I wasn't born to be a skeleton.

"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.

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.

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.

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

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

Yesterday I woke up as my normal self,

and today I woke up with a tattoo and glasses.

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

Let me explain.

I'll start with the glasses.

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

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

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

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

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

and now I can officially be a nerd ;)

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

(Here's me in my new nerd form)

Alright,

now on to the tattoo.

I had it done at Icon in Nashville.

And for those that are curious,...

Yes, tattoos do hurt.

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

The way I've decided to describe it is: 

Have you ever been stung by a bee?

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

Afterward, it pretty much just feels like a sunburn.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I'm in love with it.

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

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

Like I said,

I have no doubts at all about my decision.

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

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

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

(Here's the tattoo)

But anyways,

the tattoo says "easy.lucky.free"

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

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

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

I look at it as this...

EASY.

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

so the "easy" part is just about respecting 

LUCKY.

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

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

FREE.

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

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

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

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

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

Okay,

so other than those two big changes...

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

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

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

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

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

Hmm,

other than that,

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

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

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

I really suppose that's it for now.

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

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

Love,

Chad

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

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

I get lost, messed up, and bored.

Hey Everyone!

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

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

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

The bad news...

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

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

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

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

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

So hopefully you'll understand,...

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

OKAY

Now time for some good news!

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

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

just be on the lookout for that soon ;)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh, and the cover?

Yeah,...

here it is :)

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

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

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

Alright,

on to personal matters.

This past week has been great.

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

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

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

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

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

Other than that, 

I've also made some great purchases this week,

I bought:

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

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

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

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

(Some photos taken by my lovely little Polaroid)

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

Alright, 

well that's all for this week.

Have an awesome day, night, or whatever.

- Chad

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

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

Magicool!!!

First off,

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

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

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

so I packed up shop and came back home :)

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

 (A.M. drive through NM)

Anyways.

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

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

Let's see...

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

Really, not a whole lot has happened...

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

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

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

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

More new merch coming soon ;)

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

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

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

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

Everybody knows where the good kids go

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

In between the angels and the lightning bolts

Just close your eyes and count to ten

I took all your t-shirts

And painted a big blue dot 

Where your heart was

Wrote a little note that said

"This chest is vacant."

Is it bad that I miss the old you?

I hope you all have a lovely Valentines Day,

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

With Love,

Chad

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

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