I’m finding it less and less exciting to run my own server, and I have no time for it, so I’m starting a slow move into the cloud.
Also, the album I’ve been working on forever is mastered, which means it’s done. I’ll talk more about it in a few days but for now I can say I’m pretty happy with it. And very glad it’s done.
…such as it is, since I barely write in it. A few months ago my server died and I’ve been busy.. But here we are.
I’m actually going to have something the-graze-related to report soon (I know, I’ve said that before but this time I mean it), but in the meantime I’ll leave you with this: another project I’m in called Mississippi Painful made an album, which is done, and available on the j-shirt site. No mp3s yet, we’ll have to get to that, but as far as using words to describe things go, I can say that it’s a folk/country project made up of 2 rock bands, Open Choir Fire and An Invitation to Love (the latter being the band I’m in with Sam from Rosyvelt). Long story short, we got together last fall and started practicing in order to play a show, in order record that show, and then release that recording when OCF released their new LP. The show recording didn’t work out that well, but we recorded ourselves at the bass player’s (Brian) house this last May and were able to complete the project on time. It’s nice, what started as kind of a joke turned into a pretty decent album, if I say so myself, one whose songs were stuck in my head for a while there. I expect we’ll try to play out sometime, at which point I’ll mention it here and in the j-shirt calendar.
too bad! The snow is kind of fun though, I haven’t been to work in 2 days.
I’m playing alone at the Essential Baking Company in Fremont tomorrow, maybe, if the snow lets up. So it’ll probably be canceled. But if not then Laconic is also playing. The show is all-ages, free, and starts at 6:45pm.
I hope for good this time:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96105602
Hearing that voice again is something else:
I think this means it’s time to retire “Engine” from my setlists. I’ll play it one last time tomorrow at the Essential Baking Company, 6:45pm, in Wallingford (Seattle).
It’s been an extremely long time since I’ve posted anything, so let me make up for that now. Here’s what’s been going on…
Let’s see, what else… well, you’ll recall Open Choir Fire came over and recorded two songs at my place, and one of them will appear on the next Ball of Wax (volume 9, at this point — go Levi!). Also sometime this year Seth Howard came over and recorded a song, which will also appear on BoW Vol. 9. I didn’t mix that one though, I just engineered, which is also fun. Speaking of engineering, I’ve now been the proud owner of a Teac 80-8 tape machine for a year, and it still doesn’t work. It’s been getting better incrementally, but the heads are still not aligned right, and it’s driving me mad. So it’s digital recording for me still, and what with moving out of my studio in September, I have a new deadline for making more recordings. So stay tuned.
And that’s the news.
Hi, long time no post. Here’s the news: the long-awaited Rosyvelt album is all mixed and mastered, and we’re finishing up the artwork for a November 7 release date, and a November 3 CD release party. I know you’re not supposed to set these dates until you have the finished product in your hand, but what are you gonna do. This album will be on J-Shirt, numbered JS02, which is pretty cool. I like it. I think the album turned out well.
Speaking of music, today I listened to all the mp3s I could find on Matt Sheehy’s website, and I’m liking them a lot. A lot. I think his new songs are as good if not better than his old ones, and his old ones are very good. I can’t wait to hear the LP when it’s finished.
Oh yeah, there’s more. I’ve heard the Rodeo record we recorded in July and it’s even better than expected. It’s very short, only 24 minutes, but they’re a very entertaining 24 minutes. I can’t get enough of it. And finally, I submitted a demo of a newish song of mine called “Sheep” for Ball of Wax 6, so that should be appearing in a couple of months.
I have a couple of things to mention that are new. First off, two weekends ago Brent Amaker and the Rodeo holed themselves up in a studio south of Seattle and recorded a bunch of songs, and I was invited to be the acoustic guitarist. From what I am told the results are really good, so a full-length Rodeo record is on the way and this is exciting because they are awesome. I hope it ends up on vinyl. Secondly the graze is being featured on the House of Blues’ “Ones to Watch” website, which is pretty cool. At some point I was interviewed for a podcast which is supposed to appear on that site. If I recall I spent most of the interview trying not to say “uh” and “well,” so the result might sound, uh, well, dull.
It’s been a long time but we’re having a full-band graze gig next week, on Tuesday, at the Crocodile Cafe. Tuesday is also the 4th of July, which means we’ll be competing against BBQs and fireworks and car alarms and drunks going “whooooo!!!!! U-S-A!!!!!” but just so you know, there will be time for those things and more before and after the show. Except the fireworks.. I’m pretty sure you’ll miss those. To make it worth your while, we should be debuting two songs to the band lineup. In other almost unrelated news, the debut Rosyvelt album is starting to see light at the end of a nearly two-year tunnel of basement recording time, which means that a. there will be a Rosyvelt CD to buy and love soon, and b. I’ll have more time to mic el grazo. So there you have it. News. See you next week!
Two things: the tour went well, and was a lot of fun. Many thanks to everyone who booked me, played with me, and/or came to the shows. I hope to visit again soon.
Second, since I still have a few copies of the May 2006 demo left, I decided to make my show tomorrow into a demo release party of sorts. What with everyone who wrote to reserve a copy, and the folks who say they’re going to the show tomorrow, I think I’ll be sold out pretty quickly. So that’s good, it’s time to plan a real release.
Ok, that’s all. PS: The show tomorrow is at Cafe Venus, 609 Eastlake E. in Seattle, and it starts at 9. Brent Amaker and the Rodeo and Wil-Ru are playing as well, which I’m really excited about. See you there.