Dear Constant Listener,
It’s been an exciting year for me so far and there’s so much yet to come. The beginning of 2011 saw the release of my debut album. My thought baby was born on Feb 12, 2011 and weighed about .24 lbs. People talk about the pains of birth, but you truly don’t appreciate the feeling of squeezing a full-length album (jewel case and all) out of your body until you actually do it. My baby, now fully grown has “flown the nest” and currently lives on various college radio top ten lists where it plans to pursue a degree in Poli Sci.
As you probably know I’ve been playing a lot of live shows. I really like “weird” shows. I tend to get bored easily and playing a bars and cafes is fun, but it’s good to mix it up. Recently, I had the opportunity to play the Rain City Chronicles – an event that showcases a bunch of people telling intimate, funny and often touching stories – and features a couple of musical acts. You could hear a pin drop, it was so quiet. So I dropped a figurative pin and recorded a video of it you can watch here.
I also had a chance to diversify my musical portfolio (whatever that means) and play some shows outside the Ben Everyman sphere. My pals in The May Cause were down a man so I stepped in to play a couple of songs with them. Right after, I played drums with my rock band Cleopatra Underwater. The resulting “rocking out” caused us to get violently drunk and lose a piece of rental equipment. Don’t worry though, we found it in the parking lot. We also made friends with a very drunk girl named Megan who caught a ride home with us, except in the wrong direction. I know you’re wondering so I’ll just say it – no she did not help load any gear.
Up next: A small western-Canadian tour (May 2011), music video and the beginnings of a new album. I also nominated myself for a West Coast Music Award and a slot in the Peak Performance Project. It’s about time I put my stream in the mainstream. Hopefully, the next part of 2011 will see me raising awareness for minimalist indie-folkers everywhere. Keep on folkin!
Ben