Hello Centrevol Fans. There is a lot for me to catch you up on in terms of Centrevol news so let me bring you straight up to speed. We are well into the fall now, and we just marked the one year anniversary of my (kais) first show with the band. Greater than the first show, the event that really got the ball rolling for us was “NACA West 2008”, a conference connecting us to College Students booking shows for their schools all across the west. Right now I’m sitting in the van oh once again with Pete and Nate after roughly 14 hours of driving. We’re outside of Portland on a mist covered freeway with burgeoning green pastures on either side; on our journey to book our next tour.

But, before I get to that, some news about us as since the summer. We have been writing at a pretty grueling pace and have about 4 or 5 new songs, which is very exciting. Our sound is really maturing from Beggars and Thieves, get ready for some interesting tunes. We’ve also decided to collaborate with Eric Palmquist as Producer of the next album. Eric’s a good friend of ours and a member of the Pseudo Rebels. We’re excited to have him on our team.

We also moved rehearsal spaces as many of you have heard. Our former host Francis had an encounter with his neighbor, (and, the clincher, is moving out of Long Beach anyway) so we found ourselves homeless for about 4 days. After only skipping one rehearsal God full on provided a place: International City Studios, the only lock-out space in the Long Beach area (that means we keep our gear there and don’t have to share the space with any other bands). The owner of the place is a believer, he gave us a discount, and we received the generous, generous support of friends to close the gap of our rent to within a few dollars of what we were paying at Francis’ place. Praise God; the best benefit is that the place is AIR CONDITIONED! (The only minus is that our neighbor is a metal band called “Infant Death” [not actual name] that is extremely heavy and loud. We feel like sissies working out our pop tunes while these guys are screaming and sacrificing children).

Ok, on to the current journey at hand. Pete and Nate pulled up in Ye Old Love Van around 7:30pm at my place, Wednesday, Nov. 4. Google says the drive up to Portland is 17 hours. You do the math. It’s 9:30 AM Thursday now, Nate did the first shift; I pulled the heroic 12:30-4:30AM shift (with great thanks to NPR podcasts); and Pete’s on the wheel now. We’re looking at roughly an hour until we get to our hotel. Jon flies in on Friday as we have a gig that day.

Now I have to say with extreme candidness that I have my share of apprehension regarding this event along with the band mates (although  I was one of the band mates who really pushed to do this). Here’s the big kicker that’s irking us… Bands are not allowed to “showcase” two years in a row. That is, at these conferences, I’d say 85% of the frame of references of these college kids is what’s directly in front of them: the bands that are performing at the conference.

Instead, we have a top secret show outside of the conference at a local venue. It’s top secret because it’s against NACA policy to gig outside of the conference: it pulls students away from their scheduled events. The show is relatively nearby, but, the forecast is pouring thunderstorms. My point is, the odds are stacked against us, we kind of need God to sprinkle some of that miracle dust on us. We need our past connections to really exploit themselves, and we need that gig Friday night to really come through, oh yeah, and we are playing an acoustic set [which we hate doing and are not very good at]) so, God help us, we need that miracle dust.

I spent the evening last night texting all of the contacts that I have who may be coming and I already have several contacts planning on coming to the show. We need prayer for good weather and tenacious kids. I was a doubting Thomas last year and we got 35+ bookings! I am looking forward to God blowing me away with his graciousness this year.

The land of Ports approaches, thanks for all of your support.

We are excited to announce the newest arrival of Centrevol gear: both T-Shirts and Pins.  Check em’ out and order them at our Merch Store.

Centrovol "Faces" T-Shirt

Centrevol Buttons

Our medley of “Daytripper” and “Hey Jude” at DiPiazza’s in Long Beach, 9.30.09

Check out our new music video for the song, “Fifth Avenue Dream!”

Hey (it’s Pete here). After our whirlwind trip of fun and craziness in Montana we hardly thought that our final stop in Logan, UT would compare. Our expectations would soon be exceeded. After a long trip down the interstate we exited on to a secondary road – riding for 25 miles through farms and fields. I must confess, with each mile that we passed deeper into rural Utah, our hearts sank with our hopes that this show would be nothing more than an empty room, a sound engineer, and us trying to play with some gusto. Finally we pulled into Logan, whose claim to fame is being site for the state university. Logan had the quaint personality of a Norman Rockwell painting, complete with carefully arranged storefront window displays and well-kept public parks. Despite the university’s presence, the streets were all but abandoned – a symptom I attributed to the Labor Day holiday weekend that was upon us. Following the directions order at us by the British lady on the GPS, we pulled off the town’s main street onto a small side street, arriving at our destination, Why Sound. Inside we met Tim, a welcoming co-owner of the place, which served as both a live venue on the first floor and a complete recording studio upstairs. WS was a cool place but hardly easy to find – with only a small sign on the door and some show posters on the exterior that would notify passers-by (on the occasion someone wandered down this street) that live music regularly occurs within. In fact, when we went down the street to a local café that Tim recommended – some of the locals and employees there didn’t know where/what Why Sound was. Oh boy. In our usual fashion, we purchased a coffee or food and set-up shop with our laptops and digital paraphernalia capitalizing on the café’s free wireless access. I went for a walk around the town in search of a cigar – a task that proved to be more arduous that expected. Most of the shops were closed, and none of those that were open carried an tobacco, liquor or….sharp objects. God bless the Mormons. In defeat I walked back to the club empty-handed. It wasn’t until I reached the club that I noticed the small shop across the street, Earthly Awakenings. I had seen the shop earlier but had chocked it up as a hippy shop that only sold dream-catchers, organic perfumes and oils and art made of items collected on the forest floor. I was very wrong. In addition to the expected items, the shop contained mostly tobacco products, and supplied me with a much-wanted cigar. God bless the hippies.

We loaded in for the show, met the other co-owner Robert, and the other two local bands, Austin and 1LumSum. The order of the show was determined – and we played second after Austin played an acoustic set. For one reason or another all of the people we had expected to come out for us, did not. Fortunately both the other two groups had done a great job promoting the show and by the time we hit the stage the room was full of energetic listeners that we didn’t know at all. From there it was all a beautiful blur of notes, sweat and singing. By the end of our set the entire room was fully engaged and won-over. 1LumpSum was very complimentary and gracious – and finished out the night with a fun rocking set. A bunch of people picked up a copy of our CD, almost everyone signed the email list and everyone left with a pin or sticker bearing the band name. It was another great lesson for the band – proving that you can’t just a town by its farm fields. As if the night wasn’t good enough – when we were about to leave the parking lot, Nate came back to the van with Austin in toe, and a pair of cymbals under arm that Austin had sold him at a bargain price! Wow. I don’t have to tell you that as we headed sound to Salt Lake City and later to Long Beach, we had a resounding feeling of peace, victory and success for the past ten days of shows on the road through the Northwest. Thanks again to everyone who supported us and made us feel at home many miles from home.

In case you missed our interview on OC Rock Radio on Monday August 31st, you can now check out the podcast of it on the radio’s site here:

Centrevol OC Rock Radio Interview (8.31.09)