JosiahAltschuler.com

My CD, “Murder Ballads and Love Songs for Cello and Voice,” is finally printed and I have a couple of boxes full of them. It is a half-length CD (EP), and I think what I’ll do is gradually sell them for $5 online and at shows. I’ll post again when I have them available on Itunes, Amazon, and any of the other channels. For now if anyone wants one just email me at josiah.altschuler@gmail.com and I’ll mail it to you.

Here’s the cover sleeve artwork I did in Photoshop for my new CD, “Murder Ballads and Love Songs for Cello and Voice.” The CD is being manufactured at Oasis CD Manufacturing as I write this, and I’ll keep you posted when I have them in my hand in mid-August. I’ll make it available via Amazon, Itunes, etc.

I’d love to do more CD artwork, but I fear CDs may be obsolete by the time I’m ready to record another one. If anyone wants me to do theirs let me know.

Just recorded Johnny Cash’s “I Still Miss Someone” with Emil. He’s on violin and I’m on cello/vocals. You can listen to it here.

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I’m almost done recording my first CD, which is most probably going to be titled, “Murder Ballads and Love Songs for Cello and Voice.” It will be recorded completely in my apartment, which isn’t too bad for a solo recording. Most of the songs are just cello and voice, with possibly a second vocal track on some songs. Also, Emil will be adding some violin.

It should be out some time in June, and I’ll make it available on at least Itunes and Amazon. All the tracks will be available for free download here on the website.

I’m still trying to figure out what kind of artwork I’m going to do for the cover. Probably something dark and macabre, as usual.

Just when I thought I had my own little niche going, mixing the cello and guitar at my solo shows, this guy has to come along.

Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve been outchilled. I give you Paolo Angeli.

Here’s a cover of Johnny Cash’s “I Still Miss Someone.” This was recorded at Cafe Nomad, in Norway, ME, at a recent “Evening of Doom Folk” on 1/4/08. Cafe Nomad is a great place, and Tim Ouillette got around 120 people crammed in there. It was a big success. I had a blast, and here is an excerpt from the show. I hope you enjoy it..just cello and voice, as usual:

I Still Miss Someone

So last night was the first time I played a full slot by myself, armed only with my cello. I don’t quite have 1 hour of material yet, and I’m still struggling with my sound, but overall I felt good about it. There were 4 bands following me, but a couple people actually showed up for my 7 o’clock show. I’m absolutely thrilled if even one person comes, and it made my day. Also, no one threw anything at me, which is very encouraging to me at this early stage.

I find it difficult to keep people interested in what I’m doing on the stage for a full hour, especially when I’m playing solo. The problem with trying to play the cello in a guitar style is that you can’t really strum chords and fill out the sound the way you can on the guitar. It’s more akin to going up there and singing with a bass. So I’m trying to come up with different picking patterns and rhythms for each song, and also I feel that since all my songs are covers, I should acknowledge their authors and their history a bit…especially the more American primitive folk songs. It breaks up the show a bit, and hopefully is interesting info for the audience. I’ve noticed Leo Kottke does this to the point where his shows are almost a cross between a standup routine and a musical show. It seems to work for him, but that’s probably because he’s a true original on the guitar, and also happens to be really funny. He’s sort of like Garrison Keillor, but with a guitar. In the end, I don’t like to be at a show for more than an hour…even for my favorite artists. In fact, I usually get bored after just 3 or 4 songs. So I’m planning to just get a few more songs to add to my current pathetic 40 minutes of repertoire, then start rotating them as I learn them.

As far as my sound on stage, I have yet to be able to reproduce the deep, twisted reverberating low-end sound on the recordings I make in my room. For some reason my cello frequently runs the risk of sounding like a friggin’ ukulele on stage. Not that there’s anything wrong with ukulele…it’s just that I chose to start using the cello so I could get more of a deep, evil sound than I could with my guitar. Otherwise I may as well stick with the guitar. True, I could use effects on a guitar and get what I’m looking for, but I started playing around with the cello one day and it just naturally sounded like what I had always wanted my guitar to sound like. Also, I felt more at home with it due to the countless hours my parents forced me to practice as a child. Anyways, on stage I just haven’t been able to successfully amplify what I hear in my room by myself. I’m looking into preamps now. If anyone has any ideas, let me know…

I’ll be playing a solo show tomorrow at All Asia at 7PM. I’m on first, opening for Rusty Belle, Mike G. and the Associates, Changing Modes and Necrowafers. This will be the first time I play a complete slot with just my cello, without sharing the stage. The show just fell on my lap, and I’m not ready…but we’ll see how it goes. The way I see it, a little alcohol should smooth out the rough spots in my playing. Also, my cello is broken in many places, which in my opinion makes it ripe for a nice, gritty, buzz saw effect.

Happy holidays, and hope to see you there,
-Josiah