Saturday night. THIS Saturday night, specifically, the 21st of January.

On this particular evening, we’ll be hitting the stage at The Mockingbird Theater in Franklin, TN, for our first official engagement of 2023.

A resurrected Generation Down will be leading the charge, with doors scheduled to open at 6PM, and their long-awaited return due to commence at 7 sharp.

Once they’re done reintroducing themselves to the masses, we’ll take over, for a solid 45(ish) minutes of that thing we do that’s made us a household name in McMullen, AL (Population: 9).

Our new friends Blackwood will close out the night.

You get the whole kit & caboodle for just 10 bones at the door, plus it’s All Ages, so bring the kids AND Granny, if she’s spry.

Beyond that, there’s not much I can tell you other than we’re still working toward the completion of this long-forthcoming LP, as well as refreshing our live show for the new year, with the details of both these endeavors remaining top secret for the time being.

Until the veil is lifted, be good to each other.

Cheers,
  D.

p.s. Illinois & Mississippi, we’ll see you soon.

Merry Christmas, folks (or whatever it is you may opt to celebrate as we wrap up another calendar year)! I went with the obvious choice, simply because it’s the only one I’m truly familiar with, and well, we did just release a song about Santa mucking specifically that up, so…(In case you missed that, you can watch the video HERE, or click HERE to stream it from your platform of choice.)

Anyway, we’d like to collectively say thanks to everyone who’s stuck with us for the past decade and then some, as we do sincerely appreciate you doing your best to keep up with the occasionally sporadic comings and goings around here. With any luck, 2023 will be a banner year for all of us, Santa delivers, gas prices continue to fall, and things around the globe start to seem a bit more neighborly. Tall order, I know, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed nonetheless. Oh yeah, and for those of you who wish upon stars, and toss coins into fountains, etc., please don’t hesitate to throw up a request or two on behalf of the impending completion of our new album, like a direct request to the Universe to expedite its delivery. That’d be swell.

I don’t wanna keep you long, seeing as you’ve probably got last-minute gifts to wrap, so let’s sign off here, with just a quick reminder that we’ll be at Mockingbird Theater in Franklin, TN on Saturday, January 21st. Advanced tickets can be purchased HERE, or you can grab them at the door for just $10. Doors at 6, Generation Down at 7, us at 8(ish), and Blackwood around 9:30. It’s an All Ages show as well, so bring the fam.

We’ll see you next year, but in the meantime, if you’re bored and need something to keep you occupied, get out a magnifying glass and use the photo below to play a game of “Where’s Woody?” He’s our personal “Waldo”, and probably owns more TGA swag than anyone really should, so he makes multiple appearances throughout this collage. Also, send us pics of yourself in TGA attire, and we’ll try to slip you into the next one of these.

Ho ho ho,
 
  Denny
 
  The Great Affairs

Yeah, I know, it’s Black Friday, and you’ve all got stuff to do, so I’m going to do my level best to keep this brief…honest. 

Tonight, we’re at John Brown’s On The Square in Marion, IL, performing a marathon 2.5 hour show that’ll feature a generous helping of new shizz we’ve not played live to date, as well as the return of a few numbers we’d decommissioned along the way somewhere, for whatever reason. I’ll be leaving my trusty acoustic guitar at home, in its case, so you can bet your sweet ascot we’re gonna throw down. 

In other news, while “Fever Breaks” is still climbing the Hot 100 chart in Singapore, we’ve decided to sabotage its success by releasing our new Christmas single hot on its heels. So, feast your eyes on the new video for “Santa Lost My List (Didn’t Get Sh!t)”, starring Zach & Kate Hoon, along with renowned thespian Michael Santa-Leon, and directed by Nate & Scott Moore.

We lied to you. Well, I lied to you, but the rest of the guys were complicit in this deception, because we’d collectively discussed at some length a course of action for this month that involved the release of that 5-song EP I said was on the way in our last entry.

Alas, but one song is now slated for release in October of 2022….from us at least.

That’s right, the “Fever Breaks” EP is now, simply, the “Fever Breaks” single.

If you haven’t stormed out on us already, which you’d be well within your rights to do in light of this seeming bait & switch, I hope you’ll please accept this apology, and the following explanation.

We wrote a Christmas song. We’re going to record that Christmas song. We’re then going to release said Christmas song sometime before Christmas…like, on Black Friday, most likely. As such, we felt that dropping 5 new songs, followed in short order by yet another new song; festive and holiday-themed as it may be, could be overkill. So, in the interest of not flooding the marketplace, and possibly having any or all of it get lost in the shuffle, we’ve opted to serve up “Fever Breaks” as a standalone track on 10/28, and; just as you’re all getting sick of it, drop a little ditty about our love/hate relationship with Santa shortly thereafter.

We’ll get into the particulars of our attempt to unseat Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” as the #1 single of all time in the next semi-regular installment of this (sometimes) monthly briefing. For now, it’s “Fever Breaks” we’re about to unleash upon the world, just one week from today.

So, here’s a little teaser clip…

Nothing to see here, just some guys chiseling away at their masterwork.

In the interest of not chewing the cud over this stuff any longer, or overwhelming anyone’s diminished 21st Century attention span with an unacceptably generous helping of our premium goods, we’ve decided to cooperate with the prevailing logic, and serve this one up in more easily digestible installments.

The purpose of this is not entirely altruistic, as we simply have too many songs in the pipeline that we feel good about, and not enough time to get them all up to broadcast-worthy muster, before the ones we’ve been sitting on, polished and ready for their turn on the catwalk, start to resent their brethren.

To buy ourselves a bit more time for banging away at the rest of these tracks, and alleviate any such tensions, we’re currently making preparations to set free the next 5 in the queue. In just a few weeks, the ‘Fever Breaks’ EP will arrive digitally(Exact release date TBD, but stay tuned, because that’s being ironed out as I type this.), and is slated to include the following:

1) Fever Breaks
2) When Love Is The Drug
3) Sleepwalker
4) Way Past Sundown
5) Embers

Once again, we were able to convince our good friend Michael Webb to lend his nimble digits to the ivories on “Embers”, in case you were wondering who to thank for sparing you my ham-fisted “Home Sweet Home”-style take on that number. He really took that one over the top, and while a bit of a departure for us, I think it’s one of the coolest things we’ve ever put down. In fact, there are a handful of twists & turns throughout the record(in its entirety) that I’m especially proud of, and I really think we outdid ourselves this time around.

You’ll be able to judge for yourself soon enough. StrangeLuv was just an appetizer. We’ll get you to the next course shortly, and please save room for dessert, because that won’t be far behind.

Eventually, the plan is to compile all of these EPs for a physical release, so those of you who still like to own an actual real-world copy of your albums, we’ll have you covered. For now though, we just wanna get this stuff out into the streamosphere as expeditiously as possible, so we can share it with everyone.

In the meantime, please feel free to avail yourself of some exclusive merch from our friends over at StoreFrontier. There’s a new TGA “Psych Heart” Tee available now that you can grab HERE, along with a slew of other designs we don’t always have with us on the road.

Speaking of the road, while we’ve only got a single date posted currently, there have been rumblings of a local show on the horizon, so if you reside in or around Nashville, keep an eye out for a calendar update.

OK then, I’ve gotta catch a plane for parts unknown, but watch our socials for more details on the upcoming release, and all the associated tomfoolery you’ve come to expect around this sort of event.

Peace,
    Denny

In case you haven’t heard… 

StrangeLuv is out there, ready to be streamed straight into your ear-holes via whichever service you fancy. This HearNow link is a good way to peruse a few options, if you’re not yet affiliated with any one platform in particular. 

To those of you who’ve already been spinning the sh#t out of our latest, and the new EP attached to it, we salute you, and hope you know that your patronage is sincerely appreciated. 

I’m gonna be honest and admit that I’m having a hard time keeping track of all the stations and shows who’ve been adding the new single(plus I may be a bit addled from working out in the yard for a few hours today, and currently wading through a slight fog as I type this), but if any of you media folks are reading this, please know that we really appreciate all the love, and can’t wait to get the next release out to you soon.   

We’ve been taking our time with this batch of material, in the interest of being certain we deliver a worthy followup to the last record, and; with any luck, a little something special, something that builds upon our previous work, but also shows we’ve still got a few new tricks up our sleeve.

Photos by Michael Winstead

We did crawl out from under our rock long enough to make a mess of new friends in Indiana last month, supporting Warrant & Skid Row at The Mill in Terre Haute. We scored perfect weather, and a helluva stage to ply our wares on, with a good 3000+ folks in attendance, most of whom had no clue we’d be there, or any idea what to expect. You can hear about the show HERE, as reviewed by Chuck Speer for The Rock And Roll Geek Show podcast. 

You can also check out some cool video from the show HERE, including drone footage of all three bands. 

As soon as we got back, I dove right into finishing up a few more vocal tracks, Rizzo & I banged out guitars on another tune of Kenny’s, and our trusty Engineer and Co-Producer Michael Saint-Leon gifted us with a fresh mix of a track our buddy Stacy Hogan(Sin Shake Sin/Midnite Mantics) guested on, and it’s ridiculously epic. So, we’re getting close…6 songs mixed, 4 others in various stages of completion, and maybe one or two more to kick around yet…but close, I swear. 

We’re gonna spend the next month or two focusing on the studio. As of this transmission, we’ve only one commitment on the books that will force us to break away momentarily, and gas up the van - our semi-annual tradition of celebrating the night after Thanksgiving with the gang at John Brown’s On The Square in Marion, IL. Otherwise, it’s nose to the grindstone until this thing can be declared a wrap. 

Cheers…and as always, please be good to each other, 
 Denny

With no further ado…well, some further ado, depending upon when you consume this information…the release of the ’StrangeLuv’ EP is nearly upon us. 

But first, a “lyric video”…one of those things you piece together in lieu of an actual performance clip or some otherwise more involved and labor-intensive sliver of celluloid. 

Rest assured, we do have one or two grand bits of cinema planned as well, for additional tunes yet to be delivered. For now though…

One topic we discussed at some length was our upcoming show with Skid Row & Warrant. Terre Haute, IN friends, come see us kick that one off on Saturday, July 30th, before we go back into studio mode to finish up this LP. 

OK then, here’s our old pal Woody, modeling one of his multiple “When Love Is The Drug” tees, recently made available exclusively from our STOREFRONTIER page.

….and here’s a list of folks we’d like to thank for spinning our stuff lately: 

Black On Track 
The C.O.A.R Radio Show 
Indiecentric 
Chris Bolus’ Asahartz Rock Revelation on ERB Radio 
Jham Session Radio 
DJ Moto/ Duggystone Radio 
Talent Vault on UnsignedRadioUK 
The Lucky Dip Show 
Wrinkly Rockers Club 
Super Cool Radio 
Ouch, You’re On My Hair 
Steve Vincent’s Mystery City 
Turn It Up with Gerry Casey 
Hot Wax Radio 
Hot From The Forge 
Scotland Rocks Radio 
Museboat Live 
The Philly Rock Network 
A2Z Radio - Allen “Big Al” Tate 

You guys are the best. Much obliged. To anyone I may have missed, I sincerely apologize. This “news desk” is a one-man operation, I’m afraid, and it’s been fairly cluttered the last few weeks. Let me know, and I’ll send Kenny straight over to deliver a singing telegram and some chocolates. 

OK then, the work is never done around here it seems, so (unless something really monumental occurs between now & then) I’ll shout at you in a few weeks with the latest. 

Peace…like, for real….be good to each other, 
 Denny 
 The Great Affairs

Alright then, enough of this runaround. Since we keep promising new music, I suppose it’s time we deliver the goods. Well, some of the goods…

Of course, if you’ve been paying attention lately, we did let an early mix of “When Love Os The Drug” out of the bag. If you missed that, you can still feast your ears(and eyes, to a lesser degree) on it right HERE.

We’ve even added a new “When Love Is The Drug” t-shirt design, over at our StoreFrontier shop, if you’d care to adorn yourself in such signature finery. You can access that option HERE.

Now though, it’s time for a proper, international release…an actual, honest-to-goodness single…but wait, we’ve decided to sweeten the pot, and make an EP of it, with 3 remixes from the last album, plus a radio edit for those of you partial to brevity, or possibly just averse to superfluous guitar noodling. This is like the Ginsu Knife offer of the 21st century.

So, on Friday, July 8th, the ’StrangeLuv’ EP will arrive, via your streaming platform of choice, preceded by a lyric video that we’ll drop on Wednesday, July 6th, the two events bookending our show at The Mockingbird Theater in Franklin, TN on Thursday, July 7th. That show is all ages, and we’re opening the whole thing up, kicking off at 7PM, followed by these fellas from Texas known as Black Heart Saints, and some Kentucky boys calling themselves Native Sons. It’s only Rock N’ Roll, front to back, as nature intended. You should make plans to be there.

Speaking of shows, we have a pretty light schedule so far this summer, as we work around recording sessions, and gigs some of the guys have as hired guns for other acts. A private event this weekend in Southern Illinois, and the aforementioned July 7th date are all we have on the books between now and July 30th, when we return to Terre Haute, IN to support Skid Row & Warrant at The Mill.

Otherwise, it’s woodshedding on the new material, getting it ready to either record or perform live, maybe writing a few more last-minute entries for the final track listing of the ever-forthcoming LP, and attempting to chart a course for said LP once it is eventually birthed, kicking and screaming like Kenny when the Heineken runs out.

OK then, I think that about covers everything but the constantly evolving “thank you, (insert program/station name here)” list, dedicated to all the folks who have jumped on the new tune at radio already. Please forgive me, anyone I may miss here in this first round:

GlamRat - Hard Rock Hell Radio
Gerry Casey at Turn It Up
Basement Tapes with Nick & Bootsy on Front Range Radio
Steve-O’s Music Madness
Thorn Of Rock
Eye On Jamz
Radio Indie Alliance
The Attic Show
Super Cool Radio
Philly Rock Network
Anne’s Rock Show
Sharpy’s Rock N’ Roll Train
Back To The Arena
C.O.A.R. Radio
Hot Wax Radio
Squatch In The Pit Show
Museboat
Samantha Knight - Z97.5 Clarksville
Belter Radio
Hot From The Forge Radio
Allen Tate -  A2Z Radio

Oh yeah, and Rizzo did another cool interview with the  A-Sides Podcast. This time, he and his buddy Freddy Herrera (Everclear/The Exies) discuss the band King’s X with host (and prominent lunchbox creator) Andy Halleen. Just click on the image above to check that out.

 Be good to each other,
    Denny
    The Great Affairs

(My trusty canine Juno guards the doorway to Pastry Park Audio Confectionery)

In the interest of getting right to the meat & potatoes, I shall endeavor (for once) to keep this short & sweet.

Our “man behind the curtain”, Mr. Michael Saint-Leon scored his second Grammy recently, for his work on Christone “Kingfish” Ingram’s latest. Here’s to Street-Lion, for another job well done. Just look at that cheese-eatin’ grin. He knows he’s the shizz.

When we can’t secure his knob-twiddling skills, we occasionally have to go DIY on this stuff, so Corey & I captured a bit of that on video, and you can check us out in action HERE & HERE, should you aspire to the self-engineering, home studio lifestyle.

Eventually though, all of this stuff lands back in his capable hands, and ends up sounding like actual professionals were in on the whole thing. Case in point, this preview, which is scheduled to self destruct at midnight on Saturday, May 7th, giving you until Mother’s Day Eve to spin to your heart’s content…or not. Whatever you decide, we’ll be calling this one “When Love Is The Drug”, and it is slated to be part of the new record we’ve been toiling over these past few weeks and months. We’re about 5 or 6 songs deep at this juncture, and you can probably count on this, and at least one or two more getting proper “single” releases ahead of the full LP’s arrival. For now, HERE’s a taste…

In other news, both Rizzo & Matt made appearances on the A-Sides Podcast since our last transmission, one to discuss the Grunge Era, and the other to…well, I don’t know….Matt’s was kinda free-form, a bit like some of that Jazz he professes admiration for. You can hear for yourself by clicking HERE or HERE.

We did a couple of shows, and got a good clip of “Lies” from Marion, IL that you can feast your eyes and ears on HERE, along with some footage and assorted pics by our buddy Rick Miller from the Libertyville, IL date that you can peruse HERE.

We’ve got a private event coming up in June, in the midst of all this recording business, and a local show on Thursday, July 7th, with Black Heart Saints(TX), and Native Sons(KY) at The Mockingbird Theater in Franklin, TN. It’s all ages, with us kicking off the night, and you can get your tickets for just $10 in advance HERE, or take your chances at the door(they’ll be $15 day of show, just FYI). This is gonna be a good one, so we hope a bunch of you Nashville folks can make it.

Finally, ladies, we regret to inform you that our bassist Matt Andersen will be stepping down from his duties as our most eligible bachelor, and tying the knot at the end of the month. We’re currently establishing a grief counseling hotline number, so please check back here for further details as they become available. We intend to do our best to help you cope, and see you through this difficult time. Stay strong. There’s someone out there for you, we just know it.

I kinda failed at the brevity thing….again.

Sorry.

 Be good to each other,
   D.