Digging through the vault

I was looking though some old Summit Ave pictures and found a this picture Ben took with Martin Zellar.

For those of you that don't know, Martin is the lead singer and creative influence behind the Gear Daddies. We played a show with them last summer in Austin, MN. We've met Martin a few times and every time we talk to him, he's very gracious and down to earth. It's always nice to know that not all the big artists let it go to their head.

We totally will let it go to our heads if we get big. HA!!!

Just kidding. Kinda. ;)

With modesty,
Shua

Contrary to Popular Belief...

We're NOT breaking up. Jeff didn't go to rehab (that's for losers, HA!). Tony didn't join a cult. Ben didn't move to Madagascar. I didn't get arrested.

YES; we haven't had a ton of new shows on the schedule. It's been a little slow this winter for us, but we're going to start filling up our calendar quickly. Summer festivals are just starting to book now. We're looking into new clubs to start playing at.

Moral of the story... Keep checking our website and MySpace for information and upcoming gigs. We'll be coming to a city near you before you know it.

Also, if you haven't already done so, click below to buy our new album from ITunes:



Peace,
Shua

"DETOX JUST TO RETOX!!!"

Where's Summit Ave This Weekend?

It's that time again. Summit Avenue is playing a show again this Saturday at Bunker's. If you've been to Bunker's before, (1) you know where it is, (2) you know there's free parking (always a plus in downtown Minneapolis), (3) you know the sound is great, the drinks are strong, and the people are friendly as all hell.

The Jade Murphy Band will be kicking it off at 9:30. We'll be hitting the stage at 10:45. You should seriously come and catch The Jade Murphy Band, though. Jade used to play with Dazy Head Mazy. JJ from Panaramic Blue also plays guitar in the band.

See you Saturday.
Shua

Summit Ave Website
MySpace
The Jade Murphy Band
Map to Bunker's

Gear Daddies Gig Saturday

There's a bit of press about the show in Austin this Saturday. Check it out:

Post Bulletin

Austin Daily Herald

another Post Bulletin

Don't forget, we'll also be at Bunker's tonight.

Summer's Fading

I KNOW! Depressing, isn't it? But, have no fear, (ugh, I was going to saying Summit Ave is here; not going there) we've still got some cool shows coming up.

One: We're playing Friday the 22nd and our second home, Bunker's. It's always a good time there. Our fans and all of the staff there really make us feel like family. If you want to enjoy a real touchy-feely show, make your way to the Warehouse District in Minneapolis. We'll give you a hug or something. ;)

Two: WE'RE OPENING UP FOR THE GEAR DADDIES!!!!! Their playing a show in their hometown and mine and Tony's, Austin, MN. It's going to be a blast. We've met Martin Zellar a number of times and he's always very courteous and encouraging to us. I can't wait to meet the rest of the band. Leep 27 will be playing right after us as well. You won't have many opportunities to catch a show from those guys. They don't play too much any more, so come out and check out the show. It will be Saturday, August 23rd in Austin, MN at Marcusen Park. I KNOW! A ballpark. Good Thymes!

--Shua

Flight of the Avenues

We had a very interesting experience last Saturday. After our benefit show for Johnfest in Fairmont (great show, by the way; I think we might have a few new fans), we had some van trouble. Jeff was driving. I'm not saying this to point fingers It wasn't any one's fau-JEFF'S FAULt. Our van ran out of gas... Carl [the van] was not happy. But, being the boy scouts we are, we actually had a spare gas tank in the trailer. When we tried to start Carl, he said, "no way, sucka!" The battery didn't even work. We had no power what-so-ever.

Lucky for us, Lala had a AAA card. All those years or sobriety finally paying off! Ahem, yeah... Anyway, while waiting on I-35 for a tow-truck, an SUV blew a tire RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR VAN [CARL]. Ash concluded that we were in the dreaded stretch of I-35 known as the Lakeville Triangle.

Ben had a pretty amusing conversation with a very nice highway patrolman about our treacherous stretch of highway and about breaking a road flare in half before figuring our how they work. You just whack them on the ground, right???

Within a few minutes, our hero, the tow-truck driver came and hoisted Hot Carl up on the bed of his truck. The problem was, it was 3 am Sunday morning and we didn't have any trusted fans in the area to drive us back to Bloomington. We convinced our hero that Summit Avenue would be brave enough to ride in the van while it was being towed. I KNOW! We're such rebels! It was actually pretty fun. Tony had a little freak-out, though, thinking we were going to smash into a bridge. HA!

P.S. we didn't die.

That means we're going to need some fan $upport at O'Gara'$ ($t. Paul) and Torge'$ (Au$tin) thi$ weekend. Fixin' Carl won't be cheap. Along with the new CD, we've got some nice t-shirts and new stickers. Oh, and it's my birthday on Friday...

Peace,
$hua

The long awaited return of the Shua

So, as you may or may not know, this is Josh that updates the website blog. I also update the tour dates page, so now you have someone to blame when the calendar isn't up-to-date or just plain wrong. The next time you see me, you can kick me in the arse a couple times.

I'm going to start updating the website blog more often. I may not have much to say, but I'm going to update it, gawd damnit!

Update1: The CD Release was a huge success. We sold a bunch of CDs and merch and packed the Fine Line, but most importantly, so many of you came out the show and supported us. We'd be nowhere without our fans and we're so priveldged to have such a cool group of people support us. Uh, oh,... Starting to feel the love... Getting a little weepy...

Update2: We'll be getting the new album up on ITunes as soon as we sort out some copyright issues we're having. I'm acutally working on getting the music up on Songza as well, so you can stream the songs or free (i'm getting too techy nerd, aren't i?)

Summer is quickly approaching and along with the warmth, a lot of exciting things should be happening with Summit Ave. I'll try to keep up. :D

Peace,
Shua

For a good laugh at my expense, enjoy...

SXSW Notes

Wanted to give you all a quick update from SXSW.

We play tonight at 9, but we hit the town last night and saw a lot of good bands. It’s crazy down here...TONS of bars - everyone with live music.

The funny story of the night...I won’t get in to how we knew it was him, but have you watched the tv show The Bachelor? Well we met the most recent Bachelor last night!! He was coming in to the Dizzy Rooster as we were leaving. We got a picture with him - I promise you we’ll have it up here soon. Tony tried to put a move on him, but he passed.

Outside of that, we blew out a trailer tire in Kansas City on the way here, but were saved by Frank the tire ninja. Long story.

That’s about it for now...I’m going to try to go get rid of this hangover before we play tonight.

Oh...and if you are looking for our CD release party tickets on ticketmaster, make sure you search "Summit Avenue" and you should be able to find them.

Later,

Jeff

CD Release Party Tickets

Tickets for the CD Release party will go on sale this Friday (March 14th) at 10 a.m on Ticketmaster.com

There are two types of tickets

- General Admission $8-9

- VIP tickets $35 (includes admission, our new CD, 2 drinks and a reserved seat in the mezannine of the Fine Line)

There are limited VIP seats available, so if you want to go that route get your tickets soon!!

Volunteer - Join the Street Team

We're starting to recruit a Street Team. We're looking for a chosen few people to put up poster's, hand out flyers (stickers), and generally promote the heck out of our upcoming CD Release Party on April 12th at the Fine Line. A good candidate would be someone who's dedicated, enthusiastic and a huge fan of Summit Ave. Your dedication will be paid-off. We'll decide a fitting pay-off for those dedicated few. It will most likely be a CD, a VIP party at the CD release and/or free admittance into upcoming shows.

Please go to our myspace page and send us a message if you're interested.

Last Saturday at Fine Line

We had a fantastic night at The Fine Line this past weekend. We opened up for the Trippin' Billies to a sold out crowd. Thank you to everyone that came out. A lot of people had some really kind things to say to us after we got off stage. We really appreciate that.

Now I'm REALLY looking forward to our CD Release Party at The Fine Line on Saturday, April 12th. The album is really coming together now. We have a tentative title, but I'll wait to reveal that after the album artwork is done.

I highly recommend that everyone mark the 12th on their calendars right now. It's going to be a HUGE party. We're throw all the stops for this.

--Josh

Big Things in 2008

Happy New Year! We had a fantastic New Years show in Marquette, Michigan. I'll write more about that in an upcoming post. All I have to say right now is 2007 was a good year for the band, but 2008 is looking to be really exciting for us. We're going to be in the studio in a couple months and we've got some great prospects for shows this spring and summer. Keep checking out our website to see what's coming up.

In the near future, we've got a great show at O'Gara's this Saturday co-headlining with The Subsidies.