Wow, that was a great fucking time and a success for The Bleeding Hearts. We just got back a couple of days ago from our little trip through Brooklyn, Manhattan and Boston. Luckily all three shows were amongst the best we have ever played and we met so many cool people. Marco took some pictures in Manhattan and we should have those for you in the upcoming days.

We were lucky enough to be treated like kings and play to good crowds as well as with and in front of some rock legends.

Thanks to the venues:

Hank's Saloon in Brooklyn
Continental in NYC
Abbey Lounge in Boston

The bands we played with:

HEAP
Guns On The Run
The L.E.S. Stitches
Kid Casanova
Walter Lure & the Waldos
Red Invasion
Diamond Mines
The Heart Attacks
and of course our traveling companion Richard Bacchus.

At times it felt like a Lollapalooza press junket with various members of other bands in our van.

Thanks to all those that attended including:

Jeff Magnum (of the Dead Boys)
Little Steven Van Zandt (Bruce Springsteen, The Sopranos)
Jesse Malin
and Chip Fuckin' Robinson

Thanks to Mick Stitch of The LES Stitches and Kevin of Kid Casanova for putting us up in Queens on Thursday and all of the cool people and beautiful Eastern European girls we met on Queens Blvd while we were killing time on Friday.

Thanks to Tim Heap and Cindy for the accomodations Friday night in Brooklyn, George Chambers of Heap for his floor space in Brooklyn Saturday and Joey from Red Invasion for letting us crash in Boston.

Thanks to Richard Bacchus for alerting us about the special New York Dolls performance at the South Street Seaport right before we played in Brooklyn Friday Night. We were able to attend and then rush back on the subway to our van and then to the gig. It may not be all of the original Dolls, but damn if Johansen and Syl Sylvain didn't sound great and seeing Sami Yaffa of Hanoi Rocks playing bass was fucking awesome. Having Walter Lure of Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers playing with us the next night made it about as complete as can be when three members of a band are dead.

Speaking of Sami, thanks to him for putting Ricky Bacchus up for a couple of nights so that I didn't have to deal with him anymore than I already did. Just kidding Ricky, it was a blast hanging out with you for four days! Ricky has played with DGeneration, Dee Dee Ramone and Murphy's Law over the years, so there were some great road stories to keep us busy in the van.

Thanks to Noel, the legendary soundman for The Continental for being so good at what he does and for being so kind in his praise of our band. For someone that has seen so many bands over the years, his compliments hold a lot of weight to us. We felt like we did what we had to do in our NYC debut and he confirmed it (as if Walter Lure saying to me "I heard your band is really good" wasn't enough). Thanks, man. We hope to have the pleasure of being in your hands wherever you may do sound after The Continental stops having bands in the near future.

Thanks to The Stitches for reuniting and showing why they should be back together permanently (which is becoming a reality) and to HEAP and Kid Casanova for blowing us away and forging an amazing future for the NYC rock scene. Check out both of those bands on "Top Friends" page. They are both as good as they come. While you're at it, check out Red Invasion from Boston, too. Young Boys playing Old Glam. Nice.

Thanks to Marco and Luva for driving up to see us and to Luva for the ridiculous amount of shots that she forced us to drink after performance at Continental.

Last but not least, thanks to Jimbo, Sam and Scott for joining me on this journey. I think we all know that we left a good impression and it's an absolute pleasure to be in a band with the three of you. These were the most important shows we have done and we couldn't have done a better job. Fuck yeah!

No thanks to gas prices, NYC traffic, the assholes at The Holland Tunnel, the cleanliness that eluded us, the smell in the van and the fucking hellacious amount of miles of road between Boston and Raleigh.

In closing and on a sad note we arrived back in town Tuesday to the news of the tragic death of our friend and fellow Raleigh musician, Nathan Davis. Nathan was a friend of mine for whom I had the utmost respect musically. He was one of those natural born talents with a truth to his voice that can only come naturally through life experiences. There is still some mystery as to what happened, but the bottom line is that Raleigh has lost one of it's finest talents and his music will be missed. I am proud to have had the chance to sit around and play guitar with him and to have the pleasure of him turning to me on numerous occasions for my opinions on new songs that he would have. I will miss him.

Nathan left behind a young daughter and arrangements have been set up to help out with her future through the sales of Nathan's albums. There is also a special memorial happening in Raleigh Tuesday night where people are playing his songs and speaking about him. All of the details are on his Myspace page and on his official website. I have put his MySpace on our Top Friends list so that it can be easily accessible. Also, see the links below. Please try to support his memory and his daughter's future if you can.

The hungry and the hunted explode into rock and roll bands -
Joe Yerry
The Bleeding Hearts

www.nathan-davis.com
www.myspace.com/nathandavis