This is a very quick post to proudly announce the new JLB video for Step It Up. It's been a long time coming - but when you see it - you will understand why! I want to extend a massive hand of thanks to the amazing Takeuchi Taijin for his unbelievable videography!

Hello boys and girls!
Well, if you're reading this, I guess you probably have a minute or two to do something for us?
Our song, "Walking Backwards", has advanced to the Q-Show section of Fame Games - a terrestrial FM radio broadcast in the US and available internationally via the internet. We need reviews and votes to get through to the next round, and we thought we might ask our wonderful fans and friends to donate a few?
All you have to do is surf on overf to: www.meermusic.com/content/charts/qresults.asp
and then click on "wednesday edition" - scroll down a little and you will find us! A vote takes literally about 5 seconds, a review a little longer - either would be a wonderful thing to receive!
Please let me know if you do go and vote - I'd love to thank you personally!
Thank you for helping us - we love you all dearly!
Joel x

Hey Everyone!

We've had a remarkable few months here at JLB central, and I think it's about time for me to share all of that good news with you lovely people!

First of all, as you may have seen, the JLB have become the international face of Sonicbids.com - the enormous and all pervading online EPK website - the place we all go to in order to be considered for festivals such as SXSW and NXNE. This gives us a presence, internationally, at EVERY festival and conference around the world for the next 12 months - and of course, we'll be out playing at all of them that we can get to. Heady stuff indeed.

This coming weekend, we play the Queen West Art Crawl Festival, opening up for Low Level Flight, which is the new project of past Canadian Idol winner Ryan Malcolm. We take the Stage around 5pm, and the gig is - funnily enough - on Queen West, in Trinity Bellwoods Park.

On another festival front, we've just been lined up to play the legendary International Pop Overthrow Festival in November. This amazing event has previously been held in Vancouver, Japan, England - all over the world, and always features major label lheadliners and a massive attendance. We shall be opening for one of the headliners on the second night.

The as yet untitled new EP has pretty much finished preproduction, and we go into rehearsal next week to finalise the arrangements. Then we're off to the studio and shall have the new collection of songs for you within a few months - hopefully just after xmas. More news as it comes!

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for being as excited about it as we are - you really are the people that make the effort we put into this worthwhile.

We love you all!

Joel xxx

 

Yes, ladies and gents!

The Sonicbids advertising extravaganza is days away from going live, and we've been given the chance to show you, our devoted friends and fans, a sneak preview of the viral explosion that is about to take over the musical underside of this here internet.

Click on over to I AM SONICBIDS and click on your favourite band (clearly, that's us, remember) to see an excerpt from the interview I did with them.

Online is only about a fifth of it though. The campaign will also take in TV and Radio, Free CD distribution etc - as well as putting in appearances at all major music festivals and conferences over the next year. And, of course, we'll be performing at all of the ones we can get to.

This is - I assure you - going to be a huge year for the JLB. The new EP is all but finished pre-production, the band has re-energised, rejuvenated and virtually reinvented itself - and we're about to go, as good old Shakespeare wrote, "Once more unto the breaches, dear friends, once more."

Joel x

 

Hey there boys and gals!

The JLB is proud to announce that we will be playing the Queen West Art Crawl on Saturday, September 13th. The night will be headlined by former Canadian Idol Ryan Malcolm's band, Low Level Flight. We take the stage at 5pm out on 1325 Queen St. W. between Cowan and Dunn avenues.

It's an amazing festival - for those who haven't been, it's a multi-disciplinary celebration of the arts in all forms and includes installation art from 10 of Canada's finest, along with many more things to brighten your day!

We'd love to see you there, and we genuinely look forward to a great gig in the sunshine!

All my love,

Joel x

Good afternoon boys and girls!

I just wanted to tell you all that the JLB has just become the poster-band for Sonicbids.com - that means our faces and music will grace every flyer, CD, announcement etc that Sonicbids makes over the coming 12 months - internationally.

This is about the biggest opportunity this band has ever had. Sonicbids advertises extremely aggressively worldwide, and has a reach to labels, music executives and your average music listener that truly dwarfs what any promotional company could provide - at any price.

This is incredibly exciting news for us - and I can assure you, you wil be seeing an AWFUL lot of us in the coming year.

 

Joel x

Hello Everyone!

The wonderful people at Radio Indy have gone a step further than just doing their amazing job at publicity and promotion - they've reviewed Every Street Corner and put it just about everywhere on the web that you can post such things!

One of my personal favourite websites, Digg.com has featured our review - but we need a few more people to "Digg" us in order for us to receive a little more exposure from the site!

If you've got a spare minute, pop along to the link below, have a read of the review, and click the link that says "Digg It!" - the more people that do, the more people Digg will show the review to - and hence we move further forward in our aim to take over the world!

LINK: http://digg.com/music/Radioindy_Reviews_Every_Street_Corner_by_Joel_Lightman_Band

As always, we appreciate every second you spend doing stuff on our behalf - do feel free to walk around with a warm fuzzy feeling of general JLB goodwill!

Love,

Joel xx

Well, what a surprise!

According to the Myspace Music Charts, the JLB is the 44th most popular Indie band in Canada. Clearly, being Myspace, that means nothing at all - but it really could mean something if we keep heading up those charts. I'm sure riches aplenty await those who make it to the first page, otherwise known as the top ten!

So, we'll keep promoting away, if you keep listening - we might just get there!

All my love,

 

Joel x

 

PS - As of today, 20th May 2008 - the JLB is officially at 2 in the Canadian Myspace Acoustic Chart, 4 on the Indie Chart and 17 in the pop chart! Thank you all for listening - keep it up! Joel x

Hey everyone!

Just a quick note to say that my vocals on ¨Believe¨ have been selected as one of the top 5 of the year by Singer Universe magazine. It..s obviously a wonderful honour and something the band and I are rightly very proud of. That song very much encapsulates the way I think about this industry, so it is truly wonderful to be honoured like this by a very respected and long-standing company like this one!

You can listen top the song and see the details at http://www.singeruniverse.com/competitionwinner43-123.htm

Scroll past the ultimate winner, and you..ll find us in second place!

Here..s to more accolades this year!

Joel x

 

Ah, glorious friends of my band and I,

I am off for a month - a month where I will have no internet connection, no cell phone - in fact, I will have thrown off every trapping of the 21st century. Where will I be that will relegate me to such a truly neanderthal technological state?

The Amazon Rainforest.

With my younger brother, I am going to trek into the Ecuadorian side of the Amazon, staying with a couple of tribes, living in hammocks and avoiding maneating predators.

Why?

Because I want to do something that very few westernised people have done. I want to do something that will force me to disconnect from the world and live for life - for experience, for each day as it dawns. Yes, the thought gets me all wrapped up in trite epiphets and purple prose. I’m incredibly excited.

So, for a month, I will not be here. I can’t answer your emails, accept your friend requests, approve your comments or do any of those things that make me your Joel.

So, don’t get frustrated - I will get back and I will catch up with you all.

Until then, I remain,

 

Your intrepid piano player!

 

Joel x