The time has come, once again, to release our annual FREE Acoustic Holiday EP ... to you, our friends. You've all been behind us for over 5 years now, and this is the least we could do to say thank you, and to let you all know how much you are appreciated.
 
We have named this year's EP "The Seven Levels Of The Candy Cane Forest." We hope that any true fan of the Christmas classic ELF can appreciate this reference :)

The EP is available starting at 12pm EST today to our email subscribers. To subscribe to our email list, just click here: http://ymlp.com/signup.php?id=geuwjeugmgb. It only takes a minute, and we promise to keep your contact info confidential, and to only email you when there's actually something important to share ... *cough* like a FREE EP :)

If you'd like to download the "The Seven Levels Of The Candy Cane Forest," but don't want to subscribe to our email list, check back HERE later in the evening today for a link to get the EP. It will still be FREE, don't worry. I mean, it is the season for giving after all!

LINK TO DOWNLOAD THE EP DIRECTLY: (will be here tonight)

Curious where we recorded the Holiday "The Seven Levels Of The Candy Cane Forest?" Well, it was tracked over the course of a few days with our old drummer Justin Childers over at Tightrope Recordings. Justin has been producing bands in the Baltimore area for a few years now, and is a great choice for up-and-coming bands looking for quality recordings at an affordable rate. Hit Justin up and tell him Dropout Year sent you!

Share this EP with your friends and family, and we hope each and every one of you has a Happy, Happy Holiday!

-Steve, Brandon and Adam
DROPOUT YEAR

That's right, CDs, Shirts, Bags .... everything!!! Perfect holiday gifts, and just in time for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa ... take your pic :)

HUGE HOLIDAY SALE!!! EVERYTHING IS MARKED DOWN!!! PERFECT CHRISTMAS GIFTS :)

http://dropoutyear.bigcartel.com/

It's true ... this is the most wonderful time of the year. And just like last year, we are working on doing some acoustic xmas covers to throw online FOR FREE as our gift to all of our fans for sticking with us for 5 YEARS (and counting)! There was such a great response to last year's free download that we figured we'd make a sequel.

We're working on the songs now with our former drummer, Justin Childers, @ his Tight Rope Recordings Studio in Dundalk, MD. The songs will be all acoustic, and full of the season's best. We're looking to release the EP the week before Christmas, maybe earlier.

Here's the IMPORTANT part ... to get the link to download the EP for FREE before anyone else, you must be on our email list. It's FREE, it's CONFIDENTIAL, it's ONE CLICK AWAY: go to http://ymlp.com/signup.php?id=geuwjeugmgb and sign on up. That's it. You'll get an email with the secret link to the dowload the Christmas EP for FREEEEE once we're finished recording!

What songs will be available on the EP you might ask? Wellllllllllllllllll...........

*All I Want For Christmas
*Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
*Ex-Miss
*Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Yes ma'am (and sirs), that will be 2009's FREE Christmas EP. We hope you're as excited about this, and Santa Clause, as we are.

-Steve and the DY guys.

Again, the link to sign up for our FREE, CONFIDENTIAL email list is http://ymlp.com/signup.php?id=geuwjeugmgb

We regret to inform our fans that Jordan is no longer in Dropout Year. He has decided to take a different musical path, and we wish him well in all that he attempts.

As for us, we'll keep you all updated as often as possible as developments unfold, so keep an eye on MySpace/Facebook/Twitter for updates. Our one request is that everyone sticks with us during this difficult transitional period.

For obvious reasons, the contest blog we had recently posted is no longer happening.

-Dropout Year
Steve, Brandon, Adam and Dan

If you live in these areas, please go out and grab a copy of our new ep, THE WAY WE PLAY. Even if you have it already, grab another and give it to a friend. We need to show Hot Topic that unsigned bands have fans too! Store list is below!!!!!

Spread the word, and please help us sell these stores out <3

-Steve

HOT TOPIC STORES carrying THE WAY WE PLAY:
Owings Mills Mall - Owings Mill, MD
Towson Mall - Towson, MD
White Marsh Mall - Baltimore, MD
The Mall in Columbia - Columbia, MD
Annapolis Mall - Annapolis, MD
Francis Scott Key Mall - Frederick, MD
Arundel Mills - Hanover, MD
Marley Station - Glen Burnie, MD
Lake Forest Mall - Gaithersburg, MD
Valley Mall - Hagerstown, MD
The Centre of Salisbury - Salisbury, MD
Apple Blossom Mall - Winchester, VA
Loigan Valley Mall - Altoona, PA
The Galleria - Johnstown, PA
 

THIS NOTEBOOK
if this is the start of a new game that we’ll play, dice will shake like my voice when i say the first move never felt so wrong, i never thought it’d take so long. and i tip toe in a new direction. drop subtle hints for a glance of attention. take a step back for a second to mention, if i cross a line just know i meant it. but ill only go far enough, to stay this close. i’m gonna write in this notebook you never get to read through with phrases that i took from conversation with you, and throw them in the air with the possibility these will be the words that you’ll someday sing. i only hope you're listening. the calendar says it took about a year for me to displace all my fears and mold it into skin so thick. i want to shed it off and become fixed in awe over something they see flawed and let its beauty soften my skin. let me take in everything that ive been missing. if you're trying to find your way, i'm finding a way to try. every word you ever doubted from the voice that screamed and shouted. and then broke down beyond repair, but it served its purpose if I know you’re there. i only hope you're listening cause im done wasting time and wasting breath.

MILE MARKER
state lines aren’t the only boundaries i’ve crossed recently. but these exit signs, miles away they keep reminding me that i’m coming home to see you, but never left behind thoughts a certain girl had somehow planted in my mind. thoughts we played out before, but feel so new. any direction i go will always bring me back to you. so i’ll count another mile marker on my way through Pennsylvania. 5,4,3,2,1. one last phone call just to hear your voice, and since i have a choice i won’t say goodbye, don’t say goodbye, cause i’ll see you soon. all the leaves have turned from green to brown and hit the ground since i’ve seen your face. it’s your favorite time of year, a time a postcard can’t replace. and though the months change, it’s safe to say i won’t. i’ve found a place i finally belong to. it cant be found on a map, it’s always been right next to you. all of this time i’ve used up all of my mind to find a way to you. if you’re singing along, i hope you know that this song is just one of the things i’ll give you. soon enough i’ll find the place where you are, cause the mile marker’s bringing me home. i’ll see you soon.

THE OTHER LINE
i’d love to get you to take a few steps out of your comfort zone, but just one at a time. and have you walk not stumble into my arms, just try to imagine life as not a cycle fueled by doubt, but more as a line and i’m the one to straighten it. out of sight but always in mind. make your move and leave it behind. this is the song you’ll wish i hadn’t written with the right amount of truth that you just can’t ignore. stop reminiscing and think about what you’d be missing. this is a song with the meaning far from hidden only pointing out what you knew before. now you feel safer, but life’s not played out on paper. i know he’s visiting friday and he’ll stay as long as you don’t stop to think about the guy who sits at home and struggles to figure out how these intangibles we said no one else understands aren’t enough to have you finally take my hand. call me now up on your phone, i don’t care that you’re not alone. i prefer the sound of your voice to the silence he creates covering your mouth with his. a pacifier or a kiss? i’m the other line and hoping you will see through this in time.

COUNTING DOWN
i’ve grown sick of waking up to lay down and living days that I’ve have lived through before. along with meeting face to face with a town filled with people i don’t know anymore. but there’s a van outside with nothing but its will to drive, and memories reminding me of times i felt alive. these cities are made of canvas begging to be painted in red. this is our signature; it won’t soon fade away. counting down the days where we can live our lives this way, having no regard for what tomorrow brings. counter it with nights spent getting in over our heads. forgetting what we left back, no regrets or take backs. we’re doing this in style. if i can keep myself intact and this is how i feel at the start, then my veins are like the roads on a map filled with life, and attached to my heart. and it beats for these moments. it beats for moments just like this. where halfway home is halfway gone, exactly where i need to be. looking through this rear view i see what we’ve been through. looking through this rear view i see what we’ve been through. we’ll stay side by side and ride these lines, cause we’ll be counting down.

PRETTY YOU
it’s 2:25. a single thought, it wakes my eyes. finding the time to say three words in a line. from here i see where i am in relationship to you, and how a bed made for one’s now a bed for two. and i cannot replace this time with you. so please stay. the puzzle piece that makes this boy complete is where you lay. tomorrow comes too soon. pretty you. it’s 2:26. never thought i’d feel like this. so simple, so perfect, so warm and delicate. maybe i’ll just hold you a few minutes more, feel my heartbeat keep time with yours and stay right here, and hear you breath me in. cause i cannot replace this time with you. in time i will replay this night with you. so please stay. the puzzle piece that makes this boy complete is where you lay. tomorrow comes too soon. and even though i know my way around, so close, you promise a life to be found. you’re taking me to where I’m meant to be. pretty you. all the things i know we’ll do. in a room so dark, i see right through. i can see us dancing in circles like nobody’s watching. we’ll never have to stop ourselves from getting close enough until we meet here just like this. here in my arms where I held you at 2:28. we can always feel this way. it’s 2:29. the three words i’ve come to find: i love you. these words are mine.

LIGHTS TURNED LOW (READY GO)
they set the stage and she’s entered from stage right to the center of attention. she’s mentioned a thing or two about stealing the show. he catches her eye knowing he’d be the guy with whom she’d make a mistake and not worry about whose heart it breaks. before she knows it she’s back in a place she knows all too well. without thinking of her boyfriend she thinks to herself. lights turned low. ready? go! they won’t hear, just lay here. in this bed you’ll stay. lights turned low. ready? go! so clever, they’ll never find out what you just gave away. in a bed not too distant, there’s a boy who’s been missing events at a party transpiring he’d rather not see. and then it hits him! that feeling something’s missing, but that puzzle piece found somewhere else to fit in. before he knows it, he’s back in a place he knows all too well. with an empty space beside him, he thinks to himself. and though it’s dark tonight, there’s still a glimmer in his eye. sparks and takes him out of bed while she runs through his head. she turned out the lights only thinking of the fights. found her way to cut the ties while letting someone else inside.

CHANGE TODAY
i tried to change today. she didn't have the strength to face every single word that hurt her along the way. i felt her eyes meet mine, and with no tears i saw her cry. with no words i heard her say goodbye. when the silence broke, her eyes filled up and then she spoke words no one wants to hear, and anyone would fear. with her bags packed, she’s ready to say goodbye, and the sad fact is that i don't even wonder why. i tried to change today. she didn't have the strength to face every single word that hurt her along the way. so i ran out on her when i ran out of time and words that could make her possibly have any faith to stay with me. i wrote a verse for her, but no word came out quite as right as anything that i knew she deserved. with her bags packed, she’s ready to say goodbye, and the sad fact is we never got to share a sunrise. and there's a change in you that’s changing me in to the man you always thought you could see.

AS YOU WISH
have you noticed how i notice you? the way the sky reflects off of your eyes, a greenish shade of blue. i like you the way you are, love what i've seen so far. the only thing i've grown to hate is when you doubt the words i say. please don't change a thing about you. there's no need to wear make up when you wake up and i'm where you are. i swear i'll never let you get too far. and i will wait up, all night long i will stay up with you to say the words it takes to get you through. and when it comes to friendship, i have a small confession, a common misconception. so here's your lesson of the day. i caught feelings for you while you caught my eye. and now i find that the truth is just too hard to hide when all i want was in you all along. all night long we’ll keep the stereo on, and we will play this song until the break of dawn.

all lyrics written by steve reter and dan ciarrocchi © 2009 dropout year

happy monday to everyone. hopefully it's not a manic one.

we just wanted to stop in and post a quick blog to thank every single one of the 850+ people that came out to our cd release show on saturday night. with a line going around the block for a good two hours, this show was obviously the place to be on april 11th, 2009. the recher theatre was packed from front to back, and the night could not have gone any better for us. every single person left with a copy of our new ep, THE WAY WE PLAY, and we wouldn't have it any other way!

we want to thank every single person who came, all the bands we played with, and the entire recher staff for working so hard to make the night go off without a hitch. the baltimore music scene is begging for a shot in the arm and it seems like saturday night might have been that shot. there hasn't been a sold out local show at recher in a long while, and it meant so much to see our name on the marquee and to be involved with a show that is exactly what this scene needs.

to everyone in baltimore: this is your scene ... support local music!!!! there are so many amazing bands in a 100 mile radius of the recher theatre and plenty of venues to see them in, so go out and support unsigned bands. you did it saturday, and you can do it again.

personally, one of the best nights of my entire life. and it's all because of you. so, thanks. a lot.

-steve

ps. if you were at recher, leave some comments below. email us pics if you have any with us, or of the show. videos too. let us know what you think of the ep.