"We've gone through a kind of revolution in the last two years. As The Tremolo Cowboys we'd kind of defined ourselves; I wanted to mess with the definition a little bit, mess with the type of band we were," songwriter Aaron LaMere explains. "I didn't want The Blackstones to create an album that you would order off a menu... Like 'I'll take a main course of Tom Petty, with a side of The Rolling Stones and an extra side of Delirious?' In some ways I felt like The Tremolo Cowboys' self-titled record was like that. With this new album, The Legend of Simon Peter, I wanted to break away from any kind of programmed idea about what kind of band we were. God has begun to speak to me about what we're saying as a band, about the history-the legacy-we'll leave behind, and how important words are. This album contains five year's worth of material and has a lot more strife and toil. It's not the standard, straightforward worship album by any means."

The Blackstones released their debut cd in October of 2005 and it has already earned some high critical praises. The new cd is a twelve song effort titled "The Legend of Simon Peter". "The new record is something a bit different than anything we've done in the past," states LaMere. "It's a true full-length record at twelve songs long and really has a certain amount of rise and fall, mountain and valley, climax and struggle to it rarely seen in Christian indie projects. The subject matter is something different as well," continues LaMere. "Nearly the entire record is written around this 'Simon Peter' type story line that includes Peter's denial of Christ, some amount of questioning and some amount of answering even. The whole record is written around my idea of what conversation between God and Peter might sound like.

The West Coast, particularly Oregon and Washington, has been an especially prolific musical region for years, which makes The Blackstones even more excited to celebrate their geographic roots. Several prominent bands, both secular and Christian, have arisen from the stereotypically bleak, industrial towns near Longview. Even Longview itself-located between musical hotspots Portland and Seattle-has birthed a number of noteworthy bands.

"There are a lot of believers in this area who are also artists. We come from the same town and the same church as The Rock 'n' Roll Worship Circus (who recently changed their name to The Listening). Also, the lead singer of the band Telecast (whose latest album was produced by The Glitter Twins, a.k.a. Solo Greeley and Gabriel Wilson of The Listening) is from Longview also. That's at least two bands in a national spotlight from the West Coast. I think The Blackstones have made a pretty big splash here, but we've never really toured to the East Coast."

Like their Longview companions, The Blackstones are unashamed to include worship elements in their music, but, like other regional bands, they are not seeking to isolate themselves by playing only churches and Christian festivals.

"We've realized that our fan base is not just Christian. A lot of people out there are not what most people would call 'Christians'; I would call them 'believers'-people who aren't necessarily associated with a church but who believe in God. We're a band for those people," LaMere states. "Those are the people who kind of get rescued a little bit by bands like us."

LaMere interjects that he and Salinas often needed their own bit of rescuing when they were younger. They weren't the type of teens who only browsed Christian bookstores when seeking to build their musical collections. In fact, there weren't many bands in the Christian genre at the time that seemed to have the edge, the authenticity, that the two friends desired in their rock heroes. This "reality gap" is something that The Blackstones hope to close for others with similar tastes.

"I feel like we're a different thing for Christian music-saying blatantly and bluntly that we're Christians, and yet still trying to be as real as possible. That's become part of our witness here in the Pacific Northwest," LaMere says.

The Blackstones are proud of their West Coast roots but are anxious to carry their message and music across the country to connect with fellow believers, blues lovers, and worshippers. Though The Legend of Simon Peter is 100-percent indie-grassroots production and promotion-the album has enough punch to break them into the national spotlight. LaMere is excited to hit the road. He says the band does plan to tour in support of the album, including some dates in November of 2005 with The Rock N' Roll Worship Circus. There is also a backlog of about 30 songs created during the interim separating The Tremolo Cowboys from The Blackstones; therefore, LaMere predicts the band will work toward another album when they return to Longview.

"We feel The Legend of Simon Peter is a great album. I feel like this is an album we wrote with the help of the Spirit, and it's an album that really needs to be heard. But it's just a beginning for us," LaMere says. "I don't know if we'll seek a record contract or we'll stay independent; I don't think we've really defined that yet. We decided a long time ago as The Tremolo Cowboys that we would kind of take it wherever we felt like God wanted to take it. If that meant simply staying here in our local music scene, then that was what we would do. The Blackstones should get the chance to be on the road more than "The Tremolo Cowboys" ever got the opportunity to. God has released me to just be a musician, to be a musical minister. That's what we're moving toward as a band." ...