Ralph and Brandon have been fine-tuning the Suburban Home Records’ site and today, we are really proud to share with you all the hard work they put in. Please take a minute and visit Suburban Home Records Dot Com. While you are there, be sure to check out our new Listening Station that Ralph designed. You can stream the upcoming re-release of Micah Schnabel’s “When the Stage Light Goes Dim” and pretty much the entire Suburban Home catalog. If you want to stream one of the albums in the player, just drag the cover art to the left and it will begin playing. Want to stream something not shown? Just find the pull down menu in the lower right hand corner and it will pull up the album you want to hear.

We still have a few things that we plan to work on, but do us a favor, check it out, and let us know what you think. Thanks.

We are really honored and excited to announce that Tim Barry’s latest album, “28th & Stonewall” debuted on the Billboard Independent Charts at #33 with 913 copies scanned. As a really small, indie label, it isn’t often that we have our releases on the Billboard charts, but it couldn’t happen to a better person. Congrats Tim Barry. Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible.

We just received the Tim Barry “28th & Stonewall” vinyl. As you can see from the photos, there is a pretty wide spectrum on the black with white vinyl. The middle photo is kind of right in between the black and the black with a ton of white vinyl. We will begin shipping pre-orders today and hope to get them all out by tomorrow. If you pre-ordered the deluxe set, we are still waiting on the shirts which should be done today or tomorrow. Thanks everyone who pre-ordered the album. If you haven’t pre-ordered the vinyl, I recommend you do so sooner than later. The colored vinyl will soon be history. It could hypothetically be done by next week.

Just a head’s up; if you pre-ordered the Tim Barry 28th & Stonewall CD, your orders shipped today. You will be receiving everything you see pictured above: a CD, a Coozie, a Button, and Suburban Home’s first mix tape.

If you pre-ordered a deluxe set or the vinyl, we will be sending you the entire 28th & Stonewall album digitally the night before the release date. The release date is Tuesday, January 26th. The vinyl and deluxe sets should ship sometime late next week though.

Thanks to all who have pre-ordered Tim’s new album. I can’t wait for all of you to hear it. If you haven’t pre-ordered the album, here is a link. What are you waiting for?

Punknews.org and Paper + Plastick have teamed up to auction off some great stuff for the Haiti disaster relief effort. This auction is verified by Limited Pressing and all proceeds will be donated to Doctors Without Borders. Doctors Without Borders is an international medical humanitarian organization working in more than 60 countries to assist people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe.

Justin from Punknews asked if wanted to donate any test pressings for their Haiti Disaster Relief Effort and it just so happened that we had a few test pressings arrive recently. First up is the Tim Barry “28th & Stonewall” test pressing photographed above. You can bid on this test pressing on Limited Pressing through this link.

There have been a lot of good folks contributing to this relief effort. There are test pressings by Less Than Jake, Cheap Girls, Defeater, Moral Crux, Red Collar, Frank Turner, Lifetime, Fun, Fall Out Boy, Broadway Calls, and lots more. Check them out here.

I suspect some of these test pressings will fetch a pretty penny. You can still contribute to Haiti relief through any number of benefits. Google has set up a page featuring a number of great Haiti Relief Efforts.

Thanks Justin and Punknews for having us involved. We are working out the details, but we will also be donating a test pressing for Poison the Well “The Tropic Rot” and Look Mexico “You Go. I Stay. No Following”. Expect news of that soon.

I am proud to bring you our first Suburban Home Buddy of the Month of 2010, Kyle Betts. Kyle lives in Ontario, Canada, and I can’t remember when we first started talking; I just know that Kyle has been a big Suburban Home supporter ordering many of our releases throughout the years. We hadn’t heard from him in a while until we got an email around the holidays. The email said that he had been unable to afford to keep up with buying records over the past year but that he now had a gift card and wanted to catch up on our releases. The email got me thinking about how much Kyle has supported our little label over the years and I figured he would make a suitable candidate for our Buddy of the Month.

Thanks Kyle for taking the time to answer our questions and thanks for having supported what we do over the years.

Please click the link to read on about Kyle’s favorite Suburban Home artists/releases, his favorite non-suburban home artists, suggestions for bands we should sign and things we should do.

SH: Your name and the city you live in. What do you do for a living?
Kyle Betts. Stratford, Ontario, Canada. I bartend and work at a tattoo shop (www.anthonysbodypiercing.com)

SH: How did you find out about Suburban Home, what was the first SH release you ever purchased?
I heard of the label by hearing the “4-Square” Compilation. The first releases I purchased were The Nobodys “I’ve Been Everywhere” and The Homeless Wonders “S/T”

SH: What is your favorite Suburban Home release?
So hard!!! Gotta go with Drag The River “It’s Crazy” or LaGrecia “On Parallels”

Favorite Suburban Home artists?
Drag The River, Tim Barry, Jr. Juggernaut

SH: What other labels do you follow?
Sabot Productions, Smallman Records, No Idea, the now-defunct G7-Welcoming Committee

SH: What are some of your favorite non-Suburban Home artists?
Nada Surf, None More Black, Leftover Crack, World/Inferno Friendship Society, Propagandhi, Hot Water Music-Chuck Ragan-The Draft, The Dwarves, The Falcon

SH: What is your musical format of choice? CD, Vinyl, Digital?
CD

SH: Where do you buy Suburban Home releases?
Direct from the label, or Encore Records, Kitchener, Ontario

SH: If you ran Suburban Home, what band would you sign?
None More Black, Rehasher, Mock Orange

SH: Which Suburban Home artists have you seen live, which artist(s) on Suburban Home that you haven’t seen are you looking forward to seeing?
NONE, because they NEVER come to Canada (that is, until Feb. 1st – Chuck Ragan + Tim Barry in Kitchener Ontario!!! Woot Woot)

SH: We at Suburban Home realize that we are a small label and are always interested in hearing suggestions on what we can do better, any suggestions?
Absolutely nothing. You guys are leaps and bounds ahead of any label out there. From your contests, to your pricing, fan interaction, website, deals and discounts, vital updates, etc…. other labels take note… Suburban Home is how a label should be ran

SH: Have you ever called the Drunk Dial Hotline? If no, why not?
I dunno, to be honest. I have no excuse. I’m a terrible person.

SH: Do you have any interesting Suburban Home related stories?
Not really, other than I feel like moving to Colorado to be right in the thick of it!!! And to get pissed at J.J.’s bar every night, and to have a chance of seeing Drag The River and Love Me Destroyer in my lifetime!!!

Tim had told me that this tour would soon be announced and today, I am proud to post news of the first ever Revival Tour Australia and if you look at this lineup, I got to say those Aussies are pretty damn lucky. Seeing Chuck, Frank, Tim, and Ben on the same stage, man, it doesn’t get any better than that. Below is the press release, dates, and links to buy tickets. Anyone have an extra plane ticket to Australia that you want to send over my way?

Ten Four Records, Blue Murder, Resist & Bomshellzine present

REVIVAL TOUR – Chuck Ragan (Hot Water Music), Frank Turner, Tim Barry (Avail), Ben Nichols (Lucero)

Founded by Chuck Ragan, the singer / songwriter / guitarist and Hot Water Music co-frontman– THE REVIVAL TOUR is set to launch in Australia from April 22 in Brisbane and wrap May 1 in Hobart.

Drawing from a diverse group of established musicians in indie Americana, rock, punk, Irish folk, THE REVIVAL TOUR will take the band of traveling musicians throughout Australia including Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Hobart. In traditional revival fashion, once the music starts, this new guard of young, genre-defying, musicians keep it rolling, teaming in and out through each others’ sets until the final farewell of the night.

The Revival Australian Tour will include: Chuck Ragan (of Hot Water Music), Frank Turner, Tim Barry (of Avail) and Ben Nichols (of Lucero), with additional musicians Jon Gaunt and Todd Beene.

“As artists we go on tour together and then in the final days of the tour–after everyone is familiar with one another–you’re playing songs with your tour-mates and having a blast,” states founder Chuck Ragan. “I thought, why can’t we get together, rehearse before the tour starts and perform together during the entire tour?” Ragan says of his inspiration for THE REVIVAL TOUR. “Some of our set for that night’s show is chosen in advance, but everything else evolves organically onstage,” he elaborates. “It’s truly one of the most special tours I’ve ever been a part of.”

Tickets on sale 9am Friday 22nd January

REVIVAL TOUR AUSTRALIA 2010 – Chuck Ragan (Hot Water Music), Frank Turner, Tim Barry (Avail), Ben Nichols (Lucero)

Thu April 22 The Zoo, Brisbane Buy Tickets
Fri April 23 Annandale Hotel, Sydney Buy Tickets
Sun April 25 Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle Buy Tickets
Wed April 28 Rosemount, Perth Buy Tickets
Thu April 29 Enigma, Adelaide Buy Tickets
Fri April 30 Corner, Melbourne Buy Tickets
Sat May 1 Brisbane Hotel, Hobart Buy Tickets

Top 10 Records of 2009
1. Portugal the Man “The Satanic Satanists”
2. Portugal the Man “The Majestic Majesty”
3. Micah Schnabel “When the Stage Lights Go Dim” (since we didn’t originally release it)
4. Phoenix “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
5. Chuck Ragan “Gold Country”
6. Gregory Alan Isakov “The Empty Northern Hemisphere”
7. Good Old War “Only Way to Be Alone”
8. Mariachi El Bronx “S/t”
9. Have Gun Will Travel “Postcards from the Friendly City”
10. Joey Kneiser “The All-Night Bedroom Revival”

Honorable Mentions: William Elliott Whitmore “Animals in the Dark”, Deer Tick “Born on Flag Day”, Horse Feathers “House With No Name”, American War “Rhetoric”, Sidekicks “Weight of Air”, Langhorne Slim “Be Set Fire”, Cobra Skulls “American Rubicon”, Revival Tour Compilation, Rodriguez “Cold Facts”, Michael Dean Damron “Father’s Day”, Builders and the Butchers “Temptation is a Deep Dark Well”
Know that I would put all of our recent releases on this list, but i figured I should make my selections from non-Suburban Home releases.

Top 5 Movies/Shows
1. Mad Men
2. Up
3. True Blood
4. The Hangover
5. Up In the Air

Top 5 Books
1. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcom Gladwell
2. Free: The Future of a Radical Price by Chris Anderson
3. What the Dog Saw by Malcom Gladwell
4. Pow! Right Between the Eyes! by Andy Nulman
5. Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman

Best Moments:
1. Our 14th Anniversary party surpassed my greatest expectations. People from all over the world came out, so many of our bands came out, and everyone had a blast.
2. The Chad Price brewery tour was probably the greatest day of beer drinking I have ever experienced. 10 breweries, 8 shows, and one wild crazy day/night
3. Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground’s instore performance at Angelo’s and later that night their hangout session at my house which involved them pulling out instruments and singing songs; my 3 year old son was so inspired, he pulled out his instruments and played along. I almost cried.

Worst Moments:
1. Tom Pfaeffle being shot to death for accidentally trying to open the wrong hotel room door.
2. 2009 was a tough year for Suburban Home/Vinyl Collective. I am really glad the year is over. 2010 will be much better for everyone.

Favorite Beers

1. Barrel Bourbon Stout by Odell
2. Olde School Barley Wine by Dogfish Head
3. Life and Limb by Dogfish/Sierra Nevada
4. Hercules double IPA by Great Divide
5. (tie) Brown Shuga by Lagunitas and Black Butte XXI by Descheutes

Favorite Food

1. Great Divide beer pairing dinner at Osteria Marco
2. Stranahan’s Whiskey Dinner at the Lobby
3. Mussels in Red Curry w/ Israeli Couscous at Root Down
4. All You Can Eat Sushi at Go Fish
5. Anything at New Saigon

Frank Turner – Poetry of the Deed
Mastodon – Crack the Skye
Converge – Axe to Fall
Damien Suomi – S/T
Good Old War – The Only Way To Be Alone
P.O.S. – Never Better
William Elliot Whitmore – Animals in the Dark
Gregory Alan Isakov – This Empty Northern Hemisphere
Fake Problems – It’s Great To Be Alive
Mariachi El Bronx – S/T

Movies I watched and like this year

Up
Inglorious Bastards
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
God Grew Tired of Us
Anvil

Some restaurants I enjoyed eating at last year

City O’ City
Watercourse
The Hornet
The Lobby
20th Street Cafe

Books I’ve read recently

They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Running With Scissors
You Better Not Cry
Coyotes: A Journey Across Borders With America’s Illegal Migrants

Some stuff that ruled last year:

Getting an apartment with my girlfriend Jen
Putting out my first solo record
Playing the Fest with Only Thunder
Becoming a “professional” music writer
Hearing my nephew call me “D” and watching him turn into a little person

Things I Hate
1. You