Alaska Tour '10 - Dates Posted

picture from last year's Alaska Tour, May 2009

Dates have been officially posted to www.johnstatz.com and www.reverbnation.com/johnstatz for the summer Alaska tour, but for your convenience, I'll post them here as well:

July 22nd - College Coffeehouse, Fairbanks, AK @ 8pm ($5)

July 23rd - House Concert, Fairbanks, AK

July 24th - Denali Salmon Bake, Denali Nat'l Park, AK @ 9pm ($5) *opening for The Cooks + Salmon Bake's 26th Anniversary Party*

July 25th - Alaska Fine Arts Academy, Eagle River, AK @ 3pm ($10)

July 29th - Southeast Alaska State Fair, Haines, AK @ TBA

August 1st - Alaskan Hotel & Bar, Juneau, AK @ 9pm


In between those tour dates, I'll be vising my good buddy Matthew in Anchorage and standing up in a wedding in Juneau for an old friend. This tour will involve some crazy combinations of transportation, including planes, cars, and even a ferry or two. Can't wait!

Topical: Staircases

Today's topical picture post might seem boring at first: staircases.

Lets bust that myth right away...

This picture is from Prague, and obviously depicts a crazy-ass snowboarder trying to kill himself. There wasn't even any snow, either (aside from a small pile at the bottom). Crazy and cool.

Now that that is out of the way, lets move on to some more graceful staircases...

Graceful? I guess not so much, but this winding set of stairs takes you inside the dome of St. Peter's Cathedral in Vatican City, leading to breathtaking 360 degree views at the top of Rome. It gets pretty narrow towards the summit, and you have to duck a lot.

If you guessed that these regal stairs could only belong in a government building, you guessed correctly. But which government? Why these belong to the Swedish Embassy building in Prague, my favorite spot to couchsurf!

These steps led to my hostel in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina when I visited last year. Some girls that were also staying decided to set up a cool picture by dropping these streamers down the stairwell. I decided to mooch and take my own picture.

Taken during my first tour ever, and my first time in Philadelphia to boot back in 2006, this is a staircase within Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed back in 1776. I toured the building a year later with my dad, and they did not take us upstairs that time. A pity, this is one classy staircase.

Single From the New Album Available - Download for FREE!

I am pleased to announce the release of "Everything To Me", the first single from the upcoming album, Ghost Towns.

Visit johnstatz.bandcamp.com/ to download your copy. Pay whatever you want, or nothing at all if you want.

All tracking has been completed on the album, and we are no in the final mixing stage. Officially, Ghost Towns will be released on August 12th, 2010, but unofficially, copies will be available at shows well before that.

I hope you enjoy "Everything To Me", a free preview from the new album!

Credits:

Tracking/Mixing Engineer: Jeremiah Nelson

written by John Statz

Vocals/Acoustic Guitar/Banjo: John Statz
Vocals: Whitney Mann
Electric Guitar: Jeremiah Nelson
Electric Guitar: Ben Johnson
Upright Bass: Matt Donoghue
Drums: Adam Cargin

More news soon,

John