OVERHANG

We visited Godtube.com the other day to see what certain Christians think an alternative to youtube should be. We typed in Bono, expecting to see clips from the prayer breakfast he attended or his speech at the NAACP awards. But instead we found this:

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=62555582b513ff9d0249

In response, we're burning all our U2 cd's to avoid Satan's influence. And we hereby revoke U2's influence on our own music because that would make us influenced by Satan. We thought Bono was playing characters, you know, the way artists often do to make a point. But no, it turns out we were being deceived all along. Bono really wishes he was Charles Manson and Mephistopheles. Now U2's whole body of work makes sense. We're going to look at Eminem now a little more closely. Perhaps he really did kill his wife and dump her body in the river. It wasn't just pretend.

Posted by Grant Elgersma at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

The band just got back Sunday from two shows, one in Ancaster Ontario and the other in Grand Rapids. We dodged tornados last Thursday night all the way through Michigan, arriving in Ancaster at 5am. After two hours of sleep, the band dragged themselves to a 9am class at Reedeemer University College where we talked with students in an aesthetics class about rock music. Then we did an unplugged mini-set in the college's commons area, another class after lunch and a third class at 3pm on the history of rock music from a sociological perspective. After brief naps under desks and in hallways, we set up all our equipment, ate dinner and did a rock show at 7pm. Oh yeah, and Jeff still had time to chase down quotes for the van that had sprung a gas leak. Redeemer's students and staff were very supportive and we look forward to coming back some day.

We made it back across the border with no problem through a quiltwork of fall colors on the way to Calvin College in Grand Rapids. We were concerned about being too loud, as is often the case with us, but the chapel held the sound better than we thought. The sound people still complained that they had Grant's vocals cranked and still couldn't hear them very well. A common complaint. Despite being parent's weekend at Calvin and an all-campus retreat at Redeemer, we still delivered quality shows and made a lot of friends.

We were all glad to be back in Chicago on Sunday. Upon arriving, we just left the equipment in the van because Monday we had to record a half-hour live set for WLUW that will air in the Chicago area and on the internet Nov. 1. If you haven't been able to see OVERHANG live, you will be able to hear what the band sounds like next week on internet radio. The radio show will help to promote our big CD release party at Reggie's next Friday, Nov. 2, at 8pm on the south side of Chicago. It's an all ages show, so if you're under age but have wanted to see us, this is the time to do it.

Posted by Grant Elgersma at 2:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Just got back from Nashville. Arrived in Chicago this morning after driving through the night to make it home in time for jobs and family responsibilities. The band sounded great, thanks in part to Steve the sound guy at the Alley Cat who really puts care into what he does. Hung out with some old friends, listened to lots of music. Visited the legendary "Robert's Western World" on Broadway in Nashville. The streets were filled with college football fans and genuine cowboy types. Nate had never really experienced the South and was quite pleasantly surprised that people actually take Country and Western music seriously in some parts of these united states.

We saw all the Nashville sites, walked around the Parthenon, climbed the hills near Belle Meade, checked out the Rhyman from afar, read the industry names off buildings in Music Row. And then, finally, we played our show, said our goodbyes to a very supportive and encouraging audience, packed up and headed back north. Jeff said he'd drive until we saw a Steak and Shake. 260 or so miles later, just south of Indianapolis, we finally found one. Jeff asked the guy who took our order if he knew that there wasn't a Steak and Shake anywhere along I-65 from since Nashville. The guy behind the speaker said he wasn't aware of that in an unsympathetic voice. If anyone wants to start a franchise, may we suggest putting a Steak and Shake somewhere south of Louisville, KY for bands making an overnight trip to Chicago? (this blog brought to you by "Steak and Shake", the place for steak and shakes.)

We're all still recovering from the trip that ended at our practice space early this morning when we dragged all of our equipment up four floors of stairs because the elevator wasn't working and no one would come to fix it so early in the morning. We came out of our practice space with the rising sun lighting up the sky somewhere behind the Hancock and Sears Tower in the distance.

We'll do another long trip next weekend, this time to Redeemer College in Ancaster, ON Canada and then Calvin College after that. We're speaking in a few classes on Friday about rock music and then playing a 7:30 show. Saturday night we're playing in the chapel at Calvin. The long drive will give us more time to study electrical science, a subject we all found quite fascinating on our trip to Nashville.

Posted by Grant Elgersma at 4:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our band rehearsal space is in North Lawndale, an area with its share of drug-dealing and criminal activity. After band rehearsal on Thursday night, all 4 of us were leaving our practice space in Jeff's little Honda Accord and we were stopped almost immediately by two cops. They didn't just go to the driver's side. They knocked on the passenger side as well and shined flashlights in our faces. "Can I ask why you're stopping us?" Jeff asks. No response. "What are you guys doing out here tonight?", the officer on Grant's side wonders. "We have a practice space for our band just around the corner," Grant responds in annoyance. Nate is frustrated because we're already late for the train and if he doesn't catch it in time, he'll have to bike the 8 or so miles home in the dark. After taking our ID's and checking our backgrounds for illegal activity, they give them back and tell us to have a good night. When they leave, Jeff kicks it into high gear, performing real illegal activity, speeding, to get to the train on time. We just make it to the train stop, despite the racial profiling delay.

It was the end of a very frustrating rehearsal. Grant and Joel couldn't get guitar sounds they were satisfied with after trying several guitars and settings for two whole practice sessions. Nate was tired and broke a bass guitar string and almost gave up practicing for the night. The band next door was so loud, we couldn't tell if our sound was muddy because of us or them. It's amazing how you can go from one of the best shows to feeling like you're a crappy sounding band again in a matter of a few days.

Did we mention that the Festival of the Americas went really well this year? We dare say we were a hit ! We went on after Aztec dancers and a Puerto Rican Salsa group. The food was great and the audience really appreciated it. One guy admitted he had to leave at one point because he was so moved he thought he was going to cry. Moving people with music is what we're all about, so we considered it a successful show.

Our next rehearsal is Monday night. We hope things go a little better this time. It would help to go into this string of shows in Nashville, Toronto, Grand Rapids and Madison WI with some confidence in our sound.

Posted by Grant Elgersma at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)