An organization calling itself Make a Scene San Jose recently formed with the intention of promoting an all-ages music scene in San Jose.

The idea behind the group is to get bands and music fans to work together more for the overall benefit of everybody in San Jose that loves live music. Though, they are still working out the details of how they want to do that, they are starting with the release of a free compilation of San Jose bands.

The compilation features 10 San Jose bands, providing a nice reference point for people unfamiliar with the diverse talent that San Jose has to offer. Some of the bands on the compilation include Curious Quail, San Francesca, the Trims and Corpus Callosum.

“The compilation we put together is a quick resource we can point people to if they’re in the dark about what goes on here musically, and hopefully it will influence them to come out with us to see some of these bands play live,” says Kendall Sallay, who plays in Cartoon Bar Fight and is a member of Make a Scene San Jose. Sallay is one of several other local musicians that are members of the group. There is no established leader.

To help bring more people to the all-ages shows already being booked in San Jose, “Make a Scene San Jose” lists several upcoming all-ages shows on its Facebook page. They hope for starters to get more bands to support each other by passing out flyers for each other’s shows, promoting each other online and making an effort to go to more shows here in San Jose. View the page HERE.

In just a couple weeks, Corpus Callosum embarks on their first national tour, which was only recently made possible by the generous donations and support of their friends and family here in the Bay Area.

The tour will stop everywhere from clubs and theaters to basement parties and backyards. They return to San Jose for a homecoming show at Anno Domino on August 14:

Corpus Callosum National Tour 2012
Fri 7/6 San Francisco, CA @ Hotel Utah with Paper Bird, Muralismo
Mon 7/9 Santa Fe, NM @ High Mayhem with Cloacas
Wed 7/11 San Marcos, TX @ Green Casa books
Thu 7/12 Austin, TX @ house show with Some Say Leland
Sat 7/14 New Orleans, LA @ Mudlark Public Theater with the Mudlark Puppeteers
Sun 7/15 Memphis, TN @ Courthouse Co-op
Tue 7/17 Knoxville, TN @ Groundswell Collective
Wed 7/18 Durham, NC @ Casbah with Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands
Thu 7/19 Baltimore, MD @ Whole Gallery
Fri 7/20 Brooklyn, NY @ Goodbye Blue Monday with Monsoon in Bloom, Carroll, the Gradients, Marigold
Sat 7/21 Providence, RI @ TBA
Sun 7/22 Boston, MA @ Lily Pad with Speaker for the Dead
Mon 7/23 Brattleboro, VT @ Headroom Stages with Wooly Mar
Tue 7/24 Brooklyn, NY @ TBA with Not Waving But Drowning
Wed 7/25 Philadelphia, PA @ TBA
Thu 7/26 Columbus, OH @ Cafe Bourbon Street
Fri 7/27 Bloomington, IN @ Rhino’s
Sat 7/28 Milwaukee, WI @ Riverwest Public House with the Celebrated Workingman, Shiloh
Mon 7/30 Chicago, IL @ Burlington with the Jeff Harms Singers, Cpt. Captain
Tue 7/31 Minneapolis, MN @ TBA
Wed 8/1 Fairfield, IA @ TBA
Thu 8/2 Columbia, MO @ TBA
Fri 8/3 somewhere in KS @ TBA
Sat 8/4 Denver, CO @ Mercury Cafe with Cloacas
Mon 8/6 Bend, OR @ TBA with Rural Demons, Spirits of the Red City
Tue 8/7 Tacoma, WA @ TBA with Spirits of the Red City
Wed 8/8 Seattle, WA @ Beery House with the Mongrel Jews, Spirits of the Red City, Wild Reeds
Thu 8/9 Olympia, WA @ Oly Art Kitchen with You Are Plural, Eleanor Murray, Spirits of the Red City
Fri 8/10 Portland, OR @ house show TBA with Spirits of the Red City
Sat 8/11 Portland, OR @ TBA with Spirits of the Red City
Sun 8/12 Eugene, OR @ TBA with Spirits of the Red City
Tue 8/14 San Jose, CA @ Anno Domini with Whiskerman, Spirits of the Red City
Thu 8/16 San Francisco, CA @ Hotel Utah with Spirits of the Red City, Suzanne Vallie\

For more info, visit the band’s website.

After a decade together, local indie-folk-band-meets-theater-art-troupe, Corpus Callosum, decided they wanted to take their show on the road. Between all the instruments, props and band members, touring would be no small affair. So they made a kickstarter with a minimum of $5,500 to help buy a bus. In the end they raised $7,443 and were able to buy a vehicle with as much character to it as they have.

“The bus is an old North Carolina school district vehicle that a couple of park rangers converted into an RV and drove out to California with their kids,” says singer Dax Tran-Caffee. “We bought it off of them down in Pinnacles National Monument. Two days later we brought it to SubZERO as a bit of a test run.”

It was perfect timing too since Corpus Callosum are known for always bringing unexpected performances to SubZERO. This time around they put on an intimate show inside the bus. A handful of people, as many as 12 at a time, crammed inside the bus and watch a few songs, then a new batch would rotate out. Corpus Callosum don’t have plans to play inside the bus on tour, but there are other ways to use their vehicle for live shows in the future. “It wouldn’t be out of the question to have a functional stage on the roof by this time next year,” Tran-Caffee says.

The tour dates are still being finalized, but they are for sure starting in Austin on July 12th and concluding at the Hotel Utah in San Francisco on August 16th. Thoughts of their first tour are exciting and scary.

“Heading out on tour is really nerve racking. We’re doing everything we can to prepare, but we’re also stepping out into the unknown. We won’t know if anyone will actually show up to the shows until we hit each stage, so we don’t really know if we’ll be making as much money in each town to keep going as planned. We don’t yet know where we’re sleeping each night, or if we can actually handle being in each other’s company for those 14-hour drives, although having such a spacious bus is quite a blessing in that regard,” says Tran-Caffee.

For More information, check out Corpus Callosum’s website.

Corpus Callosum always wanted to go on tour, but that is easier said than done. With seven members, multiple instruments and loads of theatrical props, a mini-van just won’t cut it. That’s why they are putting together a kickstarter fundraiser to help get them on the road for their first ever nation-wide tour.

Corpus Callosum have been performing together for ten years, and have accomplished quite a bit in that time. They’ve produced innovative, artistic music videos; performed in art museums; curated their own series of music and theatrical shows at the AD Gallery and they always make a big splash at Sub Zero Festival every year. Though they have traveled up and down the West Coast, they hope to take their act to the next level by going on a legit national tour. If all goes well, the fundraiser will set them up to tour in subsequent years.

Considering how serious and prolific Corpus Callosum are, it’s strange that they haven’t hit the road after a decade of performing, but they aren’t really a “band” per say. They are more of a musical theatrical troupe. They put a lot of work into each of their performances, which are a mixture of indie-folk music, visual arts, theater performance and puppetry. Their shows usually begin with something truly fantastic like having the entire troupe enter the stage alongside a life-size eight-foot-plus tall puppet. It is a visual-auditory spectacle.

In order to be able to finance this tour, Corpus Callosum estimate that they’ll need at least $13,000. They are asking people to help them reach a minimum of $5,500.

Their kickstarter campaign will remain active until May 21. If they make their goal, they will announce tour dates in June. More details HERE.