"welcome back my friends to the show that never ends".... Hello again/again...guess what? It's time for another incoherent, rambling, wide-eyed post about this boy/man from freecloud...speaking of David bowie, I hope David is warm and wonderful and doing swell...if anyone got a chance to see bowie play lately the shows have been incredible and awe-inspiring! so I send David wishes for a quick recovery from whatever is ailing him... I have just come off a month long summer break, and we are now back in the studio recording again with only about 60 or so days to go to finish...that is not a lot of time as the crow flies down so I'm in a big hurry now to get it done...on my vacation I did get a chance to go to Mexico, so if you saw someone who looked like me down there, it was me... I was the one in the Hawaiian shirt, khaki pants, and Birkenstocks...anyway, back to work, lots to do...oh, before I forget, my good mate and co-producer Mr. Bon Harris is debuting his new band in Chicago on Saturday July 17th...the band is called Maven (you can check out their website at www.mvn-ae.com) and they will have their first record coming out soon and all that, so check out bon's band at the Metro...it's an 18 and over show, 10$, and I'll be there so come find me and say hello...what else? I'm in love...in love with life and all that is good and true...hokey, but honest and earnest...what happened to me? I used to be so grim...well, maybe the album will hold some sadness if you get sentimental...miss ya, love ya, see ya b c jr

Billy Corgan, Evanescence Help Breaking Benjamin Break Big

In the video for Breaking Benjamin's single "So Cold," a convict is sentenced to have his arms chained to a slab of stone that he must carry through the woods and into a deep river. But he's not the only one who suffered.

"There were ticks and leeches all over the place," frontman Ben Burnley said of the daylong shoot directed by Smith n' Borin in April. "Fortunately, I was standing on the land, but [guitarist] Aaron [Fink] and [bassist] Markus [James] were in the bog, and I really thought they'd come out with leeches all over their legs because that water was disgusting."

OK, so the sacrifice wasn't exactly huge, but it illustrates the extent to which Breaking Benjamin are willing to go for their career. Two weeks before their sophomore disc, We Are Not Alone, came out, they began a tour to generate prerelease buzz, which may have helped them to debut at #20 on the Billboard albums chart.

"Playing live is so important," said Burnley, whose band hit the road with Evanescence on Tuesday. "It doesn't matter how good your record is, people, they want to see a band live, and if you win them over in concert, they'll love you even more and tell even more people about you."

When Breaking Benjamin break into "So Cold" at shows, fans sing along and cheer so loudly you can hardly hear the band. Even more thrilling for Burnley is that two months after its release, he can still play the tune every night without growing weary of it. "It's a really strong song, and I think that comes from everybody in the band writing it together," he said. "A lot of times I'll write the whole thing, but that one was split pretty evenly."

As much of a unifying force as "So Cold" has been for the band's fans, to Burnley the song is bleak and apocalyptic. "I always picture it as an end-of-the-world kind of thing," he said. "It's not about that, but I picture that because there's a line that goes, 'If you find your family/ Don't you cry,' and it makes me think it's because they're dead when you find them — like in the movie '28 Days Later.' I love that movie."

While "So Cold" was created completely by Breaking Benjamin, three songs on We Are Not Alone were co-written by ex-Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan: "Rain," "Follow" and "Forget It." The band hooked up with Corgan after finding out he had been working with other bands including Blindside and Taproot. The collaboration took place over six days in December and was one of the highlights of Burnley's career, he said.

"At first, I was so nervous," he admitted. "When I met him I was like, 'Oh sh--, that's Billy Corgan.' But after a while I got more comfortable, and then he just became Billy. I'd come in every day, we'd order soup, eat and then we'd get to work. It was great."

Despite such opportunities, not to mention their recent chart success, Burnley and his bandmates are still as humble as they were before they got signed. They see every act of good fortune as a gift, and they remain thankful to their fans for everything.

"We've actually seen a few fans with Breaking Benjamin tattoos, and that just blows us away," Burnley said. "That sh--'s permanent, which is such a compliment. I mean, I have no expectations for anything, and I know we're still nobodies. We're still a baby band, and we have a lot of work to do."