dear reader,

tomorrow, christmas will be only one week away. (unfortunately, i believe i’ve already missed the one-week mark for hanukkah, which was monday, no? although, if today were the 17th day of kislev, instead of december, i’d be right on the money… .) the solstice will be here even sooner, heralded for me personally by a vague recognition that i haven’t really seen the sun for A Long Time.

and in the category of Feels Like Christmas To Steve, we’ve got snow on the ground here in nj, a couple of nice little fake trees (that our cats insist on eating anyway) lit up in our apartment, and those red holiday cups at starbucks.

what could possibly be missing, you ask? how about a good night, states christmas song! i am not making this up!

in the fall we promised three more internet singles. after the halloween release, “the odd and the even,” our songwriting and recording schedule got a little difficult, so although you’ve seen photos of recording “if i can,” you haven’t heard the song yet. joe and i are still working pretty hard on that one, but we hope to get it to you by the close of 2008.

in the meantime–last weekend, to be specific–we did what any band in our position (one song in the works and one to go!) would do: set up at the hardings’ and recorded something very special for everybody who’s helped to make this a very special year for us.

there are sleigh bells, there’s a glockenspiel, and there is very much the sound of folks singing in the living room. so download the song tomorrow (it will be free! no excuses!), put it on in your living room, pour a glass of eggnog to go with your cookies (and maybe some silk nog for me if i’m lucky) and pretend we’re all together.

merry christmas to you.

dear reader,

hopefully you have heard or will soon hear our new single, “the odd and the even.” we’re pretty happy with it. i’ve been mixing it on and off for a couple weeks, and as always the last few days have been a non-stop push.

but far from resting in the traditional sense, good night states is going to spend this weekend songwriting. dan, trevor and megan are going to work half days today and drive out to nj, where we’ll spend halloween playing music together.

i hope the weekend will be refreshing, if not physically relaxing, and we may even take some time out saturday night to support my father in a concert of no small notoriety (at least locally). i’m pretty excited about this, for many reasons: my parents are so, so supportive of us, and of course my dad has played a large role in my life-long love for and involvement in music; the album that maranatha made in 1971, soon, is something i just couldn’t be more fascinated by, though i think i’ve only listened to it four or five times. it’s just so… real. check it out:

anyway. i’ve got, as usual, a lot to say, about life, music, the truth, and of course politics, but i’ve also got a lot to do today and blogging is only one item on my list regardless of how many or how few topics i tackle in this post.

for now, be not so fearful of this tumultuous time; the panic of 2008 will surely pass (as did the panics of 1857, 1873, 1893, 1907, and 1929–am i forgetting any?), but our ability and obligation as people to choose the right and good never will.

enjoy some candy corn, some “the odd and the even,” and, if you find yourselves in north jersey tomorrow, perhaps some maranatha.

Dear fellow readers,

This is Steve’s wife, Allyson, writing to bring you the inside scoop. You may have heard that there will soon be a new internet single. It’s been in the works awhile now, and I can’t wait for it to get into your hands (and ears… and head). I’m going on record here to say that it is officially the new favorite, surpassing “sometimes I see you on the lawn”. If you liked that one, just wait… and when you hear it, listen for the obscure past participle, and the wondrous event to which it refers. Why do I love this song so much? One reason is surely that I could understand the words and their meaning without asking “what does it mean!?”, as is my wont. Steve will often play me whatever new song he’s working on even in its primordial stages, usually with the caveat that I can’t ask about what it all means… not until it’s finished. But the meaning of the upcoming release, “the odd and the even”, is so resonant (that is to say, it expresses through the music and words something real and true) that I find myself whistling along because I want to join in! There’s something about it that stirs you up inside and makes you want to say “yes!”

I even went so far as to ask Steve if he thought whistling might be an appropriate addition to the mix. He said no. On one hand, he’s right… whistling says “carefree” and other things that know nothing of this song, but on the other hand, I think you’ll know what I mean when you hear it and feel drawn to whistle. Isn’t that what we mean when we say that we resonate with something? When something “rings true” or “strikes a chord” with us, we are in that moment naturally caused to relate to or echo it harmoniously. (thank you, Merriam-Webster!) That’s sort of what the song is about, too– a certain resonance in all of creation: the odd and the even.

I’ll close with this:
I’ve found that my only consolation when Steve goes away on weekends for band stuff is that the five of them are creating music that is truly worthwhile. I was expecting really great things from their work on this song, probably because the more I miss him when he’s away, the greater the music has to be in order for me to believe it’s all worth it. So how did it work out? I asked if I could guest-blog to sing its praises.

dear reader,

happy monday. that’s not necessarily said sardonically, i should note; i’m looking forward to this week for two reasons:

1. the october SAT is this saturday. that means if i can just get through this week (and get my clients through this week with their nerves intact), i will have some very slight respite from insanity. [this is said from the perspective of someone who has worked (either tutoring or playing, and many times both) literally every single day, monday-tuesday-wednesday-thursday-friday-saturday-sunday, for over a month.]

2. we are recording this saturday for the first of three fall internet singles. this song is great. i’m really excited about it. the tentative release date is october 15th, which should carry you through that period between the end of oktoberfest and halloween. speaking of holidays, our plan is to get the other two out for thanksgiving and christmas, because, well, why not. (the real answer is that we hunger and thirst for sleigh bells.)

so that’s me this morning. hope that gives you at least one thing to look forward to as well.

dear reader,

somewhat hilariously, in my last post (one month ago) i stated that i wanted to blog here regularly. where have i been?

of course, the week+ of “rest” i was so looking forward to turned into nearly two weeks of sickness, followed immediately by a frenzy of recording and mixing for “sometimes i see you on the lawn” (have you listened to it yet?), followed immediately thereafter by a frenzy of prep for a summer music program i’m teaching. in fact, my voice cleared up enough to sing “sometimes” literally just in time–the LAST day i had available to track before i needed to begin mixing to get the track out in time.

in short, i apologize.

and that leads nicely into a couple of informal announcements:

1. there’s a new track today, “moonlight.”

2. it’s the last internet release until sometime in the fall.

we’re not 100% on when exactly we’ll start up again with the once-a-month singles. joe and i are going to be finishing “in the impossible tension” on our own time here in nj, but we won’t be releasing the last two tracks individually. all i’ll say is that there’ll be no august releases (except maybe a physical copy of “in the impossible tension,” MAYBE), and probably no september ones either.

don’t cry, tickles. it’s good! i’m sure you all have been postponing your vacations for fear of getting behind in this relentless listening march to the proverbial sea, so… here you go. take that cruise. go visit your family.

in any event, watch for announcements on that.

truth is, we’ve had a pretty great (albeit busy) june and 1st half of july, what with the big summer festival show a few weeks ago, some more glowing reviews of that set and “short films on self-control,” “not come around” getting some play on wyep in addition to “killer of the one,” and a feeling of some renewed drive for playing a bunch more shows. i’m really hoping we can take breathers here and there to enjoy what IS going on, and balance a bit in our hearts the drive to make more happen.

well… i’ve got to get to school. but it’s good to see you again, reader.