I’ve never met Kind of Like Spitting’s Ben Barnett but a couple of years ago he and I got into an argument on a small label message board so I’d say we are pretty good friends.  That’s why it hurt me when a few months back I asked him to send me a CD-R of new demos (he was giving them away on his Myspace page) and his response was that I couldn’t have one because I wasn’t his friend on Myspace.   Ouch, what happened?  I thought we were friends.

Speaking of friends, Barnett is finally making music and touring again with his new band of friends called Fun with Friends.   I haven’t heard any actual recordings from this new band of friends (unless those random demos and covers on his Myspace are samples) but I can’t imagine their sound be too far removed from the good old days when I would insult Barnett’s Phil Ochs tribute album, he’d defend himself by saying it was recorded on Gene Autry’s 4 track and besides who cares what I think because he makes music only for himself, then I’d say if you make music only for yourself you should stop releasing albums that are stocked at Tower Records and buy a cabin in the woods, grow a beard, and play your songs to the forest.   You know looking back, it may not have helped that I reminded him of our online argument when asking for that CD-R of demos.  Hmmmm.

I’m not really sure what the lineup for Fun with Friends is but I do know Barnett is going on tour under the name alongside Sean Bonette of Andrew Jackson Jihad and David J of Novi Split, who has also performed as part of Kind of Like Spitting for years.  Will they play new songs or take turns playing their own bands’ songs?  Will they all be one band or come out one at a time?  No one really knows, I suppose.  But nonetheless here are the dates!

Fun with Friends 2009 Tour Dates

Jan 1.)  Seattle (Healthy Times Fun Club)

Jan 2.) Portland (The Artistery)

Jan 4.) Sactown (The Java Lounge)

Jan 5.) Sacramento  (Bigfoot Ranch)

Jan 6.) Santa Cruz  (The Crepe Place)

Jan 7.) Long Beach  (TBA)

Jan 8.) San Diego (The Boat House)

Jan 9.) Phoenix  (Trunk Space)

Jan 10.) Tucson (Dry River)

And here are some delicious mp3s from each artist!

Kind of Like Spitting - Team Reasonable

Purchase Kind of Like Spitting’s split EP with Lemuria ‘Your Living Room’s All Over Me’ at Amazon.com

Andrew Jackson Jihad - Brave as a Noun

Purchase Andrew Jackson Jihad’s ‘People Who Can Eat People’ on Amazon.com

Novi Split - Leaving It

Purchase Novi Split’s ‘Pink in the Sink’ on Amazon.com