Category Archives: recording

Banding Together

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I recorded a solo acoustic live set for the upcoming benefit for the Spondylitis Association of America, called Banding Together. It airs next weekend, Friday-Monday (10/18-10/21) and features some great local artists including Jonathan Andrew, Joshua Van Ness, Paul Rosevear, and The Wag.

Click here to see the complete schedule on blowupradio.com. My performance will air at the following times:

  • Friday, October 18th 7:30pm
  • Saturday, October 19th 7:30am 
  • Saturday, October 19th 4:35pm
  • Sunday, October 20th 4:35am 
  • Monday, October 21st 12noon

If you donate during the benefit weekend, you will receive a free digital compilation album. The album features exclusive tracks from the artists performing. I donated the first song in my set to this compilation.

My set features 30-minutes of original songs. Just me and an acoustic guitar. It’s not too often that I perform as a solo acoustic artist, so I hope you are able to listen at blowupradio.com.

PS – I released last year’s Banding Together performance as a digital album. You can stream it, download it, and pay what you want for it right here.

My Twitter Is Blushing

I recently finished pre-recording a live acoustic set for BlowUpRadio’s Spondylitis Benefit Webathon, which will air in October. I sent it over to Lazlo at BlowUpRadio… Not only did he listen to it right away, but he was kind enough to enthusiastically tweet on my behalf! It’s so refreshing to work with someone who is truly vested in spreading the word about independent, original music. Thank you, Lazlo!

Here are the tweets:

Prepping for the Hey Tiger Reunion Show

damien and wayne try to remember the songs

Rehearsals have begun for the Hey Tiger Reunion show at Maxwells. We’re getting excited to play one last time before this iconic NJ music venue closes its doors. Also, we’ve just posted our three records – one full-length and two EPs – up on YouTube as playlists so that you can stream them. I’ve embedded them below. Enjoy!

1.0

September

Morning Light

Guitar Pull Now Available to Stream

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You can now stream the Guitar Pull featuring J Orellana, Keith Beck, and yours truly on blowupradio.com. In case you missed it when it aired back in March, you can stream it on demand. After clicking the link, look for the air date March 17th, 2013.

Totally unfiltered and completely laid back, you can listen to the three of us play original songs and talk about everything from the songwriting process to Wonder Woman. Enjoy.

Stream it now →

Live from My Dining Room

In case you missed the broadcast last weekend… I’m releasing my entire performance from the Spondylitis Association Benefit Webathon as a digital album.

Live from My Dining Room

Live from My Dining Room was recorded live in front of a not-so-captive audience of my two cats. The recording is purposely quiet, intimate, and raw.

No auto-tune. No overdubs. No editing. Just my voice, guitar, and whatever other sounds occured during the performance. The recording features eight original songs in their simplist form.

Download it for FREE here: http://joshbicknell.bandcamp.com/

HINT: You’ll need to click on the Buy Now button to download the full recording. You can buy it for $0 if you wish.

In leiu of paying me for the recording, please consider making a donation to the Spondylitis Association of America. From now through the end of October, your donation will be matched if you use this link: http://www.spondylitis.org/store/productlist_sm.aspx?department=41

Next Solo Performance: Webathon

Banding Together: A Benefit For The Spondylitis Association of America

October 19th-21st

I’ll be playing a live solo set for a benefit show in October. Over 60 bands are signed up to perform live for a webathon to raise money for The Spondylitis Association of America.

This is the first time I’ve performed solo in quite some time. Just me and a guitar. I hope that you’ll consider listening to the webathon and donating to the Spondylitis Association of America.

Here is the Official Press Release for the online event: 

Banding Together Internet Benefit Concert For Spondylitis Association Of America To Air On BlowUpRadio.com October 19th – 21st

For the sixth consecutive year, BlowUpRadio.com is bringing together some of the best indie musicians for Banding Together: A Benefit For The Spondylitis Association of America.

The webathon will air on internet radio station BlowupRadio.com the weekend of October 19th through 21st, and feature live performances from over 60 bands. Artists include some of the best up-and-coming artists as well as nationally known artists.

“The webathon will be the internet radio equivalent of the Jerry Lewis telethon, only with better music,” says Lazlo, the founder of BlowUpRadio.com and the organizer of Banding Together.

During the course of Banding Together, listeners will be encouraged to donate money via a secure on-line section of the Spondylitis Association Of America’s website. Everybody donating during the webathon will receive a free digital download of a webathon exclusive collection of songs from some of the bands performing. A complete track listing will be available soon on http://www.BlowupRadio.com

Artists scheduled to perform during Banding Together include:
Accidental Seabirds, American Pinup, Anthony Walker, Arlan Feiles, Beannacht, Ben Godwin, Blank Pages, Brixton Riot, Bruce Tunkel, Catherine Wacha, Christian Beach, Colie Brice, Crewman Number Six, Diego Allessandro, Erase:Rewind, Fairmont, Foggy Otis, 4 Million Silhouettes, Happy Joe, Harper’s Fellow, Harvey Brice, James Dalton, Jason Didner & The Drive, Jason Kundrath, Jason The First, Jim Testa, Joe Ferreri, John Rango Band, Jon Caspi, Jonathan Andrew, Joshua Bicknell, Joshua Van Ness, Lightning Jar, Lisa Bianco, Little Dipper, Lost In Society, Mark Parker, Matt Colligan, Melissa Anthony, Michael Brett, Michael Scotto, Mick Chorba, Mike Ferraro, Mountain Station, Mr. Hunter, O’Neill & Martin, Pete Jager, Randy Morning Band, Richard Barone, Scruff Cardinale, Slight Imperfection, Taggart, The Accelerators, The Anderson Council, The Aster Pheonyx, The Break Evens, The Cucumbers, The Mean Season, The Monacchios, The Mother Hips, The Porchistas, The Trews, The Ugly Club, The Winter Sounds, Thomas Wesley Stern, Tommy Strazza, Tony Tedesco & Full Fathom 5, Whiskey Flask Revenge, Woe, Zak Smith, Zigman Bird…with more to be announced shortly, as well as re-airing some popular performances from previous years.

(artists performing are subject to change)

The Spondylitis Association Of America (SAA) is a non-profit organization that was the first and remains the largest resource for people affected by spondylitis. Through their efforts, they help advance education, research and treatment for ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and related diseases. More than 85,000 people per month visit SAA’s interactive website to access over 1,700 pages of up-to-date content for information and support. For more than 25 years’ SAA has dedicated all of its resources to help improve the lives of people coping with spondylitis.

“This is a very personal benefit for me as my wife, Naomi, suffers from ankylosing spondylitis (AS).”, says Lazlo, “I have seen the debilitating effects of this disease and the chronic pain and discomfort it causes. This benefit is the least I can do to help my wife, and over a million others who suffer from AS.”

The benefit runs from 12noon Friday October 19th until Sunday night October 21st. It will be broadcast on http://www.BlowupRadio.com

The complete schedule will be announced in early October.

For more information go to http://www.BlowupRadio.com

Creative Commons License

You may remember my composition and experiment – writing, performing, and recording a piece of music entirely on an iPad. The piece is called “You Smiled Because You Knew.”

In the spirit of experimentation, I’ve decided to change the copyright license to be less restrictive by using a Creative Commons license. Instead of the standard “all rights reserved,” you are now free to share it, remix it, make derivative works based on it, and even use it commerically.

  • More about the license here →
  • More about the quote that inspired the title here →
  • To listen to the piece, click here (or use the embedded player above)→

So please go ahead, use it as a soundtrack for a slideshow or a video, sample it, remix it, whatever you’d like to do. If it’s helpful to you, write me a quick email to let me know how you were able to use it!

Enjoy!

Reviews for Suit Yourself

d-b Suit Yourself

double-breasted’s latest record, Suit Yourself, was released on February 11th. Since its release, we’ve had the good fortune of receiving some great reviews. I’ve shared some of them below.

Music Connection Magazine
“This classy trio’s three dimensions make for a smooth, engaging listen.”
View the April 2012 issue, p. 53 →

Blowupradio.com
“If I were a rich man, this is the kind of band that I would patronize like the kings of old. Rating 9/10.”
View the online review →

Jersey Beat
“Deeply atmospheric and richly evocative”
View the online review (need to scroll) →

NJ’s Star Ledger
“Bearing a drum kit, a harp and a cello and wearing threads that look more appropriate for a conservatory than a bar, the three members of New Jersey chamber-pop group double-breasted make a striking first impression.”
View the story (need to scroll) →

Can I ask a favor?
If you’ve enjoyed the record, could you quickly click over to iTunes to give it a star rating and a short review? It doesn’t have to be lengthy… something like “This is great!” works really well and helps increase visibility in the store.

Rate it/Review it on iTunes →

Thanks!

A Shift from “The Man” to “The Fan”

Browsing the Kickstarter blog, I came across this article showing their stats from 2011.

$19M pledged for music.

Wow.

Everyone wants to talk about how the music industry is failing. Everyone wants to talk about how poor the quality of recorded music has become. As music fans, are we actually surprised by this? As the Big Three record labels try to stop the bleeding from decline in sales, they’ve had to cut investment in artists and their recordings.

As the “old way” of doing things continues to spiral downward, I am encouraged by the Kickstarter model. It’s on its way up. And it’s giving anyone with a creative project – not only music – the chance to carry out their vision. For the supporter, it provides a feeling of connectivity, a kind of partnership in the project. The fans are like investors in a business.

And the best part? At the end of the project, you can hold something unique in your hands and know that you were a part of bringing it to fruition.

I am happy that my band, double-breasted, was one of the 11,000 successful Kickstarter projects in 2011. I can’t wait to share the new CD, Suit Yourself, with our fans on February 11th.