Free Download of a little taster track!

Well, Stew and I are still working through the mixing for the album but because you've been waiting for something (anything!) from us for so long (my drafts folder tells me we started in 2008) we thought we'd give you a little taster for free.
Hils and I have been playing a version of Josh Ritter's excellent song Monster Ballads for a couple of years now so we've recorded it and it's free to download.
It won't be on the album but it's been recorded and arranged at the same time so it does give you a good idea of the kind of stuff we've got coming.
But anyway, cut to the chase, you can stream it on myspace here:
http://www.myspace.com/blindddrewsmusic
Or download it free from thesixtyone here:
http://www.thesixtyone.com/artist/blinddrew/settings/album/edit/20691/#/s/o1S33EpWLM1/
and soon we will get it sorted on to the mainsite as well but i'm a bit of a luddite and need a bit of help there.

Oh yes, and while i remember, feel free to stick it on limewire, bittorrent or any other file sharing site you like. Digital Economy act my arse...

Hope you like the song
cheers
Drew

Of Polls, progress, profits, piracy and portents.

So, the poll closed and the voting public had their say. And very helpful it was too. Half of you said cds, half of you said downloads (approximately). So based on that i am absolutely no further down my decision path. I think i would need a larger sample size but, as i shall come to, it no longer matters.

Progress on the album has leapt forward despite my recent, resurgent cold. We've had Adam in giving the skins a battering, Hils has been back in demonstrating more of her multi-instrumentalist skills and we've also had Mr Chisolm and his banjo joining in the shenanigans.
There's still about half a dozen things left to record and then we're into mixing and mastering; which seems to involve Stew and I getting ever more picky about 64ths of a second until we have to go outside and remind ourselves what the sun looks like. But it's still kind of fun...

Anyway, once we've got the songs finished we've got to decide what to do with them. Or rather, we've decided what to do with them. You see the problem is, people just aren't buying cds any more. Not just my cd i should point out! Even good stuff isn't selling in that format.
And for a tiny label like SOUP they just can't afford the up-front costs of runs of cds and then sitting on the boxes. Basically the profit margin isn't there. And it's not like we can rely on the download sales to offset the initial cost, after the VAT man and Apple have had their chunk there isn't a great deal left.
So sorry to all those folks who were hoping for a cd but unless i can figure out a cheap way of producing a high quality short run, then it's soft copy only from now on.

So why aren't cds selling anymore? Is it because of music piracy? Should we all be rushing out to petition the government to run the digital britain bill through the house as quickly as possible? Should we bollox. It's got bugger all to do with piracy. The buying public has moved on, that's what's happened and we have to move with it. What we should be doing is petitioning our MPs not to sign the digital britain bill because it's a bog-awful piece of knee-jerk, lobbyist-led legislation that cannot be currently implemented and can be abused in the future.
But that's probably a different blog...

And what of our 5th alliteration? Well, i reckon there's two sides to that. Firstly, if musicians can't make money on hard-copy sales and (perversely) there's not enough return on soft-copy sales then you've got to expect gig prices to go up. Or the quality of music to go down i guess, but i doubt it's that straightforward.
But return on investment will have to come from somewhere (and don't give me that "sell t-shirts and signed records" shite; that's for established bands only i'm afraid, otherwise it's just more upfront investment and capital tied up in stock).
Secondly little labels like ours will leave the market, they'll concentrate on areas that will guarantee a living. This, i think, would be a bad thing as it will just further the gap between the major label artists and the bedroom amateurs.

Well, that's tonight's depressing blog. Just remember the good stuff! Album's into the finishing straight now, one day soon we will be finished.
Oh yes, and we're playing at Verve in Leeds on the 15th of april so if you're in the vicinity why not pop in. While it's still free...

Gig Update! Supporting LAU on the 7th

Yep, just when i was despairing of being able to a gig that didn't involve doing my cover of Pokerface those good people at CRS have got me a little stormer. Sunday the 7th Dr Jones and I will be supporting LAU. 2 time Radio 2 Folk Awards winners, 3 dazzling musicians and all round good blokes to boot. If you've not heard them, get them listened to here. But that doesn't do them justice so print off a copy of the flyer (cheap entry!) and get yourselves down to fibbers to hear them in the flesh. Oh yes, and make sure you're there for 8 so you can hear us too!

Stay well

Let the people decide...

In the spirit of democracy, and because i found a new widget on the site, i've added a little poll on the right hand side of the page. Following on from the earlier posts about what to do with the album when it's done, i thought i'd throw open the floor (as it were, not literally though, that would be awkward, and probably inconvenient).

So make your mark and have your say, you're empowered!*

Quick reminder that we're playing the Fox and Hounds in Newmillerdam in Wakefield on Saturday with our label-mates TWO, should be good.

Stay well

* you may be empowered but i still reserve the right to ignore the lot of you!

Tired, very tired

Cracking gig in Melton's Too last night. Thanks to everyone who made it down, and thanks to all the guest musicians. Top night all round.
Despite the curse of two-wheelers and Meltons coming round again. The first time we played there i got knocked off my motorbike the day before and had a nice concussion, this time i fell off my mountain bike and dislocated a finger (fortunately it was on my right hand and i was able to pop it straight back in).
Haven't made any progress on the album yet i'm afraid. Still working on it and still thinking about how we release it, but, in one form or another, release it we will.
I'm also trying to figure out how i can get MP3s up here on the site so i can share some new stuff with you as and when i come up with it. Any techs out there got any ideas?
Just a quick update this time, partly because it still hurts to type, but mostly because i've been too lazy/busy to do anything. Anyway, for those in the north we have a gig with TWO in Wakefield on the 20th but that's all that's on the radar at the moment.
Stay well.