Hi everyone!

Long time no blog - I mean, really really long time.  Sorry about that.  Anyway i'm writing about my new album I just sort of decided to do a few weeks ago and you can read all about it here: http://www.michaelduff.com/Christmas

I hope you like the idea (and want to help).  It's going to be a great record!

Thanks a lot!!

Duff

Hi guys!

I know it's been forever since I blogged. I'll be better about that. A lot has happened since I wrote last...

I won the Los Angeles Music Awards "Best Adult Contemporary Male Vocal" Award which was pretty cool. It's said to be the Grammy's of Indie artists.

With your help I made it into the semi-finals of the Star 98.7 Rockstar contest and although I don't think I was "alternative" enough for that label, it was still great to have all of your support. So thanks again!

I got a duck. Yep, we have a duck now to join our 3 cats. :)

Anyway, what I'm mainly letting you know about now is that I "launched" The Diamond Room series on YouTube. I figured since it's been nearly impossible for me to work out a touring schedule outside of LA, for now I'll post a bunch of songs (solo acoustic) taped from my studio on YouTube so you can see what I sound like live (if you're not in LA). I opened it up with one of my favorite songs - and not one of my own - Radiohead's "Creep". You can see it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t2aFcS1w6s

Let me know what you think and what you'd like to see/hear me add to the series.

Take care!

Duff

Hi guys!

Finally, the new video for When You Run is now live - on YouTube and here on my profile. I say finally only because it took me forever to post it. After Unbreakable, I wanted to give it some space to live on its own so here we are.

The lovely Marisol Nichols graced our song with her amazing emotion and beauty. She is a really, really sweet girl with some serious acting chops. And Adrian Ursu directed and edited it brilliantly. He spent a lot of time making sure it was exactly as we wanted, with the impact we wanted and I am very happy with the result. A lot of people helped make this happen and I want to thank them all - especially Jenna Capozzi and Forward Films for her production prowess, Virginia and the Sorentini sisters for their care, Jim Kileen for being the angry landlord and all the rest of the crew. Thanks a zillion!!!!

Pass it around - it's a great clip! :)

Duff

The first of 2 videos I'll be releasing this week is now up and you can see it on my profile. It's a video for the title track of my CD "Unbreakable." It was shot on location in Oregon and here in LA and was directed by genius photographer Ray Kachatorian. I am REALLY happy with the final product of this work of art and am very fortunate to have such talented friends.

We wanted to release it on Veteran's Day and when you see it, you'll (hopefully) know why. We wanted to make a statement and create an impact. You can let us know how we did.

Please pass it on if you feel others should see it. And I'll let you know when the next one is out (which should be this week).

Thanks!

Duff

I love films or songs that make you think. This one does in a big way.

Hey everyone!!!

I'm sorry I've been so absent on the comments line. I've been wicked busy. Just got back from a trip to St. Petersburg Russia and Frankfurt Germany and I'm off to Moscow next week. All excuses aside, I WILL get to everyone's comments. If you sent me a note, I will respond - unless it's some stupid SPAM thing and in that case f-off. :o)

So, please bear with me and I'll talk to you soon!

Oh, and by-the-way - Unbreakable is up on iTunes!!! Search for Michael Duff or Unbreakable and put some of the songs in your playlist - that will really help out!

Thanks,

Duff

The new CDs finally arrived at our door today, so I'll be spending much of the next few days signing and shipping and I can't wait for you to get them and also can't wait for your comments and reviews!!!!!

:o)

Duff

Hey there!

So... This past week, I had the pleasure of playing (all week) at the Belkin booth at CES (The Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas. 3.2 million sq ft of computers, gadgets, mounts, cases and TVs. It was really amazing. Belkin makes connectors and some really nice computer accesories (routers, iPod things - a lot of cool gear).

I said I had the pleasure because the people at Belkin, aside from making some really good products, are truly great folks - from the top man all the way down. They all seeemed to really like doing what they do. Very nice.

Our days went like this: we'd play a song (or part of one depending on who was there and how busy they were) and then they'd play it back from the iPod and we'd sit and watch the eyes pop and jaws drop. It sounds really good. Then they'd talk about it for a while and then we'd play again 15 or so minutes later (sometimes more, sometimes less). It was fun. We were treated like kings and got to play my songs for 4.5 days and get paid for it - what more can you ask, right? I was with Bryon Holley on drums and Kurt Morgan on Bass - gifted players each.

The product we were hired to help demo is called TuneStudio and it will come out in July. It is a brilliant little mixer that allows you to record directly to your iPod. It sounds great, it's easy to use, has some very useful features and it's only going to cost a few hundred or less (they said between $179 and $249).

You can see us a bit at these links:

ABC 10 in San Diego - http://www.10news.com/video/index.html - scroll down to the clip that says "All iPod, All Of The Time" and we're the last half of it.

C-net - http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-12760_7-6682521-1.html?plylst=4663-12760_7-6683266.xml

So, I encourage you to support this cool company when you can.

OK, that's what I was up to. Hope you had a good week too!

Duff

Hey y'all!!!

After much (probably too much) poking, prodding, checking if "t"s were dotted and "i"s were crossed, the Duff "Unbreakable" CD went off to the manufacturer today. It should take anywhere from 10-15 days to get back here ready to ship.

And, I am now officially taking orders for them! If you order it before Jan 9th (the official release date) and you drop me a note or leave a comment that you want me to sign it, I will (Yes, Cora, you're in already!!).

I'm really excited about it and hope you will be too once you hear it.

Now it's time for me to hit the road, don't you think? :o)

Duff

Hey guys!

I'm sorry I've been offline so much and so away, but I've been well, away. :o) Anyway, this whole indie record thing is a very interesting thing. Here's where we stand in the "Let's make a CD" game:

Step 1: Write some songs you like and/or find some you also really like - done
Step 2: Record those songs - done
Step 3: Mix recorded songs - done (finally by the incredible Mat Hyde - he produced the 2 Chalk farM records)
Step 3a: Decide what actually goes on the record - done
Step 4: Mastering - not done
Step 5 Manufacturing - not done

Step 4 has been killing me. The guy I wanted to do it moved away, so I decided on either of 2 other guys. I had no idea how popoular they are - the next open slots for a record for either of them was in Jan!!! So, I called the guy I originally wanted to do it (his name is Pete Thomas and he's brilliant) and got him to fly in from Utah over the Thanksgiving weekend to do it. Nice!!

Which then brings us to step 5. What I'd like to have happen is to have the master to the manufacturing plant the last few days of Nov. Then start taking orders on December 1st, get them all back by the 15th and ship all of those orders out in time for Christmas. That's the plan. I've been jacked around a bit so far (OK, it really WAS my fault, I guess I didn't pay enough attention to the whole process while we were on Columbia!) but hopefully this last phase will go very smoothly.

There you have it. I appreciate the patience and support. Oh, by-the-way, I'm REALLY happy with the way it sounds. :o)

Talk to you soon!

Duff