Lund Bros: aka "Loser" and "InternationaL pop overthrow"

This latest period of history for the band has, like everything else, been affected in no small part by the plague of the modern day, namely Covid 19.  In spite of this up-heaval, the Bros came up with two very strong records that are currently garnishing rave reviews and should appear on many Best of Lists for the year 2022.

Basically, Chris and Sean continued to write material on their own while simultaneously rehearsing for the first series of live performances in a decade or so.  They reconnected with Gwon in late 2019 and played all of three "reunion" shows before Gwon decided that the long cummutes to rehearsals in Tacoma from his home in Bellevue a 45 minute drive each way were too much.  He was seeking a group doing gigs in the Seattle area exclusively.    Now, this was disappointing for Chris and Sean, but not insurmountable.  The brothers discussed options such as going out as a duo but decided against it, favoring finding a possible replacement bassist. 

After many months of futile searching, Chris decided to recruit former guitar student Keven Tone for the role.  He got in touch and Keven was quite game to be a part of the Lund Bros.  He had gone to several shows as a young teen, when he was a guitar student of Chris' and he really liked the music.  After rehearsing for a couple weeks with Chris, they brought Sean in and started full-blown rehearsals at Demon Studios, Chris' home studio.  Keven lived in the neighborhood so commutes were no issue.

Within a month, they played their first show at Tacoma's Spanish Ballroom to a lively crowd.  It was a great venue and the gig went very well.  Things were looking up!  However, their next gig would be their last as Covid came on and forced cancellations of all other upcoming shows.  Sean still had his job for the State of WA and was able to work from home, but for Chris this was incredibly frustrating as he'd invested much time and money into promoting, booking, merchandising, getting a new bassist up to speed etc..etc....  And all for naught.   What to do?  He was able to secure some PPP loans and unemployment from WA to keep the lights on and buy some time.  However, the devastation to his guitar instruction business and touring plans left him one major caveat:  TIME.  Ok, well.  What to do with all that time?

THE ANSWER:  Move to Phoenix Arizona?!!  Don't be alarmed kids.  This was a plan of Chris' from many years prior, having developed a love for the Southwest Desert and it's climate after visiting the state while on vacation.  It was time to check off some major items on his bucket list. 

One, selling the Tacoma home his family had been in for nearly 20 years - fortunately it was a very strong "seller's market". 

Two, finishing up enough music for at least two more records.

Three, moving to a new state (Arizona), finding a great school for his teenage son there, and getting a major refresh.  It was time to feel the fear and go for it.

He rented a home for he, his wife and son for a little over a year while building up his teaching business, driving all over the Valley of the Sun to teach at various music stores and guitar shops.  Why not further complicate things eh?  Simultaneously, Sean and Chris decided to put out another record since both had been writing songs and had them ready to go.  Sean sent his mixes to Chris in Arizona and Chris added them to his finished songs, creating an audio master of the record.  The title Across State Lines seemed highly applicable because of the fact the two brothers were residing in different states.  The artwork was created by Chris' son, John Paul, who came up with the iconic image you see on the cover and back of the record.  Though the songs were written and tracked completely separately, it didn't seem to matter as the finished record had a very nice flow to it dynamically and stylistically.  

After 6 months getting some traction for Across State Lines, Chris still had a ton of tracks laying around almost completely finished- most of it of a more hard-rocking nature.  Why not check off another bucket list item and do a concept album about a semi-fictional rocker  character called "the California Kid".  It would be composed of very hook-based guitar rock and all but a couple of the songs would be thematically related to car, girls, rock and roll, and summertime.  Thus, the album was titled Indian Summer and released in September of 2022.  The reviews have been incredible with the record ending up on many Best of 2022 lists !

Chris then bought a house - in a "seller's market" (see how everything tends to equalize itself?) and proceeded to move his household and music studio to Moon Valley, a lovely neighborhood at the feet of Lookout Mountain in Phoenix, AZ.

Sean and his fiance Val often come to Arizona to stay at a family-owned Scottsdale Condominium so the brothers see each other quite often and still plan to do music together - even "live"- over the next decade.  Or more?  who knows?