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A spirit that is not afraid

Tumbleweed Wanderers rock 'n' roll into Auburn

Tumbleweed Wanderers will perform at Bourbon Street Bar Thursday, Sept. 19.
Tumbleweed Wanderers will perform at Bourbon Street Bar Thursday, Sept. 19.

All the way from Oakland, Calif., the Tumbleweed Wanderers will be taking over Bourbon Street Bar Thursday, Sept. 19.
The five-man band is touring all over the South, from New Orleans to Virginia.
The Tumbleweed Wanderers consists of vocalist and bass guitar player Zak Mandel-Romann; Rob Fidel on vocals, guitar and banjo; Jeremy Lyon performing vocals and guitar; Patrick Glynn on keys and the mandolin and Daniel Blum performing on the drums.
Fidel said their music is soulful rock 'n' roll.
The group has three extended plays, or EPs, and one full album.
"It's been a pretty productive two years," Fidel said.
Lyon said last time the group was in Auburn, they played at The Hound Bar and Restaurant.
"I love the South," Lyon said. "I'm stoked to be back in Auburn, it's beautiful."
Lyon said the Tumbleweed Wanderers don't have a set list planned for Bourbon yet, but they will be playing songs that are cornerstones of their album.
The group said they plan on playing some fresh material along with their classics.
"We've been writing a lot of new material, so people can definitely expect a handful of songs that we haven't yet recorded," Lyon said.
Lyon, originally from Oakland, Calif., said that when they aren't touring he uses the time to write songs and catch up with his family and friends.
Blum met Lyon a year before the band was formed, and then joined as the drummer only two weeks before they had a gig.
"Before the band was a band, and before they had a name, they had already booked a show," Blum said. "I get to play the music that I want, I get to do it every single night."
Touring the country has made busy men out of the crew.
"Being in a touring band, one of the hardest parts is that your life is very tumultuous," Blum said. "You have these amazing highs where everything is absolutely, everything lines up, and then two days later you have to spend $2,000 on repairs and everybody's bickering about some little thing because you've been stuck in a van with five other guys for a month straight."
Blum said he hopes in the long run, the ups outweigh the downs. The band has had some adventures while on the road, including having a brand-new van stolen.
"We bought a brand-new, 12-passenger van and a trailer, and then a week later, the day before tour, the van went missing," Fidel said. "We'd never dealt with anything remotely close to that."
Fidel also said the band works collaboratively to write their songs.
The lyrics focus on the next step for the band, missing home and people, and love.
"When you play in a band, you get to have creative input in everything that you do," Blum said. "Then you get to work on that creative input every single night."
Stolen vans pending, the band will be playing at Bourbon Street Bar Thursday, Sept. 19.
For more information on the band and to purchase tickets for the concert, visit TumbleweedWanderers.com.


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