Wow, so it's been almost exactly four months since I've written a blog. A lot has gone down behind the scenes here with Calisus as well as at the forefront. The late October short leg was fantastic! Ohio always treats us well! It was interesting and fun to play on a diverse bill. Going from us to Bow Wow is kind of a trip! OSU lost, but they were still loyal and passionate and rocked out!

For those of you that missed the Blazer Radio interview on Nov. 4th from Hood College in Maryland, It's now streaming on our website on our home page and in our Audio/Video section. Also, I'll be joining each Blazer Radio show that I can for the rest of this year, so tune in on tuesday nights at 10pm here!

Speaking of radio, stay tuned! Over the next few months there are going to be some BIG BIG BIG changes in the world of Calisus, specifically on the radio front! And next time I won't wait so long to post a blog! Keep rockin' guys!

     Everyone seems to light up when they see our album cover. Of course we can go around saying that because to be honest, we aren't fully responsible for it. In fact, it was a very collaborative effort. First, we met with our good friend and photographer Kyle Samperton (who did the Jammin' Java photos and our July 07 photo-shoot which is included in the album). We tossed around ideas of where to do the shoot, and decided he should listen to the CD alone, and let his artistic instinct take over. After truly soaking in ". . . a new state of normal" (and believe me, Kyle Samperton is a true rocker from Neil Young and the Stones, to the Flaming Lips and the Foo Fighters), Sir Samperton took his vision to film. The response was negative (little film joke, haha, get it? No? Bad joke? Okay, I'll stop). After a photoshoot around the streets of inner Bethesda/D.C., we took it to the Potomac River near Sangamore. The lighting was vibrantly electric. Just looking at the catwalks and nature was chilling.

     After Samperton edited the photos minimally (he's so good, he doesn't need to change much, if anything at all) we sent the pictures we wanted to use within the album to our friends at Discmakers. Our buddy Ben Plappert and his project team, along with the Design Studio took our music, photos, and we asked them to use their creative skills (since we aren't graphic designers) and harness their piece of a collaborative vision. Getting the art proofs back, we couldn't have been happier. One of the most important lessons in life is that it is unintelligent to be selfish when there are many talented people around you. It makes for a better outcome to use everyone's strengths within a team than to fly solo and expose your weaknesses. And now the album is being shown off at the Discmakers website! We are very proud of this collaborative effort and can't wait to get the team back together again for the next album, whenever that may be!

Click here to see the album being shown off!

     Sorry for not posting sooner. The most recent leg of our tour was pretty crazy. Pier 23 was a small, but cool venue. It's nice to every once in awhile do those intimate places. It's easier to connect with fans. The place was packed and the way it's set up is everything is outside. The stage is overlooking the standing room area and right behind the standing room area is the San Francisco Bay! It was pretty packed and very fun! The next day we had off and we went music shopping. We decided to embrace San Francisco's local shops that buy, sell, and trade instruments. No one walked out with any new gear (which is suprising, especially for me), but we saw some cool stuff. The next day was North Beach Festival! That crowed rocked! Thousands and thousands of people showed up and crowded the grounds! Thanks everyone who came, rocked, and snagged some CD's!

      Speaking of CD's, if it wasn't for music, I'd go insane! We were holed up at the Oakland airport late into the night. We got to the airport early and our flight was delayed. On top of that, we had three gate changes. After our plane finally got there, we didn't depart until about 2AM. Luckily, I had my iPod and a bunch of my CD's with me. I had to turn to Collective Soul's first album "Hints, Allegations, & Things Left Unsaid" (a highly underrated album), and the new Weezer album (The Red Album). The Red Album is fantastic! Elements of seventies vibes, some songs like 'Dreamin' have that classic Weezer 50's throwback, and if you're going to get it, make sure you snag the Deluxe edition for two of the best Weezer songs you could ever hear, 'Miss Sweeney' and 'Pig'! This album is a must have! So those two CD's definitely helped me not lose my mind while stuck at the airport.

       Lastly before I sign off for today, I want everyone to look into the Blue Star Moms. These strong willed women have sons and daughters in the armed forces all around the world. What they do is collect care packages, notes, etc. and send them out to the armed forces.



      We were able to meet the two founders who have their sons stationed in Alaska and North Carolina, one in the Air Force, the other in the Marines. We (Calisus) have donation 2,000 copies of our new cd ". . . a new state of normal" to the Blue Star Moms to be sent out as care packages for the troops. If anyone has anything they can/are willing to donate, please look into doing so. Thanks guys! More later!

Much love and keep rockin'!

-Patrick