January 2, 2001
As so many people in the music scene know, Slacker 77 in Myrtle Beach was a really great place to perform! Much of the thanks for that goes to Jeff Weathers who founded Slacker and got all the kids involved in the music scene! A Slacker show was always fun. Anyway, Slacker had to close as of Dec. 31. 2001 and we were blessed to play the last show there along with New Pop Solution, Beloved and Shutter. We closed out the place with a awesomely fun, fun time!!! To anyone who was there, you guys were great! We thought the floor was going to fall in from all the rockin' and we had to have people hold our amps on top of the speakers so they wouldn't fall from all the movement, but what a blast! I think you all almost did "bring the house down"!
To back track a little, Chrome Donuts went thru a lot of changes this past year and Matt, Ben, and David hadn't played together since May, 2000. When Matt left the band in May, Joel Chastain took over as drummer, but the band quickly went thru several changes with David, Ben, and Joel being offered the opportunity to perform in Jeremiah's Grotto(see below). Matt was taking a break working at home in his dad's body shop and playing weekend shows with New Pop Solution. Anyway, the guys remained closed friends, and when Jeff Weathers from Slacker asked them to do a reunion show before Slacker closed - well, how could they refuse Jeff? So, they said OK and that's how it all happened. Added to the band was Larry Jones, guitariest from New Pop Solution. The guys had a blast and you just never know - you might be hearing more from them in the future! You just can't keep punk down!
THE LATEST, EXCITING, HOT BREAKING NEWS!
As many of you know, Chrome Donuts went thru a change in June of this year, when Joel Chastain, who was a former band member of Delivery Boy, joined us. We also, shortly after that, decided that it was time to change our name. So, we debated it all, and eventually changed our name to Thru It All. Well, that was cool. We made the big change over at Cornerstone, July 6th. We felt like God was doing something different with the band and that we needed to make a name change. While at Cornerstone, we also met up with Chris from Jeremiah's Grotto and heard that his band members were all leaving for one reason or another (nothing bad, just moving on to different things). We had been praying about adding another guitar player, so we offered it to Chris. But what Chris suggested really blew us away. He said that since we were already adjusting to a name change, why not join Jeremiah's Grotto and play with him. This all happened over the course of the month. After we had already decided "no", we ended up spending some time with Chris (he lives in the same area as our new drummer, Joel), and something just clicked. We said "no", but God said "yes". So now we find ourselves, Jeremiah's Grotto. We are risking it all for what we feel God wants us to do.
We've taken time to write all of this crazy stuff down to all of you so that you will understand our hearts. We desire to serve God in all that we do and we try our best to listen to Him and to what He has for us. We may have sort of missed the boat with the first name change. We knew we needed to change the name, but it wasn't in the way we thought. God had a different plan. We want all of our former Chrome Donut fans and Thru It all fans to know that its still us improved, refined, but still us!
God put our band together from the start. We weren't friends before we met and started Chrome Donuts. God put us all together and has continued to refine and form the band. We still know how to play Chrome Donuts songs. And we've learned old Jeremiah's Grotto songs.
But, best of all, you'll hear songs from a band that God has put together, totally sold out to Him, and expectant as to what He might do from this point on.
We love our fans! Without you guys, we can't do much at all. We appreciate your support and understanding. We've taken you on this crazy ride with us and hope that you'll stick with us to the end.
Phillippians 3:12-14 "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
You can access Jeremiah's Grotto web site at: jeremiahsgrotto.com
It will be under construction for a while, but should be up and running soon. You can also check out our band information at http://www.screaminggiantrecords.com New tour dates will be posted soon.
Until we get out guest book up and running on the new web page we'll be checking back to the Chrome Donuts and Thru It All pages to read your comments. We'll be recording a new album in September and Star Struck Promotions is currently booking a fall tour for Jeremiah's Grotto which will take us from the east coast to the west coast and back again! If you want to book a show on that tour, or would just like to write to us, you can send your e-mail to starstruckpromotions@mindspring.com They will be sure it gets to us.
