The Nearly Deads: Exclusive Summer 2014 Tour Journal with frontwoman Theresa Jeane (Part 2)

What’s up zombies? Writing from a sweet Motel 6 somewhere in Florida… it’s been a HOT couple of days! Last we left off we were heading down to South Carolina. We played in West Columbia at a place called New Brookland Tavern. It was soooooo hot that day, we were literally soaking with sweat as we loaded in. However, the venue itself was sick! As soon as I walked in I noticed a painting of the cover art for Brand New’s Deja Entendu and I knew it was a good fit for us. Looking around you could see all kinds of posters from bands who had played there in the past that had since made it big… Against Me, Off With Their Heads, even In This Moment! And now, The Nearly Deads! hahaha Every band that played that night was great, the bartender was awesome, and we had a great crowd. Can’t wait to come back!

After that show we had another day off on our way down to Orlando. Having just ended a successful Kickstarter campaign with over 250 donors, we had a LOT of work to do on our day off. We spent the day looking for shipping supplies, signing copies of our new album for our backers, packing them up and addressing over 100! We didn’t even scratch the surface of the rewards! There’s still so much left to do! It’s really hard to manage everything, FROM THE ROAD! We mapped out a route to a post office – and the location ended up being permanently CLOSED! FAIL.

Since we do everything ourselves, and we have no real home right now, it takes quite a bit of effort and logistics behind the scenes to make this all possible. We are so fortunate to have so many amazing fans. They truly give meaning to what we do and we are so appreciative of each and every one of them. We raised over $13,000! So we did what we could for the day and kept pressing on.

The next show at Bombshell’s Tavern in Orlando was one for the books! I lived in Florida for 6 years, and our lead guitarist, Steven Tobi, was born and raised in Tampa. We started playing music a few years ago and TND was born! So- needless to say, this was basically a homecoming show! Parents, best friends, cousins, my stepsister, old roommates…you name it – they came out! And then there were the awesome fans, too! Soooooo many amazing new friends. Talk about a hectic evening! I spent half the night just meeting and greeting, I couldn’t look one way or the other without someone calling my name, asking for a photo, or waving hello! These are the nights we live for. We loved the first band of the night, Bothering Dennis…they did a Blink 182 covered and KILLED it! Can’t wait to play with them again. We ended up talking the night away, practically closed the bar out, and then spent the night at my best friend’s house! It was SO nice to have a little girl time! Between her and my step-sister, I left with two huge goodie survival bags full of makeup, shampoos, soaps, and lotions! YAY for girls!

The next day we headed down to Miami to play the Super Summer Jam at the Hard Rock Cafe. We stopped by Village Inn on the way…if you’ve never eaten there it’s probably because they don’t have them everywhere. They don’t have them in Nashville, so we HAD to stop in! It’s basically like a better version of Denny’s (Sorry Denny’s, you know we love you and your free WiFi) that also has PIE. We hauled ass down to Miami to find out that 2 bands had dropped off the bill and we had to be onstage like, immediately. Now THAT was a hectic eventing. People were scrambling everywhere! We showed up, loaded on, and played an awesome set for the people of Hard Rock! We were literally set up on a stage in the dining room, where I guess they normally have cover bands…so it was a little weird for us, but I still got them up out of their seats, fist-pumping and circle-pitting. Ok, maybe there wasn’t a circle-pit…

We treated ourselves to a motel that night, and woke up in gorgeous, sunny Miami. We left with one goal: get to the beach! We drove East and figured it out. To all the bands out there, just remember that there is literally NEVER anywhere for you to park. A van and trailer, or RV, or bus, or Sprinter….I mean, cities hate you. Leave yourself some extra time. We FINALLY bribed a guy to let us pay to take up two spots in what seemed like the only open lot near the beach. When we finally got down to South Beach, it blew us away! I’ve been to a lot of beaches – Clearwater, Daytona, Wildwood, Long Beach…and this was up there with the best of them! Will Smith wasn’t lying, the water was really so clear you could see to the bottom. We spent the day getting sunburned together, and now we’re in Ft. Meyers gearing up for our interview with Music Mix USA tomorrow! Only a couple shows left on this tour, but with release day on Tuesday, June 24th, they should be CRAZY!

We spent years getting ready to release this album, and there’s a lot that goes into producing it yourselves. We are so thankful to everyone who has supported us, and we can’t wait to share our brand new music with you! See you on the road!

Check out the song “Brave”