ORDER HERE

Since releasing the physical version of What To Keep & Let Go, I have had a few people say they were confused on where exactly to order it. The page I had up since March was geared more towards pre-ordering and now since that stage is over, I have created a new site that best fits the style of the album release while also making it much more clear on how to purchase your copy. As you will see from the included links at the bottom of the page, the only sites not available at this time are Itunes and Amazon but I hope to make them accessible soon. So keep checking back at his page for changes to the content. In time, I hope to include additional features such as band bios, lyrics and merchandise sales (that t-shirt you see will hopefully soon be available for purchase).

ORDER HERE!

Until then please visit the site, place an order of the CD and tell your friends about the music!

Thanks!

Orders Arriving!

So I shipped out the pre-order copies of What To Keep & Let Go on Friday and they should be arriving in your mailboxes today! Just thought you'd like to know :)

Enjoy!

1-2-3 LET GO.

January 23rd (1-2-3) is the official release date of What To Keep & Let Go. The reason for the week buffer is to give me some time to put together the orders, package them up and ship them out by Thursday with enough time for you all to receive your order by Monday! I also will have a better order page up by then as well as some other stuff ready for view...HINT: It has to do with the next project.....:)

Anyway, thanks again for all your support so far and I look forward to you getting your copy!

If you haven't ordered yours yet and would like to, you can go here: http://www.dylanduncan.com/whattokeep and click on the PRE-ORDER link at the top of the page. :)

Order Page and Send-Out Update

I have had a few people ask where to order the CD and although I have had a pre-order page up since March, I can understand it's not incredibly obvious how to get there. So! In the next couple of days, I plan on setting up a new and updated page that directs you more easily to the place that you can put in an order for What To Keep & Let Go. I also hope to have it available on Itunes soon as well, however that will be a more digital based order. For now, the physical CD's will be mailed directly from me upon receiving orders.

And for those who have already ordered/pre-ordered, I plan on sending CD's out sometime next week. There are some final touches I must take care of before making it totally available. Expect to have the CD in your hands by 1-23-12, if not before.

It Has Arrived.

I got a call today from my leasing office saying that ten boxes were in the lobby waiting for me. I knew that What To Keep & Let Go was arriving today but seeing the boxes, nearly 9 years of my life's work all packaged up against the wall, was quite unbelievable.

So it's here. And here are my words about it from over on my YouTube Channel:

What To Keep & Let Go Has SHIPPED!!

Wow. It really is happening.

I got the email notification tonight that What To Keep & Let Go has shipped from the manufacturing warehouse in New Jersey and I am scheduled to received the physical CD's as soon as Wednesday, January 11th! :) I am beyond excited to not only close this amazing chapter in my life, but to share with you all the final product..far beyond the digital realm. Having something tangible in your hands always further emphasizes the artistic integrity of the project as a whole, allowing for the seamless integration of audio and visual into one final product. Not only will those that pre-ordered finally get their copy, but they and everyone else who purchases has it will receive immediate and exclusive access to my next project.

Exciting things to come and I hope you continue to follow me through my musical journey.

Much love and thanks for the support. Updates on availability of the CD to come soon!

"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.