The Hard Lessons Tour Diary

Thank You + Ferndale Patch Article!

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:08:53 GMT

Photos: Liz Hill

To all those who came to The Loving Touch on Saturday, and to all those who came to a show EVER, we sincerely thank you...

We are also thrilled to have had Liz Hill and Ferndale Patch in the house, and would like the share this article RIGHT HERE. It really is the perfect summation of the last decade for us, and fittingly enough Liz also wrote one of our first articles ever (back in an early 2004 edition of the Detroit Free Press). Check it out for some scoop on the show and our baby!

CHECK IT OUT!

Thanks again for such an amazing journey. We'll see you soon!

xo Korin & Augie

Happy Birthday Augie + Show TONIGHT! (4/23)

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 13:27:35 GMT

Come out to the Loving Touch in Ferndale to celebrate Augie's birthday (and THL's impending hiatus) at a special Korin & Augie acoustic performance! Opening set by The Kickstand Band! The show is early and all ages! Doors at 8:00 pm!!!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:21:14 GMT

This Saturday, April 23 Korin & Augie will perform one last time together in an acoustic performance at The Loving Touch in Ferndale, Michigan before going on hiatus to welcome a baby boy!

The show is all ages and will be kicking off with an acoustic performance by The Kickstand Band shortly after 8:00, with Korin & Augie to follow! Please come on out and wish the expectant couple well. It is also Augie's birthday!!

On tour in San Francisco, 2006

SEE YOU THIS SATURDAY!!!!

8 Years Ago TODAY!

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:26:10 GMT

Hard to believe, but today is exactly 8 years to the day from the first time Korin & Augie first performed their original songs on stage with the four-piece incarnation of The Hard Lessons at the Michigan State University Student Union!

The performance was a Battle of the Bands and the $400 that THL took home went toward duplicating the band's first ever demo CD, which surprisingly produced a #1 single on MSU's radio station, The Impact, beginning a very interesting 8 years leading to this very day. CONGRATS!

All photos by Janet Reid Boltz!

AND DON'T FORGET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The band's debut album Gasoline is available for download for the first time ever RIGHT HERE. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Baby Bump!!

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 02:01:04 GMT

Thanks to all who came out to see the first of the Korin & Augie acoustic shows! We'd like to share some photos courtesy of Sara Daniels-Witchel, who has lovingly documented our Ohio shows for over a year now, as well as baked for us on multiple occasions.

BUT FIRST, don't forget we've released a brand new rarities EP featuring treasures from the THL vault. By DOWNLOADING these songs you're not only getting some great long-lost jems, but helping the future Visocchi baby eat (and in a roundabout way, poop). If you've got $4.99 please consider grabbing it! (Our debut album Gasoline is also available on the same site for a measly $9.99). DO IT!

HERE IT IS! THE FIRST BABY BUMP PHOTO:

NEXT ACOUSTIC SHOW IS SUNDAY APRIL, 17 AT THE STRUTT IN KALAMAZOO!!!

MORE PICTURES BELOW!

Thanks to Dean from Mind Fish for joining us for the encore, and for Frank & Jesse for playing with us as well!

Rarities EP Video!!

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:28:08 GMT

Listen to a snippet of each track from the brand new rarities EP, "Down Off The Ceiling Vol. I" by The Hard Lessons in the above video.

LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE EP & BUY DIGITALLY NOW:
* http://www.thehardlessons.bandcamp.com

BUY PHYSICALLY:
* At selected record stores around the country on Record Store Day
* At all upcoming Korin & Augie acoustic shows!
* http://www.goldtapes.blogspot.com

TRACKLISTING:
1) Bamboo (Sabbath Version)
2) Fit To Love You
3) Karate Man
4) All The Kids Know
5) The Sound Of Coming Down (Live)
6 Gimme Shelter (Live)

http://www.thehardlessons.tumblr.com
http://www.twitter.com/thehardlessons

NEW RARITIES EP ANNOUNCED!!

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 01:16:02 GMT

We are pleased to announce a very limited physical release for our new rarities EP, "Down Off The Ceiling vol. 1" released by our good friend Zak and Detroit's Gold Tapes!

The hot packaging includes a photo by David Dominic Jr. and an ultrasound picture of the forthcoming Baby Visocchi!

This cassette-only release will be available physically at our upcoming Korin and Augie acoustic shows, as well as at select record stores all over the country on Record Store Day. (Stay tuned for a list!) In the coming weeks you will also be able to purchase it digitally online if you are lucky enough to own a car made after 1999.

LISTEN TO A PREVIEW OF EVERY TRACK HERE

LIKE GOLD TAPES IN FAKE LIFE ON FACEBOOK HERE

GET THE TAPE IN REAL LIFE AT SHOWS:

Saturday, 3/26
Mickey Finns Pub
Toledo, OH

Sunday, 4/17
The Strutt
Kalamazoo, MI

Saturday, 4/23
The Loving Touch
Ferndale, MI

MUCH MORE TO COME! Stay tuned for record store locations and details on the digital release!

xo THL

ACOUSTIC SHOWS ANNOUNCED!!!!!!!

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:42:08 GMT

To the beloved cities of Kalamazoo and Toledo, may we say this: we have heard your call, and we are coming!

As a way to make good on promised performances in the above mentioned cities, Korin and Augie will be performing a short series of special acoustic performances over the span of a month's time. If you haven't been able to catch one of these performances, you don't want to miss your chance hear rarely-performed THL gems, as well as unique covers and more.

To top it all off, and to mark the grande finale, will be a show in Ferndale on Augie's birthday! Many more details to come, but mark your calendars now...

3/26 Toledo, OH
Mickey Finn's Pub

4/17 Kalamazoo, MI
The Strutt

4/23 Ferndale, MI
The Loving Touch

Blind Pig THIS Saturday / Blowout NEXT Friday

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 13:18:00 GMT

Saturday, February 26
Blind Pig, Ann Arbor
TICKETS ON SALE: HERE

Friday, March 4
Metro Times Blowout, Hamtramck

WRISTBANDS ON SALE: HERE

Taking a second to look back...

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 13:12:50 GMT

We're happy to announce that Korin and Augie are on the cover of the Detroit News Weekend Guide today. Pick up a copy for a nice career retrospective penned by longtime THL-supporter Adam Graham! It is a nice read with plenty of unseen photos...

xo THL

Another year over... A new one just begun...

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 19:49:21 GMT

As the holiday haze begins to disperse, and we continue sorting through the mixed-up boxes of Christmas decorations, guitar cables, Faygo, and Ice Scrapers we've been pulling out of St. Andrew's Hall in the wake of our 5th Annual Holiday Blowout, it is hard not to stop and for a moment and confirm that it all indeed actually happened.

There are so many people we want to thank, but of course we should start with each and every member of the voluminous crowd who squeezed into St. Andrew's Hall, making it delightfully cozy and warm...

Thanks to our sexy Santas Allison and TJ, for making all your Christmas wishes and dreams realities....

Thanks to our long-time friend and photographer Doug Coombe for documenting the occasion from start to finish...

...we could go on and on, but we must squeeze in Chris Johnston, Al and Zach at Quack!Media, Scotty Hagen and Bellyache Records, everyone at St. Andrew's Hall, Shawn Knight, Bronner's Christmas Wonderland...

Lastly, it is a pleasure of ours to be in a position to ask bands we know and love to join us in our headlining shows year-round, but especially in an Annual Tradition like this. We hope you enjoyed them as much as we did:

Frontier Ruckus

Secret Twins

The Barrettes Ladies Barbershop Quartet

The Kickstand Band

Mind Fish

Thank you.

Happy New Year! Let's hope it's a good one...

XO THL

TONIGHT!!!!! 5th Annual Holiday Blowout!!!

Sun, 26 Dec 2010 18:01:11 GMT

St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit is the place to be!

Doors open at 8!

xo THL

Watch the "Wally Bronner (Christmas Always)" Video NOW!

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 04:19:26 GMT

WATCH OUR VIDEO FOR "WALLY BRONNER (CHRISTMAS ALWAYS)" NOW!!!

We have trouble holding on to things when they're finished... So we present to you, the just-completed video for the A Side to our annual holiday single. We decided on a whim to take a camera with us on our last trip out of state, and on the way back drove past Detroit all the way to "Little Bavaria."

We're proud of the way it turned out, and hope you enjoy it... especially our fellow Michigan peeps.

Please share this on your twitter, facebook, tumblr, blog, website, etc... We'll be watching, and we'll be randomly selecting people who share the video to receive a personal, limited edition THL Christmas Card, like this:

Oh boy... people get ready!

Buy the "Wally Bronner (Christmas Always)" single by clicking HERE!

But tickets to the 5th Annual Holiday show by clicking HERE!

Magic Bag Interview, live footage, and Christmas info!

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 20:14:53 GMT

We did a short interview with Cal Cagno at the Magic Bag last week... Dude managed to get information on our Christmas single, Holiday show, split 7-inch with The Hentchmen and our next album in a matter of minutes! Wish all interviews were a little more like this, and a little less "so where did you get your name from?"

Check it out!

Buy the "Wally Bronner (Christmas Always) by clicking HERE!" single.

But tickets to the 5th Annual Holiday show by clicking HERE!

Announcing this year's Christmas Single!!!

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 15:49:55 GMT

On the heels of last year's Christmas single (about beards scaring children) THL is back with a testament-in-song to celebrate the life and love of Frankenmuth, Michigan's own Wallace Bronner.

Announcing this year's Christmas single:

This is a super-deluxe 45 RPM single (which also includes a free CD copy) pressed on special color vinyl and available for pre-order starting now over at The Bellyache Candy Shoppe

TWO brand new recordings! "Wally Bronner (Christmas Always)" is an original composition which should warm the hearts of anyone familiar with the world-famous Bronner's Christmas Wonderland and its famous founder, while the B Side is a moving and original take on the Christmas classic "O Holy Night."

...and consider the 5th Annual Post-Christmas Blowout at St. Andrew's Hall on December 26 the offical release party!!! Buy your tickets NOW!!!!!!

THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 02:07:07 GMT

Brothers and Sisters,

So many wonderful things are in the works for the close of 2010 in the land of THL!

*Tickets for our 5th Annual Post-Christmas Blowout are ON SALE NOW for the low price of ten bucks. It all goes down the day after Christmas at St. Andrew's Hall. Anyone who has been to one (or all!) of the first four knows that we like to pull out every stop for this one. Stay tuned for much more info regarding openers, and of course, our annual Sears Portrait Studio Photos.

*As if a Tuesday couldn't rock any harder, THL and The Hentchmen are playing an early show at the Magic Bag presented by Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers on November 9. Chevy was even nice enough to facilitate the release of a limited edition split seven inch featuring both bands that you can get for free at the show. Show starts at 7:00 with openers The Strange.

*Shows have been added to our website, including a return to Athens, OH and lovely Ypsilanti, MI. CHECK IT OUT!

*We're working up a very special Christmas 45 that we can't tell you about just yet, but we're looking for people who would like a shot at the "big time" by helping us shoot a shoe-string music video. Contact info(at)thehardlessons(dot)com if you think you want to hang out with us for a day and become a famous director!

Stay tuned for more...

xo A, Ko, & R

11/9 - FREE SHOW! FREE RECORD!

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 16:14:51 GMT

A couple of months back, The Hard Lessons and The Hentchmen were asked by Chevrolet to contribute music to some spritely television commercials...

The animation...

The spots were a success, and the idea to throw a party started getting kicked around... Our own Augie V stepped in to work hand-in-hand with the Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers and Strive Creative to come up with what we think is a pretty cool Tuesday night...

Jeff Arcel's label design... Shawn Knights hub-capage...

A split seven-inch vinyl single is currently being pressed by our friends over at Archer Record Pressing, featuring a Hentch and THL song... And it looks like a wheel on one side! This limited record will be available for FREE (one night only) to attendees of the show...

But it gets better! The show itself will be FREE and will feature performances by The Hard Lessons, The Hentchmen, and The Strange. More goodies and surprises are being thought up right now by our friend Erin at How Delicious, but mark your calendars now! And thanks to Chevy for supporting so many local artists and local businesses with this one.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9
MAGIC BAG THEATER
FERNDALE, MI
FREE FREE FREE
DOORS: 7:00
THL HEADLINES AT 9:30

BACK IN MICHIGAN THIS SATURDAY!

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:30:45 GMT

After warm-up shows in Chicago and Toledo, The Hard Lessons are finally returning to Michigan (and the Detroit area) with a show at the Royal Oak Music Theatre as a part of the Arts, Beats, & Eats festival! The band plays this Saturday at 10 pm after sets by Ty Stone and Wrong Numbers. S'gonna be a good time...

Right, Rhonda?

THIS IS GLASS CITY!

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:17:26 GMT

Thanks to all the fine Ohioans who came to see us this past Friday, including the band Mindfish who left their gig to attend ours. That's a spicy-meat-a-ball!!!

ALL PHOTOS BY THE QUEEN OF ATHENS, OH - SARA DANIELS WITCHEL.

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ALSO, FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

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What's Really Hood?! (Internet)

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 04:23:25 GMT

The Hard Lessons returned to American soil (and stage) with a performance at Chicago's Wicker Park Festival. Sandwiched between two DJ sets, the band managed to squeeze some rock into the day's hectic schedule before Hood Internet put it down on "Nothing But A Journal Thang" and Local H did indeed keep it mad copacetic - after we bonded with them over the hairier members of Electric Six.

Hangin' with Cynthia Plaster Caster!

Hangin' with Rhonda Walker!

Thank you Chicago (and especially Jade Amey) for taking these photos... and especialiest everyone in them!

"That guy is scary..."

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 19:59:28 GMT

Thanks to all who came from near and far to witness MOBz ferocious return to the stage... We're gonna post some photos of the literal destruction of both shows here at some point in the future, but for now...

Happy 4th of July... Love, THL... and MOBz

Everybody pulled their socks up...

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:27:54 GMT

Martin Bandyke's little Beatles shindig was a huge success! With a thousand people comfortably seated in Ann Arbor's Power Center, Augie and students from the School Of Rock ripped through "I've Got A Feeling" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Sweet.

All photos by Colleen Stormer.

Thanks to Martin and all involved with the Ann Arbor Summer Festival for a great night!

Tumblr, Twitter, Trikes

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:22:43 GMT

Brothers and Sisters,

While Live Journal has served us well over the years (and we will try our best to continue to update it for the time being) we encourage you to follow our Tumblr for the latest:

http://thehardlessons.tumblr.com
http://thehardlessons.tumblr.com
http://thehardlessons.tumblr.com
http://thehardlessons.tumblr.com
http://thehardlessons.tumblr.com
http://thehardlessons.tumblr.com

ALSO follow us on twitter to get show updates, road updates, Godfather quotes, etc...

http://www.twitter.com/thehardlessons
http://www.twitter.com/thehardlessons
http://www.twitter.com/thehardlessons
http://www.twitter.com/thehardlessons
http://www.twitter.com/thehardlessons

Lastly, in honor of your loyalty to this LJ, here is an exclusive picture of our dog Rhonda Walker going for a bike ride:

Love, THL

THLs + MOBz

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:11:47 GMT

The Hard Lessons and Millions Of Brazilians have performed shows together across the midwest, and the trail of carnage left behind is well documented... like HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Now this is happening:

Nick / Jon

Augie / Zoz

People get ready.

July 3, 2010
Millions Of Brazilians
(Nick/Zoz/Augie/Weir)
Boiling Pot Music Festival
w/ Child Bite, Javelins, and 20 more...
http://www.boilingpotfest.com/Schedule.php

Capacities Schmacities!

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:16:39 GMT

Thanks to all who squeezed into the Ottawa Tavern on Friday for our night of Ryan Bunch's Takeover Series. Cunning photographer Sara Daniels-Witchel worked among broken tables, tossed drinks, and the over-capacity crowd to capture the following photos. Enjoy!