OK, so calling our next cd a masterpiece might be stretching it a bit. But we began recording tracks this past weekend on what we think might be deserving of Grammy recognition. Alright, all kidding aside we spent some time in the studio over the weekend and wanted to share some pics.

We went to work at the Northeast Community College Recording Studio in Norfolk, NE and  focused on recording drum tracks for the songs that will become our 5th cd. Things went well and we have a good start on the recording. Next up: recording bass and guitar tracks.

Thanks to our engineers at NECC – Kristy and Tim, plus our good friend Chris who lent his capable hands to help us get things done!

Enjoy the studio pics…

Last Saturday took us to Yankton, SD to play for a Mt. Marty College event. Someone mentioned that it was their Spring Formal but there wasn’t anything too “formal” about it. Rather it was an opportunity for the students to cut loose before the barrage of finals.

We’d played at Mt. Marty several times over the years but this was the first show we’ve played for them in a few years and at an off-campus location. It was a good time for us and it seemed like the students enjoyed themselves as well.

Thanks to the school’s organizing committee for taking care of us. Also we have to thank our friend Bruce who provided sound and lighting as well as grilling up some steaks for us! If only we got fed like that before every show!

We spent this past Friday at The Depot in Norfolk, NE for a one-nighter. But with the party taking place that night it felt like a typical weekend at The Depot. It’s really no surprise though as we’ve come to expect it!

We were excited for the show because we knew we’d get to play our new songs for some more of our Norfolk friends. In fact we debuted one more original called “Facing Down” as we prepare for our upcoming recording session this weekend. It’s been a great spring playing all these new original songs and getting such great response and feedback about the new songs from everyone. We really appreciate it and it’s made us very excited to record these songs and release a new CD this summer!

Now check out the pics…

It’s time for a contest! Summerfest 2010 will be held on June 26th at Divot’s in Norfolk, NE and features an incredible lineup including Rick Springfield, Loverboy, Night Ranger, The Rude Band, and of course us! It figures to be one of the summer’s biggest rock & roll concert events in Northeast Nebraska.

Do you have your tickets yet? If not, you may be in luck! We’re giving away a Mr. Hand Summerfest 2010 Concert Package to 1 lucky winner!

What’s included in the Mr. Hand Summerfest 2010 Concert Package?

• 2 GA adult tickets to the Summerfest 2010 concert on June 26th
• 2 Mr. Hand t-shirts
• Autographed copies of our upcoming new album, Simple Ways EP and Fueled by the View cd’s
• Autographed 8×10 photo of the band
• All told this package is worth $135!

Enter to win by filling out the form below*. Enter only once, duplicate entries will be removed. Drawing for the Mr. Hand Summerfest 2010 Concert Package will be held on June 7th.

Immediate family members of Mr. Hand band members are not eligible to win.

* All entries will also be registered for the Mr. Hand Email Newsletter. The newsletter is sent out monthly and includes our latest news and upcoming schedule.

Sometimes the last-minute, unexpected shows turn out to be the most memorable and fun. And that was the case at The Phoenix Room this last Saturday night.

As you may or may not know we had a show originally booked in Omaha that fell through, but thankfully our good friend Blake from The Phoenix Room invited us to play at his place in Norfolk. We were a little nervous about what kind of turnout we would get without being able to do much promotion, but we had a great group of die-hards show up and make the night a lot of fun!

Once again we played several of our new original songs – “The Color Blue,” “New Fix,” “On Your Own,” “Second Start,” and “20 More Ways.” We hit the studio in just under 2 weeks, so you can expect to hear these songs more and more at upcoming shows and throughout the summer shows as well!

Now on to the photos from The Phoenix Room…

Just confirmed today we’ll be playing at the Phoenix Room in Norfolk this Saturday night!

We’ve been riding the scheduling roller coaster with some recent schedule changes. As you may know we had to cancel our previously scheduled show for this Saturday at Kennedy’s Bar & Grille in Omaha. We’ll be back in Omaha in May and have some other things lined up for the summer and into the fall at the Arena Sports Bar & Grill and Two Fine Irishmen. And we’re working on getting things lined up for future dates at Kennedy’s as well.

Much thanks to Blake at the Phoenix Room for making Saturday’s show happen!

We had a last minute schedule change to let you know about. We will now be playing at Mt. Marty College in Yankton, SD on April 24th.

Previously we were scheduled at The Depot in Norfolk for April 23rd & 24th.  We will still be at The Depot for one night on the 23rd. Sorry for any confusion!

A return visit to Rhonda’s Speakeasy was in order. It had been a couple months, but playing there never felt so good. We were able to debut a few more original songs including “The Color Blue,” “Someone New,” “Second Start,” and ” New Fix.” We’re eager to get these new songs recorded but it was great being able to share them with our Sioux City friends.

All in all it was a very good weekend, we really appreciate everyone that made it out to party with us. We can’t wait to do it again! In fact, we won’t have to wait too long as we’ll be back at Rhonda’s on May 14th & 15th. Mark your calendars now!

So this past Saturday Pierce was celebrating their annual Alumni weekend and a friend of ours was having a going away party. Add those things together and what do you get? A wild night that had Jo Jo’s busting at the seams!

The funny thing is that this is not unusual at Jo Jo’s! They always seem to be the site for some great parties. We were glad we could be there and add to the good times.

On a side note, we debuted another new original Mr. Hand song called “On Your Own.” We have studio time booked for the end of April so we continue to prepare for that by playing these new songs for you. We’ll be debuting several more new songs over the course of April, so we hope you get the chance to make it out to an upcoming show and hear the new songs!

What a weekend! After 4 years we made a return to Dougherty’s Pub to rock the O’Neill St. Patrick’s weekend celebration. And what a crazy 3 nights it was!

O’Neill is the Irish capital of Nebraska, in case you didn’t know, and if you’ve ever attended their celebration it’s obvious why they hold that title. They simply throw a St. Pat’s party that can’t be matched. The fact that revelers will travel to O’Neill from all over Nebraska (and beyond), is proof.

This was our 7th or 8th St. Pat’s (depending on which band member you ask) and it was equally as memorable as the others. Great crowds and our first attempt at live webcasting a show made it a very interesting time for us. If you didn’t happen to catch any of our video streams from the weekend, you can view the archived videos.

We’re planning to do more live webcasts as we refine our process and also deal with different venue capabilities. But we’ll be sure to give you a “heads up” when we plan to do it again. Now on to the pictures…enjoy!