Fan mail!

Dig it!

Hey guys...wanted to tell you how much fun we had seeing you at Slims and again at Sadlacks. You guys totally rock and we will definetly be making a road trip to see you in NYC. Hope you guys are back in Raleigh sooner rather than later. Please add me to the mailing list!

Denise and Blaine

Raleigh Pix

Singing/Spanking Charlene
Madness
The Superfans! Minerva, Andi, Tamara and Aubry
Mo, Charlene, Chip and his "tater-tot."

Thanks Minerva!

Well THAT was fun…

Great to have been back down in one of my favorite towns in 'Merika (as blogger extraordinaire/Yayhoo/Olympic Ass-Kicker/Native-Son Terry Anderson calls it) Ralleigh, NC (a.k.a. Raleighwood, Norf-Cakah-lakah').

Played another great set with Butch, Eric & Alison at Sadlack's Heroes, right by the college campus, outside on a patio in the late afternoon. Spanx Charlene went on right before us and, as usual, spanked ass.

Raleigh was as awesome as I remember. The weather was gorgeous, the food was great, the beer was cold, the folks were friendly, the Red Roof Inn was surprisingly comfortable and my baby was with me, so I was a happy Smurf.

Then, treat-of-treats, last night we got to see the Yayhoos play Slim's 10th anniversary party. I know this is crude, but I see the Yayhoos and I think, "This is music made by and for people with hair in their underwear." (And that's a righteous thing, folks.)

Awesome time. But mercy did that 5 a.m. wakeup call for the 7 a.m. flight to Syracuse smart...

Awwww Raleigh

Hey! The quartet thing works! Played a great gig down at Slim's in Raleigh, NC last night, me, Butch, Eric Seftel (from Spanx C) and Alison Jones. Our superfan Minerva came all the way down from Jersey City, NJ to see us (Minerva has now seen us in five states, a New Heathens fan record), she brought along a bunch of friends too. Charlene, who played after us and kicked ass, sang a couple with us. We ended our set with the Stones "Ventilator Blues," after which a guy complimented us on our choice of covers before his wife called me the "most fuckable" guy in the room. I thought she might be kidding, but then Chip Robinson said that my performance gave him a "double-wide tater-tot." Awwwww Raleigh.

Moments of hilarity ensued afterward. While playing harp with Spanking Charlene on their song "Where Are The Freaks" I attempted to sit on an amplifier on the side of the stage and missed. I went endo offstage and into the hallway leading to the restrooms.

I felt kind of embarrassed about falling off stage until Chip Robinson did the same thing later on in the night, while onstage with the Vibekillers.

Lookin' forward to our gig at Sadlack's Heroes this afternoon and the Yayhoos at Slim's tonight!

Clarification

Been crazy working all week on the Craigslist Killer story so I didn't have time to send out an e-mail blast about the gig in Raleigh until about 3 a.m. Because we're kinda' a different lineup, Old Heathen Eric Seftel, Butch, me & super bass chick Alison Jones, I didn't put "New Heathens Play Raleigh" in the subject line. I wrote "Butch, Eric & Nate Rock Raleigh" and then went on to mention that Alison was playing with us.

Landed in Raleigh (the Frankenraisen wouldn't have made it) got an e-mail from Eric who pointed out, as a friend of his had, that my e-mail made it sound like he, Eric, is back IN the New Heathens rather than on LOAN TO the New Heathens from Spanking Charlene.

So I'd like to take this opportunity to clarify that Eric Seftel, of Spanking Charlene, will be performing with me and Butch, of the New Heathens, this weekend in Raleigh.

Since the band started going through some pretty painful lineup changes more than a year ago I've spent a lot of time aggrieved over what and who exactly are "New Heathens." This might be the best I can do. Here's a list of people who have played onstage with us and their honorary "Heathen" status:

Butch Phelps = New Heathen
Domenick Tiziano = New Heathen in absentia
Brandy Wood = New Shethen
Eric Seftel = New Heathen circa' 2006-2008, currently on loan from Spanking Charlene
Tony Graci = New Heathen studio drummer
Fabrice Gamon = New Heathen French drummer
Uwe Petersen = New Heathen German drummer
Shu Nakamura = New Heathen Japanese guitarist
Dan Ambrico = New Heathen American bassist
Drew Glacken = Honorary Heathen
Keith Christopher = Original Heathen
Charlene McPherson = New Heathens' best vocalist

And Nate Schweber = ???

So in the end I don't know what a "New Heathen" is or even what the "New Heathens" are. Better double check. Could YOU be a New Heathen?