I am filled with so many EMOTIONS right now, it is difficult to type on this keyboard.  I am OVERWELMED with the responsibility of my first daily theory in over two years...  How can I possibly explain what I have been through?  How can I explain why I am returning today??  But as is my motto in life, I can not be concerned with what other people THINK.  I must rise up to face my responsibilities,  because Howard Fineman is proud to declair that the past is FINALLY BEHIND HIM, and he is ready to embrace the future with open arms!  I hope everyone reading this will do so with understanding, forgiveness and patience, and bearthrough the sad parts to read about the E-MAIL that CHANGED MY LIFE and WILL CHANGE THE TRIBUTE BAND COMMUNITY FOREVER.

Part 1 - DISPAIR

My journey into dispair began on September 11, 2001.  The day two planes crashed into the twin towers in NYC, killing 3000 Americans.  On that fateful day, America's innocence was destroyed in a heap of crashing metal, flames and flesh.  I was lucky enough to have survived that attack on our soil, but in many ways, my spirit was wounded just as if I had been in that tower, plunging to my death.  I always believed America was so powerful it could never be harmed.  And yet, we were.

It was the same way I felt about the tribute band community.  Despite attacks from other webmasters (you know who you are), and despite jealousy and hurt egos from washed up guitarists (you know who you are, too), I always thought our COMMUNITY was stronger than these attacks.  I thought we would survive, together.  I used to remind myself of the great words of John Lennon, "Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friends".  But after September 11, I looked at our community and what had become of it, and I started to LOSE HOPE.   I had tried to extend an OLIVE BRANCH OF PEACE to Scotty J, John Toth, and others.  And still, they only wanted to tear me down.  Just like the terrorists that attacked America, they used fear to destroy our belief in FREEDOM OF SPEECH by disrupting our very way of life.  They turned the guestbook into a battlefield, and used their posts as suicide bombers would destroy  a cafe.  SHAME ON YOU.

Maybe I had been foolish in my innocence to believe the best in people, and in tribute bands in general.  Maybe at the end of the day eveyone only cares about themselves.  Maybe, I wondered, mankind's destiny would be like that of the dinasours before us... we would destroy ourselves.

This downturn in my outlook affected my private and personal life as well.  My band, as has been previously reported, was having problems. Even after the triumph of our song, WAKE UP, WAKE UP, we could not agree in a direction to take the band.  Some wanted to focus on getting back into clubs, while others wanted to devote all our time to our studio music.  Personally I felt we should do a "Tribute to America" tour to honor those who lost their lives, doing one set as Howard's Silver Hammer, and another as a new incarnation of the Beatles, doing "new" Beatles songs inspired by John Lennon.  But these discussions went nowhere.  After a drunken fight, my guitarist quit, and my bass player started to focus on his job as an office manager, saying it was time for him to get serious and "grow up". My mother, who I was living with at the time, told me I should do the same.  But I was not ready to GIVE UP on my DREAMS.  I told her it was all my father's fault, leaving us when we were kids, choosing alchohol over the love of his family.  I still remember the day he walked out and I swore, I would be different!

In anguish I packed my bags and drove to my friend Jenny's house.  We have been friends since High School, but only plutonic friends.  She's always been there for me, helping me pack my gear for gigs, and fixing my costume when it ripped onstage.  One night when the van broke down she walked 3 miles to get the gas tank filled up.   But that night, my emotions got the best of me.  We ended up drinking too much and making love.  The next morning I said I didn't want to be in a relationship with her, and she said she would never talk to me again!

But the next time she called, she told me information that I never thought i would hear... she was PREGNANT!!  I told her I was not ready to have children, but she is deeply religious and said she could not abort the child.  After several drunken weeks of denial, I finally realized this was my destiny.  It was time to settle down, to take responsibility, to take care of this child, even if I had to PUT MY DREAMS ASIDE.

I will not go into too much detail now, but let me just say adjusting to being a father was not easy for me!!  I belive in rock and roll, but it is hard to follow that lifestyle when you have a child to take care of.  At first I hated changing diapers and hearing him cry all night long when I was trying to concentrate on writing music or practicing Beatles riffs.  I couldn't even go out to the clubs any more, or call my bandmates to get the band back together.

That all changed when one day I was listening to a tape that Jenny had given to me back in High School when we first met.  It was a John Lennon mix.  The first song was from his first solo album, when he says "I Don't believe in beatles, I just believe in me, Yoko and me."  I realized for the first time, even though the Beatles broke up, John was still able to move on with his life!  The next song on the tape was
"Beautiful Boy" from his last solo album, recorded just before his death.  He sang about his son, and tears flowed from my eyes.  I realized, I don't want to be like my father, I don't want to be a drunk, I don't want to abandon my family.  I want to set my priorities straight, just like John did!!  I realized in that moment, this was my DESTINY!!  I just had to open my heart and listen to what John was telling me...

WAKE UP WAKE UP, CAN'T YOU SEE, LOVE IS EVERYTHING...

PART 2 - HOPE

I decided it was time to put my son first.   After several failed attempts at new careers, including trying to start my own coffee shop,  I went back to my old job (working for my bass player at the office) and eventually received a promotion.  I realized making money was not so bad, and for the first time, realized that life was about more than music.  Even though my dreams were still inside me, I kept trying to let them go.

On January 11, 2004, I received an e-mail that ENDED THAT JOURNEY, and started my JOURNEY INTO HOPE!!!  It was an e-mail that, in a single moment, brought my entire life into focus, reminded me of my PURPOSE on
this great earth, and above all else, has restored my hope for the potential of the tribute band community.  It also will ensure that Howard Fineman, president of the Tribute Band Voting Academy, will be at the forefront of the NEW tribute band movement, and that MY song (which I co-wrote with John Lennon) will be heard by MILLIONS and remembered FOREVER as a TRIBUTE to tribute bands everywhere!!

"Hey Howard, I hope all is well with you.  I was curious about your song, WAKE UP WAKE UP.  I was wondering if you would be interested in having it used as part of my Tribute Band Documentary (DELETED FOR LEGAL REASONS).  Let me know what you think.  Best, (DELETED FOR LEGAL REASONS)"

For legal reasons, I cannot reveal WHO it is from, or what PROJECT it is regarding.  But I can say this -- it is a TRIBUTE BAND DOCUMENTARY which will have national exposure and will define the image of the tribute band community for people all around the world, and my song will be used as the main soundtrack!!!!

PART 3 - ONWARD INTO THE FUTURE

Now before I go any further, even though I am MORE EXCITED than you can imagine about the possibility of millions hearing my song and being part of this project, I must explain that I have some MAJOR PROBLEMS with the person that sent me this e-mail!!!  First, I have tried to contact him in the past about getting a copy of this film, and I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED IT.  I have also tried to make constructive suggestions about the content of the documentary.  While the film in it's current state is probably a good start,  based on the reports I have read, it still has a long way to go before it can claim it accurately represents tribute bands and the diversity of tribute bands everywhere.  As head of the Tribute band Voting Academy, I would like to think this person would take my input seriously.  And yet, my suggestions went on deaf ears. 

Now that they want to use my song, I am going to use that leverage to MAKE CERTIAN DEMANDS.  I am willing, for not very high of a fee, to consult and HELP THE FILMMAKERS make this a better film.  If they are not willing to accept this gracious offer, I will DENY the use of my song!!

This is where I need everyone's help.  We need EVERYONE in the tribute band community to COME TOGETHER, RISE UP, and have our VOICES HEARD!!  In the coming weeks, I will be leading a CRUSADE to make this film something we can all be proud of!  We will make the CHANGES I feel are necessary, or my song will be denied.  Do not act yet, but soon I will call upon you to e-mail the filmmakers and let them know we stand in unison, together, as one community, united in our cause.

Right now, as you are reading this, you are probably all wondering -- how can Howard do all that, and still keep his website going strong, while still maintaining his family responsibilities??  I have asked myself this same question, and have come to an IMPORTANT DECISION -- Howard's Tribute Band Heaven will be going through some MAJOR CHANGES -- and they are all for the better!

That's right, Howard's Tribute Band Heaven will now focus on the message board, on daily theories, on the Voting Academy (more on this later as Oscar time gets closer), and on being a REPRESENTATIVE VOICE of the Tribute Band Community (as well as other important issues like Politics and Culture that I feel strongly about).  But what about the all-important tribute band and gig list?  I have decided, after much thought and sleepless nights, to farm that responsibility out to other webmasters who have strong IT skills but are weak at leading our community.  I think that Lenny would be a good for this job, but before I offer it to him, I would like to speak to some NEW WEBMASTERS who would also be eager to earn their place as the #1 tribute band website.   More on this development in the weeks to come...

PART 4 - FINAL THOUGHTS

Whereas once I let go of my dreams, today I hold them strong in my heart.  Whereas once I was content to focus on my personal life and making money, today I fight for what is right regardless of the consequences.  I still value those things, and giving a good life to my son is still my #1 priority.  But NOW, I realize I can still follow the CALLING which was always within me.  I forsee a future of making music, of playing in tribute bands, and of getting paid to do what I love.  I will make this website the GREATEST it has ever been, I will focus on my MUSIC and getting Howard's Silver Hammer back together (now that we will be in so much demand from our song being famous, there is much work to be done...), I will also LEAD our community to demand the CHANGES that need to be made to this tribute band film so that tribute bands will be represented in the best possible light so the world will finally understand the TRUTH of what we all go through, ever day, in our quest to keep this great music alive.

Thank you for reading, and be well.

Howard Fineman
- President, Tribute Band Voting Academy
- Webmaster, Howard's Tribute Band Heaven
- Drummer and lead songwriter, Howard's Silver Hammer

It seems in life everybody loves you when you're on top, they forget about you when you're down, then suddenly they care again when you're about to die!  That is the crewel situation that Rodney Dangerfield finds himself in, and IT MAKES ME SAD.  Here is a guy who made tons of movies and MADE US LAUGH.  Sure maybe they weren't all the best movies or he ran out of new jokes to tell.  But he always TRIED HIS BEST and did the most with what he had.  It is very upsetting that after all Rodney has done, for the last 10 years he has become a laughing stock in the eyes of many.  You hear people say, that guy is all washed up!  Past his prime!  He might as well be dead! They also say the same thing about musical artists who have five great albums, then they want to expertiment a little bit, the next one doesn't break the top 40 (even though it's a great album) and suddenly they are finished and nobody cares about them any more!  What about all the great songs that changed our lives forever?  Those people should be HEROS for ALL OF ETERNITY!  I think what is so great about tribute bands is that it is fans saying -- we will NEVER forget!  I think the same honor should be given to other great ARTISTS like Rodney.  It is unfair now that the guy is on his deathbed, probably lying there with spit coming out of his mouth and his eyeballs rolling around the back of his head, that suddenly people care again!  I'm sorry to tell you this, but you have lost your right to care! If you don't stick up for people when they are UP and also when they are DOWN then you are not a real fan and you don't deserve anything!  I hope that when Rodney is gone (and that will be very soon) he looks down on those that laughed at him and send a big fat loogie there way from the sky. Rodney was a great underdog, and I, Howard Fineman, do solemly swear that I  will ALWAYS stick up for the underdog no matter how unpopular it may seem at the time.  And to all those who hope I will shut my site down just because you don't like it, I say -- FORGET ABOUT IT, we're #1 and we're not going anywhere!!! Also, any of you who continue to make HOMOSEXUAL insinuations about me should STOP! If you took ten seconds to LOOK, you would see that I have LOTS of female ex-girlfriends who will be happpy to vouch for my preferences. My guestbook is not a place to make SLANDEROUS statements. So in conclusion, hang in there Rodney,  we in the Tribute Band Community are sending you our love and prayers.

Today marks the 2 year anniversary of the first day I brought this website online and changed the course of the Tribute Band Community FOREVER!!!  It took guts, hard work and determination, but most of all it took PASSION!  The PASSION to speak the TRUTH.  The PASSION to go against the STATUS QUO.  The PASSION to stand up for FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY in a time when most bands had neither the FREEDOM to speak their minds or the DEMOCRACY to make important voting decisions.  I have gotten MOST of the credit and attention for shaping our collective future, but that does not negate the important contributions of MANY within our community to help guide our destiny.  And now we stand at a CROSSROADS.  Like the troops in Afganastan pushing back the Taliban, we too must be careful to keep the evil-doers on the run otherwise we will find ourselves no longer UNITED but splintered into many smaller groups with no power and no demacracy.  I take my personal RESPONSIBILITY very very seriously now that the YAHOO rankings clearly show that my number one status is not just a fluk but has become the standard bearer for quality and information to the worldwide community.  But as we all know, being number one also means being the number one TARGET for attacks.  This is most clearly expressed by the COWARDLY posts on my guestbook recently by anonymous flamers.  Even Lenny, of Tribute City is now involved with the in-fighting, airing his band's dirty laundry in a public forum.  That is all fine, but let us not forget the words of John Lennon, "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see."  I am hear to declare this fued between all the different members of Led Zepagain OVER!  It is time for both sides to OPEN your eyes and hearts and remember that you are part of something much LARGER than yourselcves.  You are part of the Tribute Band Community and that is an AWESOME feeling, and I am ETERNALLY GRATEFUL to provide the framework for PEACE.  But my website is not just a place for leadership, but an expression of FAMILY.  As I sat around the dinner table for Thanksgiving I gave a lot of thought and emotion about all of my accomplishments.  Some that I am not proud of but mostly ones which have actually had a MAJOR positive impact on the world.  I thought about how often I got SICK AND TIRED of listening to the petty bickering and nagging of my Mom, but which I had to shut up and TAKE IT because in these times we all have to do what we can and if living at home helps me afford to spend more time with this site, then that is the kind of sacrifice I am wiling to make for the COMMUNITY.  Led Zepagain needs to remember the reason they got involved with each other and with us…LOVE of the MUSIC.  Everything else should fall off to the side.  If anything, I feel that Lenny should be using his power and influence to help convince the webmasters of TRIBUTE  to join the Voting Academy and pay some respect to the INTSTITUTION we've created and which they are now enjoying the benefits of.  There again, I think back to two years ago when my modest attempt at FAIRNESS against the sites like TBM and TBC took those first baby steps forward.  FOR CHRISSAKES!  WE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A BAND LIST THEN!!!  Now the list is over 400 bands.The bottom line is that I have struggled every inch of the way up to the top of the pile and now that I am here, I am not going to forget where I've come from and all the help I've gotten along the way.  That is why I encourage all of you to continue sending me fan emails because it really helps me get through the day sometimes (especially when my Mom does NOT understand how IMPORTANT my time on the computer is).  I give thanks to all of you who have made the last two years worth all the trouble and the hassle.  And LASTLY, I want to offer this to our tropps overseas.  Anytime you want to use my guestbook to send notes back and forth to loved ones, it is there for you who protect the concept of FREEDOM OF SPEECH across teh globe every day!

Today marks the release of the first Harry Potter movie.  It also ADDS to the signs of Tribute Band's overall acceptance across the globe.  And while this movie commandos over 7,000 theaters in America ALONE, the movie Tribute continues to hold screenings in Los Angeles ONLY.  The following statement has been made by the New York Times about the Harry Potter movie.

"The movie [Harry Potter] comes across as a covers act by an extremely competent tribute band — not the real thing but an incredible simulation — and there's an audience for this sort of thing. But watching "Harry Potter" is like seeing "Beatlemania" staged in the Hollywood Bowl, where the cheers and screams will drown out whatever's unfolding onstage." New York Times

First off I want to hold this writers feet to the FIRE.  We all know that there is a big difference between a "COVERS ACT" and a "TRIBUTE BAND!"  But what this statement CLEARLY shows is how the WORLD is ready to embrace our Tribute Band PHILOSOPHIES.  The "screams and cheers" heard around the world are for ALL OF US, and it is VITAL that we don't forget that.  Obviously, the movie studio Warner Brothers makers of ROCKSTAR and now HARRY POTTER knows that there is a value in perfect recreations of classic hits.  It makes me wonder about Steven Soderbergh working on Tribute.  He has another moive coming out called Ocean's 11 which is a TRIBUTE to the orignal movie about Frank Sinatra's life story, also from Warner Brothers.  Now that Mr. Soderbergh is running the studio, he should have the power to put TRIBUTE out the same way as all these movies?  Why haven't I been contacted about doing promotions?   Why did the American Film Institue NEVER respond to my email?  My worst fears are that the old TBM webmasters are turning the big movie studios against me and my site and my FANS.  Why does the movie TRIBUTE continue to shut us out?  More importantly why do they continue to shut ME out?  Evidence of the CONSPIRACY continues to pop up at a RECORD PACE on my guestbook.  Baseless attacks against me and my supporters only show how DESPERATE my enemies are to stop the flow of FREEDOM OF SPEECH.  I am not saying that I would sell my site like John Toth did, but if Warner Brothers wanted to sponser my site and take advantage of my movie promotion skills, I would be very willing to have a discussion about it.  But instead, the Tribute website REFUSES to link to my site.  Well the fans won't allow this to continue.  Just like the millions of fans lining up for Harry Potter this weekend, more and more fans will discover MY WEBSITE as they go to Yahoo looking for a central location that deals with ALL ASPECTS of the Tribute Band Community.  The problem with being number one is that everyone is out to knock you down cause THEY want to be king of the hill.  As I've always said, I won't give up without a FIGHT!  Obviously the fans of the TRIBUTE movie have already been connecting ME with the stories of people in the Los Angeles scene.  I understand that there is also controversies forming against the TBM moviemakers that they are spreading LIES about members of the bands in the movie.  This could be a legal reason why Warner Brothers hasn't put the movie out yet.  Fear of lawsuits.  I have NEWS for them, you can't put out a movie and go up against Harry Potter if you don't have the support of the people involved.  The writer of the Harry Potter books is a supporter of the movie, where is the SUPPORT for TRIBUTE? (excluding the KISS band, obviously they got all the preferential treatment, but we KNEW that was coming for YEARS!).  In conclusion, I encourage everyone to go see Harry Potter and to drive the price up as a protest against TRIBUTE.  If we help break the record for most money it will send  a CLEAR MESSAGE to TBM and Steven Soderbergh.  THE AUDIENCE WANTS MORE TRIBUTE RELATED MOVIES, YOU CAN'T STOP SUPPLY AND DEMAND!

To say that I am in a slight state of shock would be an understatement.  All my five SENSES have been in an overload as these past few days have made me FEEL like something earthshattering is happening within the Tribute Band Community.  I am full of anxiety feelings.  I need to do more to make sure I get share in the credit for everything that is happening.   In the past my supporters and even my detractors had to ADMIT that I had taken a leadership role.  When TBC stopped giving us the respect and updates we needed, I lead the CHARGE against John Toth's apothy.  Even before that when the big forces of TBM and TBC wouldn't allow expressions of free speech I forged new territory and created this site. Through the years it has grown into a worldwide phenomenon including alliances between myself and Tribute City (although I am worried about the lack of activity I have seen on that site) and in order to continue down the path of my life I have often put aside personal TRIUMPHS for the good of the community. Number one I could not believe my EYES when I got an email saying that there was a news story about Tribute Bands for the E channel.  Was this the dream of an America that embraces our community that I have always dreamed of?  After SEEING this clip I CANNOT believe that all my prophecies are coming true.  Were my EARS decieving me?  Or was I really HEARING Steven Soderbergh saying exactly what I have been saying for YEARS!  You could go through all my writings and realize that I AM THE ONE who has been making those points about LOVING the music!  I am reminded of the early days of England.  There was a split between the subjects who believed in being catholics and other who believed in being protestants.  Just like in England so many years ago, I fear that because of this conflict regarding LEADERSHIP there will be the Tribute Bands that Hollywood likes and then the REST OF US.  WHY WON'T THE FILMMAKERS LISTEN TO WHAT I AM SAYING!!!  Why only show this movie in Hollywood???  I think this is an extremely narrow view and the kind of mistake that is indicative of the kind of choices the TBM webmasters have always made.  I do NOT want a RIFT.  Dan Johnson is a great member of our community and I would defend him to my last dying breath.  He says I should make my own movie, and maybe I will.  But all I can do is remember what happened years ago when someone told me to make my own website.  I struggled with that decision over many sleepless nights.  I was convinced that once my site came into being that one or both TBC and TBM would fall crumbling to the ground and that is exactly what happened.  All this started me thinking about my own movie.  One that wasn't ONLY about KISS and that reached out to more people all over the world.  I started having a very bad TASTE in my MOUTH.  Would I destroy TBM's movie by making my own?  I am still struggling with this decision.  By forming a protestant sect of the community, would I be isolating myself?  I want to LOVE this movie, ROCKSTAR changed me forever.  I am pleading with the TBM Filmmakers to send a copy of this movie to me or start releasing it in other parts of the country soon.  As my FINGERS fall upon the KEYBOARD, TOUCHING key after key, my HANDS are TREMBLING just knowing that this movie could be the BEST movie ever or the WORST disappointment.  The whole thing just plain STINKS.  Too many questions and not enough answers.  And maybe the best thing is to simply walk away altogether.  To SNIFF out a new destiny for myself.  I will head my own warnings though.  I will be careful just as I have always been even when I first created this forum for TRUTH and EXPRESSION.  To the Hollywood Tribute Band Community I issue this challenge…COME BACK TO US.  DO NOT FORSAKE ME!!!

First of all I have to be honest, I am MAD!!!  I just had a major system error which ate my latest THEORY and I have spent most of the day trying to fix it and recover the DELETED material.  Now I have to start from SCRATCH.  I hope to GOD that I am able to keep from LOSING IT and that I don't redirect my anger in a HARMFUL way.  I recently found myself at the receiving end of a request for a strategic alliance with the American Film Institute (also refered to as the AFI in the biz).  I was at first excited about this alliance but also had a certain amount of trepidations. I PROMPTLY sent them an email with my CONCERNS hoping they would meet my demands so that we could all breathe a collective sigh of relief.  They have  NOT responded!   I fear that our old freinds the makers of TBM might be using their Hollywood influences to turn AFI against us.  Mainly I have noticed that they are only linking to Tribute City (I am glad they are doing this because TC definitely NEEDS the hits these days). But HTBH is the Number#1 Tribute Band site on YAHOO, and yet NO MENTION at their new site?  Seems obviously fishy.  Not to mention they have some system on the message board which prohibits me from leaving a link to HTBH. I know that the word 'conspiracy' is overused but here it seems to be the APPROPRIATE conclusion to jump to.  I would URGE the AFI to not rush to judgement and to give us in the Tribute Band Community a fair shake.  I will repront my email to them here in hopes that they accidentally deleted it which is why they didn't write back.  Hopefully they will do the right thing.

TO AFI:
While I am very EXCITED about this project, and am upset it is only showing in Los Angeles at this time and I will not be able to make it out there for  the screening, I am also CONCERNED about some of the choices the filmmakers have made.  For example, why are there NO BEATLES BANDS featured in this film?!?!  That is a travesty.  In fact, I can see the old TBM KISS bias showing right through into the film.  I remember being annoyed at TBM's front page with pictures of Gene Simmons, and their direct targeting of KISS fans.  Well, the tributethemovie site features a Gene impersonator on the front page, and over half of the stills are from the KISS tribute band, and this realy PISSES ME OFF!!!  Kiss was generally considered a weak band msuically, their main thing was the costumes and showmanship.  But the purpose of a tribute band is to make the MUSIC live on forever!  I don't mean to bash this film before I see it.  It could very well be the GREATEST FILM OF ALL TIME!!!!  However, as long as I have freedom of speech, I will voice my concerns.  yes, it is good to know that the webmasters from TBM are involved.  They were, for the most part, friends of the tribute band community.  We will be FOREVER GRATEFUL to them for single handedly inventing the tribute band website, starting the first message board, and sending the tribute band communiy off to mature on it's own.  HOWEVER TBM also had their flaws.  They took what seemed like YEARS to make updates, they went MONTHS without doing anything to their site, their message board was okay but lacked PASSIONATE DEBATE (which is why I started HTBH!) and they basiclaly sold out for the "World's Most Popular Tribute band" contest. So I remain excited, so excited I can barely contain myself, but also worried they will repeat the mistakes of the past.  Not to get myself riled up again, but how could you feature a MONKEES tribute band -- the dummest Beatles rippoff ever -- and NOT THE BEATLES?!?!?!  However, given that Soderbergh has won lots of academy awards, I have to assume this movie will be pretty good.  So I will PROMOTE THIS FILM to my last dying breath, knowing that more people will see tribute bands on the silver screen, and hoefully, attendane at tribute shows will pick up.  It is too bad that Rockstar failed to capture the public's attention, but maybe the stories of REAL tribute bands, not Hollywood's fake version, will give us the recognition we deserve.  And while I am very excited about my new role as movie promoter, I am also very distressed by the current state of the tribut band community.  Yes, this is a topic for an entire theory which I will post soon, but in breif, the tribute band community I knew and loved hsa disappeared.  Why didn[t tribute bands stick up for ROCKSTAR liek I did? Wheer were th passionate discussions on the message boards?  Why didn't they call movie theaters, pass out fliers, and scream WE LOVE THIS MOVIE?!  The reason seems to be that tribute bands don't care about anything but themselves.  However, I believe they are taking the SHORT TERM VIEW and not looking at the BIG PICTURE (one of my strong points I've been told) which is to promote tribute bands in general.  I am ANGRY that bands have dropped the ball on this one.  They have ABANDONED Tributecity, they have ABANDONED HTBH, they ABANDONED Rockstar... it is time for the tribute community to WAKE UP (in the words of John Lennon) or be forever doomed to the scrap heep of human history.

Howard Fineman
President, Tribute Band Voting Academy

In this new reality we live in, I hope to get back to the business of sharing my views and feelings about our resiliant community. It is time to celebrate the American spirit through musical expressions of love and courage.  For thouse of you who are new to this site or new to Tribute Bands I encourage you to EXPLORE this site and get caught up.  We in Tribute Bands take our responsibility very seriously and want to continue spreading our message of peace through music. Ever since the TRAGEDY that has STRUCK us all worldwide, I have been doing a lot of soul seraching, ALONE, because there was no one for me to turn to.  Yes, even my bandmates, couldn't understand the depth of my GREIF.  Partly I have discovered that there are many within our community who do not understand what I am about, what I am trying to do with this website.  Evidently, I am not an easy person to work wiht.  Time after time I have lost supporters of mine because of PETTY SQUABBLES and INFLAMATORY REMARKS.  It has been suggested to me that even some of my quotes are only there in exchange for major adverstising linking back to my site.  I feel that maybe some of you are not true friends but that you are only friends in exchange for links.  Given all that I have been thgrough and the fragile state of my self esteem, it is too much for me.  The TRUTH remains though, you bands made me who I am today.  The number 2 Tribute Site on the Internet according to YAHOO.  You made my CAREER as a webmaster and I am grateful for it.  But while I stand here at the pinnacle of my career I can't help but wonder if I am really hovering precarilously over the ABYSS.  I recently recieved an email from a very important film organization.  The American Film Institute, probably aware of my Rockstar Review wants my help and support in promoting another cinematic undertaking.  I am not prepared to reveal the identity of this film yet, but I will say that it should have a HUGE impact on all of our lives.  I will soon get into a detailed discussion with these people and I promise to take my RESPONSIBILITY seriously in the handling of this impactful event in our histroy.  But before I enter into this, I want to respond to some new changes regarding the guestbook and the Tribute Band Voting Academy Forum.  Many of you wrote to me disappointed that there was no longer a central place for anonymous discussion.  "Annonymity encourages honesty" someone wrote to me.  At the same time, I need my HTBH/TC partnership to remain STRONG.  And we need accountablility in order to insure accuracy in voting.  Therefore I am including a link to my old guestbook, unchanged, as well as a link to the Voting Academy forum.  I know that a lot of you are wondering what happened to the first new official Silver Hammer nominations.  Like the Emmy awards they have been indefinitely POSTPONED.  Until then I want to encourage a membership drive.  those of you already involved should speak to your compatriots about joinging us.  Democracy is teh cornerstone of all great artistic expression, even the Romans had both democracy and art that is an influence on us today.  I want to help continue this great tradition.  It is time to pull together and rebuild our unity.  Help me show the world that we in the Tribute Band Community cannot be held back from moving forward into our destiny, which is to spread the message of LOVE, PEACE, and DEMOCRACY from sea to shining sea and to all the countries on MOTHER EARTH!!!

Today I would like to talk about an event that could CHANGE THE WAY TRIBUTE BANDS ARE PERCEIVED BY THE ENTIRE WORLD.  It is a movie called Rockstar, being released in several weeks, and it is based on the story of Tim Owens.  For those of you who are unaware, Tim Owens was the lead singer in an Judas Priest tribute band, and now he is the REAL LIFE LEAD SINGER of Judas Preist!!!!  This has to be the ultimate rags to riches story in rock and roll history, and has given the rest of us in tribute bands something to strive for and dream about.  In my case, it is difficult to imagine I could ever join the actual Beatles, but it IS possible.  For example, Paul could go on a tour and ask Ringo to play drums, and at the last minute, Ringo would get sick, and Paul would look to someone who already knows the songs and knows how to do Ringo's signature drum moves and styles onstage.  So he might search the internet and find HTBH, send me an e-mail, and ask me to audition.  If this ever happened, I would know the odds were against me, but I would try 110%!!!  And to show I didn't just want to fill in for Ringo, but had my OWN UNIQUE SKILLS I was bringing to the table, I would play him Wake Up, Wake Up and convince him to play that on his tour.  But back to Tim Owens.  The reason this movie coming out is so CONTROVERSIAL is that it is not the real Tim Owens story, but only based on it.  In fact, Tim Owens himself has SPOKEN OUT against the film, saying it is not accurate!!  This has me very CONCERNED about this film and their portrayal of tribute bands. Think about it -- this is the FIRST MAJOR STUDIO FILM to address the issue of tribute bands and will form people's opinions of it for years to come. If tribute bands are shown as a joke, this could be a DISASTER for our bands and our way of life.  And if they managed to offend Tim Owens, I am WORRIED I will be offended, too.  HOWEVER, I will view the film with an open mind, and if it shows tribute bands in a POSITIVE light, I will dedicate my entire life to promoting the film, and use this website as ROCKSTAR CENTRAL!!  ON THE OTHER HAND, if this film BETRAYS tribute bands, I will dedicate ALL MY WAKING ENERGY to spreading the word that this film is DISHONEST LIE.  In fact, I will call an emergency session of the Voting Academy and come to a consensus on weather we should BOYCOTT this film.  Think about it -- if EVERY tribute band in EVERY nation stood up with signs and pickets and said THIS FILM IS A LIE -- people would realize it and NOT GO SEE THE FILM!!!  In conclusion, I am very excited that Hollywood is going to bring tribute bands to the public attention, and plan on seeing this film on opening night.  However, I am also CONCERNED about the negative impact, and hope that if my worst fears come true, we can all COME TOGETHER -- every band, fan and website -- to PROTEST a film which has the power to destroy us all!!!!

Today's Daily Theory marks a BOLD NEW DIRECTION for Howard's Tribute Band Heaven...  Howard's tribute band reviews!  And if this goes well, it will eventually branch out into other areas, such as Howard's music and film reviews, and possibly, a special section with commentary on politics and the news of the day!!  With all the time I have spent talking to reporters recently, I have realized this is something I am good at and should persue. So, with all that said, and without further ado, I present my FIRST EVER review of a Tribute band in the Ohio area.  There name is Paint it Black, a tribute to the Rolling Stones.  Now, a lot of you know I am not one of the Stones biggest fans.  Overall their musicianship, lyrics and overall message are second rate when compared to the Beatles.  HOWEVER I went into this show with an open mind, convinced this tribute band could make me a huge fan.  I first heard about this band because my ex-girlfriend who I am still currently involved with again used to date the drummer for Paint it Black.  Judy made sure to tell me that this guy means nothing to her any more, his drumming is not as good as mine (and she now agrees that the Stones are not as good as the Beatles).  So Judy and I went to see the show together and in heinsight this was probably not a very good idea.  When I got there she immeidately started chatting with the Paint it Black drummer and this really PISSED ME OFF.  This guy was chugging one beer after another before the show, and I'm thinking, how can you play the drums like that?!  Then I heard him saying stuff to Judy about how they should hang out sometime and watched him give her a kiss on the cheek.  Needless to say I was NOT HAPPY about this one bit.  Judy told me she was just being nice, but I was still upset about the whole situation.  Meanwhile, the lead singer was smoking a joint to "get in character". Now I've smoked a joint or two in my time, but NEVER BEFORE A GIG, because I belive the mind and spirit must be clear and clean. We have a RESPONSIBILITY to recreate this music for the fans and it should NOT be be affected by DRUGS.  So after what seemed like forever of setting up (these guys had trouble tuning their guitars and the mix sounded terrible), the band FINALLY started with No Satisfaction.  What a predictable song to open with!!  I think a tribute band should challenge the audience, not just play the big hits.  For example, often we open with Hey Bulldog -- one of the Beatles more obscure songs -- as a way to say "We are playing for the fans not for the masses".  The last gig we played was at a friend's party, and we tried something new and BOLD -- we played an entire side of the White Album straight through!  I don't think many Beatles tributes have done this, and everyone at the party loved it.  The POINT is that as a tribute band you must SURPRISE your audience and Paint it Black did not do that.  As for the music, I was immediately struck by how No Satisfaction just sounds like a cheap ripoff of several songs off the White Album.  Besides, the lead singer looked like a moron jumping around the stage, the drumming was way off, and the guitars out of tune.  Overall, this was an INSULT to tribute bands everywhere.  They continued to annoy me by playing the Stones most famous songs, and predictably ended with Paint it Black.  (Yeah, we know that's the name of your tribute band, moron)  As far as I could tell, the audience was more interested in chugging beers than listening to the music, but I blame this as much on the Stones lack of sophistication as the tribute bands lack of talent.  After the set, the band asked me to sit in for a couple Beatles covers!!  We played Revolution and Back in the USSR -- and it was awesome!!  Suddenly the crowd was having fun and loving every second of it.  Judy came up to me afterwards and told me I played much better than the Paint it Black drummer.  (And then we went back to my place and got some real Satisfaction if you know what I mean!!) Overall, I would NOT RECOMMEND this band, but possibly if they practice more they could at least reproduce the Stones more accurately.

Coming soon...  I will talk about the upcoming film Rockstar and what it means to tribute bands.  This is an important topic, folks, so stay tuned!!! Also, I have a LOT TO SAY about the Gary Condit situation, and will be SPEAKING MY MIND on that topic in the next few days.

Well, it has taken me a lot longer than expected, but the MASSIVE E-MAIL to TRIBUTE BANDS ALL OVER THE WORLD has finally been sent out!!!  Like the Phoenix rising from it's ashes, today truly marks the first day of the historic rebirth of the Voting Academy!  And now, without further ado, I would like to discuss the next big thing in the tribute band community:  the second Silver Hammer Award!!  Last time, the winner was Super Diamond for best lead singer, and since then, he has been written up in several magazine articles for winning the Silver Hammer, and I would like to think that had something to do with that band's surge of success in the last year!! (including a soon to be released article about tribute bands and myself in Details magazine)  This time, members will select and vote on the Worlds Best Tribute Band Guitarist!!!  That's right, the time has come for guitarists to get their fair share of attention.  We all know lead singers hog the spotlight and sometimes the audience is only aware of their performance.  It is time to shatter that wall of perception.  Guitarists are as important to recreating the sound of the original band as lead singers are!  In my band (Howard's Silver Hammer) the roles of both George AND John and sometimes even Paul have to play guitar TO PERFECTION and I don't care who is singing, if those notes aren't right the audience isn't happy.  (Just listen to the tripple guitar work in the classic song The End and you will know what I mean)  And what about guitar-based bands like KISS or Metallica.  Personally I don't think the guitar work in the Stones is all that good, but even Keith Richards look-alikes deserve their props.  I am excited to find out who the Voting Academy, with all their combined knowledge and expertise, will pick as the very BEST in that category!  Finally, let's all take a moment to cherish the wonderful rebirth the tribute band community has been blessed with.  This time one year ago tribute band websites were practically in a state of open warfare and the voting academy's honor was being attacked.  Now, thanks to John Toth's exit from the scene, along with Tributecity's spectacular new features and open and friendly attitude, all that has changed.  HTBH and TC are working TOGETHER to bring you a troll-free guestbook where freedom of speech AND responsibility are the order of the day.  We are also collaborating on making the Voting Academy a place where membership and votes can be CONFIRMED so no accusations of cheating or false membership can EVER be made again.  That's right, as we move forward, the trollers and flamers are being left behind, and HONEST DEBATE about the meaning of tribute bands and our community can proceed behind the PROTECTIVE WALLS of Tributecity -- homeland of the tribute bands in the 21st century. 

I am sure most of you know the recent situation with the old guestbook and the new HTBH/TC FORUM.  I am printing an e-mail which I just sent to the webmaster of Tribute City so everyone understands our reasining behind recent events.

Lenny,

The foul entries on my old guestbook have been deleted.  As for your request that I cancel my account completely, I have to say that I find it slightly unreasonable.  For months, you have left up numerous entries on your forums entitled the Howard problem.  Even though they were personally embarasing to me, I did not make demands of you or how to run your website.  I did not threaten you with court orders.  I wish the internet was a place where people like the swine that has been bashing me and others could be held accountable for their actions.  I consider him to be a terrorist.  As a terrorist I can only assume that his ultimate motive is to shut me down.  To shut my guestbook down as well.  I am thrilled to switch over to a forum which I can control, but I do not want to erase the history that my guestbook represents.  That is what the terrorist wants me to do and I have no plans to accomodate him.  I hope he has not succedded in forming a rift between our recent bonds.  Already I see that not as many people are signing our forum as who used to participate on the guestbook.  I attribute this to growing pains and hope that the problem is sovled naturally after some time has passed and people get used to the new format.  Again, I have taken out the offensive and slanderous material and hope that we can continue to move forward hand in hand into the future.  Please forgive me if I did not act to rectify the situation more promptly.

Your Friend,

Howard

It is difficult for me to understand how an idea as fun and important as the Tribute Band Voting Academy caused such controversey.  However, this theory does not seek to explore that question.  To be sure, the Voting Academy was a wonderful experience for all involved.  We awarded the first Silver Hammer award, and solved many problems of our community.  However, I never expected it's legitimacy to be challenged, and as a result, it was flawed from the beginning.  Therefore, I have decided to START FROM SCRATCH in an attempt to push aside any bad feelings of the past, and have devised a way to make the Voting Academy LEGITIMATE in the eyes of the entire Tribute Band Community!!  As many of you know, I have made a MAJOR decision as far as my guestbook is concerned.  I know it is controversial, but I have decided to TEAM UP with TRIBUTECITY in bringing FREEDOM OF SPEECH to tribute bands, while providing PROTECTION from harassment, trolling and flaming.  Though a test-version of this has been leaked to the public, the details are stlil being hammered out and it's release is not official (yet!).  In the meantime, however, I have decided to use this location as GROUND ZERO for the NEW AND IMPROVED Voting Academy page.  This will be our CHURCH, our WHITE HOUSE our STADIUM.  It will be a place where members may join, meetings may be held, and important decisions can be discussed IN PUBLIC VIEW.  (We need a good name for this place, possibly we will discuss this in the first meeting).  This time, there will be no questions about what the Academy does because everyone can see for themselves.  And the roster will not be secret this time, it will be public information from day one!  Also, using the LATEST TECHNOLOGY (thanks to Tributecity) Lenny and I will be able to provide concrete PROOF of membership, meetings and decisions.  That means no more controversy, arguing or fighting about the Voting Academy.  I know some of you will miss this, but our purpose is to provide POSITIVE LEADERSHIP, and that is what we shall stick to.  As of tomorrow morning, a HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT will have been sent to EVERY TRIBUTE BAND in this and every country across the globe.  In this message are detailed instructions for joining the Academy, our goals and mission statement, and exciting news about our first official Vote!!  I will also make this message PUBLIC on my guestbook and also at the Voting Academy Home. Recently, I was speaking to a reporter about tribute bands.  He wanted to know how the Tribute Band Community defined itself, how it defined what a tribute band is, and many other important issues and questions.  My answer: don't ask me, ask the community!  And that is when I once again started to think about the importance of the Academy and the greater purpose it will serve.  I am sure all of you are as excited as I am about our new positive purpose and cause.  Remember, together we stand, divided we fall.

It was with a mixture of shock and sadness that I read the words "Tributebands.com is officialy offline."  This week we all mourn one of the most important, albiet flawed, tribute band websites ever.  Sometimes it is hard to appreciate something till it is gone, and that is the case with TBC.  Let us not forget they had an incredible 900+ band listings at the time of their demise.  It will be difficult for any website to match that record, and for that, we must say a silent "thank you" to TBC.  Of course now we must ask the question, "what went wrong" and how did we lose one of our own so senselessly?  Despite all the times I extended the olive branch to John Toth the webmaster of  TBC, I still have to ask, "did I do enough"?  And what lessons can we learn from the mistakes that TBC made, so they are not repeated in the future?  To answer that perplexing question, I asked myself a different question:  TBM and TBC have gone by the wasteside, why  is  HTBH still standing strong?  How is it possible that a humble site like this one has remained such a positive  influence in the tribute band community, while more experienced webmasters with greater resources and programming skills have failed?  I believe I can sum up the answer in one important word:  PERSPECTIVE.  Perspective, I believe, is the only way to  survive in this sometimes cruel world.  Without perspective, we let the little problems eat away at us, destroying our ambition and our focus, rendering us helpless creatures who can not get out of bed in the morning.  I believe it is PERSPECTIVE that stops me from falling apart every day  I see someone attacking me or my website, or tribute bands in general.  Because with perspective, one can say "This is hurtful, but it is not that important. I can rise above the attacks because I do something that affects teh lives of thousands of people!"  But how does one retain perspective?  The solution is to remember the REAL PROBLEMS that face the world, and face society every day. For example, many people are dying of disease at a young age.  Their lives have been brutally cut short by the forces of nature.  They experience pain and depression so great, it makes my problems seem so tiny in comparison.  Also, we may think our enemies are lurking at the opposite end of cyberspace, but the reality is we have REAL ENEMIES that pose a real threat to our society and our freedom we have grown acustom to.  COMMUNISM and DICTATORSHIPS are still alive and well in the world, powerful and evil leaders who do not value Freedom of Speech as we do.  However, even in our own country we have THREATS to our freedom.  I believe one of the greatest threats to that freedom are CORPORATIONS whose wealth and power are taking over the world.  When is the last time you thought about these few companies that control everything we SEE and READ?  That's right, when TIME WARNER and AOL control CNN, the MUSIC INDUSTRY, the MOVIE BUSINESS, and slowly are taking over the INTERNET, their only purpose is to sell PRODUCTS and have us spend more MONEY so we have to work longer and longer hours, and are thus er are forced into slavery!  (I could -- and will -- spend an entire theory on this important topic)  You will see in the next 10 years our freedoms slowly eroded, and with the new GLOBAL ECONOMY the ills of our society will spread to the rest of the world as well.  This all may seem like a tangent from TBC, but IT IS ALL RELATED.  If we allow ourselves to become obsessed with petty internet squabbles, as I believe TBC allowed themselves to do, then we lose sight of the BIG PICTURE which is to spread the universal message of music and love through Tribute Bands, and to use that power to combat the evils of the world such as communism and evil corporations.  I believe that websites like TBC serve a great purpose, and I can not express with enough passion the amount of saddness I feel when they abandon our great cause. However, if we are to use it as a POSITIVE LESSON in our lives, we must all reflect on what has happened so the mistakes of the past are not repeated, and great sites like TRIBUTECITY can remain strong and proud messengers, spreading the word of music to every corner of the globe.  And even though Freedom of Speech has returned to my guestbook and the abusers have slowed their attacks, that is still a weakness that could topple HTBH just like TBC toppled.  Luckily, TRIBUTECITY is hard at work on their update which includes an exciting surprise which will solidify our partnership and will protect the FREEDOMS which we all want to continue to enjoy.

HTBH IS BACK FOLKS!!!!  Two weeks of time off, relaxation and meditation (and catching up at work and spending quality time with my girlfriend and family and my dog Martha) has given me profound perspective about the NEW DIRECTION that this website must go to continue it's pledge to help tribute bands!  Keep reading, because there is a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT coming in this theory!!!  Due to honest and constructive advice from many good friends and supporters in the tribute band community, I have come to the realization that the HTBH guestbook, while providing Freedom of Speech and a HUGE audience for bands and fans to come together and debate important ISSUES, has serious flaws that are hurting tribute bands.  In specific, the problems of people posting as people they are not, slandering reputations, and making false accusations have hurt many people.  I have watched many innocent supporters (including myself) AND foes of this website be victems of unfair accusations.  It makes me HURT and UPSET to see my good name slandered, but it also makes me ANGRY to see others sucked into my battle, EVEN INCLUDING JOHN TOTH.  Don't get me wrong, we have plenty to be angry about when it comes to this webmaster.  HOWEVER, it is NOT RIGHT to make false posts under his name or ANYONE ELSE!!!  I understand my guestbook will always be a flashpoint for conterversy.  Not by my choice, as I would prefer that everyone agree with my point of view!  However, for some reason, some are always threatened by what I have to say.  Just as I defend my right to speak my mind, I also defend the rights of my advisaries to speak theirs. That's right, I would DIE ON THE BATTLEFIELD, gun in hand, to protect the rights of people like Scotty J.  He had every right to speak his opinion that the Voting Academy was not real, even though he was wrong.  And I also had the right to defend myself when the false accusations were made. However, the PROBLEM comes when some people's FREEDOM OF SPEECH is threatened because they are afraid to SPEAK OUT because they have been bullied into silence!  I can not tell you the number of people who have sent me private e-mails, saying they would stand up but don't want to risk their band's status.  THIS MUST END.  But how?  Thus, with further ado, I would like to make a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT that affects the FUTURE DIRECTION of this website and the tribute band community! (drumroll please...)  HTBH is going to have a PARTNERSHIP with one of the greatest tribute band websites ever:  TRIBUTECITY!!!  That's right, we are teaming up to provide FREEDOM OF SPEECH, while at the same time, putting a STOP to annonymous posts that prevents the FREEDOM OF SPEECH of others.  We will employ the LATEST TECHNOLOGY and current breakthroughs in programming code to acheive these goals!  I do not know much about these issues, as I am a novice webmaster, and that is why I need Lenny's help!!  Together, it is our personal MISSION in life to bring sanity back to this guestbook and to prevent certain individuals (a small number I believe) from destroying it for everyone else.  I am going to hold off announcing any specific details, as this is all in the works, but mark my words: we will not give in to the bullies who seek to destroy us.  Tribute bands are ressiliant, and have a way of joining hands and fending off those who want to humiliate us.  I will not name names, but your days of annonymous trouble making are over.  And I will prove once and for all that I never, and I mean NEVER, have ever posted as any person other than myself on this guestbook.  I am proud of who I am, what I have done with this guestbook, and reserve the right to print my views in the DAILY THEORY space.  The guestbook is for the bands, the fans, my enemies and supporters to air their views.  I rarely enter that sacred space.  Thanks to Lenny, I will finally be able to clear my name and offer proof of this truth.  At the same time, we will DEFEND others who want to retain their right to FREEDOM OF SPEECH without being attacked.  Dont' forget:  harassemt is illegal!  How will we do it?  Stay tuned, all will be made clear in the coming days.  A bright day is ahead for tribute bands!!!

I am sorry to announce I will be taking a two week absence from this website.  The stress of the last few days has proved to be too much.  I am not asking anyone to feel sorry for me.  I am happy to do it and fight the good fight for tribute bands and to keep the respect of this website as strong as it always has been.  It is once again sad to see people ganging up against me and smearing my name, but it is nothing new.  I try to focus on the positive, and that is what I shall do.  Many, many bands and fans have posted messages of support.  They have also sent me private e-mails asking me to hang in there, knowing I am doing the right thing.  But now that the truth of Scotty's betrayal and the existence of the Voting Academy confirmed, I must wash my hands of this situation and get back to life as normal.  It has also been suggested to me by a valued friend in the Tribute Band Community that I should try to change the topic of debate to a more positive subject.  In an effort to do that, I will need a short two week vacation from this website to meditate and move past this situation, at which point, I will be ready to take on the challenge of running this site back in a positive direction.  In the meantime, my offer to Scotty J. still stands.  I think it would heal a lot of wounds for him to publish a Daily Theory on this site.  He could speak to a wide audience about his views, see that this site is open to EVERYONE, show I am committed to free speech and put the spotlight on someone other than myself (believe me, with pleasure and relief).  I would like nothing more than to fade into the shadows of this website, put the spotlight on the great tribute bands and their struggle, and maintain the site with the care of tending a garden (ie. keep band list uptodate, add new features, write theories and have the theory space become a place for activists and members of the Voting Academy to air their views).  Finally, Scotty, my offer is a sincere one:  join the Voting Academy, run a vote for who should be President, and run it the way YOU see fit.  If this is what would give it the legitimacy in your eyes, it would be worth it for me to let go and have a life of it' own.  Thank you all again for your understanding and patience. Hopefully I will feel better about all this in two weeks time.  And to all the Voting Academy members who sent me private emails of support, know that you are my base and foundation, it is your love and support that is holding my faith together now and always.

Today's theory is about TRUST.  At first, this might seem removed from the subject of tribute bands, but it as interconnected as the guitar and the bass.  it is a very PERSONAL subject for me at the moment, as I have experienced a serious betrayal of trust recently, but I will try to keep it together as I write this.  As many of you know, I have had some well publicized disagreements with others in the tribute band community.  From my point of view, they are threatened by someone who has a strong opinion, and is confident enough to let others express their views freely by giving them FREEDOM OF SPEECH and not censoring.  However, I am sure all of you have witnessed my desire to move past these problems by extending an olive branch to those individuals, and taking RESPONSIBILITY when I have done wrong. While I have succeeded in many cases, I have failed in others, but have learned to never stop trying.  This brings me up to the place where I must discuss an event that has occured with one of these individuals.  Now, as much as I want to reveal this persons identity, I WILL NOT STOOP TO HIS LEVEL and embarass him publically.  Instead, let this be a learning experience for the rest of us to learn something about TRUST.  Recently, I wrote this individual an explination on my guestbook about some of the things that he took issue with me.  I tried to take responsibility for as much as I could, while standing behind my position when I felt I was right. I was delighted when this indivudual wrote me back personaly through e-mail and sais enough was enough, it was time to be friends!!  I was so excited that finaly he was willing to give me a second chance.  He even said he would send me some Beatles guitar strings as a sign of good faith!! Everything I had learned in my new maturity about communication and humility seemed to be paying off in spades.  Therefore, I am sure you can al  understand how SHOCKED I was to find out I had been lied to and betrayed by this individual!  Recently, I was interviewed by a reporter from the San Diego Tribune about tribute bands.  It was an HONOR to talk about my favorite subject, and try to convey to the world why they are, in my opinion, so important and touch so many lives!  It was one of my greatest acheivements to see these quotes in the article and shared with the world. (And a framed copy sits over my desk to help me get through the days when nothing is going right, as a reminder there is a purpose to all of this madness).  But my world was about to be shattered.  I wsa informed by the author of this article that someone had written him a letter saying I was a fraud, a liar, that I was not in a band, that my views did not represent the tribute band community, that HIS band played more shows so why wasn't HE quoted in the article, and demanded a retraction of the article without my quotes in it!!!  Then I found out who had written this letter, and it was the SAME PERSON who had told me, only days earlier, he wanted to send me guitar strings as a sign of good faith!!!   I can not describe the feeling I had at that moment, it was as if someone had punched me in the stomach or a girlfriend had cheated on me and then lied about it and then got caught in her lie and I had to initiate a very messy breakup.  I had put my faith and TRUST in the goodwill of this person, and had been double crossed.  I also felt that it was not only an attack on me, but the ENTIRE TRIBUTE BAND COMMUNITY!!  This was one of the few articles that portrayed tribute bands in a positive light, and this individual wanted the article retracted!!  By taking this article away from us, you are taking away one little good thing that happened to tribute bands in the media this year!  How selfish, I felt, to try to ruin it for everyone, out of your feelings of spite and jealousy!!  It is difficult after an event like this to retain your faith in humanity, and I can not say I have succeeded.  I wish there was a happy ending for this theory, but the truth is, I am hurt and bitter and wondering what to do about it.  All the time I have spent trying to build bridges and make friends -- is it all a waste?!  I hope not, and I will try to keep this incident in perspective and remember that most people in tribute bands have the same values as me.  I try to remember this quote, "Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friends, I have always thought, that it's a crime, so I ask you once again...  WE CAN WORK IT OUT".  What is so upsetting is that this person is a Beatles fan -- how could he forget these words?!  I hope the rest of you will heed my warning and remember the importance of TRUST.  If you don't like something, say it to my face, don't tell me one thing, then go behind my back and say something else!  That is just wrong, because if everyone did this, there would be no more TRUST in the world.  One last word of warning to the person who betrayed me (betrayed us all), the reporter and I talked about the issues you raised and he thinks that you have a mental disability related to having an obsession with me.  Even though I HATE YOU MORE THAN WORDS CAN EXPRESS, I hope you get the help that you need to start living a normal life again.

"You say goodbye, and I say hello"...these are the words of the Beatles and they mean that even when things end, there are always new beginnings.  We say goodbye to John Toth, and we say hello to Tribute City.  Like the Jews delivered out of Egypt by Moses, we too begin our journey through the desert.  I never thought I would live to see the day that we in the Tribute Band Community would be bought and sold like so many heads of cattle.  It saddens me to see how low John Toth has sunk to think he can pawn us off so non0chalanty.  I am glad that he  is giving into our  pressure and ending his charade, but I am also concerned about the implications of being allowed to sell off his band list to the highest bidder.  I am, however,  organizing an effort for us bands to buy back our own freedom.  I haven't figured out the details yet, but I think that we can pool our resources and keep the freedom train rolling and keep Toth from putting us on the auction block.  Meanwhile, we welcome Tribute City who has responded to our needs and has provided us with a 'Jerusalem' where we can go after our Exodus from TBC.  I am proud to be part of this histonic occasion and offer my humble service to the outstadning webmasters at Tribute City, THE PROMISED LAND FOR TRIBUTE BANDS!   The battle isn't over, though, we are still going to have  to stick together and keep outside forces from trying to split us apart.  On another note, I want to point out a new feature here at Howard's Tribute Band Heaven, the Tribute Graveyard.  This is a feature for us in the Tribute Band Community to memorialise thsoe who are no longer with us.  So we can remember their contributions and learn from there mistakes.  In closing, be strong and keep involved, we have our promised land, but we must be vigilant to keep it safe and secure for future generations of Tribute Bands all across the globe.

I would like to start this theory with a favorite Beatles quote of mine which I believe sums up everything I am feeling at this moment, "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.  It's getting hard to be someone, but it all works out.  It doesn't matter much to me." With that said, I would like to extend an apology to everyone out there.  To all my fans, to every tribute band and every tribute band fan and every tribute band website across each city of this nation and around the glove.  To those who speculated or started rumors that I had been hit by a car, been put in jail or even committed suicide, I assure all of you these rumors were false.  These are LIES and I am sick and tired of it.  What happened in fact was a personal family situation which I can not go into on this public website.  While this was happening and my life was in chaos, I thought every day and even every hour about this website and the important cause I was neglecting.  However, I have realized that as much as this site and tribute bands in general mean to me, I have to keep things in PERSPECTIVE and keep my PRIORITIES straight.  While tribute bands mean the world to me, a family crisis has to come first.  Sometimes I wonder if some tribute bands or even some of the tribute band websites out there take themselves too SERIOUSLY.  Yes as tribute bands we have an important responsibility to the world, and yet, there are other things that are even more important.  Sometimes I wonder if some of you should LOOK IN THE MIRROR and ask yourselves what is really important in life.  In light of that, let me say I am OUTRAGED that TBC has continued to neglect their site and spit in the faces of ever tribute band and every tribute band fan.  The Voting Academy is also outraged, and a special page was in place to reveal their identities and have them vote on what to do about TBC missing this crucial deadline.  When my personal house was finally in order and I was once again ready to take up the tribute band cause, I received an inside tip telling me that something big was about to happen in the tribute band community, something so huge it would render my deadline against TBC meaningless.  I stayed up nights wondering what this could be, but my personal problems kept me from going insane.  I figured it could easily be a trick by TBC to stall for more time, but because I was preoccupied with other matters, I decided to wait it out and see what would happen.  Well, this inside tip turned out to be true.  Tributecity was revealed to the tribute band world, and all I can say is -- this could be the greatest tribute band website since Tribute Band Mania, and possibly even SURPASSING that classic site.  More on this site later, but what I quickly realized is that with the release of this site, TBC has been rendered obsolete and there was NO LONGER A NEED for the deadline.  Yes, folks, while TBC staled, our community suffered.  But now, with this bold new site, we are no longer held hostage by the oppressive forces at TBC that wanted control and power, but felt no responsibility to the bands which it represented.  Most importantly, with this new site comes a chance at a FRESH START to replace the bitterness that has engulfed the tribute band community with COOPERATION.  I have been trying for months if not years to HEAL THE WOUNDS left by the bitter battles between competing tribute band websites.  I have extended the olive branch and I have even offered to JOIN FORCES with the competition, sharing my special features and offering them a voice on my site in exchange for nothing.  However, the other tribute band site responded by more PERSONAL ATTACKS and indicating a clear intent to SHUT THIS SITE DOWN.  Not only did they go after me, which I can handle, but went after anyone who was brave enough to stand up for this site.  Luckily they were outnumbered, but never would they lay down their arms and agree to peace.  Now, let us hope that is all in the past.  I pledge, here and now, to work with this great new site.  I pledge to have peace and prosperity rule the relationships between HTBH and tributecity.  Already we have seen TBC and their supporters attack the new site instead of cooperate.  Already we have seen them try to tear walls down instead of building them higher.  But we can not let them destroy the new site as they may have attempted to destroy mine.  We at HTBH tried to build a city of hope, but they forced us to defend ourselves by throwing bombs inside our city walls.  I pledge here and now that we will DEFEND the new city - TRIBUTECITY - and not let the forces of evil attempt to destroy them.  Let the destructive forces at TBC do what they will, but please, do not respond to them.  Instead, treat them as they are -- the bones of an old dinosaur, standing as useless as the Berlin Wall.  The tribute band community of the east and west must UNITE around one website as their leader, and today, HTBH throws it's FULL SUPPORT behind this incredible new site.  We will work with them to improve their site and ours.  We will work with them to increase the spirit of conversation and debate.  We will give them constructive suggestions but never attack, and we ask the same in return from them.  Tributecity has already extended the olive branch to the other sites by providing a link to them -- something TBC refused to do.  I will immediately put a link to tributecity on our site as a symbol of peace.  I believe that their intentions are to help tribute bands, and with that said, let us all pray that tomorrow will bring a better day.  But with this great step forward, we can not grow complacent.  There is already talk of clubs shutting their doors to tribute bands.  Some have even called it a coming great depression.  WE CAN NOT LET THIS HAPPEN. Together with tributecity, we will FIGHT TILL OUR LAST DYING BREATH to insure that all tribute bands will have a place to perform and play the continue the music that was created by God to be the greatest music in the history of the world - rock and roll.  Just remember, "The love you take is equal to the love you make".  I hope you will all find the perspective and distance to forgive me for my absence from this site.  I have not abandoned you, and I hope I can rebuild our shattered trust.