Chuckanut Drive has been assimilated into the Music Genome Project and can now be heard on Pandora internet radio. http://www.pandora.com
I can´t say that I agree with most of the music that we´ve been linked with. But if the thumbs down button is used early on, you´ll get some good stuff.

As some of you may have already heard, the beloved and revered Loren "Hot Sauce" Huggins has decided to hang up his guitar in order to have more time for makin´ babies and raising goats. His music will be greatly missed, but the band supports his decision and we all wish him the best for his future.

Loren will be finishing out the year with the band and we´ll be ceremoniously sending him off in style with a New Years Eve show at the Green Frog Acoustic Tavern in Bellingham. Please come to wish Loren well and thank him for all the years of hot licks and stage kicks. We´ve got a few more shows before the end of the year, so be sure and make it out to see Loren:

10/03 Boundary Bay Brewery. Bellingham, WA

10/19 Listen to Chuckanut Drive Live on KISM 92.9FM 7pm

10/24 The Green Frog Acoustic Tavern. Bellingham, WA

11/14 Conor Byrne. Seattle, WA

11/?? Sirens Pub. Port Townsend, WA (We´ll let you know when this date gets confirmed.)

12/31 LOREN´S LAST WALTZ!!! The Green Frog Acoustic Tavern. Bellingham, WA

Have no fear about the future of the band. We´ve been blessed with some great musicians who are eager and willing to step up and fill the void left by Loren´s absence. The equally talented, one dimpled, Bellingham favorite, Mr. Stell Newsome will be taking over on lead guitar and vocals. We´re also extremely excited to announce the addition of pedal steel/multi-instrumentalist Mr. Steve Norman. Steve´s a true musical veteran and will bring an entirely new element to the band. Expect to see Chuckanut Drive on the Road in 2009. These guys are both road dogs and I don´t think I could keep em in town for long even if I tried.

Cheers,
Chuckanut Drive

It turns out that recording an album as, well, perfect as Fidelity Grange is an expensive proposition, and seeing as we're all a few dollars short of "Rock Star" status, we've set up some e-bay auctions of unique Chuckanut Drive memorabilia to offset the costs of recording. Check 'em out. Especially that first one.

The Americana Poster:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200208502477

The Newspaper prop: from the "Ain't much action" video shoot:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200208504188

The CD release poster:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200208505001

The Old promo shot: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200208505938

That´s right! Pedal steel playing taxonomist, Garth Daley Highsmith, married sweetheart/Chuckanut Drive web mistress, Lauren Manes, on Saturday, October 21. The two are currently on honeymoon in the Basque country of Northern Spain.

The ceremony was lovely. Steve and Loren serenaded the newlyweds with an acoustic rendition of Sam & Dave´s "When Something is Wrong with my Baby." All you wedding planners out there take the lead from Lauren and Garth: Cocktail hour before the ceremony is an excellent idea. Emotions ran high; we laughed, we cried, and by the end of the night there wasn´t a dry eye or sober noggin in the place. Good luck kids.

Check back for pictures.

The band just got back from a fun Oregon mini-tour -- Friday night in Portland and Saturday night in Eugene. Got: lots of beer. Some marriage proposals. Garth's sore throat. And, of course, hangovers all around. Left behind: Kubby's pillow. Loren's guitar. (Both reclaimed and safe.)

There will be resting & practicing for the next weekend o' shows: with I Can Lick Any Son Of A Bitch In The House & Drag The River at the Tractor, in Seattle, August 25; then two shows on the 26th, in Bellingham. Check the calendar for more info.

And, last but not least, our awesome CD-selling pals at CDBaby.com have made a handy-dandy shopping cart. Now you can buy the CD straight from our page, through them.

Rock.

We've added two new features to the Chuckanut site. You can now buy The Crooked Mile Home on iTunes, and you can also use Google Calendar to get reminders about Chuckanut Drive shows. Gotta keep up with technology, you know ...

Got some high-resolution photos up on the Press Kit page, as well as some templates for posters. A one-sheet and some quotes from reviews will be up soon.


One new show date is on the shows page as well: July 15 at the Boundary Bay Brewery in Bellingham.

Three new reviews are up on the reviews page. Two are in translation from the original Dutch/Flemish -- please send corrections if you've got 'em!

The Maldives have replaced the Jesus Chords as the opener for the Sunset show on Thursday, April 13.