The Long Winters have been very quiet for the past year, hardly
appearing at all in the celebrity gossip columns of your local
newspapers, and I wanted to drop you a line and explain our absence.
We were working on a record for many months which was going to be the
brilliant follow-up to 2003's critically-acclaimed and genre-smashing
"When I Pretend to Fall", but the pressure of being called geniuses
over and over, day after day, by cultural critics both high and low,
and the constant chop-chop-chop of media and police helicopters
circling our mountaintop redoubt caused us to go a little bananas.  Our
experiments in "pop music" spiraled out of control, threatening to heat
up and overload the sophisticated cooling system we had installed.
Worst of all, I felt that I had "forgotten where I had come from",
neglecting the "little people" and hoovering thousands of dollars in
prescription medication to numb the pain of feeling like a lost little
girl.

When the USC marching band refused to come back and do overdubs a third
time I realized that I had gone too far.  The turn-around came when I
decided to adopt a half-dozen third world infants, and  I realized
there was more to life than fame.  The Long Winters are back on track
now, and we have a few wonderful events to announce that hopefully will
make up for the fact that we briefly lost our way.

First, we're touring in September with the English band KEANE, who
always spell their name in all-caps.  Here are the dates:

 9/20/2005 The Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA , United States
 9/21/2005 Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN , United States
 9/25/2005 The Pageant, St. Louis, MO , United States
 9/29/2005 House of Blues, San Diego, CA , United States
 9/30/2005 Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA , United States

In addition to these shows we'll be stopping off to play in-stores at
local record shops along the way.  More details are forthcoming on our
website and in email blasts like this.

Then, in October, we'll be releasing a six-song EP, called "Ultimatum",
featuring the best work from our recording sessions over the last year.
 We'll be recording a full-length record at the same time that should
be ready for release in the spring of '06.

Look for all of this, plus an update of our website, in the next few
weeks.  Meanwhile, stop by our message board:
http://www.thelongwinters.com/board/index.php

or visit the Long Winters Library:
http://thelongwinters.megalies.com/

Thanks again and we hope to hear from you soon.

John