FIREHOUSE guitarist Bill Leverty has provided BraveWords.com with the following exclusive update:

"FireHouse had a lot of fun in 2009. We played about 40 gigs, and most of them were sold out. We got to play with our friends SKID ROW, BRET MICHAELS, WARRANT, LA GUNS, RATT, GREAT WHITE and a bunch of other great bands.

We've started to get more gigs in casinos which are always a lot of fun for us. Until I started playing casino gigs, I didn't know how cool they were. Some of these venues are big, holding 3500 people, and some are smaller, holding a few hundred, but they are always packed full of people having a great time wanting to party. Our sound man, Tony, extracted $2,000 from a slot machine one night in Green Bay at the Oneida Casino where we played six gigs this year! This casino is so fun to play because we get to go deeper into our catalog of songs and play a bunch of stuff we rarely get to play.

Other great casinos we played in 2009 were The Sunset Station Casino in Henderson, NV; The Kewadin Casino in Sault Ste. Marie, MI; Sky City Casino in Acoma, NM; and The Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mt. Pleasant, MI. All of these stand out as some of my favorite gigs of the year because of the crowds, the quality gear, and the overall vibe.

Other memorable venues for me were The Venue in Fargo, ND; Amos' in Charlotte, NC; The Fuel Room in Libertyville, IL; Maximum Capacity in Chicopee, MA; Myth in Maplewood, MN; Club 131 in Grand Rapids, MI; McGuffy's House Of Rock in Dayton, OH; The Steel Mill Bar & Grill in Martins Ferry, OH, Tailgaters in Bollingbrook, IL; Biff's Sports Bar in Spring Lake Park, MN; Sactz Sports Bar in Middleton, WI; Jake's Tavern in Gillette, WY; and The Roadhouse in Dacono, CO.

My favorite theater we played was The Paramount Theater in St. Cloud, MN. What an awesome venue!! We also had the privilege to headline a show at The Bill Baker Amphitheater in Harrison, AR. GREAT gig!! We also had a fantastic gig at the Veteran’s Memorial Park Amphitheater in Fremont, MI. Another amazing gig was at the Claremore Expo Center in Claremore, OK. That venue ROCKS!!

As for festivals, we played our share and enjoyed every one of them. My favorites were Margarita Rocks 2009 in Laredo, TX; KDKB Desert Invasion in Phoenix, AZ; The Rib America Festival in St. Louis, MO; The Todd County Fair in Long Prairie, MN; Taste Of Lombard in Lombard, IL; Festa Italiana in Milwaukee, WI; Sandy Downs in Idaho Falls, ID, The Ozark Empire Fair in Springfield, MO; and The Iron Horse Bike & Music Festival in Sabula, IA.

We were VERY happy to have been invited for a second time to play in Bristol during NASCAR race week for Food City Family Race Night. This outdoor event has been one of our favorite gigs every time we play. This time, we went on the local TV news and performed a couple of songs acoustically. We even got to meet Jeff Byrd (President of Bristol Motor Speedway), and Mike Helton (President of NASCAR). I can't say enough good things about the organizers of this event.

To ARM (our booking agency), all of the promoters and talent buyers, and all of the fans who came out to support us in 2009, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and hope you all have a very safe, happy, healthy and prosperous 2010. This coming year will be our 20th anniversary. Thanks so much for helping us to continue to make music full time. It has been a dream come true."

Thus far, Firehouse has confirmed the following shows for 2010:

February

13 - Burgettstown, PA - Pepsi-Cola Roadhouse
20 - Dubuque, IA - Diamond JO'S Casino (with DOKKEN)

March

19 - Lekneshallen, Norway - Leknes Hook 7
20 - Oslo, Norway - Rock The Boat

April

10 - Tempe, AZ - Club Red
24 - Charlotte, NC - Amos Southend

July

9 - Redwood, MN - Redwood County Fair
30 - Jim Thorpe, PA - Penn's Peak (with SKID ROW)
31 - Lincoln, RI - Twin River Casino Event Center (Rockin for Hunger)