no, you can’t buy that at bath and body works. i’m writing from an underground hooka bar where we slept last night. it’s called chronictown.

need i say more?

we played state college again, only because the people here are so deprived of live music that they actually enjoy it when we come. no, i’m kidding, we stand alone. still, my statement regarding the dearth of live music in state college remains true, which seems impossible given the fact that enrollment at penn state is around 40,000. how do you concentrate so many young people in such a small area and have no music scene? i suppose it’s the same at its heart as what has happened in omaha, kansas or lawrence, nebraska, except inverted. whatever sparked music scenes in such remote, sparsely populated areas of the country is somehow, against all odds, not present here.

this wasn’t meant to be a diatribe against penn state. so let’s change gears.

jesse and shane, purveyors of hooka, pipes (interpret that noun as you wish), and espresso, are true devotees to rock and roll and those whose make it. as such, they were the best hosts we could have wished for. they opened their coffee bar, stash (of granola bars), and hearts to us without condition. so i’m sitting here typing, drinking coffee, and eating one of those nature valley peanut butter granola bars. quite content. well, except for the fact that the store above this has been making VERY loud banging sounds for the last 4 hours. by the way, it’s 11:30, and we went to sleep after 3:00. whatever. our gratitude remains the same.

oh, it was a fun show. hope you enjoyed it (if present). if not, it’s hoboken tonight, dc friday, and philly saturday. see you there.

Here we come!

Northeast Mini-Tour

Wednesday, January 30: Roustabout! @ Bar Bleu, State College PA
114 S. Garner Street, 16801
10 pm, 21+, $3, www.roustabout.net

Thursday, January 31: The Goldhawk, Hoboken NJ
936 Park Avenue, 07030
8 pm, 21+, www.thegoldhawk.com

Friday, February 1: Rock and Roll Hotel, Washington DC
1353 H Street NE, 20002
8:30 pm, All Ages, $10, www.rockandrollhoteldc.com
with Army of Me

Saturday, February 2: The Fire, Philadelphia PA
412 W. Girard Ave, 19123
8 pm, 21+, www.iourecords.com/thefire
with The Codes

To those of you on our email list who noticed the day/date discrepancy in the most recent email:

The Album Release show is on Saturday, February 9th.

Sorry for the mistake! We will do our best to not spread misinformation in the future.

You’re the best!
-Good Night, States

Steve and Joe arrive this weekend!

There is something so great about the Friday before a weekend of songwriting. I’m at work right now, and all day long I have been thinking of the two guys on the road from New Jersey, in their vehicle loaded to the roof with music and sound equipment. I wonder what music they’re listening to as they burn through hundreds of highway miles. Maybe they’re just talking. Hopefully the roads are free of snow and ice.

When I arrive at home, there will be a few hours of calm before a storm of guitars, cables, amps, and pedals floods the living room. Dan will come in and bash around on his drums, probably take something halfway apart, then ask to borrow tools we don’t have so he can put it back together again; Joe and Steve will spend 45 minutes standing over Joe’s pedal board making ear piercing electric screeches with their guitars, figuring out which guitar pedals aren’t working and why; Trevor will set up his gear in approximately 37 seconds and then sneak down to the basement to keep building his latest bass pedal; and I will constantly pop up from the piano bench, Whack-A-Mole style, to see if our collective gluten-free dairy-free meat-free dinner is on fire in the kitchen. We have certainly found a rhythm for these weekends, and it feels good.

On Sunday afternoon, we will be exhausted. We will have spent anywhere from twelve to eighteen hours playing one, maybe two, songs. It will feel funny emerging from the house to interact with other people in the non-musical universe. We will pack Steve and Joe’s car with frozen hands, shiver in the street for hugs, and then wave goodbye. The house will be so silent. We will all be humming the same tune for the next week. And that music, the themes and choruses of new songs, will hold us together, thin and shimmering like precious threads over the miles between New Jersey and Pittsburgh.

This is the only way of being a band that I have ever known, and though it is not so easy, I think it is very beautiful.

We’re playing the Brillobox tonight. I can’t say enough good things about this bar. The decor, the friendly staff, the strong and nicely priced drinks, $4 beers from really quality breweries near and far, great art, an indie music juke box, Sunday night vegetarian dinners for just $5. Good gracious, I heart Brillobox.

Now I’ll stop raving and give you some details: tonight, Friday January 11, 2008! 21+! Doors at 10 pm! Probably $5! With our good friends Triggers and also with NY’s The What Monsters! 4104 Penn Avenue!

A great way to start the weekend.

And if you can’t make it, catch our Album Release Show at Club Cafe on Saturday, February 9, 2008!