NEW ALBUM IN STORES NOW!!!
So, I recorded an album.
That’s right, a full length album. This is the dream of a lifetime come true. Ever since I received a guitar as a gift for my 12th birthday I’ve wanted this day to happen. Now it’s here and, in the digital age, it’s never been easier to get worldwide distribution for pennies on the dollar.
Here is a plethora of links to online stores that now carry my album:
The Suite Acoustic on Amazon mp3
The Suite Acoustic on Google Play
And for you cheap freeloading streamers out there you can also stream my album for free on:
Spotify: Click here
MOG: Click here
Or stream it here on Bandcamp for free. Buy it if you like it!!!
Buy it. Stream it. Love it. SPREAD THE WORD!!!
Send this around— Facebook me, tweet it to me @mattguitarman, tell me what you think—make this happen! I want my album in the ears of as many people as possible.
Oh my, look at what just came through the door:
https://web.archive.org/web/20150127073605if_/https://vine.co/v/hgrU57lK3xi/embed/simple
Order my new CD’s! Now available from the following local shops:
Spun Records 274 Central Ave, Dover NH 03820 (603)742-6939
Earcraft Music 432 Central Ave Dover, NH 03820 (603) 749-3138 (You can also get guitar/ukulele lessons from me here!)
Baldface Books 488 Central Ave Dover, NH 03820 (603) 749-2300
Bull Moose Music You can get the album from their Portsmouth, NH location at:
82 Congress St
Portsmouth, NH 03801
(603) 422-9525
OR order it online from them! CLICK HERE!!!
Or you can order The Suite Acoustic directly from me through my Bandcamp store! Click here and then click on “Limited Edition Compact Disc”!
I didn’t make this album alone. I had help from some amazing people along the way. They’re mentioned in the special thanks inside of my album but I wanted to take a moment to thank them again here.
Who did the lovely artwork for my album? Why none other than local artist, friend, and fellow table top gamer Matt Talbot. Click here and check out his amazing artwork!
Who else is on this record? Why my violinist, Melissa Waterhouse, plays on tracks 3 and 7. You may have seen her before in one of my YouTube videos:
And Nick Lanzer plays guitar on tracks 9-16. You may know Nick as the epic viking helmet guy from my Skyrim video:
I should also mention that The Suite Acoustic was recorded at Tweeksound and at RowCo studios.
The album has already received two fanastic reviews, one from The Daily Album and the second from local newspaper The Wire. I’m psyched that my album is already receiving some attention and I hope it reaches even more music critics and fans of instrumental acoustic music.
So what’s next? Lives shows, people. Live shows. I’m cooking up some real 5-alarm insanity here. I am going to play, busk, and shop these tunes to everyone within earshot. I hope my music spreads far and wide. Check out my schedule for every venue and open mic I will be playing. If it’s not a wedding, come on down! Or crash the wedding. I’m good either way.
As for the artistic vision for my album: The Suite Acoustic begins with the Suite New England, a collection of my own compositions inspired by various places around New England. I plan on releasing an accompanying 8mm film for each of these pieces. I have low-fi home recorded versions of three of these pieces already:
These pieces and videos were very much inspired by the 8mm films of my Nonno. His 8mm films were a great document of the times he shared with his family. I very much wanted to use the same medium for the pieces I put on this album—old home movies and memories of things gone by were very much in my mind when I composed all of the tracks in the Suite New England.
There’s a lot of tracks on The Suite Acoustic so I want to take a moment here to explain what’s happening on this record:
Track Listing
——————————
1. On White Mountain Tops
2. 92 Second Street
3. Saint Peter’s Fiesta
4. The Seacoast
5. March of the Leaf Peepers
6. Our Time Is Short
7. The Dead of Winter
8. Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
9. KV 65a Minuet #1
10. KV 65a Minuet #2
11. KV 65a Minuet #3
12. KV 65a Minuet #4
13. KV 65a Minuet #5
14. KV 65a Minuet #6
15. KV 65a Minuet #7
16. Reverie
The album starts high in the mountains of New Hampshire with “On White Mountain Tops” before descending into a haunted house in Fall River, Massachussetts. It then heads north to the Saint Peter’s Fiesta in Gloucester, Massachussets, where it attempts to capture the flag from l’albero della cuccagna. After that it meanders around The Seacoast before heading inland to join the March of the Leaf Peepers in Vermont. The end of the Suite New England ponders how Our Time Is Short before reaching its end in The Dead of Winter.
After the Suite New England is a brief service, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, to lament the passing of these pieces but to take comfort in the many great pieces ahead. After the service all are invited to join in some light but regal dancing with European nobility. The album closes with a reminder that it was all just a dream.
Now, a quick word regarding some of the wacky genres I have been put into on some of the aforementioned online sites. I submitted my album as an “Instrumental” album through tunecore but apparently some sites have decided to brand my music as something else. This was done without my knowledge or consent. I don’t agree with these labels, but apparently there is little I can do in regards to changing them. All I can say is that it’s a crying shame I couldn’t get into the “Death Metal” category. That definitely would have ended in some of the worst/most hilarious reviews in Google Play/MOG/Spotify history. Bright side: Someone who likes something as terrible as “Easy Listening” may actually hear a good album for a change whilst searching in what is, most probably, the worst genre in the history of music.
Do I really need to point out the irony of Google Play not using Google to, say, Google my name and find out that I am not a Christian/Gospel artist? But that’s where they put me. Instrumental classical guitarist? Nope, that doesn’t sell. Put it in the Christian section! Whatever. Well, if it means more ears then sure, fine. I’m over it. But seriously, I am an instrumental classical guitarist. I am not easy listening, I am not Christian/Gospel, AND I SURE AS HELL AM NOT NEW AGE, DO YOU HEAR ME SPOTIFY? NOT. NEW. AGE!!!
Then again I’m not saying that playing my album while shoving a crystal up your nose won’t heal all of your ailments*. Try it, see if it works, please tweet me @mattguitarman with the results.
Sadly all of this highlights the larger point that the genre of classical music just plain doesn’t sell. It doesn’t sell to the point that some sites don’t even have a classical genre, hence why I put my album in the “instrumental” genre. I also had the option to choose a “second genre” in tunecore and I picked “soundtrack”. I should also mention that I recently licensed all of the works on this album for film, TV, and radio, so you might be hearing more from me soon! Some of my compositions may become a soundtrack for something in the near future…
Stay tuned! I’ll be posting on my blog more frequently in the months to come. And, above all, please listen to The Suite Acoustic!!!
*These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. The Suite Acoustic is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.