Easy/Lucky/Free

It's amazing how much your life can change in a day.

Yesterday I woke up as my normal self,

and today I woke up with a tattoo and glasses.

Wait, that doesn't make sense to you?...

Let me explain.

I'll start with the glasses.

See, last week I had my first real eye exam, because I was pretty sure that my vision was blurry (or I was just going crazy).

So after the exam I come to find out that I have what's called an "Astigmatism",

so basically, instead of having normal basketball shaped eyes, mine are a bit more curved like a football (or at least that's how my eye doctor explained it, made sense to me)...

therefore, I can't see things up close or far away very well.

So yesterday I went and picked up my first ever pair of glasses...

and now I can officially be a nerd ;)

I don't have to wear them all the time or anything, I'll mainly just be wearing them to read and drive at night, so I'll only be nerdy looking about 20% of a normal day.

(Here's me in my new nerd form)

Alright,

now on to the tattoo.

I had it done at Icon in Nashville.

And for those that are curious,...

Yes, tattoos do hurt.

No, it is not the worst pain in the world, but it's also not the best either.

The way I've decided to describe it is: 

Have you ever been stung by a bee?

If you have, just imagine it being little worse than that, but it's a constant pain for the duration of the actual inking of the tattoo.

Afterward, it pretty much just feels like a sunburn.

One thing I wanted to mention, is that tattoos are no joke. If you're thinking about getting one take the advice I took...

think about the tattoo you want, and once you decide exactly what you want and where you want it think about it for a year.

And then, if you still love the idea, go for it.

Because if you get a tattoo, of course, you can't erase it, it's there forever.

I can gladly say that I really did have this idea for a little over a year,

and after getting in I have 110% no regrets at all.

I'm in love with it.

I'm completely and entirely happy to have this piece of art displayed on my body as long as I live.

So basically I'm just trying to say (because some people end up not really putting thought into their tattoos and get them as a spur of the moment thing and end up regretting it later in life) is that a tattoo is literally a commitment, so be sure of your decision before you do it.

Like I said,

I have no doubts at all about my decision.

There's a list of meaning behind what my tattoo represents to me.

And for those wondering I'll explain a little of what it means right here,...

but to know the full meaning you'll have to ask me at a show, because I want to at least some of it as a personal thing that I can tell people one on one, you know?

(Here's the tattoo)

But anyways,

the tattoo says "easy.lucky.free"

It's actually the title to a song by Bright Eyes.

The actual lyrics of the song, to me, are about death and how it's not a bad thing (and I'm pretty sure that's what Conor Oberst was going for with the song)...

but I've always interpreted the title as something completely different.

I look at it as this...

EASY.

No matter what bad situation I'm ever in, no matter how terrible I think it is, I just like to think about how easy I have it compared to many people. I mean, there are people homeless on street corners, there are people battling cancer, there are people hiding in bunkers at war, and so many more worse things than situations that I could consider hard...

so the "easy" part is just about respecting 

LUCKY.

This part is mainly about how I'm just literally so lucky to be alive... and the fact that I should be thankful for everything I have. I'm lucky to be able to breathe, to be able to speak, to be able to jump, to be able to love, to be able to think, to be able to walk (this list could go on forever).

So, the "lucky" part is just a reminder of how lucky I am to be alive, and to not take one second of life for granted.

FREE.

Now, this part. This part is something I've never really explained to anyone about how I feel about everyones life. The way I see it, every single human on earth, without looking at restrictions of law, community, or hardship, we are all free. What I mean is that even though there may be consequences, there's one simple fact about life that I don't think a lot of people notice.... but see, you are free to do whatever you want, whenever you want. Right this second, if you want to go climb a tree, if you want to sing in an elevator full of people, if you want to hug a stranger, if you want to scream at the top of your lungs from the top of a car,.... you can do it. Now, I'm not saying you SHOULD do any of this necessarily just because you can, but I AM saying that really, you're free, you're free to do what you want. 

So the "free" part is basically just to represent that I am free, and no matter how many things in my life people tell me I'm crazy for trying, or how many things they say I'll never be able to do, I'm still free to believe in myself and go for what I believe in.

So there's the representation of my tattoo as far as directly relating to the actual words.

There are also a handful of personal reasons that tie to the actual font of the tattoo, and a meaning of how I got the tattoo,...

but like I mentioned, you'll have to come ask me about that at one of my Backseat Goodbye shows on tour if you want to know any of those reasons ;)

Okay,

so other than those two big changes...

tonight I'm finally going to get to see Regina Spektor in concert!

I'm pretty fucking excited, to say the least.

She's playing at The Ryman in Nashville...

and the last show I went to there was the first time I saw Bright Eyes,

it was a night I'll never forget, so I expect I'll never forget tonight either.

Hmm,

other than that,

I've finally got some "in the studio" videos I'm getting ready for you all to share some of the new stuff off of "Dressed Up Like Dreams".

By the way, I'll be announcing the final tracklisting as well as the really exciting pre-order deals for that album tomorrow :)

Don't forget that the pre-sale begins March 1st at store.backseatgoodbye.com

I really suppose that's it for now.

Feel free to check out my brand new website for my book at www.chadsugg.com

There's not much there yet, but just as soon as I have some final info ready for my book that will be the place to find out info on it :)

Love,

Chad

P.S. - There's a bigger photo of the tattoo at my personal Myspace at www.myspace.com/nostorybook

P.P.S. - Be sure to add the official page for my book on Myspace at www.myspace.com/csbook

I get lost, messed up, and bored.

Hey Everyone!

(Here's what my desk looks like today, exciting huh!?... no)

I've got a lot of good news, and one little bit of bad....

so, I'm going to go ahead and get the bad news out of the way so that I can hopefully give you enough good to make it better after ;)

The bad news...

I've had to push back the release date of my new album, Dressed Up Like Dreams,  3 weeks later than originally planned. So now the OFFICIAL release date is April 29th, 2008.

I really did NOT want to do this, I've never pushed a release date back, ever.

But I decided this was absolutely necessary in order to present you all with the album exactly how I want it.

I do apologize though, because I really hate when album dates get changed, but please understand that I would have had to rush rush RUSH to get this album out at that time...

and to be honest, I've had a lot of last minute ideas for it, and I just don't want to rush it.

So hopefully you'll understand,...

you will still be able to pre-order the album beginning March 1st, exclusively at my online store (store.backseatgoodbye.com), and I've got a ton of extra "goodies" planned to come along with the pre-orders to thank you for your patience since I've had to change the date :)

OKAY

Now time for some good news!

I've finally got things underway for some really exciting things involving my upcoming Spring/Summer tour...

let's just say there may be a contest involving BG and a pretty huge website that will let you choose where I'll be touring....

just be on the lookout for that soon ;)

More good news?.... sure, there's actually a lot of it...

but it's going to have to wait, because it deals with the new album...

I can tell you that I'll be announcing the tracklisting sometime later this week,

and that I'm going to have a special thing (that I'm pretty sure no one's ever done this way exactly, but I could be wrong about that) to where YOU can be included in my new album's liner notes,

also, I've FINALLY got the plans ready for the BG Street Team and will be sharing them soon,

andddd, I've got the first offical Backseat Goodbye music video finally planned and I'm going to begin pre-production for that soon,

and like I said, there's more, but it'll have to wait.

Alright, so onto a bit more business, then we'll get to my past week.

You know that poetry book I've been mentioning that I'm working on?...

Yeah, well, I've decided on a release date and title...

Ahem, cinematic drum-roll, please....

The book will be titled Monsters Under Your Head and will see an official release to the world on May 20th, 2008!

Oh, and the cover?

Yeah,...

here it is :)

(Please note, this is a crappy little Jpeg of the cover, so it's kind of fuzzy)

I'm still putting the final touches on it, and can't really give many details yet on where it will be available or anything, but I'm working on all that stuff (I'm still quite new to this book publishing business) and will hopefully have some news soon on where you'll be able to get a copy. (I do know that I'll be setting up a new online store where you'll be able to purchase it, so YES, it will be available online.... but as for bookstores, I'm still working on all that stuff)

I'll also be launching a new site for my writing soon that will have all the info you could possibly want for the book, so lookout for that.

Alright,

on to personal matters.

This past week has been great.

Yesterday, I went to see the Nashville Predators play the Edmonton Oilers in Nashvegas with my dad. I didn't realize until the Preds scored the first goal and I immediately, without thinking, jumped out and shouted with my arms in the air (pretty much like it was an instinct)...

that I missed and also still loved the game of hockey so much.

(Because see, not many people know this, but I played hockey for about 10 years of my life at a pretty high level)

And well, after last night I now know that it's something I haven't lost one bit of love for.

So, all in all, my love for hockey has been re-awakened, and I got to hang out with my father, something which was longggg overdue. Good times.

Other than that, 

I've also made some great purchases this week,

I bought:

- a Polaroid one600 Instant Camera (you know, the cool kind that print the pictures out of the front as soon as you take it?)

- the Indiana Jones Complete Dvd Collection Box Set (because I've needed a nerd purchase, it's been a while)

- Roman Holiday Dvd (I've always wanted to see the "classic" movies that I've missed because they came out years ahead of my time, so why not start with one starring Audrey Hepburn?)

- The Mountain Goats - "Heretic Pride" cd (Wow, I love this band so much, if you like them, buy this album right now)

(Some photos taken by my lovely little Polaroid)

I've also gotten more work done on the new album (again, I'll point out that here I'm talking about the new album that will be coming out later this Summer, NOT the one coming in April) and wow, I'm just in love with what direction the album's going.... it's a lot more acoustic based, I'm excited about that :)

Alright, 

well that's all for this week.

Have an awesome day, night, or whatever.

- Chad

P.S. - One more photo, because photos are fun.

(My iCal To-Dos for this month, busy busy bee)

Magicool!!!

First off,

sorry for taking so long to get this posted...

Last week I ended up leaving California a month early to come back to Tennessee to start recording my new album.

I had a great time in CA, but where I was recording just wasn't a good environment for recording...

so I packed up shop and came back home :)

On the drive back I was quite freaked out to be driving through snow while it was negative ten degrees in New Mexico, to my previous knowledge I didn't think it snowed in deserts.

 (A.M. drive through NM)

Anyways.

It's great to be back home now, I spent a month trying to start the new album in Encinitas and just couldn't get started,... but now I'm already a few songs into recording now that I'm back home.

Oh! And I was worried because I still hadn't came up with a name for the new album (now let me point out, that this "new album" I'm talking about is the one that will be coming out this Summer, NOT the one coming in April, the one for April is already done), but on the drive back to TN I finally came up with a name for it, and I'm soooooooo stoked on it.

Let's see...

what else has happened in the last few days?...

Really, not a whole lot has happened...

I spent the weekend settling back into Murfreesboro (and by settling in I mean that I went to a couple of parties and became inehbriated, ha, good times).

My room's a damn mess right now, with all the recording equipment scattered everywhere.

I kind of just wake up around 9 each day and record until about 6 or 7 now, so progress is finally being made and I'm quite happy with the outcome so far.

By the way, I suppose I should mention that there are some new shirts available now at my online store (the little beauties are pictured below)....  also, in literally a day or two there will be a new tote back available that has the same design as the Make Love Not War shirt.

More new merch coming soon ;)

(Both of these shirts available now at store.backseatgoodbye.com)

Other than that, one thing I've been trying to really get together is plans for my book....

I've got a good bit of the actual book ready, but still haven't decided on a release date or anything.... BUT I'm glad to say that later this week (or maybe just early next week) I'll be sharing the book's title and some previews of a few poems from the book as well. I'm also going to try my best to get a final release date figured out to share with you too, so just be on the lookout :)

To wrap up this blog I'll share a bit of new lyrics with you from a song I haven't given a title to yet, here you go....

Everybody knows where the good kids go

Don't say it too fast, go ahead, take a deep breath

In between the angels and the lightning bolts

Just close your eyes and count to ten

I took all your t-shirts

And painted a big blue dot 

Where your heart was

Wrote a little note that said

"This chest is vacant."

Is it bad that I miss the old you?

I hope you all have a lovely Valentines Day,

as for me, I have a date with my tv and Everybody Loves Raymond dvds :)

With Love,

Chad

P.S. - Here's my newly remodeled Bob Dylan poster that hangs on my bedroom door,

I had to make some changes since I'm recording now :)

homeward bound.

This weeks post will be coming on Friday...

sorry for the delay, I'll explain in the new blog :)

- Chad