May 26, 2009
Superdrag in SPIN
 Superdrag are in the June issue of SPIN magazine. The band's ad is on page 105. There is also a little picture of John amid the SXSW coverage on page 96.
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May 15, 2009
"Aspartame" on Pitchfork TV
 If you haven't seen it yet, Superdrag's music video for the song "Aspartame" is up over at Pitchfork TV.
You can check it out here.
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May 8, 2009
Amplified by ABC
 Superdrag has been AMPLIFIED!
Check out the video interview on ABCNews.
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April 29
, 2009
New online review! A few new tour dates!
First off, there's a new online review at Chart Attack.
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 Tom Pappas' side-project Whip! will be playing The Basement on May 15 in Nashville.
If you ain't seen 'em yet, you gotta check it out! Tom brings the high energy rock to the bass and mic!
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 There are a pair of new shows scheduled! Superdrag will be returning to North Carolina and Georgia!
June 19: Milestone Club : Charlotte, NC
June 20: The Loft : Atlanta, GA
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April 24, 2009
Incoming from Illinois
There's more online press from Maryland & Illionis!
Blurt Oline (interview)
Chicago Sun Times (Really cool things...)
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April 21, 2009
Watch the Daytrotter performance! Online interviews & reviews!
There's a new video interview over at Brooklyn Rocks blog. Check it out here!
There's a slew of new online "reading material" to check out!
Brightest Young Things (interview)
Chicago Sun Times (album review)(scroll down)
Detour Mag (song review)
Patrol Mag (interview)
Phantom Tollbooth (show review)
Pop Tarts Suck Toasted (interview)
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On Friday, April 24th, Superdrag will record a session at the DayTrotter Studios prior to the show that night. If you want to be one of the 10 lucky fans to watch that special performance/recording, sign up to follow DayTrotter on Twitter. Hurry up and follow them because on Wednesday, fans who win will receive a tweet letting you know if you won!
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April 15, 2009
The Village Voice speaks on Superdrag! ABC News! The Boston Phoenix! New photos! Twitter!
 If you are Twitter user, you can now follow Superdrag and keep up with the band's activities. The band's username is superdrag_sound (and yes, that's an "underscore" between "superdrag" and "sound"). In fact, you may gain "special" info on how to sit in on the DayTrotter sessions if you decide to "follow" the Twitter page. Follow the "superdrag_sound" here.
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Wanna see what Superdrag has been up to? Not only are there pics of the guys on stage, but there are new photos of them out an about in New York, Brooklyn, and Boston. Check 'em out in the Images section.
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The Boston Phoenix featured the band a short while ago. Be sure to check it out here.
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 ABC News has a video feature on Superdrag. Check it out!
Quick Fix: Rock Star Saved By Jesus
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Rob Harvilla at The Village Voice has posted a fabulous article online. You can read the article here. In fact, we're so pleased with the piece that we're gonna copy it onto this page so you don't have to wait another second to read it! The following is taken from the Village Voice...
How Superdrag's Resurrection Really Feels
The Knoxville power-pop quartet mount a snarling, ferocious comeback, spiritual awakening notwithstanding
By Rob Harvilla
"I think our last show here was in 2003," muses Superdrag frontman John Davis Thursday night at Bowery Ballroom. "I was there!" hoots one amped-up crowd member. "You're old!" hoots another.
Assuming that first fan isn't a pathological liar, both of those things are true. Let's quickly dispense with the six syllables most commonly associated with this band: "Who sucked out the feeeeel-innnnng ?" The Knoxville power-pop quartet rose to prominence in 1996 with "Sucked Out," easily the most cynical hit of the alt-rock buzz-bin era—"In your eyes/You've already spread my thighs/And you're rockin' to the next big thing," etc. Their subsequent trajectory started out a bit clichéd (fan-beloved but unmarketable follow-up, dropped from major label, a couple of decent—and even more cynical—records for an indie), but soon thereafter took a series of abrupt, remarkable turns: Davis, in the throes of alcoholism, is overcome with the Holy Spirit while driving down the Interstate, cleans up, cuts two Christian-overtoned solo albums, then reconvenes Superdrag after a five-year hiatus, and puts out Industry Giants, easily the best rock record of 2009 to date. Which brings us back to the Bowery, where they're currently rampaging through the best rock show of 2009 to date, with a youthful vigor and exuberant ferocity they never had even back when they were on MTV all the time. That's Jesus for you.
"I don't want to slow down and mellow out just because we're old," Davis explains the next day, in a purring drawl wholly absent from his fantastically surly singing voice. "I'd like to counteract that. I'd like to fight against that current if at all possible. I feel better at 35 than I did at 25. Playing music that's more physical and kinda going at it harder—I like that."
Verily, it's Industry Giants' extreme physicality that immediately grabs you, Davis repeatedly howling "Slow to speak! Slow to anger!" as a sarcastic mantra/battle cry at the onset, a harbinger of highlights to come: the vicious crunch of "Cheap Poltergeists," the anthemic bombast of "Everything Will Be Made Right," the Thin Lizzy twin-guitar wheedling of "Ready to Go." As the Bowery fete ably proves, Superdrag's back catalog is loaded with power-pop bullets—such as the cheerfully bitter post-major-label plaint "Keep It Close to Me" ("I want rock 'n' roll but/I don't wanna deal with the hassle") or the moody, volatile "Do the Vampire," both killers tonight—but never before have they so emphasized pure power. Even "Nothing Good Is Real," an old, soft-edged, fairly standard grunge-era ballad, works itself into a stirring, screeching frenzy, an even more remarkable spectacle given that we're watching a born-again Christian sing his ass off on a song called "Nothing Good Is Real."
Giants is by no means a Christian-rock record, but hints of spiritual uplift abound, especially when you contrast it with Superdrag's last effort, 2002's Last Call for Vitriol, which at times uncomfortably detailed Davis's downward spiral: "Come on, baby . . . get me out of the bar," he moaned on "Feeling Like I Do," perhaps not yet realizing who "baby" referred to exactly. The difference now? "Well, there's hope," Davis tells me. "To sum it up in one word, there's hope. I think the last record was barely kinda hangin' on by a thread. There was kind of a hopelessness to it at times. I'd like to think—I choose to think—that all that is redeemed now. There's definitely a theme of redemption, and there's a lot of thanksgiving in this record as a result of that. There are definitely times where it's, straight up, a matter of giving thanks—for being alive, number one."
He cites "Live and Breathe," a rare moment of calm reflection on Giants, as a prime example, "where you're offering up thanks, just for the most basic phenomenon of being alive and walkin' and talkin' and still bein' around and for, ultimately, at least in my case, being set free from bondage, so to speak. Kind of left to my own devices, I want to destroy myself. Kind of giving thanks for being free from that."
The even more compelling flip side to writing more hopeful tunes now is how Davis deals with the oft-hopeless songs he wrote back then. He'll still play them. Most of them. "Some of them are just a little more flippant than I care to be today," he says. "It's not just a question of not wanting to play certain tunes again—I don't even want to hear them again. There's one song called 'Annetichrist,' I just don't care to play that song. And there's another one called 'What If You Don't Fly'—I won't play that. Those are really the only two songs. Other than that, I can deal with the rest of 'em on their own terms. Again, they may spring forth out of a worldview that I don't really subscribe to now, but I can see—it was my best-guess estimate of the truth at that time. So."
Not surprising choices, considering the lyrics ("Nothing's cool/Nothing matters/I'm jumping off the bridge" for the former; "And when you find/Oh, yeah, God was in your mind/Your righteous life has only been a righteous lie" for the latter). But what's most remarkable about Davis's best-guess estimate of the truth these days isn't as much the newfound idealism, but the feral vehemence with which Superdrag now express it: He bellows the titular chorus of "Filthy and Afraid" like a re-energized man with a clean conscience and no fear whatsoever. He'll still play "Sucked Out," sure, but the feeling has blessedly, miraculously returned.
rharvilla@villagevoice.com
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April 3, 2009
Superdrag reviews & interviews
There's a handful of new reviews & interviews online:
All Music - Industry Giants review
Ink - Industry Giants review
Washington Post - Interview with John Davis by John Davis
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March 28, 2009
Lake Fever videos, Patrol Mag review, and Music Emissions
 As you may well know, Superdrag recorded a portion of their new album INDUSTRY GIANTS, at Lake Fever in Nashville, TN. There is a website called LakeFeverSessions.com where the folks at Lake Fever host exclusive live performances where the bands come in, set up, play live while the audio is recorded on the studio rig to accompany pro-shot 3-camera video. Those kind folks there have just put up a teaser video of the Lake Fever Session featuring Superdrag. Currently, 5 (yes, "five") videos from the performance are scheduled to debut on their site on Friday, April 3. Until then, you can check out the teaser right here.
There is a new review of INDUSTRY GIANTS over at Patrol Mag which you can read here.
The guys get a brief mention from a Music Emissions blog. You can check that out here.
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March 23, 2009
"Aspartame" photos & SXSW reviews
Superdrag played this past week in Austin at SXSW, and there are a few reviews that you can check out below.
Austin360 (SXSW review)
Chicago Sun Times (SXSW review)
In case you haven't noticed, there is a section to the right of the page that will contain "online media" for INDUSTRY GIANTS and the current tour. Be sure to keep an eye on it.
In case you can't get enough of the "Aspartame" video, you can view the photos from the video shoot here.
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March 18, 2009
Today's SXSW shows cancelled
Unfortunately, today's Superdrag appearances at SXSW had to be cancelled secondary to problems with their airline flights. The band apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause anyone attending the shows. Superdrag will be playing the rest of the scheduled shows.
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March 17, 2009
Happy St. Patty's Day & INDUSTRY GIANTS Release Day! Plus BONUS tracks!
 Yes, the day has finally come, and we're extremely excited! Today marks the official release of Superdrag's new album INDUSTRY GIANTS!
Many folks have posted on the message board that they got their copies in the mail last week and this weekend. Other folks grabbed copies at the Knoxville and Nashville shows. If you haven't ordered your copy yet, you can run out to your local store and grab one.
And for those Superdrag completists who still hunger for more, there are a few little bonuses to snatch up:
* NEWBURY COMICS has an online exclusive where you can purchase an AUTOGRAPHED copy of INDUSTRY GIANTS: here
* AMAZON.com has both the CD for sale and mp3 downloads available. If you go to the MP3 Downloads section, you can grab one of the exclusive bonus tracks "4 on the Floor": here
* iTUNES has the album as well as the exclusive download of the other bonus track "Filter Out the Air": here
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 There's a new review of the album over at DailyVault.com.
Be sure to check it out here!
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March 16,2009
Nashville Cream, Buzzgrinder, & Industry Giants release
As you most likely know, tomorrow is the official release of Superdrag's new album, INDUSTRY GIANTS. If you haven't got a copy, we wanted to remind you that you can:
(1) Purchase and download the digital album from the Merch page (playable on all mp3 players)
 (2) Purchase an autographed copy exclusively from Newbury Comics
At the shows, the guys have been playing a good number of tracks from the INDUSTRY GIANTS, and if you go to one of the upcoming shows, you wanna make sure that you can sing along!
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 The kind folks at Buzzgrinder have a few special items for Superdrag fans. Fans can go over there and view photos of Friday's show at Barley's in Knoxville, as well as listen to a stream of INDUSTRY GIANTS!
Also, John Davis will be the guest blogger for the rest of the day! So go check it out!
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 Over the weekend, the Nashville Scene posted an interview with John.
Be sure to check it out here!
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March 13, 2009
Pre-order info! "Aspartame" at SPIN.com! Online articles!
 For those of you who have pre-ordered INDUSTRY GIANTS, your CDs have been mailed.
For those of you who have not yet pre-ordered INDUSTRY GIANTS, you can now purchase and download the digital album from the Nimbit skin on the Merch page.
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The kind folks at SPIN are streaming the new video for "Aspartame" for 48 hours. The song is a track off the upcoming INDUSTRY GIANTS. The video was directed by Aaron Baker. View it out before it's gone!
Check out "Aspartame" at SPIN.com
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In preparation for the upcoming tour (starting tonight), a small number of other articles have recently popped up online.
* The Daily Times
* Nashville Scene
* Revolt-Media
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March 12, 2009
Superdrag make The Nashville Scene
There is a new article on Superdrag in the latest issue of Nashville's local music magazine Nashville Scene.
Check it out here!
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March 8, 2009
Superdrag World HQ Update!
With less than two weeks left until the release of Industry Giants, 9 days to be exact, all systems are "go" here at Superdrag World HQ. Superdrag news is literally piling up faster than we can report it to you... and we like it that way! So without further delay, let this latest, long-overdue Superdrag update commence:
First and foremost, Industry Giants is still available for pre-order from the Superdrag.com merch page. All pre-orders will ship March 12, and the record WILL be available at the merch booth on March 13 in Knoxville and March 14 in Nashville, and it'll be for sale at both of our in-stores here in Tennessee (details below). Autographed copies of Industry Giants are also available for pre-order from our friends at Newbury Comics while quantities last.
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 We are very pleased to announce a couple of special in-store appearances that will coincide with our Tennessee shows. We'll be at The Disc Exchange in Knoxville from 6:00 P.M.-7:00 P.M. on Friday, March 13, signing copies of Industry Giants for one and all. After that, we'll be stopping by The Funhouse to chat with Robbie and Derek, and to tape a special full-band acoustic performance for UTTV & 90.3 FM The Rock's "The Rock Unplugged." As always, the broadcast will be streaming live online at www.Funhouserock.com. And after THAT, we'll be down at Barley's, checking out 1220 and Mic Harrison & The High Score! For those of you in the Nashville area, we will be making a special appearance at Grimey's at 3:00 P.M. on Saturday, March 14. We'll be there to perform a short-but-sweet half-hour set in hopes of getting the people fired-up for our show that night at Exit/In with Mic Harrison & The High Score and The Privates.
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SPIN magazine featured " Filthy & Afraid" (from Industry Giants) in their March 2009 SONGS YOU MUST HEAR NOW! column.
You can read all about it right here.
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In case you didn't already know, Jason Kochis can't be stopped, and his ass-whipping poster designs have gone hand-in-hand with our live appearances every step of the way since 2007. The streak continues! Limited edition, hand-screened Kochis posters will be sold at every show. More good news in Merch World: two new shirt designs! Celebrate the release of Industry Giants in style and comfort.
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 Superdrag's got a lot going on at this year's South By Southwest Conference in Austin, TX. Here's the band's updated SXSW schedule, day-by-day:
Wednesday 3/18 @ 1:30p
Austinist / Gothamist / BMI Day Party
The Mohawk (Outside Stage)
912 Red River Street
Wednesday 3/18 @ 4:30p
Paste Magazine Day Party
Bourbon Rocks
508 E. 6th Street
Thursday 3/19 @ 4:30p
Studio SX
Austin Convention Center
500 E Congress
Friday 3/20 @ 3p
The Boxing Lesson Day Party
Guero's
1412 S. Congress
Friday 3/20 @ 11p
Billboard (Official Showcase)
Pangaea
409 Colorado Street
Saturday 3/21 @ 7:15p
After The Jump Fest Backyard Party
1204 S. Salina Street
Saturday 3/21 to Sunday 3/22
(**LATE NIGHT 2:05 A.M.**)
(w/...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead)
Spin Closing Party
Smokin' Music
504 Trinity Street
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Director/Animator Aaron Baker is wrapping up post-production on the first official video clip from Industry Giants, for the song "Aspartame." We're making plans to do the video premier up right, courtesy of our friends over at Amazon.com. Needless to say, you'll be the first to know when all the details are finalized. Once the video drops, we'll be posting our behind-the-scenes photo album from the shoot, along with some other surprises from the vault that you will NOT want to miss. Plus, Amazon will offer an exclusive bonus track WITH the album... if you're into that sort of thing.
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 In case you missed the fine print on the Ben Grimm poster, we've added a show in Rock Island, IL on April 24, immediately following our Daytrotter session earlier that day.
Here's the 411:
Friday, April 24 @ Rock Island Brewing Co.
1815 2nd Ave., Rock Island, IL 61201
www.ribco.com
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AMI Entertainment is going to be placing Superdrag available for play on their jukeboxes. According to AMI:
"AMI Entertainment has been pre-releasing albums by a succession of top-of-mind, and important rock releases over the past couple years by the likes of My Morning Jacket, the Black Keys, the Von Bondies, The Verve, Nada Surf, Oasis, and now...Superdrag. Releasing albums to music consumers in clubs and bars across the United States gives loyal fans an exclusive experience as part of their nightlife. Culturally speaking, pre-release partnerships give bands like Superdrag the unique opportunity to offer exclusives to fans while creating associations to "classic jukebox bands". AMI Entertainment (subsidiary of Rowe International jukeboxes) is featured as the ultimate source of entertainment in more and more exciting venues every day!"
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That's all for now... but stay tuned! We'll keep the updates coming. We're really looking forward to seeing you out on tour, and very anxious indeed for March 17 to roll around.
Rock, Rock, Rock And Roll,
John, Don, Brandon & Tom
Superdrag
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February 28, 2009
Metropulse review
 There's a brief review of INDUSTRY GIANTS in the new issue of Knoxville's weekly entertainment magazine, Metropulse.
Check it out here!
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February 18, 2009
New interview at HoustonCalling.net
 There is a new Superdrag interview at HoustonCalling.net in which David Cobb interviews Superdrag's frontman, John Davis.
Check it out here.
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February 13, 2009
Get your copy of INDUSTRY GIANTS early! Pre-order now!!
You can now use the Superdrag Nimbit Online Music Tool and pre-order your copy of INDUSTRY GIANTS!
As you've probably heard, the official album release date is March 17, 2009 (St. Patty's Day). If you pre-order your copy now, you not only get the actual CD at the low cost of $10 (before shipping), but your actual copy of the CD will be mailed out on March 13!
Be the envy of the neighborhood, and blast your copy of INDUSTRY GIANTS earlier then everyone else!
To pre-order INDUSTRY GIANTS, use the Superdrag Nimbit OMT (above). Select the "disc $10" button at the bottom of the OMT, and then complete your checkout. It's that easy!!
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February 8, 2009
John Davis & WHIP! & Listening to INDUSTRY GIANTS
 In case you haven't heard yet, on Superdrag's Facebook page you can view a few "slideshow videos" set to the mastered tunes of "Filthy & Afraid" and "Cheap Poltergeists". Check 'em out here.
 It's a special and superstitious Valentine's Day weekend!
Prepare for V-Day weekend with a big show featuring two of Superdrag's main men!
This Friday the 13th, both John Davis and WHIP! (Tom Pappas) will be rocking The Rutledge in Nashville!
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January 27, 2009
Tour info, Free download, Facebook, and more!
 Hello Superdrag People: There are only 50 days left until Industry Giants drops on March 17. That's St. Patty's Day. So mark your calendars, and don't forget to wear something green to the record store. Get your copy, and grab some for your friends and loved ones. They'll be glad you did. We have TONS of exciting news to announce today, so without further delay, we proudly present the first round of live dates in support of Industry Giants:
FRI MARCH 13 : KNOXVILLE, TN : BARLEY'S TAPROOM W/ MIC HARRISON & THE HIGH SCORE
SAT MARCH 14 : NASHVILLE, TN : EXIT/IN W/ MIC HARRISON & THE HIGH SCORE
WED MARCH 18-->SUN MARCH 22 : AUSTIN, TX : SXSW (MORE DETAILS TBA ASAP)
FRI APRIL 3 : WASHINGTON, D.C. : 9:30 CLUB
SAT APRIL 4 : PHILADELPHIA, PA : JOHNNY BRENDA'S
THU APRIL 9 : NEW YORK, NY : BOWERY BALLROOM
FRI APRIL 10 : BROOKLYN, NY : MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG
SAT APRIL 11 : BOSTON, MA : PARADISE
FRI APRIL 24 : ROCK ISLAND, IL : DAYTROTTER SESSION
SAT APRIL 25 : CHICAGO, IL : METRO
!!! SPOILER ALERT !!! More good news: we are offering an absolutely free, "official" sneak-peek download from Industry Giants, the album-opener "Slow To Anger" (see the Nimbit widget at the end of this update). Call or e-mail your local College station or Indie Rock show and ask for it by name! Industry Giants will be made available for pre-order through Nimbit starting February 12, along with a 2nd free download from the record!
Furthermore, taking a bold step into the vanguard of Social Networking...in 2004...Superdrag is now on Facebook! So click on the link and hit us up. We would be proud and honored to have you, our fans, become, well, Fans. While you're at it, if you haven't done so already, and you're not too cool for MySpace now, hit us up on our official MySpace page. We might have been friends before, but thanks to Rupert Murdoch, now we can make it official.
On February 7th, we will be shooting the first video clip from Industry Giants with director and animator Aaron Baker. We're keeping a tight lid on this one, but we're 99.999% sure you'll be stoked.
Speaking of music and video, we are scheduled to tape a live performance (5 crisp, newly-minted tracks off of Industry Giants!) in the luxurious live room at Lake Fever Productions on March 8th, to be broadcast on their newly-launched (and totally bad-ass) internet venture, LakeFeverSessions.com. We've got a fever, and the prescription is... Lake Fever.
And last but certainly not least, John Davis and WHIP! will be joining forces to rock Nashville's The Rutledge on Friday, February 13. Even if you are superstitious, you'll still want to come down, pump your fist in the air to your favorite tunes from ARIGATO! and the self-titled LP (Merch page), and pick up your very own copy of The Defibrillator LP from WHIP! Show up in a Jason Voorhees-style hockey mask (no machetes, please) and receive a free John Davis T-shirt of your choice.
INDUSTRY GIANTS. MARCH 17. LET'S DO THIS.
Much Respect,
John, Don, Brandon & Tom
Superdrag
To download the free mp3 of "Slow to Anger", go to the Nimbit application above and use the arrows to navigate to the 7th (of 7) page. Add the mp3 to your cart by checking the "free" button.
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January 2, 2009
INDUSTRY GIANTS playing at The Funhouse
 As you may or may not have read on the Superdrag Message Board, John Davis and Superdrag kindly provided The Funhouse a copy of INDUSTRY GIANTS and permission to spin a track each week leading up to the release, starting tonight!
Derek (from The Funhouse) comments that they may play the whole record start to finish the week of the release. You can tune into The Funhouse each week on WUTK 90.3 The Rock at 8 PM EST.
To listen live: Go to www.FunhouseRock.com and click on the LISTEN LIVE link on the left side of the page.
Note: RealPlayer is required for you to listen online.
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L Y R I C S
Need INDUSTRY GIANTS lyrics?
Get 'em here!
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Get yer merch on!
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Tyler Pollard hosted a lengthy and informative interview with 
There's a nice, new Superdrag article by hometown writer 
