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I guess first and foremost I need to let everyone know that the show for 10/21 at the Tin Roof in Nashville has been cancelled.  This is a real disappointment for me and the guys as well as the folks at Tin Roof. Lines got crossed with a set we are performing for the Americana Music Conference this Thursday. I’ll spare you the intricacies of it all and just say that I’m very sorry. This was to be our big hometown CD release show and now it can’t happen. Thanks to Jason and everyone at the Tin Roof for the support and understanding.  We will make it up somewhere down the road.

On another note the vinyl mixes have been fixed and we should have details about when we can get those pressed and shipped out to y’all. Thanks for your patience. It will certainly be worth the extra time for your sonic listening pleasure.

Ended the second week of the When I Get My Wings Tour and things are going well. We are just getting our ‘sea legs’ with alot of the new stuff and it’s settling in nice. Had some cool opening acts as of late. Really enjoyed Aunt Martha. They were first of 3 in Charlotte and an incredibly pleasant surprise. The Locksley fellas are cool and they join back up with us later next week.  James Dunn and his crew were good on Raleigh. Then we had Jaren and the Long Road To Love/Joe Firstman/cordovas/holy roller/wiffle ball junkies or whatever they’re going by in Milwaukee. Haha. They were lots of fun. Known those fellas for years and it was good to see them. Also caught up with Johnny from Jump Little Children who is playing bass with them. JLC were one of the very first bands to take me and my crew on tour years ago and I always loved them. I have nothing but great memories of those days.  He of course ended up naked onstage during ‘too old to die young’. As I said that night I’m completely uncomfortable with how completely comfortable I am with seeing Johnny nekkid. Not a badge I’m proud to wear, but, it’s true.  Milwaukee show for me was a standout. I always love playing there.

Our pal Zach Myers showed up that night and somehow after the show(due to a hatred of air travel if you must know) he ended up on Thor riding with us for 3 days so we could bring him to Nashville to DRIVE home to Memphis. Love it. He guitar teched his ass off for us too. I dare say at this point there’s no other band in rock that has a multiple-platinum selling guitar tech other than Will Hoge. Except maybe that Will HoPe guy that folks were expecting to see in Iowa City. Yeah. Awesome!  In reality though the joint the Mill in Iowa City was a damn BLAST!  Definitely a place I’d like to see us getting back to and building something.

Get a few things together this week to get ready for the AMA/Mercy Lounge show Thursday. Then the all night drive to play Tampa Friday.  Hope we will see y’all soon. As always please spread the word. Thanks for all the support. Come see some rock and roll.

So we’ve wrapped up the Favorite Waste Of Time Tour. It started in Nashville and that was a helluva good time. All the guest musicians were a real pleasure and it made for a killer night for me and the guys onstage. Off stage was great too. We all had lots of family and friends there. I saw people I’d not seen in 20 years. Folks brought their kids whom I’d not seen since they were babies and now they’re teenagers at a rock n roll show. It truly was a blast and the perfect kick off for a tour. We ended it last week in Greenville SC and it was an equally great bookend to the tour. The Handlebar is always fantastic. The crowd so so receptive. In between we did a bunch more shows. Some highlights were definitely Akron at the Tangiers. Always one of our favorite joints. Played for the first time at Lincoln Hall in Chicago and LOVED that room. It was a Sunday and the Chicago marathon, but it turned out ok anyway. You may have heard rumors of me falling onstage that night and I’d like to say, yes, I busted my ass! Twas the worlds slowest fall (we clocked it). But we rocked through it nonetheless. And yes there are photos.

The new Living Room Sessions ep is now available and we’ve been getting good feedback from folks that’ve heard it so that’s good. It was a fun little project for us and we are glad y’all are diggin it.

The Favorite Waste Of Time video is making it’s rounds too. Along with the contest(see the below link for details). We’ve gotten some great submissions thus far and can’t wait to see more. Could be difficult to choose just one. Please continue to spread the word or hell, just spread the video itself.

Did a long ass rehearsal with the guys today. Preparing for the Shinedown tour that begins next week in Tampa. Getting acoustic versions of stuff together was both more challenging and more rewarding than any of us thought. Really looking forward to these shows. It’s a different mix for us musically in some ways and we are all really excited for the challenge of being in front of such a large and virgin(musically of course) audience for us each night. From all we’ve seen their fans seem incredibly passionate about music and we’ve already seen a few folks turning up at our shows just from hearing about the upcoming tour. And I’ve gotta say I’m very impressed by how dedicated the Shinedown guys are to their fans. Having been around them a few times already it so evident that they want to give them all something special to close out the year and me and the fellas are flattered to get to be a part of it.

So now it’s back to laundry and Thor repairs before the big drive to Tampa. Also if any of you are looking to get me an early holiday gift I’m gladly accepting drivers for Thor for the tour. As always thanks for listening and keep on spreading the word. See y’all soon.

So we’ve rounded the corner and we are heading back east. Which means we are almost heading south. Which means we are ALMOST headed home!! Yes we are excited. West coast was fun. LA and San Francisco were great. Portland was a new venue but we liked it a lot. Hopefully with some help from those fine folks at KINK we will turn the corner there a bit. Seattle!! Yall did it. We had a really good night at the Tractor Tavern. Spent some days driving. Did a snowy Boulder show on Saturday. Then drove a bit more to play Ames Iowa tonight. Cool room here on the campus. Good crowd but not but maybe 5 people actually FROM the college. Haha. Getting old. These kids today. Ain’t that what I’m supposed to say? Anyhow. Good show. The fellas are in the hotel. I’m on Thor working on some new songs. You’ll be hearing more about that in the near future. Head over tomorrow to tape a performance for a killer site called daytrotter.com. Make sure you’re checking them out. They’re bringing some really amazing music to folks and it’ll be a pleasure to be a part of what they’re doing. I will let you know specifics on it when we finish up tomorrow. Alright, back to work. New songs, new songs, new songs.

Thor is in a truck stop parking lot about 40 miles outside of Austin. Picking Devin up there in about two hours then on to New Braunfels. Hoping the weather clears up as I’m under the impression the show is outdoors tonight. Cross your fingers. Then onto Austin for rock and roll show/bbq, then Dallas for rock and roll show/Mexican food. I’d say a fine weekend all in all.

Last week’s shows were just stellar. Virginia Beach was truly a pleasure. Great little outdoor stage right by the ocean. Crowd was very supportive. We’ve only played that town once before so this was a nice return. Thanks to all the cast and crew there for taking care of us. Hope we’ll be back again.

Then there’s Greenville. Hands down the best show we’ve ever had there. Really one of my favorite shows we’ve done in a while. It’s really great getting to start playing these new songs and getting reaction to those live. Thanks to all that came out. Don’t forget song number 2 from ‘The Wreckage’ is up on myspace.com/willhoge and there will be another track added every Tuesday. Hopefully that’ll keep y’all as excited as we are and get y’all spreading the word. See y’all soon.

So I just realized I’ve not really updated you guys since the 4th of July, sorry about that. It’s not from lack of activity on our end I assure you. Things are really moving forward fast as hell on the new album. I guess we can all start referring to it as ‘The Wreckage’ now. So now, let that be done. As of midnight tonight the first track will be posted on myspace. Hope you’ll all have a chance to listen. The song is called ‘Hard To Love.’ As a side note, it’s my favorite opening track on any album we’ve done. Thanks for letting me share. This will all be followed by lots of official add dates for vinyl, digital download, cd’s etc. On top of all that stuff we’re trying to gear up for getting back on the road. Thor’s itching to go. Very excited about Greenville at the Handlebar on Friday night. Plus I think I enjoyed Virginia Beach once before too?(That should tell you something). So over the last bit all the guys in the band have put together some thoughts and such about the album or the shows at 12th and Porter, etc. I’m gonna post those too coinciding with all this stuff that going on. I reckon we’ll start with Siggi since he’s got seniority. Take it Sig………

June Shows – I was a little nervous going into it, mainly because we haven’t done a full on show with plugged in guitars and everything in over a year. However, it ended up being really exciting, especially at the first rehearsal at 12th and Porter. That first Tuesday we all got together and it felt really good. Everyone that sat in really made the difference. I don’t really have a favorite night.. But favorite moments from each night that were really great for me personally and musically. The biggest highlight was Peyton coming in and singing that Animal’s song. The low for me during that run was having to drive back home and wanting to do another night of rocking.. And my fucking kick drum pedal kept breaking.. “Equipment failure”. Overall I really enjoyed myself. In general I feel that is the way the shows should go. Plenty of time to load in, play, tear down, everyone talking about how the songs should go but not over thinking it either. After the shows I really enjoyed the band lunch on Thursday and us hanging out. I really feel that we have all gotten a lot closer over the last year. We’ve all stepped up to the plate playing and performance wise. I think it is more professional than it has ever been and I really enjoy that because I feel like I really know my spot. Upcoming – I’m really excited about the upcoming shows. I can’t wait to get out and perform new songs and support the new record and just try and be the best band out there.

So that’s it from Mr. Birkis. I did want to go ahead and include the final track listing in order for ‘The Wreckage’ in case you’re wondering what you’ll be hearing over the next little bit.

Hard To Love, Long Gone, The Wreckage, Favorite Waste Of Time, Even If It Breaks Your Heart, What Could I Do, Goodnight/Goodbye, Just Like Me, Highway Wings, Where Do We Go From Down, Too Late Too Soon

I’m sure there’s more to talk about, but hopefully that’ll get y’all through the night. I gots work to do. See y’all soon. Please spread the word.

So today begins ‘hell week.’ After months off trying to get through 5 shows in a row, trial by fire. Haha. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Anyhow, I should back up and pick up where my last post left off.

We made the 10 hour drive home straight through after Madison. My knee and leg wanted to kick my ass, but luckily they don’t bend that far yet. Slept a few hours and made the wedding. Twas great. Congrats to my brother and my new sister in law.

Had a phenomenal week last week with Charlotte and Atlanta. The Evening Muse was a place I’d never been to but was so much fun. Eddie’s Attic is always a favorite and this time in particular just sounded killer. It’s been cool getting to do these smaller shows and really getting folks back to listening again. Its been so much fun for us. We listened to the recordings from the Eddie’s show and there are plans to put those out soon. We’ll have finalized details about that and we’ll let you know how and where to get it.

Started getting very excited about the studio and the new album as that gets closer. Listening to the existing tracks plus the demos for what’s left to record. I think it’s gonna be something we’re all really proud of.

I guess that’s it. Time to open up Thor’s curtains and do a little driving. Virginia here we come

Greetings to you all. Hope this finds you well. Let’s start with some things musical. I went to see my brother play on Sunday night. I had a really good time he sang great and his band really played well. Monday night I made it out to Grimey’s for an instore for the new Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit album. It was great seeing them. The new songs sounded killer. The band all seemed to really be playing together well. That is a soulful bunch of players there and I’m really proud of them. The new album is out today. Go and buy it. I can’t wait to see them fully electrified next time through town. In the funny as hell misinformation part of this post I recently had to explain to a couple folks that I was NOT on a segway when I had my accident. This slayed me. The mental picture of that, me like a mall cop getting run over by a van…..just too much. So let’s clear that up, NO SEGWAY! Haha. These new tour dates should be posted by the end of this week I think. I know it starts April 14th in Chicago and will end the 2nd of May in Maryland. There’s a Charlotte and a Louisville in there, plus a St. Louis and a few others. I think it ends up being 9 dates. Siggi and Blade and I will start preparations for those sometime next week. Do wish us luck. Blade and I spoke with Thor earlier on Sunday and he expressed how excited he was about returning to see y’all as well. He sends his love. Wow that’s like 3 things before any medical posts! Looking better huh? What we’re hoping was my final surgery was about 4 weeks ago. The graft seems fine, plus another steel plate in my leg. I’ll go back March 2nd to see if it’s all healing inside like they want it to. So hopefully now it’s just 4-5 more months of learning to walk right and continued strengthening to get this whole thing back on track. Again we all thank you for the support and we’ll hope to see some of y’all in April.

That’s right, folks, our new ride has a name. We listened to your ideas, came up with our own, but bam, there it was written right on the side. THOR!! He’s done 10,000 miles in 3 weeks. He’s seen the Atlantic Ocean. Spent time at the beach. He’s climbed the Rocky Mountains. Three times and back at this point. He’ll see the Pacific tomorrow. He’s fed us in his kitchen. Today he bathed me and Siggi. Not together. He is Thor. We love him. We thought about naming it the SS Jenna Jamison because you know she’s coming and she’s always got a bunch of dudes in her, but that just seemed inappropriate. But funny. Anyhow, please welcome Thor to the family.

These trio shows have been GREAT! Omaha was fun. I like that club a lot. Then the three nights in Colorado were stellar. The two shows with Todd Rundgren went way better than we could’ve expected. The crowds were incredibly receptive in both Boulder and Aspen. Headlined in Denver at the Soiled Dove. Instantly moved into my top 10 clubs list. Our old pal Jordan Rivas is the house sound guy there now and it was wonderful to see him. Glad he’s found his ‘thang’ out there. Keep up the good work young man, we love you. Skinned out afterwards and headed up the 20 hour drive to Moscow, Idaho. Absolutely beautiful drive. I must admit I was expecting just potatoes and shit, but northern Idaho is gorgeous. Nice people here. We’re playing this cool little small town music series here in a couple of hours so I’ll let you know how that goes. Then sleep and off to Seattle for some Saturday rock and then 40 hours home for a Nashville show on Wednesday. ROCK AND ROLL!!
See ya’ll soon.

Will Hoge

ps….I saw a moose today
pss…we’re accepting license plates/ideas for the empty spot on the front of Thor. Send them to us, or bring ‘em to a show and we’ll travel the highways of the US and A and send you a photo. All we ask……be fucking funny.