Jun 302010
 

Ft. Collins indie singer/songwriter Danielle Ate the Sandwich has gotten a lot of national attention from her quirky YouTube videos, her witty stage presence and her ukulele-folky sound.

Tuesday, July 6 is the official release of her third self-released record Two Bedroom Apartment. It’s a definite expansion for Danielle, especially with the addition of several studio musicians for the project. In a recent conversation, Danielle told me the experience grew her musically: “They opened my eyes to what my songs COULD BE with the assistance of others. I usually shut people out of the process and have a hard time trusting people enough or a hard time with sharing the credit.  Working with the other musicians made me talk about the songs and think about them and hear them in new ways and let go a little bit.”

This is especially true of the song “Silver and Gold”, Danielle’s personal favorite on the record. “That’s one of the songs that CAME ALIVE with the other instruments on the track.  When I play it solo, it’s so empty–knowing what it sounds like on the record, it’s hard to even play it when it’s just me.”

Two Bedroom Apartment is available for pre-order now at Danielle’s website.

Danielle Ate the Sandwich: Silver and Gold

Jun 232010
 

So as if I didn’t have enough to keep me busy…I’m doing a bit of a game. :)

I’m a fan of local music, and I have several local bands and artists on my ipod.  When I’m out walking or doing whatever, I often put my ipod on shuffle, and I love it when a local band comes up.  So I’ve decided to tweet about it when it happens. :)

So here’s how it works. You’ll notice that I have put a Twitter feed widget on the sidebar of this blog.  You may also notice one or more entries there that begin with “LOCALS ON SHUFFLE:…”  (‘cuz I’m already doing this).  That’s what it will look like.  Every time a local band or artist comes up in shuffle mode, I will tweet a “LOCALS ON SHUFFLE” alert, and it will show up on the sidebar.  (If you follow me on Twitter and Facebook, it will show up there, too–as well as on my other music blog, The Developing Artist.)

So local Denver musicians, if you want some shout-outs in my Twitter feed, send me your music!  I don’t care if I fill up my ipod with local stuff–the more the better.  I’ll even review some of your stuff here, plus I’ll try and do a weekly blog post recap of the Locals that showed up on shuffle that week.  Just click the “Submissions” tab at the top right of this blog page to find out how/where to send your stuff.

BTW…I’ll be doing a similar thing for indie musicians outside the Denver area, because I have some of your stuff, too.  When non-local indie bands come up on shuffle, the tweet will start with “INDIES ON MY IPOD.” (Clever, huh?)

Jun 092010
 

If you’ve been around here much, you’ve probably noticed that I occasionally wax philosophical or offer advice to musicians and bands that nobody was asking for–but I give it anyhow, out of the goodness of my heart. :)

Anyhow, I have had some positive responses to some of those posts, and it just seemed that there ought to be a different place for that kind of thing.   So tonight, I’m rolling out a brand new blog called The Developing Artist, where musicians can find useful resources and information, encouragement, and occasional advice to help them on the path to success.  So if you’re a performing artist (or just have an interest in the artist-development side of things), go check out the inaugural post here.  If you like what you read, subscribe to it and share it with anyone you think might enjoy it.

This blog isn’t shutting down, by the way; we’ll still be putting up band and artist information here.