a close second

Casey's Last at Bat

2010-03-08T11:52:00.000-08:00

Rehearsal for the upcoming Poggie gig are ongoing. It's good to get back together after the break, but we're saddened by the news that Casey is moving on to other pastures, so this will be his last act with A Close Second.

This means we're going to take a bit more time to reconfigure, and see where the rest of us want to go with this thing we've created. Change is good, so it's another opportunity for us.

But the short story is, "Get to the Poggie on Saturday the 20th, and help send Casey off right."

Taking a Holiday Break

2009-12-13T17:56:00.000-08:00

So we all decided to take a holiday break, and we'll get back to practice in January. We'll have a couple of new songs to work on as well as polish up a couple we still haven't performed live yet. I'm looking forward to getting to work on this stuff, but the break has been nice.

10.19.09

2009-10-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

The show on Saturday at Poggie tavern went well and we had a great time. Casey has some obligations for the holidays, so we'll be putting the brakes on for the time being. We are all planning to use the time to work on some new stuff and further hone our sound. We are looking forward to seeing you all in the new year.

A Photo of the band.

2009-09-13T23:58:00.000-07:00

So we have another show at the Poggie Tavern on the 17th of this month. That this Thursday for those of you who are looking at this post and scratching your head. It was discussed at rehearsal tonight that we need to have a pic of us up on the site, so I thought I'd stick one up. So here it is. In the future it'll be more professional looking but for now I'll just stick this one up.

Upcoming Shows!

2009-03-12T02:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's Shows, Plural. We've got the usual gig at Poggie Tavern (4717 California Ave. SW) on Saturday the 28th of March and, get ready for it, a show at Talarico's across the street on Friday the 24th of April. We are so excited to get to play on a real stage! Come and check us out at either one or both of those dates. We'd love to see you again. And we know the real reason you'll be at the Talrico's gig... The mammoth pizza slices. So come buy a slice of pizza and get a free rock show. See you all then!

Also, remember you can now listen to our demo on myspace. www.myspace.com/deepdishgravity

The Wide Wide World of Websites

2009-03-02T17:58:00.001-08:00

After days of struggling with google APIs, I finally managed to get the old blog imported into the band's website. If you're reading this from www.aclosesecond.com, then don't change a thing. If you're reading this from blogger, you should check out the website!

More to come now that I have half a clue, including images of the band, some unreleased MP3 goodness for you, our World Domination Tour schedule, and whatever else we can think up.

March 28th at 9pm

2009-02-25T13:18:00.000-08:00

As we progress into spring, we begin to think of pleasant outdoor activities like hikes and golf and music festivals. Unfortunately this post in on none of those things. Come out and see your favorite bar flies on Saturday, March 28th at Poggie Tavern once again. As always it's at 9pm at 4717 California Ave SW in W. Seattle.

On the festival note though, we have put our demo into the hands of people responsible for booking some outdoor stuff in Pierce county, so you may yet get to breathe some fresh air while we rock. We'll keep you posted.

If you want to get spammed every time we find some thing interesting or mildly funny send an email to: theguys@aclosesecond.com with "mailing list" in the subject line, and we'll be sure to fill your inbox.

We also have our new songs up on the myspace page so, go to: www.myspace.com/deepdishgravity
Yes we know it's not the right name but we didn't want to make all of you move over to a new page. You're Welcome.

News Update... of sorts.

2009-01-18T00:45:00.000-08:00

So the biggest and most important news is the demo is done. Well, the recording, mixing and mastering part anyway. Al is working on the cover and the title. It'll be really cool.

In other news, we are playing again at the Poggie Tavern in W. Seattle. Come on out and join the antics. Poggie is at 4717 SW California ave. Jim missed you last time and asked us to make sure you came this time. As always we plan to be loud, so prepare yourself mentally because the PTSD will be too much for you otherwise...

We hope to see you there.

Recording...

2008-12-06T23:07:00.000-08:00

So today was the first of two days in the studio. We tracked the insuruments for four songs and got vocals down on two of them. We are excited. Not sure on the final readiness of the demo yet but, we'll post when it is. We did take some photos but they are not, as yet, ready to post. Maybe tomorrow. Stay tuned...

Correction...

2008-11-03T22:08:00.000-08:00

So, in the previous post I said that we were going into the studio on weekend of the 8th of Nov. That, unfortunately has been changed to the weekend of the 6th of Dec. Now you know.

Upcoming shows...

2008-10-26T11:44:00.000-07:00

Hey all, I just thought I'd add the dates for our next two shows at the Poggie Tavern. The first will be on November 20Th at the usual 9pm. That's a Thursday. The next one will be on January 31st, which is a Saturday at the previously mentioned 9pm. We hope that you all can make one or both shows. We will tentatively be heading into the studio on the weekend of the 8Th of November to, finally, get to work on our demo. So hopefully there will be many more shows to be seen in other locations in the future. We'll keep you posted.

Tunes, Beers, Volume

2008-09-07T16:42:00.000-07:00

Once again we had a blast at Poggie Tav on the 30th. You guys rock! We are putting the brakes on the shows for the time being as Jeff and I are on vacation. We also plan to hunker down and focus on our demo. It's been a long time coming but thanks to the support of our bar buddies we've saved enought dough to get into the studio. As we return from various trips and other adventures we'll make it happen. Keep checking back to the site for more informaiton on our progress.

A Close Second's happy time.

2008-08-14T11:59:00.000-07:00

The show on the 11th was probably the most fun we've had yet. Jeff gets the rockstar award, you can ask him about it. Thanks to all who attended. We'll be there again on the 30th of August, so mark you calendar and get ready for some more awesome! If you'd like to get on our mailing list email us at theguys@aclosesecond.com and we'll spam you whenever theres anything that moderately ineterests us.

Muchas Gracias

2008-07-27T20:28:00.000-07:00

We came we saw, experienced some technical dificulties, but all in all kicked ass! Thank you to all of you who came from near and far to support our crazed antics. We had a ton of fun. We'll be returning to Poggie Tavern on Monday the 11th of August and Saturday the 30th of August. So, if you are interested in continuing to participate in the craziness, we'd love to have you. Jim would love to see you back too!

2008-07-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

Just testing things on my end. Seeing if I can figure out how to actually post something.

-Al

The First of the Seconds

2008-07-14T09:07:00.000-07:00

Now that we're getting world famous, we thought it would be a good idea to use the interwebz to keep our legions of fans informed on concert dates, albums, personal appearances, and other things us Big Rawk Starz have to keep up on.

So forgive this first entry. It's a test.

So....

Test.

MUSIC

2007-12-13T16:19:00.000-08:00

demography
the circus song
the price of love
justice
doin' time

BIO

2006-11-22T20:53:00.000-08:00

A Close Second

A Close Second was formed in summer 2007 by Alan Llave, Jeff Benson, Casey McDowell, and Jerome O'Neil. A Close Second is an energetic mix of Rock, Country, Punk, Blues, and Bluegrass music. The band is influenced by such great musical forces as Johnny Cash, The Beatles, Firewater, The Old 97s, Social Distortion, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Steve Earle and Justin Townes Earle.

Alan and Jeff have been friends for many years, and in that time, have collaborated on many projects. Early on they formed the band Disarray, which played around the Seattle area until 2001.

Since then, Jeff (drums/singer/songwriter), has played in a few other groups (Bash, Sherry Jerome, and Jordan Riley) and continued to hone his skills as a drummer and writer. Jeff's progressive rock influences give him a unique drumming style as well as a unique writing style. His musical skills are a real asset to A Close Second.

Alan (guitar/singer/songwriter) has focused on refining his skills as a guitarist specifically in the country/bluegrass genre. While favoring the classic tones of the early country and rock he keeps a fresh edge on his guitar work. Alan's quiet style and often dark lyrics lend themselves well to the overall sound brought forth by A Close Second.

Jerome (bass/singer/songwriter) is new to the music scene in Seattle. His straight ahead writing and playing style are an asset to a band that likes just that. In a band with many different influences and styles Jerome keeps the guys locked in musically.

Casey (Guitar/singer/Songwriter) has participated in several projects in the Seattle area. In 1995 he and a close friend formed the band Nojo on the Rojo. Nojo joined the flood of music to come out of the Seattle area in the mid and late '90s to play live regularly around Seattle. Casey left the band in early 1999 and has since been all but out of the music scene. Having participated in a few short lived projects since, he joined with Alan and Jeff to form A Close Second. Casey's blues rock influences help to pull the bands overall sound back a bit to the main stream.