Finding Reason to open for Days of The New, Maybe...

Maybe! Unfortunately, we won't be able to play the show if the STS130/20A mission slips by one day. This is my lead mission, so i kinda need to be there.

Feb 18th is the day. Meridian is the place.

Here is the official event information.

Days of the New is a nationally known band that hit the mainstream in the late 90s. While their commercial success was mild, they did tour with Creed, Def Leppard, 3 Doors Down, and Metallica.

This would be a huge achievement for Finding Reason. But we aren't there yet. There are higher powers that need to be favorable to us...

we hope to play this show, and we hope to see you there...

Rocbar Houston

Finding Reason plays Rocbar!! Never thought we'd make it here. A hobby has turned into something a little more. I want to say thanks to all those that came out to see us play. Most of my close friends and several new friends came out just for us. I'm confident that more of you would've been there had you not been busy working. Having my friends there, really made the show enjoyable for me. The band was pleasantly surprised and we enjoyed playing the show. We hope that you enjoyed it.

The 6 song, 30 minute set was really a blur. It happened so fast and then it was over. As far as the performance was concerned, there were a few mistakes here and there...most were not obvious, but there was one that i butchered. Good news is that I don't think there was any video or audio of that song...But i was fairly satisfied with the performance.

I don't remember being all that nervous about the show. I guess I was nervous about other things. The set up and tear down are quite nerve wracking times. It's a race to get everything ready and then get everything off the stage before the next band. That is the least enjoyable part of the process. we need roadies...

After the tear down is when we get to mingle with the fans. It was great to see you all and I felt a little like a rockstar. But no one asked for my autograph. :P
At any rate, the show was a success and we did get paid. I haven't spent my $15 yet, but i've got my eye on a sporty little number... haha.

Here are a few photos from the fans...Hope you enjoy the slideshow (sorry, erin).

Next show: Dec 5th @ The Pitt.

JenFest 2009!!

JenFest 2009 was an overwhelming success! At last count, we nearly tripled the donations from last year's JenFest with an amazing total of more than $3300. Two charities (ASPCA and JDRF) will benefit from the hard work put forth by all those that contributed their time and talent to make the show a success.

Also a big thanks goes out to all those that donated and/or attended the show. Your support for the cause and for the bands is truly appreciated! Thank you! Yes, it was HOT and the mosquitoes were relentless...but everyone seemed to have a good time. Perhaps next year we'll be in an air-conditioned environment.

My day started about 4 hours before the show with loading up equipment and helping with setup. My day didn't end until about 3 hours after the show with unloading equipment and cleanup. It was a very long day...but worthy of the causes.

For those of you that weren't able to make the show, you can watch it via the comfort of your air-conditioned home. The full 7+ hours of the show can be seen here: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1583006



Here is the order of the band lineup:

1. Possum Attack
2. Finding Reason
3. Liquid Casing
4. Death Carpet Trio
5. Less Than Serious

Finding Reason goes on around the 1:12:00 mark. We play for about 40 minutes or so. Our setlist was as follows:

1. Blue Devils (original)
2. Got Me Wrong (Alice in Chains)
3. Delusion of Trust (original)
4. Bullet with Butterfly wings (Smashing Pumpkins)
5. God Hates a Coward (Tomahawk)
6. Ghost of a Man (original)
7. Love-Hate (original)
8. Crawl Away (Tool)

A special thank you goes out to Ron, who has been lifesaver for Finding Reason. Ron offered to play drums for us when he found out that our new drummer was unable to attend the festival due to work conflicts.

If you have more time, check out the other bands.

Additionally, a super big thanks goes out to Mark, the owner of the property that we used. He was gracious enough to allow us to play there and provided us with a nice venue with plenty of parking and lawn seating. Maybe there will be more shows there in the future.

Speaking of shows, if you stayed for the entire duration of the festival, you may have heard where Finding Reason will be playing in the near future. The date has been confirmed, July 15th. I won't tell you where just yet, i'll let you watch the video to find that little tid bit of information. Don't worry...if you don't have time to find it, check back here for the updates.

I'll leave you with one picture (only two were taken) of Finding Reason during our set.



Rock on...

Coming Soon

I know you want the update on JenFest.
I will catch you up soon.

I've just been extremely busy and haven't had much time to myself...

Check back soon.

The Show Must Go On

A quick look at the weather forecast for Saturday is looking good. Partly cloudy with a high of 86...should be no rain as this is dry air from a cold front. Awesome.

Now, on to the not so bad news, but not so great news...Finding Reason will play this saturday at JenFest. However, we don't know who is going to be the talent on the skins. It looks as though we may not be able to debut our new drummer. His job may prevent him from making an appearance. We're a bit bummed. However, we do have a backup plan. We called on our old friend Ron, and he is willing to step up and fill the bill. If Ron does step up, we'll do a smaller set of songs. So, Finding Reason will play. We just don't know when...there might be a schedule change.

Unfortunately, we may not be able to get the website updated real-time. The good news is that a test has already been done on the webcast and it worked well. I'm quite sure we'll be making announcements throughout the festival with the upcoming bands...so you can catch those announcements on the web.

If you'd like to donate or are just interested in what JenFest is about, or would like to watch the webcast, please visit the website for details. www.jenfest.org

The show must go on...

Soon

Soon, some of you will received an invite to JenFest2009. Since most of my friends come in couples, only one in the couple will get the invite. Just know that your spouse is invited as well. And perhaps not all readers of this blog will get an invite. Sorry. I didn't hear from you. Since JenFest is still on private property we had to limit the invites. Once we get some established gigs, global invites will go out and all will be invited. For those of you that were lucky enough to get an invite, i won't be offended if you can't make it. So, feel no obligation.

Check back here for the latest JenFest updates.

Guest List

I'm starting to put together a guest list for JenFest 2009!

If you would like to attend JenFest, shoot me an email and i'll put you on the list.

The Event

The Cause. Animals. Kids. Rock & Roll.

It's coming. Get ready. Donate. Have a good time. Smile.

JENFEST 2009

Visit frequently for updates.

It's Coming...

JenFest 2009!!!

For those of you that missed it last year (on account that there were limited invitations), this is your year! This year's JenFest will be at a different venue that can support a few more people. The date is May 30.

Keep up on the latest here: www.jenfest.org

Finding Reason will be making an appearance!

If you would like to donate or help out this cause, let me know and i'll put you in contact with the right people.

For those about to rock...

RYLAH results

Rock You Like A Hurricane was a marginal success. Although success is a relative term. The bottom line is that we raised over $400 and gathered "a car load" of non-perishable food items for the Houston Food Bank. That is more than what the Food Bank had before the event...so it is a success. I had hoped for more...

The day was very long. We had some technical difficulties in the beginning. That and the lack of an audience drove our start time 2 hours later. Saturday afternoons are not the best times to put on a show.

Liquid Casing put on an acoustic show.

Finding Reason was up next. I must say, i was caught off guard...i didn't realize they were finishing up so quickly. But we set up went through some quick sound checks and then started rockin'.

We started off with a new cover song as a sound check. Amazingly, we didn't butcher it too badly. We had only practiced that song 4 or 5 times previously. We'll be adding it to the set list. I still need some work on that song...so that's where i'll concentrate over the next few practices.

It is such a rush to hear the music come together...loud and in your face. Without doubt we finish the set with two powerful songs and it's quite a rush to hear and feel it ... the power that is.

My performance wasn't perfect. In fact, i made such a rookie mistake that i won't even mention it...but i'm quite embarrassed about it. Good thing is that it was somewhat fixable. There were only a few places that were obvious standouts, but if i'm keeping score, i hit more right notes/chords than wrong notes/chords. That's a good thing. And, each time we do this, i gain a little more confidence in the songs.

And like that it was over...9 songs and a little banter along the way. We played for probably around 50 minutes...if that. i wasn't keeping time.

Following Finding Reason was our good friends, Death Carpet Trio. I always enjoy watching these guys. Funky stuff.

Next was The Muzic Cooks (actually, i'm not sure how they spell it...). These guys definitely have the rockstar look. And their music was definitely rockstar quality. I'm surprised these guys aren't more well known.

Next was a side project from some of the members of the Muzik Cooks. But by this time i was outside trying to get some fresh air...the smoke was just getting too intense.

Midnight rolled around and i was completely exhausted. With less than 2 hours left in the night, i decided to called it a night. I didn't get to see Less Than Serious do a short set. I'm sure it was great as always.

We did have a webcam running during the event. Although i suspect the video/audio will be horrible, i will direct you to it if it comes out. Ben is still doing some post processing on it.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures from the Finding Reason set.

Finding Reason

As always, i'll try to keep you informed of any Finding Reason activity.
Rock on...

Final Practice

Tonight was the final FR practice before the show. I thought it went fairly well. It gets a little easier each time we play though the songs. There is still some work that needs to be done though. I will have a cram session tomorrow night. But i'm pretty excited...well, more terrified than anything.

IF you can, please come support us and the other bands. More importantly, come support your community. We hope to help replenish the Houston Food Bank's supplies. Non perishable food items, canned goods, clothing, and cash will be accepted.

For the latest information, check out www.rockyoulikeahurricane.org.
We're going to try to broadcast this event over the web again. If you can't be there in person, then maybe you can catch us on the web. The website will contain all the details.

Hope to see you there...

7 Miles, Baby!

Somehow, i managed to run 7 miles today. The weather was beautiful...maybe that had something to do with it? Pace was just over 10 minutes/mile. It was pretty painful that last half mile. My body is hating me right now. I'm quite certain that i'll be sore tomorrow.

Benefit concert preparations are coming along smoothly. Although, one thing to note is that i don't believe the Blood Bank is participating like the flyer indicates. But please donate blood if you wish...there just won't be a way to do it at the concert.

I believe tomorrow night, i'm going to check out the venue since LTS is playing there. I need to find inconspicuous places to purge before the set(haha)...Anyone is welcomed to join me.

I think i'm going to lay down...my legs are like wet noodles...

You Are Invited...

Remember

Remember when i said there was something in the works? Well...things are starting to happen. Oct. 18th is the date.

www.rockyoulikeahurricane.org

The website isn't fully populated yet...as we are still in the preliminary planning stages. I'll keep you informed on the details.

This will be a public performance...

i think i'll go be sick now...

Something in the Works...

Details are sketchy at best. But there is a fund raiser event in the works.
Potential band line up includes those from JenFest 2008 (Liquid Casing, Death Carpet Trio, Less Than Serious, and Finding Reason). Joining the lineup may be The Muzik Cooks.

Location and date not yet set. But this festival would be an all day event with the primary goal of raising funds for a charity to help those victims of Hurricane Ike. We'd like the donations to stay local so the thought is to donate to the Houston Food Bank as opposed to the Red Cross or Salvation Army.

But as I said before, all the details are sketchy at this point. Expected date will be mid to late October.

I will definitely keep you all informed...as this will be a public event (that's what we're shootin' for anyway...)

Low Key Event

Finding Reason played our 2nd full "show" last night. The venue was Red Flag Studios (home of Liquid Casing). Just a small room where those that love playing music can get together and get a little jam on.

This was the first time that we weren't going to be playing through a PA system. We played through our amps...which can get very loud. Ear plugs were a must. I felt comfortable on most of the songs, but there are still places that i kept messing up. Just had several bouts of the brain farts. It was very noticeable to me...hopefully not too noticeable to the others. Just keep practicing...can't really do anything else to get better, other than practice.

I know a lot of you are wondering when we'll do a public show...i don't have an answer to that just yet. One of the problems we are facing is the lack of a drummer. This hinders our practices and our availability to play on a whim. We will continue our quest...and soon (hopefully) you can enjoy our passion.

Stills from the Blur

Here are a few of the pictures taken during the Finding Reason set. These pictures were enhanced a bit, for the originals weren't the greatest. Not the fault of the photographer but rather the camera and lighting. Anyway...i think maybe next performance i'll bring the big camera. And at some point, i'm sure we'll hire a professional photographer to get those CD-liner worthy photos.

Also, a bit of sad news on the video/webcast front. As mentioned earlier, we lost the live webcast part way through our set. We did have another camera running, but unfortunately, in our extreme nervousness, we forgot to change to a fresh tape. So, there is very little video footage of our performance. There is some (very limited) video footage out there, and i'm not sure that it'll ever make it to our website and then to your eyes. Sorry. We'll try harder next time.

For now, you'll have to enjoy these few photos...

FR_JenFest2008

An Amazing Blur

JenFest 2008 is complete. It was a complete success, more or less. At last count, we raised over $750 for the charities. There were some issues with the night though. Since Matt was recovering from laryngitis, Less Than Serious didn't play. And during our set, we had some technical difficulties. We also think we lost the live webcast part way through our set. Aside from the technical difficulties, the night was quite a success.

Jen was an awesome host and we thank her for all of her hospitality. The food was great, the drinks were great, the crowd was great!

I'm quite tired right now and don't have the energy to do justice on this post. So, i'll be back later to update the post about the specifics.

**UPDATE(5/26/2008)**

The final tally is in, and we raised a grand total of $1130. That's quite a success if you ask me.

First up was Liquid Casing. I think i may have seen these guys at Barnstock several years ago. They are a different style of band. Some like 'em and some don't. They are talented musicians for sure. They used a lot of effects and i was a fan of the sound of the distortion on the guitar. Liquid Casing played a longer set than originally scheduled. Again, this was due to the fact that Less Than Serious was not going to play their set.

The in-between-set entertainment consisted of raffle drawings. Many prizes were up for grabs...gift certificates, free panties, art books, coffee basket, and the grand prize was a color copier, scanner, fax...

Next up was Death Carpet Trio. I really enjoy these guys. If you have access to the iTunes store, go check them out. They have an eclectic mix of guitar, trumpet, and a thick layering of cowbell! If you are looking for a tasty funkcicle, these guys can provide it. It was a bit surreal as part way through their set they announced that Finding Reason was up next. It was at about that time that i really started to get nervous. The heart rate increased, the sweat came pouring out (well, it was hot outside, so that was already happening), and i started to shake...more or less.
Death Carpet Trio put on a great set and i hope we can play with these guys in the future!

I had to perform a wardrobe change before our set, and make a visit to the nearest bush (ha...just kidding). I went from comfortable shorts to tight jeans and my "Fear the Walken" tshirt. It got even hotter...and i don't think it was all because of the added clothing. The nerves were running fast... I think that our first show in Jen's Birthday Party, i was much more of a wreck. So, i suppose the more often i do this, the easier it'll get? That's the hope anyway.

While DC3 was breaking down their equipment, it was time for Finding Reason to start setting up ours. This is where things started to get blurry. I was a little apprehensive because we hadn't done a sound check earlier in the day, like i wanted to. I would've been less apprehensive had i had one less thing to worry about. Oh well...perhaps the next show we'll get it right. During our set up, Jen's oldest son, Jack, wanted to do a little saxophone solo that he wrote himself. I give the kid props for getting up on stage and doing his thing. Mad props, Jack! Keep it up.

And...so it was time. Time for us to do our thing...time to rock! We did an impromtu sound check and i wasn't sure how it was all going to work out. The in-ear monitors are hard to get used to. I wasn't sure if i was hearing everything that i need to hear. I expected the drums to be louder, but i really didn't hear them...i don't think. Ahhh, i don't remember. I suppose i heard enough of what i needed to because i think things (more or less) turned out okay. I sure hope the sound was better for the crowd than what i heard.

The first song was key, for me. This was a song that we hadn't done live before and i start this song off, by myself for the first few measures. The arpeggios are a bit more difficult to do than chords. But thankfully, i hit all the notes and the first song was done well...for the most part. Blue Devils was a song that i'd never thought i'd get down...but i enjoy playing that song now.

After a quick sound monitor mix tweak, we got into our second song. Songs 2 and 3 were done fairly well, only minor screw ups. Song 4, which is the one i really wanted to nail, i think worked out okay. i know there were a few places where i messed up, which was disappointing. I'll wait to see the video or hear the recorded song to see how it turned out. As a reminder folks, 6 of the songs we played were the first time that we played them live.

The 5th and 6th songs are my weakest. It was at this time that i was thinking, "Don't fudge this up..." Although i wasn't thinking candy confection. Song 5 wasn't that bad. Song 6 was horrendous...we had some technical difficulties and i was off. Oh well...i really don't want to listen/watch that song.

I had some issues during the 7th song. My wireless transmitter pack fell off my guitar strap. I tried to find some time to re-attach it, but just let it hang for the song. I had a feeling that would happen. Luckily it didn't distract me too much. So, today, i ordered two wireless transmitter pouches that should eliminate that issue. The final song wasn't perfect for me...and i really wanted it to be...of course i wanted them all to be perfect. The parts that i was worried about i, did nail those...as far as i remember.

Eight songs/45 minutes sure flew by. It was all a blur. A wonderful blur. I think overall it was a great success. Once again, we received a lot of positive comments. Although it's hard to tell if people are just being nice. I'll just assume they are speaking the truth...it makes me feel better that way.

The rest of the night was very enjoyable and very relaxing. I want to do that again!!

I want to thank Jen and all those that made this event possible. I also want to thank those that believed in me, those that kept pushing me to practice, and those that made me feel like a rockstar...even though i'm not. I want to also thank Ron for devoting his time to our cause. I wish we could keep him. And a big thanks goes out to Ben and Greg...those guys help me keep going...even through all the frustrating times of not getting the music right...
And finally, i'd like to thank Carla. Thank you, Carla, for everything!

For those of you that didn't get to see the partial webcast or couldn't be there in person (and there's a lot of you), have no fear...Finding Reason will be back soon!
Rock on...


The setlist


Finding Reason rocks it!


Yours truly


Carla and Me...post set relaxation.

Hours Away

Today is the day. It's here. JenFest 2008 will be going down in a matter of hours. Finding Reason will be on the stage about 12 hours from now. I'll be working through the set list a few times this morning. The few songs i got done last night, i felt really comfortable with so, i have a good feeling about tonight.

Don't forget to tune in to the live webcast. I really hope that we don't have any technical difficulties with that.

JenFest starts at 4pm (CST). Liquid Casing at 5pm. Less Than Serious at 6pm. Death Carpet Trio at 7pm. Finding Reason at 8:15pm. Times are subject to change with set list length and set up/tear down times. But i imagine they'll be somewhat close. I believe we'll have some additional video footage that will make it to youtube. So, in the coming days following the show, checkout the websites.

It's gonna be a good day!
Rock on...

JenFest 2008 Promo, May 24, 2008

Time is tickin' away. We had final practice tonight...and while it was a rough start, we finished strong. I'll be a shaky mess prior to and after the show...but i love that adrenaline rush. I think it'll be a good show. I wanted to invite all of you, but there just wasn't room.
Don't miss the LIVE webcast. You can find the details here at GroovyB.net. The audio should be good quality, but the video may be lacking.
I hope you tune in...
...and if you can't tune in or can't make the show, don't worry. I'm sure i'll be posting pictures of the show later. And quite possibly more video.
It's gonna be an exciting weekend! I can't wait...