Spring Tour Announced with The Honorary Title, Between The Trees and Far-less!
	Several more dates will be posted by Monday but this is what is we have confirmed so far: 3/16/08 The Filmore-TLA Philadelphia, PA 3/19/08 Irving Plaza NYC, NY 3/20/08 The Chameleon Club Lancaster, PA 3/21/08 Middle East Boston, MA 3/22/08 Club Infinite Williamsville, NY 3/24/08 Slippery Rock University Slipperyrock, PA 3/25/08 Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, OH 3/26/08 Magic Stick Detroit, MI 3/27/08 The Metro Chicago, IL 3/28/08 Majestic Theatre Madison, WI 3/31/08 Neuman Auditorium Waverly, IA 4/2/08 The Bottleneck Lawrence, KS 4/3/08 Marquis Theatre Denver, CO 4/4/08 Avalon SLC, UT 4/5/08 El Corazon Seattle, WA 4/6/08 Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, OR 4/8/08 Slim's San Francisco, CA 4/11/08 Glasshouse Pomona, CA 4/12/08 Marquee Theatre Phoenix, AZ 4/16/08 Meridian Small Houston, TX 4/17/08 House of Blues & The Parish New Orleans, LA Check back Monday for an update!

We had a really productive day today. It was spring cleaning in full effect! Dave and I were cleaning out our storage space, organizing merchandise, loading gear out of the trailer and setting up for rehearsal and while Zach and Benji were sorting and getting rid of all the recyclables accumulated from the Motion City Soundtrack tour. It was a packed day and I am please by the amount of work we got done.
Benji and I designed a tour poster for the 2008 spring tour tonight and I love it. Hopefully you will too.
This house is buzzing with energy as we prepare for the year to come.
Tonight I took my lady to see Band of Horses at the Norva. In addition to the excitement of the music, we were treated to an unexpected adventure right after the show. My mom was having dinner near by and decided to stop by the Norva to say hi to us. She was waiting right outside as people were beginning to trickle out and head to their cars. Apparently, right before we arrived to greet her, a very large drunk man attempted to climb in the car with her and my younger sister Alison. Quite a scary moment! He was pounding on the window and pulling the locked door handle repeatedly trying to get inside. The staff at the Norva noticed that things were not right and immediately came to the rescue and my sister stepped on the gas to get away from the creepy dude.
As I came running out to see if they were ok, the main security guard obviously exasperated with the beast smiled at me and said, "At least we never have jerks like this at Mae shows."
So, in summary, thank you for being the kind of people that don't climb into cars and scare mothers and daughters to death with your alcoholic shenanigans. You have a reputation for greatness and we love you all.

Creative Destruction:

"The opening up of new markets and the organizational development from the craft shop and factory to such concerns as U.S. Steel illustrate the process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one ... [The process] must be seen in its role in the perennial gale of creative destruction; it cannot be understood on the hypothesis that there is a perennial lull." (Quote from "The Process of Creative Destruction" by Joseph A. Schumpeter, 1942)

Terra Firma takes Knife to EMI

Dan Sabbagh | January 16, 2008

EMI'S new owner, Terra Firma, has confirmed that it will cut between 1,500 and 2,000 jobs and strip out many of the functions previously given to the company's record labels, including Parlophone in Britain and Capitol in the United States.

The private equity firm's plans, which will see nearly a third of the music major's workforce lose their jobs, are aimed at eliminating "significant duplications" to save £200 million ($445 million) a year.

One-off costs of achieving the savings were not detailed. These could amount to £40 million, assuming an average severance cost of £20,000 per employee.

Some of its star performers, headed by Robbie Williams, are in open revolt against the new management.

Guy Hands, chief executive at Terra Firma and chairman of EMI, said: "We believe we have devised a new revolutionary structure for the group that will improve every area of the business".

Terra Firma bought EMI for £2.1 billion last year, at a time when the company was losing market share in a weak market. The private equity owner now wants the record labels to focus on finding new acts and handling artists, while marketing, sales and other functions are centralised on a country-by-country basis.

It hopes that the new structure will be more artist-friendly. The company also wants to help develop as yet unspecified "enhanced digital services" and corporate sponsorship arrangements.

Mike Batt, deputy chairman of the BPI and founder of Dramatico, the independent label which discovered pop chanteuse, Katie Melua, said: "There are music people hoping Guy Hands will fail but they are misguided. There's no reason people from outside the industry can't find a fresh model to take us into the digital future.

"But I think he has made a mistake in losing Tony Wadsworth (UK music boss who left last week) because he commands a lot of respect."

Mr Batt said he hoped EMI's famous imprints such as Parlophone, home of the Beatles, did not lose their character as operations are merged.

The Times



(and there you have it... who knows what this will mean for artists like us. needless to say we are a a bit nervous.)

LETTER TO TROOPS

January 9, 2008

Dear all

Over the last few months I and my EMI board colleagues have been
hearing the views of EMI Music's artists, staff and business partners.
In that feedback, many of you have stressed the need for radical
change, the importance of putting the artist at the heart of what we
do, understanding the needs of consumers and the importance of
tackling the digital challenges and opportunities we face.


I would like to update you next Tuesday 15th January on how we will
move forward in 2008 to achieve our goals in EMI Music to become the
world's most innovative and consumer focused music company and the
best home for musical talent.


I will also be taking the opportunity to meet face to face with as
many of you as possible over the coming weeks to discuss this further.
Details of my staff meeting schedule, initially in the UK and US, will
follow from your local head of human resources.


With best wishes

Guy

Our fingers are crossed and we too hope for the best!

The sun rises on a new year. We wipe our bleary eyes of the slumber of winter and take our place at the starting gate. We are still alive. Still capable of gathering the scattered intentions of unsung resolutions. Still capable of turning the tide. We are just realizing the potential of the unnumbered days that remain. Winter will bloom into spring. Spring will rain into Summer. Summer fade into Autumn and Autumn inevitably return us to winter. What will our stories be? What loves? What losses? What victories and what defeats? What will we have learned and what will we have taught to others? What is one experience you want to have this year that will open you up and change you? What will it take to carve a new story into the pages of your life?

This my favorite picture I have ever taken. It was at sunrise on my flight home two days ago. The year begins in winter and the day in darkness but the sun is rising. I feel it coming. I am still alive.

Hello from the Apple store in Hawaii!

"Why?" you might ask.

Because my computer is broken and they are fixing it.

Gosh I love Apple.

I have some fun stories to tell and pictures to show as soon as it gets fixed.

Hopefully that will be soon.

Anyway, this trip has been a lot of fun so far. I came out here to perform at my friend Matty's New Years party at the W Hotel here in Honolulu. I have never done anything quite like this before but it was a lot of fun. Matty had a DJ fly in as well and we were set up next to each other in the main ballroom. oops gotta run!