Frank Blair: News

The CD is done and masters are away to the duplicators!  Physical copies should be here later this week.  Liner notes, online sales, and digital distribution should be set up in the next couple weeks.  Special thanks for Bill Morris (http://www.billmorrismusic.net) and Mark Powers (http://www.powerspercussion.com) for putting some tracks down with me.

I'll be playing a couple sets at the Newport Celtic Festival and Highland Games next weekend (June 11-12th) in Newport, OR.  If you're on the coast, stop by.  There's some other great acts and vendors at this first year festival.

Studio sessions last weekend for the upcoming CD.  Concept art is complete:

Front Cover:

Tray Card:

If you're at the coast in June, look for me at the Newport Irish Festival and Highland Games in Newport, OR or if you're in Salem, OR stop by the European tent at the World Beat Festival in Salem on Sunday afternoon. Dates are available on the Calendar page.

- Frank

Greetings all!

Couple pieces of news.

We're on track for a June 10th release of the new CD.  

That just happens to coincide with an appearance at the Newport Irish Festival and Highland Games in Newport, OR!  Just confirmed that in the last couple weeks.  It's a first year festival so if you're anywhere near the coast pop over to Newport and support the newbie festival so we can be certain it will come around again next year.

I'm making a trek back to the midwest in July and things are looking good for gigs in KC, OKC, and Dallas.  By the time the next Gazette rolls around there should be some postings about that.  Keep an eye open if you're in those areas.

Adding some dates for the year starting in March.  A couple festival appearances and many of the usual suspects.  Foundation tracks for a couple pieces have been recorded; working on finalizing arrangements and lining up some help on them. 

Two questions for the VURD - I'm toying with a modified delivery method - maybe putting singles out on iTunes first, then collecting them into a CD.  I'm also toying with putting an entire catalog together (MP3s, liner notes, CD art) on a USB thumbdrive or a membership-access share for download for a cost.  Your thoughts on either of those would be appreciated.  Send me an email via the "Contact Me" link with them.

The bad news - there was a little scheduling mixup with Harvest Fresh and the 3rd Saturday Art & Wine Walk.  

The good news - I'm still playing on Saturday, 9/18 at the R. Stuart & Co. Wine Bar a little further down on 3rd Street (528 NE 3rd St. to be exact.)  3:45p - 8:00pm.

Work on the new CD project is coming along.  I've written, pared, and re-pared the list of tracks several times.  Along the way, I re-arranged two or three things to suit me better and I've been taking some notes on some additional instrumentation - incorporating the new-to-me Sobell into arrangements and finding other musical friends to get some other tracks.  This will end up being somewhat more ambitious than the other two solo efforts.  Consequently, it's taking somewhat longer to plan.

Sorry about that, but it will be worth the wait.  I'm shooting for late fall.  Maybe Christmas-ish timeframe.

In other news - think about house concerts.  I'm nearly always interested, they're a fun thing to do, and you can get more info at http://www.concertsinyourhome.com

- Frank

New out on the Gabriel's Legacy label, "Walking There" by William Morris.  I've know Bill for a long time.  He does exceptional work and this is his maiden voyage in the recording studio.  Over the last couple years, he's been getting his light out from underneath that bushel basket he's been hiding it under and making a name for himself in the mid-west.  What amazes me is that it's taken this long to get him recorded.

For now, you can get a copy here.  CD Baby will follow shortly.  His website is linked in the links section.

- Frank

I've started putting together a "long list" that will eventually be pared down to a "short list".  At some point in the next few weeks that will morph into "the list" and a trek into the studio caves will begin.

Tentatively scheduled for release in September.  Tentatively titled "Lifesize."

In the process of culling through photos for the new site I found a CD that Travis Ener (sound man extraordinaire) pulled off the board during one of Cavan's sets at North Texas Irish Festival in 2002.  From the set list and a few other clues I think it's the infamous "Why the Hell is it 18 Degrees in Dallas?!?" set.

They're pretty rough (did I mention that it was very, very COOOLD?!).  I believe that this is the only record of us performing "Caleb Meyer" (Gillian Welch), a full band arrangement of "Isabeaux s'y Promene", "Crossing the Fraser / Man of the House / Musical Priest", and a version of "It Was A' For Oor Rightfu' King / Le Chanson Des Livres".  ("Crossing the Fraser" is a pipe-tune inspired hornpipey-thing that I wrote after a trip with Sean Foree and our significant others to Vancouver, BC. It's on a short list to be recorded officially sometime soon.  More on that later.)

I'm migrating my online presence to this site slowly, but surely.  Look for updates in the next week or so as new bits become available.  If you're on the mailing list already, you don't have to resubscribe.  If you're not, the new site makes that a lot easier.  I do have access to a new mailing list client and the next gazette will be coming from frankblair.com.  You may want to check your spam filters periodically just in case.

Some potentially exciting things and new dates in the works.  More about that here when it's more firm.

- Frank