BLUE SHIRTS, a written history of blue shirts members were first brot together as co-workers at the Army/Navy Store in Halifax NS. At no time were all members working together, but at no time did all members perform together! Konstantin and Alexander started a week apart in august 2006. In early 2007 they were graced with the addition of Christopher to the crew. The workers were involved in the process of liquidating furniture from a hotel. Part of this project was a re-organization of the storage areas of the shop. In the deceptively large realm of stockrooms, the workers discovered jersey-heaps of blue shirts. This was in effect the first blue shirts jam. It was during this period that the workers forged a bond and learned to co-operate with one another as a unified force. They heaped the shirts in a pile in what was to become The Blue Shirts Room (aka Pants and Shirt Room) and did a stellar job of organizing the storage area. On 20 April 2008, Konstantin organized a 420 show at Gus' Pub, across the street from Army/Navy. Christopher performed with his band Mantasy as keyboarder. Iron Bitch Face played and during their set, the common musical bond of the workers seems to hav crystalized. In summer 2008, Elijah was working at the store and Alexander was not. At this time, one of the summer J months, the first musical jams took place between Elijah and Konstantin, Christopher and Alexander. Erick, the owner of Army/Navy suggested the name Blue Shirts becuz the shirts themselves are something of a dead weight to his store. Go there and buy them for $1 each! The band found a regular gig at the Rockin 4 Dollars game show at Reflections Cabaret in Halifax. It was held every monday, and the shirts tended to play 2-3 times per month. The first set was Elijah and Konstantin as the Army/Navy Band and they switched once between drums and bass/pedals. In time both Christopher and Alexander appeared on stage with the band, and all members always wore the infamous blue shirts. The band functioned as a collective in that there was never any certainty as to who would show up for the concert and what instruments would be availible. For the most part, Elijah was on drums, Konstantin on bass/pedals, Christopher on keyboard and Alexander on guitar. At the Gus' Pub, in february 2009 the shirts played their first proper gig. They were paid $20 and then banned. BUY THE LIVE ALBUM! It is said that half the band was happier to be banned from the venue that to be able to play there. The commemorative cassette release was the birth of Robot Lust Records!! Rockin 4 Dollars contintued to be the shirts' primary gig, which was great cuz the workers all had fun. They gained a reputation for never winning anything on the gameshow wheel. They did win a couple things, but also got a lot of beer to the face. The 1:45 am timeslot became the regular shirts slot. Blue Shirts played 420 (2009) at the Dalhousie campus bar The Gradhouse. By this point, the shirts had added Xavier as a member. He is the only regular performing Blue Shirt that did not work at the store. By this time, Christopher was not performing with the band live. By the spring of 2009, only Konstantin and Alexander remained in Halifax, carrying the torch. The duo line-up came into its own in august of 2009. the shirts had a booked-gig at a party on a saturday, then on the monday (the 8th) they played the approximate 1-year anniversary of playing rockin 4 dollars. it was also their 1-year anniversary of not winning a god damn thing at rockin for dollars! the party went watermelonsmashing wild and alex's guitar broke, so he became the singer. In the ensuing months, the shirts played a lot, with konstantin manning the pedal board and alexander screaming and singing sorrowfully into a microphone that was usually run thru pedals. the workers switched up on drums. Thruout the performing history of Blue Shirts, the musicians hav been graced on stage by many surprise and invited performers. At times the shirts were up to 7, even 12 people on stage, including themselves. At times the guests brot instruments, at times they took instruments from the shirts, once they even took a blue shirt: alex was simply carried offstage! there is a long list of guests, some sort of regular, some sort of rare. all loved. all drape their hearts in shirts of blue. Konstantin and Alexander played a Blue Shirts set on the winter solstice itself at the tail of 2009 with Adrian Bruhm on drums. Then Konstantin was left to hold down the fort in Halifax. On 11 august 2010 in Brantford ON at the Rodeo, Blue Shirts kicked off their first tour! Still made up of Konstantin and Alexander with the pedal/vocal mix, the duo played Brantford, Hamilton, Toronto (with Christopher!), London, Montreal and Halifax. Dates in Belleville, Ottawa and Fredericton were cancelled. The duo were too broke to play shows in New Brunswick, but there were some opportunities. During early-mid 2011, the shirts played a shows in montreal and toronto. from the later months, christopher and konstantin and a few others keep the collective onstage, with a noise that could be mistaken for the echo of an ancient wisdom. Alexander, Konstantin, Keegan, San and Mike played this solstice, to close out an odd year. for 2012, the band's live set will be a 14-minute calypso-cover of Freebird. all releases will be soaked in motor oil but will still cost $4. all releases will be donut-themed anthologies of pop-punk covers of free bird; the first of which will be called World Wharf Whore. CENTRAL + TOY