Since last November four fifths of Black Velvet have been meeting once a month to catch up and run through as many of the old tunes as we can handle. There been as many rusty half finished song attempts as surprisingly competent renditions.
We don’t have any grand plans, but we do want to set aside a day each month to play some rock and roll. Below you’ll find a couple of recordings from November and December.
Thanks to Blonski for recording and mastering these tracks.
-Mike
As Blonski and I continue to “wrap up” the fourth season of Duck House, I spent a minute or two looking at the cover art for the upcoming album. For some reason, this jogged my memory of a few of the Black Velvet show posters I made years ago and figured sifting through them a bit to revisit old times might be a fun exercise. It’s probably not the worst idea to get them up on the SGP blog for posterity’s sake too. So, without further ado, behold! The Black Velvet show posters in reverse chronological order. As a bonus, I’ve included the letter from our apartment complex that cancelled Willi-Oaks fest II. Typical The Man.
My favorites are the Ketchup vs. Mustards and the Marilyn Monroe picture signed to Don, the manager at the Hungry Tiger in Manchester. I don’t think he ever framed it and hung it up, unfortunately. Thanks to Carmen Zambrano for contributing a sweet sketch to the Jim Beam Me Up Tour. Finally, that All-Stars poster is a total ripoff of Witch Season and Dead Diamond River.
New music soon!
-Mike
We can now move Reserved from a category that contains this to one with this and this. Our thanks go out to Carmen for her artwork, Pete for his spectacular mastering job, and to anyone who still has a t-shirt or sticker. Enjoy.
-Mike
In order to properly gear up for the release of Reserved, the posthumous album release from Black Velvet, I dug up some recordings of the final show at Sully’s Pub in Hartford. It’s incomplete and poorly recorded, but we did get some guy to move his truck. I think. Enjoy!
Download the show here.
-Mike
Let us check off what is done:
We’ve put ourselves in a position to begin filming the scene between Winona and the Tutorial Screen the next time we get together. The hope is that since one of the characters doesn’t even move, the taking of photographs will go much more quickly than the first scene.
As a bonus music-related piece of news, the long rumored to be in production final Black Velvet album may actually see release within the next few months. Rumor has it that near final mixes of the tracks are being considered for mastering. Hop on over to thewaywardsoldier.com for more info from friend of the label, Jefim Piekarz.
-Mike
Last fall, Jefim Piekarz (friend of the label and singer of Black Velvet and Corona of the Sun) and I got together for a dozen or so sessions to record his solo album under the moniker The Wayward Soldier (many demos of which can be found on his site). He had been kicking around a bunch of songs he wrote before, during, and after his time with Black Velvet, and we holed up in my basement in Newington to track the drums. I was working on Meat Without Feet‘s WPOP at the time, and was loving the freedom that comes with recording digital instruments. Naturally, I hard sold him on using the MIDI drum kit. We laid down drums and vocals before he split for Cambridge, MA, but even though the fruits of those sessions remain in the oven a bit longer, we do have something to show today for our efforts.
While working on The Wayward Soldier, we penned one complete track and a few half-baked ideas for a new, untitled project. The first fruit of that collaboration is Predicament‘s “Crossroads.” It’s not an Eric Clapton cover, seeing as Jefim and I play guitar. Reflecting on it now, the lyrics are clearly prophetic. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” and all that…
You can also rock to some lossless goodness if that’s what you’re into over at bandcamp.
Hopefully more tracks to come in the months ahead!
-Mike
Updates on two bands and miscellaneous other details! Hooray!
First, The Name would like to thank Shake it Twice for letting us rock out at Musky’s with them earlier in the month. Despite technical difficulties and human error, we managed to pull off (if we’re being generous) four songs. Two The Name originals and covers of “Summertime” by The Fresh Prince/DJ Jazzy Jeff and “The Way of the World” by Earth Wind and Fire. Luckily there is no audio from the show. The next step is recording the originals and hitting the open mics.
In addition to a pending The Name release, Meat Without Feet are inching closer to their second release. Another four track EP, WPOP will likely drop within the next month or so. Recording in nearly complete, with only minor touch-ups and mixing left to do.
Friend of the label, Jefim Piekarz, is also hard at work on The Wayward Solider’s debut, which will feature some drum, bass, and keyboard from SGP members.
Black Velvet’s second disc, Reserved, is also perpetually in progress. Someday!
-Mike
