Yes the rumors are true...... Mike Supina has joined A Wilhelm Scream!  What does this mean for Alucard?  Well as of now we all have agreed to take a much needed break and take on other projects.  So this means that Alucard will not be touring like usual.  But we WILL play shows in our home town whenever Mike is home and possibly record new material in the future.  Alucard would like to thank everyone who has helped us get a show/or let us crash while on tour.  It meant the world to us!  With all that said and done please check out Tommy playing drums in Blase Splee, Ryan filling in for We Are the Union, and Mike shredding all over the world in A Wilhelm Scream!!!  We'll see you all soon when the time is right!

-Alucard


www.myspace.com/blasesplee
www.myspace.com/wearetheunion
www.myspace.com/awilhelmscream  

Prologue: The Birth of Disastour

It's been awhile since we posted a Tour Blog. Before we start in, lets go through a little bit of background info so you can understand where we were at when the tour started:

We have been on the road nearly non-stop (5 weeks on, 3 weeks off, 6 weeks on, etc.) for about a year now supporting our record. Since we do all of our own booking, that has meant that we've been planning and booking future tours while still on the road. With limited time and internet access while on tour, it makes getting anything done much harder.

We got home from our last tour at the end of July and we had agreed to take August off for vacations and personal business. The fall west coast tour was still being booked, but it was coming along nicely. Unfortunately, during August we were all so busy catching up on things outside of the band that booking was put on the back burner. Then we had a few key shows cancelled on us. By the end of the month, we realized this tour was going to be rough, but we really didn't want to cancel it. We cut some dates at the beginning and end and picked up some shows to fill-in the holes... Disastour was born!



Chapter 1: Get in the Van


Meet Joe!


Joe used to play in a band called Tough Call, and he played bass for us on the road this time around.

We left on the morning of September 5th. Our first show was that evening at North Beach in Downer's Grove, IL. North Beach is a weird place... Bar, with live music, bowling and indoor beach volleyball. The crowd was smaller, but everyone was having a good time and we played for over an hour. Some rad dudes bought us beers and shots, and that night we stayed with our friend Lex from Ladd.

The next morning we took off for Minneapolis. Our show was at Club Underground... cool rock bar with a good beer selection. Again, smaller crowd, but everyone got into it. Again, we played a long set. That night we stayed with Dave in Northfield. The next day we hit up one of the best coffeehouses in the world... Goodbye Blue Monday. Go there if you're ever near Northfield, MN.



That evening our show was at the Sokol Underground in Omaha. We were really stoked... Omaha has always been good to us and Sokol is one of the better venues in town. We got there early, scootered around and our friend Mark showed up with some pizzas... we ate too much. The show that night was awesome. Good size crowd, good sound and a bunch of kids singing along and getting into it. Thanks Omaha! That night we stayed with Josh and the guys in Eustace. If you haven't heard Eustace, check them out:

myspace.com/eustacekills

Our friend Aaron Bryan (formerly of the band Short of First) came over and we played Apples to Apples.



The next day we slept in a lot. Our show that night was in Council Bluffs, IA at Rebels... an old biker bar turned into a Christian youth center/venue. They cooked us a huge dinner before the show and we got a sweet card gaming going backstage.





Stayed with the Eustace guys again. Drank High Life. Awesome.



Chapter 2: The Wild West

After the Council Bluffs show we headed west. We had a day off to do the 9+ hour drive to Fort Collins, CO. We listened to the new Every Time I Die record, Set Your Goals and this band Necrophagist that Jersey Dan is all about. That night we stayed with our friend Mari.



Our show on 9/10 was at Pasquini's in Denver... a sweet pizza place/bar that does punk rock shows at night. We didn't have to be there to load until 9ish, so we hung out around Fort Collins all day. We got burritos at Big City Burrito and Colin and Jersey Dan climbed a mountain.



The show that night was sweet. Josh at Pasquini's gives the bands unlimited free pizza and beer. Thanks Josh!

We had the next day off too. Mike, Colin, Jersey Dan and Joe went to climb another mountain. Tommy and Ryan stayed in Fort Collins, went out for a romantic dinner and movie date and drank a lot. Carpe Diem!





The next day, 9/12 we played in Cheyenne, WY at The Warehouse. The show was awesome... a bunch of kids knew the words and were singing along. We slept in our friends Ryan and Liz's dorms for a few hours, and at 5am on 9/13 we hit the road for California.







The drive was long... 1,134 miles to be exact. We made it all the way to Sparks, NV by about midnight and we got a room at the Western Village (truckstop) Casino. While we were waiting for Jersey Dan to come out of the hotel registration office, we saw six police officers raid a hotel room, and a crazy old guy walking around the parking lot shaking uncontrollably, yelling all kinds of shit to no one. Classy place.

On 9/14 we left Sparks, NV and got to Madera, CA around 5pm. Our old friend (and former Tour Manager) Neel Palrecha met us at the venue with his friend Sam and we hung out and played a really weird variant of kickball. That night was the Madstock pre-party at Casey's bar. Our eternal Michigan brothers The Swellers showed up and the night was a blast. Everyone stayed with our friend Ben.



The next day was Madstock, an all-day free outdoor music festival they do every year in Madera. The crowd was awesome. We played around 8pm and a bunch of kids knew the words and went nuts. That night we drank Coors Light and hung out at Bens.













Our show on 9/16 in Las Vegas was cancelled on us a few days before, so we headed up to the Bay area to hang out with Neel and The Swellers. Ryan, Neel and Jersey Dan all got Fullblast tattoos. If for some reason you have never heard The Fullblast, you need to:

myspace.com/thefullblast





The next day we had breakfast at Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe... an awesome diner owned by Mike Dirnt of Green Day.





We hit the road around 7pm for Layton, UT... 752 miles away. We drove through the night and listened to Strung Out and The Fullblast. We got to our friend Dan's house around 8am and slept for a few hours.





Our show that night was outdoors in a pavillion, but something happened with the PA, so we ended up moving to Mojoe's in Ogden last minute. Colin and Joe were both sick, but we made the best of it and played a short set.

This is where the "disaster" part of Disastour really came into play. At the time, we only had two more shows booked on the way home ... one in Ventura, CA, the other in Lubbock, TX. If you look at a map, you can appreciate just how rough the drives would be. In order to make the Ventura show on 9/19, we would have had to leave from Utah immediately after the show, drive straight through the night to the venue and probably have to load in as soon as we got there. In order to make the Lubbock show, we would have to drive straight from Ventura, through the night and the next day and possibly the next night as well, straight to the venue. After that show we would have to drive 1400+ miles home with no shows.

We are used to long drives, but on top of the fact that the above mentioned itinerary is tough, we had just done a number of long drives and we had to buy new trailer tires unexpectedly. This left our band fund cash pretty low, and we realized we actually couldn't afford to do the Ventura and Lubbock shows. On top of all this, Joe and Colin were both pretty sick and several days and nights without any kind of decent rest would probably only make it worse.

We decided we had to cancel Ventura and Lubbock and we stayed with Dan again in Utah that night. We were super bummed.



Chapter 3: The Way Back Home






The next day we started making calls and sending emails. Luckily some friends were understanding of our situation and threw us on the bill at a few shows on the way home super last minute. Josh at Pasquini's in Denver was even nice enough to throw us on the bill with The Swellers THAT NIGHT! We headed for Denver and had another fun show at Pasquini's! After the show we stayed with Mari in Fort Collins again.

The next day (9/20) The Swellers were playing in Fort Collins at Surfside 7, an awesome punkrock bar. We hung out around town, got burritos and met them there later on. They were playing with a band from the Netherlands and the show was a blast.





On 9/21 we toured the Budweiser factory on the way to the show. Caleb was nice enough to throw us on the bill at The Warehouse in Cheyenne, WY again. The show was awesome again and kids started a big circle pit when we played! Thanks guys!

The last show of the tour ended up being at Shea Riley's in Omaha with The Swellers. It was a fun show and we got to hang with the Eustace guys yet again! Tommy and The Swellers got tatt'd a few houses down from where we were staying.













Epilogue: Now What

So we're home now and we're going to be taking a little time off. Mike is going to be on the road in October with A Wilhelm Scream filling-in on guitar so make sure you check out a show and say hi. We're playing a local show (finally!) on Saturday, October 6th... if you're reading this from southeast Michigan you better come out!!

Over the next few months we might play around the midwest a little, but most likely we'll be at home, working on some hot new jams. Thanks to everyone all over the country for a great year on the road! We'll see you soon!

<3
Alucard

So... we're home. The last few weeks of tour were nuts and we didn't have a chance to put together a tour blog... sorry! Thanks to everyone who came out to a show, let us crash with them or hooked us up with a meal. We appreciate it more than you know. We already miss The Swellers, our Michigan brothers from 10 weeks on the road. We're going to try and post a bunch of new pics from the road in our photos section soon.



We're taking the month of August off to catch up on some sleep and band business that has been on the backburner. We will be back on the road on August 31st, on our way out west. We will start posting dates soon. If you live anywhere in the western half of the country (anywhere west of Detroit basically) and you want us to play in your town HIT US UP!!!

To start this next tour off right, we were planning on kicking it off in Marquette, MI... it's always a great time up there and we haven't played there since before After Dark came out. We were really excited when we got confirmed on a small festival at an all-ages venue there. Unfortunately, we have been kicked off of that show. I have posted the email we recieved below. Enjoy:



"Hello guys.

Well I have some bad news for you all.

I know you were looking forward to your triumphant return to Marquette and were happy to find our venue to do so, but I'm very remorseful to have to tell you that I have to cancel that date with you guys.

Cornerzone Youth Center is part of a larger non-profit organization here in Marquette with its own Board of Trustees, whom I answer to (they're my boss).

One of our more "relevant" and "with it" board members was looking through all the bands that we have coming up at our place (most board members wouldn't care or would be clueless if they even tried listening to most of the bands that play our place - but not this guy), and he was surfing around your site and wrote me a strong email stating that he didn't think you guys fit our venue and strongly suggested that I un-invite you.

I hate to admit it, and sometimes I like to act like I completely run the show around here, and 90% or more of the time, that is indeed the case. But even I answer to a higher authority and this time they put their foot down.

I know we're going to come across as cheesy and judgmental and I wish there was a way to not make it sound that way, but the reason I was given was that some of the pics in your blogs and such, blatantly show you guys drinking and other behaviors that are not deemed "positive" by the organizations' Board. One of the visions of the Youth Center is to promote healthy and positive lifestyles and we're constantly trying to fight against and encourage students to NOT party or drink or do drugs or whatever, and even to use appropriate language. So the Board feels like these things will only make students feel like these activities are not only okay, but that they are "cool".

So it looks like they are going to be taking a more active role in looking at the bands that I try to book here and it should be interesting to see how this works out.

Again, I know this will tick you off pretty bad as some stuffy, conservative stuff and I apologize if it does, but I have to go with my leadership (obviously). I'm sorry for any disappointment and I hope that a month's notice is soon enough to curb any financial issues or plans.

Only time will tell what the future holds, but for now, the show is off. Again, my apologies.

peace,
(name withheld)
director "



If anyone knows of a venue or promoter in Marquette willing to host a ROCK SHOW (not a church service), please let us know. We would really like to get back up there.



See you guys soon, stay rad.

Monday, June 25th was our first day off. We hung out at Britt's house in Florence, AL. We scootered, worked online and ate a bunch. That night we enjoyed a bountiful stock of Miller High Life.













Tuesday morning we got up and hit the road for Atlanta, GA. We listened to Dredg, Christina Aguilera and The Swellers new record, "My Everest". If you haven't picked up a copy of it yet, make sure you get it ASAP.



Our show that night was at Swayze's. There was no air-conditioning and it was ultra-hot. Mourningstar played and they jam hard. After the show we scootered the fuck out of the parking lot.





That night we stayed with Matt from Mourningstar. We enjoyed a fine dinner of Miller Lite and Taco Bell. Ryan and Brad got a poker game going.



Wednesday was our second day off. We had to pickup Jersey Dan at the airport in Tallahassee Thursday morning, so we did the drive down and got a hotel that night. The Swellers snuck in around 3am and slept on the floor.



Thursday morning we got up, had a bitchin' continental breakfast and headed into town. We got word that Jersey Dan's plane was delayed so we met up with Brad from Hopesick at his restaurant, Canopy Street Cafe. He cooked us up an incredibile second-breakfast of the day!! If you're ever in the Tallahassee area, make sure you stop in. While we were eating he mentioned a skate park near by, and since we still had some time to kill we hit it up. There were some younger kids there that put us all to shame really really bad with some pretty sweet skating. After getting embarassed at the skatepark we picked up our all-time merch-guy, Jersey Dan. Shawn is leaving the tour in South Carolina and J.D. is taking over merch duties for the rest. Once we had Dan we headed for Tallahassee Community College for some free wireless internet. While we were there, some awesome guys working at the smoothie shop made us some free lunch!!

After three free meals we finally made our way to the show at The Shed. Four bands, two full-barrel kegs of Yuengling and no air-conditoning made for an interesting night!















Thanks to all the guys in Hopesick and Anchors For Arms!

After the show we headed to Karol's place in Orlando and by 6am we got some sleep.

Friday we played at the Crowbar in Ybor City (Tampa), FL. We had to park the van half a mile away. Derek from Altair Industries stopped by and hung out. He hooked us all up with shirts. Crooked Edge played with us and they shred super hard! After the show some awesome Starbucks employees hooked us up with a bunch of free pastries and we headed back to Karol's.

Saturday morning we had Starbucks pastries for breakfast and headed for our show in Hialeah, FL. We got there early and scootered. It was really fucking hot outside. Luckily the venue that night, Studio 3-in-1 had air conditioning. Fallen From The Sky and And Then There Was You played with us and it was a sweet show. Afterwards we stayed with Ryan from Fallen From The Sky and got hassled at Taco Bell. Shawn and Mike (SWLMRCH) walked 4 miles to the beach, in the middle of the night, and got back at 7am with their arms full of unripened coconuts.

Sunday we were originally supposed to be back at Seabreeze Coffee Connection in Daytona Beach, but unfortunately they got shut down by the city. Our friends in No Harm Done totally saved us and threw a show together for us and The Swellers with three days notice. It was a hall show in Deltona, FL and it was a blast. No Harm Done was awesome. After the show we hit up IHOP, with a party of 18. Tommy chugged an entire bottle of Cholula hot sauce for $5, then he headed back and stayed with Matt and Tommy from No Harm Done.



Monday we played at SpareTime in Jacksonville Beach. Before the show we walked down and hung out on the beach for a bit.





The show was awesome. A bunch of drunk people danced around like crazy and got in fights after the show, then we headed to our new friends Mike and Katie's apartment.























Tuesday we hung out around Jacksonville and met the dudes from Whaleface for burritos. That night at Jackrabbits was Shawn's last night doing merch and our last show in Florida on this tour. Whaleface played with us and they were awesome.





After the show we said our goodbyes and drove through the night to Charleston. Shawn had to be at the airport by 9am.

It's been awhile, but the Tour Blog series is back. This is where you can read all about us sleeping on floors, eating shitty food, riding scooters and long boards and hanging out all over the country. This time around, we thought we'd start off by introducing ourselves:

MEET THE TOUR!


Colin - Alucard, vocals


Mike - Alucard, guitar


Ryan - Alucard, guitar


Tommy - Alucard, drums


Brad - Alucard, bass


Shawn - Alucard, merch


Nick - The Swellers, guitar, vocals


Jono - The Swellers, drums


Lance - The Swellers, bass


Garrett - The Swellers, guitar


Mike - The Swellers, merch


Now that everyone's friendly, lets get started....

The tour kicked off in Grand Rapids, MI. It was an outdoor show, behind the YMCA. They had an ice cream truck that hooked us up with some free treats, and they even printed t-shirts with the show flyer on it! After the show we drove through the night to Palatine, IL and stayed with Nick and Jono Sweller's cousins.



The next morning we woke up and there was a huge pile of doughnuts, fruit, bagels and coffee waiting for us. SCORE. We feasted and headed for our first show of the day, Durty Nellies in Palatine, IL. The club was really big and really awesome. Great sound, and nice people working there. We played with Counterpunch for their CD release. It was a lot of fun and afterwards Lance, Mike and Colin got in a big ice fight.

We killed a few hours bumming around the suburbs and around 9pm we piled both bands into our van. The second show that day was at a bar in Chicago called Lily's and we were told parking would be hell for vans with trailers. Once we got there and spent roughly 45 minutes trying to park we loaded in and watched a reggae band play for two hours, then our friend Cory from The Minor League played a solo acoustic set and it was bitchin. Then The Swellers played..... then, around 1am we played. We were exhausted and sloppy. We got back to The Sweller's cousins house around 4am and passed out.



The next day we slept in and chilled around the house for a bit. It was 98 degrees outside (like the sweet band) with crazy humidity. These bugs called Cicadas apparently congregate in Palatine and the noise they make is incredibly loud.

We got Chinese food.

The show that night was at Soundlab in Mokena, IL. Soundlab is a live music venue/practice space thats tucked away in an industrial complex. It's a really cool place, but unfortunately it doesn't have air conditioning. We were the third band to play that night, and by the time we went on it was well over 100 degrees inside the venue.





We sweated a bunch and Colin blacked out for a few seconds onstage, but it was a good time. After us The Swellers and Ryan's Hope played and were awesome.

That night we stayed in Dekalb with Beth and Sarah. They got us a wicked deal on pizza, Mike built a fort in their living room and we got some much needed, air-conditioned rest. The next day Garrett, Lance, Ryan and Mike(SWLMRCH) went to a skatepark. The rest of us were lazy and had breakfast and coffee.

We headed to the show at Greenleaf Coffee in Aurora, IL. Cory Phare (The Minor League) met us there and we all did acoustic sets. It was a lovely evening.



That night we headed to Kiran's house and crashed in his basement. Kiran has an awesome DVD collection. We watched the Pulley DVD and The Ultimate Warrior DVD. Awesome.

Tuesday we slept in and hung around the suburbs all day. Brad, Jono, Lance and Mike(SWLMRCH) walked two and a half miles with their shirts off to Qdoba. Before they got there the rest of us took the van and beat them there for the first burritos of the tour. After burritos we all went to Sports Authority and bought Razor Scooters.

Tuesday night we played at North Beach in Downers Grove, IL. In addition to live music, they have bowling and indoor beach volleyball! Cory Phare was there for a third straight day of acoustic goodness. Nick and Jono Sweller's cousin Sal came out and partied with us at the show. That night we got two cases of Miller Lite and two rooms at the Motel 6 for a classy celebration.

Wednesday morning we headed for Ferdinand, IN. We listened to the new Strung Out... it's awesome and you should get it. Our show that night was at the Legion hall there and it was awesome too. Butch and his friends put the show on and gave us free pizza. Thanks guys!





That night, we stayed in an empty house, rode scooters, gossiped about music business garbage and told sweet ghost stories. In the basement of the house, there was a tiny little door made for rats. Weird. Now Tommy and some Swellers are probably going to get rat door tatts.

Thursday we played at The Underground at Red Sea in St. Louis, MO. Our friends in Opposites Attack played too. The show was awesome, we got burritos at Qdoba and a nice woman at Starbucks gave us some free coffee. Flawless Victory!







That night we drove to our friend Britt's house in Florence, AL and crashed.

Friday we met up with our friend James from the band Stoned Cobra and played at Cave 9 in Birmingham, AL. There was a venue right across the street that had booked a few local bands and two or three touring bands, so the whole street was basically filled with vans, trailers and kids hanging out. After the show, we went to Mellow Mushroom and got calzones and Yuengling. Then we split up: Nick, Jono, Mike(SWLMRCH), Lance and Brad hung out with some girls we met at the show and stayed at their house. Ryan, Mike, Colin, Tommy, Shawn and Garret hung out with James and we scootered all over downtown Birmingham for about an hour and a half, then crashed at his place.

Saturday we were back at one of our favorite venues, Old City Java in Knoxville, TN. We got there early for some awesome coffee and scootering. There was some big festival going on downtown with some country bands and rock bands playing for free. Someone showed us a message board where some kids spent some serious time dissing us. Sweet.

message board shit talking

After the show The Swellers got a hotel room outside of the city and we snuck in and crashed on their floor.

That brings us up to yesterday.... We played at The Rave Arcade in Sheffield, AL and stayed at Britt's house in Florence again. We threw a party for Britt and Jono's birthday. We had cake, brownies and beer. Nick and Mike played rad Wesley Willis songs on a casio keyboard. There was a slip-n-slide. Awesome night.

Today is our first day off and we're hanging out, doing laundry, skating and posting tourblogs.

Whats up. We've had a crazy couple of weeks. We have been meaning to post some tourblogs but super long drives, van repairs, police road blocks and tons of awesome burritos have kept us constantly busy.


To sum up the last few weeks:

- The Swellers are awesome dudes and an awesome band. We're touring with them again this summer and we're stoked!

- Illegal Pete's (Denver, CO) and Freebird's World Burrito (San Marcos & Houston, TX) have officially tied to win the burrito challenge.

- Matt Jury has officially won the beard challenge.


We have unfortunately had some shows cancelled on our way home, but we've added some new ones too. Please check the shows section and hopefully we'll be playing in your hood soon.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS HELPED US OUT ON THIS TOUR !!


<3
ALUCARD

Unfortunately we found out in Madison, WI that our van needs a new transmission.  The mechanic there estimated the job at just over $2500 and several days to complete.

We made a few phone calls and our usual mechanic back home pledged to fix whatever it needed for under $1000.

We left Madison, WI around 6pm yesterday (driving 55mph, with no 2nd gear) and by 5am today we had the van at the shop back home.  We heard an hour ago that it will be back on the road tomorrow (Thursday) evening at earliest.

At this point, being that the Omaha/Council Bluffs area is around 12 hours away we have to drop off the show at Rebels in Council Bluffs, in addition to the Minneapolis show tonight.  If the van is done by tomorrow night we will be back on the road starting with the Omaha show.

We will try to keep everyone posted via myspace.

If you were planning on coming to see us tonight in Minneapolis or tomorrow in Council Bluffs, PLEASE go to the show anyway and check out The Swellers.  They are an awesome band and you are sure to love them.

If you are planning on coming to a show later on in the tour, please know that we are trying our best to be back on the road as soon as possible.  Also please know that because of the repair bills and tons of extra travel costs, we will be incredibly broke and in debt.  ANY HELP in terms of bringing a few more friends out to the show, picking up some merch, tossing some change in the tip cup, or even just buying us some food would be very appreciated!!

THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!!

With any luck we will be seeing you soon!


<3
Alucard

We're really stoked to announce our next tour.  We leave for the US West Coast later on this month with our buds THE SWELLERS.  If you haven't heard them before, you need to check them out: myspace.com/theswellers !

Many of the dates are posted now and we'll be posting more as we get the info.  There are still a few open dates here and there. If you want us to play in your town hit us up!!

Bass player auditions are going well.  We are hoping to get through all of them before we leave, but we have had so many people contacting us it might not happen. 

Right now it looks like our last local show before we leave is this Friday, March 9th at The Magic Stick in Detroit.  Check out the flyer for more info.

Thats it.

As you may have heard we are looking for a new bass player. We are opening it up and allowing pretty much anyone to try out.  However, before you contact us please read below so you understand what we're looking for and what we expect. Thanks!

In order to be considered you must:

- Be able to tour nearly full-time.

- Play with a pick.

- Currently own or be able to buy professional grade equipment.

- Be over 18 years old.

- Be rad.

In addition to these basic requirements, the ideal candidate will:

- Have some touring and studio experience.

- Be 21 or older.

- Be super rad.

If this sounds like you, contact us at: alucardbooking@yahoo.com with "BASS PLAYER" in the subject line.

 

 

Anyone who has seen our band more than once or twice in the past year has probably noticed that we always seem to have a different bass player. Please allow us to explain...

Matt Morey was the original bass player for Alucard. Towards the end of 2005 Matt left the band and our good friend Nick Herdzik took over. At the time Nick was working a day job as an engineer. He knew that we intended on touring nearly full-time once our new record came out, and he knew at that time he would have to either quit his day job or quit the band. As the release date and the following tours got closer, we had all hoped that Nick would choose to quit his job and stay with the band. Unfortunately (for us) Nick got a really great job offer at a bigger company that he couldn't turn down.

We did the first two tours for After Dark with fill-ins. Brian Connelly from The Weakend and Dave Kloc from Idol & The Whip helped us out and when we got home, Nick played the local shows. It worked out well but we didn't want to keep having to rely on fill-ins.

We met Ben Sturley a year or so ago when his old band opened up for us. When he showed up at our record release show at Rockabilly's, we knew Nick was planning on leaving the band and we asked him to try out. We met up with him again in late November after the west coast tour. He impressed us immediately and after a few practices we were faced with a tough decision: Due to quickly approaching school registration deadlines, Ben needed to know very very soon if he was going to be in the band or not. We were a bit hesitant, but we brought Ben into the band. We knew he was talented and ready to tour, and it seemed that the few concerns that had come up would be worked out in time.

During the course of the last tour it became apparent to all of us that despite his talent, Ben was not the right guy for the band. Shortly after returning home we parted ways with Ben, and that brings us to where we are now.

Nick will be playing bass for us at our next few local shows. We are about to announce our next tour, and we have a fill-in for that as well.

We definitely want to find a permanent replacement as soon as possible, and we have decided to hold open try-outs. We will be posting more information about this very soon.