Sept 1 2009

Well here it is Sept 1 2009 and I’m listening to the Dan Auerback record. If you’re not familiar with Dan, he’s ½ of The Black Keys (who I love) and his new solo record is an example of his songwriting more than The Black Keys raw fuzzed energy.

Personally I’ve been going through a re-birth of sorts with my family which has been going very well – it’s all about balance as the wife says. I have a slight chance today in going over to the Wells Fargo Center here in Santa Rosa to check out Sheryl Crow’s sound check and meet Peter Stroud who not only play’s guitar with Sheryl, but is a partner in 65 amps. I absolutely love the 65 amps partially the London and Lil Elvis model although I lean towards the London. Peter has been using them on the tour and I’m hoping to get a one on one demo of the amp and hear it in a full band situation before I make the decision to purchase the London. Hmm by saying London it sounds like my mind is made up.

Now for The Aces, we’ve slowly been revving things up and will need to start getting our ace in gear. Word from El Toro Records is our record has come in from the pressing plant and is getting ready for distribution. So what does this all mean? While I have goals I’m not absolutely sure how this will all unfold. Sure the traditional way is to release a record, get some publicity behind it and then hit the road. Well it’s not that easy these days. First there needs to be balance with family life and there needs to be a clear sense of direction for the band. It’s no longer jump in the van and play every bar/club from California to Maine. While that does define touring, it does not define a successful tour. I’d prefer us doing a "supporting act" roll for an already established band to get maximum exposure and experience. There’s not only the so called “road” experience, but there is an aspect of learning to adapt to different venue’s night to night, the aspect of 5-7 nights of shows in a row and driving, working with different personalities in the venues, learning to fine tune your sound and get the best sound possible out of unknown sound systems, learning how to keep reigns on your money (that’s right I want to make money to support my family, career and band), how to keep the energy and emotional state positive (wheat grass anyone) and keep four personalities from getting frustrated with each other. This is why I feel we need to be in a position for success while still taking some chances/risks. I’d also fool myself and the band if I think our core fan base is blues. While we’re rooted/influenced in the blues, we’re not a blues band we can appeal to fans of other genres (rock, blues, punk, alt, roots, etc). Some of our songs show that we’re not that type of band and I feel our songwriting can evolve. Believe me I’ve been though this before when I was in my 20’s with Mitch Woods (well the driving across country and playing bars/clubs) so I’m familiar with what it takes – that’s why I’m setting my expectations higher – putting this out in the world on what I want to do so I can make the right connections and the universal can make things happen (e.g. luck).

So we’ll see how this unfolds over the next say 3 – 9 months. And yes I’d love for the band to hit the road and show what we have domestically and internationally. It should help us build our internal relationships as well as grow our songwriting. And the sheer possibility of meeting great smart & creative people along the way is inspiring to me.

Oh BTW The Aces have entered into the Independent Music Awards too. Looks like I have to fix this layout too.

All the best – Derek Irving