hey peeps. i've been really happy with writing songs lately and have a few more in the works... I'll be soon removing a couple of the old songs on here to replace with new songs.
The new songs I've written are entitled:
01. The State of Tennessee
02. This Firefly
03. Sugar Substitute

Those at the American Legion Show in Ephrata heard the first of "The State of Tennessee." I'd like to thank everyone for my warm reception there.

I started this whole thing hoping that it would be a very organic experience and it really has been. At first, I prompted adds to myspace users I thought would be interested but then decided to stop that completey. I noticed that when I stop, new adds occured regularly and my listens ..s continue to grow. This makes me happy but it's not why I do it...
oh, back to "organics"...
so, the first song I wrote was "We Are Amateur Investors" about how we sometimes hang onto something so hard that we hurt people that we should be loving... that, after a while, we should let go of those things for which it is time to let go and move onto something positive. This is the story of my life as i'm sure it is for many of you. After writing this song, I continued to experiment with digital backing tracks but kept getting more positive feedback on the simple guitar/vocals songs that i've written. I appreciate any feedback on this and the truth is I really do enjoy these more. They are more raw and thats how I'm feeling right now. Amateur investors was right on but the others were kinda forced. I need to remember that adding instruments should be towards the goal of the song which is to tell a story or get a point across. Just as in any form of communication we should not distract from our story or point.

So, from that organic perspective, my new stuff leans towards the more stripped down acoustic/vocal stuff and I hope you all enjoy it.

One tenet of A. Premise that I decided early on was that I would not book my own shows but only play shows at which I am invited to play. One exception to the rule is if a friends band really needs a show. As long as I possibly can, I am going to stick to this rule. If you'd like a flexable, considerate, free, and honest opening act for a show that you are throwing (especially all ages shows), let me know. Gas money is nice but may not be necessary depending on how far it is from home. I do love to play so hit me up.

much love,
Allen

hey kids. first off..
I did a quick contest for a couple of my ltd edition cds.
the winners were brandon bunting and chris hamlett.

secondly, the gf and i leave for a roadtrip basically tomorrow. really excited about that. during this trip i'm playing caffe cottage for my pal, pat's birthday show/party. that'll be fun.

so far, the a. premise thing has been an interesting explorating of myself. woah, that sounded kinda dirty... i'm kinda discovering that i'm more of a poet that a singer/songwriter but thats ok because i like my poems better when they're put to music. i have some songs that are serious and some that are more light hearted but thats the way that days are... thats the way our lives are. we express in a variety of styles and genres every day and i intend to do the same with my music. at the same time, i feel myself coming to a focus with the music and i like that too. we'll see what happens.

not knowing what's going to happen is the excitement that is in music. i've been in bands where we knew we'd go on another shitty tour and make nothing... or we knew we'd do really well in one city. that wasn't exciting. i want to conquer some new territory and try to mix things up as much as possible... keep em guessing but keep ME guessing. and no matter what... i'll never stop writing these words.