Exciting-ish, anyway.
As most of you know, I released a five-song EP last June. The songs were covers, but the vocals, instruments, arrangements, and production were my doing; my friend Nick Federinko (NICK FED) helped with mixing and mastering.
Since then, I have been working on probably two dozen additional songs, and they are currently at various stages of (in)completion. I am hoping to have a few ready by no later than July.
My long-term goal has been to do a full album of covers, continuing to do all the vocals and instruments and arrangements/production myself. That is still the goal, but I work two jobs and generally have a very busy schedule. It could well be another two years before the album is ready.
In the meantime, I have decided to release several additional EPs – sort of “boutique”-type releases, with each centered around a particular theme. The release schedule is going to be a bit flexible, as any change in my job situation (such as a full-time teaching job) would have an effect. However, I’m hoping to release them something like this:
June-October 2024: “Sonic Sunshine” EP (probably 4 songs); “Rock and Roll” double-sided single (2 songs)
October 2024-March 2025: as-yet-untitled country EP (3-5 songs)
If the given productions have four, two, and four songs respectively, then added to the five from last year, I will have released 15 separate cover songs. Make slightly different mixes of each of these, and add in another 10-15 songs, and I’m ready for the full album!
As I have said, the full album (released anywhere from mid-2025 to 2027) is still my ultimate goal. I want it to have 25-30 songs (Lord willing). As with the upcoming EPs, there will be a theme: something along the lines of “covering a century”. Given the name, the original releases/publications of the songs will span roughly a full century, with the oldest being first published in 1923 and the newest first released in 2022. Every decade in that span will be represented by at least one song. As always, I will provide vocals, instrumentals, arrangements, and production, as well as (probably) the artwork. In addition to digital release, I hope to release this album on CD, with artwork, liner notes, bar code, the works. Depending on my financials at the time of release, I may even be able to do a very limited run of vinyl pressings.
This would be a momentous undertaking for a full band. For a one-man band and vocal group, it is like trying to climb Mount Everest a few feet at a time, with the (admittedly positive) difference being that I won’t, y’know, DIE if I fail. I don’t like to toot my own horn, but if it is completed it will absolutely be newsworthy – a century’s worth of popular music arranged, sung, and played by one person.
To that end, I plan to begin contacting media outlets and websites once I am much closer to having the whole album finished. Chillicothe Gazette, Columbus Dispatch, New York Times, CNN, Fox News, MTV, VH1, AllMusic, plenty of others. I’m not foolish enough to expect every single one to be interested, but if two or three are, that could be a massive help in terms of publicity.
I’m not super experienced with generating publicity, so I am 100% receptive to suggestions from any and all. (Just don’t try to scam me, please.) Because this is still a year or two away, there’s plenty of time to consider various strategies. You have my full permission to DM me here.
Anyway, that’s it. If you’ve stuck around for this whole doggone post, you’re a trooper and deserve some kind of reward that I probably can’t afford to give you. This is kind of a slow-moving process because I’m working a lot and will absolutely continue to work a lot throughout, short of some really surprising windfall. (And maybe even *with* some really surprising windfall. I need the structure that a job provides.) Any suggestions, feel free to hit me up. Thank you for reading.
