Teenage Bottlerocket

Friends! Since the sudden passing of our brother, best friend, drummer and founding member Brandon Carlisle there has been a lot of speculation as to whether or not TBR would go on. Brandon was one of a kind, an incredible drummer, a passionate punk rocker and one of the sweetest people you could ever hope to meet. We miss him every day. The outpouring of love and support from all over the world has been amazing and we know wherever Brandon is he knows how much he is loved, how much of an impact he had on so many.

The decision as to whether or not to continue playing as Teenage Bottlerocket has been a very heavy one for sure. We know we can never replace our brother, that there will always be a void in our lives without him. However it all came down to one deciding factor. We kept asking ourselves and each other: what would Brandon want us to do? And we all knew the answer immediately.

There’s no way Brandon would want us to throw in the towel, to let this band that he spent his life building just end. Fuck no. Brandon would want us to keep playing, always. The decision was made based on that, and so here we are. We’re still a band. We’re going to keep rocking and we’re going to do it with Brandon in our hearts.

And so we sat down and talked. Who could we bring in? Who could do Brandon justice? While we knew it couldn’t ever be the same, we also knew we were going to find the best fucking drummer we could. Someone who was on the same page as us, wanted to shred and could actually play the damn parts. And we found him. In Canada.

So without further ado, we’d like to introduce the world to our friend, and new drummer: Darren Chewka. Hailing from Edmonton, Alberta, Darren has played in probably every band that has ever come from that city, and then some. We met him as the drummer for Old Wives. And he fucking shreds. We flew him in for a weekend of practice and it all clicked immediately. Day one we were all in disbelief at how well he knew the songs and how solidly he played them. Day two we knew 110% we’d found our guy.

So friends, please join us as we welcome Darren Chewka to the Teenage Bottlerocket family. Check out this video of us practicing with the new lineup! We’re already talking about our next move, so stay tuned and see what happens next!

Love, Miguel, Ray, Kody and Teenage Bottlerocket

Friends here are full details about Brandon’s funeral, burial and an event we are hosting this Saturday in Laramie WY. All are open to the public, anyone can attend.

Brandon’s funeral will be held this Saturday, November 14th at 10:30 am. The service will be held at Timberline Church in Fort Collins Colorado. 2908 S Timberline Road This funeral is open to the public, all are welcome. You don’t have to dress up, you can come as you are Brandon would want it that way.

Following the funeral a procession lead by police escorts will drive Brandon’s body an hour north to Laramie Wyoming. We will bury Brandon at 2pm at the Green Hill Cemetery, again all are welcome to attend.

From 4-10pm we will be having a party to celebrate the life of our amazing friend and brother. This will take place at the Hilton Garden Ballroom in Laramie Wyoming. From 6-10pm we will have alcohol available, including 5 kegs, and there is also a full bar at the Hilton. Again, this is fully open to the public, all are invited and welcome to attend. We will have music, drinks and hor d’oeuvres. Let’s party together fro Brandon, share stories, laughs, hugs.

We are also working to put together a slideshow to have playing at the party, so please anyone who has any pictures of Brandon please email them over to our dear friend Johnny from For The Love of Punk. He is working to put the slideshow together and you can email him at [email protected] We are looking for any and all pictures you might have by Thursday night so he can get it all put together in time.

Anyone traveling in from out of town we suggest looking at hotels in Laramie since that’s where we will be partying all night. After the event at the Hilton I’m sure we will move the party downtown somewhere. Toby and Brendan will be there so you know it’s gonna be a rager.

Finally we still have the gofundme page up and running to help Brandon’s family out with his final expenses. If you feel inclined check that out at https://www.gofundme.com/c784qs38

The outpouring of love has been simply amazing. Teenage Bottlerocket was the biggest trending news story on Saturday, so for just a day Brandon finally got to be Bigger than Kiss. I know wherever he is he feels the love, we all do. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the support during this incerdeibly difficult time. We will see anyone who can make it out this Saturday.

Love, TBR

It is with the heaviest hearts that we have to report our beloved drummer Brandon didn’t make it. The doctors did everything they could to save him, but the MRI showed he is no longer with us. His family and loved ones are with him as they prepare to take him off life support and let him gently move on.

Seeing so many people from all over the world come together in support has been amazing and we know Brandon could feel how much he was really loved. Brandon lived his life with his whole heart. He loved music, and he loved people. He always made it a point to let everyone know how much they meant to him, and to take time to make new friends. Anyone who was lucky enough to spend even a minute with the guy knows what a blessing he was to this earth. So with that love in our hearts, we carry him with us as we say goodbye. To the best drummer, the kindest soul and our brother and best friend, you will be in our hearts always.

Rest in Peace Brandon, we all love you so much.

As many of you may have heard, our drummer Brandon is in a coma and currently fighting for his life. We have set up a gofundme account to help cover costs with whatever might happen you can check that out here or if paypal is more your speed you can send money to TBRpaypal@nullyahoo.com.

Here’s the original statement by Ray from November 4th about the situation:
Hi friends and family. This is a tough one. Here goes. My brother Brandon Carlisle is in a coma. His roommate found him yesterday around 11 am and he was unresponsive. The paramedics showed up at his house shortly after and his heart wasn’t beating. They got it going and it gave out again in the ambulance. They got his heart started again and it stopped beating in the icu unit where the doctors were able to get his heart going again a third time. The scary part is the swelling to Brandon’s brain due to lack of oxygen and blood flow. His body temperature was 88 degrees when he arrived at the icu. I’m pretty sure that means my brother was without oxygen for quite a long time. He is currently in a coma and the doctors are keeping him at about 93 degrees. They will start to bring him back up to a normal temperature for the next 12-16 hours. Then they will ween him off of his sedatives and the neurologists will be able to determine whether or not Brandon is still with us. All prayers and thoughts for my brother are greatly appreciated. I know Brandon didn’t want this to happen. He’s tough as nails and we are hoping for the best. Looks like we need a miracle. Love to all.

Stoked to announce that RISE Records and Vannen Watches have teamed up for a series of limited edition Teenage Bottlerocket timepieces. TBR Watches will retail for $65, and be available for purchase Friday, April 24th at 12PM PST exclusively at TBR.MerchNow.com. There are only 150 TBR Watches available. Each watch comes with packaging signed by the band, and bundled with a FREE digital download of Tales from Wyoming. Vannen will be posting images of the new Watch and packaging all next week. Follow them on Facebook, twitter, tumblr, and instagram for updates.