Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

ch-scene - HOBEX farewell show NYE at the Cradle

ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: RTP-area local music and culture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Grumphreys <humphreys.greg AT gmail.com>
  • To: ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: HOBEX farewell show NYE at the Cradle
  • Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2007 15:15:59 -0800 (PST)

Hey. Thought some of the a-m-ch'illers and lurkers might want to know
about our gig coming up on Monday night. Hope to see you there -

from our website/newsletter:
"Big news from the HOBEX camp: we are taking an indefinite hiatus
after our NYE show at the Cat's Cradle ($10 in advance, $12 at the
door.) After 11 years, we are stepping away from being a full-time
touring group. This is not to say that we won't be playing any more
gigs - in fact, we hope to play some festivals in '08. We may very
well re-appear as a touring band in the future under different
circumstances. For now though, this is a decision we've had to make.

Although we have had a great sixty gig tour in '07 in support of our
Enlightened Soul CD, the past few years have been tight financially.
It's just become too difficult to keep the band rolling as a full-time
effort. We do get to play firing-on-all-pistons shows for great
crowds, and don't think that we are not very appreciative of that
fact! Unfortunately, the percentage of our shows that are like this
has not been sufficient to continue. That is hard to admit because I'm
a stubborn son-of-a-gun.

People are so inundated with every kind of media today that quality
stuff inevitably falls through the cracks. I had one friend at a radio
station recently tell me that she receives over 150 CDs a week! It's
not enough to be a unique band with great music. Factors like
marketing, timing, and luck are more important than ever in giving a
band the momentum to keep going; we've come up short on these counts
lately. There is no doubt that we have given it our best shot, though.
If you'll pardon another sports analogy, "we left it all on the
field."

We don't know what the future holds, but we'd like to sincerely thank
you again for your support this year and every year since we released
the first HOBEX CD, the payback EP, in 1996. I'm indebted to my
brothers Andy Ware, Dustin Clifford, and Russ Betenbaugh for their
hard work, musicianship, and most importantly friendship over the past
few years. I'd like to reserve a special thank you for Andy Ware, who
has been with me from the start. He has been as dependable as you
could ever expect from another human being and carried more than his
share of the weight. Thanks to the folks at Mongrel Music for keeping
us booked. I'd also like to thank the many amazing musicians that have
contributed their talents to our body of work over the years.

Jump on the HOBEX email list for news and updates on our various
goings on... we will continue to make the HOBEX mailing list worth
your time. Although we won't be keeping up our usual monthly touring
schedule, the mailing list will still be the best way to hear about
our special appearances and other projects.

We will also continue to make more live shows available from our huge
vault of live HOBEX recordings. These recordings cover the band
throughout our various stages: the original trio of '96 - '98, the big
band soul revue of '99 - '02, and the rock'n'soul quartet of '03 -
'07. Also look for the many demos, b-sides, and rarities we've
collected. Tthe latest show posted on Archive.org is HOBEX Live @ The
Bottling Company - Hattiesburg MS 10/25/07, featuring special guest
Robert Sledge (Ben Folds Five) on bass guitar. Hope to see you on NYE
-
Cheers,
Greg Humphreys"

http://hobex.com
http://myspace.com/hobex




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page