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All kinds of stuff |
| 4.2.03 |
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| Precious little time for updating the web site this past month, but
so much has been going on. The next Philly Songwriters Unplugged show is a week from Sunday, and
continues their track-record for booking top-notch artists ... a must-see. We are
tremendously excited to have SLO-MO and his
excellent band performing here for First Friday ... they are just one jaw-droppingly
great band. The full band will be performing an early show at 9:00 p.m., and there
will be a more stripped-down improvised set later in the evening. Both not to be
missed. There are so many artists completing and releasing CDs in the next few
months, and so many great musicians of all styles coming in and out, it has been
really dizzying ... more details as April unfolds. |
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Tania Alexandra CD finally arrives |
| 3.5.03 |
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| Very excited ... just laid eyes for the first time on the fully printed Emergence,
the new CD from Tania Alexandra
which we're all very, very proud of. Of course, I don't have to listen to
it, because I've been listening to the final master almost every day for a month, not to mention listening
to these beautiful songs for more than a year as we've worked on this project. Tania is a force to be
recknoned with, and the official CD release party will be at the
Tin Angel on April 10. |
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I am plugging my own band right now |
| 3.2.03 |
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| ... which, if you ask them, I probably
don't do nearly often enough. My band is, of course, the
Kwait Brothers Band, who recorded their two excellent CDs
here before I ever joined the band. I'm just kind of bashful about promoting them here on the studio site, you
know, conflict of interest and all. However ... on Friday, March 14, we're doing a special all-night show
at the Tin Angel, and, you know, it's my birthday, so I can
do whatever I want. Come with cake. |
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Philly Songwriters, take 3 |
| 2.20.03 |
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| The Philadelphia
Songwriters Project has announced the lineup for their March 9
show, Songs in a Minor Key, which features local singer-songwriters all under the age of
18: Kate Ferber, Benj Pasek, Priscilla and Jade Shames. (Gee, isn't Priscilla a little young to
have switched to the first-name-only stage name? Isn't there a law?) Next month's lineup looks like
it may top even the last two shows. The program founders are doing a great job of producing and
publicizing these events, not to mention making sponsors like us feel loved ... |
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March First Friday: The Morrigan |
| 2.17.03 |
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| Just heard from Bud Burroughs, great mandolin player (and banjo player and bouzouki
player and accordian player and gee we sure get a lot of bouzouki around here), who confirmed his group
The Morrigan for First Friday on March 7 — appropriately enough, as close to St. Patrick's
Day as possible for a First Friday. The Morrigan is well known in the region as the top Irish band
around, with a slew of ace players. Bud adds ... "Also, Roy Rogers, who is by far the best
uilleann piper in the area, has done some playing with us lately and will be joining us that night
as a "special guest". He's really awesome, so it should be a cool night." Long-timers know that
we love to present as many different kinds of music here as possible, so we're happy to add Irish music
to our long list ... and of course we could only have the very best Irish music for the occasion. |
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Our deal with the devil |
| 2.16.03 |
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| We have totally sold out ...
Springboard Media has agreed to sponsor this month's First Friday event. Okay, they're not exactly
the devil ... they're not even Exxon, or McDonald's, or La Colombe, or
A.D. Amorosi.
They are, in fact, a great place for musicians and other artists to go to get hooked up with the right
computer stuff, and they certainly got us out of a tight spot last month. So go patronize them already. |
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New resource for local music |
| 2.10.03 |
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| Been corresponding with Ben, founder of the
Philadelphia Music Resource Kitchen,
a terrific new web site consolidating local music news, bands, venues, studios and music.
Favorite feature: streaming radio of local bands, playable in iTunes or WinAmp. Very cool. Tell Bill
we sent you! |
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New website launched, with full-length music clips |
| 2.5.03 |
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| After months of hard work, agonized beta testing and countless
late-night debates over what does and doesn’t make a great website,
we have finally arrived! Among many new features, our favorite is the
new CLIPS page, which features full-length tracks from some of
our clients. We’re starting with 11 tracks — including three sneak previews
from upcoming CDs that haven't even been released yet. We’ll add
more tracks every month or two, including new sections for Classical
music and (by popular demand) the First Friday Jam Section. |
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We are being overrun by a cappella groups |
| 1.23.03 |
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| Just as we finished the
mixing and editing on that Almost Recess track, Shere Khan walked in the
door to start their new CD project. The first day went great ...
it's always nice to hear a dozen singers in perfect tune and blend
... mark of a good music director. On top of this, I'm looking down
the schedule and it looks like Penn Six will be back in
another week to continue work on their CD project ... |
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ANIMUS returns for First Friday show |
| 1.13.03 |
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| ANIMUS will be returning to the Turtle Lounge for the
next First Friday show, February 7. For those who don't know, Animus is a real
one-of-a-kind group, with a sound that fuses an incredible number of musical
influences into one compelling, propulsive and engrossing sound. We haven't had them here in over
a year, and they keep getting better and better, so we're psyched. |
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Impressive new group, first PSP show rocks |
| 1.13.03 |
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| Amazing weekend for us ... first, my old buddy Jason Downie came to
town with his new band of a cappella freak prodigies. Jason recently
left the renowned "vocal band" Ball In The House to start his own
group, Almost Recess,
which will crank out power pop and also bring music education
programs into the schools. He handpicked the members from recent
college graduates across the country, and these guys are scary good.
They came in to record the
first track for an upcoming CD, and though they'd only been singing
together five days, they are already much better than most groups have
any hope of ever being. Really amazing. Then, on Sunday, we pitched
in with the first-ever Philadelphia Songwriters Project concert,
which had a great turnout and even better music. David Newman was
particularly entertaining and Amber did her usual thing and amazed
everyone. There was a buzz in the air, like we were all witnessing
the start of something really cool. Looking forward to hearing the
tracks when we get back to the studio ... and coming back for next
month's show on February 9. |
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New Big Breakfast CD sounding good |
| 1.8.03 |
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| Some of the guys from Big Breakfast were in today to
mix some tracks from their November show here. We got four tracks
ready to roll, and damn, these guys are really good, I never get tired
of them. There may not be quite enough ready to make a whole second
CD, so we might have to have them back for another show here in the
Spring. And wouldn't that be a shame? |
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Philadelphia Songwriters Project launches |
| 1.5.03 |
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| Turtle Studios has just signed on as co-sponsors of the Philadelphia
Songwriters Project, a great new program started by Dena Marchiony
and Stu Shames in conjunction with Theatre Catalyst (the folks who
run the Adrienne theater). They're creating a monthly "Second
Sunday" event where five local songwriters can perform in an intimate
theater venue "unplugged." The first show is this Sunday, January
12, at 7:00, and the bill is pretty amazing — including our longtime
client Jim Wade, Stephen's old friend David Newman, and our
neighbor-buddies Julia Othmer and Amber Delaurentis. (Wow, do we
have ridiculously talented neighbors or what?) It's almost as though
we planned the bill, and yet we had nothing to do with it. Anyway,
we are helping with sound and recording all the sets live on
location, and with any luck some of the tracks will be released in
one form or another. Dena and Stu have done a remarkable job getting
PR for this event, and we're very excited to be working on such a
cool project. Interested songwriters (and others) can e-mail them
here. |
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New year, new albums, new website |
| 1.1.03 |
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The big announcement ... we have decided to post regular news updates
on the web site. And this is one of them. No First Friday this month
... we're exhausted, we have great groups getting lined up for the
next five or six months. We spent last week working with Lefty Lucy
on mixes for their upcoming second album and finishing up recording
with Penn Masala. Chuck Treece was here most of the day -- a great
way to start the New Year — editing and mixing down some material
from the First Friday show a few weeks ago. Hopefully we'll
be posting some of it on the web site soon ... |
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