our favourite quotes from this past week:
brian - "i liked it, but it hurt my ****."
sean - "i'm going this way....oh....i don't think i can get out this way."
tommy - "this will be a first. i've never been to west vaginia."
aaron - "i know this road is curvey! now take your finger out of my armpit, sit down, and put your fucking seatbelt on!"
ryan - "your dad works in porn?"

first off, here are a few cool picks taken last week at our show at spinnaker in panama city, florida. i didn't have them when i posted the last blog so you get to see them now.







on friday we loaded up the gear, jumped in the van and headed for lousiville to play at the phoenix hill tavern. after moving our stuff into the venue and getting a recommendation from the overweight soundman to drive, we drove down the street looking for a place to eat only to realise that there were plenty of restaurants within an easy walking distance, so we then drove back to the venue, parked the van, and then walked to one of the pubs we spied for some fish 'n chips n' beverages. apparently walking is not a strong suit for everyone. we had a great crowd come out to support us! people followed us from nashville, drove in from evansville, and made their way from louisville and it's surrounding areas! awesome. i met two bigfoot donuts in the van. more awesome. the show went very well and we definitely look forward to hitting phoenix hill again sooner than later! after the show we hung out with all of our old and new friends and then went to eric and shannon's house to sleep. ryan stole my bed. damn it.













on saturday we hung out with sean's family for a while and woke ryan at 3pm for the drive to charleston, west virginia. we made good time and arrived at the blue parrot before they had the doors open, so we ventured down the street to an indian restaurant for dinner. tasty. our neighbours were arguing about philosophy and politics while i was trying to get to know some vindaloo. jerks. on the walk back to the venue we stopped at a coffee shop for some drinks and were witness to an acoustic jam session which primarily consisted of instruments that were incapable of playing complimenting chords and notes. at least, that's what i assumed since that's what it sounded like. we then met up with threefold theory and proceeded to rock out, despite the unfortunate side effects of the new state-wide smoking ban. oh well. a good time was had by all and we sold more merch that night then in louisville! that really helped with paying for fuel. at the end of the evening we went to jeana's place to sleep on her brand new couch.





we woke fairly early and hit the road for home, but not before stopping at bob evan's to get stared at and eat some breakfast. the crepes were excellent, and the waitress ruined my teabag joke. fantastic. one three point turn later and we headed for nashville.

aaron the bass slayer

our favourite quotes from the past couple weeks:
brian - "can you give me money beacuse i don't have any and i already owe you a lot?"
aaron - "you caught crabs on the beach?"
tommy - "i just like talking about monkey weiner. that's all."
sean - "i just said that the cheaping was shipper!"
amy - "i licked one once and it tasted like fish."
jarvis - "if i find anyone sleeping in that room, prepare to get raped. that's all i'm saying."

let us first discuss this situation of the spontaneously changing drummer! it truly wasn't spontaneous at all, in fact. for those of you who hadn't noticed yet, ryan has decided to part ways with the band and tommy is his replacement. the decision wasn't an easy one for ryan and was made for personal reasons. ryan has been an integral part of solvi for the past three years and we are going to miss his abilities and the stories that he has inadvertently allowed us to tell over and over again! the split is amicable and was made a while ago, but as you could imagine it took some time to find someone with the chops to fill ry-guy's shoes and ryan was able to continue playing the shows we had on our schedule until the switch could be made. tommy is our new drummer and we welcome him to the solvi family, (as should all of you!) ryan has been gracious enough to attend a couple of our rehearsals with the tom and help him pick apart a couple of the tricky parts and transitions. tommy's first three shows with solvi occured over this past weekend in the florida panhandle, and went very, very well. things look bright in the solvi camp! i think ryan will also be joining us to hang out on the road as we head to louisville and charleston next week, so let that be further proof that we are all still friends and we hope that other bands would have as good luck as we have had in such a tough situation. and now, on to the usual ramblin' 'n stuff....

on sunday, july 6th i did a quick interview with dj shortbus at 97X in panama city to promote this past thursday's show at spinnaker. i don't know if anyone heard the broadcast, but it was pretty cool!

on thursday we loaded up the van and trailer to haul **** down to panama city with amy from our management company in tow. we arrived after a 7 hour drive in time to load our gear into spinnaker and relax with some friends for a bit. jarvis and randi rolled in from arkansas (crazy!) with cameras in their possession; chris drove out from navarre to keep us amused; roxie and theresa were there to cause havoc; compton, darr, corky and matt from cult status were on hand to rock, as were a ton of other familiar faces. we had a great show! the crowd, PA, soundman, lights and staff at the club were all excellent and we cannot wait to get back! we rocked out with reed waddle, odis and cult status, and then hung out late into the night, did some video shooting, argued with a yelling man in the parking lot, shared stories and ended up at waffle house for some late light snackage. bleh. at least this time i heard brian and sean complain about the food. hopefully that will be the end of the WH excursions. probably not. after eating we met up with jarvis and randi at their condo on the beach to hang out until nap time.











on friday we woke up to a beautiful day on the beach! not too hot, and just enough cloud cover. we drove around forever looking for a particular resaurant that brian insisted we eat at (damn it!) and then hit the beach/bed/pool/private bar for an awesome afternoon of relaxing. after such a hard day we cleaned ourselves up and drove to fort walton beach and loaded our gear in to coaster's, (after having trouble finding it...) and met up with chris and krissy for some tasty sushi. amy wouldn't try any. boo. then it was off to the venue to rock out with ground and cult status. there were a decent amount of people at the club, but many of them stayed at the far end. nonetheless, we had another great show and carried the fun over to chris and krissy's house afterwards. we slept well that night!







on saturday the weather wasn't agreeing with us and decided to pour rain for almost the entire time the sun was up, so after enjoying our breakfast in bed that our hosts supplied, we lounged indoors and watched music documentaries, were entertained by chris and krissy's daughters, told stories, and drifted in and out of sleep. after all of that relaxing we made ourselves pretty and drove down the beach for some seafood and then on to j krash's in panama city for the final show of the week. i missed the name of the opening cover band, but ground and cult status were once again on hand to rock with us. the drinks were flowing and everybody was having a grand time. by the time we took to the stage the guys in cult status decided that it was too late for them to play, so we closed the show. we hung out until way after closing and had a bit of an issue getting an inebriated amy into the van, then we made a stop for vomit care supplies on the way back to chris and krissy's place. the sun was up as we layed down to sleep at 6am.







i roused the troops and after a quick round of teasing our hosts' children, we hit the road to 97X in panama city to co-host the middle of nowhere show with our buddy shortbus. we talked about solvi's upcoming plans, played a couple acoustic songs, and joked around for an hour, then headed for home. we amused ourselved along the drive in various ways that we mostly caught on camera and video. it was a great whirlwind trip and look forward to the next one this coming weekend in louisville and charleston. make sure you come and hang out with us if you're in kentucky or west virginia on friday or saturday! friday will be my birthday party, but i will also accept presents on saturday.











aaron the bass slayer

click on this thing, sign up, and vote for us. got that? good. we know you want to do it. you have until july 16th, but why wait? we know you won't forget. you are SO smart!

our favourite quotes from the past week or so:
brian - "i don't love boobies. i love pits."
sean - "i like that they ask permission to smell your dick."
ryan - "have you ever known me not to be able to sleep anywhere?"
aaron - "we should have pulled over and smelled dix."
brad - "i think there's a reason they don't call it Ferry Street Bar."
jen - "he said 'unfortunately!'"
rob - "we'll serve you spaghetti-o's or whatever you want."
bodeen - "when we get to the exit near my house, we're almost there."

our favourite interchange from the past week or so:
brian - **almost falls after stepping into a hole in the sidewalk** - "that's a broken compass."
aaron - "what are you talking about? that's a hole."
brian - "well, if you have a broken compass you have no where to go."
aaron - "that doesn't make any sense, even for you."
brian - "yes it does. it's because i'm not equilibrium."
aaron - "oh yes. now i see."


it was another lively weekend as we barrelled up to sparland, illinois (just north of peoria) and rocked out at the second annual Route 29 Throwdown with Mindset Evolution, 3AM Project, Sinking In, Genovese Effect and Mind Drop. the drive up was uneventful, though we did see the smoking remains of a burnt vehicle on the side of the highway in rural illinois. i did my best to get the van stuck in the mud outside the tent where the show was being held, but it came free with a good push. Custom Sound & Lighting provided a great set-up for the show and we had a blast! brad and jen were kind enough to drive down from chicago and hang out with us, the other bands, adam and the rest of the event staff. after the throwdown was over we sauntered over to Bridge Street Bar for the after party, (at least brian and i did. sean and ryan fell asleep in the van, most likely spooning each other.) we eventually made our way back to the van and followed bodeen and tara to their house where we were ceremoniously abused by their dog and cat before falling asleep on the floor..... except for sean, who never made it out of the van. we were up bright and early to hit the road for home and absolutely loved paying $125 to fill the gas tank.







in july we'll truck down to florida for a few shows in the panhandle, and then to lousiville KY and charleston WV so if you're in those parts of the country come on out and hang with us!!!

aaron

our favourite video from the past week or so:

RISKAY"Smell Yo Dick" (feat. Aviance & Real)