Optimally different!

Videos of the new songs that Stranger Ways debuted at Arisia are now up! Thanks to everyone who came, to Julia Suggs for guesting with us (and even wearing wings for the occasion!), and to everyone who gave us feedback afterward. We're really excited about doing more work on this project!

Of course, every little mistake stands out glaringly to me, but really it makes me glad that for once we're performing songs before we commit to recording so we can fix the bits that don't work between now and release, and overall I'm quite happy with how things went! The mix is a bit sub-optimal in places, so we've included lyrics in the video descriptions for people who are into that sort of thing. ;)

As linked above, so embedded below...

If you're in the Boston area, and especially if you're already going to Arisia, my band, Stranger Ways, will be performing on Saturday at noon in a joint show with the very talented Sassafrass, and while this will be the third such show we've done, I'm particularly excited about this one. Here's the FB invite

We're going to be debuting songs from our upcoming new album, Iron and Rust. Unlike our first two Arisia shows, this will not be an album release party... and that's a good thing! We're really taking our time with this one, and trying something much more ambitious than anything we've done before. Not only will this one be 100% original songs, all of the songs will be connected into a single coherent (we hope) story. It's also some of the most musically challenging stuff we've written (yay live performance! no pressure!!).

For almost a year now we've been meeting weekly, alternating between dedicated sessions for writing music, lyrics, and plot, and practicing the songs we've written, and the Arisia show will be the first public performance of the first half (give or take) of the album. It's kind of terrifying to finally be opening something on which we've spent so much time to public scrutiny, but I'm feeling cautiously optimistic. If you come, feel free to take notes on the new stuff! I'd love to treat this like a workshop and get feedback afterward. We'll also be doing a set with songs from our earlier albums, plus maybe a surprise or two... ;)

As in previous years we'll be alternating sets with Sassafrass, and this year they're *also* about to release a new concept album, based on stories from Norse mythology... but I'll let them tell you all about that. :)