"Periodically, I post an update on the Brand New Sin forum of what we are doing. Usually I include some road stories, tour dates, exciting events and media news etc. Today I'd rather shift over to a
'Behind the scenes' look:

Back in August, a coast to coast North American tour landed right in our lap! Two months after we had finished recording The Tequila Record; with our new CD about to ship worldwide; while working odd jobs we were hosting a weekly open mike night at Station 58 (The Undesirables). Joe (Altier) received a phone call from Jeff, the singer of Mushroomhead, asking if we'd accept the opening slot on their upcoming tour. The main reason we were offered the tour is that the guys from the band Soil are huge Brand New Sin fans! BNS shared the stage with them 4 years ago just before I got in the band. They've been hooked ever since. The Soil band members suggested that BNS was THE band to open the tour! Soil is also taking us to the UK in January! I love our network!

The Specs:

We left Syracuse 6 weeks ago on the Mushroomhead Savior Sorrow Tour with Soil and The Autumn Offering headed for 40 shows, 50 days, two tour buses, two vans, 4 trailers, 35 people and a lot of brain damage. Mushroomhead travels with a tour bus, a trailer, and a Ryder cube truck. They have 7 band members, a driver, tour manager, merchandise guy, a lighting director, a stage manager, a drum technician, a guitar technician, a monitor engineer, a sound engineer, and a theatrical special effects designer (he pours and designs molds for the masks and head gear for the Mushroomhead show – think of Slipknot, Mudvayne and several other shock rock metal bands. Mushroomhead has been doing it much longer). 17 people share the tour bus. Soil travels somewhat lighter with a tour bus, trailer, 5 band members, drum tech, sound man, guitar tech, and a merchandise girl. We have a 15 passenger van and trailer, five band members and Chucky Luv. Now, what does Chucky do? He's a man that wears several hats: He does most of the driving, he's our stage manager, he coordinates our hospitality, runs our errands, sets up my drums from time to time, offers free road-psychotherapy, and he takes care of our merchandise.

Day in the life: – "I read the news today, oh boy…" – John Lennon

OK, we're on tour. A few days go by and the routine is set. Right? HELL NO!! It's different in every city and every venue. Phone rings…"hello?" …"hey Kev, what's up?"…"hey man how are you?"…."good, listen, what time do you guys go on tonight?"…"uh…..hhmmm…..well……hold on…hey Chucky!!" …Where's the day sheet? Is there a local band opening? Where's catering? Is there a men's room? Can we smoke in here? Where's Autumn Offering? They're on in 10 minutes! Is there food within walking distance? Is there a dressing room in this venue? What time do we play??"

I think we're all asking most of these questions every day out here. Get to know your surroundings and then it'll be gone tomorrow. Say hello, say goodbye and keep moving.

PARK IT-We first need to claim a spot for our van and trailer. That's home: our van. I'm serious about that. In Hollywood, for example, we were 3,000 miles from our real homes and we only know the people we are touring with (for the most part). Everyone hopefully has their van and trailer keys and their cell phone. We'll be in this city for about ten hours and then we have to drive 12 hours to the next show tomorrow. DON'T GET LOST OR LEFT BEHIND!!!

Next, "where's the food? Are they feeding us or giving us a buy out for food? Do we have to drive?" I feel that if you want bands to play your club or venue, at least provide them with take-out menus. It's just my opinion. I'd feed them. I'll have a kitchen in my bar someday. Hell, I'd let them spend the night at my house too. OK I got it, when I have a venue I'll include a few apartments for the bands. They'll probably keep coming back. Wouldn't you?

LOAD IN AND SET UP. W

Jan 10 2007 6:00P Bier Keller Bristol, UK

Jan 11 2007 6:00P Lemon Grove Exeter, UK

Jan 12 2007 6:00P Rios Bradford, UK

Jan 13 2007 6:00P Pitz Milton Keynes, UK

Jan 14 2007 6:00P Waterfront Norwich, UK

Jan 16 2007 6:00P Cathouse Glasgow, Scotland

Jan 17 2007 6:00P Limelight Belfast, Northern Ireland

Jan 18 2007 6:00P Voodoo Lounge Dublin, Ireland

Jan 19 2007 6:00P Academy 2 Liverpool, UK

Jan 20 2007 6:00P Wulfrun Hall Wolverhampton, UK

Jan 22 2007 6:00P Rock City Nottingham, UK

Jan 23 2007 6:00P Academy 2 Manchester, UK

Jan 24 2007 6:00P Mean Fiddler London, UK

Jan 25 2007 6:00P Corporation Sheffield, UK

Jan 26 2007 6:00P University K Bar Canterbury, UK

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