it’s been a while…

….and i just want to let you all know that i am alive and well.

i must apologize…i have not posted a blog since february 2. that is ridiculous. if i were to write a blog about all that has happened then, well, you wouldn’t be able to read it all because it would be a long boring book.

with that being said, i will sum up the past few months with a few brief notes (in no particular order) and i will promise to blog more regularly so i don’t have to give you the short story of what’s going on in my life.

-finished the tour with the band, Barcelona (myspace.com/barcelona) in March and i must say i miss them like you wouldn’t believe.
-have written a lot of new songs.
-tried to grow a goatee but it ended up looking like a “grody”. (note to self, just because you’re 23 doesn’t mean that you look good with facial hair)
-worked a lot in the studio working on new demo’s.
-co-wrote with one of my all-time favorite musical heroes, BLEU (myspace.com/bleutopia). i promise that you will hear the stuff we have created soon.
-shamefully watched almost all of the 18-hole playoff PGA Championship playoff between Rocco Mediate and Tiger Woods on a Monday afternoon.
-tried many times to get a part-time job but failed even more times, somehow.
-went to New York City for about 4 days and fell even more in love with that city.
-watched my friends dog, Leroy, for 3-4 days. he’s the cutest ever. it made me want a dog, but at the end of the day i realized that i don’t want to buy a responsibility.
-after many years of not being that impressed by the phenomenon of ice cream, i started to rather enjoy it and oddly started to crave it…for real.
-played some super rad shows in nashville.
-excited that a bunch of friends recently got signed to record labels – erin mccarley (myspace.com/erinmccarly) – matt wertz (myspace.com/mattwertz) – paper route – (myspace.com/paperroute) HOORAY FOR YOU GUYS! GO GET’EM TIGER!
-pumped to tell you guys a bunch of things developing for TOFER BROWN MUSIC, INCORPORATED…more details coming soon:)

that is all for now. again, sorry for disappearing for a while.

i love you all, loads.

love,
tofer

and so the tour begins….

Hello everyone,

I am safely in Seattle now with the Barcelona guys and they rule the free world. Such a cool hang, indeed!

We had our first show tonight….it was amazing…we played in bellingham, washington at western washington university and the people that came out ruled…all of those college kids were the best listeners ever and they bought a bunch of my CD’s, which is always nice…barcelona ruled an acoustic set and i am just so honored to be on the road with them…we are totally already BFF and i love every second of being with them…

So…my first flight was easy as cheese. It was an hour long flight from Nashville to Cincinnati. But man…the 2nd flight was LONGGGGGG..cincinnati to seattle…it took about 4 1/2 hours – 5 hours…and like an idiot, i forgot my iPod…so, i had no tunes to listen to…to my surprise they said to us passengers, shortly after we boarded, that they would be viewing a movie. I was stoked…thinking, it probably won’t be the best movie ever, it still can’t be that bad….but was i really expecting to watch “THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB” ?….wow…all of the 40+ year old women got so excited and quickly bought the $2 headphone sets they were selling…I actually had my iPod headphones…looking around only to see that i was surrounded by all guys…i shrugged, but plugged in my headphones and watched the whole movie…tapped into my “feminine” side…it was actually pretty good..i loved it…some…not a lot..but there was some love for it…it actually had a great soundtrack to go along with it…scouts honor!

but how come food is not free on planes anymore?…i had to settle for an overabundance of free cheese and crackers and peanuts…the kind where there are 3 peanuts per packet….there was a really overweight guy to my right across the aisle…he didn’t move the whole time and his eyes were opened the whole time…i was wondering if he was one of those people that sleeps with their eyes open…that always creeps me out…

so…YOU MUST COME TO SHOWS…view our current schedule on my myspace (http://www.myspace.com/toferbrown)…and we are adding about 3-5 more east coast dates as we speak…so excited to be out and playing across the U.S….i love you guys and i hope to see you all very soon!

love,
tofer

slow days and snow days…

it’s not really a snow day…but it feels like one…but it definitely is a slow day…

how are you doing?

i am WONDROUS!

i am currently in panera bread company “mooching” off of their free wireless internet…my internet is out at my house…that is a sad day…i don’t really have lots to say…

I leave for Seattle for the tour in 9 days…it’s quite bittersweet still…excited to play shows and meet new people, but sad to say goodbye to friends for a while. i will miss them all like “whoa.”

i am working on a new song in the studio…actually more than one song…one is a “tofer” tune called, “thrill you, kill you” and should be on myspace sooner or later…and the other is a new song that hasn’t been titled yet that is a part of a TOP SECRET NEW PROJECT i am working on…but i promise that it will blow your mind…and your ear drums…not really blow your ear drums cause it’s not hard rock music…but it’s good…oh so good…you will like…you will love…i will tell you more details as they unfold…DUN DUN DUN!!!

ok, so, i should leave…i have finished my blueberry bagel and i’m halfway finished through my coffee…now i’m just using panera for their special WIFI goodness…ok…I LOVE YOU…peace.

love, tofer

a new day

2008 is here to stay for a year…

…years are starting to go by so quickly…it kind of freaks me out…2007 was the fastest year ever…

my life is changing a lot…i like change…but i don’t know if i will ever truly LOVE change, because true love is unconditional, and there are some things in my life that i don’t want to change…

new people are in my life and those new people are quickly becoming people that i can’t live without…or rather, i don’t want to live without..my mom always said to never say “can’t”..there are also some people that are not around really anymore…that makes me sad when that happens…disconnected friendships are the worst…seeing people that were once people you talked to every day, then running into them a year later and to not even know what to talk about…it’s so odd and sad…

i am getting ready to fly out to seattle on january 31st…i am going to be touring for about 5 or more weeks…it is a amazing to be able to go out and play shows and to meet awesome new people, state to state…but it is so bittersweet at the same time because leaving behind people that you love and having to settle for phone calls, emails, iChat, or even video chat..well, it’s the worst…honestly, if it wasn’t for technology and being able to talk and stay in communication with the people i love, i don’t know if i could be a musician…it is so essential in life to keep your roots-your friends and family who keep you humbled and bring you back to reality. i need it. everyone needs it.

on a new note, i am very excited about some new things that are going to be happening this year…this year is going to be a big year for me….it seems like that it is going to be that way for a lot of people…the recurring theme i have heard from friends, when discussing this year with them, seems to be, “…i’ve been patient for a long while now…and now decisions are being made…and establishment is going to happen.”…or something like that…i think that makes sense…ha…and i’m definitely on that page…this is going to be a year of major decisions and establishment…i am nervous, but excited…stoked, but scared…all of the above…prayer…that’s what must be at the root of all of this…always…trusting that God knows what’s best for me better than i know what’s best for me…that’s what keeps me going.

i am worn out now…i hope you are already being blessed immensely this year…i love you…peace.

love,
tofer

2007…favorite albums…ramblings…etc.

Today is the final day of 2007.

It has been a great year, and at times a very stretching year.

I have traveled a lot and played many shows in many states. I have written more music this year than any year before, which excites me. I hope next year is an even more prolific year for me as a writer than this year.

I have never been a huge “New Year’s Resolution List” kind of guy. Rather, I would want to say, I want to be “more of a reader” this year, or “more of a servant” this year…not I AM GOING TO STOP SAYING THE WORD “THE” or something outlandish like that…pish-posh….not into that…I am going to write a more detailed entry about this year and what it has meant to me and created in me, but i wanted to primarily write my “Favorite Albums of 2007″ list in this blog.

Last year I made a “top albums of 2006″ list, but put them in no particular order. This year my list is a lot larger, and I have found again, that I can’t write them in any set order. It’s too hard for me to pick a FAVORITE album of the year. So, I decided that I would do this year’s list and have “sub-categories”….nerdy yes, but very much so needed:)I hope you enjoy…drum-roll please…d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-doh!

“Best Album as a whole, or close to a whole album…not just one or two great songs…”

Travis – The Boy With No Name
Wilco – Sky Blue Sky
Feist – The Reminder
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss – Raising Sand
Jon Foreman – Fall EP
Soundtrack to the movie “Once”
Kanye West – Graduation
Silverchair – Young Modern
Brandi Carlile – The Story
Sondre Lerche – Phantom Punch

“Best Albums That Took A While To Grow On Me…BUT NOW I LOVE THEM!”

KT Tunstall – Drastic Fantastic
Kenna – Make Sure They Don’t See My Face
Aqualung – Memory Man
Rufus Wainwright – Release The Stars
Missy Higgins – On A Clear Night

“Best Albums That I Want To Spend More Time With…”

Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger
Andrew Bird- Armchair Apocrypha
The National – The Boxer
Dan Wilson – Free Life
Sara Bareilles – Little Voice
Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Nicole Atkins – Neptune City
Jimmy Eat World – Chase The Light
The Bird And The Bee – Please Clap Your Hands

………and finally……..

“Best Albums That Are My Guilty Pleasures and I’m Afraid To Tell You Because You May Not Think I’m That Cool Anymore, But I Don’t Care Because I Have Listened To These Albums A Lot And Can’t Deny Their Catchiness…”

Paramore – Riot
Joss Stone – Introducing Joss Stone
The Click Five – Modern Minds And Pastimes
The Rocket Summer – Do You Feel

There you have it, my friends!…I’m sure as soon as I write this, I will think of many more albums, and might add a couple here or there…but this is what I have for right now…I hope you enjoy.

Please let me know your favorite albums as well…I am anxious to hear…I love you and Happy New Year to you!

love,
tofer

merry christmas…:)

Hello my friends!

 

Today is Christmas. Yesterday was my Birthday. And tomorrow is my Mom’s Birthday. There is much too celebrate here at my parent’s house in Columbia, Missouri. I am 23 now. I feel old. Not that I really am, but I realized that I am now closer to 25 than I am to 20. I mean, that’s halfway to 50. And yeah…wow. I am going to need a walker and a dentures soon. But not really.

It’s funny how Christmas changes so much from when you are younger. I remember not being able to sleep all night because of the thought of Christmas gifts and Santa blessing me with his generosity year, after year. I literally would get 3 hours of sleep and wake up at the “butt crack” of dawn with my brother, full of energy and life. Now, all I want for Christmas is to sleep in as late as possible. I woke up around 11:30 AM today. That just wouldn’t have been possible at the age of 6, 10, or any other age under 15. By 11:30 I would have been playing my new video games or jumping off of the walls or something hyperactive and overly dramatic like that…

The Christmas “wish list” has also vanished over the past few years, as well. My list used to be “deep and wide,” and chock full of toys and video games and things that would become dated by the next Christmas season. Now, all I like to see is envelopes with gifts Certificates and/or Money. Is that depressing, or just reality?It’s weird, but when I get Christmas or Birthday money, I don’t immediately think, “gosh, I can’t wait to buy this or that with this money…” but rather, I think to myself “it will be nice to pay this bill or that bill off..”…getting older is weird and weirder.

 

I do, however, still like buying musical equipment and computer’ish gadgets. That is one thing that has stood the “test of time” for me. Keyboards, guitars, recording equipment, etc. It’s all so good and lovely to me still. And anything Apple, Inc. makes…iPods, computers, iTunes downloads…etc….music equipment, and apple…my downfall…While Christmas money makes me think, “i will pay this bill off…” i can’t help but think “it would be sooooo rad to get an iPhone…”those things really are ridiculously radical…and I know i don’t “need” it per-say…but i want…i want…

So, what did you all do/get for Christmas this year? I long to know…

 

I can’t wait to feast with my family. I am going to eat enough for two days probably. Then feel sick. And rather than working out and feeling like I deserve to eat that much, I will probably just sit with my family and watch a movie. Thank you.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas. I love you all.

 

-tofer