Hold On To Your Fannies/How ‘Bout them Grammy’s!?

The Grammy awards were on last night. As all of America saw, we sadly lost best rock album this year to Coldplay. Oh well, we’ll see how our luck plays out next time around. Until then, Coldplay, keep that award in a nice place, and enjoy your music domination WHILE YOU CAN.

I hope you all picked up on the sarcasm in that.

In reality, it was an interesting awards…er I mean…crappy pop performance show. Of course there were defintiely some great moments…BLINK IS BACK…Green Day’s new album…Sir Paul and Mr. Grohl tearing it up…and believe it or not, JT’s performance with TI (I know, what can I say? I’m a sucker for that former N’Sync member’s lyrical crooning). But please, PLEASE, let’s keep Cyrus and her awkward teen brother friends to the Disney channel; I don’t care what kind of popularity these artists have, but they have not paid ANY kind of dues in the music industry. Plus, seeing the Jonas Brothers literally DANCE around Stevie Wonder, and screw up the lyrics to “Superstition”…well that was embarassing for everyone involved.

Ok time to hop off the pedastal of mine and settle for a nice desk chair. TJ and I (with some help from Jay-Cart!) did a little acoustic set the other night. He played some awesome old Cast songs, as well as a new diddy of ours. I played crappy pop covers. At least everyone seemed to have a lovely evening. The set was recorded, and a benefit cd is going to be released soon…We’ll give you details on that when it is announced.

Demoing continues in the dungeon. Updates to come.

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye!
-Jordan

An in-depth update from TJ

Greetings.

I don’t get the time to write these very often, so I consider this a special occasion. Hopefully it will get you all up to speed with what’s been going on with our band the past month or two. That being said, it has been quite a busy month indeed. We finally decided we were happy with the amount of new material we’d composed, and began the grueling demoing process, which you probably already know. Things are going fairly smoothly. The album is shaping up to have 9-11 songs – we’ll see how we feel about everything once we’re done. I feel like we have the opportunity to get insanely picky this time around. We’ve spent a lot of time working out the kinks and crafting these new songs, which we didn’t have the chance to do last time. The fact that As Your Shoulders Turn On You came out of very few rehearsals, and a lot of “we’ll-see-what-happens” scenarios makes it all the more special to me. But this time around, we’re a lot more prepared, and therefore a lot more confident about what this will all turn out like. The songs themselves have a lot of the same elements as the songs on the last record, but we’re throwing in a lot of curveballs too. A good handful of the songs are a lot shorter, but there are others that stay on the same path. Some have more vocals, others have less. Some are really noisy, and some will be really quiet. I hope you all enjoy every second of it, and thank you for being so patient while we exercise our perfectionist demons.

We’ve been tossing around a few titles for the album, but we’ll reveal which one we choose whenever that actually happens. I can tell you that some of the song titles we’ve been fidgeting with are “Head On a String,” “Canyons,” “A Series of Rooms,” “Where We Are Now,” “A Breath of Fresh Air,” “Sleep,” “Quite Alright,” “Perspectives,” and “This Is Not Our Home.” I don’t know which ones will make the album, but I’m pretty sure everything will be decided with an intense rock-paper-scissors match. We hope to be done demoing by the end of this month, and then start actually tracking the record some time in late March/early April. We have our hearts set on an incredible engineer that we’ll more than likely be working with, but we’ll keep that hush-hush for now. That being said, we will actually need to have a budget for this album, whereas the last one, we were lucky enough to be able to record it all for free. Please PLEASE, if you like what you hear on our page, order a record from our page, or download it off of iTunes or Amazon. If you’re not familiar enough with us yet, you know that we whole-heartedly support spreading our music by any means necessary. Burn it for a friend, download it for free offline, whatever the case may be. At the moment however, we do very much need your support and generosity in order to put out the best new record possible for you guys. Trust me, we will find some way to reward you all.

That’s all for now. Below, you can listen to us perform a new song (“Head On A String”) while watching some shenanigans from the last couple months. Hope you enjoy, and most of all, let us know what you think!! More new things to come soon (including merch hopefully? any designers out there looking for a project to tackle? let us know!) – thank you all for being so patient and kind towards us. We love you all.
–TJ & The Cast Before the Break

The Cast Before the Break – Head On a String (Live in CT)

Jordan’s Best of 2008

So this is WAYYYY late, but here’s my favorites from 2008.

Favorite Albums of 2008

1) This Will Destroy You – “S/T”
-The battle for the top was a tough one, but this release by my favorite post-rock band ended up taking the spot. Not only is this one of my favorite albums to listen to, but it has also changed how I view things as musician. A beautiful masterpiece from beginning to end, This Will Destroy You’s first full-length builds up to a stunning climax, becoming an instant classic.
2) Butch Walker – “Sycamore Meadows”
- Butch’s fourth solo album comes in at a very close second on my list, and I must emphasize very close. Butch has been battling for years between an excellent career as a producer/pop songwriter and amazing musician. It looks like he saved his best songs for his own record, though, and “Sycamore Meadows” is one of the greatest singer/songwriter albums released in the past 10 years. An honest testament to the loss of his home in the California wildfires last year, Butch has created a completely solid work that ranges from straight up pop-rock to some of his most heart-breaking ballads to date. I cannot recommend this album enough.
3) Bon Iver – “For Emma, Forever Ago”
4) Coldplay – “Viva La Vida”
5) Death Cab for Cutie – “Narrow Stairs”
6) Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s – “Animal/Not Animal”
7) Sigur Ros – “Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust” Counting Crows – “Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings”
9) She & Him – “Volume 1”
10) God is an Astronaut – “S/T”
11) Fall Out Boy – “Folie a Deux”
12) Ludo – “You’re Awful, I Love You”
13) Lydia – “Illuminate”
14) The Hold Steady – “Stay Positive”
15) Colour Revolt – “Plunder, Beg, and Curse”

Honorable Mention:
The New Frontiers – “Mending”

Best EP:
Third Eye Blind – “Red Star”
-Okay, so it might not be the BEST EP released this year, but damn, any new material by Third Eye Blind is good material. I’ve been waiting years upon years for new music by these guys, and I cannot say I was disappointed. This has me even more pumped for their new full-length FINALLY coming out next year.

Most Anticipated Albums for 2009:
As Tall As Lions
Manchester Orchestra
Brand New
Dredg
Silversun Pickups
Third Eye Blind

Favorite Movies of 2008:

The Dark Knight
- I don’t think I need to even go on about this. Forget the hype. Forget the popularity. This is one of the greatest movies ever; amazing cast, incredible writing, legendary story.
Burn After Reading
Step Brothers
Wall-E

That’s about it. Aw 2008, how nostalgic. Hope you all are doing wonderfully. I’ll be posting some pics from TJ’s guitar demoing the other night very soon!

-Jordan

Drums, Day 2

Ryan demoed some more drums last night. Look how epic he looks:

And here’s a special look into the mind of the man behind the kit:

It looks like we might be putting together a little tour weekend at the end of February. If you can hook us up with a show then, or at any point in the next few months, don’t hesitate to contact us via Myspace. Happy Inaugration Day, and I hope the American Bald Eagle leaves lots of presents beneath your American Flags tonight…well, that’s how we celebrate.

-Jobama

ANNNNND We’re Back.

Well it has been a long time since an update. Which is a shame, because our lives are just full of interesting events that I am sure you all want to know about. Take today for instance; I had a bowl of Honey-Nut Cheerios for the first time in forever. They were delicious, and I think I will be enjoying them on a regular basis. Oh, what about the band, you may ask?

At the beginning of the month, we hit the road for about a week, visiting a plethora of places in New York, Vermont, and Connecticut. We even played in New York City, where we had the pleasure of seeing what will forever be dubbed, “Super-Obama.” We performed with a ton of great bands, including our buddies in Cityscapes (crazy/awesome group of guys), Wave Down the Planes, and Looking Glass Wars, as well as some new friends in Prima, My Last Flight, This AM Static, and Sweet Hollow Drive. Thank you to everyone who supported us and came out to the shows – we definitely felt welcome wherever we went. TJ is compiling some of the footage we shot, so be on the look out for that sometime in the near future.

So what are we up to now? Demoing started this past weekend for the album, and Ryan is cruising right through all the drum tracks. That will continue tonight, and then we’re on to guitars. Although our focus is now on recording, we’re all eager to get out and play some more, so look for more shows in the coming months!

Enjoy the new Myspace Layout

-JDAWG and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Why this election mattered

We all tried to avoid talking at obnoxious lengths about politics up until the election yesterday, but I personally feel like it’s time to say something. And that something is this: Thank God.

Or Buddha. Or Jesus. Or Alex Trebeck. Yesterday, something important was shown about who we are as a nation of people; this young generation is ready to begin taking the reigns of a country that has veered off it’s path. Whether you are political, apathetic, or somewhere in-between, we can all agree that the past 8 years have been a frightening time to come-of-age as an adult. Things have looked bleak, and if our nation continued to be run as it was, our voices would never be heard until it was too late. Then, Barack Obama was elected President.

If you voted for anyone else this election, do not take this message to heart as a personal attack. I love how we are able to support different candidates and still remain one nation. But the fact is this: Obama has unified many people in a way that a politician has never done before. There is a sense of excitement, and an even greater sense that something powerful just took place in America. Even if our election system is still flawed, this result would not have come without the support of our generation.

So basically I’m here to say: Thanks America, for not screwing this one up.

Anyhow, we’ve been writing and rehearsing non-stop in “the band dungeon.” The songs are continuing to pile up, and we are the most excited we have ever been to get into a studio and record! But we must have patience, much like Mr. Miagi taught. Or Splinter from The Ninja Turtles. Or Mr. Feeny.

Until then, we will continue to wax on…and wax off.

-Jordan

Who doesn’t love a good Chinese buffet?

Here is the second studio/writing update. Yeah, we’re a few weeks behind on this, so don’t hate us. We’ve got lots more footage for some upcoming videos, so we’ll be churning those out like crisp fall apple cider very shortly. We’re still busy writing lots of new material; we think you all will be very happy with the results. Last night we took care of some things regarding our practice area…we did our best to resemble an adjective that is really catching on with the youth these days, “pimp.” We feel like this has been safely accomplished. We also have a real treat that we are cooking up for December…we’ll be sure to let you all know about it once details are confirmed. Until then, we continue our hibernation of writing bliss. See you all soon.

-Murder She Wrote

The Color Blue Turned Black

Youuu caught us. We played Friday night at the Rock to Cure CD Release show under “The Color Blue Turned Black” (We weren’t entirely taking this secret name seriously, I might add). Other than some technical difficulties (Gob would be ashamed) the show was pretty sweet. We played a couple of new songs that may or may not make the next album (Although we are leaning towards them making it…you never know!), as well as some golden oldies. This kid played drums for us:
His name is Ryan. That’s right, the infamous Ryan from that one studio video of ours. Anyhow, he’s going to be playing drums with us from now on, and we are very excited for the sic beats that he will generate by placing his foot/drumstick/head against a particular drum or cymbal. Welcome him with hugs or candy corn…although I might steal his candy corn!

Anyhow, we are going to take some time off from shows in the area while we concentrate on writing some new material and rehearsing. We’re all really excited to dive into these new songs some more and keep demoing, so stay tuned for more studio updates! Until next time…
XoXo Gossip Girl

10.17.08

What have we all become?

You’ve been smoochin’ wit everybody!

Jeremy has quoted the Home Alone movies everyday for the past few weeks, so the title of this blog seemed appropriate. We played a show last night with Ace Enders and a Million Different People, Good Old War, The Cleveland Patrol, and Secret Secret Dino Club. It was a romptastic good time, and we were all thoroughly impressed with The Cleveland Patrol…I know they’ve been around for a bit now, but they will be adding some great music to the Oneonta music scene, no doubt. Good Old War performed acoustic and had more harmonies than the Vienna Boys’ Choir. Ace rocked the place, and it was great to hear his new songs. In general a good night, thanks to everyone who came out to support us! We don’t take a single one of you for granted.

We have been practicing and writing like crazy lately, as well as scheming and plotting. We’ve got some really awesome things in the works that we promise to be sharing with you all soon. Until then, make sure you check out the Rock to Cure CD Release Show on Friday night if you’re in Oneonta! Johnny Cannon is performing acoustic, as well as our friends in The Color Blue Turned Black.

Now, go have ranting political conversations with your kin and loved ones…because this is America! I’ll just sit around in my Obama shirt.

-Jordan Bendy Stewart