Holiday Pomp and Circumstance

Happy Holidays!!!

Greetings and Happy Holidays from the Sammies! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and got everything you wanted/deserved. I got a bike, Don got an interface so we can record a little better, Conrad got a hunting rifle, and Freedom got a dog. We plan on putting the dog on the bike, shooting at it, and recording what it sounds like; should be pretty wicked.

Since we last spoke we played a show in Charlotte with the Black Lips. It was a good time, and awesome to play with such a good band. I recommend their live album if you want to get down on some Black Lips; it was recorded in Tijuana and really captures their signature sound. They were all real nice dudes and we wish them the best in the coming year. They did an interview with Paste Magazine before the show, so look for that in an upcoming issue. Despite all of the wild stories I heard about the Black Lips, I must say, they were nothing but pros, and are a little wiser than they let on.

In other news; Don Yale finally graduated college! Next time you see him buy him a stiff drink, slap him on the back, and burp congratulations in his face so he can smell your sincerity. He graduated from UNCC with a major in Psychology and a minor in Health Fitness, and probably a better GPA than I got out of there with.

I went to Aruba and had a damn blast. I actually won money in the casinos, playing craps. Don’t play slots unless you just want to lose money and are OK with that. If you’re just trying to get drinks, play the penny or nickel slots, bet one line at a time, lose, and keep the waiter/waitress busy. Tip well in the beginning so they come back, then you can relax the tips as the night wears on. Craps advice; make simple bets to begin with, but make sure you stand beside someone who knows what they are doing, then take a page or two out of their book. Bet until you get a good roller, then once you have had a good run, fucking leave! If you are looking for a good vacation Aruba was very nice, better than Jamaica and the Bahamas I think. We stayed at the Renaissance Marina Hotel and would highly recommend that to anyone looking to stay on the island. The hotel owns its own private island and a boat drives into the hotel to pick up passengers every 15 minutes to take them there. Plus, staying in the city you have easy access to all things, unlike staying down the beach where it’s just you and a hotel.

Conrad went home to West Virginia for Christmas, and yes we have already heard all of the jokes, but feel free to comment with a joke if you have some new ones. Otherwise, he has just been shopping, which is what happens if you put off getting Christmas presents till the last minute.

Freedom of course went home to his house in Raleigh for the holidays, a nice break for him since he has been immersed in work for the past little while. If he wasn’t working on the Sammies light display he has been embedding systems for a company here in Charlotte. Got to make that money while you can, especially since we are taking it easy till we get the CD mixed/mastered/etc, he always was the smart Sammie.

Besides that, we have been pretty boring, just doing the holiday’s thing. We mix the CD in Athens first part of January so that’s where we are on that. Also, just added some January shows, the 19th in Charlotte @ The Visulite with Tereu Tereu, the 25th in Atlanta @ The Earl with The Whigs (CD release) and Wax Fang, and the 30th in Chapel Hill with The Whigs and Bull City, hope to see everyone out at one of those shows as they will be a little less frequent for a while.

As always, we love to hear from you, holler anytime!

Second album!!!

So far, untitled:

Hot damn, I think we are about done with the actual recording part of the second album, finally! I sang my ass off this past weekend and the others added some nice weird noises to put the cherry on top. This is another warning: THIS ALBUM WILL BE DIFFERENT FROM THE FIRST. Although it still has the same, unique Sammies element there are some differences for sure. First of all, along with our friends Ben Holst (see credits on first album) and Billy Bennett (also, see credits from first album), we were solely responsible for the production and sounds on this album. Hence the reason it took more than a week to record this time. We know what we like, but our lack of proper technical training can cause some delays in trying to obtain these sounds. It’s more of a trial by fire, which is great because we did some unconventional things that will differentiate us from the masses, but it does take more time. Imagine spending 4-6 hours building a house (it’s an analogy bear with me), the outside looks great, but the floor is caving in inside, so you tear it all down and start again; a bummer yes, but for the better in the end, because the house is a lot more sturdy. That’s what we have been doing in a nut shell. Hard to explain, that’s why we have pictures and videos I hope to post soon.

More to come shortly! Thanks to all our fans that have patiently waited. It has been two years since our first release, and we do have a video that might better explain what took so long. Posting it soon!

In other news, we have just been added to our best friends, The Whigs, CD release show in Atlanta on Jan. 25th! We are playing at the Earl along with Wax Fang, another great band that will rock your face off. It is a reunion of sort’s b/c we all played at Local 506 in Chapel Hill about half a year ago. Maybe we can finally see that awesome aquarium in Atlanta too!