Free Samples!

So if you’ve been following this blog for the new CD – you know the progress we’ve been making. We are so close to releasing this new album titled – EVERYDAY WITH YOU. We are just days from final mixes, final mastering, final art approval, final proofreading of the liner notes, etc. But more importantly we go LIVE with the pre-sell of the CD on MARCH 6th! The official target release date is March 26th.

I can not emphasize enough how pleased I am with this project and the work that producer Joe Hand did on it. It is quite different from any of my previous CD’s, yet has a sense of familiarity to it as well. Industry folks are categorizing it as POP/ROCK which is kind of exciting as it puts my music in the hands of new listeners, but, of course I tried very hard to keep my authenticity as well. I hope you like it.

As a special gift to readers of this blog… I have set up a “sneak peek” page with samples of the new record. For those of you who listened to the early demos… you can hear how much this music has evolved. Check back here on March 6th for direct ordering links or for the downloadable order form. Enjoy!!!

 

Face or Graphic Art?

While I continue to live in ‘limbo land’ while the final mixes simmer, we are hard at work on the packaging - liner notes, lyrics, credits, and… the cover concept. Which leads me to this conundrum – face or graphic art? Do we go for some clever, artsy representation of the thematic concept of the CD or just slap a photog of my mug on there? 

Well, there are certainly several different streams of thought on this one. My first knee-jerk response is… artsy concept!!! But that could be because I am not all that interested in my own face. Add to that, all the great album covers from years past that have no face on them anywhere, or the faces are part of some larger cool theme… think Sgt Pepper, Dark Side of the Moon, all albums by Boston, Asia, Yes and more… and we can’t forget those two groundbreaking works, Believing Beyond the Shadows and Take It In…

So, others in this process lobbied for the face shot… the feeling is that people want to see who is singing these songs, want to make a connection to a person and not a cool artsy picture. And there have been a few albums with face shots on the cover… think most of the early Beatles, the Partridge Family, and most pop and country music in the last decade…

So, what to do? Can we combine the two? Put a face on the cover and yet couch it in colors, location, fonts, style, etc to give it some feel of art and maybe lead towards the concept of the art within? That would take two very specific things to accomplish… a great photographer and great graphic artist. Fortunately, I have both! All the photos were taken by Chris Hodge and the graphic design is being done by Steve Fors of Chicago.

So, what do you all think? Face or Graphic Art?