White Collar Sideshow posted an announcement to Facebook this morning detailing their plans for the future including the departure of Phil/Herr Schwein and Tristen/The Leech, their new show/album Valley of the Skull, and a reunion show for T’s old band Uttermost.
WCS just passed its 11 year anniversary and as you all know, we are working hard on our new show, Valley of the Skull! Before the first show and before The WitcHunt, we sat Fill (Herr Schwein) down and asked if he was willing to commit 5 more years to the project. We ask for that because of the time it takes to put the show together, record and prep the show, photo shoots for advertising, etc… It would be unfair for us to go through this whole process for him to decide a year or two down the road that he is ready to move on. Yeah…you know where this is going…
A few weeks ago, we had this convo for Valley. After lots of prayers, conversations and tears, Phil has decided he is going to step down as Herr Schwein at the end of this year. He has been in our lives since he was 17-drum teching for T’s old band, Uttermost! He is excited to see what life would look like outside of the band. We are sad to see him go but we know the Lord will continue to guide and direct his path. As of right now, his final show will be at the House of Shock in New Orleans on Halloween-which is very appropriate because Phil is talking about moving to NOLA and working with our church down there, The Vieux Carre Baptist Church!
His last LOCAL show will be at The Sound Room in Fort Smith on October 7 (I’ll start inviting people to this FB event this afternoon-it’s created, I just haven’t started promoting). We hope to give him a HUGE send off! The band of brothers: 357 will be opening the show and T’s old band UTTERMOST is having a reunion that night! T will be pulling double duty! It will be Tristen’s (The Leech) last show with us as well. This show will also promote and benefit the new Riverview Hope Campus here in Fort Smith. Their grand opening is scheduled a week before this show.
Once Phil is gone, we can’t perform The WitcHunt anymore because the tracks are made for a 3 piece. That being said, T and I will move forward as a duo! We are so excited for this transition and excited to see what the Lord will do with Valley! We are going through a HUGE pruning process at the end of the year. We are FOR REAL going to sell The Winchester and trailer and hopefully get a Sprinter (or similar) and a smaller trailer. We are downsizing our stage show-for example, we have talked with the UAFS Welding Dept about building me an aluminum, collapsible cage. We have always joked that I’m the brains, T is the beauty and Phil is the muscle. So we are trying to make things lighter and more manageable-we ain’t getting any younger, lol! Our last fundraiser will pretty much pay for the recording and filming of the new show. I am going to work hard to put together another one on “Giving Tuesday,” the Tuesday after thanksgiving and hopefully that can help us with the new stage show. We recently found out all of our wireless gear will be illegal soon. The government has purchased our wireless frequencies and they can no longer be used for musicians. (Our in-ear monitor systems and T’s microphones fall into this…) Huge expenses we didn’t anticipate but the Lord always provides! Especially when we have such amazing support from y’all! So! Big changes in the WCS camp! We are playing the IndyFringe fest in Indianapolis in August and our final run in October. On all of our free time we are working on the new show! We will continue to keep you posted on the progress! Lemme know if you have any questions or are interested in booking the sideshow! Be sure to follow us on all social media and head over to www.whitecollarsideshow.com to get on our mailing list! We absolutely love and appreciate you all!!!
These guys are an experience to see live. It’s something I wish more people knew about. I’m glad they’re still at it