Two questions: Why? And why not?

Sorry for the extended time between posts! There have been a lot of things I've been wanting to write about here... we've had a lot of great shows... recorded some new songs... and I wanted to post some reviews of concerts I've been to lately (like Them Damn Kids, Jack Avery's Kin, Baron's of Tang, Stuck Underwater, and Davenport Ed). Hopefully I will get to all those things soon... but today will be something different.

Those of you who know me well know that I'm prone to rambling. Especially in written form. And that's what you're in for if you decide to keep reading.

It's sometimes hard to answer "why?". It's usually easier to answer "why not?".

Like:

Why not keep playing music? Why not keep trying to release albums every year? Why not attempt to tour the world?

Well, to put it bluntly: because it's really fuckin hard! And because a lot of the time it feels like there are 15 epic fails for every glorious WIN.

Long story short... FW only needs 1 victory to make up for 15 of it's failures. And that's the key to our greatest strength as a musicians: We can take it! Bring it on. We can stomach failure. We can learn and keep going.

Don't get me wrong.... we're always trying to improve the fail-to-win ratio... it's not like we're intending to fail... it just happens sometimes. Things may never get easier... and that's okay. I don't think anything good in life is easy. And music is good. Therefore not easy.

So why then?

Why keep playing music? Why keep trying to release albums every year? Why attempt to tour the world?

Sometimes I don't know.

I just know we can't stop.

If I had to give you an answer to those questions I would say:

Because we can... and because we want to.

And because you don't necessarily get to choose your passion in life... it sorta chooses you. And once you've been chosen, you've gotta try your best. You've just gotta!

And that's one thing you can always count on us for.

But besides passion and a will to win, there are still two other things we need: Love and support from people like you. Without you, our best wouldn't be very good.

Thank you for fueling our fire... and for making our best even better.

This concludes my rambling.

(for today)

~justin

Spinning Plates

It's been hard for me to keep up with everything that's been going on lately. So much is happening... music videos, day jobs, mini-tours, 7SR projects, PSA jobs, lease arrangements... not to mention, we do sorta have personal lives... (kinda).

The song "Spinning Plates" by Radiohead has been frequently playing in my subconscious as I imagine a caricature of myself frantically running around on a stage attempting to keep 25 plates balanced on their broomsticks.

I don't think it's a unique feeling. Everyone goes through it sometimes.

On the way home from work today my car nearly caught fire. I got a new exhaust system installed last week. Everything seemed to be working out just fine... but then today my flex pipe started sizzling and sending an awful burning-rubber smell through the heating vents. Yum! I had to pull over once, but I made it home without any major consequences. I'm not sure what the problem is... but I'll figure it out.

Must. Reach. 250,000.

Luckily, the van seems to be in much better shape. It's a good thing too because on Thursday we're leaving to play a few shows in Michigan. The first one will be with Julio Gomez and Michael Riley at Mulligan's in Grand Rapids. The next show will be with the Wildfire at Basement 414 in Lansing. And the final show on Saturday will be an extended acoustic set at Liberty Street Brewing Company in Plymouth (which is near Detroit).

I know I keep promising pictures and audio from Dina's camp with Victor Wooten. They're coming soon... she just needs some time to sort through them all.

Nice try Hawks :(

Go Bulls!

~justin

Bottom Lounge tonight (4/8/11)

Tonight's the night! Facing Winter with Nathan Kalish and the Wildfire, Molehill, and Jackson Bailey at the Bottom Lounge!


For tickets follow this link or show up before 9pm for a $2 discount. The show is 17+ and we go on at 9pm sharp.

It's near the corner of Lake and Ashland right downtown. Click here for the address and a map.

This will be our only show in Illinois this month... hope you can make it!

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention... we've got at least 20 brand new t-shirts for sale! We also silk-screened some bandannas (which are pretty awesome!). We'll have them at our merch booth at Bottom Lounge tonight.

Next up we'll be doing a mini-tour of Michigan April 28th until May 1st.

In other news...

Dina has returned from Wooten Woods (a camp run by Victor Wooten). She was supposed to be back last Sunday, but her flight got delayed a few days due to the problems Southwest Airlines was having last week.

She hasn't had time to sort through all of the photos and audio yet... but once she does I'll make sure to post some highlights.

Hope to see you all at the show tonight!

~justin

Noosh You Can Yoosh

Less than two weeks until our Bottom Lounge show!

Leave us a message on our facebook wall or email theband@facingwinter.com to get your presale tickets for $8.

They're cheaper from us than from anywhere else... and there's a limited supply. So hurry!

Chicago Acoustic Underground kindly designed and donated these posters for the show. I liked them so much I decided to hoard them all for myself and hang them on the front door.

Just kidding... I was just brushing up on my photoshop skills.

Later this week I'll be going on another poster hanging expedition.

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This past Friday Dina and I had the pleasure of seeing Hannah Frank perform a set at the Abbey Pub in Chicago. It was another Chicago Acoustic Underground show. All of the performers were excellent!

Here's a picture of two-thirds of the "Hannah Frank Trio" at the Abbey:

Hannah sure can belt out a soulful note! Her style had a southern folksiness to it... which made it very unique. Her guitar work was warm and dynamic... featuring a bluesy mix of lush chords and old-timey rhythms.

Check out the Hannah Frank Trio page to hear some songs and find out about upcoming shows.

Hannah is also a very talented writer. She's the driving force behind "OnAxis Music Journalism". Follow the link to read Hannah's work and to learn more about some of Chicago's best indie bands.

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Later that same night I was outside and happened to hear an exceptional voice chiming from the other side of the bar.

(I didn't even know they did shows there!)

Upon further inspection I discovered the voice was Michele McGuire who was performing with her band. Here's a picture of them I took from outside the bar:


The guitarist was excellent. I got the impression they might be jazz students (or something along those lines).

Here's a cool tune the drummer wrote:

I was really impressed with Michele's vocal range... and how natural her tone seemed no matter what range she was at (high or low). I got a Johnny Cash vibe from this song... I think it's the way the vocal melody starts low, then slowly climbs a ladder up to the end of the phrase. Check out more of Michele's music here. It's worth your time.

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Tomorrow afternoon Drew is going to lay down some bass tracks for two of our brand new songs. We're excited about the progress we're making towards completing the new album.

Come to the Bottom Lounge Friday April 8th!! We go on at 9pm. And you only need to be 17+ to get in. (click on the show poster above and it'll take you to the event page)

As always, stay tuned to FacingWinter.com for all the details on upcoming shows, new music, etc...

Next week's blog will include a report of Dina's adventures with Victor Wooten in Tennessee!

Thanks for reading,
~justin
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Goodbye Winter!

The end of Winter has finally arrived!

We survived the Supermoon and I ate string cheese for breakfast.

It's already been a very productive 2011 for us. Here's a sampling of some of the things you may have missed:

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**FW live at the Eskimo Manor 3/17/11**

Jeff and I had a fantastic time playin' at the Eskimo Manor. We played over 30 songs to a house full of festive West Chicagoans.

There was jigging, green beer, and group singing... all the staples of a good St. Pattie's Day. Here are the hosts of the party, Andres Acosta and Kimber Aita... along with partners in crime Andrew Bruek, Dan Fishman, and Jeff Goluszka:

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****FW live at Muldoon's 3/11/11****

Last weekend all four of us played a 3 hour set at Muldoon's in downtown Wheaton. We debuted three brand new songs and had a great time!

We met a gentleman at the show who reviews indie bands. He informed us he would be doing a write-up of the show and that he'd publish it on his website once it was finished. I'll post the link here in the blog once it's finished.

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**FW at Mulligan's in Grand Rapids, MI 3/5/11**

Two weeks ago we were in Grand Rapids hangin' out and playin' a show with the Wildfire. The lovely picture of Drew at the top of this blog post is from that trip.

Here we have a picture of Jeff, Dina, and Drew after the show:

In addition to playing with the Wildfire, we also played with a band from Akron, Ohio called the Hobs. If I had to describe them, I'd say the sound something along the lines of classic rock on steroids. Download their new album for free HERE. They stayed overnight with us at Julio's apartment (drummer from the Wildfire)and were very entertaining to be around. Here's a picture of them rockin' out at Mulligan's:

One of the best parts of the night was seeing the Wildfire perform as a 5-piece. Within the last few months they've added a couple new members: Justin Vanhaven (guitar and keys) and Sky Thrasher (guitar and pedal-steel guitar). Here's a picture of all of 5 of them:

Left to Right- Nate (Wildfire), Jeff (Facing Winter), Matt (Wildfire), and Ian(the Hobs):

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**FW begins work for a new music video 3/19/11**

Yesterday we had a meeting with Chad Headley (director) and Chris Shern (videographer/actor). We planned out the concepts for a video for the song "October". We'll begin shooting May 6th with the hope of having it released by early June.
I won't say too much about the ideas we've got planned yet... but I will say it's probably going to be the trippiest and most bizarre video we've ever done. I can't wait!!
Here are some rough notes from the meeting (along with some goofy pictures of Chris, Chad, Jeff, and I:

(click on the picture to enlarge)

I also wanted to mention that Chris Shern just finished an indie short film called: Norfolk Don't Spit On Seagulls. I watched it yesterday afternoon... you should check it out too! Click here for a link to the film's facebook page and to find out details about it's release. Here's a screen shot of Chris' character:

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On the horizon:

-Bottom Lounge April 8th with Nathan Kalish and the Wildfire
-A Michigan mini-tour including shows in Lansing, Grand Rapids, and Plymouth
-Lots of new songs, shows, and recording

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Well, that's all for now.

Stay tuned to FacingWinter.com for all the latest details

Have a good week!

~justin

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Promotional adventure + Valentiger show = Good day for Justin

Yesterday was Sunday and there was a lot that needed to be done.

The to-do list:

-hang Seven Sided Records fliers on the bulletin boards at coffee shops along Roosevelt Road between Wheaton and Chicago

-pick up our pre-sale tickets from the Bottom Lounge for our show April 8th (hang posters promoting the show while I'm there)

-hang Facing Winter posters and Seven Sided Records fliers in the neighborhood surrounding the Double Door

-head to the Whistler on Milwaukee to catch the Valentiger show

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I got a fun little card reader for my phone... so I figured I'd post a couple low-fi videos from my adventure:

(just to warn you... these are all pretty cheesy... I'm not much of a narrator... haha)

Part 1: About to hit the road

Part 2: Singing in the car

Part 3: Wrappin' it up

Here's a picture of Valentiger rockin it:

Valentiger's set sounded bad-ass. It was especially impressive because Brent was sick (the lead singer). So Eric filled in on lead vocals and did an EXCELLENT job. I tried to take a video of the show, but the audio came out all distorted and awful sounding unfortunately.

If you haven't heard of Valentiger, you should check them out here: http://www.valentigermusic.com/

Here's a hilarious picture I took of Jeff last week... wearing his bathrobe over his clothes while smoking a cigerette in the garage.

Classic Goluszka:

Alright, time for me to go to bed.

~justin

Introduction

Ladies, gentlemen, and children of all ages,

Hello!

This is the official Facing Winter blog.

Here you will find various randomness associated with Facing Winter, it's members, friends, and fans.

For those of you who may not know... Facing Winter is a 4 piece indie rock band from West Chicago, Illinois.

If you are unfamiliar with the band, you should check out some of the music posted at: facingwinter.com There you will also find info about upcoming shows, tours, videos, and other pertinent info.

Here on the other hand... you will mostly just find ramblings, half finished song ideas, hilarious photos, and the occasional low-fi video.

Enjoy!

~FW~