is the first album still rumored to be released in early 2004?

Your guess is as good as ours.

Welcome, tncatsfan! You do realize we lost our Arena Football team a few years ago, right?

That was the Nashville Kats, Carl. But I also wondered if it was a reference to that greatly-missed team. Arena football was the best. It was only like $10.

Right you are, o wise one.

Also, she/he's been a member since Nov, 2002.

My guess is they're a fan of University of Kentucky athletics.

I hear April, which I don't think counts as early 2004 because I was hoping for January-February. But I follow the path of yadada in never holding my breath or having expectations...just waiting patiently...

Funny you should mention it. To quote the great yogi berra, "the silence is deafening" when it comes to the status of this record. I really think the time is overdue for my good friends in the management to give us an update on the progress of the record, when its coming out, and on what label. Of course, I already kinda know the answers to these questions, but a pedestrian fan may be confused, or worse, infer from the lack of information that nothing is going on with the band.

I guess i don't see what's wrong with giving updates about every development, no matter how small, with your band. How many times have you been to a fledgling band's website and they have all kinds of news bulletins about seemingly meaningless stuff like getting spins on the radio and urging fans to call and request, or thanking the fans for winning a poll in a local entertainment weekly, or hyping the fact that they got a review in a bigtime music magazine or whatever. This is all about presenting the image that there is all kinds of stuff going on and everyone is talking about this band and you are missing out if you don't check them out. I guess I don't see anything like that here. I really think there should be almost daily updates on this site. I know everyone is busy and the webmasters are basically volunteering their time and so on, but this is a major label band we're talking about.

Before my friends get mad at me, i just have two words. (this is) CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.

ps another one of my favorite yogi berra lines: "Nobody goes there anymore. Its too crowded. "

I too was told April by the guy (whose name I should prolly know) selling cd's at the inferno show. . .

I think that was their manager Rory. Shorter guy, black hair?

I whole-heartedly agree, roadie.

"It ain't the heat, it's the humility."

You are probably aware of this, but here's an update: the boys are rockin' away in the studio this very weekend, putting on "the finishing touches" as they say.

They're in an "undisclosed location". Some say they're talking to Dick Cheney. Others dismiss this as pure hottentot, saying they're obviously under the arctic ice in the "Stagecoach IV", their top-secret nuclear submarine-based recording facility, studying the recent global spate of whale beachings while still maintaining the high musical standard of quality rock for which they've come to be known.

Obviously, the former story is ludicrous in the extreme. They're actually studying manatees. But you didn't hear it from me.

Hey, I agree there should be more updates around here, but would you prefer me make up stuff or wait until I actually have information they want me to put up? There's a middle ground I'm sure and I probably should take more liberties to post stuff, but then there's the folks here who search for the Features on google every other day and find new articles and post them, so they kind of fulfill that purpose.

I think what you have to realize and deal with is this is not an internet-friendly band. They rarely check up on the site and only one member has a computer that they regularly use and that's to let their kids watch DVD movies on it. I go months before I ever hear any feedback from them and this could be during a stretch where I've put up new videos, photos or anything. Sometimes I wonder if it matters.

BUT... I know it does, it's just not the immediate feedback you sometimes want. You have to either accept this or move on. The band appreciates what we do here and appreciates each and every one of you for reading the site and posting on the board. It would be great if each and every one of them could stop by once a month and post something (Roger's post was nice and a start). I know you guys would appreciate more than they could ever imagine. I've tried to express this to them, but it's their deal, their site, they can do what they want. Again, just know that they do care about you regardless.

Here's what I can tell you: I have a video from the Jackson, MS recording session I'm about to put up. I will have a video following it that chronicles a bit of their travels in England a few months ago. Both of these will be part of a series of videos about each of those subjects. I'm also preparing a new UK reviews section and eventually, somewhere down the line when I find the time, I'll update the photos section again.

Brian,

I hear you brother. I know the time and effort you put into this, and sadly its an almost thankless job, although I know it is greatly appreciated by the band and management. Its a tough job but somebody's gotta do it.

I agree its better to report once things are set in stone, which almost nothing is at this point (with the exception of the signing with Universal). I guess my comments were more aimed at the "hype" side of things on this site. Giving updates on radio spins and reviews and whatever. Stuff like this is standard fare on other band websites. I'm thinking more in terms of keeping the average fan up to date, or impressing somebody who just happens to be stopping by the site to check out this "new band." The fact is that a lot of us on the board here are in the loop and know whats going on anyway, and I think that is part of what keeps the features administration from giving daily/weekly updates. But I honestly think that news flashes or updates here would go a long way in generating buzz, both by word of mouth and online. Many of us here on the board know about the NME reviews and the stuff going on in the UK, but I'll bet a lot of "regular fans" who like the Features don't know about this and would be thrilled to hear something like that, and they'll pass it along to their friends, and so on.

The lack of information about the status of the record is just one part of all this and I understand that issue is more murky than any others. I'm just saying that SOMETHING/ANYTHING would be nice.

Yes, I love that record.

I always take it in stride.

The band has been on the brink of releasing something since I started following them years ago. There's always been a rumour that a record is on the way.

I've seen so much happen, and all of it has happened slowly.

I've watched sets grow from sparsely-populated 10-song deals to full-blown gala events.

And all this has happened slowly, and never has it happened with an official announcement.

BrianW (and michael, who gets even less credit), both of you do the best you can and I appreciate it greatly. You guys rock.

Yes, it would be great if there were updates and lots of stuff, but that's not the way it is. It won't change anytime soon, either.

Soo...I'm continuing to exercise the patience this band has taught me to have in the 4 years I've been closely following them.




And for the record, I still don't consider Universal set in stone, and I know none of you want to agree with me.

I like it the way it is. It's a wonderful mystique that surrounds the Features...

I don't know if anyone thinks an album being released is set in stone, but Universal isn't known for putting bands on their website before the ink is dry on their contracts.

and on what other bands do you base this assumption?
And where are the Features now?

To answer your first question, I guess I can't speak for Universal Records specifically, but I did work for Mercury (a Universal-owned label) and I can tell you we didn't put unsigned acts on our site.

As for the second question, go to Universalrecords.com, click on artists, browse by genre, select rock, and you will find a link back to this very site.



(Edited by Keith at 4:45 pm on Oct. 12, 2003)

Since they rarely check the site, what's to stop us from making up some stuff? I'll start:

The Features will be playing at 12th & Porter on Saturday night. Aireline will be opening.

isn't that their album release party as well?

You know...I think that often times in the world of music, or in the world of pop culture in general, the "official" website isn't the most comprehensive source of information out there on the given subject matter. It's often certain "unoffical" or "fan" sites that pop up and take on the role of really digging in the dirt and reporting every little thing and offering a more exhaustive amount of info.

I'm not saying that that will happen in this case. I'm just making an observation.

radiohead being a prime example there

Jamie is correct.

So...who among us is willing to build the ultimate Features site??

i think wiyum is....

c'mon, everyone join in: wi-yum! wi-yum! wi-yum! wi-yum! wi-yum! wi-yum!....

wiyum already has a great start . . . And just for the record, I think this is a really, really great idea.

I seriously don't think we could have it any better than the two sites we have. Wiyum's could use an update, and the mp3 site needs a makeover.

A site with news and rumours might be good, but the message board covers that well enough.
And I don't want my statement to sound at all like michael and BrianW don't do a great job.

I guess so, but many times people like to let others know they have "new info" without sharing. Of course I'm not suggesting that people start betraying the trust they have with the higher-ups, its just that I don't want to know that secret information is out there unless someone feels like sharing.

I like both the MP3 site and Wiyums, and yes, both prolly do need a makover. Perhaps someone feels led to upload the new song? Please don't think I'm being critical or anything, just throwing out a suggestion or two.

I wish the mp3 site wouldn't be a free-for-all of anything you can find that the Features have done. I also wish it had higher quality, but hey, that's me.

speaking of the mp3 site, I noticed that some put the song The Nurse Who Loved Me up there, it's doesnt work, but did the features cover that song? I know Self did, and they did a great job, did someone just get it mixed up and put the Self version on there?

By Failure? I've never known the Features to do that one. Not since 2000 at least...

I think this would have been reported on Wiyum's site by someone if it were true.

Besides, since the file is 0 and right next to it is Win98, I think it is a fluke.

well, this has turned into a lovely topic!! thanks for making my first few posts successful ones (not that i get a medal or anything, but you make a guy welcome). and to answer your question, i am an alum of kentucky, so the cats in tncatsfan stands for UK. I do like arena football though, and have watched it a few times in knoxville. i am originally from northeast tn, went to the same high school as mahaffey (in fact, my brother and his brother, mike, also in self, were roommates for a short time). anyhow, good to be here and hope the new album comes out sooner rather than later.

(Edited by tncatsfan at 2:04 pm on Oct. 15, 2003)

actually, you do! Just go ask the guy at the merch table for it at the next Features show.

Don't I know it. I'll be updating it once I finish shooting the grant film I'm working on (directed by my roommate), get caught up in my production classes this quarter, finish my incompletes from the spring, and write my directing project screenplay. Which means to say that I'll skip those requirements and update it after the upcoming 12th and Porter shows because the update will be so damned exciting. Maybe a site redesign *is* in order, and I'm taking a class in Flash right now (though more for animation than web design) so that could potentially happen, but likely just an update on the content in the forseeable future. I still really really want to do album pages to complete the intent of the current site, but who knows. Sorry I've slacked off, but senior year has been a busy one indeed.

Will