Update #2 from the NZ album release

It’s official: Four-Letter Words is out.  In my homeland.  Good old NZ.  Thank you to all who supported the album’s release last week: Classic Hits; the NZ Herald/Canvas; Good Morning; Drew & Shannon Live; Marbecks, JB Hi-Fi; the whole team at Isaac Promotions and Frequency Media, and also everyone who showed up to the release party on Thursday night to rock out!

Speaking of which, I’ve been told that it’s a sign of good luck that I broke a string in the first song.  I’m sure the case for it being representative of bad luck is just as strong as that for good, but I’ll take the optimistic view…it was the first string I had broken for about ten years.  After our false start (we adjourned for two minutes after Knocking On An Open Door – the first song – for me to restring the high E) it was back to the music.  It’s a real thrill playing with Rich, Chris and Chip, and I love playing the new songs.  This was the first full-band show with the songs off the new album, so until the night, it was a process of seeing how the songs would work in our live, four-piece arrangement.  I’m happy to report that the songs came together very well in our live setting.  Now I’m just getting impatient for further opportunities to play the songs live in NZ…now it’s back to NY this weekend for me to get the ball rolling over there.  Yeah!

A little update on appearances: this week I’ll be speaking with U Live on Tuesday, Juice TV for an NZOWN interview, and bFM’s Freak the Sheep show hosted by Silke on Wednesday.  Current single A Four-Letter Word is playing on Classic Hits throughout the country, and other radio stations around NZ, and the Liberate Your Love music video is now playing on Juice TV’s NZOWN and C4’s Homegrown…the song is also playing in the store playlist for the Hollister clothing label throughout the U.S.

I don’t know how many photos I can fit into this blog/note, but I’ll try for three: a couple from the launch party and from the Good Morning show trip to Wellington, and one from the summit of Rangitoto.  The day after the release party was the first free, low-pressure day I had had for a while, and given that the sun was shining, I took a ferry to Rangitoto with a friend (the volcanic island in the middle of Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour) and walked to the top and back.  Nice.