The final appearance ever for The Pagan States. After the farewell dinner at Magick Manor, we had a goodbye jam in The Crypt. We were pretty hopped up on goofballs at this point. But, frogs in throats and sloppiness aside, check out the farewell dregs of The Pagan States.



If the embedded video player above isn't working try this link instead.

So, the band is now done and dusted. We're all officially solo artists. If you want to find me, I'll be hanging out here and here. Cheers!

Randal - former bassist, vocalist, songwriter, producer, mad hatter of The Pagan States

If the embedded video player above isn't working, try this link instead.

We've got one more Pagan event planned and then the four of us will go our separate ways. This Friday will be the farewell dinner at Magick Manor and then we'll have one final jam in The Crypt. This jam will also be recorded on video and if it's any good, we'll post it online.

Thanks to everyone who supported us along the way, by either buying our CD or by attending one or more of our shows. We had a lot of fun and we hope you did too. Cheers!

Randal - www.paganstates.com

Well, we're finally dividing up the china. Two more shows to fulfill and then we can say "The Pagan States have left the building." It's been a long and bumpy ride. Too life consuming an endeavor for such fleeting fulfillment. In time, the positives will surely outweigh any negative. We fashioned together some fine future memories here. But, we're four old men who all see life as being a beautiful, yet borrowed thing. It's time to choose our battles. We've each selected a different path. Maybe those four paths will one day lead back to the same spot. But, for now... yeah, time to embrace the next project before there isn't a next project to embrace.

Randal Prater: I've had a solo album on the back-burner ever since Creeping Myrtle called it quits. That was three years and two bands/projects ago. The Pagan project has just taken too much out of me. I wore so many hats, and was spread so pathetically thin, that I could never focus on one thing long enough to give it the attention it needed for us to thrive as a band. So, it's time to breathe again and focus on my own album. When I'm writing and recording, it's a cleansing experience in the best of worlds. This will hopefully be my favorite album to make because the only schedule I'll have to coordinate will be my own. Ah, bliss...

Ben Thompson: Coelacanth is the solo album Ben has been dreaming up in his head for years. Working with The Pagan States was his first taste of recording or playing live shows. So, he got a crash course in that world and rightfully wants to take that experience into his own album and solo career.

Gary Hunt: The dam of creativity is about to burst for The Kingpin! This is a hard rock drummer who has played with far too few hard rock singers. His next project will be a Tasmanian devil unleashed. Loud and proud. Charles in charge. No, wait.

Peter Sawtell: Our resident English gentleman is juggling so many musical projects and is so shrouded in mystery and intrigue (I can't help but get all PBS anglophile when narrating for Pete) that your guess is as good as mine what the coming year will bring for Sir Squedis. But, he's such a gifted musician and songwriter. If we're ever blessed with any recorded material from him, I'm sure it will be the best album any of us put out.

Anyway, we didn't find the Holy Grail in this band. Some would even say we did more harm than good to the musical community. But, that's what makes music such a powerful and spiritual thing. It's completely subjective. Some hated us and some loved us. And it will be that way for all of us in future endeavors. Through failure or fortune, writing and recording a song and releasing it for all the world to cherish or chastise is still the greatest buzz. And one I don't plan to give up anytime soon.

Cheers for everyone who's supported us along the way. We've got two more shows! So, please please help us go out with a bang and not a whimper. If you haven't seen us yet... it's now or never. Thanks again!

Randal - www.paganstates.com

We played two shows last week and had two talented and gracious photographers capture those fleeting moments for us.

LuLu took some nice shots at Cafe Venus and was kind enough to post them as a slideshow (click her name above).

Bijoubaby was twice as nice by not only capturing the Cafe Venus show, but the Comet show as well. Clicking her name will also give you a nice slideshow.

Enjoy. And be sure to look them up via MySpace (Bijoubaby and LuLu) if you want any photos taken on your behalf. We recommend them both. Great people and easy to work with.

Randal - www.paganstates.com

There are now two videos for Snowflake Obsidian at YouTube.com for those with interest.

The first one was taken from screen captures of the live video this past sunday at Cafe Venus. But, it was so dark onstage (no stage lighting) that all the video picked up was my white shirt in the middle of the frame and random bursts of light from one of the two photographers who were snapping away throughout the show. So, I went in and found the precious few frames in the timecode where the flash lit up the room and threw our shadows violently against the wall. I thought it looked really cool. So, I took the audio from our 2006 CD and released our second official music video. The other official one was for Pipe Dreams.

The second one for Snowflake Obsidian features the actual video and audio of the song from the Cafe Venus show. We couldn't hear the vox onstage, so there are spots where it doesn't sound too pretty. But, the new intro was cool and the new harmonies were mostly cool. So, I included it, in spite of its flaws.

Randal - www.paganstates.com

bijoubaby took scads and scads of photos of all four bands at the comet show we did on thursday. she graciously put up the virgin set on her site at flickr.com. more are coming later i guess, so check her myspace and flickr sites for details. many a thank you goes out to her for capturing the evening with her lens.

don't forget, we're playing sunday at cafe venus. all four of us will be there this time and we're ready to explode with all the sonics in our playset.

randal - www.paganstates.com

We're playing this Thursday, September 14th at Comet Tavern with our lurvely chums Blue Light Curtain. Also on the bill are the travelling bands Brief Candles and Flowers From The Man Who Shot Your Cousin. We'll be playing this gig as a three-piece. Pete's parents are in town from England, so he won't join us until Sunday at Mars Bar.

Sunday, September 17th at Mars Bar / Cafe Venus is a showcase show for The Wig Fits All Heads. The other bands on the bill are Branta, Angelo Spencer, and Adam Gnade. We're playing this one as a four-piece, so if you attend both shows, you'll see/hear some vastly different dynamics from us. Both shows should be fun.

If you're in town for either or both shows, please come and support your local anti-heroes. We promise to lurve you forever for sharing in the fun and frolics. Cheers!

Randal - www.paganstates.com

In an effort to shake things up a bit for you MySpacers, I killed off the studio versions of Skeleton and Harshmellow. But, they're both in our live set and versions can be found in our Video Player.

For those of you who don't have our debut CD and just know us from MySpace, I've posted two brand new songs for you here on our MySpace page (Bellwether and Wings of Wax). For those who have the CD already, I'm afraid I have nothing new to offer you.

However, if you haven't seen us live and are tired of watching cheesy video clips, come see us in person! We've had three shows so far and two more are on the calendar. We're hoping to play at least once a month through the end of the year and then go back into the recording studio for our respective side projects. So, catch us while you can.

And yes, all of the above links point to the same place: www.PaganStates.com - This is the best place online to buy our CD and to see when/where the next show is.

For those local to Seattle, you can pick up our CD at Sonic Boom, Easy Street, and other fine shops.

Cheers for the support. Hope to see you at a show soon!

Randal - www.paganstates.com

After the Skylark show on August 12th, the next show will be September 14th at Comet Tavern in Seattle.

The general plan for the rest of 2006 has the band continuing to play a show a month until the year finishes.

2007 promises to be largely Pagan-free, outside of maybe a few shows to keep a toe in the water. Randal, Ben, and Gary all have plans to record their own albums. Pete's plans are kept close to the vest for now.

We've got four videos in our embedded player for you to check out. We've also spruced up our official page a bit. Still a work in progress, but so is everything else swirling around us. Click Here!

As always, cheers for your lurve and support!

The Pagan States - www.paganstates.com

For those who are going to be in the Seattle area on Friday, July 14th, you should buy tickets to our CD Release Show at Rendezvous JewelBox Theater. Price of admission includes our brand new CD at the door, so it's a great deal and a great cause (us!).

For the direct link to purchase tickets, CLICK HERE.

Cheers!

Randal - www.paganstates.com