- Hunter joined the band officially as our bass player. He and Tyler have been playing together for years and know how to make the low end sing.
- We got a van and went on our first tour and covered the SC Coast. We made some friends, ate some great food, camped out, and most importantly saw a million faces and rocked them all. (okay, maybe not a million…yet)
- The official CD Release with Spectra Records put Disagreements With Gravity in retail stores across the country.
- We played 9 charity events for 8 different causes, helping to raise money & awareness for these worthy organizations.
- Nominated for a Charlotte Music Award, Best Women in Rock.
- We made the Local Top 10 Albums for 2011.
- Nominated for Best Debut Album of 2011.
- We’ve written new songs we are excited about, spent some time in the studio, booked some more studio time, and will have a new single (Morning, Noon, & Night) ready to release in early 2012! (with more on the way…)
- People flying Delta Airlines for the holidays had “Too Cool” on their Indie Inflight Playlists in November & December!
- We passed 5,000 “likes” on Facebook by offering “Too Cool” as a free download!
- Charlotte Magazine dressed us up, yelled “Make-UP!”, and featured us in their September 2011 print edition, with an extended interview online.
- We did on air interviews & live performances for WEND 106.5 FM The End and WSGE 91.7 FM.
- The Jimmy Star Show invited us for an interview that went out over the Internet airwaves, unedited and with no time delay, worldwide. It was wicked fun.
- Qnotes interviewed us in support of 2011 FemmeFest, music lets us transcend and provide auditory joy.
- The Charlotte Identity Crisis show, where local bands covered other local bands in a free show free for all was called one of the memorable moments of 2011!
"A dream you dream together is reality"
We’ve been really busy, on the road, and dreaming up songs together. And we’ve been studio rats – recording, mixing, and getting close to unleashing some awesome on you all this year!
There’s a brand new song we wrote, “Alive”, sample lyric “They’re gonna eat you alive…” Maybe some of our dreams have been a bit scary, but we love this song, it has a nice little drum part…
The past couple months we’ve been playing more shows regionally (such as: Charleston, Savannah, Greenville SC, Fort Mill, Warner Robins) and making friends and booking even more shows…
You might have noticed our calendar filling up for the summer already, with Charlotte shows (at the Evening Muse, the Hooterfest benefit for Carolina Raptor Center, & the annual Girl Power Festival) and shows in Salisbury, Awendaw Barn Jam (Awendaw, SC), Bele Chere Festival (Asheville), and Gaston Homegrown Festival. And we had a wonderful time at the Strawberry Festival (Fort Mill, SC) this year!
Soon we will have some announcements to make (yep, more than one) – so much cool stuff on the horizon! Follow us on Twitter or Facebook (friend page and band page) for the breaking news, details of which will be here on the website.
A teaser: You may have noticed a clue for one the announcements in the renaming of Four Hour Girl Power to the Girl Power Festival. We’ll be announcing the lineups soon. Yes, lineups. For the first time we are expanding Girl Power to multiple venues, and we can’t wait to share the who’s and where’s!
And wait! There’s more!!! But we can’t say yet… just that we are dreaming, creating, and planning… it’ll be a busy summer!
“A dream you dream together is reality” – John Lennon, in case you were wondering…
Lights & Shows & Music
Grown Up Avenger Stuff - The Visulite Theatre - 10 March 2012
We’ve been enjoying 2012 so far and were very happy when the numbers people figured out that with Leap Years, the Mayan “end of the world” would have already happened if it was going to happen. Which is good, we have stuff to do & music to make.
We have had fantastic shows so far this year, and have been overwhelmed by the fan support – you all rock!
We already have shows booked out of state and are currently planning out a summer tour schedule, and for the rest of the year. We’ve also added two new Charlotte shows in April and June to support our friends and the Carolina Raptor Center. (think owls, not velociraptors… not that we made that assumption…)
Please check out our Shows page for details on upcoming show dates.
So what have we been doing in between shows? We’ve been writing new songs… recording in studios around Charlotte… and lots of scheming… er, planning…
Most of you already have Too Cool and Morning, Noon, & Night. If you don’t, we have free download cards available for those 2 songs!
We’ve been recording a bunch more songs, and we can’t wait to share them with you! Maybe we’ll even have enough for a full release, or an EP at the least….
You Say Hello (2012), I Say Goodbye (2011), goodbye, goodbye
2011 went by at speeds that defied the natural order of the universe.
We said goodbye to some friends this year, some to another state of the US, some to another plane of existence. We miss them all.
With the sadness there was also great joy and we accomplished some stuff in 2011 we are really proud of…
2012? Let’s see what you got…
Charlotte Identity Crisis listed as one of the “Memorable Moments of 2011″
One of the coolest things about being in a band and getting to know the other bands, is that every once in a while you have an idea.
This idea seems really far-fetched, and really hard to pull off, and relies on a LOT of people working together with no dress rehearsals.
Instead of saying, “This can’t be done, forget it.” – we remember we are musicians and artists and making the impossible possible is what we do. So we say, “This could be fun, wanna come play with us?”
QCVibes in Creative Loafing, Jan 4-10th, 2012 Vol 25, No 45, pg 28 (click to enlarge)
Sometimes things fall apart, but sometimes everyone pitches in, has a great attitude and the fans stand out in the freezing cold in late October for over 3 hours of music while several bands do their best to entertain the fans and honor their fellow bands by not butchering their songs. (All the bands entertained and honored, but it was a bit nerve wracking from the stage. But you couldn’t tell, right? ‘Cause we are trained professionals after all…)
Everyone’s hard work paid off and the show garnered the following review from Creative Loafing’s QCVibes:
“10 memorable moments of 2011 — Concert edition
Posted by Jeff Hahne on Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 11:24 AM
My initial intent was to give my thoughts on the highs and lows of 2011. However, out of the 116 concerts I attended last year, a large number of them were really good. Then I figured any shows that were that horrible didn’t even need to be mentioned. So, instead, I’ll focus on 10 memorable moments (in random order) of the last year that stood out to me:
Charlotte Identity Crisis — John Thomsen of Grown Up Avenger Stuff organized this show outside of Salvador Deli that featured Charlotte bands (The Spiveys, GUAS, The Between, HelloHandshake, The Chelsea Daggers and The Jupiter Tide) covering other Charlotte bands. A great inaugural event that I hope will continue in its efforts to bring the music scene closer together.”
It’s a great honor to be on that list.
We thought it went well. The feedback we got was amazing, from the bands and the fans, with requests to do it again.
So maybe we will try it again, and maybe next time, we’ll try to schedule it indoors or in warmer weather for greater comfort.
If you bring 2 friends & they bring 2 friends… we will take over the world!
One of the things we’ve been encouraged by in 2011 is the increased support of local music.
Sure, it hasn’t all been roses and electric guitar feedback… But there have been some folks who have tirelessly promoted and used their resources to try and get the word out.
It’s tricky. You’ve got to preach to the converted so they know where and when to show up for their favorites and soon to be favorites.
You’ve got to hit the unconverted, over and over and over again to get them to get out there and give it a try. Try it, you’ll like it, maybe make some new friends, at the least make your ears happy for 40 minutes at a time.
If you want to know what’s what, these are some of the people we’ve seen out there time and again. Plug in, join with them, and be part of the music matrix…
Laurie Koster – she puts out a newsletter every week with the upcoming shows in the Charlotte area. It’s not just one genre, you can find both types of music (country & western) and all flavors of rock (americana to zydeco) Sign up here: charlotteeventscalendar.blogspot.com
Jeff Hahne, Creative Loafing – we love to give him a hard time, he’s our resident critic, after all. He covers locals and nationals. Plus, every year he puts on a free show & free CD featuring some of the hottest local bands. Plus (he’s not done yet), every month on the 3rd Wednesday he hosts “Off The Record” – an intimate behind the music style show with local & regional acts, at the Evening Muse.
Check him out here: twitter.com/jhahne
CLTMusic.com – This is run by Ty Duncan and Jared Yerg (who puts on the Beards Because benefit each year – these guys go to tons of local shows with their trusty handheld video recorder. If you want a sneak peak at a live show before you go, check them out. They have lots of videos and reviews to help you find new music.
Courtney Devores, Charlotte Observer & Charlotte Magazine – She goes to shows and showcases local bands on her blog and in print. We feel really musically aligned with her, and if we were going to follow someone around for a month and go to the all the same shows, it would be her. twitter.com/courtneydevores
And we can’t forget local radio! Divakar goes off the Clear Channel reservation every Sunday night to bring you the best in local and regional music on WEND 106.5 FM – This is one of the longest running and most popular shows on radio. Then there is independent radio station, WSGE 91.7 FM. They feature local and regional bands on their Sunday Edition Round Table morning show with Randy Walker, and also play local bands in their normal rotation.
Shutter16.com – Finally, this magazine is back in action and covering the local scene with a passion. The brain-child of one of the best live music photographers, Dianna Augustine, they have a team of intrepid reporters covering the clubs and venues with enthusiasm. Some of the reporters are veterans of the scene, others are active musicians. They take this seriously.
New on the scene this year:
Live Limelight – we’ve been seeing them more and more around town. We are excited that they are adding to the buzz! www.livelimelight.com
Carolina Entertainment Network (CEN) – these guys have been meeting once a month and offering a networking opportunity and brainstorming for bands, songwriters, booking, photographers, producers, lawyers, everything you need in the music industry. www.carolinaentertainmentnetwork.org/
There are many others who are adding to the excitement and doing what they can to get more people to just listen.
Perhaps the most important we need to mention, are all the fans of all the bands that drag their friends to that first show. Whether through bribery or flowery words, they open peoples’ ears and minds to the joy that is easily found in live music.
Here’s to continuing support of the scene and more people checking out live music in 2012!
We do so love you all!
