So here we are.

Before I get into it, I want apologize to all of Given To Wail's loyal friends and fans for taking so long with this. I hope that by the end of this, you find that the wait was worth it (unless you're looking for tabs already…). It's been nearly a decade since my old friend Evan turned the keys of this site over to me and, obviously, in that time, a lot has changed. Back then, I could choose between sitting around watching Mr. Rogers reruns and the West Wing with my best friend or I could choose to walk slowly to my Spanish class at Loyola (or skip it altogether). I could wake up late, stroll to the L and catch the train to my job at my old record store and be back in time before my friends hit the bars. More importantly, I could stay up for as long as it took to pick apart every note in every new Pearl Jam song I could get my hands on so I could post it here. Evan and I could pour over every logo we could make out in pictures of Mike's preamps until 6AM EST (3AM for him at the time) as photos came in from a colleague in Japan. He could spend a couple years perfecting his Present Tense tab that I keep losing (EDIT: found it).

Back then, I'd be able to hit the road and follow a tour on a whim, staying with dear friends in Michigan and New York, listening to everyone discuss the ins and outs of why we're all really here and what really brought all of us together from either a few Midwest states away to as far as an ocean away. Some of these friends I grew up with. Some I met in front of the United Center, others at MSG. Every show gave us the opportunity to learn a little more about each other and learn a lot more about the music. Everyime we'd all see each other, it was a family reunion outside of the venues we called home.

That was then.

Over the course of my tenure with Given To Wail, school ended, taxes and ticket prices went up, and life took over. The West Wing has been replaced with whatever's on Netflix (currently rewatching Lost), I stood by my best friend's side at his wedding, and I now manage a team of web developers instead of being the clerk at the Crow's Nest who tried to convince customers why they wanted Meddle instead of the Top 40 album in their hands. A lot of us can't hit the road like we used to and instead settle for the local city show when the band rolls through. A lot of us don't even make it that far every tour. A lot of us still look through our boxes of tapes and remember what it was like when the Yield HQ demos tape circled the wagons. You'll always remember the first time you heard the "HWAH" at the beginning of the re-recorded version of Even Flow but more importantly, you'll never forget what the first 20 years of Pearl Jam meant to you (and the friends and families that put up with your obsession).

We're old enough now to introduce our children to the band that got us all through some of our toughest times and gave us some of our brightest moments. We've been at each other's weddings, traveled to visit when there wasn't a tour, or just called to see how life was on the other side of the country. With each passing year, a new crop of fans picks up No Code for the first time (hopefully) and hears that first punch to their ears of Hail, Hail after Sometimes. My fingers are crossed hoping that a handful of these new fans want to learn how to do that in their basements with their own guitars.

And that's the part of point of this site really. This is a tribute to the music that, as fans of the band, shaped our lives. This is the music that will never leave our thoughts, even if we leave them. This is the music that can make a sea of people throw their arms into the air just to wave. It's made us explore our own thoughts, moved us to tears, and fueled our outbursts. It has helped us find ourselves, find the next small town, and find each other. This music has shown us that four simple chords and a basic pentatonic scale can still shake a building twenty years later. But most importantly, this is the music that you're here to learn. I wasn't going to let Given To Wail die. Yes, this has been the longest it's been offline and yes, there are no new tabs yet but we're getting there. I'll be the first to admit that I'm definitely going to need your help when it comes to new material. Just thinking about what there is to catch up on is a sobering thought but this is a fresh start. I'm sorry, but you'll have to re-register for the forums if you wish. If you find a bug, don't be afraid to let me know, somehow. There will be some broken images here and there and the Gear section(s) still need some tinkering. If you have an idea for something new and fun, shout it out. I have some ideas still brewing for our future here and the seeds in the code are already there.

Anyway, here we are. This is your new Given To Wail. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. If you've helped out with GTW, inspired me, jammed with me, tested this, pestered me to get this back up, or otherwise just kept checking in and waiting patiently, thank you. Pick up your guitar and play and I'll see you at #PJDW.

-Rick