I was in the pop punk band The Silver Heart Club from 2007 – 2014. Eau Claire may finally be getting recognized for its art and music now, but even in 2007 its music scene was a source of
community and inspiration that I will be forever thankful for.
We had our musical start at Molten’s Skate America, opening for bands like Sing It Loud, Write This Down, More Amore, Kyle & Savannah, Melby Street Convicts, Survive the Drive, and many others. It was during a time when MySpace was king and affordable home recording studios were just starting to pop up. We were free to make mistakes and grow along side some truly exceptional songwriters and performers. I learned a lot about fighting the good fight and what it feels like to make honest, intentional connections with a room full of strangers.
Today marks the 5 year anniversary of Rookie Card, my former bands first and only full-length album. To celebrate, I decided to dig up some abandoned footage and release a new music video for our song Four Minute Mile. To me, the song is a diluted daydream about life from the perspective of time. A silent observer that keeps infinite watch of the finite.To keep things light, the music video is a comedic nod to olympic runner Steve Prefontaine. It is a playful fantasy that explores a four minute foot race between rival runners and their quest to have the smoothest legs.
Thank you to everyone who ever came to a show, bought merch, or streamed us on Spotify.
And thanks to the all the bands that let us borrow gear or invited us to grab food and chat about music.
My name is Shasta. I am one of four children. My parents were married. From the outside, we seemed to be a big happy family. However, inside the walls of our home was a nightmare. At 8 years old, I got a black eye for not folding a towel the right way. At 13, we watched one of our siblings have a knife held to their neck. I also distinctly remember being hit with a plastic baseball bat and going to bed with out dinner often.
I lived in fear, my heart was empty and I was lost. When I was 14, I went into foster care for two years. I went back home when I was 16, but while there was no longer physical abuse, I didn’t feel loved. When I turned 18, I moved out and began living on my own. The years of abuse from my parents left me depressed. I kept my shades drawn, ate very little and only went out at night so I could avoid people.
During this time, MySpace was in its glory days. Music was every where, and you could easily find new great artists. I always enjoyed music because it was a place for me to escape from my life, which was not an easy task. I could find a song for every emotion and sing along without being ashamed of how horribly I sang. For a few years, music was a place where I found happiness, until I turned 21.
My brother Josh was the center of my family. He was the one who held us all together; The one who joked and laughed the most; The one who dropped what he was doing to help you; The one who gave you silly little gifts that were exactly you. He wasn’t just my brother. He was my best friend.
One night, Josh was headed home from a friend’s house. It was extremely foggy with a five foot visibility. As josh was driving, he came up to a train track crossing with no warning lights or arm bar. A train happened to be crossing the road while heading towards it. I talked to an officer who responded to the accident. He said he could barely see his flashlight beam a few feet in front of him. There were no skid marks on the road, which was an obvious sign that Josh never saw the train. At the young age of 20, we had to say goodbye to my brother.
That is when I stopped caring about music. This lasted for a few years. I still listened to music, but none of it hit my soul like it did before. One day, The Silver Heart Club came along and I turn it up really loud. I sang at the top of my lungs. I attended Bo and Steven’s album release concert and on my hour and a half drive home, I played their song “House Fire” on repeat as the tears flowed. I found the magic again. To be connected; to see how real it is…how real they are. To have a history, a story, a connection, a friendship with the two that put their music out there… to say that I am a fan of music doesn’t even touch how these songs have lit that fire again.
I remembered being in the back seat of the car with Josh leaning on each other to the song, “Lean On Me”. I thought about the two of us singing the country song, “Time Marches On” and recalled the lyric, “The only thing that stays the same is every thing changes”. All of those emotions came flooding in. Once again, I started seeking out new music; really listening to the words again.One song changed my life around. The pain lays dormant in my heart and shows itself every now and then. There are songs that drag me back to that pain; thinking back to the times when Josh was still here.
I lost my will to sing for four years, afraid to hear songs that Josh and I sang together. Afraid to hear a few words in a song that would reduce me to tears. Thank you Bo and Steven for being brave enough to stand up in front of us and let your voices be heard. Some days music saves me, and some days it breaks my heart. Don’t stop singing, because I will always be listening.
-Shasta
This is the only photograph Shasta has of her and Josh together.
One of the easiest ways you can show your support for local music is by hitting the play button on Spotify. To make things even easier, we’ve created our own “Top 40” playlist to get you familiar with the scene.
The Silver Heart Club play an acoustic version of Lullabyes at the District Company in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Get this song and more at iTunes: www.itunes.com/thesilverheartclub
The show Community returned to NBC January 2nd at 8/7c! In celebration of this great triumph, we made a tribute video to Troy and Abed’s “La Biblioteca Spanish Rap”.
The Used, Taking Back Sunday Announce Co- Headlining Tour
The Used and Taking Back Sunday have announced a co-headlining U.S. tour this spring. Along with the tour both bands will be releasing new albums as well. The Used will be releasing Imaginary Enemy on 04/1/2014 and Taking Back Sunday will be releasing Happiness Is on 3/18/2014.
These two bands have been around for quite some time now, long enough to have been the influence for many bands that are now a little more fresh to the scene. I’ve seen both of these bands perform over the years, and always look forward to seeing them when I get the chance. To celebrate this upcoming tour, I’ve created a playlist on Spotify of the songs I think would be awesome to hear live.
Said Kelley- Excerpt From “The Only Place I Belong”
“… Starving artist,
we throw the term around so carelessly
not realizing the oppression that exists in this community,
artists starving for time to create.
Gifted and equipped people oppressed by the nine to five,
punching their time card,
going through the predictable motion so very contrary to their nature.
Creation is a part of them,
and when it goes untapped it begins to rot
and the thoughts ideas and inspirations begin to fade
and the audience that actually needs to hear,
dissapears…”
“Mama, How Does The Wind Start To Blow” Book Review
We are very lucky to know the wonderful Mrs. Jeanne. She has been a kindergarten teacher for the last 30 years in Menomonie, WI, and has recently published a children’s book called “Mamma, How Does The Wind Start To Blow”. We are very proud to share a great review she recently received from Midwest Book Review. If you are interested in picking up a copy you can visit her website.
“Mama, How Does The Wind Start To Blow” is aptly subtitled “A Counting Story That Will Blow You Away!” Filled with creative, brightly decorated, mixed media and collage-like illustrations of leaves falling, fireflies blinking, horses swishing their tails, frogs leaping and sunflowers shedding their seeds, this counting song-like story will grip the imaginations of children age 3-6 everywhere. The answer to the title question comes after a wide variety of other possible sources for the wind blowing have been imagined and explored, from one moon rising to 10 sunflower seeds falling : “It’s simple. Wind starts when a Mother blows an, “I Love You: kiss to her child. Catch it! This wind is for you! ….Catch it! This wind is for you!” Thus the child or reader is actively engaged in the mystical process of linking imagination to reality. The appeal is magical. To underline learning the counting process, the final few pages repeat with ritual embellishment and repeated images the counting numbers and objects, such as one moon, two stars, three leaves, four horses, etc. A final leaping frog asks cheerily, “Got Wind?” “Mama, How Does the Wind Start to Blow” is an irresistible combination of art, poetry, logic, and math. This book deserves an award for stimulating creative learning approaches.
Cute Is What We Aim For- Fourth Drink Instinct, performed live acoustically by The Silver Heart Club.
Listen to originals by The Silver Heart Club on iTunes.
