Rob Christensen: News

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Hello! Not too much to report... Earth Day On The Greenway was, um, educational from a performing standpoint. Because I haven't performed much over the last couple of years my stamina has really gone downhill AND because I haven't practiced playing much the number of songs I remember has gone down. Kids, if you're gonna play out, you have to put in the practice time! I do thank the folks of Firkin-Goode for inviting me to play again. I'll have the set list and some pics up on the setlist blog (http://robchristensensetlists.blogspot.com/) soon!

Hope you're having a great summer!

For the second year in a row I'll be playing an acoustic set at Luray, Virginia's "Earth Day On The Greenway" festival on Saturday, April 23. Details are on the Calendar page. Come on down and join us as we celebrate our beautiful world!

Hey Everyone! If you've been thinking about taking advantage of my entire catalog being available for free download, do it now. Starting in April we're only going to offer a free album side at a time.

If you want to help me out you can purchase my songs from the iTunes Store, CD Baby, Amazon, and most other online retailers. CD Baby also has my CDs for as low as $5 each when you buy 3 from their $5 bin.

Had a good time playing at the Little Grill in Harrisonburg last night. I opened for my good friend Mr. Nipe's new band, Fear + Whiskey and Pantherburn, from Charlottesville, VA. It was a great, if a bit talkative, crowd. I felt like I played well and it was nice to shake off some rust playing for the first time in my new hometown. The setlist is up over at http://robchristensensetlists.blogspot.com/. I'm hoping to book another show there sometime in the next couple of months. We'll keep you posted.

In other news I've been meaning to report that my article on music recording podcasts is now up at the Tape Op website. So far it seems to be getting a good reaction. Thanks to Tape Op's Larry Crane and Dave Middleton for making it happen. See it at www.tapeop.com.

Hello! I'll be playing a thirty minute "best-of" acoustic set this Friday, March 4, opening for Fear + Whiskey and Charlotteville's Panterburn. Details are on the "Calendar" page!

In case you saw a bit of news over at www.bookofkills.com about me putting together a new album and box set, I need to make a slight correction. I am hoping to get a new album done by next June. However, there's no box set in the works, at least for right now.

What is in the planning stages is a sort of Best Of collection. It looks like it's going to have 15 tracks: three from "Smile Slightly" and four each from "Truth Hurts", "Opera Alley", and "Roses For Sharon". The tracklist will be a combination of personal favorites and iTunes best sellers. I haven't come up with a title yet, but I think it will be sequenced in reverse chronological order: most recent tracks first and on backward through the last fifteen years. I'm thinking of it as a "retrospective introduction".

Thanks to Jim of Book Of Kills for the excellent company and conversation over lunch last week, and for posting the news on bookofkills.com.

Another ten months has gone by. Can you believe it? It’s been a bit of a crazy year. I wrote earlier about wanting to “be productive” but in retrospect it seems like I was just trying to get my life in order: job hunting, moving (again), barely getting by financially. I wondered if I was going to stay here in Harrisonburg, Virginia (where I’d been planning to move since 2000) or move to North Carolina. In August I lost my 16-year-old cat-daughter, Chia, and on November 3 I lost my father to cancer.

But everything happens for a reason, I guess. The news in September that Dad’s cancer had taken an irreversible turn prompted me to find a cheaper place to live, which has reduced my stress level considerably. Chia passing away meant that I could actually get that cheaper apartment. And I was telling a friend today that I’ve felt stronger and more focused since my dad has passed. Perhaps he’s up there giving me guidance and strength.

Stay tuned for updates on new recordings and live dates, God willing.

Updated "Contact" page with my new P.O. Box. The Goldfinch Drive address is no longer valid. Cell phone is the same it's been for the past year. Email me if you're a friend & don't have it.

I've come to realize that I probably won't be doing much in the way of musical activity while I'm job hunting. As you probably know, several years ago I went back to school to be a teacher, and now, during what the New York Times calls "the worst time for teachers since the Great Depression", I'm looking for a teaching job. While looking for a full-time teaching job I've been spending a lot of time substitute teaching, working retail, and of course job hunting, all of which leaves very little time for music making. So things will probably be a little quiet on the Music & Stuff front for a while, as they have been for the past year plus.

That's not to say I don't have ideas and plans. I'm just having trouble concentrating on them with all of the distractions in my life. So I'll see you when I have something to report. I am so looking to recording and playing again. But right now the time ain't right. So I'll see you when I see you, hopefully sooner than later.

Best Of Both Worlds + Work

I keep having this recurring dream that I’m back in my hometown of Ferndale, California, and wanting to move back into my old house. I think this was partially triggered by hearing that it was up for sale several months back. I’m always at my current age and actually there at the house looking in. In some dreams I actually get to move in. In others I don’t because I can’t afford it or someone else is moving in.

Another recurring dream I have is that I’m back in the Navy and back on my old ship, a huge aircraft carrier, and am getting ready to go out to sea for a long cruise. Most of the guys I was in with are there again and I’m terribly excited.

More at http://robchristensen.blogspot.com/

Hello - We had yet another snowy day here in Harrisonburg, VA. The postman brought me a DVD of the documentary "Mellodrama", about the Mellotron and Chamberlin, so I'm looking forward to settling down and giving it a viewing.

This morning I uploaded some more mp3s. Now all of the songs from "Demos For Sharon", "Opera Alley", and "At The End Of The Day (live 11-14-98)" are available and correct. "Roses For Sharon" was already okay. I'll be checking over "The Truth Hurts", "Smile Slightly", and "I Hope You're Happy Now (The Thrift Store Series, vol. 1)" sometime in the next few days to make sure the correct versions are up and those albums are complete.

For "Demos For Sharon" I uploaded my cover of Jim Shelley's "Port".

For "Opera Alley" I uploaded the correct album versions of "Somebody To Adore", "Janie Sims", and "Where Red Roses Fall". Previously these were the live "At The End Of The Day" versions.

Finally, "At The End Of The Day (live 11-14-98)" is complete, as I uploaded "Where Red Roses Fall", now in it's correct position, and "You're Not The End Of The World."

Take care, y'all! - Rob C.

Been down with a cold the last few days, so things have kind of ground to a halt. I did go out last Saturday night to hear local grammy-nominated artist Scott Murray. He was kind enough to invite me up to play a song or two, but I was coughing and hacking so much I didn't think it'd be a good idea. The good news is I might have a local venue interested in hosting me, and Scott tells me there are many more around here that are booking solo singer-songwriters. I'm not really pursuing much on that end at this point because life is a bit complicated right now in that I'm still looking for work, or as some artists call it, a "day job".

Someday I'm going to write another blog entry on certain realities and thoughts on having a real job. I sort of already covered it in an entry from last fall titled "A Year Goes By So Quickly", which can be found here: http://robchristensen.blogspot.com/.
Take care!

I've managed to make most of my songs available for streaming and for free download on the, you guessed it, "Free Downloads" page. Most have the lyrics attached; just click on the song title. The tracks from "Opera Alley" and "The Thrift Store Series, Volume 1" also have tidbits about the tracks.

I'm seriously thinking of making a different album available for free download every month. Sort of a "This month's featured album is ___." I'll keep you posted.

Also, there's now a song player at the bottom of the site. Eventually I'd like to get full-length versions of every track up, in random order, so anyone can listen to a stream at any time. Sort of "Rob C. Radio" without pesky DJ's or commercial interruptions. (Insert self-depreciating joke here.) Right now there's one-minute snips of fifteen songs. Click the bigger right-pointing triangle to listen.

Cheers!
Rob C.

I've spent several hours working on the 'Free Downloads' page, adding lyrics and audio for you to stream or download. More to come!

Happy New Year, Everybody!

I've just doing some repairs on the site here - I've updated the "Links" page by fixing the broken links and adding more. I'm also working on the "Free Downloads" page to make it look better and be more functional. Ideally soon all of my music to date will be available to download for free! Cool, huh?

If you haven't heard already via Facebook or Twitter, I'm now living in Harrisonburg, Virginia. I'd been planning on coming here for almost a decade, and it's nice that I'm finally here.

I've got a fresh blog entry here: http://robchristensen.blogspot.com/ that should fill you in on all the news (busy with life stuff) and musical doings (not much, but that's okay).

Check out the Photos page. It's got a new look and way of working that I really like!

The Downloads page is still very sloppy. I'll figure out how to fix it up and make it nice.

I don't foresee any shows for awhile; probably not until 2010. But I'm where I want to be, geographically, and that should lead to good things!

Watch this space!

Did a bit of touchup on the website tonight & have a bit more to do.

Soon I should have an announcement about a move to a new city. I'll let you know when details firm up.

I decided to remove the Guestbook as it seemed to attract more fiends than friends. I've also updated my Contact Info.

Four days until I'm off to California!

Hi there,

Just logged on to delete a bunch of bogus guestbook entries. I hate that! I'm tempted to turn it off.

Not much else going on. Rather than try to extract blood from a stone I'm just going to take some time off from playing and recording. I've got other projects happening right now and thus my mind hasn't been on music. Do check back, though. I do have some site updates in mind that I'll hopefully get to eventually.

Sorry I've been away so long. More updates soon! Hope you like the new look!

Don't forget I'll be doing a solo show / public practice session at St. Elmo's Coffee Pub in Alexandria, VA next Wednesday, August 27. It'll be a mixture of old songs and new. Be there or be square!

The Home Made Hit Show podcast mentioned last week is now out! It's episode number 123 and features a 36 minute interview by the wonderful Dave Kriddle. We talk about home recording, songwriting, and my involvement with Tape Op magazine and the Pot Luck Recording Conference. It also includes three of my songs! You can hear it or download it via the link below.

Dave and show founder Tony Butterworth are doing a great thing by showcasing music by truly independent songwriters and home recordists. I'm very honored to be the subject of an entire episode ("I'm not worthy!", to quote some old friends).

All music fans owe it to themselves to subscribe to the Home Made Hit Show. You can find it on iTunes or at www.homemadehitshow.com. And check out the show's forum at http://forum.homemadehitshow.com/.

As promised, free downloads are now available. The boys and girls have put up two songs from each studio album for you to download and keep forever. More goodies are coming!

In other news, Rob was interviewed recently by Dave Kriddle from the Home Made Hits Show podcast. They'll be playing a few songs to go along with the interview. We'll let you know when it's available!

Though I'd assumed at this point it wasn't going to happen, when I got to New York today there was an email waiting for me asking if I still wanted to play at Googie's Lounge Saturday night. Naturally, I accepted the date, so I'm on at 10:30 pm this Saturday, May 3, at Googie's Lounge (above the Living Room), 154 Ludlow, New York. The website is www.livingroomny.com. Hope to see you there!