Little did we know as we planned the release of a new Gravity Tree song, that MySpace was also planning a big change. Of course I'm talking about the new music player. As everyone knows by now, the player is still undergoing some tweaks, and there's an issue with uploading that MySpace is aware of. It's going to be great when it's done, and they're working hard on it I'm sure. No complaints here.

But in the meantime, we have a new song we can't properly roll out. So the decision was made to delay it's release until MySpace has their ducks lined up a little better. We thought about putting it up in other places first, but truthfully it's much easier and less confusing for us if it all happens at once. That's our reality of being an indie artist.

So...the current plan is to release it in 2 weeks, the weekend of October 11-12. If at that time you find the player is still not 100%, you can guess we'll be late again as well. We're going to use the time to tweak the mix a little more, well, because now we can and I'm just a big geek, you know.

And we will make a big announcement, in this blog, through the newsletter, on our Yahoo groups page, Twitter, all the usual places.

Thanks for listening, and waiting. We wait with you...

So the subject is the message...Gravity Tree will release a brand new song in a month. You can hear a piece of it right here in a couple of weeks or so. Then the song will be out and about for download in full-length, MP3 style. September 27.

We'll put up a blog when we're about to release the clip. Then you can decide if it's proggy enough for you. I just want to go on record as saying it's got a tricky little drum pattern that gives it it's sig sound IMHO...so you'll want to check it out for that at least. Oh, and Linc let's me do a synth solo. So there you go.

More, well, when there's more.

9/27/08 - mark your calendar.

We had a long technical delay in getting the newsletter out, just in case subscribers were wondering where it went. The service we use had some down time and we just had to wait it out. Once they were up we had to update things before sending since some time had passed.

Well it's all better now but we're rethinking the newsletter delivery system we're using and might update it in the near future. In the meantime, you should see the August newsletter show up in your inbox (if you're a subscriber that is) today (Tuesday). There's a fairly big announcement in there, we'll keep quiet elsewhere until the fan base has a chance to get in-the-know about it.

For the rest of you, sign up for the newsletter or stayed tuned here. Thanks for listening.

Just wanted to mention that Amazon.com is now (finally) carrying our latest CD, ULTIMATE BACKWARD. It's been out awhile but it took us a bit to get it in their store for some reason. Even virtual shelfspace seems to be getting crowded these days, so we're really excited that Amazon picked up our CD.

Of course they still carry our last CD, LIFE OR DESSERT?, and you can get either one (or any tracks from the albums) as mp3 downloads there as well. Just scroll down the album pages from the links above, and you'll see the mp3 listings.

Thanks for listening!

Gravity Tree has half a dozen songs (if prog rock bands can actually call our pieces "songs") posted at MonsterVox. You can listen to 'em, and Vote(!) for us there. The voting interface is great there because you can input a lot more stuff than just a star rating, or just keep it simple. We're looking forward to some good feedback from you, because it helps us know what folks like (and don't) about our music. So have a go if you will.

We'll probably try to add another song or two soon.

The link for the full length songs is here.

Or just go to www.monstervox.com and search for Gravity Tree.

Thanks for listening.

OK, so the subject to this entry looks like one of those spams or spoofs you get in your inbox, but it’s no joke. We’re letting anyone have one of the songs from our latest album, ULTIMATE BACKWARD...for free. It’s called AIM TO PLEASE, and if you’re a MySpace member, all you have to do is click on the download link under the song in the MySpace music player. That’s it. But this is just for a short time, so just don’t think about it too much, just do it. All you’ve got to lose is less time than you’ve spent reading this blog ;-)

Nearly every week I go to iTunes and download whatever songs they’ve got posted for free at the bottom of the main page - you know what I’m talking about, right? Maybe I don’t like everything I grab - it tends to run a bit on the pop side for my tastes - but every once in a while I find something really cool. And on a couple of occasions, I’ve found something great, someone I now listen to on a regular basis; a favorite. The main thing is that I’m exposing myself to new music, and that’s always a good thing. I just go up there, download whatever they have, and listen to it whenever I’m in the mood for something new - sometimes weeks later. Like a surprise to myself. OK, I’m weird, but you knew that by the music, right?

Sometimes I end up really liking something I didn’t think much of at the time I downloaded it. Generally, I’m like that anyway; my favorite artists end up being the ones I wasn’t so keen on the first time I heard them. They’re deep, and they take a while to grow on me. But that’s me.

The main thing is that I’m exposing myself to new music, and that’s always a good thing. So here’s your chance: download AIM TO PLEASE, it’s on us.
Take care. - Alan

Haven't blogged in awhile as things have been crazy!

First, thanks to all the folks stopping by...we're seeing a big jump in song plays and such and are hearing from many of you. All good, and much appreciated.

Second, a minor, tiny little clarification on the name of the latest Gravity Tree album. It's ULTIMATE BACKWARD. I know this is silly, but I keep seeing folks, even reviewers, listing it as Ultimate Backwards, with an "s". Grammatically either way is correct, but we'd decided on the non-"s" spelling just because it sounded better to us. No biggie. But, for the record (pun intended), the title doesn't have an "s" in it.

Now aren't you glad we don't blog more often ;-)

I promise the next one will actually contain interesting information. Like new music, and stuff. You know, what you're really here for.

Later -
Alan

First up, I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays (or about to, depending upon which you partake)!

I thought this blog would have been a week or 3 ago, about new music or other things. But Linc and I both have some completely different and totally involving personal matters at hand and while I can't really go into details - cuz they're personal (and I did mention something like this in my own blog), we've both ended up doing a temporary bail on this music we call collectively Gravity Tree whilst we work out that OTHER thing called Real Life. Yes, I know it's always a shock when music doesn't automatically jump all of life's little hurtles. Linc has actually been on a hiatus for some time now, truth be told. But we didn't want to alarm anyone or get that "they've broken up" rumor machine rolling. We have NOT broken up! We're just needing to do other things. I can't speak for Linc, but mine was thrust upon me and that's just how it is, you roll with them punches but sometimes something must give. This time it's a BIG something.

So all the new and not-so-new-by-now tunes are sitting there in the computer, in the studio, waiting for us to get back to them and finish them and then getting them to you. All the sweat and blood put into them will not be in vain. I'm getting back to those songs; I'd really like to be doing that right now, but that's just not going to happen. But don't be bummed...

Because - as mentioned in our newsletter - Gravity Tree the Musical Entity(?) is moving along seemingly without us, with stuff like 450,000 plays on NumberOneMusic and being glued to the number 1 and 2 spots on the All-Time Progressive chart there, and meeting LOTS of new friends right here on MySpace, and getting downloads all over the place. It's crazy. Maybe we should stop doing music more often? Nah!

OK, I need to get back to Life - and it's no game from this view - but I just had to put something down here about what isn't happening...and what is. I didn't want to be one to keep saying something was coming when we had no idea when it was going to happen. Or have folks message us and wait 2 weeks for a reply and wonder what was really up. So that's the straight stuff. I'm so surprised that fans continue listening even when we can't put out new songs or perform and all that. I hope you'll wait it out because I think some of the new stuff is our best, and that you'll wait for my solo stuff too. I'm glad we can stop and this thing still goes. I'm glad it's really not about us, but the music.

Thanks for continuing to listen. Keep listening!
- A

Haven't had a chance to write a blog entry in awhile. We're also very late getting out a newsletter for October. Music's the priority around here, you know. Speaking of...

I'm still writing away on my solo project. I keep getting new ideas, and of course that delays tracking the stuff that's already prepared. But I'm moving forward pretty well with it.

If you've checked the N1M Gravity Tree page, you've probably found the clip of the instrumental mix (or is that remix?) for Blues Tune, our latest song. (No, don't worry, it's not exactly a blues song. I'll have to re-post the comment I wrote on another site about that here.) Anyway, a "Full On" version is coming, but has been delayed whilst we work on a wider release to more music stores and sites. I thought for sure it would be available in September, honest! But that's the wacky music scene for ya. You'll find it here, on our MySpace profile soon through SNOCAP.

Too many irons in the fire, as they say - ok, back to work for me.

Need a little prog rock in your phone? Had to mention a ringtone site is now carrying ringtones for most of our songs; all the songs from LIFE OR DESSERT? and ULTIMATE BACKWARD, in fact. (Just click on the album titles above to go to the ringtone pages.) Check it out if you like our music and need to change your ringtone. Thanks for listening and have a fun Labor Day weekend.