MISS VINTAGE | Our Lives Are Not Through Just Yet

Acoustic Showcase @ Milkboy Bryn Mawr

2008-11-04T11:46:00.003-05:00

If you're our Myspace fan, you might've already received this bulletin. If not:

Hey there Myspace [edit: blogspot?] friends! Jason and Joe here.

We're simply writing to let you know that we'll be playing an acoustic showcase at Milkboy Bryn Mawr this Thursday (11/6), as well as two following Thursdays on 11/20 and 11/27. We'll be playing some new tunes as well as some familiar ones. Not to mention, the acoustic shows are always special because they're far more conversational and relaxed than our full band shows. Come and hang out with us while listening to some good tunes.

Hope to see you all there!

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MISS VINTAGE
myspace. com/missvintage
SUPPORT LIBERTY IN NORTH KOREA
www. linkglobal. org

Khyber Show is CANCELED

2008-10-27T15:20:00.001-04:00

Sorry everybody. Not sure who was gonna make it out tonight with the World Series and all, but some of us in the band are coming down with something. We'll see you next time.

Go Phillies!

Gear Purge

2008-10-25T13:54:00.003-04:00

To our guitar-playing friends: I'm trying to sell off some of my gear to clear some funds. If you're interested, click on the link to access the eBay auctions. Thanks.

http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/jc4tc_W0QQ_nkwZQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZQQ_mdoZ

Now on iTunes

2008-10-23T14:30:00.005-04:00

Well, we blasted Myspace with a bulletin that went out to our 8000+ supposed electronic friends with this update. But for those that are keeping tabs on us through this blog, just wanted to let you know that "Our Lives Are Not Through Just Yet" is finally available through iTunes for $9.90. Of course, the real fan would want to buy the actual CD, artwork, and lyrics for only $12 off of our website. But hey, no pressure or anything!

Oh, and also, we're playing our first show back in Philadelphia this coming Monday the 27th at The Khyber in Olde City, and we're headlining! We're playing alongside BAD NEWS BEARS, ME AND MY ARROW, and CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS. $8 cover, 21+ to enter. Hope to see you guys there.

[Liberty Blog] I Left My Heart in California

2008-10-15T05:20:00.006-04:00

Bittersweet times for us here in Miss Vintage. Tonight we wrapped up the final leg of the thirty-day tour in California. It's now 2:20 am and we're all pretty beat, resting up for our trip back to Philadelphia. But this might be a good time to update our blog and conclude our Liberty Blog series while the memories are still pretty fresh.

Colorado was really fun -- great place with really great people. Got to see our good friend Sarah who generously housed us for an evening. We then made our way west, since our next show was at UCLA, so of course that meant an obligatory stop in Sin City. All of us lost money playing games, mostly hold'em and roulette. Except Colin. Somehow, he lost no money and got two free beers. It's alright, though, life goes on. This is all good practice for our "starving artist" lifestyle, anyway.

All of our California shows were so much fun. It's always a real pleasure getting to come back to our first home. Thanks to our friends in Seriously the band who opened the show for us. These are some of the nicest guys you'll ever meet in the LA area, so definitely give them plenty of love on their Myspace. Also be sure to go support artists like Jennifer Chung and Tetelestai, who are also living this reality with us in their own unique ways. Thanks guys; you made the California leg of the tour unforgettable. And to our new friends and supporters at UCLA, Berkeley, and Irvine - we can't thank you enough. You guys are so wonderful.

It was a pretty sad night as we said goodbye to our LiNK counterpart and our friend Andy. It's pretty unreal to think that the tour's finally over and we now transition with difficulty into our goodbyes. It's not easy, I'll tell you that. And despite the inadequacy of printed word sometimes; to Justin, Kira, Jimin, Esther, Joe, Jane, Rob, and Jenny: do know that we're now departing with the fondest memories of some of the most generous, sincere, passionate, and inspiring people we've ever met in our short lives. We're thrilled that you all are doing something so instrumental in making this world so much more human. Thank you for allowing us to share these past four weeks with you and for inviting us so warmly into your lives. We love you dearly, and can't wait till we get to work together again.

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So what's next? I guess we wait for the numbness to leave our bodies first. Some of us will then fly back, some of us will be driving our equipment back the 3000 miles back to the east coast. There'll be our Philadelphia families waiting for us; all of whom we're really excited to be with again. Some of us will be seeing our girlfriends, someone will be getting married. All of us will be frantically gathering our dollars and cents to pay those worrisome bills that are haunting our mailboxes. We'll all take a few days to gather our thoughts and collect ourselves. It'll be a good time for reflection and regrouping.

And then? That's when the real fun starts. We've got some great songs and ideas that have been brewing in our hearts and minds for the past few weeks, and can't wait to get back into the studio to practice, practice, practice, and record, record, record. Don't dare to start think that with the tour now complete, our band's consequently finished as well. We're all excited to get back to work, and work hard, so that we can continue to share our stories and songs with you in a continued effort to welcome you all into our lives.

We're just getting started.

[Liberty Blog] 40 Days in the Desert

2008-10-07T00:06:00.002-04:00

O, the joys of touring. I’m currently sitting in a bug-infested motel room called The Camelot here in Amarillo, TX after watching Jase put down over 50 ounces of sirloin steak at The Big Texan. It’s probably the furthest removed from charming, but it is admittedly nice to have a quiet space to sit back and reflect on what’s been going on the past few days. And if that news about Jase baffled you at all, be sure to ask him for the details. It’s a very amusing and painful story all wrapped up in one.

Was anyone curious when Jase announced the car crash? That was me. Yep. I crashed the van, the trailer, and horribly bent the hitch that connects the two. It gets better: that same day, I watched as my keyboard slipped off of my keyboard stand to smash onto the floor in sparks and smoke. That might’ve been the most difficult moment of the tour for me. I kid you not, I wept (the keyboard is thankfully safe).

The second most difficult moment wasn’t that far behind. In our wonderful crew of bands and nonprofit, it’s safe to say that I’m the most introspective person here. Which is fine. I have no misgivings or holdups concerning my personality; it’s the way the good Lord made me. But it does get kinda lonesome at times when your energy reserve gets depleted and you decide to remove yourself from the crowd to collect your thoughts but find yourself alone. It got pretty hard when I had one of those difficult moments, and there was a war raging inside my skin that was compelling me to think that this specific quality of my personality was case enough to depart from the band or do something intensely irrational. I know, pretty wild, right? But it kicked my ass when I was having that battle during one of our shows and I had to watch as my bandmates got depressed over my lack of stage charisma and concede defeat long before the set was over. I wept, again.

Things are, for the large part, pretty calm now.

But it’s strange.

I’m a pretty spiritual guy. A story that I was taught in my spiritual upbringing was one of how Israel’s patriarch Moses brought the nation of Israel out of Egyptian slavery, but into a harsh forty years of wandering living in the arid desert. What seemed like a forlorn existence on the surface was actually a honeymoon period-of-sorts between God and his chosen people. It was in what was arguably the most difficult time of their lives that God taught them valuable lessons and showcased how much he loved and cared for his chosen people before steering them into the promised land of security and happiness.

Without a hint of drama, I think this tour is my desert.

I left the tour with no job security and with zero dollars in my bank account. What was supposed to be the most romanticized trip of my short life is turning out to be the hardest. I’m trying to figure out how the hell I’m supposed to pay for the damages on the van. I’m learning daily to combat my insecurities and celebrate my personality instead of lamenting it. This was supposed to be the kickass journey of my life, and suddenly I’m finding that my deepest insecurities and struggles are being explored.

Crazy times, huh? What a ride.

It’s interesting. I can’t say that I have everything figured out. There isn’t a happy ending to this story just yet. But here’s to the hope that there is one. The promise land is waiting for me, somewhere. And until then, I’m still with the four guys who I can’t imagine being without while I’m hating life and cursing God.

Hope you guys enjoyed the story. Colorado and California, we can’t wait to share our music and our stories with you.

Tonight, help my unbelief.

[Liberty Blog] UNC/Duke, Harmony Hills Community Church, UVA, and Emory

2008-10-02T22:47:00.004-04:00

Hey all, sorry about the late post…it’s been difficult to get online recently not to mention the fact that when we do get some spare time, all we’ve wanted to do is sleep. We’ve been on the road now a little over two weeks, and I think it’s finally starting to take a toll on our bodies. A typical day on tour looks something like this: wake up at 7AM, hit up the nearest Starbucks (we’re getting to the point where we won’t drive unless we have coffee in our bodies), drive for a few hours, stop at some horrible fast food restaurant for lunch (if someone made a documentary on our eating habits for the last two weeks, it would literally give Supersize Me a run for its money), drive for a few more hours, stop for gas (this is also where we stock up on chips, beef jerky, soda, and everything else that will shave a few years off our lives), arrive at the venue, load in and sound check, play, pack up, then head to another horrible fast food restaurant where we celebrate the night’s accomplishments. It’s a pretty repulsive lifestyle if you ask me. In some strange way, though, I don’t know if I’ve ever been happier.

Last week, we had the chance to visit some schools in the South. After our show in North Carolina, Brian had to fly back to Philly for a few days, which meant the next couple shows would be acoustic. And while I love playing with the full band, it’s always nice stripping it down to two acoustics once in a while. People who hear us live often complain that they can’t hear the words to any of our songs…this is always sad for me to hear because I’ve always believed that one of our greatest strengths as a band is our songwriting, not necessarily our noise-making capabilities. Acoustic shows are always fun because we’re able to spend more time talking about the songs and the stories behind them. For the shows at Harmony Hills Community Church and UVA, we decided we wanted to spice up our acoustic set a bit by having Colin play bass and percussion on a few of the songs. We even introduced a new song we just wrote on the road… stay tuned for album #3 ☺

After the UVA show, we drove straight through the night to Atlanta for our show at Emory on Sunday. We were a bit nervous about attendance with the gas shortage there and all, but the show turned out to be a huge success. The turnout was great, and the students there seemed super excited for the cause. A big thank you to Joan, Angela, Hannah, and the rest of our friends at Emory for their southern hospitality…you guys are awesome.

Oh and btw, we crashed the van…but we’re okay. Pics coming shortly.

[Liberty Blog] Maryland

2008-09-25T15:37:00.001-04:00

Hey ya’ll.

So we are in the van on the way to UNC Chapel Hill. It’s raining. Gross. We left real early this morning so we’re all a bit tired. Nothing some coffee can’t fix though. I want to say a quick thanks to the kids at UMD College Park. You guys were such a huge help and the whole night was really enjoyable for us. I hope you all had a good time too. I’d like to personally apologize on behalf of our manger Eddo and LiNK’s Justin Wheeler for rapping uncontrollably after the show. I almost just wrote “they aren’t normally like that” but that’s not true at all. They are ALWAYS like that. It’s pretty intense actually.

We got the day off yesterday to hang out in DC. It was great to take a break and catch our breath for a minute. This tour has been pretty tiring so it was nice to just hang out with each other. I wandered a bit by myself and then made my way back to Borders where I found the rest of the guys. Jason and Joe are writing again so they had their notebooks out and were brainstorming away. The rest of us were flipping through magazines, reading, sleeping, just doing nothing for a little while. I made my way to my brother’s apartment and hung out there for the evening. His wifey made us dinner, which was also great. Its sad that I can count the amount of vegetables I’ve had since we left on one hand. Gotta work on that a bit. Seeing family in the middle of tour was a great way to step back and recharge.

I wish I could read in the car. I get super car sick though and that just ruins everything. There is so much down time sitting in this van! It’ll be nice to get away from the east coast soon so at least the scenery is a little different. Anyway, enough of my rambling. We look forward to playing tonight, as always.

More soon,
Colin

PS. This is my first post since we started this blog. Its actually kind of fun. Maybe I will write more. I’ll try to think of some good stories for all. Seacrest out.

[Liberty Blog] Cornell and NYU

2008-09-24T02:01:00.001-04:00

Just spent the last few days in New York (yes, Ithaca is in New York), and needless to say, New Yorkers know how to put on a good show. Like I mentioned in the last post, we spent the weekend with my brother at Cornell, and the show there was ridiculously insane for lack of a better phrase. The organization and planning were impeccable, and the setup was amazing. Big big big shoutouts go out to everyone on the Cornell NK Focus core team who apparently did nothing the entire summer but plan this event. The show was a huge morale boost for all of us and really raised the bar for every other campus on this tour (no pressure, but they gave us our own green room with individualized care packages! but seriously…no pressure)

Our next stop was the Big Apple, a place that’s a bit more familiar and always fun for us to play. Our friends from NYU sponsored the event, but the show itself was at Sullivan Hall (formerly known as the Lion’s Den), a bar/club we’ve played a few times in the past. Our friends from a local band, Bearsomy (pronounced Bears O My), opened the night with some songs off their soon to be recorded EP (I made that up, but they really should record an EP). They’ll be booking shows in the area soon, so if you haven’t heard them yet, definitely check them out when you get the chance. It was great to play for a packed house, and it’s always good to see our friends in the city. We say this every time we’re there, but there’s something really great about playing music in New York. There’s just this unexplainable vibe there that’s hard to find anywhere else (then again, our frame of reference is pretty limited). Thanks again to NYU for putting on a great show as always. We’ll definitely be back soon.

Looks like this concludes the Northeast leg of the tour…hello to the dirty South! (Colin forced me to write that)

[Liberty Blog] Middlebury

2008-09-20T00:11:00.003-04:00

Hey all! We're now wrapping up our first full week on the road...I think the long drives are already starting to take a toll on our bodies, but it's been great getting to know Andy, Liam, and the entire LINK crew. More and more, I think there's a growing sense of solidarity among all of us that really makes every show that much better. We spent most of yesterday driving up to Vermont to play a show at Middlebury College. It's a really beautiful campus located pretty much in the middle of nowhere (no offense)...if you are ever in the Vermont area and are looking for a place to get free food, definitely check out the dining halls at Middlebury...the food is amazing. Other than stealing from school cafeterias, we've resorted to eating PB&J pretty much every meal unless our manager eddo decides we deserve something a little more luxurious. Big shoutouts go out to Jamie and Susan at Middlebury for organizing a great show...and for Sarah, we expect to see you in a few days at our show in Chapel Hill. It would've been great to stay in Vermont another day, but the team decided it would be better to drive through the night and get to our next destination, Cornell University. We spent most of today checking out the campus and gearing up for tomorrow night's show which looks to be pretty amazing...as much as I hate to admit it sometimes, my brother is pretty much the man when it comes to organizing events like this. More to come after the show...we'll see everyone at Duffield Hall at 7 PM tomorrow night.

[Liberty Blog] ... aaand Back to Philly

2008-09-18T00:14:00.008-04:00

Hey friends. We had a pretty cool first few days -- starting off at Penn, then heading over to Boston to play for the BU crowd, then going back down to Philly to play for our new friends at Villanova. Turns out the Gordon College show was regretfully canceled, so we took a day off to rest up in Philly before we headed out for Vermont tomorrow.

The LiNK folks and Andy had a good time with Jase in the city exploring South Street. I wish I had pictures for you, but I ended up spending my free day running errands around town. In any case, we're all rested and pretty stoked to play for Middlebury and Cornell this weekend. Those two shows should be a lot of fun.

Thanks for continuing to check in. Jase is taking some pretty funny video footage, so we'll try to get those up for you guys soon too. By the way, our Myspace is finally up-to-date with all the show information. Check it out; we also made it easier on the eyes with a more streamlined layout to make it seem more like a digital press kit.

[Liberty Blog] Philadelphia

2008-09-15T01:18:00.002-04:00

On Repeat:

Coldplay "Viva La Vida"
Arcade Fire "Neon Bible"

Liberty Live began in full swing tonight at our home base. It's great to finally see the several weeks of planning and labor amount to something exciting and real. All of us are pretty stoked about the 23-city tour we have planned.

We finally met Andy Grammer, singer-songwriter from Los Angeles with great music and personality. He's here with his videographer Liam, and they're both really great guys. It's a lot of fun talking to these guys over a range of topics like the music scene in LA and the Ba'hai faith. We're thrilled to be working with these guys for the next few weeks.

In any case, we played a great first show to our friends at the University of Pennsylvania. We started off the night with "The Roadie" and played some classics like "Thirty Years." Lots of fun. And we're all pretty beat now and spending the night at Brian's place before we head out to Boston tomorrow morning. That's going to be one crazy trip. Lots of photos to come, I'm sure.

It'd be great to see you guys when/if we pass through your city. Come and listen to some fun tunes from Andy and our band, but also come to get a healthy reality check concerning the situation in North Korea from LiNK and the flagrantly offensive human rights abuses that are happening under the radar over there. It's a shocking discovery for those of us that don't know much about it, but there's no better time than now to be learning about the situation and finding ways that we can all be involved for the sake of a happier tomorrow for our North Korean friends.

We'll see you tomorrow night, Boston University. I promise there will be more pictures as the days go on. Stay tuned.

2008-09-11T11:48:00.003-04:00

This might be the coolest thing I've seen in a long while. And strangely enough, one of the most touching things I've seen in a long while, too.

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Have you donated to Miss Vintage today?

The Last CD Release Party

2008-09-07T03:28:00.004-04:00

This weekend marks the end of the whole series of CD release concerts we've done around the Philadelphia area to celebrate our sophomore album with our friends and families. Thank you to all who've come out with your vigorous support.

Now we rest and we pray. In just a week from today, the Liberty Live tour commences.

We'll see you in a week, University of Pennsylvania!

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Have you donated to Miss Vintage today?

WANTED: "Tour Roadies"

2008-08-29T15:16:00.003-04:00

Join us as we take "Our Lives Are Not Through Just Yet" to the streets.

MISS VINTAGE needs to raise $1500 for our nationwide tour by September 13! Would you consider partnering with us? Any and all support is greatly appreciated. Email us at theband@missvintagemusic.com for more information. Thank you very much!

Some Favorites From Englewood, NJ

2008-08-23T08:45:00.003-04:00

Jase was pretty sick yesterday, so he made for a great model.

Some Press and a Review

2008-08-22T10:51:00.005-04:00

>> Angry Asian Man

>> IvyGate

Thank You Cherry Hill, NJ

2008-08-21T15:58:00.004-04:00

Have you ordered your album yet?

2008-08-14T00:30:00.000-04:00

38 More Days

2008-08-06T18:04:00.005-04:00

So now that the studio sessions for our album are complete and I've finished my master's degree program, life has been a lot quieter and much more relaxed. Two things I can't get enough of at this point:

Priscilla Ahn (obligatory link to Myspace)
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Maybe I do miss the simplicity of the singer-songwriter approach, but I can't thank my lucky stars enough that I'm finally doing what I love doing with a real band. Making a career out of your music can be one of the loneliest experiences ... like ever. Having some guys to suffer together with makes the future look far less harrowing.

In any case, check out those abovementioned links. I got to see Priscilla Ahn perform at the Tin Angel here in Philly over the weekend; wonderful show. And I only recently got introduced to It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and it's pretty funny so far. It's another of those "omigawd why is this guy such a jackass" type of program (a la The Office? Family Guy?). I hope that isn't telling of some aspect of my character. Fingers crossed.

HAVE YOU PRE-ORDERED YOUR ALBUM YET???? The kind people on the pre-sale list have gotten some perks that are not available to the public just yet. I won't say what it is, but trust me when I say it's totally worth it. Go click on the album cover art to your right column to buy one now.

Enjoy your summer, friends. As always, do leave your love in the comments section, or email us at theband@missvintagemusic.com with any questions or feedback.

... pre-order. Does that word make sense? Pre-order. To order, before?

Conclusions and Commencements

2008-07-28T14:32:00.006-04:00

So it's been awhile since I actually blogged on our space here since the launch of our 3-month video blog series. Very peculiar that writing sentences has actually become stranger than entertaining a video camera, but who knows. The video blogs certainly did yield a lot of enthusiasm from our friends and families. Maybe we won't be shutting down those operations just yet.

But in regards to the video blogs, thank you guys for checking in so regularly. Your questions and comments and even criticism went a long way to help us deeply appreciate what we do. It's exciting to see two years of songwriting and tireless gigging culminate into an experience that's been wholly inclusive of your support. We certainly couldn't have done these past two years alone. Thanks everyone.

I am so deeply proud to say that our second album, Our Lives Are Not Through Just Yet, has successfully been completed. I'm not one to toot my own horn, but this CD has some incredibly moving songs on it that we're eagerly waiting to play for all of you. A wide gamut of emotions and experiences are being explored on our sophomore album, from wondering if blithely ignoring life's impending problems and crises will make things better today ("Trains") to desperately latching onto any source of comfort when things have all gone to hell ("Makebelieve"). You'll see and hear new arrangements for familiar favorites (e.g., "Twenty Twenty") and also what's arguably the most important song we've ever written as a band ("Your Finest Moment"). I'm positive that you'll enjoy what we've worked so hard to prepare for you.

It's been a draining past several months (you can see Colin passed out at the studio above), but we're confident that the next several months will be so much more rewarding. Pre-order your copy of Our Lives Are Not Through Just Yet if you haven't already at missvintagemusic.com. There'll be more exciting news in just weeks to come, but I promise the news will be that much more compelling if you have a CD in your hands. Get yours today, friends.

Storytellers | the Finale

2008-07-14T04:00:00.000-04:00

Storytellers Chapter 10 | Makebelieve

2008-07-07T00:00:00.000-04:00

Storytellers Chapter 9 | All That's Left

2008-07-03T00:28:00.003-04:00

Storytellers Chapter 8 | Your Finest Moment

2008-06-24T23:25:00.001-04:00

Storytellers Chapter 7 | Marry Annette

2008-06-18T09:27:00.003-04:00

Tune in to Radio 104.5 FM today at 5pm!!!

2008-06-13T10:36:00.003-04:00

Hello all!

Brian here, just reminding you guys that we'll be performing LIVE on the air for Philadelphia's Radio 104.5 FM at 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time!!

If you won't be near a radio, click on over to www.radio1045.com and click the "Listen Now" icon in the upper left corner.

Happy Friday, have a great weekend!

-Brian
mv

Storytellers Chapter 6 | Temporary Like Me

2008-06-09T17:15:00.002-04:00

[Part I]

[Part II]

Storytellers Chapter 5 | Trains

2008-06-03T01:34:00.002-04:00

Storytellers Chapter 4 | The Last Time We Cried

2008-05-25T19:04:00.002-04:00

Storytellers Chapter 3 | Twenty Twenty

2008-05-20T17:54:00.001-04:00

Storytellers POSTPONED | Jason's Sick

2008-05-19T00:00:00.000-04:00

Gay Marriage Ban Declared Unconstitutional

2008-05-15T14:35:00.005-04:00

"SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court ruled today that same-sex couples should be permitted to marry, rejecting state marriage laws as discriminatory."

Click here to jump to the story. Lots of thinking to do today to arrive at my own conclusions. But you're in my thoughts, California friends and family. I pray you'll be peaceful. Dogma never wins battles but appears to start wars instead.

Shoutout

2008-05-14T09:36:00.003-04:00

Thank you to all those who have been tuning into our vblog and leaving comments! Just wanted to make a quick shoutout to our good friend Paul from NYU who will be leaving for the army soon...you'll definitely be in our thoughts and prayers, bro.

For those of you who don't know Paul, he is currently recording a CD with his band, Postcard Remedies, that should be available soon. Everyone should definitely check them out.

Stay tuned for the next vblog!

Storytellers Chapter 2 | "Goodbye Los Angeles"

2008-05-11T21:15:00.001-04:00

Storytellers Chapter 1 | "The Roadie"

2008-05-05T01:07:00.002-04:00

Los Angeles Stripped

2008-04-27T15:27:00.002-04:00

Courtesy of dejalu. A rare moment when you get to hear Jase discuss the songs and our heart. Forgive me in advance for the tuning mishaps.

Storytellers | the Introduction

2008-04-26T15:10:00.006-04:00

Introducing the new series, Storytellers. Stay tuned for Chapter 1 due next Saturday.

Rutgers, Twice

2008-04-25T16:46:00.006-04:00

We went to Rutgers last night to play some music and all we have to show for it are these photos from White Castle.

In any case, thanks to our friends at Rutgers for their warm hospitality and kindness. We hope you enjoyed our music. See you next time.

Big Wins for PA

2008-04-23T10:47:00.008-04:00

[edit] Pennsylvania is Clinton Country, baby. Congratulations to the Flyers and their fans as well.

Got to see Eisley last night in Hoboken. Great set, cool opening bands as well (Vedera and The Myriad). Strange, though, how the most memorable part of the evening was watching the techs and roadie crews set up rapidly between sets. I couldn't help but feel some sort of renewed desire to get out on the road and play some more music. This fall's going to be a great season, and we have a lot of exciting things lined up for you.

A photo for you from Maxwell's in Hoboken. Chauntelle Dupree is a beautiful person. Do you read this, Eisley? I'm in love with your guitar player.

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Happy Earth Day, everyone. Today's is short and sweet: VOTE!

By the way, check out this link. This story is insane.

Hey Phillies

2008-04-21T08:39:00.007-04:00

I went with Brian and his girlfriend Diana to the Phillies game last night. I know, total third wheel action. It was fun though; Citizens is a great stadium. Great way to wrap up this exhausting weekend with several hours spent playing live and tracking in the studio.

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Probably isn't clear from these iPhone pictures, but it says we won. 5-4 against the Mets. Way to snuff their winning streak! Oh, and I also decided that the Phanatic is thoroughly creepy for some reason; something about his pelvic thrusts.

The happy couple in the Hall of Fame club.

The happier couple. Totally kidding.

This week finds us returning to Rutgers and NYU. For our Philadelphia family, we'll be playing at Doc Watson's in Center City this Sunday night. Show some love!

2008-04-19T17:55:00.008-04:00

I know we don't talk about the studio too much, and if you've missed past posts on the blog from yours truly, here's an official announcement-of-sorts: We are currently in the studio recording our next album. I think you'll be excited to see the transformation that seizes our Myspace and our merchandise when our CD releases. My apologies for the general silence from the blog: we really wanted to exaggerate the impact of our launch. Oh well. Since most of you guys know already, might as well roll with the punches and keep you guys informed.

Stay tuned for a video blog update from Jase later today. For the time being, here are some photos that I took from my iPhone while in the studio today.

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Here's the control room where we sit and record and listen and eat and repeat.

Here's the live room. We're making our way through all of the songs, finishing up the guitar tracks for each. You can see the ÷13 and the vintage Fender sitting there; it's LOUD.

Here's Jase tracking a song that'll be on the album; this one's called Trains.

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More to come soon. Sit tight for the video blog from brother Jase.

Spotlight on an Artist | miketrapp-photo.com

2008-04-18T10:18:00.004-04:00

Clearly, we love what we do. But we're simply a tiny drop in a ridiculously huge bucket. So many people are daring to take their dreams seriously, and it's immensely reassuring and strangely humbling to know that these talented individuals (many times with so much more talent than the little we have) are taking their passion to the streets and familiarizing the world with a glimpse of rare beauty, both inspiring and tragic, that can be missed all too easily many times.

You need to redirect your browsers to www.miketrapp-photo.com. This is the new photography venture of Mike Trapp, one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet that was dealt a sick guitar-playing hand, but opted to make good on his eye for photography. His landscape work is breathtaking. Please support him and show him some love.

www.love146.org

2008-04-17T14:06:00.004-04:00

Tonight our band's visiting Bryn Mawr College for the second time. Great people there who really believe in what we're up to, so we're thrilled to be back there. But the event is really special for another reason, as it's being used as a vehicle to urgently inform the listeners about an important organization. I'll promise to write more as I find out more about it tonight from the show, but for the time being, please direct your browsers to www.love146.org. Read about it, it's very interesting and highly alarming. In any case, we'll see you tonight at Bryn Mawr College.

Explosions in the Sky

2008-04-12T09:47:00.003-04:00

We saw Explosions in the Sky twice this week. What an amazing experience. Photo (and tickets!) courtesy of Carol Hong. Thank you so much!

Culture Wars

2008-04-09T08:53:00.006-04:00

Two evenings ago, I stumbled upon an interview that featured Art Caplan, Professor of Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Caplan was responding to the interviewer's frustration over a given incident where a US couple employed the use of embryo selection to check for a rare cancer in the DNA. The couple successfully became pregnant; that wasn't the issue at hand, naturally. The interviewer appeared to be upset simply over the general use of embryo selection and the implications that the use of the method presented.

This will not become an issue of morality here. I simply found the matter fascinating.

It's considerably easy to understand both sides of the issue (On a somewhat relevant tangent, I find it amusing when people confess an inability to understand the other side and use that as ammunition to debase the quality of the arguer's character. Really, people, both sides of a debate will always be reasonable and well-thought. Calm down a little!). In any case, both sides make a clear case. Take advantage of our increasingly aware technology and science to lessen the chances that our offspring are void of any harmful cancers and terminal illnesses. Or find the entire process heinous because the future parent arguably "weeds through" embryos that are potential lives until s/he finds the desired one, denying the undesired embryos a chance at life.

Interesting stuff, isn't it? But what's at stake here? I feel thoroughly uneasy that culture somehow found a way to pit science and faith up against each other. It's as ridiculous as this Republican versus Democrat debate. The guiding assumption for a Republican is that the person represents the uptight, conservative, social welfare-hating breed. That's a bit sad to me. We certainly do live in dichotomies, don't we? Black or white and gray is out. It's undoubtedly convenient and makes it too easy for us to judge others. But what happens to the fringes that hide out in the middle, watching intently while the left and right battle it out? I'm not sure. I suppose we become songwriters.

Fascinating. I know where I stand on issues like this; I hope you do too, friends. The unacceptable cop-out in this progressively dangerous day and age would be apathy.

To Boston and Back

2008-04-07T10:14:00.002-04:00

What a weekend. Definitely one of the more draining ones, but things are getting pretty exciting lately. Jase, Brian, and I spent all of Friday night through Saturday evening working in the studio for our second album. We finished four of the songs that'll be on the upcoming album: (TEASER ALERT) Marry Annette, Makebelieve, Goodbye Los Angeles, and Your Finest Moment. The tracks are sounding really great, and we're absolutely thrilled with the progress so far. We'll update the blog periodically with regular news on our sessions.

Immediately following the sessions, me and Jase headed up to Boston to play a set over at MIT. First time at the school; real nice people over there. We got to meet the talented brothers in the Boston-based band, Forget the Girl. They got a cool rock sound going on; check them out. We played a few acoustic/electronica songs that evening and it seemed to go well. In any case, we had a great time playing them. Many thanks to MIT for your kindness and your support.

Also, a special shout-out to Ada and Leonardo. Whether or not you guys ever read this, your kind words were deeply moving for us. Thank you both, especially.

It's Monday now. We'll update soon. Remember to purchase Runways off of iTunes if you haven't already!

"He could always go back to being a shepherd. He could always become a crystal salesman again. Maybe the world had other hidden treasures, but he had a dream, and he had met with a king. That doesn't happen to just anyone!" - The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

"Runways" on iTunes

2008-04-04T06:42:00.002-04:00

Friends, the "Runways" EP is now on iTunes.

April Checkpoint

2008-04-03T15:16:00.003-04:00

We've had some fun shows these past few weeks and got to meet a lot of great people. Thanks especially to the generous and loving friends at Emory, Rutgers, and NYU. You guys are all wonderful and your support is invaluable. Thanks for continuing to believe in us.

If anyone has any pictures from these events, can you flood our manager's inbox with them? We'd love to scrapbook these together. He's over at eddo@spiralnoterecords.com.

It looks as if we'll be at MIT this Sunday. Jase and I will be rocking the electronica/acoustic set while Brian and Colin take the weekend off. Hope to see you guys there.

Idol Favorite

2008-03-26T06:16:00.003-04:00

The sad part for me is that I'm almost completely certain that this guy will not win the competition. It's a shame because he's without a shadow of doubt the most talented on the show.

In any case, I'm going to go watch Blitzen Trapper tonight at Johnny Brenda's. Come join me if you're into the electronic country stuff.

4,000

2008-03-24T09:07:00.005-04:00

Apparently the U.S. death toll in Iraq reached the 4,000 mark today.

There's a lot of news that's been catching my attention recently. Death toll in Iraq, for one. Is anyone else also keeping tabs on the mortality count in Philadelphia? 61 deaths in the city of brotherly love so far. According to the media, this is a good thing. This is the same media that labeled us the City of Death in 2007. Of course, with that sort of moniker, things can (supposedly) only get better.

My grandfather passed away last week. He was a quiet man who battled between obligation and regret. His legacy reminded me a lot of my own life struggles; I wonder if I have some of him with me right now. I can only hope. He was a fine man, and much of my life and faith is consequent to his profound effect on my development into a young man. The world he reared me in was far more innocuous, and even though I did a whole host of stupid shit, there existed the comfort of knowing that I was always in good hands.

I miss him. And I consider the world we're living in now. Lord, help us.

My encouragement to you today: consider carefully the current events of our time. Please get involved with politics this year, because that is a direct venue where we have a lasting impact on the condition of the well-being for our children. Deconstruct what the media is feeding you and decide for yourself where you stand on both issues and everyday affairs. Get involved, because there is going to be much to regret in only a handful of decades.

What a critical time to be human. I hope I can honor you, grandfather.

-jsc

I know who I'm voting for:

2008-01-31T15:36:00.001-05:00

Arnold Schwarzenegger for President.

-jsc

I Think I'll Go to Boston

2008-01-23T00:50:00.000-05:00

See you at T.T. the Bears tomorrow at 9 pm.

-jsc

Vehicular Frustrations

2008-01-15T11:35:00.000-05:00

On repeat in my car: Explosions in the Sky "The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place". I forgot how good this album was.

Speaking of cars. Cars are such nightmares. Turns out my catalytic converter and onboard computer are all kinds of messed up. I almost had to pay $2300 to get my Matrix fixed yesterday. Somehow that price tag got knocked down to $1200, thankfully. But it's still $1200 that I don't really have. It's stupid.

Preparations for the CD are coming along pretty nicely. Things are all squared away with Mister Borchard over at Forge Recording Studios, so it looks like we'll be tracking very soon. We have some exciting new material that we're all very proud of, and we'll probably give you little teasers here and there as they become available. Be sure to congratulate Brian for his Shine endorsement and his new kit that will be arriving soon. Stay tuned for pictures of his new drums as well as some other cool gear that we've been amassing.

-jsc

2008-01-09T12:02:00.000-05:00

This was on CNN's Political Ticker this morning:

"CNN's Sasha Johnson reports that when televisions broadcast Barack Obama's comments on the Iraq war, midway through his election night speech, some Hillary Clinton supporters at her campaign headquarters began to boo."

That was the extent of the blog entry. Thank you for your insightful journalism, Sasha Johnson.

Surprise unannounced show: we're gonna play some music tonight at the Rusty Nail Tavern in Ardmore, PA. Come check out some new tunes that we're gonna demo tonight, and hang out with us. We kindasorta miss you guys.

P.S. Nice guy alert. We made a new friend over at Tone Freak Effects named Dereck. He makes some killer pedals and is a nice hardworking guy. Guitar players, go and check out some of his pedals, especially the Abunai 2. So far, it looks like it's a mainstay in our rigs. Thanks Dereck!

-jsc

Okay, One More

2007-12-31T13:08:00.000-05:00

Sorry, I was gonna hold out on posts until the New Year, but I just saw this on YouTube. One of the more inventive music videos I've seen in awhile, courtesy of Radiohead. The song is Jigsaw Falling Into Place off of "In Rainbows." In the event you haven't seen this, do yourself a favor and press play.

Happy New Year.
-jsc

2007-12-23T15:55:00.000-05:00

Happy holidays to everybody. Go home and get fat and spend quality time with your loved ones. We'll see you in 2008.

2008 is Fast Approaching

2007-12-03T23:53:00.000-05:00

Me and Jase just finished writing our last song for the next album. It's gonna be a pretty sick song. It's gonna be a pretty sick CD. We enter the studio in January, friends. And I just found out my computer can take videos off of the attached webcam. Check back frequently as I'm sure we'll start to update more with news and video blogs regarding what we're up to now that things are slowly getting back into full swing.

Keep us in your thoughts. We're going to be asking each other some really difficult questions this week regarding the band, the future, and trying to align our steps together. It's going to be a great week.

-jsc

Friendly Paramus

2007-11-26T00:31:00.001-05:00

Me and Jase played somewhere in the happenin' Paramus, New Jersey again last night. And once again we got the rare privilege to hear the soulful Miss Shauna Park. You all need to seriously show her some love; she's pretty damn amazing.

Not sure if Brian's hundredpercent yet, but not much we can do about that now cause the band's playing our first show back this Thursday night for our Philly family. Come find us at the Manhattan Room on Girard Ave. I heard it's the Fishtown/Norlibs area. We're headlining, so that means we're playing dead last. We'll take it.

P.S. We decided that it'd be a terrible travesty if you were subjected to my blogging voice only. You'd probably think the band was joyless and forlorn if that were the case. The rest of the guys have full access to this blog so you'll probably be hearing more from each of us in due time.

-jsc

2007-10-31T12:39:00.000-04:00

"Break me off a piece of that Chrysler Car." Andy Bernard.

I'm always two steps behind with TV shows, so I apologize if this is super old news and I'm lame.

Jase, Brian, and I will be at the Fall Festival at Antioch in Conshohocken on Saturday. Come and listen to some cool music.

Artist Alert

2007-10-18T17:41:00.000-04:00

MUTE MATH. Everybody needs to go support this band.

Incredible stuff. -jsc

And We Continue.

2007-10-15T00:26:00.000-04:00

Losing a loved one is always difficult. Especially one that loved so well.

Rest in peace, ahjumah. You had the biggest heart I knew. We'll see you soon.

-jsc

There's Nothing Wrong With Coldplay. Haters.

2007-09-27T09:56:00.001-04:00

A disclaimer before continuing: Miss Vintage is not a Top 40s band. Let's continue.

The hipster attitude is pretty comical to me.

I went to a liberal arts college. I don't know. Places like that breed hipsters, don't you think? I kinda think so. I appreciate Urban Dictionary's comical definition of the word hipster: "people in thier (Editor's note: I hate typos. Please run a spellcheck, UD.) teens to 20s who generally listen to indie rock, hang out in coffee shops, shop at the thrift store, and talk about things like books, music, films and art." I would probably add "social justice seeker, humanist" to the checklist. Check out the link; there's some even funnier reads listed. They're a fascinating bunch.

Now here's my question: how come hipsters are so violently opposed to mainstream mus- ... well, mainstream ANYTHING? I love dialoguing the legitimacy of a band like Coldplay, and I heart the hipster argument. Roar, I hate Coldplay. Old indie brilliance, ugly corporate sell-outs? Roar. "You are a stupid idiot" is typically my warm and friendly response.

I'm a musician. That probably explains why I'm so emotional and overly irrational. In any case, I get it, I promise that I do. The ideal romance of the starving artist lifestyle is pretty enchanting. But call me crazy: I doubt that you're "selling out" if you're making music you love and actually get paid for it. People gotta make a living somehow. It's for that reason I can both admire and still be concerned with the indie scene and with movies like Rent. Artists are miserable, illogical people and are convinced of otherwise because they're living by their principles.

Bohemia is not dead. But I'm a little stunned that it isn't.

P.S. Nice knowing you, everyone. After publishing this post, I'm pretty sure I'll be crucified for writing it.

-jsc

Jena, O Jena

2007-09-20T18:40:00.001-04:00

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/01/1435233

It is a damn shame what is happening in that little corner of the country. Yeah I said it.

-jsc

New Toys

2007-09-18T07:58:00.000-04:00

Geek entry alert.

We've been racking up the new gear. I guess to fine tune our tone and to get ready for sophomore album. But gear collecting is such a disease, so maybe it's not for that reason at all. It should start to sound pretty cool live and especially on our next album. We're gonna be rocking some Klon, Fulldrive MOSFET, AYA Drivesta, Diamond stuff, Zvex stuff, and of course some sick delays (notably the T-Rex Replica and the Pigtronix Echolution).

It should be a good year. Oh, and if you're in the market for a new pedalboard, I highly recommend Rave-On Guitar Works. Michael makes some great custom boards with a special material that holds your velcro freakishly well. Check it out.

It is 8:04 am, which means my day job begins now. See you tonight at the North Star Bar, Philly.

-jsc

Give Her A Break, People

2007-09-11T23:02:00.000-04:00

Why is everyone making such a big fuss about Britney's VMA performance? Would it make anyone's Top 5 Worst Performances of All Time list? Sure. But she looked pretty damn good for a mother of two that frequents the crazies center. Everyone needs to calm down a little bit.

And on an absolutely related note, I know I speak for everyone in our team when I petition for your warm thoughts and your prayers (if you're the praying kind) on Brian's behalf. If you're not in the know, his shoulder has been giving him a lot of grief and he'll be getting surgery for it on October 4th.

Brian's way more of a public person than I am, so I'll bet he won't mind me throwing his contact info out there: you can find him online on his Myspace. Send kind words his way and take pictures of yourself and add him to your Top 8. Whatever it is you Myspacers do.

-jsc

From Coast to Coast

2007-09-07T11:37:00.000-04:00

Everyone needs to watch the movie "Once". Beautiful, beautiful film with a plot that wasn't too elaborate or anything. It kinda felt Lost in Translation-ish to me; it's perfect. And I found out that the two lead characters (Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova) are actually two musicians in the Irish band The Frames. They've got a great Damien and Lisa vibe to them, but surprise, surprise: they actually sound happy. Check this film out, I highly recommend it.

Here's some sort of video montage I found on YouTube showcasing one of my favorite songs from the film:

In other news, Jase is playing an acoustic show in New York tonight (Myspace for details). I'm out here in Los Angeles playing at a wedding. Hope you can go catch his set; it should prove to be a pleasant change to our louder full-band stuff.

The moral of this post: Thank the Lord for the folk revival in the indie scene. All you haters, stop denying the reality. Get onboard.

-jsc

The Band, Year Two

2007-09-05T22:19:00.000-04:00

Looks like we finally started a blog.

My guess is you wouldn't necessarily be here if you didn't have existing reason to be here. If your eyes are the wandering anomaly, welcome to you. Real quickly, Miss Vintage is an alternative band settled here in Philadelphia, PA. We've been playing several shows for the past year around the area, and have been blessed enough to play in different cities like Boston, New York, Ann Arbor, Los Angeles, and Berkeley. We also released an 8-song EP several months back called "Runways". My name's Joe, and the partners in crime are Jason, Brian, and Colin.

In any case, all this information can be found in greater depth in the Myspace, Facebook, and Xanga (i.e., we've done you all a favor by logging us into every online social networking device ever made). The reality is that we don't need yet another online presence that essentially says the same things and/or plays the same music that all our other pages do. Our wonderful supporting cast (Eddo, Jonathan, Grace) have been taking care of those mediums very faithfully, and we're very lucky for their tireless devotion and sacrifices to our music.

Still, what was missing was our own voice. You know? It's one thing for our manager to update the Upcoming Show schedule and for Miss Grace to make announcements and put up photographs from different gigs. It's quite another for you, our friends and family and new friends, to hear what's going on in our heads. Related to the band or not. We figured a blog was a nice and trendy way to fill up that void.

Anything is fair game here. I'm sure in time you'll read (hopefully) interesting posts on life, faith, politics, art, priorities, different lovers and amnesias. We'll probably talk about our music, new bands we're excited about, and share new song lyrics, too. Jase and I even have a little budget studio so on a good day you'll probably get to hear some ideas we're throwing around. Thanks for reading -- remember, you're at the wrong site if all you wanted was what day we're playing at Grape Street. Peace.

And thank you so much for your continued support. Here's to an amazing Year 2.

-jsc