The Raccoon Society

History (or, perhaps, his-story) began on August 18, 2008. Well, likely a few weeks before that but the Raccoon Society went live with its inaugural post, aptly titled "Transmission One: An Introduction." And history began.

Mat Devine, front man for the Chicago-based rock band Kill Hannah, had teamed up with Fuse TV to bring his daily insights and tour journal to the masses. The Raccoon Society came two years after the release of the band's second major label album (seventh full-length album of the band's career), Until There's Nothing Left of Us, while Kill Hannah, a "touring band" if ever there was one, was on tour, which is more often than not for them.

The Raccoon Society is actually a revival of a blog that Devine had started through Fuse years before but had had to abandon for various reasons. When the network approached him with the opportunity (request) to restart it, he agreed. He wrapped the first installment of this new blog by saying, "Bottom line, the [Kill Hannah] supporters at FUSE have granted me a forum to ramble five days a week about things that interest or revolt me. -But it isn't just that. There's actually a higher, nobler purpose. Just maybe, by some distant chance, this stupid Blog could save you. If you are a raccoon too, running solo in a town of wolves, we want you to know you aren't the only nocturnal rodent in eyeliner."

Even in the beginning, Fridays were designated for fan questions. Today, the majority of the Raccoon Society is "Papa Raccoon" (as Devine has dubbed himself) answering the questions sent in by the fans, under the heading of Ask Mat. The questions have gotten considerably more personal and more in depth than they were in the beginning but Mat Devine still handles each one with the same special care he has from the beginning. As part of the 2009 New Heart for Christmas 7 weekend, Fuse sponsored a live Ask Mat discussion at Angels and Kings in Chicago, with guest "advisor" William Beckett (The Academy Is...).

As far as this writer could find, Mat Devine is unique in what he's doing through the Raccoon Society and Ask Mat. Almost without fail, a new collection of questions and answers are posted each week and readers are encouraged to weigh in on each other's questions (as they are all posted as comments on the blog). No other celebrity, that I could find, is answering fan questions, on such an extremely personal level - ranging from abusive relationships to strict parents to biological questioning issues - on such a rigid schedule. Others have taken spare moments to respond to fan questions on Twitter, still others visit their fan forums, but neither are regulated, scheduled or expected.

If you haven't yet, check out the Raccoon Society blog. Who knows, you may find that you, too, are a raccoon.