The following article was written by The Smoking Jackets:

Salutations Internet!  Ben here from The Smoking Jackets. We’re a piano rock band from just outside of Boston in beautiful, scenic Somerville (I got paid five bucks by the tourism bureau to type that*). We formed at Tufts University and have just released our debut EP, Wolves in Cheap Clothing. You can download it for free. Click that link. You probably should. I’ll give you a minute to do that now….

(casual whistling)

Great. Now that you’ve got that and are listening to it while you read this (right?) here’s a quick rundown of who we are. We’re a sextet (tee-hee) with Ben Anshutz on keyboard and lead vocals, Will Maroni on bass, Alex Berdoff on drums, Matt Davis on saxophones, Connor Ferguson on trumpet/backing vocals and Hanson Gong on baritone sax, percussion, and muscles. For now we’re just names to you but if you live on the East Coast we could become faces too! We’re going on a tour in June to promote the EP and bring the healing powers of piano rock to the starving masses.

We’re adding more dates every week so check our MySpace for the most up-to-date list of shows.

June 9- Saratoga Arts Center. Saratoga Springs, NY

June 11- All Asia. Cambridge, MA

June 18- Fat Baby. New York, NY.

June 23- The National Underground. New York, NY.

June 25- Hibernian Hall. Watertown, MA.

July 3- Precinct. Somerville, MA

But, let’s back up for a minute. Some of you may be asking yourself “Self, what is this piano rock tomfoolery this dude is writing about?” Well, it’s on the EP. But if it had to be put into words I’d say we’re a fly on a wall in a Motown studio watching Ben Folds and Billy Joel share a Top-Gun high five. That’s a high-five and a reverse low-five in one fell swoop. Cutting edge technology, man. See this helpful instructional video on how to do a Top Gun high-five. It really brought us to where we are today.So, right. We’re going on tour.

Will, Alex and I got together the other day to talk logistics. This “business meeting” took place on the roof of Will’s garage, a place that already conveniently had three comfy chairs on it (and a one-third full bottle of butterscotch schnapps that Will found. Twice.) We looked for tour vans for sale on craigslist, talked about possible covers to play, and discussed the philosophical significance of transubstantiation. All in all it was a productive meeting. Now, we’re just gearing up for the tour which is a mere two weeks away! Keep checking the blog for updates as we near the first show and of course, once we’re on the road to see exactly how much trouble we manage to get into while we incinerate audiences with seismic horn lines and a burning swing that hasn’t been felt since speakeasy days.

Music Love,

The Smoking Jackets

Cameo – The Smoking Jackets Cameo – The Smoking Jackets (Download)