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Update #12: And Away We Go!
Hello Good, Patient People ~
Exciting developments: I've finally commenced recording my new record!
This winter I slowed things down as I explored production ideas with tons of great musicians and producers. I'm finally in a place where i can start to put this together on tape, with the stewardship of producer Paul Loren, founder of the Five & Dime Recording Society in Brooklyn, NY.
His studio is in the DUMBO neighborhood. The acronym stands for "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass," and rightly so – it's possibly the loudest place on earth. This might sound like an unlikely choice to locate a state-of-the-art recording studio, but the quiet basement level of many of the buildings there are filled with the studios of my bandmates, collaborators, and comrades. It's THE modern-day Tin Pan Alley. The Five & Dime studio is located in a basement dubbed "The Saltmines," after one of the other studios that pioneered the space: Saltlands (Steve Salett). Currently recording next door is Sam Cohen and his band Yellowbirds. With any luck, some of his excellent playing will bleed through the walls onto my record!
Stay posted - this is hopefully gonna come together over the next 6 weeks or so.
If I was ever to use an emoticon to help convey my excitement, it would be right now.
But I'm not.
:D
Andrew
Update #11: The Sounds of Spring
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Posted on February 23
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Update #10: *^*^*^New Album is Percolating ^*^*^*
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Posted on January 30
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Update #9: Log Cabin Video of a new song!
For backers only,
Posted on December 21
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Update #8: A new demo for your listening pleasure!
For backers only,
Posted on November 30
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on June 15, 2011.
Pledge $5 or more Pledge $5 or more
A download of the new EP (a 6-song record), including a digital version of the Pocket Songster Book, sent to you immediately, plus access to pledger-only updates that include videos, photos, songs. Pledge for any of the below and the download and updates are free.
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A signed copy of the handstamped physical EP, AND the handmade limited-edition Pocket Songster Book, the first in a series created by the publishing wing of End Up Records. Perfect for the train! Fits neatly in your jacket pocket. This is available exclusively through this Kickstarter release. The price includes shipping. And the above!
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The UPCOMING LP (working title "The Secret"), sent to you digitally, as soon as it’s completed. But you'll also receive - as soon as goal is reached - a digital sampler containing songs from the other bands I play with -- all wonderful and wonderfully different: The Honey Brothers, Balthrop, Alabama, and The Rozz & Val Show.
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The limited edition “The Wheel” European Tour Concert T-Shirt With the names of the cities on the back that I've played. Of course, this wouldn't be complete without your signed, physical copy of The Wheel, my first album to be released in Europe, signed with a silver Sharpee! Oh, you already have it? Gift idea! And all the above!
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The Vladeck Catalog. We have some catching up to do. You or those you gift to will bathe in musical Vladness to last you the delightful months of the year. THE WHEEL (2008), THE LOST SESSIONS (2006) – which includes the First Place "The Songs You Inspire" from The International Songwriting Competition, the eponymous ANDREW VLADECK (2004) – winner of 4 Billboard Song Contest honors, GREETINGS FROM ESPOLAND (1996), HOLD FAST (1992). Plus a sticker and a pin! Including all the above!
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Your name in the credits as a co-producer. A signed, handwritten lyric sheet! Plus a digital mix tape of my favorite songs that you will probably like! Plus ALL the above!
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I will cover any song of your choosing, put it on YouTube and dedicate it to you or whoever you’d like, and send you a mp3. You wanna see me play "Lightning Riddim" on banjo? Done. Plus ALL the above!
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Two things : We’ll write a song together (in person, skype or phone)! There's nothing as fun and rewarding as this. We'll demo it on my laptop together, or I'll send it to you if you're far away. Also, you'll get to spend the day of your choice in the studio as I record the new album and we’ll find a way for you to be involved. Press record? Hand clap? We want YOU. Plus ALL the above!
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House Concert/Party/Wedding – Invite whoever you want. You can even charge what you want. Rent an arena and keep the change. Will do anywhere in the world as long as you cover travel expenses. (That's you, Auckland.) I’ll include the song we co-write as included above… Plus ALL the above!
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NYC WALKING TOUR for up to 10 or so people. Your choice, Central Park or Prospect Park. As many of you know, I was a NYC Urban Park Ranger. I was mainly the “historian” ranger, but can lead you on a tour of Park History, Native American History, Revolutionary War History, Geologic History, plus Forest and Pond ecology. Your choice. Ending with a picnic and concert. OR NYC BICYCLE TOUR by bicycle for up to 5 people. We’ll explore my favorite nabes and eat my favorite foods. Plus I’ll play various songs that are set in the various neighborhoods (Chinatown, Coney Island, Williamsburg). Plus ALL the above!
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It's not every day someone has a record release and a book launch, but Andrew Vladeck, a native New York singer-songwriter, will be doing so this this spring.
In this case, the record is the Passing Knowledge EP (End Up/Sonic Rendezvous). The book, Passing Knowledge and Other Songs, is the first edition of the Pocket Songster Series, which presents lyric-based songs and additional writings in a pocket-size book format. It is published by End Up Records in cooperation with the BOOKlyn Artists Alliance.
The EP signals a new direction for Andrew Vladeck, one in which he embraces his strengths and fuses them together. Produced by Misha Volf and mixed by Dave Schiffman, the EP balances spirited, lyrical-driven songs with finger-style instrumentation and deft wit.
Andrew has a long-held passion for American folk music, of which his knowledge borders on the encyclopedic. It began with a lesson from his father's cousin, the Grammy-Nominated folk musician David Bromberg, who studied with Reverend Gary Davis in the early 1960s. From that moment on, Andrew went on a tear backwards through the catalog of the early 20th century, teaching himself various old-time instruments. Heretofore, Vladeck has played that music largely for his personal enjoyment, occasionally capping off a set with a song or two.
With Passing Knowledge, Andrew incorporates the musical techniques and intimacy of those early recordings with his modern style of songwriting. This combination is well-suited for the collection, which focuses on themes of yearning, longing, and acceptance – the stretch for things just out of reach. Vladeck colors these songs with sparkling details, in largely narrative fashion, with lyrics that cascade in rhythm to the music.
The pocket book and the artwork are an homage to the Pocket Poet Series published by City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco, in particular the work of Allen Ginsberg. Accordingly, this pocket book demonstrates the influence of literature upon Vladeck's writing. The American writer Will Heinrich, winner of the PEN/Bingham Award, contributes a letter of introduction and an epilogue.
The record begins with "Living the Dream," a quasi-hallucinogenic ode to Allen Ginsberg's HOWL in which the words are more spoken than sung. The interplay between the skyline and sunset become a canvas for existential yearnings.
The title track, "Passing Knowledge of the Sexes," is about the modern-day search for love and the creative and oft-misleading way people choose to present themselves to the world through their online profiles. The song was inspired by a passage from Freakonomics, by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt and was written with members of The Honey Brothers.
There is a new rendition of Vladeck's psychedelic slide-banjo dream-song, "Coney Island," a romantic vision for a lost love from another time. The song first appeared on Vladeck's eponymous debut CD, performed with The Honey Brothers. In this version, Lauren Balthrop adds piano and the cello arrangement by Colette Alexander carries the song to a dramatic conclusion.
"Within Reach" is a song about the loss of a soulmate, and, as Joan Didion wrote about in her book, The Year of Magical Thinking, the "magical thinking" that can comfort and console as one grapples with such a thunderous loss.
Vladeck borrows the musical refrain from the American folk song "Moonshiner" to help convey a modern-day story of the joy, passion, and reckless sadness of growing up. "Can't See Why" brings the listener along on various escapades – breaking into the Hayden Planetarium, swimming in a water tower, drinking by the Domino Sugar Factory – as they watch the protagonist wrestle with self-image and acceptance, only to alienate herself further.
Finally, East meets West in this post-Cold War love song, where the remaining barriers are language and distance. Written with Morgan Taylor (Gustafer Yellowgold), the song describes the thrill and the challenges of lovers from different worlds as they explore ways to communicate with each other.
Passing Knowledge is Vladeck's first release since The Wheel (2008).
To preview the record, visit www.andrewvladeck.com.
