Saw Radiohead last night at Nissan Pavilion. What an adventure. Sold out show (capacity there is 25000), we were on the lawn, and it poured rain the ENTIRE time. The sidewalk became a river basically. But cold and windy and wet as it was, it was worth it for Thom and the gang. Next time I will get better seats somehow. But I must say, there was something beautiful about 20,000-some people singing “Rain down, Rain down, come on, rain down on me / From a great height” in the middle of that torrential downpour.

But I’m still jealous, Lydia.

Jeremy is in Iceland. I’m going to try to get him to post some amusing Icelandic anecdote on the site. But he gets distracted easily.

I’m going to the beach this week (thanks Wilkins family!) and I should come back several shades darker than I am now. Currently my skin is a color I have termed “Moonlight Cream.”

Music is coming, I swear. Live tracks on the Ecclesiastes card soon. Jeremy and Nathan made great progress on the full length on their last trip to Nashville. There is still much more to be done, but we are very pleased with how it’s coming together and we are anxious to get it into your hands. Here is a rare shot of Nathan and Jeremy at work in the studio:

I’m attempting to integrate this simple philosophy into my life. My reasoning is partly influenced by my current reading of Verses From the Center. A small step in relinquishing desire, perhaps? Perhaps not?

My “who cares” philosophy is also largely influenced by Adam Baber. It may be a bit nihilistic, perhaps, but it makes everything easier.

“What time is the show?”
Who cares.

“When is the CD going to be done?”
Who cares.

“John, some random drunk dude just pushed you into the hotel pool.”
Who cares.

Actually that last one happened on Saturday at the Hyatt after the show at George Mason. I tried not to care. I would like to thank Jesse for sticking up for me though, as well as the hotel staff. Especially Charles. Thanks for hanging out. And to everyone else who made it a memorable night - Austin, Vanessa, Anthony, Joe, Carol, Justin, Justin’s friend (name? - sorry), Christina, Hyatt bartender…who am I forgetting…

Lots of shows since my last blog post. NC - good to see all our friends again. MACRoCK - always awesome. Blue Nile afterparty was fantastic. So many great bands I wish I could’ve seen. But awesome hanging out with the 50 or whatever people on our front porch. Thanks to Drew Worden for his kind words about the set. We actually recorded the set and we plan on releasing 2 live tracks on the Ecclesiastes card in the near future. If you have already bought the card and downloaded the three songs on there right now, you just use the remaining 2 credits for the 2 live tracks. We’ll let you know when they’re up.

Taste of Takoma - great to meet Colin and Marika (hope the spelling was close). And thanks to George Mason for treating us right as always. I met Ralph Nader after our set and while he didn’t come straight out and ask us to be his political “house band,” I could tell he was thinking it.

Nathan and Jeremy fly to Nashville this week to finish up some things. Who cares.

Tyler J. Binsted
April 10, 1988 - March 27, 2008

On behalf of the whole band I want to say that our love and support goes out to all of Tyler’s family and friends. His life was tragically cut short, but I must agree with Seth when he says that in his 19 years Tyler lived as full and complete a life as anyone.

I have nothing but wonderful memories of Tyler. I remember hanging out with him at all the local shows. A fellow drummer, people would actually get us confused at times; we both wore similar glasses and our hair length was about the same. Tyler would instantly brighten up any room he entered. Even Captain Tee’s seemed a little more joyful when Tyler was around. He was never without that infectious grin and he was always giving huge hugs to everyone.

I can only hope that one day humanity will evolve past the senseless violence that took his life. Tyler himself was the embodiment of that evolution. His final moments are an inspiration to me–entirely peaceful, and yet exhibiting incredible bravery in the face of death. Tyler may not be with us any more, but his example lives on and he will never be forgotten.

Hello folks. Happy Easter.

Thanks to Twisted Tea Bazaar for having us the other week. Thanks to Jupiter One for rocking it. Thanks to all the friends who came to the show. Thanks to Adam for driving us (still vanless).

I’m listening to Blur’s album 13 right now. It is a blast from the past. I love this album.

Very excited about MACRoCK this year. We’re playing in a sweet lineup. Kudos to WXJM for letting us play their showcase. We’re also going to be recording the set and putting two live tracks on the Ecclesiastes song collection. So you should come and be part of that, mmkay?

“Give me good times, give me music give me love, give me easy breathing, give me everything.”

I feel it is my duty to share these videos with you. There are many more hilarious ones too. Just look for “___ shreds.” But these will get you started:
Santana shreds.
Malmsteen shreds.
Slash shreds.

“I’m a country boy, I got no soul, don’t sleep at night, the world’s growing old. I lost my girl to the Rolling Stones, I lost my girl to the Rolling Stones.”

For those of you wondering why we haven’t scheduled as many upcoming shows as usual: we are really trying to work on our full-length album as much as possible lately. That means a lot of traveling back and forth from Nashville. But there is a light at the end of this cacophonous tunnel, and rest assured that many shows will be coming…

“I’ve got Trimm Trabb like the flashboys have. Now I can’t go back, let it flow, let it flow. I sleep alone, I sleep alone.”

I’m going to go make a pepperoni sandwich for lunch tomorrow. Call me weird if you will. They’re delicious.

“That’s just the way it is, that’s just the way it is.”

That’s just the way it is.

1. Blacksburg. 2. Lynchburg. 3. Harrisonburg.

1. Party time. Great hanging out with everyone.  The House Floor and Foxtrot Rio were baddddassasusual. Thanks to everyone who hung out and brought the good times. Sorry to the hotel maids. At least we picked up after ourselves. No pee on the bathroom sink this time, right?

2. Again, party time. Thanks to the amazing number of kids that showed up. We’d wondered if anyone would remember who we were. Two years is a long time. George Borsay is a helluva promoter. Great to meet/hang out with some new faces too. Forget about your house of cards. Sheetz at 7:30 p.m., 4:30 a.m., and 11:30 a.m. In that order. Glorious.

3. Back again. Thanks to Ward for hauling our crap, and sorry you had car trouble. Thank you Jesse and Aaron for helping out in our time of crisis.

Yesterday I drove back from Lynchburg, then to Pennsylvania and back. 10 hours of driving suxx after a total of 6 hours of sleep between the two previous nights. But it was worth it. Jeremy’s flying to Nashville next weekend, do some vocalizing. Charlottesville in 2 weeks. Touring in April.

Happy Birthday, Dan.