Saturday, June 11, 2011

New Album...Whispering Beard Fest...Midpoint...



It has been months since I have typed anything in this blog! Shame on me...
JEHC has finished their 2nd full-length record :) What's it about? What does it sound like?
Not to be vague or anything, but it's about stuff. Yup, that's right a whole pile of stuff turned into sounds that go "BAM!" or "LALALA...POW!" 11 songs that we thought would get us a good start on conquering the world. AKA playing this part full time. We went warmer on this one. We dug deeper than we ever thought we could have and hope that ya enjoy the tunes as much as we did creating them.
What's it called? I am so glad you asked because...
A good name for an album is hard to find. How does one go about really identifying the sum of emotion and feel for a recording! It can be challenging with many push and pulls plenty of ins and outs.However, it was not for us! We knew what we wanted to call it months ago when we began recording at the All nighter, and we solidified it on the road in March.

A good anything is hard to find: a car, a friend, apartment, fishing lake, person who understands or listens, a good home.
Album number 2 = A Good One is Hard to Find

lookalikedis...


Gorgeous painting(s) by overly talented Cincy artist Jared Kaake
will be used as album cover

***To be released at the Southgate House (non-smoking Ballroom show) on July 30th..
TICKETS ON SALE @ SHAKE IT RECORDS:::

***Portions of the proceeds will go to Play It Forward, a local non-profit that is working towards health insurance for hard working musicians!


***Whispering Beard Fest is happening August 26-28
with headliners Hayes Carll and Todd Snyder, two of our favorite songwriters.
Seriously, this is not to be missed. For a complete line-up go to:

http://whisperingbeard.com/festival/the-lineup

***CINCY's own MIDPOINT MUSIC FESTIVAL is a September treat. We will be there.

FACT: There is no cool holiday in September except Midpoint.

Love,

josh

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Towns Filled with Sin...30 songs in 30 days...The Smurfs

Belly is filled with sugar and suppers big and dinners small. Wine is always in front of my thirsty face. I hope to the skies and beyond that everyone had a magnificent holiday, filling themselves with whatever makes them all smurfed up. Smurfed: this is a new expression I have been using. I heard my giddy gal Kelly say it on out recent New Years trip to the Red River Gorge. I'm not even really sure if I am using it in the correct context, but it sure sounds like a bubbly word. It makes me smile as I say it! If it's wrong, well, fuck it cause it makes me happy :) <--- SMURFED!

IN VEGAS VISITING GRANDFATHER
Las Vegas is difficult: Difficult to live, to stay sober, to maintain a cancer free body, to feel like a real cowboy, to breathe like a Yogi, to get around, to avoid Spanish speaking call-girl pushers, to eat well, and on and on and on. I now know - much more than ever - what Gram Parsons was singing during his lighted slurred, sedated tune, "Oh Las Vegas" ....Oh Las Vegas/ain't no place for a poor boy like me/Every time I hit your crystal city/ I know you're gonna make a mess outta me." Now I am getting a head of myself because the outskirt of tinsel town USA are budding with delights: Hoover Damn (new bridge!), Red Rock Canyon, Mico Brewers, the desert of Nevada is filled with pleasantries... NO gambling(!)

I am writing 30 songs in the month of January. I am calling the process "30 songs, 30 days". It sounds like a late teenage romance movie soon to be right around the corner on Judy Garland Street...very innocent yet fetish-able. Some ideas might not be as involved with me as others, but that is besides the point, really. The point is to lay out the brain and heart to create melody and lyrical character as a foundation- a starting line. The focus is to make sure
something new is written everyday. It has been fun to pull stuff from olde recordings summer '03-Xmas '10), to see what can be done and how the mind-of-me from 5,6, or 7 years ago can meet up with a mind-of-me today. The Harvest City and I will then dissect them like a science project. Some will be soft and easy skin to cut into like a traditional frog, or others more like wild boar with it's overly tough exterior. It is after all, Rock and Roll and not always easy.


Cincinnati heart throb/brilliant songwriter Dusty Bryant is releasing his full-length record, "Wasted Midwestern Town Blues", this coming Saturday (1-15) at Mayday in Northside. It is The Harvest City's pleasure to open up the show for him. Watch out for some of Dusty's tunes, they are right to the gut, good.

OTHERS
*Recording our 2nd Album (out in spring)
*Playing Acarya's CD Release at Northside Tavern Jan 21st
*Cbus and Dayton and Kent Shows


Cheers.

Be TOTAL,

Josh