The Winner, and Still Champion

Despite a late-hour coup attempt by proponents of The Teapot Dome Scandal, the voice of fans WORLDWIDE (yes, apparently two people in Wales voted!) has been heard and the winning band name is: Double-Wide Optimism! Thanks to all who participated in the democratization of rock n' roll (a whopping 57 people voted, temporarily increasing my readership beyond my wildest hopes!) In the timeless words of AC/DC-- for those about to rock, we salute you!

Now onto the tour! Shane arrives tonight at the delightfully named Love Airfield in Dallas for our pre-tour rehearsal/recording weekend! That's right guys-- we are gonna practice! Well, we are gonna play guitar all weekend and eat hamburgers like we normally do when I hang out with Shane, but hopefully that will have some positive downstream effects when we hit the road.

The weekend's festivities include, but are not limited to, the following: writing songs, playing guitar, learning banjo really quick, recording an EP at the Lab of Luxury studio (= my friend and fellow biologist Jeff Streicher's apartment), a photoshoot, designing tour t-shirts (maroon won, by the way-- graphic post forthcoming! wait, that sounds naughty....), making a video, eating hamburgers, performing live, going to shows, jamming, doubling down on Shane's induction into the Schaackmobile Hall of Fame, making s'mores, and, most likely, multiple trips to Guitar Center. Sound fun? Come on over! We can act like rockstars together! I am pretty sure eating s'mores is rockstaresque behavior,... isn't it?

Thanks again for all your support for this cockamamie venture-- literally, the band Double-Wide Optimism would not exist without you all! Fear not for your ears-- no matter how hard I try, there is no way I am going to master simultaneously playing the harmonica and guitar at the same time by November.photo credit: Shane Lewinski