My friends!

Its been a while. Normally that means that life has been bland. Fortunately, thats a far cry from the truth.

First order of business.... We released some new music!


If you buy Let It Snow Baby, Let It Reindeer for $9.99 on iTunes, you get three new Christmas songs (Oh Holy Night, Silver Bells, and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen). These songs are also available a la carte.

If you pick up Let It Snow Baby... in a store, you'll get a card that gives you

The 3 new songs
Two limited edition RK tour posters
Relient K wrapping paper
And our friends House Of Heroes' version of Silent Night

Our new animated video for Sleigh Ride is also available on iTunes.

I know we didn't release a full length Relient K studio album this year, but we did manage to deliver about 30 unreleased songs. We hope you like what we've done in 08, and we'll have plenty more new music in 09.
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The rest of the Uncle Fest Tour was so much fun. The last show of the tour was in Chicago, and it proved to be our favorite! I love ending on a high note.

My personal highlight of the tour was Halloween night in Cleveland. House Of Heroes all dressed up like me.
Cute.

Then the craziest thing happened.
Brady Quinn (the starting QB for the Browns)
and Nick Sorenson (the cornerback that saved the week 8 game vs. Jacksonville)


both showed up to catch the set at the Cleveland House Of Blues. They were in the same box as my brother, Jeremy, and he called me up after the show to meet them. Turns out that they dig the stuff, and they came to watch the show before going to Joshua Cribbs' (another Browns player) Halloween party. I told them that I dig their stuff, and I did a stellar job of not geeking out on em.

This Providence, Ludo, House Of Heroes, and their crew were some of the most amazing people that we've ever had on tour. We're sure gonna miss hanging out with those guys.

We had a few days off after the tour, and then we started up the Winter Wonder Slam tour with B. Reith, Family Force 5, and Toby Mac. We're about six shows in, and our Christmas spirits are high. If you happen to live by any of the twelve remaining dates of the tour, I recommend you make it out to see the show. Its a fun time.

Later.
Thiessen

The last few weeks of tour have been wonderful (as expected). We've been through a lot of our favorite towns and met a ton of great people.

We got to see Death Cab For Cutie on a day off in Columbus, and the show was EXCELLENT. They're always good, but the set list was the best its ever been. Ethan had a fun little birthday when we were in the Boston area, and I got to go to the best Cleveland Browns game that I've seen in a LONG time.... if not ever.




I'm pretty sure I didn't get on TV with my sign (which was a little wordy), but I'm ecstatic that the text proved to be applicable. Nobody gave my Brownies a chance against the champion New York Football Giants, but they played an excellent game, and turned my first Monday Night Football experience into one pretty magnificent night. My buddy 2tone (who is the biggest Giants fan I know) drove up from Nashville, we went to Kinkos to print up some signs, and we went to the stadium to sit four rows away from the Brown's bench and the 30 yard line. My brother Jeremy scored us the sweet seats. The Browns followed up by scoring those 35 sweet, sweet points. Great night.

The mercury is beginning to slide down the thermometer, and its feeling more like autumn everyday. We're hitting NYC tomorrow, and then we'll make our way down the east coast towards warmer temperatures. Looking forward to it.

I don't know if you guys have seen the Rocket Summer video for Do You Feel, but for some reason, Bryce let me be in it. Check it out here. A bunch of my buddies are in the video too... looking less nerdy than me. The video is pretty cool though.... Makes me smile and think.


Last night's West Des Moines show was a great time, and we're excited to continue that trend in MN tonight.

Much love.

Whee.

The Uncle Fest Tour kicked off today. It was my first opportunity to watch This Providence, and it proved to be time well spent. They put on quite the live show, and they're a pleasure to hang with back stage. House Of Heroes and Ludo tore it up as always, and it was a very satisfying thing to confirm that we're on a tour with a bunch of amazing bands.

Our set had the anticipated "first show of tour" bugs, spiders, etc... But naturally, it was a rootin tootin good time. Three of our friends in the audience arrived in matching Pugsley stripes, and I kind of didn't get it at first. I thought they were horizontal referees.

We played a few songs for the first time, including Death Bed. Other than few flubs (some more key than others), we made our way through the 11 minute storyboard. Its definitely a fun one.

Ethan took a picture and taught it how to say one one hundredth of a thousand words.


Matty

(and yes... 7PM is, in fact, a word)

We finished recording the new Christmas jams, and tomorrow we start rehearsing for The Uncle Fest Tour while they get mixed. Its all happening, Penny Lane.

Had a really fun show in Valpo, Indiana yesterday.

The Browns and OSU landed in the W column this weekend. Go sports team go.

The rest of Warped Tour was just as awesome of the first half.
Afterwords, I received a PS3 for my birthday, moved to Liberty City, and slowed things down to look at the scenery.
I did do quite a bit more than play video games, but crossword puzzles, frisbee, and roller coasters were almost as equally productive.
So, if this blog did, in fact, die for a few weeks.....?
I'm in the mood for zombies anyway.

Love Halloween. But The Uncle Fest Tour is not going to be a Halloween themed tour. At least not 100%. All I'm saying is that I'm not going to eat candy and I'm not going to bob for any apples. Bottom line.
Anyway, it shall be a Fest nonetheless, and I know I keep saying it, but we're really looking forward to hitting up the following
towns alongside Ludo, This Providence, and House Of Heroes.

Fantasy Football is back... I'm 1-1. It was a rough weekend for me in the sport arena. My fantasy team, OSU, and The Browns have all validated my pre-season doubts and fears. Nonetheless, my allegiance shall remain strong.

This Saturday is my Tusky Valley High School 10 year reunion for the class of '98. I was the (probably the only one who ran for) class president, but our treasurer and the other officers did most of the planning. However, I did set up the corn hole tournament and the karaoke that will be there. Should be fun.

We're getting ready to track a couple more Christmas songs to add to this year's release of Deck The Halls, Bruise Your Hand. Its nice to let the Christmas catalogue snowball a bit each year.
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Oh Holy Night, & Silver Bells are this season's selections, and along with this, we have (what is shaping up to be) an amazing animated video for "Sleigh Ride" in the works.
Go stuff that in your stocking.
More news on on that jingle jangle later.





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A Blog, Blog Time Ago


July 27- August 17
Warped Tour continued to buck and weave us through the midwest.

Scranton's show was a blast despite the 45 minute thunder/hail storm delay. So, for the benefit of the soggy Scrantonites, our homage to NBC's The Office was delivered with an extra scoop of pizzaz . I'm not sure if they could tell.

Jersey, Pittsburgh, Cinci, Indy, and Milwaukee were all wonderful in every way. Indy is an old stomping ground of mine, so its always good to get back to the uh... 317?

Chicago was my favorite Warped Tour date of 2005, and this year, it proved to be the best again. The show was great and the crowd was fantastic. After our set, the day got a bit interesting.
A couple of the guys from Say Anything told me that Max lost his voice and wouldn't be able to sing. They had recruited a few other singers from the tour to step in karaoke style, and they asked if I could do a tune.
I chose Futile cause its one of my faves from Is A Real Boy.
I was nervous as heck before they went on, and all the Say Anything guys, Fred (The Color Fred), Stephen (Anberlin), Cory (Norma Jean), James (The Bled), Justin (Motion City Soundtrack), Keith (Everytime I Die), and I formed a circle, put our hands in the middle, and sang that Rembrants song I'll Be There For You. I really did believe they would all be there for me.
I was the third one to sing, so I had moment to cram as many lyrics into my brain as I could. I only forgot a few words, and I had a really good time singing with the band. I had never done anything like it before. Livin' The Dream.

The next week took us from Minnesota through Canada and around the Pacific Northwest. Highlights included riddles, dumbos, my friend Zach getting a unicycle in Boise, and watching The Aggrolites while the sun set behind the gorge in George, WA.

We had a day off in Ashland, OR on my birthday, and all the fellas in the band threw me a great party. About 1000 balloons were harmed that day. It was the best bday I'd ever had on the road.

The last week of Warped went by in a blur. We enjoyed the California sunshine and the promise of clean laundry in the near future.

And that's it. Warped Tour was a great tour for us, and I'm so glad we got to be a part of it.
I'll try and post again in less than six weeks.

Matthew Thiessen

Hey friends. Nothing much going on in my world except for the last two weeks of Warped Tour.

Florida was a hot and sweaty ordeal, but a lot of fun shows. The Miami crowd was a great highlight.

The North Carolina, VA Beach, and the DC area MD sets were all wonderful in their own right.

It felt marvelous to stroll around in my Browns T shirt in Cleveland, and Detroit was another highlight crowd (especially considering an earlier time slot).

Canada was interesting. Toronto had us singing High Of 75 in a hearty downpour, and Montreal made me wish I could transpose our lyrics into French. Both shows were a great time, but certainly not the easiest of the tour.

At this point we had played 12 shows in a row, so we all slept a little better the night we drove into Boston for two days off.
I continued supporting my new frisbee addiction, and I watched Hellboy, Hellboy II, and the new Batman installment (which I adored).

Despite impressive thunderstorms and tornado warnings, the show went on in Boston. The result was one that led to smiles on all of our faces. The New England ladies and lads did not disappoint. That morning, Zach from All Time Low and I went for a jog. In an act of spontaneity I steered our run onto a path that led through the woods. Zach got a bit off the path, and moments later said, "Dude, I think we should run faster, there's a swarm of bees following you." I looked back and confirmed the colony in flight. After getting stung twice, he soon realized that he had followers of his own, and we high-tailed it out of the woods into a trailer park. Even though we were out of the bees' natural environment, the bloodthirsty demons decided to pursue us without relent. We soon passed some kids walking towards Warped Tour and passed off our bee problem like a baton in a relay.
Start running kids.

Buffalo and Philadelphia area Jersey were another set of fine and dandy days.

This morning we played Long Island and enjoyed beautiful weather for the rest of the Saturday afternoon and evening. I love NY.

Matthew T.

The tour has been humming along nicely.

We spent the fourth of July in Austin, TX, 'Merica. It was wonderful. There were fireworks and scared bats everywhere.

We had a splendid day in San Antonio, and a nice morning-time sing along in Houston (we opened the stage that day).

After Texas we took a few days off and reconvened in Atlanta. I finally bought toothpaste for the first time since losing my personal supply on the second day of tour. Its nice to be back with my own brand.

Yesterday we began our descent into Florida with a show in Mickey's hood. I was loving me some Orlando until I blew out my voice in song. I didn't realize how bad it was until I woke up today and gathered that St. Pete was most likely going to hear me sound like St. Pete Brady for thirty minutes. Nonetheless, the show was another dose of fun in the sun.

As for tonight, I'm about to go cook up some throat coat, and stay out of the present rainstorm.
Later.
Matt "about to drink some" Tea, Son

We released The Bird And The Bee Sides yesterday! We're so happy to have it out and available. A toothy smile and thanks to everyone who picked it up or who is planning on doing so.

The first twelve days of Warped Tour have been nothing short of fantastic. Every show has been so much fun, and I've made a ton of new friends so far (behind and in front of the scenes).

There's a ton of great bands on the tour that I've had a chance to meet and see on the tour. There's more than 80 bands on the tour, and I think there might be 50+ that I've never listened to before in my life. I've been chiseling away at my personal "go see" list, and I've realized that this Warped Tour is an even better value than I originally thought.

Some highlights include

Say Anything (my favorite show on the tour... it may have something to do with the fact that they've let me sing gang vocals on "Belt" a few times)

The Higher (they play a great new song, and Seth's vocal is pretty smooth on their cover of "Bye, Bye, Bye")

The Academy Is (rumor has it.... your foot will be tapping)

Reel Big Fish and Oreskaband (you can't beat a talented ska band on Warped)

Anberlin (I've seen them play a thousand times, but I still love watching my buddies tear it up)

Street Dogs (classic Warped punk rock)

The Maine (the day I saw them, they drove all night and played first on zero sleep... they still managed to pull off a superb set)

August Burns Red (I couldn't tear my eyes away from the drummer, Matt. At one point he pulled off a fill so crazy that I started laughing and yelled out "SICK!!!". I looked around, and everyone else watching was doing the same thing)

Beat Union (punk/ska/reggae from Birmingham, England. I could tell that they're really loving Warped Tour. So much fun to watch)

The Aggrolites (they play dirty reggae, and they're by far the tightest band on the tour. One of the best moments of the tour was when I watched the Aggrolites play the Warped BBQ in Las Cruces, NM)

We've also been working with a wonderful organization called Blood:Water Mission. They're providing wells and latrines for people in Africa whose lives depend on those things. A huge thanks to Paul Reed Smith (PRS) guitars for providing us with a guitar to raffle off for BWM at the end of Warped Tour.

In conclusion, I guess I'm just recommending that everyone come out and enjoy a day at Warped, and pick up our new EP/B sides record.

I'm having a lovely summer, and I hope the same applies to you.

Matty T.

ped Tour Has Begun


Photo by Jered Scott


Considering that today was the first day of Warped Tour, it was a great day. Not perfect, not entirely smooth or comfortable (108 degrees during our set), but still great.

I think we're going to post a new song on our myspace tomorrow. Its called The Lining Is Silver.
Its another one off of The Bird And The Bee Sides (26 songs - comes out July 1 - ten bucks or less at most retailers).

Can't wait for San Fran tomorrow. Its supposed to be sunny with a high of seventy six.
Ha.

Matty