Not too long ago, local rockers The Stellas went overseas to play concerts for the troops. Well, others are following in their footsteps. In November, Evelynn Rose will be heading out for roughly 18 days as they do their own "tour of duty."
Leading up to its excursion, the group is living out of its van in an effort for fundraising. "At first, we thought it would be interesting to put ourselves through some sort of 'band basic training' -- then, we decided that was a little too much exercise," Joshua Wade says. "What we can do, however, is sit and experience mild discomfort. I'm joking. We figured that by positioning ourselves in the heart of our neighborhood and putting together mini-events, we would have the opportunity to spread the word about our upcoming trip as well as raise the necessary funds to provide the troops with the 'piece of home' we are being sent to deliver."
They'll be playing a show at Revolution Pizza in NoDa on Oct. 23, they'll perform at a breast cancer benefit at Ed's Tavern on Oct. 30, have another fundraiser at Whisky River on Nov. 5, play Prevue Music Hall on Nov. 6.
On Nov. 10, the band, through Armed Forces Entertainment, will leave for Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Afghanistan and Kyrgistan. Going along will be local musician Eric-Scott Guthrie who will be the band's sound engineer and Timothy Albright of Redleaf Films, who is putting together a documentary.
Like The Stellas, the band will blog at QCVibes.com whenever they can find Internet access. "We are super-stoked to be able to do this tour. I am prior Air Force and our guitarist, Chris, was a Marine," Wade says. "We thought it would be an amazing opportunity to get back out there -- in a different light. Giving our soldiers the smallest piece of normalcy can do wonders for morale. We're accepting donations in order to provide the troops with free copies of our album, stickers and other items."