Reflections of my recent album recording and release

Here's some thoughts and reflections and stuff from when I was struggling to make and release "Young & New vol. 1: I Won't Fall Down."  

After a lonely demo-recording-winter of 2011, I thought I was going to invent a new band called Young & New.  But destiny came-a-calling and I found myself more bound than ever to my brothers from other mothers, Shane Smith and Alex Shepherd.  We had some long heart-to-heart conversations, played some tunes, and decided to take a huge plunge.  We brought on Ryan Smith as bassist, and made the Windsor Oaks Band the main project in all our lives.  So I was halfway through recording the "I Won't Fall Down" concept-EP, and I had to make a HUGE decision: EITHER keep fighting to make Young & New a real band AND be a part of the Windsor Oaks Band to the best of my ability; OR ditch the Young & New idea and call these recordings by their real name--a solo album (with the help of some of the most amazing musicians I have the pleasure of knowing).  I STILL LOVE the concept of the Young & New idea....the refreshing sound of new musicians playing together, the idea that we can all be young forever...So over the next few years, when I can find some time in my soon-to-be-pretty-crazy-Windsor-Oaks-schedule, I will put out a few more (at least 2 more) Young & New concept volumes (I think the next one is gonna be called "PARTY" and have a cool selection of feel-good songs...I'll keep you posted). You'll notice when you check out these 10 tracks, that there's a common theme to the message of all the songs: I WON'T FALL DOWN.  I wrote these songs, and fell in love with these two cover songs, in the wake of some pretty stressful events in my life.  The lyrics and messages just speak to what I have been going through over the last year or so. And being in this music business has been an uber-struggle, but I promise I'm going to be trying to make something of me and my music (and our music) until the day I breathe my last breath.  I know this album may seem a bit repetitive to you, but it's in line with this crazy concept-EP idea that I cannot get out of my head.  I hope that one of these songs speaks to you in whatever you're going through in your life.

Watch the MUSIC VIDEO for "I Won't Fall Down" on YouTube:

http://youtu.be/Cid6rYrLAQM

If you're on Pintrest, I'll be keeping a board of stuff pertaining to this album at:
http://pinterest.com/brandondidit/young-new-vol-1-i-won-t-fall-down/

DIGITAL LINER NOTES:

http://brandonscottmclean.com/iwontfalldown

Right now, I'm up in Port Jefferson, New York (on Long Island) sitting on a couch in the most amazing recording studio I have ever been in.  We're wrapping up things in our 4th and last week of making a brand new Windsor Oaks Band full-length album TAKE A CHANCE (due out March 2013).  Things are going great.  Check out my YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/brandonscottmcleantv to see all kinds of video evidence of the crazy stuff we've been up to!

Next time I write I got some big news about what we're gonna do with our spring and summer...

Happy Holidays,
and Thanks a Million,
Brandon Scott McLean

Album Release Turkey Weekend / Watch My Video on YouTube!

Happy Thanksgiving! 
I sure have a LOT to be thankful for this year!  Someday I will invite you over for turkey, not kidding... As a huge thanks for supporting me in my plight I'm offering the download of the single "I Won't Fall Down" all Thanksgiving weekend for all those who view the brand new music video at LINK. The link to the download of the FREE MP3 will appear in the comments of the video from Thursday to Sunday, all weekend. :)

LINK TO VIDEO: http://youtu.be/Cid6rYrLAQM

Thanks for all those who have sup

ported my fundraiser thing athttp://www.indiegogo.com/iwontfalldown

If you like the video and free Mp3 download, you can grab the rest of the album at http://www.cdbaby.com/brandonscottmclean4

If you like the video, please SHARE it with your friends and click LIKE on YouTube and/or Facebook. 

Thank you to everyone who was involved in making the video, especially Rob Underhill. Check out his other stuff at http://www.robunderhill.com/

Enjoy your turkey weekend,
Brandon

What gets youuuuuu in the Halloween SPIRIT?

Happy Halloween!!!

Windsor Oaks Band here and we have a special Halloween pumpkin carving video for you. My dear friend Michelle brought a pumpkin down from New Jersey (she's alright after FrankenStorm)....We decided to carve it up and share it with you. Hope you have as much fun watching this as we did taping it! And a HUGE Thanks to Pete for letting us film this at his house.

here's the link: http://youtu.be/l0D1elpz8-4

Adios,
Spookily,
Scarily,
Brandon Scott McLean

A BIG "Thank you" and... the two best bands I bet you've probably never seen live

Thank you thank you thank you :)

I think this year I got an unprecedented record number of  “Happy Birthday" posts on my my facebook timeline, and I got a lot of a handful of birthday support to the Indie GoGo Project. :) I have such amazing friends and family and I feel so lucky. Thank you.

This week I saw two huge bands, Lucero and Passion Pit.  and I gotta say I was absolutely blown away by both bands.  And the dudes in Passion Pit were all so cool and met us after and stuff too... I wanna thank my friend Katie Jones for bringing me to see Passion Pit on a last minute ticket.

I've decided to put the new album out as a solo album called Young & New vol. 1: I Won't Fall Down, but I'll explain more about that later...

Well, have a good weekend...I'm off to go to play acoustic style Napper Tandy's in Raleigh with my friends Shane and Alex - The Windsor Oaks Band.  Tomorrow I got a solo gig at the Well in Raleigh--first solo gig in a while...kinda got the jitters. lol

Still ain't too proud to beg, 

Brandon Scott McLean

Spotlight: The Windsor Oaks Band

Formerly Cougar Magnum, The Windsor Oaks Band has carried the musical torch since 2006.  We got a bunch of new songs, and getting ready to go up to NY to record some of them.  Here's one Shane wrote called TOUCH THE SKY, from our early 2012 performance at Deep South in Raleigh:

We had the whole WOB come into Bongo's studio background vocals for a few of the songs on our Young & New album including "I Won't Fall Down" and one I'm really excited about, "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley.

We got lucky that Ryan Smith was in town for some other reasons (because he actually lives in CT) and Alex Shepherd was able to get out of work to come sing their hearts out for this project for a few minutes.
Check out the Windsor Oaks Band at www.thewindsoroaksband.com and follow on twitter at @WindsorOaksBand.


All the best,
Brandon Scott McLean

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