heller-mason cd release

we got a chance to play with another great local band on saturday. emily, jessica, jesse and i took the stage as the inkwell collective to open for heller-mason. we did a 50-minute set of mostly rock material, including new songs "i need you to fail so i can succeed" and "did you find russia". it was a good show. heller-mason did not have cds, as they were supposed, but they did play a nice set of "indie folk" along the lines of denison witmer. coming into the new moon on saturday, with the crowd of shaggy-headed 20-somethings wearing corduroy jackets and punk buttons, i thought we had finally found our niche. as indie-folk music gets big--the recent success of sufjan stevens, iron and wine, and the critical favorite damien jurado--i hope the inkwell collective can find an audience. although we are darker and a bit more on the "rock" side than the other acts we've played with so far.

we also played a nice show at celestial coffee in beaver dam. keshansky opened as only he can--creating intimate, gentle, damaged folk music with his guitar and warbling voice. he'll be playing with us in west bend on friday at the filling station cafe, so i hope everyone who is reading this blog will come and see him. for the celestial show it was me, emily, kara, scott, and jessica. a few of the songs worked really well, some did not. i also got a chance to try out my a capella song "i will never go to london", which i will be playing (accompanied by cello) next friday in fond du lac as emily and i open for peter mayer.

thanks for listening,

steev
for the inkwell collective

new shows added! new digs gotten! new songs performed!

hello listeners of every ethnicity, the inkwell collective is rarin' to go in '05. like you wouldn't even believe it if we told you. we gots a slew of new performances upcoming. nowhere south of washington county, i'm afraid. for those of you who have any sway in the milwaukee music scene, you tell those jerks to love us! tell them to accept us for who we are!

just kidding. we're really happy to be playing shows in and around the fox valley this spring. and we got a new practice space which is smaller, warmer, drier, and just a little less private. it's on the third floor of the coffin factory, and there is NO PARTYING ALLOWED!

here are the new songs we are working on:

i need you to fail so i can succeed
did you find russia
domestic fiction
the great lakes
aorta/interchange
i will never go to london

if you add ghost story, book of job, leaving wisconsin, and o lord have patience, you have the makings of a pretty good second album. we'll see if that happens. if and when we record again, chances are we won't sound much like the "falling signs" inkwell collective you have come to know and love.

look to the left for new shows added. i will try to add links to maps and such. also, we hope to provide you with a new website on which to view this information in the near future. we just have to get our act together.

loverly,
steev

well, it's been a while and things are moving slow these days. the collective is gearing up for the surprises that 2005 will hold. will we lose members? gain members? record? will we ever play live again? after a string of exciting shows the past year, we are still trying to break into the milwaukee nightlife. it may be that we are only "coffee-house" material. regardless, we'll keep trudging along. up next: a second show at celestial coffee in beaver dam, a benefit show in the oshkosh area, and another show in appleton. and we're moving into a new room in the coffin factory, so just watch the creative juices start flowing!

steev