Stormcellar Band Home Page

Howdy Folks.

Our second stop on this years US tour is...Recording a new album!

With the release of SC8, the next album will 'officially' be SC9. It was a 10 month turn around on SC8, so I guess we can expect SC9 in 2017.

Conceptually, SC7: Everywhere Feels Like Home, SC8: Kansas City Gold and SC9 are all part of the 'Mid West Triptych' concept.

Ah! What exactly is that, I hear you say (ok i don't hear you say it, i am imagining you saying it).

Ahem.

Well.....a tryptych triptych is um..a...hang on...wikipedia...crap i've been misspelling it...

Triptych - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triptych

Right. So, in our uniquely 'cellar based  thinking, this bunch of albums is a three volume set reflecting our experiences touring the american midwest for 4 years - from folk, to country, to blues, to gospel, soul and now....and now....who knows what will emerge from Indiana. (I do, if you've been to a show you do too, if not, come to a show).

 

We're heading back to the same studio we recorded 'Better Off Without You' on last years tour, and that song will set the tone for SC9. Sort of. I'm serious about doing Harmonica METAL!!!! METAAAAL!!!!

 

 

(Ahem)

 

No really - the mid west artists we have been playing with, writing with, jamming with, have all influenced us. We've written songs about the places we've been, songs about stories we've been told, songs written for and in the styles of others, or at least in our version of their styles.

 

I think the last part of this triptych (ha! got it) is going to explore the modern derivatives we encountered. We saw some far out high energy blue grass/folk/punk stuff in downtown KC and it's been in my mind ever since.

 

 

 

 

Yep, until I sat here and wrote this I didn't realise that this one particular show from the eponymously named Larry & His Flask had stuck with me so hard. That makes them an Official Musical Influence. Get down!

 

And that's as it ought to be. Colliding ideas.

 

Anyway. Even though the next albums worth of songs are written, mostly battle tested and ready for tracking, Brother Bill, Rosie and Mr Wizard are all pitching new candidates for a last spot.

 

That's the good bit of doing what we get to do. Making stuff. You should make some stuff too. You might dig it and we might go to your gig and be influenced by you.

Ok that was fast.

So here's what happened.

We're just about to go on tour so we weren't trying to release a new album because; too much at once.

Anyway, we did.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/stormcellar21

Now if you buy that you need part one so go buy Everywhere Feels Like Home, it's nothing at all like Kansas City Gold.

Which is nothing like The Curious Assembly

which is a little similar to hired guns

which is a little...

Ok, I bought download cards for the new release.

Yeah I know.

I was never a Vinyl Freak (yes I know you're yelling at the screen right now Larry, stop it and go take your dang meds).

Cassettes were a fond memory as Bali Pirate compilations, OMG they had ALL the good tracks from an artist on messed up speed variable tapes. I loved it.

But then came....

Yeah I know you expected me to say 'CD' but for us Original Geeksters (that's O.G to you, word), we took a lurch into Digital Media, and CD was just a Next Gen storage thing. The fact you could use it for music was...meh.

Playlists and digital files were starting to happen. I mean a lot happened fast, we went from looking at NSFW 'ASCII Art'

 to full motion video of...err....um...Funny Cats! Yes! ahaha, how we laughed.

Well you know, before 'everything' was on the internet, you could only get your digital naughties if you.....well lets not talk about that shall we?

I mean, we were young so naive and had Blazing 9600kb Modems and... OMG I'm so old right now.

 But here's the thing, for teen boys wanting to shift volumes of data (ie: naked girly pics), we were willing to embrace anything that....omg this post is going haywire. I'm looking at that ASCII its freaking me out a little.

So... undulating.

Right. Where was I?

That's it. Over to you Dalek.

I'm going to make some copies for the KC Artists because they're still into CD's, so that's cool, but from our perspective as #selfpropelledartists (yeah I hashtagged that, It's nerd-overkill today), CD's have as much downside as upside.

Digital Copies are easy to thieve but easy to distribute. 

Work out the cost of a CD, factor in Postage, Packaging etc and digital wins everytime.

I'm OK with making CD's, but we'll probably only be making them for short runs and limited editions, because we really may have crossed the Rubicon into the age of ubiquitous data

There are some hard truths about the change in our industry today. Evolution does not have agency, malice nor compassion.

It's up to us to find the way through.

Yes I'll still make you a cd so don't fret and start writing me, but we'll probably ask how many people want them and then only make that many, plus a few spares, but i think the days of stocking shelves with them is passing swiftly...

Happy IBMD.

Yesterday we released a very limited edition of hand made copies of SC8, catalogue number sc1601 'Kansas City Gold'.

Thank you to all those people who bought a copy, you're helping to fund making copies for the Kansas City artists, it's much appreciated.

If you didn't get your copy, well, sorry about that. Some things really are rare. Wait a few weeks and get it online.

I for one am glad to see the project complete. It's been, and to a degree, continues to be, a contentious project. Brother Bill thinks that's as it should be. I'd be OK with smooth sailing m'self, but Bill feels like you should 'live the blues to make the blues'.

Hell no.

LOL.

I've tried to balance many competing viewpoints on this one. Sometimes successfully. Other times, well...perhaps it was best understood by those who formed crews to go after a prize, knowing that each was in their own way, their own master

The best ye may be

from the aft

to the fore

is Captain at sea

and Quartermaster ashore.

Right. So where was I.

Oh yeah.

Cheers to all the folks who supported the WBC at Corrimal yesterday. Good crowd, good players. Good vibe.

There was a great deal of love in the place yesterday, which was good. 

We all got so enthusiastic we forgot that as it's an RSL, at 6'oclock, we stop to remember.

As Bill was saying, after all these years of being trained to play through anything, you don't generally stop unless you know why you're stopping.

Also, after years of playing in RSL's, how could we have forgotten that at 6pm you stop for the Ode of remembrance?

Someone was waving frantically at me from stage and I couldn't work out what was going wrong, it all kind of disintegrated into Chaos for a moment until the Penny Dropped. Ah. Theo looked Daggers at me for a moment when I tried to get him to cut, until he worked out I wasn't being obnoxious, just trying to stop before the Ode came on...

We all turned to face the west, they dimmed the lights and played the last call.

For reasons I won't go into, this was a particularly poignant moment.

I pretty much lost it.

I took a moment to Try and Get My Shit Together, which I highly recommend, should you ever be about to launch into 'One way out', and in a spontaneous moment of human kindness, a lady from the audience ran up and grasped my hand for a moment, telling me it was going to be ok.

There really still is great wonder in this world.

All I can respond with is 'thank you'.

Some things are worth stopping for.

We have one more gig before we go o/s on tour, but much work to do in the meanwhile.

Happy IBDM.

Hello dear reader. If this is your first time here, it's probably because we're doing pre-tour marketing and it's worked. Or you saw us. Or you need a hole in the ground with a lid on it. We're a 'Speculative' Stormcellar, if you will. For actual stormcellars for weather protection may we suggest google, or under an overpass.

If the messaging doesn't make sense it's because you missed the first few eps. Go on, read the blogs, it only goes back to 2008. Ok, no don't do that. Just jump on in.

So...for those 'cellar dwellers who are up to date.

AHEM:

We'd like to thank all the people who helped us to complete this album.

On the quarterdeck this morning, and at the request of the Quartermaster, a toast was raised to our Comrades Abroad.

The crew of the Stormcellar extend their compliments to Mssr's Gilbert, Cox(s), Bellamy, Groove, Teamer, Simmons & Holmes & Gilley.

From which point a tot of rum was distributed and their heath toasted.

A second tot of rum was issued to ensure our appreciation was properly noted.

The third tot of rum was on account of Medicinal Requirements.

An additional rum with cocoa-nut milk and or an umbrella was offered, plus some light snacks.

The  lūʻau is scheduled for after todays engagement down south

Three cheers were offered and the colours hoist.

Hurrah me lads!

NOTE: Rum, pirates, ship etc were purely metaphorical liberties taken for the purposes of self amusement.

That is all.

Over the side! ARRR!!!