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Video Diary #1

That's right, we've posted our first video blog EVER.

There will be more, oh yes.

We leave for our first American tour tomorrow, so there's going to be a lot of taping going on. That means you can expect to see lots when we get back.

here is the link.....enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbs-vYMzCNw

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Pic and Video Diary #2

Hello darlings. 

We'll TOTS is fresh off the road from a most glorious tour.  Be sure to read the following diary as well as watch the newest video diary.

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO DIARY #2

Well, we're finally back from our tour, and what a time we had.  We just wanted to list a few of the highlights of the tour for you.

The tour started off kind of rocky.  Our plan was to leave at 12 noon for the U.S.  Unfortunately we had some last minute details to work out, like how we would get into another country.  Our U.S. working visas had not arrived and it was down to the wire.  Finally at about 2pm I got the call that the American Federation of Musicians in Toronto had just emailed me the confirmation.  Excitedly I printed off the forms just to find that Mike and I not only have the same last name, but apparently our parents thought it would be a good idea to call their twin boys Michael and Michael Walker!  Customs had given me the wrong name on my Visa, I was now no longer Andrew, but Michael Warren Walker.  We waited around until 4pm and finally got the call that things would work out, we could head out to adventure the U.S and A.

            This night was our first night in the van.  Jake, Mike and Myself snuggled together to keep warm on a bed much smaller than a double bed, while max lounged out on the floor on his brand new $7.00 air mattress from Canadian Tire.

Breakfast generally consisted of Gas station 2 for 1 hotdogs and the biggest mugs of coffee we have ever had.  Everything was so cheap, we could actually live off tube steaks!

For our first show we pulled up to a club called Main Street Caf in Kansas City, Missouri.  There we were greeted with open arms by Chris York (Credential A&R). We were running late because of some dealings at the border (ask Maxie about the search, if it's not still a soft spot for him).  Tonight we met all the Credential bands for the first time, it was kind of like a blind date, but with a few more names to remember.  We found out all the other bands love "LOST" too.  We downloaded that week's episode to watch the next day in the van.

The show went great, a pretty good turn out.  Unfortunately for us "I Wasn't Ready" was cut short due to whole P.A. shutting down.  Actually it happened at least once in every band's set and eventually toward the end of the evening just became a regular part of the show.  It was great to hear all the bands on Credential, they all blew my expectations, I knew it was going to be a fantastic tour.

            The next evening we played at large club called Club 3 Degrees in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  The show went great, Mike sported his new vest for the first time, and Jake tried his first bubble tea.  After being introduced as "Turning Off The Star" we played a quick set of four tunes; 30 Days, I Wasn't Ready, Falling Into You, and Please.  The set was short, but sweet and it felt really good to play a large stage with great sound.  The most fantastic part of the night was meeting some new friends and hanging out with them at the merch table while the other bands played their sets.  Another bonus was that we could have any coffee, soda pop, or bubble tea flavour of our dreams, my dreams called for a mango surprise bubble teawhat a tasty treat.

The next show was in Alexandria, Minnesota.  It was a short drive so we arrived at Club 1 Youth center in time to spare a good few hours to actually have a shower.  It felt so good to not smell like stale cheese.  Once we cleaned up, we got to toss around the old pigskin (baseball).  The guys from Edison arrived shortly and joined in.  Joe took one for the team as he went back for a fly ball and ended up falling on his caboose.

The set went well even though we were cut to three songs for scheduling reasons.  All the bands stayed with a couple tonight named Cindy and Joe in a nice big house on a large property by the lake.  They fed us like kings and we had the craziest ice cream sundaes in the biz.

We arrived at Cup O' Joy in Green Bay, Michigan for a brilliant feast of turkey stew with dumplings in it, tasty sweetness. The show was fantastic, great crowd and all the bands sounded amazing.  W had a fantastic show, it finally felt  like we were starting to get in the groove.

Tonight we stayed with some new friends in Green Bay, Steph, Sarah, and Dayna. We were very fortunate to have been put up for the night by Steph and her mom.  We were tired and were going to head to bed, but we decided to stay up a little and tell stories about the road, Maxie and his love for taping (if you don't know about it, ask him) and snacked on carrots, mints, and beverage.  All in all a great night, hopefully they'll have us back sometime even though Mike sprayed their cat with water for napping on his bed.

The worst thing that happened on tour (which really didn't end up being so terrible) happened on the way to Taylorville, Illinois. I was napping in the back of the van only to wake up to all of us in Chicago, not Taylorville where we were supposed to be!  The boys had taken a wrong turn and we ended up in the land of the deep-dish pizza pie and home of The Oprah Winfrey Show.  We put our heads together and got back on the right track, but we were going to be late.  Finally we got off at 29 South and we headed into Taylorville, we were about 20 minutes from the Venue. 

Unfortunately Maxie thought he was Cosmos Kramer trying to ride the empty gas tank fumes.  Well it didn't work, we ran out of gas!  So we looked around for a gas station, I walked up the hill to see if I could spot anything.  Nothing was insight, we were definitely going to miss the show.  We called Clay (tour manager and drummer for Dizmas) and told him the bad news.  Fortunately for us someone from the venue was willing to bring us some fuel.

As we waited, some kind college students on the way to the show stopped to see if they could help.  I thought that was pretty cool, normally people just keep driving by as if you don't exist, but they were super cool.  They also bought our disc and a t-shirt (now that I think about it we should have given them one on the house just for stopping) and told us they came from a their school a couple hours away.  I wish I could remember their names, but if you two read this, thank you.

At our Dallas show Future of Forestry bought Zach (singer from Dizmas) a birthday cake and we all joined him on stage during their set to sing happy b-day to him.  This night was a great one for us as well.  A group of people came out to see us because of some local Dallas airplay we have been getting.  That was pretty cool for us, to see people singing our songs in Texas!

I'll also never forget the intense game of Floor hockey we played in Shelby Michigan.  All the bands stayed at a retreat and recreation center for the night and played hockey into the wee hours of the morning.  I don't know if I really have to say it, but obviously we Canadians had the upper hand.

We couldn't have asked for a better last show than in John's (Dizmas guitarist) hometown of Mechanicsburg PA. For the last time we all joined together on stage to sing Future of Forestry's "Twilight".  I'll never forget that moment, all of us joined as one voice for the last time, what a cool feeling.

         
Thanks to all our fans, friends, the bands and Credential Recordings for welcoming us Canadian boys into your country with open arms.

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IN STORES AUGUST 15, CANADA SEPTEMBER 19

It's just about that time...
Our first full-length album is about to be released and we couldn't be more excited. The release date for the US is August 15th and Canada September 19th.
Keep your eyes open for news about upcoming tours, video blogs, and just plain other news!

Thanks for checking us out on Pure Volume. Feel free to head over to our official website by going to

www.turnoffthestars.com


Turn Off the Stars

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