Swing by Tiny Engines to grab your copy of Welcome Home which officially releases on Tuesday, June 12th.

In the mean time, here are a few early reviews to persuade you one way or the other:

The 1st Five
“Every song on the journey between “Orphanage” and “Welcome Home” is important. The progression works like life; it’s a necessary journey we all have to take to find what we need. An orphanage is a home for lost children, and that is exactly what this album is, a collection of songs for those feeling lost, a place for the lost to call home. I could go on and on about my theories behind each song, but I don’t want to over-analyze it. I want to leave some surprises for you. Red Collar have written a fantastic album that deserves to be heard by many.”

HEVYPETAL
“The first thing that is apparent from listening to Welcome Home is that Red Collar have worked hard and developed a sound that fits right with them, they bring key points of other styles and make a whole new, unique sound, to which they will be pioneers, it’s hard hitting and yet melodic, catchy but still has raw emotion.”

Trianglemusic
“Three years after their debut, Pilgrim, Red Collar is back with Welcome Home, a focused effort full of smart songwriting and larger-than-life moments. This time around around, lead singer Jason Kutchma is exposed front and center. He sounds extremely confident here and his grizzled voice takes over the record often. Welcome Home begins with him shouting at a boy to stand up straight in “Orphanage” and Kutchma is so commanding, the listener will find their own spine stiffening.”

The Independent
“Red Collar always had sturdy songwriting at its core, but any weaknesses could be easily covered by the band’s bombastic presentation. Welcome Home needs no such crutch.”

Uncle Critic
“This album isn’t like anything I’ve heard for a good while. It’s pretty much a straight American rock album, parts are like Gaslight Anthem and Replacements”

by Steve Oliva, Kitchen Island Show Prints

We’re getting ready for the Welcome Home release show on Saturday, May 19 at Motorco Music Hall in Durham. We’ll be joined by Maple Stave (Durham, NC), Restorations (Philadelphia, PA) and Signals Midwest (Cleveland, OH). It’s an evening we’ve been looking forward to for a long, long time and we hope you will be a part of it.

But we’ve also got a few other shows planned for next week.

Wednesday May 16, opening for Less Than Jake at the Tremont Music Hall in Charlotte, NC.

Thursday May 17, opening for Less Than Jake at The Jewish Mother in Virginia Beach, VA

Friday May 18, Treasure Fest in Charlotte, NC. We’ll be playing at Snug Harbor along with the previously mentioned Restorations, and Signals Midwest. Treasure Fest is a Charlotte-wide festival consisting of almost 70 bands. We had a great time last year and we’re looking forward to going back.

Saturday May 19, Welcome Home release show in Durham, North Carolina.

So there’s our schedule for the next week or so. We hope you can make it to one of these shows. If you make it to all four of them, we’ll give you some sort of gift.

If you haven’t placed your pre-order for the new album yet, you can get it here:

http://tinyengines.limitedpressing.com/bands/red-collar/products

Pre-order of the vinyl includes instant download!

The release date is June 12, 2012 but you can get it early. The white vinyl has already sold out of single copies but you may still be able to purchase it in a package deal that includes a t-shirt.

Have a good weekend everyone!

See you soon,

R

E

D*COLLAR

Some of you already know about North Carolina’s upcoming vote on an amendment to the state constitution declaring that, “marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State.”

For those that aren’t familiar with it, it’s an issue that goes way beyond gay marriage to the point where it will ban civil unions, domestic partnerships, threaten the healthcare of children of single parents, and it applies to ALL unmarried couples, whether they are gay or straight. It’s a cheap political stunt at the expense of the state constitution and thousands of families. The amendment is also bad for North Carolina businesses or outside companies looking to expand in North Carolina. It threatens the rights of the sort of diverse and inclusive workplace that companies would look for in a thriving business atmosphere. Don’t believe me? Then read what the CEO of Duke Energy had to say about it. One of the major problems with this constitutional amendment is that a lot of NC voters aren’t even aware of it and they don’t understand the implications due to its overly vague language. Once they find out how it will actually impact their lives, the vast majority of them oppose it.

Awareness is the first step.

So what can you do? We are about to release an album in June and we’re giving away a song from that album in exchange for a tweet against Amendment One. It’s not a solution, but it’s a start. Follow the link below to find out more. Please pass it along to your friends and your family. Even if you don’t live in North Carolina, you can still help by spreading the word.

ARCHIVE LINKED.  THANKS TO THOSE OF YOU WHO SPREAD THE WORD.  WE CONTINUE TO FIGHT.

We are extremely excited to be releasing our new album, “Welcome Home”, through Tiny Engines, a label that’s already home to some of our favorite bands around. We’re very proud of this album and all the work that has gone into it and we can’t wait to share it with everyone. And on the same day that we’re able announce our new album, we’re also honored to be listed by Alternative Press as one of the 100 Bands You Need To Know In 2012. Look for this issue to be available in stores in very early March.

Welcome Home will be officially released on June 12, 2012 with pre-orders beginning in May.

You can read all about it here!

We’re very excited to be playing a hometown show with a lovely band called Cracker on September 24th which marks the 1st anniversary of Motorco Music Hall.

It’s a rare early show for us so parents secure your baby sitters!  We’ll be taking the stage around 8 pm and the show kicks off with Almost People at 7.

Here’s our recommended plan: Call some friends, grab some dinner at Geer Street Gardens then a beer at Full Steam followed by some great live music at Motorco Music Hall.  Hopefully Pie Pushers will be around for a late night slice.

That’s a pretty great Saturday evening in our opinion.

Here are the show details:

Legendary Alt-Rockers Cracker are coming to Durham!
Saturday Sept 24th
7pm
ALL AGES
$20

With:
Red Collar
Almost People

Pre-sale tickets available from www.motorcomusic.com/cracker.

Our ears are still ringing from our show at Snug Harbor last Saturday night as part of the fantastic Treasure Fest. Thanks to all the good people that helped organize it and ensure that everything ran smoothly. We had a blast and we also got to see some incredible bands, like Restorations and Worn in Red.

But now we’re 3/4 back in Durham, 1/4 in the mountains, and we’re all getting ready for a Saturday night show at Casbah in downtown Durham with one of our favorites, American Aquarium. Pullman Strike (from Charlotte, and also founding fathers of Treasure Fest) will be joining us to help kick off this Memorial Day weekend in proper fashion–with loud rocknroll. You can buy advance tickets here or get them at the door.

Let’s talk about this album we’re working on. Here’s what we know:

1. it’s awesome
2. it ain’t finished

We’re all really excited about how it’s sounding though and we can’t wait to get it in your ears as soon as possible, THEREFORE…

We will be previewing a track or two on WKNC this Friday afternoon between 5-7 pm on the Local Beat with Adam Kincaid. Make sure you pull your car to the side of the road, tune in to 88.1, and turn that shit up.

Also, make your Halloween plans now, because Red Collar is going back to Gainesville, FL for Fest X. Going to The Fest is a punk rock pilgrimage and this year’s lineup is Fest alum only and the list of bands is unreal. We will pass along other details as we get them, including when/where we will be performing, as well as a possible tour to/from Gainesville that may include some other Fest bands.

That’s it for now. See ya soon,

R
E
D*Collar

***Thanks to Mimi for the photos.

And here it is action:

Plus, welcome home Jay!

Red Collar frontman Jason Kutchma returns from the road, Americana curios in tow

Jonathan here,

It was a tough few days in the Big Apple. Or, as Mike might say, “It’s no joke”.

I seriously dislocated and fractured my elbow before we even played. However, we still managed to pull off both of our scheduled shows and I had an appointment with a surgeon and a titanium bolt the day after we got back.

We gritted our teeth and got through it and we’re still getting through it, and we will continue getting through it. I do want to re-confirm that RED COLLAR WILL BE PLAYING the Troika Music Festival this Saturday night at the Trotter Building in downtown Durham with The Travesties, Maple Stave, and The Bronzed Chorus. It’ll be a one-armed show for me, but the one arm that I’ve got is ready to go double-time.

Unfortunately, we did have to postpone our tour dates in December. I apologize, but I still have quite a lot of physical therapy to undergo and we didn’t feel we would be able to give 100% for that length of time.

Finally, and most importantly, I wanted to thank everyone for their support and encouragement over the last week. It means a lot to me and to all of us and I hope to thank everyone in person this weekend at Troika!

Until then!

Most of the time after a show, we head out to the next city. Generally this gives us a nice jump-start on the next day. We’ll drive an hour till we get to a Flying J, a Rest Area or Wal-Mart parking lot then draw the blinds and get a nice restful sleep. That sleep varies from four hours to eight hours. I’ve found that the duration and restfulness of said sleep depends on the temperature and how stealthily we parked the van.
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The Boiler Room: Owensboro, KY
Mike: “This is going to be awesome”
___________________________________________

We were in the outdoor cabana section of The Boiler Room.  It was 9 o’clock and most of the time we play at 11 or midnight.  From the inside of The Boiler Room, the opening band, Rockin’ the Bells, started playing ‘Iron Man’.  The place was starting to fill up and honestly, I have never been more uncomfortable in my life.  I called Nate…again.

“Nate?  Jason here.  I got to be honest with you, I’m not really feeling this place”

“Wait a second man, where are you?”

“I’m in the cabana area.  Outside.  There’s some tiki torches and a fire pit and the crowd is kinda, I don’t know…”

“You’re surrounded by douche bags?”

“Well, uh, yes that’s right…now that you mention it”

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