diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index e69e2ea75..0db9350fa 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ gem 'bcrypt-ruby', '3.0.1'
 gem 'ruby-protocol-buffers', '1.2.2'
 gem 'eventmachine'
 gem 'amqp'
+gem 'tire'
+gem 'will_paginate'
 
 group :test do
   gem 'jam_db', :path=> "#{workspace}/jam-db/target/ruby_package"
diff --git a/lib/jam_ruby.rb b/lib/jam_ruby.rb
index 8e7a5f960..c930bbac8 100644
--- a/lib/jam_ruby.rb
+++ b/lib/jam_ruby.rb
@@ -3,12 +3,17 @@ require "active_record"
 require "jampb"
 require "uuidtools"
 require "logging"
+require "tire"
+require "will_paginate"
+require "will_paginate/active_record"
 require "jam_ruby/errors/permission_error"
 require "jam_ruby/errors/state_error"
 require "jam_ruby/errors/jam_argument_error"
 require "jam_ruby/mq_router"
 require "jam_ruby/connection_manager"
 require "jam_ruby/version"
+require "jam_ruby/environment"
+require "jam_ruby/tire_tasks"
 require "jam_ruby/message_factory"
 require "jam_ruby/models/genre"
 require "jam_ruby/models/user"
@@ -25,9 +30,10 @@ require "jam_ruby/models/band_musician"
 require "jam_ruby/models/user_follower"
 require "jam_ruby/models/user_following"
 require "jam_ruby/models/band_follower"
+require "jam_ruby/models/search"
 
 include Jampb
 
 module JamRuby
-
+  
 end
diff --git a/lib/jam_ruby/environment.rb b/lib/jam_ruby/environment.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..972c834d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jam_ruby/environment.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+module JamRuby
+  class Environment
+    def self.mode
+      if Object.const_defined?('Rails')
+          return Rails.env
+      else
+        # right now, there is no idea of a non-test jam-ruby usage, because it's solely a library
+        # this will need to change if we add executables to jam-ruby
+        return "test"
+      end
+    end
+
+    def self.application
+      if Object.const_defined?('Rails')
+        return 'jamweb'
+      else
+        return 'jamruby'
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/jam_ruby/models/band.rb b/lib/jam_ruby/models/band.rb
index 255f233dd..3d1ae6d67 100644
--- a/lib/jam_ruby/models/band.rb
+++ b/lib/jam_ruby/models/band.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 module JamRuby
   class Band < ActiveRecord::Base
+    include Tire::Model::Search
+    include Tire::Model::Callbacks
 
     attr_accessible :name, :website, :biography
 
@@ -28,10 +30,19 @@ module JamRuby
       @logo_url = "http://www.jamkazam.com/images/bands/logos/#{self.id}.gif"
     end
 
+<<<<<<< HEAD
     def follower_count
       return self.followers.size
     end
 
+=======
+    def location
+      # TODO: implement a single string version of location;
+      # this will be indexed into elasticsearch and returned in search
+      return "Austin, TX"
+    end
+    
+>>>>>>> elasticsearch
     # helper method for creating / updating a Band
     def self.save(params)
       if params[:id].nil?
@@ -97,5 +108,52 @@ module JamRuby
         errors.add(:genres, "No more than 3 genres are allowed.")
       end
     end
+
+
+    ### Elasticsearch/Tire integration ###
+    #
+    # Define the name based on the environment
+    # We wouldn't like to erase dev data during
+    # test runs!
+    #
+    index_name("#{Environment.mode}-#{Environment.application}-bands")
+
+    def to_indexed_json
+        {
+          :name => name,
+          :logo_url => logo_url,
+          :photo_url => photo_url,
+          :location => location
+        }.to_json
+    end
+
+    class << self
+      def create_search_index
+        Tire.index(Band.index_name) do
+          create(
+            :settings => Search.index_settings,
+            :mappings => {
+              "jam_ruby/band" => {
+                :properties => {
+                  :logo_url         => { :type => :string,   :index     => :not_analyzed, :include_in_all => false },
+                  :photo_url        => { :type => :string,   :index => :not_analyzed, :include_in_all => false},
+                  :name             => { :type => :string,   :boost => 100},
+                  :location         => { :type => :string },
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          )
+        end
+      end
+
+      def delete_search_index
+        search_index.delete
+      end
+
+      def search_index
+        Tire.index(Band.index_name)
+      end
+    end
+    ### Elasticsearch/Tire integration
   end
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/jam_ruby/models/search.rb b/lib/jam_ruby/models/search.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a2d25b066
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jam_ruby/models/search.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+module JamRuby
+  # not a active_record model; just a search result
+  class Search
+    attr_accessor :bands, :musicians, :fans, :recordings
+
+    def self.search(query)
+      # empty queries don't hit back to elasticsearch
+      if query.nil? || query.length == 0
+        return Search.new(nil)
+      end
+
+      s = Tire.search [User.index_name, Band.index_name], :load => true do
+        query { string query }
+        sort  { by [:_score] }
+        from 0
+        size 10 # doesn't have to be hardcoded...
+      end
+
+      return Search.new(s)
+    end
+
+    # elasticsearch index settings
+    def self.index_settings()
+      return  {
+               "analysis" => {
+              "analyzer" => {
+                "default" => {
+                  "type"      => "custom",
+                  "tokenizer" => "lowercase",
+                  "filter"    => ["name_ngram"]
+                }
+              },
+              "filter" => {
+                "name_ngram" => {
+                  "type"     => 'edgeNGram',
+                  "min_gram" => 2,
+                  "max_gram" => 7,
+                  "side"     => "front"
+                }
+              }
+            }
+      }
+    end
+
+    # search_results - results from a Tire search across band/user/recording
+    def initialize(search_results)
+      @bands = []
+      @musicians = []
+      @fans = []
+      @recordings = []
+
+      if search_results.nil?
+        return
+      end
+
+      search_results.results.each do |result| 
+        if result.class == User
+          if result.musician
+            @musicians.push(result)
+          else
+            @fans.push(result)
+          end
+        elsif result.class == Band 
+          @bands.push(result)
+        elsif result.class == Recording
+          @recordings.push(result)
+        else
+          raise Exception, "unknown class #{result.class} returned in search results"
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/jam_ruby/models/user.rb b/lib/jam_ruby/models/user.rb
index 5119bc490..05510cff5 100644
--- a/lib/jam_ruby/models/user.rb
+++ b/lib/jam_ruby/models/user.rb
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 module JamRuby
   class User < ActiveRecord::Base
+    include Tire::Model::Search
+    include Tire::Model::Callbacks
 
     attr_accessible :name, :email, :password, :password_confirmation
     attr_accessor :updating_password
 
     self.primary_key = 'id'
-    
+
     # connections (websocket-gateway)
     has_many :connections, :class_name => "JamRuby::Connection"
 
@@ -15,7 +17,7 @@ module JamRuby
     # instruments
     has_many :musician_instruments
     has_many :instruments, :through => :musician_instruments, :class_name => "JamRuby::Instrument"
-    
+
     # bands
     has_many :band_musicians
     has_many :bands, :through => :band_musicians, :class_name => "JamRuby::Band"
@@ -47,7 +49,7 @@ module JamRuby
     # invitations
     has_many :received_invitations, :foreign_key => "receiver_id", :inverse_of => :receiver, :class_name => "JamRuby::Invitation"
     has_many :sent_invitations, :foreign_key => "sender_id", :inverse_of => :sender, :class_name => "JamRuby::Invitation"
-    
+
     has_secure_password
 
     before_save { |user| user.email = email.downcase }
@@ -75,6 +77,12 @@ module JamRuby
       @photo_url = "http://www.jamkazam.com/images/users/photos/#{self.id}.gif";
     end
 
+    def location
+      # TODO: implement a single string version of location;
+      # this will be indexed into elasticsearch and returned in search
+      return "Austin, TX"
+    end
+
     def should_validate_password?
       updating_password || new_record?
     end
@@ -180,9 +188,58 @@ module JamRuby
       end
     end
 
+
+    ### Elasticsearch/Tire integration ###
+    #
+    # Define the name based on the environment
+    # We wouldn't like to erase dev data during
+    # test runs!
+    #
+    index_name("#{Environment.mode}-#{Environment.application}-users")
+
+    def to_indexed_json
+        {
+          :name => name,
+          :photo_url => photo_url,
+          :location => location,
+          :musician => musician
+        }.to_json
+    end
+
+    class << self
+      def create_search_index
+        Tire.index(User.index_name) do
+          create(
+            :settings => Search.index_settings,
+            :mappings => {
+              "jam_ruby/user" => {
+                :properties => {
+                  :photo_url        => { :type => :string, :index => :not_analyzed, :include_in_all => false},
+                  :location         => { :type => :string },
+                  :name             => { :type => :string, :boost => 100 },
+                  :is_musician      => { :type => :boolean, :index => :not_analyzed, :include_in_all => false}
+                }
+              }
+            }
+          )
+        end
+      end
+
+      def delete_search_index
+        search_index.delete
+      end
+
+      def search_index
+        Tire.index(User.index_name)
+      end
+    end
+    ### Elasticsearch/Tire integration
+
+
+
     private
       def create_remember_token
         self.remember_token = SecureRandom.urlsafe_base64
-      end                         
+      end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/jam_ruby/tire_tasks.rb b/lib/jam_ruby/tire_tasks.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bb4c3063f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jam_ruby/tire_tasks.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+class TireTasks
+
+  class << self
+    @@log = Logging.logger[TireTasks]
+  end
+
+  def self.verify
+
+    db_users_count = User.count(:id)
+    db_bands_count = Band.count(:id)
+
+    s = Tire.search [User.index_name],  :search_type => 'count', :query => {"match_all" => {}} do
+
+    end
+    es_users_count = s.results.total
+
+    s = Tire.search [Band.index_name],  :search_type => 'count', :query => {"match_all" => {}} do
+
+    end
+    es_bands_count = s.results.total
+    @@log.debug "database_users=#{db_users_count}, elasticsearch_users=#{es_users_count} database_bands=#{db_bands_count}, elasticsearch_bands=#{es_bands_count} "
+
+    if db_users_count != es_users_count
+      @@log.error "the number of elasticsearch users (#{es_users_count}) != the number of database users ((#{db_users_count}).  A rebuild of the elasticsearch index should be performed"
+      return false
+    end
+
+    if db_bands_count != es_bands_count
+      @@log.error "the number of elasticsearch bands (#{es_bands_count}) != the number of database bands (#{db_bands_count}).  A rebuild of the elasticsearch index should be performed"
+      return false
+    end
+    
+    return true
+  end
+
+  def self.rebuild_indexes
+    @@log.info "rebuilding elasticsearch"
+
+    User.delete_search_index
+    User.create_search_index
+    Band.delete_search_index
+    Band.create_search_index
+
+    User.import :per_page => 100
+    Band.import :per_page => 100
+
+    @@log.info "done rebuilding elasticsearch"
+    User.search_index.refresh
+    Band.search_index.refresh
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/jam_ruby/models/band_search_spec.rb b/spec/jam_ruby/models/band_search_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..abbe0cd35
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/jam_ruby/models/band_search_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+describe User do
+
+  before(:each) do
+    Band.delete_search_index
+    Band.create_search_index
+
+    @band = Band.save(name: "Example Band", website: "www.bands.com", biography: "zomg we rock")
+
+    # you have to poke elasticsearch because it will batch requests internally for a second
+    Band.search_index.refresh
+  end
+
+  it "should allow search of one band" do
+    ws = Band.search("Example Band")
+    ws.results.length.should == 1
+    band_result = ws.results[0]
+    band_result._type.should == "jam_ruby/band"
+    band_result.name.should == @band.name
+    band_result.id.should == @band.id
+    band_result.location.should == @band.location
+    band_result.logo_url.should_not be_nil
+    band_result.photo_url.should_not be_nil
+  end
+
+  it "should delete band" do
+    ws = Band.search("Example Band")
+    ws.results.length.should == 1
+    band_result = ws.results[0]
+    band_result.id.should == @band.id
+
+    @band.destroy # delete doesn't work; you have to use destroy.
+    Band.search_index.refresh
+
+    ws = Band.search("Example Band")
+    ws.results.length.should == 0
+  end
+
+   it "should update band" do
+    ws = Band.search("Example Band")
+    ws.results.length.should == 1
+    band_result = ws.results[0]
+    band_result.id.should == @band.id
+
+    @band.name = "bonus-stuff"
+    @band.save
+    Band.search_index.refresh
+
+    ws = Band.search("Example Band")
+    ws.results.length.should == 0
+
+    ws = Band.search("Bonus")
+    ws.results.length.should == 1
+    band_result = ws.results[0]
+    band_result.id.should == @band.id
+    band_result.name.should == "bonus-stuff"
+   end
+
+  it "should tokenize correctly" do
+    @band2 = Band.save(name: "Peach pit", website: "www.bands.com", biography: "zomg we rock")
+    Band.search_index.refresh
+    ws = Band.search("pea")
+    ws.results.length.should == 1
+    user_result = ws.results[0]
+    user_result.id.should == @band2.id
+  end
+
+
+  it "should not return anything with a 1 character search" do
+    @band2 = Band.save(name: "Peach pit", website: "www.bands.com", biography: "zomg we rock")
+    Band.search_index.refresh
+    ws = Band.search("pe")
+    ws.results.length.should == 1
+    user_result = ws.results[0]
+    user_result.id.should == @band2.id
+
+    ws = Band.search("p")
+    ws.results.length.should == 0
+   end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/jam_ruby/models/search_spec.rb b/spec/jam_ruby/models/search_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cf82fb35f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/jam_ruby/models/search_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+describe Search do
+
+  before(:each) do
+    Band.delete_search_index
+    Band.create_search_index
+    User.delete_search_index
+    User.create_search_index
+  end
+
+
+  def create_peachy_data
+    @user = User.save(name: "Peach", email: "user@example.com",
+                             password: "foobar", password_confirmation: "foobar", musician: true)
+    @fan = User.save(name: "Peach Peach", email: "fan@example.com",
+                             password: "foobar", password_confirmation: "foobar", musician: false)
+    @band = Band.save(name: "Peach pit", website: "www.bands.com", biography: "zomg we rock")
+  end
+
+  def assert_peachy_data
+    search = Search.search('peach')
+
+    search.recordings.length.should == 0
+    search.bands.length.should == 1
+    search.musicians.length.should == 1
+    search.fans.length.should == 1
+
+    musician = search.musicians[0]
+    musician.should be_a_kind_of User
+    musician.id.should == @user.id
+
+    band = search.bands[0]
+    band.should be_a_kind_of Band
+    band.id.should == @band.id
+
+    fan = search.fans[0]
+    fan.should be_a_kind_of User
+    fan.id.should == @fan.id
+  end
+
+  it "search for band & musician " do
+    create_peachy_data
+
+    User.search_index.refresh
+    Band.search_index.refresh
+
+    assert_peachy_data
+  end
+
+  it "validates rebuild_indexes method of TireTasks" do
+    pending "figure out how to suppress stdout 'curl' message from tire"
+    create_peachy_data
+ 
+    TireTasks.rebuild_indexes
+
+    assert_peachy_data
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/jam_ruby/models/tire_search_spec.rb b/spec/jam_ruby/models/tire_search_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e3e86c9ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/jam_ruby/models/tire_search_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+# these tests help verify tire integration
+describe "tire search" do
+
+  before(:each) do
+    Band.delete_search_index
+    Band.create_search_index
+    User.delete_search_index
+    User.create_search_index
+  end
+
+
+  it "full search for empty indexes" do
+    s = Tire.search ['test-jamruby-users', 'test-jamruby-bands'], :load => true do
+             query { string '*' }
+    end
+
+    s.results.length.should == 0
+  end
+
+  it "full search for single user" do
+    @user = User.save(name: "User One", email: "user@example.com",
+                         password: "foobar", password_confirmation: "foobar", musician: true)
+    User.search_index.refresh
+    
+    s = Tire.search ['test-jamruby-users', 'test-jamruby-bands'], :load => true do
+     query { string 'user' }
+    end
+
+    s.results.length.should == 1
+    result = s.results[0]
+    result.should be_a_kind_of User
+    result.id.should == @user.id
+  end
+
+  it "full search for single band" do
+    @band = Band.save(name: "Example Band", website: "www.bands.com", biography: "zomg we rock")
+    Band.search_index.refresh
+
+    s = Tire.search ['test-jamruby-users', 'test-jamruby-bands'], :load => true do
+       query { string 'example' }
+    end
+
+    s.results.length.should == 1
+    result = s.results[0]
+    result.should be_a_kind_of Band
+    result.id.should == @band.id
+  end
+
+  it "full search for a band & user" do
+    @user = User.save(name: "Peach", email: "user@example.com",
+                             password: "foobar", password_confirmation: "foobar", musician: true)
+    @band = Band.save(name: "Peach pit", website: "www.bands.com", biography: "zomg we rock")
+    User.search_index.refresh
+    Band.search_index.refresh
+
+    s = Tire.search ['test-jamruby-users', 'test-jamruby-bands'], :load => true do
+     query { string 'peach' }
+     sort  { by [:_score] }
+    end
+
+    s.results.length.should == 2
+    result = s.results[0]
+    result.should be_a_kind_of User
+    result.id.should == @user.id
+    result = s.results[1]
+    result.should be_a_kind_of Band
+    result.id.should == @band.id
+  end
+
+
+  it "pagination" do
+    @user = User.save(name: "Peach", email: "user@example.com",
+                             password: "foobar", password_confirmation: "foobar", musician: true)
+    @band = Band.save(name: "Peach pit", website: "www.bands.com", biography: "zomg we rock")
+    User.search_index.refresh
+    Band.search_index.refresh
+
+    s = Tire.search ['test-jamruby-users', 'test-jamruby-bands'], :load => true do
+      query { string 'peach' }
+      sort  { by [:_score] }
+      from 0
+      size 1
+    end
+
+    s.results.length.should == 1
+    result = s.results[0]
+    result.should be_a_kind_of User
+    result.id.should == @user.id
+
+    s = Tire.search ['test-jamruby-users', 'test-jamruby-bands'], :load => true do
+      query { string 'peach' }
+      sort  { by [:_score] }
+      from 1
+      size 2
+    end
+
+    s.results.length.should == 1
+    result = s.results[0]
+    result.should be_a_kind_of Band
+    result.id.should == @band.id
+  end
+
+  it "should count index" do
+
+    sleep 1 # https://jamkazam.atlassian.net/browse/VRFS-69
+    s = Tire.search ['test-jamruby-users'],  :search_type => 'count', :query => {"match_all" => {}} do
+
+    end
+
+    s.results.total.should == 0
+
+                                  
+    @user = User.save(name: "Peach", email: "user@example.com",
+                             password: "foobar", password_confirmation: "foobar", musician: true)
+    User.search_index.refresh
+    sleep 1 # https://jamkazam.atlassian.net/browse/VRFS-69
+    
+    s = Tire.search ['test-jamruby-users'],  :search_type => 'count', :query => {"match_all" => {}} do
+
+    end
+
+    s.results.total.should == 1
+
+    User.delete_search_index
+
+    s = Tire.search ['test-jamruby-users'],  :search_type => 'count', :query => {"match_all" => {}} do
+
+    end
+
+    #s.response.code.should == 404
+    #s.response.to_s.include?("IndexMissingException").should be_true
+    expect {s.results.total}.to raise_error(Tire::Search::SearchRequestFailed)
+    begin
+      s.results.total
+      false.should be_true # should not get here
+    rescue Tire::Search::SearchRequestFailed => srf
+      srf.to_s.include?("IndexMissingException").should be_true
+    end
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/jam_ruby/models/user_search_spec.rb b/spec/jam_ruby/models/user_search_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4fa012121
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/jam_ruby/models/user_search_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+require 'spec_helper'
+
+describe User do
+
+  before(:each) do
+    User.delete_search_index
+    User.create_search_index
+
+    @user = User.save(name: "Example User", email: "user@example.com",
+                     password: "foobar", password_confirmation: "foobar", musician: true)
+
+    # you have to poke elasticsearch because it will batch requests internally for a second
+    User.search_index.refresh
+  end
+
+  it "should allow search of one user" do
+    ws = User.search("Example User")
+    ws.results.length.should == 1
+    user_result = ws.results[0]
+    user_result._type.should == "jam_ruby/user"
+    user_result.name.should == @user.name
+    user_result.id.should == @user.id
+    user_result.location.should == @user.location
+    user_result.musician.should == true
+    user_result.photo_url.should_not be_nil
+  end
+
+  it "should delete user" do
+    ws = User.search("Example User")
+    ws.results.length.should == 1
+    user_result = ws.results[0]
+    user_result.id.should == @user.id
+
+    @user.destroy # delete doesn't work; you have to use destroy.
+    User.search_index.refresh
+    
+    ws = User.search("Example User")
+    ws.results.length.should == 0
+  end
+
+  it "should update user" do
+    ws = User.search("Example User")
+    ws.results.length.should == 1
+    user_result = ws.results[0]
+    user_result.id.should == @user.id
+
+    @user.name = "bonus-junk"
+    @user.save
+    User.search_index.refresh
+
+    ws = User.search("Example User")
+    ws.results.length.should == 0
+
+    ws = User.search("Bonus")
+    ws.results.length.should == 1
+    user_result = ws.results[0]
+    user_result.id.should == @user.id
+    user_result.name.should == "bonus-junk"
+  end
+
+  it "should tokenize correctly" do
+    @user2 = User.save(name: "peaches", email: "peach@example.com",
+                             password: "foobar", password_confirmation: "foobar", musician: true)
+    User.search_index.refresh
+    ws = User.search("pea")
+    ws.results.length.should == 1
+    user_result = ws.results[0]
+    user_result.id.should == @user2.id
+   end
+end
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