Last week, we were “on the road again”.  This time it was much more of a driving trip.  We took two days to drive up to Seattle to play one balls-rockin’ show, then drove back down to L.A a couple days later.  It was a blast, Seattle is way awesome, but the one-show “tour” was not executed without our fair share of problems.  Our van was junky and for most of the first day of travel, we were bouncing on a front left tire that was about to pop due to a rubber tumor.  It felt like an uncomfortable S&M massage chair.  Secondly, on the day of our show, the rear right tire blew out as we went 75 on the highway.  Scary, but we were able to fix the hunk o’ junk in Tacoma, then make it to the venue in Seattle with time (and a tire) to spare.  Rock and roll.  Here are some pictures to give y’all a taste of how awesome the whole excursion was.  Enjoy!

Because I recently got the opportunity to have an artist endorsement with one of my favorite guitar manufacturers, Music Man, I decided to make room for a new addition to my guitar lineup by selling one of my current guitars. After some deliberating, soul-searching and a few games of Tetris, I decided to bid a fond farewell to Sparky, my trusty Music Man Luke model guitar, seen here:

Sparky, which I named after its beautiful Black Sparkle finish (I tend to name all my guitars based on their color), has been a mainstay for me both live and in the studio. I’ve used it on the recordings of most of the “signature” Shaimus songs (”All Of This,” “Like a Fool,” “Tie You Down,” and many others). But the fact was that I always felt something lacking in various aspects of that guitar for my personal style, so I decided it was time to set it free. (I did make a note of the serial number just in case I run into it again someday!)

So the guitar I got to replace Sparky is far more ideal for me in many ways. It is a Music Man Albert Lee HH (double DiMarzio humbucker) model, in tobacco sunburst finish, with a vintage white pearloid pickguard, African mahogany body, and all-rosewood neck.

This is “Sunny:”

It complements my other main guitar, an Albert Lee model (in pearl blue, appropriately named “Pearl”) with three Seymour Duncan single coil pickups, an ash body and an all birdseye maple neck, in so many ways–they both have the same body shape (a very odd and unique angular cut which I love) and neck style which gives me some uniformity on stage. And because they are so different otherwise, I have a wide variety of sounds to choose from.

Sunny and Pearl will make a great team. And there’s also Sonic, the Fender Mustang that was the first guitar I ever bought, but it doesn’t see too much action these days (semi-retired from battle after serving me very well during my high school years).

Thanks to Derek at Music Man for helping to make this happen.  When I opened the case for the first time I actually got chills!  I plan to debut Sunny on stage in Seattle next week. Can’t wait for you all to hear her!

hey everybody.  cam here.  I’m the, uh, drummer.  yeah.

here’s a quick update on what shaimus has been up to recently.

we’re currently busy writing new material.  locked away in our rehearsal space for hours on end, we’re taking our sound to new heights, experimenting with sounds and a renewed focus on songwriting.  while we’re so happy with what we’ve put out in the past, we know we have much more to say.  the new songs we have so far are definitely our favorites.  not because they are new, but because they are the best we’ve ever written.

we are also planning a summer tour!  yes, shaimus will be hitting the road again in august/september of this summer, hitting cities up the west coast and (!!) further east then we’ve ever been before.  expect tour date announcements soon.

lastly, if you haven’t been following us on twitter (@shaimus) and facebook, you’ve probably been missing your weekly chance to chat with the band.  each week we will be having an unannounced chat online with fans where you can connect with the band and ask us literally anything you’d like.  so make sure to follow us online, because it’s always a surprise!

thanks for checking in.  we look forward to seeing you all in concert very soon.  keep spreading the music and thank you for all the support.

cheers.

- cam

I’m not much of a painter, but sometimes creativity needs to come out in other ways besides music. I was feeling particularly dark, and wanted to share it without articulating my exact feelings.
I’d love to hear any interpretation if it strikes you.