New songs and fluff

I'm really excited today, tonight see's us get together and write for the first time this year. We've got together loads already this year but that was mostly background business or a piss up. There are blueprints already in works from both of us so we are going to add some definition to the songs tonight and maybe have a wee jam. Hopefully in a month or so we'll have a few demos for you. As Jonathan says below, those who got the Xmas CD already have a new demo in 'Ghosts'.
It's also Boro's first league home game since 8th December. I'm a huge Nuneaton boro supporter so it's all go tonight.

Another good piece of news is that the London gig is a definate yes.

Whoop-de-doo

Michael

A little post Christmas update

So Santa is a distant memory and probably over his jetlag by now and the January snow seems to have melted away, this country is no longer at a halt. My bins finally got emptied on Wednesday which had rubbish in from pre xmas. With this behind me I feel focused on all things Barricades Rise.

We played our first gig of 2010 (see review below) and it was a nice little step back into the gigging world we knew so well in 2009. We have a few gigs booked in for 2010 but not the endless crawl of open mic nights we were used too. Our gigs should be bigger and better this year and a little further a field.

I’m writing new material again which is great. So far three tracks are being worked on and another two are pretty much finished. Anyone who received the Xmas CD would have heard a demo version of ‘Ghosts’ which is an upbeat number and the other new track ‘My biggest fear’ (working title) is a slow and sad track that brings a tear. We are not writing a new album or anything like that, just writing. We feel it is time to mess with the live set a little and inject some new blood into it.

We are spending a lot of time on the boring business side of things. We are about to embark on a ‘Find a manager’ session. We have hit a bit of a brick wall and can’t see away around it without help from someone in the know. I think every band must get to a point where they feel they have done all they can do to climb the ladder, we are there. How do we get to the next rung? HELP
Whilst the search for a manager is on we will of course keep plugging away as hard as we can.

Anyway Speak soon
Jonathan

The Royal Oak, Kenilworth, 17/01/10 - Review

Our first foray into the depths of 2010. Kristy always puts on a good night and this was no exception. Getting there around 8.15 we sat through a few open micers, including a saxophanist playing to a backing track. There were 4 featured acts on and as usual, we ended up going on last. Now at this point I'd usually moan at the lack of people as it was a Sunday and it was late, but I'm not going to because even though yes, it was Sunday and yes, it was late, everyone stuck around. We played 6 songs and it was good to get on stage again as it's been a while. We cracked wise and played great too and seemed to capture the audience. Our brand new top of the line flyers were also the talk of the room.

We came away from it thinking that it was a trip well spent, a few albums sold and a chat with an actual fan who turned up to see us (one day soon we may be in double figures). Next up is hopefully London, I say hopefully as I'm getting married this year and there's an important event happening that I really can't miss on the same night, but we're trying to sort something out. At the moment it's still on.

A picture tells a thousand words - Apparently

This was the us at 3am on New Years Eve (Well New Years Day technically) What is sad is our partners were still awake and drinking at this point. We are Barricades Rise and We are Rock n Roll - Kind of

For One Week Only - Our Debut Album at just £3

Hi Guys

'You and Your Adored' our debut album is available on digital download from our new store " http://barricadesrise.bandcamp.com/ " for just £3. YES that's right, £3 for our complete debut album. This offer is only available until Monday 18th

Call it our January sale or call it trying to get our music out to you for a steal.

Running until Monday next week this giveaway is a chance for anyone who previously refused to pay £7 from itunes (it's a set price not our doing) and for those who can't come and see us live for a physical copy.

Please take this oppertunety to spread the word about us and tell as many people as you can, we really want people to sit up and take a listen this year.

If you already own the album then please email/call/shout/text/ all your friends who may want to take a chance on some new music.

rememeber - £3 only at http://barricadesrise.bandcamp.com/
and only until next Monday

Jonathan & Michael
Barricades Rise
http://www.barricadesrise.co.uk

Mr T's little quip with the future of our ears!

I love the title of this post, it sounds like a dodgy album which fuses Jazz with Mozart.

I type this little musing for the second time as my internet crashed just as i was finishing up my thoughts. It was far more sophisticated the first time around with scientific proof and facts based on actual events :)

This is also the second time for something else, it's the second time in as many months i have vented some rage towards the NME and their musical tastes and what they are inflicting on the inoccent but easily lead teenage music fans. It is not that i go through their pages waiting to stubble on an article to anger me but rather I stubble helplessly into their misguided world of musical snobbery.

On a recent 'Rock n Roll' Friday night, alone in ASDA doing my weekly shop, i happened to walk down the magazine aisle and caught a glimpse of the latest NME which had upon its cover something like 'The best new bands to watch out for in 2010'. As a music man myself and always on the lookout for new sounds to bleed these ears i opted for a quick flick through. On the inside cover was link to download a virtual mixtape of music from all the bands in the issue. Rather than read i thought i would go home and take a listen (unpacking the frozen stuff first).

I finished my shop, went home and downloaded the file. I sat with eager ears as the following came on
It is here that i would like to say i heard the future of music, sounds that made me envious as a songwritter and tracks that would change the way my ears worked. The truth was it was utter shit! except for.....none of them as they were all utter shit. Now maybe this is a little harsh, i respect anyone who writes music and would normally just say it wasn't my tastes if it wasn't for the fact that NME were claiming that these bands were this years highlights. I would rather dig out my copy of Rhubarbs and Custards dance mix and put that on for an hour straight than listen to that hour of rubbish again.

I truly feel NME have just made a list of every band who have a myspace, put their names in a hat and drew a few out and claimed that they are the future. Bring back SELECT magazine i say.

So for the second time i say am i'm getting old at 27 to not appreciate the new crop of 'talent'? again my conclusion is NME know sod all!

Snow flakes are falling

I'm sitting at work as i type this and looking out over fields that are covered in snow. It is a beautiful site, however i can't help thinking it is two weeks to late. There is something about snow after Christmas that doesn't sit right with me. If it snows before Christmas it makes you feel all excited and fuzzy inside yet when it falls after Christmas it is just an excuse for a day off work/school and an inconvenience to road users.

I have recently spent a little bit of time whoring my way through other local acoustic acts myspace's and websites to see what people are upto and if there is any big events coming up and it has got me inspired to make 2010 count. 2009 was a good year for us but i can't help but think there is so much more we could be doing to get Barricades Rise out to more people. 'You and Your Adored' has gone down well with so many people and i want more people to take a listen. I feel i want to try new things and look for exciting new projects for Barricades Rise to undertake. There must be hundreds of people/organizations out there that we can work with to move BR to the next level.

We have both started to put pen to paper and fingers to fretboards and have some new ideas that will make it into our live set really soon. What was exciting towards the end of the YAYA sessions was the fact we were writing together for the first time since before our uni days which was nearly a decade ago. I want that to continue now.

Speak soon

Jonathan

PS - Take a listen to Herm - http://open.spotify.com/album/0Xa4wzIabZyeT6UpeE6bNS