So what are we talking about here? Well, first and foremost – we’re working on a new album. Most of you may already know this much, and we sent a few of you who are on our fan list an email a couple of weeks ago, detailing exactly what’s going on. Plus, you may remember from late last year, before we took a blogging hiatus, we were talking about the new studio that was being built above our old practice facilities – well now that studio is complete, and we have finally begun tracking what’s looking like a grand total of 10 completely new songs. More to come on that in the coming weeks, including a video update or two, so check in when you can.

Another topic worthy of a re-launch post, is that along with our upcoming release (which we can’t tell you the exact date yet, but think summer), we’ll be doing some cool new stuff to interact with our fans, and be more engaged here on the web. And we know you’re thinking, you guys have fans?, but yes, we do have at least 5 good fans, and we’re going to work hard to connect with them as much as possible. In fact, we’ll be blogging more, social webbing more, sharing more, and we’ll even be rolling out a forum here pretty soon – so get ready to chat us up with your comments and stern disapproval!

Finally, we have a few words to say about this moment in time, the right here and now. If you’re reading this, we think you’re cool. AND, if you’re reading this, know that you’ll be able to look back in a couple of years (when we’re all the way up to 25-30 fans), and say, yeah I supported those guys before they made it big! HA. We laugh and mostly cry at the thought of ever “making it big”, but on sort of a serious note, we truly believe that right now is a moment in history for us. We’re on the verge of releasing our second album, and our first full length record. We have over 2 years, the making of our last album, and tons of other crazy events that have contributed to our experience and maturity as a band. And most importantly, we know now, more than ever, exactly what we are going for as a band – and that includes our music, niche, appeal, and even our look. We may not be a trendy band, but our confidence is unshaken, and in fact is now stronger than ever as we face the biggest moment in our short existence thus far – and we couldn’t be more excited. Hang with us as we make the journey through this year, and chime in every step of the way; it’s gonna be a great year!

Look for more posts very soon.

Life Stage

We’ve had lots of help from our good friend, artist, and fellow musician, Josh Taylor from the band Clairmont (check out their stuff here) with the design and implementation of the site, and have spent a considerable amount of time making sure everything is just as we want it; so when we finally do launch this thing later today, what you’ll see is the culmination of a couple of months of thought and hard work!

Now having said that, we by no means think the site is perfect! Every site has it’s flaws and glitches, and we’ll be working to remove/fix as many of those as possible over the coming weeks and months. If you find any, please let us know. Also, there are many ideas and features that we are wanting to include in the site, but just simply haven’t had the time or money thusfar to implement them. We’ll be developing and updating the site with these features as soon as the opportunities open up to do so; again, if you have any ideas of your own, be sure to let us know!

Finally, we’ll no longer be forwarding our homepage to this website (our blog), so be sure to bookmark it (http://lifestagemusic.com/blog), or subscribe to the rss feed (http://lifestagemusic.com/blog/feed) to stay on top of our news and info as we continue to post them here! Also, be sure and sign up for our newsletter (http://lifestage.fanbridge.com), as you’ll be the absolute first to know about everything going on in the world of Life Stage, including new music, concerts, and website announcements.

We are seriously excited about finally having an official homepage, and we hope you’ll join us for the launch of it later today! Look for the announcement on all of our social networks and our fanlist, and bookmark the page: http://lifestagemusic.com.

See ya then!

Life Stage

Well you see, when you find something you like, it’s tempting to just hog it all to yourself. You think, “oh cool! I’m gonna be the only one that knows about this!” But what you soon find out is that nothing is ever quite as fun by yourself. I mean, sure, you can play catch by yourself, or go to the movies by yourself, or countless other team-sport type of activities, but when you do that, you’re missing out! And that pot of gold you found is really useless until you have someone to spend it on or share it with. I mean let’s face it – we were built for community! Humans need other humans and like other things that other humans like! We need to share the things we love, or else it’s no fun. Life is just… boring.

So. What’s the take home here? Basically, it’s this: If you like us, or love us – SHARE US. It’s that simple! We feel so honored to share what we’ve made and what we love with you, now turn around and pass it along so you can enjoy our music with ANYONE else who MIGHT JUST FEEL THE SAME WAY YOU DO! And that is the clincher – ANYONE MIGHT JUST FEEL THE SAME WAY YOU DO. You never know. So please take the time (all of 5 minutes) to share our page on Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter, (not to mention any other place you’re blogging, blurbing, or sharing) and be the first to tell your friends about Life Stage! It would mean the world to us, and it might just make you or someone you know’s world a little better too.

And that’s it for today! We want you to know we truly appreciate you. Stop by anytime, any place, and let us know what you think, and SHARE with your friends! We’d love to hear from you.

Talk to you soon,

Life Stage

Well what in the world does that mean? Glad you asked. It means, that aside from (or in addition to) iTunes, AmazonMP3, Napster, Rhapsody, Emusic, and a few others we were already on, (which is pretty much global as far as retailers go) we are now (or soon to be) up and running on several top streaming music sites and online radio stations, such as LastFM, Pandora, and MOG, and a few new retailers to boot, such as Puretracks, MooZone, & ThinkIndie! In fact, you can see the complete list of partners below, and feel free to check each of them out (do Bing search or something) to get a feel for what they do. Who knows, you may even find one you like better than iTunes! There’s other cool stuff included too, like the leading ringtones site, Myxer, and syndication through Wal-Mart online! Oh, and not to mention Zune for all you zuners out there! Cool huh?

Yes, indeed this is pretty sweet, but for now, we’re still giving away downloads of our EP, as well as FREE physical copies to those who ask, so don’t hesitate! Get your FREE copy or digital download before we end this offer – at which point you’ll have to find us on one of these mentioned sites – and have to actually PAY for our music! You wouldn’t want that would you? So go to music.lifestagemusic.com today and get your free download. OR, stop by anytime via Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and ask for a free copy of Stage 1. Don’t be shy! Just shoot us a message, comment, @reply, whatever, and say “I want a CD!”, and we’ll get you one, we promise.

Thanks so much for all your loyal support, and look for us to be up on these sites – coming soon! In the meantime, keep in touch. Talk to you soon!

Life Stage

So, you may be asking, what is progarchives, and why do I care? Well, you’ll absolutely have to go there yourself and figure out what exactly we’re talking about here, but to sum up, ProgArchives is both a databank for progressive music and its progeny, and it’s also a one of a kind forum where people can make and join conversation about bands, music, or anything progressive that might be going on in the world! I know, sweet huh? We think it is. And it’s definitely WORTH CHECKING OUT. Seriously go there. Get a taste. Join the conversation, and discover some new bands that you’ve probably never heard of (and wouldn’t probably otherwise hear of), and expand your horizons! (That is of course, if your horizons haven’t already yet been expanded; in which case, carry on…) It’s honestly a great resource for music lovers of all types, and clearly the leader in the progressive underground (and above ground) community.

SO, that having been said (<–that was for Chris lol), here are some pretty easy, and mostly visual instructions of how to get to the site, and how you can find us as well. Here goes:

1) Go to http://progarchives.com in your web browser..Now!
2) Click on the “L” in the listed artists section of the page (near the top).
3) Scroll down, you’ll see a familiar name: Life Stage – Click on us!

4) View our page in all its glory! And read our bio written by our friend Jonas there at P.A.

5) Get involved! Just sign up, and join some discussion, somewhere. It will improve your life!

Anyways, we hope you’ve enjoyed our piece about Prog Archives. Go check it out, tell a friend, and remember we’ll be at Crazy Frog’s on 1960 this Friday, Jan 8th at midnight! (Show starts at 10, we’ll be headlining!) Can’t wait. See you all very soon.

Ross

- 2 HD Camcorders (either Sony 4.1MP 120GB Handycam, or Cannon 6.0MP 32GB, or both)
- 16 Channel mixing board with USB out
- 2 Behringer Midi Footpedal Controllers
- 1 Mark V Boogie amplifier plus 2 (4×12) Mesa cabs for Ross
- 1 New bass and a full GK stack for Chris
- 1 Drum and cymbol endorsement deal for Andy
- 1 New travel van (or tour bus if it’ll fit in the slay)
- 1 Big new trailer full of big new equipment
- $50K to compensate for our studio time, production costs, merch costs, and tour costs through 2010
and finally
- 1 pack of picks.

And that’s pretty much it! Of course, we left a few things off, you know, just because we didn’t want to be greedy this Christmas, but we could definitely live with just these few minor things on our list… Thanks Santa!

So what about you? What’s on your list this year?