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.