music at the end of the year.
i think of doing a year end recap and just feel so tired. it was a rough. year. but as I'm seeing others around and am taking stock... I just want more for the bands. Or maybe I have no context?
Between all three bands there were four albums recorded in 2011 and three release. You could actually say five albums recorded since the second Rhubarb Whiskey album is mostly recorded and now we're in the stage of long distance adding extra parts and new things but most of it is laid down. I want the records to get out there and be heard. Not for riches but just for the sake of being heard. It's been harder it feels like to get people knowing about the music and the releases though. A lot of our getting the word out was around facebook and all of those kinds of places and since fb changed how it shows feeds and things I realize more and more how unreliable it is to assume that your people will actually see what you're posting. Unless of course you spamify yourself and post every hour about it. And that's not me. These are the reasons I wish for a record label. Seriously. Distribution and marketing. The biggest challenges.
But - there were some huge highlights. Rhubarb Whiskey playing with Geoff Berner, the big CD release party in SF with 5 Cent Coffee and Plasterkatz, getting featured in the 2011 Accordion Babes Calendar (and CD), feeling the love from Sepiachord, the good gigs and the happy reviews of the record. Really when someone call you a mashup of Bill Monroe and Sid Vicious, something is right.
And then Vagabondage, omg with how out of the park of some this year was. The four show mini-tour of the Bay Area with Carolyn Mark. Playing around with some of the best musicians in town and at some of the strangest and wonderful places (the Bordello in Oakland for example). After a year and a half releasing a mini-live album, a new full length studio album, and then doing a free political single for #Occupy. We (VB) also ended up averaging a show every 9 days. Seriously every 9 days. That's crazy. And we curated a month of shows at the Bazaar Cafe. Plus a big article in the Chronicle. Seems like we're all doing pretty ok.
The Oakland Wine Drinkers Union finished up the recording of the first album, hoping to get that out there by early spring.
I'm just hoping that as the year end lists come out, that the new albums get some notice in some of them. That a few more reviews - from friends, from blogs, on amazon, from where ever - come in and see the same things that we saw when we recorded. these song of love, friendship, and happysad memories.
Being an independent musician - as Unwoman was also recently posting about - it's hard fucking work. Sometimes pretty thankless and sometimes it's the best thing in the world.
In case you want to have a listen:
http://vagabondage1.bandcamp.com/
http://rhubarbwhiskey.bandcamp.com/
Between all three bands there were four albums recorded in 2011 and three release. You could actually say five albums recorded since the second Rhubarb Whiskey album is mostly recorded and now we're in the stage of long distance adding extra parts and new things but most of it is laid down. I want the records to get out there and be heard. Not for riches but just for the sake of being heard. It's been harder it feels like to get people knowing about the music and the releases though. A lot of our getting the word out was around facebook and all of those kinds of places and since fb changed how it shows feeds and things I realize more and more how unreliable it is to assume that your people will actually see what you're posting. Unless of course you spamify yourself and post every hour about it. And that's not me. These are the reasons I wish for a record label. Seriously. Distribution and marketing. The biggest challenges.
But - there were some huge highlights. Rhubarb Whiskey playing with Geoff Berner, the big CD release party in SF with 5 Cent Coffee and Plasterkatz, getting featured in the 2011 Accordion Babes Calendar (and CD), feeling the love from Sepiachord, the good gigs and the happy reviews of the record. Really when someone call you a mashup of Bill Monroe and Sid Vicious, something is right.
And then Vagabondage, omg with how out of the park of some this year was. The four show mini-tour of the Bay Area with Carolyn Mark. Playing around with some of the best musicians in town and at some of the strangest and wonderful places (the Bordello in Oakland for example). After a year and a half releasing a mini-live album, a new full length studio album, and then doing a free political single for #Occupy. We (VB) also ended up averaging a show every 9 days. Seriously every 9 days. That's crazy. And we curated a month of shows at the Bazaar Cafe. Plus a big article in the Chronicle. Seems like we're all doing pretty ok.
The Oakland Wine Drinkers Union finished up the recording of the first album, hoping to get that out there by early spring.
I'm just hoping that as the year end lists come out, that the new albums get some notice in some of them. That a few more reviews - from friends, from blogs, on amazon, from where ever - come in and see the same things that we saw when we recorded. these song of love, friendship, and happysad memories.
Being an independent musician - as Unwoman was also recently posting about - it's hard fucking work. Sometimes pretty thankless and sometimes it's the best thing in the world.
In case you want to have a listen:
http://vagabondage1.bandcamp.com/
http://rhubarbwhiskey.bandcamp.com/