Driven Far Off

The latest on the indie, alternative, and rock music scene including news, music, contest, interviews, and more. Best described as your favorite place to find new bands.

Houston Calls Break Up

By Leave a Comment

Houston Calls have broken up.

After about 6 years, hundreds of shows, a bunch of great tours in 3 continents outside of our own, Houston Calls is calling it a day. Suffice it to say, we didn’t come to this decision lightly, and it’s one that pains us, even though it’s what we’ve decided is best for us. The continued instability surrounding our band’s various situations (finances, finding new members, touring, etc.) has overshadowed what our band has always prioritized: making some alright music and having a great time with our friends – the ones in our van and the ones we meet on the road. To elaborate a little, it’s tough packing up your entire life and leaving friends and family for months at a time. It’s unstable, it’s uncertain, and it’s pretty darn unhealthy. It’s also, as we’re all looking a little to our own futures, unsustainable at this level. The economic realities of living hand to mouth at our ages gets to be a little daunting. And seeing very few open doors for us as a band, we decided that it’s best for us to move on.

That being said, it was also a blast. We’ve met people that we can be proud to call friends, and some people that can only be described as classic characters. We’ve gotten to release two full length CDs that we are still infinitely proud of; We’ve met thousands of warm, gracious, and very kind fans – to many of whom we’ve been ungracious house guests. Words fail here – we can’t thank you all strongly or sincerely enough.

Houston Calls has two more shows left. First, we’re incredibly excited to be able to play Farewell’s CD Release Show at Greene Street, in Greensboro, NC on August 22nd. They’re some of our best friends, and we couldn’t think of a better band to open for. Secondly, we will be having a final hometown show at School of Rock on August 29th. As all this news is still pretty fresh, more details to be decided and will follow. Thanks for all your continued support over the years.

Love,
Houston Calls
Tom – [email protected]
Josh
Okie – [email protected]

P.S. – One request: don’t turn this into a hatefest on Drive-Thru. There’s enough negativity burning against a label that took a chance on us way back when and gave us the opportunity to get to where we got.

Hit The Lights Set To Release Digital EP

By Leave a Comment

Hit The Lights will be releasing a digital only EP titled Coast To Coast on June 23rd. The EP features two new songs, two covers and two acoustic tracks from the bands growing catalog.

“We did this to give out fans a little something to hold them over until we drop a new record in 2010, it was a chance to try some new things. We hope everyone enjoys it as much as we enjoyed making it.”

Entering the studio this time gave the band a chance to work with some producers they have greatly admired. The track “Pulse” was recorded with Mark Trombino (Blink 182, Jimmy Eat World) and the title tracks “Coast To Coast” was done with John Feldmann (The Used, Story Of The Year). Hit The Lights also chose a few covers “Drive Onto Me” by Elliot and “Snowbirds And Townies” by Further Seems Forever. “We feel like both covers are from bands we think everyone who listens to Hit The Lights should know” says Thompson.

Updated Blink 182 Tour Dates

By 1 Comment

Blink 182 has updated their tour dates with a few new dates as well as announcing those that are currently sold out. You can get tickets for the shows at livenation.com, blink182.com, or myspace.com.

Here are the dates, venues, band lineups, and on-sale dates for the blink-182 north american tour this summer. The on-sale dates are the last dates on each show.

July 23..Las Vegas,NV”¦The Joint”¦Motion City Soundtrack”¦Pre-Sale 6/10″¦On Sale Sat June 13 NEW DATE ADDED!!!
July 24″¦Las Vegas, NV”¦The Joint”¦Motion City Soundtrack”¦SOLD OUT
July 28″¦Vancouver, BC”¦GM Place”¦All American Rejects, Chester French
July 30″¦Calgary, AB”¦Saddledome”¦Fall Out Boy, All American Rejects
July 31″¦Edmonton, AB”¦Rexall Place”¦Fall Out Boy, All American Rejects
August 1″¦Saskatoon, SK”¦Credit Union Centre”¦Fall Out Boy, All American Rejects
August 2″¦Winnipeg, MB”¦MTS Centre”¦Fall Out Boy, All American Rejects
August 4″¦Milwaukee, WI”¦Marcus Amphitheater”¦Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Chester French
August 6″¦Boston, MA”¦Comcast Center”¦Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Chester French”¦6/13″¦presale 6/10 10am
August 7″¦Montreal, QC”¦Bell Centre”¦Fall Out Boy, Planet Smashers”¦SOLD OUT!!!
August 8″¦Toronto, ON”¦Molson Ampitheater”¦Fall Out Boy, Chester French NEW SHOW ADDED!!! presale 6/10″¦public onsale 6/13
August 9″¦Jones Beach, NY”¦Nikon Theater at Jones Beach”¦Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Chester French”¦NEW SHOW ADDED!!! TICKET DETAILS SOON
August 12″¦Hershey, PA”¦Hershey Park Pavilion/Stadium”¦Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Chester French
August 13″¦Cincinnati, OH”¦Riverbend”¦Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Chester French
August 14″¦Pittsburgh, PA”¦Post Gazette Pavilion”¦Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Chester French
August 15″¦Chicago, IL”¦First Midwest Bank Pavilion”¦Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Chester French
August 16″¦Omaha, NE”¦WestFair Ampitheater”¦Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Chester French
August 18″¦Minneapolis, MN”¦Xcel Center”¦Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Chester French
August 20″¦Indianapolis, IN”¦Verizon Wireless Amphitheater”¦Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Chester French
August 21″¦Buffalo, NY”¦Darien Lake PAC”¦Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Chester French
August 22″¦Detroit, MI”¦DTE Energy Music Center”¦Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, Chester French
August 23″¦Toronto, ON”¦Molson Ampitheater”¦Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French”¦SOLD OUT!!!
August 25″¦Wantagh, NY”¦Nikon Theater at Jones Beach”¦Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French”¦SOLD OUT!!!
August 26″¦Holmdel, NJ”¦PNC Bank Arts Center”¦Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French
August 27″¦Camden, NJ”¦Susquehanna Bank Center”¦Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French
August 29″¦Hartford, CT”¦New England Dodge Music Center”¦Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French
August 30″¦Washington, DC”¦venue TBA”¦Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French
August 31″¦Saratoga, NY”¦SPAC”¦Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French
September 2″¦Cleveland, OH”¦Blossom”¦Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French
September 3″¦St Louis, MO”¦Verizon Wireless Amphitheater”¦Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French
September 4″¦Kansas City, KS”¦Sandstone Amphitheater”¦Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French..6/27
September 6″¦Denver, CO”¦Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater”¦Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French
September 7″¦Salt Lake City, UT”¦McKay Center”¦Taking Back Sunday, Chester French
September 10″¦Seattle, WA”¦White River Amphitheater”¦Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French..6/13″¦presale 6/10 10am
September 12″¦Sacramento, CA”¦Sleep Train Amphitheater”¦Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French..6/13″¦presale 6/10 10am
September 13″¦Mt View, CA”¦Shoreline Amphitheater”¦Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Chester French..6/13″¦presale 6/10 10am
September 14″¦Bakersfield, CA”¦Rabobank Arena”¦Taking Back Sunday, Asher Roth”¦TBD”¦presale 6/10 10am
September 16″¦San Diego, CA”¦Cricket Amphitheater”¦Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Asher Roth
September 17″¦Irvine, CA”¦Verizon Wireless Amphitheater”¦Weezer, Taking Back Sunday, Asher Roth”¦SOLD OUT!!!
September 19″¦Phoenix, AZ”¦Tempe Beach Park Amphitheater
September 21″¦Albuquerque, NM”¦Journal Pavilion”¦Fall Out Boy, All American Rejects, Asher Roth
September 23″¦Dallas, TX”¦Superpages.com Center”¦Fall Out Boy, All American Rejects, Asher Roth
September 24″¦Houston, TX”¦Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion”¦Fall Out Boy, All American Rejects, Asher Roth
September 26″¦West Palm Beach, FL”¦Cruzan Amphitheater”¦Fall Out Boy, All American Rejects, Asher Roth
September 27″¦Tampa, Fl”¦Ford Amphitheater”¦Fall Out Boy, All American Rejects, Asher Roth
September 29″¦Atlanta, GA”¦Lakewood Amphitheater”¦Fall Out Boy, All American Rejects, Asher Roth
October 1″¦Charlotte, NC”¦Verizon Wireless Amphitheater”¦Fall Out Boy, All American Rejects, Asher Roth
October 2″¦Virginia Beach, VA”¦Verizon Wireless Amphitheater”¦Fall Out Boy, All American Rejects, Asher Roth
October 3″¦Atlantic City, NJ”¦Borgata”¦Asher Roth”¦ SOLD OUT!!

Set Your Goals Set Release Date, Album Art & Track Listing

By Leave a Comment

Set Your Goals have set July 21st as the release date for their Epitaph debut, This Will Be The Death Of Us. Check out the album art and track listing for the album below.

Set Your Goals

This Will Be The Death Of Us Tracklisting

1. this will be the death of us
2. with hoffman lenses we will see the truth
3. look closer
4. summer jam
5. like you to me
6. the fallen…
7. the few that remain
8. equals
9. gaia bleeds (make way for man)
10. flawed methods of persecution & punishment
11. arrival notes
12. our ethos: a legacy to pass on

Tom Leaves A Day To Remember

By Leave a Comment

Tom has left A Day To Remember.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Everyone,
To some of you this may come as a complete shock, and to others it will be nothing more than old news. However, we felt that what we’re about to tell you shouldn’t be left unsaid.

Anyone who came out to see A Day To Remember on our last European tour, or the majority of our tour with The Devil Wears Prada probably noticed that something was different.

Tom wasn’t with us on our tour in Europe due to a broken wrist, and then was unable to complete the The Devil Wears Prada tour because it hadn’t completely healed. Our Friend Kevin Skaff filled in on both tours for us while Tom was healing up at home.

Here’s the real juice…before Tom’s injuries forced him to leave the Prada tour, it was known that Tom was looking to settle down, focus on his recording studio, get married, and prepare to start a family sometime soon. When it was decided that Tom was leaving the tour due to his injuries, we also discussed his passion to continue being in the band.

He told us he no longer had the drive to tour anymore. We all knew that he was genuinely over it, and we all collectively decided that it was best for him to just not be with us anymore. We flew Kevin back out a day later to fill in for the remainder of the tour.

At the end of the tour we all discussed what we were going to do about a new guitarist, and decided that Kevin was the man. He’s an amazing guitarist, an incredible singer, and fits perfectly into what we’re trying to do. His personality meshes so well with the rest of the band. We’ve become best friends with him in the short time he’s been with us, and everyone that’s seen him with us knows that our set doesn’t suffer due to the change.

I know it’s going to be hard for everyone to believe that Tom just left the band and that all of us were supportive about it.. Hell, I don’t believe other bands that say the same exact thing. This was genuinely a mutual move for Tom and A Day To Remember. There is no point in rumors starting due to this formal announcement, because there is no truth to anything other than Tom was done touring and we were ok with that.

There are no bad feelings. Actually, we all just went to Tom’s wedding last week. It was awesome, and we could all tell how excited he is. We’re stoked for him, and he’s stoked for us. The band is tighter then we’ve ever been. Tom is still going to be a big part in the writing process, and will remain so as long as we are a band. The music and sound won’t change, just the person playing it.

We all hope that as fans of the band you can respect Tom and the rest of our decision. I spent almost 6 years in a band with Tom, so I assure you that seeing him go wasn’t easy or the way I envisioned things from the start. We just hope that you all will be able to accept this change and move forward with A Day To Remember.

Tom wanted to make sure this was added. “I am still very close with everyone in the band. I am so excited for what the guys are going to do with Kevin. He is a great musician and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I’m excited on what material we all can create when it comes time to write a new record.”

Everyone should do two things. Find Tom on myspace and wish him luck on his new life (www.myspace.com/tomdenneymusic). And secondly, send Kevin a message welcoming him to A Day To Remember (www.myspace.com/omgitskevin).
We love you all. Thanks for understanding and being supportive. We can’t wait to see you all on this European tour, and Warped!
Josh, Jeremy, Alex, Neil, Tom and Kevin