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thecruxshadows's Journal
Cruxshadows News
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To the point...
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September 11, 2008, 09:19:pm
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Hello everyone...
I am a bit short on time... we are on our way to Tulsa Oklahoma. The US Tour is underway. But I have a few very important announcements... So, I shall cut to the chase.
First- Dragoncon went really well. The show was so much fun, and the crowd was absolutely amazing. We couldn't have asked for a better way to kick off the US Tour. We want to say thank you to the "Cruxshadows fairies" (our street team) and the staff of Dragoncon for all their help. We had a record attendance; unfortunately the fire marshall was not as enthusiastic about the number of people who showed up... and a lot of people were turned away. Needless to say the energy of the crowd was still awesome. And I was really proud of the band.
Second- Our US Tour is now underway. We will be playing 50+ shows across the United States from September through December... yes, a very long tour. In order to promote the event, we created a short video that can be downloaded as a podcast or watched via youtube. The footage features CXS in its newest lineup, live from both the Blackfield Festival in Europe and Dragoncon in the United States. The Immortal Tour will feature Ayria and I:scintilla (Both from Alfa Matrix Records). Please feel free to help us to promote the tour by spreading this video everywhere. Cryoflesh.com, vampirefreaks.com, and projekt.com are all sponsors of the American leg of the tour. Please feel free to let them know that you appreciate their support of Cruxshadows.
You can watch the promotional video below...
if you want to link to it... it can be found at this address-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq8I5B1F0iA
Thirdly... well, I saved the best announcement for last... To kick off our US Tour, our new single Immortal has climbed up the Charts entering Billboard at position number two in the Hot Dance Singles Sales chart- Just behind MIA and just ahead of Madonna. We also debuted at #6 on the Hot Singles Sales Chart, also on Billboard. This marks our third consecutive single that debuted in the top 10 in sales nationally. I am really proud of all the hard work that the band did to make this happen, and grateful for the support of our fans.
Well we need to get going... I hope to see you all at some point on our tour. The latest dates can be found on pollstar.com. Hope to see you all at shows very soon.
Live Love Be Believe
Rogue of CXS
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European Tour underway, other announcements
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July 10, 2008, 04:49:am
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Hello Everyone,
We are underway... For those of you who do not know, we are currently on tour In Europe. So far it is going really well, although there have been a number of technical problems that have made for a few challenging performances.  The new members of the lineup have done well, and I am really looking forward to the coming shows. We have played 4 shows (2 club shows and 2 festivals) so far, and we could not have hoped for more enthusiastic and supportive crowds. We played in Sweden for the Arvika Festival, and in Germany at the blackfield festival.
Our shows for the USA are currently being booked, so we urge all venues and promoters in North America who wish to do a show with CXS to open discussions on the subject sooner than later. You can contact our booking agent by writing to athan at cruxshadows dot com.
And speaking of the tour- We have chosen our support for the upcoming shows-
Our US Tour will be supported by both our good friends in Ayria, as well as the very talented I:scintilla (both are signed to alfamatrix).
Many of our UK shows will be supported our friends in Deviant UK
Our German shows will be supported by our new friends in Akanoid.
I hope that we will see many of you at our shows in the coming months. I will try to post again as things move forward.
New images of CXS live can be seen at the Rock 'n' roll reporter and at the German language website for Cruxshadows.
till next time-
Live Love Be Believe
Rogue
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new single, new members, new tour, and more!
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May 14, 2008, 03:58:am
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Hello everyone,
I have a number of important things to tell you about.
First off, we are happy to announce that we will be releasing a new single in July.
The song is called Immortal and is available currently for pre-order from isotank.com... and soon pre-ordering should be a possibility on Amazon as well. The single will feature 3 versions of the title track, and two additional and exclusive tracks... one of those is an all new version of Ariadne and the other is a completely new song titled Exile. I am really excited about this disk. Not only do I think the new songs sound amazing, but they are played by and recorded with the now current lineup... but I am getting a little ahead of myself.
You can preview a little bit of the Immortal single on the cruxshadows.com audio player.
If all goes according to plan, the single will be followed up with a special "Best Of" disc sometime later this year. I will give more details as they become available.
Secondly, The Immortal Tour, which takes its name from the new single, should be pretty exciting. It begins in Germany on the 1st of July. We will play shows all over Europe before heading back to North America to continue with the next leg of our tour. We have confirmed that we will be performing at DragonCon '08, and we look forward to kicking off our US dates there, in Atlanta, Georgia. DragonCon is both a favorite of ours and a favorite among fans, and if you have never attended, it is well worth checking out.
North American dates will be posted as they become available.
I know many of you have been curious about some of the lineup changes that have occurred in recent months, and I am pleased to finally release the names of the individuals we have chosen to be part of CXS. So here we go... you can find out all about each of them on their bio page by clicking their name.
As many of you already know from my previous update, Valerie Gentile will be playing guitar. I can't say enough good things about Val.
When it came to finding a new violin player, we had a very difficult time. The truth is we could not make up our mind and ended up with two violinists, giving us our very own string section:-) Our new violin players are David Wood and Johanna Moresco. David is a classically trained violinist/violist from Wyoming and Johanna is a self taught player from Kansas. They have completely different playing styles, but together not only allow us to do what we have done in the past, but add a new dimension to the arrangements and open a whole world of possibilities... and we liked them both too much to choose just one.
On the opposite side of the stage from Jessica, will be our new dancer/backup singer Sarah Kilgore. Sarah has been interested in dancing for CXS for a few years, and she is certainly qualified. She is a trained dancer with over a decade of experience in contemporary, modern, ballet, jazz, & tap dancing styles. In college she competed on ESPN at the UDA nationals and was named a UDA All Star. She has worked as a choreographer and dance instructor, but seems to be a perfect match for the band.
Everyone has been working hard to put all the pieces in place. It has not been easy. There is a lot that we still have to do... And there is a tremendous amount of pressure on each of them. But I really like this group of people, they each add something special to the Crüxshadows. I hope that you all will enjoy seeing and hearing them play as much as I have enjoyed working with them so far. From where I stand, the future looks very bright.
One last note. I recently popped up in a comic strip from England, as a jelly bean... or a Gothy Bean to be more accurate. Here's an excerpt we liked. Click on the picture to see it a little bigger:-)
If you want to check out more Gothy Beans you can find them here or just go to www.gothybeans.com
my best to you all-
Live, Love, Be, Believe
Rogue
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Important Announcements
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January 27, 2008, 11:51:pm
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Hello Everyone-
It's true. We did it. I am very happy to tell you that Jessica and I are now... married:-)
The details: We wed in Charleston, South Carolina, in the Historic District. The ceremony was held in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. It was a beautiful mass in one of the oldest and most engaging cathedrals in the United States. The church was filled with red poinsettias. It was really gorgeous. The music was a mixture of pieces from Bach, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Pachelbel, Clarke, & others, all arranged for, and performed by, pipe-organ, strings, and voice. We were married on December 29th, which is technically the Fifth Day of Christmas. Traditionally speaking, Christmas lasts 12 days, from the 25th to the 6th of January... like the song;-) Previously, over the course of our relationship, I have given jessica 4 gold rings... So the fifth one was her wedding band, and it came on an appropriate day:-)
We left the church in a Cinderella-style horse drawn carriage, and arrived at the original Citadel from the Civil War era, now converted from a fortress into a hotel. There we had a two part reception . First, hors d'oeuvres were served in the indoor Atrium, a glass inclosed area in the heart of the structure. The guests were gathered by the central fountain where we had a string quartet playing. Jessica and I posed for a few photos while guests got to know each other. We then proceeded to dinner, served in the Main Ballroom. As it was Christmas, the decorations were elegantly inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas.
The flowers were predominantly Calais Lilies, and the arrangements were stunning. There were ostrich feathers, origami, and even those candied almonds. On every table white pumpkins with Jack Skellington's face glowed with candlelit eyes and smiles, as the room slowly and subtly shifted through a spectrum of color in a seemingly magical feat of lighting (designed by CXS' very own lightman Zak Wilson). The cake was an incredible "hatters" style creation, decorated in fondant, wrapped in a cascade of sugar calais lilies spiraling around each tier, topped by a hand blown glass Jack and Sally. Each part was flavored differently: hummingbird, carrot cake, or strawberry. (hummingbird is a traditional southern flavor- honey & pineapple). And a huge ice sculpture of spiral hill was prominently placed near the entryway. During dinner our string quartet played a selection which included arrangements from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Harry Potter, and even The Addams Family!, Afterwards our favorite Disc Jockey- DJ Ian Fford of NYC- got people dancing.
There is so much more... so many wonderful, magical details that I couldn't even begin to tell... so i put up a gallery and you can see some of it for yourself. You can find it here. (www.cruxshadows.com/Wedding/index.html) The page is large and takes a while to load, so be patient. Its worth the wait;-) In looking at photos you might also notice that Steve & Donna of Ego likeness, DJ Ian Fford, Athan Maroulis of Spahn Ranch, and our former dancer Beth, are all among the members of the wedding party.
And while we are on the subject of weddings... Former violinist Rachel McDonnell also tied the knot. She was married two weeks ago in South Florida. On behalf of myself, the band, and the fans, I wish to congratulate her and wish her the upmost happiness. Happy Wedding thoughts to Rachel & Harry:-)
OK- Now that the wedding is over and Jessica and I are back from our Honeymoon, I have some other important announcements to make.
First, George Bikos has decided to retire from the Cruxshadows. It actually happened after our tour in 2007, but we agreed we should keep things quiet for the time being... at least until we could find a suitable replacement, particularly with the wedding occupying so much of our time. George started playing with us a few years ago after Stacey Campbell left the band. George's personality clicked with us early on, and he became an integral part of CXS, particularly on tour. His stage presence, his friendly yet unassuming nature, and his unmistakable personal style made him a favorite among our fans, and we appreciate all of his hard work and contributions over the years.
Even though we will miss him, we are very happy to add that he and dancer Sarah Poulos became engaged to be married recently. They moved back home to St. Petersburg in order to be closer to their parents. Although Sarah Poulis has voiced some interest in reappearing with CXS at some point in the future, she has chosen to become inactive with the band in order to spend her time with her mother and her new fiance.
George made the following statement by email addressing the fans:
"To all the fans... I know some of you may be a little upset that I have decided to leave the cruxshadows, but know that I did it for a reason. Many of you already know that me and Sarah are planning on getting married and that, coupled with my father's failing health and, honestly, a little bit of old fashioned home sickness was just a little too much. I decided it would be better to get back in school and educate myself to support all the babies Sarah wants You can't exactly take twelve babies on a nine month tour!!! Anyways I just wanted to wish everyone well... This is goodbye, but not farewell... Horhey out like a light in the night..."
Sarah sent the following statement:
"While this pains me to no end, I must inform you all that I will no longer be permanately touring with the Cruxshadows. I love what I do. I love the music, I love the fans, and I love the scene. Unfortunately, my family comes first. My mother was diagnosed with a pretty awful disease, and I felt it necessary to move back home to be closer to her. This obviously does not work well with the band's pretty hefty practice and touring schedule. When you add that to my upcoming wedding and house purchase, it makes for a pretty difficult life decision. So after long talks, (and a few shedding of the tears) it was decided that it would be better if I was no longer a permanent fixture of the band. We all hope that I can someday dance and sing with the band again...maybe on some short tours or even DragonCon, who knows? Nothing is ever final. I love you all and I feel blessed to have have had you in my life. The past 4 years have been some of the best and most amazing, and I owe most of that to you. Without you this opportunity would have never entered my life in the first place. So thank you. Live, love, be, believe...(in fairies "
We wish Sarah and George much success and happiness in their life together.
Which leads us to...this.
We are very pleased to announce that our new guitar player will be Valerie Gentile. Val is from New York City and has been playing guitar for most of her life. She has a bachelors degree in music business and audio recording technology. She's a skilled player, a longtime fan of CXS, and a really cool person (actually she rocks:-). Val worked as a studio engineer, a studio guitarist, and has played bass & guitar on stage for a handful of bands in the NYC area. Additionally, she is a talented vocalist who can also play bass, keyboards, and drums. We believe she will be a very positive addition to Cruxshadows and we hope that all of our fans will make her feel welcome in her new role. Here's some pics in case you were curious...
Other quick notes:
We have begun booking shows in Europe starting in July. We will be on tour in Europe through the Summer and will start booking for Fall in North America, so keep an eye on that in the coming months.
Some of you might have noticed Cruxshadows on CSI. Yes, it's true. A fictional fan of the band was thrown out of a window to her death, and her dorm room filled with Cruxshadows posters became the crime scene. We were sad that the CXS fan ended up dead... but Hey- it's prime-time TV! The episode is called Goodbye & Good Luck and if you missed it you can buy it for $1.99 in the iTunes store- If you have itunes, just click here to check it out.
We are actively auditioning violin players and dancers. We will be making a selection soon, but there is still time to be considered. If you or someone you know is interested, please email us. A performance sample, recent photo, and brief bio are encouraged. But please act quickly, with a European tour only months away, there is no time to delay.
That's all for now- But there will be more news soon...
Live Love Be Believe-
Rogue
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new tour dates!
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January 18, 2008, 10:31:pm
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Hello,
Several upcoming shows have been booked, and so far, our current dates for the "DreamCypher" Tour 2008 are as follows:
01.07.2008 D-Mainz, KUZ
02.07.2008 D-Hamburg, Knust
04.07.2008 S-Arvika, Arvika-Festivalen 2008
06.07.2008 D-Gelsenkirchen, Blackfield Festival 2008
11.07.2008 D-Rietberg, LGS 2008
12.07.2008 D-Hannover, Musikzentrum (Festival)
25.07.2008 B-Waregem, Expo (Gothic Festival 2008)
27.07.2008 PL-Bolkow, Castleparty 2008 (Co-Headliner)
01.08.2008 D-tba
02.08.2008 D-Essen, Zeche Carl
(weitere Termine in Vorbereitung / more dates under construction)
We hope to see you then! :-)
Live, Love, Be, Believe-
CXS
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