Happy New Year!

We hope your first day of resolutions is going as planned. We have a ton of 'em ourselves and have a really big year planned out for you guys.

In 2010 we'll be stepping it up not one, but several notches to give you the best RA you've ever seen and heard. For the first five or six months you'll be able to catch two distinctly different shows from us. Much like we did at the beginning of last year we'll be throwing parties that last all night long at your local bar playing covers from artists that undoubtedly have shaped and continue to shape our sound. We’ll also be putting on our “original only” showcases in a “new and improved” spectacular way!

“Why the first six months?”  You might ask.

The answer goes something like this: We’re currently in the midst of working on a brand spankin’ new album and a national tour to boot. Look for more info on this sometime in May… let’s just say this summer will be unlike anything you’ve ever seen from Rightfully Accused.  

The latter part of this months message will get a bit lengthy so as far as shows are concerned this month please visit www.rightfullyaccused.com to see our current show listing and details. If you’re on our Reverb Nation mailing list you can see our schedule near the bottom of the page. Also be sure to keeps your eyes out on our Myspace page for our " Best Pics of 2009" photo album coming soon!

Rightfully Accused is obviously made up of the small group of musicians that you know, but we’re also comprised of a large team of community members who helps us out in so many ways it is truly incredible. We simply wouldn’t function the way we do without the help of every single one of these incredibly awesome members of the Rightfully Accused Family.

Rightfully Accused would like to thank:
Michelle Paulson, VIP of the year, not only have you helped us as a band, selflessly, in more ways than we can count, and certainly more than we deserve, but you've been an astounding friend. Mandy Redman and crew, your insane enthusiasm and authenticity has certainly made an impact and has also been inspiring to us. Simone Chappell, thank you not only for helping with the new "do", but also for rockin' out with us... welcome to the party! Barb Dye, always throwing your supremely helpful experience at us in a variety of ways, where on earth would we be without you? Luke Ramirez and Heather Smith, you guys are a pivotal part of getting the real thing started and I greatly appreciate your enthusiasm and dedication to the new journey we're about to embark upon. Everyone who has ever so much as lifted a finger for us on the Street Teams or even if you're not officially on one of them, the tiniest things can have a huge impact for us. Monica Brown, Keith Schneider and everyone at Colorado Music Buzz Magazine. Ellen Zuckerman, a true die hard. Mike and Cathy Croy, for all the support through the years, hell, we couldn't even practice if not for you guys! Jason and Melissa Lycan, you've played a major part in giving us a sense of direction again as well as recharging the optimism in our camp. Everyone at Whisper Fiercely. Jace Hill, dude this is gonna be a fun year, lookin' forward to this acoustic stuff! Also major thanks for filling in for us last minute a la Holiday show. Sean Peck (Roxii Camaro), you did an awesome job filling in for us all year, many times in last minute situations, I always feel terrible because I'm constantly on the run and I feel I've never really told you how much I appreciate how much you've done for us this year, we auditioned over 40 guitar players this year and despite playing with so many guys you handled yourself more professionally than anyone, awesome, especially when you consider the fact that you were never trying to be "in" the band. Go Wild Angels! Tyler Hill, Brenan Hill, "Beef", Lyn Hill, and Jay Hill thanks for the shows, the hospitality and the incredible times, believe it or not guys, the whole Lost Point crew has played a pretty big part in helping deal with some inner personal wars going on, thanks! Cypher dudes, you totally won't understand this but you've also helped with some of those inner issues, we need to party more! Everyone at Howard Rosen Promotion. Dawn Simmons, you pretty much helped us stay afloat throughout '09 with the shows we did together Jan-Jun, once again you're helping in the same way in 2010, thanks for making all of that side of things so easy! Jim Attebery, we've attended the Durango Songwriters Expo two years running now and consider it the most significant things we've ever done for our music careers, thanks for putting it on so close to home, we'd also like to thank you for putting Sean on chauffer duty, in essence putting him at the wheel for an hour and a half each way with some major industry peeps. Tim Babbitt. Uncle Nasty and Matt Need, thanks for bringing us in and for the encouraging words every time we run into each other. Roller at Castle Rock Radio for helping with the “Ready or Not…” CD release party, and for all your support throughout the year. Micheal Tolerico at Electric Events, we haven't done a ton yet but you've always made me feel welcome and you've always been encouraging. Jacob Althoff of Left Nut Entertainment, for helping us put on whatever the hell kind of production we wanted to! Marc and Chelsea Lynn King, Josh and Jennifer Mendoza, Danielle Bruns, thanks you for giving us places to crash and for being some of the rad-est peeps we know! The Klingers, you still send us your support and that means a lot to us. Sara Sanchez and the entire Havok Crew, thanks for the friendship, loads of advice, and for helping us get all of our equipment out to the distant places. Bruno, Maggie and Jen at Eck's, for helping us put together some of the details on a couple of our more extravagant shows. Bubba @ 18th Street, Eck's Saloon, The Spillway, Hair of The Dog, The Lucky Monkey, Zipper's, G.I. Jodi's, The Rusty Bucket, Greenfields, Sidekick's Saloon, The Golden Cue, The Toad Tavern, Iliff Park Saloon, Echo Mountain, everyone involved with Local Palooza at Civic Center in Denver. Pia McCarthy at Locks of Love. Diane Heffentrager from Mane ‘n Tail. Patricia Murray (aka Mom) at A & T Data Systems for your help through the years with accounting and business entity stuff. Todd Meyers for your legal counseling. All of our parents for the many forms of love and support. The girls that keep us up at night, you probably know who you are... good and bad, you help us write songs. Jose Cuervo for numerous nights of artificial satisfaction and numbing the parts that hurt... oh yeah! and for all those nights/mornings/early afternoons partying with the Lost Point crew. How could I forget?! Oh yeah... cuz I can't remember! The Pumas and Cougars of Denver, always there to lift us up... ... ...or lie us down, ha! Disc Makers, CD Baby, iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, and a bunch more, Myspace, Facebook, Reverb Nation, and Twitter, your social hotness has allowed us to keep people abreast of RA news, and goofiness pretty much for free! Yay free, trendy technology things!  The good times, for helping us write songs. The bad times, for helping us write songs... ya douches.

Every single one of you who came out to see a show this past year, or who bought a CD or who reads this newsletter or our blogs and so on, every single one of you makes us all smile day after day. After talking with many of you throughout the year, it seems that 2009 will be remembered as one of the tough years for many of you, and we're right down in here with ya. We only hope that an RA show or song has given each of you the opportunity to step away from the world and just chill for awhile. Without you we have nothing, with you we have more than anyone could ever ask for.

Sincerely,
Thank you.

Wishing you and yours the best of luck in 2010!


-Rightfully Accused

Ponytail chopping happens Thursday 12/17/09

Sport Clips
303-972-5860- Store number SE corner of Wads and Bowles next to QDoba and Gunther Toody's 8246 W. Bowles Ave. # C Littleton

10am-12pm

Hair must be 10" long (curly hair can be pulled straight to reach 10")
No bleached hair, colored/ dyed hair is ok

10", clean, dry ponytails can also be brought to the holiday special show at Eck's Saloon on 12/16 in resealable zip-lock style bags.

Email us at raccused@rightfullyaccused.com with any questions!

SAMANTHA’S SONG (TRY TO LET IT IN)
Murray

It seems my heart has got the best of me again
I’m goanna lay here with out you
It seems so right I don’t know why it’s wrong
I guess I just got too close to you

Pre Chorus
And if I had it all to do over again
Well I guess I wouldn’t change a thing
Cuz if I could make it right with you
Oh I’d give up anything

Chorus
It’s been a long time I’ve been loving you
When I’d look into your eyes I knew you always knew
It seems so right, girl I’m telling you
Well it’s hard to feel your heart break but I’ll try to wait it though
Begging on my hands and knees straight from the heart
Just try to let it in

It’s been so long now it’s hard to see I’m wrong
Been waiting all this time just to tell you
It seemed so right I didn’t want to bring us down
But I just couldn’t hold it

Pre chorus:
And if I had it all to do over again
Well I guess I wouldn’t say a thing
Cuz if I could keep it right with you
Ooh I’d give up anything

Chorus

Pre chorus
And if I had it all to do over again
Well I guess I wouldn’t change a thing
Cuz if I could make it right with you
Then it wouldn’t be over

Interlude
And as I think to the time that we’ve had
Well it tears me to think that there’s nothing we had
But I guess that that’s all fair to see
And I can’t let go, no
Begging on my hands and knees straight from the heart
Just try to let it in


Sean: It’s crazy to think that this album has been out for 10 months already! It’s also crazy that we finished recording it nearly two years ago. Now add to that the idea that some of these songs were years old before we even went into the studio to record ‘em. This song certainly doesn’t fall into the “oldest” category on the album, but, by the time we hit the studio to record I had already gone full circle in a lengthy relationship with the girl this song was written about.

Driven by a heaping helping of raw emotion, this song was written with a plan. After years of development, the time had come to get some feelings out in the open with regards to this chick, followed by… rejection! (Yay!) The only thing was, it didn’t seem right, I knew there were a dozen underlying reasons (it was a fairly complicated situation) for it but something still didn’t seem right. So I decided to fight for it, part of that fight came in the form of writing this song, along with that came a fully planned out hunk of cheesy performance ideas and a schpiel to go with it. (Fortunately I got her without having to do any of the public cheesiness! Looking back, I’m exceedingly grateful for that, lol!) Ha ha, so at 21 after a nearly two year stint, I decided to carry-on being young and wound up walking away. Such is the way of young “love” I guess. By the time we put out this album the whole thing had been over for at least a year. Gone, done and over.

Now… here’s the thing. The underlying theme that is this song seems to present itself anew from time to time. I can still sing this song with fresh, true, raw emotion because I feel nearly every word of it in a different context. Interestingly enough, the raw emotions that accompany the song not only come with unique characteristics each time, but at least in the current context, seem to become radically amplified from what they were when this was originally written. More songs on the particulars of which I speak on the next album…

This blog was part of a series of blogs entitled "Ready or Not... Lyrics And The Stories That Go With Them" featuring the lyrics of songs from the album and the writers stories/ insights into the songs. To be collectively posted at the end of the series. Previous episodes available in the Rightfully Accused Blog Archive.

Still Remaining: Giving Tree, Answers, Love Finds You

Hear this song and more here:

So we've put the names in a hat and drawn, and the winner of the "RA For A Day" VIP Access contest is Tonya Werneker of Arvada. We'll be in contact with ya via email (that's all we have for ya so hopefully that works!) Thanks for entering via our Reverb Nation Newsletter sign-up! (www.reverbnation.com/rightfullyaccused).

Thanks to everyone who jumped on board for this lil contest! Hope to see you Wednesday at Eck's Saloon for our Holiday Special/ Locks of Love Benefit!

So the results of our mobile voting campaign for the slogan contest are in, and, after all that...

Nearly all 200 voters (who ironically were mostly not from Colorado) chose:

 "True Original Rock"

lol

So uh, thanks to all those who participated and sent in their ideas for slogans! We had fun reading through them! Unfortunately the majority spoke and decided that um... I guess we're not as bad at coming up with a good slogan as we thought we were?

Hope to see you next Wednesday for our Holiday Special/Locks of Love Benefit at Eck's Saloon!

Happy Holidays!

The end of the year is here, and we've got a couple of INSANE shows for you! I highly recommend getting your phone our right now and setting a reminder for the following dates because if you miss the one in your city, you will cry when you hear about it later, and you will hear about it. Then keep your phone out, you'll need it in a minute again.

Denver peeps:
Set a reminder for December 16th at Eck's Saloon

The Rightfully Accused Holiday Special - Locks of Love Benefit w/ special guests Dark Red Sky and Soul Tree!

Featuring two hours of holiday songs rocked out along with special acoustic performances of RA originals, piano performances, and a TON of brand new, never before heard, original material. Also win cool raffle prizes like a six month valet parking pass to Cherry Creek Shopping Center, Mane 'n Tail hair care products, RA T-shirts, CDs and more! Also welcome new guitarist Vince Collins to the mix! 
 
After twelve years, I've decided it’s time to chop off some hair, in lieu of this occasion we're hosting a benefit for Locks of Love! 67% of the door entry fee as well as 100% of raffle entry fees and 50% of all RA Merchandise sales will go to Locks of Love. The following day those wishing to donate ponytails can join me with a group of volunteer stylists from 10am-12pm. (Please RSVP us at raccused@rightfullyaccused.com if you are interested in this part.) Clean, dry, 10" ponytails can also be brought to the event in re-sealable, zip lock style bags, colored hair ok, no bleached hair.
For more info on this event visit www.rightfullyaccused.com and look in the blog section. Also for more info on Locks of Love visit www.locksoflove.org or hit us up at raccused@rightfullyaccused.com

Rightfully Accused Holiday Special/Locks of Love Benefit
w/special guests Dark Red Sky and Soul Tree
Wednesday December 16th
8pm
$3
21+
Eck's Saloon
9890 W Girton Dr
Lakewood, CO 80227

This not to be missed event sponsored by Mane 'n Tail, Cherry Creek Shopping Center, Eck's Saloon, SSS Productions, Left Nut Productions, and probably a few more who'll officially jump on by next week (Please check our website for updates on the awesome businesses who've jumped onboard to sponsor this benefit!). Also special thanks to Simone Chappell and her team of volunteer stylists, Heather Smith for helping out with our PR work, and also Luke Ramirez and Michelle Paulson for helping out with sponsorships. Mega thanks to our Street Team for helping us with this event and all of our past events as well, you have no idea how much we love and appreciate you guys! Anyone else who might want to get involved... we still have a tiny window left, hit us up via email.

Lincoln Nebraska Peeps
Set a reminder for December 31st!

New Years Eve with Rightfully Accused and New York's incredibly amazing Led Zeppelin tribute band "Kashmir"! At the newly re-opened Royal Grove Theater, sure to be an outrageous party with extended sets from both bands!

New Years Eve with Rightfully Accused and Kashmir!
$15 Adv. $17 Door
Tickets available soon at www.grovelincoln.com
The Royal Grove
340 West Cornhusker Highway
Lincoln, NE 68521

There are also a few other shows in the works that didn't quite make it in time for this month’s letter, Denver, Torrington WY, possibly Scottsbluff NE, perhaps Ogallala NE, and maaayyybeee Kansas City and Manhattan KS check the website on the frequent!

This coming week we'll also be wrapping up the "Sum Us Up" Slogan Contest. Voting on the favored phrase starts tomorrow, 12/5 at 8am and ends Wednesday the 9th at 5pm. Text "getraccused" to 88704 and visit our mobile homepage to vote! Get a free download when you do!
The winner of the phrase contest gets two free tickets to the Holiday Special on the 16th and free entry into the "RA For A Day" VIP Access drawing, along with a bunch of other RA goodies. More details on prizes and all that kind of radness for this little ditty can be found here:

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=9919868&blogId=515744108

Speaking of the "RA For A Day" thing, win a chance to hang out with us before, during, and after the Holiday Special on December 16th. Find details for that here:

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=9919868&blogId=516874113

Don't forget our 2009 Holiday Sale!
Throughout December find some of our lowest prices of the year on our latest album "Ready or Not..." at www.cdbaby.com/cd/rightfullyaccused2 Digital albums are just $5! Buy one Physical CD and get a second one half off! (Killer Stocking Stuffer!) Also find some items discounted up to 70% off and special package deals on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/rightfullyaccused under "My Stuff".

K, I'm dizzy now, not sure if that's because of the incredibly large amount of awesome info I just shot at  this page or if it’s from the incredibly awesome eggnog I've been drinking while I wrote this, but I've got to head off and hit the practicin' now.

Happy Holidays to you and yours and thanks for being our fans this year!
Hope to see you at one of these killer upcoming shows!

-Sean Murray
Rightfully Accused

Welcome to the ninth "What’s On My I-Pod?, the blog series where we tell you the last song we each listened to, as well as a little about what the songs mean to us or whatever else! Sort of a more in depth way to answer the often asked question, "Who are your influences?”

Dave D:

Trans-Siberian Orchestra – “Christmas Canon Rock” from the 2004 album “The Lost Christmas Eve”

Pretty much I’m just listening to all the songs we’re working on for our Holiday Special on December 16^th a ton right now! The rock parts of this song jam!

David B:

Jean-Luc Ponty – “Mystical Adventures Part 5” from the 1981 album “Mystical Adventures”

This whole album just rocks! Randy Jackson cleans up on bass, this song kicks ass and the bass solo is really killer!

Sean:

Rihanna – “Te Amo” from the 2009 album “Rated R”

Dudes… how do you always have one sentence answers? I’m hardly capable of doing that… Sorry all here goes:

I’m pretty open about the fact that Miss Fenty has become one of my favorite singers/ artists over the past few years. In fact out of all the current artists in this genre I’d probably say she’s straight up the favorite, and has probably been one of the most influential for me. So it should come as no surprise that last Monday when this album dropped, the first thing I did when I woke up was jump on iTunes and download this album. Immediately I followed that up by syncing it to my iPod, jumping in the shower, and listening.

So here’s the break-down as I see it. Regardless of your particular personal opinions of the girl (I’ve heard loads of crap talking over the past week.) this album is very expressive. She definitely spent time picking songs she felt appropriate to her story, she actually talks about that quite a bit in the album liner notes. It’s also somewhat of an artistic change in direction for her, much darker than her previous albums. She and her production team have also started to radically blend acoustic instruments with electronic stuff in a lovely complimentary fashion, even more so than before.  Plus, how ya gonna knock someone who brought Slash in to help with some guitar stuff! There are one or two lines that make me say “Really?” and a few tunes that just don’t do much for me but… overall, while I’m not sure I like it as much as “Good Girl Gone Bad” (honestly that album would be tough to beat) I’ll put it this way… Since I downloaded it I’ve hardly listened to anything else, and the more I listen, the more I find that makes me say, “Damn, that’s just great!”.

This ends Episode 9 of "What's on My iPod?" Kick us some feedback or tell us what you're currently listening to! Click on "Subscribe" over in the upper corner to make sure you never miss an episode!

TURN BACK

Murray

In a hard up town

Where the nights seem colder

There aint nowhere to turn

In the cut-throat corner

Pre chorus:

They’re always out for somethin’

Seems like its all they know

But you didn’t come here for nothing

Got a long way to go

Chorus:

They’re coming over and over

But you won’t back down

Keep looking over your shoulder

Better turn back now

Came from a quiet town

Where the sun shines always

But dreams are never found

So you left for a better way

Pre chorus

Now the night seems longer

Seems like it’s all you know

But you didn’t come here for nothing

Got a long way to go

Chorus

Bridge:

Remember the night that you told me

You can’t remember why you left

You thought you’d feel it forever

But I guess that that’s the test

Chorus

-Sean: Thinking back I’m pretty sure the idea behind the pre-chorus was what really got this one started. The intro riff was also a big part in developing this song.

It’s basically a story about someone who’s left the safe, warm, comfort of home, to chase down those Hollywood dreams (Gee… where would that come from?), and all the cold nights and shady characters that seem to come out of the woodwork when you do. It’s also a story about perseverance in a lot of ways. Despite all the things stacked against you and the walls closing in, “you didn’t come here for nothing” and the fight goes on, no matter how far you’ve got to go. Now take all that, give it a look and I’ll say this… Despite the more obvious connections between the theme of this song and what we do, this song is more of a fictional story based on totally different characters. When I wrote it, I visualized someone going through the typical L.A. gauntlet. But it’s really told from a third person perspective, maybe a buddy back home or something, this becomes most obvious in the bridge.

            All in all, this one is pretty basic as far as the meaning goes. It’s a song that really came more out of the musical writing before the lyrics. Almost every lick in the song is a blast to play, and I still can’t play the solo without biffing it somewhere! lol                       

This blog was part of a series of blogs entitled "Ready or Not... Lyrics And The Stories That Go With Them" featuring the lyrics of songs from the album and the writers stories/ insights into the songs. To be collectively posted at the end of the series. Previous episodes available in the Rightfully Accused Blog Archive.

Still Remaining: Samantha's Song, Giving Tree, Answers, Love Finds You

                                                                                                             

  

Win a chance to hang, one on one, with all of Rightfully Accused before the two hour Holiday Special, December 16th at Eck's Saloon. You and a friend will get the chance to see a typical day before an RA show, along with all the steps we take to make it all go down. Plus, we eat before we play, so you get to tag along for dinner too!

Once we've arrived at the show you and your friend will have access to the VIP room at Eck's with the band and our Street Team, you'll also be invited to attend the after party with the whole crew, wherever it happens to roam!

Three ways to enter for the drawing:
- Purchase any RA Song or Album at www.cdbaby.com
- Purchase any RA item, either via our webstore at
  facebook.com/rightfullyaccused or at the booth during
  shows to receive an entry.
- Enter the "Help Sum Us Up" Slogan Contest - on our
  myspace page for a free entry.
 
Multiple entries will be accepted, increase your odds by entering several ways!

The winner will be announced Friday, December 11th at 5pm


Entrants must be 18 and over. Winning Party will be notified via phone and email Friday December 11th, 2009,  5pm MST. If the Winner cannot be contacted by December 14th, 2009,  a new Winner will be drawn and contacted. Prize consists of a pre-show hang-out with Rightfully Accused Members starting at 5pm at a pre-arranged meeting spot on December 16th, 2009. Includes a shadowing experience for typical pre-show set-up, dinner with The Band at a restaurant of the winners choice within a ten (10) mile radius of the performance venue and chauffeuring via The Band from place to place. Also includes VIP room access at Eck's Saloon, and an invite to the RA after-party. All facets of the prize package are strictly voluntary, and are open to be accepted or declined by the winning party. Rightfully Accused is not legally responsible for any personal or bodily injury that occurs while accompanying The Band excluding any actions or negligence on the part of Band’s members, employees, or affiliated persons. Winning Party agrees to indemnify and hold Band harmless from any and all claims, liabilities, damages, expenses, arising from any action or activity of winning parties or Band while Band is rendering prize package except for claims arising from Band's willful misconduct or gross negligence. Winning Party acknowledges and agrees to photographs being taken at anytime through the duration of the Prize rendering and also agrees to the use of said photographs on Rightfully Accused websites, as well as for use during future promotions should The Band ever deem it necessary.  

K, that all seems over the top a bit, but we have to put that stuff in. Really it's just gonna be a hoot!