Beating the Pavement

It really feels like it has crept up on us, but the record is almost completely finished. "Gold Rush" was scheduled to be mixed the night before last, leaving only the mastering to be done. It's so strange to think that we won't have the process of making this record anymore. But since it has crept up on us, there is still plenty to do. We are all meeting tomorrow night to discuss the next steps. Pressing, promoting, marketing, and especially money--these are all big things we have to consider.

I've been out working to get some shows. Strangely, the results have been slightly more favorable than the last few volleys of e-mails I've sent. We've been given a New Faces night show at the Basement, and we've gotten an invitation to return to fooBAR. I guess both of these are because the emails I've sent have all mentioned that our record is about to come out and that we now have a website. (http://kellykerrandthedistractions.com) I think our own URL adds a bit of legitimacy to our work as a band, which is really the main reason we bothered putting up a website. Check it out if you haven't already. This blog has an RSS feed over there, so you really don't have to visit this blogger site anymore.

We're looking at a possible date for a record release show. I'm nervous to call it that since there's no telling when we'll have pressed copies of the darn thing in our hands. It's still good that it's time to start planning. I have lots of work to do to launch this record.

We're also forced to examine shows. I've always been one to say we play every show we get, whether we're offered it or whether we solicit it. Two band members don't quite see it that way, and a recent show offer at a venue in which we can't pick the other bands on the bill has me agreeing with them slightly more. I feel like our friends will come out to shows pretty much regardless, and where we are, we don't need to play shows just for them. Instead, we need to bring in more new folks by playing shows with bands whose followers might like what we do. Therein lies the greatest in the realm of my frustrations: I just don't feel like we're getting anywhere other than to reach our friends. Sure, they like us, and to play a show for them is still great fun. On the other hand, I really don't want to leave it at that. Hopefully the record will truly expand our horizons, but right now I'm not even so hopeful that we can get it out there enough to satisfy our cravings for recognition. Only time will tell I guess, and I'm going to continue working to make it so.

He's BACK!!!

Last night we got a huge surprise at band practice!

Daniel Rice is back from New Zealand!! He managed to survive the battle of Helms Deep and not get eaten by any Orcs. No elves were harmed during his trip.

It seemed as if he stepped off the plane and got right to work on finished our record. Last night he showed up with two more final mixes. "Groomed To Lead" and "Bring Out Yr Dead." Both sound tasty and satisfying. Just two more to go and then some mastering.

Practice was good. I was tired but made it through. We also played CIA and Groomed to Lead for the first time since October 25th. It's all coming back to us. Both run throughs weren't bad at all. It seems everyone still remembers the songs but timing and qeues just need to be sharpened a little. I was impressed.

We have a tracklisting. Sort of. It's the closest thing to one we've had the whole time. We plan to sleep on it for a week and then wait to hear the rest of the album after its mastered. I think it works. But time does help.

Our snow show has been rescheduled for Feb. 12th. Please come and rock out for the under-agers!