Hello Everyone-

I have a number of things to post in the news.

DragonCon

Firstly, I would like to say that Dragoncon went really well overall. The fan support and attendance at our show was so high that the fire marshal had to turn a very long line of people away. While we would have preferred to not be turning any fans or “potential fans” away at all, I guess you can’t do better than 100% occupancy. We apologize to anyone who was not let in.

Our street team (The Cruxshadows Fairies) did an outstanding job getting the word out and deserve a big thank you. We really appreciate all of you that worked so hard for CXS at the convention. We would also like to thank DragonCon for having us and treating us so well. We look forward to returning to DragonCon next year.

Here is a picture of this years CXS Fairies

Billboard

Quicksilver debuted at #7 on the Billboard Hot Dance Single Sales Chart, and #32 on the Billboard Singles Sales Chart. Unfortunately, based on our information, we should have charted a lot higher. It appears the sales from DragonCon were not included for reasons unclear to us. We are looking into the situation and will let you know what we find out. Despite this, I am happy to say that Quicksilver is the best selling single we have ever had in terms of its first week sales. It would have been nice if the industry had recognized the accomplishment.

Round and Round we Go…

Sometimes I feel like I am playing a game of musical chairs. Every time I turn around we are replacing another person. I know it’s hard on the fans… it’s also very hard on us as well. I really never know what to say exactly, and its an awkward place to be… telling our fan-base that somebody they are following is… well… out of the picture. Being part of Cruxshadows is a huge commitment. It requires time and energy and a love of the music that effectively makes it your number one priority. It’s not just about being liked or popular; it’s about wanting to be part of a team of people who are affecting lives globally. It’s hard work, and it requires sacrifice. It’s often stressful, economically challenging, and takes away from the time we have to give to our families, friends, and loved-ones. Most people who join up with us are not from Tallahassee and relocating to someplace far from home is not as easy as it sounds. The extended touring we do all over the world finds us often digging our sense of stability out of the consistency of our instability. Some people are better able to make the jump to this kind of life, and some people are unable to make the transition at all. Some people look at Cruxshadows as a stepping stone that will advance their career, and some people simply want to be part of something… Some people keep their thoughts, frustrations, and goals to themselves so that when they leave we are not even sure what has actually happened.

Having said that, we really didn’t get to know Holly Hasty as well as we would have liked, but she has notified us that she will not be dancing with Cruxshadows following her lone performance with us at DragonCon. As a result, Nichole Tadlock has once again agreed to dance for us on the Gothic Cruise. We have another dancer, Stephanie “Boris” Griffith, who will be joining us for the European and South American tour. We have known Stephanie for a few years. She is an excellent actress, singer, and dancer. She worked with Jessica on Cruxshadows Choreography and has been a supporter of the band behind the scenes.

She will unfortunately miss two or three shows in November when we are in the UK due to previous obligations. We will be looking for someone in the UK to stand in for these dates. If you know anyone in Great Britain who can learn choreography quickly and is willing to play the part, please email us.

If you are in the United States and you are a professionally trained singer and dancer, and feel Cruxshadows is something you might be willing to commit to: we will be taking applications in the hopes of finding a more permanent solution for 2010. In the meantime, a special thank you to Nichole and Stephanie for coming to our aid on such short notice.

Reverberations

Some of you may have heard of reverbnation.com. It’s a website designed to keep musicians in touch with their fans. ReverbNation has integrated a street team into their site- This means that when you choose to be a fan of a band, you can also choose to be a street team member. Doing so automatically provides us with your name and email address. We’ve decided to try out this function, and create a ReverbNation “street team mission”. Anyone who has signed up for the Cruxshadows street team will have access to special widgets that can be posted on websites, blogs, MySpace, or wherever the internet will allow. ReverbNation will track who’s widget gains the most verified fans. It will run for one month starting on September 28. At the end of the contest, whoever has been most successful at spreading the word (getting the most people to become fans of the band on ReverbNation) will be sent a T-shirt 🙂 The site is free to join, so why not give it a shot? Click on the banner below to be directed to the Cruxshadows ReverbNation page.

On The Radio- WE NEED YOUR HELP!

On Wednesday, September 30th, at 7:00 pm (Eastern Standard Time), a commercial radio station in Tallahassee, Florida, HOT 104.9, will do a short interview with me and play our new single Quicksilver. Getting commercial radio play, even in a market of only a few hundred thousand like Tallahassee, will really help the band and possibly lead to other stations “taking a chance” on CXS. It’s taken us a long time and more than a few attempts to make this happen, and we really need our fans to help. They will play the song on their “Love it or Lose it” segment. If enough people like it they will play it in rotation, and if people dislike it, well… that’s the end of it. What can you do? You can listen to the radio broadcast online, and vote with your m
obile phone.

The address for the live radio broadcast is http://www.hot1049.com/Listen-Live/3009483. After the song plays all you have to do is text the phrase “lol” (without quotations) to the number 68255 on your mobile phone. They will send you a response with directions on how to text back your vote. This keeps people from voting multiple times- unless you have more than one mobilephone. You know you could probably vote with a family members phone too… just saying;-) There is no additional charge for the text, only your normal text messaging rate applies. Remember, this is for Wednesday evening. Mark your calendars, set your alarm… you get the picture. We really appreciate it.

Problems with Quicksilver as a digital download

To all of you who had problems downloading the song Avalanche or the remix Quicksilver (Dancefloor Transformation) from the Quicksilver single online. A mistake was apparently made by whomever listed/converted the tracks causing Avalanche to be listed as Quicksilver Remix and vice versa. We informed them of the mistake weeks ago when the song first appeared, and although they have yet to be repaired in Zune & Rhapsody, the songs are now correct on Amazon and iTunes. We apologize for this embarrassing situation, we are working hard to get everything resolved.

Upcoming Dates

We are looking forward to the Gothic Cruise. If any of you are still thinking about coming… Don’t delay any longer! Click on the link to visit the Gothic Cruise Web Site. Oh, and don’t forget your Sunscreen:-)

Here is our new tour poster with the latest dates. Feel free to place it on your site.

That’s about all the news for now-
Don’t forget about the radio thing…

Live Love Be Believe

Rogue