NYC - Fall Update

I'm cruising out to NYC on the 18th of this month record some new music with producer Will Boyle in Brooklyn and a good friend from college, Jason, who works way too hard and plays too well to be out of the industry itself. I also had lunch with DJ Logic and his girlfriend Diane, a friend from Vail, so maybe we can convince to come over from his joint in Brooklyn to do a track.. wink, wink, nudge, nudge...

Side projects are really important. While I'm in Brooklyn, holed up in a warehouse studio, Mark and Steve (drums/bass in Frogs) will be touring the West Coast with their side project Oak Creek, making it as far as LA. Beyond being a sort of blow-off valve for creative energy, side projects are expanding our horizons coast-to-coast, something that will inevitably benefit Frogs Gone Fishin' down the road.

The Indian summer in Colorado this year kept the leaves on the Aspen trees yellow for a longer period than normal. Driving around the state playing shows from Ft. Collins to Telluride has been memorable all summer long, and we've had some out-of-control shows involving lake houses, crazy club owners, hippies and their dogs and lots of dancing people.

Along with the heavy energy that autumn always brings, bands start planning some important shows in their yearly cycle. This time around we'll bring a Wizard of Oz theme to our three Halloween shows in Boulder, Denver, and the Vail Valley. I suppose I won't say exactly who I'm going to be, but I need a blue dress, soon...

It's been almost six month since Actual Natural was released on our dedicated independent label, Mountain Size Records. We have a great relationship with our larger family in MSR and we face lots of challenges together. Today's music market in a word, sucks. CD's used to sell hundreds of thousands of physical copies. Because of music piracy and also some pretty greedy lending practices on the behalf of labels, the industry fell apart in the 2000's. Combined with a larger economic collapse, not too many people are shelling out $10 for a whole album anymore. Labels are forced to rely on creative marketing methods and persistence, where they used to be rely on throwing lots of cash at the problem. I'm still of the opinion that a little cash can go a long way, not in terms of ad space, but creative ideas that engage the consumer. I've tried to get our label to see this and I hope they understand but given their busy lives and day jobs, I have a strong feeling the entrepreneurial burden will consistently fall with the band. In fact I don't think that will ever change and I don't think it's a bad thing.

In that respect, we gotta keep it movin'. We gotta raise the roof, kick the tires and light the fires. We have to be social net-workers, performers, salesmen and somehow maintain some sanity and a friend or two. And forget dating. Or a part-time job. If it doesn't have to do with music, chances are your boss will see the disconnect in a hot, quick minute and quietly ask you to resign. This means you better be booking your side project, duo and solo gigs months in advance and then spend all day on the computer and phone promoting them. A big budget would help, but virtually no one has that these days, save for the one or two major promotion players (Live Nation and AEG). It's time to buckle down and focus.

Dorothy and touring musicians both know there's no place like home. Back in August I enjoyed a sublet, courtesy of the gracious Tim Dixon and his two distinguished brothers. I was in my bed at home a total of three nights out of 31 days that month. Thanks guys, I hope I didn't overstay my welcome.

Now that Frog's have moved into our house north of Denver, life is settling down a bit. It's good to finally get to know the town I grew up in. My experience in live clubs and bars didn't really begin until I grew up musically in that wonderful, energetic town of New Orleans and so seeing Denver for what it is in terms of the live music scene is eye-opening. I'm going to start blogging about the scene here in Denver, my travels to NYC, and a topic I can't help but write about, politics. Things have gotten so weird in that last realm, I'll reserve future posts for the topic.

The dudes up at Mountain Size Records are running a promotion on Actual Natural right now. Check out the store and type in FGF1OFF to get a discount on the disc. Go getcha some!

Almost to New Orleans

Tour is catching up with me. You notice about three weeks in that you no longer care about shaving or that smell in the RV. It becomes you, you become tour. I've noticed the same feeling on backpacking trips before. My Dad and brother, Eric, are out on the trail in Utah right now. I wonder if they've broken the smell-barrier yet, when you're so used to the group smell, it disappears.

After the first week, weather in the Midwest became nicer, sunnier, and more humid (the call of The South). Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison, St. Louis, and the big shocker of the tour Dayton, were all fun shows. We are earning fans, one at a time. That is the model now. Gone are the days of hiding backstage, coming out and playing your hour set only to retreat behind a curtain again. God forbid anyone stop you to ask about the music. Music was more mysterious in the 70's. Now Twitter and Facebook and Myspace and Google Earth and the CIA make being anonymous pretty difficult. Some bands, like TOOL, have somehow managed to keep their personal identities under wraps while attaining a huge level of success. Others are like John Mayer, who just got into worldwide hot water for his tweets.

The point is, a record deal and darkened limo are not the golden chalice of music anymore. I looked up Miley Cyrus the other day because I have a friend who wrongfully was ripped apart last week on American Idol, and I was curious who the celebrity vocal coach retained as a label. Hollywood Records it turns out. These are the same people who bring you The Jonas Brothers and countless other acts who grow up as "artists" in the Disney Conglomerate. In other words, the highest selling record for who knows how long in 2009 was put out by the same people who imparted Mickey Mouse to our national heritage.

No, we are doing excellent in our 1987 Mallard Sprinter, thank you. And our record label doesn't have a limo, it has a hot tub. The party comes to us.

Speaking of Mountain Size Records, seeing pictures of our album being mastered by who some call the master, David Glasser, both Grammy's in plain view on the console in his studio, was awesome. I can't wait for Actual Natural to come out. It's the best sounding thing we've done and it will be a platform for our success in the near future. Brad Smalling deserves a lot of credit for pulling Frogs out of a lablel-less, album-less vacuum and getting our record out in time for summer. We are already seeing increased attention from booking agencies and potential managers. Real life people who want to help bands! They're out there!

As I write this we are pulling into Lexington, KY. Needless to say, we've left the Midwest and it's vast expanse and entered the humid South. Frogs like the humidity. We'll see shows in new markets this week, Charleston (beach!) and Greensboro, then on to my favorite city in the world, New Orleans. First we'll stop in Nashville next Monday, a city I never could have guessed I would have such an intense and long relationship with. We will play these shows alongside a rising force in the funk scene, Lubriphonic. We've even received wind that some very important agency people might be observing the Nashville show. Can't wait to blow their minds.

Check http://www.frogsgonefishin.com and http://www.mountainsizerecords.com for album info and tour schedule!