05/14/12

After a week consisting of celebrating Mother's Day, booking, promoting, performing, and mixing, I've got another update cooked up for you.

I'm glad to see you back again! Hey, have you been losing weight? :-)

Ok, ok... here we go!!

On Monday I got into mixing the new ARCHDRIVE GOODBYE EP, This is a Story. With "Autumn Reigns" approved by their crew, the plan is to dig into the other tracks and have everything wrapped up by the end of this week; setting them up to use the show with us and Echovox at the Knickerbocker on Saturday, May 26th for their CD release extravaganza. INFO & RSVP HERE

I got my 'vote' on for primary day on Tuesday. There was only one contested race on my ballot, but I helped pick the winner! For my fellow Hoosiers that haven't been a part of the process, you can register online HERE.

I've had conversations with people that believe their voice doesn't matter. If you share that thought, I'm challenging you to prove it this year. Get registered, familiar with the issues, and don't stay home on November 6th.

After completing my civic duty and before IND practice, I picked up my little brother and headed to Indy to chum around a bit. His band, Thor, has a show coming up on July 11th in town. I'm looking forward to seeing the dudes throw down again. There's a lot more talent there than their age suggests. :-)

Pancake from Gold N Tattoos in Frankfort made the trip over to the theater to hang out for Lafayette Live on Wednesday. Between great sets by ADG, Evan Ryan, and Little Boxes, we shared cocktails and war stories. Thanks to him, I learned about the launch of Evasive. It made for a good midweek riot.

Speaking of Evan, he's joining me this Friday for an unplugged show at Java Roaster downtown on Friday. INFO & RSVP HERE

After receiving a call last week from my bud Sarah (wife of Karl from The Disillusioned), I got the hook-up playing at the Purdue Farmers Market on Thursday.

Here's the set:

"Before it Gets to Me"
"My Rx"
"Imagine" - John Lennon/A Perfect Circle cover
"Settling"
"Dear Reason"
"Amputee" - Oceansize cover
"Guilt that Keeps on Giving"
"Pocket and Soul"
"Zzyzx Road" - Stone Sour cover
"No Second Chance" - Adrenaline cover
"Out of Our Hands"

Special thanks to the University Sustainability crew for having me out and sneaking me into some PRESS. I had a blast playing outside on a beautiful day! It's always a pleasure work in conjunction with local farmers and businesses!! A reporter from an Ag magazine grabbed some video during the set. I'll share it if I find it online. :-)

I'm on the schedule to return for an encore this Thursday (5/17/2012). Maybe you'll take a long lunch to come visit...  INFO & RSVP

On Friday I decided to keep a low profile in the studio and started catching up on art and adding shows to the EVENTS CALENDAR before IND practice.

Saturday I accepted an invite to visit Rhodes Amplification and jam on the new Artemis. It's a 3-Channel/High-Gain/Rack-mount/Tube 'monster' of an amp that's hand-built across the river in West Lafayette, IN. It has the personality of my Dishaster 4790, but with more power and a million extra knobs/switches and features. I'd get into the details, but I'm not sure where to start! Perhaps it's best to demo the amp yourself. If you get the opportunity, take your checkbook. It's gorgeous looks and mean tone may prove too much to pass up.

That does it for this week's update.

Remember, you can subscribe to the blog, follow @ChrisJuneIND on Twitter, and 'like' Chris June IND on Facebook. Sharing the links is appreciated! :-)

Also, get your free copy of "Before it Gets to Me" when you purchase Whistle When We Break Down from the Bandcamp Page! That's 4 songs for $3!!!

Plus, you'll be extra familiar with the material when I see you at the shows this week. You're coming, right?!? :-)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week!!!

Over and out

01/30/12

It's looking like the blog's gonna break 1500 views this week. I'm glad you keep coming back!

The Taste crew started getting heavier on the business end last week. Personally, I tagged along to some meetings, chatted with most of our band roster, & added more content to the Taste site. Everything's coming along nicely!

For a little extra incite, the Taste committees only take about a month (if that) off each year from all things Taste. Bringing together the bands, restaurants, sponsors, etc. takes a lot of time and effort, but seeing 40,000 people downtown and having a ball for the benefit of The Tippecanoe Arts Federation is super rewarding!

Save the date: Saturday, June 16, 2012. Downtown Lafayette is going to be electric.

Production-wise, we wrapped up guitar tracking on the new Arch Drive Goodbye CD last week and I got all of those tracks edited & bounced down. Getting the guys to put down their acoustic guitars and beef-up with my signature Dishaster 4790 amp from Rhodes Amplification is newer territory for them. The songs are pretty rockin'! Now, we're sorting through some vocal parts.

My good buddy Johnny Bhive stopped by IND HQ last week too. I always enjoy being able to sit down and talk shop with other musicians, especially those of Bhive's caliber. Hopefully our schedules will line up for a future collaboration!

Shows, shows, shows...

I made it back down for a Lafayette Live visit last week. I wish I could give a little review, but the show I saw Saturday night at the Knickerbocker with The Melting Pot and The Heavy Company was so sick that I have a little memory loss. The Melting Pot, featuring members of Root Hog and Uncle Buck's Mojo Box, jammed Booker T & The MGs tunes and my boys in The Heavy Company's Midwest Psychedelia was thick and conducive to head bobbing. I may have been toe-tapping a shaking my backside a bit; truly a public outburst for myself. I apologize to anyone that may have witnessed this. :-)

Side note: The Heavy Company guitarist/vocalist Ian Daniel has a pretty sweet Lafayette Shows site up HERE.

On the IND side, we've been jamming more new tunes for the February shows. We'll be at the Animal House on 2/11/12 with The Mound Builders and at Aces Pub on 2/25/12 with Born Under Burden. For more details on these dates and to RSVP, check out the Fan Page. While you're there, consider hitting the 'like' button. :-)

Speaking of the Animal House show, it'll mark the first time in a long time that I'll be cranking my amp up in Frankfort. Jeremy Chambers, bassist for 50/6 Feet, has gotten involved with booking over there and is putting together some awesome shows. Jim Voelz, The Mound Builders' vocalist, and myself plan to sneak into town this Thursday night (2/5/12) to plug the show and jam some tunes at Applebees Open Mic Night. If you start digging for change now, TMB & IND CDs & shirts will be on hand.

Ok, 3 things before I go...

First, Emily Larimer (Chemcoma drummer/vocalist) released an awesome new track over on the Tempest Fare Facebook Page. Check it out!

Second, I'm still trying to move some of my unused gear HERE on Craigslist. If there's room on your credit card or your tax refund is burning a hole in your pocket, shoot my a reply on the listing.

Third, I finally figured out that #FF stands for 'Follow Friday' on Twitter. Yeah, I'm embarrassed. Anyway, if you're hip to Twitter and follow @ChrisJuneIND, I'll hook you up with a Friday mention.

That does it for this week, thanks for stopping in!

I'll see you Frankfort peeps on Thursday!!!

Over and out

01/16/12

Happy MLK Day! Do you have the day off? Not me...

I met most of the Lafayette Music Scene last Monday night at the City Council meeting to speak out against the proposed entertainment ordinance. Good news: the ordinance was tabled! You can find more info HERE. Check out the chump in the bottom right corner of the picture. :-)

Drew & I jammed out some newer tunes (newer to the acoustic set, that is) Wednesday night at Lafayette Live. It was great to make new friends & have some dudes join us on the last song!

Here's the set:

"My Rx"
"Guilt that Keeps on Giving"
"No Second Chance" - Adrenaline cover
"Amputee" - Oceansize cover

I ended the music week by stopping by the Hoot Night show at the Lafayette Brewing Company. The Moundbuilders, Threat Level, and I-Exist threw it down!

Highlights included loud tube amps, lots of rocking, and adult drinks. Buddy from I-Exist is also a Rhodes Amplification artist and we spent some time chumming with Mr. Rhodes himself.

If you get a chance, ask Buddy why he was rocking a Tele that night. :-)

Coming up soon...

February 25th the IND crew will be joining forces with Born Under Burden at Aces Pub in Lafayette for a night of loud rock tune-age. RSVP/Show Info HERE.

Audiokult Radio will be rockin' Whistle When We Break Down in the near future.

Finally, I'm selling some gear that I haven't been using. If you need some new toys, are looking for a screaming deal, or would like to contribute to the student loan fund, I have the stuff listed HERE.

That's does it for the weekly update. Thanks for stopping by!

Over and out

07/11/11

Thanks to everyone that made it out to the last Chemcoma show. It was awesome for Ken & Nate to have us close down the Mosey!

Here's what you missed, set-wise:

"Runaway"
"In Time"
"SEISM"
"Stitch"
"Lift Me Up:
"Runaway" - Bon Jovi cover
"Run Like Hell"
"Come to Hand"
"Shakin'" - Eddie Money cover
"Helter Skelter" - Beatles, etc. cover
"Something to Die for"
"Boys of Summer" - Don Henley, etc. cover
*Encore*
"Whiskey in the Jar" - Metallica, etc. cover

I'm sure Cody & Em are up to dirty musical dealings. I'll show them some love around here as they start to talk. I'm glad we did what we did over the last 7+ years. We couldn't have put a better exclamation point on Chemcoma than the Mosey performance.


I edited-up & posted a live/unplugged performance of "Settling"

Let me know what you think. The footage was from June 29th and Lafayette Live and captured by my good buddy Justin Reagin on his iPhone. If you hang out & get some good video, I will post it!

In case you were wondering,  I've been playing solo with the help of programmed piano lines & a click track until I gather up enough dudes to jam.


*Quickies*

One of the newer heavy hitters on the Rhodes Amplification roster, Andy Wood, will be in town today cranking on a Colossus at Sound Logic. I'll be headed over later to hang out during the session.

I'll be jamming with the drummers again this week. My goal is to only have one of them by the weekend! Also, I'm still hunting and trapping bassists. I hope they're in 'season'.

It's looking like I'll be the local support for Madison, WI bands Colorphase & Sleeping in Stereo when they come to throw down in Lafayette at the Knickerbocker on Friday, July 29th. Mark that one down in your calendar, it's going to be fun one!

Thanks for stopping by!

Over and out.

05/12/11

Hey all! Once again I've let my blog schedule slide, but I've been scheming a lot...

I've still been slaving away trying to get a good mix of "Dear Reason." At this point, I'm more likely to upload the track to my site for you guys to listen to and bypass iTunes until I can afford  to get into a better studio to record with my signature Rhodes amp & have someone mix my songs for me. I think the treatment idea for the "Dear Reason" video is going to turn out really well.

I had a blast playing at Rancho Real's Cinco de Mayo show last weekend. Several of my guitar students made it out. From what I hear, the show has really motivated them to practice harder. I'm super proud of my munchkin guitar army! If you haven't made it out to a show recently, I'm playing in Logansport at the Corner Pub on the 5/14 and in Lafayette at Aces Pub on the 21st.

The Taste of Tippecanoe is just around the corner and all us 'behind-the-scenes' guys are working hard to ensure that it's even more awesome than it usually is. I'm not playing this year, but I'm psyched to be able to chill out & hang with all of my buddies' awesome bands that will be throwing it down. Don't forget: June 18th, downtown Lafayette, awesome music, great food, great cause! More info is available at www.tasteoftippecanoe.org

This is a bit uncharacteristic of my blog, but I'd really like to give a thumbs up to Clint Lowery and Sevendust. I have admired Clint's playing, singing, and writing for a long time and his band, Sevendust, is one of my favorites. Clint has been releasing some really cool music under the moniker 'Hello Demons Meet Skeletons' and I really admire how Sevendust has been helping promote it. That's family.

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by! I'm off to studio...

Over and out.

05/17/11

Greetings!

I had a blast this weekend playing at the Corner Pub in Logansport. Born Under Burden opened the show. Those guys are as killer as ever. It was great to get to hang out with them again & get to crank up the Rhodes amp too! Cheers to all of the new Logansport friends.

Speaking of cranking up the Rhodes amp, it'll be sweating and screaming at Aces Pub in Lafayette on Saturday night (5/21) too. If you haven't made it to a show recently, you should make out for this one. The Aces shows are always extra dirty! Good dirty...

My work with the Taste of Tippecanoe has been getting more frantic as the date approaches (June 18th), but I've still managed to get some IND work done. I think I've cleared my head enough to resume work on the "Dear Reason" mix. Be looking for it on www.ChrisJuneIND.com sometime next week. I'll give the heads up on Facebook & Twitter when it goes live, so friend & follow if you haven't yet. :-)

I'm getting close on having my live tracks done to start playing some new tunes live with the grandpa's guitar. The goal is to start hitting up open mics & booking shows in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks for stopping by again this week! I'll see you at Aces on Saturday.

Over and out

03/29/11

I have really let my blog schedule go. Apologies. The good news is it's because I've been hard at work in the studio getting the follow-up to "Settling" done.

Over the next couple of days I'll make some vocal tweaks & bounce down drum tracks. Then it's mix time.

The song, "Dear Reason," is a song that I wrote a few years ago. Chemcoma plays a version of it. Topically, it's kind of dark, but happy. My Granny, my favorite person in the world, passed away in 2009 and I penned the words in the time leading up to the loss in an effort to prepare myself for that day. Side note: she actually loved the song and the handwritten words are with her in her resting place.

Anyway, I gave the tune a facelift; switching it to more of a 6/8, swingy feel that would reflect something old Granny could boogie to...

I'm digging the way it's turning out & can't wait to share! The plan is to release this song & video simultaneously.

Hopefully Rhodes Amplification will be happy that I'm using my signature amp on the recording.

Until next time...