Hey RoshamFAM!
We hope y'all are having a great week! We both got our trees up (we went with fake ones). Christmas is getting close but whatever you're celebrating we hope you're able to share it with someone you love even though this year has thrown a big heavy wrench in family gatherings.
Last week we released a brand new original Christmas single called "A Very Merry Christmas (In My Pants)." We had a lot of fun making it! There's even a little video to go along with it.
We're absolutely blown away by the people that have already gotten a copy. We haven't had a lot of luck with releasing singles in the past, as least with people buying them. Thank you so much to those of you that picked it up last week. It means a lot! If you haven't gotten your copy you still can up until January 1st.
We also released some fun new swag inspired by the song's cover art. All tees, hoodies koozies and baby onsies come with a free copy of the new single. You can check out our apparel store at storefrontier.com/roshambeaux
Look Who We Ran Into!
This guy is a legend! He looks extra good in that hoodie and is super fun to have a socially distant outdoor beer with! He's also a writer. We've pushed his stuff before but if you're all stocked up on Roshambeaux merch from either StoreFrontier or our Music Store check out his stuff on Amazon (and yes, it has 5 stars).
Panjos/Appalachian Dulcimers
Our friends got us some early Christmas presents this year! These are panjos or miniature Appalachian Dulcimers (tuned DAD if you're a string nerd like us). They are a lot of fun to play! It's cool that they're made out of repurposed materials. If you want to hear what they sound like, J made a song that's up in our Facebook group: RoshamFAM.
What's Up With J...
This week I've finished up on most of the projects I was working on. It's inevitable, the soul searching I've been doing, as I'm sure most of you are too, during these long stretches of isolation. I'm trying to put my head to the grind to further express my subconscious sonically. So far it's been successful but at times it can be hard to win the battle over insecurities and worry. With our new album getting closer to completion, I've been reflecting over it as a whole and trying to work through the pieces to make sense of it. This year has been a whirlwind of worry, panic, self doubt, struggle, and isolation. Even though I'm a man who values his alone time this has taken its toll on me as I'm sure it has on some of you as well. With all this I am reminded of how grateful I am for those of you who have connected to our music and related to our stories. You are the ones who remind us we are not alone. This new album, I hope, can play a part of our recovery from all of this. With stories of heroes, battles with our selves, political turmoil, questionable religious doctrine, importance of community, and most of all love. We can't wait to share this with you and we are humbled by the response from the songs we've already released. We have decided to release another single and video for you guys for the track " Criminal." You might have heard us mention this a few times. I've decided it's finished and will be releasing it to our patrons first some time this week. We are so grateful for all your support. The word love can not even amount.
-J
What's Up With Kyle...
I wrapped up mixing a family folk project this week and I'm excited how it turned out. J was a big help taking over the mastering process for it. J and I have been taking on a few other projects here and there and this week I was reminded of what I was told about the music industry when I was starting out.
"The music industry is a cluttered, competitive, cut throat, backstabbing, depressing place where good only the soulless get rich and good people die like dogs... and there are some negative aspects as well." It's rough job that takes a lot of resilience to do full time and come out with some semblance of "Making it work." However, nothing will come together if you don't show up.
We had an artist contact us for some help with arranging some of his music and getting it recorded. We blocked off some time, set the date, reconfirmed twice and the day of... nothing. No call, no show. Frustration aside, I was reminded that most of life is just showing up. You might not be at your best. Other people might laugh at you. You might be fighting off a panic attack but all of that is just details. You might fail horribly six times in a row but you won't ever succeed if you don't show up. I'm so grateful and indebted to all of you that continue to show up for us, even in the middle (and hopefully tail end) of this pandemic. Last March, I honestly thought it might be the end of a fun career but you all have continually encouraged me to keep going. I owe you a lot. Thank you so much!
-Kyle
Special Thanks
We are so grateful for our supporters on Patreon! Being independent artists, as you can imagine, isn't always the most lucrative job but it's so rewarding to have the opportunity to brighten people's day, encourage and provoke thought through music. We couldn't do it without the generous contributions of our supporters. So, we know it's awkward to ask but if you enjoy what we do and find some value in it, consider donating even just $1 a month on Patreon. It goes a really long way and you'll be able to have a backstage pass and become part of the creation process along with us.
Special thanks to our patrons: Nancy B, Steve B, Renee T, Rachel E & Nadia M! As well as our non Patreon monthly donor Jeff C! Y'all are awesome!