July 2005 News Archive (Older news link at bottom of page)
July 31, 2005
Voice Article
The Summer 2005 edition of Voice, the alumni magazine for Carleton College, includes an interesting article about Hem that follows them through one day of touring last January. Steve Curtis and Dan Messe met at and graduated from Carleton College, and they both have a lot to say in the article. As if the article itself wasn't enough, there are also some new pictures of the band from the same photo session as on the cover of the "Hollow" CD (on left). My articles archive includes a permanent link to this interview. (Thanks to my friend E. who got this magazine in the mail and told me about Hem's cover story. Once I get E's copy I'll give another update if there's additional info in the print version.)
MySpace.com Update
Dan has a new MySpace blog entry (July 29) with a big list of new song titles. Go check them out and look for the one that sounds like a sequel to "When I Was Drinking" on Rabbit Songs.
July 29, 2005
Discography Update: "Hollow"
Today's news is short and sweet. The discography page now includes a large cover image for the "Hollow" UK promotional CD as well as a large picture of the package's artsy back cover.
July 27, 2005
MySpace.com Update
Hem's first MySpace blog entry is up courtesy of Dan. Go read his July 26 update about the fun and terror of recording a new album and deciding to write about it!
Ticket Pictures
New to the tour archive are a number of ticket pictures from various Hem shows. Not incredibly exicting, I admit, but I know that some people like seeing tickets, and I think it's interesting to see how shows are billed and how prices change over time. You can find new ticket pictures for these shows: Amsterdam 2/11/02, Boston 7/31/02, Cambridge 8/25/03, Boston 11/5/04, Nottingham 3/1/05, and Boston 6/29/05. Have tickets to add to the archive? Feed my inbox.
July 23, 2005
Hem at MySpace.com
Hem now has its own myspace.com account. Now you can be their Internet friend! There's nothing really there yet save some Eveningland samples, but in the future it should have blog entries from the band. Unless it's constantly updated like crazy, I will likely note new entries here.
Text and Audio Interviews Archive
My latest burst of summer productivity: All About Hem now has a one-stop spot for archived articles about Hem. This page includes links to articles and radio shows available free online that contain any sort of interview with one or more members of Hem. To help distinguish the interviews I've included brief summaries of each one's contents as well as setlists for the radio shows. The 2004-2005 articles were almost all mentioned here in news updates when they were published, but the 2002-2003 articles are new to this site (except for how a number of them have been on the meanings page). I hope the archive is interesting and useful!
You can find a permanent link to the articles archive through the Interview link in the main menu. I'll always note additions to the archive in news updates. Speaking of which, if you know of any interviews I'm missing, drop me a note. (And yes, I know I excluded all album reviews, but I had an organized collection of interviews and a messy pile of reviews, so I made an executive decision to only tackle interviews. For now.)
Discography Update: "Hollow"
The discography page now includes a UK promotional CD for the song "Hollow." Hopefully I'll have more details, including a bigger picture, for it soon.
July 19, 2005
Concert Photos Page
To help make archived tour pictures easier to find, I now have a page of concert photos including links to and previews of each show's pictures. The pictures remain accessible as before by date through the tour archive pages, while a permanent link to the index of show photos is at the top of the current and archived tour date pages. The heat of summer has apparently and inexplicably motivated me to finish many longstanding site projects. What will I tackle next?!
July 16, 2005
A New Site Look
Welcome to All About Hem version 2.0! The site's content remains the same, but today marks the debut of a new look including all new graphics. I never intended to keep my initial site design for so long, and I'm very happy to introduce v2.0. I hope you enjoy it! Some pages still cling to v1.0, but I should have most if not all of them converted soon. Aside from that, if you encounter any problems with the new design or have any questions or comments, I'd be happy to hear from you.
I'd be remiss if I didn't thank my wonderful, talented friend K. for creating almost all the great new graphics. I have no idea how she managed to take my vague ideas and design something just right, but she did. This overhaul would not have happened if it wasn't for her. Thanks again, K!
July 12, 2005
Live Show Downloads At Archive.org
Good news for people who want to hear Hem live: Hem is now listed at archive.org. You can go to Hem's archive.org page, find shows that people have added to the database, and download them in a variety of formats. Similarly, if you have a show that you want to upload for public sharing, that's a great place to visit. There are already two shows there, Boston, 6/29/05 and Portland, 6/30/05. Thanks to the archive.org team (especially Diana and Dave) and of course to Hem for making the archive.org addition happen!
New August Tour Dates
Good news for people in Kansas City and St. Paul: Hem will be in those cities opening shows for Elvis Costello in early August. Check the tour page for details.
Discography Update
Good news for readers: The discography page now includes Voices From The Dark, a compilation album including "Hollow" by Hem. The CD features songs chosen by the author John Connolly as songs influencing him or his books in some way. The album is available only with his book The Black Angel, and details on how to obtain the book and CD in various countries are here at his site (scroll to the bottom). Thanks to Paul for the heads up!
Band Lineups Added To Setlists
Good news for detail-obsessed people: You may have noticed that some setlists on this site have recently been amended to include the band's lineup. Since the lineup at any given show may include anywhere from 4 to 9 performers, I thought it worth noting who played where and when. (I also selfishly thought it would be handy for my trading page.) I just finished that updating project for all archived tour dates, so every setlist now includes that show's band lineup if the information was available.
July 9, 2005
The Bob Edwards Show
Courtesy of The Bob Edwards Show on XM Satellite Radio, I have Sally Ellyson and Dan Messe's February 10, 2005 appearance on the show available on this page for your listening pleasure. The 60 minute show consists entirely of an interview interspersed with excerpts from Hem's albums. It's informative, amusing, and well worth a listen. Thanks again to The Bob Edwards Show for their generosity! (FYI, this is the same show that was rebroadcast on July 8.)
Meanings Update
In related site news, because I was busy at a glacier when the interview originally aired, the meanings page only now includes a lot of new song info from Sally and Dan's interview on this radio show. Seriously, a lot. I owe Bob Edwards big money with a side of homemade cookies for his meanings-packed interview. I could list all the updated songs, but wouldn't it be more fun to just peruse the meanings page? Probably, but I'll be helpful and list the newly updated songs anyway: Carry Me Home, An Easy One, Eveningland, The Fire Thief, Hem (not a song, the band's name), Hollow, Horsey, My Father's Waltz, Pacific Street, Receiver, and Redwing. Enjoy!
July 8, 2005
January 2005 Ann Arbor Concert Videos
To go along with yesterday's pictures of Hem's January 19, 2005 show in Ann Arbor, MI, I now have video. You can see video clips of Hem performing "Pacfic Street" and "Jackson" by visiting the 2005 tour archive page or by clicking on the picture to the left. (Thanks, Russ!)
New August Tour Date
There's one new date on the tour page, and it's worth noting: August 2 in St. Louis, MO opening for Elvis Costello. Tickets have been on sale for some time, as it's a rescheduled Elvis Costello show, but at least general admission floor tickets are still available as of this update. Should be quite the good show!
July 7, 2005
Tour Date Cancellation
It's been on the tour page, but to help spread the news I'll note here that Hem's July 11 show in Philadelphia, PA with Erin McKeown has been postponed to an as-yet undetermined time. If Hem will play at the rescheduled show I'll of course provide further details when they're available.
New Setlists & Tour Review
Also old on the tour page but newly noted in a news update are a Portland Free Press review of Hem's June 30, 2005 Portland, ME show and setlists for that show and many others in June. I often update the tour page with recent show details like these but don't always note it here because of the constant tour page updates. Ditto for the tour archive pages, on which I just updated the setlist for Hem's April 30, 2003 concert in London. I'm obviously still making up my mind about what to consider worthy of a news update!
January 2005 Ann Arbor Concert Photos
I do always mention tour pictures in news updates because everyone likes new pretty pictures. Photos of Hem's January 19, 2005 show at The Ark in Ann Arbor, MI are now available through the 2005 archive page or by clicking on the picture to the left. (Thanks, Russ!) I should have more from this show to share soon.
June 29, 2005 Show Download
Want to hear a live show? Curious what Hem sounds like pared down to a foursome? Want sound to go along with the pictures? A torrent of Hem's lovely June 29, 2005 Boston show is newly up at etree.org (thank you, Dave!). To download the show (202MB), visit this page. For information on torrents in general, visit etree's FAQ. As a reminder, Hem is happy for fans to share copies of live shows (details here), but do not ever buy, sell, or otherwise distribute live shows other than for personal use or trading. Help keep the music free and available to everyone!
XM Radio Interview Reminder
Finally, don't forget about Sally and Dan's hour-long XM Satellite radio interview starting early tomorrow. Check the previous news update for details on that appearance.
July 5, 2005
XM Satellite Radio Interview Rebroadcast
In February 2005, Sally Ellyson and Dan Messe were guests on The Bob Edwards Show on XM Satellite Radio. This Friday, July 8 the hour-long show will reair. You can listen to it online if you already subscribe to XM Radio or by signing up at the XM Radio site for a free 3 day trial subscription. Online, the show will repeat hourly all day Friday starting at 8:00am EST. If you have XM Radio you can hear the show on Friday by tuning to channel 133 at 8:00am, 9:00am, and 9:00pm EST. Thanks to the great folks at the Bob Edwards Show, I'll have the show available here after it reairs if you miss it (or just want to hear it again).
July 2, 2005
July 2004 New York Concert Photo
A new picture of Hem's July 7, 2004 show at Madison Square Park in New York is now available through the 2004 archive page or by clicking on the picture to the left. Thanks, Joe!
"Lucky" Meanings Update
In site news, the meanings page includes a new tidbit about "Lucky" from Hem's June 22 show in London. Thanks for the info, Richard!
Click here for older news

All About Hem (c) Copyright 2004-2005
This site is fan run and is not affiliated with Hem in any way. You can visit Hem's Official Website here. You can contact me at christina@allabouthem.com