Got to thinking the other day, “maybe I should write a newsletter.”
It’s mid-November and the cold has come on. Twitter is stumbling towards what? Surely its demise. But how soon and in what shape? It’s become hard to rely on that thing and maybe we shouldn’t have anyway. It had the possibility, within its framework, to aid the building of communities. People had to attend to, nurture, and feed these communities just like anywhere else but the connection interface was strong. The discovery of these communities was also a good feature. Moving to new platforms requires a redevelopment of these skills. We scatter to Mastodon, Reddit, Instagram, Discord and who knows where else and try to reassemble the networks that have long informed, entertained, and supported us.
The Brokedown Podcast was able to morph into a platform for experimental musicians because I could find and connect with artists so easily on Twitter. Truth is, I’m lazy enough that simple barriers can be insurmountable on the wrong Tuesday. Sending out blind emails to PR folk, managers, or whatever unmonitored gmail account I may find on a website last updated in 2017 is not nearly as easy, effective, or satisfying. We’ll see how that all goes.
But I haven’t come to bury Twitter. I’ve come to drive a fresh flag of sovereignty into the ramparts and look out on the internets and see what is good.
What is good?
The year is ending and, unlike the past three years, will likely slide away without a holiday single from yours truly. I have a couple songs in mind but they’re just not going to be ready for your ears by last week so I’m happily going to forgo the entire thing and point out to you that I released an original song last year and I’m still pleased with it.
That’s my daughter, Piper, and my wife, Amy, singing backup on that tune and they do a lovely job.
Back in June, I released “Slips, Trips, & Falls”, my second full-length album. I got some nice press from Record Crates United:
“…a fine balance between pleasant country-tinged singer-songwriter fare and cosmic Americana.”
Currently, there are CDs available which would make a fine holiday gift for the lover of whatever sort of music I make. I highly recommend it. I’ve also got a couple (very few!) CD copies of the first album, “Sunken Road”, along with a mess of 7” singles if that’s your thing. All, of course, available in the Bandcamp store.
Proceeds of all of that go to production costs for the next album.
Next album, you ask?
Why yes. I have another album that is, at this time, completely tracked. I hope to have it mixed and mastered in due course and move towards releasing it in some way in the new year. Maybe come Spring? We’ll see how things fly.
Inquiries are welcome, nay, encouraged.
In fact, my mailbox is ajar and ready for your missives. Send along whatever you’ve got. I’ll hit you back in due course. If you don’t know, I’ll just put it out there. I’m rowjimmy AT gmail. Use it wisely.
So, nothing new but the new stuff, I suppose, is the current state of being. I remain on the twitter web site if only to see which way the frame falls when it finally goes up in flames. That’s @rowj. Don’t expect much in the way of posts. For that sort of thing, I’m now on Mastodon at the slightly more complicated @rowjimmy@shakedown.social. If you don’t know how that all works, ask your kids or your neighbor’s kids.
I’m also on instagram still @therealrowjimmy or @brokedownpod if you just want the scoop on the show.
An abridged version of this free newsletter has also been issued via my bandcamp page. If you go up there and follow me, you’ll get all the new news when it’s hot. Full versions will also be posted here on my internet website. I’m thinking that now may be the time to get back into the old blog but, no promises on that front. Big news will come via this newsletter so stay tuned, get your friends tuned, keep your guitars tuned (and humidified) and stay warm this winter.
-J.M. Hart