Flip Flops/Bare Feet In Church

You're in the House of the Lord, not Uncle Jethrow's family picnic. Show some class. N.O.B.

Ehren Ebbage Offers Free Download Site

Current Seattle singer/songwriter Ehren Ebbage (formerly out of Eugene) recently put up supplemental website to his main blog to release music that normally wouldn’t see the light of day. The Ebbage Patch Song Collection features a nice little Christmas track that Ehren recently wrote and recorded, as well as a couple of live tracks recorded at a live show at the Hotel Café in L.A.: “Bury That Feeling,” one of my favorite tracks from Ehren’s debut album Ten Cent Souvenir and “Hurting Me,” a great song that as far as I know hasn’t been released previously, but is frequently included in Ebbage's set (the track also makes for a nice duet when sang with The Dime's Johnny Clay).

Check out this new site when you get a chance (as well as EhrenEbbage.com) and be sure to check out these tracks, especially if you haven’t heard this excellent musician previously.

ehrenebbagesongs.blogspot.com

ehrenebbage.com

Starf***er Name Change Contest

Acknowledging that the band name isn't doing them any favors as far as radio play and getting music out to the kids, Starf***er announced today via their MySpace page that they are having a contest for their fans to pick a new band name. Here's the deets:

"name change contest...
We know our name sucks...so here is your chance to give us a new one.

There are two ways to vote for Starf***er's new name.

*Email your idea to:
newnameideas@gmail.com

OR

*Vote in person at the merch table at a show

This will be our last tour as Starf***er!
If your name is selected, you will get tons of cool shit
Deadline for ideas is October 1st-ish

This is weird, i know..."

Starf***er was a name chosen by founder Josh Hodges when he was recording demos in his basement and didn't think anyone would ever hear them; it was never meant to be a serious band name. I'm curious to see what the fans come up with.

Saying Goodbye To An Old Friend

Ten years ago today my childhood friend, Kevin Riggs, lost his battle with cancer. He was 20 years old. I just found out. I haven't fully processed it yet.

Growing up, I thought Kevin was the coolest guy I knew and the closest thing to a real life Zack Morris that I had ever met. Kevin had the right mix of cockiness and playfulness, he dated the prettiest girls, and he had the right So Cal look. I wanted to be him. Kevin pegged his pants, so did I. Kevin wore L.A. Gear, so did I. Anything I could do to mimic him, I would.

For his birthday one year he had a sleepover at his place. After his parents had gone to bed, we snuck out and went to a construction field close by. We played on the tractors and other construction equipment. Nothing destructive, but I told my mom about it (I was/am such a Momma's boy). She then mentioned it to Kevin's mom in a phone conversation later. Kevin got in trouble and my friends were reluctant to invite me over for sleepovers after that. Thanks, Mom.

I moved away from Kevin and my friends just after my freshman year of high school. I wasn't good about keeping in touch. Without the internet, email, Facebook, and the like, it wasn't easy to stay connected. I only spoke with Kevin a couple of times after I left Santa Maria. But I thought about him often.

After hearing the news about Kevin, I went home and pulled out my Jr. High yearbook, looking for Kevin's message he had left me over 16 years ago. On Page 11, I found it:

"Justin, I will always worship you! You're the MAN! Keep your grades up so you get in an expensive college and don't have to pay for it! Kevin Riggs"

I admittedly got teary eyed reading it.

Rest in peace, Kevin. I miss you, my brother.

Music, Drink, and BBQ This Friday

Join the party this Friday night at Pyramid Brewery. They are introducing Juggernaut Red Ale, doing a lil' BBQ, and will have food and drink specials going all night. Local acts The Ravishers and Derby will provide the entertainment. I'll be selling band merchandise and giving out free hugs. Win, win, win. Spend your HH (happy hour or hamburger helper, if you're down) with us. Music is 6:30 to 9.

Derby On Tonight's Episode Of The Hills

I would normally NEVER encourage anyone to watch MTV's "The Hills," especially not my friends, who I care for too much to subject them to such mindless entertainment (though I did find myself watching the show for the first time with my good friends Becky and Cla and found myself somewhat amused by Spencer and his flesh-colored beard).

That being said, Derby, a band whose management team I am now a part of, will have their song "All Or Nothing" from their most excellent album Posters Fade featured on tonight's episode of "The Hills." I chatted with Derby Dave last night at the Doug Fir Lounge about having their music featured on the show and he was able to poke some fun at himself and the band. They even posted a brief, humorous blog about it on their website here.

If you are able to get to a TV tonight at 10pm and not have your roommates or significant others give you too much grief about it, be sure to check it out.

Welcome Home, Darlings!

My favorite darlings of the band Oh Darling have been busy lately. After leaving Portland for the sunny skies of Los Angeles, the band has been hard at work on new tunes to follow last year's most excellent album Nice Nice.

If you are a regular viewer of Dancing With The Stars or CSI: Miami, you may have heard some of the new music and not even realized it. "Colorful Day" is featured in a new Volkswagon commercial which aired during the previously mentioned shows a couple of weeks ago. If you haven't seen it yet, or are a Tivo junkie and forward right through all the commercials, here it is for your listening pleasure. Had the clip featured Jasmine's vocals as well, I may have been tempted to head out and purchase a VW right then and there.


VW Commercial featuring Oh Darlings "Colorful Day" from Oh Darling on Vimeo.

I haven't seen the Darlings since they moved south at the beginning of the year, so I am very excited that they are heading out on tour this month, including a stop at Portland's own Doug Fir Lounge on April 26th. I'm very stoked to see my friends and hear all of the new music they are working on. Their west coast tour dates are as follows and I can't recommend enough checking them out if you can do so.

April 22: San Jose State University

April 23: Spaceland - Los Angeles, CA.

April 25: The Brown Lantern - Anacortes, WA.

April 26: The Doug Fir - Portland, OR.

April 28: Sonoma State University

April 30: Old Ironsides - Sacramento, CA.

May 1: Fresno State University

Finally, if you haven't yet checked out Oh Darling's debut album Nice Nice, now you can and it won't cost you a cent. For the month of April, you can head to the band's blog at ohdarlingmusic.com/blog and download the album in it's entirety for no charge. Score!

Download Nice Nice here.