705 Cedar Ave location) to mix our rock ‘n’ roll with their famous pizza and pasta. Then, the following night you’ll be able to sample our songs alongside some impressive vino at the Cannon River Winery in Cannon Falls, MN.

We’ll be playing our usual mix of originals and unique standards, along with more previews of the songs we’re planning for our next album – which is now about halfway finished! If you want to hear more about that, then join us in Minneapolis or Cannon Falls!