7/6/08:
Greetings all! This is Ralph J. Petrella, Founder and President of High Anxiety Music. As you probably already know, we have had to leave our beloved High Anxiety Music Center in Champaign after only a few short but successful months. This has been an obvious setback, but I want to assure you that this is a temporary situation. We are currently in the process of restructring the company in order to better accomodate our clients. I promise that you have not heard the last of us!
Over the next 6 to 18 months we hope to continue operating as a voice for the independent musicians of Champaign and Urbana and also hope to widen our scope to the Chicagoland area. Rest assured, however, that our long term goal is to return to C-U in the not-too-distant future.
Thanks for all your support, and if you have any comments, suggestions or things to share please do so by e-mail at highanxietymusic [at] gmail.com
Regards,
Ralph
4/24/08: Come join us for our last two house parties at our current location! They will be great shows as usual. More details to come soon...
4/1/08: Our next house show will be this weekend, April 5 with three excellent bands. Join us at 8pm for The Confines, Victoria, and Number One Sons. Cover is $5 and as always we are All Ages! Click on the flyer below and share it with your friends!
3/18/08: Get ready for this: On Saturday March 29th come check out Krukid and Jonah at the High Anxiety Music Center! Doors open at 8pm, $6 and all ages. You don't want to miss this one. Grab the flyer below and tell all your friends!
3/6/08: On Saturday, March 8th, we have another great house party featuring Curb Service (Larry Gates) and local rock group Backyard Shark. Doors open at 8pm and this all ages show is $5. If you haven't been to a High Anxiety Music house party, you're missing out! Come check it out!
2/19/08: House party at the High Anxiety Music Center! Come check out these three great solo acts this Saturday, Feb. 23rd: Brian Esmao (10p), Matt Yeager (9p), and Jack Gideon (8p). Doors open at 7pm with a $5 cover. As always, the High Anxiety Music House is an all-ages venue. Hope to see you there!
2/3/08: The new year is upon us and we have mostly good news with a little bit of bad news. First the bad: As many of you know, Grinner (a.k.a. "The Greatest Band EVAR!!1!1!!!") broke up last month. Unfortunately they probably won't make VH1's Behind the Music since there were no fist fights or deaths that caused the break up. Adam is moving off to Japan for a few years and Grinner would not be the same without their very own Animal behind the drums. They will be missed by many, that's for sure.
Now on to the good stuff! High Anxiety Music had an AMAZING house show with Heroes of the Kingdom and Deconstructing Jim. It was kind of a last minute show which is why there hasn't been word of it here. But we thought we'd make record of it anyway. Damn, it was loud. We also hosted a Miller Lite Mardi Gras party at KAM's this weekend (boy are we a little late with the news around here...) featuring The Beauty Shop, Big Smoothie, and our very own Five Oh First.
Alright, and now the real reason you're here: We are now hosting our very own podcast! The very first one is up so go have a listen over at the podcast page! Tell all your friends.
12/8/07: We've added the awesome Sleepcomesdown to the show this weekend. The rock starts hitting around 9pm, so get there early and check out these AMAZING bands. You will not be disapointed, promised! Stick around for the after party with a very special guest DJ... Check back soon for more info on that. Huzzah!
11/17/07: GRINNER + SEQUOIA!!! Our next High Anxiety Music house party is guaranteed to be the best one yet. Our great friends and amazing Chicago rockers Grinner and Sequoia will throw down the awesomesauce (yeah, we said it) on Saturday, December 15. You simply do not want to miss these guys. Grinner's drummer Adam will be heading off to Japan in January, so this is one of the very last times to catch them before they go on a long, sad hiatus. The fun starts at 9pm, and the rock rolls on around 10. Bring all your friends!
10/25/07: High Anxiety's Homecoming Halloween Hootenanny 2007 Don't miss it, it's gonna be a blast!! The amazing Team Arwin will be there to lay down the spooky beats for this totally freaky party. Costumes are option, but of course, you get cool points for coming dressed as your favorite video game star or bloody serial killer. The low down: 9pm til the witching hour, $5, byob. Bring all your friends!
10/9/07: The High Anxiety Music Rehearsal Space is now available!! Check it out here. We are in the process of getting pictures of the space and some more detailed info. Basically, we're here to accommodate you, the Champaign-Urbana bands. The rates are up and the space is open for bands!
8/24/07: This is huge! Be sure to check out Emisis live in the Q101 studio on Friday, August 31st at 9am. They will be performing three songs on the Morning Fix show and talking about the future of Emisis as well as their new album in the works. Don't forget to tune in to Chicago's Q101 (FM 101.1) next Friday!
8/12/07: You can now purchase CDs directly from High Anxiety Music! Check out our releases page and put in your order today! Or go in and check out Champaign's coolest record store, Exile On Main St., and pick up your copies there.
7/25/07: Sorry for the lack of updates... We've been so busy lately getting ready for the fall. Things are in motion for acquiring a location for rehearsal spaces, so stay tuned for that. We're making friends with a lot more bands as we go through the summer, so check them out on our bands page!
Finally, we've got our 2nd Wednesay concert series coming up on August 15th @ The Canopy Club. We've got a great line up for you and the best part is that the show is FREE! Check the shows page for more info. You'll be hearing from us soon.
5/18/07: Please welcome to High Anxiety Music the Greg Spero Trio! Here's a group you don't want to miss. All of us here at High Anxiety have a desire to share with you excellent and diverse music. Greg really showcases that with his blend of traditional jazz, pop sensibilities, and downright funky tunes. Check it out: www.gregspero.com
4/22/07: First of all, thank you to everyone who came out to our Launch Party last week! We all had a great time and cannot wait to get more music to you!
More importantly, our boys Grinner will be featured on Q101's Steet Fight this Monday night at 1am! Please have a listen this week and call in (312-591-8300) or text message (99161) to vote for them. Tell all your friends!
3/22/07: There has been a lot happening here at High Anxiety Music and things are getting off to a great start. Flies In Eden has been getting some great airplay on Q101 up in Chicago! They have been featured on Q101's weekly Streetfight. Have a listen this week and call in (312-591-8300) or text message (99161) to vote for them.
Also, we've been gearing up for the big label launch show coming up on April 14 at the Canopy Club. The show will feature some of the High Anxiety bands as well as a 5 Penny Theatre reunion appearence to officially mark the start of High Anxiety Music. We hope to see you there! In the meantime, please bear with us as we continue to get things tidied up around here...
2/13/07: Welcome to High Anxiety Records! We hope you enjoy the new site. Please check back soon for more information!