Feed The Machine
Looks like guys are finally putting together another New Fuse album. The New Fuse recently hit up Uptown Recording Studio in Chicago on Sunday June 13th for a 12 hour live session in an effort to begin the process of creating the band's 2nd album. The album will be released sometime in the late fall of 2010 with a tracklist containing 7-8 previously unreleased originals. Early signs are pointing towards the album being coined FEED THE MACHINE, coming from a lyric within the track Riverside Suite. Look for album artwork ideas to float up on the blog soon.
 Drunk Easter Bunny
Happy Easter to all our peeps!
Change is in the air!
Spring always seems to bring lots of changes and this Srping seems to be no different. It looks like the band will be making a change and we hope to make this announcement on April 1st. This news will be serious and is not to be considered an April Fools joke in any way. Change can be a good thing and in this case it will lead us into the future of The New Fuse. Stay tuned!
SPRING FEVER
Spring training has started and the weather is finally starting to warm up a little bit in Chi-town. I'm sure we will have a blizzard in two weeks or something but I guess we have to enjoy it while we got it. As the weather heats up so does The New Fuse schedule. Look for more dates to be announced soon. Soon enough it will be SUN DRESS SEASON!
  SAVE THE DATE
It looks like we have finally set the dates for the 3rd annual JAMMIN' ON THE WOLF up in Langlade, Wisconsin. This year the event will take place on July 9th and 10th. The event features live music by The New Fuse, Fifth World and some more special guests to be announced in the up coming months. White water rafting on the Wolf River is optional during the day on Saturday, July 10th. The campground has a shuttle bus for pick up and drop off at Big Smokey Falls.
Look for more information to appear at the event webpage www.jamminonthewolf.weebly.com as we move closer to July.  Cat's Out Of The Bag
Looks like the word is out that The New Fuse will be making a visit to B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted in Chicago this evening. Rodney Brown will be headlining this historic venue with his band Hotrod. For those of you unfamiliar with the club, you have to come check this place out. B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted is like something right out of Blues Brothers the movie. If you want to come hear some real Chicago Blues then we invite you to come get your fix tonight anytime from 9:00pm-1:00am.
You never know when The New Fuse might just pop up on stage!  No More Snow
Chicago has seen it's fair share of massive snow storms. The foot of snow that fell upon Chi-town this Tuesday and Wednesday was nothing we haven't seen before. The people in the city didn't even seem to skip a beat this week. The buses still ran and the el continued moving people around without worry of the winter mess in the streets. As the tough folks of Chicago march on, so does the band The New Fuse. With an up coming gig at Bird's Nest finally in sight and a rehearsal this evening over on Carroll Street the band looks to push forward through the winter conditions and smile at the thought of warmer weather in the future. We encourage all of those people feeling the Winter Blues to do the same. We will get through this ugly weather and we promise you that the summer sun will shine down on Chicago in a few months.
Cheers to wishful thinking!   
5 days till February
Sounds like a good song title to me? Does anybody actually look forward to the month of February as a whole? Maybe Hallmark since we have the ever forced "love holiday" of Valentine's Day. To me, February seems like a good time to woodshed with an instrument and take to picking up a book or two to get the mental juices flowing forward. If you need a Hallmark holiday to remind you that you love someone, well then you probably don't love them enough so get over it and move on. If you plan on buying into the V-Day propaganda then I would like to offer a suggestion. Since the economy sucks monkey nuts please save a little dough and just bake something this love season. Think of all the things you can bake. Use your imagination!
blogged by Shane Davies  
Free Download and Stream
Thanks to everyone who made it out to our hit at Double Door on Friday night. The New Fuse fans showed up in good numbers on a night that could have been ugly on the draw in light of all the snow that landed in Chi-town. To show our appreciation of all the support we have decided to offer everyone a free downloadable stream of the show. Enjoy!
  Debut of "Riverside Suite"
What's up party people? I thought I should get online and just let everyone know that The New Fuse plans on dishing out yet another new track for you all to chew on this Friday night at Double Door. Keep your ears open for the debut of another Kimbrough concept we like to call "Riverside Suite". Those folks familiar with the Riverside area just outside of Chicago should pay particular attention.
We are also super stoked for this hit and the line-up is going to knock your socks off from start to finish. For those of you asking about the line up order and set times, well here you go! Old Shoe - 9:00pm-9:45pm THE NEW FUSE - 10:00pm-10:50pm Fifth World - 11:05pm-12:05am Steez - 12:30am-1:30am Blogged by Shane Davies 
HAPPY 2010!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I think it's safe to say that we are very happy to put the 00's behind us. 2010 looks to be a good year for the band and one would tend to think we might finally see the recording and release of album #2 for The New Fuse!? Thanks to everybody who came out to support us this year. The band continued to grow with the grassroots, get out and play approach. Most of you don't understand how deeply we appreciate seeing you out at the shows and we hope to thank many of you in person this coming Friday at Double Door. PEACE! Blogged By Shane Davies 
Tomorrow Night out in Woodstock.
If you don't have several other holiday parties lined up for Saturday night then plan to come on out to Liquid Blues out in Woodstock. The bar is actually just two short blocks from the Metra Train stop in downtown Woodstock. Train in and hitch a ride back to the city with the band caravan!
Tomorrow night at Liquid Blues. This place is a gem. It is unmatched in service and positive vibes. The place feels like you are live on the set of "That 70's Show" and it really creates a mellow mood for those looking to kick back and play some pool or eat some good quality food from the kitchen while sipping on some wine or beer. Don't forget, The New Fuse will be setting up shop for 3 sets of music. We hope to see you there so we can wish you a happy holiday in person! WHERE: LIQUID BLUES - 126 N. Benton Street - Woodstock, Illinois WHEN: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19TH TAKE THE TRAIN - METRA Groovin' High III
Since it’s the end of the year and everyone else is doing it, it’s time I inflict my own ‘Best of 09’ lists. So let’s dig in.
My Favorite Album: two way tie between Steven Wilson’s ‘Insugentes’ and Gavin Harrison & O5Ric’s ‘Circles’. Steven Wilson is the leader of Porcupine Tree, my personal favorite Contemporary Progressive Rock band. Porcupine Trees album ‘Fear of a Blank Planet’ was by far and away my favorite album a couple of years ago and still gets a lot of plays from my ipod. ‘Insurgentes’ sounds a lot like a Porcupine Tree, but being a solo album allows Wilson to work with collaborators like Tony Levin and others. Whereas a Porcupine Tree album might have a distinct and obvious ‘theme’ running through it (‘Fear of a Blank Planet’ had a theme of the disillusionment of the youth) ‘Insugentes’ is very abstract and musically and lyrically. An online review of the album on itunes said it best when it said the album “sounds like a tone poem for a disturbing movie.” It has a huge range of textures and dynamics. What I like about everything Wilson touches is that he isn’t limited by instrument or style restrictions. I’ve always thought that Wilson (and Porcupine Tree) has managed to distill the best parts of Classic Prog bands like Yes, King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Genesis with Modern Pop like Coldplay and Radiohead but doesn’t let any one sound dominate the writing. The songs can be short ‘pop’ arrangements or long ‘prog’ works. There can be delicate piano ballads and super heavy guitar riffs. That could also describe an Aerosmith album, but Wilson keeps things interesting by not letting sugary hooks and over-the-top cheese ruin the moods. The engineering on the album is brilliant and it sounds great. If you buy the CD, it comes with a CD and a high def DVD. ‘Insugentes’ is inspiring, creative Rock. ‘Circles’ is a very fringe ‘Prog’ album. The instrumentation is bass/voice and drums. But the super tight arrangements, creative writing and incredible playing make the album a joy to behold. However, I also think only other musicians will fully appreciate ‘Circles’. It’s just too out there for most people. It’s players music for other players. But if you know awesome playing when you hear it, you’ll know this album is on another level. My Favorite Movie: The Hurt Locker I’ve never seen a movie that kept me on the edge of my seat nonstop for 2 hours. The story revolves around a bomb disposal team doing business in Baghdad. Every single minute of the movie seems ready to bring about something: a sniper, an explosion, an ambush. You never know when it does, and if it does come, you never see it coming. Unbelievable, brings new meaning to the word ‘drama’. Honorable Mention: District 9 My Favorite Book: Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain by Scott Adams “Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain” is a collection of Scott Adams (the author of the comic strip ‘Dilbert’) blogs. Adams amazing wit, charm, humor and insight make this collection of short ramblings on random subjects just irresistible. My Favorite TV Show (even though I just wait for these to come out on DVD): It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Any show where a gang of local tavern owners finds a baby in a dumpster and try to raise it themselves so they can put it in TV commercials is just my type of humor. What can I say, it just feels right. Honorable Mention: Aqua Teen Hunger Force Blogged by Chris Morrow  Groovin High II
So let’s set the scene: it’s Wednesday morning and I’m at College of Lake County doing radio promotion for the Psycho Kid’s new album “Hypocrite Land”. In the booth with me are Glenn and the two DJ’s, some nice girls both named Stephanie. For a couple hours we play tracks from the album and answer questions from the Stephanie’s. But soon after begin, we start answering questions that listeners send in via a chat room. An enthusiastic listener sends in a lot of questions about out ideas on the state of the Punk scene, emo scene and music business. But his most interesting question really got me thinking. His question was something along the lines of “how can you draw your own ideas about the meanings of other bands lyrics?” I answered on-air that it’s the nature of art that if the meaning of the art isn’t plainly obvious then people will project their own ideas about the meaning onto it. It really got me thinking about art. I was once told by my favorite college professor that the real point of art is to get people to look at themselves in a new light. Introspection is the real meaning of art no matter what the art might mean to the artist or anybody else. Music (and all art) is supposed to be about individual expression to the artist, but why does the meaning of that expression cause so much controversy when the point of art is to change the person who beholds it? I guess the listener seemed convinced that the only meaning that mattered was the meaning assigned to it by the creator. That makes sense but only if that meaning makes sense to the beholder. One of the principal beauties of art is that you can disguise meaning and let the audience figure it out for themselves. I guess that begs the question why would an artist bother doing that, but that’s for another blog. After thinking about it, the only thing I can think is that art seems to have at least two different meanings. The meaning to the artist and the way the audience responds. I guess artists have to understand that the meaning they give the art will probably be different than the meaning the audience gives it. Because we all have different experiences, points-of-view and things that are important to us, we all see things a little differently and thus we all see art differently. At the very least art will always mean something to the artist even if nobody else “gets it.”
BLOGGED by Chris Morrow A New Friend
The New Fuse made some new friends at the recent Goose Island Brewery hit earlier this month. The Hornet's Nest gives us the chance to show you some of the professional work of one of our new friends who just so happened to bring out a camera for the recent hit. Please check the pics section of TheNewFuse.com soon to see the handy work of Mr. Nick Stoianof. He did a great job and we are proud to introduce him to you as a new friend of the Fuse! If you like his photographic work you can email him directly at the link above.
 Places with Funny Names
Have you ever passed a place along the road of life that made you stop and laugh out loud because of the name? Perhaps this blog can be an outlet for pictures of places with funny names? We will do the hard part and get it started. If you are able to click a pic from a place with a funny name, please email it to info@thenewfuse.com and put place with a funny name in the subject line.
Behind The Scenes
Did you ever wonder what it looks like behind the stage at a concert venue? I'm sure you probably have wondered this at some point so this post will give you a chance to see what it looks like behind the Goose Island Brewery stage. It probably doesn't look like what you might have had pictured in your mind.
  
Groovin High
So let’s set the scene: its Tuesday afternoon at Homewood Flossmoor High School in the south suburbs of Chicago. I’m playing with a Rock guitar trio putting on a performance and educational show for a guitar class. The class is a mixed crew, 14-15 year olds. When asked, they say some have only been playing guitar for a month, some say they have been playing for years. They say they are into all sorts of different music. Some say they like Classic Rock, some say Hip-Hop. A whole bunch say they’re favorite guitarist is John Mayer. But during the Q&A, a girl asks an interesting question: “Why did you decide to become a musician instead of getting a regular job?” The guitarist and bassist answer awkwardly, it seems to me like they don’t really know the answer. I don’t say anything, but it gets me thinking. Why did I become a professional drummer? After thinking about it, all I can answer is that I think it’s the most fun way to make some money that I can think of. I could answer that I’ve had years of specialized training in the form of drum lessons, band classes in high school, a college degree in music performance and so on. But all that isn’t why I play. I’ve had a few legit jobs over the years. They were okay, but the dealing with jerk customers, miserable coworkers and the politics of staying employed (!) all made me want to get out as soon as I could. So I guess the honest answer is that I became a musician so I could NOT get a regular job. Maybe that’s why the answers seemed awkward. Maybe they don’t want to tell an auditorium of high school students that regular jobs suck. Then again, maybe that’s the politics of staying employed that musicians have to deal with.
BLOGGED by Chris Morrow
What do musicians do during the day?
Have you ever wondered what musicians do during the day? Well now is your chance to learn a little bit about The New Fuse members and get an idea of what these guys might be doing during an average day. We will post a short little blurb on each member throughout the month of October. So without further ado I present to you Chris Morrow, the drummer for The New Fuse.
Chris Morrow resides in an apartment just a few miles outside of Chicago in Berwyn, Illinois. Chris has been teaching percussion at A Sound Education in Brookfield, Illinois since 2002. He teaches drums and percussion Tuesday-Saturday during the day. When asked about his schedule he responded, "I don't know really because it changes everyday, there is very little set in schedule." Aside from being a member of The New Fuse, Chris offers his skills up to two other Chicago music projects Old Shoe and The Psycho Kid. Morrow can also be found sitting in with a host of other music projects on any given day or night. In his own words, "I do a lot of freelance." I think it is safe to say that Mr. Morrow is living and breathing live music everyday he wakes up! 
The New Fuse to head back to Madison and Lafayette this Fall.
The New Fuse is happy to be hitting the road this Fall and going back to some of the band's favorite Midwestern towns of Madison and Lafayette. The band will be playing for a second time at both stops this time around with hits scheduled at Brocach in downtown Madison, Wisconsin on October 10th and at Knickerbocker in downtown Lafayette, Indiana on November 20th. If you are looking for a good excuse to go on a real easy road trip them please save the dates! We would love to see some of our Chi-town friends in the crowd.
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