Shane Smith playing, singing...yearning for Dave Grohl?

Ladies and Gentlemen, feast your eyes, and your ears, on the Windsor man with the thickest beard, Mr. Shane Smith. Here he is laying down some sweet sweet phatty greasy guitar parts for the Windsor Oaks Band album TAKE A CHANCE.

You may ask, "What's up with the Gimme that Dave Grohl?!"  Are those the real lyrics to our song "Running Out of Time."?? No. 'Twas simply a small bit of communication between Alex and Shane while we were recording the drum parts.  Our producer, Steven Haigler, had a very interesting studio vocabulary and used people's names to indicate bigger, louder, more cymbals and stuff at that part.  Sooooo it worked its way into the scratch track, and will surely become part of our studio lingo forever. AANNNDD, We learned recently that Shane shares a birthday with Dave Grohl too, and that's kinda strange since he's like Shane's freaking idol.
CHECK SHANE OUT: http://youtu.be/CTvX12-Y2As

[Ummm. And just for kicks, for those of you who don't know...Dave Grohl = lead singer of Foo Fighters / drummer of Nirvana.]

Double kicks?  See Dave Grohl in "FRESH POTS," but only if you like coffee: http://youtu.be/fhdCslFcKFU

Hit Shane up on twitter, @imShaneDavid, and say "Gimme that Dave Grohl!" and stay tuned for next time for a bunch of big announcements.

Talk soon, maybe live on the internet sometime,
Brandon and your friendly Windsor Oaks Band

Have you ever seen this many freaking apples?!

Hi there,
At VuDu Studios we worked 6 days a week from 10am-8pm recording our Take A Chance album.  We had 1 day off per week.  So we had a day every week to go roam around new York City and try not to get into too much trouble. This was an apple store we randomly walked by on 30th Ave in Queens, NY. It smelled so good in there.  This place was called Apple House, I believe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfTeyVf_oBA  

Ryan (bassist) and I went to Ithaca College, and we had awesome upstate apples and Apple Fest in Ithaca and stuff.  Oh how I miss the greatly sweet and amazingly inexpensive Rome, Empire, and Macintosh Apples of Upstate New York!  For some reason or another, Ryan wasn't with us at that particular moment in NYC, so Shane, Alex, and I got to munch those apples and make Ryan drool like all week long.  I ended up buying like 5 pounds of apples and eating apples every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner until they were gone.

Turns out me and Shane like eating things whilst walking down the street...check out this Disney Turkey Leg and I dare your mouth not to water: http://youtu.be/jbHE-BLU2lc

In the next issue, we'll get back to business in the studio and I'll show you some electic guitars and things...

ta-ta,
Brandon and the Windsor Oaks Band

PS:
what's your favorite kind of apple?

Ryan Smith on the bass, ladies and gentlemen.

This dude.

Our bass player, Ryan Smith is a big part of our sound, and our ideas, and band morale and stuff.  He's coming back down to Raleigh very soon, and have no fear ladies and gentlemen, he will be back well in time for our CD Release at the Pour House on March 1. If you'd like to tweet or text him and gently wish him a safe and hasty return back down to Raleigh, that would be sweet.  Tweet him at @RGKush, or reply back to this email and I'll give you a number you can reach him at.

Check him out fulfilling his destiny and recording bass stuff in the studio: http://youtu.be/JgbZk92Jzy0

He was done playing bass like 7 days into our 28 day stay, so he basically sat around commenting on things, poking things, laughing at things, and generally being good old Smiley Ryan Smith.  I thought he was going to lose it for a while there...check him out struggling through something called the Moron Test in "Ryan is Not a Moron" at: http://youtu.be/Zgqb_w-9s1Q

And you gotta see Shane's impression of him, and you gotta hear his response to Shane's request to shred the bass guitar: http://youtu.be/KRjH5k_mkAQ

Next week we'll switch gears a little bit and show you what we found in our excursions in New York City...you're gonna love this Apple Store store we found!

Until Next Time,
Brandon and the Windsor Oaks Band

PS:
We're playing in Wilmington, NC tomorrow night, Thursday the 31st....so if you know anyone in or around that area, would you let them know? Here's a facebook event you can share: www.facebook.com/events/469231773140695/

PPS:
And join us on friday at 1;15pm for Break time 1X15.

HOLY VIDEOS BATMAN! Have you seen these yet?

Greetings, Happy Monday....yeah, Monday....Brandon here, from the Windsor Oaks Band.

So I pretty much documented almost every step of make the TAKE A CHANCE record.  Through the holidays and stuff, I sat around on the couch a lot and, while it looked like I was "texting," I was actually editing all of the videos from the studio, among others.  So I finally got a good chunk of them uploaded, and have made a dent in putting clever descriptions and things.  I made a lot of them live already at my YouTube channel @ youtube.com/brandonscottmcleanTV.  And over the next 6 weeks leading up to our March 1st Album Release, we will send you some videos that should show you a little bit about why we are so very excited about this next album.

First, we do drums...so check out Alex laying down some beats: http://youtu.be/4LWmiMXKzaM

You can meet our producer, Steven Haigler here: http://youtu.be/raHLnNuYn90

We lived and worked in their studio, VuDu Studios, in Port Jefferson, NY for 4 weeks.  In the next few days we'll send you some clips of Ryan Smith playing the bass and how we kept him busy in between him playing his dirty bass lines. You're gonna laugh your butt off.

Peace and Love,
Brandon and the Windsor Oaks Band

Dick Hodgin at Osceola Studios in Raleigh, NC

I want to take a minute and introduce you to Dick Hodgin, a dude we worked with on 2 songs for my last solo project, "I Won't Fall Down" and "I'm Alive" - the two lead-off tracks for the album.

The ncscene.com has a really cool interview with Dick, and it starts off with calling him "Raleigh’s most well known recording engineers & producers in the scene."  

Dick Hodgin from Osceola Studios has been in the music business for 30 years as a producer and manager. He relocated to the triangle in 1982 from South Carolina and has been a part of the NC music scene in someway since then. Dick has a reputation for sharp, HONEST, no punches pulled advice and counsel which has earned him “Dream Assassin” nickname.  Over the years, he’s worked as a manager, producer, engineer, booking agent, publicist, promoter, tour manager, sound man, travel agent, baby sitter, transmission repairman, radio promoter....the list goes on.

Dick’s portfolio of artists that he has worked with include:  Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hootie and The Blowfish, Corrosion Of Conformity, Confessor, Clay Aiken and many, many more....and now, Brandon Scott McLean.

here's me and Shane with Dick in the studio

It's kinda cool having the guy who produced Hootie and the Blowfish's Cracked Rear View demos work on some of my stuff.  It was truly an amazing experience. If you're in the Raleigh area and trying to record some music, hit up Osceola Studios.  It's definitely some of the best work in the whole state of NC.  

If we could have afforded it, we would have had him do more than just the 2 tracks...but I had enough difficulty raising the loot as it was, so I hope to work with him more in depth some time in the future.  

If you like randomly amusing tweets, follow Dick on Twitter: @dickhodgin.

Eff Yeah!*
Cut it in half, and then double it*.
because nobody but you cares anyway*,
Brandon 

* just a few of Dick Hodgin's silly studio catch phrases

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