For the new Brittlestar record I decided to do a whole bunch of collaborations.  I’m very lucky to know, and convince/sucker, a number of talented people to help out.

People like Claire Worrall Duffy.  I mean, she’s wicked talented.  She sings like an angel that can really, really sing.  She plays in The Lilac Time and she was Robbie Williams’ backing vocalist and keyboard player for years.  Let Me Entertain You?  Yeah, thats her on the piano and singing backup.  Thankfully, she’s one of the nicest people on planet Earth and she has helped me out a couple of times with Brittlestar releases.

Then there’s the immense talents of Callie McCullough and Lea Keeley.  Tomorrow I have Ryan Butler coming in to do a rap break in one of the new songs called ‘You’re Just So…’.

Having done so much writing and recording on my own for years now, it’s been a treat to work with such talented people.  People who really bring a renewed excitement and passion to the songs.  Its all good.

I’ve also been lucky enough to work with young artists such as Amy Schell and Mitchel Reed.

Amy is an amazing singer and songwriter.  If you haven’t already heard her song ‘Dear Dylan’, you MUST hear it.  Go here for a listen: http://www.AmySchellMusic.com

Mitchel Reed is a creative force to be reckoned with.  He, and Chris Klomp, filmed and directed the Priceless music video.  he came up with this great idea for a single and so him and I went to work creating it.  It’s called ‘Things Can Change’ and it turned out really amazing (listen and buy it on iTunes here).  Thanks to Mitch’s popularity online, its already rocketing up the charts in Canada, USA and the UK.  What’s fab is that he just did it for fun.

There is so much to be gained by working with others to create something better than either of you could have done on your own.  I’m just kind of getting that now….damn it.

Back in September we released STOP TRYING as a digital download plus a LTD Edition CD.  It has confirmed my suspicions that the CD is dead.  People just don’t buy CD’s anymore.  Convenience is King.  King Of Convenience would be a good band name.   Likely no one could spell it.

The brand new ‘Priceless - Super Single’ has been released on http://www.brittlestar.com and is meandering into the world’s digital music retailers as we speak.  iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody (which I’ve never actually visited but provides a good chunk of my digital sales revenue…I should go), they’ll all have it.  Will you?

It features two new versions of the song Priceless.  One is a dancey version and the other is a softer acoustic version featuring the immensely talented Lea Keeley.

The lovely young woman on the ridiculous cover of the single is Emily Luciani.  That photo was taken from a photo shoot we did for the music video…which also features myself and Emily.

Ah yes, the video.  It’s being edited as we speak.  The young director is Mitchel Reed.  He’s a whiz and a dynamo and a young gun and a whippersnapper and he’s quite talented.  I haven’t seen the video edits at all yet, but I’m positive Mitchel will do a fab job.

The video shoot itself was actually a ton o’ fun.  We invaded my cousin’s home and created this whole happy home vibe that Emily and I then tore apart with our awesome acting skills.  We improvised the initial argument and then just rehashed that argument over and over.

There’s a scene near the end of the video where Emily puts her head on my shoulder.  That’s my favourite.  Not because I enjoyed having a lovely young woman resting her head on my shoulder (and I did) but more because when Emily was given the direction to do it, she said with a screwed up face “I’d never do that!”  Yes, Emily is an independent woman…though she also has commitment to her craft…commitment to the project…commitment to the arts.  She is a complete pro.

Seriously, Emily is fab.  It was a pleasure to work with her.

Helping Mitchel out was his partner (professional, not romantic) Chris Klomp.  Chris was almost mute until Emily showed up.  Then he became a tower of strength and a beacon of guidance.

Both Mitchel and Chris were great to work with as well.

Look for the video to be released soon…and go buy the Priceless - Super Single!

The Limited Edition CD’s arrived the other day.

So that meant some time spent at our trusty old dining table with Sharpie in hand.  I personally sliced open the backs of each CD so I could sign my name and number them.  THAT’S devotion to one’s art, friends.

The ‘STOP TRYING’ Top 100 contest is wheeling on, thanks to some group named The Beatles.  Their return to the charts meant an influx of sales that skewed the entire system and pushed all of us non-senior-citizens down a peg or one hundred.

So, keep on spreading the word and keep sending in your iTunes receipts when you buy ‘Priceless’ and we’ll give away the iPod Nano after we’ve been in the Top 100 for one week.  Click here to buy ‘Priceless’. Then send your receipt to mail@brittlestar.com to get entered into the contest!

I did a newspaper interview today.  In it I was asked about the state of the music business currently (or maybe I just prattled on about it).

I realized something interesting.  Music has suddenly spread itself almost exclusively to two different ends of the spectrum.

On one side it is completely part of the environment.  It is everywhere.  Played in the background and becoming part of the furniture.

On the other it is a completely personal and private experience for all the iPod listeners.

The middle ground of sitting down to listen to music seems archaic now.  I still do, but surely I’m not normal.

‘Everything Changes’, the song featuring Claire Worrall, has been chosen as the theme music for the 2009 DocFest here in Stratford.  It will play at the beginning of each screening in the title and sponsors reel.  I think the DocFest is such a cool event.

And it’s even cooler this year because none other than William ‘Captain Kirk’ Shatner will be in attendance on opening night.

In all the years I watched Star Trek,  never did I think that Captain James Tiberius Kirk would be forced to sit through my song.

If you can, you should really come on over the DocFest.  They’ve got 2 Shatner documentaries plus the Anvil film this year.  Fab times.  Go here for info: http://www.docfeststratford.ca

It’s a… bright… day for…. Brittle….star.  Kirk… out.

‘STOP TRYING’ is done.  It’s out next Tuesday (Sept 15th) on iTunes, this site, and then it trickles in to other places like Amazon, etc..

It feels good to get it done.  Even though it’s only a mini-album, it seemed to be quite hard to do.  I languished over mixes, harmonic balances and mastering.  The side pocket of the driver’s door is a Rough Mix CD Wasteland.

I wonder what it’s like to be one of those artists that just records and then leaves the actual hard work to someone else.  I remember writing with a well-known singer and they stuck around for the laying down tracks, then just spat out some instructions on structure and mix and took off for the rest of the day.  Leaving me and the other writer to futz with the mix. Maybe I do too much.  I don’t think I’m patient enough to wait around for someone else to do that stuff though.

The first record, ‘Waiting’, took a year and a half to complete.
The second, ‘Secrets’, took 8 months.
The third, ‘Arcane Anthems’, was done in just over 3 months.
‘Stop Trying’ was in the works for about 8 months.

I like the luxury of spending lots of time on writing and recording, but you just don’t have that luxury all the time, do you?  Its also my lack of patience at play.  I get excited about each new song and I just want it to be complete.

I was thrilled this time around to have Claire Worrall and Gordon Deppe involved.  Claire is possibly the sweetest person on the planet and she just happens to be an amazing singer.  I couldn’t believe my ears when I first listened to her vocal tracks.  Her voice was like someone playing an instrument.  Perfect pitch, timing, and vibratto on six simultaneous tracks.  Astonishing.

Gordon is supercool.  He refers to himself as ‘Gord’ and I’ve tried to do the same, but really he’s always going to be Gordon.  The Spoons were a favourite band when I was growing up.  They once played in our tiny town at the height of their fame.  It was unfathomable for a band that famous to play our town.  I remember going early and standing in the front few rows.  Mesmerized by just how cool they looked and how amazing they sounded.   They had just released Talkback, produced by Nile Rodgers.  They were the coolest thing about Canada at the time.  I still have Sandi Horne’s bass guitar pick from that show.  That sounds creepy when I type it out.

The idea behind ‘STOP TRYING’ was to veer in the other direction from what I think a lot of Canadian recording artists do on 3rd and 4th releases.  They always seem to go more rocky.  I was concerned that Brittlestar was started to sound like Nickleback redux. Not that there’s anything wrong with sounding like Nickleback.  Its just that they  do it so well.  So, I decided to return to pop…whether it would have me or not.   I like how it’s all turned out and I hope that you do too.

x stewart

As a musician, nahhh, recording artist (there are millions of better musicians than me out there), the music industry these days is tricky business. It’s no longer about “getting” a song. You can “get” any song you want at any time…for free. It’s now about supporting artists. We’ve all become like royalty from hundreds of years ago… By buying that song download from that artist, we’ve become patrons of the arts.

I know most music listeners couldn’t care less about this thing because they see the big name artists with tons of cash, but for the majority of artists, like me, its a big deal.

To write and record music you need to spend time and lots of it to get it right.
Time costs money.
Recording costs money.
Instruments cost money.
Etc. Etc.

Not griping here, by any stretch. I’ve downloaded songs for free before as well. I think its just part of the landscape for music now.

I do think most people will try to find a song through legit channels first, then failing that, grab it for free from somewhere. That’s fine.

Those people that skip the legit channels and go straight for the free download were never going to be patrons of my art anyway.

But for those folk who go looking for my music and are ready to pay for it, well I’ve just got to make it as easy as possible for them to find it. Right?

x