Summer Tour 2011 (recap)

On Friday July 29th Jeff and I hit the road for our first ever acoustic tour. We were both really excited. But also a bit nervous...due to the the age of Jeff's Neon (which has since been laid to rest) and also because we'd never tried a 2-piece tour and we weren't quite sure how it'd go over.

Before we left, we quickly recorded and duplicated a 7 song EP which we decided to call "Origins". Here's the tracklist:

1. "West Chicago" (brand new studio track 2011)

2. "Working Title"(brand new live studio track 2011)

3. "Lost" (brand new live studio track 2011)

4. "Backroads" (brand new live studio track 2011)

5. "Strange" (brand new live studio track 2011)

6. "For Real" (re-release from EP04)

7. "Lifted" (re-release from EP04)

(click here to download "Origins" for free)

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Here's a run-down of our trip:

**10 shows in 8 days**

1.)Mike'n Molly's Champaign, IL   Friday 7/29:

At Mike 'n' Molly's we played outside in the beer garden, the sound was excellent and there was a solid crowd. It never rained, but a storm front moved in and there was strobing lightning in the distance while we played. This was our fifth show in Champaign and this one was by far the best. Definitely a confidence booster and a great show to kick off the tour.

It was great to see our good friend Christopher Todd Durnil (who has been a big supporter of Jeff and I for years). Our friends Bradley and Gretchen Bergstrand from the Palace Flophouse also came out which was a cool surprise. Later that night we stayed with some new friends named David and Isak... they were very nice and even fed us breakfast in the morning.

2).JAC(Jackson Avenue Coffeehouse) in Charleston, IL Saturday 7/30:

(To the left is our new friend Santana who bought a pair of our Facing Winter socks at the show)

(To the right are the lovely baristas of Jackson Avenue Coffeehouse)

Before the show we stopped off at a park near downtown Charleston and grilled up a feast for ourselves. Once we were good and full, we headed a few minutes down the road to the venue.

We had a great time at this one... Dan and Vicki the owners took very good care of us.  Charleston was a unique town. We met several musicians and artists outside the coffeeshop... including a guy named "Doc" who used to tour the country with his "old-time string band" in the 50's and 60's. JAC was a very artsy venue with a well-built wooden stage. There were murals and paintings all over the place. Very good vibe.

Here is one Dan Reible's paintings (he's the owner of JAC):

Later that night we camped in a nice state park. It was really hot, but luckily there was a pump nearby good for a quick cool-down.

3.Bear's Place in Bloomington, IN  Sunday 7/31:

(back on the road)

This was a pretty slow show... not many people in attendance. But there were two VIP notables... Chris Darby and William Wolfe! We played with a very talented songwriter from the area named Brian Fortner.

(William Wolfe, Jeff, Justin, and Chris Darby)

Chris was the one who helped us book the tour and Will is one of our musician friends from Chicagoland. Check out Chris Darby's music here. It was a very cool surprise to have them at the show... and very fun to hang out with them for the night.

Later that night fellow musician Nathanial Seer was kind enough to let us stay at his house.

4.Lazy Daze in Indianapolis       Monday (noon) 8/1:

(this was artwork created on a fence in downtown Indianapolis. It appeared the artist used long cloth ribbons and wound them between the links of the fence... pretty cool!)

Lazy Daze was a little coffee shop in Indianapolis where we did a noon show. The people in the neighborhood were very friendly and there were several people who stopped in to listen. We randomly ran into a guy who met us during our 2008 tour... he remembered us and our music which was really amazing. The lady who was working was very kind and personally left us a tip (how cool?!). And free coffee... yes!!

5.Birdy's in Indianapolis          Monday (night) 8/1:

(before the show we worked on some new songs by the river which flows through the downtown area)






This was an odd show... the stage was huge and in general the venue was more geared towards straight-up rock and roll as opposed to a duo playing acoustic songs. There are a lot of national indie acts that come through, so it was neat to be able to play on a well-known stage. Even though it was a slow show, I'm glad we got the opportunity to play because we met a really cool band called "Everyday Losers". They were from Southern Indiana and very talented.

6.The House Cafe in Dekalb, IL Tuesday 8/2:

Matthew (owner of the House Cafe) put together a really solid bill for this show. There was a singer/songwriter named Tyler, a band called "the Farmers", and an exceptionally talented singer/songwriter named Charles Cain.


We always love playing the House Cafe, and we can't thank Matthew enough for his continued support all these years!

7.Tip Top in Grand Rapids, MI                     Wednesday 8/3:

(To the left is Michael Riley with Jeff rockin' it after our Facing Winter set)

(To the right is Justin VanHaven with Jeff playin' some tunes later in the night)

Originally we were going to play in Lansing this night, but things didn't pan out so we decided to head to Grand Rapids and play a new venue there called "Tip Top". It was a really fun night and several of our good friends from the area came out.

Whenever we go out to Grand Rapids Nathan Kalish (of The Wildfire), Steve Thrasher, and Julio Gomez always take such good care of us. Thanks so much to all of them for being such great friends and for always making us comfortable.

(Later that night we stayed with Steve Thrasher and Nick Aghababian. Btw... We also started a new glam-rock band with Steve called "Mystic Pony")

8.Mulligan's in GR, MI Thursday 8/4:

(FW + the Plurals always = fun)

On Thursday night we played with our favorite Lansing band "the Plurals". This was by far our best Mulligan's show ever (I think this was our 4th time playing there). We also had our most solid Grand Rapids draw yet. Afterwards we all hung out until the sun came up and had a great time.

(our good friends Steve, Annie, Cassie, and Julio came out to support us. It's always GREAT to see them.)

(3 awesome drummers: Jeff with Hattie ( from the Plurals) and Lena (from the Lightning Bugs)

















(Plurals rocking faces off)













(awesome artwork created and donated to us by Cassie)

9.Racine Arts Council in Racine, WI      Friday (afternoon) 8/5:







(Jeff and I took a romp around the rocks of lake Michigan before the show... the weather was awesome)















(settin' up the PA and merch on the street in front of Racine Arts Council)





The arts festival in Racine was a unique and interesting experience for us. There were people, art, and music everywhere... literally spilling into the streets. We set up on the sidewalk by the storefront of the Racine Arts Council's building. It was the first time we've ever really tried our hand at busking... and it seemed to go over pretty well. We sold a good amount of cds, got some generous tips, and had a lot of fun.

10.Breman Cafe in Milwaukee, WI Friday (night) 8/5:

(this guy was outside the bar on his awesome couch/bicycle... I want one!)

Breman Cafe was a really fun show...In spite of the fact that the bar was tiny and hot with little to no airflow... haha. The crowd at Breman was very receptive and we got a good response. We played with a cool local bass and drum duo called "Behemoth and Leviathian".

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It was a great trip and a very productive one for the band. We couldn't be more thankful to Chris Darby and everyone who helped make the tour a success.

Like I said, this was unfortunately the Neon's final multi-state expedition (8 days, 4 states, and nearly 1,200 miles)... Although it was strong the entire way through our trip (thanks to Mike Storms), a few weeks after we returned the engine cracked and it was sent to the crusher.

Here's one last picture of the Neon at our campsite in Indiana... R.I.P. good buddy:

Thanks for reading and all the support!

~justin




for more on Facing Winter:

facebook.com/facingwinter


facingwinter.com

Thanks Drew and Dina!

Whelp. It's been a pretty crazy Summer as usual... I can't believe it's almost over. It was a great one for the band, but also pretty tough.

I'm sure a lot of you have heard by now... Drew and Dina both moved on to other projects recently and will no longer be playing with Jeff and I full time in Facing Winter. It's always difficult when things change... but we're really happy for them. They're both perusing what they love (which is what we're all meant to do right?).

Drew did a great job as our full-time bassist for well-over a year. We can't thank him enough for all his his hard work, writing, and creativity (and all the friggin' miles racked up on his car). We're definitely going to miss his instantaneous learning ability, his one-takers while recording songs, his writing style, and his consistant professional attitude. We've got a six song EP which will be completed by the end of the year... Drew played and helped write every track... I'm extremely excited for it to be finished.

Recently Drew graduated with a masters degree in project management. He'll continue to play music (of course!) but is looking to start perusing some business projects (which I hear may include an awesome new Chicago music venue and/or large scale Thunder Snow Ale production).

We were really lucky to have Dina as our guitarist and back-up vocalist for nearly a year. The parts she wrote added a whole new dynamic and depth to the music. We'll really miss the creativity and originality she brought to the band. In her time with us she did a great job on a variety of projects with us including but not limited to: saxophone on "Home", backup vocals on "290", and whistling on "October". She also did a great job helping with our mailing list, merch, and promoting shows. In addition, she recorded some cool parts on the upcoming 6 song EP.

Dina recently decided to go back to school to finish her degree and is playing full-time in a new band with Paige Dechausse.

We wish both Drew and Dina all the best in their new projects and look forward to everything that comes next!

~justin

p.s.- several new posts coming soon... I've got lots to write about and catch-up on

48 songs we played 7/23/11

Campfire, October, Scientists, Lifted, Used to Be, Another Day, Oh No, Volcano, Tightrope, Yeah What, Home, Moonshine, Travelin, Bad Idea, Caress Me Down, Pink Sky, Breath Deep, West Cheese, Broke Folksy, Working Title, Lost, Venture Further, Backroads, Strange, Evade, Will It Be the Last Time, Mend, Clam Song, Fake Plastic Trees, Army, You Don't Know How It Feels, Fake Plastic Trees, Idle Threats, Liars, For Real, Pocket of Change, Say No To Cat Piss, 290, April 29th 1992, Colorful, Slowpoke, New Explosion, Land Locked Blues, Killshot, Teleportation, Anarchy, All For Profit, and Inertia.

Longest set I've ever played...

After the first 10 songs it started raining. The electronics in my acoustic guitar shat out again.

Switched to electric.

The rain stopped. We played another 15.

Meanwhile the wind picked up.

Silent lightning flashed violently.

During the next 10 cops came. But they were nice. We moved the music inside.

Jeff sang and played guitar on the next 3. It sounded incredible! His voice is stunning and honest. Better than he will ever know.

On another 9 I felt the absence of my friends and family who are far away. I also thought about mistakes I've made... and situations I wish I could've handled better.

The final song brought me back to peace. The room was filled with undeniably good people... my brother, my best friend, my makeshift family... I'm incredibly lucky and very thankful.

And a short drive later we are back home.

Goodnight!

~justin

Tour starts in 4 days!!

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~