Norman's Rockwell

Hey Soul Mates, we've been getting a nice response to our new FORUM . Be sure to sign up and put in your two pence/cents. Today's pictures for our website are from our first day in Wales. We drove straight from Huddersfield after our show to Monmouth. By the time we got there (around 4 a.m., the sun was on the rise). Monnow Valley Studio (MVS) is an amazing place. Special thanks to our Jo for putting us up and putting up with us. We absolutely loved MVS, lovely country and a brilliant studio. Just check out the photos. You'll get a sense of the natural beauty of the area. The house itself is an attraction, built in the 17th century or so. Narrow staircases, brick and wood. The studio takes up half of the mill house. It is a large space with high ceilings. The main recording room is split in two by the famous door with it's mammoth millwheel. The end closest to the control room is where we did guitar and vocal tracking. The second half of the room is for drums and houses...

Hey Soul Mates, lots going on for a Monday night in North Hollywood. Here's the run-down: 1. Rush Hour Soul.com has a fresh, new look. It's brighter, funkier and altogether different. Check it on out! No more frames. 2. There's a new message board. Follow the link on our site to the FORUM. Sign up, it's free. Then tell the world about your love for Rush Hour Soul. Say it Loud, Soul Mates! The forum will be ever-evolving to keep up with the times, you know. 3. Tune into our interview with DJ Copperhead that was debuted tonight on Next Big Hit . Look for "B-Side Vol. 124." That's us on the tell-a-phone. We had a fun convo with Copperhead. Since it was edited for time, you'll just have to ask Doug personally about the awesome fish nuggets in Barnsley. It's been a busy afternoon/evening. Time for some tea. Earl Grey. Hot. Love, Power, Peace

Hey Soul Mates, I'm rapidly closing in on my 300th blog entry. Today, I've been completed photos for May 31st in Barnsley. Check them out. This was a fabulous night. Dave from SUPERfreak was there to meet us when we drove up to the Arches. Then we met some of the local neighborhood kids, who ran up to our magic Peugeot as we arrived. One shouted at me, "You're dead posh." Another pointed at Doug and exclaimed, "You're from Afrrrica!" Kids say the darnedest things. Then Doug and I went to get authentic fish and chips for everyone. Yum. Actually fish nuggets. Very nicely done. Back in the pub, two of the locals grilled me on why the American flag has thirteen stripes. I was pleased to explain about the colonies and name them. They were impressed. Kinda tough looking characters, they wound up really liking our music. Doug and Bryan relaxed by playing pool. The Arches turned out to be a fantastic music hall. It was a night presented by Union. The sound f...

Hey Soul Mates, some of you can't believe that we are leaving. It's true! Me? I can't wait to get back and have more Lotus caramelized biscuits. Those are the bomb, y'all! We'd like to thank everyone who has loyally attended our shows the past 2 years. Rush Hour Soul loves you. We hope you enjoyed the shows as much as we enjoyed entertaining you. But it's time for us to move on. We'll be back eventually, but for now, Los Angeles has shown us everything we need to know. The pictures from our Homecoming festivities are up! If you missed the show, well... check out the photos. Keep in mind, you have one last chance to see us in SoCal. We know the true believers will be there. Trivia: Doug is sporting a Celtic jersey (a gift from our Scotsman, Jimmy). I'm wearing my skinny tie from Liverpool (see Strawberry Fields & Menlove pix for cross-reference). Bryan is enjoying Newcy Braaarn . Bryan and I have been writing new material. We started jamming at the B...

Hey Soul Mates, it still makes me laugh at myself when I see a celebrity around town. Heart skips as I try to place the face with a name. Today I saw a handful. At the grocery store, there was Jon Cryer ("Two And A Half Men," "Pretty In Pink"). I should have said hello to him. Last time I saw him was backstage at the Beastie Boys concert. He's a charming guy. But, he seemed preoccupied. Channel 2 news personality, Lisa Joyner was also at the market. The best of the day however, was seeing Paul Reubens at the Galleria. I immediately called my boy, Mikey in Jax. The opportunity to ask Mr. Reubens for the word of the day just didn't present itself. Back in the day, Mike and I watched the Pee-Wee Herman Show and would memorize parts to aggravate teachers every Monday morning. Good times. I was even Cowboy Curtis one Halloween. Day 6 of the tour is posted. This was a very emotional day for me. Visiting John Lennon's childhood home in Menlove Ave. was a r...

Hey Soul Mates, the first half of the Cavern Club photos are up on our website. Our photographer, Patty, got some amazing pictures. They really convey the energy of the show and our sheer joy from playing such an historic venue. Just to stand on a stage that you know Paul McCartney played upon was quite a thrill. The fact that the crowd were into our music was icing. Supersweet icing. This pic of Doug and me was taken right before we were announced. Confidence was high after our set at Lennon's loosened us up. Oh, the shirts Bryan and I are wearing on this night came courtesy of our tour sponsors KS1 Security . Thank you! We looked mahvelous. We were introduced by David Bash, the founder of the International Pop Overthrow Festival. At the end of our set he declared " A Talent For Loving has to be the catchiest song of the Festival!" Thank you, David. I'm in the process of doing a major overhaul to RHS.com to make it more user-friendly (we are adding a forum for your ...

Hey Soul Mates, thanks to everyone who came to our homecoming show at the Good Hurt, tonight (Friday). That was super. We felt really loose and relaxed. The room was energetic. Bryan was bouncing off the walls. His birthday show and all. Doug was decked out in his Celtic jersey; I had on my Liverpool finery. Bry suggested we start with Bad Penny Blues . I called Sucka and Fall Out to follow. This playing without a set list is fun. Keeps me on my toes. Our audience sang sweetly tonight. The girls were particularly in tune with Done Lost My Mind . We didn't play that song too frequently on the tour. The end of the set was slamming, A Talent For Loving and then, by popular demand, Supermodels . A good night. It was made extra-special having our Scottish mate, James in the audience. Set List: Bad Penny Blues (Ms. Jackson) Sucka Fall Out Done Lost My Mind U Had The $ Everyone's Ingenue A Talent For Loving Supermodels With Gatling Guns FYI: Days 3 & 4 of the tour are up in pic...

Hey Soul Mates, day 2 of our tour is posted in pictures. This was a travel day. We drove from Sheffield to Liverpool. By this point, I was getting a little bolder with the roundabouts. Although, I missed a major turn in Liverpool and we took the long way around town to get to Albert Dock. Along the way we wound through the mountainous Peak District, even getting into a thick fog that reduced vision to inches. The area was beautiful, green and hilly. We stopped in the Spring Tavern in Woolley Bridge for lunch. Most of the group did fish & chips with mushy peas. I did the sausage baguette. The couple who owned the place were very nice and told us the history of the building, which dates to the 1830's. I like the name Woolley Bridge, something very English about it. We saw enough wool bearing animals along the way, to be sure. Just finished watching England win it's 2nd match of the World Cup, a decent nail-biter v. Trinidad & Tobago. After all the build up about Wayne Roo...

Hey Soul Mates, it's an undertaking, but we wanted to get the pictures flowing to you. So what we are going to do is... pretend we are still on the road. For the next fortnight, we will post pictures of the tour on a daily basis. Each day, there will be a new batch of photos on Rush Hour Soul.com . So be sure to check in for updates. We start with the band departing LAX. The rest of Day 1's photos were taken inside and around the D'n'R Live in Sheffield where we had our English debut. Thanks to Hayley and Seaweed Biscuit for presenting us. Love, Power, Peace

Hey Soul Mates, There are literally thousands of pictures to get through before we can post them on our website. But I wanted to give you a taste of our experience in the UK. This was the last group photo we took in London last Thursday after our visit to the EMI studios on Abbey Road. The zebra crossing looks a little different than it did in 1969 when the Beatles shot their album cover there. But yes, that is Rush Hour Soul on Abbey Road. We caught a break in the traffic and this was the last photo on the disc. No photoshopping involved. No slight of hand. Don't forget that we have our homecoming show on Friday in Venice at the Good Hurt. We'll be celebrating our successful tour and Bryan's Birthday (which is actually tomorrow). Love, Power, Peace

Hey Soul Mates, I'm writing from the banks of the River Thames. Bryan and Doug headed back to California this a.m. I'm here another 36 hours and very excited. England have their opening match in the World Cup tomorrow and the whole country has gone footie ballistic. I'm ready. Got my David Beckham replica jersey so I can blend in with the locals. London's bracing for a record day of beer sales. Haven't decided yet where to watch. There's a gigantic screen set up on the South Bank opposite the Tower of London. Nah, too hot to be out in the sun all day. Must have A/C and something cool to drink... Rush Hour Soul wrapped up "From LA With Love" with a hot show at the Bedford on Wednesday. The set was unique for us. Because we spent the day filming a promotional video we had to mime playing "A Talent For Loving" in front of the live audience. We started and ended the show with live performances of the song; the lip-synched version followed the fir...

Hey Soul Mates, we are preparing to depart Wales this morning. Lots to be done in preparation for our London debut. Mixing is going on as I write. Yesterday, we took some time to check out the town centre of Monmouth. Another Summer day here. Very sunny. We picked up a mascot along the way. A small red Welsh dragon. After strolling up and down main street, we drove to Tintern Abbey just a few miles South. Tintern and its surroundings are dreamlike. The Abbey is simply stunning. Shafts of light burst through the skeletal remains of the 12th Century church. The air that rushes around it is filled with refreshing energy that fills your lungs. We had fish & chips and a pint of Brains in its shadow as the sun began to set about 7:30. It stays light here for some time after the sun sets. That's how far North we are. When we got back to the Old Mill house here at Monnow Valley, we all sat down to do interviews for the film being made about our experience in Britain. It's been exci...

Hey Soul Mates, tonight's recording session went very well. After a dozen runs through the track we are doing, we took a five minute break and returned to lay down 3 blazing takes. The first and third are hot and one of them will be our master take. The day was spent getting levels and sorting out issues in the studio. We finished our day around 12:30 a.m. Energy is superb and we jumped around the yard to 99 Problems to let off a little steam. The civilians in attendance all agreed that the track is slamming. Tomorrow we'll do a few overdubs, Bryan's leads and the vocals. I will be handling all of the vocals this go round. Doug and Bryan are doing some great work. Our engineer/producer Jim has been very supportive and has pushed us forward, even if we have a little trouble understanding what he's saying. Ha ha. We've noticed that many of our Soul Mates on MySpace are leaving comments. Keep them coming! I'm going to go outside for a moment. Clear the brain and w...

Hey Soul Mates, where to begin. It's been a tremendous week for us. We've played all over the North of England. Liverpool, Sheffield, York, Huddersfield & Barnsley. Right now, the band are in Monmouth, Wales at Monnow Valley Studios to record. We are thrilled to be here. It's been a hot and sunny day in the valley. We are surrounded by nature on all sides. This island has been very good to us in so many ways. Nothing Is Real Liverpool was almost too much. Being in the birthplace of the Beatles was a dream come true. Playing at their old stomping ground the Cavern Club was icing. Platinum icing. We began the bank holiday at Lennon's we played a short set there before moving across Mathew St. to the Cavern. The show at the Cavern was massive. We were introduced by the International Pop Overthrow Fest MC David Bash and launched into Fall Out and Everyone's Ingenue . The sound was pristine on stage. I've never had the privilege of playing a venue with such wond...