Post by campfirewood1980 on Feb 19, 2009 18:31:31 GMT -5
(A litany... feel free to read the responsive portion.)
"Every cheap hood makes a bargain with the world and ends up making payments on a sofa or a girl."
So here is where it gets rocky.
Ugly. Rough. The seams are showing.
These are the times that make us wonder if we've done anything at all, aren't they?
A little under three years ago, I was ready to sell my amps and guitars- something that would've been considered blasphemous to me only a few short years before. I was kind of resigning myself to a station in life- a state of foreclosure, if you will, with a real sense of "lost opportunity" setting in.
if you've been around here and read a thread I've posted in, I'm sure you know how that story continues.
And so, in the time since, I've seen some amazing things happen. The guitars stayed at my house- they even get some use, believe it or not- and I found myself in contact with a lot of other people who really seemed to enrich my experience. I've seen a collection of otherwise strangers using their skills, talents, wit, and inventiveness to build a real sense of community, all stemming from a mutual, if aggressive, enjoyment of the work of five guys who could've been any of us- and, in a couple of cases, were us. It's been a helluva lot of fun, and it's inspired some of us to push ourselves in ways we might not have otherwise- I don't think I would've devoted over a 100 man hours (not including all of the work Jerseymike and Brendan put in- did we even have lives?) toward stretching my coding skills for a website if it hadn't been for the opportunity that came up through this band, and I'm totally grateful to everyone for the opportunity.
"I believe in this, and it's been tested by research. He who f*cks nuns will someday join the church."
And here we are. We spend a ridiculous amount of energy (and coin) trying to make an impact on the sales of the last record, and, with little more than passion and a bit of faith, saw a band whom most of us have had a beer with, or argued trivia with, or sold merch for, or just sort of saw ourselves in actually break into the top 100, which is a little like seeing a girl you made out with turn up in the Miss America pageant. Kind of surreal, I suppose. Then, decisions started rolling in that perhaps we weren't thrilled about, and we started getting a little frazzled. The latest outbreak is just symptomatic of the sort of growing pains that we probably should be braced for but, in honesty, couldn't have anticipated.
I'm not worried about this whole thing dying- there's too much momentum to say that a run of dates with a headliner some of us don't care for or an album we all think is classic (for the record: Stay Positive has grown on me a great deal, but I'm still a BAGIA man) is going to cause a derailment.
Here's the imperative: I want to remind you, each and every one of you, that we have an opportunity to create a lasting groundwork for something bigger than virtually any of us as individuals.
Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to have to accept the fact that the kids showing up around here are going to be different from those who've been around for a while. I've seen them- I've reached out to some of them, backwards white ballcaps, SUVs, and all. Remember that not all of us have unimpeachable punk/indie cred and, as such, a lot of us were there not so long ago ourselves. I'll admit, I had a less than enthusiastic reaction to some of the summer tour dates and show pairings, but then I thought for a moment about what I was listening to at sixteen or seventeen... and remembered that I still own a Dave Matthews Band guitar tab book (if any of you want the Crash tab book, PM me.) To the new guys: welcome aboard. Look around the site and the board. Pick up Almost Killed Me and Separation Sunday and Boys and Girls in America and Stay Positive and, of course, Positive Rage (the second-best thing arriving in April!) Make some friends. Swap some CDs. Make nicknacks- I'll send the Hoodrat Hanky graphic to anyone who wants to get a batch screened, and the Unified Scene shirts are backlogged and would certainly benefit from anyone willing to make a batch.
One of our patrons, Saint Bruce of the Badlands, reminds us at every turn of "the power, the glory, and the ministry of rock and roll." As I write this, I do so from the middle of the river. I've taken my hit, I'm holding my breath, and I'm about to dunk my head once again.
I've got a kid on the way, and I won't mind one bit if, years from now, I'm taking her to see The Hold Steady at the Ford Center. If anything, I'd take some pride in it- bands like this get to places like that because of people like us. Remember that. (You're all expected to come to something like that, of course- I'll be the guy in the hornrims with an Okie accent, a Twins cap, and a little girl high-fiving everyone in site... probably posted up with Brendan and reeking of Mr. Spriggs Barbecue.)
"Death or glory.
Just another story?"
Not if I have anything to do with it.
I'm throwing down the challenge here... we need something positive to refocus ourselves on. A project. We need to build something this summer.
I've got a plot hatching... but, in the meantime, you're damn right I'll rise again, and I'm going to drag each and every one of you with me. We're going to have FUN around here again. I want to hear about some of the badass bands that our scenesters play in (hey, Tourmaline kids- any vinyl left?) and the ones that you guys haven't formed yet (but will, and will rock hard with), I want Sunny D making his own movies, I want to know that each and every one of you are holding it down, I want people snapping amazing photos, painting pictures, telling tall tales, and showing the kids that we rock, walk, and HOLD STEADY together.
Stayin' posi at the low post,
Mike/cfw1980
(#14 in your programs)
"Every cheap hood makes a bargain with the world and ends up making payments on a sofa or a girl."
So here is where it gets rocky.
Ugly. Rough. The seams are showing.
These are the times that make us wonder if we've done anything at all, aren't they?
A little under three years ago, I was ready to sell my amps and guitars- something that would've been considered blasphemous to me only a few short years before. I was kind of resigning myself to a station in life- a state of foreclosure, if you will, with a real sense of "lost opportunity" setting in.
if you've been around here and read a thread I've posted in, I'm sure you know how that story continues.
And so, in the time since, I've seen some amazing things happen. The guitars stayed at my house- they even get some use, believe it or not- and I found myself in contact with a lot of other people who really seemed to enrich my experience. I've seen a collection of otherwise strangers using their skills, talents, wit, and inventiveness to build a real sense of community, all stemming from a mutual, if aggressive, enjoyment of the work of five guys who could've been any of us- and, in a couple of cases, were us. It's been a helluva lot of fun, and it's inspired some of us to push ourselves in ways we might not have otherwise- I don't think I would've devoted over a 100 man hours (not including all of the work Jerseymike and Brendan put in- did we even have lives?) toward stretching my coding skills for a website if it hadn't been for the opportunity that came up through this band, and I'm totally grateful to everyone for the opportunity.
"I believe in this, and it's been tested by research. He who f*cks nuns will someday join the church."
And here we are. We spend a ridiculous amount of energy (and coin) trying to make an impact on the sales of the last record, and, with little more than passion and a bit of faith, saw a band whom most of us have had a beer with, or argued trivia with, or sold merch for, or just sort of saw ourselves in actually break into the top 100, which is a little like seeing a girl you made out with turn up in the Miss America pageant. Kind of surreal, I suppose. Then, decisions started rolling in that perhaps we weren't thrilled about, and we started getting a little frazzled. The latest outbreak is just symptomatic of the sort of growing pains that we probably should be braced for but, in honesty, couldn't have anticipated.
I'm not worried about this whole thing dying- there's too much momentum to say that a run of dates with a headliner some of us don't care for or an album we all think is classic (for the record: Stay Positive has grown on me a great deal, but I'm still a BAGIA man) is going to cause a derailment.
Here's the imperative: I want to remind you, each and every one of you, that we have an opportunity to create a lasting groundwork for something bigger than virtually any of us as individuals.
Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to have to accept the fact that the kids showing up around here are going to be different from those who've been around for a while. I've seen them- I've reached out to some of them, backwards white ballcaps, SUVs, and all. Remember that not all of us have unimpeachable punk/indie cred and, as such, a lot of us were there not so long ago ourselves. I'll admit, I had a less than enthusiastic reaction to some of the summer tour dates and show pairings, but then I thought for a moment about what I was listening to at sixteen or seventeen... and remembered that I still own a Dave Matthews Band guitar tab book (if any of you want the Crash tab book, PM me.) To the new guys: welcome aboard. Look around the site and the board. Pick up Almost Killed Me and Separation Sunday and Boys and Girls in America and Stay Positive and, of course, Positive Rage (the second-best thing arriving in April!) Make some friends. Swap some CDs. Make nicknacks- I'll send the Hoodrat Hanky graphic to anyone who wants to get a batch screened, and the Unified Scene shirts are backlogged and would certainly benefit from anyone willing to make a batch.
One of our patrons, Saint Bruce of the Badlands, reminds us at every turn of "the power, the glory, and the ministry of rock and roll." As I write this, I do so from the middle of the river. I've taken my hit, I'm holding my breath, and I'm about to dunk my head once again.
I've got a kid on the way, and I won't mind one bit if, years from now, I'm taking her to see The Hold Steady at the Ford Center. If anything, I'd take some pride in it- bands like this get to places like that because of people like us. Remember that. (You're all expected to come to something like that, of course- I'll be the guy in the hornrims with an Okie accent, a Twins cap, and a little girl high-fiving everyone in site... probably posted up with Brendan and reeking of Mr. Spriggs Barbecue.)
"Death or glory.
Just another story?"
Not if I have anything to do with it.
I'm throwing down the challenge here... we need something positive to refocus ourselves on. A project. We need to build something this summer.
I've got a plot hatching... but, in the meantime, you're damn right I'll rise again, and I'm going to drag each and every one of you with me. We're going to have FUN around here again. I want to hear about some of the badass bands that our scenesters play in (hey, Tourmaline kids- any vinyl left?) and the ones that you guys haven't formed yet (but will, and will rock hard with), I want Sunny D making his own movies, I want to know that each and every one of you are holding it down, I want people snapping amazing photos, painting pictures, telling tall tales, and showing the kids that we rock, walk, and HOLD STEADY together.
Stayin' posi at the low post,
Mike/cfw1980
(#14 in your programs)
We get splinters in our fingers, sometimes, and grazed knees, but we get back up, dust ourselves off, and go for a drink with whoever crashed down on the road next to us. That's the Unified Scene.
)
