It's Been a While...

Hello friends,

I'm writing today because I have absolutely no idea what to do with the blog. There hasn't really been anything new going on with the band so I haven't been able to update, which makes me sad. There were also a total of zero entries for the meme contest 😢

So, I want to know: what do YOU want to see on this blog? More games, less games? Contests? Or just something as simple as music discussions? Any and all ideas are welcomed. I want to keep writing for this blog as long as I can! I enjoy it so much because you guys are the best.

Lots of love,
Sarah

We're Back + Perfect Gifts for the RK Fan

LONG TIME, NO BLOG! But I'm back! I graduated from high school on Saturday and now I've got a lot more time to get the blog back up and running. I'm planning the podcast, still working on those button packs, and polishing off the professional side of the blog by designing some stationary! As far as Relient K news, there are still a bunch of shirts on sale for $5 on relientk.com, so be sure to snag one if you can! Now, on to today's post...

I know buying gifts for someone can be stressful, especially when you have no idea what to get. So I've compiled this little list of things the Relient K fan in your life is sure to love.



1. Bummin' themed art. Price varies. 

(from Redbubble user Youu)

This really cute drawing can be made into anything from shirts to post cards, and even phone cases!

Click HERE to shop!

2. Deathbed sound wave art. $35.00 

(from Etsy shop VoiceAndSound)

Click HERE to shop!

3. Air For Free bracelet. $7.50

(from Etsy shop shop315)

I spotted this bracelet a few months ago when I was online window shopping on Etsy. It's absolutely adorable and I hope to buy one for myself soon!

 Click HERE to shop!

4. High of 75 handwritten wall art. $10.00

 (from Etsy shop handstolearn)

Click HERE to shop!

5. Be My Escape print. $20.00

(from Etsy shop RivyePrints)

Click HERE to shop!

I hope you found a cool gift idea! Personally, I'd love to buy each of these things. Guess I'll have to save a bit of money up!

Hopefully soon I'll have some fresh new RK news to be reporting to you all, but until then...

Don't blink
- Sarah

The Full Scoop: Air For Free on r/place

Few days ago I'd been posting something Air For Free related on all the blog's social media that had something to do with r/place (for those that don't know, it's a subreddit where you can place one colored tile every five minutes to create art).

My friend Nathan (AKA u/relientkfan), proposed the idea that we try to place a 7 by 15 rectangle design featuring the AFF dots somewhere on the canvas. He made a post on the Relient K subreddit and some of our friends from the Discord chat (shout out to Chris, Joe, and Ben!!) agreed to help.

The design started in an area that was held by r/edBoxes. We ended up forming a treaty with them, so we abandoned that spot and headed about eight squares north. We were above most of the red boxes, but eventually had to leave because of a "HAN_SX" design that was moving our way.

After this, the design was moved to an area above the "HAN_SX" design. We built there for almost a day, completely untouched, but then Quebec arrived. Nathan asked if they could stop covering our design, but it seemed we had found ourselves in the middle of a political battle between Canada and Quebec.

SO, to avoid that whole situation we decided to hit the road and move down south, settling above a sign that said "r/HEYYEA". At this point, things were going well. We almost had our entire boarder complete, but then we started to lose control and suddenly we were battling "the brown splotch" and r/ainbowroad. Turns out, the brown splotch was actually a shoe. Of Mappy the mouse. After some peace talks with r/heyyea and r/ainbowroad, Mappy the mouse and Rainbow Road were no longer an issue.

At this point, it was almost 5:30 AM, Monday morning. There were some rogue bots attempting to cover our design, but Nathan had a connection through r/porterrobinson who taught him how to use a bot code. He made some modifications, then sent to code to Joe and myself so all three of us could run it at once.

The next day, I kept an eye on the design. and by that afternoon r/place had ended! Thankfully the design was intact and recognizable. If Reddit ever does this again in the future, I'd love to work on a bigger design. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun and it's cool to think a part of Relient K is immortalized in this piece of internet history.

See if you can find the design below in the final canvas, or keep scrolling to see it up close!

The final canvas from r/place

Air For Free design on r/place

Lots of thanks to Joe and Nathan for helping with the bot install, and to Nathan for sending me all the screenshots and a play by play of what happened when I wasn't there! 

So, until next time (hopefully I'll have some nice new Relient K news).

Don't blink,

Sarah

New Music??

Oh boy, do I have a big and exciting one today.

Most of you, if you've been keeping up with the RK social media (specifically Instagram) or talking with other fans, you'd would know the guys are being pretty sneaky about something. So, let's break it down!

The first clue we got was this:

I thought it was amazing the guys released Air For Free and The Creepier Ep...er in the same year, then they threw in Truly Madly Deeply and my mind was blown. I didn't think it could get any better, but apparently I was wrong. They're cooking up something, and I can't wait to see what it is.

Next came talk of more live music. Live 2009 is the first and so far only live Relient K album to exist, but that isn't going to be the case for too long. Live 2016 may be (and probably is) coming soon.

Finally we come to this very mysterious post.

I legit freaked out a bit over this one! I'm thinking possible B sides album or an acoustic album (although I had a dream they released a book, not even sure where that one came from), and I've seen some others talking about a deluxe version of Air For Free, but either way I'm beyond excited for this.

PLUS! Series 4 of the 7 inch vinyl sets are set to be released soon. Not exactly sure when, but I'm guessing in the next few months or so. I'm really excited about this set specifically because I think this is one where Look On Up will be making her debut. There's also the 7 inch version of Five Score, not sure when he'll be making his appearance though.

I have no idea how the guys manage to do all this stuff at once, but MAN I am excited. They're some pretty awesome dudes. #relientlove

Before I go I've got two other things I want to mention. First, if you're interested in joining a RK chat, I've got just the thing for you. Introducing: the Relient K Fans Discord! Click HERE to be directed right to the action! You'll definitely find me hanging out there!

Second, we've hit over 2000 page views since the blog's formation back in November! I was so shocked, I never expected this blog to make it past my friend circle. Thank you all so much for stopping by to check this out, it means the world. 🎉✨

Vinyl Unboxing: Live 2009 (MSSS Series, Part 4)

It is finally time for the final part to the Merch Store Shopping Spree series! If you're new here, last December I went a little... crazy, I guess you could say. I purchased 3 vinyl (Air For Free, Collapsible Lung, and Live 2009) and the 2016 tour shirt... And then I decided to write about it on here.

So, that being said, let's get to it!

Starting on the outside, the record in housed in a regular singlefold cardboard jacket, the front cover art being a black and white photo that Jake Germany snapped during the Looking For America tour.

The back cover show the six song track listing, and is as follows:

SIDE A

Forget and Not Slow Down

The One I'm Waiting For

I Don't Need A Soul

SIDE B

The Thief

Be My Escape

Who I Am Hates Who I've Been

And finally, inside is a standard ten inch black vinyl. If you happened to pre-order this album (I, unfortunately, did not) you would have gotten a special pre-order only laminate!
This album sounds lovely when played, and it's so short you can listen to the whole thing in one sitting (which I love). One of my favorite parts is when the crowd sings along in Be My Escape! It reminds me of when I saw Relient K live. :)

Lastly, before I go, I'd like to wish a late but very happy 10th birthday to Five Score and Seven Years Ago! There has been talk of a tenth anniversary tour...

Possible SET LIST??? Would you be down? https://t.co/YibADkwtm2 #5scoreand10yearsago pic.twitter.com/UzGUx8DNUv

— Relient K (@relientK) March 6, 2017

...and then there's this little mysterious thing.

A post shared by Relient K (@relientk) on Mar 8, 2017 at 11:07am PST

First seen on the Relient K Instagram story, It seems as if the guys are going to be releasing a special edition 7 inch vinyl of Five Score, maybe with a few select songs, or perhaps just Deathbed. Whenever I get more information, you guys will be the first to know!

Don't blink,
Sahara

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOOPES!

I just wanted to take a quick moment to wish a wonderful and happy birthday to one of the coolest guitar shredding dudes out there. I compiled this (let's be honest, pretty bad quality) video that has a few messages for the man himself. Hope you have a good one, Hoopes!

A Super Sweet Valentine's Surprise

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!

Lots of exciting things happened over the past few days! The guys released a Valentine's EP called Truly Madly Deeply. There are three songs: Candy Hearts (my personal fave), Happy Valentimes, and BMI Valentine. There's also a music video that was shot (by the fabulous Jake Germany, who also designed the EP's art) for Candy Hearts. You can watch it on below, or on Relient K's official website.

Don't blink,

Sahara <3

LFA Tour Shirt Review (MSSS Series, Part 3) + BONUS POST

Hi friends! So sorry about this being a day late, I completely forgot about posting it yesterday! To make up for it, I've added on a BONUS POST that might have to do something with Matt T and the Earthquakes, but I'll get to that in a bit...

Today we're looking at the Looking For America '16 Tour shirt as the third installment of the Merch Store Shopping Spree series.

The first thing I want to say about this shirt is how SOFT it is. The material is a bit thin (you can't see though, don't worry) and made of 50% percent polyester, 25% cotton and 25% rayon. Like other Relient K shirts, it features a tear away tag. These little angels are probably the best invention EVER.

The back lists all the tour dates between September and November of 2016 You can still buy these shirts online at relientk.com and they're only $10!

Now, if you're interested more in the bonus post than me rambling on about a shirt, here we go.

About a week ago I remembered how Matt Thiessen opened for a show at City Winery back in December, playing some solo songs. After a quick check from Google and YouTube, I found some (if not all) the songs he played at the show. Here's the list:

1.) DUDE
2.) SPORTS!
3.) MAN OF STONE
4.) MOTHER'S TRIUMPH

I couldn't find any others, so I'm not a hundred percent sure if this is all of them, but still, there's something interesting about this list.

I went to BMI's website, did a little digging (If you don't know, BMI is a company that does music publishing, licensing, etc.), and found a list of all the Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes songs that are registered, but the ones he played aren't on the list. He does, however, have 12 songs registered, most of which I've never heard of before. Here's the list:

1.) CALENDAR THE ENERGY
2.) CLOUD OF SMOKE
3.) DUMPED FOR A MODEL
4.) IF I'M DREAMING
5.) IT'S A BROKEN HEART
6.) NOT WITH YOU AND ME
7.) POISON IVY
8.) TAKE IT EASY MATTHEW
9.) TIME STAND STILL
10.) VOLLEYBALL GIRL
11.) WOOL OVER YOUR EYES
12.) WWW BROKENHEART COM

This information is exciting, to say the least. There's enough for a full album here, and seeing as the songs he preformed aren't on BMI's repertoire, that could mean they're pretty new.

If you want to check out the list yourself, you can find it by clicking HERE. I could honestly get lost for hours looking at that website.

And hey, don't forget to check back occasionally, as I will keep you updated about this (and Goodbye Dubai) whenever I learn something new!

Don't blink,
Sahara

Collapsible Lung Unboxing (MSSS Series, Part 2)

Read the Air For Free unboxing post by clicking HERE.

-

Hello my favorites!

Today we're looking at Collapsible Lung! One of my all time favorites, it's the first Relient K album I listened to. The vinyl itself is packaged in a cardboard jacket along with the easily recognisable lung artwork on the front.

Since before getting this record, I only had the album digitally, so I didn't know what the back looked like. It's very interesting and shows three brown dots with different pictures inside them. The one on the left shows an internal part of the lung, the center one shows a map, and the one on the right depicts a house. I don't know if these pictures have any meaning but they look pretty cool nonetheless! 

The vinyl itself is a cherry red, which I really love! It goes well with the beige and black artwork. The only thing that made me sad was the lack of an insert. Inserts are probably my second favorite part of records themselves, the first being the actual vinyl.

The track listing is the same as the CD, and is as follows:

SIDE A:

Don't Blink

Boomerang

Lost Boy

If I Could Take You Home

Can't Complain

Gloria

SIDE B:

PTL

Disaster 

When You Were My Baby

Sweeter

Collapsible Lung 

I know this wasn't really a well received album, but it does have its gems (Don't Blink, Can't Complain, and Collapsible Lung specifically). In the end I just hope you enjoyed reading this little post! I wish you all the best.

Don't Blink, 

Sahara 

PS: Saw a sneaky tweet from SMLXL Vinyl saying the gold MMHMM vinyls are back in stock! Go grab one now if you don't have one @ smlxlvinyl.com

Looking For America: PART 2!

Hey guys! So, the second leg of the tour starts TODAY in Fresno, California!

I'll be keeping you updated on Twitter, and hey, don't forget! If you want to see your pictures in the tour photo gallery, send them, along with the city and state the show was in, and your name to thefreshestblogintheworld@gmail.com!

Don't blink,
Sahara

PS: I will be sending out the FIRST Lyric Club email on February 1st! Keep an eye out for it if you signed up!

2016 RECAP: New Music and Touring and Videos... Oh My!

made by Imogen from The Owl City Fan Club Blog 

Welcome back! And if this is your first time here, welcome to the blog! If you want to learn a little more about me and why I started this blog before you read this post, click HERE.

So, how about we "kick-off" the new year with a recap of what went down in 2016? Sound good? Let's go!

There was some buzz at the start of the year after the release of the new album's title. During a show in December, the guys revealed the name of the record would be Air For Free.

On Valentine's Day, a digital single called Look On Up was finally released after being played at various shows. Unfortunately, it did not make the album.

April 13th, the lead single from Air For Free, titled Bummin' (one of my favorite tracks), was released.

Originally rumoured to be released in May, Air For Free was released on July 22nd as digital download and vinyl, and later on August 20th, released as a CD. It debuted at No. 44 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums, and sold around 9000 copies in its first week.

There are 16 tracks, and according to the Air For Free Wikipedia page, a pregap piano version of Marigold (CD release only). I have yet to get the CD, but once I do, I'll be sure to let you know if I find it.

https://twitter.com/relientK/status/754518202374250496

The following day, the band played an album release concert in Akron, Ohio with Cardboard Kids as show openers (CK is a really great band and I highly recommend them, check 'em out).

The guys played a total of 12 songs from the newly released album, including Mountaintop, which was made into a music video.

Matt Hoopes starring as "The Navigator" and Matt Thiessen starring as "The Climber". Released September 1st. https://youtu.be/sSi0HplL05A

Written by Rob Fee and directed by Ryan Hamblin, the video follows Hoopes the Navigator and Thiessen the Climber as they, well, climb to the top of a mountain! They (as themselves) watch the video back, take notes and, at some points, look really confused and bored. There's also a campfire involved. Not sure if they were roasting hot dogs or marshmallows, though. But, in my opinion the video really embodies adventure in a fun and playful way (note the lions, tigers, bears, and bats), while the running theme of budget cuts is still going strong after its appearance in the Pressing On music video almost 16 years ago. One of my favorite parts is the ending where we see Matt Hoopes write a note for help and attach it to a little plastic bird. The nature shots were breathtaking, and a big round of applause to Jacob Smithson who edited all together so beautifully.

While we're on the topic of fun and adventure, let's wrap up this post with talk about one of the most adventurous things that's happened this year: The Looking For America tour!

It was announced in May via Relient K and Switchfoot's social media accounts, and a video on Switchfoot's YouTube channel that the two groups would be touring across North America, each promoting their new albums, Air For Free and Where The Light Shines Through.

The tour started September 17th and ran through November 26th, allowing the bands to stop in a total of 50 cities. I was able to snag some tickets and VIP passes to the October 22nd show (which also happened to be Jon Foreman's birthday), and let me tell you, it was amazing.

Almost a week later, on October 28th, the guys dropped a three song Halloween EP entitled The Creepier EP...er.

"The Creepier EP...er" Released October 28th, 2016, Mono VS Stereo 

It features two new songs called The Halloween Blues and The Cup, as well as one formerly unreleased track called Halloween in Owatonna. (Check out the original performance here).

Then on November 21st, it was announced there would be a part two to the Looking For America tour, now called the Still Looking For America 2our, starting January 21th, 2017 and going through February 18th, 2017. Another video was released on Switchfoot's YouTube channel with more details and a list of dates.

So, there we have it! Started with a new single and ended with a full on two part North American tour. I hope some of you got to go too! Last year's had its ups and downs, but overall it's a year that I hope I never forget.

Don't blink,
Sahara

UPDATE: Thanks to Chris from the comments, the Marigold intro pregap track is on YouTube! Check it here: https://youtu.be/Xpzoj-LNTcY

Christmas Wishes + A Surprise

Since nothing much is happening right now, I decided I'd just pop in to wish you all a Merry Christmas! I'm excited to see what the new year brings for me, this blog, and music! I hope each of you had a great year and I hope 2017 treats you well.

Speaking of 2017...

Starting January 1st I'm going to start featuring photography, edits, and art on the blog! I'm starting submissions now, so if you want to enter, DM it to my Twitter or Instagram, or email the it to thefreshestblogintheworld@gmail.com along with your name. The only requirement is that it has to be Relient K themed, of course. I look forward to seeing if I recieve any enteries!

All the best,
Sahara

PS: You might see some new tabs up there... I'll be explaining soon...

PPS: Crosby the reindeer wishes you a Merry Christmas.

AND WE LIVE.

Hello there! I'm Sahara. Welcome to the freshest blog in the world. My goal here is to create a cool place where people can get some up to date news about Relient K, share stories, and maybe even make some new friends. I don't really know what's in store for this blog but I hope you enjoy your time here and find what you came for.

That being said, here's a few Relient K based facts about me so we can get to know each other a little better:

1.) The first Relient K song I bought was Collapsible Lung.

2.) My favorite Relient K album is either Forget and Not Slow Down or Air For Free.

3.) The guys inspired me to pick up the ukulele and start learning guitar again.

4.) Currently I only own one physical copy of a Relient K album (FANSD on vinyl, hoping for more this Christmas ;) ).

5.) I can play Forward Motion on my ukulele (that I lovingly named Pearl).

So, if you wanna, comment your favorite album(s)/song(s). It's really hard to pick just one...

And lastly, while I'm here, I'd just like to say a quick thanks to the people who inspired me to start writing this blog. I've been wanting to do something like this ever since 2014, so many thanks goes to my friends Aidan, who first inspired me; Imogen, who helped me out a lot and made the lovely header of the guys; and Savannah, who is one of the sweetest people out there and has a sick Relient K instagram page. You guys are truly the best and I thank you for inspiring me. This whole blog was orginally just going to be a Twitter account that tweeted Relient K lyrics everyday, but it turned into so much more. Thank you again.

ALSO. HUGE THANKS TO THE GUYS I WRITE ABOUT! If it weren't for M@ and Matt, I wouldn't even be writing this right now. Love you guys endlessly.

All the best,

Sahara

PS: check out Aidan's blog here, Imogen's blog here, and Savannah's Instagram here