It's been a long year, full of life changing events.  We had our first benefit concert back in March, spread to two other cities, set the groundwork for great things to come, and helped to raise a lot of awareness for childhood cancer.  We also experienced one of the hardest things we will surely ever face, the loss of our son to cancer.  

The first memorial service for Jakob will be held in Tulsa on Sept. 15th at 6pm.  We're still working on getting the location, but it will most likely be at American Legion Post 1 near downtown.  

What can we say?  This bright light has gone out and we will never forget.  I am one of his grandmothers.  I am writing this for Amberlynn and Otis, as well as all of our family.  We appreciate your thoughts and prayers at this time, but we will not be checking for them for a while.  I don't know all of the details at this time, but from what I have been told, there will be a Memorial Service for Jakob in Tulsa as soon as his parents can get all the arrangements made. 

Please pray for the family, and SUPPORT finding a CURE for this awful killer.  ERADICATE IT.  Give until you can't and think of any child that is in your life while doing it.  Pray for all children and drink to their health. 

God bless you all.

Amberlynn and I, founders of Childhood Cancer Sucks! A Benefit For CureSearch, would like to take this opportunity before our first annual benefit concert to thank our wonderful sponsors who have helped make this dream come true:

First, we'd like to thank the folks at the Columbia City Theater for opening up one of Seattle's most historic venues to us.

Ryan at OurPartyBus.com, thank you for always making sure that we arrive at our shows in style, safely and having a good time! 1000 watts of music, plenty of room for us and our friends, expert driving, and stripper poles! Who could ask for more?

Michael "Whip" Wilton and WhipWear: thank you for seeing the same vision that we have; a global phenomenon to raise awareness and funding for childhood cancer research.

Comedian Ralphie May: where do we start? Thank you for opening your heart and soul to this cause! Your support has helped this grow from a simple idea developed one night to an extraordinary event that is destined to do great things for CureSearch.

KISW 99.9 FM, and specifically the BJ Shea Morning Experience, thank you for the priceless exposure, both on the web and on the air, and for your gracious donations of both a catered sit-in and a round of golf!

Hot Topic for it's promotion of our bands and event. Thank you guys!

Northwest Guitars in Everett for your donations and support!

Pacific Distillery for bringing out the Absinthe and your premium Gin, as well as a celebrity bartender to serve it!

PosterGiant for getting our flyers out there! They're the absolute best street team in the Seattle area!

And last, but definitely not least, Jon Rydeen at Peak promotions for screening our event t-shirts. You're the best screen printer around, bar none! Sorry for all the last minute changes!

If there's anyone I've failed to mention, I am remiss and I will correct it immediately. Thank you to everyone that has made this possible! You are the greatest humans alive!

-O.L.

Michael "Whip" Wilton of Queensryche is going to make a very special appearance at the concert on March 13th and play a set with Guns of Nevada!!! I know you're as stoked about this as we are!

As previously announced, Lawrence Battey will not be able to play the benefit show on March 13. However, veteran Seattle musician and gypsy troubadour Lee Tyler Post stepped up to the plate and will be playing the show! We're excited to have Lee on board for this fabulous cause. Lee has released five albums over the course of the years, traveling the country and opening for bands during his 'perpetual tour'. He's currently working on two more albums set to be released before his summer-fall tour, during which he'll be promoting both of them. Thrilled to have you, Lee!

Remember, tickets are on sale RIGHT NOW! Check out our earlier blog to find out how to get yours before they sell out.

So, due to previously unforeseen circumstances, Lawrence Battey will be unable to perform the night of March 13th. But fret not, fellow CCS fans, for there will be NO void left. In the works are plans to include a VERY special guest, and maybe yet another VERY special guest! Believe me when I say that you will be getting WAY more than your money's worth for this show. In addition, we are getting more and more awesome prizes for the raffle, so remember to buy as many extra tickets as you can at the show! Every admission gets a ticket, but you will definitely want to improve your chances and buy a stack of 'em. Don't forget, all the money goes to CureSearch, the nation's largest childhood cancer research foundation. See you there!

For those of you that didn't make it out to see Ralphie May perform tonight at the Moore Theater in Seattle, you missed one helluva show from one of the greatest comedians to ever grace the stage. Billy Wayne Davis opened for him, and I swear to G-d that I thought the back of my head was going to explode from the laughter! Ralphie slayed, staying on stage well after his time was up to give us all "our money's worth".

Then came the kicker. We knew that Ralphie was going to mention the benefit at the close of his show, but what we weren't expecting was when he made the announcement that 100% of his profits from his merchandise sales tonight would go to us to get the ball rolling. How awesome is this guy?! We had people so touched by Ralphie's generosity that they were coming up to us and handing us checks on the spot!

All of this came with some bittersweet news about the lineup for the benefit. One of the musicians has had some recent scheduling conflicts with Scorpio Rising, our promotion company, and now may not be playing the show on the 13th. While it was startling and somewhat depressing that it may turn out that way, we have ensured that, should he not go on, he will be replaced properly and you will definitely get your money's worth at that show as well.

All in all, it's been a fantastic night. This pipedream I envisioned is growing by such amazing leaps and bounds that I never could have imagined the magnitude by which it will be when it's complete. Will it ever be complete?

Mad love to you, Bobby James, and a very happy birthday to you, Ralphie May, and Billy Wayne.

Love to Amber and Jen and April and Anthony and Gavin; without youse guys none of this would have been possible!

That's right, folks! You can get your advance tickets to the March 13th Childhood Cancer Sux! benefit show featuring
Gunn and the Damage Done, Lawrence Battey and the Dirty Dale Band, The Kings, Lucky Suns, and Guns of Nevada
right now on BrownPaperTickets.com! Here's the link to get yours:


TICKETS!!!

Get 'em now, because this promises to be a sold out show!!!

We're currently in the process of getting several things done.

First and foremost, we're almost ready to officially announce the date, venue, and artists performing at our 1st annual benefit concert! We should have some information we can post by the end of this week or the start of next week.

Secondly, Rusty Stewart is working on a website for us and it should be ready soon. We also need to get some graphics done up, like a logo, banner, and poster art.

The MySpace page is going to be the first line of information for the time being, but eventually the website will be a fully interactive site with videos of events, songs featured by benefit performers, and links to the various charities we support.

Keep watching for more updates. I'll try to get the information out as fast as I can. I know you're all eager to know exactly who'll be playing and when our first concert is. That's right, baby, I said FIRST!