Scott Andrew

If this fog bank had been just a little higher, this photo would have been a lot more awesome.

Posted August 4, 2011

Don't worry, it's not always like this.

Mostly, but not always.

UPDATE: hello, 1500 posts!

Posted August 3, 2011

My new city-folk project with Jerin Falkner Kin to Stars just released its debut single "Hello Ohio", a quiet roadtrip down a darkened midwest highway:

(If you can't see the audio thingy above, just go directly to our Bandcamp page.)

Our debut show is this Saturday 8/6, and hopefully we'll get a decent enough recording to allow us to post some live tracks. Until then, we hope you enjoy the single -- maybe enough to, ahem, share, or perhaps like and or even tweet, although I fear it may be terribly out of fashion these days to ask for such things directly, which I totally didn't do just there.

Posted August 2, 2011

ATTENTION ALL ROCK FANS OF THE SOLAR FEDERATION:

My band Explone just released three extra tracks from the Dreamers/Lovers sessions. You can grab them for free right now at the Explone website, for a limited time, after which they'll be available at the standard digital goods outlets.

It's hard to pick a favorite, but our cover of The Devil Whale's "You Were Good" is the clear frontrunner. My ego, on the other hand, insists that "Hard To Keep A Secret" deserves merit for the meaty, all-weather-traction bass riffage.

I COMMAND YOU TO DOWNLOAD NOW.

Posted August 1, 2011

I've been using the free version for a week. My initial impressions:

The awesome:

• It feels a lot like iTunes, except you don't have to pay for anything. This is sounds boring, but it's actually amazing.
• The catalog is really deep. Lots of both indie and major label music.
• It's got a Pandora-like "radio station" option, in case you like that (I do).
• The ads are not nearly as annoying as I expected.

The not-so-awesome:

• There's no web component. If you want to listen at work, or on a friend's computer, you have to download the Spotify player and install it there. Gack. Likewise, if you want to share a track with your friends, they must have Spotify to listen. Double gack.
• The ads are still annoying, especially in the wrong context. I don't want to hear a clip from the latest Pitbull track in the middle of listening to R.E.M.
• Tons of missing artwork and info, especially for indie music. I swear there's a business opportunity here to compete with AllMusic and Gracenote by actually doing the work they fail to do.

You also still can't find The Beatles, Zeppelin or Pink Floyd. They (the copyright owners and publishers) want you to buy that stuff.

Are you using it? How do you like it?

Posted July 31, 2011

John Mayer 2011 Clinic – “Manage the Temptation to Publish Yourself” – Berklee Blogs. - John Mayer's presentation at Berklee is pretty great. The first half focuses on how social media has become an addictive replacement for actual work -- Mayer tells the audience how he eventually had to swear off Twitter when his obsession with writing clever tweets started to eclipse his songwriting. I recently wrote that social media seema to fill mental gaps and Mayer's story sounds similar, except he's all famous and stuff.

How to Hook Up Heads and Cabinets - simple primer on understanding Ohms and how they relate to wattage pumped from amps to speaker cabs. Took me awhile to wrap my head around why more cabs results in less impedance.

Seth's Blog: "It will be good exposure". - Good thoughts on the balancing act of working for payment and working for free in exchange for credibility, goodwill and other intangibles.

Posted July 30, 2011

It's no longer a secret. Say hello to my newest project, Kin to Stars:

(Watch the video at YouTube. Looks best in HD.)

...a.k.a. a collaborative songwriting effort by Jerin Falkner and myself.

We don't even have a proper website or mailing list yet, but we do have a Facebook page which we hope you will check out. We also have one other thing: a live show! We'll be performing live without a net, test-driving our co-written musical wares for a lucky audience at 9pm on August 6th at Egan's Ballard Jamhouse here in Seattle. Here's the Facebook event.

If you're thinking about checking out the show, we recommend calling or emailing the venue for reservations. Admission is $5. Seating at Egan's is limited and this show is highly likely to sell out.

More good stuff -- including, we hope, a record! -- to follow as the year rolls on.

Posted July 19, 2011

I recently got re-acquainted with Jarod Watson at a Kirby Krackle show this past spring. Jarod used to show up with taper equipment at my shows (and others like Everyday Jones and Flowmotion) and record full sets for the Internet Archive. A few days ago he posted an IA link to a show I did at the Borders in Redmond in 2005. Wow. Listening to these sets is pretty surreal.

Jarod's actually posted four different shows, all from 2005. Lots of FLAC and Ogg formats, coffee grinders and evidence of my brief foray into live looping.

I haven't listened to everything here, but my favorite so far? This:

Scott Andrew, "Secret World" (live, Peter Gabriel cover)

[audio:https://www.archive.org/download/sandrew2005-05-06.flac/sandrew2005-05-06t16_vbr.mp3|no_login=1|no_twitter=1|no_fb=1]

Posted July 13, 2011

Look out, here comes the new Kirby Krackle album "Super Powered Love," now available for pre-order!

State-of-the-art geek rock. Sort of like Megadeth except we're not speed metal and we have songs about Transformers. So, nothing like Megadeth actually.

We're going to be debuting the record at a live show at the San Diego Comic Con in just a few weeks, but until then you can feast your ears on the title track:

You can also get the single at iTunes.

Posted July 6, 2011

(Watch at YouTube.)

Alone, late night, dead strings, dead tired.

Posted June 9, 2011