It's this time of year that I look forward to. Not so much the cold or the holidays but the long nights of hibernation and reflection that come along with the start of a new year. It's been a crazy year for this ukulele playing man. It started with moving out of my house Dec 30, 2009 and ended up with recording a new CD. Along the way I moved 4000 kms away from Manitoba to Nova Scotia, appeared in The Mighty Uke a ukulele documentary, I bought a new house, booked a mammoth summer tour and replaced a bunch of old equipment and finally recorded a new CD. What a year!!!
This past year I added three new companies to my team and they have all played an important role in my career this far.
Rockethub.com has already been a great tool to use in raising funds for projects and I have a few ideas about new projects to put out there.
Bandcamp has been a great way to sell my CDs and downloads and I can't wait to get out there on tour with them in my back corner. I'm going to set up some download cards for the next tour for back catalog.
Anuenue is still planning a "Manitoba Hal" signature model ukulele. Once I have pics I'll share them with you along with recordings of that uke. With each conversation about the design I get more and more excited.
Ok. So what's up? What's happening? What is the plan Stan?
TOURING: My year begins with some local shows this February in Shelburne, Liverpool, Kentville, Wolfville and Yarmouth. Then I head to Ottawa and southern Ontario in March. I'm still booking the summer schedule but I have been invited to the FinnWest festival in Vancouver this coming July so it looks like another cross Canada tour is in the planning. I can't wait to feel the open road again and the freedom of this life. It's awesome! Plus it will be wonderful to visit all my friends and feast at all my favorite restaurants across this great country.
UKULELE SONGBOOK: I will be releasing a songbook featuring songs from Huckster and Little Box of Sadness in January 2011. This has been a long time coming and I hope to do more publications like this as the year rolls on.
RECORDING: The planning and writing has already begun for a Christmas concert for next year that will feature a small ensemble performing in a cross between a musical concert and a dramatic production. It will be a wonderful evening and I'll share details as we inch closer to the goal. Along with that comes the promise of a Christmas recording. Yes I think I will finally make a full length Christmas CD. Those who've been with me since the beginning know that my first recording was in fact a Christmas release and it did fairly well. It's time to dig back into that bucket and find some more music. The plan has begun and I'm working out arrangements. This will continue until sometime closer to fall when the entire thing will spiral into a chaotic mix of production, mixing, artwork and release. Stay tuned!
I have been blessed this year by the support of my fans and friends. I have found new friends and allies across this great land and I hope to see all of you again as soon as I can make my way across the country again. There are a few people that have made a huge contribution to my path and without naming them (you know who you are) I want to say thank you so very much for your involvement and support this past year.
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