KRIS
Another week of touring has gone by so fast. It's pretty amazing how easy it is to adapt to a totally different schedule than I'm used to. I recently started working out with Matt and Steve so I have been getting up very early to hit the gym with them right after breakfast. It has been a real struggle but I feel much stronger and have more energy. So far I really do enjoy being on the road as a band. It's like being on vacation everyday except you get to play music for people every night before you go to sleep. Actually it's much more work than vacation but just as much fun. :)

It's been so cool meeting new people and seeing new places. Our show last night in Springfield, Ill., turned out to be a great show. I got a chance to speak to Roger, the owner of the club about old school hardcore bands and about being straight edge. He was also telling me about the tornado that came through their town the week before. It was pretty terrible seeing the devastation this storm caused to this small quiet town.

Looking forward to another awesome week of rocking out with my buds. Hope this week is as successful and rewarding.

- Kris

SEAN
We got to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on our day off in Cleveland. I've always wanted to go there and it didn't disappoint. Thanks to the staff for the free admission!

We played two shows in Cincinnati. The last was with a bunch of hardcore bands. We were a little worried that we wouldn't go over well with that crowd, but after our set a bunch of guys from the other bands came up to me to let me know that although they weren't pop fans, they really liked what we were doing. It's pretty cool when you can get people like that to dig you.

Cincinnati also happens to be a very interesting city. It's not what you'd consider to be southern, but right across the river is Kentucky, so there is definitely a southern influence -- everything from the chili (Skyline) to the accents and mix of southern gothic architecture.

R.O.C.K. in the USA

- Sean

ST3VE
When we set out on this tour, during one of our first long drives, we had a discussion contemplating what things a band at our level can do to promote themselves while on the road. You always hear that successful bands are extremely hard working. What exactly does that mean? What can a band do, besides the relentless touring, to help broaden their fan base?

Different tactics must be appropriate for each band based on the genre they fit into or demographic they appeal to. This week we discovered some interesting approaches that worked for us:

• Go out to lunch.
Anytime we step into a restaurant, before the end of the meal, the waitstaff will end up coming to our table and asking, "What band are you in?" Some of our recent show attendances increased simply from the people we have met at restaurants and their friends coming out. Even the people we meet that don't make it out to our show usually visit our Web site, add us on MySpace and send us an email.

• Crash the local radio station.
While in Quincy, Ill., we decided to stop into Y101, the local top 40 radio station. Actually this was a suggestion made to us by one of the waitresses at the restaurant we ate lunch in. We simply walked in, met the DJ, (yay JT!) and gave him a few of our CD samplers.

• Hang out in the mall.
After going to the radio station in Quincy, we hit the mall to hand out our postcards and tell people about our show. While doing this, two people told us, "I just heard you guys on the radio!" Turns out the DJ at Y101 listened to our music and decided to play it. We met a lot of kids, most of whom had heard about the show and were already planning on coming, and some who eventually came just because we met them.

My only advice to bands looking to promote themselves in a mall is to be as inconspicuous as possible. We got kicked out of a mall due to a no solicitation law but we managed to hand out about three hundred postcards before the security guards got to us!

This is our first tour and we are finding ourselves... finding ways to chip away at the boulder that stands between us and success. As long as we keep our nose to the grindstone I think we have a good shot.

- St3ve