hello friends,
   my transmission has taken a crap on me. it will cost between 1200-1500 dollars to fix it. if i can't fix it--i can't play shows anymore. i hate being a charity. and i hate having to ask. but if anyone can help me out that would be incredibly helpful. i've put a donate button on my page for donations if any of you see fit to help me keep this pipe dream alive. if i can't get the car running i'll probably just start wearing blue jeans and go back to college. i know it's a stretch calling my music a ministry of any kind, but it's about all i'm good at. i could really use some help friends. thank you so much for your time and for reading this.
        grace and peace,
           todd

hey there there fans of insignificant artists,
   it's been a while since i've done one of these. my public (john davey) has demanded it.

This tour started out like any other...running late.
grabbed carl and jake willard (God bless him)
hustled over to justin mays house in st. louis
had a house show. there were five girls in attendance. nice to know that justin is making friends in st. louis, but was really hoping for some more dudes.
sold some shit...upon being asked for a cd purchase had to resist saying "Really?"
just realized i'm doing this blog in an annoying bullet point fashion.

Anyway, we then rambled on over to Topeka. We were promptly (and firmly) greeted by our dear friend Topeka Thad. He was hospitable and charming. Thad is the kind of man that you like taking home to mom and dad's house so that they think you've got friends that actually have worthwhile lives. We played a great show at World Cup Espresso. Carl really brought the house down with his witty banter and sultry vocals. We then consumed a delicious dinner, and came up with a new hot boss t-shirt idea for jake willard. Sorry mom, Sorry God. Then we bedded down with complete strangers.

This morning we headed over to Des Moines at a reasonable hour. We've been hanging out with our friend Aaron, and are about to play a set at Mars Cafe. That's....about it.

grace and peace
   todd

p.s. my primary focus on this tour has been to sucker carl hauck into thinking that a career in music is a good idea...mission accomplished.

more to come soon.

hello friends,

      our dear brothers so long forgotten have fallen upon hard times. their transmission just took a shit on them. transmissions are incredibly expensive. we're putting on a benefit show this friday august 29 at the green wolf to help raise money for this transmission.

    so long forgotten means a lot to me. if it weren't for them i wouldn't be playing music at all. and i know most of the local bands feel the same way. so PLEASE if you can make it just come out at six o'clock to show some support. also bring food because it's a potluck.

  1211 N. STALEY ROAD. 6 P.M.-FOOD. 7 P.M. SHOW

         i truly hope to see you all there.

      grace and peace

         todd 

a tour for the books--to say the least. we've travelled. we've sang. we've danced. we've impacted our culture. we've made trade fair. all in just fourteen days. look at us--how relevant we've become.

these are the things i've concluded in the past two weeks.

i need better songs.

i need better jokes.

i need a prettier face.

j.d. salinger is king (those who disagree are dead to me)

john davey is a legend

i miss so long forgotten

i will be doing this for quite some time.

    thanks so much to anybody who showed up, or helped us out in any way in the last two weeks. namely: maxx crawford, joe vagabond (may your true identity forever remain a mystery), topeka thad, nathan miller, lee petray, cory nelson, drew glover. john davey--my heart is in your hands...be gentle.

        grace and peace

              todd

i read a lot. or i like to claim that i read a lot.

 sometimes if a fact that i know from television comes up in conversation i say that i read it in a book. i'm a liar.

but i really do read a lot. i just started writing a short story. i'm contemplating posting it in installments on my music page--in reality it's just a gimmick to keep you suckers coming back to my page. hopefully it works. it's going to take me a while to get it done the way i like it. but if people seem interested i'll put it up on myspace.

  i realize i don't write about tour very much in my tourblogs. the next paragraph should suffice in stifling the masses. and, informing everyone of how much better my life is than theirs is always gratifying. (you may have a four year degree--and earning power--but i'm relevant...buttholes)

 everyday i sleep till noon. i typically watch a movie or two. i read a lot. i sit in the passenger seat and chain smoke. i listen to john's pearls of wisdom. i meet new people. i get swindled by promoters. i talk on the phone. i send text messages. i get on myspace...and occasionally i play music.

  thanks for taking the time and giving a crap. it means the world to me.

    grace and peace

        todd

G-d is good. i don't deserve it--but He is.

   the past two nights we played at coffee shops for tips. both nights we ended up getting paid by the venue because of circumstances that we had nothing to do with.

  today i sold my first cd online. somebody that i've never met before--from a state i've never played in--listened to my stuff and purchased my album.

   i never thought in a million years that i'd be able to do this. 

spirits are high.

i have nothing funny to say.

i have no smart ass comments.

G-d is good. 

    grace and peace.

        todd 

i was just talking the other day with john davey about how neither of us are in school but we both still think of things in terms of semesters. last night i dreamt that i signed up for school and had to start that same day. i hated it. i've never been more relieved to wake up in a strange place.

 the shows on this tour have been pretty good. people have gone out of there way to bless us....suckers. i've sold a few albums....fools. i haven't sold any t-shirts yet....a-holes.

  spending every waking second (and sleeping second) with john davey has been good for my soul. he smokes a pipe and drinks three gallons of coffee  a day. if he sounds a lot like your grandpa then i feel i've adequately described him.

  THREE CHEERS FOR TOPEKA KANSAS....seriously

  we've still got a week left. spirits are high. expect more of this garbage in the near future.

        grace and peace

              todd

(i realize this is belated. as i am now in the midst of a magical tour with the one and only john davey. but this entry is something i jotted down the day we were in zion national park and had just finished climbing a mountain)

 

    I stared at death today. I climbed a mountain in borrowed shoes.

My fears are real, and deep, and haunting. They are personified by the American West. This beauty--this power--is nearly more than a man can handle. My fear is not that I'll fall in love with the West; it's that I already have. I stood on a 1,300 foot cliff with only one discernable direction to travel. That's the fear. Falling--failing. If I awoke in Zion National Park every day of my life I would not look at it like I do now. That's on me. That is a tragedy.

    How do I live with fresh eyes? How do I rid myself of this fear that is running my life?

          G-d help me.

I awoke in the desert--both in mind and spirit. I've read of people who have fled to the desert, atypically, running to or from something. I guess I was doing a bit of both. It is a barren land of isolation. I'm not sure what it says of me that I'm so quickly acclimated here.

     This is as far west as I've ever been. Something deep in my marrow--and the marrow of generations preceding me--has longed for this journey. Something in the American Man aches to be moving; the direction most commonly being West. I won't attempt to fool you, or myself, into believing this was an adventure of any sort. Every path being neatly planned suffices in stifling the euphoria of wander. Yet, here I am. At the foot of mountains. In the hands of G-d. I have more questions than conclusions.

    grace and peace,

         todd

hello friends,

 it's been nearly a year since i dropped out of community college to forge a life that--it turns out--is comparably depressing. but, here i am. i've got a new album. i am a real person now. Not That Easy...20 years to write it...8 weeks to record it. it's mastered and pressed and i have a box full of them. i'm not a huge embarassing failure. well, i guess that still depends on your reaction to said album. really the purpose of this blog was to thank people that supported me on this venture. since i neglected to mention him on the back of the album; i'd like to say, first and foremost, thanks to CAM YERGLER from so long forgotten. Cameron has had confidence in me and my art when I didn't. I publicly thank him for that.  He laid down possibly the most beautiful guitar track i've ever heard on "Rose of Sharon". You can hear it on the myspace that you're currently visiting. Do so.  Joe Brown of so long forgotten. Dropped the fat bass lines, and the ridiculously high harmonies. He is a man among mice, and doesn't kill you at gas stations in Morrissonville. Micah Boyce. Sang like a bird in Praying for Rain. If it weren't for him I'd still be in school. I thank him for that often. Will freaking Newton. Thank G-d you are a part of my life. Without will this album would not have been possible at all. His recording knowledge and amazing musical ear helped give this album the sound it has. If you don't like it...blame him. My lovely girlfriend kristina for loving me when i'm an asshole. and for making beautiful album art. and for bringing out the best in me. 

    thanks a ton if you've actually made it through this whole thing.   

     grace and peace

         todd