thebandbill.com

Some exciting things have happened in the past month, but first off we wanted to tell you about our upcoming free show this Friday, September 12th at the Whistle Stop Bar(2236 Fern St.) in South Park. We are going on at 9:30pm, and A Scribe Amidst the Lions will be closing out the night. To give you a little insider info, we will be playing at least one new original and new cover that you will have you boppin’ all night long. Last time we were at Whistle Stop there was so much energy it was unreal, let’s do it again.
 
Other big news is that we are nominated for “Best Pop Album” in the San Diego Music Awards. It is always feels good to know that all the hard work is appreciated. If you haven’t already heard the album you can listen to it for free at www.thebandbill.com/store just click on More Details to preview the songs, of course you can also purchase the album there as well.
 
Lastly, if you didn’t already know, we were recently on San Diego Living Morning show, where we performed two songs, FM94.9 DJ Tim Pyles talked about us, and Jon got in trouble for talking to the host while they were filming another segment, always the trouble-maker ;)   Here’s the clip:  www.youtube.com/v/JOOae0PTY84
 
Thanks for all your support and we hope to see you this Friday.

Well, It’s been a little while, so I thought we should update you on what’s happenin’ in bill land.

At the beginning of this month, we were playing in the Del Mar Fair Battle of the Bands, put on by Dinky Music, FM94.9, The Casbah, and Fox 6. By the way, battle of the bands are always the most nerve-racking things ever. You never know what the judges are looking for. Well, the final round was on July 4^th, so with the American Independence riding high in the air, we took the stage and performed Sound Scientist and Breakthrough, and we really stood out among the mostly over-driven rock/alternative/screamo bands that performed. As Jon put it, “we are like the Neil Diamond of the competition,” and who doesn’t love Neil Diamond. After all the bands had played, the judges deliberated for a bit, and came back with a verdict: “And the winner is… bill!”

So after our big win, we now get to appear on and perform on the morning show San Diego Living this Friday July 25 and it which airs from 9-10am on Fox 6. Should be interesting, never been on a TV set before, so definitely looking forward to it.

As well, we will be having some airtime on the Local 94.9 in August. It will be an interview from Tim Pyles. We’ll keep you informed on that.

Also, we will be playing a show at the Casbah in downtown San Diego, so keep your eyes peeled for a message about that.

Anyways, lots of fun things coming up, can’t believe summer is half over, and remember we still play down at PB Bar and Grill. We’ll be there July 23rd and July 30^th, so stop by for $5 burger and beer from 7-9pm.

Thanks everyone who came out last night to The Stage in downtown SD.  Pretty cool venue owned by the lead singer of the Disco Pimps, a 70’s cover band.  Who knew you could make such a killing wearing a wig and playing “play that funky music?”  Our good friend and head of video production Josh Krohn finished up editing a live Good as Gold video but none of us know how to get it off the hard drive its on so we’re going to need a few more days before the big debut.  We do have a few more photos from the show that our friend Molly took.  Have a good weekend.

12:30p - Pack up the van and hit the road.  2 hours to LA and hopefully we can avoid traffic.

1:10p - Just getting out of San Diego and the excitement of the trip is already too much for Mikey to handle.

1:35p - Oh wait, we’re supposed to practice aren’t we. 

2:48p - A quick stop on the side of the freeway is always a good time for a photo. 

4:30p - On the homestretch having just passed through Santa Barbara and only another hour of costal driving until we reach San Luis Obispo.

6:15p - Pull up to the Frog and Peach to learn that the venue was double booked and that we might not be able to play.  We took it pretty hard.

9:00pm - Everything all straightened out and we go on to play for an hour and a half to a rowdy Tuesday night crowd.  San Luis Obispo has a really cool vibe and we definitely recommend a visit if you’ve never been.

1:00am - One last pit stop before Jon tackles the all-night drive home while the rest of us stay wide awake to provide support.

 5:30am - Made it home with 12 hours to spare before our next show.  $200 in gas hurts a little but a great trip overall.

Last nights show at the Belly Up Tavern went well and the cameras were rolling so hopefully you’ll be able to check it out for yourself real soon.  The Belly Up is definitely one of our favorite venues to play because of the killer backstage treatment….and the sound isn’t bad either.  After the show we headed downtown to a hotel bar that overlooks petco park where the Padres play and got there in time for the 13th inning.  Two hours later the bars were all starting to close and the 22nd inning was just about to start.  Fortunately the deadlock was broken in time for last call and any potential rioting was averted.  Next week should be a good one as we’re heading up to San Luis Obispo on Tuesday then right back home for our weekly Wednesday show.

This Thursday we’ll be playing the Belly Up Tavern here in San Diego and hope to see you there.  If you can’t make it because you live in a distant land don’t worry…we’ll be releasing a DVD of the performance once we get it all edited up.

Another Wednesday show last night and since we had a few friends in town to entertain we decided to hit the town afterwards. We wound up at a bar that instead of golden tee and a pool table was offering up goldfish races. For those who haven’t had the pleasure, the basic idea is you pick the fastest looking goldfish out of a tank, pay $5 and race head to head with other hopefuls. When the race starts the fish are placed in the track and with only the ability to blow through a straw each handler wills their fish to the finish line. Each races winning fish advances while the loser must immediately be swallowed…not really…but the last fish swimming is showered in glory and prizes. To a lot of people this probably sounds kind of cruel but their is actually a silver lining to it all.

A few years ago at a different bar we came across a goldfish race…the first we had ever seen and instead of straws you could use water guns. Although our fish was eliminated in the first round we were able to secure his/her freedom along with the winning fish…they would be released into a large pond at Blue Roof Studios. Blue Roof is where we did most of the recording for the latest album End of the Hits and when we remembered to check in on our fish we noticed that their were now hundreds of fish swimming in massive schools…all stemming from those two pioneering racers. Kinda crazy huh?

Every Wednesday we play a regular gig at the PB Bar & Grill here in San Diego. Playing the same venue every week has the potential to get a little repetitive but even when we play the same songs the nights are always unique. Last night we served as the opening act for the finals of the Miss Hawaiian Tropic Bikini contest as 10 of So Cals fiercest competitors went head to head for the crown. Although we didn’t get to serve as judges we did stick around long enough to snap a picture or two. The festive gentlemen pictured below was not a contestant last night but is actually our sound guy Wiley Miranda who also served as recording engineer for End of the Hits.

The first shipment of albums is on its way and should be arriving at your door in the next couple days…that is unless you haven’t ordered one yet and in that case you should click over to the store. We’re all really excited to see all the places where people will be listening to the new album and it always makes us wonder how people who live so far away came across our music? We hope you all enjoy and look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to extend our gratitude to all of you who either came to our show on Friday night or picked up a copy of the new record. We had a great time playing for you and the energy from everyone was incredible. That was our first “real” show in a long time and it was well worth the wait. We learned a valuable lesson from this experience. Don’t schedule your CD release show until you actually have your CD. Up until an hour before the show we weren’t even sure if they would be ready in time, at which point we were going to try to pawn off our first record as the new one and hope no one noticed. It all worked out though after a lot of extra stress and hustle from everyone involved. I just want to take a minute to thank a few key people who did a lot to make this happen. Daniel Garland (website), Jenna Kageyama (video and photography), Curtis from KLS Design medias (CD replication), and Riyadh Drebika (the destroyer) who is constantly keeping us on our toes and reminding us that without him we would still be drawing straws for who has to do some real work.

If you haven’t gotten a copy of ’End of the Hits’ yet, please do by visiting the our store. You won’t be sorry. If you are, then we can try to figure out some type of money back guarantee. We’d love to hear your feedback as well. New show dates will be posted soon so be sure to check in to find out when we’ll be coming to your town. Have a great rest of your weekend and happy listening.

Jon of a bill