Kearneys, flat tires, in a NY state of mind...

Yesterday we played a show in gorgeous clifton park NY. at least the half vacant strip mall the club northern lights is in is... We are veterans of this club, i think this marks the 3rd or 4th time we have played there in the past few years. As usual, the kids that came out were awesome. this was the first radio sponsored event that we played, and the first time we have played there not being on tour. We got to play with a fellow nashvillian Matt Kearney( matkearney.com) and let me tell you he is easy on the eyes. His guitar player is a former band mate of mine, but unfortunately, he wasnt attending due to the fact that matt played acousticlyyyy. It was cool to see matt though. we are in some sort of a marina parking lot right now looking for a new tire for our trailer because i think we have blown at least 2 on this trip. we usually carry two spares, but we are going through them like john warne goes through apple products. needless to say, our dependable bus driver is getting the job done and we are off to play our show with Chris Daughtry. This will be our second american idol contestant show, our other was with katharin mchpee. I bet chris dances better though... well just have to wait and see. til then..

js

It will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine....

I just saw this trailer for the new animated Superman Movie that is coming out exactly one month after my b-day.... otherwise it would be the perfect present, from MYSELF... A S:TAS take on the best selling graphic novel (and for the schneck trivians, my favorite comic of all time-- superman 75) of all times... The wait is almost over... Check out the trailer...



cool, huh?

js

An old friend written up, this time it wasnt the principal...

My childhood chum Zach from the band Mae had a nice write up in our hometown paper. For those of you who didnt know, or didnt care to know, or just didnt care period, Zach and I grew up together outside of Orlando where we learned to love pearl jam and record on my dads tascam 8 track machine. Those were the days... Anyways, heres the article...

Mae is a major-label artist now, with Singularity out Aug. 14 on Capitol Records, after two buzz-generating releases on indie Tooth & Nail.

That's a good news-bad news situation, says guitarist Zach Gehring.

"There's two things, one positive and one that's different, not negative," says Gehring, who will perform with the band Tuesday at the Social. "The positive is that we've just got more time and more money to write. We got to rent a house in south Virginia Beach, a massive house along the beach. We never had time to do that before because we were always touring, and we never had the money.
"Now we were at this house with designated writing time, so we were a lot more focused. We recorded all the ideas, guitar riffs and melodies and within a couple of days, we had a dry-erase board with song ideas.

"We had a blast, but we didn't get the deposit back. There were some air-pellet-gun wars, and it was awesome."

The flip side: Capitol, if you hadn't heard, is a big operation.

"At Tooth & Nail, we had contact with three or four people that we knew personally, so you would talk to them about stuff even if you weren't talking about business. On a major label, you have so many people to deal with that you're just aware of the fact that it's a job more than anything else for them.

"I get frustrated sometimes because it seems so impersonal. All these people have a hand in what you're doing, but you can't really talk to them. Just obvious differences that you know about going into it. I mean, you pick your battles, and you're not an idiot, you know signing with Capitol it's gonna be different."

With the luxury of time, the members of Mae concocted a bigger rock sound for Singularity, a departure from the soaring ballads that defined Destination: Beautiful (2003) and The Everglow (2005). Rob Sweitzer's keyboards, which flavored songs such as "We're So Far Away," are submerged in new material such as the hard-charging "Sometimes I Can't Make It Alone."

Gehring, who left Orlando's Unsung Zeroes to join Mae for The Everglow, says changes are part of a natural transition.

"Whenever I saw the band live, it was always more energetic, guitar-driven and raw," he says. "We didn't set out to write songs that are different. It's a progression for us. The keyboards are there, and Rob's influence is all over the record. I think it's the best representation of us ever. With every record, it's going to be different."

With his Central Florida roots, Gehring is looking forward to another homecoming experience in Orlando. In addition to the Social concert, the band will be playing an in-store on Monday at Park Avenue CDs, and Gehring also looks forward to hanging out at old haunts such as Bar-B-Q Bar.

A patron of the old Park Avenue CDs in Winter Park, Gehring is adjusting to the new one on Corrine Drive.

"I liked the location in Winter Park a little better than this one, but this one's bigger, so I like that."

Gehring also likes the changes he sees in Mae. The album title, Singularity, refers to the "ultimate unknowable in science," which reflects healthy ambiguity in the creative process, he says.

"It's exciting, searching every level of the band and ourselves," he says. "Singularity represents every level of that."

Jabbott@Orlandosentinel.Com

RK on the Simpsons?

No, we are not, but it would be cool, eh? Kara took it upon herself to post what she thinks we would look like if we were on the show. She simpsonized us for sure. Thanks, Kara.

js

Its official

My good friend Sam and I have officially started collaborating on a graphic novel/comic book (We havent decided yet) and hope to complete it within the next millennium. In all honesty, i dont have any sort of time frame on this, but we have started putting the pieces together to what seems like an amazing story involving a lot of different ideas. I will let you guys in on some stuff as it comes together... sketches and things like that. so stay tuned, and i will keep everyone posted. adios.

js

Bombard the Imposter

Hey, if any of you guys have a "Bebo" account, go to this site http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=4484630484 and post that the account is fake... someone was bored and decided to cross the line into creepy fandom and made a fake profile of me with the names of my wife and dogs... boo.... anyways, if anyone knows who it was, it would be rad if it was deleted... there a fake one for each RK member. awesome.


js

Rocket for your Pocket

I will be at rocketown monday and tuesday from 9-12 for rocketowns summer sessions teaching guitar lessons to some awesomely awesome people. i actually dont know who will be there, but im sure if they are doing rocketowns summer sessions that they are awesome. anyways, if any of you guys are attending, i will see you there.

peathout,
js

Up and up buddies

I got an email from my friend Susan and she made some really nice looking icons with lyrics from Up and Up on them, so i thought i would share them with the world (and by world i mean the 12 people that read my blog). Enjoy them please.

Js

Curious Gorge

Wellll.... I was going to wait until some friends sent me some pics from the gorge (creation west) to post a blog about it, but i feel like if i dont get blogging, i will just forget to post about it at all. Well, the trip was long (3 days for 1 show) but it was worth it. I know ive said it before, but the gorge really is one of the most beautiful places in the US. If you have never been, check the upcoming shows and make a trip out of it. you will not be dissapointed. The day was rad, i hung out at the PRS booth a lot during the day and met a lot of really cool people. It was cool to see some friends in some of the other bands that played, like jonathan from hawk nelson, and all the jars of clay guys. The show was rad and we all had so much fun playing it. Thanks to everyone that came out and said hey, and thanks to Mel for the gift bag.... She is awesome. alright, til next time.

js

PS, i was going to post some pics that ethan sent me, but i realized that he posted them on his blog, so just check them out there. theres some real good ones.

Simpsonized

I went on the website simpsonizeme.com to see what i would look like as a simpsons character... you decide if the website works or not... here are the results.

js

In Action

A Pic by Meg from our show in Kingsport friday night. WOW were the kids there awesome. Thanks to everyone that came out and supported us that night, it was a really cool show, and my new PRS sounded so great. See you all soon..

js

A new era...

Well, Yesterday I recieved my first Paul Reed Smith guitar that PRS gave me as a new partnership with me and the company. I am really excited to be working with them. So far the people that i have met and talked with have been so great and for some reason they think im cool. I will be hanging out at the PRS booth at the Creation festival in WA on the 25th of this month, if any of you want to come over and say hey. Anyways, the first PRS to arrive is the Standard Satin in the charcoal finish. The first time i picked up this guitar i knew i was going to love it. The craftsmanship on this is amazing, and it plays great. I cant wait to plug it into my rig and crank it. anyways, enough geeking, i attached a pic of the new axe. more to come...

js

SonShine Pics

Here are a few pics from Sonshine festival that we just played in Minnesota. We had a good time. We had a kid named Max come up and play guitar on sadie hawkins and he ended up stealing the show. It was pretty rad. I have been checking you tube to see if anyone has posted a video of that, so if anyone has one, let me know. alright, see you later.

funny old pic

my buddy jeff (my old roommate, with the snowball... see jeff wilson on my friends link) sent me a whole bunch of old pics from when we lived together... he sent me one pic of my days when i moonlighted as a terrorist decoy for the NSA. it was a good job, the benefits were great, but it always made my trips to the skating rink a little akward...

enjoy

js

oh that walt disney...

Well, last night at around 7 o clock lindsay and i finshed our 13 hour drive back from disney in orlando. We spent the week down there with 14 other (16 total) family members. it was a crazy week. we spent 5 days down there... the first day we took a detour from the pack and stopped off to see my family in the beautiful city of mt. dora... then we spent the next four days at disney. we went to 4 parks in 4 days... i do not recommend this unless you have feet of steel and an unhumanly high tolerance to the sun. although we both feel like we need a vacation from our vacation, we had a good time, and it was awesome seeing our family for a week... one of the great things is that they now have little huts selling mcdonalds at all the disney parks.... so for all of you mickey ds lovers out there, it really has become the happiest place on earth.

more to come

js

Fan Covers

Every now and again, I will go on youtube to check and see what kind of vids of RK are up on the net so that i can see how goofy i look hopping around on one foot during the set. And.... every now and again, i see that some kids video themselves covering RK songs.... Few are as awesome as this kids, so i thought i would post it for all of you to see...

enjoy.



js

Da Dance in Da Fall

Here is a pic that my friend sent me from when i was in middle school rocking out with my band "flippant." We were truly a force to be reckoned with. we only played pearl jam covers, and a few originals, such as "soap" and "overdose on tylenol." we played birthday parties, and one school function i think. we were the bomb. anyways, enjoy the picture, i sure did.

js

Pics from the fire...

Just a reminder, everyone is fine... no one got hurt. thanks for all the emails of support. dont worry about us, were all good! thanks for the prayers.

js

Burn baby burn...

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=362476&r=0&Category=20&subCategoryID=0

ill post some pictures soon...

js

Invisible Children Interview

I got interviewed by the org. Invisible Children and I was just sent a link to the article... check it out if you want to...


http://www.cmcentral.com/special/6809.html


js

What are you doing!?!?!

Sorry it has been so long since i have written on here, we have been busy as bees. Festival season is just kicking off, and we have been putting a new set together so not to bore you to death :) We have been rehearsing this week for the summer as well as putting some new stuff together for something that I am not at liberty to talk about (or hoopes said he would beat me up). But keep an eye on our web site and tour dates... although they are few and far between they will still be fun and i would love to see all of you guys there. Keep an eye out for our fall tour announcement, i think that everyone will be stoked for this one. I know I am. Anyway, sorry for not posting in a while, i have been attempting to be normal on the days we have had home, and havent been spendin much time on the computer. See you guys soon!

js

More friends!

Here are some of the Pics that I have received as of late. Thanks for everyone that has been coming out to our summer shows. I can't wait to see you guys this fall... it's gonna be rad!









js

e mails, f mails, and a couple gmails...

sorry about the delay, but on the three flights that i took today, starting at 6am, i finally got around to answering the couple hundred emails i had acquired over the past however long time period. i always do that, instead of just answering them as they come in, i put them off until i have so many i have to make it an event. for this i apologize, at least i got them done... thanks for keeping in touch while were not touring.

on another note, we played in green bay today.... the show was actually pretty awesome. i say that because what am i supposed to think when i look at my schedule and it says "food fest" in wisconsin? ill tell you what ill think from now on, awesomeness is what ill think. thanks for everyone that came out. i had a great time hanging out with all of you afterwards, and thanks for everyone that helped us out with the show. i definitely cant wait to get back to green bay. alright, im out...

see you guys and gals...

js

nobody, but nobody calls me yella.....

I thought this was funny... one of my favorite songs of all times. I did my best as a kid to pick out these lyrics, although he never sings them the same twice. This is an interesting interpretation to say the least...



js

and the lesson of the day is....

This summer I will be helping out at rocketowns "summer sessions" when i am in town... (check rocketown.org for dates) i will be doing some guitar clinics there and will also start giving actual lessons there. i am not sure what the schedule is going to look like yet, but if you know of anyone in the nashville area that would like to start learning, then sign up dude! there are some flyers up at rocketown, and ill put one up here for fun. i hope to have a few students this summer and then pick back up in when we finish up with our fall tour. peace love and calluses...

js

ps, that sketch keeps popping up everywhere, eh?