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There is always a million things to do before a concert is launched, especially for independant bands that go it alone. Of course the explosion in social media has made all the difference in connecting and promoting. Twitter especially has led
to a flurry of new avenues with which we can get the word out about our newest
CD release Erie Long. Independant online radio station Euphonious will be broadcasting an interview and featuring our music for the entire week. Ric Taylor
from View will publish an interview Thursday in the online mag and broadcast a
live interview on his CMFU Radio program Friday evening (5:30 pm). Earlier this month there was a great post on Hamilton Musician, a blog that promotes local music, a subject that is near and dear to our hearts. However, we are still
sticking with the old school of promtion. The CD Release Concert Poster has
been papering downtown windows for weeks and CBC radio continues their
support, including music from all of our disks in their playlists. The Hamilton Spectator will have a bit about the concert and we will still rely on word of mouth.
We can get louder but this is more our style. See you at the AGH Design Annex.
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Sometimes, it's quite a stretch to find venues in which to perform our unique
music. Violins and accordions, standup bass and full kit drums, acoustic guitars
and now with the singer-songwriter vibe, the ACOUSTICS just do not fit into the
standard mold. However, we have discovered the AGH Design Annex in
Hamilton. It's a vibrant, beautifully renovated, multi use space, affiliated with
the Art Gallery of Hamilton with retail, exhibition, venue rental and best of all an
intimate, enclosed space for live performance. The building itself has a great
history with the local music scene. Legendary "Sam The Record Man" was
housed here for decades and with the death of Sam Sniderman last year, and
the subsequent demolition of the Yonge Street location, his legend lives on here
in the Hammer. It is entirely appropriate then, that our Erie Long CD Release
Concert will be within these walls. He championed bands like us.
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This may be a cliche and all, but without our fans we nothing! A huge thankyou
to those that braved the weather and ventured out to the Erie Long CD Release
Concert last night. We always have a great time at the Station and this one did
not disappoint. If there are photos or video of the show, it would be appreciated greatly if copies are sent. Contact info is below on the jump. Thanks also to
Mike Tutt at the Station for hosting the show, Eric Bower for his awesome work
on sound, Pat Lattanzio for lighting and Jeff Sauble for the great job behind the
bar. Erie Long is our third studio recording and the strong response that we are receiving from sales and online downloads is encouraging. A Hamilton launch is
in the works (a Spring Fling) and future shows being planned. Stay tuned.
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It's so frustrating! A date had been established for the Erie Long CD Release Concert, posters were printed and distributed, several local newspapers featured
the band (notably The Brantford Expositor and The Brant News) tickets sales and reservations are hot and BAM! Mother Nature sends the worst snow storm in five years. The concert had to be postponed and fans notified of the change. Never
mind though, the rescheduled concert will still take place on February 22 at the Station Coffee House and Gallery in Brantford. It promises to be a great show
and is much anticipated, so shake off the cabin fever and come out and show
your support. theACOUSTICS "Erie Long" CD Release Concert.
The Acoustics song “Let’s Dance The Night Way”, has been entered on CBC Searchlight The Hunt for Canada’s Best new Artist. Check it out, find our song,
and vote once a day in this poll. Thank you for your support.
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With the holidays over and January blahs setting in, it usually takes a special
occasion to motivate the creative spirits. Luckily this New Year hails the long
awaited release of our third studio album, Erie Long. It may have taken what
seemed to be an eternity to some of our fans, but like fine wine, it takes time.
The CD is available for purchase online at iTunes, CD Baby and Amazon.
Dr. Disc, a long time music store in downtown Hamilton will also carry copies
of the disk for those who prefer an old school shopping experience. A CD
Release Concert is being planned so stay tuned. Begin the guerilla marketing!
Check out this link on CHCH TV, where some of the band members performed
the single "Christmas Every Day". The final tally for this charitable endeavour is
still to be established, but if the number of viewers who watched this video are
an indication, it will be a great success.
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We are happy and thrilled to announce the release of our first online single
"Christmas Every Day" to the CD Baby, iTunes and Amazon online stores.This recording was originally composed for the Design Hope compilation CD project
of 2011, but with circumstances beyond anyone's control, the disk was never completed. With the blessings of the Design Hope directors, all proceeds from
the downloads of the song will go to the Hamilton Design Hope "Out of the Cold" campaign of 2013. Please help us support this worthy cause with your purchase.
People who live on the streets or are marginalized by circumstance, will find a
warm place to sleep and hot food to eat at supported shelters throughout the city.
You can find it here at iTunes, or here CD Baby, or here Amazon.
A PDF file of the lyrics can be found and downloaded from the Press Kit link.
Drop us a line and let us know if you like it. Thank you everyone!
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Not sure whether the thriving music scene in downtown Hamilton has generated
new businesses to open, or if new venues for live music has generated this vibe.
Whatever it is it is quite wonderful to be participating. Spherical Music will be the
host of our upcoming appearance at The Homegrown, Thurs. October 25.
Check out their site and their awesome menu (vegetarian specialties, woohoo!) www.homegrownhamilton.com.
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What a long, hot summer this has been so far, eh! The nasty drought conditions
of June & July has finally gone and the lawn has greened up once again. Time
for tomato and pickle factories to open up in basements and garages all through
our region.
The final mixing and mastering is in the works for our new studio CD "Erie Long".
It's an eclectic mix of classic instrumentals for which the band is known, and
songs with lyrics, written and sung by our own Enzo Spoto. The CD has guest
performances to the likes of Bob Doidge adding his trumpet and percussion
expertise, Amy King beautifully singing duet and harmonies as well as piano and keyboard accompaniment. Legendary musicians Darcy Hepner and Nick
Marchione rock Heartburn-a-go-go with a sassy brass and sax flavour that
exceeds expectations. Our excitement is looming large!
Now that the band is out of the recording studio, the focus will be on live
performance once more. September 8 will bring us to The Station Coffee House
and Gallery for an appearance at the Roots N Rails Festival. This event is always
a lot of fun and admission is free. Come on out and enjoy a day of live music
with some great local talent.
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Harbinger, one of the new tunes on their upcoming CD, is definitely a sign that
The Acoustics have changed their sound and direction. Breaking away from their traditional world instrumental style of recording “A Thousand Yesterdays” and
“Forever and a Day”, their next CD (still to be named) will feature 8 vocal tracks
and 6 instrumental tracks. Clearly Harbinger is a great example of this new
beginning. Harbinger has been described by Amy King at Grant Avenue Studio as “Led Zeppelin meets The Acoustics!
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The Acoustics are coming up for air! We are almost done with the new CD. Had
a great time at Grant Avenue Studio (Hamilton ON.) on the weekend. Recorded 6 more tunes and can't wait to share them with everyone. Gearing up to book some shows and have some fun performing again!!
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"Heart Burn a Go Go" one track on their next CD will feature some brass highlights. First time the band has considered brass (trumpet, saxophone, trombone). Alfonso says the tune is an exciting fast pace Latin dance piece that just craved some brass.The band can’t wait to put it out there. The Acoustics are headed back to the studio in a few weeks it lay down the tune.
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The Acoustics are in the recording studio working on their 3rd studio CD, with a new style with vocals. Their previous two CD's have featured all world instrumentals sounds. Now they will be featuring folk/rock vocals written by Enzo Spoto. New CD should be ready in June/July, 2012.
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Just taking a break from our October 2011 recording session at Grant Avenue Studio, Hamilton, ON., with the awesome Amy King on the board. Recording our 3rd studio CD, and are scheduled to go back to the studio in March.
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We've been very busy of late and updates to this blog are long overdue. We
are recording our third album with the Grant Avenue Studio folks and it's coming
along. Well over half of the tracks will be songs with words; music and lyrics composed mostly by Enzo and Al. This is quite a departure from the usual sound
of the ACOUSTICS but change is good and it keeps the creative juices flowing.
The 12th annual Design Hope compilation CD that supports the Hamilton
Out of the Cold program, has selected an original song written by Enzo and
performed by the band. The disk should hit the streets by the end of November,
just in time for Christmas. Don't forget to pick up a copy when it's available. It's
for a very worthy cause and the producers, engineers, administrators, creative
talent and musicians have all worked long hours to make it happen.
Also exciting news is the inclusion of our CD "Forever and a Day" in the iTunes
catalogue. Single songs can now be downloaded and enjoyed for only 99 cents
each. "A Thousand Yesterdays" should be available soon. Last but certainly
not least is the upcoming wedding of Andrew Eckart, our so talented man on the stand up bass. He and Jillian have set up a home in Toronto where their law
careers have taken them. All the best to you both.
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Farewell to one of the original members of the band, Brian Ropcean, who has left
to pursue other opportunities. We thank him for his many talented contributions
to our music over the years and wish him all the best in his new endeavors. Welcome Richard Hone, who brings to the group an infused blues and rock sensibility. His chops will deeply texture the Acoustics' sound and provide a
perfect accompaniment for the latest vocal compositions by Enzo Spoto that
have recently received critical acclaim. We hope you can catch our performances
on the Festival circuit this summer, and if you do, please drop us a line and let us know what you think of our new direction.
Our most recent Sunday afternoon concert at the Station House in Brantford had
a serendipitous moment when the 3:00pm freight train to T.O. wailed past just as
the Chase was being performed. If you haven't heard this song yet, it is an old
style fiddler's tune, evoking desperation and escape from capture. With the
addition of the train's roar, it became a reality.
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We had a terrific night at Image Studios Gallery 205 last night. Good vibes like
that keep us doing what we do and loving what we do. We can't thank Martyn
and all of the gallery crowd enough for your support and friendship. Much
appreciated are the FB comments and accolades as well. We live in amazing
times!
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A composer can hear music in the most mundane of daily occurrances. Traffic
snarls, driving rain storms, spring birdsong: these are often the muse for new
songs. Consequently, whole albums are inspired by the human condition. Love
and hate were likely the impetus for the earliest poems at the dawn of musical
creativity and if Enzo's fledgling CD "Walk Don't Run" is an indicator, it's in
keeping with that tradition. So far it is sounding really good! There isn't an actual release date as of yet, but some finished tracks have been leaking into live performances.
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We're pumped to learn that Villa Italia will be sponsoring our summertime performance on the big stage at Festival of Friends. This is going to be the
inaugural year at the Ancaster Fairgrounds for this famous festival, and we feel
honoured to be in the line-up. We'll keep you posted on our time slot.
To the folks at Villa Italia who do so much good for our seniors and the local
entertainment scene, we are forever grateful. Now, if we can only get past March
lions and April fools, all is looking up!
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Lots of interesting things have been coming along in the last few weeks. A live
performance at Cream Tangerine Gallery and Cafe in Toronto has us all pumped,
as do several local appearances. Our dear friend Tibor Nyilasi is having a retrospective of his work at The Gallery on the Bay, and we will be the musical accompaniment. Check out the upcoming shows for times and locales.
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Looking forward to the Artbar show this Saturday, September 25 at 15 Colbourne Street, Ham. Two new tunes will be premiered that we were working on over the summer "Heartburn a Go Go" and "Shadow Lands." Hope you like them!
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It occurred to me, as we were performing for the crowds at The Station Coffee
House and Gallery on Sunday, just how lucky Brantford is to have such a terrific venue and for The Station to have such terrific patrons.  Thanks to all of you for coming out to see us play and to buy our CDs. Pics of the performance
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Check out our interview with Lauren Baron of the Brant News, published Thursday June 24.