Sweet Home Savannah

Greetings Blog readers! Aaron here. We just returned from sweet home Savannah after playing this weeks Rock-n-Roll Marathon for 23,000 participants. I should clarify, its actually not home to any of us, infact I don’t know that any of us have even been there before. But lets not get wrapped up in technicalities.

We got a lot accomplished this weekend as a band. Maybe because Stu couldn’t come so we weren’t distracted by the scent of freshly baked cookies, that little Keebler elf.

Started writing a new song in the hotel room all while giant planes and helicopters flew over to land at the air force base 20 yards away.  Good times.

We arrived at the gig at 7:30am. Yes…a.m. Not very “rock band” is it? I didn’t even know 7:30 a.m. existed! Whoever booked this gig has a big pair of giblets asking a rock band to show up anywhere before 1 o’clock in the afternoon. Whatever, we musn’t grumble.

Here are some pics.

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Oh and Mark felt the need to leave the stage and let the sound guy at the event play a 20 minute guitar solo while Rob and I played the same damn riff over and over and over and over again. Don’t worry, he at least took the time to capture it on video.

Until next time friends…

Carpe diem,
AF

 

New Shows…Finally

Well, we promised we would come back to Greenville, SC and we are – Oct. 7 at Gottrocks, followed by Oct. 8 in Raleigh at the Ampitheater with the singer of Live, Ed Kowalczyk!

Before all that, we will be playing in Dayton, OH while we are finishing up some tracks for the new CD at In The Red Studio. Come see us at Setters and help us raise some cash for Coley and her surgery.

It’s a great reason to come out and enjoy the music!!!

See you at the show!

What a night in Greenville!

You ever have one of those great weekends? Well that was this weekend for me and the rest of the band.

It didn’t start so well because I have been on 3 prescriptions for what everyone is calling TB – but it’s just a very annoying cough and inability to talk. Then we found out our bass player Jason couldn’t make the trip to SC for the show. Soooo….

We got a couple hours to “Practice” before the show where we figured Robert would play bass and I would play guitar and we would just rearrange some songs.

OH YEAH BTW, this is our drummer Aaron’s 2nd show.

I think we’ll be fine…

I don’t really get nervous for shows but there was a slight, no, large chance for a trainwreck to occur – the kind of trainwreck that would be talked about for years. Remember, for this show, we are opening for Rob and Stu’s other bands who are legends in SC and this is our first time in Greenville.

So when the lights went down and the stage lights came up, I was shocked to see the Handelbar nearly full already, for the opener. CRAZY!

The show went better than I could have imagined and the crowd was the most fun I’ve played for in a very long time. So a very sincere thanks to everyone who made it out that night.

Temple of Thieves followed us and featured Stuart on guitar and played a really technical metal style that is going to be huge. Great songs combined with a multi-media show were more work than I can imagine and made for a great show.

Then Noxious played their final show. Noxious featured Robert and Stu as well as Chief who introduced us all. That band is a polished national act that is a legendary act in the region and it is really easy to see why. Their show topped off a magic night.

I can’t remember being stopped after playing more than I was Saturday night. Everyone I met – Shelly, JJ, Steve, Kim, Jay, Alex…(I could keep going forever) made me feel like I was like talking to an old friend.

So we will definitely be back to Greenville, SC very soon. You all made us feel very much at home and that means a lot. A night well worth remembering!

Cheers!

Sick of being sick….

So I am officially tired of pills, kleenex and bathrooms…I saw it coming though. Everyone around has been sick and although I have been able to avoid it, a flight to LA and Ft. Lauderdale did not help.

So here I am surrounded by used kleenexes, remotes and animals that want to play and I can’t do anything but watch TV – FRUSTRATING! Especially when I have the tracks to a brand new song waiting at the studio for me as soon as I can sing, no talk again.

Frustrating…

Doc says I am 7 days into a 10-14 day deal – any suggestions?

Damn allergies

I used to have allergies really bad. Fall allergies. The first few weeks of school were usually pure hell. My eyes would water like I was crying for my Detroit lions on a Sunday. And unfortunately the totally uncool travel Kleenex pouch was never far behind.

So when I started college in Florida it was a brand new day – no fall allergies! New school, new opportunites and new best friends. Pat, rik and brad were my new trouble makers and each were a great introduction to the world. Pat was from new York, rik was from Michigan and brad was from Ohio.

Brad was my roommate and obviously Who I had the most in common with -except for his love of country music. But by the end of that first year I knew Randi Travis far too well and all words to “family tradition.”

Now I consider myself an optimist. A glass is half full guy. But I am nothing compared to brad. That even continues through the past few years when he battled cancer. If you just talked to him you’d never tell how much of a pain he was living with, nor would you doubt that in a few weeks he’d be back in his truck driving down the road.

But unfortunately, the road just ended – if you ask me, many miles short of where it should have.

There is no doubt in mind that only brad could have taken this trip and left all of us that knew him with more than just a ton of great stories that still make us laugh, but a lesson on optimism, positive thinking and stubborness.

Thanks brad, at least you can listen to bocephus all day long now.

Damn allergies.

Meanwhile, back at Midway…

There has been a lot of  airports, rental cars, TSA pat-downs and hotel rooms, but it has all been worth it. On the 11th, y’all will see the band and it’s brand new member Andy Freeman. Here’s a little bit about Andy.

Andrew will be the touring Guitarist and Back Up Vocalist for
The Offspring on their 2008-2009 tour for their latest release
“Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace”.

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Check out Andrew’s latest music project,
Soapbox Conspiracy. The band features:
Shane Vetter – Guitars (X-Days of the New)
Johny Chow – Bass (Cavalera Conspiracy, Fireball Ministry, X-Systematic)
Jay Bomb – Drums (Sex Slaves)
Stay tuned for more updates!

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Andrew has performed on three tours as the lead vocalist with legendary Dokken / Lynch Mob guitarist George Lynch. Including a much talked about feature on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and a headlining show at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA.
The Lynch band has given Andrew the opportunity to perform with great musicians such as Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath/Dio), Marten Andersson (Lizzy Borden, Starwood), Rob DeLucca (Spread Eagle, Ours, Sebastian Bach), John Macaluso (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, TNT), Michael “FRO” Frowien – Drums (Lynch Mob / War & Peace).

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As the guitarist, songwriter and producer for the Massachusetts band Thirty Stones. The band enjoyed success having their CD Canvas, produced by Zuess (Hatebreed, Shadows Fall), chart as high as 5 on FMQB’s Metal Detector and CMJ Crucial Spins. The band performed 250 plus shows in 2003, appearing with bands such as Sevendust, Staind, Shadows Fall, Powerman 5000, Dope, Non-Point, Hed PE, and Lacuna Coil among others. Thirty Stones were also featured on 10 different compilation CDs released by Cleopatra Records that included legendary artists Iggy Pop, Bill Ward (Black Sabbath), and Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin).

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Andrew handled guitar duties and songwriting on Blockk 16’s Too Brutal for Radio. The CD also featured Chris Caffery – Guitar (Savatage, Trans Siberian Orchestra) Rick Skator – Bass (24-7 Spyz / Bad Brains) and Ray West (Spread Eagle). The CD is distributed through Century Media and was 4 on the CMJ Crucial Spins Most Added chart. The band just completed a short east coast tour with legendary metal band, Y&T.

Don’t try this at home…

I know many of you have already seen or heard about my new cast. To set the record straight, this is how it happened.

The shop where we practice is huge. So we are surrounded by PA speakers/cabinets/amps etc. I am not a big fan of rehearsing…who is really? So, sometimes I do little things to make the time a little more interesting. Sometimes it’s changing the words in a song, Sometimes it’s throwing picks at people and sometimes it’s climbing and jumping off stuff.

So…

As one song ended, I think it was Drowned, I jumped to perfectly time the crash at the end with my perfect 10.0 landing. The timing was right, the landing was wrong.

When I landed, I was leaning too far forward. My feet hit the ground and I heard a “pop,” …that was my achilles.

So 3 hours later I rolled out of E.R. with a splint and an appointment. Today was the appointment and an introduction to my first of 3 casts. I’ll post some picts on my facebook page so you can enjoy the new fashion.

So when you see the show in the next 8 weeks, you’ll know why I may be moving (or not moving) a little differently.

So, kids, learn from the entire cast of Lorenzo…don’t try this at home.

3:03am at Dayton International Airport

So last night, after the the bus dropped me off at the airport for my 5:30am flight, I had a chance to blog a bit from my iPhone…3 attempts and 16 hours later, after deleting the completed blog twice, I am again trying to put into words how great last night at Riverbend with the Stone Temple Pilots was…

First, let me thank our incredible crew – as always, making it far too easy to look professional. Thanks to Martin, Flounder, Ron & Stuckey. Great job as always.
Next the real people that made the night happen – Eric Kretz, and The STP guys. Thanks you so much for inviting us on the bill…and it was great hanging out afterwards. Everyone at Riverbend that was so accommodating Mike, Laura Laurie – thanks so much. Also a quick thanks to everyone at Live nation – you all do a tireless job and we are glad you let us be a part of it…

Most importantly, thanks to all of our new friends…We signed more autographs and took more pictures than we have yet. So thanks to everyone who stopped by the 96Rock tent or grabbed us as we were walking by, especially…Jordan, Scott, Chris, PandaBoy, Bawls and Jessika with a “K.” We can’t wait to get back to Cincinnati and see you all again.

So thanks to everyone involved in making it a very special night – cheers!

Overnight Prints!

If anyone needs business cards, postcards or brochures, you must check out overnightprints.com! We just printed our 8x10s with them and they are incredible and cheap! Check them out!

It’s going to be a busy Summer!

Well as Summer swings into high gear this weekend, we just got word of a few new shows in June. The highlights are our headlining show in Cincinnati June 12th at Riverstar and June 20 at Belterra Casino in Indiana with the Big Show MMA.

Speaking of the Big Show MMA, Lorenzo is now the Official Big Show Band! This means that aside from hearing our song as the opening Theme song, you will be hearing us throughout the show and seeing us live at every Big Show MMA event!

It’s going to be a great summer!