Reviews

Reviews are coming in for Sleep and Dream of Fire and start off with a great local blogger and musician, Secret Carrboro Ninja Patrol.
"Sequoya masters a technique of story telling through music and song that uses metaphor to put the listener in the shoes of the artist and draws upon common ground in order for the listener to relate."
Read the entire review here secretcarrboroninjapatrol.blogspot.com

Next up is Paperbacknovel.com whom we did an interview with months before the record was released.
"The music grabs you first, and you can listen to the music without paying attention to a single lyric, but those lyrics will gently sink in, and draw you in, and when you’re in, you realize the lyrics are quite fantastic, the subject matter unique, elevating this music to amongst the best stuff being made today."
Read the entire review here paperbacknovel.com

Here are some photos from our CD release show on December 6th 2008. Thank you to all that came out and to Jeremy Blair for the photos.

CD Release Party

We are very excited to be releasing our new cd Sleep and Dream of Fire with Scientific Superstar who is releasing Issue #1. They're really going the extra mile by putting out a comic book to go along with a full length record. You can preview the comic at scientificsuperstar.com.

We'll be at the Pinhook, Durham's highly anticipated and brand new bar on December 6th 2008.

Also playing is Sawteeth Mctweedy who have built a foundation with their insightful anti-folk songs. You can see them here playing "Wings" and braving an extreme downpour. This was originally posted on the Mannsworld.blog. They also do an impressive version of Led Zeppelin's Hey, hey What Can I Say.

Now we have Lake and Hennepin, the name is new but it is none other than Reese from the Dirty Little Heaters playing solo acoustic. Reese has been rocking the triangle for years and has a fresh off the presses 7" available at Church Key Records called "Fatty Don't Feel Good".

Finally!

Our new record Sleep and Dream of Fire is out now and can be purchased at CD Baby. We are so happy to finally get to share these songs after so long. It will be available digitally in the next few weeks but hard copies are ready to send. Just follow this link to check it out and listen to some of the tracks.
http://cdbaby.com/cd/sequoya

I tried to keep it as DIY as possible and did all of the recording and printing myself. I also created a lyric booklet (in case you were wondering what I said). The CD's were replicated professionally (cool silver bottoms) and designed by Quick Brown Fox Design. The sound was professionally mastered and I was amazed by the difference it made in the recordings. The packaging will change and be reinvented often. I wanted the luxury to change my mind and find other DIY alternatives as they come.

Over the past four years I've been recording, writing, and talking about this record. I'm so happy that it's done, but after completing a project there is a sadness that goes along with the joy. I chalk it up to nervousness and the uncertainty of what's to come, but that's the fun part. There should be a new music video and I've been recording an amazing Duo, Sawteeth McTweedy. I'm excited to put everything I've learned about DIY recording towards their music.

Sequoya Podcast

Last Sunday we did a podcast with Kim fromSubdivision 67 where we talk about the new record Sleep and Dream of Fire, recording DIY, folk music, and being a part of Subdivision 67. It starts out with our song "The Cosmonaut's Wife" and moves on to the interview.

If you have a few minutes you can here it here. The link will take you directly to the podcast.
Sequoya Podcast

The Podcast includes a new, never been heard before song called "This Time" and Sleep and Dream of Fire will be released in September.

Good News!

We're finally finished with our record which will be called "Sleep and Dream of Fire". There was a hold up with the mastering but I got word today that we are a go and I'll be sending it out this week. This will make an August release date very feasible, but I'm going to wait until I get the order in before I make any tentative plans. My horoscope suggested that I keep my mouth shut today, which means not posting a blog about it, but I was so excited, I just had to spill.

We will be playing in Wilmington this weekend! The Durham showcase at We-Fest. Thank you Beloved Binge (Rob and Eleni) for setting it up and including us on the bill. We will be playing with a special guest drummer and back up vocal extraordinaire Ruth from Sawteeth McTweedy. Ruth has given us a chance to bring out songs we usually never play but love. Here is a video of her playing "Alone At The Bar" with us at BCHQ on May 3rd, filmed by Kim from
Subdivision 67. You can download this song for FREE using the reverb nation player in the right hand corner of this page.

Set back

So today was the day. I finished all of our recordings and was planning on sending the mixes to be mastered tomorrow. Unfortunately I discovered that the person we lined up to do the mastering is moving and won't be back in service until June. I'm really disappointed but what can you do? This is a very good move for them and I'm happy that they're getting a shiny new place. I'm gonna stick with the plan and hopefully we'll still have something together by August.

March 9th at the Cave & Daylight Savings

Spend Daylight Savings time with Sequoya

So Sunday March 9th we'll be playing with Audrey Ryan, Eberhardt, Dent May and his Magnificent Ukulele, and John Barrett's Bass Drum of Death, at The Cave in Chapel Hill. I love all of these bands and each one performs solo, with the occasional friend joining in. We're going to start the evening early (8:30ish) since it's Spring Forward and there are 5 bands, but there will be awesome music the whole night.
It's also the day before my birthday and I can't think of a better way to celebrate than playing at the Cave and hearing awesome music. I think there will be cake... and I'd love to see all of my friends there.

Here's a video preview of all the bands playing on this nifty video player from youtube. There's a video from each band and I really love "Oh Paris" by Dent May. It should be the first one to pop up.

Sequoya News

So I'm almost done with mixing the new record, just a few songs to go and then they're off to mastering. I've posted quite a few songs already on myspace and reverbnation such as, Rocket, The Cosmonaut's Wife, Weary, and My Father (live at 307 Knox Salon). I haven't decided on a proper name for it yet, but I'm sure that will come soon enough.
I've been working on a plan for internet distribution and we're still considering how to handle that. I've been looking at a few companies to host the mp3's, and I'll update as soon as I decide on one. After that's taken care of we have teamed up with Subdivision 67. We will be offering the new record there as soon as it's released and I thank them for their support.
It's been 4 years since our last release but there's been a lot of changes since then. For instance our recording equipment. I had to retire my beloved Yamaha 4-track because it ceased to work, well just the stop button. What can you do if you can't stop? In it's place I got a Tascam DP-01 fx/CD. Matthew started playing the banjo and has offered his song "Weary" to the record. He also performs on each and every track.

I haven't started on the art yet, I don't even know how I'm going to cut it. Matthew has been researching eco-friendly packaging such as usb drives and is gung ho on internet downloads. Hard copies will be available but in very limited quantities.

If you have any knowledge or advice on CD duplication please leave me a comment, I'd love to know what you think. What companies have you used and what was your experience with them? Who do you feel offers the best quality for a fair price in limited runs?
Thank you