Hello To All.
Well, it has been awhile since I chimed in. Looks like it's been since May. Well, let's just say it's been a busy summer for me. Between playing music, working, and spending time at the pool, I have had very little time with the computer.
I want to thank everyone who came out and saw the band the last few shows. We definitely had a blast playing for all of you. The park show was killer fun for all of us. I know the arts festival was talking about not having any more local bands after this year. I find that really unfortunate because I feel that local music matters and deserves to be down at the park every year. I hope you all will send a kind message to the Springfield Arts Council and tell them that you enjoyed seeing local bands down there and ask that they continue to have them. (especially AG – wink wink) There is power in numbers my friends!!!! I hope to play there again but I guess we will have to wait and see.
Animal Grace is taking a much needed break and we recording 5 of our new songs. The drum tracks are almost complete and I am hoping to lay down some guitar tracks next week. It seems we always run into some kind of snag that leads to a whole lot of down time. You have to be a patient person to record music. It can be very stressful at times. Anyways, so far the drums sound awesome. I think this is the best drum sound that we have recorded compared to the last CDs. We are excited!!! We have also decided to take a break due to bars just suck in the summer. Between the nice weather and the Ohio Smoke Ban, it has really hurt the bars. Everyone is in a panic right now but I think once cold weather comes back around, people will go out to the bars and go see live entertainment. I mean, if you go to a bar that has an outside beer garden or patio, everyone is out there smoking. Personally, I love the smoke ban. I come home from a nite out, I can still smell the downey in my clothes. LOL!! It has also helped the singing voice tremendously. A smokey bar is hard on the old throat. Sorry smokers, I still dig ya. Shit, I smoked for 20 years. Now that I've quit, I save my money and take a trip to Mexico or to Europe once every other year. Might as well go see the world, instead of slowly killing myself. Anyways, I'll get off my soap box now. Lets move on. OK?……………Cool.
Time to talk about movies and music. What have you guys (and gals) been listening to? I have been listening to a lot of different stuff. The new Ozzy is good and I have not liked anything he has done since Bark At The Moon. Don't laugh but I have also been checking out The new Winger CD (Winger IV) and I must say, it is tight. It is totally different from the 80's stuff they did. It has somewhat of an anti-war theme but the songs are strong. Check it out. The brand new Tesla CD is off the hook. They are covering a bunch of old 70's rock tunes. I am always skeptical of bands doing cover CDs but this one delivers. They are just the shit. Their version of "Rock Bottom" by UFO totally kicks major booty. The CD that has probably surprised me the most is Bob Seger's new one. I saw him on TV on VH1 about 3 years ago when he was inducted in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame and he sucked. He couldn't sing his way out of a paper bag. I felt bad for him. It was awful. Anyway, he must have taken some vocal lessons and got back in shape because his new CD rocks. It is very good. I enjoyed it. Very listenable. My only gripe is it gets a little twangy towards the end with a couple of country songs. Lastly, for some reason, I have been listening to Metallica's "And Justice For All". I guess my guitar students are corrupting me!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!! If you like metal, this is the CD for you.
As far as DVDs go, I watched "Zodiac" which I thought was really good. Good acting. It was long but worth renting. The story about the Zodiac is creepy. I also rented "Premonition" with Sondra Bullock. I was disappointed in it because the previews looked good. I thought it was average. Save your money and rent Zodiac or "The Pursuit of Happyness" with Will Smith. That was a really good show. True story about overcoming life's obstacles. I liked it a lot. I was gonna rent "The Messengers". Has anyone seen that one yet? It is about ghosts and for some reason, ghosts freak me out. That shit scares me more than slasher movies. Have you noticed how many scary movies are out now? A friend of mine made the comment that scary movies tend to do well when things with the country are not well. (ie. the economy, ect) I thought that was interesting. However, right now I am watching the second season of the HBO series "Deadwood" Is anyone hip to this show? It is pretty good but the cursing gets a little old after awhile. The dialogue is hard to understand at times because the characters talk in old style english that was common in the 1800s. I am almost finished with episode 10.
Well, listen, I hope everyone as healthy and happy. I wish you all well. Hope to see you all soon at one of our shows. Just a reminder, there are a lot of new pics from some of our last shows on the main website. Check them out here. AG Pics.
The webmaster is supposed to put some more pics from the park up sometime soon. They may put some new ones up here on myspace as well. Keep checkin' in.
Enjoy the rest of the summer. I know I will.
OK.................I'm headed back to the pool!!!! Cheers!!!
Take care.
Tony