So you won’t have to go through the traumatic experience of having to click on a link to the original story, here’s the skinny: a comedian, Mike Schmidt, has an addictive podcast called The 40-Year-Old Boy where he talks extemporaneously into a microphone while a woman in the background howls at everything he says.

One day he talked about a CD a listener sent him and he went on for 40 minutes about Rock Sugar. So the next day we – ok, I went online and ran across this:

So I did a bit of research and couldn’t find their agency, nor a major publicist. But as soon as I got that info online here at Pollstar.com, we got a call from Paradigm. They saw the post and signed the band. Which became a topic of Schmidt’s podcast, who then had Rock Sugar on as a guest.

And did we milk it for all it was worth? No. Not at all.

Rock Sugar went on to play some summer festivals, and guitarist Chuck Duran even got to hang out at the exciting Pollstar Concert Awards. How cool is that? 

But where have they been lately? I talked to singer Jess Harnell for a bit to catch up. There will be more info in February, but here’s a taste.

First of all, they’re self-booking. The gig with Paradigm has morphed back into an internal affair. But the band has plenty on the itinerary – there are several festivals already lined up for the spring and they’re slotted for Fremont Street in Las Vegas this New Year’s.

Meanwhile, they’ve mashed up some new stuff:

And …

Now, they were selling an album but that was quietly taken off the market for a while. We can’t go into all the details but it came down to – get this – someone not getting the joke.

Let’s explain it this way. Jess Harnell has a very well-paying day job. He’s a voice actor. Ever hear of Captain Hero?

Ever see a “Transformers” movie? (That makes one of us)

Ever heard Wakko sing a song?

Anyway, the album contains Harnell mimicking several famous singers. One of them was so – cough – “flattered” that he thought it was his voice on the album, not Jess’s. So the album was pulled until that situation was resolved. And it has been. And it’s Jess’s voice.

As far as the band playing again, it’s the off season. And Harnell has made it clear that Rock Sugar is getting good offers so we won’t be seeing them playing in the corner of a Buffalo Wild Wings or opening for Doyle Hargraves anytime soon. In fact, they’ve already opened for acts like Kid Rock because their fan base has pestered various promoters into getting them on some arena shows.

That being said, if any promoters have a slot for next year, they can be reached here or you can contact me. You know where to reach me. Two words: 10 percent.