Here are some things that have happened lately:

Firstly, I moved in September, so my studio was upended for a month or so, but I’ve got it put back together and it’s ready to go. My new place is way more comfortable but not quite as flexible as the old place, mainly in that I can’t be as loud. Recording drums will be a bit more challenging, and/or I’ll be figuring out how to make electronic music with drum machines and whatnot. Either way it’s going to be cool.

Secondly, shortly after moving I went on a European tour with the Rodeo. It was crazy fun, you can read a somewhat exaggerated version of events here: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=408884. A few days after returning I left the band to spend more time working on my own music. It was sad to leave such a fun group, but the guys have completely supported me in this move. I get to go back to being a fan, and given the nature of our collective, an occasional collaborator. Thank you Brent, Tim, Sugar, Curtis, Mason, and Johnny for a great year.

Thirdly, I think I have a plan, and that plan is to stop making demos. In March it will be 4 years (!) since finishing my first album, and that’s long enough. Plans are good, right?

And finally, I think the new Radiohead album is awesome. It’s so mellow, it took some getting used to, but I like it better than the last one. Some neat things.. they left little imperfections in the performances, string buzzings, that sort of thing, plus recording-wise it sounds more like a band in a room, at times, than any of their albums since the Bends. Some strange things.. there are bits of the album that sound like other bands (strange for them maybe, it wouldn’t be strange for any other band). “Bodysnatchers” sounds like a Pearl Jam song almost, and “Arpeggi’s” “I hit the bottom” melody is just like one off of Vitalogy). And some bits sound like Moon Pix Cat Power, and some parts sound like some of that newer piano-driven Death Cab for Cutie. A little. Enough to make me think of it, but not enough to be litigious or anything. “Faust Arp” is like Nick Drake and Led Zeppelin. They reference themselves a lot too, and good for them.

Each new Radiohead album has been an event for me since I became a fan in 1999 (and probably for you too, if you’re still reading this), and they didn’t disappoint. It was crazy to see it all over the news for three days too, and not just from their innovative decision on how to sell it (though mostly). I don’t know what the future of the music industry is, I think I would still personally benefit from being associated with a label, but only because of the power a well-known label has of getting your name out there. Regarding letting people pay what they want for a download, I would copy Radiohead in a minute. Technologically I don’t have that option with Paypal as a card processor (I don’t think), but generating a random username and password for a download page wouldn’t be that hard. Definitely something to look into.. it’s way better than making your downloads free while offering a paypal donation link (which lots of people do), because it’s so easy to ignore the donation option. Making people pay at least a transaction fee forces them to consider the worth of what they’re downloading, and the chances of them adding a buck or two out of guilt go up considerably. Brilliant!

Oh yeah, I also have a show coming up November 9, at the Mars Bar. Mark yer calendars!

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…

• January, 2007: played with Southerly at El Corazon, to a largely empty, freezing room. I could see my breath while playing, which was kind of neat.
• February 1, 2007: co-released the Ball of Wax Volume 7 DVD with Levi Fuller, to great fanfare. Buy it, it’s good.
• February 23, 2007: Released the Brent Amaker and the Rodeo album on J-Shirt. It’s also very, very good. Buy two, and give one to a friend.
• March 2007: went on a two-week tour with the Rodeo, all the way to Toronto and back. See pictures on the BAR myspace site.
• May 2007: released a new demo, available here. It’s 8 new songs of mine plus a Jeff Mangum/NMH cover.
• June 6, 2007: Rosyvelt opened for the Handsome Family at the Tractor Tavern, and it was awesome.
• June 23, 2007: played Ira Merrill’s CD release show. Ira’s band sounds great, as does his CD. The venue was odd though, not a good fit for me.

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.

I lied in my last post — I neither finished recording nor making a video for “price,” as I’ve just not had enough time. But, I did ask my friend Tobin Wood to tape my performance at the Ball of Wax 6 CD release show, and a different song, “vacancy,” turned out ok for BoW7. I put it up on YouTube here.

Secondly, both Rosyvelt and the Rodeo, along with Herman Jolly, are playing tonight at the Mars Bar to benefit Loretta Kennedy’s breast cancer recovery. Read about it here, and come out to support a worthy cause.

Things have been very busy lately. First, I guess I’m in the Rodeo now. Last week I bought the uniform and played my first show with them, on acoustic rhythm guitar. Traditionally, each member of the Rodeo has to have at least one show where they’re too plowed to play correctly, and I got that out of the way right off the bat. Despite my messing up a lot, the band and the audience seemed to have a good time. I’m very excited to play with this band. I’ve been a fan of Brent’s songwriting for years, I love the Rodeo concept, and they’re also a great bunch of fellas to spend time with. I forsee having a blast and a half.

In other project news, last weekend I had Open Choir Fire in my studio to record a couple of songs, and that went extremely well. They’re a very tight band, and I think we worked pretty well together. The two songs are among their best I think, and have been stuck in my head all week.

Regarding the graze, I have until the end of the month to not only record a song (”Price”), but make a video for it as well, for Ball of Wax 7 (the DVD edition). I think I’ve almost got the drums done. It’s hard but I’m trying not to schedule any other projects, except for Seth Howard, who’s in the same boat and whom I’m helping record a song. Wish us luck.

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 all 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, which is exciting. 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.

I finished a demo yesterday, which is exciting for me as it’s been two years since Iowa Anvil came out. It’s also just in time for my tour which starts today. There are seven songs: two of them have appeared on Ball of Wax compilations (”Conditions” on Volume 2, “Here Comes the Revolution” on Volume 4). Among the rest, two are pretty much done, one is halfway there, and two are just demos. Here’s the track listing:

1. Conditions
2. Price
3. Bastards
4. Cheap Wine
5. Bet (the Jesus song)
6. Rust
7. Here Comes the Revolution (Andrea Maxand)

Here’s what it looks like:

I’ve only made 50 of these, burned on CDR, individually stamped and numbered. They’ll be available at shows for $4, or for free if I like ya!

A week ago yesterday, Ball of Wax Volume 4 was released, featuring 16 songs by local artists all of whom covered each other. I covered Andrea Maxand’s “Here Comes the Revolution,” and Smile Brigade covered my song “Devices.” Rosyvelt is on it too (featuring your’s truly moonlighting as a rock drummer), as is Seth Howard, and a bunch of our local faves. It’s a great comp, and it’s cheap — click here to see it on the J-Shirt Records homepage with links to buy it via PayPal. It’s $4! And that includes shipping! As always, many thanks to Levi Fuller for putting it all together.

In other news, in two weeks I’m going on a short Northwest tour. Check out the schedule, and come see me if you’ll be in Portland, OR, Kennewick, WA, Pullman, WA, Spokane, WA, or Missoula, MT.