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01.11.12Holiday tour 2011 over. Check. Santa showed up. Check. Rang in the New Year with great crowds in St. Cloud. Check. Plastic Santa put back in shed until next holiday season. Check. Washed and returned tights, had some lovely time off to spend with my family, and am geared up and ready to go for 2012. Check, check, check. As I look out the window at this ridiculously gorgeous January (May) Minnesota day, I have time to contemplate my 2012 resolutions. Wait, have I really made any yet? S Read More... 01.10.12I was asked on Monday what I thought TSF's image would be and I stopped. Were we the "boys next door" or Midwestern vocalists? Soulful? Innovative? Quirky? Did we push envelopes or play it safe? Were we at the top of a genre or somewhere in the middle? Humorists remembered for a lawn ornament? Underrated? Overrated? How would our friends, family or fans describe us in a tweet to someone without seeing a picture or hearing a song? People typically relate very short stories to others abou Read More... 12.9.11The holidays are right around the corner, and with it comes big dinners and parties. We've been lucky enough to have our very own wine connoisseur friends, at Cru Wine Online, professionally pair each song from our new album, "March of the Kings", with an appropriate vintage. You're wondering if this is even possible. Below, we've included the Cru Wine's actual pairings for your enjoyment, and invite you to experience their remarkable ability. Additional wine pairings are available at www.cruwin Read More... 12.4.11A huge thank you to Blue Bunny, our fabulous corporate sponsor, for allowing us to give away free ice cream to winners at each of our holiday tour stops! Too, we have enjoyed our backstage meet and greets with others who "texted to win" this holiday season and thank everyone for entering. We feel it is such a good fit to be collaborating with a company that wishes to engage people across all mediums in a new and innovative way... just like us!!! Here's to Blue Bunny Ice Cream! shaun Read More... 11.28.11A blog by Greg entitled: "Hey Turkey!" or "Jared, move your big feet, you just about tryptophan.....of Tonic Sol-fa!" OK.....so we now have 6 shows under our belt for the 2011 holiday tour.......that's a record for us for November! Sometimes it's hard for us to get into the holiday spirit prior to Thanksgiving - especially if there's no snow on the ground - but the crowds thus far have been amazing and have pulled us through on some of the tougher nights. Right on, crowds! In the middle of all Read More... 10.26.11From John... As many of you know Tonic Sol-fa had a CD Design Contest about 4 months ago. There were “A LOT” of great entries, some that I like a lot better than mine. At the time of thinking up my design(s) it would have been the very first time using the program I used to design the entries. By teaching myself how to use the program I was able to come up with a Grand Prize Winning entry. I was pretty shocked at the various replies I had gotten from not only family members and friends, but also Read More... 10.24.11Yes, you read that right! Our very own John W. of Des Moines, IA and the winner of our "March of the Kings" CD design contest, wants to have his artwork forever inked on his person. Of course, we had to get in on the excitement, and with the help of our friends at Bigfoot Tattoo make this little hoedown, a bigger hoedown. One of the four of us is sure to get our own tattoo as well, so come check it all out. We're going to hang out at the shop from 1pm-4pm, this Thursday, October 27th, and there Read More... 09.27.11We hear many different stories about how our music relates to our fans in some meaningful way, unfortunately, we don't often have the opportunity to pass it along to the rest of you. Here is a personal experience for which we obtained permission to share with the rest of our fans. Enjoy! 'Hi Guys, Just wanted to send a note to thank you guys for helping me. Back in February, I began a journey, and you guys took it with me. I began an exercise program with nothing more than some hope,determinatio Read More... 09.11.11Plastic Santa needs a friend. A few years ago, we found PS amidst stage props in Durand, Wisconsin. And the rest, as the cliche goes, is history. Since that first off-the-cuff visit with our Christmas mascot, we have received much hate mail and just as much enthusiasm for keeping a ridiculous segment in our yearly trips across the Midwest and beyond. We've toyed with the idea of making Plastic Santa more international, of releasing a cartoon, of filming an untimely demise and of pairing him Read More... 09.7.11Say what you will about a cappella, it’s portrayal in digital media is rarely flattering, but we consistently have the best and most loyal fans (take that Emo and Bluegrass!). I read of Justin Timberlake being booed off the stage in Canada and of objects being thrown at Lady Gaga, of country stars who can stand on their head while singing and still not be noticed, of amazing musicians toiling in obscurity for their art peppering the streets on NY, LA, and Nashville. Why are we any different? Read More... 08.29.11Another year, another Minnesota state fair. And I, along with everyone else on Facebook, ask, "where did the summer go?" Well, I'll tell you where! Summer 2011 went right into the old memory banks as a pretty good one for me. Had some good shows with Tonic Sol-fa, some great quality time spent with friends and family, a skydive, plenty of ripe watermelon and sweet corn, and just the right amount sun to try and hide the nasty farmer's tan I tend to get at the beginning of each summer. As I lo Read More... 08.17.11We wanted to give a final announcement of funds raised for Neighbors, Inc., as well as post all the videos in one easy spot (as opposed to spread all over Facebook and YouTube). With the help of every participant, there was over $17,000 raised for Neighbors’ social service and food shelf programs. Our fans alone helped raise over $2200, and that was in less than a month and mostly just through Facebook and Twitter! Thanks for being a part of this experience. Now onto the ridiculously entertaini Read More... 07.28.11Thanks to everyone who donated to our "Skydive for Hunger" fundraiser! With your help, enough money has been raised to throw three of us out of a plane. The group is anxiously awaiting this Saturday with only minor butterflies (that we'll admit to). We were going to go the democratic route and draw straws to see who the lucky one was that got to stay behind, feet planted firmly on the ground, but it appears Mark's pitiful sobs are more than any three persons can handle. It's bad enough listening Read More... 07.21.11I never thought I would have jumped out of a plane. I was part of the majority who had always dreamt of skydiving, but never had the drive to make that dream real. Where? When? How? Why? Those were all questions that I could not answer, and thus delayed my skydiving. Recently, I was handed the responsibility of organizing an event for my non-profit called Skydive For Hunger. My executive director explained, “We raise money through pledges, all the funds go to our food shelf and social ser Read More... 07.17.11Phew! This is the last one. Next time think twice before sending in your questions. Or maybe we just won't let them pile up, considering we still haven't gotten to them all. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpXDUN2LMlw Read More... 07.14.11We are happy to announce the winners of our "March of the Kings" CD design contest! There were so many great submissions, it was truly difficult to pick just two winners. Thanks to everyone who participated, and we look forward to future contests with our many talented fans! Please be advised that winners are expected to adhere to the Terms and Conditions set forth on the Tonic Sol-fa CD design contest page. Thanks again! Tonic Sol-fa Grand Prize: John Westergreen Runner-up: Lauren Bouras Read More... 07.8.11We're close to being done with our four part mini-series of trivial things you may or may not have known about TSF. Take a deep breath, it's almost over. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvAJ38L5RnQ Read More... 07.3.11Part 2 of our sitting around talking about unimportant stuff that we hope you find remotely entertaining. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrQaA8ZrG6c Read More... 07.1.11Thanks for the many designs entered in our CD design contest. It was exciting to see all the creative CD covers submitted. We have some very artistic and talented fans! Now that the submission stage of the CD design contest is closed, the artists can all relax while we work to make the tough decision. Of course, we welcome the help from all our fans with any input you can provide. Let us know which one you'd really like to see on the front of our next CD. Just go to the contest page to view ent Read More... 06.30.11I can’t say that jumping out of a plane makes the top 10 on my bucket list or even appears in the top 100 as of late and I am literally stunned by how quickly this idea progressed from concept to concrete. I can say that ever since I was a young lad I have admired paratroopers and, at the time, dreamed of joining the Golden Knights of the U.S. Army. For years, this elite parachute team was a part of the week-long River-Cade Festival in my hometown, Sioux City, Iowa. Every night at 5:00 PM, my Read More... |
