Sufjan Stevens, and yes that’s the first time his name has appeared in print without a glowing descripter like “golden-boy” or “everyone’s favorite indie artist” or “Lovechild of Yanni and Satan” in front of it, has written an essay entitled “Friend Rock” that i found somewhat amusing.

But have you heard about Friend Rock? It’s very simple: you are going to a show not so much as a fan of the music, but as a fan of your friend, the musician, on stage. There are various incarnations, of course: you may know the singer, the drummer, or the bass player; you may have dated the keyboardist years ago; you went to high school with the trumpet player; one of them is your housemate, your office mate, your soul mate; or it may be “friendly-professional.”

It made me think of the Square Pegs, and for that reason i offer you the link for your reading enjoyment.

bryan

The folks over at CmCentral.com have posted the first part of a phone interview with Derek Webb. There’s probably not alot here that you haven’t already heard Derek talk about in some form or fashion before, but the interviewer does let Derek ramble on a bit, so it’s worth a listen.

http://www.cmcentral.com/gonzo/OTP_DerekWebb_Part_1.mp3

After a 5-month long hiatus, Jeremy Casella has been blogging again with news about a new record in the works. Regarding the project Jeremy says,

I’ve spent the last week or so working away on the first batch of songs we’ll record in the coming days. I’m thrilled to be getting back into the studio and to be finally feeling in touch with my creativity again. It’s been a long dry spell for my song writing…months and months of wrestling with lyrics and melodies, song fragments and musical approaches trying to zero in on the sound I’ve been hearing in my head for the last couple years.

So on the 21st I’ll get started tracking. There’s a lot of tension in the lyrics and not a lot of answers really…so I’m looking for beauty in the music. I look for redemption in everything these days. I think we’ll find it but I’m not sure…this is new territory for me (because I’m mostly producing it myself at this point) and I’m excited but a little intimidated…but mostly I’m excited.

Honestly, I’m just hoping that these songs are great and that people resonate with them and that the sound I keep hearing will be fully realized all throughout the album because I think it could be really beautiful and compelling. I sure hope so.

You can keep tabs on Jeremy through his blog, which is located here. For everything else Casella-related, visit his web site jeremycasella.com.

If you’ve ever wanted to play like Derek Webb, here’s your chance. Derek is selling some of his gear on Ebay, including a Black American Fender Stratocaster that he used for many years while with Caedmon’s Call, and a Roland XP-30 Synthesizer that both he and his wife Sanrda McCracken have used in and out of the studio.

And if you’ve ever wanted to print like Derek Webb, he’s got something for you as well. Check out this LinkSys USB 4 port print server that he’s selling on Ebay.

These 3 auctions end sometime on Monday evening, July 31st, but Derek will probably be listing a few more things in the near future. You can track all of Derek’s auctions by visiting this link.

Happy Bidding!

In his blog over at InfuzeMag.com, Randall posted this clip of the Goodgame and Peterson kids recording a hook for one of the songs on their upcoming children’’s songs album. Make sure you pay attention right at the end of the clip to hear what they’re bribing the little munchkins with.

Infuze Magazine has a great interview with Randall Goodgame that you should check out. In it Randall talks about how he got his start as a musician, what he plans on recording after the children’s record releases, and the writing project he wants to embark on this summer. good stuff.

Fresh off the heels of The Builder and the Architect, rumor has it that Sandra McCracken is aiming for an August 29th, 2006 release date for her next studio project.

The disc cover art, entitled Gravity|Love, was designed by Jordan Brooke.
The back cover art reveals 11 tracks on the record, including fan favorite “Chattanooga” and current MySpace single “Head over Heel”. In addition, the graphic names Peter Collins (Best Laid Plans) as producer, and gives co-writing credit for the song “Goodbye George” to youngest Hanson brother, Zac.

WRLT Lightning 100 FM in Nashville is featuring a song off of Eric Peters’ Scarce this week in their “local spotlight”. Every day this week they will air a song twice a day at 2:40pm and 8:40pm. If you don’t live in the Nashville area, plan a road trip into the WRLT listening area so that you can catch an airing in the afternoon or evening. Or better yet, go buy the CD and enjoy it whenever you want.

Update by Geof: Eric confirms that it’s “The Storm” that they’re playing. I really liked that track.

As we reported last month, Derek Webb will be on the cover of the May/June issue of RELEVANT Magazine. In their weekly e-mail update, RELEVANT had this to say about the issue:

Keep an eye on your mailboxes because issue 20 of the magazine ships this week. We don’t want to spoil any surprises but we’ll just say that the Derek Webb interview will have people talking …

Does that mean that what Derek says in the interview will cause people to talk or is it just saying that the interview will feature people talking? We’re hoping for the former, since the latter sort of describes what an interview is, and that really wouldn’t be very surprising.

Here’s a review of Eric Peters’ Scarce from The Phantom Tollbooth