| Background images and media on this site are the property of Brad Sweitzer. No duplication or use permitted without written consent. last site update - October 17, 2008 |
Artist News
October 2008
Hi everybody!
Thanks for coming to my website and giving my
music a spin. October 2008 marks the release of
my second solo CD of original music – Talk Radio.
Here are fourteen new songs, some I wrote a few years ago and some which are
brand new. I think I’ve put together another string of tight, interesting, and
personal tunes with lots of harmony and detail – and covering a range of topics,
moods, and styles.
The title tune – Talk Radio - is a real blues rocker that lyrically captures the
essence of radio programs hosted by lawyers, doctors, sportscasters, and news
jockeys. The rest of the CD runs the gamut with a wide variety from the pleading
Stranger in My Own Land and the personal Something Blue to the intimate
Returning These Stones and the desperate I Already Know – ending with the
raucous Talk Radio (Reprise) bringing it all back together.
My personal favorite is The Solid Wall – a funky and introspective metaphor that
looks at our need to emotionally protect ourselves – and the walls we build to
ensure that nothing gets out and nobody gets in - “Nothing gets around the solid
wall”.
The cover art is unique. I really liked the overall concept. The idea was the
omniscient host spewing forth to the obsequious and paranoid listener – hanging
on every word – with the broadcast antenna on the hill like a beacon of hope for
the troubled masses yearning for the truth. (But you can interpret it any way you
want.)
And there’s nothing quite as childlike as stick figures drawn with a Sharpie on a
clear transparency – superimposed over an original water color background and
taken in bright sunlight with a digital camera. It may look simple, but it took a
hundred tries to get it right. We did backgrounds in blue and red, purple and gold,
green and yellow, and yellow and orange before deciding to go with the blue and
yellow. (I almost used the red and blue – to represent red and blue states – with
purple independents where the two colors mixed.)
Anyway, I’m quite pleased with the whole package and hope you take the time to
listen to the tracks and consider buying the whole hard copy CD through CD Baby
or grab some downloads off of Emusic, Tradebit , Payplay, Groupietunes, or
iTunes.
I’m anxious to get going on marketing and distribution and see how well we can
do as an Indie release here in the Bay Area. We’re really going to work hard to
shop the title song to some of the nationally syndicated talk radio shows to see if
we can’t establish it as the lead-in music.
We’ll also be looking for a lot more Bay Area airplay, including a foot in the door at
some of the major stations like KFOG and KFOX – not always an easy task. I’ll try
to keep everybody posted on progress.
Also, the website is getting a complete face lift in honor of the new CD. Thanks to
Michele Williams for her efforts to create something new and more inviting. This is
an area where I possess absolutely no skill set, however, Michele is one of the only
people I know – where I don’t feel the need to play control freak!
Please email me and let me know what you think. I’m pretty good about getting
back in a timely manner.
And by the way – I really am a talk radio junkie!
Rock on,
Brad
brand new. I think I’ve put together another string of tight, interesting, and
personal tunes with lots of harmony and detail – and covering a range of topics,
moods, and styles.
The title tune – Talk Radio - is a real blues rocker that lyrically captures the
essence of radio programs hosted by lawyers, doctors, sportscasters, and news
jockeys. The rest of the CD runs the gamut with a wide variety from the pleading
Stranger in My Own Land and the personal Something Blue to the intimate
Returning These Stones and the desperate I Already Know – ending with the
raucous Talk Radio (Reprise) bringing it all back together.
My personal favorite is The Solid Wall – a funky and introspective metaphor that
looks at our need to emotionally protect ourselves – and the walls we build to
ensure that nothing gets out and nobody gets in - “Nothing gets around the solid
wall”.
The cover art is unique. I really liked the overall concept. The idea was the
omniscient host spewing forth to the obsequious and paranoid listener – hanging
on every word – with the broadcast antenna on the hill like a beacon of hope for
the troubled masses yearning for the truth. (But you can interpret it any way you
want.)
And there’s nothing quite as childlike as stick figures drawn with a Sharpie on a
clear transparency – superimposed over an original water color background and
taken in bright sunlight with a digital camera. It may look simple, but it took a
hundred tries to get it right. We did backgrounds in blue and red, purple and gold,
green and yellow, and yellow and orange before deciding to go with the blue and
yellow. (I almost used the red and blue – to represent red and blue states – with
purple independents where the two colors mixed.)
Anyway, I’m quite pleased with the whole package and hope you take the time to
listen to the tracks and consider buying the whole hard copy CD through CD Baby
or grab some downloads off of Emusic, Tradebit , Payplay, Groupietunes, or
iTunes.
I’m anxious to get going on marketing and distribution and see how well we can
do as an Indie release here in the Bay Area. We’re really going to work hard to
shop the title song to some of the nationally syndicated talk radio shows to see if
we can’t establish it as the lead-in music.
We’ll also be looking for a lot more Bay Area airplay, including a foot in the door at
some of the major stations like KFOG and KFOX – not always an easy task. I’ll try
to keep everybody posted on progress.
Also, the website is getting a complete face lift in honor of the new CD. Thanks to
Michele Williams for her efforts to create something new and more inviting. This is
an area where I possess absolutely no skill set, however, Michele is one of the only
people I know – where I don’t feel the need to play control freak!
Please email me and let me know what you think. I’m pretty good about getting
back in a timely manner.
And by the way – I really am a talk radio junkie!
Rock on,
Brad
NEWS
