Today, 8-8-8, we're releasing our latest single "Feel". It was one of the songs we introduced on our tour of the Middle East, to an amazing response. Since then, people have been begging for a release of this song.

So for all of you, here it is.

This release is arranged just like we play it live, and recorded in high-quality, better than what you could get from iTunes or any other music store. We've bundled it with an iTunes-quality version, and a digital download of the cover art.

This song is only available here, only available online, and only available now.

Listen to it, and if you're so moved, purchase the single right now.

http://www.reddingbrothers.com/2/music/

Our military tour of the Middle East resulted in a lot of amazing photos, including this one, taken in the building called "Taliban's Last Stand"; the last hiding place of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Now you can see those photos on Flickr. The link is now in the right sidebar.

On Saturday, we played at Paducah, KY's street festival "Downtown After Dinner". We had a great time, played some new songs, and met a girl who works at North America's only Dipping Dots Factory. The only other one in the world is somewhere in Korea.

I asked her about what it was like to work in a Dipping Dots Factory, and she confirmed my suspicion that it was liking working for Willy Wonka, complete with rivers of chocolate, Oompa Loompas, and magical candy. Oh, and spaceships, and flying horses. No wonder they call it the ice cream of the future.

Also at our concert were the stars of "Little People, Big World".

A wordle is a graphic representation of a certain text. Words that are used more often are bigger, etc. Here is the wordle of the lyrics to Unfaithful.

Click the thumbnail for the full-sized version.

Today we're doing a soft launch of our new website. All the old links and articles will still work, but typing in ReddingBrothers.com will bring you here. This new website is intended to be simpler, and give you a more direct route to finding the information you want. Let us know what you think in the comments.
-micah

PS. You can still get to the old website here:
http://www.reddingbrothers.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

I starting writing this on a long flight between countries in the Middle East. I hope you like it. - Micah
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When I was 5 years old, I heard someone say that time goes by faster as you age.

This bothered and puzzled me. WHY does time go by faster? How can you stop it?

As I grew older, I began noticing that this sad fact was true. Time WAS speeding up. I was young, but I could see my youth flashing before my eyes. If time was flying by like this NOW, what would it be like when I turn 70? Will decades be gone in the blink of an eye? Will my whole retirement seem like it lasts only months?

I think the sad answer is - yes. But I think I know WHY.

Time slips by based on how much attention you pay to it. If you don't pay attention, it's gone. If you do pay attention, moments last forever.

When you're young, everything is new. Every experience you have is a new experience, something to be wondered at and discovered. When I was very young, time didn't seem to pass AT ALL, because every moment was significant. The fact that my birthday was a whole year away was unfathomable; I was still experiencing an everlasting stretch of joy, just licking the candles.

Licking the candles lingered as if time didn't exist. Licking the candles was new and unique. But as I got older, experiences started repeating themselves. I got used to a weekly routine. I got used to travel, going to the store, watching TV, eating. I got used to Summer and Winter. Eventually I got used to having birthday after birthday.

With familiarity comes lack of attention. And as less and less is significant, time goes by faster and faster.

Sometimes time still slows down. "Time flies when you're having fun" is actually a way of saying, "time drags when you're miserable". When you're miserable, every little detail of your misery pops out at you. When the bus ride is uncomfortable, every jolt of the tires is beaten into your mind, and so because you PAY ATTENTION, every moment is significant, and 30 minutes on the bus seems like hours.

But for children, time always lingers. That's why children are magical. Everything is still worthy of attention, every Summer is still new.

And therein lies our path to salvation from the loss of time. Break the routine, destroy the familiarity of the moments.

If we stop paying attention because things become repetitive, we pay attention when things are unique. If you take a trip you've never taken, the first few days of that trip will stretch on and on. So have an adventure, take different routes, learn new things, teach yourself skills, start new relationships with people. Stop repeating the same experiences over and over again.

Time is attention, and attention is about NEW. So create NEW.

But you can also slow time in the ordinary and the mundane, because there is always more there than you know. To see it, you have to live in the details.

Experience the texture of the carpet and the walls. Drink in the color of mud puddles and the complex design of the swirls of gravel in the street. Taste your food before swallowing it. When someone talks, listen at all the levels you can. Pay attention. Cherish the moment. Watch the details. Make this moment significant.

Experience the significance already there.

That...is how you stop time.

On our trips around the globe, we meet many interesting people. Last night we met one who particularly did NOT like our style of music."You need to pack up and go back to Nashville," he told me as I was trying to do exactly that. "Your tempo wasn't worth a thing!"His actual words had more emphasis, and a few choice explicatives.In our concerts, we often play "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash. Growing up, Dad played it all the time, and we play a rendition of the way we learned it from him. Dad is the only reason we play that song, and for the record, he likes the way we do it.But this gentleman did NOT like the way we did it. He told us to go back and listen to the records again."You're in West Virginia now!" he yelled as he walked away.Apparently West Virginia has its on special way it wants to hear Johnny Cash.I should mention that many other West Virginians have expressed their intense love for the version we play, so I feel like this gentleman might not be representative of all West Virginians. Considering that West Virginia is the place of my birth, and the state where I first performed Johhny Cash, I feel inclined to defend my right to determine my own appropriate "West Virginia version" of Johnny Cash.The incident reminded me of the time I stopped at a diner in Ohio, and a man there found out I was in a band from West Virginia. So he asked what style of music we played. Upon hearing that we weren't bluegrass, he proceeded to throw the F word at me and my style of music.To me, bluegrass fans shouldn't be using extreme language. They should be sitting in their rocking chairs, drinking lemonade on a Summer day, enjoying the nice acoustic sounds of their favorite music.Not cussing out passing rock bands.

While we were in Bahrain, a small country in the Persian Gulf, our
guide took us out to eat an Arabic meal. I am glad we had a guide! The
language barrier, and the unfamiliar menu items would not have created
a great experience otherwise. But with our guide, the meal was amazing.
I want to eat Arabic right now, just thinking about it.

After that experience, our group felt like we were pretty comfortable eating in public places in Arabic countries.

So
when we were in the United Arab Emirates, and were invited to a meal,
we weren't worried at all. Despite some weirdness in the ordering
process, everything went well. Our food came, and it was reasonably
close to what we wanted.

Then came the end of the meal, and a strange gentleman in a funny
red hat came to our table. We couldn't understand his gestures, but he
began to lay very small cups in front of each of us. And like something from Willy Wonka, he tipped
his giant, convoluted, shiny silver coffeepot, and poured a
teaspoon-full of coffee in every one.

And then he waited. So we smiled and began to sip the coffee.

And he waited. Not knowing what to do, we started handing him the cups back. He began stacking them.

And still he waited.

So we thanked him, and then he thanked us, and turned. And as we
watched, he placed each of OUR cups down in front of other customers.
And they began to drink from them, without a sign of reluctance.

At
this point, all of us Americans were horrified. What strange custom was
this?! What other dishes did this restaurant not see fit to wash?

We chalked it up to a cultural misunderstanding. Until we asked some of our other Arabic acquaintances about this
custom. They too were shocked. So, um, where DID that custom come from?

Since it's Memorial Day, we want to give a shout out to all the guys and gals we met throughout this last month in the Middle East: Sgt. Campose and Daniel at Manas, KyrgyzstanThe MWR gang in Kandahar, Afghanistan Staff Sgt. Page in Bagram, Afghanistan K.B. and the guys at Al Udeid, QatarHussain Al Safar at Naval Support Activities in the Kingdom of BahrainWill, Ms. Johnson, and the guys at the New Cantina in Djibouti, DjiboutiFareed in Fujairah, UAESam and TMac at Ali Al Saleed in KuwaitThe commander at Camp Virginia for the eye protection (it really helped with the sand!)Thanks for the warm hospitality while we were there, and for all you guys did to make the show days run smoothly.But most of all, a big thank you to all the Soldiers, Sailors (what were you guys doing in the desert?), Airmen, and Marines who came out from their desert tents to listen to a rock band performing in a sandstorm. More than ever, we appreciate the good work you guys do 7 days a week. Thanks again,-The Redding Brothers (Micah, Josiah & Gabe)

On this trip, we've done a lot of traveling in military aircraft. And when you travel by military transport, you experience some things that make you feel a little bit, um, different. The following are taken from our travels so far.Things that make you feel warm & fuzzy on a military flight...10. Everyone else on the plane has mysteriously removed all badges, insignia, and any possible identifying marks from their uniforms, clothing, and bodies.9. The guy next to you says, "Wait, they didn't issue you any body armor?"8. As you board, the aircrew greet you with, "This is going to suck."7. It's a 7-hour flight, and what passes for a bathroom is permanently marked "Do Not Use".6. No one on your flight seems to know precisely WHERE the airplane is going, or when it will get there.5. Your flight entails "routine evasive manuevers" that involve the plane flying sideways.4. You keep checking out the window to make sure those manuevers really ARE routine.3. The wall next to you says, "In case of Emergency, cut here".2. The pilot reaches to grab a bag of chips, and the plane leans sharply to the right.1. The ride across the tarmac takes you past the burned remains of the last flight.

ROCK & ROLL CAN SAVE THE WORLD, ACCORDING TO ARMY COLONELThe Redding Brothers, a rock & roll band originally from West Virginia, are currently touring the Middle East, performing at military bases across multiple continents. And according to one Colonel, they just might be on their way to saving the world.In the country of Qatar, front-line troops who have been deployed for over six months get to take a brief 4-day leave, before heading back to the danger zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. So when The Redding Brothers walked on-stage at Qatar, their audience consisted entirely of soldiers normally exposed to heavy fire.Colonel Cotter, of the military base at Qatar, presented The Redding Brothers with a certificate of appreciation, thanking them for their contribution."If what [you say] is true, that Rock & Roll Can Save The World, then this is a good place to start," the Colonel stated.The Redding Brothers Middle East tour has taken them through war-zones in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, Bahrain, and Africa so far. They've traveled in military planes performing evasive manuevers, seen people living in mud houses in Afghanistan, and brought a little bit of America to people far from home."For us, this is really about getting to meet and talk to people. We've had late-night conversations with people who've seen things you just don't imagine seeing," stated Micah Redding, lead singer of the band. "They talk about how hard it is to convey their experiences to people back home. I feel like now, we've at least had a taste of it."And according to at least one Colonel, that may be how rock & roll starts to save the world.The Redding Brothers are a rock & roll band originally from West Virginia area, and currently based out of Nashville. They gained notoriety in 2007 for writing and releasing one new song every week for over a year, and for their large-scale shows at the Charleston Civic Center and in Huntington. The Redding Brothers are out to prove that Rock & Roll Can Save The World.For more information, see ReddingBrothers.com.

The Redding Brothers have been busy trekking across the Middle East, performing for military bases all over Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan  since leaving the United States on April 29. The concert locations have ranged from beside rocket bunkers to inside of large tents, and the brothers have met and performed for the US Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force, and the British, Canadian, Bulgarian, and Dutch coalition forces."One of the greatest things about this is the people we've met", Micah Redding, guitarist and lead singer, stated. "We've had conversations with people all over. Some of them talked about how nice it was just to hear about life in the states; others have mentioned how they really identify with some of the songs we're playing."The Redding Brothers also had the opportunity to venture a short distance outside an Army base in Afghanistan, and see some of the local children.But the flight into one of the bases was probably the most intense experience of the trip so far. As the military plane filled to capacity with soldiers came over the mountains and dropped onto the airfield, it swerved back and forth, ducking and spinning, to avoid becoming an easy target for rocket attacks."Rocket attacks are a real concern here in Afghanistan," Micah stated. "When we came on base, we were warned they had happened during concerts before."The Redding Brothers will be traveling to 5 more countries, including Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Quatar, before returning home at the end of May.See ReddingBrothers.com for more information.

The band finished up their 3rd concert of the tour last night at Kandahar, Afghanistan. At 11:30 a.m. local time they will be hopping on a plane and heading back to Baghram, Afghanistan for the last show in the country before heading out to Qatar. More coming, inlcluding photos & videos, when the guys get a little more time on the internet...-Doretta, Jamie, Micah, Josiah, and Gabriel, from a military barracks in the dustiest wasteland we've ever seen.

Here's our first update since we left the USA. We'll be posting more details of our trip later, but so far we've traveled through London and Armenia, and ended up in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Tonight (which is morning for most of you) we had a great show at the Manas Air Force Base, from 8pm -10:30pm. After the show, we packed up, and will be leaving here at 2:30am for Afghanistan.More to come...  -The Redding Brothers 

The Redding Brothers were one of the top stories on all the major WV Television Stations last night and this morning. Their send-off celebration and 25-day Middle East tour, were featured on WOWK-13, WCHS-8, and WVAH-11.You can read one of the news spots here:http://wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=37831Or watch it here:http://www.boomboxradio.net/And here's a bit of press about our sound "guy":http://news.clarion.edu/News/556.html