09/26/11

Another whirlwind week is under my belt. Apologies for not getting this up earlier. Free sushi for lunch is extremely hard for this guy to turn down!

The 2012 Taste of Tippecanoe cycle has started & we had our first two meetings last Monday night. I'm pretty psyched about what the line-up is going to be. I'll give more info when everything is finalized...

In IND news:

The crew & I had another couple days of practice last week starting at 9am.  Nothing wakes me up like gallons of coffee and rock 'n roll!


Funny-ish story:

We were grilling steaks, chicken, & potatoes on the back porch after Thursday's practice when a call came in from Grant Mohrman (Mix Engineer for the 'Whistle When We Break Down' EP) wanting some guitar feedback for the track he was working on.

Luckily, the boys know their way around a grill & finished up lunch while I got everything in order to record.

Here's a clip featuring the sweet camera & space-bar work of Chris Parker & the killer feedback work of my Rhodes Amplification Dishaster 4790 guitar amp.

After editing the track a bit, I promptly emailed it to Method House Studios in Detroit.

Technology rules.


Outside of practice, I got a couple of opportunities to get out of the house to jam this week too.

Wednesday night I went down to Lafayette Live Open Mic at the Lafayette Theater to bust out some songs.

Here's the set:

"Pocket and Soul"
"Before it Gets to Me"
"Settling"
"Out of Our Hands"


Kudos to my buds in Arch Drive Goodbye and The Mound Builders for hanging out!

On Sunday I got to share the stage with DJ Powder, Snorb!, and The Clutter for the Home with Hope's benefit show at the Tippecanoe Co. Amphitheater. I had a blast hanging out with everyone and getting to play for a great cause!

Here's the set:

"Pocket and Soul"
"Before it Gets to Me"
"Settling"
"Out of Our Hands"
"Faithfully" - Journey cover
"Dear Reason"



Before last week, it had been a bit since I'd been out to play my tunes. So, I got busy adding some more shows to the calendar to keep the fun rolling. Though I'll chat about them more when the dates approach, I've added info to the Shows Page if you'd like to plan ahead.

That does it for it for the weekly update. As always, thanks again for stopping by!

Over and out

09/19/11

Well, there's only so much a guy can do while waiting for the mixes & masters for his new EP to get back. I kept busy doing the normal routine; giving guitar lessons, finishing artwork, band practice, hanging out with my dogs, etc. One morning I was even lucky enough to go grab some breakfast with my old buddy Emmett Hall from the Malcontents.

But... as I'm typing this week's blog, I'm wondering if I was unconsciously trying to win an award for seeing the most live local bands/shows last week.

I'm thinking I was at least 'top 3' on that one. :-)

Like most Wednesday nights, I was down at Lafayette Live Open Mic at the Lafayette Theater last week. Though my intentions were to hang out with some music buddies & sign up for this week's show, I was talked into playing.

Here's the set:

"Hand of the Almighty" - John R. Butler cover
"3.14" - Bloodhound Gang cover
"Bed Intruder" - Auto-Tune the News cover

It was fun to have some folks singing along & to hear people laughing at the words. After I got done, my pals in Little Boxes churned out a great impromptu set. They're an earworm factory.

I headed back to the theater Thursday night to catch sets from Sleeping in Stereo, Future Lovers, and Traveling, Broke, and Out of Gas too.

Saturday night I split my time between helping with sound for the Why I Like Robins show at the Black Sparrow and hanging out at The Mound Builders CD release show with The Enders and Our Albatross at Jerilee's.

The coolest part about catching this all within a few days was the realization that:
A) Not one of these bands sounded like any of the others
B) They all killed it
and
C) Those 8 groups are only a small sample of the town's musical pie.

Kudos Lafayette!

Though I had a blast being a spectator, I'm ready to get out & play my own tunes this week! Hopefully, I'll see you at Lafayette Live or on Sunday at the Family Fun Day to Support the Home with Hope.

I promise to have the new IND shirts with me!

Thanks for stopping by again! Extra thanks to those of you who continue to share the Chris June IND word with your friends!! Referrals = awesome.

I'll either catch you at the shows or here next Monday. Have a great week!

Over and out.

09/12/11

Hey, it's Monday! I'm glad football is back, but watching it all day yesterday wrecked my schedule.

The tracks for my new EP, Whistle When We Break Down, have made it to Detroit for mixing and I'm cranking away on finishing the artwork. Here's the front cover:

After a few more days of tweaking, I should be able to declare the back cover done; allowing me to send everything off for duplication when the audio masters get back...

In addition to the two indie singles that I put out earlier this year, the band has been playing all three tracks from the EP and mixing in a few others. It's looking like we'll be in 'show' shape on schedule & I'll start adding dates to the calendar.

Speaking of shows...

As noted last week, my buddies in The Mound Builders just got their new CD back & are having their Release Show this Saturday (9/17) at Jerilee's in Lafayette. Local rockers The Enders & Our Albatross are on the bill for the show too. It's going to be a great time, for sure!

That does it for this week's *short* update. I have to get going on completing the weekly IND Agenda so that I can hit up tonight's show at Preston's, Lafayette Live on Wednesday, TMB's Release Show on Saturday, and attend Taste of Tippecanoe meetings on Sunday & next Monday.

See you next week!

Over and out

09/05/11

Cheers to those of you enjoying your 'Labor Day' day off! Double cheers to you if you're still busting it today or know that you'll be doing at least 25% more for the rest of the week to make up for the vacation day!! Further, kudos to my great, hard-working Sponsors at Artisan Electric, DropYa Fightwear, ISPhotographic, Lafayette Speaker Repair, People's Brewing Co, Rhodes Amplification, Sacred Apple, Sound Logic, and Willow Stained Glass! Enjoy 9/5!

I managed to squeeze in a few breaks last week to get out; shaking hands & kissing babies. :-)

My good friend Alex from the Green Room Rockers has been putting on shows at Sgt. Preston's in Downtown Lafayette on Monday nights. Kyle Bledsoe (KB3) jammed last week with the Green Room Rockers doing an unplugged opening set. The show was great and I had a blast hanging out with Bitsy, Brady, 50, and the ADG crew. Here's the event page for tonight's show. It's hard to beat a free show with cheap drinks on a Monday night! Maybe I'll see you down there...

Speaking of my friend Brady... he's been running the Lafayette Live Open Mic shows at the Lafayette Theater on Wednesday nights and I made it down last week to remind some folks to get their press kits in for next year's Taste of Tippecanoe. Plus, I caught sets from Arch Drive Goodbye & Hillary Tribbett and was entertained by a few newbies too. Honestly, there is something in the water in Lafayette that makes for sweet musical talent.

While I'm on the topic of awesome local talent, The Mound Builders are doing their CD release show this month. If you dig mean, downtuned rock & roll, I hope to see you down at Jerilee's for this. To clarify, I'm not just plugging this because they were cool enough to include me in the 'Thanks Credits' on their CD! :-) They're good friends and a great band!

Now, it may seem that I spent my whole week being out & about, but the "Shaking Hands & Kissing Babies" routine probably took up 1% of my week. The Chris June IND lull is almost over and the hours that I've spent writing, recording, & editing are about to be shaped into a listenable product.

As mentioned last week, Grant Mohrman at Method House Studios will be mixing the new EP & tomorrow is D-Day for shipping the song sessions to Detroit to get the process started. I'm excited to hear what G-Wiz is going do to the tracks and can't wait to share it with everyone!

New tunes, videos, & shows are on the way! No promises, but I might have a teaser for everyone next week. Since it's not likely to happen by blog day, make sure you 'like' my Facebook Fan Page to get the low down.

If nothing else, I'll have the tracklist & artwork on display next time.

Thanks for stopping by again this week!

Before I forget, thanks to my Whiskey Run family for another great event!!

Over and out.

08/29/11

Welcome regulars & those of you that have recently 'liked' my Fan Page!

This week is going to be nuts! So, apologies if this seems a little brief.

Though a bit behind schedule, I still finished tracking vocals for the new CD ahead the forecast and I've got my Pro Tools rig set up on the bar in the kitchen doing my editing work. I'm getting close to being brain-dead, but I'm starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel.

The new EP, Whistle When We Break Down, is being mixed by Grant Mohrman (Celldweller, Filter, Republica) at the Method House in Detroit. I'm pretty hyped about this. I've worked with Grant in the past & he's great at making my tunes go boom.

The plan is to have everything finished & shipped out to him by the end of the week. I should be able to give some audio/artwork teasers in September.

If you stopped by last week, you may be wondering how the session with Brandon 50/50 Reed went. Well, we couldn't get our schedules to line up, but it's going to happen eventually! Apologies for the bummer.

I did make it out to the Six Dollar Suit/Future Rock show at the Lafayette Theater last Thursday. Both acts tore it up! Musically, both groups have a drums/bass/synth approach with little or no vocals and, man, is it driving. I'm not a dancer, but I thought about it. :-)

Chris June IND drummer Chris Parker filled in for Six Dollar Suit's set & killed it!

Speaking of Chris, Drew & I will be linking up with him voltron-style for some intense jamming this week to continue getting the show ready. As stated in previous posts, Chris June IND will be gigging in mid/late October. Don't forget to send me referrals for cool clubs in your area, we'd love to come closer to you!

Did you see the Chris June IND story in the Journal & Courier last week? It's great to get the extra hook-up for my sponsors! Thanks again to Artisan Electric, DropYa Fightwear, Image Source Photographic, Lafayette Speaker Repair, People's Brewing Company, Rhodes Amplification, Sacred Apple, Sound Logic, & Willow Stained Glass for backing me up!!

That concludes the weekly update, I'm off to finish editing tracks. Thanks for stopping by!

Over and out.

08/22/11

Good morning! Have you washed your hands recently?

Since I planned on tracking vocals for the new CD last week, it would figure that I'd get sick. I guess I could have done a million takes; sounding like I had a clothespin on my nose, but I chose to put off tracking until this bug decides to clear up. Instead, I kept busy watching reruns of preseason football games, doing artwork, and scheming on other band stuff. :-)

I did get a bit of a vacation on Wednesday night when my good buddy Justin Reagin got me out of the studio to go to the Carnival of Madness show at the Murat in Indy. I spent some time talking shop with Emphatic in their dressing room, chatting with some of the Alter Bridge dudes backstage, and I witnessed Black Stone Cherry tear a hole in the sky. I had a blast at the show, but playing would've made it even more awesome!

Josh Hassett from O for 2 stopped by the studio over the weekend for a nice rock/recording chat. It's always great to see him! Our bands have been sharing stages since I was 16 and I've always admired his writing and guitar playing. Hopefully we'll catch up again soon!

I want to give my sponsor Artisan Electric some extra kudos for having an awesome week. It's pretty sweet for them to get a bump in the New York Times Blog and in the Lafayette Journal & Courier within 4 days. Keep up the good fight!

Looking forward, this week will be jam-packed. While finishing vocal tracks and artwork for the new CD, I'll be making time for guitar lessons, Lafayette Live, and IND biz (pushing Music Downloads, IND logo shirts, and 'Likes'). Additionally, I'll be keeping the band on track to be gigging in mid/late October. We still have a few more songs to learn before spending some time piecing the show together, but everything is going smoothly. It's going so smooth that I can start booking!

Out-of-town readers: I'd love to get some referrals on venues in your town. Please let me come to you! You can direct your tips through my Contact Page or Fan Page.

Also, if our schedules hold up, my old buddy Brandon 50/50 Reed (Insomniacs/50.6 Feet) is supposed to come collaborate on a new track this week too. That should be mega fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

Over and out.

08/15/11

It has been another productive week! Ready for the lowdown? Here we go!!

Thanks to Bitsy Matatall and Shea Hack at the WBAA Local Music Show for having me in the studio last week. We chatted about the past, present, & future of Chris June IND and had a lot of laughs. Also, I performed acoustic versions of "Out of Our Hands" and "Before it Gets to Me." These will be played on their Podcast along with "Settling," "Dear Reason," and the interview. If you 'like' the Chris June IND Fan Page on Facebook, you'll get the update when it goes live on their page.

Speaking of the Fan Page,  I've been getting some 'likes' from fans of Arch Drive Goodbye recently. I appreciate the referrals, dudes! I have been digging on their song "Autumn Reigns" quite a bit. Luckily, they had a few drinks one night & agreed to let me cover it. I'm sneaky like that. :-)

Moving on...

Rockerbox gave me the opportunity to open for them at their show at Traditions in Watseka, IL over the weekend. I played a mixed set of my new original tunes and some of my favorite songs by others. Here's the set:

"Pocket and Soul"

"Epiphany" (Staind)

"Before it Gets to Me"

"Long Day" (Matchbox 20)

"Settling"

"Out of Our Hands"

"Gone Away" (Cold)

"Faithfully" (Journey)

"Zzyzx Rd" (Stone Sour)

"Dear Reason"

I had a blast jamming, meeting the locals, and hanging out with Guy, Jon, & Devin from Rockerbox and Mary, the owner of Traditions. I'm anxious to do more shows with those dudes and I'm super super excited about taking my band to Watseka in the future!  

I should also mention how psyched I was to get to rock one of my cool new DropYa Fightwear shirts at the show. Thanks Shawn!

In other 'shows' news, I'm on board to play the Family Day to Support the Home with Hope at the Tippecanoe Co. Amphitheater on September 25th. Home with Hope is an organization that provides a pathway to recovery for alcoholics and drug addicts. It's going to be awesome joining forces with The Clutter, Snorb!, DJ Powder, and others to support a great cause! I'll update the Shows Page as more info comes in...

This concludes the weekly update. Next Monday I'll have more scoop on the new IND CD and what the band is up to.

I'm off to Sacred Apple to get some more ink done by *my main man* Eddie.

Over and out