Sales, contests, reviews and ruminations

CD sales have soared this month. How many have I sold? :-) I'm not telling, not anywhere near enough to have covered costs so go buy one!! :-)

Two Utenzil tracks have gotten some special mentions on Garageband.com during the week of Jan 10 for "Most Bitter Breakup Song", *simultaneously* in two separate genres. Wondering got it in indie rock and Alp-E-Phants got it in Electronica. That is kind of funny, very appropriate for "Wondering" and sort of appropriate for "Alp-E-Phants".

So the ruminations part: a loooong time ago I read an interview with the guitarist from Cheap Trick (yes, a loooooooong time ago-- I am blessed/cursed with a memory where I remember odd "words to the effect of" pieces of info from everything I read). Anyway, this guitarist (one of the great rock guitarists of his era) mentioned how when he got older, he dreaded that day he'd end up playing guitar music that involved "sitting on a stool", like jazz, blues or folk. I think about some of the music I used to play in bands, and some of what I do now, and yeh there is some tendency towards the seated-on-a-stool as one "matures as an artist". Being able to work on new music is the main thing, tho', and it's fun with the new technology. I miss playing with a live drummer sometimes, but I do not miss dealing with equipment loading and gig logistics.

There is always one person in a band whose transportation is unreliable. Sometimes that was me, seems that usually it's a bass player or a drummer. Then there is someone else whose family situation makes it difficult for them. Always I will remember the one keyboard player's predicament one weekend, explained in hush tones over the phone "hey, can't make practice today, my grandmother sh*t on the rug and my mom's freaking out, so things are a little crazy here".

So while there are things you miss when doing a solo recording project, there are definitely things you don't :-).