Something of a Prodigal Son

I know it's been a while since I've checked in. Got a little burned out there for a minute and just sort of hid out at home. That being said it was nice to take a moment and come up for air. I think everyone does this sort of thing though. Come up for air, that is. Either way, even in the calm there have been events, events worth discussing, so here I am, out of my hole with some reports from the underground. :) The festivals and college dates have been very cool for the most part. Highlights>>>bamboozle. People for days and the sun going down, what a great time to play on a festival bill. Coachella... arguably the hottest show I have ever played. Upcoming stuff: The Dear Jack foundation page will soon be updated. In the past 6 months we have donated somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000 dollars to a short list of charities and hospitals whose aim is to find effective treatments and eventually cures for blood cancers like leukemia as well as other types of cancer. A new site: We' are planning a new transitional site for the next several months as I begin working on new music. It will be a simple and mainly informational site. This way we can more easily fill you in on the albums progress and other info. Instant Karma Record:   Here is the story. To generate financial aid and social awareness for the genocide- plagued Sudan, Yoko Ono, widow of the great John Lennon made his highly guarded catalog available to modern recording artists to do renditions of his legendary songs. I can't explain how honored I am to be able to sing one of Mr. Lennon's songs in such an official manner, but to do it on a record with company like green day and U2 is a milestone for me. To make things even better, Fleetwood Mac drummer, Mick Fleetwood, joined us in the studio. Mick is a brilliant player and a rock icon and to come together with him on a track was a serious privilege. ...And if that weren't enough: At the end of May Jack's has been asked to perform a Benefit for the Heal the Bay charity. A part of that evening's festivities revolve around one of the charities most well known supporters, Beach Boy, Brian Wilson. The music of Brian Wilson has had a huge impact upon me in recent years and I can't believe I will be able to say that I shared a stage with him. Right Now:    I'm in the studio with the first Airport Tapes and Records signing, Treaty of Paris. The music sounds great so far and I can't wait till you can all hear what they've been working on. You can check them in Milwaukee at summerfest the day after we play. NOW PLEASE READ MY SHAMELESS PLUG: THE AUDITION, VERY CLOSE FRIEND'S OF THE JACK'S CAMP, ARE ON TOUR NOW IN A CITY NEAR YOU. GO CHECK THAT SHIT AND TELL EM WE SENT YOU

THE AUDITION TOUR DATES

Comments

[michelle]

Hey Andrew

I just want to say thank you for coming to Drexel University this upcoming weekend. You probably don't remember, but this summer a couple friends and I drove up to Bucknell University, got a couple automotive-related tickets (oops!), drove into upstate New York, and eventually found our way to the show! As always, you guys were fantastic. We talked to you after the show and I asked you to come to Drexel. "What's Drexel?" you said. Oh you west coast guys...Now you know! Enjoy all the Philly fans on Saturday night (you have always said we're the best!)

Thanks again!
michelle

[alaina]

Wow so much good news!
Congrats on all the things you have accomplished recently...it really is an impressive list.

I saw you play at the Elon show in NC and let me say it was, once again, awesome (but of course how could i expect any less)

Thanks for simply being you
alaina

[lauren alysse]

i'm so excited for the dear jacks page. i feel like im the only one, but charities like that have become near and dear to my heart lately for some unknown reason. i feel like i dont do enough for the world.
i'm also ecstatic about the new music. i introduced a good friend (whose music of choice is metal) to 'dark blue' the other day, and i can't even explain how happy it made me when he told me he loved it. thank you for creating such universal music. i can't wait to hear what's next. :]

[Kristen]

I'm happy you're checking in again!! I wasn't sure you would anymore, so it's definitely nice to hear from you again. :-)

It's amazing how much money you've raised for various cancer charities... and to think, this is only the beginning of what the Dear Jack Foundation will do.
Congrats on your musical accomplishments, as well. Recording a John Lennon song & playing on stage with a Beach Boy(esp. Brian Wilson) are two incredibly amazing feats. It's especially cool to me because "Kokomo" was one of the first songs I remember singing all the time... I was in Pre-K. There's a funny story that goes along with that, but I won't tell it on your blog haha
(The other song that was one of my first favorites, is another Beatle's song. It was George Harrison's "I Got My Mind Set on You").

I hope you're having fun in the studio with the Treaty of Paris boys. I saw them at Geneseo and at Bamboozle, they are awesome!! Can't wait to hear more from them!

Can't wait to hear new Jacks stuff, either! Hopefully I'll see ya in RI in June.

--Kris

P.S. Bamboozle was amazing! I loved the acoustic set and I had so much fun during your regular set, I didn't even care that there were crowd surfers falling on my head haha :-P

[kevin]

Awesome. Can't wait for the Instant Karma record to come out.
I hear there's alot of other great bands on there as well.
Also do u ever watch The Office? It's awesome. lol

[Lizzy]

you NEVER ever fail to make me feel better no matter how bad i feel. thank you.

[Marissa*]

Hi Andrew :]
its great to hear from you again!
And I'm wayy excited for some new music :]

and I can't wait to see The Audition, they're amazing, and who knows maybe i'll even see you at the show in LA :]

have a great weekend :]

<3Marissa

[Lisa]

cant wait to see you at lolla andrew! its pretty much going to be a messenger fest!!! haha

thanks for the update :]

[Leah B.]

i just took a 12 hour nap and woke up to this. sweeeeeeet i want new music

peace to a brothaaaaaa ok i'm totally still half asleep bye

-Leah

[Stef]

Andrew, man, you're seriously amazing. You're already a hero to me because of the monumental work for cancer and leukemia awareness and research fundraising that you've done through the Dear Jack foundation (oh yeah, and because you're kind of an okay musician... by "kind of okay" I mean motherfucking phenomenal), but to hear that you are also getting involved in the cause to bring peace to a deeply troubled region of the world is even more wonderful. I've been involved in the American Cancer Society's cause for a while (through Relay for Life and Colleges Against Cancer) and have only recently gotten involved in STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition (Darfur) and Invisible Children (a nonprofit that brings awareness to the tragic civil war in Uganda), so your involvement in these two incredibly important causes is just SO so inspiring to me. And congratulations on your work with music legends like U2 and Brian Williams, and also on the Lennon collab-o album. You're on the fast track to becomming legendary too, and you absolutely deserve it.

[Alex]

i think it's so wonderful what the Dear Jack foundation has done..a really close friend of mine died a couple of months ago three weeks after finding out she had acute leukemia. thanks to you guys, other people like her might have a chance someday. you are a amazing...and i can't wait for your new stuff! p.s. im addicted to the accoustic version of Bruised from Accoustic Live and Rare 2006..niiice work with an already awesome song. :]

[Devon]

BRIAN WILSON?? oh my jeeze. congrats.
and covering a john lennon song- hot damn, thats really great. i'm excited to hear this once it's released.
i hope all is well.

thats great that the dear jacks foundation is doing so well, im glad.
:)

[alicia]

ahh im so excited about the new stuff. congrats on everything so far! :)

[grace317]

i'm really excited for the new music coming out way.. the instant karma cd is going to be amazing - what an awesome thing to be a part of!

HAHA the audish. i am definitely going to their upcoming tour. hello the graduate and new atlantic. it's a good plug. =p

[jennifer]

cant wait to hear the new music im dying over here!

[Laura]

heyy, there was a rumor going around at school that said you were coming to north east pa. and my friends and i were totally psyched, but then we found out it wasn`t true. but next time you go on tour you should come to north east pensylvania. :]]

[Kelli Townsend]

Andrew- congrats on your upcoming projects and shows! you deserve it.

i'm getting stoked for the new material... i need a dose of jack's mannequin. i miss the live music! have fun at lollapalooza and i hope to see you all very soon.

hearts,
kelli & lynn, the mom
pgh, pa

[tinsley]

oh and andrew i want to tell you about my bedtime. it's at 12. i go to bed at 12. because i like to sleep and i have a job early in the morning.

so i request that when you launch this new site, dont do it like you did 2 years ago with new songs. you always put them up at like 1:30 in the morning and i was in highschool and i had people call me like 8 times to tell me to wake up to listen to new songs and i had to like get out of my bed and go down and get on the computer and listen when I WAS ASLEEP.

i cant handle that.

and like the rest of your fans are like 15. they go to bed at 9pm. you know that. duh. seriously.

what.

[Evelyn]

everything sounds amazzzzzing.
last month was awesome,(4/16)
hope to see you again soon :)

[Gi]

Andrew, do you know how good it feels to hear something from you? Honestly, I am sort of suprized you kept posting here after all the banter from the angry people last blog. I dont know how you do it all man, but seriously you make me wonder how such an amazing person has his hands in so many different projects at once- and most of them to benefit some other being. Youre amazing. On another note, it occured to me today that with no real tours at the moment- this week marks the first time in over a year I have been without tickets for more than two weeks, to see you. I might actually need to find something different to look foward to during my free time... Anyways, keep doin what you do and dont forget to stop and breathe once or twice in between your crazy life~! Ill miss you until you come back to the east :-)

[Rachel or RaChEl or rAcHeL or RACHEL or.......you get it]

Andrew,
Wow. Thats a lot of news. IT'S SO GREAT TO HEAR FROM YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!! Happy happy happy! *cough* Sorry, my allergies are really bad *sneeze* *"i need a tissue"*. Congrats on meeting all those famous people. That must have been awesome! I can't wait for your new music to come out!
*coughs some more*. The new website sounds cool. Nice to be able to keep in touch with the new music. And tinsley, whoever you are, I am not even 15, a few years younger, and i don't go to bed until 10pm. Partially cause I practically live at my ballet school. Andrew, remember to take a breath once in a while. Decompress. Relax. Stop. Unless your like me and hate not doing any thing.
Love from the East Coast,
Rachel or....i'll stop.....
PS: ANDREW!!!! IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN
SPIDERMAN 3 YET, GO SEE IT NOW! NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW! GOD IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Annie]

yay a blog!!!

it's good to breathe once in awhile. don't hold it in too long though...well, you get it. thanks for blogging. keep doing what you do best!

[Liz]

Hey Andrew.
Nice to see youre writing again.
Im so excited about the Dear Jacks donation, im workin with the Relay for Life this year to help raise money for cancer.
Thats so great that youll be sharing the stage with Brian Wilson. You were awesome at Bamboozle, and the sunset was amazing exspecially while hearing youre wonderful music at the same time.
I cant wait for some new music.
<3
Liz

[Michelle]

YAY!! I'm glad you enjoyed bamboozle, you guys were amazinnggg! And it's great to see people doing something about the genocide in Sudan! What's going on there is terrible!!!
Congats on all your good news. ;)

[Anna]

Its so awesome you guys are doing so much to help out and get involved with so many things. I hope all the benefit shows go great! I saw you in Marquette (which was awesome) and I have to also say that Treaty of Paris was amazing as well. I can't wait for their record to come out! Good luck with everything... I can't wait for Summerfest. Lets hope the rain and hail stay away this year!

~Anna