| 11/20/01 Today is the first day the new site is up. My name is Bret Palmer and I am in the strangers. I will be updating this page to bring you the most recent news about the band. For today, I just recommend checking out the site. If anything doesn't work email us. We are currently working on our demo disk. To check out the prospective songs that will most likely be on it, go to the songs page. After we finish this. We plan to do some shows around town (topeka) and see what happens from there. You will notice right now, that some of the links don't work yet. Well, don't worry, they will all be fixed soon. Well, enjoy, and keep checking back frequently because this page should be updated often. -bp |
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| 11/21/01 Nolan just left my house, and Jeff before him. We finished an intense recording session and managed to get 9 songs down on disk. Several songs were improved and several photos were taken. As the site is still being worked on, I expect the pics to be up some time relatively soon. A brand new song was also written/recorded, "Convince Me". At this rate, that demo might be here sooner than I first thought. -bp |
| 12/03/01 Wow! What a weekend. This weekend involved a trip to KC to see the weez and Tenacious D. I am working on another project involving that, but more on it later. I was also hooked up with some new gear last week. Much thanks to Derek at Supersonic Music. If you guys have a guitar, bass, or drum need, I highly recommend these guys. There should be a TON of new pictures up in a matter of days. So hold tight and keep checkin' for the latest news. -bp |
| 12/08/01 Hello. Well, I put up a ton of pics. So go check em out. There should be more to come soon. Music wise, the demo disc is still under construction, and some brand new songs are being written. Also, I hope to have an equipment section on the page sometime in the near future. Cool. -bp |
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| 12/19/01 School gets out tomorrow, but work on the demo starts today! Jeff came over after school and we basically finished the demo of "But I Do". We also worked on a cool cover of the weezer song "High Up Above". Our plans still hold to have the demo done before feb. or so. Meanwhile, there are always new songs being written, including our new christmas song, "Rosy Cheeks (The Santa Song). Also, I have posted all of my weezer pictures on my new weezer pictures site. Go here to see them. Well, good luck with finals everyone. -bp |
| 12/27/01 I hope everyone had a merry christmas. I'm not sure about Nolan, (who right now is in San Antonio), but Jeff and I both got gear updates for christmas. Jeff got a new keyboard and a recording studio!, and I got a new guitar and a guitar POD (which changes the sound of my guitar). Tomorrow Jeff and I will hop back into the studio and finish recording the demo. There is very little left to be done, mainly just the vocals, and a couple of guitar fixes. There will be 10 songs on the demo. They are (in no particular order): Mr. Dirtface The Rainy Day Song High School Reruns Hula Girl The Theme from "Hate Crime" The First Song Apology But I Do Revolt of the Blue Warrior Get Off My Board The final track order has yet to be determined. Well, that's it for now. If you haven't checked out my weezer pictures page, do it here. Oh, Jeff got a haircut. -bp |
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| 01/20/02 Update time. The demo is not done, but close. Tomorrow work on it will take place. We are pretty excited right now. Some shows are being scheduled, and we will finally have the chance to let you hear our music. We hope to have the demo done and up for sale at these shows. We are planning on doing a show with theSisterMaria. For more info on the sis' go to his new website here. Weezer's new cd will be called "maladroit". We still don't know what to call the demo. Email us suggestions at thestrangersband@yahoo.com Other notes, "Mr. Dirtface" (formerly The Anti'-80's Ballad) is now titled "Pull My Trigger". Well, that's all for now. More news to come when show info is solid. -bp |
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| 01/26/02 Things are shaping up! This is a very exiting time for us strangers. The demo is near completion. More work will be done on it tomorrow. Shows are being scheduled. I'm getting some rough info on those right now, but when we have solid, confirmed dates, I'll post them here. Also something really cool is about to happen to the band. But more info on that when all is confirmed. Good day to all. -bp |
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| 02/10/02 Time for an update. First of all, i've put the tracklisting for the demo on the songs page. I am nearly certain this will be the final track listing. Show info is starting to come together, nothing is solid yet, but fear not I will post here when anything is confirmed. And the last bit of news for today, and an exciting one at that, the strangers are no longer a trio. We have officially welcomed bassist Ryan Holm into the band. When asked for comment Ryan had this to say, "I'm excited about being a part of such a great group of young lads." He'll fit in perfectly. -bp |
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| 02/13/02 FIRST SHOW CONFIRMED!!!!!!!! theSisterMaria & The Strangers Friday, March 29th The Classic Bean on 29th St. & Wanamaker 7:00 P.M --- FREE!!! This is what we have confirmed right now. More details on this show later (like when we play, if we'll have cd's, etc.). We are also looking at a show in early March, but it's not confirmed yet. When we have more info, I'll post it. Be sure to check here for updates. By the way, if you've never heard theSisterMaria, check it out here. -bp |
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| 03/02/02 Oookay, well, we just had a GREAT practice friday night, and we have another lengthy one scheduled for tomorrow. We really are working hard on getting all of the songs to sound thier absolute best for the show. Just in case you missed the enormous yellow sign at the top of the page, we now have a show scheduled. If you come, you can expect to hear 7 originals and 3 covers and have one rockin good time! As you can see I updated the overall look of the site with some new photos and artwork etc. Well, I want to go listen to my new Relient K ep so, I'm out. -bp |
| 03/12/02 That's how the chips fall. We had another fine practice tonight. We liked it so much we're going to do it again Thursday and Friday. But we also have some real news. We now have an mp3.com page where you will be able to download strangers songs. The website is here: www.mp3.com/the_strangers_band We also decided to scrap the demo we've been working so long at. We are planning on re-recording these songs over spring break, because we have really changed/fixed them and they sound so much better now. Also, you will notice that Ryan's bio and equipment info are now up. On another note, don't forget about the show (big yellow box at the top of the page), and in addition to theSisterMaria, Claire Adams will also be opening up for us as well. Until then... -bp |
| 03/22/02 ...what this book presupposes is, maybe he didn't? Well, the bulk of "the spring break sessions" has been wrapped up. The process was pretty gruelling, but very rewarding. We encountered several problems (impossible basslines, dissappearing tracks, open houses, jeff being extremely giddy, clogged toilets, etc...) but nothing we couldn't handle. We hope the cd will be ready by the show on March 29th. The songs worked on were: Rainy Day, Speak My Mind, High School Reruns, Get Off My Board, I'm Right, Hula Girl, (You) and Me, and But I Do. All of the songs sound tremendously better than the previous versions we had recorded. You might notice the sond (You) and Me, in the list above. Well the story behind this song goes as follows: Jeff wrote it a long time ago and made a demo of it, which he played for us during the sessions. All of us were blown away by how cool the song was and decided we should try it. After learning it in 15 minutes, we layed down the tracks and it went from dusty demo, to polished track that will appear on the upcoming album. Cool huh? Well, in other news, mp3.com put up some more of our songs at: www.mp3.com/the_strangers_band. I believe the songs that are up are: "Revolt of the Blue Warrior", "Hula Girl", "Apology", and "Speak My Mind". All of these mp3's are pretty old recordings that came from a cassette tape, so the sound quality is a little subpar, but hey, it's free music! "Apology" is an internet only release, all of the other songs are going to appear on the upcoming album. They will be newer versions and MUCH higher quality. I will post more info on the album when it becomes solid. Until then, enjoy the lumpiness of oatmeal, don't shun it. -bp Hmmm... Try a 9-12 Slide! <barroooop> Yeah! A 9-12 Slide <baroooop barroooppp> Perfect! A 9-12 slide! *giggle giggle giggle* -rh (needs more quotes) |
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| 03/17/02 ...and the crazy thing is: I don't even own a rabbit! Well, it's spring break time, and that means it's time to record. We will be hopping into the studio to re-record our cd and get the songs sounding as great as they can. Hopefully we will also have time to demo some new songs. Friday night (the 15th) we played at Amy & Andrea Broadbent's 16th birthday party. This was essentially our first public performance, and everything sounded great! Well, if you haven't yet, check out our mp3.com page at: www.mp3.com/the_strangers_band. There is an mp3 of the "Speak My Mind" demo up. We also sent in a few more, which they should post soon. Don't forget about the show (top of the page), and have a great spring break! -bp |
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| 04/09/02 Well, last night 75% of the Strangers took a trip to Lawrence to see the Pete Yorn concert. Ryan, Jeff and I all headed over to the Granada to see Mr. Yorn and a Manchester band called "elbow". Going into the show I had never heard of elbow or heard anything they did, so I was pleasently surprised when their set blew me out of the water. They had such a great sound, I recommend trying to find some of their tracks online and downloading them. Next Pete took the stage. With my front row position, Pete had a grand time posing for my camera. After his most excellent set (which included an awesome cover of "China Girl" by David Bowie). We hung around to meet him. When he finally came out we gave him our cd and chatted with him a bit and took advantage of the opportunity for a "Strangers/Pete Yorn" photo - op (pic below). When I handed him the cd Pete said, "The Strangers? I like this already!" What a great sense of humor that guy has. Well, we have a couple of shows lined up soon, but none are confirmed just yet, so hold tight and keep checking back, and I will post the second we know of any Strangers shows that will be going down. Now I'm off to catch up on my much needed sleep. -bp |
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| 03/31/02 Happy Easter to all. Well, alot of news from the strangers camp. First off, we played a show Friday (the 29th) at the Classic Bean west. The was great and the audience was awesome! Jeff Ensley, Claire Adams, and thesistermaria. opened for us, and they all did an excellent job. Everybody in the band truly enjoyed playing this show. If you were in attendence, thanks for your support! The response was so great that we sold out of our first batch of cd's. Which brings me to my next topic: The CD! The CD is called "Spring Break" and was just finished up the day before the show. We got a batch of about 30 to sell at the show and came home with 0 left. What a great feeling. I will update the page again later in the week with more info on the cd, like where you can buy it, etc... The track listing is in the songs section if you want to give that a look. On another note: we now have a .com address. You can now type in www.thestrangersband.com to get to the site instead of that long geocities address. Jeff's bio is now up also. If you want to be added to the strangers mailing list, just email us at thestrangersband@yahoo.com and tell us your email address, and we'll put you on it. Well, I'll update with more info on the CD later in the week, when I have more time. -bp Finished the day before? Try an hour before the show! To add to what Bret said, I want to share my happiness by thanking everyone that came to stay up late with us on Friday. The fact that so many people showed up to support us at our first show-- not having any clue what we would sound like-- just absolutely blows my mind in realization of how great you all are.. I can't express how amazing of a feeling it was performing up there in front of a packed coffee house full of friends. Thanks for all the support, for buying our cd, clapping and laughing, and just being the coolest group of folks ever! Hopefully you all had as much fun as we had, and that we convinced you that maybe your time was worth it (and worthy of returning for a second show someday). You all rock! -rh |
| ...pete, bret, jeff, ryan... pete yorn won |
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| 05/02/02 Time for a quick update. Last Friday, April 26th, The Strangers played at Seaman High School's Student Concert. The show was by far the best we have ever played live and the energy level was way up. The 4 song setlist went as follows: (You) and Me, Get Off My Board, El Scorcho, I'm Right. The show was video taped, so hopefully we can get some screenshots up for you guys soon. Also the show was the first show to feature Suraj Parukar on the Keyboards. Suraj is joining the Strangers crew as our live keyboardist and assist us by tickling the ivories during Strangers concerts. He also plays a mean game of chess. -bp |
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| 05/14/02 Well, last night Ryan and I camped out at the local hastings to be one of the very first lads in Topeka to purchase a copy of "maladroit", the brand new cd from weezer. But the camping doesn't end there. Tomorrow night....STAR WARS!!! -bp |
| 05/16/02 The camping continues... Tonight turned out to be a movie marathon for Ryan and I. We headed out and caught a 4:00 showing of "Spiderman." Two thumbs up from both of us. Next stop was a 6:30 showing of "The Lord of the Rings." Another, 3 hours long, two thumbs up. Then the night was capped off with a midnight showing of Star Wars episode 2. Wow. What an amazing movie! Another intergalatic two thumbs up from both of us. That rounds out the night with a total of 12 thumbs up. Ahh, American cinema... -bp |
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| 05/21/02 Just want to mention that, in the works, is that the Strangers might be playing a benefit show at Gage Park on Sunday, May 26th. We don't know if we're going to yet, and we don't know specific times yet, but as soon as we have things confirmed I'll post them. And even if we don't play, you should go out and see the concert. Post more info when we have it... -rh |
| 12/10/01 A leak has sprung. Word has it that our good friend Tommy, over at tommy's soap box has gotten a hold of a clip of a song on the upcoming demo disc. This of course is fine by us, since we fully support internet sharing. He has a clip of our techno song "Revolt of the Blue Warrior". We have to warn you, since this is, as of now, the only released strangers song, that all of our songs do NOT sound this way. This is in fact our only techno song. We just did it for fun. So download it, enjoy it, but don't expect the rest of our songs to sound this way. Click here to go to Tommy's Soap Box and hear "Revolt". -bp |
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| 05/24/02 First off, the Strangers will NOT be playing at the benifit show at Gage Park that was previously announced. The show is still going on, we just won't be able to play there. We will, however, be playing at the Topeka Youth Project's Battle of the Bands. The show is on Sunday June 2nd. I will post more details here when they become available. In other news, school's now out, and we kicked things off with an fun little show. Wednesday (the 22nd) night, we played at a party for about 10-15 people. This was the smallest crowd we've ever played for, so it made for an awkward show, which turned out to be pretty fun. Everything sounded pretty swell, except for the extreme butchering of "I'm Right". In some other news, last night, Ryan and I headed over to Jeff's house to work on some new material. One new song, which as of now is untitled and is clocking in at 6 minutes, was worked on quite a bit and we even recorded a demo of it before calling it quits for the night. Well, that's it for now... -bp |
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| 05/27/02 Here's some more info on the Battle of the Bands. When: June 2nd Where: Capitol Center Inn (9th & Madison, Downtown Topeka) Who: The Strangers, The Prime Time Heroes, Clint K Band, Phat Albert, Backseat Driver For ticket info call: (785) 273-4141 Well, even more work continues on the several new songs underway. I just recieved a phone call from Nolan letting me know that he is back in town, so tomorrow the band will be in full swing; practicing and gearing up for the BOB. I'll post even more details (like time, etc.) when I receive them. -bp |
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| 05/28/02 UPDATE... Well the time on the BOB is now official. The doors are going to open @ 7:00. Also, The Strangers are now on RockKansas.com. Go here to see the site, or here to see our page. More details later. -bp |
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| 09/02/02 Yesterday, the band got together for the 3rd time this past week. We have been working on a bunch of new material and are preparing to make a new cd. Jeff has been busy writing tons of new songs, so we have a lot to choices when it comes to the new material. There is a new confirmed show. It's at the Skating Rink in November. Check the Shows page for more. This show is with the ever-popular primetime heroes, who have just finished a new cd of thier own. They will be releasing it at a cd release party (which they'll be playing at) on Sunday September 15. Everyone should try and make it out to catch that show, it should be awesome. For more info on cd release party, go here. Until next time, try to catch and episode of Comedy Central's Trigger Happy TV. -bp |
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| 08/02/02 Well, yesterday marked the first time that the entire band had been together in almost two months. We met at my new house and ran through some old songs and then just started jamming, and new songs were born. We really have a ton of new material together and we even got one of the new songs recorded yesterday. Our plans are now to continue getting these songs to sound thier best, and to rerecord a select few of the older songs and re-master them and put together the demo that we will send to radio stations, record labels, etc. Stay tuned to the Strangers saga cause it's gonna get even more exciting... -bp |
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| 09/16/02 Last night was the primetime heroes pre-cd release party. The boys put on a great show, as did podstar and nonstop 3. If you haven't heard yet, we are playing a show with the primetime heroes in November at the skating rink. Check the Shows page for more info. Today I Martinez of thesistermaria, came over and finished another track for his new cd. It's turning out to be quite the incredible project. Throughout this week we will continue to write new songs and practice in preperation for recording a new cd. We will hopefully have it done by the skating rink show, and if not, at least have enough songs for an ep. In other news, check out our mp3.com page here. You can now download most of the songs off of our first cd, "Spring Break." Enjoy. -bp |
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| 09/20/02 Tonight was focused on recording with Martinez for the new sistermaria cd. We packed up the recording equipment and headed over to Jeff's house to record some piano tracks. Sam Billen of The Billions came along for the ride and layed down some tracks for the cd as well. Thesistermaria cd is really shaping up, and the songs are sounding really sweet. The recording process will hopefully, and finally, be over with next week. Then the cd moves into the mixing and mastering phase. In more Strangers related news, Ryan has been hard at work writing new songs on his studio. They're pretty catchy and you find yourself "humming" along to each one. Jeff also wrote a new song tonight amidst all of the recording chaos. It's tenatively titled, "The Ice Cream Sandwich from Hades." -bp |
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| 10/06/02 Band practice today. We are currently working on the songs for the new cd. The "new song count" is up around 30 right now. The Strangers were featured in an article in Washburn Rural High School's newspaper, "the Blue Streak." Publicity, Woohoo! The article was based on local bands from WRHS and it also featured our great friends, Periwinkle and the Vivid Tangerines. Keep an eye on our mp3.com page; they should be posting some of the new demos soon. -bp |
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| 10/13/02 Craziest Concert Experience Ever! Last Night, (saturday the 12th) a few friends and I headed up to KC to see OKGO. After their awesome set, we managed to meet the guys. I was talking to Damian (lead singer) and we got to talking about the strangers. So I run out to my friend Tommy's car, to grab a copy of our cd to give to him. Admist the excitement, I manage to lock Tommy's keys in his car. I go back and give the cd to Damian and it turns out he has the same kind of car as Tommy and has locked his keys in his car on a few occasions. So we head backstage and the band rigs up a contraption made of part of a mic stand and a piece of drum hardware. We head back to the car and pry open the door just enough to stick the contraption in. For about 30 minutes the members of OKGO take turns "fishing" into Tommy's car trying to hit the unlock button. After finally acheiving success, we took some more pictures and headed home with smiles on our faces. I will post the pictures here as soon as they are developed. For a more detailed account of the story, check out Tommy's Soapbox. In Strangers news, today Jeff and Nolan came over and more work was done on the new songs. Ryan couldn't make it over due to a life threatening illness (homework). Speaking of new songs, a TON of our new demos are up on the mp3.com page; be sure to check those out if you want to make your day a happy one. -bp |
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| 10/13/02 EDIT: This show has been postponed, read 10/23 entry THE STRANGERS FIRST SHOW IN ... A LONG TIME The Rock Across Topeka Show!!! Part One. When: November 1st @ 7:30 sharp Where: The Whispering Pines Apartment Clubhouse, 5820 Candletree St., Topeka, KS (turn down Westport Ave. from 21st and go until you see the apartment sign) Who: The Strangers, The Anchor is the End, and our very good friends Periwinkle and the Vivid Tangerines ---All ages and FREE!!! This show should be super fun! We will most likely be playing a ton of the new material, so try to clear you calenders on November 1st. -bp |
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| 10/23/02 THE NOV 1st SHOW HAS BEEN POSTPONED. The Rock Across Topeka Show!!! Part One. has been postponed. The show WILL be rescheduled for a later date (probably later in November). In other news, Martinez came over yesterday and we FINISHED recording the new thesistermaria album. The album will be called "topekamerica" and will be released on Nov. 22. There still remains work to be done on it though, I will be busy for the next few weeks mixing and mastering the final disc. Also in recording news, our good friends, Periwinkle and the Vivid Tangerines will be coming over to my house tomorrow to lay down a 3 song demo. This promises to be a fun and productive time. In strangers news, I have been working on the new pictures page (which will include a TON more pics and they will be current too, i.e. Ryan will be in them (yes ladies, it is about time)). So look for that new pics page in a little while. -bp |
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| 11/14/02 THE STRANGERS LIVE THIS SATURDAY!!!!! In two days the Strangers will be playing their first live show since April, and it's about time. Be sure to come out this Saturday, November 16th, to the Starlite Skate South (45th and Topeka Blvd.). We will be playing with 3 other bands including the ever popular Primetime Heroes! Tickets are $6 at the door and I'm pretty sure that price includes skate rental. So be sure to be there to see us Rock and Roll (*note* this is not a literal reference, the Strangers will NOT be skating while they play, but they probably will be after that!) We will be playing a whole lot of new songs. The show starts at 7:30 pm, hope to see all of you there. -bp |
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| 11/19/02 .Today I finally finished mixing/mastering the new "thesistermaria" album topekamericana. Martinez and I have been working on this cd since the beginning of the summer, so it feels great to finally have a finished product. Martinez is having a cd release party this Friday, November 22 at PT's on 10th and Gage. The show will feature thesistermaria, Claire Adams, and Mail Order Midgets, and it will start at 8pm. Be sure to come out and be one of the first people on your block to own topekamericana, the sophomore effort from thesistermaria. "...the album features material from pre-apart meant days to songs written in the last few weeks of recording. Eight songs of pop, Beatles/Byrds-influenced folk, and somber compositions to carry you into the holiday season." You can own your very own copy of the album for only $8, and the show is FREE. Be sure to try to work this happenin' cd release party into your busy schedule. I know I will. -bp |
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| 11/17/02 ...pics from last nights show at the skating rink...courtesy of my mom -bp |
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| 12/08/02 Tonight we made our radio debut! (You) and Me was played on 105.9 the Lazer's local music show. This show is 9pm-11pm every Sunday night, so now you can tune in and request The Strangers! Later this week we will play at Seaman's student concert. After that the next thing on our schedule is to record the new album. We will start recording on Dec. 19th (the day we get out of school). It seems like there is always music to be recorded. After finishing thesistermaria's Topekamericana, I have started recording a band called Forget the Fall. They have some really great tunes and are a lot of fun to work with. The band includes Jory the drummer from the Primetime Heroes. I'll try to post updates and pictures from the recording sessions as they progress. Good luck to everyone who is finishing out their semesters at school. -bp |
| 12/17/02 THE STRANGERS AT THE BATTLE OF THE BANDS, again. We have been chosen to play in Topeka Youth Project's Battle of the Bands once again. We're hoping to make this a super sweet show for you guys. Here's the info TYP - Battle of the Bands Monday, December 30 at Heritage Hall at the Kansas ExpoCenter Doors @ 7:00 pm Tickets are sold at the door - $10 Everyone should try and clear their calenders for this show. Hope to see you all there! -bp |
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| 01/04/03 STREWTH!!! Holy cow they do wear hats. On December 30, we played in the Battle of the Bands at the ExpoCenter, and by some miracle, we won!?! A huge thank you to everyone who came out to show support, all of the other bands (for a great time and great performances), the Topeka Youth Project, V-100, and everybody involved. The show was so much fun to play and the win was a great way to top off one of the best nights of my life. Here are some pics from the show (courtesy of my mom): Wow, that was fun, but now back to work. We will continue working on the new album and hope to have it done sometime before we all die. So far in the studio we've worked on: My Grandparents Are Here, Times Have Changed, Why I Don't Go Out Anymore, and How Can You Be Sure? More updates to come soon. -bp |
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| 01/12/03 Today marked the first acoustic show for the Strangers. We played an unplugged set at Rolling Hills nursing home. This was an amazingly fun show to play. After we played we talked to the elderly audiece for a while and posed for some pictures with them. Following that we had two more "photo shoots." The first was for an article that the Topeka Capital Journal is writing about us (more on that later). The second consisted of a few group publicity shots. Hopefully we'll be updating the mp3's page soon with some of the most recent live mp3's. The website has a new page! The Setlists page lists the set from each of our shows. Next we are going back into the studio to do more work on the album. Here are some pics from today's show (courtesy of my mom, again) -bp |
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