Super Awesome Mystery Prize!!

I found a really funny site called Super Awesome Mystery Prize...their blog is hilarious. They will actually send you a MYSTERY PRIZE!! hahaah

Check it out:

Site: http://www.superawesomemysteryprize.com
Blog: http://www.superawesomemysteryprize.com/blog

PEACE.

ENGAGEMENT, 9/29, 9/30, 11/4, and a bunch of other shit...

Ok...so since last time I posted on this page, I GOT ENGAGED, California Redemption played 3 awesome shows, finished up our 7inch record, and broke in a new (2nd) guitarist. Man...I need to update this more often. I work too much.

On WED. OCTOBER 4th, 2006 I asked my girlfriend of 3 years, Nicole Leigh Lyons to marry me!!! She slapped me...then said yes! Life is good! WOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!! I can't wait...

Man...that rules...I am seiously so damn excited...! There is no topping that...but here is the California Redemption news:

So, September 29th and 30th. Bakersfield, then Lompoc.

Bakersfield was awesome. All the bands kicked ass. The Vaggie Scabs, Broken Bottles, Los Dryheavers, us, and finally AGENT ORANGE! The locals Vaggie Scabs had 1 hell of a crowd, and as the show progressed, the crown outside grew larger, and the crowd inside grew as well...just not as quickly. All the local punks hung out outside while Broken Bottles and Los Dryheavers played...they missed out. By the time we took the stage we had won some of their love by offering some free CD's and hanging out with some of the locals. It was fun...hot as hell...Joe, our new guitarist, was rocking...the crowd grew thicker...Roach stage dove into some unsuspecting kids...and just as we were about to start playing The Crowd (Op Ivy Cover), the place got PACKED. So we started playing The Crowd, and the place went off. It was insane. From that moment on, the energy was at about 120%. There were skateboards in the pit, stage-dives galore, and one hell of a good time. GREAT show. If you weren't there, you missed out.

Then there was Lompoc! The next night was fun. I forgot to mention earlier that we convinced some friends to come along and we had about 3 or 4 car loads of friends with us. It was fun. I was able to pick up Nicole before the Lompoc show so that made it even better. Nicole and I met up with everyone at a little mexican restaurant in Lompoc. We had already eaten, so we drove with Mikkei over to a subway where he could get a vegan sandwich. We then hung around Lompoc for the next few hours waiting for the show to start and exploring the local area. We found the venue and it was a HUGE old vets hall. Pretty radical. There was some drama with missing bands, so we took the stage somewhat early. It was a totally awesome time. This night we decided to cover Fuck Armageddon by Bad Religion. Good times were had. Our friends in the Bad Samaritans were there as well, and they played later in the night. We ended up driving home that night...

Leftover Crack and Citizen Fish show now...man...what a show. We got about a hundred free shirts from Keegan's uncle, so when we were printing our new sweatshirts we decided to print on our free shirts and give them away at the show...If you got one, I hope you enjoy. :) I spent the night before puking, and I didn't have much energy before the show. I thought it would keep me from having the best time possible...it didn't. When we started playing, the energy was there and we had a great time. It was nice playing again in Ventura. There were a bunch of familiar faces and a bunch of kids singing along. I can't wait for a cheaper local show. It'll be great. After we played I downed a bottle of water and felt like I was going to start throwing up again so I went and met Nicole, wen't home, and was asleep before the show was even over.

These three shows were Joe's first shows with us. He kicked ass and so did the shows. If you recognize him, it's because he was the lead guitarist and singer for the Punk band Product Of Suburbia. We played a bunch of shows with them years ago and we have known Joe for a long time. Before joining, he would come to a ton of our shows and would always be singing along. It only made sence to throw him on guitar. He was always there anyways! If you go searching around the internet for pictures of us, you'll see him on such episodes as "California Redemption goes to New Mexico"..."Ronald Reagan sings along,"..."California Redemption headlines Ventura Theatre"...and a bunch more. If you see him around yell out "Joe Suburbia sucks!!"...he'll tell you abunch of cool stories. He rules.

Also since the last post, we finished recording, mixing, and mastering our 7inch. It has taken way too long to get this done, and it's great to finally be finished. We're just waiting on the artwork now and record release dates should be available soon. It'll be out on AWOL records, was recorded at ONE ROOM STUDIOS, it'll have art by MCHARDCORE, and will feature 4 new songs including the lyrics on a full poster.

Alright...I think that's it. Maybe not...I dunno. I'll try to post more often...

There are some videos out there for these shows, so as soon as I get a hold of them I'll get them posted online and i'll link to 'em here.

PEACE.

7.21 in Bakersfield

So...last Friday we were scheduled to play a show at The Gate in Bakersfield. We promoted the hell out of it online, and Roy from The excommunicated kept us informed about how they were promoting it and all that fun stuff. We got lots of feedback from kids who were planning on going, and the show was destined to turn out great.

Well, Friday came around and as soon as I got off from work I headed to Doug's house, we loaded the truck, and left to Bakersfield. Over 4 hours later, and a shitload of traffic we made it to the little star on the map...but where the fuck was The Gate?? Everything on the block was dark, and we could not, for the life of us, find the venue. We rolled down the windows and listened for some noise, but we heard nothing. Shit. We yelled at Mikkei, cuz he'd been there before and he had no clue as to where it was. Then, out of nowhere some punk rock kid starts running in front of our car yelling at us to stop. It was Roy.

Roy told us that earlier that day The Gate's transformer blew up and the electric company wouldn't have it fixed for a few days...BUT...the show was moved to Uncle Jimmies house...or some shit. Well, we didn't drive out to Bakersfield to turn around and drive home...so off to Uncle Jimmies.

About 30 minutes later...and a 10 minute drive...we got there. We pulled up to some fancy looking warehouses, and started walking towards them. Behind the warehouses was somebody's house, and a backyard filled with dirt, a filthy looking above ground pool filled with the remnants of the shows attendees, and what looked to be an old workshop of some sort (engine hoists, old car parts, buckets full of paint...all sorts of shit).

A band was set up, and was playing the last few songs of their set. We took the "stage" next. It was at LEAST 90 degrees outside and it was about 10pm. HOT. We played through a shortened set (there was limited time), and had a great time. Keegan hit me square on the head with his bass...ouch. Some dude was running around the dirt in a speedo. Yeah. Then came The excommunicated and Dagobah System. Both bands rocked hard and played fast. Good stuff.

Even though the venue didn't work out, we still had a great time. It sucks for anyone who couldn't make it out to the house and had to miss the show...but we'll be back out there soon. It wouldn't be Punk Rock if it weren't for shit like this. I don't even think there was an Uncle Jimmy or whoever. A big thank you for Roy and his girlfriend and buddy for waiting around for us for hours at the venue. You rule.

Here's our short setlist (I think...probably the wrong order): Live Free Or Die, Armor, Vets Hall, Religion For Dummies Part 2, People With Guns.

6/6/06 in the SCV (Santa Clarita Valley)

Hey hey...It has been a while...kinda. We played yesterday in Newhall, CA in someone's backyard. The show started early. 3pm. I think it was like that so that the high school kids could come straight from school, and also so that the cops wouldn't shut it down before all the bands could play. It was awesome playin with Charged and Held Hostage again. They are both super-awesome bands. There was also a couple of new bands that played...Corpulent Corpse, who played a mean Hanson cover and a song about cream cheese, and the other band was called Catch Your Breath. They were a straight up hardcore band...not the type of hardcore that sounds like Black Flag, and early BR, but the type of Hardcore that has lots of breakdowns, dog-piles, basketball shorts, and sleavless shirts. Good band if you are into that sort of thing.

Anyways, we played 2nd to last, right in between local heroes Held Hostage, and CHARGED. We opened with People with Guns, and the kids went nuts. There was lots of singing along, and lots of good jokes and fun times. The kids in the SCV rule. First song in, Mikkei's mic stand got knocked down and so he didn't have a microphone during the set. I tried to give him my mic to sing into at one point of the set and totally punched him in the face. He probably deserved it. haha...anyways, it was a super fun show, and the people who owned the house deserve a big THANK YOU. Lets do it again sometime soon.

Here's the setlist as I remember it...: People with Guns, oh crap..I don't remember. I'll update this soon.

PEACE.

Article about California Redemption / Summer Meltdown Review!

So...It all started on Friday. I checked my e-mail and had a message that Brenda Stardom wrote another report about us. It mostly talked about me, but she also described our songs on the split and wrote, "I'm having a blast listening, my brain operating on all cylinders, pistons pumping, I'm in the pit, fist is punctuating the air. I dig CARE." I hope as other reviews start rolling in, the response is that good! She also talked about Live Free Or Die, which off the top of my head, is one of the two songs Doug has ever written the lyrics for. It is one of my favorite songs we've ever written, so that was cool. Check out the article here.

Ok...Saturday: We met up to load the equipment into Keegan's truck early and made it to Santa Clarita's Golden Valley High School at around noon. We loaded in our equipment, and realized that we were hungry, so Keegan and I went to go pick up food while Doug and Mikkei hung out with our stuff. We got some sandwiches from a place called Poor Boys. Pretty good stuff. The bread MADE the sandwiches. We got back to the school and watched about half an hour of Indiana Jones before the show started. The school seemed brand new, and their amphitheatre was pretty awesome. At a normal show at an average venue, the amount of people would have seemed incredible, but because the amphitheatre was so big, it didn't seem so crowded. So anyway, the show began at 2 and the crowd started rolling in. Every band was COMPLETELY different, and it made for a very diverse crowd. The whole thing was a benefit show for Santa Clarita's "Yes I Can" special education program, so that brought a few people that you know wouldn't have normally been there.

At 4:05 we took the stage and had a blast. The music was loud, there were a good group of kids singing along up against the stage, and the stage started coming apart! It was great. The sound equipment was too good for us, and we could hear ourselves way too well at first, but then the sound guy turned everything down and I felt right at home up there. It was weird playing during the daytime outside and on a hot windy stage, but it was a great time, and it was awesome to meet new people and kids that I had only known through MySpace or e-mails.

After we played, we went over to our merch table and sold a ton of CD's and shirts. We donated the money we made to the program, and did a few minute long interview for some local AM radio station. I'll post more info when I get it. I was told that the whole thing will be downloadable...I'll let you know.

If you were at the show, THANK YOU! It was a great time, and we're totally stoked that we made so many new friends. Hopefully we'll see you next time we're out there.

Here's the setlist: Youth Culture, Armor Piercing Words, Live Free or Die, Preserve and Protect, Religion For Dummies Part II: The Resurrection, Sectional Tension, Golden Rule, People With Guns, Our Way, and Equals.

Some news..!?

Hey Hey...so I guess this has become my offical place to talk about California Redemption stuff. It's about time this thing got to work. So anyways...there is some big news California Redemption-wise. (did that make sence?)

CAre is recording soon and has 2 releases comming out this summer! It is kinda hard getting together lately to work on things because of our crazy work/school schedules, and with Mikkei playing so many shows with FP its kinda hard to work on shit...but it's happening.

The first release is going to be a 7" record tentatively called "kick in the chest." It will be put out by AWOL records in Texas. It'll have at least 4 songs on it, and it will be released this summer.

Not too long after that comes out, a label in Ireland called Deadlamb records will be releasing a CD-EP we're recording. It'll have about 6 songs on it...and all we really know right now is that it'll be on a fancy looking "fandisk" which just means that part of the CD will be see-through...if you have NOFX's "The Decline" on CD you'll know what I mean.

In addition to all that, the Agression Tribute album should be comming out fairly soon, and there should be a Minor Threat tribute album comming out as well.

I also heard of a rumor of a 7" split?! Who knows.

All I know for sure, is that this will be a crazy busy summer...and you best be ready for full length news soon after!!

PEACE.

Show at Skatelab 3/24

On Friday 3/24/06 we played at Skatelab in Simi Valley for the last of our SPLIT album release shows. It was a really good time. I don't have time to talk about the show in details but here is the setlist:

PEOPLE WITH GUNS, PRESERVE AND PROTECT, YOUTH CULTURE, LIVE FREE OR DIE, ARMOUR PIERCING WORDS, THE CROWD (OP IVY COVER), OUR WAY, SECTIONAL TENSION, EQUALS

PEACE.

Show at The Roxy!

Friday night (3/10/06) we played a show at The Roxy in Hollywood. It was show #2 of our string of shows to promote our Split CD with Start The Panic. It was fun playing at a new place, and it was cool that a lot of our friends came out to Hollywood. I was especially happy cuz Nicole came out this time :) . Last time we played on Sunset was years ago at the Whiskey...hopefully we'll play out there more often.

We played mostly new songs that night, and had a blast. A song or 2 into the set, I decided that my knuckles were a suitable substitute for a drumstick and I split them open on one of Doug's cymbals. Other than the blood, the show went really well.

Here's the set list: Armor Piercing Words, Live Free or Die, Youth Culture, Preserve and Protect, FUCK ARMAGEDDON (Bad Religion song), Scene and Not Heard, R.F.D. Part II: The Resurrection, Golden Rule, People With Guns, Vet's Hall, Our Way, and Equals.

PEACE.

Show at Studio S...

This last Friday (3/3/06) we played a show at Studio S in North Hollywood. The crowd was slim, but we had a good time. There were a couple bands from out of town (further out of town than us)...All Or Nothing HC, and Grave for the Fireflies, and they rocked. Simi Valley locals the Duchés opened up the show and rocked out. You could tell they were having a good time, and later I met them...nice guys. Next up, Homesick Abortions kicked ass as always and rocked out as if it were a sold out show...it's always cool to see them play.

After the out of towners played, we got on the stage and played a set of mostly new songs. It was freezing cold inside the building...Studio S is a warehouse with about inch thick walls. Durring our set I hit Keegans bass(to try and screw him up) and my hand was numb until I got home that night. You could see your breath indoors...this is CALIFORNIA!! What the hell.

Last but not least, Start The Panic took the stage and ended the show in style. They fucking rule. They played some of the songs off of the split, which made me happy cuz those are the songs I am most familiar with. Johnny from Homesick Abortions kept calling out songs for them to play but changing the names to fit the freezing conditions...(ex. Some Say We're Frozen...instead of Some Say We're Chosen) Thinking about it now, its not THAT funny...but at the time it was...so yeah.

Altogether it was a great show, a fun time, and I can't wait for The Roxy next Friday night. (3/10/06)

PEACE.

Annual Blog!

Hello to the super mass of people who regularly check my Blog! haha. OK, so nobody checks this thing...that's probably because I write in it about once a year and nobody knows it exists. Alrighty...so now i'm talking to myself...great.

I think I am going to use this thing to talk about what I am up to at the moment...like what shows I went to/played...or what I did over the weekend with Nicole...or maybe I just wont post in it for another year...we'll see. I like the idea about posting about things within a few days, because for 1 I have a REALY shitty memory and it would be fun to read about stuff I forgot...and 2, whoever comes on here can hear about shows and things they missed..

Here's some news...

This CD comes out on Friday...if the shipment makes it on time!

We (California Redemption) are playing some shows in March for the release of this CD. We had a friend named Roger do the cover for us, and I put together the insert and layout with Keegan and Doug's input.

I'm really excited about the new songs on this CD. There are five of them, and you can listen to an MP3 at www.lterecords.com

It is the first time in YEARS that CAre released a good quality recording. These new songs are a good look into what sort of sound our next Full-Length will have.

Here's a list of shows we are playing in March with STP:

March 3rd: Studio S in North Hollywood with Homesick Abortions, The Douches, All or Nothing HC, and Grave for the Fireflies. $7.00
March 10th: The Roxy in Hollywood with the Ms.FITS. Contact us for $5 tickets!!! Otherwise it's $11 at the door!
March 11th: Suburbia in Santa Clarita with Held Hostage. $8 with flyer
March 24th: Skatelab in Simi Valley with the Scuffs. $5

ALL SHOWS ALL AGES!

Alright...I'm back on here...lets see how long it lasts.

PEACE.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world"

I'm at work right now, and I re-found this blog thing that I was going to try a long time ago.

I have this journal that Nicole gave to me, and the cover says "Be the change you wish to see in the world."...its where I write songs...journal entries...whatever comes to mind. I tend to write more songs(or at least words) in there than anything else. Well anyways, I decided that I would write on here whenever I can't write in the journal...Like at work...or school...or whenever. I still don't know how much I like the idea of telling everyone EVERYTHING I write in my journal...but for now I'll try and post stuff...and I dunno who I'll tell about this.

Work es muy stinko.

LOVE and PEACE.

ALon.

My blog thingy

hello hello...This is my blog....this is just a test