Oh what a beautiful morning!!!

.....oh what a beautiful day....We've got a glorious feeling, Howards finally called it a day!!

11 years of skullduggery, xenophobia, corruption, lies ...lies and more lies, facism, right wing inflexibility and inequality, work fuckin choices, terrorism mongering and Bush butt licking, homophobia and general crimes against humanity are over!!
...and thats just his good points!!!

The election silly...thats here in Australia
We definitely wear a green heart on our sleeve and its a left one as well

On a band note
Just came out of the studio and its even better than we'd hoped for....wont give too much way but I was just up on a beautiful hill in the country watching the sunrise and listening to our version of "Norwegian Wood" and trancing out on harmonies and Andis sitar impressions on 12 string

Love to all

UK action!!

There’s been a lot of action in the Blue Valentine camp of late.

After their shows in Mudgee, Orange and Sydney and the Live to airs on REAL FM and ABC Central West radio, they took a well deserved rest.

With the release of their CD online internationally on CD baby they have been gathering attention from overseas and the UK in particular.

Journalists from the Bucketful of Brains, the oldest running Fanzine in London have been interested and there is also interest from a few DJ’s on BBC2 and BBC6.

Currently the band are heading back into the studio at Sunpower in Mudgee to start work on a follow up EP. Its early days yet and wont see the light of day till March/April 2008. Word has it that it will include a crowd favourite or two plus some new originals and will feature their latest addition, Andi Garland on Guitar.

CD & Downloads available now

You can get our debut album now online and downloads available too
Go to our myspace page and follow links
We have a few weekends off now after a frantic few months
Our fingers and voices are enjoying the break

CD available at ABC Books

The CD is now available at ABC Books Orange and Mudgee with more retail outlets announced soon.
You can also purchase from Angus and Robertson in Mudgee and at the Tourism office
We've kept the price at $25

2MG today ABC next week!

At 2.40 pm today we will be on air with Will from 2mg [1449khz] playing a few tunes and chatting about the CD.
Next week on Friday 12 at 10.45am Ill be on ABC Central West talkin bout the CD and playing some tracks

Live on REAL FM

We are doing some live songs on REAL FM/2MG Mudgee on Wednesday Oct 3. Thought we might do some that aren't on the CD and are working well live, just for something different....maybe "From four till late" by Robert Johnson and "Tell me ma", an Irish trad song.
Keep you posted as to when its on. Will be doing interview as well and there is a big feature in the local paper this week

CD'S Arrived

We now have CD's hot off the press
Still setting up our "BUY" page. Will keep you posted.
The lucky few who see us at gigs will be able to purchase them from us directly....or they will soon be available thru Inertia Music nationally in music stores.

Wine Festival Fun

Yes its that time of year again in Mudgee.
Cool mornings with new blossoms, birds and growth give way to gorgeous warm days full of new life.
We are taking advantage again of the lovely, lovely Annual Mudgee Wine Festival to take our music to beautiful alfresco settings in some of the wineries around the area.
All gigs are on the gigs page so check it out

We are gearing up for the upcoming release of our debut CD.
Have a feature coming up in the Local Mudgee Guardian and REAL FM/2MG will also be featuring us. ABC Central West will be also promoting us and we have a few other plans.
Should have copies from 25 SEPT and they will be available on www.figtreewordsandmusic.com
Keep you posted!!

El posto Neuvo

The last few weeks have been pretty busy with gigs, checking out CD covers and the film clip.

The CD was mastered in Melbourne at the end of June by Ken Shulman at Dex Audio and glossed up good. Changed the running order slightly and very happy with the result.

We have been keeping up a steady supply of gigs and at one stage split into 2 bands on one weekend where we were double booked. Talk about versatile. Ged Corben and myself did my brothers wedding in Sydney while Andi and Fi did a function in Mudgee.
A quantum shift has occurred with our playing since some advice of Geds about splitting up our [Andi and me] capo positions and our playing has upped a notch. Should be sounding real good come CD launch time in October.
Have lots of work in Mudgee over the Wine Festival and a busy October.

......and the new originals keep on coming. 3 in the bag of which we are playing 2 already and Andi and me are working on 3 more.

Mixmaster

Long time no post
The mixes are finished.
Dave Miles and myself are exhausted and music has been going round and round in our heads for too long.
There were one or two false starts and once or twice we had to redo tracks but hey you get that.
Mastering is set for next Thursday 21 June at Dex Audio and they will handle manufacture as well. Cletis is currently working on the cover and we are putting some sort of schedule together.
Waiting to get masters before updating music page or speaking to distributors. 2 we have our eye on are Shock records and MGM distribution
I won't say when it should be released as there are always hold ups and it's better to err on the side of caution but August should definitely see it in the shops.
All in all 12 tracks are there, all bar one are originals and a few didn't make the cut because they didn't fit the vibe.
What finished is different to what started out and a few new songs were written on the way, [Godfather of my soul, Girl upcountry, Blown it all away and Geds instrumental called Waiting for you] Even though the songs that didn't make it aren't weak [Magic eyes, Everybody's gotta learn sometimes, First song, Scarlet tide] they just didn't fit and the style definitely went more folksy.as it went along.

We are only just discovering a sound.

Playing at the markets in Mudgee this Saturday and should have some even newer original songs to try out. One is an accapella number called "Cradle to grave" and another pop/country rocker called "Dead mans jeans" about a haunted pair of jeans??? Our version of Cottonfields might get a run and its going to be great to play with Andi Garland again. He just makes such a difference to the mix. Can't wait to get him into the studio.

Welcome to Orange

We had a fantastic time in Orange and the reaction was very positive.
Apart from the shock of a lot of stall holders who had no idea that I played music or that we actually rehearse, write, play and record songs, every one who heard us was STOKED.
There has probably never been a more receptive audience for Blue Valentine for months and brought home to Fiona and me how over exposed we are in Mudgee.
The music has definitely come a long way and evolved to a different plane now. We are in "Roots" territory, whether it be Celtic/Folk/Blues/Country/Pop/Rock.
Andi Garland's extra guitar has had a huge impact on the sound and playing. The mandolin is adding another dimension and we can actually play some originals from the forthcoming album without them sounding too removed from where the set is at.
The market manager, Cath Thomson, loved us, was beside herself and was even stealing our cards to give away to winery/restaurant owners. We might have to give her a spotters fee. Fiona was fielding requests for gigs left right and centre. One local muso and friend of mine Rod Dickinson said we sounded great and worked well together and another muso stopped to chat and liked what he heard. Turns out he's from Monsieur Camembert in Sydney, who have a gypsy leaning and were up in Orange to play at Borrodell Winery. Lucky he passed as we were doing Mandolin songs.
They would love to have us back at the markets in June or July.
There are 3 good things about playing at growers markets; one is you reach a far greater audience than at a normal gig [up to 2,000 at some markets] , two is the warm fuzzys you get from adding to the community atmosphere and vibe and helping the market itself and three; the shopping is good!

Have a week to digest mixes done and Ged and Jason Blackwell finished Geds song "Waiting for you", so we will be putting it all together next week. Actually did a few edits to "Girl upcountry" to cut off some time from the 6.40 min its clocking in at the moment. Dave Miles thought it might be a radio song in the future and it's a tune that certainly has a lot of local musos talking.
Weekend off though Fiona, Andi, myself and Robbin Binks will be at Sunpower Studios this Saturday to lend a hand to Dave Miles studio Album. A big gospel chorus. Should be right down Fi's alley.
Meeting up with Mark Chatterton this week to look at rushes from filming of Watchin the rain. Might grab a few stills for promo shots and we have to suss out when we can finish off Fionas shots.

Colour city debut & mixing album

Just out of the studio from 2 days of mixing and a day last week of cleaning up last little bits of vocals/off key guitars and edits. Dave Miles cranked up the soundcraft desk with pre amps, compressors and a beautiful half inch reel to reel recorder.
Its amazing how much goess into an album and how many tracks aare there to work with. Full drum kit takes up 12 channels including O/H and ambient mics. Bass, 2 or 3 guitars, keyboards/pianos, mandolins and then extra dobros and lap steel guitars before you even come near the vocals which sometimes came up to 8 different vocal tracks between Fi and me if we were double tracking.
All these have to be EQ'd separately and then any desired effects put on and still you don't really know how it is all going to "sit". Sometimes you can listen to the same song 20 times! I've produced one or two albums before and mixing is still the most terrifying time for me. Sort of like your last chance. There are still glitches on Lime Spiders recordings from over 20 years ago that make me cringe, though Joe public wouldn't be able to tell the difference if one cymbal hit was 3db down in the mix.
Having said that I managed to fuck up one song already, which we'll have to redo on Friday, 3 hours down the drain. Halfway there and sounding good. Ged Corbens' and Dave Miles' guitars and mandolins are really spicing up the mix.
Ged is finishing off his piece at the Sydney Opera House studios with Jason Blackwell on Friday so you might even get an updated music page next week.

Playing at the Orange Growers Market on Saturday 12 May. It should be interesting as I used to be a stall holder there and when people there see me they usually think of Olives.
....and thats if I've been a good boy!!
At least I don't have to get up at 4am in the morning this time. I get to sleep in till 6 am

All hands on stage at Merton

There was almost as many people on stage as there were in the audience on Sunday night at the Merton
Me, Fi and Andi were joined by Ged from the Spiders and Wheelers and Dealers. Christine from W & D was there and had never seen us before and was pleasantly surprised, they have a new CD JUSTOUT. Rebecca Hancock joined Ged on a few songs and Simon Bruce from the States was joined by Leroy Lee [just scored Missy Higgins support slot through JJJ Unearthed] for a few songs. They commented on Norwegian Wood to me [Which I sang] and Needle and the Damage done [Which Fi sang] Both comments were .......dig that song man!!!
We had Dobros/Mandolins and Guitars and Djembes[Drum] interchanging quickly and thanks to Cletis for helping us manage the stage/floor.
New songs went down well and we concentrated on Album cuts plus some new reworkings of Tell me ma/Ella Speed/Four till late which definitely fitted into the roots/blues/folk/celtic category
We also had a few others joined and then Cletis did old Mudgee tunes with Fi then me
A good watershed night as far as performances go and we have turned a corner

Watchin the rain in the rain

Finally had some rain in Mudgee last night and its still raining now.
So, we got to finally doing the film clip of Watchin the rain, which is the lead track from the album. The house I rent is a gorgeous big heritage thing over 120 years old and it was lit up like a christmas tree [we shot at night in black and white]. Even with the rain we had to rig up a sprinkler or two on the roof to really make it look good and we all got very wet. Mark Chatterton from Elite Ventures did the production in between his gig as a photographer for the Mudgee Guardian.
The gigs at the Wine Bar and Mudgee Markets were good, though numbers were down at Roths Wine Bar. We have played there almost two years now as a residency and figure its time to give it a bit of a rest. Andi is fitting in seemlessly and we can mix up the set to give more light and shade with a bit of mandolin and pickin guitar.
Really looking forward to this weekends Sydney gig at the Merton Estate hotel on Sunday where Ged will join us. He also has some friends Rebecca Hancock [ex Ed Kuepper] who will be guesting on the night. Have worked out a set that moves around a bit with different instrumentation and featuring the bulk of the album which we have kept under wraps until now.
Fiona did her final vocals on Wednesday in Sunpower Studios and it is my turn on Tuesday coming. I also have to fix up one or two things then we mix and master.
The Lime Spiders have just mastered their Live CD at Tim Greigs, who used to mix the Hoodoo Gurus. It was mixed by Jason Blackwell who does front of house for the Spiders, at his real job place down in the recording studios beneath the Sydney Opera House. Its a departure from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra to say the least.
What struck me was the difference in sound that mastering makes. Its like a blanket has been taken off the mix and everything is louder, brighter and more in your face. I cant wait to hear the Blue Valentine CD mastered.
Have a meeting with our Webmaster, Cletis Carr on Monday after our get together on Sunday night to talk marketing and promotion with a view to him doing CD publicity for two months or until we take over the world!?

Starting to hot up again

Had a nice little sojourn out at Coonabarabran at Maria and Boukhardts solar powered pottery
It was a great few days in the bush and even played a song or 16 to some of the 'WWOOFERS' who seemed to enjoy the spontaneous gig.
We have a busy few days coming up and a lot of gigs are starting to come in and with the studio and film clip we should be well occupied.
Play Friday night at Roth's Wine Bar then Saturday morning at the Mudgee Growers Market. Have a few rehearsals with Andi over the next few days and next week have a day or two at Sunpower Studios.
Solar power seems to bookend this post

A few debuts.

Well a few more firsts for Blue Valentine.
Andi Garland did his debut gig with us at a Simon Gilbert Wines gig on Easter Saturday. Also I played Mandolin for the first time as I have been threatening to do for a few months.
To say we were a bit nervous would have been an understatement but it turned out better than we thought.
Had on jam with him on Thursday and that was the FIRST time I ever played the Mandolin. I can only really get my head/hands around CDAG and a bad E at the moment but was surprised how many songs that opened up.
Andi is a very good guitarist and seems to have the Mark Knoppler style down pat and a great ear to match. We were able to do a lot of new songs and it will certainly open up a few new avenues.
Hopefully should be able to post a few photoes from the gig so you can see how suave and good looking he is.

Ged's awesome performance!!

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it, but Ged did in 1 day what takes mere mortals at least 2.
All 9 tracks of the album which he was to play on were done between 10-6.30pm on Friday. That's multiple tracking of Mandolins/Dobro/Lap Steel and Electric. Dave Miles from Sunpowere was pretty good too and kept the machine rolling and the new tracks moving. All the microphone placements, all the EQ, EVERYTHING.
I am truly blessed.
The album is really sounding good now
If you are listening to the music page you won't hear the Mandolins yet on Watchin the rain.
We all went to the wine bar on Friday and met up with Fiona and Andi, watched Rumour Mill then retired back to my place for a big party and jam. I think Fi and me were singing Romeo and Juliet [Dire Straits] and Bron Sugar VERY loudly at 1am in the morning whilst Andi and Ged were playing Dobro/Guitar. Hope the neighbours liked it.
VERY seedy in the morning and then Fi and me had to play the 6 hour gig at Rylstone.
VERY tired but a good big week all round.
Met up with our man with the lense Mark Chatterton to start filming the 2-3 film clips.
VERY exciting and its all coming together.

Back to the studio..........bigtime!!

Resting up at the moment on a Saturday afternoon and reserving energy for the big week in the studio about to happen. They will all be full 8-10 hour days of very intense concentration.
Monday and Tuesday are booked for Backing tracks to the 3 new songs......Godfather of my soul/Blown away/Girl Upcountry. Songs that came to me just before the new year, some written in Motel rooms........very roadtrip!! Drums, guitars, bass, piano/keys and guide vocals all to be done.
Then.......
Ged Corben is coming to Mudgee on Thursday and Friday to put down Guitars/Mandolins/Pedal Steel/Dobro on all the above plus other finished tracks.....Watchin the rain, Planet away, Wrong Address, Water to wine, Scarlet tide and maybe a nice Mandolin solo on Fragile and then........
6 hour gig on Saturday 10 March for Rylstone Public school's 150th Anniversary.
Fi and me have to do vocals for CD and clean it up and thats that!
Ready for mixing
Yaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy

A nice bit of downtime

For once we don't have gigs crowding out our weekends and have some time to ourselves. Fi and Molly [shes on the photo page] came round last night for dinner and we played one or two new songs including "Cottonfields" which I knw from the Beach Boys version, but when I did a net search, it turns out it's credited to Leadbelly.
We don't have any gigs on horizon till the 10th March at Rylstone and you guessed it we just got offered a wedding on the same day.
Anyway it's nice to not have to do a show on Saturday night and as I am typing this I am planning a nice dinner out at the Indian restaurant with Louise.

Our new format

Now we are using blogspot, thanks to the wonderful people at Google and our webmaster Cletis Carr.
Posts should be more frequent and random if thats possible in the same sentence.
Will be back soon