First of all, I’d like to say a huge THANK YOU to all the people who sent me emails or left comments in response to my last post. I appreciate all the great advice from friends about how to raise money for my next album. Regardless of whether I get the Ontario Arts Council grant, I’m going to set up a page to accept pre-orders of the CD.
OK. Now, what is Tuxedo?
The idea for the band was simple and superficial: I have a black telecaster, Joey has a white telecaster. “We should start a band where I wear a white suit and play my black tele, and you wear a black suit and play your white tele!…We’ll call it TUXEDO!”
Tuxedo…the album
Joey and I have set a date to start recording this July. The music will be mostly original, though in the style of Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West. If you’re familiar with my music, then this will be a surprising departure. It’s kind of like Bizzaro Bougie. This may me the only time you’ll hear me (try to) play fast solos.
the players
Joey Wright – white telecaster
Christine Bougie – black telecaster, Gibson lap steel
Kick & Push (Kieran Adams & Paul Mathew) – drums and bass
My first album, Hammy’s Secret Life, was released in 2007. Then in 2008, I made This Is Awesome, a collaboration with longtime musical partner Dafydd Hughes. In 2009, I was too busy playing on other people’s albums to make my own, so 2010 is the year. I’m just about to begin recording my next album, and I’m going to call it Aloha Supreme.
When I set out to write this music, I wanted to feature the lap steel more than I had on my previous albums. The result…
Aloha Supreme is a collection of lyrical, wordless, genre-bending songs, with melodies played (mostly) on lap steel.
the players
the band
Christine Bougie – lap steel, guitars
Dafydd Hughes – keys
Paul Mathew – bass
Kieran Adams – drums
some guests(I haven’t asked them yet, so I hope they’re available!)
Bryden Baird – trumpet
Andrew Downing – cello
Drew Jureka – violin
Julia Hambleton – bass clarient
producer
Dean Drouillard – Dean produced my last two albums, and he’s my 5th Beatle.
the music
This list might change a bit over the next few months, but it’s a good place to start…
Chet & Chomsky
Aloha Supreme
Blanche & Rose
Take This, Leave That
Me Her
Bobcat
Hammy’s Revenge
I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times (Beach Boys cover)
Here’s a demo of “Me Her”…
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And a demo of “Chet & Chomsky”…
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money
Though my fingers are crossed that I’ll get the Ontario Arts Council grant, I’m prepared to put this one on my Visa. I’ve also been looking into some fundraising sites like Kickstarter and Kapipal, so crippling debt may not be my only option. If you have an ideas about how I can raise money for this recording, let me know.
Six months ago today, in my first official blog post, I committed to posting on Tuesdays and Fridays for six months.
I haven’t missed one scheduled post (although I went above and beyond in December by posting every single day), and now today is the day where I can re-evaluate and change this schedule.
So here’s what I’m committing to…
march 1st – september 1st
I’m committing to posting something every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for the next six months. Yep – I’m adding a day. And switching from Fridays to Thursdays – it’s been a challenge to do the Friday posts because I’m often playing out of town on weekends.
big projects in 2010
As for what I’ll be talking about over the next six months…
I’ve got three big projects to tell you about.
My next three blog posts will be about these recording projects. I’m really excited about them!
other things I’d like to get into on the blog
making stuff making awesome stuff – I’m inspired by people who make stuff happen – people who take ideas and see them through to the end. Lately, I’ve been making a big effort to follow through and finish ideas, so I’ll let you know about my experiences.
talking about the stuff we (that means you and me) make in an a non-douchey way – I’m also inspired by independent artists who have found a way to talk about what they do without being careless. Careless = spamming your friends, being completely self-absorbed, you know. The solution isn’t to never talk about your art/work, it’s to talk to the right people about it in the right way.
practicing – I’ve already talked about practicing quite a bit here. I’m pretty sure that I’ll be getting into it more over the next few months as I work on some personal habits. I’ve never been good at practicing, so I spend a lot of energy trying to get good at it.
listening – This is something I haven’t talked about much, but I’m going to start. Whenever I hang out with friends, the inevitable question is asked: “What are you listening to?” I figure the blog is a good place to share what I’ve been listening to, and hopefully to get some suggestions from you!
So that’s where I’m headed for the next six months. I’m very grateful that people have been visiting this site and having conversations with me about this stuff. Thanks guys.
Speak soon,
Christine
P.S. You can get these posts delivered by email or RSS. If that’s just too much information, you can subscribe to my once-a-month email list. Or just come back and visit.
3 weeks after I started this blog, I posted a short list of some other musicians (mostly just friends of mine) with blogs.
Now, 6 months later, here’s my follow-up to that post.
I decided to narrow it down to Canadian musicians, but I’m still interested in checking out musician blogs from anywhere in the world, so send me links!
So here it is, in no particular order…
Mike Evin – Evin On Earth – Check out how he’s raising funds for his current recording project. Smart.
Stacey McLeod – Hooks & Ladders- I’ve known and played with Stacey for a while (we sometimes play with Ronley Teper together), but only recently discovered that she has the best blog ever.
Aaron Dawson – Dirty Inputs – You might know him from his band Off The International Radar, but did you know that Aaron and I used to be part of a Secret Millionaire Brunch Club? We met every Sunday (there were about 5 of us) and played the most geeky financial/investing board game you’ve never heard of. Those were the days. And now we’re millionaires!
Alex Hickey – alexsings – Her tagline sums it up: “A blog about singing, songwriting, creativity and community.” Man, I need a tagline for my blog.
Emma-Lee – Adventures In Dreamland – I played lap steel on her newest album and have since discovered that she’s not only a singer-songwriter, but a photographer, too!
Hobson’s Choice – as long as there are birds- Not sure if everyone in the band contributes to the blog, but I’ve read some posts from Michael Davidson, Felicity Williams, and Rebecca Hennessy. Wait – that just leaves Harley Card. Harley – do you write any of these posts?
Shawn Clarke -Birds Too Tired To Fly- If you’re looking for good music to check out in Toronto, you should subscribe to his blog.
David Myles – davidmyles.com - I kinda know David through Josh Van Tassel (see below).
Josh Van Tassel – joshuavt.com- I wouldn’t be doing this if Josh didn’t do it first.
Ali Berkok – Integrity Of Being- Ali doesn’t have any idea how many times I’ve almost accidentally sent him very personal emails. (My girlfriend’s name is Ali.)
Doug Friessen – Creative-ed – The music teacher you wish you had in high school.
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