We enjoyed playing all 3 gigs this weekend. Someone had a video camera going at our Saturday morning set at Maine Pagan Pride Day, and captured this video of Selcouth performing to one of our songs, Long Way To Go. Thanks to Selcouth for dancing, and for posting this video. Enjoy!
We’re playing three gigs this upcoming weekend, August 8 and 9.
Saturday, August 8th, we have two gigs. First, in the morning from 11:30 to 12:30, we’re opening up Maine Pagan Pride Day at Allen Avenue Unitarian Universalist Church, on 524 Allen Avenue in Portland.
Then, we play another set at around 5pm at The Alliance Festival at the Barnyard in Livermore. This is something of a warmup gig for the Woodstock show the next day.
On Sunday, August 9th, we’ll play a set at the Heroes of Woodstock Festival at the same venue.
The Barnyard is at the intersection of Rt 108 and River Road in Livermore.
NOTE: We’ll have a new run of Freakwitch T-shirts available, as well as an opportunity to preorder our album, Sway, which will be sent to you as soon as it’s ready.
We hope to see you there, come one come all!
Freakwitch will be opening for the Heroes of Woodstock show at The Barnyard in Livermore, Maine on August 9th, sometime in the early afternoon. Headlining this show are original acts from the original Woodstock show 40 years ago: Jefferson Starship, Canned Heat, Big Brother and The Holding Company, Ten Years After, Country Joe McDonald and Grateful Dead’s Tom Constanten. Freakwitch and two other local bands will be opening.
We are definitely looking forward to playing this show, as it will mean playing for a lot of people who may not have heard us before. Cool!
We decided to take some excerpts from the basic tracks from the album, and put them into a nine-minute montage to serve as both a demo as well as a preview of the album. You can get the mp3 file here, or check out our MySpace page to hear it.
These are the “basic tracks” of the album, in other words these recordings are the 5 of us playing live, with no overdubs or studio trickery of any kind. Of course, the final album will have plenty of overdubs (mostly guitars and vocals), and will sound a bit different, but we feel these relatively stripped-down files do a good job of capturing the energy of the 5 of us playing music.
The song excerpts are from Seems Like, Tip Of My Tongue, Too Bad For You, Breathe, Cackle, Sway, Long Way To Go, Make It Through, and Unglued.
Enjoy!
Here is a listing of the gigs we have lined up so far for this summer:
Friday October 16
5:30-6:30pm
Saturday October 17
11:15pm-12:15am
Maine Vocals HARVEST FEST II
Harmony, ME
Saturday October 3
12:00-1:00pm
Maine Vocals HARVEST FEST I
Harmony, ME
Sunday August 23, 2009
9-10:15am
Maine Vocals HEMPSTOCK
Harmony, ME
Sunday August 9, 2009
early afternoon
Heroes of Woodstock
Livermore, ME
Saturday August 8, 2009
afternoon
Southern Maine Pagan Pride Day
Portland, ME
Saturday August 1, 2009
afternoon/all day
Lammas Bash (contact us for details/directions)
Hollis, ME
Friday June 18, 2009
5:15- 6:15
Maine Vocals FREEDOM FEST
Harmony, ME
Watch this space for future announcements.
Still recording guitars for the album the album. I’d say guitars are about 2/3 of the way done. I’ve been doing acoustic guitar overdubs in interesting-sounding rooms with portable acoustic treatment (imagine that, JWL using acoustic treatment…..) including a cool church right on the Saco River in Bar Mills. Of course we’re also using “the band room” in the Shields basement, which we treated several years back for recording. Combined with the great sound of Jon’s drum room, we have a very interesting variety of sounds!
I’d like to get a song-in-progress or excerpts up here soon, to whet the Freakwitch appetite….
We had a GREAT weekend at Jon Wyman’s studio. In this shot, I was standing in the live room, and took this shot, you can see the back of Jon’s head, and Todd, Alfred, Matthew, and Yo as we listen back to some of the takes. And if you really look, you can see my reflection as I took this picture, right in front of the diffusors on Jon’s back wall.
After a weekend of chill, vibey, and productive work, all the basic tracks (meaning drums and bass) are finished for the new album. They sound great, these are easily the best basic tracks I’ve ever had to work with for Freakwitch. This is due to several factors…. Alfred’s drumming, Jon’s engineering chops, a great kit, a great room…. and most importantly, a well-rehearsed band of skillful people doing their thing…. there were very few edits required, only a handful, which were usually just splicing together different takes. This is refreshing in this age of grid-editing, drumagog, beat detecting, and drum samples; great drum tracks that don’t involve me programming fake drums! What a concept.
Next step…. JWL’s guitars. Stay tuned.
…until we go into the studio with Jon Wyman to record basic tracks for our new album.
Despite the lack of updates here, we’ve been hard at work, writing some new stuff, tweaking some older stuff, prepping a great album for release soon. Having Alfred as a co-creator/co-conspirator has greatly expanded our rhythmic vocabulary. And getting Jon to record us means we won’t have to worry about good-sounding tracks.
Once the basic tracks are in the bag, we want to knock out the rest of the album as soon as we can, and still do justice to the material. We’re talking about gearing up for summer gigs so that you can hear this new incarnation of Freakwitch. It’s exciting!
There are no gigs planned at the moment, though this is of course subject to change at any time.
As we move into the dark time of year, we are pleased to be turning inward with Alfred Lund on drums. Having a drummer of his ability, power, and sensibility changes everything, and is quite simply a joy to experience and co-create.
We will be heading into the studio over the winter for a new album, and we are presently gathering our creative energies in preparation for such, writing new material and tightening arrangements of existing songs. Over the recordings we’ve done so far, we’ve consciously saved some of our best songs for a full album, one where we aren’t limited to producing it over part-time work in one month. Though the RPM challenge was a lot of fun, this new album will be fully realized, something we have not yet been able to accomplish in our recordings for a variety of reasons.
Also, for the first time, we will be turning to a producer/engineer outside the band, which is almost always a very good thing for a band to do. More details anon.
We have 2 gigs (technically 3 gigs) coming up in October, again with the Maine Vocals people.
We’ll be playing Harvest Fest in Starks, which is the weekend of Oct. 2 – 5. We have 2 sets over the weekend:
Then, two weeks later, we’ll also be playing Harmony Harvest Fest I at their new location in Harmony, Maine. We just have 1 set for this festival:
So come on out, for a good cause, and enjoy the harvest, beautiful people, and great music all weekend long.
Hi all, an update is overdue.
The Lammas Bash was great fun, playing with Alfred Lund on drums for the first time.
This week, we have gigs on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Thursday will be an “acoustic set” (without drums) at Hempstock from 6:30-7:30pm.
Friday will be a full band set, with Michael Heat on drums, at Hempstock from 2:45-3:45pm.
Note that times at Maine Vocals events are subject to change, depending on how things go. Hempstock is at Harry Brown’s farm in Starks, Maine. If you’ve been to the hill before you know where it is. It’s always a great time, a good scene with a bunch of vendors and great music all weekend.
Then, on Saturday, we are playing at Maine Pagan Pride Day in Portland. This is a fun event, also with good vendors and a bunch of great workshops. If you are pagan or pagan-friendly I encourage you to come check it out, bond with the southern Maine pagan community, and listen to great music. There will also be dancers while we are playing, as well as on their own.
We will be doing 2 sets this year, again with Alfred Lund on drums, from 1-2pm and 3-4pm.
Consider yourself summoned!
The RPM Challenge people are putting together compilation CDs from the tracks submitted to this year’s RPM Challenge. I’m happy to say that “My Own Way” by Freakwitch has been nominated for the Rock disc (Disc #7).
If you want to help us out, please go to the voting page and enter some votes for Freakwitch, My Own Way. It’s a forum, so you’ll have to register for the forum.
Please and Thank You.
With Interconnected out (thanks to all for listening), we are now gearing up for our summer gigs. We have several lined up so far. I’ll list them all here for a preliminary reference, and as we get closer to them we’ll post more individual detail about each one.
Fri June 20
5:15 – 6:15
Maine Vocals Freedom Fest
Starks, ME (exact location to be determined)
Sat Aug 2
afternoon – evening
Lammas Bash
Hollis, ME (our private bash, contact us if you want to come)
Thurs Aug 14
5:15 – 6:15
Fri Aug 15
11am – noon
Maine Vocals Hempstock
Starks, ME (exact location to be determined)
Sat Aug 16
1 pm – 2 pm
Maine Pagan Pride Day
Portland, ME
Fri Sept 5
evening
Awen Camp
Harrison, ME
Solar Sun Festival
(time and location to be determined)
Sat Sept 20
Lizzyoos Bog Bash
Belgrade, ME (another private party, contact us if interested)
Thurs Oct 2
5:30 – 6:30
Sat Oct 4
noon – 1 pm
Maine Vocals Harvest Fest
Starks, ME (exact location to be determined)
Our new album, Interconnected, is now available. You can download it directly from us, but please save bandwidth and listen/download from our myspace page or our RPM challenge page instead if you can (they will be posted there shortly as I write this).
We are not charging to download it, but please support us if you like it either by buying some merchandise, buying a copy of the CD (they will be available soon), or just simply donating to our cause.
Lyrics are posted below for your perusal. Thanks to everyone for contributing to this album and for putting up with us while we made it.
Everything is interconnected, I’m just not sure why
Everything is interconnected
I just don’t know how
Butterfly is flitter-flying rising to the sky
Rising through the clouds up toward the sun
I know that my chance is slim
Still I hold out my hand
He lands, then he flies
Sometimes the choice is not your own
When you come up against that you see how you have grown
You can hold on tightly and still he has flown
Sometimes the choice is not your own
Everything is interconnected
I’m just not sure why
I see him running through the field
He’s kicking up the flowers
He’s kicking all the stars into the sky
As I watch him run away I cannot help but ask myself
Why? Why?
Sometimes the choice is not your own
When you come up against that you see how you have grown
You can hold on gently and still he has flown
Sometimes the choice is not your own
Not your own
Not your own
Not your own
I’ve been looking all day long for you
Now you’re standing right beside me
So I just paint myself a fool
I should have trusted the light to guide me
Sometimes I just get in my own way
Sometimes I just get in my own way
So I’m left with nothing else to say
Sometimes I just get in my own way
I’ve been singing all day long despite you
But I have not written one damn song
I guess I should have remembered to invite you
Then you could be singing along
Sometimes I just get in my own way
Sometimes I just get in my own way
So I’m left with nothing else to say
Sometimes I just get in my own way
I’ve been lost in these dreams for years
Still you’re lying right beside me
As we turn to face a brand new day
I trust in the light to guide me
Sometimes I just get in my own way
Sometimes I just get in my own way
So I’m left with nothing else to say
Sometimes I just get in my own way
When you come down off the mountain
Nobody gives a fuck
About how much was daring
About how much was luck
About how dumb you were in the first place
To hang your ass out here
You made it back from the edge
and the message is quite clear
The edge is all about
The edge is all about
In an instant your reality could be entirely snuffed out
Well I was about to say something to you
But I forget what it was
I was about to share something with you
But I forget because
It slipped my mind, just like that
It slipped my mind, just like that
It was right at the tip of my tongue
Right at the tip of my tongue
I had something
Something profound, and it’s gone
Right at the top of my head
Right at the top of my head
I was about to say it
Then it fled
It was right at the top of my head
Ahhhh, the tip of my tongue
All the things that I left undone
All the dreams that I left undrummed
All the songs that I left unsung
Because they’re trapped on the tip of my tongue
The tip of my tongue
Well I know I had something important to say
But all the words, they just seem to fly away
I had something profound that I wished to impart
But I fear I am finished before I start
It was right at the tip of my tongue
Right at the tip of my tongue
And all the things that I left undone
All the dreams that I left undrummed
All the songs that I left unsung
Because they’re trapped on the tip of my tongue
The tip of my tongue
Right at the tip of my tongue
Ahhhh, the tip of my tongue
And all the things that I left undone
All the dreams that I left undrummed
All the songs that I left unsung
Because they’re trapped on the tip of my tongue
Right on the tip of my tongue
I don’t know how to reach your heart
I don’t know how to reach your heart
I only wish you’d take my hand
I can show you things you never dreamed of
And you can show me things I never dreamed of
I’m stuck here in the middle
And I don’t know what to do
I hurt myself for loving you
If you won’t notice, and if you can’t see
Why the hell am I doing this to me?
I don’t know how to reach your heart
I don’t know how to reach your heart
I only wish you’d take my hand
I could show you things you’ve never dreamed of
And you could show me things I’ve never dreamed of
I know you’ve been lied to, and I know I can’t possibly understand
But damn I’d like to try to, woman you know I want to be your man
‘Cuz you know I’ve been lied to, and you know you can’t possibly understand
But don’t you even want to try to? Woman don’t you want me to be your man?
I don’t know how to reach your heart
I don’t know how to reach your heart
I only wish you’d take my hand
I could show you things you’ve never dreamed of
And you could show me things I’ve never dreamed of
You can dream my dream with me
I can dream your dream with you
We can build a dream together, just we two
If you’d just tell me how to reach your heart
She weaves alone in her room all day
And every night she unravels her fate
She will do this until he returns
Or they catch her at this charade
Because she believes,
She believes in love
She’s sure she’d know if he was dead
She’s sure she’d feel it in her soul
So she weaves with her thread
In hopes he comes back soon, but she don’t know
But she believes
She believes in love
After twenty years he returned
To find his court is filled with fools
He looks for his lady bride
And when she sees him it all comes true
That she believes
She believes
She believes in love
She believes
The edge is all about
The edge is all about
The edge is all about
The edge is all about
The edge is….
In an instant your reality could be entirely snuffed out
The edge is all about
The edge is all about
The edge is all about
The edge is all about
When you come down off the mountain
Nobody gives a fuck
About how much was daring
About how much was luck
About how dumb you were in the first place
To hang your ass out here
You made it back from the edge
and the message is quite clear
The edge is all about
The edge is all about
In an instant your reality could be entirely snuffed out
The edge is…
If it were raining now, that would suit my mood just fine
If it were raining now, I might just have a glass of wine
But it’s not raining now so you’ll have to hear my song
If it were raining now, I bet you would sing along
Sing along
Sing along
No I cannot even claim to understand
What you see in your position and your plan
I’m not disdainful, I just am a bit confused
As to the tools and the methods you will use
When you get to where you think you ought to be
I bet you won’t even cast a thought on me
Bet I remember you for the rest of my days
If I don’t, it’s because I slipped into a haze
Into a haze
Into a haze
If I were screaming now, I bet that would suit your mood just fine
Cuz if I were screaming now, you wouldn’t have to hear my rhyme
And if I told you how I feel right now inside
You would burst into flame from the shame
If it were raining now that would suit my mood just fine
If it were raining now, I wouldn’t have to cry inside
Since I came to this place it seems like I’ve been wasting time
If it were raining now, that would suit my mood just fine
My mood just fine
My mood just fine
My mood just fine
Hear it coming now
Hear it coming down
Hear it coming down
Hear it coming now
Here comes the rain
Well, we finished in time. Barely.
We’ll get mp3s up here soon, but first we want to finish artwork etc for the album.
It’s called Interconnected, by the way….