Back in August I played a cover of “There’s a Light (Over at the Frankenstein Place)” at open mic night. It’s a fun piece from The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), and one I have always enjoyed singing.
Well, that performance inspired my buddy John Pickett to invite me to join him for the iconic song from the musical-turned-film: the ubiquitous “Time Warp“:
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The Spooktacular—my annual Halloween concert—returns in one week, on Saturday, 15 October 2022. Since 2020—during the height of The Age of The Virus—I’ve hosted this annual celebration of musical spookiness (and spooky musicality) from my front porch. It’s worked pretty well, and even spawned a published piece in Self-Reliance, so why mess with success? We’re back on the front porch again.
I am adding one innovation, though, one that worked quite well with the TJC Spring Jam earlier this year: like the Spring Jam, I’m turning the Spooktacular into a recital. My buddy John and I will still play some tunes, and we’ll invite the kids up to play with us on “Monster Mash” and KISS’s “I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” but the opening segment of the Spooktacular will feature my private music students. Indeed, it’s an open invitation to anyone who wants to play a tune—come on out!
Of course, I’ll be working hard this weekend to get the house prepared for the Spooktacular—and to remind folks about it! There are many little tasks to complete and items, large and small, to prepare, both to give everyone a fun time, and to squeeze some buckaroos out of the event.
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It’s finally October—my favorite month of the year! And it’s finally another Bandcamp Friday.
The first Fridays of October, November, and December 2022 will see the return of this pro-indie music observance, a day on which Bandcamp waives its usual 15% commission on sales.
In other words, when you buy my music, almost 100% of it goes to me, instead of almost 85%.
While I haven’t released any new music lately, I managed to release two short collections of music in April—Péchés d’âge moyen II: One Week in March and The Lo-Fi Hymnal II. All of my releases are just a buck each, though you’re welcome to pay more if you’d like to help out yours portly.
Currently, my entire discography of ten releases is $6.50, a savings of 35%, which is not bad for ten releases. That’s $0.65 per release—not too shabby! To purchase the full discography, click on any release, and you’ll see the option to purchase all of them.
I’m also selling all of my paintings for $10, with free shipping in the United States, regardless of how many you purchase. They’re one of kind, so once a painting is purchased, it’s gone.
Finally, my book The One-Minute Mysteries of Inspector Gerard: The Ultimate Flatfoot is $10 in paperback, and just $5 on Kindle.
Well, that’s it for this month’s sales pitch. Thanks again for your support!
Happy Friday!
—TPP
The 2022 Spooktacular is coming up on Saturday, 15 October 2022, which means it’s time to have some t-shirts made up.
This year, I’m debating between two designs:
The white image is a vampire playing a bass guitar (which he is apparently hypnotizing). The caption on the bottom reads “Blood-Suckingly Spooky Rock ‘n’ Roll.”
The yellow image is a spider whose legs make up notes on a treble clef staff. His caption reads “Venomously Good Rock ‘n’ Roll.”
The vampire could also be made yellow (or any other color).
So, I’m asking readers for your input: which design do you prefer? I’ll probably only make one this year, and I’ll use reader feedback to decide which one to order.
Thanks for voting!
—TPP
We’re back for another Sunday of Ingramania, the musical sensation that is sweeping the nation (or, at least, the half-dozen people that read this blog on Sundays). Here are the next three juicy posts about the incomparable Frederick Ingram:
Thus ends our two-part retrospective on all things Frederick Ingram. Here’s hoping we hear more from him soon!
Happy Sunday!
—TPP
Other Lazy Sunday Installments:
It’s definitely not Bandcamp Friday, but it is the first Friday of the month during the slowest blogging time of the year and the start of a major holiday weekend, so why not hard sell my various products and services?
It’s a TPP total liquidation sale! Everything in stock must go!
Here are the goods:
That’s it for now! I’ve got some projects in the works, so stay tuned for some more updates.
Remember, buying stuff—especially from your friendly neighborhood blogger—is the American thing to do.
Happy Independence Day!
—TPP
After a lot of frantic composing and sloppy recording, it’s here: Péchés d’âge moyen, my short collection of twelve original piano miniatures.
My self-imposed deadline was today, the March 2022 Bandcamp Friday. I made it—barely!
The total recording clocks in at just six minutes and thirty-five seconds, but I’ve jam-packed this release with bonus features: videos, original manuscripts of each piece, and a PDF booklet detailing the origins of the project. It’s not bad for $5 (although that comes out to approximately $1.43 per minute if you just listen to the album once).
I also had a blast putting this recording together. The feel of putting pen to paper is just so satisfying, and each little bit of written music is like its own little work of art. One reason I included the manuscripts with the recording is because they’re beautiful to look at—even with my poor penmanship.
I’ve been featuring quite a few writers lately on Support Friends Friday, but the series featured a lot of musicians early in its run. As such, it seemed like a good time to get back to some musician buddies.
Today’s SFF feature is a real yeoman singer-songwriter, churning out song after blues-drenched song. His name is Grover Windham, and he’s one heckuva musician.
After taking off during the long summer months, Bandcamp is bringing back Bandcamp Friday today, and continuing it the first Friday of every month through the end of 2021.
For those that have forgotten—or steadfastly ignored my many, many, many, many, many posts about it—Bandcamp Friday is when Bandcamp waives the 15% commission they usually take on sales through the site. So, if you buy, say, Electrock EP: The Four Unicorns of the Apocalypse for $4, I get almost the full $4 (PayPal takes a small cut still), instead of $4 minus $0.60 to Bandcamp.
Another, more dramatic example: if you buy my full discography at $19.98, Bandcamp doesn’t take their $3 cut, so most of that goes directly to me (again, minus the transaction fee PayPal assesses).
Bandcamp began doing Bandcamp Fridays during The Age of The Virus, when most musicians (myself included) witnessed a catastrophic drop in their revenue. Venues closed or stopped live music; parents withdrew students from one-on-one lessons; and private parties were cancelled, meaning fewer of those lucrative gigs. Also, fewer live performances meant fewer royalties for songwriters.
Fortunately, that situation is improving, and people are eager to get out and hear live music again. Still, pitching in a few bucks helps immensely—and you get some good music in the process, too!
So, on with the sales pitch! Here are my seven releases, in chronological order:
An easy (and free) way to support me is to “follow” my Bandcamp page and my Amazon author page. I post updates about new merchandise, new music, and other interesting offers about once a month to the Bandcamp page, and new books will pop up on my Amazon page as they’re published. It’s a good way to keep up with the latest news on my musical adventures.
Another free way to support me is to turn off your ad-blocker. The site delivers several thousand ad impressions monthly, but most of those are blocked, which means they don’t pay out. You can usually find the ad-blocker as a little widget or icon in the upper-right-hand side of your browser; click on it and it will usually give you the option to “pause” or stop the blocker from running on this site. I know ads are annoying, but seeing a few DuckDuckGo ads helps out in an incremental way.
Even if none of that entices you, no worries! I’m just glad to have you here, reading my self-indulgent garbage and my lengthy advertisement posts.
Happy Friday!
—TPP
The first two editions of Supporting Friends Friday (highlighting the poetry of Jeremy Miles and the music of Frederick Ingram) have been well-received, particularly by the friends being supported, and it gives me a great deal of joy to showcase their works, albeit from the humble platform of this blog (read by dozens a day!). As I have written many, many, many times over the last year, making a living through creative work, like writing books and playing music, is difficult, especially in The Age of The Virus. Building up a community of artists who celebrate one another’s works is an important part of the indie music and publishing business.
It’s also just fun, much like the music of Robert Mason Sandifer, the young composer I’m highlighting today. Mason, as I call him, is a private student of mine, so this post is perhaps a tad self-serving, but even if he weren’t my student, I would adore his music.
The Portly Politico 