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So the album is now out in England, but in a very limited capacity for the moment. You can find physical copies in rough trade shops in London (which is fantastic, as it is my favourite music shop) and also at hmv.com, or digitally it’s available on i tunes. I’m playing in London on the 22nd of july in the old queens head, it’s a make up show for the one i missed in may when the volcano scuppered all my well laid plans, i cannot wait to get over.
James
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i know i’ve been terrible at posting blogs here lately, so many social networking sites to maintain, sometimes one will slip through the cracks, although it is fairly ironic the one i keep forgetting is the only one i pay for!
Anyways, i swear i will be better soon, there is so much to talk about, but in the mean time, just a quick note to say how excited i am to be playing Oxegen festival tomorrow. I didn’t think i was going to do it this year and then they asked again quite late in the day and i just couldn’t resist. Am on at 2, which is early, but on the Heineken stage, which is amazing. Also i’ll get to see the black keys, vampire weekend, Jay z and the arcade fire!!!!! Gonna be an amazing day, see you all there!
I’ve been sworn to secrecy for the last couple o months, but i can now officially say that i will be playing Electric Picnic festival in stradbally, Ireland in september. I’m incredibly excited about this, it’s one of the most amazing festivals in the world. More details as and when i get them, just wanted to let everybody know!!!
James
to whom it may concern,
The last few weeks i’ve found myself with some free time between rounds of touring, which is rare, and pleasant, so i’ve been squirreled away in a cave of my own making, writing various things, rehearsing with various amazing players, making the best use of the earths daily cycles. I have been enjoying my time with just myself and my guitar immensely, and will continue to enjoy it for many many years to come, but the prospect of sharing a stage with incredible musicians fills my heart with joy and excitement. I’m taking my time with it for sure, but i believe it will grow organically and blossom into something truly substantial. I will reserve the right to say more on it until we’ve had more time to bend the songs to our will, so far we’re all still finding our collective way.
As i mentioned above, i’ve also been quietly forming new ideas that will hopefully develop into new songs. Am not rushing anything, am just enjoying writing words and melody with no particular agenda.
Next up for myself is a whistle stop tour of Germany, then back to Ireland for a solid run around the country, a couple of festivals thrown in here and there for good measure. Have also been working away in the shadows with my braintrust to ensure the record gets a proper release in other countries. Can’t really say more on it until it’s all locked in for sure, but fingers crossed the album will be out in the wider world soon, have it’s fleeting moment in the sun.
On a personal note My grandmother passed away last week, she was 89, an incredible woman, and i would not be here without her. Life is precious and important,
i hope you are all truly well in it
James
Well,
What a weekend i’ve had, i’m too exhausted to relate it all to you properly now, but just wanted to say a quick thank you to all the people who’ve been sending me fantastical messages/mails/carrier pigeons, has been a truly compelling 3 days indeed.
Will get into it in great depth and breadth tomorrow.
Until then, good night good people
James
hi everyone
so apparently IMRO (the Irish Music Rights Organization) are now going to start charging Irish music blogs licensing fees for posting mp3’s of bands they collect on behalf of. I just found out about this when i read the paper today. IMRO collect on my behalf, and as much as i can tell they are good people who do a good job. I was incredibly surprised to see that this is happening. This effects the entire music industry in Ireland for sure, but less so the bigger established acts and more the up and coming bands, the ones that need some help getting themselves out into the world.
The first thing i did when i had finished my record and was trying to figure out a way of people hearing it was to mail my favourite blogs and say ‘hi, i have this album, maybe you’ll like it, if you do then i’d be really grateful if you’d post some songs off it on your site’. I find 90% of the new music i love through music blogs, i know what an important job they do. Most of them do it for no money, purely for their desire for good music to be heard. Without the help of these folks then me getting my album up and out into the world would have been a monstrously tougher task.
I’ve read some really well thought out and proper arguments against this new license on a couple of blogs today, mainly nialler9.com, Jim Carrolls blog, and thetorturegarden.blogspot.com.
Shane at the torture garden makes real sense when he talks about IMRO essentially deciding that they know better than the artists they represent. I make my music, it’s owned by me, i’m signed to EMI publishing, as far as i was concerned these were the only 2 opinions that currently mattered in where and when my music is played, and by whom. I know the argument would be made that every time a song of mine is played on radio then IMRO collect money on my behalf, so then why should they not collect whenever a song of mine is played anywhere else. But then radio stations are commercial money making endeavours, playing music is part of how they gain revenue, so obviously they should pay for the right. I’m not saying there aren’t music blogs out there that are commercial ventures, and if they are actively making money off of the music they host then some sort of compensation should exist. IMRO has said that they will stagger the license fee based on whether your site makes more or less than 7,000euros a year. The problem with this as i understand it(and my understanding is pretty darn limited) is that anyone under that marker still pays the same flat fee. So a blog that makes 4,000 grand a year pays the same as a blog that makes nothing. This makes no sense whatsoever to me, if a blog is your livelihood it’s one thing, but if it’s an unpaid hobby, and you have bands, press and pr people mailing you on a daily basis ASKING you to post music, then it’s an utter nonsense.
I apologize if this is descending into simple ranting, but this is a subject that resonates strongly with me, as i imagine it will with many artists out there. As i said earlier, bloggers were incredibly helpful to me when i was trying to get started, they posted my songs, they wrote about me. It’s a symbiotic relationship, one thing can’t live without the other. To suddenly lose so many of these people because they can’t afford to pay, well thats a terribly sad thing indeed. I’m going to try and find out more about this in the mornig, as i may be wildly off in almost all of what i’ve just written.
In the meantime I’ll finish with a really great quote i pulled off a blog called ‘asleep on the compost heap’, one of the Irish blogs that was first notified that it would have to pay a fee. I think it sums the ridiculousness of the whole situation up rather nicely.
Peace out
James
“hey I’m no Lawyer, but surely Irish music blogs, tending as they do to host single MP3s and promote gigs rather than encouraging the wholesale downloading of albums, should be nurtured, not slapped with some shite about a license fee that is going to cause half of them to quit in confusion and frustration?”
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