Young & New Engineer/Producer Spotlight: Bongo John

Well, today Shane and I have joined together with some friends to leave for a short cruise from Florida to the Bahamas, so that I can compete in the semi-final round of a karaoke contest in the eventual hopes of winning $10,000 and maybe even $250,000.  (My song is "Friends in Low Places" and you can see my earlier victorious performance at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej4NI8fEgck hahaha) Anyway, while I go gamble on a song in the middle of the ocean, I can't help myself but tell you about someone very special to our whole Young & New recording project:

I want to tell you about the amazing man who helped us get this whole project off the ground...

“Bongo John” John Metcalf is one of Raleigh’s greatest human beings and best musicians.  He has a notable reputation in central NC for his skills as a drummer, percussionist, keyboardist, songwriter, and recording engineer.  Most of his formative years were spent recording noises and experimenting with sound recordings, which eventually led to his position as a recording engineer at Studio 313 in Morrisville, NC, where he has worked for over four years.  With extensive experience with ProTools, Logic, and Sonar recording software platforms, and an eclectic taste in song-writing, he has managed to work with several styles/genres of music, such as rock, jam-band, funk, pop, reggae, folk, jazz, blues, drum-n-bass, electronica, world beat and classical. In his 15+ years living in the Raleigh area, he has recorded/performed with many artists, including Yo Mamma's Big Fat Booty Band,  Rubber Gypsy, Jason Adamo, Zegg, Miles Partridge & The Hipslack, Rebecca Lynne, Triplicity, The Monika Jaymes Band, The Finger Puppets, Ascella Vega, Montage, Jordan Okrend, Cammie Ward, and Triple Fret.  He has a few solo albums, a comedy album, a piano instrumental album, and a series of drums and percussion lessons called The Bongo Method. 

You have got to check out this super quirky music video he made for one of my favorite Bongo songs, "Doomsday Romance":

Check out his website at http://www.bongojohn.net and drop him a line to say hello.  If you ever need a drummer or percussionist for a project, a recording engineer or a studio, or even just a great friend full of laughter, don’t hesitate to contact him.

The more money we raise with our IndieGoGo campaign, the more likely we’ll be able to work with a badass like Bongo John again.  You can get a limited edition copy of our upcoming CD for a contribution of just $30, or you can just throw us a buck and smile knowing you helped us out big time. :) http://igg.me/p/204091?a=1024370

Love,
Brandon and Shane
Young and New

Cool video of me and Shane and Bongo John - shredding guitar solos

Hey, Shane and I are getting on a cruise ship this week for 2 nights so I can participate in a karaoke contest to hopefully win some extra cash to fund this project.  Now I know what you're thinking, "How can these clowns afford to go on a cruise when they're trying to raise money for an album?"  Well to answer your question...this CRUISE is FREE because I won the last karaoke contest on the last boat I was on....pretty sweet huh?  And we played a couple shows in the last couple nights to be able to afford to get down ton FL, and we plan on finding a "lettuce gig" somewhere in the next 48 hours to help recoup some of our bar tab! (Translate: 'Let Us Play a Gig Here.')

For our album, we did a cover of "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley.  So I felt it appropriate to share a little video I made with the footage of the first and only take of our trading guitar solos in the song.  Bob Marley....cruise ship....island....get it?


[Don't see the video above? Here's the link: http://youtu.be/9gsIiQrPzNs]

There's a chance I could win a bunch of money on this boat, but I'm not getting my hopes up.  No matter what it's going to be a super fun time.  This is some more info about the karaoke contest I'm part of: http://www.idolcelebration.com/

Bon voyage,
Brandon and Shane
Young & New

Song Spotlight: “I’m Alive” by Brandon Scott McLean

Hi,

Two of the songs on our brand new album are actually cover songs.  There are a few reasons for this, but mainly because our versions have been turning heads in bars for quite some time and I believe in these songs so much that I just had to get them out of my head. 

One of the songs we covered is called “I’m Alive.”  This song is co-written and recorded by the country singer Kenny Chesney.  He wrote the song with Dean Dillon and Mark Tamburino, and it was first recorded by Willie Nelson on his album Moment of Forever, which Chesney also produced.   Chesney himself later recorded it (as a duet with Dave Matthews) on the 2008 album Lucky Old Sun.  This version later appeared on his 2009 Greatest Hits II album, from which it was released to radio in August 2009.

Hear Dave and Kenny’s version (and see the official video) here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLgLfD3wElQ

The song has gotten some pretty seriously mixed reviews.  Seems reviewers like the song but haven’t really liked a version of it that has come out….(and frankly, I’ve felt the same way for a couple years now.) 

CM Wilcox of The 9513 gave it a thumbs-down review, and said that the song had "somewhat ambitious" lyrics, made note of Matthews' vocal performance, but said that Chesney sounded like a "workaday singer" and that the duet did not have a sense of interplay between the two vocalists.  The Washington Post said, "The song is supposed to be an anthem about strength and survival and soldiering on…Yet it sounds more like a weary wish than a declaration,” and the Hartford Courant said that it "may be the plainest thing Matthews has ever done."

I feel the same way.  I think the lyrics are so powerful and intense, but the song was so lagging and dreary….UNTIL NOW…check out my version:

Despite all the bad reviews of Dave and Kenny's version, the song reached #6 on the Country Charts, and #32 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2009.  I think our song has a chance of making some waves, since so many people already know and love the tune but haven’t heard anything like this.  Do you agree?

Thanks for listening, and thanks for your on going support...you can share it on facebook, twitter, or show your grandma!

Love,
Brandon Scott McLean

Can’t Contribute? Please spread the word?

Two weeks into our fundraiser, we've raised over $1200!!  Thank you SO MUCH for the support, and we can't wait to share all this new music with you.

If you’re as broke as we are, it’s gonna be hard for you to make a financial contribution to this thing.  BUT, if you believe in us and our music, would you consider helping us spread the word about it?

IndieGoGo provides each campaign with a set of “Share Tools” to help you spread the word about our project.  The Share Tools are located in the box right below your Pitch video at http://www.indiegogo.com/iwontfalldown.  

We’re learning that money does not just show up out of nowhere, but it requires a good and consistent outreach—sharing it with friends, friends of friends, family and fans.  How you can help:

Check out the Share Tools at http://igg.me/p/204091?a=1024370

YOU CAN:
-Copy the campaign URL and paste it into an email or social media update
-Click on the Facebook, Google Plus or Twitter icons to share through your social media networks
-Add a widget to your blog or personal website. Click Embed and then copy and paste the widget code. 

CLICK ON THIS LINK to increase our GoGo Factor to increase the odds that strangers will come across it and help us: http://igg.me/p/204091?a=1024370

Thank you so much for your support and your help.  We cannot do it without you.  

Love,

Brandon and Shane :)

You want to hear what we've been working on?

So you've been hearing and seeing us rave about this new project....but you're still in the dark about the whole thing.  So why not check out some early mixes?

There should be an orange play button in a SOUNDCLOUD widget just below this...but if not you can click on http://soundcloud.com/youngandnew/i-wont-fall-down-album-preview

For those of you (like me) who prefer a video with something to look at, I put together a slide show with some pictures from the sessions and this summer in a YouTube video:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to8AGtnqRk4

If you like what you're hearing, I want to let you know that the album comes out on Thanksgiving 2012, and we're doing a crowd-funding thing, trying to raise some money to cover some of the expenses for the project...basically like PRE-ORDERING our album....please check it out? http://igg.me/p/204091?a=1024370 

http://www.indiegogo.com/IWONTFALLDOWN

Glad to share this stuff with you,
Brandon and Shane

Young & New Musician Spotlight: Autumn Rose Brand

Hello, 

Like we said in one of the last emails, there’s a plethora of amazing musicians and singers on this album.  And that is especially true of Autumn Rose Brand.  She came into Bongo’s studio on 3 days notice and busted out some AMAZING violin parts and some PERFECT background Vocals. 

Here’s some video of Autumn working with us on the I Won’t Fall Down EP on the song "Take Me Away From this Show (to the River"):

Autumn originally hails from the state of Washington, but now resides in Raleigh and plays in a really amazing folk-rock arrangement called Saints Apollo.  Autumn has a couple gigs coming up in Durham and Carrboro.   You can check her out on Saturday, September 22 at the Motorco Music Hall in Durham; and then the next week on Sunday September 30 at the The Station in Carrboro, NC

They’re a really cool mix up of violin, cello, keys, acoustic guitar, and drums that has been described as “unparalleled” by Oak City Livin.  See here:

 

On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgiACWTRJS4
Twitter: @SaintsApollo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Saintsapollo
their site: http://www.saintsapollo.com/

Your contribution at http://igg.me/p/204091?a=1024370, our IndieGoGo album fundraiser, will ensure that we can keep working with Autumn and other amazing musicians in the future.  Please consider helping us out so we can pour Autumn’s violin and her amazing vocals into your ears when our album comes out on Novermber 22, Thanksgiving Day :)

Love,
Brandon and Shane

VIDEO TEAM Spotlight: Rob Underhill and Aravind Ragupathi

We hired an AMAZING video team to make our music video for the title track of our brand new album, “I Won’t Fall Down.”

Rob and Aravind have worked together on several independent films, and they are really making some waves. 

Their recent work includes the new feature film, DAR HE: The Lynching of Emmett Till (2012)—www.DarHeMovie.com—winner of 6 Best Film awards. 

The two films “Empty Space” (2009) and “Wolf Call” (2010): winners of 24 festival awards and 9 nominations. “Wolf Call” also was nominated for a 2012 Black Reel Award for Outstanding Short Film—www.WolfCallMovie.com. They’ve just completed the new Sci-fi/disaster genre film, The Carrington Event—www.TheCarringtonEvent.com
Check them out on the news!

Director/producer -  Rob Underhill—www.RobUnderhill.com

Cinematographer/producer, Aravind Ragupathi—www.AravindDP.org

VIDEO INFO:  Are you in Raleigh?  Want to come be in the video?  Are you available on Sunday, September 16^th?  See details at http://www.youngandnew.com/musicvideo or check it out on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/events/304752956290322/

Please check them out, and you can see our IndieGoGo promotional video that they made for us at http://igg.me/p/204091?a=1024370

Hope to see you soon,
Brandon Scott McLean