I’m a total tech geek and gadget freak. I refresh MacWorld and Engadget every 30 seconds to get the latest pics and tidbit of info when Apple has major announcements. I geeked out when Google recently announcement Google Wave (soo looking forward to using that!). When I found out LA Band The 88 recorded their new single entirely on the iPhone app Four Track, I had to check it out. The results are impressive and the song is really catchy!
So, my fellow artists, if you have an iPhone, you have no excuse for not having recordings of your songs. Four Track is only ten bucks. I use it and it’s well worth the price. You can get The 88’s song, Love Is the Thing, from iTunes, check out the making of video:
I’m going to start posting concert footage on Mondays and hopefully, I’ll have enough to continue doing this ad infinum. These will be the good, the bad, and the ugly, I’m not holding anything back from you.
I’m starting with my set from The Intrepid Traveller Cafe in Cookeville, TN. I was fortunate to play this delightful venue just before they shut down last week. Here’s So Easily:
Michael Estok and I have played two shows in the past two weekends. They were the same show really, just in two different places. The Intrepid Traveler Cafe in located in Cookeville right across from the Train Depot. They were having an awesome car show right outside the cafe as we got the evening started, which helped populate the intimate cafe. In total, we had about 24 people and got great positive feedback from everyone. I debuted a new song, Alle, playing a 12-string Alvarez I borrowed from my Uncle Gary. We highly enjoyed hitting the Steak and Shake with my sister, Katie and her friend after the show too.
Capalanos in right off the square in downtown McMinnville. Unfortunately, we happened to get booked the weekend of Bonnaroo, so most of our audience opted for the mega-festival rather than our smaller local show. We had 8 people attend, but they seemed to enjoy it. We even had a killer harmonica player, Steve, who sat in on a song each for Michael and I and he killed!
Here’s my set list from both shows:
Alle
Not This Time
11:11
Don’t Leave Me, Sunshine
About Last Night – with special guest at Capalanos, Steve
Digital Love
Fantasy World
So Easily
The saddest part of theses two concerts was the news from each that they are considering closing soon. People of Cookeville and McMinnville: you have to support your local venues! You really don’t know how good you have it, so get out there and support the venues and the bands!
Here’s another diagram that might be useful to some of my fellow artists. I’ve shown something like this before, but this one is neater. I snagged it from Hypebot.
Once upon a time, a wildly creative musician named Christopher Joel came up with a another idea. Instead of just playing a concert, he decided he would write a story and play his songs as part of the story. Of course, the local villagers all said he was just crazy. He worked on his story day and night for months, locked away is his workshop. He finally emerged beaming proud of his latest creation and couldn’t wait to show it off. He scheduled an evening at one of the local pubs, Red Tree Coffee, with plans to share his new show. The owners were dubious at first, but had always had a soft spot the for the wacky ol’ Christopher Joel.
The evening came and he performed his show. The villagers laughed, cried, and even sang along when invited. They all cheered the ending and clapped vigorously after he finished. They liked it so much, they demanded he do it again. Alas, the pub was closing, so he would have to do another day.
Christopher Joel was hopeful that other villages would enjoy his new storytelling concert show, so he talked with another pub, Bongo Java, about doing his storytelling concert. They agreed and he scheduled a performance there for May 16th, 2009 at 7 pm. They informed him they would charge admission of $6 for people to come see his show. Christopher Joel told all his friends and family about the show and hoped they would come…
It’s now time for you to hear what I’ve been working on for the past year. Fantasy World is now available. You can get the entire EP as free 128-bit MP3’s from http://music.christopherjoel.com. Of course, if you’re so inclined, you can also purchase it from there, or any of the following online stores:
This is best news I’ve been able to deliver during the past year: the EP is done. Yeah, you read that right; it’s finally finished! Recorded, mixed, mastered, artworked (is that a word?), uploaded, and ready to be in your hands!…er…ears, that is. I swear, this has been like being pregnant. Well, not quite, its been a year since we started! Either way, I’m letting my baby out into the wild.
May 5th, Cinco de Mayo, Fantasy World by Christopher Joel will be released on iTunes, Amazon.com, Amie Street.com, here on christopherjoel.com, and quite a few more places. Why wait three more weeks? I’m redesigning everything: my website, my myspace, my facebook page, my twitter profile, my sonicbids EPK, and quite a few other things to match the artwork.
Speaking of the artwork, it was done by one of my favorite artists, Aaron Grayum. For now, that banner up there is all you get to see, but if you search the internet for Christopher Joel, I think there are a few places you can see the rest of it early. For now, I’m going to tease you with just that little bit.
I’m working on the EP release party, which will be here in Nashville, and some special promotions for that night too; you won’t want to miss it! I’ll email everyone on my mailing list with details as soon as I get them, so sign up for the mailing list if you haven’t already!
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I have some of the most talented friends in the world. Seriously. One of them, Julian Smith, happens to have a popular video on Youtube right now, 25 Things I Hate About Facebook. If you haven’t see it, here it is:
It’s gotten so popular that Julian was invited on the Tyra show to talk about the video, Facebook, and being poked. Check it out:
I just got the final album artwork from Aaron Grayum. Holy cow, it looks awesome! I can’t wait to show it to you! I should have some more exciting news regarding the album this weekend. I’ll keep you posted!
