Production Notes:
Gary Ledbetter: Lead Vocals, Lyrics
Tim Dawson: Bass, Backing Vocals
Danny Michael: Drums, Lyrics
Stephen Juliano: Guitars, Backing Vocals, keys/synth
Brian Forman: Engineering, Recording, Mixing, Mastering.
Produced by Brian Forman and Ripped Off Face.
All Tracks Recorded October-December 2008 at Forman Performance (over top the garage!!) in Arlington VA.
Additional Personnel:
Jose Cruz: Backing Vocals
Tom Georgelas: Spoken Words
Steve Miller: Solo on "Lioness"
Group Vocals on "Hymn to the Dismal Tide" recorded on December 13, 2008 in Waterford VA at Hellmetal Studios with close friends.
International Speaking in "Hymn to The Dismal Tide"
Sushila Arur, John Hoover, Polina Kourakina, Christina Santos, Ryan Hubbard, Stephen Juliano.
Thank Yous:
Danny- In Loving Memory of Jesse Walker Bond, Nancy Michael, Johnny Lanham and Mickey Gordon.
My Mom/ Dad/Grammy/Ga for plugging their ears; The Loudoun Militia, The Farm Crew; Javon Smith; Jason and Misery Index; My band mates (including 5th member Brian Forman)—for everything! Veron Ennis. My cousin Trip; The Edmondson and Edwards Families; Steve Miller (the next chapter) and Evil Justin. You people are my life.
Extra Special thanks: Kurt Compher and Steve Hatcher---my musical revelation. Ben Morgan—for getting me off my ass when I was 18. David Winter, Dave Hansroth, Ashley and Ryan O’Hare, Sushila, Gary, Satish, Anand, for taking a chance; my new contracting comrade-Mascot.Tiffanie Woutila (Charm Bracelet), Rosie H—for listening; the Blast House; Nate Davis, George Kollias, Kai Hahto, Andreas Magnusson and Ken Schaulk for all the drumming and life lessons.
My performance for the majority of We Are the State is dedicated in loving honor to, Janice Gomez ,Miles Smith, James and Lili Compher, Nicky and Caleb Carter—I am eternally in debt to each of your fathers. May you hold music with same esteem and prestige as they continue to throughout their lives.
And lastly—My performance and lyrics for Hymn to the Dismal Tide are dedicated to Alexander “Leroy” Morgan-my friend, my protégé, and subsequently-my teacher You are the new blood. This is a torch. May you embody the ethos of this song, may you continue to play until your remains turn to dust, and may you lead the greatest band to ever come out of Loudoun.
Tim- God, for allowing me to accomplish everything I have. None of this could have happened without His guidance. My amazing girlfriend Jamie for supporting me throughout this project, for understanding and putting up with my chaotic schedule over the past two years, you are the most important person in the world to me. I love you. My Dad for buying me my first guitar when I was 12 and for driving me to many band practices over the years, in addition to putting up with me learning instrument after instrument in the basement, and for giving me my first job. My Mom for her neverending love and devotion, I always know I can come to you to talk, you're the reason I'm still here today. I love you very much. All of my brothers; Jesse, Jonathan, Daniel, Joey, and Don. for being your very unique selves, for helping me through rough times in the past, and for coming to my shows, even the ones that were terrible.
My bandmates in Ripped Off Face, past and present, for coming together under one flag and creating something special which I am very, very proud to say I was a part of...Danny and Stephen especially, you guys took me under your wing when I was just an angsty punk kid booking garage shows and kicked me in the ass and showed me how life really works. I would have never had the chance to write these thank you's if you hadn't come into my life. Gary for putting up with my incessant teasing and for dealing with the fact that I can't find the pants I promised I'd give him years ago. Brian Forman for being such an awesome dude while we were recording this record and for making me realize that Bane actually has one good album. Scott Slone for being the only other person in Northern Virginia whose musical taste actually exists in the same universe as mine...Lo-fi ambient depressive Indonesian blackened thrash/grind crust doom for life! Brittany Justice for being my best friend and practically my twin for a long, long time, would you move back Virginia already? Ohio sucks. Toby Gomez for many fun late nights in Waterford. Kurt Compher for being an all around nice guy and for opening up his home many times. Chad Van Nortwick for letting me borrow his sweet Gibson bass for the recording. All the staff at Matthew's Center for being the best people I could ask to work with.
The students that I work with, you are all an inspiration to me daily...Every day I am humbled by your hard work and progress in the face of vast hardships. This album is dedicated to each and every one of you.
Anyone that got left out, you know who you are and what you've done for me. It is because of all of you that we were able to make this album a reality.
Stephen- I want to thank my friends and my family for supporting me in music and never letting me think I suck...even if some people do think so. I want to thank Sarah Bryen for putting up with constant absences and letting me follow my heart in music. A special thanks to Christina Cape. I love you. You are amazing.
I also want to thank my old work for fueling the anger in order to write the music for this album, Making me do things everyday that I hated was just what I needed to get in the mood. Thanks for not noticing me sneaking into vaccant offices to make t-shirt designs, stickers, and music videos while on the company clock.
I love you old job.
There are a lot of people that I would thank individually but there are too many and I already feel like an asshole writting this.
But seriously thank you to everyone that believed in us and still does. This album is for you.
Gary- I thank you all:
Ripped Off Face: I've gotta be the worst when it comes to getting stuff done on time,Thanks for having to put up with constantly reminding me and asking me to do things. Thanks for letting me be a part of this. I've learned a lot from you guys about music, making it, and just everything that comes with it. (Tim thank you for coming to me about being a part of this band.)
Jose: The both of us have been pushing one another to find and create music for years.And I hope one of us can create something huge in it one day soon. Also thanks for helping me deal with everything when I've been down about relationships and personal struggles.
Aunt Audrey, Uncle Clint, and Evan: Aunt Audrey, thank you for letting me stay in your guest bedroom for a while. Thanks for feeding me and wanting me to move in the right direction, and thanks for the help you give us. Uncle Clint, thanks for being there for me, thank you for helping my mother with a lot of stuff, you are always welcoming. I see you kind of as a dad, since I don't see mine. Evan.. d00d thanks for everything, you help me out with a lot of stuff that might not matter to anyone but us, and I'm glad for that. I'm glad to have a cousin that we are good at a lot of the same things, and how we can benefit each other.(And all you other cousins mean a lot too, so don't fret.)
MAMA H, Lauren, Paige: Lauren thank you for having offered me an extra room at your house, I like it here, and this is the best situation I could ask for, it allowed me to spend time in a new band, go to school, and even work, all convieniently. Mama H thanks for all your advice and looking out for me as if I were your own son. And Paige.. thanks for not minding me being here, in the room next to yours yelling at kids on Xbox LIVE at 5am.
Mom: Thanks for raising me right, thanks for telling me no sometimes, and thanks for giving in to me at other times, even when you were right. You just wanted to see me happy and thanks. Thank you for wanting to always take care of me and never giving up.
Collective thanks- Brian Forman, Scotty Woodward, Aaron Waidner, Andreas Magnusson, One Slack Mind, Tim, Stevie, and Berto and Hacked up Face, Escape the Flame, Toby Gomez, Jon Vacura, Steve Miller, Ben Daniel, Freedom Rock, Alex Cloud, Zach for always wearing our shirts, Chris Fairmoni, John Hoover, Tim and Christina Creedy, Scott Slone, Jose Cruz, Kat and Salome, Locust Grave, The Mighty Oak, Dahlgren Prophecy, Lauren and Laurens Mom, Joanna Piggott, Tony and Three Faces of Eve, The Seventh Gate, Christina Cape, Keith Blast, Steve Lanciotti, Tim Finefrock, Homicidal Threat, Nathan Luke, Mark Smale, Mark Riddick! The Leviathan's Mandible, El Taco, Chris Dugay
