Happy December 24th! The days are getting longer – as my great grandmother used to tell me at this time of the year. She lived a long life (over 100 years); good genes and a lack of stress probably helped this occur. I wonder if she played a musical instrument or sang? I was too young to ask her. But I know I play musical instruments and sing, and today I wanted to start releasing songs from my new album titled, Open Skies Exploding. This is my third solo album of Top 10 teen hits and I look forward to getting them off my land-locked computer and into the collective sea.

For the upcoming, increasingly “longer” days, I’m going to release two songs a week. I’ll finish two at a time, as I have done this week, and pop them up to cool on the window’s edge as soon as they are out of the oven. As the weeks progress the track list for Open Skies Exploding will swell to a full album length. I’m making a variety of file formats available – just download whatever floats your boat, i.e. full-res FLAC (24 bit 96kHz), MP3(256kbps), or CD quality (16 bit, 44.1kHz). You’ll see lyrics and credits for each song – two up now. I’m not sure about a hard copy release yet. I don’t remember the last time I bought a CD, but I understand the want for a tactile/tangible experience. I’ll see how things go with digital sales. Feel free to shoot me an email or reach out on my various social media pipelines to share your thoughts. I’m all ears and would love to hear from you.

This week’s smash A/B side contains two gems: My House is Loud and Three Walls. The latter has a companion video – shot, lit, and edited at Catapult Sound by Wm Schwartz. You can find both songs for sale at Bandcamp for $2 ($1 each).

The song, My House is Loud, includes the talents of my good friend and musical compatriot Chris Buzby. He played my Bostonian Ivers & Pond antique piano as well as my Fender Rhodes Seventy Three (not at the same time) and undeniably helped me realize the vibe of the tune early on. Thank you Chris for your simpatico disposition and sensibilities.

On Drums is Jim Hines. I serendipitously met Jim during some studio session work and immediately knew I wanted to work with him on my own music. He, like me, has made his bones in the studio as well as on the road working with countless talented people. He’s toured with violinist Jerry Goodman, songwriters Richie Havens and David Bromberg, and extensively with the Brian Wilson Band, in which he won a Grammy award (2005) for the album Smile. Jim’s playing is beautifully transparent and complimentary to the intent of my song. You’ll notice him playing on other tunes as I release them. Great player!

I also wanted to mention my good friend Dwayne Keith from the band Grey Eye Glances. Dwayne was kind enough to lend me his Mellotron M4000D. I mention this because this instrument is used on the song My House is Loud (as well as others). I think anyone that does creative things knows the spark in which working with a new tool can ignite. I always try to find a new voice, sound, chord, melody, rhythm, and lyric when immersed in the creative process. Thank you Dwayne for enabling this on my new album – and specifically this song.

This album (and these two new songs) cover ground both familiar to me and mandatorily new. I hope you can connect with them, attach your own meaning, and enjoy my rather cathartic expression.

Hugs

Brett William Kull ~ 24 December, 2016