Hello friends of Aloud!

Just a quick reminder that we're finally heading back to New York City!! And, for the first time since July, we're hitting up Brooklyn. On Thursday, March 1st, make sure to head over to Luna Lounge. The club has recently relocated from Manhattan to Brooklyn, under the same management but with a bigger and better space. Joining us on the bill are The Shapes, Fire Flies, and Uncut (from Toronto, eh?). What's great for you is that we've been working hard in the rehearsal space on some new material, and you can catch an exclusive preview of what our second full length album just might sound like at the show. Just for you New Yorkers. Because we love you.

With love,
Ross

Oh, what a busy weekend it was for us. Portland, Troy once again thanks for treating us so well. I think we're all getting used to the cramped quarters in long drives and awful late night food again. We took yesterday to catch up on all the sleep we lost and to try and replace more of the gear that was stolen last Sunday. Getting there, so no fear :)

Last night Henry and I went out to see LYLO producer and music guru Hugh Wyman play guitar with the Luxury for their CD Release. It was a great bill and fun was had all around. We ran into Paul Driscoll from FNX and he mentioned he'd played Godspeed on the New England Product Spotlight a couple times this week, so big thanks to Paul and FNX for continued support.

Much more ahead in the next month. We start it off right and proper with our return to New York (Brooklyn really). We've been away for four months and we're playing the brand new beautiful Luna Lounge (that's right it's moved kiddies). If you haven't been out to the new Luna I've heard nothing but great things, so there's really no real reason for you to miss this show! Fire Flies, Uncut, and the Shapes will be joining us. We're be on stage early this time at 8PM SHARP! Bring friends!



That's all for now.

Cheers,

Jen

Then you might be interested in reading this which the fabulous Michael Witthaus had printed in the Claremont Eagle Times and on his own website Local Rhythms. Here's a little snapshot of the gig.



Thanks Michael!!

Cheers,

Jen

Hey a mighty thanks to the folks in Portland who came out to see us play! Thanks for buying our cds, wearing our buttons, and cheering us on. The new Geno's looks fantastic. Much bigger room, better sound, and quite a proper stage. They've even got a nice lobby out front. :)

So once again, THANKS!

Tonight we get back in the van (with a new, not smashed window) and drive out to Troy, NY for our return to Positively 4th Street. We absolutely love going to see the man we call the mayor of Troy, Artie. Fun fact. You know Uncle Sam? Well he lived in Troy. One night some guy at P4 took us out to see tha statue just around the corner from the club. Another fun fact with that old Boston/NY rivalry... Uncle Sam was born in Arlington, MASSACHUSETTS. HA! :) Stick a feather in your hat and call it macaroni. It's really funny we sing that song being as it was an insulting ditty from the British to us. I say no more! No more sir!

But I digress...

Ross was typing up March's mailing list in the car last night. I must say my favorite yet. Sign up if you haven't! Some very cool news to be shared with you all awaits you.

Well that's all from me today.

Cheers,

Jen

Hello kiddies.. It's Henry again. Jen said I should write a blog, because she's written a million of these, and I'm already on the computer, so...

As many of you know all our pedals were swiped from our van last Sunday, which meant we had to cancel our show at Sunday River. To say that I'm angry about it is the understatement of the year, as I spent the past three days wishing massive bodily harm on the culprits. But it could have been worse, and thankfully— thanks to credit cards, generous friends and family, and some reverse engineering— we'll be totally back up to speed in a couple of days.

Screw all that, though.. just like Carl don't need no instructions to know how to use the Foreigner belt, we don't need no stinkin' pedals to know how to rock. After getting the wind knocked out of us (and the window knocked out of the van), we're back on track this weekend in Portland, ME and Troy, NY. Specifically, we're playing the "new" Geno's in Portland, and in Troy we're bringing it to Positively 4th Street, our usual haunt. It'll be good to see our favorite peeps out in Troy again (our boys in Blackcat Elliot, for one), and Artie keeps a great jukebox selection.

Damn.. I still can't believe our stuff got stolen. The annoying part is having to scour eBay. I don't like auctioning, I just want to buy my stuff and get it done with. But no, I just had to go and get pedals that have been discontinued. I did some mad sniping on a couple of delay pedals, though. Whoever "denobler" and "gitbox1" are, they must really hate me.

Two to five business days can't come soon enough... Bah.. no use dwelling on this.

Also, new website is just over the horizon. We'll be making use of YouTube and Flickr accounts, so if anyone has any photos or video of us, do let us know! Email aloud@allthingsaloud.com.

I always feel so much pressure writing these things now. I feel like I'm supposed to write pages and pages of stuff, but I should probably cool it... brevity is the soul of wit, or sommat..

Okay, off to make some more credit card charges before getting to bed. We'd better see you all this weekend!

Cheers,
Henry

With much regret I must inform you we've had to cancel our show at the Sunday River Brewing Company. Unfortunately we've had to deal with the theft of some equipment and a large whole where a window used to be. We have no way of getting to Bethel tonight. Our sincerest apologies to everyone who was going. You should still go check out Fire Flies as they will be playing two sets tonight. If I were you I would.

Good news is we should have everything up and running by Thursday when we head off to Portland.

Cheers,

Jen

Just back from Hanover. We had a lovely time playing for everyone at India Queen. Special thanks to Bob Nash, Cindy & co., and of course Fire Flies who put on a fantastic show. It was truly an adventure trying to drive through the snow ridden streets. Two-ways became one-ways and we had to hurry after our set and move the Aloudmobile before it got towed for snow removal. Roy moved fast on that. That's good because we'll need the van tomorrow to travel to the Sunday River Brewing Company for another show with the fabulous Fire Flies. Will there be snow you ask? I should hope so as this place is located just at the foot of the mountain of the Sunday River Ski Lodge. It's President's Day weekend; you have Monday off. Come on out.

Cheers,

Jen

Currently listening : Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not By Arctic Monkeys

If you're in New England today you'll notice all the massive amounts of ice everywhere. That's right I'm sure many spent the morning shoveling themselves out. But no matter, as true/honorary New Englanders, we'll be fighting it this weekend. I've been looking forward to our gig at India Queen for quite some time. There's many reasons to come to this show. 1) It's FREE, 2)t here'll be fine Indian food and 3) of course Bob Nash, the charismatic owner. He's a complete laugh, makes a mean drink, and will have you enjoying yourself before you know it. Throw in some great tunes (including a handful of new ones!) and sounds like quite an evening. Get some skiing/snowboarding done during the day and come join us and Fire Flies (NYC) in Hanover, NH this Friday (2-16).

Now, if you really wanna lay into that skiing you should check out Sunday's gig (also with Fire Flies) at the Sunday River Brewing Company which is just down the mountain from the Sunday River Ski Lodge. Not a bad deal, eh? And it's President's Day weekend, so you'll have a nice long one before the drudge of 9-5 comes to oppress you once again.

You're going to enjoy these new songs as well. I really think you will.

See you this weekend...

Jen

Currently listening : Stop the Clocks By Oasis Release date: 21 November, 2006

We had the chance to catch Radio America this past weekend at an old familiar haunt, Ralph's Diner. It was nice to visit what used to be our home away from home. It was even nicer of course to catch the boys in action complete with new drummer Robbie (he's from Texas we here). We had some time for a little photo opp...



Some of you may have seen us play with them in New York. Speaking of the Big Apple we'll be headed back on March 1 this time to the new Luna Lounge in Williamsburg. I'm told it's rather fantastic and much nicer than the old room. Joining us onstage will be the Shapes. Check them out if you're planning on coming to the show. Many more shows throughout the next two months as well.

There'll be some more news in the next couple of weeks including a new look for the website, the premeire of the Can You Hear Me Now? video, and more.

In the meantime (there's always that phrase in one of my blogs, eh?) you could take a minute and vote for our Beaches video at Musicnation.com. If you're reading this on that crazy technology that gets it to your phone you can also text your vote! Text V1db to NATION (628466). All your help is always appreciated my fine folks.

In more news on the directive Boston passed against underage shows past 11, we've found out you can petition the city to have the event go on at the normal hours. So if we've got to do that then that's what we'll do. But keep writing your letters and we'll do the same! Also our Henry got quoted in this article on the situation in the Boston Herald by Michael Marotta.

Keep fighting the good fight.

Cheers,

Jen

Hey all, some news here that affects those of us in Boston... This hasn't really made the news because the City of Boston did this with very little fanfare.

Last Tuesday, the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing issued a directive to all venues operating underage events. Now, the new guidelines for these venues are that all events that go on past 11pm must be 21+. All underage events must be over by 11pm, and there cannot be a secondary event proceeding it.

This affects all clubs in the city like The Paradise, Great Scott, and Harpers Ferry (TT's and the Middle East are in Cambridge, so they remain unaffected). It's largely believed to be a reaction to stabbings that occured on Lansdowne Street last year and last month, and follows another temporary directive that was more specific to Lansdowne. It goes without saying people should be feel safe when they're out trying to have a good time. But the fact is the crime data does not support the aims of this directive.

This directive only serves to further burden the Boston Police Department and make the music community in Boston suffer. Really cool and viable places like Great Scott and Harpers Ferry that host 18+ and all ages events will suffer. The underage population and bands with underage members will have their already narrow options limited severely.

If, like us, you do not support this directive, we ask that you please contact the Mayor's office and voice your concerns. Even if you live outside of Boston, go ahead and get in touch! (Or you can email Mayor@cityofboston.gov). Be firm if you must, but please be respectful.

Here's a good article on the situation from the Weekly Dig: http://www.weeklydig.com/blog/articles/further_civic_paranoia

Please spread the word.. copy this to bulletins and blogs (code for posting is below), tell your friends, sign petitions.. this needs as much support and attention as possible.

"Don't let the bastards grind you down",
Henry

Code to copy to your blog or bulletin
Last Tuesday, the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing issued a directive to all venues operating underage events. Now, the new guidelines for these venues are that all events that go on past 11pm must be 21+. All underage events must be over by 11pm, and there cannot be a secondary event proceeding it.<br /><br />This affects all clubs in the city like The Paradise, Great Scott, and Harpers Ferry (TT's and the Middle East are in Cambridge, so they remain unaffected). It's largely believed to be a reaction to stabbings that occured on Lansdowne Street last year and last month, and follows another temporary directive that was more specific to Lansdowne. It goes without saying people should be feel safe when they're out trying to have a good time. <span style="font-weight: bold;">But the fact is the crime data does </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">not </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">support the aims of this directive</span>.<br /><br />This directive only serves to further burden the Boston Police Department and make the music community in Boston suffer. Really cool and viable places like Great Scott and Harpers Ferry that host 18+ and all ages events will suffer. The underage population and bands with underage members will have their already narrow options limited severely. <br /><br />If, like us, you do not support this directive, we ask that you please <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.cityofboston.gov/contact/default.asp?id=55" target="_blank">contact the Mayor's office and voice your concerns</a>. Even if you live outside of Boston, go ahead and get in touch! (Or you can email <a href="mailto:Mayor@cityofboston.gov" target="_blank">Mayor@cityofboston.gov</a>). Be firm if you must, but please be respectful. <br /><br />Here's a good article on the situation from the Weekly Dig: <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.weeklydig.com/blog/articles/further_civic_paranoia" target="_blank">http://www.weeklydig.com/blog/articles/further_civic_paranoia</a><br /><br />Please spread the word.. copy this to bulletins and blogs, tell your friends, sign petitions.. this needs as much support and attention as possible.

Why hello... We'd like to thank everyone who voted for us in the 2006 Noise Poll. Our music guru and producer for LYLO, Hugh Wyman, took home 4th for best producer and yours truly received 3rd for best female vocalist. Thanks for voting us in friends.

And while I've got you in a "my vote counts" mode head on over to MusicNation.com to vote for the video to our song Beaches. Or you can text V1db to NATION (628466) to vote.

Cheers,

Jen