Music Anyway

J.D. hurt his hand at work yesterday, so we didn't get together to rehearse. I spent the evening building a fire out of yard debris and strumming the dulcimer by its sparkish light. I came up with a nifty little three-quarter tune that I call "Bury Me By The River Shannon" - it's very much in a traditional Irish mode, perhaps inspired by all of the Kate Bush I've been listening to this week! I recorded a keyboard version on the Roland Fantom and then a dulcimer version using Garageband.

The band is planning on getting together on Thursday if J.D.'s hand is better, but I told him not to sweat it - it's more important that he gets better!

Musicus Interruptus

Nothing coital about it - musicus interruptus is what happens when you're all set to play a gig somewhere and for whatever reason, the gig gets cancelled or you're struck from the bill, or you get rained out, etc.

What's left is the aching feeling that you were all geared up to play, and now you're not gonna. Frustrating, to say the least.

The Jambando Spring show in downtown Orlando was cancelled due to weather (though our man on the street said it was a political pissing action), so it looks like the band is going to gather together at our very cozy rehearsal space and play anyway, along with spending some quality time sitting around the fire, eating some nosh and taking care of some business involving extra-musical activities. We're all looking to be independent in our vocations, and we've all got the skills to do so, it just takes a little organization and tonight is the perfect night. The gift of time!

The Calm Before The Storm

Something big is coming soon, something that will change your tune....

Sorry, the subject title triggered a Sparks song lyric - happens all the time.

Last night's rehearsal was incredible, it's amazing the progress we make each time the band gets together. Songs we've been doing for awhile continue to tighten up and details are worked on; then the newer tunes are developing with alarming speed. All across the board, our confidence levels are boosting, due muchly in part to the feedback we've gotten from audiences at our most recent shows. It's really exciting - and I know that we're only at the beginning of an incredible ride.

Speaking of which - as we begin the wrap-up to recording, we're beginning to make plans for the two albums, strategy that involves getting it out into the public for review and also into the hands of people who can help us in getting gigs and licensing deals. I don't know that we're terribly interested in getting your standard record deal, since that kind of thing tends to destroy a lot of bands because it's mostly all about the money. Sure, it would be nice to support ourselves and our families with our music, but that's not the reason we play in the first place! It would be much nicer to get the right deal - and who knows how you really go about doing that?

In the meantime, I'm starting to compile a list of magazines, both print and online, that we can send copies of the music to. Also, outlets for selling the records, like CdBaby and more. When it comes to getting your music out there, it's a numbers game - the more presence you have, the more likely someone will have the chance to hear you. Here are a few resources so far:

http://musicmoz.org/Styles/Rock/Alternative/Magazines_and_E-zines/
http://www.cannylink.com/musicnewsandmedia.htm
http://www.artistdirect.com/music/ubl/resource/0,,310-I--2,00.html
http://linksmanager.com/applause/links5.html
http://bestmusiczines.com/bmz/zvariety.shtml
http://www.afm.org/public/musicbiz/magazines_indie.php
http://www.leftoffthedial.com/GeneralLinks.htm
http://www.musicsubmit.com/LinksPages/Resources.cfm
http://pittradio.bottomlesspitt.com/resources.asp?category=magazine/e-zine
http://www.lolrecords.com/links.html
http://muslinks.com/magazines.html
http://www.taxi.com/members/links-magazines.html
http://www.somusical.com/rock-and-roll/alternative/magazines-and-e-zines/
http://www.iwritethemusic.com/indiedir.html
http://www.mary4music.com/ResAL.html
http://kbearstudios.no-ip.biz/links/Music_Magazines.html
http://bandradio.com/dir/Magazines/
http://www.world-newspapers.com/rock.html
http://www.thebards.net/celtic_music_and_more/Magazines_and_Webzines/
http://www.indie-music.com/reviewpolicy.php
http://www.auraladventures.com/links-01.htm
http://www.muzikreviewz.com/get_reviewed.htm
http://www.iol.ie/~kevrawn/indielinks/fanzines.htm
http://www.bob-baker.com/musicpromotionblog/2005/02/marketing-lessons-learned-from-grammy.html
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/barb923/links/Magazines.html
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/barb923/links/Magazines.html
http://www.iol.ie/~shango/Music%20Links%20Page%201.html
http://www.evor.com/links/publications.html
http://www.alexadigitalmusic.com/resources.asp?CategoryID=15
http://www.business.com/directory/media_and_entertainment/music/reference/publications/
http://www.netunes.com/music-magazines.htm
http://inkpot.com/zines/music.html
http://www.hitsquad.com/monolith/media/net.html
http://www.reviewcentre.com/last_reviews_ci830.html
http://www.thematthewshow.com/Others/Links.htm
http://www.firekings.com/links1.html
http://www.nowak.on.ca/music/
http://www.thezone.org/links.html
http://www.musicfist.com/artistresourcespage.html
http://www.m4radio.com/directory/Promo_Press.html
http://www.indie-cds.com/html2001/wwwsites.htm
http://cdbaby.org/
http://www.musesmuse.com/muselinks/Music_Magazines/S/
http://pitchforkmedia.com/
http://www.canehdian.com/magazines.html
http://www.seesaw.ru/
http://www.fufkin.com/links.htm
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/10/11/202732.php
http://www.chaoskitty.com/t_chaos/reading/magazines.html
http://www.somusical.com/rock-and-roll/alternative/magazines-and-e-zines/more2.html
http://www.jukeboxalive.com/musicianresources.shtml
http://www.dxpnet.com/riot/listings.asp?id=464&p=5&sort=
http://www.unionsquaremusic.co.uk/links.php
http://www.wolfshead.co.uk/html/mainPPhtml/linkszinesPP.htm
http://www.musicremedy.com/links/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowSites&LevelId=82
http://www.focusmarketing.us/links800.htm
http://www.mssvision.com/MSSV/IndustryLinks.htm
http://www.nyree.com/booklinks.html
http://www.epsylonvideo.com/result.php?Keywords=music+magazine&host=www.epsylonvideo.com&relay=1&original=magazine
http://www.epsylonvideo.com/result.php?Keywords=music+magazine&host=www.epsylonvideo.com&relay=1&original=magazine
http://www.theroc.org/mus-link/zines.htm
http://www.uky.edu/Subject/music-recordingall.html
http://www.kweevak.com/rd_link_exchange.htm
http://bestmusiczines.com/bmz/index.shtml
http://www.digitalhollywood.com/LVRocksAgenda.html [we should go to this!]
http://www.songstuff.com/links.php?selectedcategory=14
http://www.no-flyzone.com/pages/links.htm
http://www.indiemusician.com/2004/06/
http://www.portlandphoenix.com/standard/links/music_atw.asp
http://www.mfwp101.com/links/musicnews.html
http://www.americanlaundromatrecords.com/links.html
http://www.alternative-links.co.uk/links/
http://www.maximumedge.com/music/Resources/Unsigned_Band_Resources/
http://www.recordingconnection.com/recording-resources-l-magazines.html
http://www.artistopia.com/Music-Directory/Search.asp?q=&s=indie+music&Page=6
http://www.icemagazine.com/music/index.asp
http://www.music-sites.net/links/show.4.html
http://www.organart.demon.co.uk/coolinxzines.htm
http://www.1000dictionaries.com/music_1.html
http://www.tygo.com/Dir/entertainment_and_media/Music/Magazines_and_E-zines
http://www.indiemonkey.com/links/
http://www.go2audio.com/links/e-zines-music.html
http://magazine.lifetips.com/cat/59878/music-magazines/
http://www.onlinegigs.com/v3/links/musician-resources-ezine.htm
http://www.netdotmusic.com/links.htm
http://directory.thestar.com.my/cat.asp?/Arts/Music/News_and_Media/

http://www.rikksrevues.com/friends.htm - banner exchanges

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/7/16/42521/0497 - article


Well, I guess that's good for now.

Turns out that my subject line may be a bit prophetic - we've got tornado warnings in effect around here. Time for me to jet!

Poppin' in

Thanks to everyone who came out to the show at The Haven! We were just about out of time, so it was sweet of you to scream for an encore - which miss Dani-O helped us to deliver oh so nicely! They would like us to return to play New Year's Eve, which is quite an honor - we're all gonna discuss the possibilities this week at rehearsal.

More work will take place on the albums this week - but I thought I'd let you in on the names. The first release, with about nine songs, will be entitled clear blue trickling after Bunky's lyric in "The Miner and His Music". The second album with the remaining songs will be called turn smoke traffic. There's a mystical reason for this second title, see if you can figure it out!

And now - it's off to the Fiasco to finish this documentary I'm working on. We'll have more news soon, plus word of our live album, featuring performances from The Bamboo Room, Hard Rock Live and the Back Booth!

Much love!

TONIGHT!

Tonight, Mohave performs at Hard Rock Live for the fifth time since October 2004; we're actually headlining tonight's show which also features Zen Fishcamp, Shak Nasti (Members of Florganism) and The Toni Brown Band.
We've got some different things lined up for this evening - should be verrry interesting!

When Did I Post Last, What Did I Say?

How lazy am I anyway?

Two great shows back to back - Tobacco Road in Miami was a scream and apparently, they want us back in April already. We had a blast, they fed us well, you know - I think I already did this, like, wrote this. How gone am I? Did I mention Tracy Belcher, who was celebrating a birthday, whom we serenaded and baptised in that musical way? She and her whole party was a wonder to behold and they helped make the evening beautiful - though they were seeking a lost purse when they left and we hope that didn't put a damper on what seemed to be an otherwise incredibly fun evening for them.

Hanging at the hotel was fun, I just love being around these people - John Bunky Randy JD, Ann, Jeff, Linda, Erica and of course sissie-poo, K. and her beau (I distinctly remember doing this) I could always just open another browser window and see, but nooooooo.

I know, at least, that this is new - last night's show at the 93rd Annual Central Florida Fair was the best ever, and I'm not just saying that. Our third time back, we had a better stage (across from some kickin' food kiosks and two synchronized Ferris wheels with lots of pretty lights all over them) and colder weather, but we played over three hours and got the nicest comments from fair employees and audience members alike. Thank you to everyone who's been so nice to us these past few shows - it's super-encouraging to get that energy from you!

Hello Miami!

Mohave had a splendid time in Miami this past weekend - Tobacco Road was great, treated us nice, fed us well, and the crowd was very attentive and appreciative. We got lots of wonderful comments saying that we were one of the best bands ever to play there, which is quite a kick, considering the pedigree of the place and the littany of artists who have graced the two stages there. It was also incredibly heartening to hear shouts of "encore, encore!" at 2:30 in the morning as we began to wrap up our third and final set. What a blast!

Despite a potentially disastrous development (we forgot to bring some important speaker cables) and some technical glitches, we proved once again that once this boat is floating, there's no way to sink it - and our fearless debut of "The Irish In Me" went off without a hitch. So we're in a great shape for a much different audience that will be present at tomorrow's show when we return to the Central Florida Fair!

It was also nice just hanging with everyone - sitting around, drinking coffee, laughing, loving, enjoying life. My sister-in-law and her daughter and fiancee' came up from Key West, making it a real family affair. Nice vibes all around!

Ready to hit the road

Last night's rehearsal was fantastique! We're at a delightful stage now where J.D. has been fully indoctrinated into the tribe and knows enough of our back catalog to facilitate playing an entire evening of original material. With 17 songs down in the studio, we've earned the leisure of kicking back in rehearsals and jamming loosely, working on new material and letting the cosmic flow do what the cosmic flow is wont to do. One of our newer tunes, "Nine One One", is starting to take on a distinctly Coldplay type of vibe, not out of imitation, but by simply assessing the music after it's erupted out of us.

This weekend's show at Tobacco Road will be fun - and Jae and I have a little surprise to spring on the band once we're down there. We'll have pictures upon our return. Everyone have a great weekend!

Catching Up

Man, it's been a busy week; I'm scheduling time to make time for time. Crazy, i'n't'?

We're all real excited about playing Tobacco Road this coming Saturday. We've had a little time off (if you can count recording an album as "time off") so we're pumped to go! It looks like we're going to be debuting some of the new music soon. "The Irish In Me" is just about ready for prime time and another one, kindasorta titled "It Was Just Meant To Be", is quickly taking form in rehearsals with Bunky taking the lead vocals and the guys singing backup.

The recording is going fantastic - it's just a breeze to work with David Schweizer because he cares about the music and has a great ear. Dave's been an active participant in shaping the sound of the record - we're excited to get onto the mixing bit. We've still got some Melodica parts to record and our guest stars will soon come in to add their flavors. A little keyboard production and our vocals, then we're ready to select the songs for the first album. We've already got a second CD in the can - how silly is that? Call it our "Kill Bill" volumes one and two, right?