Southern Gentlemen

YOU'RE THE ONLY TEN I SEE (TENNESSEE IS FOR LOVERS)

2010-09-30T10:54:00.003-04:00

Last week wrapped up our September weekend outings and onward we march towards a plump, juicy weekend in Tennessee for rock and roll.

Friday, October 8th we will be in Morristown, TN with The Great Liars, our Asheville rock brethren, at THE DOWNTOWN (219 W Main St). Show starts at 10pm, is $5 and 21+ only.

Saturday, October 9th we return to beautiful Nashville, TN. We will be supporting our buds 7dayBinge at 12TH & PORTER (114 12th Ave N). Show starts at 8pm. is $10 and 18+ only.

See you then, Loves and Lads.

FALLING DOWN.

2010-09-04T09:34:00.005-04:00

September has arrived and thus a new batch of shows for our fans around the world. Sorry about the lack of updates on the blog the past month, I've not had much access to a computer lately. I should probably invest in a solution to that problem (i.e. buy one for myself). In case you missed it, we played at the Orange Peel last month and it was a success. KINGS OF PRUSSIA invited us to open up their CD release party, alongside their Miami brosephs DISSEVER. If you're into heavy, chaotic metal a la BLOOD HAS BEEN SHED, you'll dig them. If you missed that show, you also missed KOP perform with strippers on stage for a song. The all ages crowd seemed to dig it, from what I can tell. We certainly did.

I digress. September will see us hit up Spartanburg, SC on September 10th (Friday) for THE VESSEL's CD release show at Ground Zero. It's only an hour away from Asheville, so you definitely should not miss it if you're from our hometown. The cover charge is $5 for 21+ and $7 for under 21. HOWEVER, anyone 21+ before 9pm gets in FREE! Holla.
There will also be two $100 gift certificate giveaways that evening: one for Dark Side Tattoo and one for Blvd Music. So not only do you get to see us go nuts on stage, but you get the chance to win free tattoo or music money. It's win/win, really. Those sort of situations don't always present themselves, so don't miss out here. Also performing that evening (which is one week away!) will be HECTAGONS! from Charlotte and the upstate's own WAITING FOR AIR.

The following weekend, we'll be traveling to Wilmington, NC! September 19th (Sunday), MONSTRO (featuring former TORCHE guitarist Juan Montoya) will be wrapping up a weekend mini-tour at Reggie's 42nd St Tavern with JUNIOR BRUCE and SHROUD EATER. Along with us will be Wilmington's own ASG and White Tiger & the Bed of Roses, who we rocked Reggie's with a few months ago. The show starts at 8pm and is 21+. Not sure of the cover but if I guessed between $5 and $10, I'd probably have it covered. We're not only excited to be playing with the aforementioned bands, but also to hang with our dude Johnny Collins (Crusades, ex-Thunderlip) and party it up on the beach with him. If you're into beach parties, than party it up with us! Even us simple mountain folk enjoy cooking out on the sand, watching seagulls and pelicans fly by, and maybe watching a shark eat a child or two. Hahaha, I'm just kidding, there are no pelicans in North Carolina.

Less than a week later, we'll return to the capitol city of our beloved state. September 25th (Saturday) we will arrive in Raleigh, NC to play at the infamous DIVEBar Raleigh! We will be performing with Raleigh's TRANSIENT, described as "fuzzed-out desert rock" along the lines of KYUSS, QUEENS OF THE STONEAGE, and THE MELVINS. If any of those references ring true, I cannot wait to play with these guys. The show is FREE, starts at 10pm, and is 21+. Drink specials that evening include $3 PBR tallboys and $3 domestic bottles, so you can get drunk for cheap. That's right, you can spend your money on drinks and not a cover charge! Pretty killer deal.

That about wraps it up for September. We have one other show booked right now on October 8th (Friday) in Morristown, TN at the Downtown with our great friends THE GREAT LIARS. We'll talk more about that when it's time! See you on the road.

GOD'S GONNA CUT YOU DOWN

2010-07-31T13:26:00.003-04:00

What an adventure. On the way down to Spartanburg, the drive shaft on the van began to make a sick, metallic crunching sound. We pulled over and smoke was pouring out. Luckily, James from PanaCea bailed us out and picked us and the trailer up from the gas station we pulled over at just 15 miles from Ground Zero. We played and had a blast. Thanks so much to PanaCea, Sarah for getting half of us home, Lee and Burney for taking our gear and the other half of the Campaign home, and to all our close friends who came out and the new friends me made last night! We'll be back soon.

QUEEN OF THE DAMNED

2010-07-29T16:08:00.009-04:00

We're pleased to announce the completion and release of our 2nd music video! Shot by Daren Searcy on location in Candler, NC from July 22nd to 24th. The song is "Queen of the Damned" from our new album, Sessions.
Click the "YouTube" button on the video to see it in it's full, HD glory!

Help spread the word and post the video on your Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter!
Copy and paste this link: http://youtu.be/Cq4B4SZ0KRQ

TO THE BEAT OF A DEAD HORSE

2010-07-27T23:11:00.003-04:00

GREENVILLE, SC PEOPLE! We're featured in this week's issue of Link magazine! Pick up the Greenville News tomorrow and check it out. If you can't get a hold of the aforementioned printed news source, the interview is also available online via Link's sister publication, Metromix Greenville.

Not like you need it; here's an updated list of our upcoming shows:

+ 7/30 - Spartanburg, SC @ GROUND ZERO
With PanaCea, K-Llyod, and 304
8pm. 18+. $5 21+ / $7 18-20. Free for 21+ before 9pm!

+ 8/21 - Asheville, NC @ THE ORANGE PEEL
With Kings of Prussia and Dissever
7pm. All ages. $5 (via band or online).

+ 9/19 - Wilmington, NC @ REGGIE'S 42ND ST TAVERN
With MonstrO, ASG, Junior Bruce, Shroud Eater, and White Tiger & the Bed of Roses
21+. More info tba.

+ 9/25 - Raleigh, NC @ DIVEBAR RALEIGH
10pm. 21+. Free! More info tba.

+10/8 - Morristown, TN @ THE DOWNTOWN
With the Great Liars
9pm. 21+. $5.

SOUTH CAROLINA

2010-07-24T11:38:00.004-04:00

We're playing at Ground Zero next Friday with PanaCea, K-Lloyd. and 304. As you can see on the flier above. With the guy on fire. He's on fucking fire. So just be there, and maybe you'll see us on fire. Get it? Yeah? Okay.

DEATH TO FALSE HOPE RECORDS

2010-07-13T17:07:00.003-04:00

We have some new announcements! First off, we have three new shows booked:

7/30 - Spartanburg, SC @ GROUND ZERO w/ PanaCea, K-Llyod, [304]
- $5 21+ & $7 under 21, 18+, doors @ 7pm. Free entry to anyone 21+ before 9pm!
9/25 - Raleigh, NC @ DIVEBAR RALEIGH
- free show, 10pm, 21+ only
10/8 - Morristown, TN @ THE DOWNTOWN w/ The Great Liars
- $5, 10pm, 21+

And don't forget, we'll be in Raleigh this Saturday at Champions Billiards @ Mission Valley! Show starts at 10pm, is free, and also features Oak City Six!

Now, the big news...our new friends at DEATH TO FALSE HOPE RECORDS are "re-releasing" our 2008 album, "Southern Gentlemen"! You can now download the album on their website! DTFH Records is a record label based out of Durham, NC that takes on bands and releases their music via digital download with optional donation. They also happen to work with our favorite Asheville punk band and good friends Nights On Fire. DTFH Records has other plans for "Southern Gentlemen" as well, but we'll touch on that at a later date. For now, click the link above (or below) to download the album and feel free to hit the donate button at the bottom while you're at it!

MOUNTAIN XPRESS

2010-06-30T22:00:00.005-04:00

Hey Asheville. Take a moment sometime this week to grab a copy of the latest Mountain Xpress, turn to page 53, and read the first write-up on the Campaign 1984 ever in WNC's leading alternative/independent newspaper! It's an exciting thing for us to see, considering we have been a band almost six years now and never had an article about us in the Mountain Xpress. Not to mention, the paper is not known for covering rock bands (up until the past year or so), so this is also good coverage for our rock scene and fellow rock bands and musicians.

(http://www.mountainx.com/ae/2010/if_its_not_about_sex_and_drugs_rock_n_rolls_a_lie)

RED, WHITE & BREW, our headlining show at the Orange Peel, is now three full days away. Along with the Harvest Records ticket/free merch promotion (see previous entry), you can also enter a contest on our Facebook to win a free ticket! All you have to do is go to our Facebook page, "Like" our page (if you haven't already), and add a comment to our Wall stating why you deserve a free ticket over anybody else! Think witty, amusing, and interesting. The best two responses will get each fan a free ticket to the Orange Peel on July 3rd to see us, If You Wannas, and The Enemy Lovers.
And for those of you who don't like promotions and free shit, you can buy tickets at the Orange Peel box office, online, or through Springs, Justin, Matt, or myself directly.

See you Saturday!
-Jords

Ps. Here's what the Harvest Records ticket promo looks like. All for $8!

SESSIONS

2010-06-24T17:42:00.006-04:00

With our Orange Peel headlining show a little over a week away, we'd like to announce that on July 3rd, at the show, we will be releasing our 4th studio full-length, titled "Sessions", to our Asheville fan base.

"Sessions" is comprised of 3 studio sessions with 3 Doors Down guitarist and Rivergate Studios producer Chris Henderson (1st & 3rd) and East Nashville producer Roger Alan Nichols (2nd: "Black Magic Revival"). These sessions span from 2008 to early 2010. The total body of work offers 11 songs that coalesce to show the next stage of evolution for the Campaign 1984.

After over a month of having this album in our hands and selling it to fans at shows in Nashville, Raleigh, Wilmington, and Durham, we are proud to bring this offering to our hometown fans, friends, and family alike. As a special promotion for fans wanting presale tickets to our RED, WHITE & BREW headlining show at the Orange Peel, you can go to HARVEST RECORDS (415 Haywood Rd, West Asheville), buy a ticket, and receive a FREE copy of "Sessions", free sticker, and free "Sessions" tour poster. That's $8 for the ticket and everything else. This offer is exclusively available at Harvest Records (cash only!!!). You can also purchase tickets directly from band members and online through the Orange Peel (click here).

Thank you to all of the wonderful people who helped us get to this point. We are truly excited to be here. And as if we haven't said it enough: Come out to our show July 3rd at the Orange Peel!

RED, WHITE & BREW

2010-06-17T01:22:00.005-04:00

This will be THE best Independence Day weekend celebration you'll ever go to. Make sure you're here for this event. We're beyond excited. Flustered and in awe. Anyway, buy tickets in advance by clicking this link which is conveniently underlined for you.

JUNE BUGS (THE CRAP OUTTA' ME).

2010-05-30T08:39:00.004-04:00

It has come to the end of May. Yesterday was my birthday, which I spent in Carrboro, NC with my girlfriend Sarah and good friend Stephen Welch attending the final date of Converge's headlining tour. All in all, a great time was had and I even came out of mosh retirement and committed a stage dive during "Broken Vow". Anyway, in Campaign news, we only have two shows lined up for June and they are back-to-back. Both dates we will be joining our dear friends Nights On Fire on their last two nights of their first tour.

First up is June 18th in Wilmington, NC. We'll be playing at Reggie's 42nd Street Tavern, along with White Tiger & the Bed of Roses. If you haven't checked them out before, do yourself a favor: get trigger happy with your mouse and click the shit out of that link. The show will go on around 10pm for 21+ audience only and cost you 5 bones.
Second is June 19th in Durham, NC at Broad Street Cafe. We're not sure who else will be on this show but regardless it will be a fun one.

We have some stuff in the works for July and August. Once we get it finalized we'll let you in "the know." Because right now, this shit is "need to know" and lets be honest, you don't yet, do you?

HEY MAY.

2010-05-01T15:31:00.003-04:00

Today is the beginning of May and there are a couple of reasons I love this month. First, it is the month of my birth, so happy May birthday to me. Second, we have the first three weeks booked with a handful of great shows, starting with today!

Sat, May 1st - Hickory, NC @ The Wizard
- with Wicked Addictions, Laid in Blood, 7th Floor
- 9pm. $5. 18+.
- 651 21st Ave NE, Hickory, NC 28601

Wed, May 5th - Goodlettsville, TN @ Silverado's Rivergate
- BIKE NIGHT with Baker
- 3pm. Free! 21+.
- 709 Rivergate Pkwy Goodlettsville, TN 37072

Sat, May 8th - Nashville, TN @ LimeLight
- ROCK N RIDE CHARITY EVENT with Geneva, Baker, and a special guest.
- 11am. $10. 21+.
- 201 Woodland St Nashville, TN 37213
- Tickets/info here: http://www.bakersongs.com/Bakersongs/Rock_N_Ride_Tickets.html

Sat, May 15th - Raleigh, NC @ Slim's Downtown
- with Rat Jackson and Richard Bacchus & The Luckiest Girls
- 10pm. $3. 21+.
- 227 S Wilmington St Raleigh, NC 27601

We're excited to be playing the above two biker rallies in Tennessee. Specifically, May 8th in Nashville is a charity ride for the Second Harvest Food Bank Kid's Cafe of Middle Tennessee. Operating through 25 sites in metropolitan Nashville, Second Harvest serves 2500 kids per week, providing 350,000 meals and snacks each year. We're proud to be part of this cause, as well as play with biker rock pioneers Geneva and Baker.
Here's a tasteful flier with literally every bit of info you could want:

Appalachian Rock Party

2010-04-24T10:04:00.003-04:00

Thanks to everyone who came out to Stella Blue last night! Tonight we make our first trek into Boone, NC. We'll be playing at a house show with three other artists. Starts around 10pm and it's free!!!!

Click this link for more details.

Soldiers Are Cutting Us Down

2010-04-04T12:05:00.004-04:00

Thanks to all our friends and family that came out last night to the Boiler Room. It was our first time there and was a lot of fun to play and hang. We can't wait to share the stage with our friends Rat Jackson again in Raleigh on May 15th at Slim's Downtown.

Our next show in Asheville will be on Friday, April 23rd at Stella Blue.

The Enemy Lovers are old friends of mine, before they were a band and back when I first moved from Atlanta to Asheville. I've seen them play a handful of times since the beginning of the year. Started by brothers Tim and Steven Scroggs, these four musicians put on a vibrant, powerful performance every show they play. Both heavy doses of emotion and strength are evident in their songs.

Nights On Fire are also close friends. Fronted by Toby Brown, whose roots in the central Florida punk scene have helped shape a sound relatively new to Asheville punk rock. Rounded out by my close brothers Adam Kowalski and Travis Hollifield, Nights On Fire are new to the scene but are proving their power with every live show.

Following the 23rd, we will be playing in Boone, NC on the 24th at a house show/party. I'll be posting details soon when I receive them.

In May: We'll be in Hickory, NC on the 1st at the Wizard Saloon; playing Geneva's Rock n Ride Charity Event at the Limelight in Nashville, TN on the 8th; and the above mentioned May 15th show in Raleigh, NC at Slim's Downtown.

Get Me Back On the Road

2010-03-27T11:34:00.004-04:00

We're getting more and more booking done, focusing on weekend one-offs and stints around the region. We'll be looking into heading out a little further later in the year, too. Here's an updated list of our upcoming shows:

4/3 - Asheville @ Boiler Room w/ Rat Jackson, Aminal (18+)
4/23 - Asheville @ Stella Blue w/ The Enemy Lovers, Nights On Fire (16+)
4/24 - Boone, NC @ House Show w/ Hot Filbert (more info tba)

5/1 - Hickory, NC @ The Wizard Saloon w/ Broken Mercy, Vegas Masquerade (21+)
5/8 - Nashville, TN @ Limelight / Geneva's Rock n Ride & Charity Event (12pm)
5/15 - Raleigh, NC @ Slim's Downtown w/ Rat Jackson, Richard Bacchus & The Luckiest Girls (21+)

6/18 - Wilmington, NC @ Reggie's 42nd Street Tavern w/ Nights On Fire (21+)
6/19 - Durham, NC @ Broad Street Cafe w/ Nights On Fire

Check out ReverbNation for more detailed information on the shows.
We'll be booking more, of course, hopefully in other towns and states too. Currently hoping to get into Charlotte and South Carolina in the next couple months. If you can help get the Campaign into your town, e-mail me @ jordan@thecampaign1984.com.

BACK TO BOOKING

2010-03-20T13:05:00.004-04:00

We're finally booking shows again, for Asheville and beyond. Here's what we have confirmed so far:

April 3rd - Asheville @ Boiler Room w/ Rat Jackson, Aminal (18+)
April 23rd - Asheville @ Stella Blue w/ Enemy Lovers, Nights On Fire (16+)

May 1st - Hickory, NC @ Wizard Saloon w/ Broken Mercy, more (21+)
May 8th - Nashville, TN @ Limelight for Rock 'n Ride Biker Charity (12pm, all ages)
May 15th - Raleigh, NC @ Slim's Downtown w/ Rat Jackson, Richard Bacchus & The Luckiest Girls (21+)

We'll be confirming more for April, May, and June in the next few weeks!

AFTER THOUGHT

2010-03-06T09:12:00.003-05:00

Thanks to everyone who came out last night to support us and The Go Devils, and a very special thanks to them for allowing us to jump on at the last minute.

We'd also like to thank an unknown blonde girl for falling over and grabbing Justin's Gibson Les Paul to balance herself, which was not a sturdy support and caused her to slam it into his Marshall head, busting amp tubes and breaking a tuning key on the guitar. On top of equipment damage, this situation caused a wonderfully awkward moment on stage for about 10 minutes while we tried to fix the problem and get Justin playing again. But like Michael Scott's Race for Rabies from The Office, where he fails miserably and crashes before finishing the race, we still persevered and finished it out.
So, if you'd like to come forward and pay Justin for damaging his equipment, that'd be fantastic. We'll keep it private and never mention it to anyone. But please be an adult and own up to ruining shit last night. Thanks. (justinisrockandroll@yahoo.com)

LAST MINUTEZ

2010-03-04T19:40:00.003-05:00

We will be playing a surprise set tomorrow night at The Go Devils show at Stella Blue. This is our first show in Asheville with Springs on drums, first show of 2010, and first hometown show since September 2009. So a night of firsts!

Please join us and The Go Devils tomorrow night at 10pm. Doors open at 9pm, cover is $6 and the show is 21+.

Stella Blue is located at 55 College Street in downtown Asheville.

ADDED TO 7DAYBINGE CD RELEASE (1/29/10)

2010-01-10T11:43:00.002-05:00

We are now direct support for 7dayBinge (Rock Ridge Records) at their CD release show in Nashville, TN at the new Hard Rock Cafe (Reverb Room).

JAN 29th, 2010
@ Hard Rock Cafe (Reverb Room)
100 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37201

7dayBinge (MS)
The Campaign 1984 (NC)
Beitthemeans (AL)

9pm, more details to follow.
Last.fm event
MySpace SocialPlan event

NEW SHOW / NEW DRUMMER

2009-12-03T19:34:00.006-05:00

December 15th (Tuesday), we will be playing at the MERCY LOUNGE in Nashville, TN, with 7dayBinge (members of 3 Doors Down, ex-Kid Rock). Click the following link for show info.

As previously posted, we have been in search of a new drummer...until recently. We are proud to announce the addition of Springs Wade to the Campaign 1984. Springs is best known in Asheville for his tall stature, red hair, handsome features, and his amazing skill as a drummer in such bands as By Morning and The Go Devils. We have been hard at work in our cold, steel trap of a practice space, training Springs, demanding "back rent," and writing new material.
If you live in Nashville, come out to the Mercy Lounge to see our very first show with Springs! We're very excited to have him, and very excited for the opportunity to play with 7dayBinge in Music City.

Stay tuned for info on future shows, tour, and more!

In Review, Pt 8

2009-11-14T12:15:00.000-05:00

9/23 - 24 - Philadelphia

In Bloomfield, Jeremy and I woke up first as usual and walked up the street to the little downtown area of the townie. We spent time at a coffee shop and I bought some postcards and other stuff for Sarah. CarLee, Matt's sister, lives in a community house that she shares with two or three other artists. It's not unlike a punk house, only that it is literally covered in crazy, abstract artwork and crafts. There was a giant squid monster made of different fabrics that stretched its tenticles across the first floor and into other rooms. In the living room stood another giant monster with a vagina you could crawl inside, complete with chair and reading light. Rad.

After grabbing lunch, we took a bus downtown to catch some art shows and pizza. It rained on us most of the time but the art shows were fun and interesting and worth it. We left CarLee's around 5pm to make our way to Jess Rac's house in New Jersey, where we would stay for the night. Seeing Jess Rac was great, as it had been sparse since I had spent time with her after she moved back to NJ from Asheville.
In the morning, we played NES and did laundry for the first time in several days. We drove to Philly for one of our last shows of the tour, to play with a punk band and a shitty metal/rock band. The turnout was terrible but my friend Jack Fusco drove from Jersey to see us. We toured with Jack's old band, One Win Choice, back in March 2008 (my first playing tour and Matt Ring's last tour). Since then he had left One Win Choice and joined The Casting Out, based out of Delaware.We played well and even made some money from merch. Before saying our goodbyes, Jack promised us he would look for a show in Newark, DE for the following night (as we had the night off) to attempt to put us on. With that, we left and drove back to Brick, NJ to stay with Jess again.

9/25 - Newark
After waking up, Jess took Jeremy and I to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast before she went to work and we spent a couple hours playing more video games. After noon, Jack called us back and told us he had fixed an opening spot for us on a metal/rock show in Newark, DE. When Jess came back from work, we said our goodbyes and headed south west for Delaware. We arrived at the East End Cafe, loaded in, and played a furious 35 minute set. The response was terrific and not only were we invited back by every band that played, but we practically sold out of merchandise.
Most of the night I spent with Jack and Dusty, walking down Main Street to grab some pizza and talking on and on about life and music. By the end of the night we had a floor to crash on, though this turned out to be one of the sketchiest situations of tour, pretty much.

9/26 - Blacksburg
We bounced pretty early in the morning to get a head start on our drive to Blacksburg, VA to play at Champs with locals Aside Oceans and our hometown friends By Morning. This fateful drive, we hit a series of bad luck, with horrible stop-and-go traffic, disgusting McDonald's food, and, the worst part, our right rear axle snapping causing the wheel to fall off. We were 90 miles from Blacksburg when we started to smell burning, so we got off the interstate to check it out and as I pulled off the off ramp and onto the road, the wheel tore off the van.

After running back and forth with a helpful local to different repair shops, none who would help us, we called AAA to get the van towed to the show.

Once in Blacksburg, we had to wait for almost an hour for Lee from By Morning to make his way through VA Tech post-game traffic to come pick us up at the auto shop we had Reginald towed to. Finally, after far too many hours of driving, waiting, riding, waiting, and so on, we made it to Champs and played the very last show of tour. Without the help of our close friends in By Morning, we would have never been able to pull it off, and our sincere gratitude and support goes to Lee, Springs, Tim, Burney, and Joey. We owe you guys so much, honestly, for helping us out that night

See you next time on the road....

Calling All Drummer Boys

2009-10-27T23:43:00.001-04:00

We are currently looking for a drummer. If you are interested respond to lastxresort@gmail.com or call Matt (828) 691-0845.

In Review, Pt 7

2009-10-09T23:51:00.002-04:00

9/19 - 21 - Evansville

On the 19th, the day before our Evansville show, we had the day off and decided to stick around Louisville to maybe hit up a party with our friends in Creatures. We got up in the afternoon and met up with Sean from Creatures at the movie theater. The band took us out on a date that day: after lunch at Cheddars, we saw Inglorious Basterds. Thoroughly stoked, we walked around Bardstown some more, trying to waste time before the party. In the evening, it was looking as if the party wasn't happening, so we booked it on to Evansville and met up with Jill at her apartment outside of downtown.

First we went to the Casino Aztar, a casino on a boat floating on the Ohio River. It was far more white trash than I expected it to be, so I stuck around upstairs on the phone while Matt blew $20 on penny slots. Jeremy, Jill, and I watched a R&B band play at the entrance to the casino and saw loads of old white people just straight grabbin' ass on the dance floor. Intense. One college kid was doing the moon walk during a Michael Jackson song. Again, intense.

We hopped from the casino to Ri Ra's Pub, an Irish pub/restaurant by day, college party bar by night. A cover band was playing such wonderful 90s hits as "One Week" by Barenaked Ladies and some awful Jack Johnson jams. Kill me. Thoroughly uncomfortable with the crowded bar/college party atmosphere, I stuck around outside listening to Bad Brains on my iPod. I watched many drunk people stumble out of the bar and eager-to-get-drunk groups enter. Finally, we got back to Jill's, where I showered and we all fell asleep.

Day of the show, we spent our time with Jill, lounging, getting lunch, and hanging with old friends like Nate and Dunn. The day was mostly uneventful, like the show. We played to friends and partied afterwards with friends.

The next day, we continued to lounge around and enjoy the relaxation of having the day off. We went to the grocery store and pichted in to buy dinner with Jill. We ate burritos and watched Midnight Meat Train. So fucking gory. It was really entertaining, but some of the guys in the band couldn't finish their burritos because of how gnarly the movie was.

9/22 - Pittsburgh

Embarking on the 3rd 7+ hour drive of the tour, we made our way to Pittsburgh from our little "home away from home" in the south western corner of Indiana. Not much to note here, except that Ohio sucks. For lunch, Justin dragged us into KFC (don't let him tell you otherwise) so he could get some potato wedges. The god damn vegetarian wants to go to KFC. What is wrong with you, Justin? He ordered a salad to go with his delightful entree of sides, and it was the most dreadful thing I've ever seen. Camera phones could not properly portray the filth and despair in that salad.

Driving around Pittsburgh was one of the most equally amazing and absurd things ever. First, coming out of the tunnel on I-79 N and seeing the city....just utterly breathtaking. I can't get over how there is a city ON THE MOUNTAINS. Not in a valley surrounded by mountains (i.e. Asheville), not a city at the base of a mountain (i.e. Flagstaff). It rules so much more than I can express. Inside the city, the visuals don't disappoint, but trying to navigate certainly does. I guess it is probably close to impossible to set up a grid system on the mountain side. But, holy shit does it suck to get lost in Pittsburgh. And apparently that is an easy thing to do.

At some point we made it to Pittsburgh's southside and onto Carson Street, where our venue is located, not to mention what appeared to be the night owls' hotspot. For some reason, the scenario reminded me of when we drove up onto South Street in Philly back in June 2005, only less filth.

The show was another weird one, in that the audience response seemed lacking/uncaring, and yet we sold tons of merch. Who knows. Maybe we need audience participation signs to tell people what to do during and after our songs. I'll make a mental note of that. I also broke a string while playing, and the sound on stage was wretched. Regardless, Pittsburgh owned. The pizza there is killer, and the night life is fun and endearing. With another off-date the following day, we stayed with Matt's cousin CarLee in a townie called Bloomfield.

In Review, Pt 6

2009-10-03T11:21:00.000-04:00

9/17 - Indianapolis

At Daren's, we goofed off for a few hours before packing up and taking off for Indianapolis. Outside of Nashville, we hit up a gas station for some snacks and I met the nicest Pakistani gangsta' I had ever met. It is interesting to note that, with the exception of the NC, SC, and Nashville dates, we had mostly been showing up late to load-in. However, we are still usually the first band there. With that in mind, we made it to the Melody Inn 30 minutes after load-in and immediately loaded onto the stage. Before our set, Matt's clumsy ass spilled a full cup of beer all over Jeremy, soaking his clothes. Jeremy was pissed, Matt was apologetic, and I was laughing my ass off. Around 9:30/10 we started playing.

For some reason, this particular set was one of the most awkward for me, with Tallahassee and Athens coming in close behind. I couldn't tell you what the reason behind the awkward feeling was, as each night was so different from the other. Perhaps it was something shared in the clubs' atmospheres, or the tiny stages that prevent a lot of the antics and wild movement I enjoy doing. Either way, we couldn't have gotten through the set fast enough. Following us were The Fuglees, a local comedy rock trio, and The Melismatics, from Minneapolis. During the Fuglees' set, Jeremy and I grabbed some food up the street, where we were hassled by bums at every street corner.

After the Melismatics' set, we met a guy named Jay who gave us and the Melismatics a place to stay. Jay's house was large and nice, and we got our own room to sleep in. Matt stayed up late with Jay and the drummer from The Melismatics. Jay became a quick friend and hopefully we will get to work with him and his band Stereo Deluxe in the near future.

9/18 - Louisville

After waking up, we took our time getting ready and getting on the road for the short drive to Louisville. Of course, in true Matt Anderson fashion, Matt accidentally knocked Jeremy's coffee out of his hand, this time only wetting the pavement. Little did I realize this was a foreshadowing of tragedy in 2's for the Campaign 1984.

We got to Louisville in a couple of hours and spent time on Bardstown Road, hitting up and checking out several clothing stores, record and book stores, and some music stores. One in particular, Guitar Emporium, had a ton of Rickenbacker's and vintage Gibsons and Fenders. A 1976 Fender Jazz Bass caught my eye, complete with scratched up black paint and vintage pickup cover and bridge. I'm a sucker for a vintage bass. We grabbed lunch/dinner at a hookah restaurant and spent some time at Starbucks using the wi-fi. Boredom had quickly set in and we still had a few hours before load-in.

We arrived at the venue early and waited outside until Creatures and Overthrone showed. We pulled around back to hang out and catch up with the other bands before and after loading in. The venue, the Rudyard Kipling, doubled as a urban cultural restaurant and live entertainment venue, mostly involving theater and dance. This was the event before ours:

We played first and killed it. As usual, it almost always feels like every night we get better and tighter as a band. Following us were Overthone, who wow'ed the crowd with arpeggio sweeps while simultaneously singing, and Creatures, whose brand of dancey pop rock won us over. After the show, we followed Kevin of Creatures across the Indiana state border before arriving at a house party and chilling out. Before long, we drove to Kevin's friend's house and spent the night in his living room.

In Review, Pt 5

2009-10-03T10:36:00.001-04:00

9/15 - Johnson City
In the morning, we spent the first day apart from each other since September 3rd before the kick-off show. My girlfriend Sarah and I mostly just sat around the house and relaxed, going to the grocery once and watching the Dog Whisperer.
Around 6:40pm, Jeremy and Matt were at my apartment, and we picked up Justin before hoppin on I-26 for Johnson City. Justin had to trade guitar amps with Tim McGill since his had been cutting in-and-out in the middle of our sets.
We arrived to the ghost town that Johnson City typically is, so we loaded-in and got some food. Next door to the Hideaway, some band called Framing Hanley was loading-in and getting ready to play. When we got back to the Hideaway, the other bands had loaded-in and people were already starting to show up. Sarah, Adam, and Lucas all drove up together from Asheville, as well as our ol' pal Jeremy and his friend. My Johnson City friends Wes, Marc, Joey, and John Weems showed up too.
Not This Cowboy started the night off and, after they were finished, we were supposed to go on next. However, Dormia, the other local band, had told Tarvo (owner of the Hideaway) that they wanted to go on second, so they started loading their equipment onto the stage while we did. No one said a word to us, they just started throwing gear up there while we obviously were doing the same. After asking Tarvo what the deal was, we unfortunately had to submit and go on last. If anyone has ever been in our shoes, being the touring band who is trying to utilize the local bands' draw, you know how pissed and frustrated we were.
After Dormia's set, and with a bitter taste in our mouths, we set up and started. Ironically enough, the crowd for our set was the biggest of the night, and we played better and harder than in Athens, Tampa, and Vero Beach. With the night taking a strange twist in our favor, we said our goodbyes to our friends and my girlfriend, and drove west to Nashville.

9/16 - Nashville
We got in late to Daren's apartment and crashed pretty quickly. We got up in the morning/afternoon and quickly prepared for a meeting with Daren's boss, Phin. After driving around Nashville looking for a Taco Bell, we ate and got to Phin's, where we briefly discussed the near future of the band and signing onto Phin's management team, who resides over 3 Doors Down, 7 Day Binge, and Sarah Kelly. Phin had recently told Daren that we had "the sex of AC/DC and the soul of the Allman Brothers," quite possibly one of the best compliments we've ever had.
After the meeting, we rendevouzed at Daren's and Justin met up with Roger Alan Nichols to go hit up one of Roger's friends whose house is practically a small Civil War museum. Luckily, Daren lives just around the corner from the Rutledge, so we left right before load-in time and got there in less than 5 minutes. That must be a first for us.
Inside, we met the sound guy, whose wacky and zany personality entertained, us all. Seriously, the guy is kind of a nut, but he was thorough and learned so we all three bands got through soundcheck pretty quickly. Roger came and brought Craig Alvin, the mixing engineer on Black Magic Revival, and we got to hang out with them during the evening. Phin came and brought Stacey, who is 3 Doors Down's go-to person for management. And last but certainly not least, our dear friend Leticia Wolf arrived, with her roommate. I feel like we did not disappoint; our set was fierce, loud, and hard.
After the evening ended, we met up with Leticia and Mandy Wolf at the Red Door, where we played shuffle board and recorded video of drunken antics and ramblings all night. After giving an inebriated Wolf sister a safe ride home, we crashed at Daren's for one more night.

Next Big Nashville Video

2009-10-02T22:34:00.002-04:00

Next Big Nashville Promo from Next BIG Nashville on Vimeo:

View schedule here: http://nbn08.sched.org/

Live Video From Grey Eagle (7.16.09)

2009-09-30T11:11:00.003-04:00

Enjoy!

"Queen of the Damned" at Grey Eagle (7.16.09), Friedreich's ataxia benefit

Added to Newark, DE show tonight!

2009-09-25T13:53:00.002-04:00

We just got added to a show in Newark, DE tonight. Here are the show details:

@ EAST END CAFE
270 E Main St, Newark, DE 19711
w/ Without Logic, World Lost, Bound By Nothing
9pm, all ages, $5 21+ / $7 under

Be there at 9 as we will go on first!
Thanks to our good friend Jack Fusco for helping us get on this show. Check out his band The Casting Out (ex-BoySetsFire, One Win Choice) on MySpace.
And here are the final two dates of tour after tonight:

9/26 - Blacksburg, VA @ CHAMPS w/ By Morning, Aside Oceans, more (all ages)
9/27 - Asheville, NC @ STELLA BLUE w/ The Go Devils, Nights On Fire (21+)

In Review, Pt 4

2009-09-24T17:25:00.005-04:00

9/12 - Vero Beach
After a tasty meal at a Hallandale Beach cafe and a stroll through the town's huge GuitarCenter, we hit the road heading north. We arrived at Filthy McNasty's right before load-in and sat around for a while before loading in and playing. Most of the time, sitting around entails sharing the computer (should wi-fi be available) and checking our e-mail, as well as updating the band's websites and community sites with bulletins about upcoming shows, as well as a couple of the guys having some drinks and changing strings. Not really all that exciting, but necessary.
The other band on the bill, from Jacksonville, FL, was 20WT (pronounced "Twenty Weight"). Since they had been here before, we opened. The nice thing about this club (and a handful of other clubs this tour) is the built-in crowd. However, unlike our show in Tallahassee, where the built-in crowd appeared totally indifferent to our presence, the audience in Vero Beach really dug it and we got a good response.
20WT played a perfect blend of 311-esque reggae punk and Pantera/System of a Down metal-riffage. I know it doesn't make sense when you read that, but you have to hear it (and see it) to really get it. They were incredibly talented and tight, and the music was great. After the show was over we hung around with them, talking about touring, gear, and all that musician shit.
The best part of the night was securing a venue for later return, and making a friend in a talented, good band to work with in the future. That is really what all this DIY touring is about. It's about making connections, building relationships, and returning favors in order to build yourself up to the next level (and being willing to help others along the way). No band with an arrogant, unfriendly, or unappreciative attitude will get anywhere at this game. After packing up, we took off west for Clearwater, where we would crash at Justin's Aunt Darcelle's home.

9/13 - Tampa
We arrived at Aunt Darcelle's in the middle of the night and crashed hard, sleeping-in in the morning. Once we were all up, we spent time catching up with Aunt Darcelle and her husband, John and swimming in their pool. John honored our presence with a glorious lunch comprised of cheeseburger, tilapia, salmon, grilled shrimp, and various yummy sides. If there is one thing this band loves to do besides play music, it's eat some fucking awesome food.
During lunch, old friends of the Campaign Aaron and Jamie came by and hung out before we left for the show. Check out their clothing line, Pig Cloth: http://www.myspace.com/pigcloth
Once we arrived in Tampa/Ybor City, we rolled up to the Orpheum and began to load in. The two locals, Hat Trick Heroes and Male Order Brides, were already there and loaded in. We chatted with them a bit and spent some time walking around the streets of Ybor, which were pretty much dead.
At some point or another, while Male Order Brides were on stage turning their amps on and tuning, the owner of the club, Lazy, told them to kill the noise as he had taken a phone call. For one reason or another, the situation escalated into a yelling match between the owner and the band, with Lazy saying he had been called a faggot by the band and the band saying he had gone mad...in the end, they got kicked off the show and kicked out of the club. Hat Trick Heroes in turn sided with their friends and dropped off the show. Thus, right before the show had even started, the shit hit the fan and we were left alone on the show, feeling frustrated and bailed on.
Lazy explained he would honor our guarantee, and Aunt Darcelle, Uncle John, and Aunt Debbie had already arrived (not to mention our friend Ricky), so we decided to play anyway and give it hell. Matt, having been sick up to this point since Savannah, got hit hard by his ailment this night, not to mention the stress of the previous altercation, but we pushed through and gave it our all. After our set, we went to dinner with Justin's aunts and uncle and headed back to Clearwater, immediately falling asleep upon laying down on our beds.

9/14 - Athens
In the morning, we had to pack up and leave early in order to get a good start on the 8 hour drive from Clearwater to Athens. We had been lucky when we got to break up the Tallahassee to Ft. Lauderdale 7-8 hour drive (thanks to Dallas Bedle, hunk among men), but this time and the next 2 long drives, not so much. On the way to Athens, I bought the most disgusting gummy worms ever made, and Justin bought a cowboy hat that her later "dirty'd" up and put a cool crest on the front. Justin is seriously the most creative guy I know. He can take anything and turn it into something else. He turned a small suitcase into a guitar stand flightcase.
Anyway, back to Athens...we arrived to a ghost town and, you guessed it, played to a ghost town. The few people there (mostly people from the 2 local bands) did buy stuff though, so the trip was definitely worth it. Since Athens is a mere 3 hours from home, we drove to Asheville and slept in our own beds for the first time in almost 2 weeks.

In Review, Pt 3

2009-09-19T19:10:00.005-04:00

9/10 - Tallahassee
We woke up on the beach, 30 miles south of Tallahassee, feeling uncomfortable and unrested. Matt and Justin got very little sleep on the beach, while Jeremy and I got very little better in the van. Those of us who were awake decided to drive around looking for a Starbucks or some place to camp out at while we waited around for the show to start. We spent a few hours there while trying to finish booking the Philadelphia show for the 24th. Matt's cough was getting worse and worse so we decided to find a park for him to lay down and rest at. Jeremy and Justin went to find a guitar store while I stayed with Matt to protect him from the diseased-ridden ducks which squandered the park. They met up with a couple guys who recognized them as being in the band and were exicted about coming to our show that night at St. Michael's Pub.
At 5pm we went to the venue to rest there in air conditioning and wait for the show to begin. Around 9pm the pub quickly began to fill up, as promises of free pizza and beer run together with Thursday nights at St. Michael's. We met Sharod, who put the show together and booked us on it, and who made the sick flier for the show.

We played a good set despite Justin's amp cutting out in the first song. We borrowed a replacement and trucked on through the rest of the set, though it was apparent from the beginning that the crowd wasn't really interested in any of the music going on that night. It was explained to us that these events usually draw people who are only interested in partying, drinking, and socializing. We got paid and decided to make our way south towards Ft. Lauderdale. Instead of making the trip all at once, we broke it up by stopping off at my good friend Dallas' in Orlando for the night to sleep and rest up before the rest of the drive. We got in around 5am and crashed hard.

9/11 - Ft. Lauderdale
We woke up after 12pm, feeling much more rested than the night before and hopped in the van to make our way to South Florida. Our destination lay at Hallandale Beach where Sean, bassist for Hep Cat Boo Daddies, lives, and where we would be crashing for the night. On our way down, however, I made the mistake of not watching the gas gauge and, sadly, brutally, and embarrassingly, we ran out of gas on the side of I-95.
After waiting for over an hour for the AAA guy to come and put 2 gallons of gas in, the van would not start. My heart immediately sank into my stomach. The apparent problem was that the van was on a hill, thus the gas could not reach the fuel pump, but the AAA guy insisted we had worse problems and needed to get towed and might miss our show. Determined to not give up quite yet, we pushed the van down the hill onto flat ground and the engine finally got gas and Reginald started up. Over an hour and a half behind, we got back on the road. In humility, I bought my 3 band mates drinks and snacks at the gas station we filled up at.
Around 8pm we arrived at Sean's house, a sweet Florida bachelor pad filled with guitars and various music memorabilia. Sean's roommate Adam Wesley, a producer and engineer with a studio north of Ft. Lauderdale, was there too and greeted us warmly. We also got to meet Big Head Murphy, Sean's 150 lbs Rottweiler, who was the biggest teddy bear I'd ever seen.
Soon we hopped back in the van and followed Sean to downtown Ft. Lauderdale, where our venue The Poorhouse was at. We loaded in, parked, and then spent some time wandering around the city before we started. We killed it, and the response was great. The Hep Cat Boo Daddies, who are some of the nicest dudes ever, were incredibly excited about us, and every one of their friends made a point to tell us they liked it too.
Then the Hep Cat Boo Daddies went on. They played a good blend of blues and rock n roll. They're guitarist/singer led the band on tangents in the midst of their songs that displayed their experience and ability to stay in sync no matter where the music led. As the night wound down, we headed back to Sean's to continue sleeping off the night at the beach.

In Review, Pt 2

2009-09-17T02:18:00.001-04:00

9/7 - Savannah
In the morning, we ate more food prepared to us by Mama McGill before packing up and leaving for Savannah. Once we arrived in the city, we met up with my girlfriend, Sarah, and strolled up and down River Street, stopping off at little tourist shops and the Savannah Candy Kitchen (yum).
Before the show we made our way to my family's home in Townsend (50 miles south) and ate dinner. I got to see my dog Petey, who lives with my parents and brother, interact with Sarah and I's new puppy, Ella. Incredibly heart-warming. My dogs are like my children.
The show was at a new club called the Wormhole. We played first, followed by a dark wave band and a nu metal band. Interesting mix to say the least. This was one of the few shows we didn't book any locals on. After it was all said and done, we drove back to my family's house to sleep. It was great getting to cuddle my girlfriend to sleep again.
The following day we had off so after saying goodbye to Sarah, who left to visit her sister in Augusta, we took the van to a mechanic to have the fuel filter replaced, and then drove to Brunswick to buy power cables (Justin and I had somehow lost ours in Charleston) from a music store. We ended up meeting a kid there who booked shows and got his contact info, then ate at a really quaint pizza joint. Downtown Brunswick looks almost exactly like downtown Hendersonville, a town about 30 minutes south of Asheville. Once finished, we drove back up to my folks' and did a phone interview with a writer for the UGA indy school paper, Red & Black, ate shrimp stir fry, spent time with my mom and brother, watched the new Sons of Anarchy (heavy), and then crashed.

9/9 - Gainesville
In the morning, we made breakfast and worked on removing the ground effects from the van. They were missing from the right side of the van anyways, thanks to the band's first bass player pulling out in front of a pizza delivery guy in Gettysburg, PA and getting t-boned by him. So we pulled off about 30+ lbs. of unnecessary weight.
After saying goodbye to my dad, we took off for Gainesville. We got to the Backstage Lounge early, so we decided to head up the road a mile into downtown and grab some food. Apparently we wound up in the rich part of town, where this seedy looking bar wouldn't let Justin walk in wearing a tank top. It'd make sense if maybe the bar was fancy, but it definitely wasn't. I guess a black tank top means you're in a gang? Anyway, we ditched it for some Quizno's, where Jeremy and I were approached by a burly, meth'd out looking woman for cigarettes, and headed back to the venue, a little perplexed.
We played first again, to a very weird crowd. The show all-in-all was a bust, and since we could not find a place to stay, we wound up driving to Tallahassee after the show, then south of Tally to the Gulf of Mexico to sleep on the beach.

Nashville's Wolf Sisters Talk Up Campaign Show

2009-09-16T12:55:00.004-04:00

Check out our friends Leticia and Mandy Wolf on their vlog talking up the Campaign 1984 show in Nashville, TN at the Rutledge (the show's tonight, by the way!)

UGA Student Paper Interview

2009-09-15T14:29:00.007-04:00

We did an interview last weekend with Red & Black, the University of Georgia's independent student newspaper, in support of our show in Athens at the Caledonia Lounge. Click the title to be directed to the page!

The Campaign 1984 finds balance with partying, politics, rock, blues - Variety - Briana Gerdeman

Politics, partying and punk may sound like a usual combination, but the The Campaign 1984 has managed to fuse those elements together to spread their band's sound across the country.

The Asheville, N.C. band formed in the fall of 2004 and consists of Matt Anderson on vocals and guitar, Justin Biltonen on guitar and backup vocals, bassist Jordan Luff and drummer Jeremy London. The musicians came together after playing in other bands around the area.

"Me and Matt started the band," Biltonen said. "We'd both been playing in other bands around town, but we wanted to do something that was a little more rootsy."

The Campaign 1984's current lineup has been in place for a year in a half since it added drummer Jeremy London. Their name is a reference to George Orwell's dystopian novel "1984."

"'1984' is don't ever get too comfortable or put all your faith in the government. You've got to open your mind and think for yourself," Anderson said of the book's and the band's outlook. "Know what's going on and be aware. The dangers of all the world combining into one government … the dangers of being a slave to technology, your phone, your TV and your computer."

Although the group has a political message, it's not the only theme.

"We definitely have a really punk-rock mind set," Anderson said. "But we're not trying to be dead serious. We don't try to oversaturate people with politics. We write about touring and drinking and girls and having fun and playing shows."

The band's style is varied as well, combining elements of Southern rock, classic rock, punk, metal and blues.

"The best description I've ever heard is the attitude of AC/DC with the sound of the Allman Brothers," London said.

The band members also mentioned comparisons to Lynyrd Skynyrd, Queens of the Stone Age and the Foo Fighters. "We always just tell people rock 'n' roll," Biltonen said.

The band has gone on 20 tours in the past, touring at least two to three times a year for the past five years and traveling to California, Vermont and Florida.

On this tour, The Campaign 1984 will play 20 shows in 25 days throughout the Southeast, beginning with a show in Asheville to support their new EP.

The EP, "Black Magic Revival," was produced by Roger Alan Nichols, who also produced "All We Know is Falling" by Paramore. The band also has three full-length releases to their name: "Southern Gentlemen," "Blood for Nashville" and "Jazz for Burning."

At the Athens show, audiences can expect a fun night.

"We try to play every show as if we were playing in front of 100,000 people. We try to give it hell," London said. "Mostly just a good time. We do a lot of crowd interaction, try to make it worth their while to come."

The other band members agreed.

"It's just a feel-good, party, rock and roll atmosphere," Anderson said. "We want people to have fun and drink and enjoy themselves and not take life too seriously."

In Review, Pt I

2009-09-12T21:09:00.005-04:00

So here's a synopsis of the first week of tour, date by date (part 1):

9/3 - Tour Kick-Off
Our going away party with Leticia Wolf was a lot of fun. Leticia played acoustic by herself and sounded great. Excellent song writer. Although the turn out wasn't as great as past Ruby's shows, we still had a blast with our friends and, hey, Thursday nights are Thursday nights. The venue threw a curve ball by deciding to charge a cover a week before the show started, without telling us, but luckily it wasn't a major deal ($3 ain't too hard to come by). We played the set we prepared for tour and blazed through it. It was great seeing some of our closest friends come and support us.

9/4 - Chapel Hill
We started the day off with brunch at Sarah and I's pad, where we all ate yummy eggs, pancakes, grits, and bacon courtesy of yours truly. After we said bye to our girlfriends and packed up, we hit the road to Matt's sister Kayla's place in Raleigh. After a bunch of awful traffic, we picked Kayla up and drove to The Reservoir off of West Franklin in Chapel Hill/Carrboro.
This was the first of three dates with our old beach bros Thunderlip. We opened up the night, followed by Thunderlip, and then Raleigh's Colossus. The show was fun, though we all felt a bit out of place, and we anxiously blazed through the set. Some guy thought he was super cool and snidely remarked to Matt that we were too polished for The Reservoir; he said we sounded like a pop punk Dimmu Borgir. Ignorance aside, I can see what he's saying. Sarcasm aside, what a total shithead. Being criticized for being too talented puts a funny smile on your face. After the show we went back to Kayla's and crashed.

9/5 - Wilmington
We stayed in Chapel Hill during the day to hang with Kayla. We went to the pool and she cooked us breakfast and lunch which was, needless to say, delicious. Arriving early in Wilmington, we played pool at the venue and waited for the night to begin.
We opened the show, followed by Colossus, Atlanta's Royal Thunder, and then Thunderlip. This night was also Thunderlip's comeback show, as they had previously disbanded for a short period of time. Royal Thunder was awesome and their stage setup was great, complete with a goat skull with horns and candles everywhere. They remind me of Sweden's Witchcraft in a way. Mid-to-slow tempo dark rock n roll.
After the show we stayed with our friend Jess in downtown, and her dog Cash. Cash is some crazy Bull Mastiff/English Bulldog mix. We called him Big Head, because his head was the size of a large Mastiff and his body the size of a small Bulldog. Crazy looking thing, and super sweet and fun. After watching some Dexter, we fell asleep.

9/6 - Charleston
Our friend Tim McGill from By Morning set us up with his mom, Lynda (AKA Mama McGill) to stay with in Charleston. In the morning, we got up, left Jess', and drove to Mama McGill's, where we dropped off our luggage and then left for Isle of Palms beach. Unfortunately, September is when the current is incredibly strong and the wind is blowing the sand onto your skin like tiny bullets. We braved the waters for an hour or so and returned to Mama McGill's, where we hung out with our host and experienced southern hospitality at its finest.
At the Tin Roof, it was just us and Thunderlip playing. We opened for them for the 3rd and final time this tour, our set a lot tighter and stronger than it was 2 nights ago in Chapel Hill. We got to more intimately hang with them this time, as the club wasn't real crowded, but it was still fun and we sold a lot of merch. After settling up, we split and fell asleep no sooner than we got home.

Heading to Florida

2009-09-08T10:25:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow night we'll be in Gainesville, FL @ The Backstage Lounge, with The Manor and Only Right Left (9pm, $5, 18+). Should be a good show, and I'm excited about being in Gainesville again!

We've got the day off today, which works out cause we need to replace the fuel filter in Reginald, our trusty-although-often-times-squirrely touring van. We spent the night at my folks' house, where my girlfriend has been vacationing at with our sweet pup Ella. Ella got to meet my pitbull, Petey, who has been staying with my family, and they are the best of buds now.

The Wormhole, the venue we played at in Savannah last night, is really rad. The sound was awesome, the setup was great, and the venue as a whole looked great. I suggest hitting them up next time you come through Savannah!

Tour Updates

2009-09-05T16:10:00.003-04:00

Since Brooklyn was canceled, we booked the 24th in Philly. Here's an updated tour list. Also, we are working on an all ages show in Pittsburgh the day after the Smiling Moose show. Details soon!

9/5 - Wilmington @ REGGIE'S
9/6 - Charleston, SC @ TIN ROOF
9/7 - Savannah, GA @ WORMHOLE BAR
9/9 - Gainesville, FL @ BACKSTAGE LOUNGE
9/10 - Tallahassee, FL @ ST. MICHAEL'S PUB
9/11 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ THE POOR HOUSE
9/12 - Vero Beach, FL @ FILTHY MCNASTY'S PUBBERY
9/13 - Tampa, FL @ THE ORPHEUM
9/14 - Athens, GA @ CALEDONIA LOUNGE
9/15 - Johnson City, TN @ THE HIDEAWAY
9/16 - Nashville, TN @ THE RUTLEDGE
9/17 - Indianapolis, IN @ MELODY INN
9/18 - Lousiville, KY @ RUDYARD KIPLING
9/20 - Evansville, IN @ LANHUCKS
9/22 - Pittsburgh, PA @ SMILING MOOSE
9/23 - Pittsburgh, PA @ TBA
9/24 - Philadelphia, PA @ THE FIRE
9/26 - Blacksburg, VA @ CHAMPS
9/27 - Asheville, NC @ STELLA BLUE

All shows have addresses & more info, just go the our Myspace page and click the date for details!

Day Before Tour

2009-09-04T01:38:00.006-04:00

Of course, something has to go wrong, the day before we leave for tour. We got word Thursday morning that our show at the Charleston in Brooklyn on the 24th was canceled due to double-booking. Wonderful.
Hopefully this is enough advance notice to move it somewhere else...we're working on rerouting the 24th and 25th into central/southern PA, northern WV, and/or northern/central VA.

Any help is much appreciated. We'll be on the road by 2pm Friday, but we'll keep checking the MySpace and our e-mails.

Booking:

jordan luff @ gmail . com

gunshow booking @ gmail . com

http://www.myspace.com/thecampaign1984

Next Big Nashville

2009-09-02T15:51:00.002-04:00

We have confirmation that we'll be playing at this years Next Big Nashville Music Festival & Conference! You can by tickets/wristbands by clicking the link prior. Scope the show information below:

October 7th (Wed), 2009

The Campaign 1984 @ The Rutledge

410 4th Ave South

Nashville, TN 37201

8:30pm, 18+

The festival is in its 4th year and promises to be bigger and better than the last.

You can also keep posted on info by visiting the MySpace for the festival.

New T-shirts

2009-08-29T02:32:00.005-04:00

Here are the two new shirt designs we'll have for tour:

"A Little More Talk" featured on VitalBMX video!

2009-08-27T15:47:00.007-04:00

My buddy BJ Wolfe put together this video posted on VitalBMX, titled "FBM's Nacho Ordinary Jumping Contest". The jump took place at Best Friends Day in Richmond, VA, last weekend. The song for the video is our very own "A Little More Talk, A Lot Less Action", from Southern Gentlemen (which you can d/l for free here)! Also, GWAR frontman Oderus Urungus is in the crowd, either hosting the jump or trying to take over the Earth.

Enjoy.

FBM's Nacho Ordinary Jumping Contest Video - More BMX Videos

Following the contest, GWAR played with Cannabis Corpse. So sick. Here's a photo of the cops, not sure what the hell is going on:

(click the picture to see more of BJ's photos from Best Friends Day! -facebook members only)

Wrapping Up

2009-08-25T16:11:00.004-04:00

For tour, we'll have two new t-shirts as well as a special, limited edition version of the Black Magic Revival EP. I will post some of these designs up tonight or tomorrow!

Everything is pretty much booked, so here are the dates we have lined up, as well as fliers for our hometown shows surrounding the tour.

The first one, Sept 3rd, takes place at Ruby's BBQ and features hard rocker Leticia Wolf from Nashville. The show is free and starts at 10.
The last show, Sept 27th, takes place at Stella Blue and features two of our friends and favorite local bands, psychobillies The Go Devils and the newly-founded Nights On Fire.

9/4 - Chapel Hill @ RESERVOIR w/ Thunderlip, Colossus, Makebelieves
9/5 - Wilmington @ REGGIE'S w/ Thunderlip, Colossus, Royal Thunder
9/6 - Charleston, SC @ TIN ROOF w/ Thunderlip
9/7 - Savannah, GA @ WORMHOLE BAR w/ Sapphire Rebellion
9/9 - Gainesville, FL @ BACKSTAGE LOUNGE w/ The Manor
9/10 - Tallahassee, FL @ ST. MICHAEL'S PUB
9/11 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ THE POOR HOUSE w/ The Hep Cat Boo Daddies
9/12 - Vero Beach, FL @ FILTHY MCNASTY'S PUBBERY w/ 20WT
9/13 - Tampa, FL @ THE ORPHEUM w/ Hat Trick Heroes, Male Order Brides
9/14 - Athens, GA @ CALEDONIA LOUNGE
9/15 - Johnson City, TN @ THE HIDEAWAY w/ Dormia
9/16 - Nashville, TN @ THE RUTLEDGE
9/17 - Indianapolis, IN @ MELODY INN w/ The Melismatics
9/18 - Lousiville, KY @ RUDYARD KIPLING w/ Creatures!, Overthrone
9/20 - Evansville, IN @ LANHUCKS w/ MiddleClassTrash, ZXZ
9/22 - Pittsburgh, PA @ SMILING MOOSE w/ Under a Nightmare, Children of October
9/24 - Brooklyn, NY @ THE CHARLESTON w/ The SmashUp
9/26 - Blacksburg, VA @ CHAMPS

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On Being at Wits End

2009-08-23T17:20:00.001-04:00

Tour starts in two weeks. This is about the time when we start rushing to complete all the last minute projects we have going on to prepare for tour, such as booking, ordering and making merch, designing fliers, etc. Pretty soon, the "butterflies-in-stomach syndrome" will start kicking in, that anxiousness to "get in the van" and "get on the road" that few musicians get to appreciate.

Even on the road, the anxiousness doesn't leave. Every night before a show is the same for me; "preshow jitters," I guess you could call 'em. I get nervous, hoping the turn-out is going to at least be decent. Tour is a merciless bitch, and some cities provide no safe haven for "dirty rock n' rollers" such as us. Every night is a lesson learned; a decision to never come back, or a promise to return. But it's no comparison to working a dead-end job day after day and living in financial worries and woes.

With so much going on in our lives, both personal and band-related, it can become easy to feel overwhelmed as the countdown to go time nears its end. Personally, I'm dealing with a hefty bundle of medical bills from breaking my hand last month, and (thanks in part to a bottomed-out economy) may not be able to come back to my job after this next tour. Any other time and I wouldn't worry about finding another job, but considering my girlfriend (among dozens of other people I know) hasn't been able to find a job with enough hours and enough pay for the past three months, I'm not really looking forward to dealing with that sort of shit when I come home. We all know it's hard to find jobs lately, and it's especially hard in Asheville. With all that said...I'm still pushing on. We have to push on; growing and learning in the process, never giving up.

One of the things we've learned, to be specific, is that Roger Alan Nichols is an incredible human being. He's sincere and honest, warm and friendly, and he possesses incredible talent with regard to music and production. Best of all, he has found something in us that he thoroughly enjoys, not only in our music and hard work ethic, but also as friends. Who else gets to go out with their producer to see District 9 after a humid afternoon of preproduction? I doubt Rick Rubin enjoys an afternoon of golf with Steven Tyler whenever they're in town together. Without pushing on and being patient, how would we have gotten to work with Roger? One thing is for sure, and that's that giving up offers no rewards. I've already given up my tours and such in the past just to keep some crummy, low-skill level job. It was not worth it.

As well, we have learned to take every one who claims relation to "music business" or record labels with a hefty grain of salt. Especially the ones who appear to have your best interests at heart. You can agree with a guy until you're both blue in the face, but until you get beyond his personal agenda, you cannot trust him or take him for his word. Especially considering everyone has an agenda.

So, here's to tour, and diving head first into shallow end, without the assurance that you're going to resurface. We wouldn't have it any other way.

Echo Mountain

2009-08-19T18:28:00.009-04:00

Yesterday we completed a six-hour session at Echo Mountain Recording in downtown Asheville. Roger Alan Nichols came down on Sunday to do some quick preproduction on Monday afternoon before we all hit the studio Tuesday. Working with Roger during prepro and in the studio was very exiciting, and reminds me of the intensity and hardwork he put into us back in Nashville.

Here's Roger and Echo Mountain engingeer John working with Matt during vocal tracking:

We managed to demo four new songs in The Church, a state-of-the-art studio built into a 1920s church.

Since we were under pressure due to time constraints, we recorded the songs live, as compared to individual tracking like last time. With each song, we first recorded an instrumental scratch track, a vocal scratch, and then three to four performances with which to piece together. After Matt's vocal performances were laid down, Justin managed to squeeze in solos and lead riffs in the final fifteen minutes of our arranged plan. With no overtime, we felt very proud of ourselves, and Roger.

After tracking instruments, Justin, Jeremy, Daren, John, and I spent the rest of the evening in the church lounge, eating Maggio's pizza, drinking IBC and Michelob Ultra, playing arcade games, Left 4 Dead, and pool. Here are some pictures from Echo Mountain's website:

For now, we're tying up loose ends for tour, including printing t-shirts and limited edition EPs of Black Magic Revival, with the first four songs we recorded at Roger's studio in East Nashville.

As for these new demos (and which songs they are), we're keeping the lid tight on that for right now. Whether we'll release these to the public right away or not remains to be seen; they haven't even been mixed or anything yet, so we're taking one step at a time. Overall, our short time at Echo Mountain was great and we can't wait til the opportunity arises where we can really do some more work and spend more time here with the great crew and this awesome space and equipment.

Stay in the shade.

SEPTEMBER TOUR - being booked!

2009-08-03T03:35:00.006-04:00

We're planning an East Coast/Mid West tour for the month of September that'll take us down to Florida, into Indiana, and up to New York. I'll post chunks of dates at a time, but you can check the left side of the blog ("Upcoming Shows") too as each new date is booked.

**UPDATED 8/15**

9/3 - Asheville @ RUBY'S BBQ

9/4 - Chapel Hill, NC @ THE RESERVOIR w/ Thunderlip, Colossus, The Makebelieves

9/5 - Wilmington, NC @ REGGIE'S 42ND ST TAVERN w/ Thunderlip, Royal Thunder

9/6 - Charleston, SC @ THE TIN ROOF w/ Thunderlip

9/7 - Savannah, GA @ WORMHOLE BAR

9/8 - Jacksonville, FL

9/9 - Gainesville @ BACKSTAGE LOUNGE

9/10 - Tallahassee @ ST. MICHAEL'S PUB

9/11 - Ft. Lauderdale @ THE POOR HOUSE w/ Hep Cat Boo Daddies

9/12 - Vero Beach @ FILTHY MCNASTY'S PUBBERY

9/13 - Tampa @ THE ORPHEUM w/ Hat Trick Heroes

9/14 - Athens, GA @ CALEDONIA LOUNGE

9/15 - Johnson City, TN @ THE HIDEAWAY

9/16 - Nashville, TN @ THE RUTLEDGE

9/17 - Indianapolis, IN @ MELODY INN w/ The Melismatics

9/18 - Louisville, KY @ RUDYARD KIPLING w/ Creatures!

9/19 - Jasper, IN

9/20 - Evansville, IN @ LANHUCKS w/ MiddleClassTrash, ZXZ

9/21 - Columbus, OH

9/22 - Pittsburgh, PA @ SMILING MOOSE

9/23 - Harrisburg, PA

9/24 - Brooklyn, NY @ THE CHARLESTON w/ The SmashUp

9/25 - Philadelphia, PA

9/26 - Blacksburg, VA @ CHAMPS

9/27 - Asheville @ STELLA BLUE - Homecoming Show!

RE: Anti-Bele Chere

2009-07-26T09:56:00.004-04:00

Thank you to everyone who came out last night to the Anti-Bele Chere show at Stella Blue. It was easily one of the biggest crowds we've played to at Stella's. The intensity we felt from that was hopefully conveyed in our performance. I saw a lot of familiar faces, and a lot of new ones too (obviously coming in off the streets from Bele-Chere). I hope none were disappointed, and from the look of the faces in the crowd, and a lot of the compliments received after the show, we did quite the opposite. Excuse me if I revel in that a little bit. I'm not much of a braggart, but it feels damn good.

Sorry to those that were not expecting to be charged $10 just to see us and a couple other bands. I don't feel like the flier properly advertised this, which is why we promoted it as we read it: $2 per entry, $10 for full day. Not $10 after 8pm. I hope this did not turn away too many folks, though Justin and I clearly saw this happening before The Nova Echo's set. Regardless of these circumstances, the turnout for our set was great, and still more people were coming in before Crank County Daredevils' set.

Like the Grey Eagle show, we played all new songs, including the four we just recorded with Roger Alan Nichols: "Werewolves", "Bender", "Gold Rush", and "Sling Blade". Like these four, the other new songs you heard are intended to be released on an upcoming full-length, entitled Black Magic Revival. However, until we can get back to the studio with Roger, we are releasing the aforementioned four as a limited edition EP: the Black Magic EP.

We are intending to produce these in time for September 3rd, our Tour Kick-Off show @ Ruby's BBQ with Leticia Wolf, and the rest of tour. Leticia is a good friend we met last year in Chattanooga, TN (and now relocated to Nashville). Unless otherwise noted, the EP will be very limited to about 300 copies and will feature hand-screened artwork by Justin. Hopefully we will have some new t-shirts as well before our September tour, but I don't want promise anything since we're making everything on our own.

As of right now, we don't have anything booked for the month of August. Our plan is to finish booking the tour, produce the EP, and generally prepare for tour. Fliers are being produced for the Tour Kick-Off show (Sept 3rd) and the Homecoming show (Sept 27th). The Homecoming show @ Stella Blue will feature our psychobilly friends The Go Devils, and punk/indie newcomers, Nights On Fire (members of Bugs Multiply).

Check back soon! We'll be updating you pretty regularly in the next month with more news, notes, and the like.

...stay in the shade...

A slew of dates!

2009-07-24T09:39:00.005-04:00

9/10 - Tallahassee, FL @ ST. MICHAEL'S

9/12 - Vero Beach, FL @ FILTHY MCNASTY'S PUBBERY

9/13 - Tampa, FL @ THE ORPHEUM

9/16 - Nashville, TN @ THE RUTLEDGE w/ tba

9/17 - Indianapolis, IN @ MELODY INN w/ The Melismatics

9/18 - Louisville, KY @ RUDYARD KIPLING w/ Creatures! & more

9/26 - Blacksburg, VA @ CHAMPS w/ tba

More dates coming soon! We're working hard on getting everything booked by mid-August, and so far we're moving along quite quickly.

As for Asheville: avoid the Bele Chere drunken tourist/redneck crowd and come hang with us tomorrow night to the Anti-Bele Chere Party at Stella Blue! We're playing upstairs (31 Patton Ave) at 10:30pm, followed by Crank County Daredevils.

Prior to our set, make sure you check out By Morning (upstairs), The Nova Echo (downstairs), and a bunch of others. The fest begins earlier in the afternoon. $2 for every entry, $10 for the whole day.

You can also check out the Anti-Bele Chere TONIGHT with our friends in The Hillside Bombers and Project Loungecore, among others!

Asheville Radio Interview!

2009-07-09T21:06:00.004-04:00

ASHEVILLE: Listen to 105.9FM The Mountain on Sunday, July 12th, @ 9pm to hear us be interviewed by Bad Ash! We'll be discussing our upcoming shows, fall tour, and the upcoming record!

NEW SHOWS! + Follow us on Twitter

2009-06-10T20:12:00.004-04:00

Friday, July 3rd @ RUBY'S BBQ w/ James O'Neil

10pm, free

Thursday, July 16th @ THE GREY EAGLE w/ Velvet Truckstop

9pm, $10

Saturday, July 25th @ STELLA BLUE for Anti-Bele Chere w/ Crank County Daredevils, others

10pm, $??, 21+

Also, now you can follow us on Twitter!

Go to: http://twitter.com/jordanCAMPAIGN and click Follow!

"WEREWOLVES" and "GOLD RUSH" posted to MySpace!

2009-06-01T16:52:00.005-04:00

FINALLY! We are pleased to share two or the four songs we recorded with producer Roger Alan Nichols.

Head over to the MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/thecampaign1984) to listen to both "Werewolves" and "Gold Rush"!

Roll credits...

Produced by: Roger Alan Nichols
Engineered by: Roger Alan Nichols at Skyview Church of Tone and Soul, East Nashville, TN
and
Lij Shaw at Toybox Studios, East Nashville, TN
Mixed by: Craig Alvin
Mastered by: Richard Dodd
Drum Tech: Greg Costa
Special thanks to Sharon Corbitt-House...where to start?

Seeing as how we haven't played since March, we'll be returning to Stella Blue on JULY 25TH for the Anti-Bele Chere fest, with our friends in Crank County Daredevils. We'll post more info on that when we get it.

Check back, as we'll keep posting more updates as they happen!

Mixing-Mastering

2009-05-20T06:41:00.005-04:00

The four songs have been mixed and already sound amazing. Roger and Craig Alvin spent the better part of a week on these gems, making sure they sound raw, fierce, and powerful. Tomorrow, Richard Dodd will begin mastering, and we should have the final product by next week.

Keep your eyes and ears peeled!

"I Hope You Dance"

2009-05-06T22:43:00.002-04:00

It's a surprise any work got done during the final days at Roger's studio. They mostly consisted of much day dreaming and conspiring to dance, wishing to dance, hoping for one to dance...

Roger: "I too hope, one day, I dance."

Justin: "Indeed, I hope he dances."

Matt: "God, why does Roger only have O'Doul's here? And for the record, he sucks at dancing."

Daren: "I dance."

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

2009-05-05T20:56:00.004-04:00

As of this evening, the recording stages of the demo is complete. Roger, Justin, and Matt finished everything up today and soon the tracks will be on their way to be mixed (by Craig Alvin) and mastered (by Richard Dodd).

A huge thank you to everyone involved in making this beast!!! Including...
Daren Searcy, our manager, for being an amazing friend and great business partner. Not to mention for the couches to crash on and XBOX 360 to play too.
Greg Costa, rehearsal space owner and drum tech, for the mullet and the powerful drums.
The Pizza Hut deliver guy, who dropped our pizza, promised a new one, and never returned.
Dee's Q, for the tasty BBQ.
Lij Shaw, engineer @ Toy Box Studios, for the hospitality and hard work put into the drum tracks.
Lij's daughters, for being super fun, cute, and for throwing grass at us.
The creators of Left 4 Dead, because slaughtering zombies is one of the best past times I could ask for.
The bat on Daren's awning, for reminding us what it's like to be a kid.
Ruby, for being the sweetest dog.
Sharon Corbitt-House, for hooking us up with Roger and being an awesome new friend. We cannot wait to work with you more as this takes off.
And above all, thank you Roger Alan Nichols, for seeing our vision for these songs and shaping it and giving it direction. We certainly can't wait to work with you again!!!

And now, some pictures to remember this time by:

Demo Bass Tracking

2009-05-01T15:44:00.008-04:00

Yesterday afternoon we arrived at Roger's home studio, titled the Skyview Church of Tone & Soul. Roger and I hit the control room immediately and started with "Bender" to warm up. The basic structure of each song involved me playing along to the song, Roger listening through and suggesting changes in my bass lines and technique, and then going through again to fix any fuck-ups. On "Bender," I used a jetglo Rickenbacker 4003.

So, after lusting over this black beauty, we switched to a gold 1979 Fender American Precision bass for the other three songs.

We used some different tactics to gain better articulation on certain parts. For example, on "Bender," Roger had me use a capo to gain better articulation on the main riff. On "Werewolves," I detuned my E-string to C# to play the intro and bridge an octave lower.
For "Gold Rush" we rewrote my bass line under the main guitar riff to support rather than follow. That song is probably the only one I'll have to relearn once all of them are finished.

Ruby is helping time go very well here!

Earlier Than You'd Like

2009-04-30T09:25:00.002-04:00

I woke up about an hour ago on Daren's couch in Nashville. Got in around 10pm central (left at 6pm eastern, bummer) and played Left 4 Dead with Daren's roommate Justine. My eyes are heavy from being up late and waking up early. There's only so much comfort a 5ft couch can provide for a 6ft man.

Today I start bass tracking. Daren, my good friend and band manager, mentioned that Roger plans on picking up a Rickenbacker for me to record with. Holy shit. That's all I can say at this point. I hope this is true.

Matt started tracking his rhythm guitars yesterday, while Justin has been holed up writing solos. According to Justin, Roger is really, really excited about how great everything is sounding. Nothing is more fulfilling than having the people working with you get emotionally involved in your art (as long as it's the right people). All evidence suggests that we're most definitely working with the right people. I know that if Roger is excited, he's going to be his heart and soul into making this sound the way it should, the way we've failed to capture for 3 albums now.

Demo Drum Tracking Day 2

2009-04-26T16:29:00.003-04:00

Unfortunately, the pictures I took for this day were on Lij's camera and I have yet to get them from him. When I do I will post them on a separate entry.

Thursday night we went to 3 Crow Bar and Beyond the Edge to celebrate the end of rehearsals and the beginning of tracking! In the morning, we made a quesadilla for breakfast before we left for Toy Box studios to finish drum tracking. Tracking "Werewolves" took hardly any time at all for Jeremy, so Roger and Lij began comping the different takes and samples and we left for lunch. We hit up the Calypso Cafe and were very stoked. I ate a veggie pita with honey mustard dressing that was so good.

We returned, and Daren and I left to pick up a backup hard drive and some cash. We were gone for a while though, thanks to traffic, and when I got back they had already run through "Bender" without me, so I had to wait while they comped the takes before I laid my bass scratch down. "Bender" took a bit longer for Jeremy, but he eventually got a few really good takes in and then we called it. We hung around for another hour, while loading up the gear and playing with Lij's daughters outside (we all got pelted with fist-sized balls of grass by the little girls). Eventually we went back to Daren's to recoop.

After a couple hours of rest, we walked down a couple blocks to Broadway and visited a tattoo shop, American Apparel, the Grand Ol Opry store, and a couple of boots/western stores. Before it got too late, we headed back to meet up with Daren and we drove to West End to grab dinner at Sam's. I hate sports bars, and while the chicken tenders were tasty, the smoky atmosphere, bro dude hang time, and various televised sporting events were a major turn off for me. We eventually left, ran by Daren's old place to pick up a few things, and returned to his current residence.

There, Jeremy and I said our goodbyes to our friends as we were to leave Saturday morning, and opted not to stay out much later. We watched TV with Daren's roommate, Justine, before crashing. In the morning, we packed up, ate breakfast, and made our way back to Asheville. Jeremy is done in the studio, so he won't be in Nasville the rest of our time in the studio. I'll head back Wednesday night, track Thursday and Friday, and return to Asheville sometime Saturday. Matt and Justin will remain in Nashville until the end of tracking, around May 8th.

Demo Drum Tracking Day 1

2009-04-23T20:16:00.006-04:00

We began our first day at Toy Box Studios around 10am. Toy Box is engineer Lij Shaw's baby, and he's put a lot of time and money into her.

The reel-to-reel above has been used to record gold singles and albums by Crosby Stills & Nash, the Bee Gees, the Eagles, Jimmy Buffett, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Andy Gibbs, and others. We're scratch tracking the bass, guitars, and vocals on digitally, and the drums are being recorded on tape and then dumped into ProTools.

Half of the day was spent getting the right sounds on the drums. Jeremy is using 70s-era Ludwig Acrylic Vistalite kit. They sound heavy and powerful, like thunder. We started "Sling Blade" first and eventually moved to "Gold Rush". For the most part, Matt, Justin and I read Vice magazines or surfed the internet. Matt actually spent a good bit of time entertaining Lij's 3 year-old daughter.

For lunch we ate at a local deli called Mitchell's. MMM-MMM delicious! After we got back, we slowed "Gold Rush" down about 5 bpm and DAMN does it sound tight and heavy. After a few great takes from Jeremy on both tracks, we called it a day around 5pm and we'll return to finish "Werewolves" and "Bender" in the morning.

Demo Rehearsal Day 3

2009-04-23T01:49:00.004-04:00

Currently watching Memento. Poor Leonard.

Today we finished up rehearsal, mainly focusing on Jeremy memorizing his drum parts and messing with fills. Over the course of the past three days Roger stripped Jeremy of his rack tom, his china cymbal, and his double bass pedal attachment. As well, he has essentially stripped Jeremy of his old style of playing and pushed him to go from playing a complicated metal style to a more simplified rock style. It's hard to think this could be a progression on paper but the magic is in the music, and it feels and sound brilliant. Sometimes, less is more, and we've been finding this out quite a bit lately.

Drum tracking begins in the morning!

Demo Rehearsal Day 2

2009-04-21T18:31:00.003-04:00

Today was intense. I think Jeremy could be at the point where may or may not hate drums (kidding). We sharpened "Werewolves in These Hills" and "Gold Rush", making some arrangement changes and even adding some beef to each. Yesterday we had worked on "Sling Blade" and "Bender" but we returned to "Sling Blade" at the end of the day and pretty much made it a new song.

I think the highlight of the day for everybody was going to Dee's Q, a tiny little BBQ shack (literally) in East Nashville. There we shared stories with Roger and ate wonderful BBQ with fried okra and mac n cheese sides.

Yesterday we hung out with Bennett, one of our favorite Nashvillians, and his chow-golden retriever mix Zooey. Made me miss my dog, Petey, who'll be on his way to Townsend, GA by the end of the week. Sad face. Sorry, half of this post was about food and dogs because I love them almost more than people.

Lastly, check out actor Ryan Gosling's band, Dead Man's Bones. Really haunting, really cool.

Demo Rehearsal Day 1

2009-04-20T22:17:00.004-04:00

Woke up pretty early this morning (not that early for me), and headed to our rehearsal space at Roger's friend Greg Costa's house. This is where we will be for the next day and half as well. We set up are equipment and started drilling into songs, hitting some oldies as well as newbies until Roger found a handful to set aside as "potentials." Aside from arrangements, a lot of the focus has been on Jeremy and I, with Jeremy's parts really being under the microscope. This process is pretty intense, albeit necessary, and Roger promised the next day to be even more so. The 3 out of 4 songs we have decided on for sure are definitely coming along and sound terrific.

I would like to give a "shout-out" to the Pizza Hut delivery guy who, while admitting to dropping one of our pizzas in the box (scattering slices, pepperoni, and cheese all over the inside of the box), did not fulfill his promise of bringing us a new pizza for his mistake. You sir, are a bastard.

Also, going to McDonald's late at night is equal in sketch-factor to going to WalMart late at night. Don't ever do it unless you're desperate for food or looking for a sketchy time and/or sketchy people.

Time to go back to Daren's and slaughter zombies until I fall asleep.

Check out "Hot Love" on our Facebook!

2009-04-18T07:15:00.003-04:00

We've posted the 3rd song from our Rivergate recording sessions, "Hot Love", exclusive to the Campaign 1984 Facebook!

Check it out here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Campaign-1984/56029357380
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Campaign-1984/56029357380
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Campaign-1984/56029357380
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Campaign-1984/56029357380
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Campaign-1984/56029357380
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Campaign-1984/56029357380
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Campaign-1984/56029357380

Our Steps Ahead

2009-04-11T10:36:00.004-04:00

April 20th thru May 8th we will recording a four song demo with producer Roger Alan Nichols, who is known for his work on Paramore's debut album "All We Know is Falling" (Fueled By Ramen).

We have 10-11 songs picked out to bring to the table with Roger. The first three days we'll spend rehearsing before delving into tracking.

We couldn't be more excited! Of course, I'll keep the blog updated (w/ pictures) with our daily progress.

After Show Discourse

2009-03-29T20:55:00.006-04:00

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who came out Friday night. This was our third and most exciting night at Ruby's. Probably the best turn out we've had, thanks in part to so many of our friends and families for coming to support us.

Our first set started off with our favorite set starters, "The Reaper" (Southern Gentlemen) into "Nascar Jihad" (Jazz For Burning) in "Momma's Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Junkies" (Blood For Nashville). We consistently like to start our shows off with these three, as each song shows a different side of our music. "Reaper" is epic and, like the majority of our later songs, laden with riffs; "Nascar" is a slowed-down rock version of our older, more punk material; and "Momma's" is the healthy mix of punk speed and aggression mixed with heavy rock riffs and guitar solos.

The rest of the next two sets were a mix of our favorites off Southern Gentlemen, all three Rivergate Studios demos, and most of our brand new, unrecorded material. "The Devil's Number," "Gold Rush," "Black Water," and "Got it Bad" are all brand new songs we've never played live before. We played these songs in the first set, as placing them in there better served to introduce the two sets. I think the hit of the first set, and the brand new songs, was definitely "Gold Rush."

The second set was by far our most energetic and received the best response. It had most of our fan favorites, such as "White Trash," "Queen of the Damned," "Bender," "Stonewall," and "One Night Stand." All in all, both sets were as equally fun and ass-kicking as they were energy-filled and exhausting. I definitely feel out of shape after the last two shows we've played. Last year we toured for two weeks, playing shows almost every night, and it barely phased us. But this show definitely kicked my ass. Luckily, I think it kicked everyone else's too.

Thank you again to all of our friends and family that came out. It was so busy in there that both parking lots in front of and beside Ruby's were full. Thanks are also due to everyone at Ruby's who fed us and served us, before and during the show. Every time we play there we have the time of our lives. Ruby's is definitely our FAVORITE place to play in Asheville; we are always treated like royalty there. If you're ever in East Asheville or by the mall, please go there if you want some of the best tasting BBQ you'll ever have in WNC.

As far as how things are going "back stage"...we'll keep you posted as the exciting news develops. We definitely don't want to speak to soon about anything, but things are definitely not dormant for us. Again, we'll keep everyone posted. In the mean time, check out Matt's newest tattoo (by Horton @ Reverend Horton Ink on 144 Biltmore Ave):

All we know is falling

2009-03-16T20:37:00.003-04:00

We are anticipating this March 27th show to be a huge blast. If you haven't already, tell all your friends and make your way to Ruby's (8 Beverly Rd) in Haw Creek. You can get there from New Haw Creek Rd (right onto Beverly) and Tunnel Rd (heading towards the VA Hospital, left onto Beverly).

Doors @ 9, show @ 10. We'll play two long sets or three reg sets, til we're too tired or too drunk or it's too late. No charge, and it's 21+.

Be a pal and come party with us!

New photo shoot

2009-03-09T17:13:00.005-04:00

While in Nashville, Daren shot some photos for us...

2009-03-07T14:06:00.002-05:00

March 27th

2009-03-06T21:25:00.001-05:00

Booked another all nighter at Ruby's BBQ Shack for March 27th (Fri). Doors @ 9, show @ 10. Flier soon!

Lyrics to "Blackwater"

2009-03-06T09:23:00.002-05:00

Blackwater
I was raised better than this
But I got mixed up with the Dark Prince
I met him at a honky tonk in Nashville, TN
He said, "If you wanna make it boy,
"You gotta sell your soul real cheap.

"Follow me now to the unknown,
"The lake of fire is my home.
"Dark and lonely, dead and cold,
"The lake of fire is my home...
"Blackwater.

"I got all the money you could want
"And all the women you could flaunt
"But you'll never be content, you'll never find true love
"You'll never get that golden fiddle, boy
"You ain't good enough

"Follow me now to the unknown,
"The lake of fire is my home.
"Dark and lonely, dead and cold,
"The lake of fire is my home...
"Blackwater."

Life's a gamble that you lose
And I'm too far gone to sing the blues
I bet it all on a pair of queens, those whores ain't shit
The devil dealt a triple six,
Right from the bottom of the deck

"Follow me now to the unknown,
"The lake of fire is my home.
"Dark and lonely, dead and cold,
"The lake of fire is my home...
"Blackwater."

Lyrics to New Songs: "Born to Rock" & "Tomahawk"

2009-03-05T22:14:00.004-05:00

Matt and I decided to collaborate and put down the lyrics to some of our new song, so tonight we'll post two...

- Born to Rock
This town's a deadbeat mother that abandons her young
This town's a mailorder lover with a mouth full of ones
This town's an unholy roller with a debutants tongue
Fuck the father and the spirit, I'm the prodigal son

It's burnin' deep in my soul and I'm about to explode
Get me back on the road, Mama I was born to rock n' roll

I spent thirteen years just tryin' not to get high
And if it ain't about the sex and drugs, rock n' roll's a lie
They wanna' burn me, turn me, and leave me to die
Well it's a jungle out there baby, you gotta' skin your knees to survive

It's burnin' deep in my soul and I'm about to explode
Get me back on the road, Mama I was born to rock n' roll

- Tomahawk
It's a 9 to 5 televised, synthesized, corporate scheme
We are umbilically connected to the silhouettes they flash on the screen

All our hope is...all our lust is...false.

I heard a born again charlatan screaming that the sky is gonna' fall
If I don't repent, repent, the devil will refinance my soul

All our hope is...all our lust is...false.

Worship false idols on the tele-screen
Worship vampires drenched in sunscreen
Worship werewolves drinking our children's blood
Worship witches making gingerbread guns
Worship me, I am the chosen one
The unholy war has just begun

They won't understand me until I'm dead and gone

We were doing just fine until the communists stole all our homes
Now our children are all drunks and our artifacts are all on loan

All our hope is...all our lust is...false.

"I'm going to make thousands of dollars and die penniless."

2009-03-05T21:52:00.002-05:00

Nashville has been good so far. Going about our business, as well as eating assloads of McDougal's and playing way too much Call of Duty. Justin and Daren unlocked the Nazi Zombie bonus levels, which just makes me want to play Left For Dead.

Also, I decided to make a list of all our post-Southern Gentlemen songs. Of course, titles are mostly tentative, and songs we tend to play live are marked with an asterisk.

Hot Love *
One Night Stand *
Queen of the Damned *
John Wilkes Booze
Dixie Dynamite *
Tomahawk *
Born to Rock *
Got it Bad
The Devil's Number (666)
Zombie Holocaust
There Are Werewolves in These Hills *
Mother Mary
Sling Blade
Blackwater
40 Days, 40 Nights
Nascar Jihad (Redux) *
2012

Starting this year, we'll be saving set lists and I'll be taking pictures of them to put up on the blog after each show. Why? Cause I think that's fuckin' cool.

Blood For Nashville

2009-03-01T11:23:00.002-05:00

We'll be heading to Nashville for the upcoming weekend; Thursday through Sunday, to be exact. Business matters that, should they evolve for us, will be divulged soon enough.

Thanks to everyone that came out to our first show of 2009 last weekend. We had a blast; hell, I'm still a bit sore from my personal antics of the night. Maybe I should be in better shape.

FEBRUARY 20TH

2009-02-08T09:48:00.002-05:00

FIRST SHOW OF 2009 -

NEW WEBSITE and MYSPACE REVAMP

2009-01-28T12:36:00.004-05:00

We have been working on our brand new website, as well as revamping the Myspace. It looks terrific, so go check it out!

http://www.thecampaign1984.com/

http://www.myspace.com/thecampaign1984

All web design work was done by Chris Gaudette for Designs By Topher. You can contact him via the prior link or by e-mail: designsbytopher@gmail.com

Campaign logo and Eagle design by Justin Biltonen, our guitarist.

Still writing...

2009-01-08T17:05:00.002-05:00

As of late, we're still writing for our fourth album. No scheduled studio time yet, but that will come in time.

The songs are sounding killer and they are getting better and better than the last. So far we have 12 written, and we're shooting for 15 - 20. At the rate we're going, this will be an easy task.

No plans for live shows at the moment, but it's not unlikely, so keep checking back on the Myspace.

Loser

2008-12-14T22:54:00.002-05:00

This past Friday, we got to hang out with our manager Daren on the 3 Doors Down tour during their stop in Charlotte (he works as part of their management team). We had a blast and made some friends with American Bang, who are opening up the tour with Switchfoot as direct support.

Big plans in the works folks, big plans...of course, I'll post more as we get them moving along!

"One Night Stand" posted!

2008-12-11T22:07:00.004-05:00

One of the three demo songs we recorded with Chris Henderson is now up and streaming on our MySpace music player! Check that shit out and let us know what you think!

Demo tracks

2008-11-18T21:50:00.003-05:00

The 3 song demo we recorded with Chris Henderson is on its way to be mixed and mastered right now. Big plans coming after this is completed, we can't wait to see how this all turns out.

In the meantime, you can wait patiently with us at these two Asheville shows:

11/28 @ Broadway's w/ Thunderlip from Wilmington (10pm, $5, 21+)

12/10 @ The Orange Peel for Hometown Holiday Jam (Doors: 7pm, $10 adv/$12 dos, 16+)

See you there!

September 22nd - September 27th

2008-10-16T18:44:00.005-04:00

We didn't say much about it at the time but the last full week of September we spent holed up at Rivergate Studios in Nashville, TN. We recorded a 3 song demo with 3 Doors Down guitarist Chris Henderson as producer. Chris' band is in Europe so the songs are on hold but we are hoping they will be finished in about a month or so. Otherwise, not much plans for touring right now, but we have a couple shows lined up and a couple plans for the last weekend in November too, so keep your eyes peeled!!!

Asheville shows (both are 21+ and $5):

10/31 @ Broadways w/ The Go Devils

11/14 @ Ruby's BBQ for 3 set evening

This coming Sunday evening @ 9pm, tune your radio dials to 105.9 FM, The Mountain. We will be the special in-studio guest for The Mountain' Local Licks show, with host Bad Ash!

Lastly, our video for the song "Stonewall" is supposed to be on an episode of the remake series of Knight Rider, so keep watching NBC for that!!!!

On account of absence

2008-09-24T21:11:00.006-04:00

Here are a handful of pictures from our arcade/put-put adventure and the SACRIFICIAL BURNING OF THE HIPPO.

The Sacrificial Burning of the Hippo (to the Arcade Gods, no less) was accomplished on an abandoned bridge above the Ohio River. We soaked the fucker in lighter fluid and lit her ass up like a torch, only to toss her into the river below. Some of us in the group learned that this is also how you make napalm (lighter fluid + plastic). Our group watched the flaming napalm hippo float away before scurrying with fear of official retribution.

The finale

2008-09-17T21:49:00.005-04:00

Unfortunately, our show in Johnson City, the last show of tour, was pretty disappointing. On the bright side, the highlights were stopping off at a western store outpost off I-75, bonding, bumming out on $4.99/gal gas prices, and some special friends coming to visit us at The Hideaway.

Thanks to everyone involved who helped us, came out to shows, hung out with us, played with us, bought shit from us, etc. Thanks to Sarah, JJ, Sunni, her roommate, Derek, and Damien for coming out to the JC show.

Thanks to my bros Justin, Jeremy, and Matt for being some of my closest friends.

Leaving Indy

2008-09-13T02:08:00.004-04:00

This morning we had to check out at noon again, and we were an hour away from Cincinnati, so we decided to waste as much time as possible. We spent an hour at Starbucks, then Wal-Mart, drove some, had lunch for a long time...kind of miserable but whatever. We got to Cincy and drove around in the ghetto for a while. However, we did not do this for enjoyment or for the purpose of wasting time; we were simply lost as hell.
Anyway we finally got out of the ghetto and got to Hamilton Ave where the Blue Rock Tavern sits and hit up Shake It, a sick two level record store. Matt picked up a FOUND magazine and we met up with our good buddy "Juicy J" Justin. He took us to Skyline Chili, which has amazing chili dogs and other chili related foods. After hanging with Justin, Drew, and Michael "Booty" Bootet, we got to the venue and loaded in.
We played a sick show and met some kids who had seen the Campaign a few years ago when they played at the Poison Room. They sang the words to all the old songs and tried to get us to play "This Band's Got T-Shirts"....which we definitely do not know how to play. We played, and bounced back to Justin's where the party is currently winding down...I think.

Tomorrow we will leave for Johnson City, play our last show of tour at the Hideaway, and then go home.

Two Nights in Indianapolis

2008-09-12T20:53:00.003-04:00

Wednesday came and kicked us in the ass. Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Jill and trek on to Indianapolis. We grabbed some Taco Bell, did some last minute laundry (needed some clean undies) at Jill's parent's house, rode on a motorcycle around a high class neighborhood, and then got on the road.
For some reason we tried to take back roads and highways instead of driving along the interstate....but whatever, we got there (eventually). We pulled into the sketchy section of Indianapolis that sat with the Melody Inn around 9:30 and loaded up after Kendall Ludwig finished on stage. We played to a great crowd and made some quick friends with members of the Naptones, who played after us.
After failing miserably to score a place to stay, we settled on finding a hotel and drove north. After grabbing two bags full of McDonalds, we attempted to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn. They were full but the guy tried to direct us to a Comfort Suites that would put us up for real cheap...only his directions were fucking TERRIBLE. After a couple illegal u-turns and pulling in and out of several parking lots, a cop pulled me for erratic behavior. But we think he thought we were looking to score drugs because of the pulling in and out of a parking lot he was sitting in. He didn't even check my license; he just let us go after making sure we were cool. Which we are. Around 3am we finally scored a hotel and crashed.

In the morning we checked out at noon and headed for the next show (keep in mind this was Night #2 of our 2 nights in a row in Indianapolis), just to find out where it was and see if anything cool was in the area. We made our way into a cool little bar/hipster area called Broad Ripple, a lot like Little Five Points in Atlanta. There was a lot of schnazzy restaurants, sports bars, a convenience store, tattoo shop, and record store. At the record store, Matt picked up an LP of Allister Crowley recordings, and we grabbed lunch at a shitty burrito joint nearby.
Our stomachs full of shit Mexican food, we headed for Kinko's up the road to make some fliers for the show and pass them out around town. Earlier we had found out that the city was shutting down the main street that passes through the area and they were having a motocross/motorcycle demonstration. Key opportunity for us!
We made some sick hand bills for the show, as well as 8x5.75 fliers to paste around towns that advertised the free download of the full album on our Myspace. Eventually we visited a Rag-O-Rama and the nearby mall to hand out fliers and generally just waste time. After making it back to Broad Ripple, we loaded into the venue, met up with the other bands, and watched some motocross shit around the corner. The show was uneventful, with the key exception of a drunk dude climbing up on stage and trying to interrupt the show. He was pretty blitzed on Mad Dog, so while slightly forgivable, we kicked him off the stage and he got thrown out of the club. So weird, but funny. Before he got the boot, he tried to give us some of his drink, called us fags (Justin replied, "Yeah, so what? We're fags."), and Matt played a guitar solo while resting his guitar on the kids head.
After another failed attempt at finding a place to stay, we drove towards Cincinnati and stopped on the way to crash at a Super 8.

The wild west and the road home

2008-09-09T22:55:00.005-04:00

In Louisville we met up with our friend Nick of Slithering Beast at a new all ages venue/art gallery called Skull Alley. Some of Jeremy's friends from a metal band called Overthrone came out and they took us to a karaoke bar in a rad part of Louisville. We sang songs and watched hos and drunk dudes make fools of themselves. We stayed at Ryan Overthrone's apartment and his girlfriend gave us chocolate from her homeland of the Czech Republic.

In the morning we drove to Evansville, IN. We arrived at our friend Jill's apartment and spent some time with her before heading to our show at Lanhuck's for Punk Rock Night. The next day we watched a shit ton of Metalocalypse and drove around town before heading to St. Louis, MO. We played at Fubar, a rad venue on the outskirts of downtown. We met some cool dudes in Holy Pythons and almost stayed the night to see Motorhead for free the next day but decided to use our day off to relax and play put-put and laser tag. The ride home consisted of us all taking turns making the 3 hour trek back to Evansville because we were all too tired to drive the whole way.

Today we spent our day off relaxing and enjoying the company of our Evansville friends. At lunch we ate at the Olive Garden with Jill, Crystal, and Amanda. Then we all met up with Jory and Sarah at Walther's Golf n Fun. We dabbled on various arcade games and skee-ball before playing a round of put-put. I somehow got stuck with an incredibly small club but I did manage to get a hole in one at hole 16. Jory won the game with a solid 46 (18 holes).
After put-put, Matt and the girls played some arcade games to get tickets in order to win a prize. They won a fat ass hippo from that Madagascar movie. Then, us dudes played laser tag, where Anderson tried to cheat on two different occasions--once by covering his chest plate with his hat, and the other by taking his vest off and hiding it behind his back while shooting people. Fortunately, karma is a bitch and he came in last place. I kicked everyone's ass, followed by Justin, Jeremy, and Jory. Jory would like me to point out that he made the most kills. Big fucking deal.
We followed up laser tag with delicious pizza and soda and discussed the idiocy of kids who essentially use YouTube as a "video blog" site and all the dumb shit they say and the dumb commentary they make on current events and such.
We have since spent the last few hours at Jory and Sarah's playing Rock Band and Wii bowling and boxing. I have also been eating a shit ton of chips and salsa con queso. Life is good.

I think we're heading to Hammerhead's to drink and dance. Til next time.

River City & Music City

2008-09-06T12:45:00.005-04:00

Thursday, we got lost in downtown Atlanta trying to find Little Five Points. I became very frustrated that I couldn't remember how to get there, so eventually we just gave up and made our way to Chattanooga. We arrived at JJ's Bohemia and met up with Leticia Wolf, whose band was playing with us that night. We hung around for a bit and watched the opening act, Prabir and the Substitutes, who were terrific. Leticia played next and after her we went on.

After the show we met Trey, the gay black punk from Atlanta who told me he loved me but followed up with "don't tell anyone." He gave us all lots of hugs and had us sign a poster for him. We stayed with Leticia and her sister that night and were up til 5am watching Walk Hard and socializing with the neighbors.

The Friday morning sun eventually rose and cut short our already restless sleep, so we packed up, ate delicious southern diner burgers at a joint called Tubby's, and took off for Nashville. We headed downtown and hit up a boot store before walking up and down Broadway, checking out some of the honky tonk clubs and grabbing some bar food. After about two hours we met up with our good friend and manager Daren at his apartment.

Our show was at the Music City Bar & Grille, which is right by the Grand Ole Opry. Our friends Jud and Steph came out to see us too, which was a special treat. Beforehand, we hit up an amazing restaurant called the Caney Fork Fish Camp and had incredible catfish and other such southern delicacies. We sat next to a catfish pond that included two giant black catfish (Bubba and Blacky), an albino catfish (Whitey), and various smaller catfish. It was pretty incredible watching our waitress dip the toe of her shoe into the pond and see Bubba viciously attack it.

Exhausted from our lack of sleep and heavy socializing the previous nights, we called it a day and went to bed after our show. Today we head for Louisville.

Headed west

2008-09-04T12:01:00.007-04:00

So far the first five days of tour have been pretty solid. Our hometown show at Stella's was a blast, even though Thunderlip had to drop off due to van problems. We played two new songs for our family and friends, and Crank County ended the night with gritty rock n roll finesse.

We drove to Wilmington with our friend Johnny, drummer for Thunderlip, and his canine pal Gus, who rode like a champion. Our show at Reggie's 42nd Street Tavern (which was fantastic) was preceded by a quick trip to the beach. The water there was so clear and the beach wasn't crowded at all for Labor Day Weekend. Thunderlip killed it that night. Our hometown friend Matt Gannon happened to be there on vacation and came out as well, which was an extra treat. After visiting a house in the shape of a triangle and scoring some killer late night pizza, we crashed at Mike Thunderlip's house.

After grabbing some Dunkin Donuts and a sweet scrambled eggs and potatoe breakfast courtesy of Mike, we forged on to Charleston where we met up with hometown friends Tim, Brandon, and Christie who were vacationing at Tim's mother's house in Mt. Pleasant. We hung out there, grabbed some lunch, and had a blast hanging with our friends. Our friend Hunter also showed up and then we headed to the Tin Roof in West Ashley. We kicked off the night with plenty of rock n roll, followed by Thunderlip and Motormouth Mabel. By the end of the show the stage was covered in foliage. Outside, a piss drunk native of Baltimore talked a bunch of shit to Chuck Thunderlip and Justin, but mostly received laughs of entertainment rather than a return of harsh words. We went back to Tim's mom's house, ate homemade peach ice cream courtesy of Mama McGill, and passed out.

The next day we had breakfast and drove to Folly Beach for some sweet ocean time. However, the ocean did not want us, as the waves were harsh and heavy and the current was strong like an ox. We left after fucking around for 20 minutes and then packed up, said our goodbyes, and left for Fayetteville. We arrived at the Rock Shop, played to about 10 people (which dwindled down to 2), and simply packed up and left again.

We had to switch out vans as our torque converter was giving us problems, so after dropping me off in Greenville with my girlfriend, the rest of the guys went back home to pick up the Sanctity van and visit their ladies. After a relaxing day with my sweet lady Sarah, we met up with the guys at Ground Zero in Spartanburg. The show was a lot of fun and went much better than I expected. Sarah's friend Adam came out and we all had a good time. After the show we crashed at Sarah's pad.

During Sarah's lunch, we all went downtown and grabbed some coffee and pizza before saying bye to our lovely hostess. On our way to Atlanta we spent 45 minues at a gas station thanks to some senile old fuckers and then another 15 at Guitar Center where we met up with the bassist from Of Good and Evil, one of the locals we played with the night before in Spartanburg. We arrived at Stan and Rachel's house around 5pm and grabbed dinner at Harmony, a vegetarian Chinese restaurant that was fucking incredible. Our show at the Drunken Unicorn was pretty lame, though we had some friends come out and that more than made up for it. After the show we headed home and watched the first episode of Sons of Anarchy, which is edge-of-your-seat thrilling. I highly suggest you start watching this show.

Today, we hit up Little Five Points, then head for Chattanooga.

Thanks so far to Johnny and Mike & Thunderlip, Gus the dog, Tim McGill and his sweet mama for putting us up in Charleston, Brandon, Christie, Hunter, Matt Gannon, Zeff & Sanctity for letting us use the van, my beautiful Sarah Tillinghast, Adam, Mick & Bill of GroundZero, Rachel and Stan Forsack, Kevin the mortician, Ronnie Lang, Laure, and the Carry-Ons.

TOUR STARTS NEXT WEEKEND!

2008-08-24T12:50:00.002-04:00

August 29th, Friday
@ STELLA BLUE
31 Patton Ave, downtown Asheville
THE CAMPAIGN 1984 (fine young southern gentlemen)
CRANK COUNTY DAREDEVILS (dirty, wicked rock n roll)
THUNDERLIP! (Wilmington rock n roll/punk metal)
9pm, 21+, $7

THEN, tour...

8/30 - Wilmington, NC @ 42 Street Tavern w/ Thunderlip
8/31 - Charleston, SC @ Tin Roof w/ Thunderlip
9/1 - Fayetteville, NC @ The Rock Shop
9/2 - Spartanburg, SC @ Ground Zero
9/3 - Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn w/ The Carry-On's
9/4 - Chattanooga, TN @ JJ's Bohemia w/ Leticia Wolf
9/5 - Nashville, TN @ Music City Bar & Grille
9/6 - Louisville, KY @ Skull Alley w/ Slithering Beast
9/7 - Evansville, IN @ Lanhucks (PUNK ROCK NIGHT)
9/8 - St. Louis, MO @ FUBAR
9/9 - Springfield, IL @ Club Chrome
9/10 - Indianapolis, IN @ Melody Inn
9/11 - Indianapolis, IN @ Spin Night Club
9/12 - Cincinnati, OH @ Blue Rock Tavern
9/13 - Johnson City, TN @ The Hideaway

Download "Southern Gentlemen" for free!

2008-05-26T17:36:00.002-04:00

We are excited to announce that we have decided to digitally release our new full-length album Southern Gentlemen in high-quality MP3s. The best part of it all is that it is FREE!!!

You can download the full album by clicking here in ZIP format (you'll need WinZIP to open it up).

We encourage you to pass this link along to your friends as well. We are very excited about all of the songs on this album, as it is our most matured and hard-hitting material to date.

80% of the songs we play live are from Southern Gentlemen, plus a few newer songs and a couple oldies thrown into the set.

We hope you enjoy these songs as much as we enjoy playing them!
Don't forget, we've also updated our Myspace! So check out it!

-The Campaign 1984

June 19th, 2005

2008-05-18T12:08:00.003-04:00

Barbecore Fest 2005 started early, and we were somewhere towards the early middle of the line-up. We arrived at the HYAMP and set up merch and just hung out. I befriended the band sitting next to me, who happened to be Luke from Traditiona Clothing, who sponsored our friends in Secret Lives of the Freemasons. Luke and I shot the shit and played Scrabble with a girl in between our bands' sets. His band covered the Project X song, "Straight Edge Revenge." I made friends with a girl who sang for some hardcore band I don't remember the name of.
Unfortunately, due to bad routing, our next show was in Ravenswood, WV....in three days. So instead of pretending like it was a good idea to stay in West Virginia for a couple days with nothing to do, we gathered as much money from the promoter as we could (he couldn't meet our guarantee because the headliners, American Minor, were like $2000 and he hadn't pulled in as much as he had hoped), we drove back home to Asheville.
I don't know what the hell we were thinking, and luckily most of us had brought a lot of money with us (I had brought $1000, and spent nearly $800 of it), because that was quite possibly one of the most wasteful moves ever. But hey, it was our first tour ever, we had booked it ourselves, and had no one around to tell us how to do things, so fuck it. Once again, we were to spend a couple days back in Asheville.

June 18th, 2005

2008-05-18T11:59:00.003-04:00

In the afternoon, we made the hour drive to Spartanburg, SC for Joey's AIRBORNE FEST, the first of three fests in a row we would be playing. The band played, I hung out with Derek Smith, and my dad and brother got to see the Campaign. We decided to make the drive to Huntington, WV that night instead of the next day so we left shortly after our set and after Joey paid us. Luckily, we missed out on bogus girl-on-girl fight drama. We stayed the night in the van somewhere in West Virginia.

June 16th, 2005

2008-05-18T11:53:00.003-04:00

After waking up, we packed our things and said our goodbyes. Daren made a lasting friendship with Sam, and we had all had fun with MJ and his frightening driving. Since the next show wasn't until the 18th in Spartanburg, we drove home. The next couple days we spent time with our girlfriends and families. Our first tour, while not quite yet over, had been very thrilling and exhausting. It was nice to sleep in our own beds.

June 15th, 2005

2008-05-17T13:00:00.003-04:00

We woke up early in the morning so that we could spend as much time as possible in Manhattan, which was a hop-and-a-skip over the Hudson. The bus ride over was cool, and when we finally stepped foot into Manhattan, the feeling was overwhelming. Hundreds of thousands of people, all over the sidewalks and the streets. We spent hours and hours there. We shopped in a 3-story Toys R Us and Justin and I bought gifts for our respective girlfriends. We ate authentic New York hot dogs and pizza, bought t-shirts from tourist shops, and walked just walked and walked. We were interviewed by Lori Harfenist from The Resident, a local TV and Internet media show, asking if marriage was a dead concept. We spent time in Times Square and later saw the Empire State building. You know, typical touristy shit.

Eventually we made it back to MJ's to meet up with his girlfriend Kim and her friend Sam. Since the club that night was a 21+ joint and Sam was only 20, we decided to make her a "band girlfriend" to see if we could get her in anyway. After a long, arduous drive into the city, we loaded in and simply had Sam sneak in with some equipment in her hands. Daren's longtime friend Angel met us there as well. The event was called "Death Disco," hosted by BP Fallon.
After the show we dropped Angel off at her apartment and drove the van and trailer back to Hoboken, we carpooled into Chinatown to grab some late night dinner. We saw a cat in the window of one of the closed restaurants and felt much pity (however, four months later, we would return to the same Chinese restaurant and the cat was still there).
After dinner we walked around New York City some more, finding an open McDonalds, and not much else. While parking, half of us ran into Bam Margera and his entourage, who were plastered. Bam was walking around with some girl in what appeared to be a headlock and he drunkenly drug her around the street. One of his buddies bummed a cigarette off Daren, who yelled "Bam, get you a cigarette!"
Later on we made it down to Ground Zero, where the WTC Towers used to stand. It was wild seeing all the construction and the rubble and mess in person. On the fence and gates blocking the construction site, people had written the names of their loved ones with birth dates, as well as patriotic phrases like "We will never forget" and "NYC still #1" and so on. It was certainly a sight to behold, and was a little overwhelming. All of us talked about where we were and what we were doing when we heard about the towers falling on 9/11. I was in 10th grade and sitting in Spanish class when we the school was called out of class and into the auditorium, where the principal broke the news about the towers to everyone. For some reason, I thought they were going to announce that Bush had been assassinated. It's not like I had ever really cared much about politics or government or anything like that before, but for some reason, I became very depressed and my stomach felt so weak. A lot of us skipped some classes to watch the news and see what was unfolding. Maybe I just felt really unsafe, realizing that my big, strong America, the country my parents had taught me was the greatest country in the world, was very weak and very exposed right now. Terrifying for a 15 year old to begin realizing, I guess, especially when they were talking about possible attacks on other major cities, like Atlanta, my old home.
We passed the ferry to Staten Island and took a lot of pictures, made a lot of small talk. We got back to MJ's around 5am or something, I don't remember exactly. All in all, the day had been as equally exciting as it was overwhelming.

June 14th, 2005

2008-05-17T12:47:00.003-04:00

We finally made it back to MJ's around 4am and attempted to fall asleep in the hot and muggy apartment. In the morning, we took the subway to some hipster part of town that had a lot of cool record shops, comic shops, clothing stores, and so on. We spent much of the day there and made it to the subway just in time to take it back towards Berkley. On the ride back, a creepy dude next to me tried to hit on a cute Harvard girl. No one else on the train spoke but them, as he pressed her with question after question and she politely tried to end the conversation. On the walk back from the station to the apartment, we stopped by a pizza joint and had great food.

We packed up at MJ's and headed west to Cambridge where the next show was. Here we met up with Shanghai Valentine, who had set up this show at the Cambridge Elks Lodge and the next night in New York City. We played with them, Hearts Over Rome (also playing in NYC), Capital Radio, Guns Up!, and Righteous Jams. All in all a weird show, but it wasn't too bad. My friend Joey and his girlfriend at the time, Amanda, had asked me to buy them RJ shirts, so I had to walk like 5 blocks to find a Bank of America ATM. I finally found one, and it had a security feature where you have to slide your ATM/credit card through a lock to open the door. I found out this was so that bums wouldn't go inside the front lobby where the ATMs were and set up camp to sleep or hide from weather or to jump people for their cash.

Everyone (including MJ) took off before Guns Up! and Righteous Jams and left for Hoboken, NJ, where MJ's mom lives and where we would be staying the next couple nights. Anderson and I stayed, watched the two bands play great sets, and left in MJ's car and headed south for Hoboken.
Most everyone, besides myself, decided to head into the city for a couple hours. Apparently Hixon pissed in the Bronx. I think that was the most excitement they had in NYC until the next day.

June 13th, 2005

2008-05-17T12:34:00.003-04:00

The majority of the 13th was spent driving to Boston, which was longer than it should have been because we hit heavy traffic in New York and coming into Boston, thanks to a game letting out of Fenway Stadium as we got there (not to mention all the damn stops we made in Jersey, New York, and Connecticut). Daren drove us through and I sat shotgun. When we finally came up to Boston on the Interstate, I was floored with excitement. If you've never had the opportunity to drive around Boston at night, I suggest you do it. The lights on the bridge were my favorite to take pictures of.

When we finally made it to Daren's ex-roommate MJ's apartments (across from Berkley), it was around 10pm. We hung around for a bit before deciding to hit the town on foot. We spent a total of 4 hours walking around the city of Boston. We saw huge historical monuments and awesome statues, the Church of Scientology of Boston building, walked through Boston Common, hung out at the Harbor, and saw so much other stuff that I don't remember what it was but I have so many pictures of it all.

In Boston Common, we were greeted by a friendly but very intimidating coke dealer, passed many many bums sleeping in the grass, and met the One-Arm-Pushup guy. He did in fact do one-arm-pushups, but before we could reward him for his efforts, Boston Police pulled up and we walked on. I looked back to see if they were going to do anything to him, and I remember seeing them stand on the sidewalk, watching him to one-arm-pushups.

June 12th, 2005

2008-05-17T12:15:00.002-04:00

It took me forever to find free Wi-fi in Jen K's apartment building. I had to sit at the bottom of the staircase, huddled in the corner next to a glass wall that kept me from entering a courtyard. I got an e-mail from my girlfriend at the time, Michele, with several scandalous pictures inside. So, a good way to start the morning. I promptly hid all of them on my laptop and we began to pack up again. We thanked Jen K profusely, gave her merch, and left for Philadelphia.

We arrived on South Street around 7pm. Traffic was heavy, but the foot traffic was even heavier. Apparently South Street is the happening spot in downtown Philly. Before unloading into the club, Hixon, Dakota, Justin, and I had to sign off on these liability papers that said we would not drink because we were underage and if we did, the bar would not be held liable. The bartender told Anderson he was a baby because he was only 21. I think she was just over 25. Anderson was offended, but kept it to himself until we went outside to load the equipment. One of the patrons at the bar asked why Anderson and I had chains on our wallets, like she had never seen anyone with a chain wallet before. Really??

The best part of the show was that the club offered free pizza (I might add that Philly pizza is fucking incredible) and free beer and soda. Before we played we walked around South Street for a bit, visited a record store here and a couple other places, then went back inside. Daren and I had both been expecting friends of ours to come visit (they had also offered us a place to crash), but only Jeremy from a band called Giving Chase arrived, after we played. He is also the owner of JumpStart Records, we later found out. After the show, which was lame (bar show = no crowd and lame bands), Jeremy offered to let us stay at his place, which was also the building he operated his record label and screen printing business.

The best part of the night was hanging with Jeremy late into the night. We all talked music, took a tour of the shop, and skateboarded/shot hoops in the back garage. I injured my foot while dropping in on the half-pipe in sandals (friction burn from the ramp--total bummer) and there is video of it somewhere on the internet.

June 11th, 2005

2008-05-17T10:32:00.000-04:00

Being the first to awaken, I changed into my swimming trunks (I had been super stoked about finding a pool since we left home) and took a dip in the hotels swimming pool. After a relaxing swim, we packed up, loaded up the van, and then decided to spend some time at the outlet mall that was placed, conveniently enough, directly behind our hotel. Thus we spent an hour or two picking through typical mall stores, as well as some cool tourist shops where I bought a rad shirt (wish I had bought the size I wear now...I really liked that shirt). We were, after all, in Gettysburg.
We left the mall and made our way to the Gettysburg battlefield where we drove around, walked around, took pictures, took in history, and had one of the best times of my life. The next chance I get, I'm spending another day at the battlefield in Gettysburg. I don't even know how we found it, I just know it was the shit. I bought a rad World War I US Tank Corps poster...though to this day I still have no idea what WWI has to do with Gettysburg. America is America and war is war; relation enough I suppose.
Sadly, our next show beckoned, so we left the battlefield and drove for several minutes before reaching the next venue, The Band Room, which was an old auto garage set up with a PA. The turn out was decent when we arrived, so we hung out with dudes and girls and got to know people. We befriended one of the bands playing with us that night, What The Flood Gave Up (and What it Took), the singer (James) of whom used to go to high school with Ian Foust, my former asc. manager of PacSun at the time. We hung out with the drummer's girlfriend, Kristin, and her friend Meredith (who was in fact a whore), and The Murderous Mr. Griffin, the band who booked the show and had the greatest t-shirt of all time (which I think Daren still has).
In this city, we initiated the Sexy Snack Pack Photo shoot (and justly ended after only two pictures), met a colorblind piercer with one of the coolest rib pieces I've ever seen (he loved the Campaign so much he offered to pierce us all for free), and hung out with cool girls like Brittney, Danielle, Meredith, Kristin, and Jen K.
The crowd LOVED the Campaign and went nuts for them, more than any other band that played that night. After the show, we drove to Hanover and ate at a diner with Kristin and Jen K, then made our way to What the Flood's practice space (singing Kelly Clarkson at the top of our lungs) and hung out with them into the wee hours of the night. Eventually we left everyone else behind and made our way to Jen K's apartment back in Maryland (somewhere outside of Baltimore), where we spent the night.

June 10th, 2005

2008-05-17T10:31:00.000-04:00

In the morning we found evidence of an attempted break-in through the rear window of the van; thankfully, the damage was very minor. We think the attempted thief probably heard the two dudes shifting around in the van, maybe even snoring.
As usual, I woke up first, so I decided to go on a walk and headed down the sidewalk towards Virginia Commonwealth University. I stopped by a gas station on the way, got some morning snacks and coffee, and journeyed across the campus for half an hour. On my way back I met up with Dakota and we trekked to a cyber cafe where we met up with Daren and Justin. After delicious fruit smoothies, we made the long walk back to Robley's and packed our belongings (Robley offered us his couches/floor a second night, but instead of committing one way or the other, we left it up in the air, though we did not plan on staying again) before heading back up into Ashland for Round 2 at Coffee Talk Cafe.
This time we played with Hazel Lies and This Time it's War. Hazel Lies were essentially a bunch of young dudes who tried to play sloppy, Norma Jean-style metalcore. Again, nicest dudes ever. But they even covered a Norma Jean song. So yeah. This Time it's War were like a tech-metalcore band, and they were cool, but they ended their set with a breakdown and a chant, "This time it's fucking war!" a la Bury Your Dead ("Bury your fucking dead!"). We said our goodbyes and began our trip up I-95 through Virginia, DC (drove around the White House, and other such government buildings), Maryland (bought a Maxim mag at a gas station, I wasn't really feeling Michele otherwise I never would have done that), then into Gettysburg, PA.
We decided to find a hotel, so we stopped by a Country Inn & Suites (the nice ones) and tried our luck. Daren and I had to lie about the number of people staying in the room (only by two), but we got the last room available and at a discount, too. We snuck everyone else in through the side door and got some shut eye.

June 9th, 2005

2008-05-17T10:30:00.001-04:00

We eat breakfast with Laura and then leave for Ashland, VA, which is about 15 minutes north of Richmond, if I remember correctly. We would be playing there two nights in a row. Once we arrived at the venue (Coffee Talk Cafe), we met up with the band who booked the shows for us, Hazel Lies. Very nice dudes, albeit young and, in the case of the drummer, Robley, downright creepy (in a Dungeons & Dragons sort of way). Then again, we were pretty young too I guess, minus Daren. I meant more, well, mentally. Anyway, we play the show with a band called Cassius, and a couple other mediocre metalcore bands. This is probably when we began to learn that playing with metalcore or hardcore bands was not going to be our forte.
After the show, we drove into the city of Richmond, where we ate at a wonderful place called Panda Veg (I was vegetarian at the time so that ruled extra for me), listened to the singer of Hazel Lies tell stories about "the Richmond curse," the allegedly creepy/psycho bassist for Cast Aside, and tales of jock hardcore kids coming to shows and razing hell. After dinner we parked the van and trailer and stayed at Robley's house/dungeon. He showed us the basement, which reminded me of a Satanic sacrificial chamber (he carried around a sword the whole time), so Justin and I quickly fled upstairs.
I guess Daren forgot to bring a sheet or a blanket, or he simply couldn't sleep without one, so Robley took him and Hixon to Wal-Mart where he bought a 400 thread-count Egyptian cotton sheet. Was it really worth $50? Only time would tell...
I remember the summer being unkind in the non-air conditioned home, but somehow we fell asleep amongst the clutter of Robley's family and our own sweating bodies. I forget who, I think Daren and Dakota, but two of us slept in the van. (continued)

June 8th, 2005

2008-05-17T10:27:00.001-04:00

TC1984 line-up: Anderson, Hixon, Justin, Daren, and Dakota. I acted as merch guy/tour manager.

We left Asheville in the late afternoon for Greensboro. Obviously, excitement has set in. We took pictures of mundane things like a Vietnamese Baptist church ("BAP TIT VIET NAM", plus a few accents and dots over letters), and a Baptist church bus in Conover, NC. I don't know why these things were amusing at the time, but they entertained us nonetheless. Perhaps our excitement for this adventure taking place was allowing us to take humor in the smallest of things.
We arrived in Greensboro early, so we stopped by an outlet mall a little under a mile from the first show. I remember buying a gift for my girlfriend at the time, Michele Santucci. After a bout of shopping, we headed to the house where our first show was taking place, with locals Chet Stedman and Knives Exchanging Hands. The house was right across from a parking lot that led to UNC-Greensboro. There were a number of kids there and we were so stoked to play for new people. Anderson smoked weed with the guys in Knives, and we've had a friendship with them ever since.
After the show, we headed south on I-85 to Charlotte, to stay in Laura "Tiny" Allen's apartment, where we hung out with my friends "Punk Rock" Jesse, Andy Maurer, and Matt Helton. One of my favorite pictures from this night was Anderson wearing nothing but boxers and a soap-on-a-rope. Also, seeing Hixon and Dakota cuddled on the floor was simply precious.

Genesis

2008-05-17T10:16:00.003-04:00

Recently I was inspired to begin documenting all the tours I had been on with the Campaign. Unfortunately, to date I've only been on three (out of many), but over the horizon there will be many more to come. We will not be resting any time soon!

So what I will start off with is the very first Campaign 1984 tour, which began June 8th, 2005 in Greensboro, NC and ended June 24th in St. Albans, WV.

The other two tours covered will be the 4 day October trip to NYC to meet our (at-the-time) record label owner, Ian Atchison, and my first tour with the band was an actual member of the band, which began March 14th, 2008 in Asheville, NC and ended March 29th in Louisville, KY.

Hopefully, as future tours commence, I'll be able to post about them as they happen!
-Jords