There is a lot of great things happenin' brothers and sisters. We are close to working with a new producer and going into a bigger studio to try to expand the sound- looking for backers- building the live show and planning the BLACK TRAIN 09 spring tour ETC...But being the excitable musicians that we are- we couldn't wait to give you a peek into the new direction and the new songs we have been channeling over here at Lake Balboa (I.E. the valley....).

These songs were recorded at the home studio and mixed by the amazing Scott Burns (also engineer for several tv shows including gossip girls and Friday night lights- and a damn cello and bass player himself...). We did the recording in a coffee fueled week of madness- and spent another week mixing and mastering inside Logic. Other than the drawmer pre's for the mics (on JR's kit, Vox, and my super reverb amps)- the entire production was done "in the box" on logic. The computers are getting faster people.

Geek talk for a sec- I cut the vocals on an AT4030 mic (non engineer geeks read "not expensive") and I couldn't find a pop filter (read "I never rock the mic with the pantyhose"- beasties) so Scott had plenty of work to do in the mix. As everyone knows FIX IT IN THE MIX is akin to saying "I EXPECT TO STAY UP LATE AND BE STRESSED OUT". But scott is a monster talent and I think the energy and the playing is some of our best. People upon first listen are telling us we sound "more commercial". As always some think this is a great thing and others scoff. I can tell you that everything was written from a pure place- and if we got right to the hook on you we are proud of that as we are ready to peel the layers back and the find the heart of the songs. Once the music and lyrics were written we did try to get the melodies and changes up front- knowing we could allow the live show to stretch our legs and experiment off of what is hopefully a strong song foundation. Still- we couldn't resist trading a couple rounds of gunfire before Black Train kicks in :)

Let us know what you think - this is the first of many new things we are working up- and we have fuel to burn. We will be playing Cali for the rest of the year and then making the trek to visit our lovely midwest friends and family in the spring.

We are planning on playing some last minute acoustic shows on the next run too- you might even find us on the corner of your block trying out new tunes with no PA. Bring your videocam and some healthy food....

Lastly- we are starting plans on a new merch store and would love your ideas.

We will be keeping it simple to start (always best to grow it slow and correct outta the gate) but as we pick up steam we need your ideas and of course your purchases to keep the van rolling strong.