Hey Friends of The Nadas. Jason here. I am sharpening my pencils and busting out my trapper keeper because it is back to school time. Which means we are hitting the road to some Iowa College towns this week. Iowa City tonight, Cedar Falls tomorrow and Grinnell on  Saturday. Going to be a fun week. If you live in or near those towns you should tweet, facebook, IM, text, or poke your friends with your finger and tell them to come out for the show.

We are also in the final few days of our Save Meatloaf – El Segundo campaign. http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/thenadas. We are soooooo close to reaching the goal and saving the bus! We have added some new lower priced incentives, dial up that website link and check em out for yourselves. Thank you all for your support thus far.

Love and spiral bound notebooks,

QOTW – What is/was your favorite part of going back to school?

Hello everyone,

Mike here. I have been off the radar a little this summer as I have been working diligently on Nadas off days on my summer project of flipping a house. It has been very interesting, to say the least. My fam bought a foreclosure and I, along with the help of Skyler the sound-man/carpenter, have been renovating the old gal.  The following is a list of items I found in various nooks, crannies, behind walls, above ceilings, etc.:  8 empty bottles Southern Comfort, 1 baby tooth, 5 adult magazines, 1 adult DVD, 1 sleeve CD’s circa 2001 with quite a bit of Beyonce, 6 40′s of Natural Light Ice (one hit me on the head while I was tearing down a ceiling), 1 very dusty teddy bear, 3 20 oz cans of Bud Light Ice, and a paddle ball game that I can’t stop playing.

Well, the house is almost done now and that means so is summer? Yikes! School starts next week for many of us. What happened? Well on the bright side, the end of summer means two things for me:  my favorite season fall is right around the corner and The Nadas play the End of Summer Bash this Saturday at Cabaret West Glen in WDM. This young tradition is really turning out to be a great gig for us. Come on out and see what you have been missing.

Our Save Meatloaf program is coming to a close and I honestly can’t quite believe we are almost to our goal.  Is it possible Meatloaf may live again?  For those of you who dont know, you don’t just pledge money and get a nice fuzzy feeling in your soul. You pledge money and get different packages. Everything from T-shirts to Nadas gigs are up for grabs. Check it out.

One more thing that the end of summer means is that our summer interns will be moving on. Ralph and Emma have been so great and we appreciate their tireless work and amazing results. Did we mention that they got our song Long Goodbye played on Fuse this month in regular rotation?  Ralph and Emma, what have you learned this Summer?

This summer has been an awesome experience for me. I learned about many different aspects of the business in my internship, including marketing, live sound, and recording. At Authentic Records, I got to see how an artist-run record label operates in today’s tumultuous music industry. Helping at Sonic Factory taught me more about recording by watching some experts in action. On the road with The Nadas, I saw everything that goes into creating a successful show and helped make it happen. Most importantly, I met a bunch of great people this summer. Thanks for everything, guys!  – Ralph

This summer with Authentic Records has been a blast. I have most enjoyed working closely with The Nadas on all of their great projects within the Des Moines community. Working with the Greater Des Moines Partnership and watching the World Triathlon unfold has really highlighted the power of live events and music to shape a community and our world for the better.

With an interest in marketing and social media it has been a lot of fun to work with The Nadas on their social media and Pledge Music campaigns (Save Meatloaf!). All of this in addition to having the opportunity to work with incredibly talented people (web designers, sound engineers, pastry chefs, & rockstars alike). And of course, I have enjoyed hitting the road with The Nadas, meeting the fans, & being a part of so much blah blah. – Emma

Big thanks to both Emma and Ralph for rocking Authentic Records and The Nadas with everything they did!

And lastly, I’d like to mention the crazy sale that is happening at the Authentic Records online store. Now through August 22nd we’re having an Iowa State Fair sale. ALL The Nadas merchandise is 15% off and if you order 3 or more The Nadas items you get FREE shipping and, get this, an authetnic Iowa State Fair corn dog. Not even joking; Jason is getting them himself. Disclaimer: Although the corn dog might look mighty tasty, consume it at your own risk.

Annnd be sure to check out our live recordings of the 6 shows we preformed at the fair. You can get all 6 for $30! Quite a steal if I do say so myself. Or, you can buy the shows individually. Whatever gives you your The Nadas State Fair fix.

Fried goodness & eating things on sticks,
The Nadas

QOTW:  What is the weirdest thing you have found?

Hey All – Jason here. I know you are probably tried of hearing from me. “Where is Mike?” you ask. I am glad you asked. Mike is currently sequestered. Once again he is a “celebrity judge” for the Iowa State Fair queen competition. The Iowa State Fair queen competition is sort of like the Miss America Pageant of the Iowa State Fair. But don’t call it a beauty pageant, it is a “leadership pageant”. It is a competition amongst all 99 of the Iowa County Queens competing for the honor. The winner spends the next 10 days of the fair signing autographs, shaking hands, kissing babies, giving awards, and smiling for the camera. The winner also spends the next year representing the Iowa State Fair at functions and events until they crown her successor the next year. As you might imagine, Mike is supremely qualified to select this winner. The Iowa State Fair Queen Competition is a time honored tradition, as are corn dogs, pork chop on a stick, spin art, cowboy hats, midways, big pigs, and . . . . The Nadas.

Yes, once again we are about to kick off the Iowa State Fair by playing 2 shows a night for the first 3 nights. We play Thursday, Friday, Saturday on the Anderson Erickson stage at 7pm and 9pm. Come early and grab a beverage and sandwich from our friends at the Birds Nest. Because I can’t get enough I am also playing solo on Sunday, Wed, Thursday, and Friday at the Birds Nest at the Anderson Erickson Stage. Got to our Facebook event page, RSVP and get more info.

And be sure to check out the Authentic Records online store for the crazy sale they’re having: 15% off all our merchandise! And if you order more than 3 items of our merch you get free shipping and an authentic Iowa State Fair corn dog. I mean it. I’m going to be purchasing them myself right at the fairgrounds. Although once you get your corn dog it might look mighty tasty, consume it at your own risk.

Also, if you didn’t make it to our Rock and Rye show in Templeton a couple of weeks ago, we have made a live recording of the show available for sale HERE.

If you don’t want to commit to a whole show, the song Templeton Rye from the show is this weeks Authentic Records Weekly Ear Snack for free. follow this link:
Weekly Ear Snack : The Nadas : Templeton Rye – A tribue to Meryl Kerkhoff

I hope we see you at the fair!

Love and pickle dawgs,
The Nadas

QOTW – What is your favorite state fair food?

Hello Friends  -

Jason here. I am packing my bags for a solo show at the Cedar Ridge Winery in Cedar Rapids, IA tonight at 6pm. Becca and Stephanie are joining me. I love this winery/distillery and am excited to play. The show is free and so are the samples.

Not a lot happening in Nadas world this week. We are preparing for the Iowa State Fair shows next week. We play the first 3 days like we do every year. I am so excited about the fair that I also booked 4 solo shows at the Bird’s Nest at the Anderson Erickson stage for the following week. All of these dates are listed HERE. You can check them out, and while you are at it go ahead and become a fan on Facebook, or “like” us i guess is what they are calling it now.

We are still asking for your help in Saving Meatloaf, El Segundo. Go HERE for more info. We have posted a few videos to help entice you.

Thanks for your continued support,
The Nadas

QOTW – What are you doing this weekend?

I know many of you have been waiting to pledge on our Save Meatloaf El Segundo Campaign until we unveiled the limited edition t-shirt.

Here it is . . . . drumroll please Smitty . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .