ALICE IN CHAINS' website has been updated with the following blog entry from "The Baldy":

"Have you been asking yourself how the band spent their summer vacation?

Well, Sean injured his beard in an unfortunate slip-n-slide accident back in June and needed six weeks of bedrest after a team of surgeons reluctantly removed it.

Mike held vigil at his bedside, and Jerry & William used the time to go off to summer camp, where they learned to carve driftwood and make macaroni art.

That brought us to late July.

The guys gathered in a rehearsal studio in North Hollywood for the last few days of July and the first few days of August, and began running through the new material and shaking off the rust.

After four days of going through the songs alone, the producer for the upcoming record joined the guys and they spent another three days polishing & spit-shining the songs together.

A lot was accomplished in that week, and everyone is eager to move forward.

But where does that leave us now, and when does the moving forward begin?

Well, there's another rehearsal session this month, and a one-off concert in September.

After the concert the band will also spend a few more days in pre-production rehearsals working on material, and since September is National Self Improvement Month, they'll also watch a lot of Dr. Phil.

It turns out that September is also International Square Dancing Month, National Courtesy Month, and as everyone knows, it's also Chicken Month, so the guys will obviously be very busy celebrating September in fashion.

Then October will arrive and Alice In Chains will reconvene to record the new album. THE NEW ALBUM!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!

The band said I can watch the recording of the album from the studio parking lot, so I'll hitch hike down and post occasional updates, along with some stick figure drawings of the proceedings to keep you all informed as things progress.

So as 2008 winds down, band activity will be gearing up, and at some point in 2009 you'll finally hear what I've been raving about for the last several months.

Get ready..."