Howdy Y'all,
2020 has been a hard year for all of us, but it has hit musicians especially hard. I, and all of my friends, watched all of our gigs dry up one after another in April and we were left scrambling to find other ways to make money. Those gigs that weren't cancelled came with extra considerations for the safety of our fans and for ourselves, as well as ethical decisions of whether we should even risk it for the sake of music. I played three gigs since the pandemic, all socially distanced, all outdoors, and all for small-ish crowds. But I said no to others where I didn't feel comfortable. Many people came out to support musicians and the community has grown even stronger through the experience. I thank you all for that. It has been very inspiring.
But, fewer gigs meant more time to finish projects. My trio, which features Nick Amodeo, and Ian Haegele finished our record and it is ready for release. It has been a long process in putting it together, but it's finally done. It sounds good thanks to Aaron Youngberg at Swingfinger's Studios in Fort Collins, Colorado, and David Glasser at Airshow Mastering in Boulder, Colorado. The cover art is super cool thanks to Noha Eid in Cairo, Egypt. The layout came together well thanks to Shari Solheim in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And I am always amazed how my songs come together with other musicians playing them. Courtney Hartman, Mollie O'Brien, and Tim O'brien added some harmony vocals.
Starting December 21st, 2020 (Monday!!!) the album will be available for pre-order through my bandcamp page. Each pre-order will come with a signed CD, a sticker, and a digital download all shipped to you on January 21st, 2021. Depending on where you live, you might get it before the release date on January 26th, 2020. We will be playing a livestream concert sometime around the release, but more info on that is forthcoming (We are still sorting out the details of that).
I hope you are hanging in there for the holiday season. Bridger, Stacey and myself have decided to stay home for the holidays. We will miss seeing our families in person, but we are hoping that decision will allow for many more future holidays together.
Thanks for your support and your friendship. I am so excited to share new music with you!
Stay well.
Martin
