Due to some unforeseen and unavoidable developments, I won’t be able to perform this Friday in Seattle. The rest of the show will be going on as scheduled. I’m very sorry to anyone who hoped to see us play this week. I’m going to a post a video of a new song in an attempt to make up for it (and since most of you guys are from the east coast anyways). If you planned to attend, please still go and support some great local music.

the forum will be down.

i want to record some videos covering some songs for you guys.  obviously i won’t be able to do all of them, but i’ll pick a few i think i can handle and give it my best.  soooo, whatcha got in mind??

so i’m looking to acquire some touring musicians/crew for forgive durden. first off, i need a very talented GUITARIST / KEYBOARDIST. however, if i’m unable to find someone who can do both, i’m willing to take on a guitarist and key player separately. so if you’re interested in playing GUITAR AND/OR KEYS on tour in forgive durden please submit the following (to tomdutton@gmail.com):

-video of you playing where you can distinctly be heard and seen (preferably uploaded to youtube, etc.)

-full body photo

-brief bio (including where you live, age, musical background, touring experience, musical influences, gear owned, and anything else you might like me to know)

secondly, if you are interested in tour managing or teching for forgive durden please submit everything listed above besides the video.

if you know someone who might be interested in this, please tell them! thanks guys.

so i finally got our message board up! go now, register, upload an avatar and come chat about anything and everything. also, i’m thinking about deleting the durden livejournal so we can all just be chatting at one spot. anyone have any serious objections to that?

here i am to spill the beans on this band.

here’s a quick history lesson for anyone just joining us this evening.

almost two years, we released an album called ‘Wonderland’.  it was an album that i was extremely proud of.  it had everything i loved about music.  colorful chords, interesting song structures, creative melodies.  it was poppy but it was smart.  we were all very proud of it.  and with the team of people behind the scenes, we were very excited at the potential impact the album could have.  the album was being released on fueled by ramen, who had been (and still is) pumping out sensation after sensation.  we had an awesome booking agent who believed in our sound.  and we had a rather powerful manager to oversee our career’s each and every step. everything should have gone perfectly, right?

for lack of a better analogy, a tripod can only stand when all three legs support equal weight.  deep into wonderland’s cycle, and much to our dismay, our tripod tumbled to the ground.  our dream team had been trounced by the russians.  and wonderland suffered because of it.  we continued to tour, nonetheless.  we toured our little butts off.  wonderland has sold around 12,000 copies to date.  to think that 12,000 people out there own a physical copy of the songs we worked so hard on is astounding.  however, when compared with our expectations (and our little two-legged tripod’s expectations) the number is a blaring reminder of what could have been.

the frustration surrounding wonderland’s slow growth began to get to us.  we were at each other’s necks.  i became a prick.  i was rude to everyone around me.  i had always been the band’s own personal manager.  i dealt with the label, our agent, our manager. managed our funds. maintained everything on the internet. directions, merch, van trouble, blahblahblah. i took care of everything, and was happy to do so. but i started resenting the rest of the band for not appreciating my hard work. and they helped less and less because of the way i was.  i became a martyr in my own mind. the distance grew, and peaked while we were in australia.  i feel like i spent those 12 days by myself.

when we returned home we had a band meeting.  thomas told me he was quitting.  he wasn’t happy doing this with us (translation: me) anymore.  jesse was quitting, too.  he was engaged and wanted to return to school and settle into a normal life.  a month later, andy called me to tell me he was joining them in retirement.  it was over.  my dream had reached its end.

when i got home, i called my brother paul.  he’s a music composition major at western washington university.  i asked him if he wanted to help me make an album.  i lived at casey’s studio for a month, wrote during the week and paul came home on weekends and we would record.  you won’t believe the crazy record that came out.  rudy from gatsbys played drums. i can’t wait for all of you to hear it.

one thing that thomas was never able to get over was the feeling that forgive durden had always been my band.  he was just a visitor.  as much as i tried to let him in, durden was my baby.  he was more like the crazy uncle.  we hung out a few days ago and decided to write a few songs together.  it felt great.

i’m sure it’s hard to imagine a band continuing when 3/4ths of the members up and leave.  and that’s part of the reason i’ve waited months to announce anything.  i wanted to make sure i could continue doing this properly.  besides missing thomas’ crazy faces (and newfound gallagher-esque mustache) at our live shows, we won’t miss a beat.  things could have gone differently but they didn’t.  and i’m finally okay with that.  i’m ready to earn it the hard way.  i couldn’t be more excited about the next chapter for forgive durden.  please feel free to ask me any question anytime, and i will try and answer as honestly as i can. thank you guys for sticking with me and supporting good music. you’re the reason i’m still able to do this.

would you guys have any interest in a message board section of the site?

also, i’m in the middle of adding avatars to the comments section so we can all recognize each other a bit more :] and if you’re bored, johnny showed me this. i swear the longer you stare at it, the better it gets!

i will be recording a christmas song with my dear friend greta (anyone know her??).  hopefully we’ll have it done in a week, so look out for that.  greta also just showed me this crazy video of stevie wonder doing a drum solo.  incredible.

UPDATE! I-5 is supposed to reopen at noon today, so we’re gonna try and make the trek to Portland! hopefully we’ll see you on the other side.. 

bad news.  AS OF NOW, due to the flooding on I-5, we won’t be able to make it to our show in portland tomorrow (12/7).  it’s possible that things could clear up tonight or tomorrow morning, but it’s not looking good. i was really excited to come play, too. if cancellation is inevitable, i apologize to anyone who was planning on seeing us play.  i promise we’ll be back soon to make it up to you. stay tuned for possible changes.

…and breathing.  this is the new site/blog.  in contrast with the last site, i will be updating it on a very regular and frequent basis.  i have a lot of exciting new to share with you all so i hope you will keep checking in (you can subscribe to the feed at the bottom of the page) and chat with me about things that get chatted about on blogs.  damn the man, save the empire.