#fhamily

Yes, FRAMING HANLEY IS STILL A BAND.

And they’re currently on tour so GO GET A TICKET 🎟️

Music has always been the constant in my life, the one thing that will always be there when everything else fails me.  This is why I hold my bands and those in those bands so close to my heart. They get me through life more than any single person ever could.

*Who's to say there's a way this has to end?*

Late February of 2007, I was driving around central Florida in my roommate's car, most likely skipping class, when an unfamiliar song came on OROCK.  Something about the lyrics of being on the floor and calling out to someone struck me at that low point in my life. The next time I heard it, I ran back to my dorm room to look it up on the radio's Recently Played list to find out it was this little band called Framing Hanley. From there I found them on MySpace, added them, and was hooked.  I was at one of the lowest points of my life; skipping class, staying locked up in my room, severely overweight, feeling completely worthless, and wondering why I should even bother living.  Their music and them as people helped keep me here.  That year I got to know more about these guys from Nashville by talking to them on AIM and MySpace (Aaah, nostaglia).  I remember going to 7 different stores to look for their first album, "The Moment", and finally found it at a Borders.   I flew home early, 1000 miles away, that November to see saw FH live for the first time, opening up for Evans Blue.  My biggest memory of that night is the guys being so excited someone actually knew the words to their songs and talking to Nixon about hyping them up on the Thirty Seconds to Mars message board.

I followed the guys into the following year, where this cover of a Lil Wayne song showed up on their MySpace page.   As big of a fan of them as I was, I never anticipated how big "Lollipop" would get.  After seeing them at Piano's in NYC in 2008, things seemed to just explode for them.  Seeing the guys travel around the country and overseas and seeing all these new fans fall in love with them and connect with them was so amazing.  I was ridiculously proud. I would hear them on the radio and found them in rock magazines.  These 5 Punk Ass Kids from Nashville were all over the world. With "A Promise to Burn", more shows finally came up North and I got to see the guys again, although the show I went to was when Nixon was so sick he had a bucket sidestage for him just in case.  Although I didn't get the see the guys live as much as I wanted to, I always kept up with them online, especially with the webisodes and The Ruckus they posted.  I made many great friends online because of their love for those guys.  Even if I did not get to see them often at all, I always turned to them at those moments where I needed that escape.

Through the Kickstarter and all the drama, I anxiously awaited what the guys would do next.  "The Sum of Who We Are" was released at the exact time I needed new FH music. Many major life changes had happened and I felt so very lost.  The song "No Saving Me" is what I really connected with, and in particular the line "The fall won't be what defines me", which is a mantra I would repeat to myself over and over when I was at those low points.  This year, I finally got it tattooed on me so I will always have that reminder.  In April this year when they announced their plans to end, I was shocked and wouldn't admit it was real. These were the guys that were always around when I needed them and I looked forward to eventually coming back to my area.  I leaped at the chance to see as many FHarewell tour dates as I could and saw 4 shows in one week, an absolutely incredible week that I will never forget and the guys made that much more memorable by just being their generous selves.  That week I also shared with Nixon some struggles I've had this past year that even my closest friends don't know about and how their music has, yet again, helped me persist.  While crying during "Hear Me Now" my last show that week, I decided I HAD to be Nashville for the FHinal Act and I made the trip south.  Spending those few days surrounded by ‪#‎FHamily‬ and gathered with 1500 other people who felt the same as me was an experience I cannot fully explain. I felt so connected to everyone else I met and was beyond thankful I was able to experience that last show with such amazing people.

So here we are a week after the final show and it's slowly starting to sink in that this band that has meant so much to me is over.  I realized I've essentially spent my 20s with them, as I was a few months shy of my 21st birthday when I first heard them and I am now 29.  Looking back on these past 8+ years has reminded me of all the ups and downs that life brings but also of the constants. For me Framing Hanley was always one of those constants.  One of their songs comes on and I'm instantly in a better mood, more uplifted, and/or taken back to a memory.  Even if the group is ending, that feeling of hearing a certain song will not.  Music will always live on.