I just drove out to Albuquerque to see my friend (and former HM intern) Levi Macallister (aka LeviThePoet) get hitched to his awesome girlfriend, fiance and future wife Brandi this weekend. I left Austin on Friday morning and, thanks be to God, had a nice and safe 12-hour drive Northwest to the city in the desert.

We got here in time to see a concert that was going on at the church they’re getting married in today – Mars Hill Church in downtown Albuquerque. Thanks to the Mountain Time Zone, we pulled up at 6pm instead of the 7pm that our watches indicated. It was great to see a couple of the guys from In The Midst of Lions, the White Collar SideShow people and Levi’s mom and sister.

Levi introduced the evening as the host, explaining that “everyone told me that throwing a concert the night before your wedding  was crazy…and they were right!” He had been battling some illnesses, but seemed fine for performance and he took off. He shared his emotional delivery of poems that he’d written that are raw, edgy and uncomfortably real. His voice cracks, his eyes roll back, they dart around and he collects himself by holding his face or capping his head with his hand. You don’t know if he’s going to start balling at some moments or scream your head off in anger. It’s great.

The most poignant moment came in a new poem that I hadn’t heard before. It was about his father, who died suddenly this past January. It narrated some times of a little boy getting his first bicycle rides without training wheels and his father holding the seat. It progressed from those tense, scary moments to the emotions of pride and parental love and shifted into the pain of his dad missing his own wedding to Brandi tomorrow night and the opportunity to walk his daughter down the aisle to give away to a man that he trusted enough to give his daughter away to. Then it went into the heartfelt wrestling with God and the why questions, answering himself with the Job-like responses we see, where God kind of asks us how we suddenly became qualified to question Him.

He threw out eloquent and beautiful lines about coloring the sunrise and sunset. It was deep, visual and beautiful poetry. I was impressed. It’s like this young street/slam poet had graduated from the Harvard School of Poetry since I’d seen him last summer at Cornerstone. Wow. This guy’s really honing in on his craft now. So good to see that.

TD Benton of White Collar Sideshow came out next and, though he usually begins with a brief summary of what they were about to do on stage, instead talked about Levi and Brandi joining their touring group. The night was previously introduced as one big friend and family reunion and Benton took that theme and furthered the concept, explaining to his new future “family” what exactly Brandi and Levi were getting into.

And then the show started and they showed them sonically and visually just what these two were joining. It was the loudest, best mixed and fullest WCS performance I’d seen. The stage was nice and big, the video images seemed updated and it rocked. So glad to be here and glad I got to see that.

Now it’s a lazy waking up late and slowly preparing for the evening wedding and relaxing with my own family members that live here. Good times.

http://www.indievisionmusic.com/2010/09/27/ivm-sampler-vol-1-free-digital-sampler/

Destroy The Runner In Ernie Ball Contest
Destroy The Runner has a chance to play at San Diego’s Warped Tour & need your help. Here is what the bands says: “This is super easy and can change our lives forever. We have a really good shot at this. If you go to this link, you can vote for Destroy The Runner to play San Diego Warped Tour for the “Metal” genre. If we win we get $15,000.00, we record with a famous producer, and we get to be on Van’s Warped Tour next year. This would drastically change our lives. We have a very good chance to win this because of our fans, friends, and family. S if there is anything that you can do, PLEASE, help support us. This is legit. They will ask for your email, but you can uncheck or check boxes to never get spam or emails from Ernie Ball. Super easy. All we ask for is your vote and anything extra is amazing. Amazing.
Thank you so much friends and family. Much love and thanks.
- chad & destroy the runner

Tobymac Tune Chosen As MLB Theme Song
Following the highest sales debut of his solo career with his new CD TONIGHT (No. 6 on Billboard Top 200/No. 1 Christian SoundScan/No. 2 iTunes® overall), multi-platinum and GRAMMY® Award winning artist TobyMac is now celebrating the project’s title track being chosen as the theme song for Major League Baseball Network’s (MLB) 30 CLUBS IN 30 DAYS spring training series. The song will be featured throughout each episode. With just 41 days until Opening Day, MLB Network recently announced it will once again televise the Spring Training series 30 Clubs in 30 Days, with hour-long features on each of the 30 Major League clubs previewing the 2010 season. The new season of 30 Clubs in 30 Days will provide extensive coverage of each team with field reports, interviews, predictions and inside access to every club’s training camp as Opening Day approaches. A preview of the new season can be viewed on MLB Network’s web site. 30 Clubs in 30 Days premieres on Wednesday, March 3 at 5:00 p.m. ET with the Detroit Tigers, followed by the New York Yankees on Thursday, March 4 at 5:00 p.m. ET (check www.mlbnetwork.com for updates).
Sold out and packed crowds helped TobyMac kick off the AWAKE TONIGHT tour with Skillet last week, which runs through April 11.

Soundmass Signs Coram Deo
Soundmass is pleased to announce the signing of Coram Deo for the release of their new EP “Death is Dead”. Formed in 2003 in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, this EP follows on from Coram Deo’s “Escape to the Heaven” demo (2005) and their debut album “Evangelion” (2007). “Death is Dead” sees the band honing a melodic thrash/death metal sound. Influenced by the likes of Arch Enemy, Carcass, Holy Moses and Dark Tranquillity, be on the lookout for “Death is Dead” to be released mid 2010 but, in the meantime, check out the title track from the new EP on the Coram Deo MySpace.

For Today Release New Video
For Today have just released their latest video for the song “Saul of Tarsus (The Messenger)” off of their album Portraits. They worked with Drew Russ to produce great results. “Drew was a blast to work with!” says Mattie Montgomery. “He was incredibly organized and thoughtful. He was a ton of fun, and he really took our loose concept for a video and made it his own. I think our finished product is much better for having had him involved.”
Tour Dates:
3/26 – Fresno, CA
3/27 – Anaheim, CA
3/29 – Salinas, CA
3/30 – Santa Rosa, CA
4/3 – Saltillo, Coahuila
4/4 – Monterrey, Nuevo Le’on
5/14 – Mansfield, OH
5/15 – Bristol, IN
5/16 – Windsor, ON
5/17 – Toronto, ON
6/18 – Wilmore, KY
6/19 – Evansville, IN

Queens Club Post New Song
Queens Club have put up a new song Dust on their myspace today. he song is from their forthcoming album Young Giant to be released on 3/23 via Tooth & Nail Records. Zambooie.com has also launched a unique pre-order today as well. All pre-order customers for the album placed on Zambooie will receive a link and login to listen to the album in it’s entirety IMMEDIATELY! Pre-Order is sold with a special t-shirt and CD package or as CD only (links below). Queens Club produces music that wields throbbing post-punk energy with a dollop of electronic pop gloss and infectious melodies. The band was formed by Dan Eaton (vocals/guitar) and Jake Ryan (drums/vocals) both of whom are former members of hardcore/noise rock outfit The Chariot. The band has just completed a tour with Breathe Carolina and will be announcing new tour dates shortly.
For more information on the pre-orders, visit:
Shirt & CD Bundle –
zambooie.com/toothandnail/detail.tpl?sku=TNDCOMBO56959
CD Only –
zambooie.com/toothandnail/detail.tpl?sku=TND56959

Tourniquet Rocking Again
As posted on the Tourniquet forums by Ted Kirkpatrick of Tourniquet: “I have three exciting things to tell you about. I have just completed recording my first solo album called ODE TO A ROADKILL.” The title track refers to the sad reality of the millions of animals who die each year on our roadways. 7 songs, over 40 minutes of brand new music. I have been a fan of slow “stoner” music for many years, and this album definitely fits that category, with my own influence to it, of course. I’m really pleased with the way it turned out and look forward to having you all hear it as it is super, super heavy. All “vocals” are done utilizing majestic, creepy, haunting, unaltered animal calls. Cool album art designed by Jared Meyer – aka Lucid Hysteria. The album will be available as a 6 panel Digipak CD and an online download. Looking at a release date of March 10, 2010 – right around the corner. At the same time, I have been working on a different solo project also very soon to be released called IN THE SHADOW OF THE MASTERS. It is a very technical drumming album featuring drums played over classical music. I’ve done a few things on past Tourniquet albums, but I think this is beyond anything so far just in length of the pieces. IN THE SHADOW OF THE MASTERS will feature music by Mozart, Chopin, Rossini, Beethoven and more. Release date: March 30, 2010. Finally, we will be recording a brand new epic TOURNIQUET album in July or August, 2010. We are excited to announce that we will be working with legendary English producer NEIL KERNON. Neil has either produced, recorded, mixed, or engineered a staggering amount of cool music from classic metal (Queensryche, Dokken, Judas Priest, Autograph) to death metal (Nile, Cannibal Corpse) to progressive music (Nevermore, Magma) to hair metal (Britny Fox) to Christian bands like Petra, to classic bands like Kansas, to platinum selling albums like Hall and Oates “Private Eyes”. We plan to release it as soon as it’s finished in fall of this year.”

Woe Of Tyrants News
Woe Of Tyrants’ new album, Threnody, will be in the hands of fans by April 14th. Vocalist Chris Catanzaro explains the concept behind the song, “Threnody”: “This song was written to describe a point in “Threnody” which our traveler is within a dream, a dream that is one of the few points in his journey that he experiences any semblance of peace and serenity.” Read the full explanation on MetalSucks.net HERE.

New Klank Album Readies
The new KLANK titled NUMB…Reborn will be available for download thru FIXT ONLINE on 4-20-2010. Featuring guest appearances by Jim Chaffin, Larry Farkas and Michael Phillips. Spread the word.
URBAN WARFARE coming late summer… Will u be ready???? To enter the Klank Ringtones Kontest, send an email to contest at hmmag.com and list your three favorite Klank songs. The winners will be forwarded to Klank, who will make your custom ringtones. How cool is that? Now enter!

White Collar Sideshow Update
White Collar Sideshow has released an update via their newsletter: “Wow…time has just slipped away from me…and as it flies by, the thought of an update has become more and more intimidating! How in the world do I wrap up the last almost 5 months in an email?!? Well…here goes my best effort…”. “We had some amazing experiences in October. We participated in the Unified Underground Conference in Annapolis, MD. Long story short, they had “The Sideshow” picked as their theme and when they heard about us, they asked us to play and speak. It was so awesome-we highly recommend it to everyone! The second half of October was spent playing shows in Florida with our dear friend Levi the Poet. We adore him. He does poetry from the heart…very intense, very real. Check him out if you have the chance-you won’t be disappointed. Florida was awesome. Amazing weather, amazing people! We got to go to a few of the theme parks, too. Way fun. Our highlight of November was touring with The Great Transparency. We spent a solid week with them and they are solid guys! Also throughout Oct and Nov, we helped collect socks for Faceless International. They were originally going to go to India, to help a village devastated by a tsunami, however, when they were about to send them, the Hatian earthquake happened, so the socks were sent down there. Thanks to all of you who donated socks!!! We ended up with hundreds of pairs! We took December and January off. We really needed time to regroup and just rest after traveling for a year straight. It was great to be able to spend time with family and friends. I saw my first official White Christmas and I even had a white birthday! Never seen either! Pretty cool. We started back on the road mid-January and on the way to our first show, Harvey the RV started smoking so bad that the smoke alarm went off!! We had to cancel that show (sorry Dallas!) and head back to Fort Smith for a few days to get it repaired. We then made our way to California. We were there during the week of rain! They drive in the rain the same way us southerners drive in the snow. eek! Had such a great time in Cali. A few of the guys from XXX Church came to our show at Epic Ventura. Epic is the same location where we filmed our episode of The Dog Whisperer-which still hasn’t aired. They promised they’d keep me informed, so as soon as I find out, I will pass the info along to all of our pages. Anywho…while the XXX Church guys were there, they filmed some of our set and we sat down for an interview with them. You can check out the podcast at their home page, or you can visit our YouTube to watch it. Leave us a comment to let us know what you think! After Cali, we worked our way back east and while we were up in South Bend, IN, T and I got to do an interview with The Harvest Show. It’s part of LeSEA broadcasting and is shown all over the world!! It aired on Feb 5 and you can watch it HERE.We were interviewed about 20 min into the show and our interview was about 15 minutes long. It was a great experience! Wow…this hasn’t been too bad February has been good to us. Got to spend Valentine’s Day with The Leech as well as dear friends in Arkansas. We all went on our annual Valentine’s date to McDonalds…10 years running! It’s about the only tradition T & I have! Then we headed south and got to visit New Orleans for a few days. T had never been there-we walked around, people watched and ate some biegnets. It was a good time. While we were there, we finally met Brandt Russo. This guy is legit. You may remember a few tweets back in the day about Operation Starvation or Adopt-a-Jesus…that’s Brandt. Operation Starvation was crazy. He went on a hunger strike until he was able to raise $15000. With that money, 1,000,000 children were provided deworming medicine. 30,000 children die every day from hunger! If they do get food, most of it is eaten by stomach parasites. Brandt’s strike lasted 9 days. His story is similar to ours in that he sold everything he owned to follow Christ’s lead. He has been such a blessing to us and we are so happy know him! I’m sorry if I left something out-perhaps I’ll do a better job about sending regular updates So, here I sit, in Houston, TX…Ecclesia Houston has been so gracious to let us park here while my father is recovering from surgery. This church has been incredible. They’re a 7 day a week facility-so if you’re in Houston, please stop by!! We are also borrowing a car from a complete stranger. It has been amazing to see the body of Christ at work. We have several shows/festivals scheduled for this year, and hope to fill our dates up like last year! You can always check our dates at our MySpace to see if we are coming to your neck of the woods! If we are not-then email me and let’s make it happen (whitecollarsideshow@hotmail.com)! Our MySpace also links to our merch store, so if you would like to sport some WCS gear, you can get it online. We updated the look of our page as well, so if you haven’t seen it, I’d suggest a visit-it’s pretty sweet, I must say. Since I’m talking MySpace, I might as well give our Facebook, Twitter and YouTube a shoutout as well. Since I got my new phone, I’ve been posting silly mini-vids. Check’m out. We have really started talking about The Witchunt (WCS II) and trying to figure out how to make it a reality. WCS was 3 1/2 years of dreams, my Jump Day, then about 2 years of elbow grease to get to our first show. Obviously, money is a factor, but time and creative also play in. T has been working hard at writing and trying to get his visions on paper. I’m stoked to see it all happen-I just know how much work it will take to get where we want to be. We would love to see it launch in 2012.

War of Ages Pre-Order
The brand new album from War Of Ages titled “Eternal” will be released on April 13, 2010. You can pre-order it here. There will be a very limited pressing of colored vinyl copies made (only 500!), so make sure to check that pre-order option out so you don’t miss out on these very rare records. Also, all pre-orders will be entered to win a test pressing of the vinyl (only 5 made) and a $200 Facedown Records shopping spree! You can hear a brand new song from the album called “Desire” on the bands myspace. Check that out and stay posted for some big touring news that will be announced shortly.

Creed Release New Video
Creed’s new video for “A Thousand Faces” is now available on iTunes! Click here to get your copy now and make sure to leave a review! Don’t forget to listen for “A Thousand Faces” on your favorite radio station!

©2010 HM Magazine All Rights Reserved

More news from last week:

still fresh (as far as you know)

Wow…time has just slipped away from me…and as it flies by, the thought of an update has become more and more intimidating! How in the world do I wrap up the last almost 5 months in an email?!? Well…here goes my best effort…

We had some amazing experiences in October. We participated in the Unified Underground Conference in Annapolis, MD. Long story short, they had “The Sideshow” picked as their theme and when they heard about us, they asked us to play and speak. It was so awesome-we highly recommend it to everyone! The second half of October was spent playing shows in Florida with our dear friend Levi the Poet. We adore him. He does poetry from the heart…very intense, very real. Check him out if you have the chance-you won’t be disappointed. Florida was awesome. Amazing weather, amazing people! We got to go to a few of the theme parks, too. Way fun.

Our highlight of November was touring with The Great Transparency. We spent a solid week with them and they are solid guys! Also throughout Oct and Nov, we helped collect socks for Faceless International. They were originally going to go to India, to help a village devastated by a tsunami, however, when they were about to send them, the Hatian earthquake happened, so the socks were sent down there. Thanks to all of you who donated socks!!! We ended up with hundreds of pairs!

We took December and January off. We really needed time to regroup and just rest after traveling for a year straight. It was great to be able to spend time with family and friends. I saw my first official White Christmas and I even had a white birthday! Never seen either! Pretty cool.

We started back on the road mid-January and on the way to our first show, Harvey the RV started smoking so bad that the smoke alarm went off!! We had to cancel that show (sorry Dallas!) and head back to Fort Smith for a few days to get it repaired. We then made our way to California. We were there during the week of rain! They drive in the rain the same way us southerners drive in the snow. eek! Had such a great time in Cali. A few of the guys from XXX Church came to our show at Epic Ventura. Epic is the same location where we filmed our episode of The Dog Whisperer-which still hasn’t aired. They promised they’d keep me informed, so as soon as I find out, I will pass the info along to all of our pages. Anywho…while the XXX Church guys were there, they filmed some of our set and we sat down for an interview with them. You can check out the podcast at their home page, or you can visit our YouTube to watch it. Leave us a comment to let us know what you think! After Cali, we worked our way back east and while we were up in South Bend, IN, T and I got to do an interview with The Harvest Show. It’s part of LeSEA broadcasting and is shown all over the world!! It aired on Feb 5 and you can watch it HERE.We were interviewed about 20 min into the show and our interview was about 15 minutes long. It was a great experience!

Wow…this hasn’t been too bad February has been good to us. Got to spend Valentine’s Day with The Leech as well as dear friends in Arkansas. We all went on our annual Valentine’s date to McDonalds…10 years running! It’s about the only tradition T & I have! Then we headed south and got to visit New Orleans for a few days. T had never been there-we walked around, people watched and ate some biegnets. It was a good time. While we were there, we finally met Brandt Russo. This guy is legit. You  may remember a few tweets back in the day about Operation Starvation or Adopt-a-Jesus…that’s Brandt. Operation Starvation was crazy. He went on a hunger strike until he was able to raise $15000. With that money, 1,000,000 children were provided deworming medicine. 30,000 children die every day from hunger! If they do get food, most of it is eaten by stomach parasites. Brandt’s strike lasted 9 days. His story is similar to ours in that he sold everything he owned to follow Christ’s lead. He has been such a blessing to us and we are so happy know him!

I’m sorry if I left something out-perhaps I’ll do a better job about sending regular updates

So, here I sit, in Houston, TX…Ecclesia Houston has been so gracious to let us park here while my father is recovering from surgery. This church has been incredible. They’re a 7 day a week facility-so if you’re in Houston, please stop by!! We are also borrowing a car from a complete stranger. It has been amazing to see the body of Christ at work.

Where we’re going…

We have several shows/festivals scheduled for this year, and hope to fill our dates up like last year! You can always check our dates at our MySpace to see if we are coming to your neck of the woods! If we are not-then email me and let’s make it happen (whitecollarsideshow@hotmail.com)! Our MySpace also links to our merch store, so if you would like to sport some WCS gear, you can get it online. We updated the look of our page as well, so if you haven’t seen it, I’d suggest a visit-it’s pretty sweet, I must say. Since I’m talking MySpace, I might as well give our Facebook, Twitter and YouTube a shoutout as well. Since I got my new phone, I’ve been posting silly mini-vids. Check’m out.

We have really started talking about The Witchunt (WCS II) and trying to figure out how to make it a reality. WCS was 3 1/2 years of dreams, my Jump Day, then about about 2 years of elbow grease to get to our first show. Obviously, money is a factor, but time and creative also play in. T has been working hard at writing and trying to get his visions on paper. I’m stoked to see it all happen-I just know how much work it will take to get where we want to be. We would love to see it launch in 2012.

With every article in HM Magazine (well, at least with most), there are parts of the interview that just aren’t used for the final “feature-style” article. There’s various reasons for this – most notably of which is space concerns (only having so much space in the print magazine). A great thing about this website is (like a DVD’s capacity to house “bonus material”) we can actually still get some great stuff out there, even if it misses the “final cut” of an article. The sit-down interview I had with Tyler and Veronica of White Collar Sideshow was a good hour and a half long (maybe longer), so we obviously had to cut some. Here are some random excerpts:

DVP: What is going on in 2009 or going on with the movie that could be one in the same?

A lot of the festivals, like Cornerstone. I’m actually doing a workshop on hidden addictions; it has been a weird thing for us. We have gone from nobody really understanding what we were doing to, ‘hey, we want you here.’ And I cant explain it other than that it has been a real blessing to pour your life into this and for somebody to get it and understand it, even though there are people that don’t get it or are offended by it… the movie is a teaser to get people interested in our next live show for 2011. Hopefully we’ll get to tour with this performance for another year and a half or so and then the next time we’ll come out after that will be a whole different show. So we’ll take all the songs away and do a whole ‘nother performance. It is going to be a lot of time and work and money, yes, so we’re trying to figure out how we’re going to make all of that happen, too. I don’t know if label interest would give us what we need. If they would try to change it, not try to change it. We are interested in finding people that believe in what we do, to help people change lives, as opposed to, it’s a great performance and that’s a great gimmick, we can sell that. I like what I said last night. It’s like, we are the ultimate beast because it seems we are more about money and creating fans than helping people change lives and challenge them to do the same thing for somebody else. And that is a lesson for me too, you know? Because it does excite me when someone says, hey (Zorso?) was here and they liked your show. And on the other flip-side we want to inspire that person too, to maybe do something else in their life that they can change and help someone else in their life to go through that situation.

Are people getting it? How does that feel to you? What aspects are people getting, are they getting the whole picture?

I think we scare conservative Christians, and I love that. I really do. I mean, I am a huge Rob Zombie fan and I guess scary Christian stuff, my whole life has been perfect. But now that I am a solid Christian it is more where my life is going and totally focused on God, I love scary Christians, basically. It’s the same message that Jesus taught, and people did that a lot too and people that have addictions or people that feel God has called them to do something, but haven’t given 100% to it, they see it and people use it and I love that. It is very inspiring to us that we are on the right track. Because we can be so focused, challenges are good to stay focused. I feel called to be a youth pastor, but I haven’t really given everything to it.  Give 100% to that and you can change people’s lives. I wish somebody would have told me that a long time ago. But that is a whole ‘nother part of doing what we want to do. And it has given 150% back. We get lots of emails, messages and texts and we love it. And also, I love talking about stereotyping as part of our message when we actually get to have a ministry moment and when we pull up in our great big trailer and RV to see these people say what has our pastor brought in or what has our youth pastor brought in? Are they going to have a job tomorrow? I love that. I love being able to challenge people. But we’re all about Christ, we’re all on the same team. Why can’t we act like it? Even though you might not see it that way, I am just as much a part of that body and we have to use teamwork. And that is kind of how I see the Christian music world, you know? When I walk into the place like this, I always talk about sometimes we adapted even the ugly stuff under the thumbnail, it is still the body of Christ. To be able to bring people back to the hand and the heart, and the feet and the mind and the head. And however you do that, as long as you do that for God, as long as you bring them back to the body. Our tattoo artist, I always talk about him because he prays over people before he tattoos them and a lot of people, when we hang his banner up in church, they are like can you please take that down? And I say, yeah I’ll take it down, but I want to explain to you what this person does and how he affected our lives and what he is doing for God.

His name wasn’t Aaron was it? There was a guy named Aaron that got into “…Our mission is to tattoo the Lord’s elect…” (Seal of the Living God Tattoos)

It’s a strange thing and not everybody gets it or does it, but at least he’s bringing people in…but he is actually going back to get a doctorate and is actually a very intelligent person. I love challenging people, when they stereotype us and then come back and watch the performance, and they go, I did not realize that that was going to effect me like it did. I love that because it is even more effective when you judge a book by its cover, because it is convincing and it is challenging the next time you think about stereotyping somebody. And that is a lesson for me too. Because, just as much as I look like this, it is hard for me to not to do the same thing, and I have to think about that before I stereotype somebody and that’s how we should all be; we should all be honest about what our opinions are and that’s going to change the world.

As cheesy and superficial as this might sound, at a couple of U2 concerts recently, like the last one I was at, there were moments, and in a sense it is a worshipful state, because the band has spiritual content and there is a sense that he is rallying the generation and saying, let’s change the world, Africa is our neighbor… and there was a moment where I thought, this changing the world thing, we could be on the brink of it. There’s a few doctrines I have that I don’t really share with people, they are a bit out there, but I am a pretty charismatic guy but I think the faith movement is pretty jacked up, they try to put God in a box and you don’t tell God what to do, he’s the King, you know? The media is telling us over and over again that the economy sucks. And I mean, yeah I’m a Christian magazine and I’m in the media and in a way I’m changing the world with that…the media is the spoken word of communication.

Obviously we live in an RV and TV is something that we don’t have full access to, and it is great. We always talk about when we do some of our ministry stuff, how many people watch reality TV? And everybody says well its the only thing on TV, even the news is reality TV, and we get so focused on our zombie life, we go to work we come home, and we watch reality TV and focus on so many people’s ‘reality’ that we forget about what is happening in our own life. And we let the media control us. And I’ve never felt more free from getting rid of all that. And let me tell you what… from not having that, being able to have a conversation with somebody and looking into somebody’s eyes and actually have a conversation with somebody but not doing this… and this… tell me what’s going on in the world? Feel somebody’s heart. People don’t do that anymore, they don’t even know how to have a conversation with somebody. I’ve never felt more focused on trying to look somebody in the eyes and feel this connection and without media and without this and without that and really share in somebody’s heart. And because we have gotten rid of all that stuff… my gosh it’s a whole new world. I can’t imagine what it was like when you just had the horse and wagon. When all you had was storytellers.

I think we grow up as kids with our parents always being in our head: go to college, you need to do this, you need to do that, get the best paying job, you need to get a house and family and cars to stress out the rest of your life paying bills. And I think that as kids we are born with those hobbies and those gifts that we love to do and we are almost bred to forget about that in order to survive. I loved skateboarding when I was a kid, and Tony Hawk was a big guy and he was making a living skateboarding; I probably skated from third grade until I was a senior in high school. I was passionate about it, I loved it. But without encouragement of it, especially with the “American way”, how are you going to change people’s lives? It is almost like, people want you to grow up to hate your life. That is what the American dream is now. Me, me, me, me, me…

“I feel like I’ve never been happier,” adds Veronica. “I managed a multi-million dollar company… we sold it all, everything. People think we’re crazy and I now look at my happiness in comparison to their happiness and what they are telling me is that I need to live like them. And I need to do what they are doing because they think what they’re doing is the right way. But they aren’t happy. But that’s so mean! Why are you wishing your unhappiness on me when we are living a purpose.”

I’ve never felt more called to do anything and I’ve never felt more thankful to… even driving somewhere for no money. We get there and they say they can’t pay us any money… so? Who cares? There’s a few people that came to see a performance and need to see something positive and maybe they can be inspired, and we can go to the next place. I mean, money isn’t everything. I feel like there is so much focus on that. I love sharing that message with them and challenging them on that, too. Keep your focus. Don’t lose that, because that is where the true blessing lies, you are doing God’s work for him, and not for whatever purpose you are trying to get to for yourself… you can tell people’s true heart through their demeanors. And you know there’s a lot of musicians that we will play with that are struggling spiritually and as a group they are struggling… they have four or five different people that, at one time their agenda was God but now they have different agendas and they can’t keep their focus. And we try to challenge them to come back together, even for young bands, we challenge them to get their focus back, to calm down and be patient. And really start working on it. I mean, what are we doing? Am I just doing this because I’m a Christian in a band, or am I doing this because this is this where God wants me to be? And I think that is a very serious question because how are you really going to show somebody God if your focus isn’t God? We have learned a lot of lessons from bands we have performed with on what not to do, and how not to be. Everything is a lesson. Or, we have to learn from that, we have to share that. Everything is a life lesson. And I have to apologize for my attitude constantly. I had to get that off my chest before I performed the other day. Sometimes driving around in a cooped up RV you can take, you know, your wife for granted or Phillip for granted. That’s something you have to be honest about so that you can become free again and get your focus back.

I was wondering how you guys do it, it is hard enough to get two people to agree to a vision, how did you get Phillip or a third person?

Phillip is… well I played in a band called Uttermost a few years ago and he would always come help me do drum stuff and travel with us, I guess you would call it drum tech-ing, but I would call it more than that. And we just became really good friends. He’s a young guy, he’s 24 and when I first started having dreams about White Collar and writing my dreams down, we were kind of messing around with drum stuff and we would drum things back and forth and started writing a few songs and then when Veronica jumped on board we said hey, you know what, we’ve got everything we have and we had figured out our purpose and I asked Phillip, hey this is what we are going to do, this is what God is calling us to do, I know it is kind of focused on my life, my insanity, but I would love for you to be a part of it and I know that it is kind of based on our agenda and I know that kind of means, I don’t want to say selfish or conceited, but that is how I really wanted to focus it. And he said, man I’m in, I feel called to do that. And he supports what we do and we support what he does, and our parents support what we do and, his parents are also solid Christians too and they see the message behind everything. My parents haven’t even watched us perform. I wish they would, but, you know. That’s a whole ‘nother ball game. Our mass and everything, my Mom’s like, you guys just scare me. We’re just like, well, sorry mom, but maybe I’ll ring the doorbell and kidnap her sometime and see what she does.

Help me kind of explain the whole Vaudvillean visual, the drumming sounds, and the visuals and the tapes and the masks and everything… try to explain the universe that you have created with White Collar Side Show.

Well first of all, I kind of see the performance as kind of a Blue Man Group meets Rob Zombie thing. Not that I saw Blue Man Group when I was putting the group together, but then I watched it and was like, those cheaters! But I’ve always been a horror movie fan and I still am but I’ve always gotten a different message out of it like there was a reason somebody was making this and whether it was their hatred, anger, or just trying to prove a point in some strange way. The pig mask is very symbolic with what we are doing in addiction, not men are pigs but how our heart becomes swine, or dirtiness, like how pigs eat slop. And when we hide those things that is what we become and even that portrays to the outside and I always tell kids when you know someone in grade school or high school and then you saw them get involved with a girlfriend or boyfriend or even with drugs and how they change and you don’t know the same person you used to know, sometimes that’s how our hidden addictions evolve too and we become that creepy figure or that future version of what we used to be and we have to get back to what we were, so that’s what the pig mask kind of represents. Veronica’s character, the faceless woman, is really based on my life as a male, looking at women, no face, always at their asset. Or, never looking in their eyes or at their heart, but always what is in it for me? Lust, I guess would be a great way to portray that. It’s everywhere. Sex sells everything.

(c) Copyright 2009 HM Magazine. All rights reserved.

Austrian Death Machine Stream New Single
Austrian Death Machine pump “Iron Fist” on their myspace! With the new album releasing this week, Tim Lambesis adds: “Ahhnold and I were able to put together an entire CD full of great cover songs related to his movies. Since we released one song from the originals disc already, we figured it was time for everyone to hear a cover as well. Even now you’ve only heard less than 1/10 of the album, so make sure to pick up the whole thing on Tuesday!” Ahhnold enthusiasts and metalheads will have a chance to catch Austrian Death Machine live soon on the west coast.
Tour Dates:
10/07 – Yuma, AZ
10/08 – San Diego, CA
10/09 – San Francisco, CA
10/10 – Victorville, CA
10/11 – Pomona, CA
10/12 – Phoenix, AZ

For Today Touring with Throwdown
Facedown’s FOR TODAY will be heading out on the road with THROWDOWN this winter for the Deathless Tour I. After a short stint in Canada and a turn-around trip to Germany, For Today will spend four weeks in 11/and December with Throwdown, also joined by Bury Your Dead, ABACABB, and The World We Knew, for a boomerang tour that will start and end in the western US, hitting as far east as New Hampshire.
Tour Dates:
10/7 – Toronto, ON
10/8 – Windsor, ON
10/9 – Toledo, OH
10/10 – Mansfield, OH
10/24 – Hessen, GERMANY
11/13 – Reno, NV
11/14 – Boise, ID
11/15 – Seattle, WA
11/16 – Spokane, WA
11/17 – Pocatello, ID
11/18 – Layton, UT
11/19 – Denver, CO
11/20 – Odessa, TX
11/21 – Ft. Worth, TX
11/22 – Houston, TX
11/24 – Atlanta, GA
11/25 – Fayetteville, NC
11/27 – Richmond, VA
11/28 – Baltimore, MD
11/29 – Reading, PA
11/30 – Manchester, NH
12/1 – Vineland, NJ
12/2 – Cleveland, OH
12/3 – Syracuse, NY
12/4 – Columbus, OH
12/5 – Detroit, MI
12/6 – Covington, KY
12/7 – Little Rock, AR
12/8 – Wichita, KS
12/9 – Austin, TX
12/10 – El Paso, TX

Victory Releases Before There Was Rosalyn
Five boys from Houston Texas who attest that they are a ministry first and a band second, Before There Was Rosalyn is the kind of band that strives to become more than just the sum of their parts. With a passion and sincerity that’s all too real in a world where so many things are not, they invite you into their lives and their struggles, hoping to share in yours. After extensive touring, and a great response to their 2008 release “As Far As The Moon From The Sun,” this post-hardcore act has set out to make a powerful statement with their Victory debut entitled THE FUHRER: An Allegory Of A History Of Deception, an album about humanity’s potential to create and its power to destroy. With a release date of 10/27/09, THE FUHRER is a bold and emotional journey into the heart of a humanity left to its own devices. Characterized by a sound of driving beats, powerful lyrics, and tasteful songwriting, Before There Was Rosalyn is here to remind us that music is still the best way for us to offer the only thing of value we really have to offer one another: our hearts. “This record is for our generation,” Vocalist Carlos Salazar conveys. “It’s for all of us. This is about humanity. It’s not about the black and white lines that divide our morals or our beliefs, but the gray matter that makes up the lives we lead and the importance of the choices we make.”

White Collar Sideshow Late Summer Recap
White Collar Sideshow has had an extremely busy summer. They posted the news in their latest enewsletter: It’s hard to believe the Summer of 2009 has come and gone…we had an amazing journey. We got to hang with old friends and meet many new ones. We even hung with one of my elementary school girlfriends in Cali and stayed with friends in Colorado that were at our wedding back in ‘01! Philippians 1:3 says I thank my God every time I remember you. We are so blessed with such amazing friends and I am truly thankful for each of you!! We had The Leech (Tristen, my bonus child/T’s son) in the beginning of August for a Daystar TV show called Check The Sound. It should air within the next few months. It was so fun. Our buddies from Children 18:3 filmed the same day, so we got some good hangtime. We also filmed for the Dog Whisperer a few weeks later. That was SO amazing, such a great day. We filmed in Ventura, California at a venue called Epic. This place is INCREDIBLE. First off, it’s a venue, and that’s where we did most of our shoot. It also has a coffee shop, a theater room and a video game center. The interior design of the whole place is amazing. If you’re ever in Ventura, I highly recommend you stop by as they’re open 7 days a week-grab a cup of coffee or one of their crazy drinks in a bottle! The DW shoot was great. We started playing The Parasite Matrimony and in walks Cesar Millan. He is such a great guy-it’s like we’ve known him for years (perhaps since I’ve been watching the show for a while, lol). He is passionate about his job and truly loves dogs. As far as him whispering to my dogs…this dude is LEGIT! Seriously-they’re not 100% calm submissive, but we’re so close I can taste it. Just gotta keep working with him. This should air around January. The producers of both shows told me they would keep in touch and let me know when they air so I’ll keep you posted via facebook/myspace/twitter. If you’re not following me on twitter, our username is wcsideshow. Harvey the RV was definitely a champ this summer. We drove all the way up to Washington State for TOMFest (which was amazing), down the 101 in California (which was amazing), all throughout LA (traffic was insane), south to Carlsbad, CA (which was amazing) and back across I-40 as I’m typing this in Nashville. Harvey is a trooper for sure. We have definitely talked about an upgrade though. Nothing bigger, length wise, just engine-wise. We’re thinking a diesel would be good as Harvey’s transmission has been rebuilt once and isn’t really made to pull our 5,000lb trailer. Definitely praying about a change, anyways. I mentioned last email that we got the cover of the Sept/Oct HM magazine. Such a huge blessing. If you haven’t picked up a copy-they are still in stores. We also have some we’re selling at our merch booth. We all signed the cover (even The Leech) so if your store has run out, come to a show and get one from us! We spent a lot of time at the end of August/beginning of September with our friends Sleeping Giant. Our buddy, Travis (777 Productions) who filmed all of the White Collar vids, drove out with another guy, Lee, and they collaborated with T for SG’s latest music video. It’s to the song-The Army of the Chosen One and it’s gonna be sick! We’re hoping for the release within a month or so. Keep an eye out-T of course went for creepy but it definitely has a message. Our Online Merch Store is UP!! Please check it out and support the Sideshow! We’re hoping to get new designs soon as well as a hoodie!! T and I have been asked to be on the board of directors for RYFO as artist liaisons. We absolutely love RYFO and everyone associated has been incredible. RYFO was established to holistically care for the unique physical, emotional and spiritual needs of touring musicians. If you sign up on their page, we would love for you to “adopt” us! We are currently on the road and I am still booking shows for the rest of the year, even into next year. We’re working our way up to New York with a weekend stop in Maryland for the Unified Underground Conference next month. If you have that weekend off, you should definitely join us! You can see all of our dates on our page. If you are interested in booking the sideshow, please email me at whitecollarsideshow@hotmail.com We have played at all different venues, churches, groups, bars, clubs, conventions and festivals. We would love the opportunity to challenge, inspire and love on everyone in your group! Mid-November, we are doing a week long tour with The Great Transparency, the tour is called “A Night of Transparency.” I’m still needing to fill a few dates that week as well. It will primarily be in the eastern US. We are hoping to spend January in California. We figured SoCal would be a great place to hang in the winter. We played some great shows while we were there in Aug/Sept and are looking forward to more next year.

Family Force 5 To Do Christmas Tour
On 11/28th, “The Family Force 5’s Christmas Pageant” first annual tour will kick off in Grand Rapids, MI. The Atlanta-based band’s combination of dance and rock, funky rhythms and percolating club grooves will get anyone up out of their seats. “The Family Force 5’s Christmas Pageant” tour promises to be no different, putting the Family Force 5 touch on classic holiday tunes and age-old favorites. The inspiration for the tour comes from The Family Force 5 Christmas Pageant album, set to release on 10/6. In accordance with the holiday spirit and in an effort to give back to the communities that “The Family Force 5’s Christmas Pageant” will be visiting, Family Force 5 has asked that their fans bring canned goods for donation to local food banks. Family Force 5 is currently ruling the road with their very own “DANCE RAWR DANCE 3” tour, powering the rise of their most recent album, DANCE OR DIE. The tour has already proven a huge success, but the band, feeling no need to slow down, wants to bring their notoriously crazy style on the road with them throughout the holidays as well. “We encourage fans to dress up in costumes, whether it be a killer whale, a big chicken or a Skeletor outfit,” says guitarist Chap Stique. Or a Santa Clause suit! Family Force 5’s recent notable partnership with Target and Skelanimals has also been drawing national attention lately – The Target EP exclusive “Keep The Party Alive” features six songs including the new title track and enhanced DVD video. “Keep The Party Alive” debuted at #12 on the Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Album Chart this week!
For more information on this tour, visit:
myspace.com/familyforce5

The Elms Self-Release 4th Album
The Elms debut on Billboard Heatseekers chart with fourth album ‘The Great American Midrange’ released via the band’s own label in conjunction with A2M Distribution and Warner Chappell. They had their best first week sales ever for as radio support continues to grow across the country. THE GREAT AMERICAN MIDRANGE–the latest set for Indiana foursome THE ELMS–debuted at #18 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart this week and #1 on the Heatseekers chart for the East North Central region. It follows the band’s weeklong promotional tour of appearing on national & regional radio including The Bob & Tom Show, performing at Best Buy in-stores and special release week concerts, and making a high profile appearance live at a Chicago White Sox game. The fourth album from the band also sees their best first-week sales ever, exceeding those of all three previous major label releases. Released on their own label TRUST Incorporated, in conjunction with Artist 2 Market (A2M) Distribution–who have also had recent success with independent albums from Dolly Parton, Hurt and Spinal Tap and whose support of THE ELMS’ record has been substantial–and Warner Chappell, the album was co-produced by THE ELMS and longtime collaborator Brent Milligan; engineered and mixed by Adam Kasper (Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age); and mastered by the legendary Bob Ludwig (Rolling Stones, U2, Pearl Jam, REM, Radiohead). THE ELMS build solidly upon a tradition that stretches from The Band to Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, with deep roots in the muddy working soul of their home country. In the eight years since its inception, the band–Owen Thomas (Vocals, Guitar), Christopher Thomas (Drums), Nathan W. Bennett (Bass) and Thomas Daugherty (Guitar)–have become an extremely tight unit, embodying the hard-working values that they sing about. Radio support behind rousing first single “Back to Indiana”–which debuted on television in May as part of national coverage of the Indianapolis 500–and AOR single “Strut” has been steadily growing all over the country. THE ELMS will be on the road in support of THE GREAT AMERICAN MIDRANGE throughout the fall, including confirmed headline shows and support dates with Cowboy Mouth, Pat McGee and a special Halloween performance with Better Than Ezra. See below for current tour dates and look for additional dates to be announced soon. Since forming in 2001, THE ELMS have played more than 700 shows sharing stages in the U.S. and Europe with artists as diverse as Band of Horses, Shooter Jennings, Neil Young, the Fratellis, Switchfoot, Goo Goo Dolls and Buddy Guy. They also had the opportunity to perform alongside fellow Seymour, IN-native John Mellencamp at Farm Aid.
Tour Dates:
10/2 – Lafayette, IL
10/3 – Auburn, IN
10/4 – St. Louis, MO
10/7 – Austin, TX
10/8 – Dallas, TX
10/9 – Corpus Christi, TX
10/10 – Houston, TX
10/28 – Athens, GA
10/29 – Birmingham, AL
10/30 – Jonesboro, AR
10/31 – Bossier City, LA
11/12 – Terra Haute, IN
11/13 – Indianapolis, IN
11/17 – Detroit, MI
11/18 – Cleveland, OH
11/19 – Milwaukee, WI
11/21 – Chicago, IL

Dreampilots Debut Album Out Now
Comedown, the highly anticipated American debut album from Norway-based foursome Dreampilots, has officially landed on U.S. shores through Red Hammer Records and E1 Entertainment Distribution (formerly Koch Entertainment). While new to stateside audiences, the Dreampilots have already found fame and fanfare in its homeland thanks to their debut album If You Ever Come Down (2005), international touring and performances at such world renowned venues as Oslo’s Valle Hovin (which has literally hosted every prominent music act including the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Madonna and more). It also doesn’t hurt that the band is comprised of music veterans with an incredible track record. Frontman Oddi Nessa is a former Word Records UK artist, and bass player Gulleiv Wee is a founding member of the platinum selling pop band The September When. The pair was later joined by sought after keyboard player Inge Engelsvold and drummer Karl Oluf Wennerberg, who is also the current drummer for legendary Norwegian band a-ha, best known for their global smash hit “Take On Me.” The imagery created by the band’s name is intentional. “It comes from our fascination for planes and flying, we like the word ‘dream,’ plus we want to pilot people to the Lord,” explains Gulleiv. Adds Karl, “For me it reflects some of the mission in the band. We want people to fly away from daily life, both mentally and spiritually. When people are traveling, they are more open minded, and based on our stories, hopefully this can point people to God and their ultimate salvation.” Earning comparisons as diverse as U2, Switchfoot and Foo Fighters, the Dreampilots consider themselves to be the cure for musical and spiritual complacency. “We wanted simple, catchy and energetic music that would have humor and depth at the same time,” explains Inge of the songs that make up Comedown. “It’s about facing the real world and taking the fight head on – not the easy way out,” adds Oddi of the theme that runs throughout the record. “We want to play great music that can change people’s lives and write songs that matter. We want to reach young and old and make a difference by singing from the heart and sing about the cross in an honest and truthful way.”
For more information about the Dreampilots and upcoming tour dates in North America, visit:
dreampilots.net

Flyleaf Debuts New Single & Video
Flyleaf debuted their new music video for “Again” last week. You can view the video by visiting their YouTube page here. Flyleaf will be touring in support of their new album “Memento Mori” later this month and tour dates are below.
Tour Dates:
10/23 – Abilene, TX
10/24 – Lubbock, TX
10/25 – Odessa, TX
10/29 – Los Angeles, CA
11/1 – San Francisco, CA
11/3 – Seattle, WA
11/4 – Portland, OR
11/6 – Salt Lake City, UT
11/7 – Boulder, CO
11/9 – Minneapolis, MN
11/10 – Chicago, IL
11/11 – Pittsburgh, PA
11/17 – Boston, MA
11/18 – New York, NY
11/20 – Baltimore, MD
11/21 – Philadelphia, PA
11/23 – Atlanta, GA
For more information, please visit:
tsotickets.com

The Letter Black Unveil Video
Tooth & Nail’s The Letter Black premieres their music video for the single “Hanging By A Thread” on AOL’s Noisecreep.com. Along with the music video is a exclusive interview with Noisecreep.com. Check out the music video and interview here. Last week, the female-fronted band released their label debut 6-song EP “Breaking The Silence” to much acclaim and leaving people wanting more anticipating the full record to come in 2010. Kicking off this debut, the band began the Skillet “Awake & Alive” tour last weekend, which is continuing throughout November.
For more information on The Letter Black, visit:
myspace.com/theletterblack

Confide Cancels UK/European Tour
In an unfortunate turn of events, Los Angeles based Confide have announced that they have cancelled their UK / European tour that was scheduled for the month of October due to failed contractual obligations on part of the promotion agency. “We were really disappointed and disheartened when we had to cancel the tour” singer Ross Kenyon said. “This would have been my first tour with the band back home to the UK and it was something we were greatly looking forward to. We’re hoping to reschedule dates after the release of our next record.” In a classic good news/bad news situation, the band is now freed up to work on writing their sophomore album which is already scheduled to be recorded with Joey Sturgis (The Devil Wears Prada, Attack Attack, Asking Alexandria, etc.) in December.
To check in on the writing progress of the album and any upcoming US dates for the band, go here:
myspace.com/confide

Cryptacize Start A Tour With Sufjan
Recently, Cryptacize and Sufjan Stevens began their tour in Philadelphia. We imagine it will be very exciting as both put on a truly terrific show. Unfortunately these tours dates are all sold out. But fret not! Cryptacize tours on! On 10/10th, Cryptacize will trade in Sufjan and his pals for another set of Brooklyn-based musicians: The Fiery Furnaces. Together, along with Dent May, they will tour from Hoboken (Jersey not Georgia) to the always-sunny palm-kissed LA in November, with a little Canada tucked in there for good measure. It’s on Cryptacize’s own blog (replete with out-of-sight mixes and so-so funny pictures!) that we read with great sadness that this coast-to-coast tour may be the last chance to catch them live for a while. Don’t let the opportunity, and Cryptacize playing in your city, pass you by!
Tour Dates:
9/24 – Cleveland, OH
9/25 – Pontiac, MI
9/26 – Champaign, IL
9/27 – Minneapolis, MN
9/28 – Madison, WI
9/29 – Bloomington, IN
10/1 – Toronto, ON
10/2 – Montreal, QC
10/3 – Portland, ME
10/4 – New York, NY
10/5 – New York, NY
10/6 – Brooklyn, NY
10/7 – Brooklyn, NY
10/10 – Winter Park, FL
11/4 – Hoboken, NJ
11/5 – Northampton, MA
11/6 – Troy, NY
11/7 – Toronto, ON
11/10 – Toledo, OH
11/11 – Ferndale, MI
11/12 – Milwaukee, WI
11/13 – Madison, WI
11/14 – St. Paul, MN
11/17 – Vancouver, BC
11/18 – Seattle, WA
11/20 – San Francisco, CA
11/21 – Los Angeles, CA

©2009 HM Magazine All Rights Reserved

More news from last week:

still fresh (as far as you know)

It’s hard to believe the Summer of 2009 has come and gone…we had an amazing journey. We got to hang with old friends and meet many new ones. We even hung with one of my elementary school girlfriends in Cali and stayed with friends in Colorado that were at our wedding back in ‘01!  Philippians 1:3 says I thank my God every time I remember you. We are so blessed with such amazing friends and I am truly thankful for each of you!!

We had The Leech (Tristen, my bonus child/T’s son) in the beginning of August for a Daystar TV show called Check The Sound. It should air within the next few months. It was so fun. Our buddies from Children 18:3 filmed the same day, so we got some good hangtime. We also filmed for the Dog Whisperer a few weeks later. That was SO amazing, such a great day. We filmed in Ventura, California at a venue called Epic. This place is INCREDIBLE.  First off, it’s a venue, and that’s where we did most of our shoot. It also has a coffee shop, a theater room and a video game center. The interior design of the whole place is amazing. If you’re ever in Ventura, I highly recommend you stop by as they’re open 7 days a week-grab a cup of coffee or one of their crazy drinks in a bottle! The DW shoot was great. We started playing The Parasite Matrimony and in walks Cesar Millan. He is such a great guy-it’s like we’ve known him for years (perhaps since I’ve been watching the show for a while, lol). He is passionate about his job and truly loves dogs. As far as him whispering to my dogs…this dude is LEGIT! Seriously-they’re not 100% calm submissive, but we’re so close I can taste it. Just gotta keep working with him. This should air around January. The producers of both shows told me they would keep in touch and let me know when they air so I’ll keep you posted via facebook/myspace/twitter. If you’re not following me on twitter, our username is wcsideshow.

Harvey the RV was definitely a champ this summer. We drove all the way up to Washington State for TOMFest (which was amazing), down the 101 in California (which was amazing), all throughout LA (traffic was insane), south to Carlsbad, CA (which was amazing) and back across I-40 as I’m typing this in Nashville. Harvey is a trooper for sure. We have definitely talked about an upgrade though. Nothing bigger, length wise, just engine-wise. We’re thinking a diesel would be good as Harvey’s transmission has been rebuilt once and isn’t really made to pull our 5,000lb trailer. Definitely praying about a change, anyways.

I mentioned last email that we got the cover of the Sept/Oct HM magazine. Such a huge blessing. If you haven’t picked up a copy-they are still in stores. We also have some we’re selling at our merch booth. We all signed the cover (even The Leech) so if your store has run out, come to a show and get one from us!

We spent a lot of time at the end of August/beginning of September with our friends Sleeping Giant. Our buddy, Travis (777 Productions) who filmed all of the White Collar vids, drove out with another guy, Lee, and they collaborated with T for SG’s latest music video. It’s to the song-The Army of the Chosen One and it’s gonna be sick! We’re hoping for the release within a month or so. Keep an eye out-T of course went for creepy but it definitely has a message.

Our Online Merch Store is UP!! Please check it out and support the Sideshow! We’re hoping to get new designs soon as well as a hoodie!!

T and I have been asked to be on the board of directors for RYFO as artist liaisons. We absolutely love RYFO and everyone associated has been incredible. RYFO was established to holistically care for the unique physical, emotional and spiritual needs of touring musicians. If you sign up on their page, we would love for you to “adopt” us!

We are currently on the road and I am still booking shows for the rest of the year, even into next year. We’re working our way up to New York with a weekend stop in Maryland for the Unified Underground Conference next month. If you have that weekend off, you should definitely join us! You can see all of our dates on our page.

If you are interested in booking the sideshow, please email me at whitecollarsideshow@hotmail.com  We have played at all different venues, churches, groups, bars, clubs, conventions and festivals. We would love the opportunity to challenge, inspire and love on everyone in your group!

Mid-November, we are doing a week long tour with The Great Transparency, the tour is called “A Night of Transparency.” I’m still needing to fill a few dates that week as well. It will primarily be in the eastern US.

We are hoping to spend January in California. We figured SoCal would be a great place to hang in the winter. We played some great shows while we were there in Aug/Sept and are looking forward to more next year.

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