In an effort to allow a little more transparency between us, the Gage, and you, the (hopefully) fans, we've decided to join 2003 and start a blog.
Better late than never.
In particular, I wanted to take a moment to talk about the past, and what changes the future brings. For those of you who attended our concert last night, Countdown to Candy V, you got a chance to see a very poignant farewell to our long-time members, Phil and Kristi Seidow-Thompson. Both Phil and Kristi have been with Curious Gage for over three years, and it's tough to think about what the group is going to look like without them.
Better late than never.
In particular, I wanted to take a moment to talk about the past, and what changes the future brings. For those of you who attended our concert last night, Countdown to Candy V, you got a chance to see a very poignant farewell to our long-time members, Phil and Kristi Seidow-Thompson. Both Phil and Kristi have been with Curious Gage for over three years, and it's tough to think about what the group is going to look like without them.
Phil and I first started singing a cappella in 1999, with the invention of a little group we called Loose Endz. Loose Endz was five guys (well, truth be told, boys really) who shared a love of vocal music, even if we didn't really know at the time how to express it. It was our first chance to dip our toes into the a cappella world, and for Phil and I it started a tradition we carried on for the next 11 years.
At the time I was just a singer in the group, and believe it or not, Phil was actually the one who would do vocal percussion. I remember watching him doing it one day and thinking, "Man...this is something we should have in EVERY song, not just one or two." So, I started annoying my friends and family with constant spitting, all in the hope that I could eventually become as good as Phil.
Loose Endz eventually ended (but not before morphing into two other groups, In Retrospect, and later, 'Tangent), but it wasn't long before Phil and I got bit by the a cappella bug once again, and founded Curious Gage in the Spring of 2003.
Phil left for a time, but came back later to help reform the group in 2006 (along with the addition of a little estrogen in the form of Carleen), and five weeks later we won the Denver Regional Harmony Sweepstakes. It's hard to express what that win meant for us. I know for me it was a moment of pure happiness as I forgot the many years of loss that had preceded that moment, and basked in a few minutes of pure, selfish pleasure. And for Phil...well, like I said, we'd been doing this for awhile. I can only imagine that he felt the same kind of connection, some cosmic arc between 1999 and 2006 that led us to that moment.
It was pretty amazing.
Later, when our good friend Zach left to join the larger world of Denver, and later New York, we all got the pleasure of adding a little more estrogen in the form of Kristi.
Krisit added not only an excellent voice and years of stage experience, but also a TREMENDOUS amount of PR, marketing, and graphic design talent that we had previously been missing (though we had had the very amazing Kadie Ainsworth design us a wonderful logo in the early, formative years of the group). Once joining, Kristi immediately went to work changing the ways in which the Gage communicated with press, fans, and the world at large through inspiring press releases and amazing posters. Really, her work is absolutely incredible.
With Phil and Kristi, Curious Gage continued to perform wherever people would have us, and looking back on it there is absolutely nothing I would change. We got to travel, we got to design sets, we got to dress up...it was an amazing ride.
Now, with Phil and Kristi also moving on to the world at large (Phil has taken a fantastic new job in Lakewood, Denver, and Kristi has been accepted to a top-notch design school in Hollywood), Tom, Carleen and I are left with the unenviable task of carrying on without them. There will be challenges no doubt, but also exciting new opportunities for Curious Gage as we begin the next chapter of our musical journey.
Thank you fans for being with us these last seven years, sticking with us through changes large and small, and continuing to support us in our endeavors. And thank you, once again, Phil and Kristi, for all the wonderful memories. We all wish you the best of luck in the places that life takes you next.
~Nic
At the time I was just a singer in the group, and believe it or not, Phil was actually the one who would do vocal percussion. I remember watching him doing it one day and thinking, "Man...this is something we should have in EVERY song, not just one or two." So, I started annoying my friends and family with constant spitting, all in the hope that I could eventually become as good as Phil.
Loose Endz eventually ended (but not before morphing into two other groups, In Retrospect, and later, 'Tangent), but it wasn't long before Phil and I got bit by the a cappella bug once again, and founded Curious Gage in the Spring of 2003.
Phil left for a time, but came back later to help reform the group in 2006 (along with the addition of a little estrogen in the form of Carleen), and five weeks later we won the Denver Regional Harmony Sweepstakes. It's hard to express what that win meant for us. I know for me it was a moment of pure happiness as I forgot the many years of loss that had preceded that moment, and basked in a few minutes of pure, selfish pleasure. And for Phil...well, like I said, we'd been doing this for awhile. I can only imagine that he felt the same kind of connection, some cosmic arc between 1999 and 2006 that led us to that moment.
It was pretty amazing.
Later, when our good friend Zach left to join the larger world of Denver, and later New York, we all got the pleasure of adding a little more estrogen in the form of Kristi.
Krisit added not only an excellent voice and years of stage experience, but also a TREMENDOUS amount of PR, marketing, and graphic design talent that we had previously been missing (though we had had the very amazing Kadie Ainsworth design us a wonderful logo in the early, formative years of the group). Once joining, Kristi immediately went to work changing the ways in which the Gage communicated with press, fans, and the world at large through inspiring press releases and amazing posters. Really, her work is absolutely incredible.
With Phil and Kristi, Curious Gage continued to perform wherever people would have us, and looking back on it there is absolutely nothing I would change. We got to travel, we got to design sets, we got to dress up...it was an amazing ride.
Now, with Phil and Kristi also moving on to the world at large (Phil has taken a fantastic new job in Lakewood, Denver, and Kristi has been accepted to a top-notch design school in Hollywood), Tom, Carleen and I are left with the unenviable task of carrying on without them. There will be challenges no doubt, but also exciting new opportunities for Curious Gage as we begin the next chapter of our musical journey.
Thank you fans for being with us these last seven years, sticking with us through changes large and small, and continuing to support us in our endeavors. And thank you, once again, Phil and Kristi, for all the wonderful memories. We all wish you the best of luck in the places that life takes you next.
~Nic
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