J&tEP Newsletter!

J&tEP Newsletter, Volume V

NASCAR + Coca-Cola + Empty Pockets = Sizzling Summer Sensation

Josh and the Empty Pockets live in the fast lane and are slipping it into high gear at the Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday, July 10 for the Coca-Cola Family Track Walk. The walk begins at approximately 3:15 p.m, around the surface of the 1.5-mile D-shaped tri-oval of Chicagoland Speedway and includes not only a ripping concert featuring Josh & the Empty Pockets but also a sweet Q &A with Coca-Cola Family drivers Denny Hamlin, 1999 Sprint Cup Champion Dale Jarrett and 2000 Sprint Cup Champion Bobby Labonte. Holy schnikes! Neutral-drop on in and enjoy some healthy lifestyle tips, free Coca-Cola products and rip up the track with Josh and the Empty Pockets!

[ Event Link ] [ More Info ]

Arbor Theatre Summer Music Festival

One of Josh's dreams, aside from being a nationally-acclaimed rockstar/pitcher/economist, a rock-cono-pitchstar if you will, is playing at a Nike Missile silo. Thursday, July 15, witness dreams become reality as Josh and the Empty Pockets play the Arbor Theatre Summer Music Festival at the Arbor Theatre, a former Nike Missile silo converted into a lovely theatre in majestic Vernon Hills. The concert starts at 5 p.m. and includes music by Leah Druzinsky and Cleavland band-buddy Nate Jones. There is a suggested donation of $5, but any and all donations will be accepted. Come on out as we deploy a full payload of rock right into those summer-time blues!

[ Event Link ]

Par-tay in the Park!

Back by popular demand, Josh and the Empty Pockets bring Millennium Park a pocketful of rock on Thursday, July 22 with the WTMX Party In The Park. Held at the gorgeous Park Grill, the Party In The Park is a sure-fired cure for the heat. The show kicks off with Juniper Mays at 4 p.m and the Pockets take the stage at 5:30. So why not kick out of work early and enjoy a beer and a burger, or better yet, bring your boss along and enjoy a bonding experience fused with good times and great music. Rock!

[ Event Info ] [ WTMX ] [ Juniper Mays ]

Let's Get Artsy In Here

Saturday, July 31, the Empty Pockets showcase their artsy side as they rip the Lincoln Park Art and Music Fest a new rock-hole. The Empty Pockets go on at 2 p.m., but the festival goes all day Saturday and Sunday on Racine Ave, between Fullerton and Webster. The fest will be showcasing the talented local artists and musicians that make Chicago a world-wide powerhouse in the artistic community. So don your berets, take a bracing shot of Absinthe and get impressionistic with Josh and the Empty Pockets.

[ Event Link ] [ Lincoln Park CoC ]

More Free Summer Shows!

Thursday, July 8 - Deans Clothing Store, Naperville, IL: 5 - 8 pm

Friday, July 9 - Northfield Library, Northfield, IL: 6 - 8 pm

Saturday, August 14 - Norton's Restaurant, Highland Park, IL: 9:30 pm - 1 am

Saturday, August 21 - DeKalb Corn Fest, DeKalb, IL: 12 - 2 pm

[ Show Listing ]

Enjoy the summer,

-Nate Bellon(bass)

J&tEP Newsletter!

Josh and the Empty Pockets Newsletter #4

Let the Outdoor Rock Season Begin!

Josh and the Empty Pockets begin their outdoor festival shows with an evening at the Saint Bartholomew Carnival on Saturday, June 12. The music starts at eight but the carnival and the fun get rolling at noon. Enjoy the weather with a sweet carnival and a rock show. Who could ask for anything better? St. Barts is located at 4949 W. Patterson Ave in Chicago.

[WGN Press Release] [Event Info]

Skokie Nights Pick the Pockets

The Skokie Library welcomes Josh and the Empty Pockets as they rock open the 2010 summertime "Skokie Nights" series. The outdoor fun starts at 7 p.m. so why not mosey on over and enjoy the evening with some excellent music in a pretty setting. You can even visit the library while we're playing, we don't mind! Tuesday, June 15th at the Skokie Public Library is when the rock hits the fan. Who knows, you may even see Danny heading to the Media section.

[Library Link] [Event Link]

Dreams for Kids Benefit

Josh and the Empty Pockets like kids. And we also like dreams. So when we heard we could play music to help the organization Dreams for Kids [link], we jumped. June 16th, 8pm at Miska's Bar finds the Dreams for Kids Open Mic Night Fundraiser showcasing three bands, various comedy, sketches, performance art, and an open mic to close out the evening. There is a $10 donation at the door. Come out and enjoy a diverse night of entertainment that also helps Dreams for Kids continue it's wonderful mission of reaching out to underprivileged and special needs kids.

[Dreams for Kids] [Event Link]

Keep it greasy,

-Nate Bellon(bass)

J&tEP Newsletter!

Josh and the Empty Pockets Newsletter #3

Bottoms Up!

The place: The Bottom Lounge. The date: May 8th. The event: The rocking of faces from here to there and back again! That's right folks, Josh and the Empty Pockets barrel in to the Bottom Lounge on Saturday, May 8th to rock the house until it can be rocked no more. Come on out and join in the fun as we boogie the night away with fellow rockers Cobalt & The Hired Guns, Green Sugar, How Far to Austin and My My My. Be sure to get your tickets early, so you don't end up missing what's sure to be an awesome evening of face-melting rock and roll! (Plus, if you buy beforehand, you save $2.) Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show is ages 17+. Rock!

Jam Along with J&tEP

Sure, we've all done it: the music comes on, the guitar kicks in, and you can't help but air-jam along as the sweet music takes you away. Well, now you can play along with Josh and the Empty Pockets with the hot online music game, JamLegend! That's right, thanks to some righteously awesome help from a user there, now you can play guitar with Meaningless Words, the rocking track from Under the Bed. You can even use your computer-compatible Guitar Hero or Rock Band controller to enjoy the experience to it's finger-shredding fullest. Can you rock the house at the Legendary skill level?

Thesixtyone is Beautiful to Us

Online music-romp site Thesixtyone recently featured Josh and the Empty Pocket's track "Beautiful To Me" on it's main page! What's Thesixtyone? Only a seriously awesome online-music game, complete with quests, experience points, and magical long-swords! (Alright, no magical long-swords, but it's still as hip as can be.) It's also a great way to find new music to listen to, along with many options to support artists. It allows you, the fans, to judge what's hot and what's not. Will you use your ultimate power for good or for awesome? Only you can decide! Stop on in and check out Josh and the Empty Pockets on Thesixtyone today. We'll love you forever.

Help, I'm a rock!

-Nate Bellon(bass)

The Music and the TV (or Clever Rock Reference? )

"Now look at them yo-yo's that's the way you do it

You play the guitar on the MTV

That ain't workin' that's the way you do it

Money for nothin' and chicks for free"

Indeed, Dire Straits, indeed. Wise words from wise-man Mark Knopfler, a man so respected in the world of rock as to have a freaking dinosaur named after him. (Where's the Diplodocus Claptonus or the Dilophosaurus Jethro Tulli? C'mon, paleontology.) We here in the Empty Pockets feel the words even deeper, having spent much a portion of our pre-rock time moving refrigerators and color television sets, whilst delivering and installing custom kitchens... or the nearest labor equivalent. That being said and with all due seriousness, we are all very much looking forward to playing the guitar on the MTV. So, if you'll just send us our free money and chicks, that would be sweet. About the chicks: Will the come hatched or do we need an incubator?

Nate and Dan seen moving, delivering

Speaking of MTV, my ramblings about and around the internet brought me to an article about American Idol, posted on MTV's website. Before we get to the article, allow me to say this: I don't really watch American Idol at all. I understand it's appeal and I'm clearly in the minority, but it's just not for me. I have only a select amount of TV viewing time and choose to spend it on different forms of entertainment. I also haven't watched MTV too terribly much since... well, since Beavis and Butthead were originally aired, but that has more to do with access to cable than anything else. I do enjoy Rob and Big as a dirty pleasure and Silent Library, originally a Japanese game show, is often as painful and awkwardly funny as it is a salient look at the ability to find humor in the potentially painful or embarrassing situation of others. Moving on.

The Article in Question

The article, written by MTV News correspondent Jim Cantiello, is a mildly-acerbic, tounge-in-cheek 60 second wrap-up of the recent happenings on American Idol. Nothing staggering, but quick and effective, allowing those of us who don't afford the time to consume the product to at least converse on a certain level with those who do. Until this:

"But "Idol" is first and foremost a music show (just kidding)..."

Whoa, MTV. Whoa. I know you're the grand-daddy in the room when it comes to music videos and promotion, but whoa. Isn't that a bit too cheeky? I mean, really. Inspecting the MTV and MTV2 lineups shows a large majority of the programming isn't really music related at all. Sure, you can stream music videos from MTV.com, but that doesn't satiate the burning need for music videos on my television screen. However, I'm aware that advertising revenues are probably better with a channel playing more diverse and culturally-targeted programming and running a television channel must be expensive, so I present you a deal:

Just gimme one week.

Make your money, pay your bills, do your thing for fifty-one weeks a year. Just give me one week where I can sit at the telly, hit the MTV and soak myself in delicious music. Surely, Viacom would most likely say, you can gain your video-based jollies from MTV Hits or MTV Jams, which provide mainly music videos. Honestly, I say I cannot. They don't come with my basic cable package nor are the packed with the nostalgic je ne sais quoi that can only come from pure, uncut MTV. Come on, MTV. I loved you once. Just hit my with that delicious juice for one week a year and you can say anything you want to anyone you please about their musical credentials. For as Sting so stirringly opined in "Money for Nothing", I want my MTV.

Rock it hard,

-Nate Bellon(bass)

Dead Diamonds by Daniel Rosenthal

Ok, so I’m in a band.
You might be in a band or know someone who is.
Most likely you know at least me, Nate, Erika, or Josh, and hey, if we haven’t met we probably should. What is better than making friends? The band is a great conversation starter. Maybe it would go like this:

YOU: “Hey, who are you?”
ME: “I’m the drummer (wink).”
YOU: “Let’s hang out.”
ME: “Hell yeah.”
(We talk into the distance)



If you know me (which we already decided you may or may not) you would know that I latch on to new ideas like Nate to any man he sees (it's a gay joke... get it?).
Maybe the most fun I have with the band is when we are in the van talking about what makes the world go 'round. We’re always discussing why friends/companies/relatives/politicians do the things they do. We come up with all these theories that should really be written down here instead of me telling you that we have them. One of the topics we tend to discuss is the meaning of life, and thereby the meaning of its opposite.

Are we friends yet? Sweet. Now that we are friends, I want to talk to you about death.
Apparently there is nothing to stop this disease called life, which is killing all of us. Not like we should stop death.
What if we could decide who lives and who dies? Who would make the call? I suggest looking past this whole life thing and start thinking about what we are going to do after it's all over.
You really only have a couple of options. Be put in a hole, kept in a vase or turned into something from a horror movie.

There's got to be a better way! Wait. I have it.

Get yourself... DIAMONDIZED. i.e. pressurize your remains for a few million years in order to turn yourself in to a shiny, indestructible rock!
I know what you are thinking, gentlemen, "women never paid me any heed in life... but now... the possibilities are endless."
But, yes, maybe you’ll be dropped down the sink when the someone who survived you is washing the dishes. On the other hand, you always loved water parks, right?
I guess what I am really trying to say is there are lots of options when this life comes to a close. Don’t wait until you're dead to make decisions about it, because you can’t, you'll be dead.
Oh, and now that we’re friends I want you to know that I want be made into a diamond. I’m pretty sure at least. I really get hooked on new things I hear about. Oh, oh, will you wear me when I’m dead?

My Mind is Made Up (or Swords for Everyone!)

Many things can be said to contain the attribute awesome. The laptop, the race car, the iPod, and we all have our own personal and cultural ideas of that which is awesome. But certainly, there is one thing that can be held above all others as the pinnacle of awesome-osity: the sword.

That's right, the almighty sword. Whether it be a Gladius, Two-Handed or Katana, swords are a sign of power and might throughout the world... and they're just plain awesome. Seriously. And if you have any doubts, watch Reclaiming the Blade [link], narrated by John Rhys-Davies, one of the few men who's voice-over work could escalate a documentary about something so awesome as the sword to a level of awesome-itude that could prove to be lethal to all within ear-shot.

Don't believe me? Watch this. (If the involvement of JRD isn't enough to slake your awesome-lust, Bob Anderson is also in the film. Who is Bob Anderson? He's Darth freaking Vader.)

After watching this documentary, I was so over-taken with the sheer awesomeness that is the sword, I found my very soul screaming forward from a newly awakened need, a powerful and ancient urge no doubt inherited from my ancestors. A gene hidden deep in my being, awaiting a primal trigger so that it's purpose may be fulfilled. What I'm saying is, I need a sword. A real one. I'll play with it and feed it and take it for walks, honest. I'll name it something awesome, like Thurl Ravenscroft [link] and I'll put it to sleep every night. I swear. I just want a high-carbon steel, heat-tempered, full-tanged beauty of my very own.

So, I'm off to do a little light shopping. Tally ho, ya'll.

Keep it low and in row,

-Nate Bellon(bass)

I Have a man-crush on Michael J. Fox

I was just watching an episode of that show Spin City (they stopped making new episodes in 2004) and was motivated to share. I love Michael J Fox. One time, I was at a Cubs game and he was the special guest during the 7th inning stretch. That was awesome.

Which got me researching and thinking...



Can you, even for a moment, imagine a world where the opening titles of "Family Ties" are ending and the last cast member name comes up as:

Michael Fox

No. You can't. It's impossible, and that's a fact. The reason is because the soon to be 49-year-old actor of "Back to the Future" fame derives his worldly power, wealth and charming good looks not from his starring roles in such Hollywood gems as "Teen Wolf" and "The American President". It has nothing to do with his prolific voice-over career ("Homeward Bound" anyone? "Stuart Little" perhaps?). It does, however, have everything to do with the eternal and mystical power of the letter J. At least that's what it said on Wikipedia. Weird.

Anyways, here's to you J. Fox. You're the man. Keep on rocking and don't let that Parkinsons get you don't.

Josh

PS A much belated fuck you to Rush Limbaugh.