Waking Up In Black & White

Plans.

2009-05-13T15:49:00.005-05:00

Thought I'd give an in-depth heads up for what's in store with Backseat Goodbye for the coming months.

Right now, this very second, I'm in the middle of giving away my most recent album, Dressed Up Like Dreams, that I released back in Spring/Summer of last year, plus my brand new single I wrote just to keep everyone's ears busy for a while with some new music from me, for absolutely free @ http://freecd.backseatgoodbye.com. If you haven't downloaded those yet, please feel free to!

This weekend I'm playing a showcase at the Florida Music Festival in Orlando, then I'm off to California for a week to visit my good friends E For Explosion while they're in the studio in LA. Next, will be a couple weeks off back home before my June tour begins with Breathe Electric, Mansions, and October Nites.

As for plans after that, I can't really say much right now. I can tell you that over the past few weeks off from tour I've been writing/finishing/demoing songs for my next full-length album. I've got about 10 songs written right now that I'm completely in love with that are ready to go, and I'm trying to get one more written that will complete the disc. There's a gap in between a couple of songs right now that I haven't figured out how to fill yet, but I will eventually, for the first time ever I'm not rushing to write, I'm just letting it happen as it comes to me.

Right now I'm in talks to figure out a schedule to go and record this next album in an actual studio, alongside a producer I'm very very excited to work with, but no finalized plans have been made yet. I'll let you know once I know.

Also, on a side note, I wanted to be clear that the new single I've released, "Summer", will NOT be on the next album. It's literally just a fun song I wanted to release to put some new music out there while I'm in between touring and writing.

As for what these new songs for this new album are sounding like... and I say this without trying to give the cliche' many artists give with "Oh, these new songs are amazing and are like nothing I've ever done before..." but there are a few songs that are definitely... different, to say the least. I've really tried to take a step forward both lyrically and as a musician to make these new songs more complex that what I've done in the past... in a way that doesn't change the feel of what I do.

Anyway, I'm getting WAY too in depth about these songs way too early, so I'll stop there. As soon as I hit the studio I'll be setting up a studio blog to let you hear some previews and all that good stuff, but that's all still at least a good month and a half away. I can also say that I'm shooting for a Fall release for my next full-length CD... and I'm pretty confident these new songs will fit really well with that time of year actually, so I'm stoked on that too.

I'll end this "just wanted to catch you up on everything I'm up to" blog with this...

Here's a list of some of the music that's been influencing me a ton on these new songs I've been writing:

John Mayer

R.E.M.

Elvis Presley

Death Cab For Cutie

Fun/The Format

Third Eye Blind

The Beach Boys

Billy Joel

Manchester Orchestra

Counting Crows

Neutral Milk Hotel

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

The Weakerthans

Cheers,

Chad

2009.

2009-03-24T17:35:00.003-05:00

Wow. I didn't realize I hadn't posted on this blog since last year.

Anyway,... I'm starting this blog back up again,...

the whole point of this specific one is for my longer posts (you can find my shorter daily blogs over at backseatgoodbye.tumblr.com)

Just giving a heads up that there will be good things here soon :)

Cheers,

Chad

a new outlook.

2008-11-10T14:41:00.002-06:00

A recent review of my debut full length album Dressed Up Like Dreams brought to my attention something that even myself neglected to notice...
yes, this album was supposed to be my debut full-length,
but the truth is, it's really not.
If you've been a fan of my music for any span of time over a few months then you know that half of the songs on this album have already been released on past EPs of mine.

The review stated that the album drags on, and the songs don't really mix well together. The truth is, I completely agree. I mean, yeah, I'm proud of the cd, it's a good compilation of some of my favorite songs of mine... however, it's definitely not an album of songs written to live and breathe together as somewhat of a soundtrack. A true album should fit perfectly together and flow from start to finish.

The album was put together for a number of reasons. The main one was simply to have a collection of songs available on a cd of mine that would actually be available in stores (because many people tell me that they can't, or don't like to, shop online). And now that I think of it, that's an alright reason to release an album, but it's definitely not the best reason to.

The truth is, when you look at it, some of the songs on this album are over two years old. I've grown quite a lot musically in the past two years. I will never claim to have unsurmountable talent or wisdom when it comes to writing music, however I do believe my "musical horizons" have definitely expanded. I used to try and write and somewhat stay in a safe little box, never really straying from my normal writing style. These days, I'm at a point where I'm actually trying to stray away from writing the same song over and over again. I mean, there's definitely nothing to worry about, the new songs and demos I have so far are definitely recognizable as Backseat Goodbye songs. I'm still writing them for the same reason, because I truly love bringing new music into the world.

One thing I always notice in reviews of my cds, is that everyone says I have this "potential". A potential to do something great with my music, and for some reason I'm onto something, but I just haven't found all of it quite yet. Well, the truth is, I think I've found it.

None of this may make any sense to anyone but me, but I just wanted to say this:
In 2009, I'm going to be writing and recording a new full length album, and I'm giving my word that it will not let any of my fans, critics, or myself down. I'm not saying I'm going to give you a genre-altering masterpiece, or anything like that, however, I will be dedicating myself to write and record the absolute best collection of songs my mind and body can create.

And all of this is definitely something I'm sharing wayyyyy beforehand, because as of now I have no set plans for when I'm going to actually sit down to write and record this album (granted I already have a bunch of demos ready to sort through for it), but I just wanted to let you all that care enough to read when I post seemingly meaningless rants like this know that I'm not going to let you down at all with this next album.

You will be the first to know when I'm getting ready to actually fully write this new album and record it.

Until then, you can be your own judge on Dressed Up Like Dreams, it's available on iTunes, at my online store, and at select Hot Topic stores nationwide.

- Chad

P.S. - You can see the album review I'm referring to HERE, and I want to make sure to note, that I like the review, and really appreciate Bradley taking the time to review the album.

Singing In The Rain.

2008-10-07T12:49:00.002-05:00

It's raining here in TN today,
and I'm still surprised that it's already October.

I'm sitting in my "temporary office",
which is actually just my kitchen table until I enough time off from tour to go buy a desk for my bedroom here in the new house.
Right now, I've got Lenka's new cd coming through my stereo speakers,
and I think it's going to be a good Fall/Winter album to listen to, pretty much daily.

Anyway.
How about an update?

Let's see.
First off, there's good news and one bit of bad news (that actually is good in a way)...
it involves my October/November tour.
So, my October/November tour with Jimmy Robbins has been pushed back a couple of weeks (that's the bad news).
And actually, this isn't bad news at all, because it actually gives me extra time to really get ready for the tour :)
The tour is still going to be the same length,
but it had to be pushed back a bit due to booking reasons.
So yeah, this does mean you (and not to mention, I) have to wait a bit longer for the actual dates announcement, but when it comes this time it's going to be a full list of about 30 dates :)
And that tour is going to start on October 27th now,
so just expect the dates to be announced somewhere around two weeks from now.

Also, I have a two week December tour I'm doing with Vanessa Rose,
and you can actually see the first couple of dates for that now up on my websites ;)

In other news...
if you've been a fan of mine for a while now,
you might recall how I usually release a new holiday album every year...
well, it's about that time of the year where I've started thinking about that.
And the good thing is, usually I don't plan this out until about literally the last week of November,...
but I'm starting early this year to work up some really special stuff for a super special holiday release this year that will totally kick my past holiday albums' asses.
That's all I will say about that right now,
but just be on the lookout around the middle of November for more news on that ;)

Hmm...
what else?
Oh! In case you didn't know,
since I haven't been able to update this monthly blog as much,
I've finally started a daily Backseat Goodbye blog over at Tumblr...
so you should feel free to check that out @ backseatgoodbye.tumblr.com.

I'm also working on a new BackseatGoodbye.com that doesn't suck...
and will finally be 110% functional,...
full of photos, all of my tour info you could ever need, new guitar tabs, and many many many other special things.
I'm hoping to launch that pretty soon :)

Also,
be on the lookout for new BG merch over at backseatgoodbye.storenvy.com soon, too!
I've got a TON of new merch ideas getting put into motion for the coming colder weather to keep you warm ;)
And actually, I'm planning on doing a special thing soon where you all will get to decide which new shirt, hoodie, tote bag, and other merch designs will actually be available for the new Fall/Winter BG Merch Line Launch :)

I'm pretty sure that's all I've got for right now, as far as BG stuff goes.

In other news for myself,
I've really started writing a bunch more for my next poetry book,
and I really like how it's coming along so far.
By the way, my first poetry book is now finally back in stock over at chadsugg.storenvy.com.

And in personal news,
I'm glad to say I'm alive again,
and am very lucky to have a lady in my life.
Many people that have found this out already have been asking if they could look forward to some new BG love songs in the works,...
and the answer to that is, yes ;)
I'll actually be posting a new song later this week in the light of that likeness.

I'm off for now though,
a lot of stuff to work on for the upcoming tours!

Cheers,
Chad

P.S. - For those who are weird like me and like to know what other people are up to, I have a Twitter that you can follow now at twitter.com/backseatgoodbye ;)

Purely Decorative.

2008-09-02T15:19:00.009-05:00

And.....go.

(After show in Rhode Island)

Backseat Goodbye Summer Tour 2008.
The above words form into an experience that is officially wrapped up in the Past now.
It was the longest tour I've ever done.
It was the best tour I've ever done.
It was amazing at times.
It was frustrating at times.
It was all-together unforgettable.

I traveled through more states last month than I had in my entire life.
I saw New York City for the first time.
I met an overwhelming amount of great people.
I ate more Burger King than you probably have in your whole life.
I went ghost hunting at Gettsburg Battlefield.
I lost my glasses in a scary Louisville hotel.
I saw a giant Superman statue in Indiana.
I did a lot, and I could go on for a while with this stuff, but I'll stop there.

All in all, the tour was great....
my throat is sore from so many shows so quick,
but other than that I'm good to go.

(Note to self: Find vocal warm-up lessons so throat doesn't die on next tour)

I've posted a video (and may post more later) at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfLyayUZmMQ where you can see me and the other guys (Marshall of Ladybug Landslide, and our tour manager, Zach) on the tour rocking out in 3D glasses to Ghostbusters in the car, in order to prove how lame we are when we get bored on tour.

I suppose that's it for now.
I just wanted to check in and give a recap of the tour.
I'm back home in Murfreesboro for a couple of weeks,
so I'll be sure to keep up with this blog much better now.
And in case you didn't know, I do have a daily blog over at chadsugg.tumblr.com

Also,
for those wondering why my new album isn't available in your local Hot Topic store,
no worries, I'm going to have a solution for you very very soon....
for those who went out and got a copy of the album when it arrived in Hot Topic, I'll be posting the info on how you can get your free two unreleased songs and video literally this week.

By the way,
my book has been sold out at my CS online store for a little while now,
if you've been wanting a copy I'll be posting a new link where you'll be able to order the book soon.

And last but not least,
I've got a new venture I'm working on, for an idea I've had for a while now,
so be on the lookout for that, too ;)

To wrap this up I'll leave you with some photos from the tour :)

Cheers,
Chad

(Guitar cases and my new Spider-Man backpack)

(The Kansas City crowd during my set.)

(Rainy drive in St. Louis)

(Superman and I.)

(On the road somewhere.)

(Interstate adventures with Cleveland the tour giraffe.)

(The car was 'effing packed to the brim.)

(My keychain collection halfway through.)

(Night off in NY.)

(GA merch table.)

(Couldn't live without these things.)

(Louisville sidewalk.)

(Travel arrangements, my car, the ever-lovely Roxy.)

(Lame license plates on strangers' cars are always nice.)

(Until next time.)

Idol Times.

2008-07-20T13:28:00.002-05:00

Over the span of my life so far I've looked up to many different faces for inspiration, strength, guidance, hope, and countless other things.
When I was younger, before my musical endeavors as Backseat Goodbye, hockey was my thing.
I was an aspiring goaltender, and looked up to such National Hockey League greats as Patrick Roy, Martin Broudeur, and Mike Richter.

Now, I find myself in a new world as a 22 year-old kid that's completely in love with a girl named music.
I look up to many more humans for inspiration now, which consist of an amazing variety of musicians,...
to name a few: Bright Eyes, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jack Johnson, Frank Sinatra, The Mountain Goats, Cat Power, Tilly & The Wall, The Format, and John Mayer.

From a number of those bands/artists, I've became amazed by a select few that make up those groups.
Take Conor Oberst, for example... the ringleader of my favorite band, Bright Eyes.
The man has accomplished so much, and he's done so in a completely independent perspective.
What he's done as a whole is something I've always been in awe of.
Yesterday I was reading an interview on Blender.com that was done with Conor last week.
My eyebrows were raised to the fact that Conor was 22 when he released the album that basically broke him into the Indie mainstream, "Lifted".

After reading that I got even more excited about the point I'm at in my life right now.
Sure, I've been living quite comfortably from my music over the last two years,...
but I'm at a point where things are happening in much larger scales, much quicker.
Though no one really knows about all that's about to happen with my Backseat Goodbye, other than a handful of people,...
there are some literally HUGE things that are going to occur.

I've always been blown away by the fact that I've become able to do what I love for a living,
but there are things happening as of late that really just blow my mind.
It's going to be an exciting rest of 2008...
and I can't even begin to fathom what 2009 is going to hold.

ANYWAYS....
that's not the point of this post,...
so back to where I was originally going with all of this.

I'm a frequent reader of John Mayer's blog.
The guy has always been interesting to me, not only as a musician,
but as a normal dude.
I've been a huge fan of his for years now,
but today I realized I look up to him even more-so than I thought.
I mean, he's a nice guy, doing what he loves, and helping the world along the way.

I get asked a certain question a lot in interviews,
it usually goes something like, "Who are your favorite artists? And what people inspire you as an artist?"
To me, that's a very personal and big question.
I could chime on for hours about how certain songs and artists have completely changed my life with one lyric.
But in interviews you're expected to give a truthful, yet somewhat concise answer.
And that's completely cool with me.
Anyways,...
I usually always just throw one name in there as far as single people I look to for inspiration,...
and that's Conor Oberst.
But I decided today, that John Mayer is now a second name for that list.

I can only hope that one day I'll be able to do things as level-headed and awesome as him on the same large scale.

It may be seen as childish to still have idols at my age,
but if you were to ask me, I would say it's childish NOT to have idols at any given point in your entire life.

- Chad

the book is finished!

2008-07-16T14:38:00.003-05:00

So...
I finally get to make this post.
What post?... you ask.

Well,
the one where I get to say my book is finally finished.

Wow. What a relief!
After all the crap that's happened that delayed the release,
it's finally off to be published, printed, and ready to read!

Due to me losing about 60 poems that were going to go in the book when my last hard drive died I had to work my ass off to write, and I was worried about even being able to get the back up to half of what it was at the beginning.
But I can gladly say that when I sent it for print, it ended with 96 pages total.
So, despite having half the book ripped from my hands and lost with my old hard drive,
I still fought back and managed jusssssst under 100 pages (which was my original goal.)

And really,
I was super scared about this book.
I really really really didn't think I was going to be happy with the final product,
and I was just plain worried as hell, up until last night.

After I finally arranged all the poems and everything, and looked at it all together as a whole...
I really felt (and feel) like I have made something that people just might like a bit :)

I still have a bit of a reserve in the back of my head that's wondering what the hell people are going to think of it...
because literally NO ONE has seen the book or even read a full page from it.
So, it's kind of a big leap I feel like I'm taking...
but I think it will be recieved quite well.
I suppose I'll find out soon enough!

And who knows,
maybe everyone will hate it.

Like I said, we'll see.

By the way, if you don't know what the hell I'm talking about...
I've got a book coming out next week,
it's called Monsters Under Your Head, and it's a poetry book.
For now it's ONLY available at store.chadsugg.com,
but it will hopefully be available in select retail stores soon (I'm working on that part).

As far as Backseat Goodbye news goes,...
tour dates coming SOON (I PROMISE!!!!!)....
new website coming soon,
new merch coming soon,
and a lovely huge announcement about my new album Dressed Up Like Dreams coming soon, as well.
:)

Oh,
also...
I've got a bit of a preview of the book for you...
if you go over to my Tumblr @ chadsugg.tumblr.com you can see a sneak peak of a few pages from the book ;)

That's all for today,
Hope all is well for you and yours.

- Chad

Life In Technicolor.

2008-06-22T15:54:00.003-05:00

Welcome back.
It's been a while, QUITE a while since I've been able to post one of these from the luxury of my MacBook.
After not having it for about four weeks due to its hard drive dying, I finally got it back.
None of my info was able to be saved yet, so I'm still in a bit of a predicament as far as my book goes,...
but I've already got my plan of how to fix all that. (So that's a different story, for a different day)

But, for those wondering, if you've already pre-ordered/ordered my book, don't worry, I'm working as fast as possible to make sure it gets to you as soon as humanly possible. And now that my Mac is back things are going to be moving very very quickly and I'm hoping to have the book off to be published by the middle of this week, and then it will be shipped to you awesomely patient people by the middle of next week. (If you're unaware of my full laptop problems that occurred recently just check my last post on here to catch up on the catastrophe)

Anywayssssssssssss....
that's enough of this broken MacBook talk...
because now it is back and better than ever, and I've got a ton of shit to get caught up on...
but that also means that I've got a ton of really really exciting stuff coming up as well.

One of the exciting things is an idea I had a few months ago.
I'm not sharing any details at all yet, but I'm very fucking stoked about the possibilities of it.
It's looking like it will have a Fall launch...
right now I'm in the beginning stages of getting the legal stuff out of the way,
as well as all the other this and that to get this thing off the ground.

Another exciting thing is the fact that any day now I'm going to be able to finally share a good bit of Summer tour dates with you all for Backseat Goodbye, as well as the official date in which my new album will be available in some quite large chains of retail stores nationwide ;) (just keep your eyes peeled)

Also,
with my MacBook issue and the whole thing coming full circle with it being fixed...
I've decided that I really want to be in touch with all of you more.
So since my iCalendar was completely wiped anyway with the new hard drive,
I'm completely reforming how I divulge my days....
because yeah, I still used to take a good bit of time each day to respond to messages, emails, and comments that were just from fans...
but now I'm going to start taking at least two hours a day to make sure I get in touch with as many people as possible that send me messages and comments and just everything.
I'm basically just re-dedicating myself to making sure you people know how much I do actually give a shit that you listen to my music, read my blogs, etc...

I'm also going to be keeping up with this blog much more often again.

And seriously,
I apologize to anyone that has emailed me, messaged me, or whatever over the last four weeks...
please understand that my only means of internet was through my old Dell laptop (which had its internet plug-in port literally fried by a lightning storm years ago, so I was having to run my internet through USB, which basically made it slower than dial-up)... so it was quite hard for me to respond to anything that wasn't in the very important business email category.

But I'm keeping this post relatively short, and will end it on this note...
The coming months are going to be one hell of a ride for my music, not to mention the other endeavors (my book, and the other new "idea" coming this Fall)....
so as always, I hope you're up for coming along with me.
I've had a hell of a time so far, and couldn't thank all of you enough for sticking with me, whether it be for the last few years, few months, or last few days....
but I can't even begin to tell you how completely in love I am with even just the possibilities of the coming months.

This is going to be a damn great Summer, and as always, I'm much more fond of having someone there to sing along with me...
so if you're up for it, I sure as hell know that I am.

Let's make this Summer one to remember.

Cheers,
Chad

PostScript - If you didn't know, my new album is now available on iTunes via The Militia Group, and you can find it by searching for "Backseat Goodbye" in the iTunes Music Store or by clicking HERE

PostScriptTOO - Also, there are some new shirts available just in time for Summer at my online store @ store.backseatgoodbye.com

After School Special.

2008-06-03T12:17:00.002-05:00

Here's an update on my lack of "updates" lately....

Early last week my Macbook's hard drive decided to basically die.
This is a very bad thing for various reasons...
but the main ones being:
- ALL of my important files are on that computer (and I had NOT backed most of them up on my external hard drive)
- By "important files" I actually mean what I'm saying... as all of my Backseat Goodbye demos, a ton of new lyrics, almost all of my poems and writings for my upcoming book.... ALL of that stuff was on that hard drive that died
- Not to mention that I was supposed to send all of my files for my book to the publisher to be printed this week

So here I am.
It's June 3rd.
My book comes out on June 10th.
And it's files aren't even to the printer yet.
Don't forget that my Macbook is still being fixed now.

So I'm basically having to wait until my laptop is fixed and sent back to me before I can send off everything to be printed. Supposedly it's going to be back to me in mint condition by the end of this week.

If all works out like I'm hoping it will,
then I'll actually get my Macbook back by the end of the week and I'll be able to get a rush order in to the publisher and my book will be printed on time still and everything's just peachy.
If not, then obviously the book will be ready a few days late.

So, just in case you've preordered my book,
there's the story. I'm doing everything in my power to make sure it arrives to your hands on time.... but if it's a few days late, then I sincerely apologize.
Hopefully you can understand that there's no way I could have seen this computer problem coming.

From now on I will be backing up every file everyday on my external hard drives...
I know that much.

Other than that,
over the last week I've basically just literally been freaking out about all of the above over and over and over and over again. I've been able to at least get online and keep up with my emails and messages through my BlackBerry, iPod Touch, and my good ol' Dell laptop (it barely works, but it does work nonetheless).

Also.
I recieved the test copy printing of my book a few days ago...
it's basically just a little 34 page preview for me that has allowed me to make sure I like the fonts I used and the cover and everything is printed right.
I haven't let anyone see it yet, other than the cover.

And the more I think about it...
the more scared I am about this release.
"Scared" is a bad word to describe that....
I think I'm just more awkwardly curious as to what people will think of the book.
Because really, no one has seen about 99% of it.
I'm used to testing songs out and letting friends hear them...
but with this, it's completely unseen by anyone but me.
It's a great new feeling actually.

Anyways.
Sorry this post doesn't have photos or anything actually interesting to look at...
I have no way of uploading photos right now since my lovely Macbook is being fixed.

Oh,
by the way,
for those that have been asking,
tomorrow I'll be sharing when you'll be able to get my new album, "Dressed Up Like Dreams", on iTunes....
so lookout for that ;)

- Chad

Strangers In The Night.

2008-05-19T16:28:00.003-05:00

I have no clue when I last posted a good long blog, but I know it's at least been over a week and a half...

So here we go.

I've been in Florida since last last Saturday (the 10th).

I was in Destin the 10th through the 14th.

And I was in Orlando the 15th through the 17th.

I went to Destin for just a bit of a vacation with some good friends of mine.

And basically, it was just a grand 'ol time.

(Here's what my luggage for the trip looked like.)

(Ha, Yeah, I packed 24 shirts for a week long trip, so what?)

(Yours truly on the beach, talking about bullshit probably.)

In Destin I basically did a bunch of nothing.

We all went to the beach every day (played volleyball, frisbee, you know, the usual beach stuff).

I saw Iron Man one day during that part, it was suprisingly awesome.

I also managed to buy the new Death Cab For Cutie and Jason Mraz albums (and a new Frank Sinatra collections album).... all are great, except the Death Cab album is just plain phenomenal.

On Thursday I headed down to Orlando for the 2008 Florida Music Festival.

My showcase wasn't until Saturday, so me and usual merch guy, Garrett had a couple of days to do basically more of nothing.

Then, on Saturday, Magic found its way to our lives...

as one of our superawesome Orlando friends took us to damn Disney World!

(In front of Cinderella's badass castle.)

(Yeah, Mickey and I go way back.)

So Disney World was amazing as always (this was my third time going).

The only thing that sucked is that we had to leave by 5 so I could get to my showcase check-in on time.

However, we did manage to get our asses through three parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios) before we had to go.

So anyways.

Backseat Goodbye news?

Yeah, there's a lot of it...

and it's really really really great stuff...

but I can't share it with you quite yet.

I can let you know that soon I will be able to tell you every date of the first part of my Summer tour, and I'll also be able to let you know when my new album will actually be available in a store near you (and also when it will be available on iTunes) :)

Other than that there's really not much to tell as of late.

Right now I'm just getting things ready for the upcoming tour and the album in-store release.

OH!

I almost forgot since it's been so long.

But the weekend before I left I just happened to get about 75% of the music video for "Technicolor Eyes" shot.

There are still a couple of scenes to go...

then editing won't take long and so hopefully I'll have that video ready for you by the end of this week.

But yeah, that's pretty much it...

nothing too exciting since I was gone for a week.

I'll leave you with some more photos now.

(My Steamboat Mickey figure I bought at Disney World.)

(My new baby. BlackBerry 8830. I love it oh so much.)

(I have a good bit of unpacking and cleaning to do now.)

So, good day to you and yours.

- Chad

Two post-it notes.

2008-04-22T15:34:00.003-05:00

So it's a week before my new album is released...

Needless to say, I'm a busy kid right now.

However, beyond the busy parts of my day, it feels sooooooo good to know that every bit of the album is done, and the first pressing is being made right now, and in a matter of days I'll be getting a visit from the UPS man and then my room will be full of boxes and boxes and boxes of my new album. It's hard to describe the feeling I get when I open up the first box of a new album...

it's just so.... so.....amazing. I really don't what to say other than pour your heart out into something for months on end and then one day you hear a knock on the door and moments later you're opening a box with your finished work in a pretty package.... just waiting to go out to the ears of others. Ahhh, I LOVE it.

So yeah, I'm excited about recieveing that first shipment this week :)

As far as busy goes...

Today I finally started the storyboard for the first actual Backseat Goodbye music video.

(Storyboard. And my To-Do List for today)

If all goes well I hope to get it shot and wrapped up over this coming weekend... and then have the video ready by the 29th.

Ha.

On a side note.

If you're a close friend of mine you know this, but a lot of people don't...

I'm quite the forgetful person... I mean, I'm reaaaaaally good at accidentally forgetting things...

and for the longest time I've been meaning to make BG business cards, and I finally got those made today. Now this really doesn't matter to anyone but me, ha, but I'm just so happy that I finally made some so that I don't feel like a dumbass when people as me for a card.

(Simple and sweet.)

On a personal note.

I bought the most awesome Audrey Hepburn photograph (I've had a crush on that legendary lady for quite some time now) for my wall a couple of days ago.

And now that I'm done recording Dressed Up Like Dreams I was able to rearrange my bedroom so that I can actually manuever around my room, so that's exciting to me as well. Don't worry, I know I'm lame :)

(A bit of my new bedroom layout.)

That's pretty much all I've got for right now.

I'll be posting all of the lyrics from the new album sometime within the next day or two...

I'll also be posting a new song tomorrow on Myspace, I think I'm going to post "The Future Is A Masterpiece" I haven't decided for sure yet...

so be on the lookout for all that if you're interested.

- Chad

And I'll go lie down in the middle of the road.

2008-04-10T15:21:00.003-05:00

I didn't realize until about 5 minutes ago that my new album will be released in just a matter of a few days now.

And wow, to be honest with you I was scared about this album.

See, I've been working on it for the longest I've ever worked on an album, and it's truely evolved from so many different forms. Originally it was going to just be a collection of old songs I've released on previous EPs. Then I decided I didn't like that, I just couldn't cope with making people pay money for an album with songs they already had or could already get on past cds of mine. So then I decided to make half of the album have new songs and half be old songs... then I didn't like that and decided to have most of the album be new songs with just a few old songs.

It was then that the album had 16 tracks, 9 of which were new, and seven that were old.

And in the last two weeks I didn't like that, (and actually this is my first time announcing this) so I decided to put 17 songs on the album, 12 of which are brand new, and 5 that are old.

So now I give you the 110% final tracklisting for my new album, Dressed Up Like Dreams.

1. Swallow The Sun

2. Dressed Up Like Dreams

3. Summer Drive Song

4. Bottom Lips And Fingertips

5. Hello Yellow

6. Song For Audrey

7. Technicolor Eyes

8. Hey (New Version)

9. 32 Ways To Make You Smile (New Version)

10. Calico Kitten

11. Envy The Living

12. Boys, Girls, Sing!

13. Sidewalk Sing Along

14. The Future Is A Masterpiece

15. Reactions Over Resolutions (Acoustic)

16. An Attempt To Forget

17. I Think I Might Change My Name To Tomorrow

And I mentioned a second ago about being "scared" about this album...

well, see... I kind of haven't really let anyone hear the new songs or the new versions of them at all (except for literally 3 people).

And I can just assure you that some of them are....well...."different" from things I've done before...

but really, I think that's the most exciting thing about this album for me.

The fact that I'm going out on a limb and trying to really let my music grow is really freeing for me on a personal level.

But yeah, until last night I hadn't really put all the songs together and listened to them as a group, and I think that's what was scaring me the most,.... just the fact that I didn't see how these were going work together on the same album.

But after getting them all together for mastering I can gladly say that I don't know what the fuck I was so scared of. I could NOT be more glad to call this my debut full-length album.

I've never had one of my albums flow this well, these songs all just feel so right together.

I have NEVER been 100% happy with any of my previous releases (for various reasons)...

but with this one I am actually fully comfortable with it.

I could gladly hand the album to anyone and proudly say "Yeah, this is my music, my life."

And I'm not saying this album is perfect at all...

because it's really not...

if you listen close enough in some parts you will definitely be able to hear flaws in guitar riffs or flaws in my voice...

but I'm so so so sooooo fine with that fact.... because this album is an expression of me, my life, my loves, my desires, my hopes, my shortcomings, my hates, my everything.

But yeah, that's all I'll say about that right now, I'm sure I'll pour out a lengthy blog on the release date about my feelings about the about the album and what it means to me and what I hope it will represent for you....

for now, just know that I'm excited for you all to hear it.

Also, you may have noticed (New Version) beside "Hey" and "32 Ways To Make You Smile" in the tracklisting...

if you're a fan of the original versions of those songs don't worry....

these versions aren't far from the originals, I just wanted better recordings of them.

The new version of "Hey" is literally almost exactly the same as the originial, I just redid it to how I've always played it live, which it's just a tiny tiny bit faster, and the guitar riff is a bit different in parts. But I promise, the new version is much prettier and really how I wanted the song to be originally, so I hope you'll take in the new one nicely.

And the new version of "32 Ways To Make You Smile" is exactly the same as the original except I added a nice little "oldies style" solo to it in one part.

Let's see, what else....

Today I'm finishing up Mastering all the songs.

What's Mastering?.... you might ask.

Well, it's basically where you mess with the song's overall volume and frequencies to make sure it will sound good when it comes out of your iPods, laptops, and car speakers.

So yeah, after today the songs will literally be 100% done and ready for your ears.

I plan on making sure you get to hear a good bit of the new songs before the album actually comes out to, so just be on the lookout, because in the next two weeks I'll be posting new song previews like crazy.

Speaking of, if you didn't know, you can hear "Swallow The Sun" now on my myspace (www.myspace.com/backseatgoodbye)

What else...

hmm...

Oh, just a small warning, there's a chance the album's release on iTunes will be a bit delayed (probably just by a week).

I'm still working all that stuff out with the super awesome people at The Militia Group, and we're all just trying to make sure it gets released in the best way possible.

As far as the physical album goes, it will still be available beginning April 29th.

And if you preorder it then your copy will be sent early sometime the week before :)

By the way, you can preorder it now and get a free signed poster and sticker, all for just $8 at my online store at www.downtownrivals.com/store/BackseatGoodbye

That's all I've really got to blog about right now,

I've been too busy working on the post-production of the album for anything super interesting to post now....

but the fun stuff (including videos, finally!) and photos and new merch and new songs and all the exciting things that come with releasing a new album will be coming in new blog posts soon!

- Chad

P.S. - I'll be posting ALL of the lyrics from the album soon

P.P.S. - Don't forget to check out the new song "Swallow The Sun" and tell me what you think of it!

I wasn't born to be a skeleton.

2008-03-30T13:59:00.004-05:00

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

- From Semisonic's "Closing Time"

We were sitting in a bar in downtown Nashville when that line really hit me for the first time.

The song mentioned above has been one of my favorites of all-time for years now,

but I suppose it just really takes some perspective for certain lines to really hit you.

The funny thing though, is that the line doesn't pertain to me at all right now.

It instead involves two of my closest friends (which is the "We" I referred to earlier).

But that's all I'll say about that subject, if by chance either of them read this I just hope they know that they'll both be alright, no matter how much their mind fucks with them and tells them they won't be. I love you both, and think you both have grown from what you shared over the last couple of years. And to be honest, I think it's going to make you both even more amazing human beings with time.

So anyways.

I ended up alone at The Weakerthans concert in Nashville last night.

And actually, I wasn't sour about being alone at all, despite what my company with me thought as they left. There was really no reason for either of them to say sorry to me, if there's one person that understands the complexity of human relationships and personal needs, it's me.

But yeah, so here's what happened...

I'm standing there in the Exit/In with my 16oz "Champagne of Beer" listening to the open band.

They finish, and I for some reason I felt the need to wash my hands.

So I go to the restroom and do so.

(Keep in mind, that at this point in time I'm a tad bit drunk)

And then I decide to go outside (for what reason, i have no idea)...

and I start walking for a second, and have a sudden realization...

I look down at my hand (where at the beginning of the night the cool doorman gave me a stamp as he took my ticket to get into the show) and sure enough, my dumbass had accidentally washed it off completely.

I hated myself for a minute, decided I was too drunk to stay and wait for The Weakerthans to go on anyway, and headed off to my car.

Ha. So that's my story about how I didn't see The Weakerthans last night.

It's now my favorite, I was a drunk dumbass one time, story.

And here's to many more :)

Anyways.

It's almost April now.

The weather's getting warmer and the Earth is getting brighter again.

It's going to be a great Spring.

(I think it may be time for me to do some laundry.)

It took about a week's worth of listening,

but I finally really really really like the new Panic At The Disco album.

So if you went out and bought it, and didn't like it at first,

please give it a chance, because yeah it's weird not hearing every song be a fast distorted pop song... but once you get over that and just listen to it for what it is you'll realize it's a great album.

And I just have to mention the fact that Counting Crows' new album "Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings" is my favorite of the year so far. I love it.

Business talk?

Yeah, I've got some business talk now.

I've finally started making the marketing plans for BG, as well as promotional and street team ideas. I've also been trying to come up with some really interesting contests as well for the new album.

So far I've got a lot of ideas and I'm just filtering through them all now to figure which are good and which are definitely not.

I've also gotten some more work for my book done as well and if you've been keeping up with that on myspace or chadsugg.com then you'll be seeing a ton of new info, previews, and other stuff on that this week.

I'm pretty sure that this April is going to be the busiest month of my life thus far...

and I couldn't be more excited about that.

By the way, in case you didn't know...

I have a daily "blog" now that you can find and follow at chadsblog.tumblr.com

And that is now my newest obsession, and I definitely suggest you get one at Tumblr.com

- Chad

P.S. - By the way...

(Here's the newest BG poster, available now HERE)

The rest will come when it comes along.

2008-03-17T14:47:00.003-05:00

Well well well...

so as you may (or may not) know,

this past weekend I played my first shows of 2008.

The first was in Memphis,

I now officially love that town and the people in it.

That was a fucking great show to kick off a year full of shows with.

A big thanks goes out to Won't Look Back Booking, Taylor and Ryan, you guys 'effing rock.

I'm definitely looking forward to heading back down there on tour later this year.

The second was in my hometown, Clarksville....

and it was a house show where I saw a ton of old friends and made some awesome new ones.

A little note to the music industry...

Hi, sorry but music isn't dead, over the weekend I played in two completely different settings in which every person was there simply because they love a little thing called music.

If you think that independent music is dead, then you had better open your eyes, because it's alive as it's ever been and I can assure you that it's all growing in every aspect no matter what your damn internet headlines read.

So to all of you that are skeptic about the state of the music industry today all I have to say is this...

Music is a living and breathing thing,

the people making it are the heart,

the people singing along are the lungs,

we're all still alive and well in perfect harmony and it's a beautiful thing.

So if you think it's all in a decline, then you need to take a step outside of your bedroom door and open your ears, because I'm here to tell you that there are concert halls and living room walls singing louder than they ever have right now.

Ha, hopefully that doesn't sound too bitter,

I'm just tired of hearing so many people say that the future of music is fucked,...

when in all reality it's not fucked, it's just that the people saying that aren't doing it right (or even for the right reasons for that matter).

So, anywayssssssss!

This week I will be completely wrapping up all work on Dressed Up Like Dreams!

I've still got a bit of post production work to do on some songs and a good bit of the artwork to finish, but after Wednesday it will all be done, and then it will be time to get this baby pressed and ready for your eyes and ears :)

Tomorrow a photographer will be coming to my apartment for a quick photoshoot to go along with a feature interview that's going to be in a Nashville paper that I thought I would never ever ever ever ever be featured in, so I'm excited beyond belief to say the least.

Let's see,...What else?

I don't think I have anything that's actually cool to talk about right this second...

but I'll be posting another blog on here later this week, because I'll finally have a bunch of stuff about the new album to share with you all....

so this blog might actually get a bit interesting this week ;)

Au Revior,

Chad

But trust me on the sunscreen.

2008-03-11T14:35:00.002-05:00

Wow.

It's already March 11th?

Where have the first two months of this year gone to?

The weather here in TN is finally starting to lean toward the warmer side,...

thank fucking goodness for that!

I've gotten in a good habit of cleaning my room and keeping it clean over the last week or so,

hopefully I can keep that up, because usually (especially when I'm recording like I am now) my floor is covered with microphone cables, guitar picks, headphones, mic stands, amps, assorted instruments, and of course... more and more cables.

I've started really practicing for my live shows coming up (I've got a big gig in Memphis on Friday and then on Sunday I'm playing a little house show in my hometown)...

and things feel different...

I don't know how to explain it, but I think after being locked up recording for the last four months with no shows I've grown really really comfortable with just the overall aspect of my music and the guitar and my own voice and just everything involving BG in the musical sense.

That probably doesn't make sense, but let's just say that I think the upcoming tours are going to be quite interesting, because I'm pretty sure I've finally figured out how to let the music lead the way instead of me leading it. So basically, I'm just ready to play some fucking shows and do my best to blow your damn minds (now, whether or not I will succeed in blowing your minds is still to be determined, ha)... and I'm not saying I'm some amazing new person/musician, I'm still the same in that sense, but I'm just really ready to do my best to make sure everyone in the room at my shows feels as alive as ever while I'm on stage.

Speaking of tours,

seriously, get ready for a ton of shows all over the US, I know I keep putting off the Spring Tour announcement, but that's simply because it's not ready yet, when it's ready you will literally see weeks and weeks worth of tour dates all over :)

And speaking of that Memphis show I mentioned above...

my set is going to be right before Kris Roe's of The Ataris.

It hit me at the weirdest time last night, all of sudden I was just in my bedroom watching tv and realized, "Holy shit, I'm playing a show with Kris Roe in a few days, wow!"

I mean, I listened to "So Long, Astoria" on repeat for months while I was in high school.

I dunno, it's just weird when I actualy realize I'm playing shows with people I've looked up to for years. Weird Weird Weird. I mean, it's awesome, it blows my mind!... but it's just weird :)

Sorry this is such a short entry, and not to mention that there are no photos or little extras I can share with you... I've had a busy week and the coming weeks are only going to get busier...

BUT the coming weeks also mean I'm going to be able to share a lot more videos, songs, art and more from Dressed Up Like Dreams with you :)

And to wrap this one up I'll leave you with a little snippet of lyrics from a song "The Future Is A Masterpiece" off of the upcoming album :)

"The Future Is A Masterpiece"

Fuck love, I'm gonna keep my day job.

Celebrate the life that I've already got.

With a bottle of something that'll make this day less relevant.

Fuck life, I'm gonna put up a fight.

From what I hear the trend is that we're all gonna die.

So if I'm gonna fuck it up then I might as well fuck it up right.

Until next week,

Chad

P.S. - Go listen to a song called "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)"... and really listen to the lyrics, they're life changing.

Color and Hue.

2008-03-04T20:14:00.004-06:00

This week is weird.

It's Spring Break for the college here, so the town is pretty much desolate.

The parking lot at the apartments I live at is the saddest thing you'll see right now.

The cars look so lonely when there are tons of empty spaces around them (usually the lot is full).

And I don't know why, but it feels like it's just the slowest week ever.

I feel like I'm not getting anything done at all, but I look down at my "To-Do" notebook and I have even more things scratched out and done already than usual.

(Me, in full blog typing form)

I'm still trying to get used to wearing these glasses, it's still kind of weird for the first few minutes of putting them on.... but it is quite nice to be able to see whenever I'm reading.

Now, let's see, what all has happened in the last week?...

Well, there's now a big pile of letters and packages (for the thing where you can write me and get your name included in my new album's artwork) in my floor that's been growing steadily since last week. I've read through about maybe a third or fourth of them so far (I'd say there's about maybe three or four hundred right now).

Also, the presale for my new album started too, and I've been freaking out (in a very very good way) because it's already pre-sold 3/4 as many copies in just 4 days than of all of my other albums did in their whole time being available for pre-order. So I'm very very excited about that.

I've also finally taken some more steps toward getting my book released. I'm finally getting the final drafts of the poems together, and also decided to maybe put a small bit of artwork in it as well.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot.

I was reading an email the other day a fan had sent, I definitely realized that my show on March 14th in Memphis, is just a week away. And I thought about for a second and also realized that not only will it be my first show of 2008, but it's also the first show I've played since November of 2007. And to be honest, I didn't notice until then how long I've been "behind the scenes" working on new music without actually playing live.... and wow, I couldn't be more excited to get back on the road. Fuck, really, I can't wait to be able to actually sing to you all face to face again! And I can assure you, for those of you that have been asking, that my Spring tour dates ARE being worked on and as soon as they're all ready I'll be announcing them in one big lovely batch :)

Other than that, nothing too exciting has happened.

My tattoo started itching like a whore a couple of days ago, but that finally subsided.

And I still love it as much as ever,...ha, I kind of just lay in bed and stare at it when I'm falling asleep.

And one more thing, a note to the weather of Tennessee:

Please go back to the way it was yesterday and bring Spring here soon,

I didn't realize how much I missed the sunny warm weather until that preview you brought Sunday and Monday.

That's all for now.

Au Revior,

Chad

P.S. - Here's a small preview of lyrics from a new song from Dressed Up Like Dreams

"Calico Kitten"

If my life had a soundtrack it would be acoustic.

With songs about the way I laugh at my ability to love things that I can't have.

If my life were a movie.

It would be black and white with still-frames in color and hue.

The credits would say a simple phrase,

like "You aren't what you say or what you do, so don't worry so much, just get on with a life that you love."

Easy/Lucky/Free

2008-02-27T13:21:00.003-06:00

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.

2008-02-20T12:47:00.007-06:00

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!!!

2008-02-12T20:24:00.005-06:00

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.

2008-02-05T18:48:00.000-06:00

This weeks post will be coming on Friday...

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

- Chad

Hello, Yellow.

2008-01-29T17:23:00.000-06:00

Despite being sick for most of the last week, some quite awesome things happened.

I can't really discuss what happened due to it being a surprise...

but I can tell you that if you head to www.backseatgoodbye.com you'll find the first clues.

There's more to be found at the BG forums at forum.backseatgoodbye.com

Anyways.

It rained here a lot of the past week, but the sun has finally seemed to find its way back to Encinitas.

I've been working on getting decent on the banjo, and finally have a song I'm really happy with that has some simple, yet sweet banjo in it (i think).

Here are the lyrics to it, nothing mindblowing, just simple and somewhat pretty,

"Hello, Yellow"

Hello, How are you?

I'm pretty sure we should be best friends

I'll walk you to school

And tell you "You look pretty." each new day

We'll learn about philosophy by drawing on our arms

And build ourselves an alright house made out of uno cards

They'll say we're unconventional and maybe a little crazy

We'll ask them what's wrong with that, Yeah, We'll ask them what's wrong with that

Hello, How are you?

I'm pretty sure we should be best friends

I'll walk you to the store

And buy you fancy clothes and shiny pins

We'll learn about biology by taking off our clothes

And buy some yellow spraypaint to make a yellow brick road

They'll say we're three dimensional and maybe a little lazy

We'll ask them what's wrong with that, Yeah, We'll ask them what's wrong with that

Hello, How are you?

I'm pretty sure that we should be best friends

I'll walk you to the ocean

And make you a sand castle to live in

We'll learn about geography by sleeping in the grass

Our bodies'll twitch to wake us up when we fall asleep too fast

They'll say we're unbelieveable and maybe a little trendy

We'll ask them what's wrong with that, Yeah, We'll ask them what's wrong with that

Hello, How are you?

I'm pretty sure you're pretty much all I need

The main inspiration for the song was definitely the simplicity of the songs on the Juno soundtrack (which is a great set of songs, by the way).

But yeah, that's that.

Random look on the last week, ready... go.

After seeing Juno for the second time the other day, I decided I have a crush on Ellen Page.

I've started collecting some of my older poems together and written a good bit of new ones for that book I've mentioned. I've got a name for it that I really like and will definitely share that with you all soon. And I think there's a really really good possibility I'll have it finished and published by the time I head out on my BG Spring tour, hopefully.

Since I got sick last week everything with recording has been postponed, so now I'm going to actually begin tracking for the new album first thing next week.... so right now I'm just polishing up songs and taking extra time to get used to the new equipment.

Saw Cloverfield, finally. Great movie. Awesome monster and little monsters (personally the little monsters looked a little scarier to me).

Sorry, this still isn't exactly a super exciting blog,

to be honest, everything just keeps setting me back from the fun stuff (getting sick, etc, etc, etc)...

but I have finally been able to get the exciting stuff in its prepping stages for you all,

so get ready for a good line of just straight awesome stuff coming week after week starting with next Tuesday ;)

Randomness, over.

Alright, all I've got left to say really, is that THIS Thursday I'm going to be doing a live interview/performance on the ever-popular DJ Rossstar's Punk Rock Show on www.idobiradio.com. And I haven't really mentioned this, but YOU get to ask the questions that Rossstar will be asking me, all you have to do is IM him on AIM during the show at the screename staridobi and there's a good chance your question will get asked :)

The show starts at 7pm (PST) / 10pm (EST) on Thursday and is an hour long.

You can listen from ANYWHERE in the world, just go to www.idobiradio.com and in the top right corner you can choose which player you want to listen from, click the link for iTunes or Realplayer and then after a few seconds your player will automatically start playing the show :)

If you've got any questions about the show just let me know.

Shake and bake,

Chad

A bit of hope from midnight time.

2008-01-25T00:08:00.000-06:00

It's 12:07am on the West Coast right now.

My nose is runny, I've got to get up early, but nonetheless I felt compelled to write the following simple message to you all. (It's a short piece from that poem book I'm working on, the one I mentioned in my previous entry.)

Love your life.

Every last bit of it...

the good, the bad, the rain, the kissing, the movies, the books, the pretty lights, the runny noses, and water hoses.

Shopping malls, and the magic of pen on paper.

How you can make words appear as if from nowhere.

How you can find love and how love can find you.

Nights alone and afternoons with friends.

The busiest, most annoying, lackluster day of your life and the fact that you made it through in one piece.

Being able to laugh that day off when a worse one comes your way.

Sight, sound, hope, and the feeling of your feet on the ground.

Love it all,

because you only get one.

I hope you all wake up to a fucking glorious Friday morning, pass on a smile or two, you'd be suprised how much it could brighten someone else's day.

- Chad

Make A Plan To Love Me.

2008-01-22T19:38:00.000-06:00

Just in case if there wasn't already enough proof that I am a nerd,

here's me dressed as a Wizard dressing as a Muggle for the Harry Potter And The Deathly Hollows book release last year.

ANYWAYS....

Last night I was laying in bed (and by bed I mean couch, and technically you can't lay IN a couch, but you can lay on one)...

and anyways....

I realized I've already been in California for two weeks.

It's seemed liked shorter, but I guess sometimes time flies.

I'm going to begin actually tracking songs for my new album sometime this week.

I've finally become quite comfortable with all my new recording equipment and after about a week of just messing around with knobs and buttons to see what all this stuff can do it's time to actually get down to business.

I've got a ton of songs demoed (somewhere around 70) and am choosing from those.

I think that anywhere from 11 to 14 sounds like a good number to actually put on the album.

I still have no idea what I want the title to be for that album.

Also,

I wanted to clear something up,

simply because I could see how it could get confusing...

like I've mentioned before, I'm releasing TWO albums this year.

The first is already completely finished, has a title, artwork, everything...

and it's somewhat of a re-release of songs as well as a good bit of new songs,

and it will be coming out this Spring.

Now, the other album is the one I'm working on now, it is a full length album and will feature all new songs.

So just to make sure you know, when I say I'm working on songs for the new album, I'm talking about this one...

and it will be coming out this Summer.

Also-also...

Touring is finally in the works.

I've said I'd be touring non-stop and meant it...

that will all begin just before or just at the beginning of Spring.

Sometime around early March.

Also, also, also...

I mentioned how I'd have a video for you this week, well, I don't...

BUT I do have a song clip for you...

It's of a track that I have yet to give a name to yet that's a good potential song for the new album,

and you can hear/download the clip at www.backseatgoodbye.com/democlip.html

And sorry about no video, I keep forgetting to get a firewire cable for my camcorder, but I will have one soon and then videos will follow :)

On another note....

one that doesn't really deal with my music....

last night I finally had a "Eureka!!!!" bright idea moment at around midnight.

I've been wanting to write a book for the longest time,

and I've started on a couple, but have only written through the first few chapters and drew a blank.

Out of nowhere I decided exactly what I wanted to do, because I love writing lyrics, but sometimes they just don't work out with music so I suppose they just technically become words with no song, a.k.a. poems.

And I've got tons lying around (and by lying around I mean on my hard drive, because it's so much easier to type words than actually write them down.)

So anyways, what I'm getting at, is....

I've decided that sometime in the near future I will be self-publishing and releasing a book of poems.

I never really realized how powerful just reading words without music could be until I stumbled upon a man named Saul Williams while reading one of Amanda Palmer's blogs.

And by "in the near future" I mean, I'll hopefully be releasing sometime early this Spring...

I've never self-published a book, so I've still got some figuring out to do on that, and I've still got to get a lot in order to bring it all together,...

but just know that I'm quite excited about it, and if you like my lyrics or have every read any of my blogs with some of my poetry in it I think you'll really dig this.

I've got a title and cover for it already, but I'm going to keep those a secret for a little while longer.

But yeah, look out for more on that soon :)

That's all I've got for this week,

be sure to check out the song clip and let me know what you think of it :)

LOVE,

Chad

For the thrill of the fall.

2008-01-17T20:44:00.000-06:00

Is it bad that when it comes to everyday life outside of Backseat Goodbye everything becomes a blur?

I tried taking a different approach to keeping up with journaling/blogging for this past week...

and I'm finding now that it really doesn't work for me.

Instead of just typing out a blog for each day (see I actually type a new text file for everyday of the week to keep up with this "Blog for every single day of 2008" resolution I've decided to keep, and usually I type out a full blog that's at least a few paragraphs) but this week I decided to save time by just making a list of notable occurances for each day.

However, like I mentioned, that doesn't work for me.

I'm sitting here trying to recollect the Wednesday through yesterday and it's not working.

See, it's always been a blur when it comes to BG, because I've been doing this pretty much on my own (it's only until the past few months that I've finally decided help from other people isn't a bad thing) ever since the beginning.

So it's me keeping up with recording, shows, merch, designs, websites, blogs, messages, emails, budgets, equipment, blah, blah, and blah....

so it's easy for that to kind of form into one big blur.

So much so that I write enough notes to myself and reminders, and more notes on iCalendar to fill the seats at a Led Zeppelin re-union concert.

Anyways, what I'm getting at...

is that I never thought that life outside of music would become a blur.

And it's not that I'm doing so much stuff each day that it's hard for me to decrompress it all into one little nice memory package on my brain hard drive ChadSuggVersion1.0...

but I'm just having trouble keeping up with it all.

It's nothing I'm worried about at all, it's just something I've noticed.

Regardless,

this week not much happened on the music front.

It was basically just a week of settling into my new surroundings again.

There was a celebration dinner at Benihana's,

an exhausting run up and down, up and down, up and down, and up and down one more time to start the "working out" part of my resolutions,

dive bar karaoke in downtown San Diego (just watching, not participating),

Hot Rod (STUNT IT!!!),

me being hesitant to drive around town alone simply because I don't know where anything is (and eventually getting over that fear to end up driving for a couple of hours up and down the 101 the other night),

finding my new favorite spot in the entire world,

buying hard drives for my Macbook and taking them back to get new ones because I bought the wrong one...

and that's a nice little wrap up for what actually happened.

NOW.

Onto a more important matter...

my main reason of today's blog, because I also decided in the past few days that I don't want these weekly blogs to just be me giving a show and tell of my Monday through Fridays,...

nah, that's all in good fun, but I'd also like to give a little meaning to them when possible to.

So I thought I'd bring up something I noticed in a lot of comments and messages I recieved after I announced my distribution signing, and label and everything.

Which brings me to the term used a lot in the messages, "Selling Out", usually in the form "Please don't sell out, Chad"....

In response to those of you who wrote or even had that thought that my music may end up being compromised because of the heightening potential of bigger things...

I'd just like to say the following....

First off, thanks for even being concerned about that...

it's good to know you all care enough about the music you listen to that you don't want it to be changed due to money, fame, contracts, or whatever.

I can assure you that I still (AND will always make sure I have FULL artistic control over Backseat Goodbye) have full control over every aspect of my music.

I myself am very accustomed to the phrase "selling out" simply because aside of making music I also happen to love it as well.

I am just a big of a music fan as any of you... and I used to be scared of my favorite bands "selling out" when I was younger.

BUT, then as my music started to grow, and the industry started to change (and in case you didn't know, the music industry of today IS changing, I definitely believe some people are blowing it out of proportion when they say certain things, but like I said... it is changing).... i've started to realize that as a musician after you reach a certain level your music literally becomes your job, and basically makes your band a business with the product being the actual music.

And that does in turn mean, that money is needed to keep yourself fed, pay bills, record new albums, make merchandise to sell, and so on.

Now let me point out, in defense of myself (and actually I'd say a good percentage of musicians feel the same) that making music isn't about making money to begin with, and even after success comes and you quit your day job it's not about making money, it's about being able to do what you love for a living, but it is nice to be able to pay the bills.

But the money thing isn't the point...

see, like I noticed in messages, people think bands being on MTV is the band selling out...

and well, the truth is, for me at least, I would love to have the opportunity to have my music played on MTV...

simply because one reason I make music is to spread it...

not be super famous and have my music everywhere to be noticed, but instead to be heard.

And I'm bringing all of this up to simply say this...

I will NEVER compromise my music just to gain more fans...

so no worries, I will not be a "sell out".

Anyways.

I know it took me a few extra days to get this blog posted (sorry about that)...

I ended up buying the first bit of my recording equipment and spent the last two days screwing around with it and getting it all setup.

I'm SO fucking excited to start tracking songs for the new album...

and actually will be beginning that today.

And since this is such a scatterbrained post, I thought I'd mention....

THAT I TOTALLY GOT A SPIDERMAN PILLOWCASE, thanks again Target, that's just another reason why you're my favorite store.

(The equipment, boxed up and pretty)

(The setup, so far.)

(The gang.)

Next week I'll be sure to have the blog posted on time...

And I'll definitely have a video up to share as well with it.

Until next time.

- Chad

Welcome to Paradise.

2008-01-09T15:58:00.000-06:00

Somedays I wake up and eat cereal.

And then, some other days I wake up and realize I'm featured in a major magazine.

Hopefully that doesn't sound like bragging, because it's not supposed to...

It's just that yesterday the February Issue of Alternative Press hit stores across the world,

and I literally remembered and forgot that fact at least 30 times throughout the day because I'm so damn A.D.D.

But that was fun for me, because that meant I got excited like a little schoolgirl a bunch of times yesterday.

Ha. Actually, me and Ian were walking into Barnes & Noble here in Encinitas yesterday and as we were walking in I thought to myself "Why the hell are we at Barnes & Noble? What did we come here for?".... and then I remembered and thought, "Oh yeah, I'm in a fucking magazine, awesome."

(Here me with the wonderful issue.)

(Here's my, "Oh shit!? I'm in a magazine!" face)

So there's no real point to this post other than to say you should pick up a copy of the magazine, or just go check it out at the store if you're not a magazine buyer.

And thanks to all of you that have been awesome and sent me all the messages and emails about how excited you were to see me in the issue even before I announced it, I've been quite excited that you all even noticed ;)

So yeah, unless if I feel like another random post like this I'll just see you all back here next Tuesday when I post the blog for how the rest of this week goes :)

Shake and bake.

- Chad

P.S. - Hayley Williams, I don't know you personally, but I think we should go get some coffee together. Deal?

Faith In Fast Cars

2008-01-08T16:09:00.000-06:00

So a week has gone by since my big announcement and now the time has come for my first real entry...

So below you'll find how I'm planning to do these blog for this year.

And I mentioned this before, but just to make it clear...

I WILL be blogging every single day of 2008...

however, I will only be making posts once a week, on every Tuesday, of every week.

But yeah, below is the post for this past week, enjoy :)

- Wednesday, 01/02/08 -

(Bedroom before leaving)

The second day of the year was a cold but sunny one.

It drizzled snow here in Murfreesboro for most of the morning.

Today I started really getting ready for my trip to California...

I have yet to begin packing though, I figure I'll save that for the day I'm planning to leave, which is Friday.

I bought U2's "The Joshua Tree" today at the lovely Target in town,

and I took a longer drive than usual tonight simply because of how amazing of a night drive album it is.

While I was driving I started to think about my drive to California that's coming up (which is a 32 hour drive total) and started to get quite stoked for the trip.

Most people would probably dread a 32 hour drive alone,

but to be honest, I couldn't be more excited.

I just know that the trip is literally going to be the actual starting point of the next step for Backseat Goodbye.

I can't fucking wait to get to Encinitas, get my studio built, and get started on recording the new album.

Other than that, today has been quite uneventful.

Tomorrow is set to be what I'm calling my "Goodbye Day".

I'm going to be hanging out with some of my close friends here for the last time before I leave.

Plus I think tomorrow I'll begin the first stages of packing.

Hell, I really don't know how to pack for the next two to three months of my life.

We'll see how it goes.

Until tomorrow...

- Thursday, 01/03/08 -

Sometimes plans don't go as planned,

regardless I try to make the best of them.

By the time afternoon hit, "Goodbye Day" (as I called it), had turned into a mess.

Pretty much all of my friends the day was revolved around ended up having to work.

Long story short, I was bummed.

BUT, fear not...

because by the end of the day it all turned around and I ended up seeing Juno with two of my roomates.

Let me just say, Juno, was an amazing movie.

I'll definitely be buying the soundtrack on iTunes today for my trip to Californialand.

Speaking of that trip,

I'm leaving for it tonight, at midnight.

And actually, I didn't know about it until yesterday, but there are literally terrible thunderstorms and fucking blizzards on my route.

But of course, Roxy and I ("Roxy" is what I've named my car), shall still journey on...

so hopefully our trip will stay smooth the whole way.

Other than seeing that movie, nothing exciting really happened today....

I can assure you though, by the time Friday through Sunday roll around I'll have better stuff to type about.

- Friday, 01/04/08 -

Today's the day...

or, tonight's the night, rather.

I'm putting the finishing touches on packing, and in about an hour or two I'll be on the road to California.

My route for the trip is luckily putting me just under all of the bad weather in the West, so it's looking to hopefully be a smooth trip still.

We'll see how it goes.

- Saturday, 01/05/08 -

The trip began at around 11pm.

It was the first time I've ever almost came to tears closing the door as I left friends.

I drove until about 5:30am and decided it was a good time to stop before I ended up with my car flipped upside down in a ditch.

So I stopped off at a rest stop just outside of Texas, somewhere in Arkansas.

I got some terribly uncomfortable sleep for about an hour (I couldn't lean my seat back because of how much music equipment was in my back seat, so I tried laying down in a quite awkward position sideways in both of my front seats with my center console making quite the ugly obstacle to manuever my body on without it becoming immediately unbearable to lay on) and then I decided to just go get a room for a few hours.

I then found myself at a lovely trashy Motel 6 about two miles up the road.

It took me about 5 seconds to fall asleep once my head hit the pillow.

Noon came and I woke up, packed up the stuffed I carried with me to the room, checked out and hit the road again.

Texas is the longest drive ever, but it did set me up with some fucking beautiful scenery...

In the last breath of the sunset I was driving past some giant "spinning silos" (or at least that's what I've decided to call them, since I don't know what the hell they actually are)...

and it was just, well.... great.

I stopped again around midnight just inside New Mexico.

Sleep ensued.

- Sunday, 01/06/08 -

7am rolled around and I woke up, and got back to the road again.

New Mexico and Arizona were just as boring of a drive as Texas...

except in Arizona I was amused by the "THE THING?" signs that lead me through the state...

one day I definitely plan to stop there when I drive through again, just so I can see how dissapointing it is (because if I remember right, there was an episode of Nickelodeon's Doug, where they were on a road trip and Doug wanted to stop quite bad to see this thing they had advertised for a million miles on his family's trip to somewhere and they went to it, and it was an old potato or something).

I crossed the California state line and the weather was pretty alright,

the sun could be seen every few miles through the clouds and the sky was at least somewhat blue in spots.

Then I got to the damn rocky mountain hills of just outside San Diego and all hell broke loose.

The wind was a bitch, then it decided to start raining like a whore.

It sucked, but I made it through.

So, long story short, I made a 30 hour trip in two days.

By the time I arrived in Encinitas around 4pm I was basically spaced out like a champion.

So I settled in for a bit...

Later a drive was had down by the ocean with me and a couple of others.

This is all I could think to say about how it felt...

I look out the window to my right and can see white from the ocean's waves,

the others in the car are singing just as loud as me...

It's raining and cold, but even with the windows down we don't seem to notice it's night, the sun might as well be shining brighter than it ever has...

It's times like this I realize I've finally made my way back home.

I love California so much, I've never missed a place other than Tennessee before...

and after being back for not even a day I can fully say that I now know I do have two homes.

If only they both weren't on opposite sides of the country....

- Monday, 01/07/08 -

So today was my first full day in good 'ol Encinitas, California.

I slept in and it was lovely.

I woke up and had my first solo drive in the town,

and my first stop was to get some lunch at the always awesome Jack In The Box.

After that my "personal manager" and good friend, Ian, got off work and with that followed at trip to Target where I bought some essentials; shampoo & conditer (to keep my hair nice and clean, duh), a new pillow (and I wanted a Spiderman pillow case, but my hopes were dashed), and of course the ever necessary Season 3 Part 2 of Entourage.

- By the way a big high five to Target for having some quite lovely ladies shopping there

Then we went to Guitar Center where I priced some recording equipment and various instruments.

Then it was time for grocery shopping.

That was pretty much it, not tooooooo much excitement.

......

So that's it for this week.

And actually I'd like to let you know,

that these WILL get quite a bit more interesting....

because now I am finally in California, and recording will begin next week.

And so you know,

as of TODAY, you can officially buy "Red Balloon" the single on iTunes,

so feel free to get that for just 99 cents, it's the full-quality version, and I'd be more than glad to see it make it in the iTunes Top 100 Folk Songs Chart ;)

ALSO,

as of today, if you pick up the newest issue (the February Issue - with Paramore on the cover) of Alternative Press magazine you can find little 'ol me on page 34 in the AP&R section!

So be sure to check back next Tuesday when I'll be posting the next of these blogs.

I'll have a lot more photos and possibly even a special video to share with you all too ;)

LOVE,

Chad

HUGE HUGE NEWS!!!!

2008-01-01T10:17:00.000-06:00

Hi Everyone,

First off, welcome to the new year.

2007 was great, but 2008 is going to be ten thousand times better, if you ask me.

So this is it...

I've been holding in some of what I'm about to share for months, some for days, some for hours...

and there's no doubt about it, some of what I'm about to tell you all is literally the biggest stuff that's ever happened with Backseat Goodbye.

I've worked my ass off for the last few years, and it's gotten me here, to what will be the next level, and now it's time to work even harder.

Let me warn you, this isn't just a little bit of info I'm about to share...

it's a list of things...

and this isn't even all of the big news I have, this is just the bulk of it,

I figure I can save some other news for later ;)

So without further ado...

(this is where you should imagine a lovely little drumroll in your head...)

....wait, I need to take a deep breath, myself....

Okay, here it goes.

1. I have officially signed a worldwide distribution contract with The Militia Group (an amazing Independent label that's the home of some bands you might know: Brandston, Copeland, & Lovedrug... to name a select few) And let me point out, that this is just a distribution contract, so I'm NOT signed to The Militia Group, they will just be distributing my music to retail and online stores worldwide.

2. That brings me to this....

2008 marks the beginning of my own record label I am starting, called "The Winners Club", in which I'll be using to release my upcoming albums through. As of now Backseat Goodbye will be the only artist on the label, BUT later in 2008 I do plan to begin the process of adding other bands to the label. (So please know that I will still have FULL control of my music and that you're not losing me to some major label or anything ;)

3. With that said, I'm glad to say, that in 2008 I will be releasing TWO albums. One will be coming this Spring, and it will be a compilation of the best/most popular songs from all of my former EP releases (because all of my former cds have only been available online, and this will give them a chance to be in actual retail stores worldwide!)... plus the album will have previously unreleased tracks, a new demo, and new versions of a couple of quite rare songs too. I'll be giving you more info on this album quite soon, so look out for it!

4. And yes, I did say that this Spring that album I just mentioned will be available in actual large retail stores in select US cities... and if it sells well then it will be released worldwide very very soon after.

5. Now, I mentioned I'd be releasing TWO albums above. The second album I'll be releasing is going to be my debut full-length album, featuring all new songs, and it will be coming out Summer 2008! This full-length album will be available online and in-stores worldwide, and I can guarantee you that it WILL be the best work I've ever released... this album has songs I've been working on for months and years, just waiting for the right time to release them, and that time will come this summer. (More news to come on this album soon as well)

6. TOUR! After the release of each of the albums I will be touring, non-stop, all over the United States, and it's looking like Canada, Japan, and the UK too. I will have more info on that as soon as possible too.... just know that I can't wait to get on tour again to play these new songs (and of course the old ones) for you all.

7. If you pick up the February '08 Issue of Alternative Press Magazine (pictured below) you'll find me featured in the AP&R Section on page 34. (The issue hits stores January 8th!)

8. My most recent EP, "Good Morning, Sunshine", was just selected as one of the Top Ten Albums of 2007 by Los Angeles' Highware Daze Magazine, and will be featured in the January Issue.

So there you have it, I hope you're all as excited as I am and ready to do this with me.

Also, to let you know...

On the 3rd of this month I'll be driving out to Encinitas, CA where I'll be building a brand new little studio where I'll be recording my debut full-length I mentioned above. I'll be recording all the way through the end of February, and after I've wrapped the album up it will be time for everything else to start happening. (Plus, I've got some exciting ways in which I'll be sharing how the recording process is going, and I'll give you more info on that soon)

Also,

You probably noticed, or maybe you didn't, that I said I'll be blogging every single day of this year to give you all the most fucking real inside look of what I'm doing, what's going on, my boring life, how the music industry really works, and much much much more....

and the truth is that I WILL be blogging every single day, BUT what I'm going to do, so you don't have to come hear every day and read (because that's no fun, there's no waiting period to make you want to read it or anything)...

so I'm going to post one blog a week, but that blog is going to be one big blog that will have every day of the previous week in it...

so it's sort of like how you wait for one day of the week to watch a certain new episode of a tv show, except instead of tv this is a blog... duh ;)

So, just so you know, EVERY Tuesday I'll post the new blog at 4pm (CST).... (and of course somtimes I might change the time a little if I'm busy, BUT I can promise that there will be a nice new lovely big blog here with photos, videos, inside jokes, lame movie quotes, and of course info of how life, BG, recording, touring and everything's going at some point of the day on EVERY Tuesday of 2008....

and it will exclusively be RIGHT HERE on this blog site....

so go ahead and bookmark this blog, or save the link or something, because I can promise these blogs won't be boring as hell ;)

AND one really important thing...

LEAVE COMMENTS ON THESE BLOGS I'LL BE POSTING!

I WANT to know what you have to say, or what you think about what's happening.

I'll be reading every last comment every week...

and when I post new blogs if I see comments that caught my eye I'll point them out and respond to them in the new blogs.

So if you stop by and read these, then let me know!

I want to know I'm not writing to no one....

Like I've always said, I don't ever want to be singing alone, I always want every last one of you singing along with me.

That's one big reason why I'm going to be doing these blogs, because I really want you to know that I DO give a damn about what you think....

because I don't feel like there's anything in music today where people can actually feel like they're a part of it...

so I want to make sure you're a part of this exciting year with me, all the way through the ups & downs, parties, shows, songs, tears, laughs and whatever comes my way.

So that's it for this week.

Next week (on Tuesday @ 4pm) I'll be posting the next new blog,

and it will be the first with the format I mentioned above....

it will basically be a recap of January 1st through the 7th (with LOTS of photos) of my journey from TN to CA...

along with my first few days of settling in to where I'll be staying in Encinitas...

as well as the beginning of the recording plans for my debut full-length.

So, like I said, leave comments (all you have to do is click the little link "Comments" word below today's blog and you don't even have to sign up for anything to leave a comment...

just enter a name if you want and leave a comment, and BAM, you're done.

But yeah, feel free to let me know if you're as excited as I am!

2008 is going to be an AMAZING year!

I hope you all had a wonderful new years eve,...

and if 2007 wasn't that great for you, don't worry, I have a feeling this year is going to be good to all of us....

and if it doesn't want to be, then let's make it!

Love to you all...

and if you have a hangover, drink lots of water ;)

- Chad

ps - If you have friends that like my music, PLEASE tell them to check out this blog or be sure to tell them the news! :)

Reactions Over Resolutions

2007-12-29T14:52:00.000-06:00

My New Years Resolutions For 2008

(in no particular order)

1. Exercise daily.

2. Eat a bit healthier (just a bit).

3. Take more photographs of life, before it passes me by.

4. Learn to speak French.

5. Go to a Nashville Predators game, like I used to.

6. Read 30 books (I never read, it's about time I started).

7. Blog once for every day of the year (more of a 'personal journal' type thing, for me, to remember the good days).

8. Pay off ALL of my bills before Summer.

9. Buy a banjo.

10. GO TO THE ZOO (I've been wanting to go since my senior year in high school and still haven't gone).

11. Work harder than I did in 2007.

12. Save money and learn how to invest it for when I'm older and will need it.

13. Put ALL of my cd collection on my iPod.

14. Learn to play piano better.

And actually, I suppose some of this is more like a to-do list, but I'll count them all as resolutions anyways.

Also, some exciting Backseat Goodbye news...

TOMORROW, December 30th, San Diego's radio station Sophie 103.7 will be playing "Technicolor Eyes" on their Unsigned Sunday show! This marks the official first time BG will be played on a big radio station such as Sophie.

And one big thing is I can use YOUR help to get "Technicolor Eyes" put on regular rotation, and if it gets put on rotation at this station there's a VERY good chance it can get airplay in even more big cities across the U.S.!

So here's all you have to do to help out...

Tomorrow (December 30th) you can visit http://www.radiosophie.com/pages/676962.php

and you'll see my photo in the middle of the page along with three other artists...

if you look beside the photos you'll see an area where you can vote called "Vote On It"...

all you have to do is click on the circle beside Backseat Goodbye and then click the little Vote box, and that's it! (you do NOT have to sign up for anything at all to vote, just two clicks and you're done)

And if you want to help even more, there's an area just below the artists that will say "Unsigned Sunday for 12/30", and just below that you can leave a comment. So please feel free to leave a comment saying how much you like "Technicolor Eyes" or Backseat Goodbye.

By the way, if you don't live in the San Diego, CA area then you can easily listen to the show from ANYWHERE in the world if you click on "Listen Live" in the top right at www.radiosophie.com

And thank you so so so so so soooo much if you help out with this, I appreciate it quite a lot!

Here's the view from my bedroom window today.

The sun finally started shining in TN again.

Good day, everyone!

- Chad

p.s. - Feel free to leave any cool resolutions you have for 2008 in the comments.

p.p.s. - Just a little over two more days until I announce all the huge BG news, don't forget!

p.p.p.s. - Thanks to all of you who left your favorite albums of 2007 in the last blog, I'm glad to see you all have amazing music taste :)

Is there a ghost in my house?

2007-12-27T19:43:00.000-06:00

2007 is winding down, and in one of its' last days of air I've decided to share what I believe are the top ten albums of the year. If you see something you haven't heard, then I definitely suggest you check it out, because all of the albums listed below have found their way on repeat through my speakers sometime this year.

Top Ten Albums:

1. Tegan and Sara - "The Con"

2. Bright Eyes - "Cassadaga"

3. Motion City Soundtrack - "Even If It Kills Me"

4. The Rocket Summer - "Do You Feel"

5. Jimmy Eat World - "Chase This Light"

6. Arcade Fire - "Neon Bible"

7. Band Of Horses - "Cease To Begin"

8. Iron & Wine - "The Shepherd's Dog"

9. Steel Train - "Trampoline"

10. Say Anything - "In Defense Of The Genre"

Honorable Mentions:

Paramore - "Riot!"

Rilo Kiley - "Under The Blacklight"

Kate Nash - "Made Of Bricks"

Limbeck - "Limbeck"

The Format - "B-sides and Rarities"

Eisley - "Combinations"

A Fine Frenzy - "One Cell In The Sea"

Ingrid Michaelson - "Girls And Boys"

Rooney - "Calling The World"

Kanye West - "Graduation"

Cheers,

Chad

p.s. - Just 4 more days until I make the big Backseat Goodbye announcements here, don't forget, and be sure to tell any of your friends that might be fans of mine to check out the blog too!

p.p.s -Feel free to leave your top 10 list in the comments, I'd be more than glad to see them. (And like I've mentioned, you don't even have to sign up for anything or log in or anything like that to leave a comment on here, just click the little "comments" link below this and go for it)

A little late, but...

2007-12-26T17:57:00.000-06:00

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

- Chad (and Napoleon)

010108

2007-12-22T22:05:00.000-06:00

Be here or be square.

(To be honest, everytime I hear that saying I think of "The Real Ghostbusters", the cartoon series, because of a line Egon was told once by this one badass monster.)

No, but really, I'll be exclusively making my huge announcement(s) right here on this blog sometime that day, so I hope to see you here.

And by all means, please feel free to leave comments on these blogs I'll be posting. (I can more than assure you that I'll be reading all of them).

- Chad

A New Hope.

2007-12-21T17:35:00.000-06:00

So this is the beginning.

I've never really had a new years resolution,

but I've got a few this year.

One of them is to keep a daily version of my life in typed form.

That's mainly because 2008 is going to bring a completely new world to my music career for Backseat Goodbye.

So, beginning January 01st, 2008 I'll be keeping this "journal" of sorts updated.

I'm going to be going through a ton of new shit for the first time and I want to bring whoever the hell wants to come, right along with me.

By the end of the year I should have around 365 blogs, so if I don't keep that up you should get onto me about it, because this is a resolution.

And you and me, we're in this together, so if I start to slip, yell at me or something.

So this is a photo of me today, in the half laying down-in-bed-blog-posting-position.

Hopefully by this time next year I won't have stressed out crackhead eyes and will still be smiling, we'll see.

LOVE,

Chad