December 1, 2008

Hi everyone. Not much to report other than a couple of shows in time for X-Mas. We have been hard at work tracking our new album and taking some time off of playing live.
However, December 23rd will be the best party of the year! Join us at Johnny B Club in Whitby for "Jingle Bell Rawk."

This show features:

Patrick Dorie
The Champion Heartache
The Stables
The D'urbervilles.

DO NOT MISS IT!

Matt

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey Everyone,

With Turkeyday just around the corner, we felt it'd be a nice treat to give you the opportunity to download our first LP for free. It will expire, so hop on it, and spread it around.We've had an awesome year, and we're very thankful to have such amazing friends who support us. At the end of this month, we begin tracking our next LP, which should be ready in the spring. In the meantime, enjoy our self titled album for free, and enjoy some serious family time this weekend. We love you!

Download our first LP for free here:


1. Snake Skin
2. Figure Out Everything
3. Emergency
4. The Call
5. The Best Of Me
6. Enough
7. Something to Do
8. Porch Light
9. For A Little While
10. Snow Drift

11. Dirty Mind

Monday, October 6, 2008

What an amazing weekend this was. With all of the bullshit we've all been through with the passing of a dear friend, people being sick, and just an all around feeling of "blech", this community has really come together. We were invited to play at Le Skratch this past friday, part of the final fundraiser to help the family of Glen Bensley. The show was moved to a bigger venue because there was a feeling that the Atria might have been too packed. Well what a good call that was. The new spot proved to be an ideal venue, and a lot of people came out to support this. The bill was fantastic. Dan Brooks, Ed Humm, Patrick Dorie, us, The Stables and Cuff The Duke. This was far and away my favorite show that I've ever been part of, and not just because we played well, but because all of our best friends were a part of this. The sound was lovely, the crowd was so positive and danced all night, and Glen was surely there with us every step of the way. I want to thank everyone for the support, and with this collective effort we raised over $2000.00 Durham rock fucking rules, and I'm happy to say I shall remain a part of this community for as long as I'm allowed.

Thursday we played at Rancho Relaxo, headlining the night, only to play for apporx. 20 people. It was a great warm up show, and we really had a blast. Although I didn't "own it", I still had fun being on stage with the best of friends, and that's what counts. After friday's show at Le Skratch, I spent Saturday at the dog park running around and enjoying the smells and colours of autumn, which is by far my favorite time of year. Sunday, Karlie and I took our friends' daughters to the zoo, and then to pick out pumpkins. It was great until a 3 car pile up left us with sore backs and a crakced rear fender. Thank you young drivers of canada. Keep up the good work. We're all ok, but my neck hurts a lot, as does my shakey spine.

Up next, October 17th at the Hideout with our dear friend Joe Roncetti.

This was also a nice treat ...I too heart music!

September 28, 2008

Just a few things to mention. It looks like we're playing at Rancho Relaxo this Thursday night. I don't know who we're playing with, but this is a last minute deal, and this is a fun spot to play. Great mexican food, and a decent stage. Also, we're now on the friday bill at the Atria fundraiser for Glen Bensley. That is going to be absolutley insane. The bill consists of us, The Stables and Cuff The Duke. Get there early and prepare to sweat. This is a pay what you can event to help raise money for his boys, so please come and support this night.

Thursday October 2: Rancho Relaxo, Toronto

Friday October 3: The Atria, Oshawa

Friday October 17: The Hideout, Toronto

Monday September 22, 2008

The Tribute Show on 94.9 The Rock: http://www.sendspace.com/file/6w9u11

Friday, September 19, 2008

As I write this post, my heart is breaking. Not just for me, but for so many people who have had their lives touched by this wonderful man who we must say goodbye to. It's with sadness and regret that we have to say goodbye to Glen Bensley. Details as to what exactly happened are sketchy, but the only certain thing I know is how much he will be missed. So many of us are in utter shock and disbelief that we won't get to see Glen's smiling face the next time that we play his open mic. It really is and will forever be his open stage, because he was the first one to put on these events at the local pub, or bar. The Hare and The Hound was the first place I ever strummed a chord in public, and it was because Glen beleived in me, and made me go up. From there, I moved onto the Velvet Elvis, and each and everytime I got up to play, I'd tear myself down afterwards, only to have Glen's little hand on my shoulder telling me how great it was. It didn't matter if he meant it or not because he just made you feel better no matter what. I can truly say that Glen is the absolute reason that I play music today, and I just can't get my head around the fact that I won't get to tell him how much I love him. This community is going through a very dark time but the world is a better place because of the love we share for him. I'm so sorry I didn't get to see you play last week as the Shwaltz . I have your cd in my truck today, and as I drive around I listen to your words more carefully, and I understand what they mean just a little better. It's so hard to watch everyone hurt the way they do right now because everyone knows how special you are Glen. You're one of the most beautiful people I've ever known, and I will never forget the gift that you've given us. I love you very much my friend, but it's time we say goodbye and let you get home now. We'll all be together one day soon, and when we see eachother, we're going to sing that Guy Clarke song that you introduced me to, okay? This Stoli's for you. Love you Glen.

Tuesday September 16, 2008

It sounds like this past weekend's Shwaltz event was a huge hit. I was really happy to be gone ip north, but sad to miss so many amazing bands. Next year, I think it's safe to say we will be there with a new set, and some other fun treats. Sean and Brendan played a stripped down set at Isabella's which went great, plus Sean's GF Amanda got up and sang too, which is just lovely. Trish is still gone on her road trip to Portland, and she's been to some amazing spots, and concerts up there too. Apparently she caught M.Ward, and Fleet Foxes. Lucky girl. We miss her and hope she gets back to us soon.

Nothing major to report on the Heartache camp, other than a show that we're part of tomorrow night at Chicago's Diner. This was a last minute gig, and we're doing a stripped down acoustic set, minus T.R which sucks, but we were going to try to jam anyhow, so why not? We've got a new tune we're working on, and although it won't be ready for tomorrow, I think it'll end up on the new album. Speaking of which, our sessions start at the end of October, and I'm praying it all goes swimmingly so we can get this one out right away. Rumour has it that we're doing Vinyl this time around, so that's exciting.

Hope to see you tomorrow, Wednesday Sept 17th at Chicago's Diner on Simcoe St. in Oshawa.

We'll be playing with our dear friends Patrick Dorie, and The Idlers.

Thursday, September 11

So nothing special to post today, other than the fact that each member of this band will be in very different locations this weekend. We played "The Shwaltz" last year, and it was indeed a shitshow for us. I (Matt) played as though my hands didn't know one chord, and although we may have attempted to look dapper, I was indeed a nervous mess as 2 drunken hobos heckled us before being taken away in handcuffs. This year however, Trish is in Portland, Sean and Brendan are playing a set Saturday night at Isabellas, and I will be gone on my annual golf trip to act like drunken high school students once again. I do wish we could play, but after last night's rehearsal, it's very evident that I have some serious work to do in the vocal department. Regardless, Brendan will be DJing too, so check that website up there and enjoy yourself. It should be grand! Miss you already.

Monday, September 8

Hey all, hope you're enjoying the remainder of the summer. Thought we'd drop a line to let you know what we've been up to. We're getting ourselves prepared to go back into the studio to start the next record. There's a lot of excitement in our little camp on how the final product is going to sound. Expect something a little different (but still us) on the next one. Our fellow band member, Sean Maclean, has a fan page up and running on facebook. We've always been fans of his, and we think you'll like what you hear also. http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Sean-MacLean/33158241411He'll be playing at Issabellas in downtown Oshawa this Saturday night (September 13th) at 8pm with fellow band member Brendan Lawless, as part of The Shwaltz. More info on that event here:http://www.shwaltz.com/Brendan will also be dj'ing in between acts for the first portion of the Shwaltz in Memorial Park.That's about it from here. Hope you're well,Cheers,TCH p.s. We've also got a show coming up in Toronto in October, we'll send info when we get it.

Monday Sept. 1, 2008

This is indeed the best picture ever. This is Craig our drummer singing his heart out on stage at his own wedding. I'm not quite sure what song it was, but it was really great. I thought that I'd add a few cool shots from that night up here, because it truly was amazing to be at a wedding with everyone in the band, let alone FOR someone in the band, ya know? That was last week, and I don't think we've even spoken to Craig since, so I hope he didn't leave on tour to start singing for the Mojo's...they're great and all, but we kinda need you for our drummer dude!?

In other fun news, I think this week is our first rehearsal in well over a month, maybe two. I'm really stoked just to be in the same room with everyone to try out some new stuff. Our first tracking session for the new album is a month or so away, so I'm praying I get my shit together and write something new soon. I haven't written a new tune in a long time. Not very happy about that, but time will tell.

That's all for now.

Monday August 25, 2008

Hi there. My name is Matt and I play guitar and sing in The Champion Heartache. Today is the first day of starting this blog, and I thought it might be fun to write from time to time about things happening with the band. In the past year or so, we finally put out our first LP, played some really nice shows including North By Northeast, met some amazing people, and found out what it's like to make music with your best friends.

Now that we've done all we could to support the first effort, we've taken some time off within the past month or so. Some of us got married, some have gone on trips to Nashville and Portland, while others have stayed put attempting to enjoy the last of the summer months. Autumn is my favorite time of the year, so it's rather fitting that we're going to start tracking the new album at the end of October. We've got 10 tracks at the very least that will make the cut, and possibly some new stuff as we haven't even jammed in over a month. I'm excited to try something new this time around. There's been talk of swapping instruments, and letting other members of the band take on lead vocal duties for some tracks too, which would be awesome. In the meantime, we've all got other things happening. My fiancee Karlie and I have been on the market for a new home, so that's been very consuming. Ideally, our next rehearsal space will be in my own basement! Our bass player Trish Robb has been hard at work on her solo album which will hopefully see the light of day before the new year, and Craig our drummer is on his honeymoon right now. Things have been all over the place this summer, but all in all it's been a great one.

I know I won't be updating this everyday, but if there's something significant to talk about, it'll be here. I hope to get some MP3's posted, and I've even toyed with putting up our first album in it's entirety here. In the meantime, here's a link to our 3 song EP.

We don't have much planned other than the following:

August 28th @ Johnny B Club, Whitby

Matt Holtby & Derek Giberson, Evening Hymns and Human Kind

Sept 11th @ Johnny B Club, Whitby

Sean Maclean, The Side Project

Oct 17 @ The Hideout, Toronto

The Champion Heartache, Joe Roncetti

We'll be back with some updates hopefully, plus a day to day recording blog once we get started. xo.