The guys in the band love to give me a hard time about my love for the band Pearl Jam. There’s a special place in my heart from middle school that still gets really excited any time a good 90’s band comes on the radio. I was in the Pearl Jam fan club, I spent all my lawn money on any live cd I could find, and my walls were covered in their posters. When their second album, ‘Vs.’ came out in eighth grade and I knew the record store was only getting a few advance copies, I politely excused myself from American History class right at 10am when the store opened and called from the school pay phone to reserve my copy.

Looking back, I think besides loving the music the thing I was most drawn to about Pearl Jam was their passion. Half the time when Eddie Vedder was singing (the lead singer who my Mom called ‘the howling dog’) I didn’t know what he was singing about. But I knew he was passionate about it and that pulled me in more than anything.

Right now we’re in the middle of this tour but we are also about to start recording our second album. We have written tons of songs and it looks like we are near the end of the writing process and the beginning of recording is in sight. After our show last night Jeff and Travis and I went out and ended up talking about what we were hoping for on this new album. I think Travis said it best when he said he just wants an album of songs that make you feel something and are full of passion.

See we played in Seattle last night and I guess that’s what got me thinking about Pearl Jam and the thing is this – I don’t agree with all the things Pearl Jam’s lyrics say, my personal beliefs are probably very different from theirs, but I know that there is something in their music that draws me in. I think passion is contagious, I think when you see it you want to be near it and you want to know where that passion comes from.

We’re on a plane flying to our next show in Boise, Idaho and going to try and spread a little passion of our own. See ya next time,

-Ryan Gregg