Ready...set...levitate!

Midair is the lofty realm of the Third Grade Haters Andy Jones, and his high flying acts of stratospheric jumps.

Why do we love Andy Jones? For the same reasons we love Peter Pan. Because he can fly, because he is a kid and always will be. "I'm never going to grow up/Never going to grow up/Not me!"

Breathes there a human anywhere who can float longer than the 25-year-old, 5'10", 160-pound Jones? Someday an updraft will catch him in midglide, or Tinker Bell herself will sprinkle him with fairy dust, and he will waft on over the stage and up into the wires and lights of a venue arena like a raptor soaring into the clouds. And no one will be surprised.

"I've never had my vertical leap measured," says the child-pilot himself, "but sometimes I think about how high I get up." He, too, marvels at his gravity-defying feats, searching for an explanation. "I always spread my legs when I jump high, like on my Rock-a-baby, and it seems like I've opened a parachute, like, that slowly brings me back to the floor. “I was really up there in our last show. On my last jump I think I was close to eye level with the ceiling. Sometimes you just hit your head on the ceiling, but this time it was my elbows and everything. I almost over jumped the entire stage." "I always play on the crowd."

What about that tongue hanging out, that pink badge of foolhardiness glistening against his skin? Is there any adult anywhere who does that when he plays? "My father used to have his tongue out when he'd be working, doing mechanical stuff," says Jones, "and I just picked it up from him. It's not a conscious thing. I can't play with it in." He sighs and shakes his head, for he knows that playground kids—who imitate his every nuance and dress habit, who see in him, if not a person whose skills might be attainable, then at least a big buddy—have started hanging their tongues out on stage. "I'm afraid they'll bite them off," Jones says. He then warns: "For your tongues' sake, kids, don't do it."

For young boys everywhere, we can take a moment to describe Jones current, and less risky, music couture, the air jordans he wears. The new air jordans are laced only to the second eyelet from the top ("I've just always done it that way," Jones says). None of which would mean a blessed thing if Jones weren't the charismatic entertainer he is.
"He's got a lot of Pete Townsend in him, and a lot of Angus Young," says TGH singer/ guitarist Jimi Holiday. "Hendrix had that intensity and carriage. And nobody played the crowd like that."
In fact, these days Jones is in a class of one. With older bands now fading, hobbling and rooted to the earth, Jones has the realm of midair largely to himself.

With no real offers of serious competition to his air supremacy Jones is making the most of his new found heights. “It’s amazing how high I get up sometimes without even knowing it.” “The intensity that we play drives all three of us to do things we never thought possible.” What the three members of TGH call shows some are now calling the most electric thing to hit the stage in years. With an inside tip of the recent round of air jordans that were recently purchased, I don’t look for things to come down to ground level anytime soon.

ahh yes...it's Monday again already

As one of our songs says 'there's nothing like a Monday morning to make you stop and think'. It has for sure been one of those Mondays. Thinking has been the word of the day. More specifically what is the next move we make. Where do we go from here. With the world in constant chnage around us how do we adapted and continue to move forward in the direction we want to go. Is the music industry as broke as we all talk like it is. More questions then answers today. Nothing wrong with that I don't suppose. Questions usually lead to answers. Hopefully the right answers in our case. Then again, what is the right answer. I have no idea at this point. Maybe we should just ride lucks tailcoats awhile and see what happens. I'm sure something good or at least exciting will come up. It gets hard to think months in advance. It's even harder to plan and plot the nxt move when you don't know for sure what you think is going to happen will even happen. Being in a band is a long ways from a 9-5 job that has history and instuctions to follow. Then again maybe not. Bands have been around a long time too. Maybe everyone sits back and has days where they just think about what's next before they really need to. I think that's enough thinking for me for one day too. I'll leave it to you to think some now.

The Frog

Deliver me from the darkness in which I dwell. Holy sky, Satanic earth as demons make my brain swell. How many times have I seen her by the morbid lake holding her thoughts and fears as the seaboils and the mountains brake. Stop now and listen to this. I have dreamed myself across this vast land in cool nights of wandering. Hopeless, thoughtless, desperate, thirsting for energy. Wanting water poured across the gentle frog. Please hold my frog for me. He wants to be held. He wants to be delivered from the land from which he dwelled. Help him.

Divorced or Obsessed

I think we need to find some obsessed fans. It seems to be working for other bands so I think it would work for us too. Maybe I should announce that my parents are divorcing. That seems to be working for bands to. The common theme from band blogs these days seem to be targeted towards getting an emotion out of you that you can either identify with or have lived through. I normally blog about the band itself or what we have been up to. I don't know if I like this new trend or not. I mean, if you are going through something and want to share it, go ahead. To share it to get fans attention or to get them to buy your records is another thing. Maybe the current economic climate is forcing bands to do things they would have never done before. I mean, how many bands really open up and talk about their feelings and the problems they are going through personally? Something tells me John Lennon would not approve. I want to make John proud!

On a side note, I have had the biggest phobia that Chris could have a brain parasite. I got to thinking about how he uses mouth tobacco and got to thinking that there has to be parasites in that. How could there not be.

I hope this blog has inspired some kind of emotion in you once you read it. If it makes you want to be an obsessed fan or buy our record, then good. If not, at least I made John proud of me tonight.

Rock..Love..Peace..Yes!

Milestones, Tours & Solutions

Thank you to all of our many fans for your help & support. We reached the milestone of 80K friends on myspace today! No matter what anyone else thinks we are excited about it. Hopefully there are many more milestones ahead for us in the coming days.

We spent a good part of Thursday mapping out a spring & summer 2010 tour. It will mainly be in the southeast, but we hope to cover a good part of the south this time around. There are cities we have visited before and plenty of cities we have never played on the list. Hopefully some festivals this time too.

As for touring, we have also worked up a new solution to what we see as a negative when it comes to touring. With the music industry in constant change and the current economic problems we thought we better take a look at how we have toured in the past and make some changes. We all three think the ideas we have come up with will help us escape the pitfalls and mistakes we have made in the past. Just liek swinging over a pit on vine trying to escape snakes, we can't afford to make the same turing mistakes anymore. They are too costly!

Quick update to on the new record. Still working on all of the songs and putting demos together. I think we are as excited as we have ever been about getting this album right and letting you hear it. I think you are going to really like it!!!

Progress Report

The demos are going good. We've been trying out new song structures and adding different elements to the songs. seeing what works and what doesn't. Jimi is a machine! It still blows my mind to watch him play each instrument and lay down the tracks without playing to anything. Monday was the first day of demos. We have so many more songs to do.

The weekend has been rad. Several friends, Kenny & Anthony, came out to see what was going on. I was so exhausted from working I kept passing out early in the night. Not much fun. Sorry dudes. Last night was a good one though. Been listening to some old country records I found at the house.

It's not even midnight and I feel like i'm about to pass out. Too many early mornings and late nights working. There's not enough coffee in the world to keep me energized all day. Considering I don't drink coffee. My brain isn't functioning anymore, because i spend everyday talking and thinking about the record. I just want to start recording for real.

Don' worry it want be long til you hear the fruits of labor. The new tunes are coming soon!

Oh Yeah!

Shows, Tours & Headaches

Busy today booking more shows for the band. If you follow the band at all you know this is a sore but reward spot with me. I spend more time fussing about shows and booking them then we do playing them. Maybe one day I will just give up and then all of the shows we want will magically fall right into our laps! Nothing wrong with wishful thinking now is there?

Trying to map out a tour for spring 2010 as well. All of this adds up to a headache really. Working with venues, venues working with us. Finding and getting the best dates possible. Which citied to visit, which cities to not visit. All the while keeping in mind our fans and where they would like to see us play. Not that there's anything wrong with any city or venue, it's just trying to find the best fit for us at this time and place we are at. I guess that's another topic all together. One I don't care to elaborate on right now.

I think we are going to finish the year off quite strong with a good number of shows at some really great venues. Looking ahead to 2010, I am really excited to see what is shaping up.

That's enough for now. I need to send about a dozen or so emails and make a few more calls before things get too busy tonight!

Someday...

Someday
We will be famous.We & all our friends will have our own TV show.
We'll be so famous that we can have you write our theme song and be in our TV show. It’ll be on Disney channel because were cool like that.
You can play yourself and be the awesome singer that all the girls love and we'll out show Hannah Montana.
Then my friends and I will be so famous we'll have our own fashion line.
We'll have you on our show so you'll be even more rich and famous.
Oh yes. You can be in it too.
but you have to come to Wisconsin first.
Never mind the past that’s all behind now. It’s clear seas ahead for the rest of the journey.
I have learned a lot in the past days, now it’s time to put it all to work.
For you
For the TV show
For the fashion line
For everyone
It’s time!

Knoxville News Sentinel Article on TGH

Hey All

I wanted to post the piece from today's Knoxville News Sentinel about the band. Thanks to Jer Cole for writing the article.

Third Grade Haters prove the road is overrated
By Jer Cole Thursday, July 9, 2009

In a relatively short time, local rock trio Third Grade Haters have caught fire in Knoxville. Together just under two years, the band has been featured on NBC, The CW, TBS, Planet Green and MTV, and is preparing to record its second album. Though The Haters' annual gig count numbers around 100, the group has seldom made it out of state, disproving the frequent claim that no band gets noticed without leaving Knoxville.

With each member emerging out of now-defunct acts, Third Grade Haters began with a well-defined concept for its musical direction. Looking to decades worth of British rock for influence, the trio plays raw, unembellished rock with all the intensity three dudes can muster.

"TGH plays British rock and roll, Southern style," describes guitarist/vocalist Jimi Holiday. "I like to think of our music as one part Jet plus one part Arctic Monkeys plus two parts Kings of Leon with a dash of The Beatles thrown in for late '60's flavor."

"I would compare our music to that made in the late '60s and early '70s with a touch of dance rock added in," elaborates bassist Andy Jones. "I think we are certainly influenced by bands from that era but also by many current bands as well. We play music free of the ideas that have been placed on it over the years. Rock 'n' roll once knew no boundaries; it was whatever it was. Perhaps our music is an experience, a moment, a projection of all of the things in the world all at one time. A journey of a lifetime confined in a single moment."

The biggest obstacle faced by most trios is in reproducing a full, encompassing sound outside of a studio. With no intention of expanding its scant lineup, the Third Grade Haters assert that live shows are anything but problematic. In fact, TGH has built its reputation on the energy of its frequent live performances.

"Our live show is packed with the kind of raw energy and brash attitude that comes with youth and hits you like an express train," Jones continues. "Live, we will blow your brains clear through the back of your skull and leave your body flopping around like a helpless rag doll being shaken by a petulant child who's forgotten to take their Ritalin. In a word, it is an experience."

While many local bands devote summers to national touring, TGH has taken advantage, filling the void of local performances as it tries new material out on its area fan base. In pre-production for a sophomore release due out by the end of 2009, the group is narrowing down the potential track list from a pool of more than 100 that have been written since the release of its debut, "Pompous and Proud," this past November.

"Right now we're in the early stages of putting a new record together," says Holiday. "No decisions on a title as of yet, but as far as content goes, watch out! We're getting ready to let loose with a barn-burning, hide-your-children, there's-a-big-scary-rock-and-roll-tornado-at-your-door kind of record."

"I think the songs will for sure show growth in our songwriting and in musicianship," adds Jones. "A lot more time and thought has gone into the new record. Not to say we didn't think about the first record a lot, but I think we know more about what we want to do this time and have a better idea how to get the results we want. We had written over 100 songs since our first release to pick the best songs from. So we felt confident that we had enough material to make a second record."
To road-test material prior to their upcoming recording sessions, Third Grade Haters have jam-packed the month of July with local outings

It's July!

Summer is finally here or so it feels like now that we are past the 4th of July. The holiday has always been like a launch for Summer for me.

Everyone keeps asking what our big plans for the Summer are and we keep telling them to play more shows. haha I thought we really tried to book shows in advance this year, but I don't think we did. Maybe we should trying booking an entire year out. Not sure venues do that anymore, but I guess it's worth a try.

We are still in pre-production of our new record. Things are coming right along. There should be some solid demos of the songs very soon. We will have to get thos out for you to hear.

All in all I think it's going to be a great Summer. We have some really great shows to play over the next couple of months. Tie that together with a new record and I think it's going to be quite fun.

Hope everyone out there has a great Summer too!