It’s the end of an era with Tommy leaving the group, and things certainly won’t be the same. Tommy’s unique sound and offerings to the group will be missed to say the least. His talents on the keyboards, trombone, and voice are one-of-a-kind.

Times change, and thus so will the sound of the band with a different lineup. Despite rumors of a break-up, Violent Hippie will continue after a small break through January and will re-emerge at Winterfest in Lead, SD at the Blue Cactus on Saturday, Jan 23rd showtime 9p.

Chris Cady will continue to front out the band on guitar and vocals, with the integration of Joel Adams as a full-time member on Tuba. Joel has been a session player with the band the last couple of seasons, and has added an amazing, unique tone to the group. Joel hails originally from Fergus Falls, MN, and holds a master’s degree in Tuba Performance from the University of Illinois.

We are also happy to announce that Chris Tetreault of our sister group, the Mad Hats, has shopped on with us as the new drummer, will be covering our last shows of the year, and becoming a fixture of the band for 2010. The Mad Hats are not breaking up, they will be doing shows as well…

Obviously our set list will be changing, with inserts of quite a bit more surf, rockabilly, and experimental tones which we have been exploring behind closed doors this year, with a whole new batch of original material and some fun spins with some new covers as well.

We wish Tommy good luck in all he does, and send him off with love…

Happy Sewage to all, and to all a good Snot!