I’ve had the pleasure of meeting young Colin Robert, and he’s a very cool, princely little guy! It is my sincere hope that Colin, and my son Connor, will take over and carry the Jackpot Donnie torch when they come of age. So…..stay tuned for JPD 2.0!

But until that glorious day comes, the current members of JPD have a lot of fun stuff going on. We’re currently tracking our new EP, preparing to get new merchandise, and booking more shows (in new venues) for the near future to promote the release of the new music. We’re also hoping to visit some new cities in the weeks and months ahead, which we’re really looking forward to!

Colin really couldn’t have arrived at a better time, because right now we’re all just focused on recording our tracks for the new EP. We’re taking our time to make sure everything is exactly the way we want it – hence the long break since last we rocked with you. Things already sound great, and we’re still only half done, which means that the finished product should be ROCKIN. With all of the work that we’re putting into this EP, we know it’s going to be well worth it – and more importantly, that you all are going to love it

We’re very anxious to see all of you out on the town,  and to share some laughs and good vibes with you! But until then, stay well – enjoy the fine weather headed our way – and get ready for some new JPD, coming soon!

Again, please help us send Brian, Erin, and Colin some congratulations! Welcome to the world, CRW!

Cheers,
ML

It’s Xmas time again, and the boys and I are wrapping up one helluva year in JPD Land. Adam returning home – rejoining the band, adding the incredibly talented Peter Spero, and getting the chance to play at the legendary House of Blues main stage were just a few of the things that made 2011 one of the best in the band’s short history.

We continue to work with Steve Gillis at Transient Sound on the pre-production for our new EP. It’s taken a long while, but we know that the wait will be worth it. We hope to begin tracking in January 2012, with a summer-release in mind. Steve has helped us so much over the past few months. All of the new songs that we have shown him have undergone a lot of re-writing and fine-tuning, but have become better and more engaging songs throughout that process. We’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of time during the pre-production process to make sure that the final version of these songs are the finest we’ve ever recorded, and we’re incredibly excited to hear what you think of the finished product!

We’ve got a couple shows coming up in January, and some more new and exciting experiences ahead of us in 2012. I hope you come along for the ride, because I believe we’re gonna have another big year!

Finally, thanks to all of you fans out there. Where would we be without you?? Your passionate support for our music continues to inspire us to keep producing solid, energetic, and positive rock and roll. We thank you all for your infectious dedication to Jackpot Donnie!

I hope your holidays are filled with cold beers, good friends, lots of laughter, and plenty of rock n’ roll. We’ll see you all in 2012!

Happy holidays,

~ Matt

Here are the deets:

Friday, September 16

Cubby Bear Chicago

1059 W. Addison St., Chicago, IL

21+ w/ID, $6 cover

Print out this flier to receive a $2 discount at the door.  You can thank us at the show.

Hey all-

Thanks for checking in!  Brian here with an update on all things JPD.  Summer has come to an end, and it was another great one thanks to all of you.  We’re still riding high from our House of Blues show last July.  Since then, things have only gotten better.  The band has been busy writing songs for the new EP.  We’re working on preproduction right now, and we should begin tracking in October.  And the most exciting news of all…Matt welcomed his son, Connor, into the world a couple of weeks ago.  Everyone in the Love house is doing great, and Matt is thoroughly enjoying tummy time with the little one.

Speaking of growing the Jackpot Donnie family, we’re really excited to officially welcome Peter Spero into the band.  Since we met Peter last spring, we knew that we finally found the keys player we always wanted but could never find.  Anyone who caught a show last summer knows that Peter can tear it up on the keys, and his enthusiasm for the JPD sound has made everything a perfect match.

We’ve got a gig coming up on September 16 at the Cubby Bear Chicago.  We’re opening up for Sublime tribute band Secondhand Smoke.  We’ve played with them a couple times before, and it’s always a good time.  Come check us out and stick around for some Long Beach dub music.  We’re looking forward to lots of good things this fall.  Plenty more to announce soon.  Until then…

Cheers,

Brian

After having a few days to let the experience sink-in, I wanted to take a moment to reminisce about our show this past Friday at the House of Blues Chicago main stage…

Thank you so very much to all of you who took the time to come out to see us! That was the most special show that we’ve ever played, and it’s because we had so many good friends/fans in attendance. Thank you one-and-all for your continued love and support. The entire band has been swimming in the good vibes that we felt while on stage that night as we looked out and saw all of your smiling faces, and watched you rocking out with us!

We cannot possibly describe the feelings we had when we took the stage at such an incredible venue. House of Blues is a temple of Chicago live music, and it was such a blessing to be able to rock the same stage as so many musical legends have done before us. Hopefully we’ll be able to put together a video online with all of our green-room footage, as well as some live footage of the songs we played for you to enjoy. We’ll also have some more photos posted online from the event, courtesy of our good friend Julie Collins. We really felt like rockstars that night – everything from the green room, to the buffet dinner, to the fridge full of refreshments and the incredible view we had from the stage of all you fans!

And now that HoB is behind us, we’ll be heading back to Transient Sound to continue working on our new 5-song EP with producer Steve Gillis! We’ve been hard at work writing and composing these new songs, and we’re confident that this will be the best recording we’ve ever put out into the world of ROCK. We hope you’re as excited to hear these new songs as we are to record them.

We’re not sure yet when our next show will be, as we’ll be taking some time to work on the new EP. But be sure to check our Facebook page (and this site) for more updates. Stay tuned…and thanks again!

Cheers,
Matt

So much is going on right now with the band, and personally, and I just felt compelled to blog about it today…

JPD just had our first show of 2011 at Cubby Bear Wrigleyville on Friday night – and it was the first show in over a year with our original drummer Adam. It felt pretty incredible to get back to a comfortable-yet-energetic place in music again. The crowd was awesome, and filled with a lot of old friends! It was great catching up, and just seeing all of our friends that we hadn’t seen in such a long time. Not to mention the fact that we played a solid set, and everyone seemed to have a real good time! 2010 was an odd year for the band, but 2011 is proving to be a strong turnaround!

On Saturday, while trying to recover from a massive hangover, caused by partying at the CB show, the band went to Transient Sound to hang out with our new producer Steve Gillis and begin working on our new EP (which I’m hoping will be out by Xmas). The guys and I are extremely excited to be working with Steve! His energy and wisdom was evident right from the get-go. We began working on the song ‘Juju’ and while we ended up changing a lot of the song, and we made it a LOT better in the process. I know the other guys are just as anxious as I am to see what else Steve can do to help spice up our sound. It’s gonna be a great EP – I can’t wait to share it with all of you!

On top of getting the recording started, JPD will be playing a show at House of Blues Chicago (main stage) for the first time ever on July 8th! We’ve never been more excited for a show, and I can promise all of you that it will be a night that none of us will soon forget. So make sure you contact a band member for some discounted pre-sale tickets! You won’t wanna miss this party

After the HoB show – because my lovely fiance and I are having a child soon – the band won’t be able to play any shows until around October. But at the very least, we will still be hard at work recording our new EP.

I hope to see you guys soon! Thanks for your continued, vigorous, and infectious support!

Cheers,
Matt

*first time played

**entire show played with Peter Spero on keys

The lineup is as follows:

Mathien (CD Release Party)
Jackpot Donnie
Animate Objects
Unemployed Architects

This is a 17 and over show. Presale tickets are $15. Email fanmail@jackpotdonnie.com or use the contact page to reserve your ticket. You will save money by purchasing your ticket directly through the band than buying online or at the door.

Today we met with producer Zak Fox who is going to be collaborating on our new songs.  We’re hoping for a few more writing sessions with Zak as we try to make these the best songs we’ve ever recorded.  It’s refreshing to have an outside voice during the creative process.  This new approach has all of us pretty giddy, and we’re planning on hitting the studio in May.

My bandmates and I are incredibly restless.  We cannot wait for our first show back on June 3 at Cubby Bear.  It’s going to be such a rush to get back on stage playing for an audience again.  There is a great lineup planned, and we’ll be sure to debut a couple of these new tracks we’re so excited about.  Hit us up to reserve your discounted ticket, and we’ll even deliver them to your door, assuming you’re somewhere in Chicago, of course. =]

Drop us a line on facebook or below, and we’ll see you all out at the show!

Cheers!

Brian