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Nada Surf

Nada Surf is an American alternative rock band formed in New York City in 1992, consisting of Matthew Caws (guitar, vocals), Ira Elliot (drums), and Daniel Lorca (bass, backing vocals).

After initially operating under the name Helicopter, Caws and Lorca switched to Nada Surf. In 1995, Ira Elliot joined on drums, and they met Ric Ocasek, former frontman of the Cars, who produced their debut album, High/Low, in 1996. Despite experiencing significant success with their single "Popular" and touring extensively, their follow-up album, The Proximity Effect, was not well received by their record label, Elektra, resulting in the band being dropped, and they self-released the album.

Throughout the early 2000s, members worked regular day jobs while continuing to create music, leading to the release of the critically acclaimed album Let Go, in 2002. Their subsequent albums included The Weight Is a Gift (2005), Lucky (2008), the covers album If I Had a Hi-Fi (2010), and The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy (2012). They issued their eighth studio album, You Know Who You Are, in 2016, and followed it with Never Not Together in 2020. Their tenth studio album, Moon Mirror, will be released in September 2024.

1990s
Nada Surf was formed in 1992 by Matthew Caws and Daniel Lorca. They originally went by the name Helicopter but later changed it to Nada Surf, which Caws said is "actually referring to something much more existential, it's just surfing on nothing. Being lost in your head or in your imagination but you know, whenever I listen to music I always find myself off somewhere. Somewhere in space. You know, in mental space and it's a reference to that." Caws and Lorca met at the Lycée Français de New York; both spent some of their childhood in France and Belgium, and played in many bands, including the Cost of Living and Because Because Because. Their first drummer, Daniel (later alluded to in the song "The Plan", from the album High/Low), was replaced by Aaron Conte, with whom the band recorded their first 7", The Plan/Telescope (1994), as well as the demo tape Tafkans, the raw version of High/Low. Those raw versions were later released on their second 7", Deeper Well/Pressure Free (1995), on the EP Karmic, and on North 6th Street.

In 1995, Conte left the band and was replaced by Ira Elliot, former drummer of the Fuzztones, a band from the 1980s New York scene, and of whom both Caws and Lorca were fans. After a Blonde Redhead show at the Knitting Factory, Nada Surf met former Cars frontman and Weezer producer Ric Ocasek. With little hope, they presented him with a copy of Tafkans. Three weeks later, Ocasek called back with news of his intention to produce the album. Soon after, the band was finalizing a contract with Elektra Records through an executive, Josh Deutsch.

On June 18, 1996, they released their debut album, High/Low, which was recorded and mastered within a nineteen-day period. Prior to this, the band released Karmic on No. 6 Records, a label run by Elektra A&R head Terry Tolkin. That summer, as Nada Surf toured the United States with Superdrag, their song "Popular" became a summer anthem, and the band toured overseas.

In 1998, they released The Proximity Effect, their follow-up album, in Europe. Produced by Fred Maher, the album gained little commercial success in the US. Their record label, thinking the album lacked a hit like "Popular", had the band record several covers, including "Black & White" (The dBs) and "Why Are You So Mean to Me?" (Vitreous Humor), to use as singles. Tired of the requirements of the A&R director, the band judged the album was perfect as-is (even though Elektra suggested the inclusion of an acoustic version of "Popular"), and broke their contract. As a consequence, Elektra did not release the album in the US and dropped the band while they were on a promotional tour in Europe. Despite these events, this album was critically acclaimed in France, where the band did a 30-show tour the following year.

2000s
In 2000, Nada Surf released The Proximity Effect in the United States on their own label, MarDev (named after Caws' maternal grandmother, Margaret Devereux Lippitt, daughter of the painter Margaret Walthour Lippitt), after being dropped by Elektra. Subsequently, the band performed at their record release party at Luna Lounge in New York City and toured extensively for several months to rebuild their North American fan base.

From 1999 to 2002, the band members took regular day jobs: Caws worked at a Brooklyn record store called Earwax, Lorca worked on some computer projects, and Elliot did drum and guitar session work for other artists. Caws later referred to these times as a period of luxury, and the record store job as his "favorite job ever."

In 2002, they released Let Go, a critically acclaimed album that included the single "Inside of Love". They went on tour for several months, including many European festivals, in the summer of 2003. Mostly recorded the year before, the album was produced by their friends Louie Lino and Chris Fudurich, who had engineered The Proximity Effect; the band paid them with $1 and $5 bills, the money earned from tour merchandise sales.

In 2005, Nada Surf released The Weight Is a Gift, an album produced by Chris Walla (among others), and finished touring for this album in October of the following year. The record was made during a month spent at John Vanderslice's Tiny Telephone Studios in San Francisco.

In 2008, the band released Lucky, an album made with producer John Goodmanson at the Robert Lang Studios in Seattle, from material recorded the year before. That same year, their song "No Quick Fix" was featured as the Spinner MP3 of the Day, and they were featured on the cover of Beyond Race Magazine for the publication's winter issue.

2010s

In 2010, the band released If I Had a Hi-Fi, an album of covers including songs by the likes of Depeche Mode, Kate Bush, Spoon, and The Go-Betweens. Milwaukee noise rock band IfIHadAHiFi reciprocally titled their next album Nada Surf EP+3.

In January 2012, Nada Surf released The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy, an album that included the single "Waiting for Something".

Later in 2012, Caws, who had moved to England, recorded acoustic versions of five of the songs from The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy as b-sides, in collaboration with record producer Lee Russell. The material was released as The Dulcitone Files EP. The group released a compilation of rarities called B-Sides in 2014.

Nada Surf's eighth studio album, You Know Who You Are, with an official release date of March 4, 2016, was released for streaming in late February 2016.

In 2018, for the fifteenth anniversary of Let Go, the charity album Standing at the Gates: The Songs of Nada Surf's Let Go was released to benefit the ACLU and The Pablove Foundation. It consists of tracks from the band's 2002 album, covered by various artists, including the Long Winters, Ed Harcourt, Ron Gallo, Rogue Wave, Holly Miranda, and Aimee Mann.

2020s
In November 2019, Nada Surf announced that their ninth studio album, Never Not Together, would be released via Barsuk Records (US) and City Slang (UK) on February 7, 2020. At the time of the announcement, they released a new single and lyric video, "Something I Should Do". According to the band, their experience while celebrating the 15th anniversary of Let Go in 2017 pushed them into a different creative mindset. They recorded many demos before thinning down the selection in an effort to find focus. The band also announced a major world tour to celebrate the album's release, starting on January 14 in Seattle, before moving through the US and also encompassing dates in the UK, Germany, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Another single followed in December, entitled "Looking for You", accompanied by a music video directed by the band themselves.

Nada Surf opened the new decade with a single release, "So Much Love", on January 8, the third from Never Not Together. It garnered Rolling Stone's attention, who reviewed the single favorably. Double J in Australia added it and the previous single "Something I Should Do" to their playlist. On January 15, Nada Surf began their Never Not Together world tour at Neptune Theatre in Seattle.

On May 14, 2024, Nada Surf announced that their new album, titled Moon Mirror, would be released on September 13.

Band members
Current members
 * Matthew Caws – lead vocals, guitar (1992–present)
 * Daniel Lorca – bass, backing vocals (1992–present)
 * Ira Elliot – drums, backing vocals (1995–present)

Past members
 * Aaron Conte – drums (1993–1995)

Contributing/touring members
 * Louie Lino – keyboards
 * Daniel Brummel – bass, backing vocals (2016)
 * Martin Wenk – trumpet, keyboards, xylophone
 * Doug Gillard – guitar, backing vocals (2012–2019)

Discography

 * High/Low (1996)
 * The Proximity Effect (1998)
 * Let Go (2003)
 * The Weight Is a Gift (2005)
 * Lucky (2008)
 * If I Had a Hi-Fi (2010)
 * The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy (2012)
 * You Know Who You Are (2016)
 * Never Not Together (2020)
 * Moon Mirror (2024)

title: Nada Surf


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User talk:Lament

Hi. On List of most popular family names talk page you wrote

 * Hmm. I'm Russian, and I think the Russian list is BS. Where's the data from? I have never even heard two out of four names on that list. --Lament

It looks like this article started out (Nov 2001) as complete nonsense and has gradually come good. There were originally two names under Russia: Tscherkasov & Dougorookiy. These look like a joke: Tscherkasov = Jerks off?

User:Rmhermen deleted Dougorookiy before your comment. Tscherkasov is still there but I'll delete it. That leaves Ivanov, Vasiliev & Deternov, all added by User:Menchi on 25 Dec 2002. From your comment there's still one of these you've never heard of. Try Menchi's talk page. Andy G 01:53, 12 Aug 2003 (UTC)

 * Well, Tscherkasov and Dougorookiy (or, I would say, Cherkasov and Dolgorukiy) are real Russian family names. Although by no means commnon. --Lament

Why hello there. Sarge Baldy 04:05, Feb 3, 2004 (UTC)

Knife image
I just wanted to complement you on Image:Knive_types.png. It is one of the most instructive images I've seen in quite a while, really does say a thousand words. Good work, and please make more diagrams like this sometime. Deco 23:54, 20 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Image copyright
Thank you for uploading Image:Berimbau.jpg and for stating the source. However, its copyright status is unclear, so it may have to be deleted. If it is open content or public domain, please give proof of this on the image page. If the image is fair use, please provide a rationale. Thank you. --Ellmist 19:23, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Revise Blade Geometries
If you would, please make a larger image and distinguish 5 from 1, or remove one of them.

File:Knive types.png listed for deletion
An image or media file that you uploaded or altered, File:Knive types.png, has been listed at Files for deletion. Please see the to see why this is (you may have to search for the title of the image to find its entry), if you are interested in it not being deleted.  Ja Ga  talk 03:56, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

ArbCom elections are now open!
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:52, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User talk:Lament


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New Found Glory

New Found Glory (formerly  A New Found Glory) is an American rock band from Coral Springs, Florida, formed in 1997. The band currently consists of Jordan Pundik (lead vocals), Ian Grushka (bass guitar), Chad Gilbert (lead guitar, backing vocals), and Cyrus Bolooki (drums). Longtime rhythm guitarist and lyricist Steve Klein left the band in late 2013. During their lengthy recording career, the band have released ten studio albums, one live album, two EPs, and four cover albums.

After forming in 1997, New Found Glory released their debut studio album Nothing Gold Can Stay in 1999. The band then released their self-titled major label debut in 2000, with the album's song "Hit or Miss" peaking at number 15 the Alternative Songs chart. In 2002, the band became mainstream with their album Sticks and Stones and the album's hit "My Friends Over You". The group's popularity continued with their 2004 album Catalyst, of which the video for "All Downhill From Here" was nominated for a VMA for Breakthrough Video of the Year. Led by single "It's Not Your Fault", the mid-tempo and critically acclaimed Coming Home followed in 2006. The release showcased a temporary move to an alternative rock style instead of their usual pop punk sound. The quintet returned to their energetic roots with the release of Not Without a Fight in 2009. They have since released four more albums; Radiosurgery in 2011, Resurrection in 2014, Makes Me Sick in 2017, and their tenth studio album Forever + Ever x Infinity in 2020.

Emerging as part of the second wave of pop punk in the late 1990s, music critics consider them a key pioneer of the genre. Often labelled the "godfathers of pop punk", AllMusic notes how their "raucous, fast-paced anthems carried them through the decades", whilst crediting them for "practically serving alongside the work of Blink-182 as the blueprint to the entire genre for the early 2000s." Rock Sound have championed their "classic sugar sweet sound", which combines "pop-punk and hardcore in one neat package." Alternative Press have praised the group for their "innovative and entirely irresistible fusion of punk melodies and hardcore breakdowns." As such, the band is considered highly influential in the development of the subgenre easycore.

Formation and debut releases (1997–1999)
The origins of New Found Glory date back to 1997 when Jordan Pundik (vocals) and Ian Grushka (bass) played together in the bands Inner City Kids and Flip 60. After disbanding Flip 60, they recruited Stephen Klein (guitar), who Pundik met at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and had previously played with him in the band Fallview. The three began to jam together. Practicing in Grushka's garage, they later invited Joe "Taco Joe" Marino to play drums. Shortly thereafter, Chad Gilbert (lead guitar), former vocalist of Shai Hulud, joined to complete the quintet.

Pundik later stated the band name was created while he and Klein were working at Red Lobster together; "We came up with A New Found Glory, we wrote it on a napkin. I think we pulled some of it from "A Newfound Interest in Massachusetts" by the Get Up Kids". The band recorded their debut EP, It's All About the Girls (1997) in a friend's apartment, and the EP was distributed by local independent label Fiddler Records. Soon after, Marino was replaced by current drummer Cyrus Bolooki after two rehearsal sessions. The band went on to tour up and down the East Coast and quickly sold out the entire pressing of the EP. The band's underground success soon caught the attention of Eulogy Recordings and the quintet subsequently signed shortly afterwards in order to increase distribution of their music.

Following the success of their EP, the band recorded their debut full-length album, Nothing Gold Can Stay (1999), initially selling one-page insert copies at their shows supporting MxPx. Richard Reines, co-founder of Drive-Thru Records had also noted their devout following and held talks with the band. Drive-Thru subsequently signed the five-piece and paid Eulogy $5,000 to license Nothing Gold Can Stay, which went on to sell more than 300,000 copies.

Rise in popularity and stardom (2000–2005)
The five-piece signed their first proper record deal with Drive-Thru Records, and released an EP of cover songs from film soundtracks entitled From the Screen to Your Stereo in 2000. Drive-Thru's relationship with MCA Records ensured that the smaller label's more popular bands would be picked up by the major. Later that year, debut single "Hit or Miss" peaked at No. 15 on the US Modern Rock Chart, which helped propel the band to a mainstream audience. Subsequently, their self-titled second album and major label debut New Found Glory (2000) reached number one on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, and spent 21 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart. In a Kerrang! magazine article years later, they referred to the album as the band's Essential Purchase. They wrote, "marking one of the biggest and quickest improvements in alternative music, the major label debut hurled them to the forefront of the punk scene barely 12 months after its predecessor. Packed with infectious melodies and sing-along anthems, it would see them jostling with the likes of Blink-182 for the genre's crown." The album also marked the official debut of the band's new moniker, which dropped the indefinite article "A" from their original name due to some fans struggling to find the band's records in stores. The album was certified gold by the RIAA. In 2001 the band performed at EdgeFest Calgary.

Between 2002 and 2004, the band experienced the height of their popularity with headline slots on the Warped Tour with Blink-182 and a supporting tour with Green Day. Third album Sticks and Stones was released on June 11, 2002, and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 chart. The record spawned two popular singles; "My Friends Over You" and "Head on Collision". Following the success of the album, the band headlined the 2002 Warped Tour and later saw the album certified gold by the RIAA.

The lead single for their fourth album, "All Downhill from Here" reached number eleven in the Rock Chart before Catalyst (2004) was released. The album peaked at a career-high number three on the Billboard 200, selling 146,000 copies in its first week. The heavier style of the record, which included some metal and new wave influences,  was due to the comparisons that magazines and other media outlets would make between New Found Glory and other popular bands. Chad Gilbert stated: "Well, when Sticks and Stones came out and we were doing that Honda Civic Tour, we were getting compared to bands like Good Charlotte and Simple Plan we were angry with that. At that point, we were getting compared to more pop bands and we aren't a pop band." The band promoted the album with a supporting tour with Green Day during the fall of 2004 on the American Idiot Tour. The song "This Disaster" was featured in EA Sports' Madden NFL 2005, and "At Least I'm Known for Something" was featured in EA's Burnout 3: Takedown. This became the band's third record to be certified gold by the RIAA.

Maturity into later albums (2006–2009)
Demos for the next album were tracked with long-term friend and studio engineer Paul Miner, before the band worked with Thom Panunzio (Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Ozzy Osbourne) having moved into a house together in Malibu, California called the Morning View Mansion to write and record. Gilbert took into the studio a book containing over 40 riff ideas that were written during the previous tour. Unlike their previous releases, Gilbert and Pundik also worked on lyrics alongside primary lyricist Steve Klein for the first time. The band had decided against working with Neal Avron, who had produced the band's three previous albums, as they wanted to try something different. Their fifth album titled Coming Home was released on September 19, 2006, with first single, "It's Not Your Fault" in July 2006. The release proved popular with many critics giving the album positive reviews. It was acclaimed for its "matured and nuanced songwriting", and was generally recognised as being the band's most mature work.

From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II, the band's follow-up to From the Screen to Your Stereo – a full-length album, containing 11 songs plus one bonus track for the Japanese edition and iTunes – was released on September 18, 2007, via Drive-Thru Records. The first and only single from the album was "Kiss Me", which would become the band's last charting single. The music video can be viewed on MySpace. In March 2008, a compilation named Hits was released. Two previously unreleased songs, "Situations" and "Constant Static", are also featured on the album. This was their last release on Drive-Thru/Geffen before signing with independent labels, Bridge Nine Records and Epitaph Records. In April 2008, the band released a new EP Tip of the Iceberg on CD, 7-inch and through digital music outlets on Bridge 9 Records containing both new material that paid homage to their melodic hardcore influences. The CD also included an extra disc from the band's side project, the International Superheroes of Hardcore, named Takin' It Ova!.

Their sixth studio album, Not Without a Fight, was released on March 10, 2009, and was produced by Mark Hoppus. It was released through the band's new label, Epitaph Records. Hoppus has said that during recording, they had felt like a different band altogether. The lead single from the album was called "Listen to Your Friends". The music video for the song was filmed in Los Angeles. The single was released December 23, 2008, in the US & a day earlier in the UK, both via iTunes & AmazonMP3. Following the album's release, the quintet set out on the "Not Without a Fight Tour" with support from Set Your Goals, Bayside and Shai Hulud.

The video for second single "Don't Let Her Pull You Down" premiered on October 15, and was released on October 20 via limited orange and sky blue vinyl prints. On October 17 the band played a free show for around 120 fans packed into the studio where the band played a setlist made up of fan requests.

Return to pop punk sound and line-up change (2010–2013)
A special edition re-release to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their self-titled album was released on January 26, 2010, through Geffen Records. The additional material included new liner notes, demos, b-sides, The Story So Far DVD and a remix of debut single "Hit or Miss" by the late Jerry Finn. A full tour was also confirmed where the band would play the record in its entirety, with support from Saves the Day, Hellogoodbye and Fireworks. On the 29th and 30 May, the band headlined the Pop-Punk festival SlamDunk Festival held in Hatfield and Leeds. Shortly before the start of the band's commemorative tour, Gilbert visited his doctor for pneumonia. After suspicious cells were discovered in his thyroid, he underwent surgery which caused him to miss the first three dates of the new tour. Anthony Raneri of Bayside replaced him for this period. The surgery was a success. Later that year, the band headlined the Slam Dunk Festival along with Alkaline Trio and Capdown.

New Found Glory began the new year by participating in the 2011 Soundwave Festival, and were later confirmed for the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August. The band also played a full tribute set to The Ramones with Marky Ramone on drums at The Bamboozle 2011 Festival.

They returned to the studio in April to record their seventh album, titled Radiosurgery with Neal Avron the producer having also produced their second, third and fourth albums. Chad Gilbert has said that Radiosurgery "is the most upbeat, fun record we've ever recorded. Catchy but not in a fake pop sounding way. I wanted to go back to more of the roots of punk rock and pop punk and put a whole new NFG spin on it. The record goes from song to song never letting up the energy." The lead single and title track, "Radiosurgery" was released on August 2. In March 2012, New Found Glory had announced via their website that they would be a part of the Vans Warped Tour lineup. New Found Glory will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Sticks And Stones by going on a small club tour in the fall, all around the country.

In November Pundik said that the band will take a break and won't release a new album until 2014. AbsolutePunk confirmed that the band would be releasing A Very New Found Glory Christmas via cassette tape on December 1, as well as a live album some time in 2013. The band recorded three new songs which are on their upcoming live album Kill It Live released on October 7. Also announced in this period was the departure of founding member and rhythm guitarist Steve Klein, due to him being charged with multiple counts of inappropriate contact with a minor. On their Facebook page the band noted that there had been some disparity in the intended direction progressing forward, and that Steve and the remaining members had experienced insurmountable differences "over the years."

On March 2, 2021, it was reported that Steve Klein was convicted of indecent exposure.

Continuing as a quartet, Hopeless Records era (2014–present)
On February 25, 2014, the band announced an 11 date UK tour with main support by The Story So Far, stopping in cities around the country including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Cardiff and Leeds. On May 18, the band announced on their Facebook page that they would release a new album in the fall of 2014. They also mentioned that it would be released by Hopeless Records. On May 27, the band announced that they had left Epitaph Records and would be signing to Hopeless Records, where their new album will be released in the fall of 2014. On August 5, they released a new single "Selfless" from the upcoming album Resurrection. The band also filmed a music video to release with the single. On September 9, they released a new single "Ready and Willing" from the upcoming album Resurrection. The band also filmed a music video to release with the single. On October 7, 2014, they released Resurrection. On July 22, 2015, the band announced they would reissue the album on October 8, retitled Resurrection: Ascension. It features two brand new studio tracks, two reworked songs and three acoustic tracks. On the day of announcement, they also rereleased "Vicious Love" featuring Hayley Williams on vocals.

On September 28, 2016, New Found Glory announced via Facebook that pre-production had officially began for a new album and have since been posting pictures showing the progress of the writing process. On January 25, 2017, the band's next album, Makes Me Sick was announced for release on April 28. The first single "Happy Being Miserable", along with its music video, was released on February 15, 2017. The influence for the music video came from the pie eating scene from the movie Stand By Me.

In January 2019, New Found Glory announced the third instalment of their cover series, the From the Screen to Your Stereo 3 EP, for release in May.

On February 20, 2019, the band released the first song/video off their new cover series EP From The Screen To Your Stereo 3. They covered "The Power Of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News, which comes from the Back To The Future movies. It was also revealed they'll be covering songs from Frozen, Rocky and Twilight on the new release.

On February 10, 2020, the band announced their tenth studio album Forever + Ever x Infinity, slated for release for May 29, 2020. The album features 15 songs, as the band did not want to cut any of the recorded material for the album. The first single, "Greatest of All Time", released the same day.

On April 16, 2020, the band confirmed that they had delayed the release of Forever + Ever x Infinity to June 19, 2020, because it would initially be sold exclusively at Target and the band didn't want fans to have to go to the store during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In December 2021, the band released December's Here, a collection of 10 original Christmas songs through Hopeless Records. Shortly after this, guitarist Chad Gilbert shared that he had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called pheochromocytoma. After two weeks in the hospital, surgeons were able to remove the cancer. In January 2022, he was officially cancer free.

In 2022, the band embarked on a full US tour with Four Year Strong and Be Well, celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Sticks and Stones. Stickers were distributed at the merch table announcing their next album: "New Found Glory - Make the Most of It. A new 14 song acoustic LP by New Found Glory. Featuring 7 brand new songs and 7 classics reimagined. Mixed by Mark Trombino. Coming Soon on Revelation Records." Gilbert had to leave the tour abruptly due to back pains, only to discover that the cancer had regrown in certain parts of his body including a spine vertebrae which was ultimately removed, and that he would be unable to perform with the band for the rest of the year as a result.

Side projects and collaborations
The International Superheroes of Hardcore is a side project of all members of the band and features Gilbert on vocals and Pundik on guitar, with the remaining members playing the same instruments they play in New Found Glory. All the members use pseudonyms for their characters in the band (e.g. Gilbert is known as Captain Straightedge). The band's songs are humorous in nature with titles such as "Back to the Future" and "Superhero Sellouts". The band also recorded an internet-only music video for "Dig My Own Grave" with director Joseph Pattisall. While not currently active, the band went to Australia in February 2011 for the Soundwave Festival, replacing Sum 41 after frontman Deryck Whibley fell ill with pneumonia for the Melbourne and Adelaide shows. The band did not play the Perth show of the festival, due to Captain Straight Edge himself falling sick too. In an interview in 2012, Ian Grushka and Steve Klein announced that the band had been scrapped.

In April 2008 a compilation from the Punk Goes... series, called Punk Goes Crunk, was released, and features New Found Glory covering "Tennessee", originally by Arrested Development. New Found Glory had previously released another cover song, "Heaven", on Punk Goes Metal.

During "Not Without a Fight" tour, a split EP with Shai Hulud titled Not Without a Heart Once Nourished by Sticks and Stones Within Blood Ill-Tempered Misanthropy Pure Gold Can Stay was exclusively released. There were two colors limited to a total of only 500 copies and only for sale from either Shai Hulud or New Found Glory at these shows.

Dashboard Confessional were to be main support for New Found Glory's headline American tour in 2010. However, shortly before the tour was due to commence, Dashboard withdrew for personal reasons and the tour was subsequently canceled. A split EP, titled Swiss Army Bro-Mance had initially been due for sale on the previously cancelled tour, but was later made available online on a limited pressing of 2,500 copies. The two bands played several acoustic dates in December 2010.

On December 10, 2011, New Found Glory performed a live set for "Guitar Center Sessions" on DirecTV. The episode included an interview with program host, Nic Harcourt.

Style, influences and legacy
New Found Glory are widely recognized for their fast and energetic pop-punk music. The band temporarily moved to an alternative rock style with their album Coming Home in 2006, and is sometimes described as such in general. The aforementioned Coming Home was viewed as a change in direction for the band with its more layered and mid-tempo sound and has been described as a "somber, honest, polished and alternative record." They have also been described as melodic hardcore. The band's traditional sound has been described as "chunky and melodic", with Rolling Stone noting their penchant for "catchy, riffy punk-rock." Consequence of Sound writer Megan Ritt called the band "paragons" of the pop punk genre and noted how "the seasoned Floridian rockers are renowned for their heartfelt guitar anthems." The band's music typically builds upon verse-chorus song structures, combining pop-influenced melodies with fast punk rock tempos, hardcore-tinged breakdowns, and often gang vocals. Their fusion of pop punk with hardcore breakdowns has been labeled as easycore, a genre they are considered to have helped pioneer and named with one of their tours.

Critics have praised the band for their ability to write infectious hooks and the sincerity of their lyrics, often about growing up and relationships. Chad Gilbert has noted that, "if the delivery is honest and real, that's what keeps it from being the corniest thing you've ever heard before. New Found Glory is a band that people enjoy listening to not because we give off this harsh message. We write about who we are and what affects us in life and those are our relationships". Bassist Ian Grushka has stated that "all of the lyrics are based on real life experiences. A song can be created from something one of us is going through or a conversation we've had." While also adding, "We only really talk about personal things that have affected us first-hand, our songs are about emotions rather than some political agenda." Rhythm guitarist Steve Klein was the band's primary lyricist, while lead guitarist Chad Gilbert is the main composer of the songs. Although since the recording of Coming Home, Klein, Pundik and Gilbert all worked on lyrics together. They have recorded covers of The Ramones, Shelter, Lifetime, Gorilla Biscuits, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, The Wonders, Limahl, Aerosmith, Cyndi Lauper, Peter Cetera, Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, Sixpence None The Richer, Bob Dylan, When In Rome, Go West, Lisa Loeb, The Cardigans, Goo Goo Dolls, Simple Minds, Yann Tiersen, Madonna, Tears For Fears and Survivor. New Found Glory's influences include Green Day, Texas Is the Reason, Björk, Silverchair, They Might Be Giants, The Get Up Kids, Earth Crisis, Discount, The Promise Ring, Blink-182, Unwritten Law, Britney Spears, The Beatles, Pennywise, NOFX, Bad Religion, Superchunk, Dinosaur Jr., Nirvana, Sparklehorse, Rocket from the Crypt, Descendents, My Bloody Valentine, and Sugar.

In recent years, the band have been cited for their long lasting influence on contemporary pop-punk music. Josh Martin, bassist for band The Wonder Years, has claimed that "Influentially, when you think about the top three pop-punk bands of all time...it's Blink-182, New Found Glory and Green Day. At least in my brain, they're on that level eternally." In 2009, Alternative Press included Nothing Gold Can Stay in their "Classic Albums of '99" feature. Brendan Manley wrote, "Like its title implies, Nothing Gold Can Stay is the sonic transcript of a glorious, fleeting time for NFG - and for pop-punk. But just as gold never loses its luster, it's only fitting that 10 years later, Nothing Gold Can Stay still shines". Likewise, Jason Heller of The A.V. Club reflected how their debut "snuck beneath the radar to become a massive influence on the new millennium's eruption of pop-punk."

Band members
Current members
 * Jordan Pundik – lead vocals (1997–present); occasional rhythm guitar (2014–present)
 * Ian Grushka – bass (1997–present); occasional backing vocals (2013–present)
 * Chad Gilbert – lead guitar, backing vocals (1997–present) ; rhythm guitar (2013–present)
 * Cyrus Bolooki – drums, percussion (1997–present); occasional acoustic guitar (2014–present)

Current touring musicians

 * Dan O'Connor – rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (2022, 2023–present)
 * Kevin Skaff – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2023–present)

Former members
 * Steve Klein – rhythm guitar (1997–2013)
 * Joe Marino – drums, percussion (1997)

Former touring musicians
 * James Dewees – keyboards, synthesizer (2003–2005)
 * Michael Bethancourt – keyboards, synthesizer, backing vocals (2007–2012)
 * Ryan Key – rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (2018–2020)
 * Will Pugh – rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (2020)
 * Martin Stewart – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2021–2023)

Touring substitutes
 * Chris Tsagakis – drums, percussion (2001)
 * Anthony Raneri – lead guitar, backing vocals (2010)
 * Mike Ambrose – drums, percussion (2015)

Touring guests
 * Anthony Raneri – vocals (2009)
 * Nash Nardone – drums (2010)
 * Hayley Williams – bass guitar (2010); vocals (2014, 2015)
 * Marky Ramone – drums (2011)

Discography

 * Nothing Gold Can Stay (1999)
 * New Found Glory (2000)
 * Sticks and Stones (2002)
 * Catalyst (2004)
 * Coming Home (2006)
 * Not Without a Fight (2009)
 * Radiosurgery (2011)
 * Resurrection (2014)
 * Makes Me Sick (2017)
 * Forever + Ever x Infinity (2020)
 * December's Here (2021)
 * Make the Most of It (2023)

title: New Found Glory


text:
Talk:Dowsing

Explosive Detectors
Those so-called explosive detectors I don't think are really the same thing as dowsing, which involve locating things under the ground. If those explosive detectors constitute dowsing devices, then there's a variety of other bogus instruments that would quality, from questionable medical instruments, bug-detectors, air samplers, etc. Valgrus Thunderaxe (talk) 05:05, 23 October 2021 (UTC)
 * It seems that reliable sources make that connection between those explosive detectors and dowsing. If they do the same for the other bogus instruments, we can add those. --Hob Gadling (talk) 17:58, 24 October 2021 (UTC)
 * The sources did refer to these devices as dowsing instruments, but I think this was more informal/tongue-in-cheek, or to be disparaging - similar to how financial markets are refereed to as casinos, by detractors for example, but the article for NASDAQ doesn't refer to it as such even though there's plenty of references which call it a casino. To be clear - I'm not supporting dowsing or any of these devices either way.  I just don't find it to be an accurate label.  Valgrus Thunderaxe (talk) 09:36, 26 October 2021 (UTC)
 * If they work the same way as dowsing rods, one would expect the sources to mention ideomotor effect or Carpenter effect. I could not find any mention of those in any of the Wikipeda articles about specific gadgets. Which could mean that you are right. Anyway, it is a bit WP:COATRACK to mention things here because someone wrote they are like dowsing rods. But maybe WP:FTN knows more. I'll ask. --Hob Gadling (talk) 10:04, 26 October 2021 (UTC)
 * The only cited source in the whole subsection to mention dowsing merely remarked, as an editorial judgement, that one device appeared as if it would work in "the same way as dowsing rods". In fact, these devices were invariably marketed as based on secret proprietary technologies. There is nothing secret or proprietary about dowsing. These devices were fraudulent not pseudoscientific. So I have deleted the whole irrelevant mess. — Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 19:25, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

I think we should look very carefully at the references and for other references that might suggest the comparison between (or identification of) these devices and dowsing devices as being DUE. --Hipal (talk) 21:23, 23 February 2022 (UTC)
 * We must not fall into WP:OR here, we need that identification to be explicit in the source. Fraud is not pseudoscience. — Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 21:27, 23 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Agreed. --Hipal (talk) 00:41, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

The French (2013) ref appears to be useful to restore some of the material. --Hipal (talk) 02:12, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
 * It is still vague about attribution of the "similar principle to dowsing" claim. On the other hand, This news item does actually attribute it to the manufacturer. But even so, the kit was not sold as a dowsing device for use by a dowser but as a bomb detector for use by someone who may have no idea how it is supposed to work. That is not dowsing, it is fraud, and that is an unarguable legal decision, not just my opinion. It really belongs elsewhere, with maybe a "See also" link from here. — Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 08:32, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
 * the kit was not sold as a... Irrelevant and OR. We don't dismiss claims because the subject said otherwise. The viewpoint seems DUE. --Hipal (talk) 16:35, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Let us agree to differ. The burden is on you to properly cite every claim you reinstate. — Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 17:50, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Policy is what it is. If the only arguments against inclusion we're getting are OR, PROMO, and POV violations, then there's no argument to counter, nor anyone to convince. --Hipal (talk) 18:11, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Dear me. If you think I am violating policy, take me to WP:ANI. Otherwise, don't make ill-considered accusations of impropriety - that's a policy too. — Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 20:30, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
 * I hope it doesn't come to that. --Hipal (talk) 20:38, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

I've restored the section. Clearly something is DUE, as the two refs identified in this discussion demonstrate: and. Are there more we can use? --Hipal (talk) 20:38, 24 February 2022 (UTC)
 * I found some more
 * I reckon that should be enough. By the way, I literally just searched "explosive detector dowsing". It's not like RS for this is hard to find. --Xurizuri (talk) 14:02, 25 February 2022 (UTC)
 * I'd say, those support the opposite case well. For example:
 * "The Quadro Tracker is one notable example of this cross-over attempt. This device was advertised as being a serious technology with a realistic sounding description of how it worked (close examination showed serious errors in the scientific sounding description)" - no buyer was told they were going dowsing
 * The ADE 651, was sold as working via "electrostatic magnetic ion attraction." or "electrostatic matching of the ionic charge and structure of the substance" That is not dowsing either.
 * The point is, these are not being used for dowsing per se, the users are assuming a secret proprietary technology. Dowsing was only mentioned after the event, as a wriggle to try and stay out of jail. I can accept that the media flurry hooked onto dowsing often enough to need some sort of a linking-in here, but it is wholly unjustifiable to treat these things as having any real significance to the present article. Unless, of course, RS to make the earlier connection can be found. — Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 17:22, 25 February 2022 (UTC)
 * I reckon that should be enough. By the way, I literally just searched "explosive detector dowsing". It's not like RS for this is hard to find. --Xurizuri (talk) 14:02, 25 February 2022 (UTC)
 * I'd say, those support the opposite case well. For example:
 * "The Quadro Tracker is one notable example of this cross-over attempt. This device was advertised as being a serious technology with a realistic sounding description of how it worked (close examination showed serious errors in the scientific sounding description)" - no buyer was told they were going dowsing
 * The ADE 651, was sold as working via "electrostatic magnetic ion attraction." or "electrostatic matching of the ionic charge and structure of the substance" That is not dowsing either.
 * The point is, these are not being used for dowsing per se, the users are assuming a secret proprietary technology. Dowsing was only mentioned after the event, as a wriggle to try and stay out of jail. I can accept that the media flurry hooked onto dowsing often enough to need some sort of a linking-in here, but it is wholly unjustifiable to treat these things as having any real significance to the present article. Unless, of course, RS to make the earlier connection can be found. — Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 17:22, 25 February 2022 (UTC)

I think it needs a complete rewrite, so copying below for reference: --Hipal (talk) 20:40, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

I've tagged the section as needing a rewrite, and asked for help at WP:FTN --Hipal (talk) 20:59, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

Police and military devices
A number of devices have been marketed for modern police and military use, for example ADE 651, Sniffex, and the GT200. A US government study advised against buying "bogus explosive detection equipment" and noted that all testing has shown the devices to perform no better than random chance.

Devices:
 * Sandia National Laboratories tested the MOLE Programmable System manufactured by Global Technical Ltd. of Kent, UK and found it ineffective.
 * The ADE 651 is a device produced by ATSC (UK) and widely used by Iraqi police to detect explosives. The device does not work and failed to prevent many bombings in Iraq. On 23 April 2013, the director of ATSC, James McCormick was convicted of fraud by misrepresentation and later sentenced to 10 years in prison. Earlier, the British Government had announced a ban on the export of the ADE 651.
 * Sniffex was the subject of a report by the United States Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal that concluded "The handheld Sniffex explosives detector does not work."
 * Global Technical GT200 is a dowsing type explosive detector which contains no scientific mechanism.

 * Most of those sources do not actually mention dowsing. Some of those that do fail to identify the device concerned. So any editorial claim of relevance supported by them is unsustainable. May I suggest a drastically cut-down entry:

"A number of fraudulent handheld military devices such as bomb detectors, including the ADE 651 have been claimed to work by dowsing.[ref making the specific claim and not just journo headline] This led the US National Institute of Justice to issue advice against buying equipment based on dowsing."

 * It would probably not need its own subheading. If editors feel that the whole affair deserves fuller treatment, then it should not be in this article but elsewhere. — Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 17:48, 25 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Thanks.
 * The problem I see is to work by dowsing. That assumes "work by dowsing" is a thing that we should present in Wikipedia's voice and doesn't violate policy when we do so. I don't think we should. The ideomoter effect is what "works". Dowsing is just a method of using the ideomotor effect where people believe the device is helping them locate something. --Hipal (talk) 17:59, 25 February 2022 (UTC)
 * Instead, we should look at what the references actually claim, and very careful with how we use Wikipedia's voice. As I already have said, comparisons to dowsing devices, or identification of these modern devices as dowsing devices seems verified and due. --Hipal (talk) 18:02, 25 February 2022 (UTC)

Modern day devices
Xurizuri has found even more sources to use. I hope we can agree that they demonstrate significant views that should be included in this article. Let's focus on writing that article content. --Hipal (talk) 16:51, 25 February 2022 (UTC)

Steelpillow asked for help at Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Skepticism. Thanks! --Hipal (talk) 17:15, 25 February 2022 (UTC)

 * I have tried a new location for the subsection to see how it looks. With that, I think I have done enough here for now and should take a step back to see how things shape up. Feel free to move it back if it doesn't look right. — Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 19:09, 25 February 2022 (UTC)

Ideomotor mechanism
The lead currently states that "The motion of dowsing rods is now generally attributed to the ideomotor phenomenon, a psychological response where a subject makes motions unconsciously. Put simply, dowsing rods respond to the user's accidental or involuntary movements." and offers it as an alternative explanation to the pseudoscience. Yet I know a few dowsers, and most are adamant that this is exactly how dowsing works. Rather than trot out what dowsers believe, the sceptical alternative needs to get to grips with why invoking this universally accepted phenomenon is still regarded as pseudoscience. Obviously, it hinges on the fact that dowsers believe the involuntary muscular movement to be triggered by mystery forces (magnetism is a popular choice among them, as is some kind of psychic energy). So that is the bit which the lead - and the rest of the article - should explain and offer alternative mechanisms for. — Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 11:29, 19 February 2022 (UTC)
 * That's WP:OR. --Hipal (talk) 21:24, 23 February 2022 (UTC)
 * I am hoping that someone reading it may have come across a suitable RS confirming it. My comments on the need to tighten our presentation of the sceptical position are very much not OR. Some here may be happy with sloppy presentation, but I am not; it does scepticism a disservice. Of course, that depends on finding RS too....— Cheers, Steelpillow (Talk) 21:38, 23 February 2022 (UTC)
 * AFAIK the ideomotor reflex is, by definition, not triggered by some sort of external "energy" or whatever. If they claim that there is some sort of actual detection going on, then it is not the ideomotor effect. VdSV9• ♫ 03:10, 1 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Not necessarily. I think there are people who believe that the dowser is somehow clairvoyant, but the information ends up not in his conscious mind, but in the subconscious, from where it influences the rod via ideomotor effect. Bollocks, of course, and it would need a source that people think that, but it invalidates the "by definition" part. --Hob Gadling (talk) 12:18, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Forensics
There should be at least some mention of it's being taught for forensic use per https://www.themarshallproject.org/2022/03/17/witching-dowsing-buried-bodies-police --Hipal (talk) 16:22, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

Fictional dowsers
I just added Professor Calculus as a notable dowser. should I delete it as it is fictional, or should I just keep it?

π     (talk) 19:30, 12 August 2022 (UTC)

Uncited pseudoscience statement in lede
What ref? It doesn't have one. Don't get me wrong, I'm a scientist myself, but according to Wiki a pseudoscience makes claims to be a science but lacks the evidence to support those claims. Nowhere does the article say that dowsing claims to be a science in WP:RS. Bermicourt (talk) 18:13, 10 November 2022 (UTC)

 * The two refs on the last para of the lead support the statement, as do the eight refs in the Pseudoscience section of the article. - Roxy the dog 18:16, 10 November 2022 (UTC)

 * Thanks, that's helpful. However, a ref only applies to the preceding text; so if it supports the claim of the last sentence in the lede, it should be at the end of the sentence. Otherwise the sentence remains uncited.
 * But where does the article make the case that dowsing claims to be a science? There are lots of fields and activities that are not science and make no claim to be. They are clearly not pseudosciences. Bermicourt (talk) 18:43, 10 November 2022 (UTC)
 * that dowsing claims to be a science? Irrelevant. The content is verified by reliable sources. --Hipal (talk) 18:53, 10 November 2022 (UTC)
 * In which case you're saying the definition in the lede of pseudoscience is wrong. Which means anything that is not science can potentially be labelled as pseudoscience: art, history, music, philosophy, beauty, thought, conscience. In which case pseudoscience is the same as non-science and so useless as a separate concept. But maybe that definition is right... in which case this article needs to demonstrate that dowsing claims to be science. You can't have it both ways. Bermicourt (talk) 20:32, 10 November 2022 (UTC)
 * No, Hipal is not saying that, and all those conclusions are your own and nobody else's.
 * Wikipedia is based on reliable sources. We cite them, and that is enough. It is not our job to trace the logic in the sources, and in the sources of the sources, and so on. That has already been done by more competent people. That is what makes the sources reliable. --Hob Gadling (talk) 20:45, 10 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Also, read WP:LEDECITE. --Hob Gadling (talk) 20:47, 10 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Well then there is a contradiction between the pseudoscience lede and this article. Just citing WP:RS isn't enough. Scholars frequently disagree and if there is contradiction between them, it needs to be clarified otherwise readers will be left confused. Bermicourt (talk) 21:15, 10 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Please point out the exact problem(s), citing the current sources and any that you propose. Otherwise this appears to be WP:OR to change the WP:POV in an article under sanctions. --Hipal (talk) 21:19, 10 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia policy disagrees with you. You will not find a WP policy page that says contradictions between articles are not allowed. I am not saying there is a contradiction, I am saying that even if there were one, there would be no problem. This discussion is pointless. --Hob Gadling (talk) 21:23, 10 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Proponents of dowsing claim that it can be used to make predictions about the real world - that there is water/gold/oil/whatever at particular locations. That is what makes it pseudoscientific. Art, literature and so on are not science, but nobody claims that they can be used to detect where stuff is. If someone were to claim to be able to detect a gas pipeline by playing a violin, and they set up a series of dubious tests in an attempt to demonstrate this ability, that would be pseudoscientific. It wouldn't make all of music pseudoscience of course - mostly, it's about entertainment, self-expression, etc. Walking through a field with a couple of sticks as a piece of performance art, or just for fun, would not be pseudoscience - but would it still be dowsing if you weren't attempting to find something? It seems to me that dowsing is defined by the false claim that you can detect stuff with a pair of sticks - hence, it is fair to categorise it entirely as pseudoscience. Girth Summit  (blether)  12:02, 12 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Everybody kno that a Y shaped stick is the only way, those two-sticker dowsers are frauds. - Roxy the dog 12:51, 12 November 2022 (UTC)
 * This is actually quite funny. The government, mining companies, military all have dowsers on their staff. Finding missing persons, finding gold, finding information you can not otherwise get in any conventional way.
 * Science is Imperical, testable and repeatable. Dowsing has been proven, its just hidden from the masses like all other technologies. 2605:B100:950:336E:0:0:EBED:901 (talk) 16:18, 24 July 2023 (UTC)
 * You are right, they are tested. And when they are, they fail miserably -> James Randi and a Dowser. --McSly (talk) 19:32, 24 July 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Dowsing


text:
Chris Ballew

Christopher Ballew (born May 28, 1965) is an American musician best known as the lead singer and bassist of the alternative rock group the Presidents of the United States of America. He also performs and records as a children's artist under the pseudonym Caspar Babypants.

Ballew's career in music traces back to his street performances in a duo called Egg, during his time in Boston in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Following a brief period in Los Angeles performing with Beck, Ballew returned to Washington and formed the Presidents of the United States of America in 1993, a band that lasted until 2015. In 1998, he started a solo project known as the Giraffes, which turned into a band the following year. In 2009, he launched Caspar Babypants, a children's music project that has since released numerous albums. He has also issued music under his own name. Ballew uses unconventional instruments, notably a two-string "basitar", and he performs without distortion pedals, relying on the natural distortion of the amplifier. He is married to collage artist Kate Endle.

Early life and musical beginnings
Ballew grew up in Seattle and attended middle and high school at Bush School, where he met Dave Dederer, with whom he would later form the Presidents of the United States of America. In the late 1980s and early '90s, Ballew lived in Boston, where he performed as a street musician in a duo called Egg with Phil Franklin (later of Caroliner Rainbow and Sunburned Hand of the Man). Many of Ballew's songs with Egg would become well-known Presidents songs, most notably "Naked and Famous", which is performed by Egg as a bonus track on a 2005 reissue of the Presidents' eponymous debut album. The two members of Egg were also part of the experimental triple-bass guitar ensemble Balls, which released a 12-inch EP in 1991. While in Boston, Ballew also played briefly with Mary Lou Lord, and with Mark Sandman of Treat Her Right and Morphine, in a duo called Supergroup, in which they developed the oddly-stringed instruments that would become a staple of both the Presidents' and Morphine's sound.

The Presidents of the United States of America
Ballew moved to Los Angeles in the early 1990s, where he shared an apartment with musician Beck and played in his live band. Ballew told Seattle Weekly that playing with Beck "was the beginning of my professional career as a guy getting paid to make music." He returned to his native Washington in 1993 and started the Presidents of the United States of America. The band released six studio albums, then split up in July 2015.

In 1998, Ballew released a solo album credited to the Giraffes. The recording project turned into a band between 1999 and 2000. For the live version of the Giraffes, Ballew was joined by Jason Staczek (organ, clarinet) and Mike Musburger (drums).

Casper Babypants
Ballew's first brush with children's music came in 2002, when he recorded and donated an album of traditional children's songs to the nonprofit Program for Early Parent Support, titled PEPS Sing a Long! Although this was a positive experience for him, he did not consider making music for children until he met his wife, collage artist Kate Endle. Her art inspired Ballew to consider making music that "sounded like her art looked", as he has said. Ballew began writing original songs and digging up nursery rhymes and folk songs in the public domain to interpret and make his own. The first album, Here I Am!, was recorded during the summer of 2008 and released in February 2009.

In 2009, Ballew launched a project targeted toward toddlers, called Caspar Babypants. Ballew uses a three-string acoustic guitar when performing Caspar Babypants songs. Caspar Babypants has released numerous albums, all with exclamatory titles such as Here I Am!, More Please!, This Is Fun!, Sing Along!, Hot Dog!, I Found You!, Baby Beatles!, Rise and Shine!, Night Night!, Beatles Baby!, Away We Go!, Winter Party!, Jump for Joy!, Keep It Real!, Flying High!, Bug Out!, and Happy Heart!.

Other projects
In 2015, fifteen years after the last official release, Chris Ballew put together We Hear Music, a 33-track double album consisting of previously unreleased Giraffes material. The record was shared privately with a few fans through the internet, with a note allowing the recipients to redistribute the music freely.

Ballew also publishes as a solo artist under his own name. His first album, I Am Not Me, came out in July 2021. In 2022, he released two albums, Soul Unfolded and Primitive God.

In June 2022, he performed "Peaches" with "Weird Al" Yankovic.

Equipment
During his time with the Presidents, Ballew was endorsed by Epiphone Guitars and Orange amplifiers, utilizing an Epiphone SG-400 guitar (converted into a two-string "basitar"), as well as an AD200B MK 3 200-Watt Bass Head from Orange. No distortion pedals are used live; just the natural distortion of the amp is heard. Regarding his two-string "basitar", Ballew admits: "I'm technically not really a bass player, although, I play as if I'm playing bass lines, a lot of times I strum like (on a) guitar and make chords."

Personal life
Ballew is married to collage artist Kate Endle.

Discography
With the Presidents of the United States of America
 * The Presidents of the United States of America (1995)
 * II (1996)
 * Rarities (1997)
 * Pure Frosting (1998)
 * Lump (2000)
 * Freaked Out and Small (2000,)
 * Love Everybody (2004)
 * These Are the Good Times People (2008)
 * Kudos to You! (2014)

With Balls
 * We Will Grow on You (1990)

With Egg
 * "Emotional Cowboy" on the compilation EP A Kinder, Gentler Genocide (1990)

As Caspar
 * Lint Cake (1991)
 * Sonic Uke (1993)
 * Caspar (1996)

With Caspar and Mollusk (aka Chris & Beck)
 * Caspar and Mollusk (1995)

With Supergroup (aka Chris & Mark Sandman)
 * "Supergroup" (single, 1995)

With the Minus 5
 * The Lonesome Death of Buck McCoy (1997)

With the Giraffes
 * 13 Other Dimensions (1998)
 * The Days Are Filled with Years (2000)
 * Zero Friction (2000)
 * We Hear Music (2015)

With the Tycoons
 * Is It Christmas Yet? (1998)

With Chris and Tad
 * Hand Me That Door (2000)

With Subset (aka PUSA & Sir Mix-a-Lot)
 * Addicted to the Fame (2000)

With Chris Ballew and Friends
 * Program for Early Parent Support (PEPS): Sing with a Child (2002)

With Creepy Stick
 * Creepy Stick (2005)

With the Feelings Hijackers
 * T.F.H. (2005)
 * Skeletal Remains (2007)

As Caspar Babypants
 * Here I Am! (2009)
 * More Please! (2009)
 * PEPS Sing a Long! (2010)
 * This Is Fun! (2010)
 * Sing Along! (2011)
 * Hot Dog! (2012)
 * I Found You! (2012)
 * Baby Beatles! (2013)
 * Rise and Shine! (2014)
 * Night Night! (2015)
 * Beatles Baby! (2015)
 * Away We Go! (2016)
 * Winter Party! (2016)
 * Jump for Joy! (2017)
 * Sleep Tight! (2018)
 * Keep It Real! (2018)
 * Best Beatles! (2019)
 * Flying High! (2019)
 * Bug Out! (2020)
 * Happy Heart! (2020)
 * Easy Breezy! (2021)

Solo
 * My First Computer (2003)
 * Like to Boogie (2004)
 * "Run World, Run" (2005) (Soundtrack to a short Flash advertisement for Brooks Running)
 * I Am Not Me (2021)
 * Soul Unfolded (2022)
 * Primitive God (2022)
 * Bone by Bone (2023)
 * Laying Low (2023)
 * Power Trip (2024)
 * Void Crusher (2024)

title: Chris Ballew


text:
Moonraker (novel)

Moonraker is the third novel by the British author Ian Fleming to feature his fictional British Secret Service agent James Bond. It was published by Jonathan Cape on 5 April 1955 and featured a cover design conceived by Fleming. The plot is derived from a Fleming screenplay that was too short for a full novel, so he added the passage of the bridge game between Bond and the industrialist Hugo Drax. In the latter half of the novel, Bond is seconded to Drax's staff as the businessman builds the Moonraker, a prototype missile designed to defend England. Unknown to Bond, Drax is German, an ex-Nazi now working for the Soviets; his plan is to build the rocket, arm it with a nuclear warhead, and fire it at London. Uniquely for a Bond novel, Moonraker is set entirely in Britain, which raised comments from some readers, complaining about the lack of exotic locations.

Moonraker, like Fleming's previous novels, was well received by critics. It plays on several 1950s fears, including attack by rockets (following the V-2 strikes of the Second World War), nuclear annihilation, Soviet communism, the re-emergence of Nazism and the "threat from within" posed by both ideologies. Fleming examines Englishness, and the novel shows the virtues and strength of England. Adaptations include a broadcast on South African radio in 1956 starring Bob Holness and a 1958 Daily Express comic strip. The novel's name was used in 1979 for the eleventh official film in the Eon Productions Bond series and the fourth to star Roger Moore as Bond; the plot was significantly changed from the novel to include excursions into space.

Plot
The British Secret Service agent James Bond is asked by his superior, M, to join him at M's club, Blades. A club member, the multi-millionaire businessman Sir Hugo Drax, is winning considerable money playing bridge, seemingly against the odds. M suspects Drax is cheating, and while claiming indifference, is concerned as to why a multi-millionaire and national hero would cheat. Bond confirms Drax's deception and manages to turn the tables—aided by a stacked deck of cards—and wins £15,000 (about seven times his own annual salary).

Drax is the product of a mysterious background, purportedly unknown even to himself. Presumed to have been a British Army soldier during the Second World War, he was badly injured and stricken with amnesia in the explosion of a bomb planted by a German saboteur at a British field headquarters. After extensive rehabilitation in an army hospital, he returned home to become a wealthy industrialist. After building his fortune and establishing himself in business and society, Drax started building the "Moonraker", Britain's first nuclear missile project, intended to defend Britain against its Cold War enemies. The Moonraker rocket is an upgraded V-2 rocket using liquid hydrogen and fluorine as propellants; to withstand the ultra-high combustion temperatures of its engine, it uses columbite, in which Drax had a monopoly. Because the rocket's engine can withstand high heat, the Moonraker is able to use these powerful fuels, expanding its range across Europe.

After a Ministry of Supply security officer working at the project is shot dead, M assigns Bond to replace him and also to investigate what has been going on at the missile-building base, located between Dover and Deal on the south coast of England. All the rocket scientists working on the project are German. At his post on the complex, Bond meets Gala Brand, a beautiful police Special Branch officer working undercover as Drax's personal assistant. Bond also uncovers clues concerning his predecessor's death, concluding that the man may have been killed for witnessing a submarine off the coast.

Bond catches Drax's henchman Krebs snooping through his room. Later, an attempted assassination by triggering a landslide nearly kills Bond and Brand, as they sunbathe beneath the Dover cliffs. Drax takes Brand to London, where she discovers the truth about the Moonraker by comparing her own launch trajectory figures with those in a notebook picked from Drax's pocket. She is captured by Krebs, and finds herself captive in a secret radio homing station—intended to serve as a beacon for the missile's guidance system—in the heart of London. While Brand is being taken back to the Moonraker facility by Drax, Bond gives chase, but is also captured by Drax and Krebs.

Drax tells Bond that he was never a British soldier and has never suffered from amnesia: his real name is Graf Hugo von der Drache, the German commander of a Werwolf commando unit. Disguised in an Allied uniform, he was the saboteur whose team placed the car bomb at the army field headquarters, only to be injured himself in the detonation. The amnesia story was simply a cover he used while recovering in hospital to avoid recognition, although it would lead to a whole new British identity. Drax remains a dedicated Nazi, bent on revenge against England for the wartime defeat of his Fatherland and his prior history of social slights suffered as a youth growing up in an English boarding school before the war. He explains that he now means to destroy London, with a Soviet-supplied nuclear warhead that has been secretly fitted to the Moonraker. His company is also selling the British pound short in order to make a huge profit from the disaster.

Brand and Bond are imprisoned where the blast from the Moonraker's engines will incinerate them, to leave no trace of them once the missile is launched. Before the launch, the couple escape. Brand gives Bond the coordinates he needs to redirect the gyros and send the Moonraker into the sea. Having been in collaboration with Soviet Intelligence all along, Drax and his henchmen escape by Soviet submarine—only to be killed as the vessel makes its escape through the waters onto which the Moonraker has been re-targeted. After their debriefing at headquarters, Bond meets up with Brand, expecting her company—but they part ways after she reveals that she is engaged to a fellow Special Branch officer.

Background and writing history
In early 1953 the film producer Alexander Korda read a proof copy of Live and Let Die, and informed its author, Ian Fleming, that he was excited by the book, but that it would not make a good basis for a film. Fleming told the producer that his next book was to be an expansion of an idea for a screenplay, set in London and Kent, adding that the location would allow "for some wonderful film settings".

Fleming undertook a significant amount of background research in preparation for writing Moonraker; he asked his fellow correspondent on The Sunday Times, Anthony Terry, for information on the Second World War German resistance force—the Werewolves—and German V-2 rockets. The latter was a subject on which he wrote to the science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke and the British Interplanetary Society. Fleming also visited the Wimpole Street psychiatrist Eric Strauss to discuss the traits of megalomaniacs; Strauss lent him the book Men of Genius, which provided the link between megalomania and childhood thumb-sucking. Fleming used this information to give Drax diastema, a common result of thumb-sucking. According to his biographer Andrew Lycett, Fleming "wanted to make Moonraker his most ambitious and personal novel yet." Fleming, a keen card player, was fascinated by the background to the 1890 royal baccarat scandal, and when in 1953 he met a woman who had been present at the game, he questioned her so intently that she burst into tears.

In January 1954 Fleming and his wife, Ann, travelled to their Goldeneye estate in Jamaica for their annual two-month holiday. He had already written two Bond novels, Casino Royale, which had been published in April 1953, and Live and Let Die, whose publication was imminent. He began writing Moonraker on his arrival in the Caribbean. He later wrote an article for Books and Bookmen magazine describing his approach to writing, in which he said: "I write for about three hours in the morning ... and I do another hour's work between six and seven in the evening. I never correct anything and I never go back to see what I have written ... By following my formula, you write 2,000 words a day." By 24 February he had written over 30,000 words, although he wrote to a friend that he felt like he was already parodying the two earlier Bond novels. Fleming's own copy bears the following inscription, "This was written in January and February 1954 and published a year later. It is based on a film script I have had in my mind for many years." He later said that the idea for the film had been too short for a full novel, and that he "had to more or less graft the first half of the book onto my film idea in order to bring it up to the necessary length".

Fleming considered several titles for the story; his first choice had been The Moonraker, until Noël Coward reminded him of a novel of the same name by F. Tennyson Jesse. Fleming then considered The Moonraker Secret, The Moonraker Plot, The Inhuman Element, Wide of the Mark, The Infernal Machine, Mondays are Hell and Out of the Clear Sky. George Wren Howard of Jonathan Cape suggested Bond & the Moonraker, The Moonraker Scare and The Moonraker Plan, while his friend, the writer William Plomer, suggested Hell is Here; the final choice of Moonraker was a suggestion by Wren Howard.

Although Fleming provided no dates within his novels, two writers have identified different timelines based on events and situations within the novel series as a whole. John Griswold and Henry Chancellor—both of whom have written books on behalf of Ian Fleming Publications—put the events of Moonraker in 1953; Griswold is more precise, and considers the story to have taken place in May of that year.

Plot inspirations
The locations draw from Fleming's personal experiences. Moonraker is the only Bond novel that takes place solely in Britain, which gave Fleming the chance to write about the England he cherished, such as the Kent countryside, including the White Cliffs of Dover, and London clubland. Fleming owned a cottage in St Margaret's at Cliffe, near Dover, and he went to great lengths to get the details of the area right, including lending his car to his stepson to time the journey from London to Deal for the car chase passage. Fleming used his experiences of London clubs for the background of the Blades scenes. As a clubman, he enjoyed membership of Boodle's, White's and the Portland Club, and a combination of Boodles and the Portland Club is thought to be the model for Blades; the author Michael Dibdin found the scene in the club to be "surely one of the finest things that Ian Fleming ever did".

The early chapters of the novel centre on Bond's private life, with Fleming using his own lifestyle as a basis for Bond's. Fleming used further aspects of his private life, such as his friends, as he had done in his previous novels: Hugo Drax was named after his brother-in-law Hugo Charteris and a navy acquaintance Admiral Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, while Fleming's friend Duff Sutherland (described as "a scruffy looking chap") was one of the bridge players at Blades. The name of the Scotland Yard superintendent, Ronnie Vallance, was made up from those of Ronald Howe, the actual assistant commissioner at the Yard, and of Vallance Lodge & Co., Fleming's accountants. Other elements of the plot came from Fleming's knowledge of wartime operations carried out by T-Force, a secret British Army unit formed to continue the work of the Fleming-established 30 Assault Unit.

Characters
According to the author Raymond Benson, Moonraker is a deeper and more introspective book than Fleming's previous work, which allows the author to develop the characters further. As such, Bond "becomes something more than ... [the] cardboard figure" that he had been in the previous two novels. The start of the book concentrates on Bond at home and his daily routines, which Fleming describes as "Elastic office hours from around ten until six, ... evenings spent playing cards in the company of a few close friends, ... or making love, with rather cold passion, to one of three similarly disposed married women." This lifestyle was largely modelled on Fleming's own, which the journalist and writer Matthew Parker sees as showing "a sourness" in the author's character. According to Chancellor, two of Bond's other vices were also displayed in the book: his fondness for gambling—illegal except in private members clubs in 1955—and excessive drink and drug taking, neither of which were frowned upon in post-war upper class circles. In preparation for beating Drax at cards, Bond consumes a vodka martini, a carafe of vodka shared with M, two bottles of champagne and a brandy; he also mixes a quantity of Benzedrine, an amphetamine, into a glass of the champagne. According to The Times journalist and historian Ben Macintyre, to Fleming the alcohol consumption "meant relaxation, ritual and reliability". Benzedrine was regularly taken by troops during the war to remain awake and alert, and Fleming was an occasional consumer.

Drax is physically abnormal, as are many of Bond's later adversaries. He has very broad shoulders, a large head and protruding teeth with diastema; his face is badly scarred from a wartime explosion. According to the writers Kingsley Amis and Benson—both of whom subsequently wrote Bond novels—Drax is the most successful villain in the Bond canon. Amis considers this to be "because the most imagination and energy has gone into his portrayal. He lives in the real world ... [and] his physical presence fills Moonraker. The view is shared by Chancellor, who considers Drax "perhaps the most believable" of all Fleming's villains. The cultural historian Jeremy Black writes that as with Le Chiffre and Mr Big—the villains of the first two Bond novels—Drax's origins and war history are vital to an understanding of the character. Like several other antagonists in the Bond canon, Drax was German, reminding readers of a familiar threat in 1950s Britain. Because Drax is without a girlfriend or wife he is, according to the norms of Fleming and his works, abnormal in Bond's world.

Benson considers Brand to be one of the weakest female roles in the Bond canon and "a throwback to the rather stiff characterization of Vesper Lynd" from Casino Royale. Brand's lack of interest in Bond removes sexual tension from the novel; she is unique in the canon for being the one woman that Bond does not seduce. The cultural historians Janet Woollacott and Tony Bennett write that the perceived reserve shown by Brand to Bond was not due to frigidity, but to her engagement to a fellow police officer.

M is another character who is more fully realised than in the previous novels, and for the first time in the series he is shown outside a work setting at the Blades club. It is never explained how he received or could afford his membership of the club, which had a restricted membership of only 200 gentlemen, all of whom had to show £100,000 in cash or gilt-edged securities. Amis, in his study The James Bond Dossier, considers that on M's salary his membership of the club would have been puzzling; Amis points out that in the 1963 book On Her Majesty's Secret Service it is revealed that M's pay as head of the Secret Service is £6,500 a year.

Style
Benson analysed Fleming's writing style and identified what he described as the "Fleming Sweep": a stylistic technique that sweeps the reader from one chapter to another using 'hooks' at the end of each chapter to heighten tension and pull the reader into the next: Benson feels that the sweep in Moonraker was not as pronounced as Fleming's previous works, largely due to the lack of action sequences in the novel.

According to the literary analyst LeRoy L. Panek, in his examination of 20th-century British spy novels, in Moonraker Fleming uses a technique closer to the detective story than to the thriller genre. This manifests itself in Fleming placing clues to the plot line throughout the story, and leaving Drax's unveiling of his plan until the later chapters. Black sees that the pace of the novel is set by the launch of the rocket (there are four days between Bond's briefing by M and the launch) while Amis considers that the story to have a "rather hurried" ending.

Moonraker uses a literary device Fleming employs elsewhere, that of having a seemingly trivial incident between the main characters—the card game—that leads to the uncovering of a greater incident—the main plot involving the rocket. Dibdin sees gambling as the common link, thus the card game acts as an "introduction to the ensuing encounter ... for even higher stakes". Savoye sees this concept of competition between Bond and villain as a "notion of game and the eternal fight between Order and Disorder", common throughout the Bond stories.

Themes
Parker describes the novel as "a hymn to England", and highlights Fleming's description of the white cliffs of Dover and the heart of London as evidence. Even the German Krebs is moved by the sight of the Kent countryside in a country he hates. The novel places England—and particularly London and Kent—in the front line of the cold war, and the threat to the location further emphasises its importance. Bennett and Woollacott consider that Moonraker defines the strengths and virtues of England and Englishness as being the "quiet and orderly background of English institutions", which are threatened by the disturbance Drax brings.

The literary critic Meir Sternberg considers the theme of English identity can be seen in the confrontation between Drax and Bond. Drax—whose real name Drache is German for dragon—is in opposition to Bond, who takes the role of Saint George in the conflict.

As with Casino Royale and Live and Let Die, Moonraker involves the idea of the "traitor within". Drax, real name Graf Hugo von der Drache, is a "megalomaniac German Nazi who masquerades as an English gentleman", while Krebs bears the same name as Hitler's last Chief of Staff. Black sees that, in using a German as the novel's main enemy, "Fleming ... exploits another British cultural antipathy of the 1950s. Germans, in the wake of the Second World War, made another easy and obvious target for bad press." Moonraker uses two of the foes feared by Fleming, the Nazis and the Soviets, with Drax being German and working for the Soviets; in Moonraker the Soviets were hostile and provided not just the atomic bomb, but support and logistics to Drax. Moonraker played on fears of the audiences of the 1950s of rocket attacks from overseas, fears grounded in the use of the V-2 rocket by the Nazis during the Second World War. The story takes the threat one stage further, with a rocket based on English soil, aimed at London and "the end of British invulnerability".

Publication history
Moonraker was published in the UK by Jonathan Cape in hardback format on 5 April 1955 with a cover designed by Kenneth Lewis, following Fleming's suggestions of using a stylised flame motif; the first impression was of 9,900 copies. The US publication was by Macmillan on 20 September that year. In October 1956 Pan Books published a paperback version of the novel in the UK, which sold 43,000 copies before the end of the year. In December that year the US paperback was published under the title Too Hot to Handle by Permabooks. This edition was rewritten to Americanise the British idioms used, and Fleming provided explanatory footnotes such as the value of English currency against the dollar. Since its initial publication the book has been issued in numerous hardback and paperback editions, translated into several languages and has never been out of print.

Reception
Fleming's friend—and neighbour in Jamaica—Noël Coward considered Moonraker to be the best thing Fleming had written to that point: "although as usual too far-fetched, not quite so much so as the last two ... His observation is extraordinary and his talent for description vivid." Fleming received numerous letters from readers complaining about the lack of exotic locations; one of which protested "We want taking out of ourselves, not sitting on the beach in Dover."

Julian Symons, writing in The Times Literary Supplement, found Moonraker "a disappointment", and considered that "Fleming's tendency ... to parody the form of the thriller, has taken charge in the second half of this story." Maurice Richardson, in his review for The Observer, was more welcoming: "Do not miss this", he urged, saying that "Mr. Fleming continues to be irresistibly readable, however incredible". Hilary Corke, writing in The Listener, thought that "Fleming is one of the most accomplished of thriller-writers", and considered that Moonraker "is as mercilessly readable as all the rest". Corke warned Fleming away from being over-dramatic, declaring that "Mr Fleming is evidently far too accomplished to need to lean upon these blood-and-thunder devices: he could keep our hair on end for three hundred pages without spilling more blood than was allowed to Shylock." The reviewer in The Scotsman considered that Fleming "administers stimuli with no mean hand ... 'Astonish me!' the addict may challenge: Mr Fleming can knock him sideways."

John Metcalf for The Spectator thought the book "utterly disgraceful—and highly enjoyable ... without [Moonraker] no forthcoming railway journey should be undertaken", although he also considered that it was "not one of Mr. Fleming's best". Anthony Boucher, writing in The New York Times, was equivocal, saying "I don't know anyone who writes about gambling more vividly than Fleming and I only wish the other parts of his books lived up to their gambling sequences". Richard Lister in the New Statesman thought that "Mr. Fleming is splendid; he stops at nothing." Writing for The Washington Post, Al Manola believed that the "British tradition of rich mystery writing, copious description and sturdy heroism all blend nicely" in Moonraker, providing what he considered was "probably the best action novel of the month".

Adaptations
The actor John Payne attempted to take up the option on the film rights to the book in 1955, but nothing came of the attempt. The Rank Organisation also came to an agreement to make a film, but this likewise fell through.

The novel was not one of Fleming's stories acquired by Eon Productions in 1961; in 1969 the company acquired the rights and commissioned Gerry Anderson to produce and co-write a screenplay. Anderson and Tony Barwick prepared a 70-page treatment that was never filmed, but some elements were similar to the final screenplay of The Spy Who Loved Me.

The first adaptation of Moonraker was for South African radio in 1956, with Bob Holness providing the voice of Bond. According to The Independent, "listeners across the Union thrilled to Bob's cultured tones as he defeated evil master criminals in search of world domination". The novel was adapted as a comic strip that was published in the Daily Express newspaper and syndicated worldwide. The adaptation was written by Henry Gammidge and illustrated by John McLusky, and ran daily from 30 March to 8 August 1959. Titan Books reprinted the strip in 2005 along with Casino Royale and Live and Let Die as a part of the Casino Royale anthology.

"Moonraker" was used as the title for the eleventh James Bond film, produced by Eon Productions and released in 1979. Directed by Lewis Gilbert and produced by Albert R. Broccoli, the film features Roger Moore in his fourth appearance as Bond. The Nazi-inspired element of Drax's motivation in the novel was indirectly preserved with the "master race" theme of the film's plot. Since the screenplay was original, Eon Productions and Glidrose Publications authorised the film's writer, Christopher Wood, to produce his second novelization based on a film; this was entitled James Bond and Moonraker. Elements of Moonraker were also used in the 2002 film Die Another Day, with a scene set in the Blades club. The actress Rosamund Pike, who plays Miranda Frost in the film, later said that her character was originally to have been named Gala Brand.

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Kevin Griffin

 Kevin Michael Griffin (born October 1, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Better Than Ezra.

His songs have been performed and recorded by artists such as Taylor Swift,  Train, Sugarland,  James Blunt, Dierks Bentley, The Record Company, Wilder Woods, Moon Taxi, Saint Motel, Andy Grammer, Christina Perri, Trombone Shorty, Howie Day, Barenaked Ladies,  Tom Morello, Boys Like Girls, Blondie,  Chase Rice, The Struts,  Andrew McMahon, Matt Nathanson, Meat Loaf, Missy Higgins, and many others.

He is a co-founder and partner of the Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival in Franklin, Tennessee. Rolling Stone's review of the festival's inaugural year was positive, saying it had "an A-list lineup (arguably the best curated of the year)" and "established itself as a festival to watch." Performers at the festival have included Justin Timberlake, Foo Fighters, Willie Nelson, Chris Stapleton, The Killers, Dave Matthews Band, Maren Morris,  The Black Keys,  Cage the Elephant, and Black Pumas.

Griffin formed the alternative rock band Better Than Ezra in 1988. They had platinum success in the 1990s with hits such as "Good", "In the Blood", and "Desperately Wanting", and have continued in the 2000s with hits such as "Extra Ordinary", "A Lifetime", and "Juicy". The band continues to tour and produce new recordings, the most recent of which is All Together Now, released in September 2014. As a performer, Griffin is known for singing in falsetto, inviting audience members onstage to play guitar, and interrupting his own songs with verses of well-known rock songs. He is also a mimic, imitating singers such as Aaron Neville, Bruce Springsteen, and Dave Matthews.

His first solo album, Anywhere You Go, was released on October 4, 2019. Griffin also performs as part of Ezra Ray Hart with Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray and Emerson Hart of Tonic.

Personal life
Griffin was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and grew up in Monroe, Louisiana. He attended River Oaks School, where he met his bandmate Jim Payne. He received a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in political science from Louisiana State University in 1990. He was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He took the LSAT with the intention of attending law school and working in entertainment law. He then took a job with Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles during the early 1990s, before Better Than Ezra achieved commercial success.

Griffin and his family largely resided in the Uptown neighborhood of New Orleans until Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005. He purchased a home in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles in July 2006 and in 2011, he sold his house and moved to Franklin, Tennessee, with his family.

Career
Griffin has produced, written, and co-written platinum albums and songs that have sold more than thirty million copies.

Griffin's first number-one with Better Than Ezra was the 1995 song "Good", and it stayed on top of the Alternative Chart for seven weeks. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, No. 3 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100.

His other number-one songs are Howie Day's "Collide" and Sugarland's "Stuck Like Glue" in 2011,   which became the eleventh most-downloaded song in country music history.

In 2010, his song "Breathless" was covered by Taylor Swift at the Hope for Haiti telethon, the most widely distributed telethon in history.

Griffin has won numerous BMI pop and country awards, and his song "Scar", with Missy Higgins, won Song of the Year at the Australian ARIA Awards.

In 2018, he was an adjunct professor at NYU's Clive Davis School of Recorded Music.

He is active with Better Than Ezra's foundation, MusiCares, and St. Jude. In 2020, through a series of livestream acoustic performances, he was able to raise more than $220K for various charities helping those adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

title: Kevin Griffin


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User:Lennyg

Welcome

title: User:Lennyg


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13 Other Dimensions

13 Other Dimensions is an album by the American band the Giraffes. It was released through the Seattle label My Own Planet, on CD and vinyl in 1998. It is essentially a solo effort by Chris Ballew (ex-Presidents of the United States of America), recorded in Ballew's basement. The album was published as being a work by a fictional band composed of Ballew's childhood stuffed animals. Ballew's name appears nowhere on the album.

The Giraffes record was the first of a planned series of six made under a volume agreement with Ballew's main label, Columbia; however only two albums were made, the second was released by Orange Recordings. Roni Sarg, in Tucson Weekly's Rhythm and Views section, postulates that the putative stars of the Giraffes were chosen for their "photogenic cuteness".

Track listing
All tracks written by Chris Ballew

 * 1) "Chocolate Dimension" 3:18
 * 2) "Lonely Chicken" 3:15
 * 3) "Hopeless (Rub It In)" 3:50
 * 4) "Every Crocodile" 3:45
 * 5) "Comin' Around" 1:41
 * 6) "Nothin' 2 Looz" 2:36
 * 7) "Brain on Yer Tongue" 3:02
 * 8) "Little Champion" 3:16
 * 9) "Pale Moon" 3:02
 * 10) "Ghost of a Bad Friend" 4:06
 * 11) "Slow Slow Fly" 2:44
 * 12) "Poodle Mouth" 2:56
 * 13) "Wither Without You" 2:17

Personnel
All instruments played by Chris Ballew.

Fictional

 * Giraffe - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
 * Munkey Sr. - lead guitar
 * Yoko Glick - piano, organ, clavinette
 * Barry Lowe - Basitar
 * Munkey Jr. - horns and strings
 * Chickey - drums

title: 13 Other Dimensions


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User talk:Lennyg

Hi Lenny, welcome to wikipedia. It's nice to have another contributor to LDS related topics. B

title: User talk:Lennyg