Hello everyone.
I have a lot to post…
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”- Charles Dickens
I have good news and bad news. Things have been all over the map, and we as a band have had a few bad breaks and face a difficult road ahead. Externally we are near the height of our career. We are coming off our tying our highest charting single ever with Quicksilver, and have just started our own record label with Wishfire Records. Behind the scenes things have been wonderful… and terrible. We have made the transitions necessary to make the future very bright, but at the same time are putting out fires left and right. There has been a significant amount of stress generated by our fortunes as of late, but depending on how you look at things our lives are in peril… or better than ever:-) Those two things do happen together sometimes. Life has a strange duality in everything when you think about it.
Before I get into the meat of things, I just wanted to say that I just had a birthday. It was one of the better ones. Being born on July 4th (Independence day) means that people usually have something else to do. But my friends, my family, and my fans made it really nice for me.
Thanks:-)
We have relocated…
In April of this year we moved from Tallahassee Florida to Jacksonville Florida. The two cities are about 200 miles apart, but Jacksonville is a much bigger city (13th largest in the US by population, 1st in the contiguous US in terms of size ). It is located on the Atlantic coast of Florida, and centered around the St Johns River (Like the Nile, it is one of only a handful of rivers in the northern hemisphere which flows north). Its beautiful here; beaches, wetlands, the River etc. Additionally, its nice to be in a city with a skyline… although we will definitely miss Tallahassee. (But not the heat. It is still very hot here, but with the ocean it averages about three degrees less than Tallahassee during the summer… yay!)
Jessica and I have moved into an amazing house built in 1904 in one of the historic districts; we really love it. Its gorgeous. Just the kind of place We have always wanted.
The neighborhood has made us feel very welcome. Some of the other band members now live a block over from us, and the studio is very close to everyone. Speaking of which, the new studio has finally been finished, and I believe that the move will provide an exceptional situation for us in the future. The band is very happy in the new studio, and it is far better set up than anything we have had in the past. Here… take a peek:-) The next album will be from here…
2010, so far has been… well, hmm…
Most of our fans are aware that Cruxshadows was robbed in the beginning of the year. We have tried to keep from overreacting, but the reality is that the theft took us to the brink, and even now the future seems uncertain and difficult. They got all of our tour earnings, and we still have debts that we have been unable to cover, and equipment that still needs to be replaced or paid for. Many of you have helped us out, and your support is greatly appreciated. We are thankful that we have such a loyal and supportive fan base. Without you I am not sure how we would have kept going.
But there are additional difficulties that have served to compound things. Without going into the details too much, Cruxshadows has been tied up in a “legal dispute” with some of our former business partners that has had a fairly negative impact on our ability to tour, release music, and sustain ourselves financially. It’s frustrating, for me in particular. I have put so much blood, sweat, and tears into CXS… so much of myself. To others my art is just dollar signs. I have tried to make all the right choices, but in the end it seems all of those cliches about the music industry are more or less true. It sucks, but we are confident that the law is on our side, and we will do whatever is necessary to protect our rights.
So all that combined with the theft and then the move, have made things very difficult for us this year. Apparently when it rains it pours.
But we are still here, and we are not giving up. We will hang in there and find a way to connect the dots. When the going gets tough… you know the rest:-)
The future belongs to the brave.
Changes…
Yes, you guessed it, we have been shuffling and regrouping… again. While the core of the band has stayed firmly in place, weathering our relocation and a slew of other difficulties, we did lose guitar player Cassie Luger, as well as dancer Stephanie Griffith. I can’t help but wonder if the robbery was kind of a wake up call. Stephanie had only signed on temporarily to fill in as a dancer when we found ourselves in a pinch. She wants to go into law; you can’t argue with that. We were still sorry to see both of them leave us, but they each cited their desire to return to school. We wish them the very best.
Much success to you both.
But without any further delay, I bet you were wondering who those new faces on the masthead were…
Our new Guitar player will be Mike Perez. Mike is an excellent guitarist who came to us from Miami. We met him in Tallahassee before we moved, and we decided to make him a part of the band. He’s a genuinely good guy, and I have to say that he has jumped right in with both feet. He has made himself a real part of the team, and we are looking forward to playing shows with him this month. His comfort and mastery over the instrument make him a joy to work with, and his laid back demeanor is a nice addition to the bands social dynamic.
We have also added dancer Jenne Vermes. Jenne (pronounced kind of like “Jenny”) is an award winning dancer and dance-instructor whose wide range of talents made her a must have choice for CXS. She plays half a dozen (or more) instruments, but she really shines as a dancer. Jenne is a no nonsense personality who gets things done. Her dance skills make her one of the most technically gifted dancers we have ever had. She has demonstrated a real skill for learning and executing new choreography with ease. We believe she will be something special on the left side of the stage:-)
I ask that all of our fans give these new band members a warm welcome and all of their support. It is reallly difficult to just jump into someone elses shoes, and it requires real desire and courage. It is through their efforts we are able to stay the course and continue making music and playing live shows.
On the Road Again;
Today we leave for New York. Soon we will catch our flight to Germany and begin a fairly short tour (one month) that will be highlighted by our first appearance at the Amphi-Festival in Cologne (Köln) and a city festival in Rostock called the Hanse Sail Festival. Beyond that we will be playing a select few shows in Austria and Germany. These will be the only shows in Europe scheduled for this year. We want to ask our fans to please come out and support our concerts… and to bring a friend or two (or ten:-) ) if you can.
OK- We understand that many of you are used to Crüxshadows coming very close to your home city. We know that the economy is less than healthy at this point. We understand that the World Cup ate up everyone’s money! But it is important for the future of CXS that we get a really good crowd at these shows. If you can’t make it, please help us by spreading the word about the upcoming dates via your blog, facebook, myspace, twitter, and vampirefreaks if you can.
For those of you who don’t live in Europe, I’m sorry but we are unsure as to the status of our next US tour. We will be going on the road in America, but we want to have a new album before we commit to a long tour. An album of course takes time, but with the studio completed we are looking forward to getting things done quickly. We will be playing DragonCon which happens September 3rd through the 6th in Atlanta GA, and we will be returning to the Gothic Cruise which departs September 25th from Miami FL. Tickets for both events are still available from their respective web sites.
A Call to Arms…
So we are off again to conquer the world, and to spread our music across the globe. We are off to hopefully make a difference to someone somewhere. We are prepared for all the difficulties that may lie ahead, but we can’t really do it without you.
We need our fans more than ever. We need people who love the band and our music to make some noise. I know there is no new release yet (We’re working on it). I know the economy is down. I know it can be hard to believe in, or get excited about, anything these days. But if everyone could help us spread the word; text someone, email somebody, twitter your friends, or even link to our quicksilver video… well, it would make a difference. Ask the DJ at the club to play Cruxshadows, and if he doesn’t… ask again. Better yet, ask them to play the quicksilver single. Get people to watch the video… your mom, dad, neighbor, coworker, classmate, or favorite complete stranger. It all helps.
In the coming months we will make some of our older CDs available through Wishfire Records. The remastered recordings will give many of our early works the sound that they deserve. Look for the Wishfire Records name. When a CXS disc is labeled Wishfire Records, it means that most of the money actually makes it to Cruxshadows.
Thank you everyone. I look forward to seeing you on the road (or on the sea) soon.
Live Love Be Believe-
Rogue
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