Kathy Sparling: News

Is it too much to ask?

I had a wonderful time the other night playing the opening set for the band "Along Came Jones." This band features the songwriting of Dennis Finnegan and Johnny Blood, and the songs are roots-inspired but totally original, by turns witty and moving. Tuba and Hammond organ round out the muscly guitars and drums. I played a short set accompanied by Dennis on guitar and Steven Strauss on bass, and at the end the whole band joined us for a couple of my numbers, a new seedy country song called Nine Times Out of Ten and a song still finding its style called Fire Sale. Despite coming into these songs pretty cold the band did me proud, and it was really fun.

So ever since I have the above quoted Lucinda Williams line stuck in my head. Really, is it much to demand? I feel so lucky to get to write and play music at all, with the uber-talented musicians I have been able to assemble for each gig as it comes along, and I'm especially grateful for Steven Strauss who has been part of nearly every live performance of my songs ever, and who has introduced me to many of my occasional players. And of course I have been lucky beyond measure for many, many years being part of the Sundodgers band, singing and playing music from the golden age of songwriting with great musicians from whom I've learned so much.

Still. Is it too much to ask? For my songs, can I have my own band with my own tireless post-punk drummer, and other players so great they take ALL the pressure off my uke strumming? People who love to play, love to play my songs, want to play live lots, and, oh, since we're dreaming, really, really enjoying making contacts and booking shows?

I know no one reads these news posts, so this is directed at you Universe: Is my band out there? How can I find it? I want a full house and a rock and roll band. There.

Honestly, musical things have been afoot in 2011, I just got a little behind in the postings! Here's a quick recap:

• Radio is the Sound Salvation: I tried a little radio campaign during the summer, and was so gratified to have stations from all over the country (and beyond!) play tracks from As You Believed. A non-commercial campaign targets public, community, and college stations, with individual DJs who each typically only have an hour or so per week to share all the music they love. To be played at all on these unique and personal programs was a great honor and I was very grateful for each and every spin! To summarize the campaign's highlights:
  
  • Part of the fun of the campaign was seeing which song a particular DJ chose to play. Every single song from As You Believed played on the radio at least once -- all except one. That one is probably my favorite song on the record (though by no means the best recording, as it features only me!) but what do I know??
  • The most played track was "The Moon Is Coming with Us" -- about 50 spins so far! Not far behind is the title track, "As You Believed," currently at 40-something spins.
  • Songs played on stations all across the U.S., from here in California, to the Midwest, to the east coast, to at least one nationally syndicated show: Mike Flynn's "Folk Sampler" out of the Ozarks. It was great getting to discover the stations and programs that supported the record and to "meet" online many of their delightful hosts. (It was also great to learn that As You Believed was "Folk/Americana." I didn't really know that :-))
  • Outside of the U.S., stations in Canada, Australia, Germany, Italy, and Holland all played tracks from the record.
  • It's difficult to track all the plays that might happen without my knowing; some station playlists are more discoverable than others, so a big thank you to any DJ who supported the record that I haven't yet personally thanked.

• Ho Hum, Not: Early in the year I had the great pleasure to sing with the incomparable Cheap Suit Serenaders at their annual Freight & Salvage show in Berkeley. I joined them for two numbers:
  
  •  "Ho Hum," the 1931 hit written by Dana Suesse and Edward Heyman. (The updated lyrics referencing high pollen counts and low serotonin come from my duet partner Al Dodge.)
  • "I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)" -- the wonderful ballad popularized by Louis Armstrong and so many others since 1930.
  I posted recordings of those songs from that night over on the KathySparlingMusic facebook page, so if you scroll down to the January 30 entry on the wall over here, you can have a listen.
• Ring in the New Songs: Not nearly enough live shows in 2011, but I've been busy writing and did get to break in several new songs during a late summer show accompanied by the fabulous duo of Steven Strauss and Paul Mehling. Nearly enough new songs for a second record now...

Resolutions for 2012: Play more live music! Keep writing songs! And keep this journal current! Happy New Year Everyone!

I'm delighted to announce that the OFFICIAL As You Believed CD release party and concert will be Saturday, November 20th starting at 8:00, at the wonderful ukulele mecca that is Mike DaSilva's shop in Berkeley. See the Calendar on this site for directions and details, and please mark your calendars!

The CD is here! Currently it is available from CDBaby as a physical album (which I recommend so you can hold the beautiful artwork in your hands and satisfy your yen for the increasingly rare tangible item) or as an mp3 download (also a very fine option for those on-the-go and cutting down on clutter!) It's also gradually making its way out to the various digital download sites like Itunes. Here's a link to the record on CD Baby!

The CD, now titled As You Believed, is really and truly done and is being manufactured as we speak. In this day of the digital download, I have to admit I am thrilled with the physical object here, as it features a beautiful design by Paul Mueller, photographs by Paul and by Bart Nagel, and wonderful original art by Al Dodge (some of those drawings appear on these pages). Here's a preview of the cover:

It's been a long time since that last news update, and the CD is nearly done. Watch this space for a release announcement...in March? Or why not join our mailing list (from the link on our home page) and we'll send you an email when it's available?

Great late night session at Wally Sound with the indispensible Steven Strauss and my new best friend in Buenos Aires, drummer Federico Gil Solá . I think we got something.

Today we are working on a new web site -- something that can be done with a cold while waiting for the dishwasher repair tech to arrive!