Where did I leave off now... Ah, Shelburne Falls! Yes, great show with Chris Cubeta and the Liar's Club. Great bunch of guys and great music too! I look forward to crossing paths with those fellas again.
Had a fun "last full band show for a while" show at Daniel Street in Milford back on June 18th. We shared the night with The Mercury Seed boys. It's always a pleasure to play with them. They're finishing up their record right now and they played a bunch of new songs that night. I really can't wait for the record. Our night was a bit slow, as the rain acted as some kind of deterrent that night (c'mon people... it's just rain), but we had a good time anyway. Our friend Robyn came with a few friends, my friend Paul with a bunch of folks, and my other musician friend Sean Ryan also came out to support the night. We had a grand time. Gerard is really fitting in nicely on the bass and if definitely showed that night. Good times.
Two days later (June 20th) I pulled double duty. In the morning I played a solo acoustic show at the Branford Festival. Lots of cool folks, even at 9:30am! I also had the pleasure of finally meeting and listening to Mr. Brian Dolzani (songwriter extraordinaire). Really happy to share the stage with him. He's a stand up guy and a true talent. When you get a chance, check him out.
Later that night, Gerry and I played a very cool show put on by our friends Brad & Dave (aka The Golden Microphone). These guys are awesome, interested in nothing more than helping musicians get out there. They rent a space in New Haven at Neverending Books and simply put on a show. Great night, great audience. I know a particular venue in New Haven that could take a lesson from Brad & Dave. But I suppose that's another rant. We also got to see and listen to Shellye Valauskas & Dean Falcone. I thoroughly enjoyed her tunes. They really took me back to a good place. Thank you Shellye, and thank you Dave & Brad.
Sunday June 28th was a fun day too. My friend Gerald Goode, who is an out artist, had a slot at the NYC Pridefest. I played guitar for him. Really good time, even though the sound guy was a complete fucking dick. I hope you read this Mr. Soundman. Sir, you need a lesson in manners, patience, and how to deal with people in general. Besides that, Gerald went over very, very well and was extremely appreciated by those in attendance. Yay Gerald!
This past Sunday, July 5th, Gerry and I played an acoustic show at Arlene's Grocery. This is a fun place to play and one of the kindest staffs we've ever encountered in NYC. We appreciate the Long Island crew for sticking around and watching the show. I'm hoping we can do our NYC CD release show there in October/November.
Thursday, July 9th Gerry and I will be at the historic Infinity Music Hall, opening for critically acclaimed artist Vienna Teng. It will sure feel good to be getting out of the bar circuit and into a true listening room. We're looking forward to the show and trying out some new stuff.
Well, we'll be heading to the studio these next couple of weeks. I'll report back when we're done with the next round of studio sessions.
Thanks for the support, always!
-SA
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Greetings from Shelburne Falls MA!
Greetings from Shelburne Falls MA!
Gerry and I just finished an acoustic set at our favorite place in "The Falls," Mocha Maya's. I've said it once and I'll say it again - this is how a live music venue should be run. They treat the artists with respect and actually do this thing called "promoting." Where as some venues just book the band and leave it to chance, the fine people at Mocha Maya's actually work to make the night a success. Kind of an anomaly in this business, but a welcome one nonetheless.
Anywho... Watching Chris Cubeta & The Liars Club. Cool band. Never saw them before. Really enjoying them. I think they fit well with us. Kinda alternative, kinda inspired by Wilco, perhaps Son Volt, maybe even Counting Crows. Anyway, I'm enjoying them. Check them out if you can. They're from Brooklyn NY.
I meant to write a blog yesterday, as I'm shooting for every Friday now. I'm gonna do my damnedest to make that work.
Got a little further with the record last week. Gerry came in and did some smashing guitar work. Emphasize "smashing" in British accent because it was "SMASHING!" I'm really psyched to get this new record out. It's been really inspiring times this past year. Big changes with friends, family, love, band... I think it's all going to be in there. Even more, once again the boys in the band have proved to be the fine musicians they are, as I had a clear vision for some of the songs that we already laid down and have completely stepped up to the plate and tore them up. Spending time in the studio with Gerry last week was a pleasure. I think it's some of the finest guitar work I've heard him lay down since we started playing together 5 years ago... or however long it's been.
As a testament to making music with some of the finest people ever... G-man, a.k.a. Dicky Burns, a.k.a. Gerry - and myself finished up three songs last night. Untitled as of yet, but I'm proud to say that they're gonna rock a bit more than before. Be prepared. I warned you. :-)
Playing a couple more full band shows for the summer then we're curling up with a nice book in the studio. Really going to concentrate on making a killer record for the fall. Let's just call it an obsession. But back to the upcoming shows, one tomorrow at a benefit, then one more on Thursday at Daniel Street in Milford CT. If you can make it out... no, you BETTER make it out Thursday to Daniel Street! It's our last full-band show for the next 4-5 months. And as an added benefit, we're playing with our friends The Mercury Seed. They rock. It's gonna be a night of rock & roll bliss.
Well that's all for now. Gonna run back to the show.
Gerry says hello!
Peace, love, rock & roll...
-SA
Gerry and I just finished an acoustic set at our favorite place in "The Falls," Mocha Maya's. I've said it once and I'll say it again - this is how a live music venue should be run. They treat the artists with respect and actually do this thing called "promoting." Where as some venues just book the band and leave it to chance, the fine people at Mocha Maya's actually work to make the night a success. Kind of an anomaly in this business, but a welcome one nonetheless.
Anywho... Watching Chris Cubeta & The Liars Club. Cool band. Never saw them before. Really enjoying them. I think they fit well with us. Kinda alternative, kinda inspired by Wilco, perhaps Son Volt, maybe even Counting Crows. Anyway, I'm enjoying them. Check them out if you can. They're from Brooklyn NY.
I meant to write a blog yesterday, as I'm shooting for every Friday now. I'm gonna do my damnedest to make that work.
Got a little further with the record last week. Gerry came in and did some smashing guitar work. Emphasize "smashing" in British accent because it was "SMASHING!" I'm really psyched to get this new record out. It's been really inspiring times this past year. Big changes with friends, family, love, band... I think it's all going to be in there. Even more, once again the boys in the band have proved to be the fine musicians they are, as I had a clear vision for some of the songs that we already laid down and have completely stepped up to the plate and tore them up. Spending time in the studio with Gerry last week was a pleasure. I think it's some of the finest guitar work I've heard him lay down since we started playing together 5 years ago... or however long it's been.
As a testament to making music with some of the finest people ever... G-man, a.k.a. Dicky Burns, a.k.a. Gerry - and myself finished up three songs last night. Untitled as of yet, but I'm proud to say that they're gonna rock a bit more than before. Be prepared. I warned you. :-)
Playing a couple more full band shows for the summer then we're curling up with a nice book in the studio. Really going to concentrate on making a killer record for the fall. Let's just call it an obsession. But back to the upcoming shows, one tomorrow at a benefit, then one more on Thursday at Daniel Street in Milford CT. If you can make it out... no, you BETTER make it out Thursday to Daniel Street! It's our last full-band show for the next 4-5 months. And as an added benefit, we're playing with our friends The Mercury Seed. They rock. It's gonna be a night of rock & roll bliss.
Well that's all for now. Gonna run back to the show.
Gerry says hello!
Peace, love, rock & roll...
-SA
Friday, June 5, 2009
Hello! I'm back from... well... I never really went anywhere. I've always been here, but not here. I don't know if that makes any sense necessarily, so I'll just leave it up to your interpretation.
Mostly, I've been focused on school and trying to make some money these past few months. I'm happy to report that paying attention to my collegiate career has paid off, as I once again scored a series of straight A's this past Spring semester, and am proudly upholding a 3.96 GPA. Only one more year to go and then out into the world of the worst economic condition in years. But alas... I've always been one to turn lemons into lemonade, and am already devising a most awesome plan to navigate these rough economic waters, even already implementing them.
On the money front (and this is where the blog title of 'Making some changes' comes in), I've just been trying to be smart, make good moves, using good judgment. Running a band is an expensive venture. I'm not complaining, but it's just not always easy. We put out a CD (Where You Come From) right on the verge of an economic meltdown and at a time when CDs just are not selling like they used to (some believe that music should be free - I disagree). But specifically on the topic of this blog, I decided to pull down my music off of MySpace. Perhaps MySpace will kick me off for saying the following (and quite frankly, don't care if they do), but I believe that MySpace makes a lot of money off of people providing content. Whether it's a band, a comedian, a movie maker, or even a regular user, all provide content making MySpace a destination for many. If you'll notice, YOU are bombarded with ads when you get here. My logic is this: You provide content. MySpace sells ads. MySpace makes a ton of money off of these ad sales, because MySpace is a destination due to uploaded content. Artists like myself don't receive any money for our content, even though it's used as a catalyst to slap an ad over. I think that's wrong.
In todays music industry, the old business model is DEAD. It's so dead it's turned into oil. Understand, music artists today have a difficult time just breaking even. One wonderful invention to help artists maintain a viable business has been the internet. Nowadays, there are websites dedicated to delivering great content that share their ad revenues with those that provide the content. I think that's the right thing to do. While I use a site that does such a thing, I'm certainly not getting rich off it. Hell, I couldn't even buy gas with that money. But the principle is something I greatly admire. It's something MySpace has never even attempted to do.
Therefore, I've removed my songs from MySpace. Now, there is a widget from ReverbNation (I encourage you to go there) that has replaced the MySpace music player. So, yes, there is still music on MySpace, but it's coming from ReverbNation. It may sound confusing, I know. It's like selling my own gourmet pizza in a Domino's pizza store, if that analogy helps.
In other news...
I'd like to give a great big welcome to Antonio's brother Gerard as the new bass player for the band. Gerard, like his brother, brings a lot of experience, professionalism, and talent to the group. He's a welcome addition to the family and we're all glad to have him aboard. That means that Fred is now free to use both hands and work his magic on the Rhodes. Sometimes 2 are better than 1!
We began recording in April and are intermittently returning to the studio, slowly finishing up the next record to release it in the fall. I don't really have too much info, other than we've finish basic tracking for "I Can't Wait To Let You Down," "Seventy Letters," "The Last One," "Not Sad To See You Leave," and "Vermont." You might recognize these titles from the Everything Is Something Else acoustic EP, and you'd be right. I brought these to the band and they just knocked 'em out of the park as full band renditions, that I just had to include them on the next record. Other working titles for songs we're working on are "Good Christian Woman," "June on a Spoon," "Because I Let You," "Stealing From Ourselves," and "Sunday Morning Got You Down." I still have a lot of writing to finish up, but I am working on it! Fear not! We're also gonna have some special guests on this record too, but more on that later.
Well, I'd love to keep writing, but I think it's time I put my stinky self in the shower. Besides, I'll save some stuff for the next blog.
Hope you're doing fine. Peace & love to you...
-SA
Mostly, I've been focused on school and trying to make some money these past few months. I'm happy to report that paying attention to my collegiate career has paid off, as I once again scored a series of straight A's this past Spring semester, and am proudly upholding a 3.96 GPA. Only one more year to go and then out into the world of the worst economic condition in years. But alas... I've always been one to turn lemons into lemonade, and am already devising a most awesome plan to navigate these rough economic waters, even already implementing them.
On the money front (and this is where the blog title of 'Making some changes' comes in), I've just been trying to be smart, make good moves, using good judgment. Running a band is an expensive venture. I'm not complaining, but it's just not always easy. We put out a CD (Where You Come From) right on the verge of an economic meltdown and at a time when CDs just are not selling like they used to (some believe that music should be free - I disagree). But specifically on the topic of this blog, I decided to pull down my music off of MySpace. Perhaps MySpace will kick me off for saying the following (and quite frankly, don't care if they do), but I believe that MySpace makes a lot of money off of people providing content. Whether it's a band, a comedian, a movie maker, or even a regular user, all provide content making MySpace a destination for many. If you'll notice, YOU are bombarded with ads when you get here. My logic is this: You provide content. MySpace sells ads. MySpace makes a ton of money off of these ad sales, because MySpace is a destination due to uploaded content. Artists like myself don't receive any money for our content, even though it's used as a catalyst to slap an ad over. I think that's wrong.
In todays music industry, the old business model is DEAD. It's so dead it's turned into oil. Understand, music artists today have a difficult time just breaking even. One wonderful invention to help artists maintain a viable business has been the internet. Nowadays, there are websites dedicated to delivering great content that share their ad revenues with those that provide the content. I think that's the right thing to do. While I use a site that does such a thing, I'm certainly not getting rich off it. Hell, I couldn't even buy gas with that money. But the principle is something I greatly admire. It's something MySpace has never even attempted to do.
Therefore, I've removed my songs from MySpace. Now, there is a widget from ReverbNation (I encourage you to go there) that has replaced the MySpace music player. So, yes, there is still music on MySpace, but it's coming from ReverbNation. It may sound confusing, I know. It's like selling my own gourmet pizza in a Domino's pizza store, if that analogy helps.
In other news...
I'd like to give a great big welcome to Antonio's brother Gerard as the new bass player for the band. Gerard, like his brother, brings a lot of experience, professionalism, and talent to the group. He's a welcome addition to the family and we're all glad to have him aboard. That means that Fred is now free to use both hands and work his magic on the Rhodes. Sometimes 2 are better than 1!
We began recording in April and are intermittently returning to the studio, slowly finishing up the next record to release it in the fall. I don't really have too much info, other than we've finish basic tracking for "I Can't Wait To Let You Down," "Seventy Letters," "The Last One," "Not Sad To See You Leave," and "Vermont." You might recognize these titles from the Everything Is Something Else acoustic EP, and you'd be right. I brought these to the band and they just knocked 'em out of the park as full band renditions, that I just had to include them on the next record. Other working titles for songs we're working on are "Good Christian Woman," "June on a Spoon," "Because I Let You," "Stealing From Ourselves," and "Sunday Morning Got You Down." I still have a lot of writing to finish up, but I am working on it! Fear not! We're also gonna have some special guests on this record too, but more on that later.
Well, I'd love to keep writing, but I think it's time I put my stinky self in the shower. Besides, I'll save some stuff for the next blog.
Hope you're doing fine. Peace & love to you...
-SA
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The de-valuization of art...
Greetings y'all! I know it's been quite a long time, but I didn't have too much to write about other than my recent bout of depression. But that's boring and who wants to read about that anyway? Just wait for the next record... ;-)
So I'm perusing the job listings at Craigslist, and I came across an ad for an establishment looking for original artwork: photography, painting, etc. They were quite descriptive in what they wanted... something chic, sophisticated, yet "night-life" like. While I was reading, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry... 1) They didn't want to pay for it. 2) Because the art will be displayed in a high traffic area of bar, they made the disclaimer that they wouldn't be responsible for any damage done to the art. 3) They said the art would be available for sale, so the potential to make money was there.
I'm sorry, am I missing something? You want people to display their original pieces of art which costs money to create, time and effort to produce, not pay for it, and then add the extra quagmire that it could potentially be damaged and you'll assume no liability for that? Who in their right mind would submit their art?
As for the "potential" to make money, that's just poppy-cock talk for "we want your stuff for free."
Let's look at the bigger picture, shall we?
Our culture as a whole defies a lot of "what we say we're about." We say we value and reward hard work, but in many cases (not all) we're not willing to pay for it. We say you can be anything you want to be - just as long as you know or blow the right people. We say we are free - but often times, because of a socioeconomic standing (poor vs. wealthy) our liberties are denied. We say we have justice - but when someone serves a sentence and paid their debt to society, they are marked with an "X" for the rest of their life and often cast away from reintegration into society.
In this case of the art, how come we're all willing to pay for gas at ExxonMobil that we all know is going towards another year of record profits, fueling (no pun intended) our dependence on foreign oil, perpetuating unneeded, unjustified wars, polluting the planet, but we're not willing to give to an artist for creating his art?
The above is just one of many analogies that could be made.
Regarding the art scenario specifically, why not offer something of value in exchange for the art? The "potential" is not of real value, and seriously... who's looking to buy art while drinking Bud Light on a Friday night?
I don't have the answers, nor do I claim to. Just thought I'd stir up some discussion. And think about how this translates into music and the ires of illegal downloading. Should music be free? How is an artist to be compensated? Art/Music costs money to create.
Thoughts?
In music news...
We're planning on heading into the studio in the Spring (hopefully) to record the follow up to "Where You Come From." Those are the tentative plans anyway.
We've been performing and subsequently ironing out the songs off of the latest EP "Everything Is Something Else" as a full band. Speaking of which, recording the EP was cathartic for me... I've been dying to do an acoustic record. However, these songs have taken on a fantastic new life with the full band, and I can only credit Fred, Anthony and Gerry for that. They fucking rule. (Ha! Didn't think I'd get through an entire blog post without swearing at least once, did ya?). Again, they fucking rule. My favorites, and I can't believe I'm actually saying this because I love them all, are "Seventy Letters" and "The Last One." Exciting stuff. You'll be sure to hear them on Friday 2.20.09 at The Warehouse in Hartford.
I've got more news to tell ya, but I'll save it for another post. I'll try to post more often now that I'm feeling a bit better.
Hope you're all having a wonderful recession! See, tax cuts work! Just like the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny!
Seriously, I hope you're doing alright. We'll all pray that times will get better.
Peace, love, rock & roll...
-Seth
So I'm perusing the job listings at Craigslist, and I came across an ad for an establishment looking for original artwork: photography, painting, etc. They were quite descriptive in what they wanted... something chic, sophisticated, yet "night-life" like. While I was reading, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry... 1) They didn't want to pay for it. 2) Because the art will be displayed in a high traffic area of bar, they made the disclaimer that they wouldn't be responsible for any damage done to the art. 3) They said the art would be available for sale, so the potential to make money was there.
I'm sorry, am I missing something? You want people to display their original pieces of art which costs money to create, time and effort to produce, not pay for it, and then add the extra quagmire that it could potentially be damaged and you'll assume no liability for that? Who in their right mind would submit their art?
As for the "potential" to make money, that's just poppy-cock talk for "we want your stuff for free."
Let's look at the bigger picture, shall we?
Our culture as a whole defies a lot of "what we say we're about." We say we value and reward hard work, but in many cases (not all) we're not willing to pay for it. We say you can be anything you want to be - just as long as you know or blow the right people. We say we are free - but often times, because of a socioeconomic standing (poor vs. wealthy) our liberties are denied. We say we have justice - but when someone serves a sentence and paid their debt to society, they are marked with an "X" for the rest of their life and often cast away from reintegration into society.
In this case of the art, how come we're all willing to pay for gas at ExxonMobil that we all know is going towards another year of record profits, fueling (no pun intended) our dependence on foreign oil, perpetuating unneeded, unjustified wars, polluting the planet, but we're not willing to give to an artist for creating his art?
The above is just one of many analogies that could be made.
Regarding the art scenario specifically, why not offer something of value in exchange for the art? The "potential" is not of real value, and seriously... who's looking to buy art while drinking Bud Light on a Friday night?
I don't have the answers, nor do I claim to. Just thought I'd stir up some discussion. And think about how this translates into music and the ires of illegal downloading. Should music be free? How is an artist to be compensated? Art/Music costs money to create.
Thoughts?
In music news...
We're planning on heading into the studio in the Spring (hopefully) to record the follow up to "Where You Come From." Those are the tentative plans anyway.
We've been performing and subsequently ironing out the songs off of the latest EP "Everything Is Something Else" as a full band. Speaking of which, recording the EP was cathartic for me... I've been dying to do an acoustic record. However, these songs have taken on a fantastic new life with the full band, and I can only credit Fred, Anthony and Gerry for that. They fucking rule. (Ha! Didn't think I'd get through an entire blog post without swearing at least once, did ya?). Again, they fucking rule. My favorites, and I can't believe I'm actually saying this because I love them all, are "Seventy Letters" and "The Last One." Exciting stuff. You'll be sure to hear them on Friday 2.20.09 at The Warehouse in Hartford.
I've got more news to tell ya, but I'll save it for another post. I'll try to post more often now that I'm feeling a bit better.
Hope you're all having a wonderful recession! See, tax cuts work! Just like the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny!
Seriously, I hope you're doing alright. We'll all pray that times will get better.
Peace, love, rock & roll...
-Seth
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
