LHS OFFSTAGE: THE WORLD OF LHS

MAY 2008

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The postgame in Twisp, 5/9/08.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Recording new songs at Bedhead Studios.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Sorry folks, no celebs this month.
  

APRIL 2008

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The post-show URP on 4/26/08.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: The fans from Austin, Texas who trekked all the way to Washington state to catch LHS at the Ale-fest.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Ben encountered Ben Folds on 4/27/08 in Tacoma, WA.
  

MARCH 2008

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: Woman tripping and spraining an ankle while rocking out to LHS at Masa on 3/27/08. Ice was applied to the ankle. No major injuries, as far as we could tell.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: The interview with www.rivetingriffs.com
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Sorry, no celebs this month.
  

FEBRUARY 2008

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: Working on the new song entitled “Goodbye Janey.”
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: The radio interview with KECH in Ketchum on 2/14/08.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Ronan encountered Sara Bareilles (again) in Seattle.

JANUARY 2008

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: Working on “End of the Day” at Bedhead.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Selling out the Triple Door show in advance.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Sorry, no celebs this month.

DECEMBER 2007

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: Working on “Rock n’ Roll Salvation” at Bedhead Studios on 12/30/07.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Doing pre-production for new songs, including “New Song in G” and “Biding My Time.”
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Sorry, no celebs this month.
  
  

NOVEMBER 2007

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The offer of a fifth of Jagermeister as a gift to the band in order to play “Rock n’ Roll, Alcohol, Party.” LHS complied with this offer.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Ronan’s trip to LA to meet with music publishers.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Ronan encountered Sara Bareilles in November 2007.
  
  

OCTOBER 2007

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The endless adventures in Ireland.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: The write-up and show preview in the Cork paper for the 10/4/07 show.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH:Ronan encountered Alice Cooper in October 2007.
  

SEPTEMBER 2007

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The band moved into a new jam room/rehearsal space in Sept 2007.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: The Rainhead interview on 9/21/07.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH:Ronan encountered many at the Palms Hotel in Vegas on the night of the VMAs. Among others, the stars of the Hills were in the elevator, Jaime Fox was doing the bump n’ grind, Sarah Silverman was being barraged by autograph and picture hounds, and Dave Grohl was spotted being jolly.
  

AUGUST 2007

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The 12 hour cannonball run home from Sun Valley on 8/26/07.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Partying at Kipp’s place on 8/25/07 and
  exploring, among other things, the rock-climbing room.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: LHS encountered Kipp Nelson, a Sun Valley celeb and the mastermind behind Ski Tour, which represents the “hottest evolution in gravity sports entertainment” and it is an “elite-level individual ski competition set against the backdrop of an epic music, arts and mountain culture festival.” Check out the website www.theskitour.com.

JULY 2007

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The postgame wrap-up on 7/14/07.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: During a rare LHS vacation, Ben jetted off to Paris and the French Riviera.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Andrew encountered and played with Lee Oskar in July 2007. Lee Oskar is a legendary harmonica player and a charter member of the group “War.”
  

JUNE 2007

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The completion of the 8-week course in Lonesome Jospehine rehearsal at Mish Manor.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Having two die-hard LHS enthusiasts drive from Seattle to Moscow for the 6/29/07 show. You guys rock!
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: The lead actor in the upcoming indie flick “Morning” attended the 6/22/07 show. We can’t reveal his name at this juncture, but the movie is being shot in Seattle.

MAY 2007

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The post show commute from PDX to Sunbanks on 5/20/07.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Recording and doing pre-production at
  Bedhead Studios.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: LHS encountered Jackie Greene on 5/16/07 in Seattle. Jackie has numerous accolades and recently played the Conan O’Brien show.

APRIL 2007

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: Recording demos for the next LHS album.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH:Licensing the song “Can I Get A Witness?” for a national commercial for Rhapsody.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Ben encountered Mike McCready on 4/7/07 at the CCFA benefit at the Showbox in Seattle. It was a great show. Ronan encountered the men from the Human Giant in New York on 4/17/07.
  

MARCH 2007

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The URP on 3/10/07.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Licensing the song “Can I Get A Witness” for a national commercial for Rhapsody.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: No celebs this month, sorry.
  

FEBRUARY 2007

• Big Rock Show of the Month: High Dive, 2/17/07.
  
• Best Onstage Moment: The JB tribute during the Mardi Gras show at the High Dive, complemented by horns from Pocket Change. During this performance, a streaker made a nude dash across the stage before diving into the audience.
  
• Hard Data: 1 trip by Ben to the Bluebird Café, the songwriter Mecca in Nashville on 2/23/07.
  

JANUARY 2007

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The encounter with the gas station attendant and George Strait's tour bus on 1/25/07.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Finishing up the recording of “Ooh La La.”
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Keane were encountered on 1/30/07. George Strait was narrowly missed.

DECEMBER 2006

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: There were a number of them offstage at
  Jazzbones.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Viewing “Fishizzle,” the independent film
  featuring the LHS song “Can I Get A Witness.”
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Roco De Luca was encountered.

NOVEMBER 2006

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The publishing of Ben’s album of the month:
  “Red Brick Walls, Pratfalls, and Curtain Calls.”
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Viewing Recording at Bedhead Studios.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Sorry, no celebs this month.
  

OCTOBER 2006

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The re-route over Steven’s Pass on 10/29/06
  when I-90 was closed.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: The Halloween Party on 10/28/06 at the Alley.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Several celebrities were encountered this month. On 10/1/06, Ben met Sam Roberts (again, he’d met him in 2004 at Bumbershoot when they played together) and Ben Kweller. In addition, Ronan, keeping up his impressive celebrity encounter stats, encountered Rocco Deluca (of Kiefer Sutherland fame) and Patrick Dempsey (of Ronnie Miller fame) during the month of October.
  

SEPTEMBER 2006

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The backstage accommodations on 9/22/06.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: The article by the Argonaut for the 9/15/06 show.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Andrew spotted John Popper of Blues Traveler on 9/8/06 at Sea-Tac Airport. Ronan encountered Switchfoot on 9/13/06. Ronan also encountered Teddy Geiger on 9/25/06.
  

AUGUST 2006

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The van nearly stranding us on 8/12/06. Luckily, she got us home.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: The URP on 8/5/06
  CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Steven W. Bailey from Grey’s Anatomy & My Big, Fat, Obnoxious Fiancé was spotted by Ben on 8/24/06.
  

JULY 2006

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: Too numerous to mention from 7/3 to 7/8.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Interesting LHS interview on 7/10/06.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Johnny Mosely was on hand for the
  Sweetwater performance on 7/7/06.
  

JUNE 2006

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The splits to cap off the 6/9/06 performance.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: URP on 6/10/06
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Sorry, no celebs this month. Check back next month.
  

MAY 2006

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The load-out on 5/28/06.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Having Dan Lewis, KOMO-4 news anchor, grooving to LHS at Jazzbones on 5/8/06.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Ronan encountered the Goo-Goo dolls on 5/18/06.
  

APRIL 2006

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The post-show drive back to Seattle on 4/8/06.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Shuckin' and jivin' at the private event in
  Spokane, WA on 4/8/06.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Ronan encountered James Blunt on 4/3/06.

MARCH 2006

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: Radio interview done by phone from the LHS van on 3/18/06.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Getting the new t-shirts in.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Crazy Joe, The Traveling Recorder was encountered 3/24 and 3/25 in Whistler, B.C.
  

FEBRUARY 2006

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The drive-through-the-night trip to Sun Valley, Idaho on 2/2 and 2/3, complete with a radio interview done from a truck stop in Oregon and a harrowing ascent through the snow to Whiskey Jacques.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Releasing the CD on 2/10/06.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Sorry folks, no celebs this month.
  

JANUARY 2006

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The video game smoking up the club on 1/20/06. The band thought it was a smoke machine, but it was the faulty video game. It turned out to be a harmless incident.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: The final set of the 1/21/06, where LHS gave the audience the go ahead to determine the set list and folks requested Beautiful Soon, Keep On Calling, Down the Road, and Temporary Lovin'.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Sorry folks, no celebs this month.
  

DECEMBER 2005

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The URP on 12/10/05.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Best URP: the post show set from 2:30pm to 6:30am on 12/10/05. Thanks Shawn!
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Ronan encountered Kiefer Sutherland in a rock club in the Soho district of London. LHS rock music was discussed and hopefully LHS and Kiefer, a record label owner and rock enthusiast, will cross paths again in the future.

NOVEMBER 2005

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The girl charging the stage then being bounced out of the club on 11/5/05..
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Being selected as the featured band on the Seattle P.I.’s music page.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Andrew and Eric encountered Kathy McDonald, the singer who recorded and performed with the Rolling Stones during the Exile on Main Street era, with Tina Turner during the Proud Mary era, and, most impressively, with Left Hand Smoke during the Nonsense Parade era.

OCTOBER 2005

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The boat-rowing in Moscow on 10/14/05.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: Being reviewed favorably by Disheveled
  Magazine for 10/1/05 show at the Showbox. The article comes out in their November issue. Check it out.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: LHS hung with the North Mississippi All-Stars backstage on 10/1/05 and found that they were genuinely cool guys.

SEPTEMBER 2005

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The abrupt halt to our 9/19/05 journey home to Seattle caused by a rock slide in the North Cascades.
  
• COOLEST MOMENT OF THE MONTH: AKA - Best Backstage Amenity: Massage therapy on the side of the stage at Sunbanks on 9/9/05.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Ben jammed with Michael Gray of Pearl Django on 9/4/05. Pearl Django has an international reputation for Gypsy-styled jazz, so go their web site and check them out: www.pearldjango.com
  
  

JULY 2005

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: Aka: Worst load-in of 2005 and in LHS History: the load-in on 7/4/05 to the roof of the building in Belltown.
  
• JETSET EXPERIENCE OF THE MONTH: Ben had the following schedule from
  7/15/05 to 7/22/05: Friday, noon - Seattle, WA show; Friday evening -
  Yakima, WA show; Saturday, evening - Seattle, WA show; Sunday - Miami, FL vacation; Mon-Wed - Bahamas vacation; Thu - Key West, FL vacation; Friday, evening - Portland, OR show. It was an action-packed week.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Sorry, no celebs this month, but LHS did run into a number of very interesting civilians. One of them was Spanish filmmaker Tony Vidachea, who might be working on an upcoming LHS music video. Stay tuned.
  

JUNE 2005

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The sticker application at John's Alley on 6/17/05.
  
• COOLEST LHS MOMENT: Studio experience of laying down "Can I Get A Witness" for the new album in early June 2005.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Ben encountered Mike Daisey at the ACT Theater in Seattle on 6/10/05 after taking in Daisey's performance of "The Ugly American." Good stuff. # 2 Ben "encountered" Shock-G (aka Humpty Hump) of funk-rap group Digital Underground on 6/25/05 in Spokane, WA. A friend of Shock-G handed a cell phone to Ben during a late night party and Ben heard bass-heavy rap grooves on an answering machine followed by Shock-G's distinctive voice saying, "Leave a message." A somewhat buzzed Ben then decided to leave the following message: "Shock-G, what's going on man, it's Ben from Seattle. We need to hook up and work together. Give me a call." He left then left his phone number. He is still waiting to hear back. Not quite sure how Shock-G and DU can quite fit into the LHS sphere, but Ben has an open mind.
  

MAY 2005

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT:The load-in at the Blue Spark through the Lilac Parade.
  
• COOLEST LHS MOMENT: Winning the Best Band award in the Seattle Weekly Music Awards for Best Pop/Rock Category on 5/10/05.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: # 1 - Mayor Greg Nichols was encountered on 5/10/05. # 2 - Victor Wooten was encountered by Eric at Neumo's in Seattle.
  

APRIL 2005

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: Recording at Casey Miller's while working on
  album IV.
  
• COOLEST LHS MOMENT: Recording harmonies for the tracks for the first time.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH::# 1 Mike McCready at the Showbox 4/8/05. # 2 Ronan encountered the singer from the Kings of Leon at the bottom of Queen Anne Hill near Easy Street Records on 4/27/05.
  

MARCH 2005

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The post funk at Randy's in Moscow. Thank you, Randy.
  
• COOLEST LHS MOMENT: Licensing "Down the Road" to Pangolin Pictures to be used in a show for the Discovery Channel.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH::Wistful British singer songwriter Ed Harcourt is encountered at the Tractor in Seattle on March 24th, 2005.
  

FEBRUARY 2005

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: Perhaps too many drinks before (and after) the 2/4/05 show. Oh, well, it was Mardis Gras weekend.
  
• COOLEST LHS MOMENT: The birth of the LHS Fan Appreciation Night.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH:: #1:Peter Buck at the Crocodile on 2/4/05. The REM guitar player was spotted in the bar. #2: Skerik at the Crocodile on 2/4/05. While not a household name, Skerik is well-known throughout the music world. He was hot off playing the Carson Daly show with Warren Haynes and spoke highly of the experience.
  

JANUARY 2005

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The 4-track demo recording sessions
  
• COOLEST LHS MOMENT: Getting new, limited edition LHS T-shirts.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH:: #1:The URT was joined onstage for a rousing rendition of "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Like A Rolling Stone" in early January by rock n' roll Hall of Fame drummer: Michael Shrieve. # 2 Ben encountered DJ Jazzy Jeff sans the Fresh Prince at Chop Suey on Capitol Hill.
  

DECEMBER 2004

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The realization that despite the fact that it
  seemed as though someone had stolen a shot of Jagermeister from the stage on 12/31/04, it was actually one of the guitar techs who had kicked it over.
  
• COOLEST LHS MOMENT: Selling out the Tractor for New Year's Eve.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH::Ronan encountered the singer from Switchfoot in Tacoma, WA in early December.
  

NOVEMBER 2004

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The signature at the Showbox URP on 11/26/04.
  
• COOLEST LHS MOMENT: The offering up of post funk party accommodations by J. Winko. Thank you, Jeff, we appreciate it.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Brehan Murphy, international male model (and friend of the band), whose recent work was featured in last month's issues of Vanity Fair and Esquire magazines.

OCTOBER 2004

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: Lack of bathroom in the backstage area at the Crocodile led to creative ways of answering the call of nature during a rock set where beer was flowing freely. On the very same night, another rock n' roll moment occurred when Ben unintentionally broke the microphone stand into three pieces.
  
• COOLEST LHS MOMENT: Receiving help from numerous people with such
  non-musical duties as video taping live shows, working the merchandise
  table, web site updating, roadie work and other things of that nature.
  Special thanks to Geoff, Elisa, Kristen, Ward, Kyle and everyone else who
  helped out LHS this month.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Krist Novoselic of Nirvana, who lectured at the Rock-the-Vote show.
  

SEPTEMBER 2004

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: Enjoying the backstage accommodations at
  Bumbershoot.
  
• COOLEST LHS MOMENT:Signing autographs after the set.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Nick Lowe backstage at Bumbershoot. Our backstage lounge was next to his and we got to mingle with Nick and his crew. Also, another celebrity was encountered at the Beastie Boys concert at Key Arena, where Ben and Ronan met "World Champion DJ" Mix Master Mike.
  
  

AUGUST 2004

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The $1 wager in Moscow.
• COOLEST LHS MOMENT:Being told we're being voted the #1 band in
  Moscow by a new college magazine at U of I. We will let you know if this
  publication sees the light of day.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Andrew played a short set with the bass player for blues legend James Cotton during an impromptu jam.
  

JULY 2004

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: The pole dance at John's Alley on 7/23/04.
  Close second: the girl-on-girl bar fight before the show on the same night.
  
  
• COOLEST LHS MOMENT:Popping the LHS Rep CDs in the mail.
  
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH:Eric spotted Michael Shrieve, the former drummer of Santana. Shrieve was with Santana during the period when the band performed at Woodstock.
  
  

JUNE 2004

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: Ronan passing off a CD to the Jason Mraz's
  drummer at Mraz's 6/11/04 show at the 5th Avenue Theater in Seattle.
  
• COOLEST LHS MOMENT: Hearing that a young female fan was going to perform "Step Outside" in her school talent show. This girl had previously written a book about "Step Outside" for her school and sent us the hardbound copy. LHS is happy to provide inspiration.
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH:Gavin DeGraw at the June 22nd show at Pneumo's. While he's not a household name, he does enter the living rooms of many Americans each week via the theme song on "One Tree Hill." Gavin's advice to Ben: "Rock it out, man!"
  

MAY 2004:

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: Chatting with Pearl Jam's sound engineer who was recording our set at the Showbox. We learned that he had tried to record what would be "KISS Alive 4" in Vancouver, B.C. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out.
  
• COOLEST LHS MOMENT: A mention in Billboard Magazine
  
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH:Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, & Stone Gossard at the Showbox. Eddie Vedder's comment: "Where can I buy your album?" Our answer: "You can have one right now." Also, John Mayall at the Aladdin Theater. His take on LHS: "You guys rocked hard. Really fantastic!"

APRIL 2004:

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: Jehovah's Witness disturbs our pre-show
  pre-funk at the John's Alley band house.
• COOLEST LHS MOMENT: Seattle Weekly Nomination for Best Roots Rock Band
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH:Andrew & Eric ran into Francine Reed, a singer from Lyle Lovett's band as well as an accomplished solo
  artist. The three talked about music and she sang a few tunes with
  them.
  

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2004:

• MOST ROCK 'N ROLL MOMENT: Sold 3 CDs to a gas station attendent in Pendleton OR
  
• COOLEST LHS MOMENT: AP article
• CELEBRITY ENCOUNTER OF THE MONTH: Keyboard player for Lenny Kravitz at the Blue Spark 3/06. His take on LHS: "You guys rock!"