Sweet Japonic will be performing at two very special shows this weekend. We’ll be throwing a big party with The Fling Family in Ohio on Saturday and heading back home for an Instruments of Hope benefit on Sunday.

We’ll be making a trip down to Hillsboro, OH Saturday to throw a party with the Fling Family at the Fling Barn. 3 bands, 9 hours of music, primitive camping available, live radio interviews on location. Its going to be a party at the barn!

Saturday Oct 24 - 4PM
Fling Barn Party
Hillsboro, OH
9 hours of music, 3 bands, food, BYOB
$10 tickets, $10 for primitive camping

On Sunday we’ll be heading back home to play a very special Grand Rapids show. We’re very pleased to be working with Instruments of Hope for a benefit concert. We’ll be playing with Hawks and Owls and David Schultz supporting Ralston Bowles.

Sunday Oct 25 - 6PM
Grand Hope Benefit
Wealthy Theatre
Grand Rapids, MI
Concert benefiting Instruments of Hope
Supporting Grand Rapids legend Ralston Bowles!

Celebrate Your Favorite Holiday with Sweet Japonic

Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years… we have them all covered! We’re looking forward to celebrating the fall/winter holiday season with all of you. We’ll be starting things out at Pints & Quarts in Muskegon for Halloween. We’ll then be coming back to Grand Rapids to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and NEW YEAR’S EVE! That’s right; Sweet Japonic will be throwing a New Year’s Party for the first time in many years. You won’t want to miss this! We’ve decided that Billy’s would be the perfect venue to celebrate the New Year with all our friends. Details for each show are listed below; we’ll have more details about the NYE Party as it draws closer.

Halloween Party
Oct 31 – 9 PM
Pints & Quarts
Who do you want to see SJ dress up as?

Biggest Bar Night of the Year Party
Nov 25 – 9:30 PM
Billy’s Lounge
$5 Cover, 21+
Stiff, cheap drinks to help that turkey go down easy!

SJ’s Christmas Party
Dec 19 – 9 PM
Hopcat
Free! 21+
Cover is EXTRA free if you dress like Santa!
Bonus points if you dress like Rudolph

NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATION!
Dec 31 – 9:30 PM
Billy’s Lounge
$10 Cover (includes champagne toast & party favors)
21+ New Holland Specials & More
Ring in the New Year the right way!
With SJ and all of your closest friends!

CDs Available

As we mentioned in our last newsletter, our new album ‘Where My Devils Go’ is available for purchase, locally, by mail, and digitally. The album is now also available on Digstation, iTunes, CDBaby, & Amazon in addition to Schuler’s (28th St & Alpine stores) and Vertigo Music on Division. You can also purchase the new album directly from the band on our website. Check out our store section on our website for information on how to order the new album from the band.

Sweet Japonic Interns - Spots Still Available!

Have you ever wanted to help promote a show? Do you have new ideas that you think could help the band? Have you ever wondered how the inner workings of a band or the music industry work? Need college credit for an internship? Or do you just have extra time you want to kill? Well then WE WANT YOU!

We’re currently looking for fall/winter interns. If you need college credit, we can make it happen! If you’re interested in interning with Sweet Japonic email Matt at matt@sweetjaponicmusic.com

Our CD Release Celebration at The Intersection is less than a month away!  Be sure to get your tickets early.  Tickets can now be purchased directly from our website.  Follow the link below to place your order.  Purchase your tickets by Midnight on Sept 7th and receive a free download off the new album.

CD RELEASE TICKET PAGE

We also have a very limited number of VIP packages available for parties of 15 or more.  VIP areas are conveniently located next to the side bars and provide private seating for parties between 15-25 people.  We’ll be sweetening the deal for VIP packages too!  If you have a large group and are interested in a VIP package email matt@sweetjaponicmusic.com.  Don’t wait, they won’t last long!

Just a reminder, this show will be 17+.  We hope to see all our younger fans out in full force next month!

CD Release Celebration
The Intersection - Grand Rapids
Saturday Sept 19th
Doors: 7PM Show: 8PM
Tickets: $8 Adv / $10 DOS
17+ Welcome!
w/s/g Southpaw Players
& Simien The Whale

WHERE MY DEVILS GO SNIPPETS ON THE WEB

The new album is being printed as we speak and we cannot wait to get it to each and every one of you!  We’re extremely pleased with how the album came out.  Four tracks from the new album are now available on our website and myspace music players.  The songs currently featured are Pyromaniacs, Where My Devils Go, Good Ol’ Heart, & Freeway.  Give them a listen and let us know what you think!

ON AIR PERFORMANCES

On September 8th you’ll have the chance to check out Sweet Japonic on TV as well as the radio.  WZZM’s Take Five crew has invited Sweet Japonic back to perform live during their morning show.  The program begins around 8AM and the band will be on for a brief interview and performance.  Following their live performance on Take Five the band will be heading over to the WYCE studios for another on air interview and performance during the afternoon.   WYCE’s on air feature will include a more in-depth interview with the band and additional live and/or studio songs played on air. The exact time for the WYCE on air will be posted on our website shortly!

We’re working on additional on air performances for the band.  Keep an eye on our website for more updates!

SEPTEMBER CD RELEASE TOUR

In support of Where My Devils Go we’ve put together a small Midwest release tour in some of our favorite towns.  We’ll be kicking things off in Muncie, IN at Wuhnurth Festival and then heading to Milwaukee, WI, Terre Haute, IN, Chicago, IL, & then back home to Grand Rapids!  These shows will be the first place you can pick up your copy of Where My Devils Go!

CD Release Tour
Sept 11-13 Wuhnurth Festival - Muncie, IN (Performing Friday 7PM - Mainstage)
Sept 16 The Wicked Hop - Milwaukee, WI
Sept 17 The Verve - Terre Haute, IN
Sept 18 Tonic Room - Chicago, IL (w/s/g Daphne Willis)
Sept 19 The Intersection - Grand Rapids, MI (17+, w/s/g Southpaw Players & Simien The Whale)

FALL TOUR

We have plenty more in store beyond September!  Our entire fall schedule will be posted immediately following our CD release.  Sweet Japonic will be traveling all over the Midwest hitting some of our favorite rooms and we plan to head out east again before winter hits!  Keep an eye out for a fall tour announcement next month.  You’ll have the chance to celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with Sweet Japonic!

Check our website calendar for the most up to date tour dates!

CALLING ALL COLLEGE STUDENTS & ALUM

If you’re a student or recent graduate of Aquinas, Calvin, Hope, Davenport, WMU, GRCC, or any other area university, we could use your help!  Email matt@sweetjaponicmusic.com and we’ll make it worth your while!

Lucas

Midway Cafe - Boston, MA

Rocking out Midway

Rain Storm in New York

After only 5 days on the road, we’ve played 5 shows, covered nearly 1400 miles, and had some pretty crazy adventures.  We’ll continue to keep everyone updated throughout the tour.  Here is a little recap of the last few days.

We set out early Tuesday morning for our East Coast tour.  For those who don’t know, we’re the proud new owners of a 1998 Winnebago RV!  We loved the band van, but the RV is making life a whole lot easier on the road.

The New RV at Dan Walkers House in NH

Our State-Of-The-Art Shower

Sam Ironing on Freeway

After our 15 hour trip out East, we kicked things off with an outdoor concert w/ our good friend Dan Walker.  The following night we joined Dan again at The Press Room in Portsmouth, NH.   The Press Room was truly a great place to play!

View from Roy’s Kit before BBQ Show

The RV at The Press Room - Portsmouth, NH

After a couple great gigs with Dan Walker, we moved on to play 3 acoustic shows in a row.  We started with Thirty-One Main in Ayer, MA, drove straight to Montpelier, VT in the middle of the night to play at the Capital City Farmers Market, and then drove down to Saugerties, NY to play at The Dutch Ale House.

Thirty-One Main - Ayer, MA

SJ Acoustic in Montpelier, VT

After our early morning gig in Montpelier, VT, we had some time to kill before heading to Saugerties, NY.  It just so happened there there was a naked bike ride scheduled for Saturday in Montpelier.  At the last minute 3 well endowed “members” of Sweet Japonic decided to participate in the Nude Bicycle Ride!!! No joke!!!  We won’t name those 3, but you can all guess who…

Hanging Out Down State St - Montpelier, VT

We’ll keep you updated throughout the rest of the tour!  We hope to see you all Saturday June 27 at our Tour Homecoming Party at Founder’s Brewing Co. This will be our last full band, public performance in Grand Rapids until our CD release in September.  More details coming soon!

All you have to do is click on the link below and sign up to vote. It only takes a minute or two and you won’t get any unwanted emails for signing up. You’re allowed to vote once per hour from now until June 21st. We’re encouraging fans to set their homepage to our contest page. It’ll be a nice reminder to support the band every time you log on.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/fox_rocks/fox_rocks_pqrs/Sweet_Japonic

Lets show Rothbury how great our fans are! Vote vote vote!

Thanks everyone!

PS - We head out on our east coast tour in a week. Please help spread the word!

-Sweet Japonic

This Saturday Sweet Japonic will be taking the stage at Billy’s Lounge in Grand Rapids to celebrate the holiday weekend. Enjoy the long weekend with us and celebrate in style! This will be the band’s last performance at Billy’s until after the new album release in September.

Billy’s is one of our very favorite places to play and we’re going to miss playing there for the next few months. This show is sure to be something special! $6 gets you in the door if you’re over 21. Music starts at 9:30 PM.

Saturday May 23rd - 9:30 PM
Billy’s Lounge
1437 Wealthy St
Grand Rapids, MI
$6 Cover 21+

EAST COAST TOUR

Sweet Japonic’s first east coast tour is less than a month away! We’re all getting excited about the trip and looking forward to meeting some new fans and making new friends along the way. The band will be spending over 2 weeks playing shows in new areas. The full schedule is available below. If you have any friends or family in the areas where the band will be playing, please help by spreading the word.

We will be printing up new album samplers for the entire east coast trip. These CDs will have a few tracks from the new album for your listening pleasure. We’ll be giving away whatever discs we have left at our tour homecoming show at Founders in June. Be sure to stop by the merch table and pick up a freebie disc with some new tracks.

FESTIVAL ANNOUNCEMENT THIS THURSDAY

This Thursday we’ll be making a special festival announcement! We can’t give out any information as of yet, but information will be available on our website this Thursday. Head over to sweetjaponicmusic.com Thursday afternoon to find out what the big secret is!

JULY MIDWEST TOUR ANNOUNCED

We’ve recently announced new Midwest tour dates for July. We’ve decided to spend sometime this summer hitting some newer areas of the Midwest and playing a few festivals. The band will be playing Skinkfest in Bainbridge, OH, Mixer on the Mall in Kalamazoo, National Baby Food Festival in Fremont, MI, & performing at the Rosebud in Grand Haven, MI during Coast Guard Festival. The band will also be making their first appearances at Up Front & Co. in Marquette, MI and returning to Mikey’s in Milwaukee, WI. Complete details on our tour calendar.