Blacktop Moon: Happenings

We've started recording our Blacktop Moon CD. We'll probably have around 12 or so original songs on the project. We plan to fully produce the music . . . drums, accordion, lead guitar, fiddle, even trumpet on one track. We're excited and can't wait to finish. What we've done so far is sounding just like we had hoped. We'll let all of you know when it's done.

As the year winds down, we are stepping back a bit to see what direction we would like to take the band. Our show at COPIA, The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts which we shared with Sweet Burgundy, went very well. The City decided to cut the lights that evening so we had to cut our set short in order to make sure everyone was able to get out in time. Also, our monitors were cutting in and out which was quite a distraction, but overall it went very well and we loved playing there in that beautiful theater. Thanks to everyone who came out to see us in our first concert venue.

Currently we have two more gigs this year. On December 15th we’ll be at Windsor Wine Shop, and on the 29th we’ll appear again at the Black Rose Irish Pub. That gig will mark almost exactly one year since our very fist gig at GTO’s Seafood House in Sebastopol on New Year’s Eve of last year.

What a year it’s been! We’ve played at Coffee Catz, GTO’s, Windsor Wine Shop, The Black Rose Irish Pub, The Last Day Saloon, Ace in the Hole, Dry Creek Vineyards, Aroma Roasters and, of course, COPIA. We also appeared live on KRSH, 95.5fm for their Thursday Night Live program. It’s been a lot of fun and we want to thank everyone who has ever come out to see us perform. You are what makes it all worthwhile.

We have decided to take fewer gigs this year and start recording a new album instead. We have lots of good, original songs and we want to produce an album this year. So, while we will still play some gigs here and there, we are excited about getting some of the stuff we’ve written recorded so we can share it with an even wider audience. Hopefully sometime this year we will be announcing a CD release party!

We've been having a very busy summer! Several new venues have opened up to us including The Last Day Saloon, Aroma Roasters and Windsor Wine Shop. We were pleased to be invited to play as part of Calistoga's Summer Concerts in the Park Series as well, along with a live guest appearance on KRSH 95.9 FM for their show, Thursday Night Live. We still have several great shows coming up for the rest of this year, including our appearance at COPIA, The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, in Napa on November 29, 2007. We will be sharing that evening with Sweet Burgundy, a great all-female acoustic trio. There is a $20 ticket price for this show, which will be held in the beautiful inside theater at COPIA. It's a chance to see two bands playing original music, to experience the amazing theater there at COPIA, and to support and cheer on your's truly, Blacktop Moon. We have several shows around Sonoma County before then, so check our calendar often and come on out to join us at any one of them. We always love to see you. Here's to a prosperous rest of the summer. All of us wish you friendship and music throughout the rest of this amazing year. As always, we love you and appreciate your support.

Well, we've been putting ourselves out there for a while now, and people are beginning to notice and remember us. We've added some new songs, and had the pleasure of some fine musicians sitting in with us, including accordion virtuoso Robert Lunceford, and Monique Timberlake with her smoking pedal steel guitar. Sonoma County radio station KRSH, (95.9 FM), has invited us to be guests on their weekly live radio broadcast, "Thursday Night Live," in July, and we've even been called from over the hill in Calistoga to be a part of that city's Summer Concert in the Park series in August. It's not confirmed yet, but it looks as though we may have a concert in November in Napa at COPIA, the American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, sharing billing with "Sweet Burgundy," a fine acoustic trio we love. Our core group of loyal friends and fans have inspired us to continue putting ourselves out there. We're sure not doing it for the money! It's the smiling, familiar faces we see time after time - people singing along to our original songs and encouraging us - that makes us want to keep making music. Thank you to everyone who has come to see and hear us play. We love and appreciate you.

Well, we went back and remixed the demo and now it's ready. We uploaded the new versions and we've added a new song here, "Daddy's El Camino." As of this week we're hitting the road to get more gigs in the area. We'll let you know what happens and where we'll be. Thanks, all of you, for your support.

We spent eight hours of one Saturday this month in the Vacaville Studios of Leigh Wyckoff recording songs for our demo CD. We managed to lay down six songs in that eight-hour session with the help of lots of laughter and some good vodka (not necessarily in that order). They are still being mixed so we should have them posted here in their final version soon enough. For now, we have the slightly rougher versions here.