We have sent a newsletter earlier today. It’s really long but we want to share it here. It’s a story behind our USA tour scheduled in July.
– and we share photos from Tak&Marie baptism from 2009😀
[This is our Faith Journey]
We are touring in the USA this July. Next month. (Wow, it’s getting close!)
It’s mostly Texas…and Tennessee, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
If you don’t know, Texas is the place where I (Tak) and Marie were baptized. We were baptized at a Japanese church in Dallas Texas, back in 2009.
The last time we visited Texas was 2011. We played some shows there, with our beloved, longtime lineup [Tak, Hassy, Jake](2008-2018).
It took us a long time. But we are finally coming back. This is something we have to do. Because there are people waiting for us. We have some friends in the South. Simply, we want to visit them and say hi. And show them we are still rocking.
You know, as an indie band, we have been doing this for a long time. After all the years, we are still rocking for Jesus. It’s our promise to come back… to the place we gave our life to Jesus. For us, it means so much to come back to Texas. It’s a full circle. It’s emotional. It’s a Journey of Faith.
The tour is relatively short one. But surprisingly, we managed to book 9 events in the 2-week period. And they are all exciting shows. We feel blessed. Music scene is tough. Things are getting more and more difficult for a rock band. But God is good. Always good. We can’t be thankful enough.
Now, America is so big. This time we tour mostly in Texas. (And Ohio area for some reasons) We can only say sorry for people living in other areas. Just like that, the world is so big. I want to tell you how much we want to visit countries in Asia, Europe, and South America. If we make it big, it’s gonna happen. No, even if we don’t make it big, it will happen if God’s Will. (Thank you very much for your prayer!)
That said, here’s our tour dates. Updated and confirmed.
[Faith Journey 2024 – Texas and more]
July 5 Friday – Houston TX – Super Happy Fun Land
July 7 Sunday – Dallas TX – ICC Dallas (Japanese church worship)
July 8 Monday – Dallas TX – Three Links Deep Ellum
July 11 Thursday – Austin TX – Carousel Lounge
July 12 Friday – San Antonio TX – Fitzgerald’s
July 14 Sunday – Chattanooga TN – Revive Church (Church concert)
July 16 Tuesday – Erie PA – Philly On The Rocks (Concert)
July 17 Wednesday – Erie PA – Philly On The Rocks (Shinryu martial arts workshop)
July 18 Thursday – Bowling Green OH – Vineyard Church BG (Church concert)
For the details, please check our social media pages. We will try our best to update.
We understand that this is our chance to show the world. To tell the world that there’s a Japanese band rocking for Jesus. We want to make a difference. We want to change the world. We want to show the world Jesus is the truth even for Japanese musicians.
That is why we decided to release “The Best Of” album.
It’s a compilation of our best songs. Yes, nowadays we have something called playlist. But we wanted to offer something official. Because we made so much music, it’s sometimes difficult for people to find where to start. Now we can say “Please listen to this first!”
All songs are remastered and we added 1 new song.
We made CDs too. We will autograph them. They will be a “collectible item” for sure. (I dream we will make vinyl someday…)
CD and Download on Bandcamp
https://imaritones.bandcamp.com/album/that-christian-metal-band-from-japan-the-best-of-imari-tones
Streaming Link (Release date June 21st)
https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/imaritones/that-christian-metal-band-from-japan-the-best-of-imari-tones
On Bandcamp, you can buy stuff directly from us. If you buy CDs and T-shirts on Bandcamp, it will help us so much. Most certainly we need some help for the gas money during the USA tour. So, thank you very much for your help.
Talking about help and support…
Soon it will be 1 year since the “apartment fire” incident.
It was last year June 11th Sunday.
There was a fire in the small apartment building I and Marie were living in.
It changed our life. It was devastating. But God saved us. He protected us. We were fortunate. Because, even though we lost most of our stuff, our guitars and recording equipment were mostly safe. (They were covered with ash, but we cleaned them. They will cause some health problem in the future? Maybe…)
We will never forget the warm support we received from you. From all the people. We literally cried from joy and thankfulness, with all the support we had from you.
Thanks to your help, and God’s mercy, we were able to record our next album “Coming Back Alive”. (It’s finished already) We are going to put your names on the booklet, when we release the album. (Later this year? Or the next?)
Alright, it’s getting really long.
I know. We are a band with a lot of information. We are not for the social media of the current world, where people’s attention span is 15 seconds or less.
But we are trying.
For that reason, we made some funny “Promotional Movie”.
I think it’s worth sharing. It’s a story about Japanese samurai from the history of Japan…
(Feel free to share it!)
Thank you very much for reading.
Thank you very much for your LOVE.
God bless you!
See you soon!
Tak / Imari Tones (Japan)