Jonny "Radio Shack" Bylsma (photo: Faithdesired)

“The first band, Rain the Shining, is a band from Baltimore with a great sound… keys, guitars… nice! And their guitarist was awesome!”

- A quote from a new friend of the band’s Flickr Page describing her first RtS encounter on Aug. 22nd.

Lucky for us, our new friend, Shantel was also kind enough to take some great pics from the evening. These pictures may be the most professional looking pictures ever taken of the band. (Sorry Jenn…)

Unfortunately for me, when Shantel compliments our “awesome” guitar player, the guitar player she is referring to is of course Jonny “Radio Shack” Bylsma (pictured to the right), and not me. But it’s true, once again Jonny’s nimble baby carrot fingers and fire hazardous pedal farm produced some sonic awesomeness to our already awesomely-sonic set. Though Jonny’s loose guitar explorations brought people to tears…or at least deafness, the band as a whole rocked the stage at Baltimore’s Ottobar. (Remember Jonny, there is no “I” in Rain the Shining.)

Our short set for the evening:

1. Seizing the View
2. Future Listeners
3. Celebrate
4. Newborn
5. From Point A
6. Marquee

RtS and Keyboard (photo: Faithdesired)

I would be remiss in not mentioning that this was my first show performing with a keyboard. This is something that I’m really excited about. We’ve always loved involving textures, and now it’s going to be a little more plausible in the live setting. Although it’s not the easiest thing to bounce back in forth between guitar and keys with a guitar pick in my hand, I think I managed to only hot dog finger a couple of notes during the course of the show. Let’s face it, I’m no Yanni.

I know we joke around a lot, but it does mean a lot when our friends and loved ones come out to support us.

Once again, the rhythm section of RtS made the venue shake and our inner organs rumble. I think I get acid reflux whenever Jon strums a beast chord on his bass. Mike who was nestled stage left for this show was able to successfully give my left ear drum a beat down from man-handling his cymbals positioned just out of arms reach of my head. Mike is all man and a little extra. That little extra is reserved for the band.

RtS wants to thank everyone who made it out to the show. I know we joke around a lot, but it does mean a lot when our friends and loved ones come out to support us. We look forward to playing again for you in the near future.

Also, check out our images section in a day or so when I can put all of Shantel’s photos on the site.

Here’s the info on the show: August 22nd (Friday), @ the Ottobar, All Ages, doors open @ 9pm!!!

We’re going on @ exactly 9:30pm, which gives everyone time to get out of work and head down to the Ottobar. We really hope we see a lot of friendly faces in the crowd. Check out the “SHOWS” section on the right for more. There’s a flier to promote the show, save it and print it out to hand out to your friends, famliy, co-workers, and even random people you run into.

-Mike