A Letter to my Crowdfunders: the Abbey release notes
So after 4 years I am extremely glad to announce that I have finally released a 5 track CD and Digital download and called it simply ‘The Abbey’. I have split the release of the album into two EP length releases ‘the Abbey’ and ‘St. Cecilia’. Most of the tracks on this release where recorded with Gem at Hive Studio’s in Glastonbury. I still have several guide tracks that i’m working on and 3 new songs that i’m planning to release as soon as possible. This could take a while and that’s why i’m releasing the tracks that are finished and ready.
I have strived to make this the best recording I can and at times my perfectionism has led me down
blind alleys. I re-mixed ‘Rollin On’ three times, re-recorded the vocals three times and took two separate summers in the UK to get all the other instrumentation down. Only two tracks, namely ‘I Feel Fine’ and ‘Another Platform’ were finished in that first summer after you all so kindly donated your hard earned cash to help me realise this dream. ‘Train Story’ was recorded in Australia and then Samantha Barry added Violin and Harmonica in the UK. Gem mixed the track and sent it over but on first listen I wasn’t happy and so, for many months it sat and did nothing. Sometimes you need to let these things alone for a while and after having another listen I realised it was perfect as it was! It’s actually my favourite track on the EP. I was also stuck with the acoustic version of ‘I’ll See Again’ that Sam and I laid down in those first sessions in Glastonbury. The Click track had bled through and I felt that i’d need to re-record. Once I’d dug it out however I realised that i’d only need to re-record the Guitar part and hey presto the track came back to life.
I have more, better songs in me and it is now my intention to sell as many copies as possible of ‘the Abbey’ to help fund the second leg of the journey and get back into recording. Please feel free to share the tracks around if you see fit. All in all I hope that you get something out of having a listen and please know that I would never have completed this important first lap if it hadn’t been for your support. Knowing that I had to deliver to my friends and family kept me going even when the expanses of time in between seemed to engulf me and leave me feeling very low and unable to proceed. I had to finish and so I thank you all from the bottom of my heart, your donations keep on giving. I promised you an album and have delivered only an EP length recording. Therefore the story is not finished. I have 5 more tracks unearthing themselves at my fingers and I strive to create the time to realise them. ‘St. Cecilia’ is the patron saint of music and it is in her name that i will finish the recording and writing of the next release.
Thank you, Thankyou, Thankyou all for being my friends and for supporting me with my dream.
Sincerely
Wayne R Davies
Whitedog
The Tipping Point
When to quit the day job.!
As an Independent artist the hardest thing to reach is ‘The tipping point.’ By which I mean, the point where there is enough momentum in your music career that you can give up the day job without risking the security of your family.
‘The Tipping Point’ catch 22 is this:” If I don’t dedicate enough time to my music career i’ll never get near the tipping point and yet if I dedicate all of my time to my music career i’ll be broke in about 2 months and therefore be further from the tipping point!” That is the fear. So what is the solution..
I don’t have the answers yet but i’ve researched a lot and the advice i’ve been given suggests the obvious. The three PPP’s. Patience, Perseverance and Planning.
So to help me with the third P i’ve found a couple of solutions..
Firstly, I used this little diagram to help me out, ..
So for me, some time off work is the way forward. I’ve booked a couple of days off but it’s not going to be enough.. Can i get my job to reduce my hours and therefore give me more time to work on music? We shall see… Otherwise a part time job could be the way forward..
SecondIy, I’ve been putting in place ‘systems’ which are enabling me to clear my head of all the lists and concentrate my efforts on one thing at a time. This seems to have really helped, for example, in my very limited time before work on wednesdays I review my music opportunities with sites like www.musicclout.com and www.taxi.com and submit to any that suit me. On thurs i spend that precious 30mins reviewing emails that have been sent to me. On Fridays ill rotate between booking gigs or addressing my Mailing list (which means for the first tim ein months i’ve actually communicated with them!)
My third bit of ‘Planning’ is to use the calendar!. So many times in the past i’ve had a rough date in the future for the intended release of the album. And, invariably, that date comes and goes.. So this time I haven’t actually picked that date yet but i’m placing into my calendar all the things that need to happen in order to release on time. By entering these ‘signposts’ into an actual calendar and sticking to them i’m hoping that this time round the ‘Album’ gets released.
That’s all for now, I’ll report back next month with some real progress… i hope!
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Coffeeshop Crossroads Lyrics Video
I’ve just posted a video for the song ‘Coffeeshop Crossroads’ on YouTube. Here is the link.>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-edTjgrDvA
The song is about not knowing which is the right way to go, always having several options available to us can be quite disconcerting at times. It was written in a cafe back in 2002 in Glastonbury and I released a version on the back of the single ‘I’ll See Again’ in the same year. I have stripped back a lot of the lyrics since then and changed the way i pick the bass notes with my thumb. It changes the feel a little bit and i’m wondering if i’ve lost some of the original sentiment, which is that no matter the cjoices that we have we are on the road home and hopefully we can find some trust that at the end there is only death and that we cannot possibly be heading in a wrong direction.
Anyway i hope you enjoy the video, thanks for listening,.
W
Getting going..
“It doesn’t matter what you get done, as long as you get going.” Anon.
Really,.? Because, I have so many unfinished projects it not true,. I’m very good at getting going, it’s finishing that I have a problem with,! Reading back over posts from a year ago I realise I’m no further along the road! The Album is still not complete, no time to finish, concentrate, anything,. But the money is coming in,. An absolute opposite to the UK where I had the time and the resources, but no money!
I’ve been listening back to the tracks recorded in the UK last Summer, I really didn’t get any further with the Album. The live show with Sam and Smiffy took the music in a slightly different direction and working with them both was a hugely enjoyable experience, one that reminded me what being in a group is like,. The feeling of having others working with you for shared goals. I realise that everything material became hard back in the UK but I’m starting to realise that the development of the self in a spiritual /personal development sense was working behind the lines in that time. That the Album itself moved not nearly an inch but the attitude to record a really good record was in nurturing. I have employed an attitude that the timing of this album has to be in alignment with producing the best Record possible with the songs I have. And that means going over the tracks that are not yet working again and again until they sound right.
I have to work on the best album possible,..St Cecilia was urging me to get it right, to produce something that I am proud of today and for the rest of my days. So I cannot possibly say I didn’t really do that right. And for this end I am dedicated.
