All this week I have working hard (citation needed) to get my album finished and reckon that I have come up with the ultimate way to get this done, simply record two tracks a day. Any bands or musicians reading this are welcome to use this system. Of course I am recording classic Christmas songs so it is a little easier, if you have to write the song before recording it then you might only get one song a day out. It is that easy isn't it?
It doesn't look like I'll be recording last year's album on vinyl after all but that isn't going to stop me. Recording the album wasn't really the intention of course but as the actual intention went over everyone's head there hasn't even been enough donated to finally get any large scale filming done, shame on you.
Even the relatively easy task of recording two songs a day has been quite tiring but I want to get it out of the way so I have the time to properly promote it this year. Last year's album was largely a word of mouth affair and while that is a good way, it wasn't quite good enough so I am treating this as all musicians in Nottingham treat the promotion game - ignore the people who supported me from the start and just send it to largely irrelevant local 'music champions' while crawling up their arses. How can it possibly fail? I mean they've never seen me performing on stage but it doesn't matter as they don't go to gigs anyway unless it's going to be worth being seen.
As a bonus treat because I am just the gift that keeps on giving, I am recording a bonus track that won't be on the finished album as it is something I thought about after deciding on the track list. As a tribute to one of my heroes who died this year, David Bowie, I am recording a kazoo cover of 'Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy', playing both the David Bowie and Bing Crosby parts. This isn't as easy as you would imagine and it has been interesting to attempt to get this right as it involves recording two parts to sync together. The first attempt sounded on playback like a gang of wasps having a heated argument but I will persevere with this mainly because I am keen to see how it turns out.
I have decided to make this song available as a special treat for people who make donations using the PayPal button that sits at the top of this blog. The album will be available on my Bandcamp for free with the option to pay what you like (but please pay something) but you won't hear my version of 'Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth'. The cap will probably be £1 as an opening donation (you could pay more) and with every donation I will email the track straight out. As always the money will be used for good and won't go into my pocket nor be used for personal gain. After this year's disappointments with funding I hope that the album sales and the donation only single the coffers will hopefully swell a little, especially once I have pushed the Dickens audio books again.
Santa Claus has nothing on me this year, apart from he doesn't ask for donations. Actually he expects a mince pie and a glass of sherry, so just donate whatever that costs and we'll say no more about it.
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The latest episode of The Random Saturday Sessions is here.
Thank you in advance for donating using the PayPal button at the top of this page. It all goes towards creating podcasts, sketches, documentaries, films and more, all of which I will make available for free in return for your generosity.
