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Ludo

Hello, this is Andrew Volpe from the rock band Ludo. We're from St. Louis and so is Chuck Berry. BLAM! Ludo was invented in my brain sophomore year of college, when I finally accepted that all I wanted to do in life was rock. Despite inherent pressures to do something more "adult," I grabbed my bassist-friend Dave by the face and we resolved to attack rock with all the fury of a mountain-sized hellcat. Shortly thereafter, we intercepted "Tim Ferrell": an aspirator with a predilection for shredding. We joined forces, came up with the name Ludo, and started writing as much as we could whilst finishing college in different states. Amidst the strain of these lean years, Dave eventually succumbed to the charms of a succubus and perished… and then there were two. We were Ludo: the acoustic duo. Tim graduated (I otherwise unmatriculated), and we moved 400 miles away from St. Louis into a $300/month house in downtown Tulsa, where we knew nobody, had no income and could rock with no distractions. And by "rock," I mean "hover over my space heater in isolation and sadness." Regardless, we had one rule: play a show every night. No matter what. Whatever we could sneak, beg, or claw our way onto. These consisted of open mics to mostly no one, college shows to hopefully someone, and the rare club shows to really anyone. Enter Tim Convy. He had known Tim Ferrell from previous bands in high school and was just hanging out in Columbia, Missouri, waiting for an unproven rock group to ask him to drop everything, join them, and play an instrument he'd never even seen. So we hooked him up. We gave him a moog, told him to figure out how to play it, and had he come out on our acoustic "tour" with us. Armed with a sloppy 3-song demo, we hit the road in my Camry, completely misusing the overdraft protection on my empty checking account to pay for gas and food. We traveled from Texas to New York to Florida, sometimes playing several open mics in a night, and promising everyone we'd be back in a few months, touring with our full band (that didn't exist) and selling our full-length record (that hadn't been recorded). Ha. Stupid! Re-nestled in our Tulsa hideyhole in the summer of 2003, it was time to put our money where our mouths had been – and our mouths had been all over. We mounted the internet with an ad titled, "Drummer/Bassist Needed to Help Take Over World." The finer points: drop out of school, quit your job, dump your girlfriend, and move in with a band. Apparently that sounded appealing. Bassist Marshall Fanciullo left Omaha, drummer Matt Palermo left Houston, and they both moved down to Tulsa into our smarmy abode. Five dudes. Nine-hundred square feet. Craptastic. Three weeks (some practicing, and a lot of kickball) after having met each other, we entered the studio to record Ludo's debut album. We cranked it out in roughly 14 days and hit the road. Our first full band show was on August 8, 2003 at a bar in Indianapolis. It was bad. And I mean, wow. One in the morning, the sound was awful, the drum set was sliding across the floor, the crowd was drunk/wanting to fight us, and we played like grizzly bears. No one could say we weren't earning it. Or I guess they could, but that would make them a douche. A few hundred shows later, we had tricked a bunch of people into liking us. Buttressed by this unjustified success, we released an EP called "Broken Bride" in August of 2005: your run-of-the-mill, time-travel odyssey spanning from the Dawn of Time to the Apocalypse. Pterodactyls, zombies, the extermination of mankind… a love story. It seemed to give us quote-unquote "street cred." And by street cred, I mean it made it harder for people who hate things (dudes in chatrooms, college music columnists, assholes) to hate us too. Our dreams were realized. But we were exhausted. Between passing out flyers, mailing t-shirts, arranging interviews, booking tours, e-mailing venues, myspacing fans, fixing equipment, calling promoters, maintaining the van, preparing tax returns, designing merch, updating the website, and anything else you could imagine a band not doing, we hardly even had energy to play shows anymore. We needed help; but there was nary a label lord in sight nor a Ludo-whisper on the lips of an industry underling. This was a great injustice (overstatement). So we started playing awkward showcases and going out to ridiculously expensive dinners with important-looking people. And I guess we worked on writing the album too. When we weren't eating like magistrates of course. When the surf-and-turfs had settled, Ludo was thrilled to sign with Island Records in October 2006. We celebrated by high-fiving and hitting the studio at the beginning of 2007 with producer Matt Wallace (Maroon 5, Faith No More, a real winner) to record our major-label debut. Matt quickly settled any disagreements by pointing at his platinum records on the wall and saying, "Recognize." Eight weeks in Los Angeles was all Ludo needed to gestate their healthiest, most-ten-toed musicbaby yet. The genius was just sloughing off our brains. Man, why weren't we doing this "signed" thing all along? we rhetorically asked our bio. No response. Ludo's new album "You're Awful, I Love You" came out better than any of us could have hoped for. As a record, it combines the pop sensibilities of our first album with the darkness and adventurous storytelling of Broken Bride, and takes the combination thereof far beyond the scope of either, into a veritable uber-world of extremo-rock, where time is naught and babies burp themselves. When people hear this album for the first time, they will most likely be so moved that they defecate out a perfect, sentient, life-size clone of themselves, feel compelled to murder it, hide the body, and then never speak of it again. So watch out. Back out on the road after such a distastefully long hiatus, Ludo is kicking ass (not literally) and taking e-mail addresses (literally), delivering the same face-melting, sing-along, power-explosion rock show for which we'd become mildly recognizable in certain small demographic pockets of the middle third of the United States. And as we re-embark on this mission, we rededicate ourselves to our motto, vowing to continue to "entertain people without making them dumber." Except this time, we're doing it for all the wrong reasons.

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Sep 04, 12:20 PM

If you only read one Ludo newsblast for the rest of your life, make it this one.

Alright, there's been quite a bit of news lately so we figured we'd put it all in one place and try to summarize as best as we possibly could. PLEASE read the WHOLE thing before you go back and click all those links! It's all important!

TWO NEW ALBUMS....kinda.

First and foremost, we're RE-RELEASING our 1st two albums on September 29th. For those that don't know, we made two albums before we put out You're Awful, I Love You. They were only available at shows, online, and in a few stores in St. Louis. But on TUESDAY, September 29th those two albums will be available everywhere.
Our first album (beautifully pictured above) is called Ludo. I know it's a weird word, right? We originally released it in 2003. It has songs that you've probably heard at shows like "Hum Along" and "Good Will Hunting by Myself". (LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxRCDmHwlEQ You can hear those on our myspace page. BUT, even if you've got the original, we've made a few changes. We remixed the album and mastered it for the 1st time ever. (These are basically 2 things that make music sound WAY better that we were unable to do when we made the record in the first place because we were dumb kids.) We also added a 12th track called "Elektra's Complex". And then we kept going. We added a 2nd disc. It's a live recording of 10 songs from our 1st Birthday show on August 4th, 2004 in St. Louis. So you've got 2 discs, but it will only cost as much as 1, hence BONUS disc. Anyway, check this album out. It's what started this crazy life of ours.
Our second release is called Broken Bride. It's technically and EP, but it's nearly 30 minutes of music with one song clocking in at over 8 minutes. It's a rock opera, 5 songs that tell a story - a really weird, intense and emotional story. It's about a guy who loses his wife in a car accident so he spends 15 years creating a time machine so he can go back and save her. The time machine malfunctions and an adventure ensues involving dinosaurs, zombies, angels and a dragon. If you've seen us live, you've probably heard at least a song or two from Broken Bride. If you check out our myspace page,(LINK: http://www.myspace.com/ludorock you can hear "Part I: Broken Bride", the song that gets the story started. We've always been pretty pleased with how this one sounds so it's pretty much the same as the original with slightly different packaging. Keep an eye out for BRAND NEW MUSIC VIDEO for one of the songs on this album. It will be premiering soon and we're sure that will go down as one of the coolest things we've done. Anyway, we grew a ton as a band making this record, and after its release started playing to more and more people. We think you'll like it.

So remember that date TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29TH. Your best bet to find these things in a store is going to be your favorite cool record store (which you should support) or BEST BUY (LINK: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=cat12090&type=page. So hit one up and grab 'em both. It will also be available on iTunes and all those great places, BUT... if you don't want to mess with any of that and you want 'em brought directly to your home, you can PRE-ORDER RIGHT NOW. We've got special packages in our MERCH STORE (LINK: http://merchdirect.com/ludo where you can order and get exclusive T-shirts. Just order them both now and you won't have to worry about it later, you know?

THE BROKEN BRIDE TOUR

Bad News: We're only playing 9 shows between now and the end of the year.
Good News:
a. We're playing music from all three of our albums and we'll be playing Broken Bride in its entirety.
b. Most of the shows are on weekends so it's easy to road-trip
c. We tried to spread out the shows all over the country so we wouldn't be too far for anyone.
d. these shows are going to be ridiculous
Here they are:
(Click the links to BUY TICKETS)
Oct 16, 2009 THEATER OF THE LIVING ARTS PHILADELPHIA, PA (http://www.livenation.com/edp/eventId/411000 )
Oct 17, 2009 HIGHLINE BALLROOM NEW YORK, NY (http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=2180514
Oct 22, 2009 THE PAGEANT ST LOUIS, MO (http://www.livenation.com/edp/eventId/411004
Oct 23, 2009 THE BOTTOM LOUNGE CHICAGO, IL (http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=2188574
Oct 24, 2009 THE BLUE NOTE COLUMBIA, MO (http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/060042EEDE0696AE
Nov 6, 2009 TROUBADOUR LOS ANGELES, CA (http://www.ticketmaster.com/Ludo-tickets/artist/934659
Nov 7, 2009 THE GLASS HOUSE POMONA, CA (http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/090042F1CBFD80A4?brand=theglasshouse )
Nov 13, 2009 THE DOOR DALLAS, TX (www.thedoorclubs.com/tickets.html )
Nov 14, 2009 WAREHOUSE LIVE HOUSTON, TX (http://warehouselive.frontgatetickets.com/choose.php?pl=728&lid=34640

Joining us on this tour will be:
Ha Ha Tonka hahatonkamusic.com/
Meese meesemusic.com/
and Without a Face - myspace.com/withoutaface
Please check 'em all out. More info to come on those bands in future emails.
And if we're not coming ANYWHERE near you, and you don't care about the re-releases because you already know those songs, perhaps you should meet...

THE NEW HEATHERS
As many of you know, we've had a lot of time off this year and Tim, Tim, and Matt drummed up a little side project in this time off. Basically we started a band called The New Heathers as a home for songs of Tim Ferrell that didn't really fit Ludo. On You're Awful, I Love You Tim wrote "Topeka" and he wrote and sang the hidden track "Boat Song" so if you like Ludo, and you like that stuff, you'll probably like The New Heathers. But you can decide for yourself! By the time this email goes out, the 1st TNH song, "Agatha" should be up on the myspace page, www.MySpace.com/TheNewHeathers (LINK: http://www.myspace.com/thenewheathers There will be 6-song EP called The Fuel, The Fire, The Spark which should be available by the end of the month. Oh, and The New Heathers will be playing tour dates too, so if you can't make it to a Ludo show Tim, Tim, and Matt would love to see you at one of these shows. We'll be playing The New Heathers shows with the same bands as the Broken Bride Tour. And by the way, we have no intention of this getting in the way of Ludo. We hope we get to play more TNH shows and make more albums but only when Ludo has down-time. So enjoy!
PLEASE join us on:
MYSPACE (http://www.myspace.com/TheNewHeathers
FACEBOOK (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-New-Heathers/119289943418?ref=ts

Tour dates for The New Heathers w/ Ha Ha Tonka, Meese, and Without a Face:
Oct 18 - Harper's Ferry - Boston, MA (http://www.venuevents.net/event/483
Oct 20 - The Basement - Columbus, OH (http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0500430DFD049172?brand=promowest
Oct 21 - Mac's Bar - Lansing, MI
Oct 25 - Sokol Underground - Omaha, NE (http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/06004319A05C8194?artistid=1354146&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1
Oct 26 - The Granada - Lawrence, KS (http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0600430EB1BEA02A?artistid=1354146&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1
Oct 27 - The Picador - Iowa City, IA (http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=2526304&REFERRAL_ID=tmfeed
Oct 28 - Triple Rock - Minneapolis, MN (http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/06004311D91FAD0A?artistid=1356996&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=1
Nov 1 - The Black Sheep - Colorado Springs, CO - (http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=2516414
Nov 4 - V2 - Salt Lake City, UT (http://ev8.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventInfo?ticketCode=GS%3ADATATIX%3ACLUB09%3AV2NH1104%3A&linkID=datatix&shopperContext=&caller=&appCode=
Nov 9 - Martini Ranch - Scottsdale, AZ (http://www.ticketweb.com/snl/VenueListings.action?venueId=18409
Nov 10 - Club Congress - Tuscon, AZ
Nov 12 - Emo's - Austin, TX (http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=2501144

These shows are at smaller clubs and should be pretty intimate and lots of fun. Tim, Tim, and Matt would love to see you.

BUILDING ROME

Remember Building Rome? You may have seen 'em play a few of our hometown shows over the years. Well, they're releasing an album called Nightmare. Tim and Tim played some guitars and Moog on the album and you just might dig it. They're also playing a BIG release show at The Pageant on September 18th. Opening that show will be our pal Without a Face ( LINK: myspace.com/withoutaface ) so GO TO THIS SHOW and get there EARLY. There's a good chance you will love both these bands. All the info you need is at http://www.myspace.com/buildingrome

In closing, we hope you remember all this crap. Feel free to forward this along to friends so they can help you remember. Check all the stuff below, and make sure you're on our myspace page, facebook, and twitter. We'll keep you informed. Can't wait to see you all at these shows. Now go pre-order!!! (http://merchdirect.com/ludo

Ludo
Jun 03, 05:34 PM

What's going ohhhhhhhhhnnnnn?

hello people who are on our mailing list, myspace, etc!!!!
Here's some stuff...
Pointfest was awesome. It was great to be home, great to play a
show, and great to see all that trash up in the air again. We were
planning on posting some pictures, but we can't find any. So if you've
got some - send 'em!! Band@LudoRock.com

Sadly, Pointfest was the last show that we'll play for a while, but
happily it's because we're working on writing new songs!! We're
taking our time, but we've got a few right now and there will be
plenty more. Right now the plan is to START recording our next album
before the summer is over. All this stuff takes time, so don't expect
a new Ludo album this year. However, we do have some interesting
things that we're trying to pull off for the fall. We need to talk to
all the people we hire to keep us in check and see what we can
actually pull off, but if all goes well we'll be announcing some
things in the next month or so. A tour? New shows? New music? What is
it? RELAX.

How am i going to find out about all this stuff? I want to hear about
the new songs! I want to know what's going on in the studio! I want to
know what the hell is happening in the fall! We told you to relax.
There are lots of ways to be in the know. At the bottom of this email
you'll find some links that will keep your asses looped in. Facebook,
myspace, all that. But please, for just a moment - let's talk about
twitter.

http://twitter.com/LudoRock

There it is. Go to it. Sign up. We'll be on there. That's probably the
1st place a lot of this big news is going to get dropped. (And lots of
small news too, like how long it's been since Convy has showered.
(only 48 hours!)) But make sure you're on the facebook and myspace
pages too. Some things are little too big to be....uh...tweeted.

Ludo Ninjas
If you want to sign up and help Ludo execute all the bad ideas we're
coming up with, now is the time! Click HERE-

Alright, that's all for now. Stay sharp out there.

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