Please Don't Fail

this friday

2009-10-08T14:30:00.000-07:00

dear hendrick,

this friday (tomorrow), i will be playing in hillsboro, oregon. the poster is below. i put this together today with an image that my friend james (the haunted fortress) did up for me. i guess you could call it a collaboration. here it is:

i hope you like it. be sure to let all of your friends know that they are welcome to attend. i would surely love to meet them.

yours,
a.w.

Differences

2009-10-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Hendrick,

I've been realizing more and more lately how much my recordings differ from my live show. I've been told by many that there's a lot more power in my live performance. How do I capture this for people just merely listening online, or elsewhere? How do I replicate this experience in recorded form? Better recordings...

I need help, and I'm getting some.

Wish me luck.

I hope you're well.
Take care.

Yours,
a.w.

An Angel

2009-09-30T20:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Hendrick,

Today was a good day. I've been struggling lately. Personal things, you know... but today, I made new friends. Johan the Angel (Brit and Brett). They came over to talk about music, and we played together. It went very well, and it's very possible that we will be playing together as both a.w.feldt and Johan the Angel. My friend from Sunday school also came over to visit afterward, and we did more playing. I think he's in too. He also does wonderful artwork and goes by the name Iron-on Ghost. I think I'm going to try and get him in touch with The Haunted Fortress. What do you think? I think the Haunted fortress would do well with the likes of a ghost. Yeah?

We went for burritos at Cha Cha Cha later, and then returned to end our time together for the day. We will resume on Friday, and I feel that it will be a great thing.

I also heard back from someone about recording today. We're going to talk and see if I can afford any sort of recording help. I'm writing plenty, but don't do as well with the recording as I would like. I'm just not able. Let's hope.

I'm okay.
Take care.

Sincerely,
a.w.

p.s. yes, it was great. thank you.

Simple Things are Back

2009-09-30T11:55:00.000-07:00

Dear Hendrick,
The e.p. titled "Simple Things" is back. It was on Cllct (the 'Collective'), but since that site went down, had not seen much light. James over at The Haunted Fortress stumbled on his copy and thought to re-release it through the label site. Please download at your leisure and enjoy the songs once written, but hardly played.

Yours,
a.w.

september already?? it has been.

2009-09-05T09:54:00.000-07:00

dear hendrick,
i have started making track lists for potential LPs. so far, i have 3 lists started, 2 LPs, and an EP. the artwork for the first LP has been near completion for months and months. james (of the haunted fortress) put it together, and for awhile, i was using a part of it as my profile picture on myspace. do people still use myspace? it seems like i get scoffed at when i am seen typing my password or accessing its pages... it's a nice tool, and until i get things going somewhere else (a place that is as, if not more widely used) i will continue to dodge those sharp dagger glances...

moving to portland has been great. i love my apartment, love the town, love the people, and the produce. just a nice place. looking for a job now.

i'm getting a few things together to start printing shirts. i found out that i might have some great connections that will make it much easier to make it happen.

i just started a twitter account, and i'm going to be looking into a website. i might look into web design. it could be very useful.

also, we just had an in depth conversation about food storage. you might look into it. apparently, we're looking at some big trouble here soon. but i dunno.

love,
a.w.

recording/portland, or/love

2009-08-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

dear hendrick,
recording has been going well. i've been doing a lot of writing. i've got my banjo fingers on, and my drum sticks out.

i've been working a job for a week, as a coordinator for a group of japanese students. i drive them on field trips and herd them onto buses. i've earned over $400 this week, and it feels great. three weeks left. and seven days until a very special girl (hopefully) arrives safely back in portland/beaverton, oregon. she's such a lovely girl who makes me wonderfully happy. i am in love. this means i am %85 sure i will be relocating to the portland/beaverton area in the next month or so. i don't know how long i will be living there, but i can't stand to be this far north from where she is. driving to portland would get quite exhausting if it became a regular thing.

new music soon.

take care, friend.

truly,
a.w.

p.s. go here. she does wonderful things.

calendars and pocket books

2009-07-14T17:35:00.000-07:00

dear hendrick,
i'm still looking for a job. i've interviewed for the only job that's responded (of countless i've applied for), and they never got back to me. i have temporary work arrangements in late july, until mid/late august, so that should be nice, but it's definitely frustrating. this economy is rough.

in other news, i've been keeping a calendar and a pocket schedule updated, and it's been helping me a lot. i'm less forgetful when i have these things written down. it helps to have constant reminders. i'd recommend giving calendars a try, etc.

also, my friends and i have started planning for a label we hope to build. james has the website looking great. that's here. lots is being updated and set up. well done, james. seriously.

i've begun recording at my brother's again (where i recorded a.w.feldt's first e.p.), and things are sounding pretty splendid. i'll let you know info as things happen. cool!

take care.

yours,
a.w.

listen to the rain

2009-07-01T23:35:00.000-07:00

hendrick,
a.w.feldt has been featured on a rain mix at this blog.
i thought you'd like to know. posted june 30.
thank you fluorescentfate. glad you like the song.
sincerely,
a.w.

p.s. my baby radar is detecting cute!

2009-06-25T23:57:00.000-07:00

dear hendrick,
dance music helps me forget my woes.

love,
austin

tour accomplished. tango down

2009-06-13T14:09:00.000-07:00

dear hendrick,
i'm back in pocatello. it was a great tour. a lot had changed since the initial planning of things. here's what ended up happening/how the tour panned out:

the first part of tour, my friend kyle, of the pewter dragons, played drums for a.w.feldt.

may 9th - the flying m - nampa, idaho
w/ spondee and BOOMSNAKE

may 10th - drive to seattle/mother's day dinner
with kyle

may 11th - new crompton - seattle, washington
w/ knapsack superlative and 1985. andy and jon got shirts!

may 12th - the artistery - portland, or
w/ upsidedown cat, metal, and kelli schaefer

may 13th - boy scout hideout - modesto, ca
w/ boyscouts and jonathan seranana

may 14th - 5,4,3,2, fun! radio - santa barbara, ca
w/ mycroft holmes. josh is the host. podcast of the show can be found here. we stayed with josh's sister, rebecca of watercolor paintings. they were very kind, and it was a great visit. rebecca gave me a vinyl 7" of one of watercolor paintings' releases, but it melted in the trunk of the car. totally sucked, but i'm glad i listened to it before we left. the stay was so great. thanks josh, rebecca, and friends.

may 15th - evocal - costa mesa, ca
w/ drums and color, tempe terra, artichoke heart souffle, the rye douglas band

may 16th - the gypsy den - santa ana, ca

may 17-19th - drove to/bummed around las vegas, booking our show for the 23rd and staying at the wonderful frank residence.

may 20th - the woodshed - salt lake city, ut
w/ asher in the rye

may 21st - luigi's fungarden - sacramento, ca
w/ sasha and the shamrocks and tender red

may 22nd - brainwash - san francisco, ca
w/ the beehive spirit

we then drive to las vegas through the night/hang out with the franks again.

may 23rd - zia records - las vegas
(kyle leaves for home.andy plays drums. james of warbonnet, and his lovely wife lindsey join us this night from pocatello, and play drums and percussion/sing back ups for the remainder of the tour. they document here.)

may 24th - church and temple visit/dinner with the franks

may 25th - copper star coffee shop - phoenix, az
w/ the black jacket and snail quail

may 26th - the bean - las cruces, nm

may 27th - opening bell coffee - dallas, tx

may 28th - cafe mundi - austin, tx
we stayed with tera and christian s (and their kids) for the next 2 nights.

may 29th - flipnotics and satellite cafe - austin, tx
w/ beaver nelson and melvern taylor and his fabulous meltones
beaver let me play his guitar for a song on his set after we finished ours. thanks beaver! he also gave us his whole discography. so good.

may 30-31st - hang out at our friends' in austin and play videogames. i got addicted to zelda again. during a practice, i broke a tuning peg off. we then drove to visit with my aunt and uncle (and my cousins) in houston. my aunt took us out and showed us around, also taking us to buy parts to fix my guitar.

june 1st - super happy funland - houston, tx
w/ the lovable old james, and harptallica

june 2nd - coffee slingers - oklahoma city
we showed up too late for this one because we had no internet and couldn't get directions/info/lost written info. sorry coffee slingers. thanks for the show, though.

june 3rd - the ghost parlor - manhattan, ks

june 4th - daycare show - manhattan, ks
we then set off for new york to play...

june 7th - hillstock - brooklyn, ny
w/ Good Night & Good Morning, Twin Cats, Drew and the Medicinal Pen, Vultures, Hanz Bronze, Peace, Loving, Cabinet of Natural Curiosities, Elizabeth Butters, Those Galloping Hordes, Tiny Tornadoes, ACLU Benefit, Laura Stevenson & The Cans, Emilyn Brodsky, Phoebe Kreutz, Don Lennon, and Archipelago

it was a great event. we hung out, ate bbq, cupcakes, sandwiches, and got sunburn! a.w.feldt showed up in some pictures of the event soon after. those are right here.

hillstock was our last show of the tour, and then we stopped in chicago for a bit and visited with lindsey's sister. chicago was great. thanks kelsey!

in other news, tyler t. williams, a somewhat local filmmaker living in boise made this video, using an a.w.feldt song for the intro.

soon, i'll be in seattle working, and playing a few shows. recording will also ensue, and we'll be starting a sort of label for various releases. that'll be right here. more info soon.

we hope you're well.
best,
a.w.

okay

2009-04-21T10:35:00.001-07:00

dear hendrick,
thank you.
sincerely,
a.w.

stay away from the window

2009-04-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

dear hendrick,
today, i am truly scared. i can feel old feelings coming back, and i feel as though i could vomit. i'm falling fast. please help.
sincerely,
a.w.

summer tour plans

2009-03-17T10:16:00.000-07:00

dear hendrick,
long time. i'm currently planning a tour for the summer (or when school gets out) and have some dates lined up.
here:

may 9 (saturday)8pm - the flying m - nampa, idaho
may 11 (monday) 7pm - new crompton - seattle, washington
may 12 (tues) 7pm - the artistery (hopefully) - portland, oregon
may 14 (thurs) 10pm - 5,4,3,2,fun! radio - santa barbara, california
may 21 (thurs) 8pm - luigi's fungarden - sacramento, california
june 1 (monday) 8pm - super happy funland - houston, texas
june 3 (wed) 8pm - the dusty bookshelf - manhattan, kansas
june 4 (thurs) 8pm - somewhere in - lawrence, kansas
june 9 (tues) 12pm - daytrotter (hopefully) - rock island, illinois

that's where we're at so far. i've been booking for a week or more, and hopefully things will come together for a whole u.s. tour. we'll see, though. maybe we'll see you. take care.
sincerely,
a.w.

p.s.
i have an (free) e.p. here

number three

2009-01-03T18:36:00.000-08:00

dear hendrick,
it appears that 'strange to feel so strangely for a stranger' is at number three on the folk charts over at songvault. my oh my, what an exciting few days these have been. we'll see where this leads, if anywhere. take care.
sincerely,
a.w.

a.w.feldt at #5

2009-01-02T11:14:00.001-08:00

dear hendrick,
it was just brought to my attention that the song "strange to feel so strangely for a stranger" is at #5 on the songvault dot com folk charts. you can see it here or take a look at the picture i have included in this posting.

also, today is my friend imri's birthday. happy birthday, imri!

i hope you are well.

take care.

sincerely,
a.w.

songvault featured artist

2008-12-30T08:48:00.000-08:00

dear hendrick,
this morning, i received an e-mail from paul john over at songvault, with this message:

"a.w.
feldt,

We want to personally congratulate you in having your song "Strange to Feel So Strangely For a Stranger" placed in the SongVault Directory and in our play list on the SongVault Radio Network.

This is quite an accomplishment and something you should be proud of, considering that your song has been up against hundreds of other songs and has taken several months in order to pass through all the tiered stations.

This is not the end of the journey but just the beginning!

In a few weeks, your song will be on one of our podcast shows to help promote your song on iTunes and other podcast venues.

In 2008, we will be in contact with all the public radio stations to work on partnerships in order to help promote the artist that have made it in the SongVault. Other exciting benefits will be announced over the next year that will help you generate money and build a bigger fan base at the same time.

Dick Clark put it best when he said "Music is the soundtrack of our lives". The songs we like to listen to become part of our life in general.

Thank you for being part of our soundtrack and we look forward to helping promote you and your music further in the months and years ahead.

Best Regards,

Paul John
SongVault. fm"

so, over at songvault dot com, a.w.feldt has been added to the main folk page under "what's new".

you can see it here: http://www. songvault. fm/directory/folk. htm

how bout that, eh?

a.w.feldt is recording today, and will have new music up soon.

keep your eyes peeled, and your ears ready.

take care, and happy holidays.

sincerely,
a.w.

fliers, artwork and the like

2008-11-24T07:23:00.000-08:00

dear hendrick,
i have included several works here that i have worked on in the somewhat recent past. i hope to keep making fliers and pursuing other artistic endeavors. it's a lot of fun, and makes me quite happy. i look forward to showing you more as time moves forward. i hope you are well. it has been awhile since i've heard from you...
please take care.
sincerely,
a.w.

p.s. i don't know why the cover for simple things is blue. the cover may also be found here.

explosions

2008-11-22T11:11:00.000-08:00

dear hendrick,
please look at this picture.

sincerely,
a.w.

bear in mind

2008-11-09T06:50:00.000-08:00

dear hendrick,
i just bought a shirt this week with a bear on it. it's my new favorite. it also has native american markings on it. there's one that looks like a child's drawing of a dog with huge teeth. yes, please. i've been going thrifting with my lady and her mum this weekend. it's been a whole lot of fun. i have a nice warm coat. i have the most comfortable shoes i've ever owned (to my recollection). i have a nice, warm sweatshirt. i have a warm blanket, green military wool. i have joy.

the other night, i was able to play with a group called bang bang eche. because i was playing a set with a dance/rock band, i decided to do some sorts of casio drum beats, and it went over really well. i am currently working on recordings using these beats, and hope to be able to post an ep on cllct soon.

it has recently been determined that i will be moving back to pocatello for the spring semester of 2009. i look forward to this, but also dread leaving connie in pa. i have a place lined up for this summer, and am currently working on a tour of the u.s. and montreal, quebec area.

recently, my friend james put together some artwork for a full-length that i've been trying to work out. he has done a wonderful job. you may see a piece of the artwork here as the profile picture. enjoy.

things are continually looking up for a.w.feldt.

thank you.

a.w.

it has certainly been a great while

2008-10-20T14:34:00.001-07:00

dear hendrick,
i played a set at the lyons' den again, an hour or more. i'm excited to be able to play longer sets. i'm thinking about doing shows somewhat regularly at the first nash, and portneuf brewery. we'll see, though. i've figured out how to play queens' "don't stop me now" and several others for the drunkies who like the hits. i only play songs i like, though. don't worry.

trying to figure out what i want to do for a living is proving to be very tricky. so many companies/people won't waste one opportunity to take advantage of one's pocket book or needs. i don't like it. we need more honesty and concern for our wellbeing.

brent has been working on a full-length and he sent me the tracks. it's sounding great. it's a huge step up for him. some truly great music. i will actually be covering one of his songs for some folks at gate city swill and am quite excited about it. more later.
take care.
love,
a.w.

p.s.
look at this:

gleam/glisten

2008-09-11T18:41:00.000-07:00

dear hendrick,
the past couple of days have seen a lot of new material from a.w.feldt. i'm looking forward to what will be taking place soon, regarding these bits and pieces that have surfaced/materialized(?).
more soon.
sincerely,
a.w.

bands

2008-09-10T13:54:00.000-07:00

dear hendrick,
i was thinking today about the bands we, as a.w.feldt have played with. it's been an incredible blessing to have played with these folks. brent has been a wonderful friend, and has helped me so so much.

here is a list:

-the awful truth
-the pharmacy
-chris koza
-conservative dad
-band of annuals
-drew danburry
-french quarter/stephen steinbrink
-billy mack collector
-the bossettes
-warbonnet
-spondee
-viking moses
-boomsnake
-snuffaluffagus
-asher in the rye
-finn riggins
-ashley and eli (eriksson and moore)
-the future of the ghost
-cabinet of natural curiosities
-blanket truth
-the knapsack superlative
-metal
-julia mecham
-destroy nate allen
-world history
-nyr lif
-the greyhouse effect
-dane ueland
-mal blum
-the happy prince
and more to come...

i look forward to meeting new people, and the exchanges that will occur at those times.
i move to pennsylvania in less than a week. i am very excited.

sincerely,
a.w.

a letter

2008-09-09T21:29:00.000-07:00

dear hendrick,

i shall write about my musical endeavors here in this place. much excitement met me when the 'i hope you know what you're doing' e.p. went up for sale on several online distribution centers. it may now be found on itunes, amazon dot com, emusic, and soon others as well.

i am at work on a new e.p. called 'why i can't live here permanently'. my friend imri has done up some cover artwork for it, and we have printed several of those. now, the artwork needs a product to accompany. soon, dearly beloved. soon.

i am also working on a new project called 'hey, boat' with my dear connie. we have one song up on myspace, and more to be made. connie has a project called the bossettes. she puts on a great live show. her lyrics are fun. clever. she makes me swoon...

this is all for now. take care.

sincerely,
a.w.