Blind Pilot: riding bikes, rocking mics on two wheels

Posted Wed, 2009-10-21 07:56 by Kyle

My favorite XM Radio channel, XMU, tipped me off Tuesday to something I didn't know about the band Blind Pilot: they occasionally tour by bike.
The group has taken two tours up and down the west coast, first as a duo, then with a few more bandmates in tow, all by bicycle. Of course they tour the larger United States by van, as is the style for most indie acts, but how exciting is a bicycle tour?

I already liked Blind Pilot, but when I heard of their bicycle tours, I liked them much, much more. You can read an NPR story about their tour or visit the Blind Pilot site/blog, with tales from tours, and the difficult mid-ride realization that 130 miles, once ridden as a lark, are monumental after three months sitting in a van.

We often speak of music and bicycles as liberating, empowering things; this brings them together like a collision of peanut butter and chocolate (or, if you prefer, chocolate and peanut butter).

Blind Pilot plays the EARL Nov. 4. I will probably go, and maybe ask them to autograph my bicycle.