Welcome to Gaia! ::

So, I was debating about whether to add this to what has undeniably become our news thread, "Stuff to look forward to," but I decided that it was just far too...different and needed its own thread.

Steven Page is back! And while no longer a member of BnL I still consider him one of the guys and was incredibly excited when I received an email from him. Rather than translate it into my own words, I've decided to post the message from him here, so you guys can hopefully experience the same bouncy excitement I did (that is, only if you haven't seen it yet yourself. I expect some of you also received the email. Nevertheless, here it is!)

Also, here are some links to his pages in case you're too lazy to read the whole letter or go find the sites yourself. mrgreen

http://www.stevenpage.com/
http://twitter.com/stevenpage
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/stevenpage?ref=mf
http://www.myspace.com/stevenpagemusic
http://www.youtube.com/user/thestevenpages


"Salutations! Welcome to the first-ever Steven Page newsletter. My name is Steven Page. I laboured over whether to write this first blast in a third-person, “Steven is proud to announce…blah blah blah” kind of voice, which might make it seem like I have a big staff of PR flacks and could either work for me (“he’s very successful!”) or against me (“I find him sort of inaccessible behind this wall of minders and managers”), or whether I should just write it as myself. Well, as you can see when referencing the previous sentence, writing as myself seems to use far fewer quotation marks, parentheses and ellipses, so here I go as me:


Stevenpage.com

First of all, I’m sending out this rather impersonal bulk email to announce the launch of the brand-new stevenpage.com. We’ve been working for some time to get this right, and I’m really happy with where we ended up. The site holds my blog, an up-to-date concert calendar with links for buying tickets, a store where you can buy music or merchandise, basic bio information in case you’re wondering who sent you this email, a built-in music player, photos, videos, and whatever my latest breaking news may be (well, just the good stuff = you want the bad news? That’s what Google’s for). Please go and check it out, and tell your friends. The site will actually be updated often, believe it or not!


Two Albums!

Second of all, I want to let you know about two albums I have coming out this year: The first one, “A Singer Must Die,” is a collaboration with the Toronto chamber group Art of Time Ensemble. We performed a concert in June of 2008 in which we had some of my favourite songs of all time re-arranged for piano, voice, strings, guitar and saxophone. I chose songs from a wide range of artists, from The Mountain Goats to Leonard Cohen, Elvis Costello, Radiohead and Barenaked Ladies. The show was a huge success, as was its subsequent airing on CBC Radio, so we decided to head into the studio and make a document for us to remember these performances by. “A Singer Must Die” was released by Pheromone Recordings in Canada on February 16th. Order now and order often!

The other album is my first proper post-BNL solo album. As yet untitled. All original songs, back in the pop world again, and damn I’m proud of it. The influences are all over the map, as they always have been, and here you’ll get tastes of everything from power-pop to big-band jazz to disco, electropop and folk. We’re aiming (the Royal We, that is) to have it out before the summer starts this may be a bit optimistic, and I’ll let you know once we have a date nailed down. And, yes, once that’s set, I’ll definitely be touring this record wherever they’ll have me. I’m already pestering my management and booking agents to start getting gigs set up in the US, Canada and Europe for this summer. Where to find out more as dates are announced? Why, at stevenpage.com of course!


Live Concerts

I’m hitting the road this month with Art of Time Ensemble, playing the songs from “A Singer Must Die.” We’re doing shows in theatres all around Ontario. Click here to see a calendar and buy tickets.

I'll also be opening for Norah Jones in London, ON at the John Labbatt Centre on March 22 and in Toronto at Massey Hall, March 23. The Toronto show is sold out but tickets for London are still available here!



I want to thank everyone who has come out to see me play live over the past year – you’ve given me lots of encouragement and inspiration. 2010 will be even better. Also a big thank-you to everyone who has become a fan on Facebook, a friend on Myspace, or a follower on Twitter – if you’re not yet, please feel free to join me. I seem to use Twitter the most, but your questions and comments will be read (by me) on all three networks, and I do try to post differently to each. Well, ok, I’ll admit I do tend to forget about Myspace…

But at the hub of it all will be stevenpage.com and this monthly newsletter. I hope to see you at shows in the near future, and I’m looking forward to playing the new music for you. I hope you enjoy it!



Best,


Steven"

I missed those. Noticed some other just in general pissy comments. He does rather seem to have something large stuck up his...nose. Hopefully he stops being stupid. But you never can tell I suppose...

Oh sad...you voted for "rejects Steve news as being a part of the BnL Guild? Should I remove the topic?

It was pretty cool getting the email. Did you not get it? I wonder where he stole the email list from...

That's so awesome that Kev addressed it to you! There's this new (ish) band from Southern California that I like, and when you post on their wall on Facebook, they actually respond. The drummer actually just friend-requested so he could send me event info cause I was asking about their next shows. I get all bouncy when they actually respond. It's like, "Wow! They actually care about their fans!"

I was listening to some of A Singer Must Die on his webpage, and it really doesn't seem that great. I don't have The Vanity Project yet. I can never find it in the actual stores (definitely not in used stores which is where I usually frequent being low on cash) and whenever I have money, I forget to get it online. *sigh* I'll get it eventually. I've heard some of the songs and like them. Do you have it?

I'm still not sure about the whole Steve-Page-as-his-own-"band"-thing yet. Like we talked about before, I still have trouble listening to the "Steve" songs. I skip them cause it just makes me sad. And if he's going to act like a jerk, then I don't think I want to listen to his new stuff. Guess I'll just have to wait and see and make my opinion later...

Yeah, I'm starting to wonder if the guild shouldn't be renamed "in which phlipp and Ulfin talk (and sometimes it's actually about BnL!)"

I got dragged onto Faceplant by my friends from camp. It's really easy to keep in touch with them that way and most of the people who I'm friends with on there are camp people. Actually, I think it's time for percentage fun! (cause really, what else is there to do on a Friday night during finals week in a college town? (by the way, my last final is at 6pm. On Saturday. This schedule sucks. (Oops, apparently I mean "on a Saturday morning" and "my final is today." When did that happen? Well, I guess about ten minutes ago...I'm kind of going insomniac nuts now and blathering, so I'm going to shut up and just figure out the percentages.))) So, 77% of my friends are from camp, 9% are family, 8% are from college, and the remaining 6% are random acquaintances (which includes a grand total of one friend from high school.) Yup, I'm insane (and bored (although, it didn't take me anywhere near as long as it did to originally figure out all of the time intervals between the 100 posts threads)). The only reason I have a myspace is because a few years back myspace had an option where musicians could let you download music for free and some Wizard Rockers did that, so I got an account so I could download music (before then I resolutely refused to get one. I don't even think my account has my name on it...I know I put in a bogus birthday etc...) You're supposed to use your full real name on Faceplant, but when I originally signed up I just used my camp name. It's not like you're going to get in trouble. You can also control whether people can find you with your email address or not and how much of your profile people can see if they aren't friends with you. For instance, with me, I think you can see my picture, my birthdate, where I go to school, and my list of friends, and I think that's about it...If you get one, let me know! Faceplant is actually really annoying. I think I prefer Twitter over it. (which I also broke down and got so I could follow my favorite bands. You learn really random cool stuff)

So, I've learned an important thing, don't reply to threads (or emails (you're in trouble if I decide to respond to your pm tonight)) when I'm being excessively insomniatic (Mwahaha! I'm an English major, I say it is a word, therefore it is!). It apparently makes me babble...(and merely brings out my insanity, cause let's be real, there's no way it could MAKE me insane...I'm way past that point...)

I sent questions to "Call and Answer" too, but also never got a response. I think it was usually, "what is this song about?" questions with the hope that Ed would respond in a podcast.

I know, I wonder if I'll ever be able to really listen to his songs again...another reason I'm not going to get TVP anytime soon. I just don't think I can do it...yet...

So, I sadly had to look up the quote, and came back with LOTR? I don't remember that quote. Where exactly is it from?

Serious question: Does my posting in orange make it hard to read?

Hey, check this out!

Well, you don't have to, it just talks about BnL's new album and rehashes all the stuff that's happened since Steve left. I'll just post the most interesting part.
-------------------------------------------------------------
According to LeBlanc, BNL and Page will likely share microphones and Kraft Dinner in the future, singing One Week, The Apartment Song and other staples together again. “This is like the Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin split-up,” reasons LeBlanc, a friend of Page. “Eventually, they will return together.”

McBride agrees. “They’re all great people and time helps to add perspective in people’s lives, so I could see [a reunion] happening.”

The new BNL doesn’t rule out Page’s repatriation either – “I think we’re all saying, never say never,” says Hearn – but for now the four-piece is rock-solid. “We’re proud of the record and the amazing shows,” says Robertson. “And we’re celebrating the fact that we’re still here and enjoying what we do.”

I like birds, but I certainly prefer the ones that live outside (meaning that I don't have to take care of them). At the zoo, there are a number of birds that I help look after (including Owls, Hawks, and a Kestrel!). The birds of prey are cool and much more friendly than the rotten Lorikeets. I swear that those pretty little bastards follow you around until they've shat on you at least once. We occasionally use alias names at work too. On our name tags, we also have the name of our favourite animal at the zoo (mine says Kinkajou), so occasionally we refer to each other as such over the radios.

Perhaps it was foolish of me to use the word foolish. It's just that at the time, it really did seem foolish and as I reflect on my foolish use of the word foolish, it still seems foolish. Sometimes, I'm a bit foolhardy when I'm talking and sound rather foolish. So, foolish as I may be, I stand by my foolish use of the word foolish for completely foolish reasons, foolish though they may be.

As far as the article about Steve Page goes...I have no idea if it's suggesting that he'll rejoin the band someday or if it simply means that they think that they will get together for a special one-off concert every once in a while. I guess we'll just have to wait and find out. I wonder if Steve will be a guest preformer on the next Ships & Dip cruise?

Steve's new album, Page One, will be released on September 28, 2010.

The first single is called Indecision.
---------------------------------------

Thoughts

That is one seriously cheesy title.

Indecision isn't bad, but it certainly isn't as good as anything on All In Good Time.

xd

True, cheesy things can cause indigestion.


I'm certainly not counting the days until the album release...this song just isn't growing on me.