TODD KERNS of THE SIN CITY SINNERS and SLASH issued the following blog yesterday:

"Written while sitting by the fire place in Smallville, Canada, Dec 24 2010 while sipping some strange concoction of egg nog and cocoa while simultaneously having quite enough of Burl Ives.

Sitting in Saskatoon on Christmas Eve I wonder how I ever survived the winters here in my youth. Not only survived but blindly faced them every day in sneakers and a METALLICA jean jacket. I would have it no other way for the holidays. A white Christmas and then some.

Looking back on 2010 I cannot believe how fast it went. I suppose that’s true of every year but this one was quicker than ever. Makes me want to remind myself to hold onto and enjoy all the moments as they come and to let the bad ones go by as quickly as possible. Always easier in hindsight.

I started this year with the release of a new CD with my brothers in sin, The Sin City Sinners. Exile On Fremont Street was a blast to make and an even bigger treat to get it into the hands of the people who have supported us for over three years.

Out of nowhere I was pulled into the world of SLASH. I have been around the world at a time when I thought all of that was behind me. I really wasn’t sure if I’d ever go back on the road until Slash asked me. I found myself on national and international television; I played to audiences the sizes of which I couldn’t have previously imagined. I have stood onstage next to heroes of mine doing what I love most-playing music.

With the good comes the bad, I guess. I was derailed by a detached retina that was the scariest thing I’ve ever been through. I am still at odds with the repercussions but face them knowing how much worse the outcome could have been. What does not kill us…I feel stronger than ever.

The Sinners put out a second CD of acoustic material before the end of the year to make sure those that follow us had something special to head into the holiday season with.

Four years ago I was at a cross roads that lead me to Las Vegas, Nevada where I built a whole new family for myself without whom opportunities like Slash would never have come along. For a time I felt I had no home. A transplanted Canadian in exile in the city of sin. Now I have friends and family in both the US and Canada. Now that I am seeing the world I can say I have friends in places I never dreamed I would find myself. For such a dauntingly big place the world seems so much smaller now.

I am thankful for my Sinners family-Michael, Brent, Rob and Jason. For Norma who oversees all that I do and I all that I don’t do but should be doing but will do because she will see that I do do it. For my Vegas family that have been with me these last 4 years, Tabby, D, Kurt, Kirsten and Jade, Michelle and Sami, Mikey and Gina, Greg and Allison and everyone else, my Canadian extended family in music who have been there since the beginning and to my ever growing family around the world.

I am thankful to Slash who stuck by me during the saga of my broken eye when he very easily could have just replaced me and moved on. I won’t soon forget that. For Perla and the kids, for Team Slash-Fitzy and Crissy, Myles and Selena, Bobby, Pete, JD, Sam, Ian, Jim, Martin, Monty, Chet, Tim, Skip, Pooch and Tater.

For the home team-Dee, Rip, Cai, Kor, Holly and Adam, John and Jenn, Ryan and Shelly, Cassandra and Derek and my parents who are a blueprint model of all the things I aspire to be.

Now I’m off to eat way too much of my Mother’s cooking and prepare for my most important gig of the year. I’m singing for my Grandmother’s birthday on Sunday. Yikes.

I wish you all the happiest of holidays and I hope 2011 is even better than 2010 for all of you.

Your humble servant,

Todd Dammit"