Studio Time!

Finally, I've made it to the studio with the band to start recording some new videos for you guys!  I'm very excited about it, we just got a brand new camera for all the photos and videos, and it's freakin' sweet!  I'll try to put a few random photos and maybe some videos up here every few days, no promises, but keep checking back anyway!

We are right in the middle of downtown Chicago,and the view is great!  Leigh, Matt, Tony and I ran to Target earlier today, and I grabbed some delicious pasta for dinner!  But then Dave and Dylan had to show us up and order a philly cheesesteak pizza!  What a couple of a-holes!  It's ok, though, because I stole some.

Yesterday we made a quick 3-hour trip to Rock Island, IL for a fun outdoor party with Chevelle and Janus, and some good times afterwards at the Daiquiri Factory!  What an amazing crowd they/you were!  Thank you to all of our fans for always being amazing!  Even you crazy ones who drive across multiple states to se us show after show!  Haha  ;)

Alright, my battery is done charging, so I'm going to go see what there is to record!  Catch y'all later.

We were on a boat!

3 weeks ago, April 22nd, we hopped in the bus in Grand Rapids, and headed south. It seemed like a fairly normal trip in the beginning; lots of driving, a few shows, lots of movies on the bus, but we were ultimately headed for Tampa, and for a big ass boat! The weather gods were kind to us, and we only got rain 2 nights, one in St. Petersburg, FL, during the show, and after we were loaded out and sitting in the bus, the other on our day off in Ft. Walton Beach. The rest of the days were hot and sunny, and I'm sure that most of our fellow northerners are a bit jealous. Don't worry, we're back in Michigan and freezing with the rest of you, now! :)
I'm actually taking a break from building the next tour video, "TourVid 12" to write up this blog in hopes that running back through my memories of the trip will inspire some creative ideas. I've already got a few great ideas for 13, but I'm getting ahead of myself. This tour video is centered around the whole purpose of this excursion, Kid Rock's "Chillin the Most" cruise! Look for #12 in the next couple of days!
Anyway, 2 weeks ago from tomorrow, we made it to Tampa, after a long night of drinking in Satellite Beach, (Duterman surfs in his jeans) a few of us found the hotel bar at about 11:00am and continued the binge while waiting to board the boat.
On the boat, The Carnival Inspiration, Kid Rock was being his awesome self and taking pictures with every single passenger while they boarded. Sadly I'm not in our group picture, (I blame the merchandise) but I'm ok with that. :)
Is this a boring read yet? Hope not...
So the boat left the docks, and to everyone's surprise, Kid Rock then came out and did a special Cast-Off party on the pool deck, covering many boat-related songs, as well as playing a few of his own. Everyone was hanging out on the deck. The party continued early into the night, and by about 10:00pm, everyone but the musicians and professional partiers had long since passed out in their cabins. Those of us who were still awake didn't last much longer, it had been a long day, and everyone was very tired.
The next morning I awoke with a fierce hangover, and slipped on a notice placed under the doorway informing us that what Kid told us at the party was indeed true. Due to bad weather, we would be cruising to Nassau, in the Bahamas instead of Grand Cayman. I don't think anyone cared...
The rest of the cruise continued much the same, with bands playing all day and all night, and people having one of the greatest weekends in all their lives. It was pretty much impossible to have a bad time on that ship. So now we're back, and we've got lots of pictures on our Facebook Page for all of you to look at, and as soon as I wrap this up and get back to working, you'll have a (hopefully) hilarious tour video to enjoy!
Remember to keep checking our tour dates for new shows!
All you Michigan people, remember that this Saturday in Baldwin, we're playing Blessing of the Bikes!  There is no limit on capacity, so you don't have to worry about not getting in!  Tickets will be available for $25 at the gates, which open up at 5:00pm!  Don't miss it!
With that said, I'll talk to y'all later!

April Fools?

We've had some crazy weather up here in Northern Lower Michigan the last few weeks. In fact, one week ago today, I was outside enjoying bright sunshine and +80° weather, and now it's snowing outside. Not just a little bit of snow, either, this resembles a full-on winter snow day. So much for going out for a run today, I forgot all my cold-weather clothes in the bus! Haha.
Only 8 more days to go until we play "Harem" in Lansing, MI, and then 4 days beyond that before we head south in preparation of the "Kid Rock Cruise" to Grand Cayman Island! I certainly hope that it's not going to be snowing down there...
Here's some exciting news! Well, for me anyway, I don't really know if any of you will even care, but I'm going to tell you anyway! I finally got my car payed off! I'm really looking forward to not having to send all my money to the credit union anymore! :-D
On a side note, I saw one of these at Meijer the other day, (it's like Wal-Mart, for those of you outside of the Michigan area) and it looks like all kinds of fun for bus life!
Air Mag C11
That's about all I've got for now, more news to come once we're actually back on the road!

Jackson, Houma, and Tupelo!

I'm kinda getting a case of not knowing what the hell to write about, so tonight's plan is to just keep typing until something comes out. I'll let you know when that happens.

So our weekend was short, but a lot of fun! We left Grand Rapids on Wednesday to drive to Jackson, MS, and we made it as far as Memphis, TN. We had a massive thunderstorm that night, lots of lightning, and the rain was collecting and forming rivers in the streets! Then we got to Jackson, and it was 80 degrees and sunny! Nice! Then on
Friday we went to Houma, LA, and it was sunny and warm once again! Saturday in Tupelo, it was cold, windy and rainy. Not so much fun, but it was good to see Saving Abel and Framing Hanley again! Next trip out we're heading to Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New York! Ok, time for the Anchor, see ya!

ShamROCK this Month!

A lot of things have happened since my last posting, even though it was only 2 weeks ago... I'm a little older, I'm a little wiser, I'm starting to get hair in really weird places...

But in a non-movie quoting capacity, I celebrated my 26th birthday last tuesday by laying on my mom's couch and watching TV literally all day long. It was amazing. Wednesday, I made of for my lack of productivity the day before by spending 5 hours thoroughly cleaning the interior of my truck. It's very refreshing inside it again. I had a little bit of a pre-birthday celebration last Sunday, Danny and I went to Hopcat in Grand Rapids for some beers, and then we met up with Shane a little later on, and all 3 of us went to the John Mayer and Michael Franti show at the Van Andel Arena. Great time! Tomorrow night, I think all of us are going to get together at The Intersection and ridicule our friends in Halestorm! It's fun to have days off when our friends have shows near us, whether we are home in Grand Rapids, or on the road somewhere else, but the nice thing about when it happens at home is that we have our own vehicles, so we can kidnap the band members and take them out on the town before their show, and get them all hammered! We're a little bit devious that way...

In band news, this coming Wednesday, the 10th, we are heading down south to Jackson, Mississippi, which will be followed up by Houma, LA, and then back to MS for some rock and roll fun with our buddies of Saving Abel, as well as Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. We're excited to get back down into the south!

That's about all I've got for tonight, so be safe, and we'll see ya out there!