They're HERE!

The new albums just arrived and they look fantastic. I'm off to the post office to make them available via CDBaby.com!

I've got other news regarding radio appearances, etc... but I'll get to that when I get back.

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Pics from The Canopy Club

Michael Davis just sent me a link to a couple of the photos he took at the CD release Feb. 11, at the Canopy Club. I love the fact that there's a band to look at. Thanks for snapping, Michael.

I haven't had a whole lot of time to record new music lately, as I'm trying to catch up on all the "money-making" that didn't happen while I was recording the album (http://www.waldenholdings.com/, http://www.acompleteseasonofsoccer.com/, etc...). The absence of writing music is killing me, but we've got a show March 2, at the High Dive, so that should help abate my woes.

Driving to Elmhurst Saturday morning, we took Lake Shore Drive and had Sufjan Stevens', Illinoise going on the iPod. The snow was tinkling down on an angry Lake Michigan. The waves, the grey, the city... it was gorgeous. How great that there's actually a soundtrack for that vision now. Thanks, Sufjan.

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New Shows added

Evidently I'm really bad at keeping a blog. It's not that I'm lazy, it's just that there are so many other things to do. Anyway...

NEW SHOWS!! March 2 at the High Dive and April 7 at The Iron Post.

We're also starting to look for a good Columbus, OH CD release date and another for Anderson, IN.

The CD release at the Canopy Club went really well. Thanks to all who came out, supported us live, and bought the new album. We had a great time. It was nice meeting Michael Davis and Doug Robinson and his possie. All great people.

It's been snowing a lot. I shaved my beard. I'll probably grow it back.

The Illinois CD Release Show is set.

Well, the CD Release show is coming along nicely. The venue will be the Canopy Club on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus, and we're kicking off the new series "New Sound Sundays" on Sunday, Feb. 11.

We'll have a wonderful cello player (Talia Dicker), a killer drummer (Gordon Kay), and the lovely vocal harmonies of one David Ward (oohs-and-ahhhs).

The show starts early at 8:30pm, and it's only a buck, so even though it's a school night you've got no excuse for not being there.

Rock.

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Not paying us for advertising...? Then we (a "music magazine") won't cover your album release.

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This is the kind of stuff that indie artists on indie labels are up against. (as reported by www.idolator.com)

It's not often that you see such a blatant conflation of a publication's ad-sales department and its editorial well, and the brazenness with which Joyce made his demands caused our mouths to drop open. Despite that shock, we're pretty sure that Amplifier is hardly the only publication guilty of this practice; sure, Joyce's utter boneheadedness is probably unparalleled, and his magazine has been given the "Hey, Masshole!" award from one of our former AnonIMous Interview subjects.

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Waiting

Just twiddling my thumbs, waiting for the CD's to get back from the replication house. Thought people might like to get a look at the cover and the final track listing.

1. Prologue
2. Two Hands
3. Mackincac
4. Stupid Girl
5. Separate But Equal
6. The Visitor
7. Invisible
8. Okanaki
9. Falling or Flying
10. Kandahar
11. Half as Cool as Han Solo (new version)

p.s. The album is streaming in its entirety over here.


On a completely different subject...

We recently switched to Verizon (I know, I know --no iPhone for me, but it's what the rest of the family's on, blah, blah, blah). Last night I was going about porting our numbers. I called Verizon customer support at 10pm and... THEY WERE CLOSED! WTF?! This is the company that claims to have the best customer service in the nation. I mean, for crying out loud! I can call and bitch about a crummy bag of Doritos at four in the morning, but I can't talk to my communications network after 10pm (that's freaking 8pm on the West coast)?! What the hell do they run all those adds with the guys being followed around by an ENTIRE CREW of support?! They should show a clip of that guy at 8pm... when that merry band of Verizon staff head off to the bars and leave him stranded and alone.


Also, what the hell happened to Splenda? I know it was awful to say (E and I were committed to saying "sucralose" instead of the brand name), but the fact that it has completely disappeared from the shelves of all our local groceries is a bit creepy. When I noticed it's absence, I actually went searching for it throughout the store, any product, and it's nowhere to be found. Kind of X-Files, huh?
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Realistic release date targeted

The date has been set, my friends: February 6th.

The artwork and master disc are off to the replication plant. Now the real work begins. How to get people to listen to an album from an artist they've probably never heard of... ahhh, the joys of indie music.

The good news, though, is that now you know what to get your sweetie-pie for Valentine's Day!

Get out the shoe box, the cardboard paper, the doilies, the blunt-tipped scissors and the Elmer's glue. Make your significant other a Valentine's Mailbox and put the new Dan Beahm and The Invisible Three album in it.

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