My band (A Lion Named Roar) has been rehearsing and gearing up for our release show which was two days ago. So much time went into practicing our parts, printing t-shirts, staying up into the wee hours of the night hand drawing a gigantic eyeball so we could stencil it into a 16-foot backdrop for the stage. It’s really been non-stop since I got back from the Paramore / Relient K tour (which was hands down one of my favorite tours ever!). I was lucky enough to be surrounded by such talented musicians and hard working people on that tour that were a delight to work with. With the help of some of those band members, I made this video for my girlfriend Allison. It was her 20th birthday and it was the only thing I could think to do for her being so far from home. I think she liked it.

As for ALNR, we had an amazing turnout of 249 people packed into The 930 Listening Room here in Louisville. All of our closest friends put in a ton of effort to make the night happen and it payed off in the end. I give so much credit to some of the artist I get to tour with. Its very difficult to put on a good show, much less a great one. You can be a decent guitar player sitting down, but try standing up playing and throw in singing and turning on pedals and it becomes a completely new thing. We had a great time and were able to capture some footage that we plan to use for a DVD or huge podcast later in the year.

We also had an overwhelming response from playing on 91.9 WFPK the afternoon before the show. Everyone at that station is so supportive of what we’re doing, and it’s such an amazing thing to have the support of local radio personalities and their listeners. You can see a video of us playing ‘Currents’ HERE. We’re going to be busy playing locally and even some out of state shows throughout 2010. Hopefully we keep getting better at the live shows and can continue polishing our sound. My fingers are crossed…

A Lion Named Road recently played its first show at earX-tacy to support the release of our new album. We were overwhelmed by the turnout, considering half of our band and a short setlist. We donated the proceeds of our record that day straight to earX-tacy in response to the situation they have fallen into. We were astonished to hear that we were one of the top selling artists at the store this week. Thank you to everyone who went out there and bought the record and stayed to listen to us play. Our photographer/guitarist Billy Grubbs came out and captured some cool shots. Thanks Billy!

Billy Grubbs Photography

Here are four records that I have been listening to quite a bit. Typically I don’t stick to listening to one similar genre or style of music – but for some reason these records fit well together. I really enjoy the production of Findlay Brown and his newest single ‘Love Will Find You‘. A friend of mine says he reminds him of Roy Orbison; and although his voice is not close, if you like Neil Diamond I can’t fathom why you would dislike Findlay. Secondly, Pete Yorn is evidently a musical genius that I wasn’t aware of, but have grown to realize. Mrs. Johansson is both pretty and a great vocalist, so what’s not to like here? ‘Blackie’s Dead’ is my pick for that record.

Allison turned me on to She & Him. I had heard some stuff before – but nothing that grabbed my ear. Sometimes it just takes one good song to get you to put the record on repeat; in this instance it was ‘Sweet Darlin”. This is similar to the Findlay record as far as production – its like they just had overheads on the drums and then threw as much reverb on everything as possible. Its like 1960 all over again! Lastly, Bon Iver has been making frequent appearances in my playlists, and for very good reasons. But actually, the only one reason I will share is that he is a great songwriter that knows how to capture a melody without throwing so much on top of it that is barely noticeable anymore. ‘Blood Bank’, on the EP released last year, is a good example of capturing a great melody by eliminating instrumentation.

Flume (Cover) by Bon Iver

iTunes Promo

Artwork Complete!

Thanks to Evan at Palebird, our records artwork has drawn to a close. Get it?!

A Lion Named Roar - Said & Done

So…

Ciao!

A couple weeks back, I got to spend the day with my girlfriend in Nashville. After coffee at Crema and some lunch at Loveless, we took some pictures with one of my favorite photographers, Billy Grubbs. We went to this awesome bridge in east Nashville, that my friend Matt Hoopes brought my attention to on a bike ride earlier that month. We didn’t really plan on anything, just let Billy do his thing while we sat around and enjoyed the view. Here is one of many amazing shots he captured. I feel like this image captures a lot of personality, and of course Allison’s amazing curls.

Currently, I am out with Anberlin in between dates with Relient K. I’m really excited to be here – my good friend Brent Cayson has toured with this band for years – and the guys in the band were his best friends. He decided it was time for him to move on to other things, and through that I was able to jump in. The guys in the band are great fellas, and their music is amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better job – than to tour with genuine people and be involved with something that so many people care about. Good times!

Chris and I are working on album artwork for a project we started early this year. Its so challenging to come up with something creative when you have as much elbow room as you want. We’ve talked several times about ideas, and there are just too many different directions we could take with design, photography, colors, themes, etc. It can be quite overwhelming deciding what we would like the cover to look like, much less the entire packaging. Even though we recorded this stuff ‘off cuff’ and remained pretty leisurely with it – we still want it to look great. Here is to hoping we can create something eye opening!

Next Page →