Goodbye Luna

In 2005, 16-year-old Richard Schmieg, with no musical experience, received a keyboard from his parents and began to learn his first instrument. Richard states, "I listened to The Rocket Summer's album 'Calendar Days' and almost instantly, I fell in love with music and was determined to be a songwriter." He began writing songs about his teenage crushes in high school and frequently played them for his family during holiday gatherings. He also began recording songs in his bedroom, giving out the self-mixed tracks to friends and fans alike. In 2006, Richard took on the stage name "Goodbye Luna," which represented his childhood fear of the end of the world. After he became a Christian in December 2006, his outlook on life changed, but the stage name had already stuck. He began searching for other passionate musicians to accent this new "Goodbye Luna" outlook and sound and within no time, Richard found what he was looking for.

For about a year, Goodbye Luna was a full band, playing shows opening for "The Lives of Famous Men" (Featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live) and "Soul Puppet." They put on a benefit concert for the organization Wine to Water and frequently brought over 100 fans to each show. Fans and friends began to make up dance moves for their song "Goodbye Luna," creating a new kind of depth and mirth to their hit-single.

In 2008, Richard's family suffered a great tragedy when Robert, his stepfather of 16 years had a devastating stroke, which left him paralyzed on his left side. Richard decided to help his mother in taking care of Robert and the band took a long break. During that time, however, Richard continued his music career on his own, recording his first full-length album, "Hallelujah Days" (Due to release in 2010) with the help of drummer and friend JJ Moser, but still under the name "Goodbye Luna". Richard encountered a variety of challenges to the CD's release but figures, "It's just teaching me to respect the process all the more."

Five years since his first encounter with a piano, and almost 70 songs later, Richard has picked up guitar and began to take his music career to brand new heights. In 2010, Goodbye Luna took on a whole new line-up as Richard and JJ became reunited once again. Richard and bassist Chad met through a church worship band and JJ introduced them to guitarist Angela, who had been a long time friend of JJ's. Goodbye Luna began honing in on their sound, keeping Richard as songwriter and front man and trusting in God to make a positive difference in the world through their lyrics. The band looks forward to the release of "Hallelujah Days" and eagerly seeks their next opportunity to share their passion of music with the world.