No Anna, no Stephen :(  no Award for Evan Rachel, no Globe for Fassbender *sigh*  But not all was lost, as we were able to see a  lot of True Blood guys enjoying the HBO’s Official After Party for the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards, at The Beverly Hilton hotel, and oh boy, they looked great.

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Chris Bauer at HBO Luxury Lounge

The Golden Globes Gift lounges started on Friday, and True Blood stars have been enjoying them throughout the weekend. Keep an eye on this post as we’ll be updating the gallery as soon as we find new pics.

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As some of you  know, Todd Lowe, who portrays one of our favorite Bellefleurs, Terry, is also a musician. He plays guitar and does vocals for the Pilbilly Knights – but that’s not all. Todd also participates in The LA Hootenanny, an eclectic group of musicians who perform together every Thursday night at Villains Tavern in Los Angeles.

Founded in 2004, the LA Hootenanny began when a group of Texans bonded together to play Thursday nights at a little Cajun restaurant in Silverlake.

Nodepression.com says of the band: The revolving cast of players finds anywhere from ten to fourteen musicians at a time, crammed onto a tiny stage, playing everything from Johnny Cash to the Pixies to Snoop Dog. Still, despite various musical styles and backgrounds, the Hootenanny has grown to have a homogeneous sound, born partly out of cramped nature of their jam sessions. It may appear from the audience like an uncomfortable set up, but for members of the Hoot, it proves just the opposite.

Todd Lowe on The Hoot:

“I’m all for playing at a place with an upright piano and some kind of southern cuisine. Bringing people in and having that experience, Thursday nights is our thing wherever we’re at.”

So if you’re in the LA area and it happens to be Thursday, git on over to Villains Tavern and check ‘em out.

Read more about The Hoot @  nodepression.com

Todd Lowe attends Kari Feinstein Primetime Emmy Awards Style Lounge

The Emmys will be broadcast this Sunday and in preparation, the True Blood cast is out and about doing pre-Emmy parties and gift lounges. I love it when everyone poses with free swag! We’ll load more as they come in. PS, Todd? I hope you took more than one bag of kettle corn, ’cause that stuff is amazing!

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PC: wireimage

Update: Not only has the show been extended through the end of October (at least), but now, ya’ll can get a discount on the tickets. They’re usually $25 – $30, but by using the code: TRUEBLOOD, you can now get them for $15 apiece!

If you’ll be in the Los Angeles area in the months to come, here’s a show that you just cannot stand to miss. Todd Lowe stars as Daniel in Justin Tanner’s play, “Day Drinkers.”

Synopsis: Nine a.m. is happy hour at the dive bar that Daniel has inherited from his father. As the family of bleary-eyed regulars arrive and morning slouches into day — and cocktail after cocktail is served — secrets are spilled, fights erupt, and hearts are broken and repaired. Love is in the air.

In addition to Todd, Odyssey regulars include: Cody Chappel, Melissa Denton, Tom Fitzpatrick, Maile Flanagan, Danielle Kennedy, Jonathan Palmer & Chloe Taylor. The show opened Aug. 27th and runs through the end of October, 2011 at the Odyssey Theatre on Supulveda in Los Angeles.

Don’t miss this one kiddies. Having seen a bunch of Justin Tanner’s plays in the 90′s back in my LA days, I can tell you this is not one to miss.

Also, hurrah for Team Bellefleur.

Call the box office to reserve your reduced rate tickets at 310.477.2055. Don’t forget to use the code: TRUEBLOOD when you call. You cannot get the discount by purchasing the tickets online.

As you all know, the Mighty Andy Bellefleur (Chris Bauer) has been struggling to get off vampire blood. It will be just as hard for Terry (Todd Lowe) to convince Andy he’s a better person without V. “It’s emotional and we’re going to see some things with Terry and Andy that we really haven’t seen before,” Lowe tells TVGuide.com. “We get little hints of the Bellefleur past and we’re going to learn a lot more about who they were as young boys. [It's] almost like a rivalry, like brothers except they’re cousins.”

Whether Terry will be able to knock some sense into the Bon Temps’ sheriff remains to be seen. “That will be Andy’s decision, ultimately,” Lowe adds. “But Terry is going to spell it out for him.”

Terry will also be dealing with problems of his own when Patrick (Scott Foley), an old army buddy, arrives in the season finale. “He looked [Terry] up” Lowe explains, “He found him and I guess he has something to say and something to talk about. You don’t just wander in and find someone at their workplace unless you have something important to share with him.”

Though their encounter in the finale will be brief, Foley is expected to return in a bigger capacity next season. Lowe hopes this means viewers will see flashbacks to Terry’s time in the war. “I’d like to maybe trim my beard and see Terry look a little younger,” he says. “I’d like to see where his post-traumatic stress disorder actually came from. Was it a series of events? Was it a friend or life that was lost in front of him? Was it someone’s life that he took? I’d like to see where that goes and see why Terry is so screwed up.”

“I have a feeling it’s going to go kind of dark,” he adds. “I got a hint from [executive producer] Alan Ball that we’re going to see a little darker side to Terry.”

They’ll be plenty of dark as the HBO series heads into the season finale, which takes place during Halloween — a holiday you’d expect to inspire even more craziness given all the supernaturals running around. “Wouldn’t you think it’d be just a little bit anticlimactic with all this other stuff going on?” Lowe counters. “But I guess the people of Bon Temps find a way to celebrate the Halloween holiday.”

Read the whole thing at the source.

Bon Temps' Dynamic Duo Andy & Jason - PC: HBO

HBO has released more True Blood Season 4 photos.

Check out the gallery and tell us what you think!

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Update! Only 3 hours left!

As you may have seen, the fourth episode of True Blood was dedicated to Jesse James Cartwright. Jesse was part of the True Blood transportation crew and lost his life earlier this year, leaving behind his wife and three children. True Blood Staff, Cast and Fans are uniting to raise funds for Jesse’s family.

We have more news on the subject…
Last week TrueBlood-News, Sam-Tramell.com, AlexSkarsgard.net & FYeahJoeManganiello sent over $3,000 to The Jesse James Cartwright Fund. We successfully auctioned off the script for season 3 Ep 302, “Beautifully Broken” signed by Alexander Skarsgard with a final total of $3,250! How wonderful and thank you to the fans for participating!

UPDATE: We’ve talked to Sam and he’s game for doing more! This week we’ll be auctioning off a Tru Blood bottle signed by NOT ONLY SAM HIMSELF but 6 other cast members from the show…

THE AUCTION READS:
This is an authentic bottle of Tru Blood signed by Sam Trammell (Sam Merlotte), Kristin Bauer van Straten (Pam de Beaufort), Allan Hyde (Godric), Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette Reynolds), Todd Lowe (Terry Bellefleur), Brit Morgan (Debbie Pelt) and Ashley Jones (Daphne Landry) ((see photos)). Signings were witnessed by us personally (we run fan sites for Sam Trammell, Alexander Skarsgard and True Blood).

This glass bottle is from 2009 and remains unopened (I would NOT recommend drinking the contents, strictly for collectors). What a great addition to your collection of True Blood Memorabilia or the perfect gift for the person who’s impossible to buy for that has a TRUE obsession for the show!

Description of the drink from the HBO site…

Sink your fangs into a bottle of Tru Blood, a delicious blood orange carbonated drink inspired by Bill’s favorite synthetic blood nourishment beverage. Tart and slightly sweet, Tru Blood pours like a regular soda but appears stormy and mysterious when poured into a glass. Bottoms up – and vampires, remember to drink responsibly!

This auction is to benefit Jesse’s family.

CLICK THE BOTTLE TO BID

Find out more about Jesse, then please, if you can donate to the family directly.

Todd Lowe was on hand for Kristen Bauer Van Straten’s charity event for The Amanda Foundation (rescuing dogs and cats since 1976) and tore the absolute ROOF off Molly Malone’s when he and local favorites L.A. Hootenanny rounded out the night with a foot-stomping good time that included a southern fried version of Heart of Glass and what I’m guessing was a German rendition of Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?”.

The guy is both a bonafide rockstar and a southern gent in every sense of the term. As I arrived nearly an hour early (never underestimate L.A. traffic, I always say); it was just myself, Todd and a few of the event coordinators. Todd stepped off the empty stage and made an effort to walk to the back of the room where I was setting up, extended his hand and said “Hi, I’m Todd.”; and I saw him do the same with the sound guy…which proved to me once again that there ARE still some good people in L.A.

So while I had a few moments, I asked him a couple questions!

CL – How did you get involved with tonight’s event?

TL – Kristin asked me. This is the second True Blood associated event that we’ve played; my first we played…Gary Calamar (music director, True Blood) had a show at the Echoplex called “Out For Blood” and we opened for Jace Everett and John Doe. That was with another band I play with called “Pillbilly Knights” (currently on hiatus) and we have a record out; one of our songs is getting a little bit of radio play on some of the satellite stations. Since two of the guys have had babies and the show has taken up a lot of time so the tour we had planned has gone on the backburner and we’ll get back to it. The bass player from PK is playing with us tonight.

CL – Now that your storyline with Arlene is growing, it seems like we’re seeing a lot more of Terry emotionally lately.

TL – Well, Terry has found some normalcy in his life, which is what he wants more than anything. Everything that he saw in the war; the tumultuous tempest that goes on in his head with his PTSD. Now that he has a focus on a good life with a good woman (Terry sees her NO other way) and a family that he’s moved into; this is the best blessing that could ever be for him. He lives a domestic life; he is a caretaker and a bit of a breadwinner. Now, he’s got a good job (well, a solid job) and who knows if he might not have some stuff going on on the side to make a little bit more money.

It’s been great as an actor to grow into that and see “Oh, they’re giving me a little bit more, there’s some stuff I can play other than just enigmatic and damaged; I can be supporting and loving and protective.” It’s been nice and I hope it keeps going!

CL – Okay, I GOTTA ask about the nudity and especially the orgy scenes from Season 2…how the hell did you get through those with a straight face?

TL – Well, there’s no eroticism to them at all – especially on that orgy stuff. It was 38 degrees in a canyon in Calabasas and if anything, we were “humping” together to keep warm. Hahaha!

CL – A lot of my girl and gay friends find Terry so endearing because no matter what Arlene does or says, he still loves her. Even when cousin Andy’s mean to Terry, he accepts and loves Andy all the same. So…how many marriage proposals do you get from season to season?

TL – Not as much as I’d like, haha! That’s good information to hear and hopefully if I do get into shape there’ll be a reveal…but the fan response is always nice! It’s always flattering when someone comes up to you and tells you they enjoy your work and I take the time to talk to people for a second. I feel blessed to be in this.

CL – Who did you talk to when researching effects of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)?

TL – I’ve talked to a few soldiers and I have some relatives that I’ve drawn off of. The interesting thing about Terry is that in the books he’s written as a Vietnam veteran and in our show, we made him from the Iraqi War. With the Vietnam veterans, there was a draft; so there was a little bit more pathos that comes with somebody who was drafted and had to go over there against their will, whereas people in the Iraqi War were enlisted men and CHOSE to enlist (enlisted men and women). I’m not saying it’s a tougher experience either way but I think Charlaine Harris wrote him as almost this sad vet, “will work for food” kind of guy, and the writing staff and me have made him a little stronger than that; he’s empowered.

CL – Speaking of Miss Charlaine, how has she reacted to your interpretation of Terry?

TL – The first time I met her, we were shooting season 1 on location outside of Shreveport (Louisiana)…it was the scene where Andy and I were on a boat and a naked Sam runs by and I’ve said “I’ve done that before”. She was in a make-up chair next to me and was getting ready to do this interview, and I said “Hi, I’m Todd. I bet you don’t know who I’m playing.” and she said “Oh, no, dear. Help me out.” I said “Well, I’m about 25-30 years younger than what you wrote, but I’m playing Terry Bellefleur” and she hadn’t known that and she said “Oh, okay” – I didn’t know how she felt about it but since then she’s come up to me and grabbed my hands and said “We all love you and you’re doing a wonderful job with the character!” and it’s nice to get that kind of blessing from the writer of the source material.

CL – Some directors will sometimes do a ‘Freaky Friday’ type of rehearsal where they’ll say “switch roles”…if that happened in an episode; who would you want to play?

TL – Well, Jason Stackhouse seems like a pretty fun role to play and Lafayette would be a lot of fun; he gets to do so much! I couldn’t do it NEAR as well as he (Nelsan Ellis) does and I don’t even want to infringe on the job that everyone else does but the funnest parts I think would be Jason or Lafayette.

CL – Why the hell does Terry let Mikey (the kid) play with that nasty old doll?

TL – (laughs) Well, it’s sturdy and that was my line – “Well, he can’t tear this thing up” and he kinda looks past those kind of things. And y’know, boys will be boys; yeah the thing looks dirty and it’s old and charming…but I think mostly because it’s sturdy and he can’t really tear the head off it.

Ready for some serious rockstar moments that helped raise nearly $5000 for The Amanda Foundation?! Check THESE out!!

The aforementioned German version of “Where Is My Mind?”:

AND…

For more info about L.A. Hootenanny, you can like them on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/lahootenanny) and follow them on Twitter (https://twitter.com/lahootenanny)

For more on Pillbilly Knights, you can pick up their album on CD Baby and like their Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=102313243844

For more about The Amanda Foundation, go to their official website (http://www.amandafoundation.org) and you can also follow them on Twitter (https://twitter.com/amandafnd)

Last Thursday night at Molly Malone’s in Los Angeles, True Blood star Kristin Bauer Van Straten (a.k.a. “Pam”) hosted a charity event benefiting The Amanda Foundation (rescuing dogs and cats since 1976) and featured musical guests Abri Van Straten (husband of Kristin), Chris Pierce (fiance of Tara Buck a.k.a. “Ginger”), and L.A. Hootenanny (Todd Lowe a.k.a. “Terry” is a member).

The night went a little something like this…

Abri Van Straten took the stage first and eased me into the night of music that was to come. Gotta say, I’d not heard of him before that night and he certainly won me over; I can TOTALLY see how Kristin fell in love with this guy. He’s such an amazing singer/songwriter that when he got to a song about rainbows, the room went from rowdy to pin drop quiet …he’s THAT good.

Here he is singing the song he wrote about Kristin, titled “Monet”

And because I’m in a giving mood…here he is singing “Wild Flower”

In between sets, the adorable duo of Kristin Bauer Van Straten and Tara Buck took the stage to raffle off goodies that included signed True Blood memorabilia and fun cd box sets by Sinatra and Bob Marley!

Turning up the heat on the stage was Tara Buck’s fiance, Chris Pierce…holy BALLS, y’all. He busted out some soulful blues and when he did his rendition of “I Put a Spell on You” he did that shiz RIGHT…unfortunately I had to clear space on my iPhone and couldn’t get his set but I think this picture sums up how hot it was.

And after a final raffle and photo ops with Van Straten, Lowe, Buck AND other True Blood stars in attendance like Jim Parrack (Hoyt), Deborah Ann Woll (Jessica) and Mariana Klaveno (Lorena); the dance floor began to fill up fast in anticipation of a band I’d never heard of and (now that I’ve seen them live) will never forget: L.A. Hootenanny. Todd Lowe and crew reminded me that GOOD live music is still alive and well in Los Angeles…not to mention that his enthusiasm and smile made the crowd clap their hands, stomp their feet, and grin from ear to ear; myself included!

Look at this face and TELL me you wouldn’t have a good time with this dude around.

Here’s the crew in action singing a cover of Pixies’ “Where is My Mind?” in German!

I mean, L.A. Hootenanny had the crowd hootin and a’hollerin! It was AMAZING!!!

When the smoke cleared, nearly $5000.00 had been raised for The Amanda Foundation and although I chickened out getting pics or saying hello to them (I could kick myself for not saying hi to Jim Parrack, heh heh); I DID ask for one picture with the woman who organized it all…

Miss Kristin!

Thanks again for an AMAZING night!!!

For more information, check out the following:

The Amanda Foundation- official website | Twitter

Chris Pierce – official website | Twitter

Abri Van Straten – official website

Kristin Bauer Van Straten – official website | Twitter

Tara Buck – Twitter

L.A. Hootenanny – Facebook | Twitter