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 us? 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.

READ MORE AND GET YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD HERE

Tickets on sale now!

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

You can read all about it here!

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.

Plus, welcome home Jay!

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

That said, I think it’s fair to say we all have Red Collar on the mind. There will be a new record this year produced by Scotty Sandwich that we are very excited about. We’ll be doing some regional touring and are pleased and honored to announce we’ll be heading to Gainseville, FL over Halloween Weekend for FEST 10. In fact, there’s lots of Festivals on our radar these days:

Way Out West Fest: April 19-20: Tuscon, AZ (JKutchma solo)
Treasure Fest: May 21: Charlotte, NC
FEST 10: October 29-30: Gainesville, FL

Our next show is over the Memorial Day weekend with American Aquarium at the CASBAH. We might have duckfat popcorn with us. Who knows?

In the meantime, catch Jay’s solo shows, dates below. He kicks off his WAY OUT WEST tour with a show at the Local 506 in Chapel HIll with Tim Barry and Jenny Owens Young.

We love to hear from you all now and again. You can find us easily on Facebook or just drop us a email.

RC

In April, we’re heading out to Tuscon for Way Out West Fest but more on that later. In the meantime, check out a few solo recordings by Jay on his Bandcamp site at jkutchma.bandcamp.com. You’ll love them like we do.

We are also quite pleased to be a part of a momentous occasion, the release of Rat Jackson’s CD. We’ve been waiting for it for a while and it can’t come too soon. Join us at the Broad Street Cafe in Durham, NC on August 7th for their CD release party.