House of Heroes w/The Wedding & Abandon Kansas

[iloveevelyn]

Hey friends! It's Chad with I Love Evelyn.

On Sunday, October 11th, 2009 at 7:30 PM, House of Heroes will be playing along with The Wedding and Abandon Kansas. The cost is $10 and space is limited!

House of Heroes, signed with Gotee Records, has been a national touring band for over 4 years now with acts such as Silverchair, Filter, Relient K, The Providence, and The Fold. Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/houseofheroes

The Wedding has played a few local shows over the past year, and it's always been amazing. They tour all over America just about year around. You can check them out at http://www.myspace.com/thewedding

Abandon Kansas is an up and coming band that was just recently signed to Gotee Records. Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/abandonkansas

This is the biggest, most serious show we've had this year. Each one of these bands is a legit band. Their management agency chose I Love Evelyn as the last stop of their tour. We went out on a limb to host this show, and I am hoping that people in Texarkana respond!

If you've been to I Love Evelyn before, then you know space is limited. We are actually redoing our building completely next week, just in time for the show, so you won't want to miss that!

Please help us promote this show! The poster is below.

[iloveevelyn]

I am trying to figure out how to properly promote this show. House of Heroes and The Wedding are two of the biggest, most well known bands that will be in Texarkana this year, but people don't seem to be very excited about it.

In my opinion, if there is ever going to be a "music scene" in Texarkana, then we have to all work together towards promoting every show of every type of genre, and not just those local acts that we've known for a lifetime.

We are really excited about this show! And we hope that we get to see at least one or two of you from this message board at the show. If not, at least help us promote this thing. We took a huge risk to bring in bands this size, and we are hoping that we don't regret it the day after the show.

Much love!

[iloveevelyn]

If I said that House of Heroes was going to do a full set of Whitesnake covers, would that entice anyone to come to the show?

[iloveevelyn]

This just in! We will be handing out free 80's greatest hits CD's at this show! This is a can't miss!

[iloveevelyn]

Oh well.

[kindra68]

Chin up lil’ dude. You may not have gotten any responses, but at least to you have over 60 views!
it sounds like it's gonna be a bitchin time and i would have loved to stop by, but i'm gonna be outta town.

[iloveevelyn]

Hey, I appreciate that!

I was just being silly, trying to get people to talk about the show some. I do hope the show goes well. We just completely remodeled the building to better suit working with our homeless friends from day to day, as well as the shows we put on to raise money for our homeless friends.

We work with over 60 homeless men, women, and children per day - and about 150 a week. It's incredible how much need there is in Texarkana. And these shows are to raise money so we can help some of the homeless men and women we work with get jobs, apartments, and other things they need.

Love you guys! Come check out what we are doing!

[SmittyG]

For the most part, you are going to find that folks try to keep general discussions in EVENTS down a bit compared to the other sections of trocks because folks are trying to do "business" here. You might get a "have a great show" or "I hope to be there" but, usually, not much more. And, as Kindra has already alluded to, we have a LOT more folks who just read the site than we do who post things. But, I can understand the need for a little positive reenforcement so, if my opinion matters for anything at all, here you go:

1) You are running a venue totally different than every other place that books live music.

2) You are booking bands and genres of music no on else in Texarkana will allow to play.

3) You are doing all of this while helping out a wonderful cause most folks don't even want to talk about.

So, in the end, if anyone one wants to talk about the Texarkana music scene evolving and getting more musically diversified, a major chunk of the credit for this is what you are doing. You are one of the reasons I'm doing some different things musically; I figured if you can get away with going down a different path, then maybe I can give it a try as well. You are doing something very wonderful, for the community in general and for the music community specifically--don't ever doubt it.

[Mr. Anonymous]

Chad,

Very impressive lineup, bold yet professional production, dedicated people, all for a great cause. You guys deserve success, and I hope it's a major "happening" that sets a new standard of excellence in the scene. Really like the poster, as well!

Here's every good wish for a huge turnout!

[GuitarFreak585]

This show was beyond awesome. I'd never even heard of the other two bands, but I love the Wedding. All of them were great. Abandon Kansas particularly surprised me. Very cool guys. Can't wait to see more like this.

[iloveevelyn]

Hey guys, I really do appreciate the encouragement!

Raising money is such a difficult endeavor, especially when it's for a homeless population that is oft overlooked, judged, and neglected. It was my hope that instead of asking for donations that we could put on these shows - because people are going to go to shows anyways, right?

It's so much easier to stay on the path that's been blazed many times before. Embracing your dreams that are usually unreasonable and defy logic is such a daring journey; but what's the alternative? I don't want thirty years to pass and regret never stepping out in faith. So many of my friends and family have neglected their dreams for the lure of the American dream; the house, the kids, the wife/husband, money to pay the bills and to go out a few nights a week. It's such a outrageous cycle that, for some reason, people think brings joy.

It's no wonder to me that senior adults stop working, sell their house and buy an RV to travel across the country. It took them 65 years to realize what should be realized at a young age; it's all about following the dreams that God created within the very fabric of our DNA.

Not really sure how my post ended up that way. Ha!

The show went beautifully. Only 40 people showed up, and it was (honestly) a few of the most talented bands I've ever seen. Abandon Kansas is coming back on November 16th. We've got a sweet, funky band called Holy Rolling Empire coming this monday, October 19th.

Onward we march!
Much love,
Chad

[KBCraig]

Chad, I wish your group much success, but you're facing an uphill battle on multiple fronts. You're in an area that struggles to attract customers. You're a "dry" venue, which doesn't help attract live music fans. Your charity is focused on a group that garners a lot of suspicion, and little sympathy.

I'd love to see a dry coffeehouse venue succeed here, as an appeal to all age groups. Several have tried, but none have succeeded.

[iloveevelyn]

I think one of the most wonderful things about us is that regardless if the music thing works or not, we are sticking around. I didn't build the organization on the hope that my fellow Texarkana natives would come to shows; I just thought that would be a good way to raise money instead of simply asking people to open up their wallets and handing me $10. So, if the shows stop happening, I Love Evelyn will still evolve; it will still move forward with it's vision, mission, and hope that one day people will have compassion instead of callousness.

You're right about the suspicious part; that's what I am working hardest to eliminate. There's such a callousness towards people in need. Outsiders look in and judge according to what they think they know about homelessness and poverty. I am trying hard to extinguish that apathy through a variety of ways, one being the concerts.

I think the general idea about homelessness and poverty is that it's brought on by their own actions, which could not more further from the truth. After traveling over 40,000 miles and to over 60 cities spending time with homeless men and women, I can say with absolute certainty that the homeless do not desire to be homeless; they are merely in that situation. And what if they did make mistakes that caused them to be homeless? Does that give us the right to push them aside and count them as a loss? How many of you have struggled with drugs at one time? Maybe alcohol? 60% of homeless men and women have been sexually abused in some manner; where would you go from there if you were in that situation?

The general public has this idea that, "well, they had their chance and they blew it!" Where's the grace? Even if we separate christianity from the equation - where's the idea of human compassion? Or have we all lived perfect lives?

The only difference between them and me is that when I struggled, I had a support system to sustain me; they did not.

Love!
Chad

[MeadowsMusic]

Chad,

It's a blessing to you and your wife that the desire seated deep within you to help others in need has blossomed into I love Evelyn. I enjoy reading your updates on your progress and I think its great that you have these legit bands coming to Texarkana. It is nice to see your dreams being fulfilled. If you would have told me at 16, just a kid with a guitar, that I would have a loving wife, a loving daughter and a house of my own and support each of those by playing guitar, I would tell you I'd be living my dream.

Keep the updates coming.

Mark