Announcing the Piñataland cover song contest

The rules are simple.

1) Record a cover of a Piñataland song. Audio, video, whatever. Recording quality doesn’t matter. It doesn’t necessarily have to be from one of our albums. Could be you just heard it live. We’ll provide chords/lyrics to any songs on request.

2) Send us a copy of your version by the end of May.

3) We’ll post all the entries on our Facebook page.

4) The maker of our favorite version of one of our songs gets to come into the studio with us to help produce a track on the upcoming album.

It’s really that simple. So don’t be shy. And don’t be afraid to make the song your own. As people who regularly change chords and/or lyrics when we cover songs, we’re all for hearing different takes on our stuff.

Barbès‎, Brooklyn, 8:00 p.m.

As all collapses around our ears, let’s take a moment to remember 2 things:

1. We still have it better than the pitiful denizens of that vast orgy of murder, the sea

2. If you’re out of work with no massive inheritance squirreled away in your collection of silken purses, Piñataland’s show this Friday at Barbès is free

So come and feel wanted and welcome as we spin heartwarming musical tales of:
imminent collapse
new jersey ‘leapers’
lovelorn astronauts
telegraph hoaxes
credit catastrophes
forgotten national anthems
a-bomb worshipping scientists
beloved atheists
kentucky conspiracies

and much more…

Banjo Jim’s, East Village, 9:00 p.m.

Walter Benjamin once said that history “is an angel being blown backwards into the future.” We have no idea what that means, but you might after spending an evening with us and our pals, three NYC bands who all find inspiration in the weird, darkened corners of the American past.

Barbès‎, Brooklyn, 10:00 p.m.

May I tell you about a very lucky event taking place on the evening of Friday, February the 13th? No? Why not? Ah, I see, you’re superstitious. Even in this Age of Reason. Well, cease your embarrassing, medieval, oafish trembling once and for all, for this Friday the 13th is your lucky day, as dark-old-world-weird-history orchestrette Piñataland will be performing two special sets at Barbès in Park Slope Brooklyn, beginning at 10pm and continuing until midnight, just for you and yours.

It seems that Dave Wechsler has decided to join his old band for a set beginning at 10pm—Doug will be singing with him on a lot of his tunes, both old and new. Then at 11, Robin Aigner shows up to sing with Doug and Dave during a full second set of boisterous-yet-melancholy songs. We’ll also be graced by the terrific Gerald Menke on pedal steel guitar, Bill Gerstel on drums, and for the first time, the legendary Dave Hofstra on tuba.

Songs will be about:

robert oppenheimer
economic collapse
delusional painters
delusional mormons
telegraph hoaxes
astronaut tragedies
questionable doings on the bowery
thomas paine
1609 manhattan
kentucky conspiracies

and much more…