Shamless Self-Promotion

Hey kids.  As you may have already seen (the bar on the right) somewhere on the interwebs, we are trying to get into rotation on Pandora Radio.  The first step is to request that we be on there....but WE can't do that....cause everyone would want themselves to be on Pandora......so YOU have to do it for us. 
Simply:
1.  Go to www.pandora.com/#/stations/create
2.  Type "The Lucas Cates Band"
3.  Hit Enter or click Create
4.  Do it somewhat frequently.....not like 50 times in a row...just like once a week.....IF everyone did it once a week we will finally have representation on one of the fastest growing and coolest Internet radio stations....there is tons of new music from unsigned artists like us, and plenty of classics too!
Thanks for all of your help and continued support, guys.

The Pearl

8/15/10(probably 8/16 already)
Inside a wharhouse on the northeast side of Minneapolis, Minnisota is a gem of a studio: The Pearl.  Aptly named, this studio is the creation of our most recent engeineer Zach Hollander and his brother Noah.  The space has been used for 40 years as a recording/rehearsal space.  Soul Asylum rehearsed here in the 90's, Tweedy from Wilco has played here with the Jayhawks, and many other talented Mineapolis artists have expressed themselvs between these walls.
We are mixing....which means we take all of the stuff that was recorded and determine the volumes of everything....from guitar, bass and drums....down to the strings, shaker, and other tidbits of layering.  It's tedious, but the best part of the whole process!  Essentially we are finishing the project....finally.  Woo!  So hold the showering....we're sleeping here and gettin 'er done.

This is a 2-part blog:

8/17/10(again, probably 8/18 already)

We just finished mixing "My Way" which was the last track we had to mix....woo!  The album sounds so good, kids, its unbelievable.  We are so happy with how everything turned out and The Pearl is truly going to make its name as a world-class studio....and likewise will Zack Hollander go on to do amazing things (starting with our project ;-).  So here are a few sneak preview items about the album:

1.  The track listing will be as follows: Epic, Heaven Can Wait, Not the Right Catch, Crucial Tactics, Undersexicized, Enemy Lines, Cougarville, Chump, My Way, To Life, and Turn the Light On.  We chose to leave Shoe String Fox off of the album....many of you may wonder what Shoe String Fox is since we don't play it live too often, but it's a song of ours and there is talk of releasing it for download only or as a B side to a future single...who knows, but its ready to go when the time is right.  I may even be willing to share it soon, we'll see.
2.  The CD RELEASE PARTY is SEPTEMBER 25th at THE BRINK LOUNGE!  Be there in case I never mentioned that :-)
3.  Album Cover:  (you will have to wait until the CD RELEASE PARTY on SEPTEMBER 25th at THE BRINK LOUNGE to see the rest)

It's a self-titled album for a few reasons....i guess most simply is cause we couldn't agree on a great title....but honestly it's nice because this is the Lucas Cates Band.  We have a new line up since the last album (the addition of yours truly), and this is the music that you are used to hearing.  Self titled really says it all....and so do the pictures.

4. We slept at The Pearl every night of mixing.....no showers....it got real........kenny didn't even change......its cool though, he's right next to me and he smells terrific.

5.  We are the first band to work at The Pearl.  Zack and his brother Noah along with the intern(soon to be on the payroll) Jordan built this space from the ashes....finished the hardwood floors....built the control room and made it awesome....we are honored to be the first of what i'm sure will be a long tradition of making music sound great.......kenny just said, by the way, "how much does it take to make me sound awesome?  About four grand...thats how much."  Awesome.

So, your music listening assignment:  In the spirit of a set of studio monitors that we are using(the same monitors Quincy Jones used to produce all of Michael Jackson's stuff)(also, we are using other monitors so all you engineers out there don't scoff) I want you to check out Michael Jackson, "Billy Jean" from Thriller (Produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson)....and really listen to it....listen to everything in it....skip the voice....check out the shaker, or the claps, or the back up guitar, or for the more experienced listener.... listen to the room......................i'll be proud of you.

out of control dinner

So tonight I made meatloaf.....yup....I did.  I'm not shameful, nor will I take it back.  I made what I made and I loved every ounce of it......sure most people don't mix brown sugar, saltine crackers, onions, and tomato sauce(plus other items)....but that doesn't mean it doesn't taste like heaven.....i mean who are you to say meatloaf isn't delicious....cause it is.....it's damn delicious, in fact I don't blame Michael Lee Aday for taking the name: Meatloaf.  It's masculine, old school, and brave.  Do I have a picture of my dish....hell no!  I ate it.....and it was good!  Oh I might have leftovers, but why do you care?  I mean, do you want my meatloaf leftovers, cause you can't have any.  I'm not selfish, I'm protective.....like a father would be of his teenage girl.  Are you looking at my meatloaf?   You better not be.....punk.  My meatloaf is classy and deserves someone who will appreciate it; someone who will do anything for it; someone who won't ever eat, but eat rational amounts so as to conserve the leftovers.......like meatloaf sandwich, re-heated dinner, or cold meatloaf breakfast; how 'bout meatloaf smoothie, or meatloaf on a salad....no?.....then what about ground meatloaf in potatoes, or meatloaf balls?....wait...that just doesn't sound good at all....but the others...yes the delicious other options for meatloaf....well, i can't wait till tomorrow.

recommended listening:  Meatloaf, Dead Ringer For Love from The Very Best of Meatloaf (even though we all know I just made the very best of meatloaf)

Shasta, more than soda

What a month. July was our busiest so far in 2010 and I felt, last night during our last set, that a vacation will be just what I need. Eight hours after that though crossed my mind....it turns out I was 100 percent correct. Like, I dont feel weekends anymore...and Mondays are some of my favorite days, so knowing I get a week to kick it in Colorado makes feel like a school girl....well...wait, what?.......,what did you hear?....maybe not, I feel good.
The tour closed pretty strongly in Ashland, Oregon. Fans always show up in serious numbers and bring every ounce of energy. Dancing all night, singing the songs, wearing shirts.....now that I take a step back from it all, it's pretty crazy.......crazy, sexy, cool(thanks tlc)!
Wait, you have to see Mt. Shasta; we are driving past it right now!



Don't mind the bug in the middle of the shot.

Anacortes, WA was pretty cool too. Jesse to this pic of me taking a picture.

Last night we got real wester and stayed in an open air, no screen log cabin on a 105 acre ranch in the high desert of northern California. Kirsten's mom's house.













Notice Chet and tickle me Elmo....i don't know who had more fun in that bottom bunk...Chet or Elmo....I honestly couldn't tell who was laughing more.

Oh yea....ur listening assignment; how about a track from one of the records I scored while I was out here. Queen, Radio Ga Ga off of "The Works". It's one of those songs you forget about, then hear it and think first of the 80s, but listen to the words and how brilliantly the song is put together.

All in all it's been a great first half of 2010. Thanks everyone for making our expirence in Madison and otherwise memorable.



Or lackthereof.


-mark

Location:I-80

Chasing the moon

I took the graveyard shift again last night, and in no way am I bitchin. There's nothing like an empty interstate at night....the last time I drove graveyard was on our recent trip back to Wisconsin, so I took it again last night on the way back to Washington. This time instead of a sky full of diamonds I had a nearly full moon riding with me throughout the night.
Driving at night is amazing enough, but when the moon lights your way it is eerily comforting. Mountains, valleys, rock formations, animals, trees pop out of the landscape like opaque glass statues. I truly felt like I was on the dark side of the moon....it probably helped when "time" came on my rotation in the iPod, nonetheless it felt like I was on another planet.....and I wasn't on no wacky neither!




I don't know how far away Gilette, Wyoming and Butte, Montana are from each other, but that was my graveyard......my constant: the moon.



(the moon at dawn...heading down)
So my auggested music listening pick this time has to be anything from "Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd....cliche, I know, but listen to an entire song and think about driving 8 hours in the dark high desert.......and pick a good song like "Breath", or "Great Gig In the Sky", or "Brain Damage".....especially the last one since I haven't had solid sleep since Saturday night......and look at a map....driving from Madison, wi to Mt. Vernon, wa is comparable to driving accross Europe, or equatorial Africa......or South America.......laterally, of course........bye!



(the sun sneaking up on me from behind)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Brava Article

This is a bit of old news, but in case you havn't seen the May issue of Brava Magazine here is a helpful link:

http://bravamagazine.com/article.jsp?department=8734&id=9674

Thanks Mollie and all involved! 

Summer Tour 2010: Hotter than ever!

Had you told me that when we headlined Everett, Washington's 4th of July festival, i would have smacked you.....prebably not, that's just not me....i would have smirked, then turned away so you couldn't see how I really felt, and continued to drink the sweet, sweet local brews that Washington has to offer.  Let's just say it was cold; and an equally if not greater than cold wind was blowing off the puget sound onto the stage.  Acouple beers and a spring coat later, The Lucas Cates Band was off and running(it was still really cold).  Accually the Summer 2010 tour began six days and six shows earlier in Madison, WI.  We drove about 10 hours each day to our show; unloaded, set up, played, broke down, slept(most of the time), and drove.  Our week in Washington began as a cloudy windy holiday, but ended a cloudless beautiful northwestern adventure as we had 7 days of total sunshine beginning July 5th. 
The tours have been great as the crowds are multiplying and merchandise is flying off the shelves.  The Pacific Northwest as been offically labeled (by me, so really not that official) a "hot spot"(but official enough for quotations) for the band.  There is a lot of excitement for the music and amazing response from concert goers which is why we will return to Washington and Oregon in 10 days to wrap up the summer tour. 
One cool band thing of note happened about a month ago.  We will soon(which means hopefully soon) be in "E-Cast" jukeboxes around the country as an unsigned band.  Both All the Pieces and Live at Sullivan Hall will be in the data base for all ecast boxes....pretty cool.  We are working with Touch Tunes currently to secure the same type of deal.  So say you are on vacation and you want a drink.....no brainer....go to the bar, BUT let's say you are on vacation....at that very same bar and you say "I'd like to make everyone in this bar listen to what I want to listen to," so you go over to the sweet juke box, AND you've already decided that like an unhealthy addiction you NEED to listen to The Lucas Cates Band.......NOW........well damnit you are in luck, cause we'll be there for you.  Now if it just so happens that you are staring a Touch Tunes Jukebox in the face, make sure you write them or your local congressman(or woman) and tell them we should be in Touch Tunes as well......simple, delicious, fish.

Suggested Music Listening:  Caravan (Single) - This is some serious new stuff from Rush.  You won't believe what you are hearing.