The tune Blake worked on with Darude for the Dance For Life charity is now now available through iTunes. It’s called “Selfless.”
Also, Johnny Nails sent out an email confirming the following tour dates for the A.D.D. tour:
Oct 5 2008 9:00P The Canal Room New York, New York
Oct 6 2008 9:00P A.D.D. on Tour @ Great Scott Boston, Massachusetts
Oct 7 2008 9:00P A.D.D. on Tour @ Maxwell’s Hoboken, New Jersey
Oct 8 2008 9:00P A.D.D. on Tour @ Mexicali Live Teaneck, New Jersey
Oct 9 2008 9:00P A.D.D. on Tour @ Sonar Baltimore, Maryland
Oct 10 2008 9:00P A.D.D. on Tour @ Croc Rock / Café Under Allentown, Pennsylvania
Oct 12 2008 9:00P A.D.D. on Tour @ The Northstar Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Oct 13 2008 9:00P A.D.D. on Tour @ Gravity Lounge Charlottesville, Virginia
Oct 14 2008 9:00P A.D.D. on Tour @ Canal Club Richmond, Virginia
Oct 15 2008 9:00P A.D.D. on Tour @ Jewish Mother Virginia Beach, Virginia
Oct 16 2008 9:00P A.D.D. on Tour @ New Brookland Tavern Columbia, South Carolina
Johnny says he’s excited, but things will get worse before they get better, closing with “fortunately we are a stalwart crew of pirates and nay-do-gooders.”
Thanks to Kasia for the “Selfless” information.
LOVE it! I was so glad when I heard those beautiful ambient vocals!
:-) sweet! It’s been on the headphones since I got it this morning.
Don’t be afraid to try this– it’s music anybody can like.
What does Johnny mean by “things will get worse before they get better?” Is there more bad news?
Thanks everyone for recommending the song. I bought it, and it is a great song.
Bully, I totally agree! And I really like the meaning in the lyrics.
Ahhhh! :) I’m so impressed with Selfless. I really feel like we’re finally hearing the REAL Blake. Though I like the ADD for the pop record that it is, I’d love to see more of this kind of stuff coming from him… which I have no doubts that it will. At one of the shows Blake told my friend and I that the new stuff would be more electro and more like his older stuff, which I couldn’t be more happy about. His voice sounds impeccable and the beats are incredible. This being released couldn’t be a better thing! :) Yay for Bshorty!
I am with you greeneyesxo. I would like to hear more of similar songs from Blake.
Check the previous threat. We got a nice post from Darude about “Selfless”
Also, Project Lionheart has CD out on CD Baby. It includes “My eyes” and “Get down”. They sent a bulletin that it will be available on itunes soon.
of course thread not threat.
I think this will be appreciated here since we all seem to respect the musicianship of B more than the fact that he has a nice a**. One of my friends had on of this guys videos uploaded onto his band’s myspace and I thought you all would appreciate this.
http://zackkim.blogspot.com/ Click on his song links down the page which take you to the youtube vids.
This guy has musicianship!
Blake really needs to try and get on track. If he’s not gonna have a big label deal, he’s gonna have to get on be on the road CONSTANTLY to get the word out about his band and ADD. That’s the only way to do it. It’s either that, or be promoted to radio- which doesn’t seem to be happening now. Isn’t it frustrating knowing that most of the tracks on blake’s album could be huge top-40 hits? All he needs is a supportive label. RIGHT NOW he needs to do a 60-70 date club tour around the whole country to get people HEARING his music. That’s the way to do it, you can just sit around and hope for success.
bshorty4L,
While I agree that Blake needs to be doing all he can to get his name out there, it really isn’t as easy as it seems. You need financial support to put a tour together, and we all know that Blake had that taken away for whatever reason. We know he and his current management/publicist are looking for a new label, so hopefully that’s what it takes to get things back on track! :)
I love Selfless :)!
I agree I would love to hear more electro from Blake.
He’s working hard I believe! It’s not easy, he’s gotta start from scratch again basically… How can he go on a 60 city tour? Who’s gonna foot the bill? He needs to get SOME backing support first. Though I agree a little bit, work that MySpace haha, he does have 88,000 friends, it’s very easy to spread the word (about the tour or whatever) to people who like your music. But, I’m sure there are things he has to deal with behind the scenes right now
Heather– Yeah, the tour of cities is tough, if he’s doing it out of pocket himself. Financial backing would appear to be key, for the setting up and keeping of long range concert plans. We can’t expect him to foot those kinds of bills, and I know he’s maybe putting himself out-there by even doing the ones he has set. It shows his committment to his fans, and making something happen.
My problem with him is the lack of use of tools like his MS, and the 88K he has at his disposal. He does nothing to engage his people, nothing to encourage them, nothing to get them excited. We find out about stuff hitting on our own, we diehards– he doesn;t tell us anything. I know he maybe has been busy, maybe even depressed and therefore submerged in emotion and ennui, but he HAS to work the fields he’s been given! When he changed his MS status to show even when he was online? His comments started going bananas. When he started answering comments to the lucky few? It engaged those people. He hasn;t even put out a Bulletin saying “Hey! come by the MS and check out the new music player!” Without asking people to engage, they don’t.
I don’t know if his middle class raising that makes it hard to talk about “himself”, or if he just doesn’t like it, but he can’t solely count on his fans to spread the news.They need HIM to put something out there in supplication. When he reaches out, people reach back.
The news of the Tour generated some good interest, and still has the potential for more. Because yeah, out there in concert is when we can get excited again, and bring new fans in!:-)
He needs to reach out tho, so we can reach back. I know things are hard for him, but we’ve actually had more info and interest from Johnny Nails than he himself. His personality is really his biggest “asset”! heh!
Actually, full bands and solo artists tour without financial backing ALL the time. That is not a necessity. It’s harder to do, sure, but it is done every day by bands and solo artisits that most of us have never heard of.
Bully,
I understand what you are saying, but I am not sure if I would agree that there is a lack of use of tools like MS or that he does nothing to engage or excite people. I think it is more a case of underusing at times MS, when it comes to promoting events or songs.
I have few other artists on myspace and I see some of them post more often than Blake, others even less frequently. It might have to do with the amount of news that are available to share, time, and personality, or maybe all three. He did say at some point that he is used to communicating through his music. Blogging, sending bulletins, etc, could be still a new territory for him.
As far as sharing information with fans, at least in some instances, maybe he did not know all the details. I can tell you from my personal experience that Blake could not give me information about his past radio appearances or concerts when I asked him, simply becasue he did not know the specifics.
I do hope that in the future he will be able to find people in the music industry who will be standing behind him 100% and will be more proactive in promoting him and advertising about events or appearances, so we will not have to look for that information. But right now when things are all over the place for Blake, and frankly chaotic and unpredictable at times, I think support that we his fans offer, such as putting information about the songs or links to news, is important. I think it is better than nothing.
I agree, that us passing on information and news is very important. I think it is really needed. BLArmy has been integral in his promo, for sure.
Spouse has said, that without financial backing doing a regional sort of concert series would be very difficult. He made mention of deposits and stuff being needed, and then the artist recouping moneys at the other end. Some area musicians like in Nashville work regular jobs so that they can afford to go out and play. Fees for the band have to be paid to secure them, like you would pay for any other tradesman. The out of pocket would be alot, for out of state stuff, just saying. (adding expenses and hotel etc) All that is at the front end.
All this is one reason I admire the heck out Blake for making the tour dates happen that he is. He’s making it happen, himself. What I hope is he can do well enough to either have a nest egg for future odd concerts out here, or find surprise funding.
I hope he finds touring really gratifying on a personal level, too.
Yea, I think things just got sidetracked a bit, I’m sure he’s frustrated with everything right now, and we don’t know exactly what is going on. He can do whatever he chooses with his MySpace. It’s not a big deal, but I personally, would be throwing out a bulletin or two promoting the tour, generate some bigger revenue. He does communicate quite a bit with us! He does blog, and bulletin and he’s on almost everyday, answering questions and what not. I feel fully informed because I look for it, I know about the tour, and his struggles, I think the average person, or casual fan does not. They only hear what is reported, and as of late, it’s not the good news. Heck, even my mom heard about canceling the tour, but she didn’t know half of it was still on…
The tour will be good, so we can give him some love! Which he needs, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to go out and give it to him! But touring isn’t everything. He’s gotta make more music! I think that is more important than him touring at the moment. People need to see him in a new light, he needs to shake off the previous issues, the failures, the idol, and start fresh. I know ADD is amazing and the world needs to hear it, but I think it’s time has come and gone, and it may have to be sacrificed. I have a cousin that has a band, and yes they tour, with little money. But it’s a big production, and they usually end up spending more money than they make, and sleep at random peoples homes or in their busted van and things. It’s not very glamourous. He’d be more useful making deals and making new music that he would be on the road. He’s played enough shows, that people know who he is.
My biggest problem with all of this is that he has said himself that he feels he doesn’t need to promote himself like he used to. When he said that shortly after getting on Idol, I cringed and I really was hoping that it was a slip of the tongue and not something he really believed cause that’s never the case at all. Any musician needs to promote themselves on their own all the time…24 and 7 to get where they want to be if where they want to be is the big time. That never stops during the climb. I don’t care what Tom Dick and Harriet you think is doing that for you. It’s the artists responsibility.
I have LOTS of friends in bands and they don’t have money backing them and they tour ALL THE FREAKING TIME and yes, to other states often. They work other jobs on and off and they pool their money and they make it work. Doing these shows is their promotion. Some of them burn their own discs or use cheap reproduction companies to do that for them and they stay after every concert and meet and greet whoever the f*** wants to meet them, not just people who hold a special gold ticket or something and they sign until there ain’t nobody to sign for and THEN they jump in the old van and move on. They do it mostly themselves, with help from biggest fans, family and friends who can chip in here and there and many bands before them have done the same before signing with a label and becoming millionaires. It’s called hard work. I know B was doing it before and I know he has a great work ethic so I can see this working for him also.
I think he is playing the dates he has, as sort of a thank you to fans. The fans have been asking, and he wants to give it to them, that face-time. To me, while it sounds good and all, I don’t want him suffering to give what can bring him down financially. What he has to give to his fans, is what he was giving during AI– himself. He can give us more of himself for FREE, via the internets and YouTube and MS, and get his fanbase of inert peoples active, again!
Silly vids, the promised Vlog of him in his home or with his dog, or like we saw thanks to heather of him at the Common Market vid shoot. More info, like feedback of his trip to Norway, or a concert he played at, or being at Meltdown with his friends again. Even pictures shared– all these things are FREE, and at his disposal for good customer relations and promotion. The more Good Stuff there is out there, the more buzz will surround him. Media pick up on fun stuff, too, so there is the unexpected side benefit there of inadvertant promotion. Positive buzz, fun things, bits of himself shared with his fans, that all goes a long way towards longevity and maintaining a fanbase.
Why does Crazed/Rayz have to be at a concert in order for us to know he was there and played? Why do we only get accidental witnesses to his music? YouTube is a target-rich, Free environment to harness and even exploit. New videos make people excited. If he were to video these upcoming venues, and get good filmage– we ALL could benefit from it, and he’d have it for promotion too. (Using his friend Flowmotion’s technology, they could even potentially siphon a really cool LIVE version audio, you know?)
I’m not sure that scuffing around the country until he’s in tatters is the only option he’s got left. Some good things have happened for him, career wise, but in many ways he’s been through the wringer, too. Investing time and energy in getting a supportive label and, perhaps, management as well as producing new music to put out in the future is part of getting “back on track,” too. A nationwide tour would be great but for whatever reasons it’s not in the mix right now.
“My biggest problem with all of this is that he has said himself that he feels he doesn’t need to promote himself like he used to”
I feel Blake assume once he had a publicist/91E/Arista that he wouldn’t have to do self promotion…as we can see, they did a lousy job…yes there were appearances but not smart moves…I wish he had had Jive other than Arista…
hopeuflly this tour will stir interest again…as noted in the other post
pls try to call xm20on20 1-866-553-2020 HMW get his on air or at least let the stations know there is interest in Blake
No artist should ever assume (you know what they say about assuming) that they won’t have to do self promotion. That’s what I was trying to get at. Every person in the public eye, whether that’s international, national or just local, should always be aware that they are doing self promotion every time they speak, and even when they just show their face and say not a word. That’s the point I was trying to make. And the more positive promotion they do, the better. Even if that means he hands out flyers himself if there’s time and the opportunity.
And I call XM every few hours…cause I’m anal like that. :)
Newduck
I’m calling in every hour on the hour and especially on my way to work…trying..haven’t gotten through though…trying to tell the radio that Blake has a tour…you never know,,,just maybe they’ll put a plug in…they did before when I asked them to….so thanks for trying so at least there are two of us against the Jonas Brothers!!!!
Ohhh..can’t say I’m against the Bros. I have a 5 year old who is sure she will marry Nick someday. :)
But my 13 year old cringes everytime they talk about their music being “rock”.
Newduck
I’m not really against them personally JUSt the hugh fan base..1 against 1,000’s is tough besides believe it or not, I’ve never listened to them…I’m too old and I associate them with Miley whom I have heard and think is terrible but has wonderful marketing. therefore a success so the moral is is not about talent but marketing…they can shove down anything one’s throat and eventually people will buy into it…
oh well putting my calls in as I write