Hard drive intact

“We thought we might get our music seized,” says Rick Elliot, whose Secondhand Smoke Band’s upcoming full-length, First Hand, was recorded in Escondido. “Lambesis Studios was the studio co-owned by Daniel [Castleman] and the now-infamous Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying. Our manager Tom Voris toured with them with his band the Fabulous Rudies during the 2007 Vans Warped Tour, so he got us in their studio.” This seemed like a terrific break, until Lambesis was arrested in May 2013 for soliciting someone he believed to be a hitman to kill his estranged wife.

“When Tim got arrested, we thought we were going to lose our hard drive with all of our recorded music, but luckily Tim signed over his ownership of the studio to Dan, so nothing was seized. Dan is the sole owner now of the studio.”

Castleman, who currently operates Brick by Brick along with his fellow former AILD members (now, minus Lambesis, known as Wovenwar) co-produced First Hand.

Elliot’s association with Tom Voris dates back to when he began playing music.

“We met Tom in high school at his after-school program at El Camino High for musicians and bands.” The album will come out on Voris’s Fun1One Records label; a release party is set for August 28 at BNS Brewing & Distillery Company in Santee.

As for future plans, “We’ll be touring quite a bit this year. We’re heading up to Montana by the end of September and will do that route a few times as we head that way to do Canada’s number-one country fest in July 2015 called Calgary Stampede.”