Sunspot

Sunspot Road Mania Ep. 174 - NAMM 2012 Day 4

2012-01-23T07:43:00.002-06:00

Sunspot at NAMM Day 4

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 173 - NAMM 2012 Day 3

2012-01-23T07:43:00.001-06:00

Sunspot at NAMM Day 3!

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 172 - NAMM 2012 Day 2

2012-01-21T10:40:00.002-06:00

Sunspot at NAMM 2012 Day 1

2012-01-20T11:55:00.000-06:00

Sunspot on Broadjam

2011-11-16T16:29:00.001-06:00

We Are Retiring The Sunspot Blog

2011-09-27T01:25:00.002-05:00

Hey readers,Back in 2004 when we started the blog, it was a fun way to communicate with everyone. We could put in pictures, road updates, random thoughts, and ideas. However, now we've all moved onto social networks and we end up posting pics to Twitter, Facebook, etc... We don't really keep a proper blog now (but we still update the podcast regularly with new videos!) it's just more of a place that we update once in awhile. We still have a very active presence on Facebook and Twitter and that's where you'll be able to find our latest updates.To all the people that have been faithfully reading the blog for the past seven years, no worries. We'll still be writing, observing, and saying moronic things to keep you entertained. Blogging is fun, but as we enter the next stage of the web's existence, we're finding that we're getting more feedback on social networks and by creating videos, pictures, and quick audio updates rather than just writing. A blog is not the ideal format for those things. And that's why we're moving on. So, make sure that you like is on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to us on YouTube, because we're still extremely active in creating music, videos, and communicating with you. The world is changing and we're changing with it!

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 165

2011-09-23T10:30:00.001-05:00

Taste of Madison, Sunspot rocking live, Crash Test Dummies, didgeridoos, our new CD, and more! Mmmm mmmm mmmm mmmm, it's a good time this month!Download the podcast directly here.

SUNSPOT TO DELIVER SIXTH STUDIO ALBUM WITH SCI-FI BENT

2011-09-13T16:47:00.002-05:00

Madison Rock Band Returns with The Slingshot Effect November 22

Madison, WI—As a trio that has staked its very existence on making obscure references and turning them into something universally palatable, Madison rock band Sunspot has once again pushed its musical boundaries with a forthcoming album, The Slingshot Effect (November 22 release). Sunspot will celebrate with a release party in Madison at The Frequency on Friday, November 18. As the theme this time around, singer/bassist Mike Huberty says that The Slingshot Effect is the “rock ‘n’ roll equivalent of the Sci-Fi Channel.”

“This is Sunspot’s electro-space rock record,” Huberty adds. “Whenever we would watch a movie about the future when we were growing up, the music they listened to was always very industrial-sounding. Since we are living in the future now, we wanted to bring those influences into our new album.”

The full-length, which is an extension of the EP the band released in March, Deus Ex Machina (and those three songs are also featured on The Slingshot Effect) pushes the envelope thematically. That means turning monsters into the heroes of “We Are The Darkness,” reframing humanity as celestial beings in “Stardust,” and showing how protectors aren’t always saving the right people in “Guardian Angel”. “Cannibal" has a little bit of all history's favorite man-eaters in it. And “The Slingshot Effect” itself is inspired by the method of time travel in Star Trek (whipping a spaceship around the sun at faster-than-light speed), wherein a person can’t alter the past no matter how badly he or she might want to.

Also true to form, Sunspot put much of the focus on the music and on the studio aspect itself. “The recording process for this album was unique for us in that we worked a lot more with different percussion sounds, on top of our usual live drum sound,” says drummer Wendy Lynn Staats. “The Major Arcana (rock opera) tour made us comfortable with incorporating electronic sounds and samples into our standard live rock format. I think it impacted our whole approach to writing and performing this album, and took our songs in a new and fun direction.”

The band also took advantage of some new gear, including guitars that Huberty and guitarist Ben Jaeger received as part of an endorsement with German company Hoyer. “We generated some great sounds and our engineer, Eric Katte (Doug Stone, Ricky Skaggs, and Kenny Rogers), continues to show his mastery of the mixing board and his passion for our music,” said Jaeger.

But along with that passion comes a love for what Sunspot does best—which is to surprise its fan base and entertain them thoroughly at the same time. “The fun part is taking something conventional and twisting its meaning completely around,” said Huberty. “We love finding the fantastic in the ordinary.”

About Sunspot:
Rock band Sunspot has racked up a few awards and a lot of recognition during the past decade, including winning Rock Album of the Year in the Madison Area Music Association Awards for Singularity (2010) and Loser of the Year (2004). Sunspot is a symphony of guitars and voices, soaring melodies wrapped around hyper literate poetry and wicked rhythms. Male and female harmonies collide with expert guitar work and pop sensibility. Sunspot is rock music that's smart, fun, and powerful. Think the Fountains of Wayne or Barenaked Ladies with Lars Ulrich on drums and Eddie Van Halen on guitar. The band has recorded six albums, a DVD and an EP, as well as over 150 biweekly video podcasts (Sunspot Road Mania), and have shared the stage with Death Cab for Cutie, The Flaming Lips, Sponge, SevenMaryThree, Hot Hot Heat, Crash Test Dummies and Sick Puppies. In 2010, Sunspot released the DVD version of their multimedia spectacle, Major Arcana. That was followed by the EP, Deus Ex Machina in March 2011. Also in early 2011, Sunspot licensed their song, “Go, Pack!” to FOX Sports for their Super Bowl coverage, with some residual coverage for the song on NPR as well as numerous Wisconsin radio stations.
 For more information and tour dates, please visit http://www.sunspotmusic.com

Publicity: Mike Farley/ Michael J. Media Group/ 608-848-9707/ mike@michaeljmedia.com

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 163

2011-08-29T09:14:00.001-05:00

We give Philly the cheese steak and run away from Hurricane Irene!

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 164

2011-08-28T12:00:00.001-05:00

We penetrate deep into the heart of Pittsburgh and bring the rock to The Smiling Moose, find maybe the coolest toy store on the planet, and then head back home!

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 162

2011-08-26T13:33:00.003-05:00

Rocking the Mad Hatter with some killer bands and scarfing down some chili as we hit the Cincy area again!

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 161

2011-08-25T13:22:00.002-05:00

Our first time at Reggie's Rock Joint in Chicago! Also Mike and Wendy sing some karaoke with Liquid Courage (literally, that was the band name!)

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 160

2011-08-12T13:27:00.005-05:00

We eat everything in sight at the WIsconsin State Fair, rock the Barneveld Luau, and go back to the studio.

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 159

2011-07-15T11:10:00.003-05:00

Sunspot in the Racine 4th of July parade, some classic cars in Reedsburg, and then hanging out in The Bastard Den.

Download the SD version here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspot_rm_159_sd.m4vv

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 158

2011-06-09T11:08:00.001-05:00

Rocking out and hanging out in Chicago and Milwaukee for our first podcast of the summer of 2011!

Download the SD version of the podcast here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/SunspotRoadManiaEp158SD-3270121-10381.m4v

Welcome to the Prozac World

2011-06-03T00:29:00.002-05:00

Looks like we actually are becoming a Prozac World, because we're getting our drugs into the water supply.

Here's the article in National Geographic about Prozac being found in our Great Lakes and actually killing off bacteria there. We aren't just overmedicating our people now, we're actually doing it to our environment.

I started thinking about this a few months ago when I read a great New York Times article about how psychiatry is becoming more about pharmaceutical adjustments than it is about therapy. The gist of the article is that the "talking cure" has now become bad psychology because insurance companies can make more money by sending patients on 15-minute consultations with psychiatrists (who can prescribe "medications") and then send them to less-trained counselors for actual therapy. So the doctors who got into the business to actually help people are limited to chemical therapies because it's better for the bottom line. Over the past twenty years, psychotherapy declined while the amount of Americans taking antidepressants jumped.

I know that drugs can help. Whether it's self-medication through booze and pot or it's prescribed Xanax by your trusty doctor, chemicals can make us feel better, they can help us forget. But they're the just attacking the symptoms and not the causes. The cause isn't the chemical imbalance in your head, that's the symptom. The chemical imbalance is a result of the neural pathways being forged by feeling bad and as a result of those pathways being used again and again, it becomes easier for electrical impulses to flow through them, it's just becomes easier to feel bad or depressed. Chemicals can alleviate that and they can help create the new healthier pathways, but you have to get at the cause. You have to discover the root of the problem and deal with it.

When we sing about our Prozac Girl it's not about her being a loser, it's a criticism of the system that's not designed to make her better, but designed to make money off of her insurance company. She's given a panacea miracle drug that's supposed to make her feel good, but she's a teenage girl. When's the last time you met a teenage girl who's not prone to mood swings?

Depression is a fucking real and intense thing and it can ruin your life. And we need to help our friends that are affected by the Black Dog (as Churchill used to call his melancholy.) But shouldn't we be helping them by discovering the root causes and then working to fix them? Is depression just a bunch of chemicals floating around in our heads or is it a result of shit actually going wrong? We can use chemicals to help (I've seen people have complete changes of hearts under the influence of LSD - by the way, that's not a fucking recommendation to use LSD to change your life, that's fucking stupid.) I've seen prescribed medications really work to help people that can't make that step to being healthy through cognition and talking therapy alone. But shouldn't fucking with the chemistry of your mind be the last resort?

Don't our friends deserve better? Don't we all deserve the absolute goddamn best? The best means all of us helping you work through your problems in a real way, not just pushing them under the surface. And now we're only going deeper under the surface by poisoning our water with MAO Inhibitors. And we have no idea what kind of effect that's going to have.

There's no easy solution and we all hate E. Coli but this has to stop. We have to find a better way because right now we're a bunch of Frankensteins who are fucking with our environment in ways that we have no idea how it will turn out. I was shocked by this article because I didn't expect to see that the level of medication has become so prevalent that it's turning up in our water.

Oh well, shift the blame and everything will be just fine.

Sunspot Live From Space!

2011-05-20T00:17:00.000-05:00

Ben couldn't make our show in La Crosse on May 13th, 2011 because he was called on a mission to the International Space Station. But the show must go on, so we called some friends at NASA to set up a satellite link. Here's some of our favorite bits!

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 157

2011-05-11T12:23:00.002-05:00

Adventures in Madison, Racine, Merrill, Elcho, and Marshfield. Hoyer Guitars, motorcycles, special videotaping to make sure that Ben can still make it to our La Crosse show, recumbent bicycles, tornado damage, all our love to Sean Kingston, and a special appearance by Leo Laporte from This Week in Tech!

Download the full SD version here.

Sunspot Request Page

2011-05-04T21:00:00.003-05:00

So, with a bunch of all-nighter shows coming up, we often get questions about the set list and if we take requests and the answer is YOU BET... but we only take requests for Sunspot original tunes. Yeah, we're dicks like that.

Sure, we love a good cover tune and we always play our favorites. We adore bands like Radiohead, Metallica, Social D, Ramones, Pixies, Andrew WK, Queen, and Green Day and those songs are fun to play. We've learned a million songs over the years and we'll happily play the ones that we really dig. And for our friends' special events (like weddings or birthday parties) we'll even learn some because they gave us the honor of rocking one of their most important days on Earth. That being said...

#1 - We don't take requests for Creed or Nickelback. We've never actually heard of either of those bands, sorry.

#2 - Country? Sure, we'll play some country, but it's not going to be what you expect.

#3 - Lady Gaga or any disco song. Are you kidding me? Yeah, I've got a soft spot for ABBA in my dark heart, but c'mon now, we're a rock band. Would you go to an Elton John concert and ask for a Slayer song? (Come to think about it, a piano version of "Dead Skin Mask" might be badass.)

But, I can hear you say, I know some of your songs, but I don't know the name of my favorite. Well, we'll make it easy for you. We made a special Sunspot Request Page of all the original tunes we've ever played live. If you wanna hear any of our tracks live, just fill out the form and hit "send". We'll get the email and we'll do our damnedest to put it into the set. And if you get it to us at least 10 days before a show, we'll guarantee it's going to be in the set.

We love you guys and we wanna play your favorites at shows, so please use the form by clicking HERE and we'll get you those tunes live!

I thought we still lived in America

2011-05-01T17:15:00.000-05:00

Roller derby semi finals

2011-04-23T18:39:00.001-05:00

Vixens are beating quad squad going into the half!

Mike as a guru? Ha! But here's some thoughts on D-I-Y

2011-04-21T22:30:00.000-05:00

So, this week I posted my first real music business blog on Broadjam.com and along with hosting a music publicity seminar last month for the Madison Area Music Association, a couple of people have asked me whether or not I’m in the market to become a “music business guru”. Ha, not really. I don’t know the exact qualifications to be a guru (in fact, I think they encompass something about not quite making it, but realizing there’s an income stream in telling people about your experience - I’ve always had a problem in taking advice from people who aren’t where you want to be. Do you really want a financial advisor who’s not rich?), but one thing that I do think being a member of this band for the past 15 years has taught me is the power of DIY. When I was 21 years old, I really thought that a major label would pick us up, that we’d find our way into a recording contract and that we were going to be rich and famous. Our songs seemed to fit in to the alternative rock that was going on at the time in the late 90’s, we were quirky in that smartass marketable way, we had momentum, energy, and enthusiasm. I remember taking a full-time job for the summer working for the University and telling my boss that I could commit for now but as soon as the band takes off, well, I’m going to have to go be a rockstar, sorry (haha, I hope I didn’t sound like too much of an asshole.) I thought that we were going to have to come back to finish college, after all there wouldn’t be time with our schedule of world tours, filming videos, and copious amounts of partying and getting laid.

Well, that didn’t happen now, did it? (Well, we were always really good at partying.)

What did happen? D-I-Motherfucking-Y. Now, it’s the preferred way to do it (look at the hard-on everyone has for The Arcade Fire) and there’s a million indie music biz blogs and books with tips. It’s gone from books on “How To Get a Record Deal” to books about how to tackle the industry yourself. There’s awesome home recording software (Garageband if you’re an Apple person, but shit, Reaper is free and PCs are dirt cheap.) Back in the day, I watched bands who were trying to make it, to get in front of the right people, to get that A&R guy or manager or promoter to take an interest in you and the promise was that they’d take care of you, that they’d hold your hand all the way to the top. Sunspot even had a manager that was “connected” (whatever the fuck that means) and was working all of the angles he could. Shit, when Garageband.com was throwing around a quarter-million dollar record contract, it was even won by a Madison band (the awesome Monovox, I must’ve seen them a hundred times and we even had the honor of rocking with them a few times.) I just knew it that we were next. There was a promise that there was an industry you could “break into” and I watched bands like Monovox and Rockford’s immortal The Pimps break into it. How far behind could we be? Those guys were a little older, and all we had to do was pay our dues to get there. But success didn’t come fast enough, we were shopping around demos, hoping that they’d catch someone important’s attention. I read up on every single music industry resource that I could. I wanted to make sure that we were following the path that seemed to work. Besides the awful fashion sense of the era, we were doing everything we thought we were supposed to do. We followed every single rule except for moving out to one of the coasts. So, if we weren’t getting the attention we thought that we deserved, what were we going to do?

What was left to do? If we couldn’t get a company to pay for radio-ready versions of our songs, then that means it was time our demos graduated to full albums. If there was no one to make music videos for us, then godammit, we’re going to record our own. If we can’t find a booking agent to get us on a national tour with a big band, then we’re going to book a show in whatever city we want to play in, promote the living Hell out of it, and play. We were going to be the record label, publishing company, booking agent, publicist, and promoter ourselves. There’s only so much waiting that you can do. There were a ton of people who were supportive and wanted to help, there were a ton of clubs willing to take a chance on a band from the land of cheese, and there were a ton of people who enjoyed our music even though it was produced and paid for by ourselves, that came out to our live shows to see us play with a $300 PA and a lighting rig that Ben made from coffee cans in the basement of the house that we shared (and for the record, even though we’ve upgraded to a computer-run DMX light show, those coffee can lights still work!)

D-I-Y means to not wait for the magical record label fairy, it means to not wait for anyone to do anything for you that you’re not willing to do yourself. It means that you’re going to make your artistic statement to the best of your abilities. Shit, last year we made our first live concert DVD from our national tour. Booking each show was a struggle, how were we going to promote, how would we make the show successful? Figuring out how to make a stage show with synced videos and lights felt fucking impossible. Who else was doing this without a crew? How were they doing it? Why can’t I find an Internet forum that gives instructions? Well, we can’t, so screw it, let’s figure it out from scratch. Making the DVD was damn hard because I’d never edited anything much longer than 15 minutes before (and certainly not something on the lines of a cut every four seconds!) and we didn’t know how to create special features or a commentary or any of that stuff. But it felt important, it felt like our statement, it felt like we had to make this thing and deliver it to the world and nothing was going to stop us. And that’s it.

And that’s what I want to tell other bands. We’ve met so many talented musicians, amazing songwriters, and incredible performers. People that have just blown me the fuck away. People that I knew were going to be huge. And now most of them have broken up their band, quit playing, given up the dream and settled. So, what does that mean? It means you’ve got to not just love it, but you have to want it more than anything else in the world. And that’s not hy-fucking-perbole. You have to want it more than sleep, you have to want it more than security. You have to love it so much that you would run away with your Frankenstein’s Monster. The desire to create something awesome has to burn so hot that it itches so that you can’t rest until you’ve achieved it.

And that’s it.

I’m not complaining one iota. I escaped the cubicle, but only through a series of freelance projects in addition to rocking and rolling. And security is an illusion (usually fleeting), but it just doesn’t matter as long as you’re doing what you love and what you believe in.

Do. It. Yourself. Every single moment.

Every minute that we’re working on a song or a show or a video, there is nothing else in the world that I’d rather be doing. I know I’m in the right place. There is no second wasted, if it’s a second that’s devoted to Sunspot. You are your record label, you are your recording studio and you are your booking agent. Your open mic is Alpine Valley, your after-party is Hollywood Babylon. The power of refusing to wait is the greatest thing in the world. If you want to do something, do it. Now. That’s the power of D-I-Y, you’re creating the things that you want to create with absolute freedom. We’ve been the luckiest trio in the world and have had the best time in the world by not waiting for anything. Can’t get booked? Host your own party. Can’t make a video? Shoot it with your cellphone! Don’t know how to reach people? Try Facebook. My 74-year old father is on it, your friends and potential fans probably are too. You know what to do.

And know that it sucks sometimes. But know that when you’ve really done your best, there is no greater feeling. There’s no shot that goes down as smooth. There’s no hit that feels as righteous.

I just want to tell bands to please give a damn. You’re doing my favorite thing in the world, something sacred, something awesome. Doesn’t everyone have a pre-show ritual? Me, I hate playing without my necklace or spiking my hair, (call me Mister Shallow) I can’t stand the thought of performing without doing those things. That’s my ritual. Do you have one too? That means that it’s sacred, that means that it’s special, that means that it’s yours! That means that you can be proud because you created something beautiful from scratch and if there’s something better than that, I haven’t found it. What’s more awesome than playing a show or playing the shit out of a great song? What’s better than creation? After all, it’s our evolutionary imperative. We are driven to make.

Anyway, I’ve got some practical advice somewhere in there too, but we all know what we have to do. A million Facebook tutorials or intros to Tumblr (learn to fucking spell) aren’t going to do what just calling everyone you know before a show will do. Or just telling everyone you meet about your band. Or using Google and calling a newspaper to let them know you’ll be in there town. Don’t half-ass this, please. You’re disrespecting what I love. Don’t make music look like a refuge for the lazy and stoned. Do us all proud.

We’re in this together and the better my fellow rockers do, the better I do. The more I create myself, the better I’ll get at it. The less I wait for life to happen is the more that I’ve lived, So, really, I just want you to see you go for it, I want to see you Do It Yourself. I want other bands to kick ass because that’s what it’s all about. Why wait? Shit’s happening now! Your career (whatever the fuck that means!) is happening now, so let’s do it! Let’s get it going. I’ve tried to live by that with varying degrees of success, and I wouldn’t change it, even the shitty parts.

That’s as close as I get to guru-dom or music business advice, but it’s worth sharing because this way of life is extraordinary and making your way in the Wild West is something to be proud of. And it deserves you giving it your all.

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 156

2011-04-20T21:21:00.001-05:00

A recap of the events of the past few weeks, including the Deus Ex Machina EP release party, a battle of the bands in Milwaukee, and some heavy metal welding of the trailer!

Direct download is available here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspot_rm_156.mp4

Wendy's DrummerCam: Saturday 4/9/2011 @ BBC in Milwaukee, WI

2011-04-13T20:39:00.001-05:00

From 2011 DrummerCams

Battle of the Bands in Milwaukee on Saturday

2011-04-07T16:39:00.002-05:00

It's back to one of our favorite places in Milwaukee this weekend as we hit The BBC this Saturday night and this one is a Battle of the Bands so we're literally going to hit it.

It's been a long time since we've done one of these, but we're definitely ready and itching for a fight. I've been working out all week, punching things, and sparring to get ready to crush our enemies, see them driven before us, and hear the lamentation of their women. We've been watching videos of the other bands to see what kind of fighting style they use (wrestling, boxing, mixed martial arts, etc...) and honestly we haven't been able to tell. For some reason, in all of their videos, instead of kicking people's butts, ummm... they're playing music. Just like a bunch of grandmas. So it shouldn't be much trouble to defeat them. After all, are you going to serenade me to death with that keyboard when I'm beating you mercilessly with a chain? Are you going to tap out a little solo on us with a pair of drumsticks while being whomped with a sledge hammer? I doubt it. You'll be too busy screaming for mama to sing a song.

We've never actually fought anyone at the BBC yet, but I figure that throwing people down those deadly steep stairs is going to be essential to our strategy. Did I mention I've been working out? I have been. We've also been debating whether or not to rub baby oil all over our muscles before we get onstage just to intimidate the other bands with our rippling pecs and abs, glistening in the sun. Baby oil also makes you more slippery in case they get you in a chokehold or try a move like the dreaded Rear Admiral. I'm not sure on all the rules yet, but I'm assuming that edged weapons aren't allowed and I'm cool with that, blunt force trauma is fine and I totally agree about eye gouging, it's a cheap shot and it has no place in something dignified like a Battle of the Bands.

Skrude Loose has 5 guys so they've got an advantage there, and they don't care about spelling, which probably means that they're the kind of guys who aren't afraid to break the rules- that makes me a little nervous. Behemoth and Leviathan, however, is a duo, and judging from their pictures, they're not as big as their name would have you believe. I'm thinking if we team up on Skrude Loose first then we have a chance of taking those guys out and battling each other for the crown. That way we'd both stand a better chance. We'll see if we can trust those guys soon enough.

Anyway, I'm keeping a few things up our sleeves so that these guys won't know what hit them. I heard the winners get to pillage the other bands' equipment and make out with their girlfriends. We get into the ring at 9:30 sharp on Saturday. Our pain, your entertainment.

Three bands enter, one band leaves!

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 155

2011-03-31T08:00:00.001-05:00

5 shows, 3 days in Austin, 48 hours in the van. Our most epic Road Mania yet as we journey to SXSW 2011 to play showcases for Tourbinder.com, WeAre78704.com, GoGirls.com, Good Day Austin on Fox 7, tour the Texas State Capitol, get destroyed by Nuclear Tacos, hail a pedicab, eat free on Rachael Ray, have some death metal pizza, and drink enough Lone Star and whiskey to kill a horse.

Download the SD version here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspot_rm_155.m4v

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 154

2011-03-16T22:32:00.001-05:00

Here we are, getting ready for the annual pilgrimage to Austin, records new songs, attends a MAMAs seminar at the Frequency, and checks out the action at the Wisconsin State Capitol building.

Rock With Sunspot at SXSW 2011

2011-03-15T10:23:00.000-05:00

Here's some chances to party with Sunspot if you're at SXSW 2011:

We'll be performing at the World Jam at Aussie's Bar and Grill on Thursday, Saint Patrick's Day at 8pm. That's Ben's birthday and it's going to be a good one, because we'll be starting the party after 20 straight hours in the van, so you know it's going to be Lone Star-crazy. It's gonna be some international shiz going down too, bands from all over the world are performing with us. It's a small fucking world after all.

If you're agoraphobic and can't make it out of your house, we'll be on Good Day Austin, Friday, March 18th at 8:45am, so just tune into Channel 7 to see us. See, we've made it easy for you, just turn on your telly, and we'll be there.

Then Friday night, we're closing out the Invasion of the GoGirls @ SXSW at Trophy's. We're also going to be rocking with 3 Kisses so you know things are going to get nasty. How nasty? Check out the Jagermeister annihilation the last time we hung out.

Saturday night, we return to Aussie's to light up the big finale of the World Jam!. That one's gonna be fun and we'll be pulling at all the stops to make it an awesome show. It's the last hurrah of the weekend and we're planning on blowing the place apart, then getting down to business (and by business, I mean it in the Flight of the Conchords sense) and playing volleyball. Unfortunately, I found out that the outdoor showers there require a "bathing suit". Showering with clothes on, what is this, Bizarro World?!

We can't wait to see everybody and put on some great performances with our new songs and the best of all of our music.

RIP Nicholas Courtney

2011-03-04T07:31:00.002-06:00

It seems the time has come for another eulogy and this one is a sad loss particularly for me, but for a man did have a long and successful life. The Brig from Doctor Who has gone to the Great UNIT Headquarters in the sky (or have they already covered that in the new series with that crazy airship, Valiant?) I doubt that I'm alone in saying that besides the Doctor, he was my favorite recurring character in the old series that wasn't the Doctor. And one of the reasons he was such a great character was that Courtney always looked like he was having a great time playing the character (especially when he got to be the parallel universe doppelganger from "Inferno"; actors seem to love that stuff. Think about how Leonard Nimoy sunk his teeth into "Mirror, Mirror" and how Anna Torv and John Noble devour scene as Walternate and Fauxlivia.) But that enthusiasm for the role and the way they gave the Doctor a very human foil. Someone who was looking out for Number One, and Number One meant the safety of the Earth and the human race. The Brig always wanted to blow the alien (or sometimes subterranean) invaders up. The Doctor was an intergalactic peacenik but the Brigadier was the realist. The one saying, "Hey Doc, besides you, whenever we run into an alien they're trying to kill, exploit, or enslave us, so I'm not going to give these guys the benefit of the doubt here. Maybe we should nip this problem in the bud before innocent people are murdered by another invasion." The Jon Pertwee era of Doctor Who is one of my favorites as well, even though they were stuck on Earth for most of it and The Master was always prowling around organizing some kind of invasion, it stands on its own for character development in the show. There's a reason that some of the characters created during that era are ones that are still beloved today- The Brig, Sarah Jane, The Master... has another era from the show created so many non-Doctor characters who have come back after so long? Jon Pertwee was the Doctor forty years ago(!) and Elisabeth Sladen is playing the same character.

Nicholas Courtney was the glue that held that together and the fact that they were planning on having him return last year (but it was cancelled due to his ill health) just goes to show what a popular and enduring performer he was. Doctor Who meant a lot to me as a kid, it was something that I liked that very few people I knew liked. A lot of people liked Star Trek (well, at least almost everyone I knew) and everyone loved Star Wars, but Doctor Who was something special. It was something really outside the mainstream and that's one of the reasons I adored it. That and the horrible special effects- while other people couldn't handle watching a television show were the rubber-masked aliens looked like they were handled by a high school A/V club, I thought it was great. I couldn't get enough of the laser beams that were obviously toy guns with blue flashlights at the end. It was the stories that had to be good, it was the dialogue and the performances that had to make you believe it, that had to capture you. Nicholas Courtney was one of the most believable and fun aspects of the show. He was someone you could relate to, you could see how much he enjoyed the character, and by all accounts, he was one of the most generous actors to the fans (and we can be slightly overzealous!) I am genuinely saddened by his death because I had hoped to meet him someday, but I've never been to a Doctor Who convention. Well, maybe I should get a giant scarf and head to one soon, so I don't miss out again. RIP Sir Alistair and thanks for everything.

Wendy's DrummerCam: Saturday, 2/26/2011 @ Victory Lane in Merrill, WI

2011-03-01T17:55:00.002-06:00

The date is set for the new EP release!

2011-02-28T20:17:00.003-06:00

March 26th at The Frequency, we'll be releasing our latest EP. Three absolutely brand new and rocking Sunspot songs. It's going to be an early show and a great band called Headshadow from Chicago will be opening. The party starts at 6pm, music starts at 6:30.

Advanced tickets will be $10 and will include a copy of the EP as well as a rail drink or beer. Advanced tickets will be the only way to get the free drink. We're fucking jacked about the new tunes and we can't wait to play them for you. It's also going to be our first area show since we're coming back from SXSW this year and we'll be in the mood for a homecoming party!

Click here to pick up your advanced tickets right now.

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 153

2011-02-23T21:01:00.001-06:00

Some highlights from our February Milwaukee and Janesville shows, a little rocking from The Everyday Motive, plus getting ready to record the first new Sunspot studio songs since 2009!

Download the SD version directly here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspotrm153sd-2846375-10381.mov

A couple of awesome reasons to go out tonight (2/19)

2011-02-19T18:09:00.003-06:00

Everybody in Wisconsin and their brothers and sisters are in Madison by the Capitol today, so when you’re looking for something to do when you set that sign down and you’re looking for a beer and a party, since Sunspot has the night off tonight (so I have nothing to shamelessly promote except our DVD which is a great way to spend an evening when we’re not playing!), let me tell you about two very cool places very near to the Capitol that are having cool events definitely worth checking out.

#1 - If you’re looking for a good case to contribute too, then look no further than the High Noon, who’s having a fundraiser for a Madison skatepark. I spent years watching skaters falling over everything at Library Mall (those railings and steps must be the hardest ones in the world, I swear!) and it’d be great to give these kids a real place where they can practice their skills without destroying anything important. And it would help clean up an area that’s been zoned off for park development for some years now, but nothing is starting because they haven’t had enough money to make anything happen. If you’re in the mood for some good old-fashioned skate punk, then that’s the place to go. Who isn’t in the mood for that? Remember playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 and thinking there were some awesome bands on the soundtrack? I do. Rage, Anthrax and Public Enemy, the awesome Lagwagon and Millencolin? (Click on any of those links to see some badass videos!) Anyway, get a little taste of that tonight at the High Noon.

#2 - If you’re into anything Joss Whedon-esque (and if you’re reading this then you probably are) they’re having a big party at one of our favorite Madison clubs, The Frequency that’s completely inspired by him. It’s a burlesque show (you know, sexy and funny, but not porny) and the performers are all taking their cue from some of Joss’ best known characters. That’s more than just kind of awesome- it’s totally awesome. And it’s a great excuse to party. There’s acostume contest and everything. In a former life, I might have gone as Spike, but I’m not as blonde as I used to be.

And scope out the place, because we’ll be releasing a new EP there in just over a month! And watch for some sneak previews of the new songs on Sunspot Road Mania this week.

Whatever you choose, have an awesome night and we’ll see you back on the road next Saturday.

Wendy's DrummerCam: Saturday 2/12/2011 @ Taasbag in Janesville, WI

2011-02-14T21:10:00.002-06:00

First DrummerCam that I am in!

Wendy's DrummerCam: Friday 2/11/2011 @ BBC in Milwaukee, WI

2011-02-14T21:09:00.001-06:00

The Hero with a Thousand Faces

2011-02-11T01:04:00.001-06:00

No, no Joseph Campbell tonight, I’m just sitting around thinking about working on new songs and the style of the music we’re going to be putting out (at The Frequency on March 26th, hooray!) and I realized that we should be thinking about an image refresh as well. Ya know, some new threads to spice up our look and keep things interesting. And that got me to thinking, I haven’t looked at a lot of the old Sunspot press photos for a really long time. Much like any band that’s been playing together for over a thousand years (that’s not really an exaggeration, we speak of the time in “band years” which are derived from how long the Beatles were together, ten years equal to a full millennium in “band years”) And our 15th anniversary as a band is this Summer! How awesome is that?) we have had a variety of looks. We might carry our own amps, but it’s still show business, baby.

By this time, over a decade into our illustrious career, we’ve transcended a couple of fashion generations. We started playing when all the chic types were still wearing flannel (meanwhile, I was wearing an ice-cream blazer like I was Sonny Fucking Crockett) and since then we’ve gone from all the shiny shit that people wore at the turn of the Millennium (remember that shit? Silvery and glittery and all that? What the fuck? It was like we were all trying to be disco balls) to emo hair being in for a little while, and then everybody did the Elvis Costello glasses (you know they even sold them without any kind of prescription so people were wearing them just to look cool, pretending to have an eye disability just to look good? That’s just bad karma to me, although I did tell a telesurveying job (for Ameritech, remember that shit company?) one time that my father passed away so that I could quit without having to give notice, so I guess that’s just the pot calling the kettle black.) Next it was beards, Jesus, every band guy had to have a fucking longass beard like we were in some Biblical epic. So, what’s it going to be next, I dunno, and I’m not sure what we’re going to try either... but I thought I’d put in some of my favorite “looks” we’ve had over the past few years, some still look good, some decidedly do not. If you’re reading this on Facebook and can’t see the pictures, just goto loseroftheyear.com.

Happy New Year’s 2001, dorks.

Who is this guy? I’m like a fat Eminem in this picture from 2001.

Oh My God, Oh My God, that’s me with the anime button-up shirt and yellow pants from 2002

Drunk in 2003.

By 2005, things were very pleathery in my world.

2007, We’re moving to black jackets, kinda like how the movie version of The X-Men had black outfits, but I probably should’ve used some concealer in that pic, yeesh.

2008, we’re doing much better.

2009? We’re gorgeous and this time without facial hair!

2010, Even sexier, but this time with spunk!

Some of these photos were taken by our good friend, Matt Apps, you can see more samples of his work below:

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 152

2011-02-10T09:07:00.006-06:00

Check out the action from last weekend's triple-header: Merrill, Polar, and Middleton after the Packers won the Superbowl... with the Udder Run snowshoe race in Athens as a special bonus!

HD version available for download here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/Sunspot-Road-Mania-Ep-152.mp4

Wendy's DrummerCam: Sunday 2/6/2011 @ Scatz in Middleton, WI

2011-02-07T20:48:00.001-06:00

Wendy's DrummerCam: Saturday 2/5/2011 @ Cocktail Cage in Polar, WI

2011-02-07T20:47:00.002-06:00

Wendy's DrummerCam: Friday 2/4/2011 @ DAT Bar in Merrill, WI

2011-02-07T20:37:00.001-06:00

Beyond The Bowl

2011-02-04T13:53:00.003-06:00

Well, there's been a lot of excitement lately around the whole Super Bowl and "Go, Pack!" song and that's been great. I want to make sure to reassure you though, that, even though that's been getting the majority of attention as everyone gets ready for the Big Game, that we're also working on a new EP release for a March debut.

So next month, there's going to be new music and videos coming at ya. And it's been a long time since we officially released a new studio recording, so we've decided that it's high time to get back to it. To aid with the writing process, Wendy and I are participating in February Album Writing Month (FAWM for short), which is an awesome challenge for songwriters, to come up with 14 songs (an album) in one 28-day month (is Leap Year cheating?) I know that Aquamunkee, Tim from Government Zero, and Cactus Joe from The Guppy Effect have been doing it for the past few years and they absolutely love it, so I thought it'd be a fun challenge to take up and who knows, one of those demos might end up being on the new recording. So, check it out if you're curious and if you like any of the ideas in particular, then tell us about it! We love feedback so we'll be trotting out some of the new material at live shows too and we'd like to hear your opinion. We like to hear your opinion in general, what are your favorite songs and what would you like to hear more of?

People in the "music industry" are always harping about the fact that acts' songs should sound alike, at least on an individual recording. And that's partly true, it's good to know that when you're getting a group of songs, that if you like one of the songs, chances are you'll like the rest. But we've never been particularly good at that. I mean, almost all of our music consists of rock songs, but they're not usually in a particular genre because sometimes we're in a heavy mood and sometimes we're in a light mood or whatever (not to sound like Goldilocks or anything.) But, we'd also be interested in knowing people's favorites to know what kinds of songs you like the most. Sometimes it's nice to know what people like, even just as some feedback to the quality of the material and if it's having its desired effect (or if it's having an effect at all.)

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that we are, indeed, in full writing mode, and you'll be hearing brand new Sunspot in short order. Now, let's party hard this weekend and Go, Pack!

Art Is War

2011-01-28T02:11:00.000-06:00

So I was working on some new songs today and I thought about all the shit that goes through my head while I’m writing something. Every thought, every note, every line, even every word comes up against resistance. Because some of it seems brilliant and some of it seems utterly banal. And some of the thoughts are necessary and some of them are poison.

You’re constantly fighting... something. Some kind of resistance, whether it be:

Your own thoughts of the music
Your expectations of what other people are going to think
Your expectations of what will be successful
Your aspirations of what you hope you can accomplish

(Notice the “your” that starts each piece of resistance!)

And you wish it was as easy as fighting other musicians, because then success at art would be gladiatorial, like winning in an arena. The last man standing is the one that makes the best art. But when you’re dealing with something that’s subjective by its very nature (how many debates have existed about what is art and what isn’t? Um, gazillions. How many times has it happened with each of our parents alone? Nevermind that great 90’s controversy over whether a “deejay” was a “musician”, today, we worry about the bastardization of art through Guitar Hero, instrumentalist versus gamer.)

But it’s a war waged against every doubt and social anxiety. How do you do your absolute best? What’s the measure of your best?

You know the people who don’t bother to edit or refine anything they do. These first-drafters walk into situations thinking that their initial spark of creativity is enough carry them through. They think they showed up with a diamond but it’s really like half of a geode that they kind of broke open.

And sometimes it is enough, sometimes the difference between someone who sucks and someone’s who’s good is just a matter of the person who sucks putting ten percent less effort into preparation than the person who’s good. But what’s the difference between the person who’s good and the person who’s great? And how do you move from great to the best?

So I was listening to the BBC today and they interviewed a band called The Vaccines. They seemed like nice enough guys and they were talking about their first American tour that they just got home from and that they got to hang out with Debbie Harry and A-List Hollywood stars. Now “stars” I could probably do without, but Debbie Harry? I fucking love her. I’d wet my pants if I saw her at one of my shows, because I adore Blondie, I’ve got a fucking Heart of Glass myself. So, I’m insanely jealous already, but I’m not negative. I mean, their accents make them sound smart and most of the time that’s enough to win me over.

And then they go on to talk about their sold out shows and I was expecting to be blown away by this band. I mean, I thought they were going to be awesome. I’m prepped for greatness and I get this song called “Break-Up Sex” from their new album. Okay, okay. I think it’s got a funny name, it sounds like it’s going to be a little obvious and then as it starts, the sound quality is poor, but I bet there’s something really clever in there that we’ll get to as soon as the chorus hits.

There’s not, it’s repulsive pop-rock with way too much reverb that doesn’t even flirt with smart, nevermind clever. It’s not that catchy and it would have sounded better if I recorded it in my bathroom. It’s a first draft. It’s like they released the demo. And you know what, they’re on the BBC and just got to tour America. So they’ve got some huge measure of success already, no matter if I like them or not.

So, my opinion doesn’t mean shit because a lot of other people think they’re great. You can’t worry about what other people think. I know that sounds weird because it’s something we’ve heard all of our lives but never actually believe that we can do. I mean, who can not care about what other people think of them? How do we judge ourselves but absolutely through the eyes of the way we think other people see us (and sometimes we judge ourselves better than we are just because we don’t think others can see everything.) So, when you’re creating, you’re only really fighting yourself and your expectations. Because you can’t predict what somebody’s gonna like. How did anybody know that Justin Bieber would be so wildly successful? He’s not as cute as David Cassidy and doesn’t even have the personality of Donny from New Kids (which one was your favorite? I like Jordan) but for some reason he fucking fascinates people. Okay.

So everything is just a reminder for me to do my best all the time and not worry about anything else. Don’t be anything besides the best friend, human, lover, or artist that you can be. Art is war against yourself, against your doubt, against your pain. Art is meaning and making something beautiful out of ingredients that might have been ugly. And it’s putting your best self forward. And it’s something different to everybody. So, as I was listening to The Vaccines I was thinking about it. My dumbass opinion is only of any import to me.

Everything is subjective and the only thing that’s objective is that you either did the best you could or you didn’t. And I would be cheating myself if I did anything less. I would never go to war with only half my ass. So this is your go-ahead to scold me if I don’t ever look like I’m giving it all onstage or with new songs!

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 151

2011-01-26T20:20:00.002-06:00

Van troubles in Rochester? Say it ain't so! Minneapolis rockers, Packers championships, Sunspot rehearsal- it's all here in the first Road Mania of 2011!

Download the full SD version here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspot_rm_151.mov

Wendy's DrummerCam: Saturday 1/22/11 @ Nomad Pub in Minneapolis, MN

2011-01-24T11:30:00.001-06:00

Wendy's DrummerCam: Friday 1/21/11 @ Kathy's Pub in Rochester, MN

2011-01-24T11:26:00.004-06:00

2011 Shows Starts Tonight and We Need Your Help Finding Summer Festivals

2011-01-21T13:27:00.001-06:00

Our last show was three weeks ago, that’s the longest we’ve gone without a Sunspot performance since July of 2008. We haven’t been to Minnesota since last Spring, so we’re looking forward to seeing all our friends there. And we’re going to have to go fucking crazy because it’s supposed to be something like -40 over the next couple of days. Thank God I winterized my testicles back in December.

So, as we make touring plans for the rest of the year, we need to know where you’d like to see us and we need to know specifically a place that you’d like to see us at. There’s a million places we’d love to play of course, but if we don’t know where to play then we can’t go there. So, if there is a club, pub, bar, bandshell, coffeehouse, etc... where we can play in your area then let us know about it. The other thing is when we do come to your neck of the woods, we need you to help spread the word. We’re already starting to book March and April and making Summer touring plans.

Here’s the really important part that we need your help with:

We’re looking to find summer festivals in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, or Iowa. Big rock shows, church beer tents, Fireman’s Picnics, biker rallies, local corn or cheese fests, etc... If you know of something in your town that happens every year, let us know about it immediately. If you know who runs it, even better! But this is the time of the year that festivals start booking and we want to be part of more of them this year. We’ve had great times in the past from Summerfest, Riverfest, Harborfest, Bratfest, Maefest, etc... We’ve done church festivals, big rock outdoor events, and everything in between. We’d like to know about the ones that are near you and we wanna blow them out of the water. So, say something on the Book of Face or email us or hell, just give us a call at (608) 561-2263.

We’re working on booking and scheduling right now and hearing where you guys want us to play is the most important thing when we’re planning. Thanks and we’ll see you on the road starting tonight!

New Year, New Plans for World Domination

2011-01-11T00:51:00.000-06:00

Okay, the Holiday break is over and it’s 2011. It’s time to get back into rock mode after partying stupidly hard over New Year’s Eve and then taking the past week to recover and begin scheming. Last year, I made 3 New Year’s Resolutions on December 31st, let’s take a look at them and see how we did...

1. Give you something new
Major Arcana, 3-hour original showcase, weird Christmas songs, guest stars at the MAMAs ceremony, better acoustic show... We definitely made the show as new and exciting as possible. So, this one gets a check off the list. We could have written more new songs, but we definitely showcased all our material in a completely different way. We drastically changed the packaging as well as refining and improving the product. We made our first real live recording and also a concert film and released it as a DVD. So, this resolution, unlike my resolution to both drink less and look at less porn in 2010, was kept. Good on us.

2. Give you our absolute best
Full effort every time. Don’t half-ass anything. I almost exhausted myself out of the game in July (actually I passed out involuntarily in the van on the way back from the show in Wausau in July. I had slept only a few hours that week, the next night was the Shank Hall stop of the tour, which was a really big deal to us and my head stopped working. In retrospect, combining little to no sleep, tons of pressure for the upcoming tour, the anxiety and terror of not knowing where my next paycheck was coming from, and my basic neuroses with heavy beer drinking and some Jaegermeister thrown in for good measure was probably a poor idea.) I can honestly say that every show we did this year was to the hilt and I tried my best except for Pittsburgh and the second time we were at Quaker Steak (when we played inside because it was a hurricane outside.) I could have done better at both shows to make them more successful and more fun. There were plenty of shows that could have been more successful, but those are the only two were I felt I could have tried harder, been more clever, and I chose the lazy way out. I feel like the work put into the DVD makes up for it, though. I don’t know how more thorough we could have made that thing. I watched it over and over again to make sure that there wasn’t any mistakes and I’d remake the gigantic movie file if there was one move that looked out of sync. And then when it came time to finish it, there were more all-nighters in store during the whole last week (and that was after the editing was done.) Major Arcana isn’t half-assed and it’s the best thing we’ve ever done, period. So for the year, that’s 98%, which still qualifies as an A on my curve. So, I think we can check this one off the list as well.

3. To Fulfill Your Trust and Faith In Us
This one I can’t answer. I guess that’s up to you guys, the people who show up at Sunspot concerts and make it so that we don’t have to play with ourselves every weekend. (No, I can’t pass up an easy one.) Here’s my definition of letting you guys down: Failing to try. We’ve embarrassed ourselves on more than one occasion because we tried a song that didn’t work live, or didn’t practice enough, or had one too many shots onstage for the last set. I’ve sang notes (and whole melody lines) way outside of my vocal range, played songs that I only half-knew, and ripped every single pair of jeans that I own at the knees (I have to get new jeans about once every four months.) Since everyone still comes back to shows, I know that it’s not just the music that keeps you coming back. I think that you trust us to keep trying new and interesting things, to keep trying hard. This year, we tried hard. Check.

You know, one of our friends who owns a club, recently told me that he has a joke with another club owner that, “After a nuclear war, there’s only going to be two things that survive: cockroaches and Sunspot.” I wasn’t sure if he was trying to say something about us being Kafkaesque, but I still laughed and saw his point. We’re still trying like we’re still teenagers who listened to KISS and The Ramones and thought “Hey, if they can do it, so can we!” Because that’s never changed and when it does, well, that’s when we’ll fail to fulfill your trust and faith. This is it, it’s Miller Time.

We tested ourselves in 2010 like we never had before with easily the hardest work we’ve ever done. It was our best year yet. And that was just the beginning. We’re already working on new material (check out my SoundCloud if you like, because I post demos on there) and we’re already trying to figure out something new and something ridiculous to do. So, this is the week that we’re finalizing our goals for 2011. I know that makes it sound like a business, but like mankind was Marley’s business, kicking out the fucking jams is ours.

So, if you have ideas or suggestions or anything, feel free to Facebook, email, ReverbNation, Twitter, call or text at 608-561-2263, hell you can even Myspace us (we still check it a couple of times a week), and let us know what you think. We do this as much because we love partying with and creating for you as much as we love to just make cool noises and have fun. This year is going to be awesome and we’re thankful you guys have stuck with us through everything. In the words of the D, “We've been through so much bullshit just to be here tonight to rock your fuckin' socks off. And all we ask in return is so precious little. All we're askin' you to do is drop trou and squeeze out a Cleveland Steamer on our chests.”

Sunspot New Year's 2010 Ad

2010-12-29T11:11:00.001-06:00

Free Capital Amber beer, Jaegermeister giveaways, and no cover! Party starts at 8:30 and Sunspot plays until just after Midnight, so come celebrate 2011 with us!

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 150

2010-12-23T11:23:00.003-06:00

Happy Holidays from The Sunspot Christmas Party and Major Arcana DVD Release at The Frequency in Madison!

Download the SD version here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspotrm150sd-2578837-10381.mov

Finally took the challenge

2010-12-22T21:50:00.000-06:00

Free Shipping and Giftwrapping at the Sunspot Store - Today and Tomorrow Only!

2010-12-20T15:21:00.002-06:00

Men's and Women's T-Shirts, CDs, and DVDs are all on sale and all guaranteed to get to your destination by Christmas if you order them by tomorrow afternoon!

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep.149

2010-12-15T16:03:00.002-06:00

Sunspot survives Snowmageddon 2010 with a show at Sugar River Lanes in Belleville, Saturday, December 11th. Our heroes also gives you a little peek at the making of Major Arcana, released this Friday, December 17th, at The Frequency in Madison!

Download the SD version here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspot_rm_149_sd.mov

"Perfect" - Major Arcana

2010-12-10T15:29:00.001-06:00

Sunspot performs their previously unreleased song, "Perfect", as featured in their upcoming live concert DVD, "Major Arcana".

A combination of theater, audience participation, multimedia stage show, and rock concert party, they hired local actors to film scenes in between songs and provided a story that linked the songs to each other as well as a tarot card for each track (hence the title, "Major Arcana".) The idea is that the main character was getting an online tarot reading and the cards represented the themes of the songs as well as where the character was going in the story. The band premiered the show during SXSW in 2010 and took it on a tour of America's East Coast, Midwest and South in the Summer.

This DVD is the culmination of the tour and stage show. Recorded at The Annex in Madison on the last night of their tour, "Major Arcana" is the complete live production specially recorded for the DVD, along with tour videos, deleted scenes, a commentary track, and other special features. It will be available for purchase December 17th, as well as on their website, www.sunspotmusic.com

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 148

2010-11-27T15:55:00.001-06:00

Daleks, spankings, naughty cakes, clever cakes, and a ton of birthday shenanigans!

SD version available for download here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/SunspotRoadManiaEp148SD-2475265.m4v

Major Arcana Trailer

2010-11-27T11:28:00.001-06:00

Sunspot's "Major Arcana" tour was about creating a completely new type of experience that's personal like a rock concert has the emotional weight of a musical, that's dynamic visually like a film, and has the depth of great literature. The band premiered the show at SXSW in 2010 and took it on a tour of America's East Coast, Midwest and South in the Summer.

This DVD is the culmination of the tour and stage show. A complete live concert DVD, along with tour videos, deleted scenes, a commentary track, and other special features. It's released December 17th and available for pre-orders at http://store.sunspotmusic.com

SD version here at : http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/MajorTrailer480p-2474491.mov

Special Sunspot-only show at Club Tavern 11/19 (TOMORROW!)

2010-11-18T18:24:00.004-06:00

Just a quick announcement in case you haven't heard, tomorrow night at Club T we will be celebrating shy guy Mike's birthday with a full evening of Sunspot songs.

To jog your memory, here's a list of all the songs we've played live:
http://www.sunspotmusic.com/Live_Shows/Request_Form.html

Hope to see you there!

Join the Facebook Event here

"Prozac Girl" and "Pretend" Sunspot on Late Night Madness April 1998

2010-11-18T16:00:00.000-06:00

Hey, goatees are cool!

This is the first televised appearance of us as Sunspot, as well as the first ever time we played "Prozac Girl" and "Pretend" in front of a crowd! April of 1998, and we'd just finished writing the bridge of "Prozac Girl" that day!

I thought this would be the perfect day to put it up since we're doing a Major Arcana sneak preview tomorrow!

Download the video here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/Sunspot%20LNM%20April%202008.mov

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 147

2010-11-04T13:51:00.001-05:00

It's a Super Halloween Weekend as the Super Sunspot Bros. party in Madison and Rockford with Josh Dupont Band and The Goodyear Pimps!

Download the SD version here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/RoadManiaEP144-2250957.m4v

Happy Halloween from the Super Sunspot Bros.!

2010-11-01T12:24:00.003-05:00

What a fantastic Halloween weekend!

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions for this year's Sunspot group costume. Congratulations to Jim, who was the first one to suggest the Super Mario Bros theme. Jim, your Sunspot prize pack will be on its way to you soon!

Special thanks to Lisa for the great pic!

Stay tuned for the podcast to see a detailed recap of Halloween 2010.

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 146

2010-10-28T15:22:00.002-05:00

Watch Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 146 in Celebrity & Showbiz | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Partying in Elcho, saying goodbye to Bambi, and getting ready for this week's big Halloween parties!

Download the SD version here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspotrm146-2344667.mov

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 145

2010-10-14T19:35:00.001-05:00

Sunspot has the weekend off, but Mike gets himself six feet under the Zombie Pub Crawl in Minneapolis while Wendy Lynn performs with rocker Mark Mallman during his epic 78-hour music marathon at The Turf Club in St. Paul. It's a Twin Cities rock/horror party!

Download the SD version: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/SunspotRoadMania145-2281103.m4v

Mark Mallman, I salute you and your 78-hour song!

2010-10-08T16:01:00.002-05:00

In a triathlon, athletes test the limits of their physical abilities by running a full marathon, biking 112 miles, and swimming 2.4 miles. This weekend, musician Mark Mallman ( http://www.mallman.com ) will undertake the musical equivalent of such a challenge by performing a 78-hour rock epic entitled “Marathon 3”.

That’s actually not a fair analogy, because while thousands of athletes can say they have completed a triathlete, I am unaware of any musician who has rocked for 78 hours nonstop.

It is an artist’s nature to want to push things to extremes. After all, the dangerous qualities of rock and roll are part of its allure. We pride ourselves on playing for hours on end; we wear the scars and scabs resulting from onstage antics like badges of honor. We cram ourselves into vans, drive dozens of hours, play seven shows in four days, and drive another twenty hours straight back home, making barely enough money to cover our expenses- Not something most adults would elect to do with their time- yet we love every second of it.

But Mark Mallman takes his dedication to music a step further. The prolific songwriter and performer, also known as the Mad Man, pushes the boundaries of modern music and his own creativity far beyond limits that the rest of us dare not approach. Having previously completed 26-hour and 52-hour versions of the marathon, he knows what he’s getting into, and he leaps enthusiastically into the rabbit hole with reckless abandon.

Can you imagine what might come out of one’s mind after hours and hours of continuous musical expression? What magical corridors of the brain might be unlocked by days of sleep deprivation? For an artist to not only choose to do this, but to do it publicly and invite the world, is a bold move which I respect profoundly.

When I first heard about Mark Mallman’s marathons, I thought it sounded like a cool way to rally the troops, gather scores of musicians and stay up all night rocking. It reminded me of the childhood delight of a lock-in or slumber party, where we would defy sleep and partake in all of our favorite activities until we dropped. However, further investigation revealed to me that this is no joke, not a gimmick for press attention, an attempt to break a record, nor a charity fundraising event. This is all about art.

The Marathon 3 involved much more prep work than just finding a venue that will allow such a lengthy performance. Mallman is armed with hundreds of pages of lyrics and an overarching theme for each of three 26.2-hour segments of the event. He has scheduled a continuous rotation of musicians who will follow him through the twists and turns the lengthy performance will surely take. I should have known all along the man nicknamed Mr. Serious would not take something like this lightly! Of course, it is rock and roll, and therefore guaranteed to include the fun and entertainment that a show normally includes: elements crucial to defying the gravity of such an enormous creative undertaking.

So, this weekend I will make the pilgrimage to the twin cities to experience the Marathon 3 for myself, not only to support an artist I highly respect, but to seek out some inspiration of my own. I will not just observe what is happening in the temple of rock known as the Turf Club in St. Paul, but like everyone there, I will become part of a unique scene; a grand vortex of music, lyrics, and creative chaos. Although but a fraction of what Mallman will be doing, I will also challenge myself to perform for hours on end, and hopefully come out of it with a fresh and new perspective. I will enthusiastically follow this obsessed pied piper of rock as he hammers out his catchy tune on the piano. And with any luck, I will survive the journey with a new outlook on musical performance itself.

You can watch the Marathon 3 live webcast at:
http://m3.implex.net/

Check the Schedule... You just might see me behind the drum set!

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 144

2010-10-08T09:20:00.000-05:00

Sunspot video shoot, hanging out at old haunts, and discussing the extraordinarily talented musician, Jibbs.

SD version here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/RoadManiaEP144-2250957.m4v

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 143

2010-09-30T22:29:00.002-05:00

Mike and Wendy visit the Rock Band Creators Workshop at Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago.

Will you be able to play some Sunspot on your Xbox soon? Watch the video to find out!

YouTube Video

SD version here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspotrm143sd-2215237.mov

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 142

2010-09-29T05:00:00.001-05:00

Rock show and dance party at Victory Lane in Merrill!

SD version here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspot_rm_142_sd.m4v

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 141

2010-09-21T08:34:00.003-05:00

Sunspot fights the good fight in Waukesha!

YouTube Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ0veq3diIo

Download the SD version here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspotrm141-2163861.mov

You don't know how many times I wanted to do this

2010-09-13T09:49:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, a Madison street musician slams a critic over the head with his guitar. I don't know if I've ever seen or met him, but they call him "Bongo Jesus" and he damn near broke the guy's hip (the critic was 54 years old but Bongo Jesus is only 31, so I don't know if it's really a fair fight.) Our hand-drumming savior must've had some kind of bad day...

But making music is a very personal thing and artists can be extremely sensitive, musicians more than most. It's like when Jared Leto tried to strangle Frodo because the little man said he didn't like 30 Seconds To Mars. There's something particularly vulnerable about writing songs versus something like acting. You're not playing a character, you're playing yourself (even if you are a character.) When non-artists decide to say something stupid to you, sometimes you want to murder them. Example of stupid?

IDIOT: "I want to hear 'If Everyone Cared'!!"

ME: "I'm sorry, I'm not sure what song you're talking about."

IDIOT: "Oh man, it's Nickelback, it's so sweet. (Disgustingly enthusiastic) It rocks!"

ME: "Cool. (Trying my absolute best not to be sarcastic) I bet it's a great song. But we don't know it."

IDIOT: "Yeah, you do. It goes like this! (Proceeds to sing something incomprehensible)"

ME: "No, I haven't heard it, but we'll have to check it out. Thanks."

IDIOT: "Come on, you're a guitar player, can't you just figure it out? It just goes like this (Once again sings something incomprehensible)"

ME: "No, I'm afraid it doesn't work like that, sorry."

IDIOT: "Yeah, it does. C'mon, you got to play it. It's really easy, just figure it out. C'mon, man, you gotta do..."

ME: PUNCH

I've never actually smacked someone at a Sunspot show in the real world, just in my mind world. I had to kick a guy in the chest once when he grabbed my microphone stand and almost knocked out my teeth, but that goes without saying. To actually hitting a guy for not liking your music- that's ballsy, my bongo-playing friend, that's ballsy. That's the next step I've never taken. It's kind of a butthole move, but secretly, you're a little bit of a hero to anyone that's ever had to deal with harsh criticism of something that they worked and slaved over and it means everything to them.

I get that Bongo Jesus might have just been all messed at the time and was screaming at the top of his lungs being a nuisance, but let's pretend just for now that the critic deserved it. It makes the musician in me feel better.

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 140

2010-08-25T01:09:00.002-05:00

Madison. The Annex. Last day of the tour. No titles on this one because I need to reinstall iMovie, but you'll get the point. The real highlight is the entirety of "She's A Ho" live by Government Zero. I didn't want to put this up because it kinda made me sad that it's all over. That's alright, more adventures to be had soon.

SD Version: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspotrm140-2164065.m4v

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 139

2010-08-14T01:16:00.002-05:00

Defying deadly rains in Rockford, performing in Freeport, and returning to Wisconsin!

http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspotrm139-2164487.mov

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 138

2010-08-14T01:14:00.002-05:00

Sunspot vs. Food at Waffle House!

SD version here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/SunspotRoadManiaEp.138-2164337.mov

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 137

2010-08-13T12:24:00.004-05:00

Living on Tulsa time. A man on a bed of nails, three-point-two beer and some rocking!

SD Version: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/SunspotRoadManiaEp.137-2163743.mov

Sunspot Road Mania -Ep. 136

2010-08-13T12:22:00.002-05:00

Hanging out in OKC, Iguana's Taco Tuesday Funeral, Tecate with our man, Elmo, high strangeness at the Hi-Lo, Styx party, Captain Eyeball and more!

SD Version: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/SunspotRoadManiaEp.136-2163405.mov

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 135

2010-08-13T12:21:00.002-05:00

Sunspot invades the Big D and Willie Nelson's Truck Stop!

SD version: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspotrm135sd-2186419.mov

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 134

2010-08-13T12:20:00.002-05:00

Oh, Austin!

SD version: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspotrm134sd-2186413.mov

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 133

2010-08-13T11:59:00.002-05:00

Causing trouble in San Antonio at Augie's and then hanging out with 3 Kisses.

SD Version: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspotrm133sd-2186407.mov

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 132

2010-08-06T11:58:00.001-05:00

Hanging out with Madalyn from GoGirls and performing in Houston.

Download the SD version here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/Sunspot-Road-Mania-Ep-132.mp4

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 131

2010-08-06T11:57:00.002-05:00

Wild in Little Rock!

The SD version is right here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/Sunspot-Road-Mania-Ep-132.mp4

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 130

2010-08-06T11:53:00.003-05:00

Day 3 of Tennessee! Live from Memphis. It's hot out and we make it hotter!

The SD version us right here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/Sunspot-Road-Mania-Ep-130.mp4

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 129

2010-08-03T11:50:00.002-05:00

Hanging out in Nashville on our day off. Jem from Outrageous Productions gives us the first Big Elebra Award. We go out to see some bands and shenanigans ensue.

SD version is right here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/Sunspot-Road-Mania-Ep-129.mp4

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 128

2010-08-02T14:15:00.001-05:00

Nasty in Nashville!

Download the SD version here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/'sunspotrm128sd-2400937.mov

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 127

2010-08-02T14:14:00.001-05:00

Play By Play Cafe in Cincinnati, a terrifying hotel in Kentucky, and our introduction to Cincy's Hudy Beer.

SD version is here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/Sunspot-Road-Mania-Ep-127.mp4

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 126

2010-08-02T14:13:00.001-05:00

Losing our West Virginity in Wheeling!

SD version is here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/Sunspot-Road-Mania-Ep-126.mp4

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 125

2010-08-02T14:10:00.002-05:00

Sunspot misadventures in New York City!

SD version is here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/Sunspot-Road-Mania-Ep-125.mp4

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 124

2010-08-02T14:09:00.002-05:00

Summer Day at Two Boots in Bridgeport!

SD version is here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/Sunspot-Road-Mania-Ep-124.mp4

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 123

2010-08-02T14:08:00.001-05:00

It's raining men at Harper's Ferry!

SD Version is here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/Sunspot-Road-Mania-Ep-123.mp4

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 122

2010-07-27T14:53:00.002-05:00

On the way to Boston!

SD version is here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/Sunspot-Road-Mania-Ep-122.mp4

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 120

2010-07-27T14:52:00.005-05:00

Flat tire on the trailer! Tragedy on the freeway! Acoustic "Soundcheck Song"!

Download the SD version here: http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspotrm120-2400963.m4v

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 121

2010-07-27T14:52:00.004-05:00

Alright, I think I'm finally getting the hang of editing and shooting on the iPhone 4. We had a really fun day but kind of a weird night at our Pittsburgh stop.

Download the SD version here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspotrm121sd-2400911-10381.m4v

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 119

2010-07-24T09:17:00.003-05:00

Major Arcana Tour Day 3 from Delavan, WI and a little night riding in the van.

Direct download at http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspotrm119-1881109.m4v

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 118

2010-07-23T11:33:00.000-05:00

Some behind the scenes from Shank Hall at last night's tour kickoff during the Great Milwaukee Flood of 2010. I'm still working out exactly how best to shoot with the iPhone 4, so sorry if it doesn't look great yet, but we'll be shooting every day on this tour, so hopefully by the end I'll have it figured out!

Direct download is right here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspotrm118-1877155.m4v

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 117

2010-07-23T11:32:00.002-05:00

A little bit from Concerts on the Square in Wausau and an explanation of what the Major Arcana tour is all about.

The direct download is right here: http://sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/SRM117-1873183.m4v

Sunspot Prehistoric Video : "Bleed Me Free" and "Young Love" - Shine 97 Concert

2010-06-25T14:47:00.000-05:00

Pleather, mohawks, sequins, and braces(?!) - Eat your heart out, Fashionistas! This may be the earliest video that we have on the web. It's from March of 1997 at a benefit concert in the Stock Pavilion at UW-Madison. This is before we called ourselves Sunspot and we hadn't even been playing together for a year yet. The sound quality is a little rough, it's a transfer from a VHS copy of a Hi-8 tape, and our friend, Kyle, had to keep coming onstage to help Wendy fix her bass drum (Hey man, thanks for that.)

Thinking back on that show, it was a pretty awesome experience. That was the first show that we ever played with BoRd and we got to share the stage with Pet Engine (who I thought was the coolest band in Wisconsin in the 1990's.) Originally, the organizers advertised the show as being headlined by The Gufs, but something happened and they had to cancel (which caused Ben to have a grudge against them for years, ha. Since it was a benefit for Camp Heartland , Ben's response when anyone used to bring The Gufs up was "Those heartless bastards hate kids with AIDS", in fact he still might say that.) We were all about 20 years young in this video and for some reason, I was determined that a beard made me look more like a badass, especially with a bandana. Yeah, I was wrong about that.

These are two songs that don't make it out at live shows anymore, either. We hadn't seen it (or thought about it) in over a decade, and when you see how many ridiculous chains I'm wearing, we thought you'd be glad we shared it.

Anyway, next week we'll start seeing new Sunspot Road Manias as we kick off the next six weeks, which is going to be our busiest season ever! Brand new live show, new songs and we'll be bringing it all around the country and then doing a final Homecoming show in Madison on August 14th to make our first live DVD. So, this will be a pretty short trip down Memory Lane because we're in the process of making a lot of new ones.

Summer Day (Longest Intro Ever) at WYOU

2010-06-18T10:14:00.001-05:00

We're taking a break for the next two weeks as we get the July shows ready to roll and we finish our preparations and production for the Major Arcana Tour, but we don't want to deprive you of the deep, deep, borderline nasty love that we have for you in the meantime. So, here's another video (this one's not Old School because it's not even a year past.)

It's probably the longest intro to Summer Day we've ever done. We just kinda rolled with it because, well, we could. It was for WYOU's telethon in October 2009. We were introduced by Darth Rokker from Maximum Ink and we played that night with our good friends in Axiom. The sound quality is great, thanks to Kasper from Ghost Town for doing the mixing.

WYOU is an awesome community access station in Madison and they always need support because keeping crazy people on the air is important AND they support local and independent music. www.wyou.org

Sunspot Old-School Video : "Prozac Girl" WAMI Awards 2004

2010-06-10T16:42:00.003-05:00

To tide you guys over this week between Road Manias, let's take a little trip in the Wayback Machine all the way back to the Aughts, all the way back to April 26th, 2004 at a a live performance for the 2004 Wisconsin Area Music Industry Awards. Picture Northern Lights Theater at Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee, WI. Picture a good deal of Milwaukee's music scene all dressed up, hanging out and getting lit up in one place. Picture a ton of old ladies smoking cigarettes and seducing the one-armed bandit. Picture us- young, fresh-faced, and beautiful.

And yes, we did bring a different set of clothes to go between the stage and the ceremony.

We also included some of the footage of our deep and poignant acceptance speeches for Rock Band of the Year!

3 Chances to Party With Us This Weekend!

2010-06-03T11:55:00.004-05:00

Now that the brats have somewhat settled in our gastrointestinal systems and Summer's in fullswing, we're declaring this short week over and it is once again, time to party.

It begins this early evening at Quaker Steak & Lube in Middleton (the place where they have that awesome picture of a perfectly-out-of-his-element-and-can't-believe-they're-taking-a-snapshot Trent Reznor inhaling a bucket o' spicy wings!) at 5:30pm. The show is absolutely FREE and we'll be rocking until 9:30pm tonight. It's $2 Bud Lights and 1/2 off Bud Light Lube Tubes as well, so you know it's going to get nasty.

Then, Good God, man, there's more rocking to be done! Especially in the Up North way because Summer is here and there's no better place on Earth to be in the early Summer than in the Wausau area. That's why we're bringing the party to Bruisers. It's our first time there, it looks like a monster nightclub and I believe we're going to let it rip. It's a free show and Sunspot starts around 9pm and we go all night. Pants-wetting starts whenever we've all had too much to drink!

Those are just the first two. Saturday we'll be celebrating the 2nd Birthday of one of Madison's finest rock and roll establishments, The Frequency. The show starts at 7 and it's an all-star lineup. Comedian Dan Potacke kicks it off, SUNSPOT plays right at 8pm, Uncle Eddie at 9, Sexy Ester at 10, Orphan Bloom at 11, and guitar hero Pistol Pete finishing it up at Midnight. And let's not forget the most important thing, there will be FREE BEER starting at 7pm until it runs out. We know there's some friends with birthdays- so come early and come often!

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 5:30 PM
Sunspot in Middleton
Quaker Steak & Lube
2259 Deming Way
Middleton, WI 53562
(608) 831-5823
All Ages / FREE
[ Map ]

Friday, June 4th, 2010 9:00 PM
Bruisers
320 Ross Avenue
Schofield, WI
(715) 359-6432
21+ / FREE
[ Map ]

Saturday, May 5, 2010 7:00PM (SUNSPOT plays at 8)
2nd Frequin' Birthday Party
The Frequency
121 West Main Street
Madison, WI 53703
(608) 819-8777‎
21+ / $5
[ Map ]

Wendy's DrummerCam: Saturday 5/22/10 @ Gray's Tied House in Verona, WI

2010-05-23T20:55:00.003-05:00

Sunspot Road Mania - Ep. 116

2010-05-21T09:23:00.001-05:00

Sunspot visits The Buzz Bar for their first show in Watertown, WI! Special thanks to Terrence (who apparently had a baby at the show) for the footage of us playing.

The high quality direct download is available here (~38 MB):
http://www.sunspotmusic.com/roadmania/sunspot_rm_116.mp4

Ideas for the Major Arcana Tour?

2010-05-19T15:30:00.004-05:00

So, we've been working hard on booking this summer's tour. We've got a few dates confirmed already, but we're still looking for venue ideas in a few cities. If you know anyone or have any ideas of cool venues in these cities, click here to email us right away. It doesn't have to be a well thought-out email (you're not going to be judged on the quality of venue you suggest or your grammar), we're just on the lookout for cool locations that might work. Could be a college, could be a nightclub, it could be a performance art space or it could be a theater. Anywhere that we'd sound good...

---

Philadelphia

Oh, City of Brotherly Love. Where would you like us to play? Preferably somewhere with seats and room for two projection screens onstage. Why won't you unveil your brotherly secrets to us?

New Orleans

You've been through so much, dear. Your excess and your hedonistic pleasures are only outweighed by your beautiful culture. You were so mean that time that you helped that drunk driver hit and almost ruin our trailer, but we forgive you. We long to embrace you again. So, where do you want us to serenade you?

Dallas

We've had an interesting relationship with you, Dallas. Oh yes, we've flirted with you many many times. We've even consummated our relationship that one boozy night at the Across The Street Bar, but we've yet to achieve something meaningful with you. Your cousins Austin and San Antonio have been so sweet to us. But you, you saucy coquette, you're all talk. Let's walk that walk of shame together. Oh, where do you want this to happen?

----

Ideas in any of these above towns would be sweet. We'll keep everyone updated as we add cities to the summer itinerary.

We've finished up the song selection for the show, so now we're deep into the final stages of production and putting it all together. Thank you to everyone whose helped us with feedback on the previews and it's 8 weeks to get the show on the road!

Wendy's DrummerCam: Saturday 5/15/10 @ Buzz Bar in Watertown, WI

2010-05-17T06:24:00.003-05:00

Wendy's DrummerCam: Saturday 5/8/10 @ The Annex in Madison, WI

2010-05-13T20:06:00.001-05:00

Most fun after party ever?! :)