"I'm A MOOOOONSTER!!"

On Halloween, I officially released my song "Monster" as a single, cutting ties with its affiliation as the "extra" on the digital download of "What To Keep & Let Go". What better and more appropriate time to have this tune spread its wings than on the day of witches, ghouls and, of course..MONSTERS!

To accompany it is a brilliant cover produced and performed by none other than the oficiando of dark and creepy artistic representations - David Ireland. Every year, David releases a CD with his spooky, musical encantations and I was honored to have him include his own rendition of my song on his 2011 release "Halloween Creatures". I approached David and asked if he'd be interested in including it as a bonus track on my forthcoming single release and he so agreed!

So without further delay, I invite you to check out David Ireland's cover of my song "Monster", available now as a bonus track on my single over at Band Camp. Check it out! Only $1 to purchase both songs and all proceeds will help keep me out of the dark (a.k.a. pay my electricity bill). hhha kidding. kinda.

"Monster" To Be Released as a Single On Halloween...

....with a BONUS "Monster" cover by David Ireland!

This Halloween, expect to see the official "Monster" release on my Bandcamp site for sale as its own item with cover art included, featuring a bonus track by fellow musician and friend, David Ireland of Sharon, MA. David releases his own music every Halloween and this year his CD entitled "Halloween Creatures", featured his very own take (rather scarier take :)) of my song "Monster". I asked Dave if he'd be willing to share this version with you all in the form of a bonus track of my single and he agreed!

So next weekend, be sure to keep an eye out for this release. The single will be for sale and all proceeds will go towards funding a future project.... but which oooone...oooooohh hahahhaa haha waaah haha...ha....heh.........

"Circles" Music Appears In Real Estate Video

Back in early September, the instrumental version of "Circles" featuring myself on acoustic guitar and Marcin Kuc on bass, ended up lending itself to the musical side of a real estate video created by my friend Kristen Hoffman Bryant. Kristen is setting up a website company for virtually touring real estate options for potential home owners. The idea spawned from her very own experiences in the market: "I decided to create Simply Designed when we were selling our condo and I realized how many searches for homes start online."

You can check out Kristen's, soon-to-be "facelifted" website here.

Also take a peak at her first video up on YouTube, featuring an early studio version of "Circles".

(Thanks for the plug at the end of the video, Kristen!)

Yeagerfest 2011!

Amidst the flying monkeys, tossed horseshoes and swung-at-piñatas, music filled the air at Mark Yeager's 50th birthday bash last Saturday at Stardust Farm, Chapin, SC. Hosted by my very own bosses, Stan and Julie Wetherell, this event lasted from 4 in the afternoon until the early morning hour of 5 am, where we danced around a pool table to songs that only sunrises would accept...or a few keg stands.

Among the LIVE music of the evening, Danielle Howle, local favorite and brilliant story-teller, headlined the Woodstock-esque event (complete with tents and a dirt bike), supported by one of Mark's friends' group and myself. The honor was all mine to help ring in the second part of Mark's journey of life, paying tribute to his generation with cover songs by Jethro Tull, Pure Prairie League and Little Feat (all crowd pleasers/sing-along-opportunities) Of course, I tickled the air with some of my staple songs such as Horizons, City Lights, Kaleidoscope and Bicycle on the Ice (dedicated to my new friend Sam who happens to be a cyclist) but I also played first-time-ever-performed songs that I began writing for my forthcoming EP entitled Routes (you will hear about this in a couple of months). The show was a great success, all the artists aimed to please as well as sing their hearts out for Mark, his friends and family. My set ended with a tweaked cover of Alice Cooper's "I'm 18", where I invited Mark up to listen close to my "I'm 50!" rendition. He was a bit confused but caught on by the time "I've got a dementia brain and a bi-passed heart" verse came along! haha The only stumble of the entire night was during a random argument between two drunken lovers at 5:30 in the morning. No matter, this incident was completely forgotten when we all sat down to a breakfast of Kahlua induced coffee, shrimp and grits and some amazing eggs cooked up by one of the over-nighters.

Great country fun, amazing support and a much needed back-on-the-stage experience. I thank Mark and his wife Lisa for inviting me to be a part of the celebration. Sure wish I caught some of that high-gravity beer in that sweet-ass growler, however! Oh well, next time!

Benefit Concert in Reading, England...

...and I'm playing at it!

Not sure I had mentioned this in a previous post (probably not as I haven't been very good at updating this blog lately), but I am traveling to England in a little under three weeks to meet up with Judy Buy and her family to play a benefit gig for Amyloidosis that she is hosting. It's a great opportunity that sparked interest many months ago over a Facebook conversation with Judy after she had learned of my song "Hello, Amy" and my connection with the disease and the foundations over here. After a few exchanges involving our then fantasy of my oversea journey, I turned to Mary O'Donnell at The Amyloidosis Foundation, my friend and contact for fundraising efforts and longtime supporter of The May Fund and my creative endeavors. She took it upon herself to gather up some resources and ultimately give me the go-ahead to make the trip to England to not only support Judy and her cause, but represent Amyloidosis on this side of the pond. It's a FANTASTIC opportunity, one that I jumped on immediately upon receiving the financial support from Mary and the anonymous donors that helped with the expenses (Thank you, whoever you are..).

I cannot wait to meet Judy, her family and friends and share my music with Reading, England. I will be sure to take lots of pictures and video of the trip. More to come!!

Abroad101 Features "Electric Candle" In Video

There's a new promotional video for Abroad101.com that features the instrumental part of "Electric Candle" in the first part of the presentation. Check it out!

Study Abroad Overshare Disorder Video

"ONE DISEASE. MANY VOICES"

Well things are certainly set into motion. It's been a while since I have written in the blog and that is due in part to a lack of eventful reporting! Sure, there has been a little development in the fundraising efforts for the WTKLG physical CDs; there has been some potential interest in sponsoring the entire project and I have made some attempts at "kickstarting" the project by setting up an online, time-sensitive, fundraiser through Kickstarter.com. However, news has been slow overall and frankly I have been too preoccupied with my illustration and design projects as of late. Additional, my empty wallet has kept me far away from the late-night, booze-infused open mic events down at The White Mule, putting my performance endeavors on hold and leaving the blog pages void of any cool stage photos and/or reviews of any shows.

But I digress...as usual! Here I am about a month after my last post to report a very exciting side project in the works. It has always been, at least in the last few months, a big ambition of mine to release "Hello, Amy", previously released on WTKLG, as a single and be available for sale to help raise money for the awareness and research of the disease that the song talks about. What I didn't expect, however, was this little project to grow in such an ambitious and peer-supported way. Originally, I had thought of including an alternate version featuring Alyson McKinster on piano and back up vocals, providing a more somber side to the song. A few days ago, I was talking with Chad Macomber about a future project he is working on and it dawned on us to include yet another alternate version that would feature his ukelele-picking, "campfire" style. So the CD had grown to three. Very cool.

But it wasn't long after this that I thought- why stop there? Why not offer up the song to a number of different bands and musicians to diversify the CD as much as possible; to have the artist cover "Hello, Amy" in a way that is unique to them and their style of music; and to allow their voice to speak the story of Amyloidosis, ultimately strengthening the awareness potential and spreading the word over audiences of many different musical genres. With this newly evolved concept to the "Hello, Amy" single CD, it only makes sense for me to withdraw any of my own previously planned contributions to the alternate versions, such as the piano cover with Alyson. I want each and every added song to be created entirely by the respective artist/band. It is my hope to build a musical "army" to support a great cause and to my delight, there has already been a great response in the last couple days. I hope to hear back from each and every artist I have contacted, as they all have a very different sound that would be amazing for the project.

In the coming weeks, look for a more definitive list of contributing artists as well as a web site launch for the project. Thanks goes to those who are already working hard on their cover songs and especially to Mary O'Donnell at The Amyloidosis Foundation. She has been instrumental in the last month or so in my creative endeavors and I couldn't thank her enough for her support and sponsorship of the "Hello, Amy" single CD. This will be a beautiful project that I hope will generate a lot of buzz and awareness of the disease.

If you are a musician and would like to be considered for the compilation CD, please write me at music@dylanduncan.com.

Matt Koelsch Music

Recently I have had the pleasure of working on a venue poster for Matt Koelsch, a musician I have never met in person yet he sings on one of my songs on What To Keep & Let Go. Anyway, to gather inspiration for the tone and emotional evocation I'd need to come up with an appropriate visual, I started listening to his music more. I have to say, he is one of my favorite independent artists out there right now. His songs are infectious, hooky and well-produced. "Against The Night" and "Fall Away" are two of my favorite, while "Vomperbach" helped inspire the waterfall/river aesthetic in his poster.

Please be sure to check out Matt's music. And if you happen to be in NYC on July 23rd, go see him perform.

Thanks again Matt for your help on "Circles"! Hope to work with you again in the future!

Performer Magazine Spotlight Piece by Julia Rose DeStefano

I first started talking with Julia Rose DeStefano back around 2007 when I was living at Chad's house in Marblehead, MA. I recall penning away such songs as "Electric Candle" and recording rough demos like "Hello, Amy", while in the background my small TV was lighting up the tiny attic space I had called home for a year and a half. I was recording video journals of my thoughts on Amyloidosis while at the same time struggling to figure out where to go from where I was.

These are just some of the many memories I hold close to me from that time period. But I will also never forget talking with Julia and being so inspired by her creativity, her musical knowledge and writing aspirations. I am very drawn towards people with similar crafts and ambitions. So it's no surprise that nearly four years later, we have once again connected and fused our artistic passions into her writing.

I used to always tell Julia: "I want you to review my CD when it's complete." At the time, Julia wrote, and still writes, for Boston's rock and roll magazine "The Noise" and I knew I'd always keep this creative connection in my mental rolodex for when the time came. So when "What To Keep & Let Go" was completed, I pulled out her contact info and requested she review the CD like we had talked about so many years before. Being the great supporter of the arts that she is, Julia accepted. But it was better than I expected: She was going to feature me in a Spotlight piece in a different magazine that she contributed to. Performer Magazine, another of Boston's musicians' resource, ended up playing host to a very thoughtful, well-written piece by Julia, describing not only my musical history, influences and goals, but my "Healing Power of Music" and the effect that my writing has on ultimately aiding in my personal therapy. The article came out great and I couldn't be happier to have kept contact with Julia so it could finally become a reality. As all the creatives that come into my life, I hope to work with her again.

Thank you again Julia for such an amazing article! Your support for my project has always been very appreciated.

For more on Julia's artistic side, you can check out her website here. And be sure to pick up the July issue of Performer Magazine, on sale in the Boston area. For now, I have attached a screen shot of the article.

WUSC Radio Interview

Back on April 22nd, I had the pleasure of visiting the radio station over at USC to meet with Lauren Williams and Tyler Price to promote my show with Danielle Howle. I had a great time with the interview, sharing my musical influences, album process and even a little live rendition of "Hello, Amy". I hope to stop in again soon!

Here's a photo of these great radio DJs. Thanks again, Lauren and Tyler! Had a great time.

The Beauty of Darkness

Lately, I've realized just how valuable bad things can be. It's absurd to cast aside such times and hope for only the good. They need each other to push against, to exist so the other can too. Call it the yin and yang notion to life but I refuse to see it as so black and white. It's full of mixed color and different shades of gray that can be the most beautiful thing in your life if you let it.

So the next time I am flooded in darkness, as I have been recently and sure to be again, I will keep my eyes open, squinting to seek out that tiny dot of light that is slowly finding its way back to me. It will once again surround my life and I'll take it in like an old friend, not being afraid to say goodbye when the time comes. Because I know it will return. And all the while, I'll hold onto the beauty of this process.

On My Way

This weekend marks a year since I left Massachusetts and moved to South Carolina. Time moves swiftly, that's for sure. So much has happened in that time period that I cannot even begin to describe it to you. Some bad, some good...all very valuable. It's been probably the biggest transitional period of my life. Sure, I've made many moves and changed my circumstances and surroundings many times. But this experience away from my comfort zone and padded walls has really shaped me as a person. I have experienced failure to the utmost degree, knocking my "I can do anything" outlook down to a proper modest level. I have always been a humble person, I would say, but with so many nets around me I've never been as afraid of setbacks hurting me. But how can you ever grow that way?

In South Carolina, I have been forced to look deep in the mirror at all my flaws, my set backs and my insecurities; to let go a little bit of control and to say "Dylan, you can't do this alone.." It's been a very hard lesson to learn. I have a lot of people, both in my life currently and not, to thank for helping me realize so much about myself. I am forever growing and have still so much to learn. And as I still continue to struggle, both emotionally and financially, I am learning how to become a better person everyday.

"On My Way" was written and recorded just before I left Boston. It was to be included as a hidden song on What To Keep & Let Go, attached at the end of Ask You. For those who have listened all the way through the songs on my website, you've probably heard it. But there are many that haven't. So today, on the 1 year anniversary of the journey that changed everything, I release "On My Way"- probably the most honest account of myself to date.

I hope you enjoy. I love you all. And those of you who have helped me to see myself a little more, I thank you. This song is for you.

On My Way, available as a free download and will be featured at the very end of What To Keep & Let Go, physical format coming soon.

My View From The White Mule Stage

Every Wednesday night for about a month, I have been performing at The White Mule on Main Street as part of their weekly open mic event. It's a very great time and I have met a bunch of fellow musicians, who I must say, are some of the most talented bunch I have seen in a while. One guy has a picking style like no-other I've seen, and Nicole (one of the hosts) has a very soulful voice and has performed with a number of different bands around the area.

The style of music varies and often times find myself inspired by the different techniques and song writing angles these artists bring to the stage in their late night hours. I can feel myself wanting to branch out and change things up a little. City Lights and Stand hold their own pretty well in this sort of environment but I found this last Wednesday that spicing up even a mellow song like Electric Candle was more than appropriate and found a nice place amidst the percussive, more upbeat styles of my musical peers. Mind you, I am not interested in compromising my style in any means. However, I think my interest in theirs is a testament to my willingness to be open to anything. I am excited to see what I learn this year and how my song writing will adapt and grow. I refuse to stay where I am at this moment. Change is inevitable and I welcome it.

For now, I will continue to promote What To Keep & Let Go the best way I know how. I miss the band playing with me but I am trying to make up for it with energy and soul. Connecting with people is the ultimate goal and I hope I am.

Above is my view from the White Mule stage at 1 AM a few weeks back. Hence the lack of people..

And It's May

Yet again :) This month always touches my heart in such a special way for so many different reasons. This particular year I can add one more significant event to the list as my sister is getting married on the 14th! I am so elated for her and the entire family as we make it to such a milestone! Of course, I can't help but think of my mom and wishing she were here to see her beautiful daughter walk down the aisle. She would be so proud :)

So this May I'm not only celebrating the dawn of my sister's new life but also honoring my mom's courageous and rather beautiful fight for her own. So for the entire month, I am releasing my acoustic version of May as a single for sale on Bandcamp which includes a bonus track of the fully produced version of the song that was featured on The Eleven Project's album "Detour" with Chad Macomber back in 2002. You can download both for only $1.00 and all the proceeds will go towards Amyloidosis research. At the end of the month, I will split the amount in half and donate portions to both Boston University School of Medicine's Amyloid Program and The Amyloidosis Foundation.

You can purchase the single here. Please help me to raise some money for a good cause. Trials are being conducted around the world for a cure and I will continue to help raise awareness and funds for research for as long as I am needed.

The Watershed Show

Last night I opened up for Danielle Howle at The Watershed in Lexington, SC. It was a great little venue with low lighting and an attentive audience. My set comprised of a good mix of What To Keep & Let Go songs and a few others. I weaved in and out of some stories to support the songs and got a few laughs here and there. I hope I touched some hearts as well with Ask You and one of my new ones Our Lives Stood Still.

Danielle is great; if you ever get a chance to see her live, do it. She has a wild and unbridled style that puts my stiff-legged performance to shame. haha Very inspiring!!

Thanks to Ernie and Leslie Chartier for having me play! Still lovin' that roasted vegetable sandwich..

What's On The Horizon

Well it's been a while since I have updated the blog! For that, I apologize. I have been quite preoccupied with getting my life in order, which has consisted mainly of my health, mental well being and financial stability. Oh, and of course music :)

I have been doing a lot to try and get my album out there as much as possible. I played an open mic last week at The White Mule in Columbia and plan on playing every Wednesday just to get the exposure. It's a great little, underground venue with a tight sound system and lots of open and exciting people. As some of you know, If Not Now Then When was on the radio a few weeks ago and there is a chance that Horizons will be airing soon too. I have been someone of a pest, bugging the guys over at WXRY to play some more of my songs and make a mention of the website. haha Ask and you shall receive yes? Hope so!

One of the biggest things coming is I am opening up for local, and very well known, artist Danielle Howle down in Lexington next Saturday. I get a half hour set and I hope to attract some more fans that way. Her music seems very folksy in origin and I am very excited to lead into her performance. It should be a fun time!

As far as album sales, things have kinda taken a dive since the first couple of weeks but I hope to get that momentum going again. I have passed out countless little decals to people all over Columbia and I hope it gets a buzz going. With the radio presence and some of these shows, I can't imagine that it wouldn't help a little.

As far as the physical CD's, I have yet to raise enough money to get them actually pressed. I appreciate the patience of all the people who pre-ordered, and those simply waiting for the hard-copy edition, but I promise you will have them in the near future.

Until then, please keep passing around the music and I hope you have been enjoying it!

Thanks a million. Love you all

Dylan

The Knicks-N-Knacks of Sit-N-Spin

One of the charms of this studio in Greenville is all the visual eye candy. As an artist and illustrator, I definitely appreciated all the interesting things to look at while we gave our ears a break every once in a while. When the "listening fatigue" settled in, it was time to go kick some alien butt on "Space Invaders" or go chat it up with the baby knight. Oh, and I was extra impressed with the "Christmas Story" tribute. Good touch!

Check out all the fun things gracing the walls and halls of Sit-N-Spin.

Alex In Pencil

To keep with tradition of sketching my engineers and mixing masters while they work, here is my rendition of Alex at the booth.

Sketched from the comfortable leather couch at Sit-N-Spin Studios during "Hello, Amy" mixing session.

Sit-N-Spin Studios

A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of working with Matt Morgan and Alex Vieria on finishing up What To Keep & Let Go. Their studio, drenched in soothing lights, invigorating art and a sweet throwback to video gaming in the form of "Space Invaders" arcade game (no quarters required!), truly helped to shine up and polish what David Eastman, the band and myself shaped and carved up in Boston. With proper compression, EQ balance, and track leveling, What To Keep & Let Go went from great to brilliant in just a few short days. What we created in Boston was already tight and magnificent in structure and soul. But these guys in Greenville, SC certainly added a touch of clarity needed for this album to walk out the door in confidence. It has a lot of places to go after all and many people to see! Gotta look its best!

So with all that said, I'd like to give a shout-out to the guys over at Sit-N-Spin and thank them for their tag-team effort for helping me meet my deadline on March 20th. You truly are a great duo of engineers that did a stand-up job and I can't show my appreciation enough.

Take a look at some photos from our weekend session.

Taking In The Silence

So it's been about a week since the online release of What To Keep & Let Go and so far it seems to be quite the success. The response is good, some sales have been made and an overall air of satisfaction appears present. I, myself, have taken the time to take a few steps away from it all, breathe, think, feel and simply soak in everything that is going on around me. I've recently referred to this album as my child who I have finally let out into the world and now I feel it is out right now playing with you all, making its mark and growing even more with you all in its life. I think that's appropriate. For something to grow it has to be let go. It has to be free and it has to be out there to show every inch of itself, the flaws and imperfections as well. It can be sad. It can be humbling. It can be hard to lose something so close to you. But it's good and healthy to realize that your creation is not just for you. It's for everyone else as well. And while you were the one that cared after it, raised it and brought value to its life, it will be the people around it to truly help it shine. From all angles, the creation will be bombarded with self-realizations, criticism, and empathy as it absorbs into their lives. It will be so much more than it ever could be sitting in a computer, trapped in folders marked "To Do" and "Rough Mixes". And I have many people to thank for helping me nudge this child out into the world. You know who you are.

So, with a cup of coffee in hand on a Saturday morning, I'm clicking through the tracks and soaking in the silence of my life, contemplating the meaning of it all and examining myself a bit more. It feels good to have accomplished something so big in scale, so full in purpose. My vision isn't over, however, and you will see the next project pick up right where this leaves off. I will gather my thoughts and see to the strings of ambition inside me being tugged left and right to get going on something else.

But for now, there's silence. And I think I like it for now.

What To Keep & Let Go

It has arrived. Finally. :) It's truly amazing to be here at this moment after recalling when it all began for me back in 2003...I remember sitting at my computer desk in my college-memorabilia littered bedroom, penning the very first words of Stand. Since then it has gone through many revisions...finally landing itself with a sweet bass line, energetic drum section, atmospheric guitar riff and a beautiful female vocal presence. This can be said for all the tracks on the record, in fact, as they all took a very long road to get to where they are...being graced by such talent as Marcin Kuc, Cullen Corley, Chad Macomber, and F. Eastman as the main contributors to its development as well as supporting roles like Alyson McKinster, Brendon Thomas, Aaron Pring, Tess Gallagher, Matt Koelsch, Dan Cooper, Angela Paladino and Matt Morgan. Phew...what an ensemble. What a team!

Two years. And here it is. I'm so proud of it...so grateful, so humbled by the help, love and support I received during this time. You ALL truly made this happen for me and I'll never forget the experience. Thank you for helping me tell my story... I love you guys very much.

Listen here now.

My Night Drives

Well my Mazda definitely got the workout of its life this last weekend/week as I made my way to and from Greenville and Columbia...back and forth in a passionate attempt to be there for every moment of the mixing. Of course there were times it wasn't necessary for me to be lurking over their shoulders so I took advantage of the down time to do some laundry, clean a little and catch a few breaths after this full-speed-ahead couple of months.

It was a great time up in Greenville with Matt and Alex and an experience that just adds to my already memorable adventure this last two years. Check out a couple videos from my rather sleepy self driving in the dark..but feeling full of light, believe me.

3-12 Update



3-14 Update

Matt Morgan On Guitar

I have added Matt Morgan, the mixing engineer for What To Keep & Let Go, as a guitarist on the record. On Saturday, we made the decision to replace the piano part that was planned for If Not Now, Then When performed by Alyson McKinster with another instrument. Unfortunately, as beautiful as Alyson's ideas were for the song, we just didn't get a good enough take for it. I think that in the future it'd be a great idea to record an acoustic version of the song with Alyson on keys. In the meantime, I think you'll all be very happy with the guitar part we added.. Thanks, Matt, for putting something together on a whim! It came out incredible.

The Choices That We Make...TAKE THE POLL!!

I have made a mountain of decisions during this project...creatively and personally. I'm going to leave this one up to you haha

To the right you will see a poll in regards to whether or not I should release the tracks on the 20th in their digital form or wait until the CD is ready (which, financially speaking...could be a while I'm afraid) I'm really hoping to have the physical CD in your hands sometime in April but there's a hefty process involved that a week just won't allow.

However, with that said, there is no reason why you can't hear the songs and perhaps purchase the album on Itunes by next week. The music world, as we know, has changed a great deal with the digital age so perhaps this is what most of you would prefer anyways. But for you who like something tangible, something you can throw on the floor of your car and say "damn, I don't take care of my CD's like I should!" (like me), then you might want to wait a little bit longer.

So please...participate in the poll and lend me your opinion on this. After all, I have delayed this enough and would hate to do it again without at least getting some feedback from you guys.

I appreciate it! Thank you! Poll closes on March 19th..

A Closer Look At The Monster

Here is a better view of the "I Mean No Harm" poster, included in The Monster Package on my site. If you're interested in purchasing just the poster, they are also individually for sale. Just write me at music@dylanduncan.com for details. The poster is 17x30 inches.

Japan

I'm going to find a way to help..

Red. Yellow. Greenville.

I'm getting my album mixed this weekend in Greenville and last night I took the trip up to meet with Matt Morgan and Alex Riviera at Sit-N-Spin Studios to drop off my LaCie (pronounced Lay-See?) hard drive and hang out for a little while to get things started. It was great to get acquainted and see where What To Keep & Let Go's home would be for the next few days. I'm heading back up today for the remainder of our weekend session and will be sure to get lots of photos and perhaps video of everything. Very exciting!

Here is a video from last night's trip up there.

Café Chartier Set

Here are some photos from my small show the other night. Thanks again to Leslie and Ernie for the opportunity to play for them and their customers! If you ever happen to be in the Lexington area, be sure to stop into their place and get the veggie sandwich...it's amazing!

I Mean No Harm. The Monster Has Finally Arrived...

The Weston Monster has finally shown itself. Click on the link below to see what all the mystery has been about...

"I Mean No Harm"