Kevin Bronson on February 10th, 2009

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Before I introduce Buzz Bands’ tour diarists for the next six weeks, I feel it is only appropriate to spring a pop quiz on you faithful readers:

1. The name “the Airborne Toxic Event” is a reference to:
a) A drummer who passes gas in a tour van
b) An album review on Pitchfork that stinks
c) The catastrophic chemical spill chronicled in a Don DeLillo novel
d) What happens when you kick a clay person named Henry

2. The name “the Henry Clay People” is a reference to:
a) The work of claymation porn torchbearer Oliver Henry
b) A group of cult leaders who operate out of Orange County strip malls
c) A nineteenth-century politician who once sought the presidency with a running mate named Theodore Frelinghuysen
d) The group that left town after the Theodore Frelinghuysen Toxic Event

Turn your papers in, please. Unless you’ve been spending the past few months dancing to Iglu & Hartly – and I know many of you have, although not many of you who live east of Western – you know that the answer to both quiz questions is c). You also might be aware that the Airborne Toxic Event and the Henry Clay People on Wednesday are embarking on a six-week tour together, and it has nothing to do with their somewhat obtuse names. About a third of the shows, including Thursday’s at the Music Box @ Fonda, are sold out, testament the success of Airborne’s debut album and the national radio exposure its single “Sometime Around Midnight” has received.

As headliners, TATE”  are seasoned veterans, having already toured the country and done 30 dates in 30 days in the U.K. since last summer’s album release. For the Henry Clays, this is virtually uncharted territory, which is why I’ve invited the brothers who are the core of the band, Joey and Andy Siara, to send along missives from the road. Their qualifications:

Joey is 26 and majored in history and law at UC Santa Barbara. His finest piece of writing? “The manifestos I e-mail the band telling them to get their sh*t together.” Andy is 22 and majored in history and sociology at UC Irvine. His pièce de résistance? “A story I wrote in the sixth grade. It was titled ‘Stuck in the Past.'”

If you’ve listened to their 2008 release “For Cheap or For Free,” you know the Henry Clays have something to say, and often do so with a wink. The guitar-slinging brothers will be trading off sending stories as they perform with new bandmates Jonathan Price and Mike Hopkins. Watch for the first installment later this week.