monday

my life is backwards sometimes. today is (was - depending on when you are reading this) monday and that means the weekend starts today. we've got a few days off and i'm excited to see my wife. trish, if you are reading this, you can't say i never blog about you - haha.

on the agenda - mowing my grass that's extremely tall. the homeowners association here sends me letters every now and then and it seems their grip is slowly tightening. but oh well. i usually keep the grass cut so i can deal with it. just be warned if you're thinking about buying a home in a subdivision with an HOA. read your release forms, kids.

but check this out:



i find this HILARIOUS. it may be kinda hard to tell, but this is the house across the street. it's hard to grasp the scale, so i'll describe. those are lifesize blow up lawn decorations for halloween. well, when i say life size, i mean that stage coach with the grim reaper in it. i don't really have a size reference for ghosts jumping out of a giant pumpkin but i'd say that ten feet tall is tall enough to consider life size. for thanksgiving they have a giant inflatable turkey. for christmas it's a giant snow man and giant santa claus with reindeer. some of the people on our street get angry over it, but i think it's amazing. what baffles me is that i get an angry letter because i let a band park their a small trailer in our driveway for a week and somehow they get away with this. it's actually impressive. they must have done their homework and found a loophole in the HOA agreement. kudos to them.



trish and i saw the informant tonight. matt damon was awesome. it has a very dry humor about a character that's so strange it could only have been a true story. and it was - growing up in springfield, IL i knew a lot about the ADM plant in decatur...well, not a lot. i just knew that the city of Decatur smells. no really, it SMELLS. anyway, the movie is a true story about this guy who turns informant on the company back in the 90s. if i were to rate it on a scale from 1 to 10 i'd give it a 7. pretty good movie. maybe not amazing, but definitely entertaining. trish thought it was boring so take my review with a grain of salt.

also, on the agenda, mixing the rest of the Alcina project (www.myspace.com/alcinatn) as well as mixing for LA band Act As If (www.myspace.com/actasif). i didn't produce the latter band, but i'm really into this band. kind of a Barcelona vibe. oh, and also, i promise to do a guitar rig blog next weekend. talk to you all later.

Nick

things i learned today

Excelsior Springs, MO was where i woke up today and it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. i don't care if that adjective takes away any manliness because awesome transcends masculinity. Here's a few things i learned today:

1. Fishing



Fish will eat Cheezit crackers, but the real problems is hooking them - the cheezits, that is. after toiling away with no real success, i dug up some worms and caught a few blue gill the old fashioned way.

2. Snakes Are Sneaky Little Creatures


click picture to enlarge

See if you can spot the copperhead snake in this picture. I'll give you a hint: his little copper head is sticking out of the copper water and the rest of his copper body is hidden. Let's just say i didn't do any fishing on this side of the pond.


3. iPhones can do ANYTHING



The guitar tech on this tour who we affectionately refer to as Tinkle Tee is awesome. Part of his awesomeness is due to the fact that he has rigged up an iPhone strobe tuner in addition to the normal tuner. plus the fact that i didn't have to tell him that i lost a cable for him to notice and have one ready for me when he brought me the acoustic guitar during the FM Static set.


and lastly,

4. The crowd here in Excelsior Springs was amazing




It's been a while since i posted a crowd shot. has anybody who reads this ever found themselves? should i keep posting these?

Ok, i've gotta go because there's an Arbys beef and cheddar with my arteries' name on it and the old acid reflux has been begging to come out and play. Later!

human sacrifice! dogs and cats living together! mass hysteria!

tonight we played a show at wheaton college which is in the chicago area. it actually turned out pretty cool. i was most excited because my mom and sister and a couple other friends came. anyway, the crowd was awesome. sometimes people will tag photos of me on facebook and i've noticed that in almost every photo i'm making a weird face and usually looking down at my guitar so lately i've been making a concerted effort to look people in the eye as much as i can and try to smile as much as i can without taking away from TFK's vibe. you'd be surprised how hard it is.

so right now we're on the bus and we've got Ghostbusters on which is probably one of my favorite movies of all time. it's probably because of the nostalgic value. i loved this movie as a kid, and what's awesome is that now that i'm older i love it still, but all the jokes that totally went over my head back then now entertain the older me. bill murray and harold ramis - you are geniuses.

i've noticed that most great artistic pieces of work, whether songs, movies, books or paintings have one thing in common. and that is that they work on multiple levels. a good movie can appeal to audiences on multiple levels. few people realize that t he most famous zombie film Night of the Living Dead was criticism of government and traditional group think at the time it came out. most literary classics have stories that carry almost any underlying theme from innocence lost, to redemption all the way to the futility of greed. and i've noticed that the best songs work on three distinct levels. here's my theory:

1. First Level - How it rolls off the tongue

Let's call this the Anagada da vida level. this is the most superficial level. a great song uses words that roll off the tongue easily and fluidly. small children get this level extremely well. my niece loves every song that my wife's band plays and can sing every word - except she gets all the words wrong. but her approximation for the words still get the point across. she is only paying attention to first level. also, how about this -
Na Na Na Na
Na Na Na Na
Hey Hey Hey
Goodbye.

you know what song that is. what about that techno song from a few years back "Blue?" i still don't know what the chorus was saying and i can still sing along. when american bands go to a foreign country, the crowds sing every single word even though they can't understand the language. it's because they've learned it phonetically.

2. Second Level - Coherence

the second level is when the song is well written in a sense that it is complete. it has a meaning. or tells a story. this automatically disqualifies anything by the black eyed peas. side note: i really really hate that new song of theirs, tonight's gonna be a good night (or whatever it's called). they're just spouting off random things. they even say "mazel tov" as if they're at some sort of clubbin' dance infused bar mitzvuh. and keep the drinks away from fergie. she might pee her pants again. does anybody else think her face looks like a catchers mitt? anyway, a lot of songwriters struggle to get to this point. for instance, making sure that your pronoun tenses agree. it i'm writing a song about a girl, and i say "her" when talking about her in the verses, and then i refer to her as "you" in the chorus, that's very confusing to the listener.

3. Third Level - underlying theme

this is the level where greatness is made. for instance, hotel california. classic song. it tells a complete story. the words roll off the tongue well. and when you search into the deeper meaning of the song (lamenting the culture of hollywood in the 70s) it really tells a deeper story. another example that i love is "Title and Registration" by Deathcab for Cutie. here's the first few lines:

The glove compartment isn't accurately named
And everybody knows it.
So i'm proposing a swift orderly change.

ok, kinda seems like a weird topic to write a song about. but the genius of the song is in the next few lines:

Cause behind its door there's nothing to keep my fingers warm
And all i find are souvenirs from better times
Before the gleam of your taillights fading east
To find yourself a better life.

all of the sudden they've taken what seemed to be an inane song and gave it a whole new and deeper meaning. those are just a few examples. and i should also say that these three levels apply to lyrics. melody is a whole different animal.

so i'll leave you with my favorite quote from ghostbusters:

"Gozer the Traveler. He will come in one of the pre-chosen forms. During the rectification of the Vuldrini, the traveler came as a large and moving Torg! Then, during the third reconciliation of the last of the McKetrick supplicants, they chose a new form for him: that of a giant Slor! Many Shuvs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Slor that day, I can tell you!"

time to get all preachy

ok, so here's my thoughts on the health care circus that's going on right now. contrary to what you might think, i'm not going to bash republicans or democrats. that's not my point. try this. think about it like you would with a pet.

i always assumed that dogs and cats get different medicine than we do. most people don't realize that they frequently get the exact same treatments and procedures that we do. pets get neutered and spayed, we get vasectomies and hysterectomies. if an animal has diabetes, they get the same insulin that we get, just in a smaller dose. if your dog has allergies, the vet will tell you to put half a pill of benedryl in his food. so why is our healthcare exponentially more expensive than for animals?

the answer is our own laziness and failure to do the math.

50 or 60 years ago, most medical treatment was paid for out of pocket by the consumer. doctors made house calls. insurance was seen as a way to avoid catastrophic events where the medical bills would ruin a person's finances. all the little stuff like doctor visits and pills were mostly paid out of pocket. and because of this, people paid attention to what things cost. there was economic pressure to keep prices down. but then we got lazy.

the idea of insurance paying for EVERYTHING appealed to us. it was the easy way out. instead of calculating whether the higher premium was worth it or not, we took the path of least resistance and just bought into it. and because of that, the economic pressure to keep prices down went away. think about it. when you go to a doctor, do you ask your doctor what everything costs? when he tells you to take a pill, is the first question out of your mouth how much it will be? no, that's an afterthought to be negotiated between drug and insurance companies. and since no one really cares how expensive the drugs and treatments are, the prices have skyrocketed over the years. do i blame the drug companies? do i blame the insurance companies? NO. i blame us. we let this happen by taking the easy road and not doing our homework.

now the price of healthcare has skyrocketed so high that it's impossible to cover even the medium size events without paying exorbitant premiums. we've dug ourselves into a hole that no one knows how to get out of.

don't believe me? let's get back to the dog thing. it costs me about $120 a year TOTAL to keep my dog healthy. shots, heartworm, regular checkup, etc... If i were to get the equivalent to that amount of care for myself, i'd be lucky if my share of the copay was that cheap. it sucks to have to shell out $120 at once, but i'd rather pay for exactly what i need than have another monthly premium for coverage i probably won't use. and now some vets are trying to do this. the banfield clinic at petsmart is selling animal health insurance. it's about $20 a month. if i were to get this, i would be paying $240 spread out over a year rather than $120 all at once. and get this, because people are buying into this, prices are already starting to go up. the banfield clinic charges more for procedures and tests than most local vets. and when it gets pricey, they suggest their puppy health insurance - what a deal!

but what about if your pet has a catastrophic event? well, i worked for a guy a few years ago who was rich and whose dog got cancer. he did everything possible to keep his dog alive for an extra year and a half before the dog died. he regularly sent the dog to one of the best vet hospitals in the country and had multiple chemo and other cancer treatments. in the end, this dog got the best medical care that was available in a time span that lasted a year and a half. and what was the final bill? roughly $20,000. yes, that's a lot of money. but if you consider what the same treatments would cost a person, it should have been at least ten times more expensive. my mom went through breast cancer a few years ago and i can personally account that the medical bills that our insurance had to cover were exponentially higher than that. and yes, $20k is still a lot of money, but that wouldn't ruin you and throw you into bankruptcy. and isn't that what health insurance is supposed to protect us from?

again, we're all in a hole so deep that nobody knows the answer. that's whyi'm not condemning either side of the debate going on right now. it's not an easy answer. but if i had to make an educated guess, i would say that the way to fix it starts with fixing the original problem - and that's personal responsibility.

they might be giants

There are a few things in the bible that they don't really cover in sunday school yet are extremely interesting. my teachers covered the really important stuff. Yes, Mrs. Carol and Mrs. Sheila did a wonderful job with salvation and kindness and humility and all that. but there is also some crazy science fiction in the old book what makes it so interesting is that it's essentially a historical record of some crazy out there saturday morning cartoons type stuff. for instance, did you know that there are references to dinosaurs in the bible? it's true. and in a few different places - not just one odd verse that's taken out of context.

So we played with Children 18:3 the other day. David, Seth and Lee Marie are awesome. i've even become good friends with their whole family. my buddy and producer extraordinaire Steve Wilson did their first record and i got to help out a little bit in the studio and got to know them. anyway, david, came up to me and started talking to me about a heavy topic. i know that most conversations usually start with some sort of delicate sundries and niceties. but i love that he can just walk up to me and start talking about conflicting views on when the rapture will happen in reference to the tribulation. he's always got something good for me. we don't always agree. but i love the discussion.

so the other day he came up and started talking about this guy Chuck Missler. he pointed me towards a few links on youtube and today i spent a good two hours watching his twelve part series. i've yet to decide if i agree with his conclusions, but it's INCREDIBLY interesting.

He basically links the biblical story of the Nephilim - the offspring of fallen angels mating with humans - and connects it with UFOs and the Roswell incident. he even speculates on inter-dimensional travel and spends time on reflecting how theoretical physics could possibly explain the spiritual realm. i'm probably the farthest thing from a biblical scholar so i'm not sure if his citations are being used in the correct context...but it's extremely fascinating. Here's the links if any of you want to check it out. the first 3 or 4 are spent talking about UFOs and then he dives into the biblical element.



Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12

again, i'm not necessarily endorsing this, but if you've got a couple hours, check it out. he's a lot better at explaining it than i am, but i'll try anyway for the benefit of those of you who don't want to watch the videos.

Mr. Missler suspects that these nephilim, (who are generally accepted as the giants in the bible who are the offspring of humans and fallen angels) are periodically coming to earth and are being mistaken for aliens. he supposes that spiritual beings exist within more than our 4 dimensions (height, width, depth and time) which explains how they can dematerialize. when satan was cast out of heaven, he took 1/3 of the angels with him which leaves him with a 2 to 1 disadvantage in any sort of cosmic and spiritual matchup. he supposes that these fallen angels are trying to increase their numbers in the bible to even the score and surmises that this is also one of the reason for the flood. he suspects this could still be going on and that alien "abductions" are actually fallen angels trying to impregnate humans to create more soul-less drones for the final battle in the end times in revelation. phew. that was a mouthful.

i know i know. it all sounds crazy. and ya know what? it probably is. but it's fun to listen to. i'm a skeptic. but it's still fun to watch conspiracy theory documentaries. i don't think JFK was a conspiracy. i don't think Bush had anything to do with 9/11. i believe we landed on the moon. BUT if you haven't seen "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Moon" then you are missing out. even if you don't believe this stuff (which i don't usually), i think it's good to get that old peanut in the head knockin' around and thinking a little bit. it's better than video games. or at least better than sitting on a laptop writing blogs. wait a minute...

surprises

So today we spent the day off in St. Louis before our first tour date. I grew up about an hour and a half away so this city kinda feels like home. I spent some time hanging out with old friends and figuring out the city train system.

and i got a big surprise.

if any of you have read my blogs in the past, you know that i hold a certain level of contempt for TSA that is usually reserved for murderers and pedophiles. they continue to break my gear and harass me at airports in the name of national security. but i digress....

 

Public enemy #1:  THIS GUY

today, a friend of mine and i were on our way into the city. after a cab ride we found ourselves at the train station, but we couldn't buy a ticket with our debit cars. we trekked to the gas station across the street whose ATM was out of order. the attendant told us that the nearest station was a mile away...and we were on foot. so there we were standing outside the gas station when a lady in a TSA uniform asked us if we were from around here. we said no and told her our situation. she pulled out a $10 dollar bill, handed it to us and told us to stay safe.

i was amazed. it reminds me of the first jurassic park where the T-Rex ends up saving the day and eating the velociraptors just as they were about to pounce. oh, sorry to anybody who hasn't seen that movie. if you haven't, then you need to get on that.

ANYWAY, the point is, even though i still can't stand TSA as an organization or their crazy double-standard, inconsistent and ridiculous rules, it showed me that there's really some good people out there even if i don't agree with what they do. and while there are some idiots who break my gear searching for signs of a terrorist, it doesn't make everyone of them a brain dead mongoloid. and that's my version of a compliment.

Feeling up grandma to keep us safe

tour rehearsal

i remember when i was little i watched Mr. Rogers. he died a few years back and i have no idea how long he stayed on the air. so basically i don't know if everybody reading this knows who he is. anyway, every now and then he would have a little segment that showed a montage of how something was made in a factory. i vividly remember the one that showed how crayons were made. i was and still am fascinated by that stuff. sooooooo, for those of you who don't know how a tour is put together, i thought i'd throw a few pictures up to show you our tour rehearsals.

for most tours, there is a full tour rehearsal with full sound and lights before the first show. there are specialized rehearsal spaces for rent that are basically just big warehouses that can accommodate setting up the full sound and lighting rig. and then other times the rehearsal will be held in an actual space. today we held our tour rehearsal at a venue in nashville as you can see above. there's so many kinks to work out and things to get set up that a tour basically needs a dress rehearsal. the idea is to be completely ready to go for the very first show.



Here you see our tour manager at the FOH (front of house) console checking the lines and the lighting tech doing fancy schmancy lighting stuff. that's technical speak for i don't know what he's doing.



The console that you almost always see at the side of the stage is for monitors. some bands use stage monitors and some use personal in-ear monitors. we happen to use the in ear monitors. a good part of the rehearsal is spent getting a good monitor mix. this can be saved on the console and recalled for every show.



Here's our tour manager extraordinaire (@TFKTourMGR) mic'ing and setting up my guitar rig. we have two rolling set carts that we use. it's pretty cool because we just strap our gear in there and it stays there for the whole tour. the cart just rolls on and off the stage. it's very important to minimize the time between bands so being able to get our gear on and off very quickly is a big deal. the other benefit of the set carts is that we can put a scrim with our logo on the front to hide the gear and make for a much cleaner look on the stage.



And then there's the actual rehearsing. we just basically work out the kinks and try to be as tight as possible. here's a thing i've learned. any sort of entertainment that really captures you has probably got a LOT of hard work put into it. whether it's a concert, play, movie or baseball game, there are probably many facets that we could never think of that go on behind the scenes to contribute to the bigger picture.

Anyway, i'm very excited for the tour. we've been flying to shows every weekend since february so it's going to be nice to get on a bus. and i must say that i am totally blessed to be able to do this. i LOVE it. it sucks that i have to be away from my wife for a week or two at a time, but overall i consider myself incredibly lucky. well, i hope to meet a lot of new friends on this tour. if anybody reading wants to come check out a show, we've got the dates posted on our website and myspace

www.myspace.com/thousandfootkrutch
www.ThousandFootKrutch.com

Ahhh, Minneapolis. I really like when we play that city. A lot of it probably has to do with the fact that we usually are playing a show that is hosted by the Club 3 degrees people. And they always treat us better than we deserve. This time it was them putting on the show, but we actually played at Northwestern College. I didn't get my normal shot from the stage, but here's one of a bunch of kids in the signing line. recognize yourself??

This was the first time we played Masquerade live and it went over very well.

The next day we flew to Fort Smith, AR and played a benefit for the Hannah House which i think is an unwed mother or battered women shelters. one of the two. i know that sounds heartless but i had different people telling me different things.

We ended up driving back to Nashville the next morning which was quite the adventure. Best joke of the day winner is:

What do you call a black guy with a Ph.D.? A doctor, you racist!

Ok, so you might not find that one inside of a laffy taffer wrapper. but i thought it was pretty funny. Ok, so this is a short post, but don't worry. we start our tour in a couple days and i'll be posting my complete guitar rig as well as a few other goodies. Ok, i'll talk to you later.

covers

cover songs. we love them. we hate them. some more than others. the stereotypical heckler from the audience wanting to hear freebird probably does want to actually hear the song. a bad cover will instantly call down fire and brimstone from above. and by above i mean everyone in the crowd. but take a mediocre artist and give them a good cover and it will propel them higher than they will ever be able to get on their own. but why is that? why are some better than others? is it just a matter of one being recorded or performed better? well, kinda. i THINK i have the answer. not sure, but i think i do. a good cover song is when the new version brings a different viewpoint to the song that has yet to be realized.

you can't just rehash the old one. people will ALWAYS like the old one better. even if it's inferior recording quality and inferior musicianship. why? because you're just copying an original spark of creativity.

One example is Copeland.



Don't get me wrong. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE COPELAND. seriously. i have all their records. i've played shows with them. i've talked with them. they're good guys. aaron marsh's voice is amazing. beneath the medicine tree is one of my favorite records. but i think their Achilles heel is when they do covers. and not because it was done badly. it's because they didn't bring anything new to the table. when they covered black hole sun, they took a dark and brood original and decided to make their own version dark and brooding. they covered take my breath away. they took a slow ballad and made a slow ballad. sure, they added a couple cool things here and there. but there was no fundamental new idea brought to the table. they do everything else right. they're great musicians. it's well recorded. they're just missing the part about bringing a new idea to an old song.

On the other hand, there's Ingrid Michaelson.



I saw her play in nashville about a year ago and she was amazing. it was kind of a weird tour. she was blowing up with that The Way I Am song yet she was on a tour with some other writers that nobody had ever heard of and it was kind of awkward and obvious that everyone was there only to see her. ANYWAY, she did the most AMAZING cover of radiohead's Creep that i've heard. just her and a ukulele. here's a link for it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcoj5PWFMZg [be warned, there is some swearing]

Anyway, the reason her version is awesome isn't because she has a phenomenal voice. it's because it's a completely new idea that put a whole different take on a really good song. the original had huge overdriven guitars. this isn't just about making an acoustic version. the ukulele is such a bright and whimsical instrument. to pair it with such a creepy (how appropriate) and dark song is a really good idea.

Think about this. Has anybody heard of Me First and the Gimme Gimme's?? it's a side project of a few punk bands that do punk rock covers. they've got a winning formula. they just take good songs and make punk covers. some are better than others. after so many years it's become a formula, but the point is that they are bringing a fundamental change. and i believe that's why they've been so successful and turned what was probably meant to be a one time project into multiple CDs.



and on that same note, has anyone heard the When Punk Goes Crunk compilation CD? it's just punk bands doing rap and r&b songs. some of the bands just tried to do their best approximation of a rap song and failed miserably. the songs that are good are the ones that bring a new element. i've heard a LOT of bands cover this song, but All Time Low's version of Umbrella by Rihanna is the best.

And here's my best example:



do you have any clue who these guys are? no really. don't cheat and skip down below. take a look and guess. you probably have no idea.

But if you heard any of their hits you would instantly recognize the songs. ok, give up? this is the reggae band UB-40. they had a few hits back in the 90's. Red Red Wine. I Can't Help Falling In Love With You. The Way You Do The Things You Do.

Every single hit they've had were cover songs. they took a great song and made it reggae. it's a simple formula, but it satisfied the requirement of a good cover and brought a new element that made the song fresh and new.

I'm not sure why i'm up so early and i'm not sure why i decided to write about cover songs. it was just in my head when i got up. i hope you all are doing well. i've got shows in minneapolis and arkansas this weekend. come out and say hi. i'll holla atcha later.

P.S. if any of the guys in copeland somehow happen to read this, I'M SORRY. i seriously do love your music. i'm not slamming you. it's just an objective analysis. although a wise man once told me not to analyze. because it just makes anal of Y - Z - E. wait, that didn't quite work out like i planned.

skymall

i've been flying every weekend since feb. so me and the guys have become quite familiar with the skymall magazine. for those of you who don't know, it's a periodical found in the seatback pocket in most airplanes and is a treasure trove of comedy. truth is stranger than fiction and sometimes the best comedy comes from things that aren't meant to be funny. for those of you who aren't familiar, here's a few examples:

1. Jumpin' Jammers Footed Pajamas - FOR ADULTS


I mean, how is this NOT a good idea?? skymall sees a genuine consumer need for full length footed pajamas and when they see a need, they deliver. for the guy in the middle, i'm sure right after this picture he put on a pair of underwear over the pajamas and tied a towel around his neck to he could complete the superman outfit. and of course, what better outfit to wear if you're going to be lounging around doing the splits before bedtime. i need to call my stock broker to see if i can get in on the ground floor of this company.

2. Bigfoot: "The Garden Yeti" Lawn Sculpture



If you're the type to decorate your back yard to the nines, then we have something for you. you've got everything - a koi pond, finely pruned trees, fountain, pristine garden, etc. BUT no garden is complete without a garden yeti. it used to be all about lawn gnomes and pink flamingos. but no, you've taken it to the next level now. shown here in the classic caught-on-home-video form, he watches over your plants and keeps the critters away.

3. Truck Antlers



Here's something for those of you who are not satisfied with their camo paint job and truck nuts. Truck antlers. I mean, that makes sense. make your car look like something that needs to be chased and killed. it might as well be a bullseye for cops. And hey, what better way to show people that you like to hunt and kill deer than to make your primary method of transportation look just like one.

4. Lawn Aerator Shoes



ok, this is just a downright lawsuit waiting to happen. but think about this - how crazy will you look to your neighbors when you're tip-toeing through the tulips like some escaped and drugged up mental patient for a few hours. GENIUS.

5. Powerlung



I have no idea what this does. And i don't think i want to know either. NEXT ITEM.


6. Neckpro Traction Device



i can't count how many times my wife and i have torn the house apart looking for some way to put my head in traction. i mean, who really needs doctors anyway?? got a neck injury? no need to go get it checked out. just take matters into your own hands. it's the same as changing your own oil to save some money, right?? what could possibly go wrong?


7. Dual Sided Electric Tooth Brush



This one looks pretty benign. That is, until you get a mental picture of how you will look while using it. And that's all i'm going to say about that.




I feel like i could keep going for hours. What's crazy is that the people who invented this stuff are probably making crazy money. If you think about it, it's a win-win. We get a nice chuckle when we look at this stuff, and the people who make it are laughing all the way to the bank.

P.S. New TFK record drops today. GO BUY IT.

Lifelight Fest

Ok, so before i get into to the meat of this post, let me say something about a more pressing matter. there's a law and order marathon on USA today and i'm loving it. that show has a winning formula that has been working for years. except now the people on USA bought the rights to the show and have made a crappy version called Law and Order: Criminal Intent. i hate it. if the real show were an armani suit then this show would be a cheap handbag knockoff. and here's why: law and order had realistic characters and realistic situations that presented moral dilemmas with both sides represented. in criminal intent, the detectives are these all-knowing hero characters who can do no wrong. puh-lease. as soon as you make a character perfect, it immediately ceases to be realistic. i want a show to make me think. not an ego-centric cop drama. although on the other hand, SVU has ice T so that's one strike against its legitimacy.

Anyway, i just got back a few hours ago from our show in Sioux Falls, SD at LifeLight festival. The show was great. we had an 11 o'clock spot and the stage was packed out as people piled in from the main stage. TSA somehow managed to break open my tuner pedal causing it to not work. thanks guys. there's another $90 down the drain. we got a late start because of a few technical issues and we had to stop a song cause a kid got hurt, but other than that it was a lot of fun. here's a picture i took from the stage. see you if you can find yourself:



Also, if by chance anyone booking festivals happens to read this, how about booking TFK and superchick on the same day?!? it seems me and trish are always playing the same festival but a day apart.

Oh, and check this out. these guys are friggin' committed fans.



yes, those are the TFK logos tattooed on their arms.

Anyway, we had a great time. the people providing catering for the souled out stage were awesome. we definitely appreciate their ministry.

So the end of this weekend means that we have only one more weekend of fly dates until the tour starts next week. we've been flying almost every weekend since february and i am ready to get on a bus. i am so thankful that we're able to be on a bus on tour. we are definitely blessed. anyway, remember to buy the new record on tuesday. i hope everyone had a great weekend.

Welcome To The Masquerade

Ok, so enough about the subtle self promotion. let's just get downright obvious with it. We have a new record coming out on Tuesday titled Welcome to the Masquerade and it's pretty good if i do say so myself. and of COURSE i say so because when you buy the record it benefits me (well, indirectly). so basically, i'm just gonna have to declare a good 'ole conflict 'o interest on that one. i am a tainted source of information. don't even think about trusting me on this issue. if i were a CIA operative, my status at Langley would be COMPROMISED. so since it's clear that i do not have a trusted opinion, i've provided a few quotes from reviews.

“‘Welcome to the Masquerade’ is like a greatest hits album for Thousand Foot Krutch, every song on the album IS a hit! I would highly recommend this to anyone who has been a fan of TFK as well as FM Static." --Absolutepunk.net

“‘Welcome to the Masquerade’ takes TFK’s hard rocking anthem songs to a completely new level. If you loved past efforts like “Rawkfist” and “Move”, you won’t be able to sit still for this new album. It’s clearly one of the very best albums of the year, hands down.” - CMSpin.com

"Simply put, if you are a fan of arena rock or a long time TFK listener, you should be excited about this, as it blows away anything else I’ve heard in the genre all year long." --CMZine.com

“‘Welcome to the Masquerade’ is a nearly perfect album, it is filled with a few simply wonderful and noteworthy songs. Fundamentally it is an excellent work that has stunning production and a crisp, rich sound.” --Kyle Kiekintveld, Staff Writer, TheChristianManifesto.com

“On their latest release, Thousand Foot Krutch presents one of their edgiest and most diverse projects to date. On Masquerade, TFK acknowledges their strengths and builds on them to create one of the standout rock albums of the season – if not the year. If you can only afford one rock record in the weeks ahead, there’s no mistaking that Welcome To The Masquerade delivers and does not disappoint.”

--JesusFreakHideout.com

“‘Welcome to the Masquerade’ covers a lot of ground – and covers is well. It tackles weighty topics with depth and intensity, but also dishes out plenty of fun in the form of 'big, crunchy adrenaline rock,' as McNevan calls it.” -- Stars and Stripes

“Thousand Foot Krutch have finally created the masterpiece we all knew they were capable of...Welcome To The Masquerade takes everything you've ever loved about TFK in one well thought out and hard rocking package.” --Underthegunreview.net



So there you have it. seriously though i think it's a good record. it comes out on Tuesday, September 8th. i think pre-orders are available now on our websites. a few of the songs are actually on our myspace now. i'd be curious to hear what everybody's fave song is so far. hit me back with comments ya'll!!

soooo, um...

I've never been very good at subtlety. whenever i try, i think that i'm being coy and slight. but the truth is i'm painfully obvious. just ask any girl who i had a crush on in high school but was too afraid to ask. so instead of trying to figure out a clever way to say it, i'll just say it.

Go buy Britt Nicole's new record When The Lost Get Found. Right. Now.

why would i need to be subtle about this? because it would be a veiled attempt of massive self promotion. Britt, Josh Crosby and I wrote a song called Glow that is on the album and i'm pumped about it. she's a great singer and i hope she does well.

now if you are reading this and you are from springfield, IL, then you probably already know this. how? well, because my parents are probably the best publicists ever. i have an awesome family and my parents are so proud of me that they still have my kindergarten coloring book pieces of artwork adorning our fridge. well, ok, they don't really. but you get the idea.

which brings me to my next thought. connection with art.

i went to a fancy recording and music business school. before i dropped out, a professor once told my class that the reason people like certain music is because they have a connection. i was instantly repulsed by the idea. good music is good music. if it's good, then people will like it. but over time i've realized that he was completely right.

there's a lot of good music out there. probably more than any of us could listen to in a lifetime. but we stick with the stuff that we have a connection to. that connection could be almost anything. the obvious example is when you see a band live and then afterwards you seem to like their music even more. or maybe there's a certain CD you listened to on spring break, and now every time you hear it, it reminds you of that time. there have been many artists who have broken through to a new level because their song was featured in a popular TV show. remember when green day's Time Of Your Life (or whatever the official title was) was in the emotional last episode of ER? a SoCal punk band broke through to moms and dads because that song connected with so many people.


5 or 6 years ago i lived in chicago and was a youth leader at my church. our worship band was a good group of guys who spent of lot of time together. in that period of my life, i listened to a LOT of worship music. Hillsong United, Tomlin, Crowder, etc... I listened to that stuff because i had a connection. a big part of my life was centered on that. but once i moved to nashville, i stopped. i'm not ripping them at all, but honestly, when i hear that stuff now, it seems boring and lifeless to me. and before you start accusing me of a wavering faith because i don't listen to worship music, let me say this. the new glorious unseen record is awesome. they're a worship band i listen to. but those dudes are good friends and two of the guys used to be room mates so there's my connection. oh, and i did some additional engineering for the record. well, there i go again with the shameless self promotion. i'm not sure how to wrap this one up. i'm probably distracted because i'm watching charlie wilsons war and i absolutely love Philip Seymour Hoffman in this movie. he's becoming one of my favorite actors.



it's entertaining and also very educational. it's portrayed as the incredible achievement that it was at that time in the early 80s. but the whole movie makes it obvious that our meddling in other countries' affairs were not really in our best interest in the long run. we won the battle but lost the war. ok now i'm ranting about politics so i should just stop now. bye.