Solid Rocket Boosters

Bright Shiny & New


  I'd like to apologize for the enormous gap I left in between posts on here. So much has happened I have just been so overtaken by the work that was necessary to release our new album "Solid Rocket Boosters" that I lost focus on somethings along the way. I'm wearing a lot of hats these days. The good news is we have released our album "Solid Rocket Boosters" digitally on iTunes, Amazon, CdBaby and it has been delivered to so many more as well as physical copies will soon be for sale in over 2500 brick built physical stores that sell compact discs through Double D Distribution as well as online through cdbaby and more. Check it out on iTunes now! 
"Solid Rocket Boosters" Shannon Richardson Band

New Guitar Man


  SRB may have a new addition to the club. We auditioned Johns brother Bareun on Sunday and things went well. He is a really talented young guitar player and it could mean a lot for us. In the ways that ever since I have been recording I overdub guitars and in the live show we can't quite pull that off. Bareun can help us do that as well as take some weight off of me so I can have more fun with being the front man and engage the crowd a bit more as a vocalist and entertainer. We plan to play live as the original 3 piece and continue rehearsing with Bareun until he is ready to rock n roll. It most likely will not be long at all until you hear and see the band got a little bigger, more complete and rounded off.


My Birthday Show Saturday March 31st 


  Happy Birthday To Me Show! Come out and celebrate with me and the band, we will be rocking the UIC University Campus at The Bar 10 Doors www.thebar10doors.com 12 to 1am. There will be a whole night of entertainment and the venue has great food as well as awesome drink specials including 2 dollar beers and 3 dollar shots of different varieties. This will be a great show and we plan to have at least download album cards for sale at a discounted price and or hard pressed copies of the album available. After Party at my place blocks away. Come have an awesome time with us and support a good ole fashion rock n roll show.


Miscellaneous Rock n Roll Stuff


  I think I drew a pretty cool album cover, took me forever since I haven't been drawing so much lately. The drawing is on our "Solid Rocket Boosters" album cover so have a look, a listen and let me know what you think. Aside from that I have been going through all my solo recording masters and creating a catalog of high quality WAV files. You can hope to see a polished solo album or two from the good ole days to hit the market soon as well. It all takes time, money and love. Money being the hardest one for me to find enough of as of lately. To be honest money really doesn't mean much to me but some of the things it can get done mean everything when trying to launch any project. I'm really looking forward to selling some albums and getting a lot of people out to a lot of shows so we can make the next album even better as well as get some real video work done and begin touring. Having to come as far as we have with basically no money and networking with anybody and everybody to get as far as I have with music has taught me to be so much better and so well rounded in music. However at this point there are so many pieces of the puzzle I could accomplish for the band and I with a little cash. So we will have plenty of things for sale soon including discs, dvds, t shirts and even custom art zippos but one thing at a time. Stick with us and stay tuned because without you I may as well never leave my room with my guitar. The listener is everything and the reason I play write and sing is because you are listening and willing to come have a ball with us. Thanks for that.


Shannon Michael Richardson






  


  


  

Balls Out In The Wind...


 That is what I feel like right now. I'm sick of laying back or being unsure. I need to start raging like the way I really feel, I can do this and I don't care what you say unless you tell me something good about something.. I am slowly beginning to lose my fear of the things I should not be afraid of while remaining a respect to the things I should. What I really want to say is lets take this little rock n roll car that John, Chris and I built for a real spin. We worked so hard, don't you think we should at least take it around the neighborhood before we have to start racing cars that are pieces of a million dollars? We are built from spare parts that we could find but we made sure every part was good. If this car/we don't fall apart before the races are over I know it in my heart our little hot rod will win something first time out. I'm even willing to sit out on the hood. That's what I'm doing sitting out on the hood, balls in the wind. We just built this thing and haven't even thrown it in gear yet but she's all lined up. Our album is mastered, we built it all ourselves. Balls in the wind or not Hit The Gas...It's what I'm on the hood for. 

Merry Christmas Everybody

Amazing Grace 4:32 Shannon Richardson Strawlberry

Well I was hoping to attach my version of "Amazing Grace" to this post but I couldn't get it. If any of you really want it, let me know and I will send it to you. I would love to send it to someone that would totally love to hear it done another way but with the same heart, soul and grace to it. I don't have a lot of time but I wanted to wish you all a beautiful fulfilling Christmas. Keep your eyes open and don't get so down. Miracles happen in these days, they always do and one day if you really need it it could happen for you. I love you all. Thank you Jesus and Merry Christmas to you all. 

Love, Shannon

Life Is Not A Dress Rehearsal

 We are all dressed up in the lives we are living and sometimes it feels like practice but make no mistake this is the show. The big improvisation that you never will get to rehearse, you just have to play it out and whether you like it or not you have to perform this performance out in the open, available to all the eyes of the world. So instead of running off to hideaway I hope we will all find it in us to improvise. As far as me I believe in heavens bigger than the human mind can comprehend but I also find this life to be like a piece of China from one of the first dynasties, It is one of a kind, it is beautiful, it is the most valuable and it is fragile. It was made all dressed up just like us and it never got to rehearse and one day it will crack and become something entirely different. Just the same so will we soon and when we wake up on the other side I've got a pretty good feeling there will be no rehearsal. Wake up dressed up and it's already time to play the show.


So Quick...


  It feels like I just got started and the show is well on its way to reaching halftime. Just a moment ago I was a child and I was innocent even when I walked on the wrong side of the tracks. Now I'm still walking but every once in a while I notice I'm on the other side of things in life but who is to say what is the right or wrong way to be and or live your life. I think most of us would be a fool to tell someone the way to do this because deep down, way down we all know we have no idea what we are doing. Although I think be slow to figure it out because I have an uncanny feeling that once you do figure it out, that's it. Say goodbye. So as fast as things are going, I recommend holding onto anything you can that is worth it for as long as you can. Either way it is going to go so quick. Try to take some pretty pictures in your heart along the way. 

Practice Makes Perfect...


 Much like life I really can no longer look at what my band and I did tonight as practices. It really was a once in a lifetime performance. Even the songs we were learning, it was all such an awesome experience if you can just take a breath, sit back, have a real good look and a listen. They are all a pieces of the puzzle, a piece of the show. Even if it is only for us three and the few others roaming around that basement studio. When it comes down to it we played a show tonight and it really was beautiful. We were improvising our asses off, playing two new instrumentals, pulling out two new covers and performed every other song in our catalog on top of it. It all felt really good, it sounded good and when it comes down to it. It was not a dress rehearsal, it was life and we just happen to be the kind of people dressed up in songs, guitars, basses and drums. It is the best thing living music with your friends because if you do it right you become dressed up in each others lives and music, music, music. Music is a lot like love, nothing will ever be perfect but you know when you hit the right note, and practice in a basement is just as live as a show in Soldiers Field will ever be.


Mastering Moving On...


  So tonight before our band played Chris loaded his final mixes of our album "Solid Rocket Boosters" onto Johns usb drive, then we jammed out the way we do. I got home, plugged in the little drive and got all the finished wav files into my computer. They are now being sent over to Eric Peterson of one of the premier production studios in Los Angeles California to be mastered. Although this may have fell short of the albums we all dream of making as a band in the near future it is our hearts and souls on a cd and it is more than a hop, a skip and a jump in the right direction. I am extremely excited about our album because it really did come out great and when you consider we did everything on our own the perspective changes drastically. Chris really stepped up to the plate on getting some equipment to record with and we all stepped up in getting out there, bringing our equipment, our talents, material, skills, love for music and each other to the table. In the end Chris really threw down on mixing the tracks. He had help from us with what we could hear but he really was for the most part on his own with such a giant task. He did well, we did well and we will only get better. Overall I love our album and what we have accomplished just the three of us and a little help from some friends. I will cherish it forever and we did it together. You should buy it, I would. Like I said before this is not a dress rehearsal.


Where To From Here...


  As much as we all think we do things the way we want when we want, like we are guiding our paths. I often think it really may be out of our control to some extent. So many plans I've made that were never executed, so many paths I've ran that ended in a dead end. Then casting me into another direction that somehow seemed to flow down the river until I crashed into the rocks. Next thing I know I'm up on the shore and there is some girl on a black horse asking if I need a ride home and do I know where home is. I forgot I say and she says get on. So from thinking I could walk around the corner and find my dreams I am now riding down the side of a mountain with some wild eyed girl on a pitch black horse and I have no idea where we are going and if I will even make it out alive. I love it and as my arms are wrapped around her hanging on for dear life down that mountain side, my face to her shoulder I crack a smile because somewhere deep down I remember this is no dress rehearsal. Improvise my friends. In other words live...

Fire It Up

The Fire Up...
 

 When I start at these posts I never know where it is going to go or what I may end up talking about, it just sort of comes out. This time there is so much to and not to tell you but as usual I will just let it fly. I've always liked things off the cuff and not to be too slick if you know what I mean. I mean the slick term in a way that I once heard Kurt Cobain say he loved his band and his music but they often times meaning record label execs etc telling them what to do made it to slick, more polished and less rock n roll. The raw meat of things has a lot more to say then the chopped down easily edible versions. Still even the greatest art, music, inventions and ideas find their way to be slick but just know that most of the time the artists, musicians and inventors never really intended them to be so slick. They typically just hope to make something stick, to be real, be truly useful    just to be a real contribution, something beyond themselves.

The Band...

  SRB had an amazing rehearsal this week. I think we all noticed something on Sunday. The fact is we have been playing tunes together for almost 7 years and what I'm looking for is the improvisations to those songs and jams. Like the way Led Zeppelin did things, if we could do that even on a stripped down level we'd still be bad ass. Great thing is I realized we can do it, maybe even a little better than stripped. For this we need time to jam all the time. How we get that I'm not sure but if we can get this hot rod we've been building all this time fired up and racing I think we may find a place where we go to race that car on a stage. If we win a couple races maybe things start getting serious around here.

Music/Life....


  I become inspired by music everyday but I also become inspired by all the people around me. Music or not you really change my life. The ones I am talking about know who they are and they are the hardest to come by. I wish things ran smoother for us but most likely and knowingly they never will. Somewhere in there lies the reason we can make original music and jams that are particular. By particular, I mean you can tell who is playing in those recordings. I hope to continue that and that we can get the sound and musical force we are as a band out to the public. I think a lot of it could do the world some love and straight up honest good. We all know it needs it, we all need that. It really takes a lot of courage to be an artist of any kind especially when you decide to put your life into it. I commend all of you that do and my band and I are right here beside you. For people like us, let's face it. there is only one decision and that is to keep on going. If we don't we will never forgive ourselves.



Out Of Gas...


  Sometimes late night/early morning style I feel like I'm running out of gas and it is then that I have to put the race car in the garage and do a little work on her.  Anyhow as much as there is to say and I want to say I am running out of gas so I'm pulling her in for the night. See you next week.


Shannon Richardson

 
 

Blind Flop River

The Blind...

  I often wonder why life is the way it is for most and the way it is for just a few. We all have a friend or two and in some cases many friends that are lightning around us. They really shine at something and everything is going good for them. Crazy thing is they love you and they pick you up high when they come around because they intentionally rub it off on you. I guess I'm not sure everyone has these but I wish they did, Just the real thing. I'm talking about the Rock n Roll Stars, the Movie Gods and the Princesses of the Oceans in your life. The ones you want to defend, the ones you love, because they are real and you know it first hand. They are not usually the ones making millions of dollars off a leading role or raking in the mortgage for an LA mansion off a face shot on a Vogue mag and they aren't typically Rocking triple platinum history. They are just the ones that could be if their cards play out right.

The Flop...


  This is a part of life a lot of amazing people get snagged on. I'm here right now and I say if you don't have the best times you can possibly have all over the place then I will say you may have  done this all wrong. In this particular game of Life I mean, bet high, bet it all. That really is just me though, like my great friend the other day asked me what I was doing with my music, my life and there was a thousand things to say but I kind of laid back like I do, especially because I don't like to talk about me, especially on the Flop ha.  Anyhow I told him "well I made a website, trying to finish the album with my band, almost done and get a shit load of shows going. He said that's good my music is just collecting dust. This man is gorgeous physically, soulfully, artistically and mentally. He is one I speak of above. We used to perform and write together, now I just need to get him going again. He has a good job but it is not of  his rock n roll dreams. He was meant for this. Anything can happen here though. It is the Flop. This is where you decide to stay in the game or not. I'm not always the one with fancy friends, every once in a while I am the fancy friend. When need be I'm here...


The River...


   This is where you have to win. Like I mean win or lose you have to turn this into a win or less of a loss but you still have time. 


 The line above would work perfect if we were playing Poker but this post was about life. In the river I guess we find out where we stand in the game of luck even in life but if things aren't looking so good I recommend a good ole fashioned bluff. If you made it this far then you are entitled. Play life like you're 5 years old. Remember show and tell. This is when you get to show. MY TURN...






  

Midnight Rambler

The Loss
I am at a somewhat of a loss for words this time around. Words have a way of coming around when you give them an opportunity though, So here I am. I woke up today and felt somewhat empty, so I began to fill myself up with interviews and words from many of my heroes. I was trying to be inspired and to wake my heart up and get something done on my dreams. After listening to Johnny Depp, Keith Richards, John Lennon and Jack Johnson among many others I felt like I had something to say and lots of work to do.

The Inspiration
To be inspired is much like lighting a fire. You have to find the wood but if you look it is all around us in the people, the art, the music, the sunsets, the moments, the world around us, then just find the time to gather it up and the courage to light it. I realize this is easier said then done. The best way I have found to do this is to come together with people and join efforts because people don’t really inspire themselves they become inspired by others. The whole idea of being inspired is to be affected by someone or something so much that you make a move. So keep an eye and an ear out. It can be anything from a line your friend says to a video you see, song you hear, even a sunset. The more we can keep our eyes and ears open to allow ourselves to be inspired the better off we will all be.

Rehearsals
 Rehearsals were amazing as usual. We did not really play as much as usual but deep down I felt there was something big going on. I felt as if we bonded in a way that was different than usual. I think we are all beginning to figure out that after all these years none of us will be going anywhere or running off and that we are all able to handle even the worst of each other. If you have any experience being in a group of any kind you know this is key to the survival of the tribe. Kind of like a song, you don’t play for yourself you play for the song. The goal is not about winning the battle, it is about winning the war. Among other accomplishments we also put a lot of new sound proofing up as well as almost finished mixing “Lucid”.

If I Die Tonight
I know, strange title right. If you really think about it it’s not off base. We are all on our way and what exactly are we doing here? What is the sum of what we have done and what would be left behind at this moment if tomorrow we all woke up and you were gone. Would you be ok with the fact that all you have seen, heard, loved and done was all you would ever do? I guess we’d have to be. The very fact that one day I will be leaving does inspire me to live and musically I really want to leave as much behind as possible and I feel my relationships with the ones close to me are the reason I’m here so as long as I don’t fuck that up I think my life will be golden. I hope the same for you.
Tomorrow
The best thing about tomorrow is that anything can happen. Things are guaranteed to change. The winds will switch, the tides will turn. The worry you have been worried about will disappear and you will have a new chance at life. I always crack a smile thinking about tomorrow because it is all possibility. Thing is I think we should all put some eggs in our today basket because what if tomorrow never comes. It would be a shame if we built our lives entirely for tomorrow and tomorrow never came. Still I say do your best to look forward because most likely you are going to wake up to live another day and the world is going to need you.

What Happened To Rock & Roll
Truth be told, Rock & Roll is alive and well. The thing is it drives me half ape shit nuts to get on youtube and see 10 year old girls & boys doing some brand new pop cover and they have like 8 million views. They couldn’t write a song to save their lives, they can’t play an instrument and probably rarely know what the lyrics they are singing mean. What I want to know is who is listening to this crap. It is a dis to all the amazing music out there that has been done and a road block to anything good that is on its way to come out. The radio, television among many others are playing tons of absolutely soulless uninspired crap as well. It makes me sad at a time when we really need music, the stuff they are pumping out can hardly even be considered to be so. Do us all a favor and spend more time picking out your favorite music. Don’t let their half a million dollar recordings with a no talent bastard or whiny little girl with a pretty face end up being what you listen to. A heartless, soulless, money making machine with a poor bastard strapped to the front grill of one of those big black Caddillacs does not equal Rock and Roll.

The End
Then all the rockstars lived happily ever after with mansions full of guitars, drums, basses, flowing bottles of Jack Daniels, cigarettes, steaks, potatoes and super hot pretty girls that love them. I hope to see you next time for another session of Midnight Rambler. Ha

Shannon Richardson