Hi!

In support of our latest album Go On! Roll That Old Boulder Away, we’re doing a two-week tour across England.

We’re hitting up some of our favourite spots like The Ivy House in London (23rd of April), and The Crescent in York (2nd of May).

As well as this, we are visiting some new places to us, including The Holloway in Norwich (24th of April), and The 1in12 Club in Bradford (30th of April).

Hi!

Our latest album, Go On! Roll That Old Boulder Away is out now.

For now, I’ve made the decision to only release it via Bandcamp and vinyl. I spoke about this decision in this York press article. Here’s a short extract:

“We’re really pushing self-releasing it and doing it on our terms,” says Rowan, 28, originally from Coventry. “We’re not going through all the typical platforms because I know how I want the album to be perceived, and I think having a little bit of control over that is important.”

More important than attracting a larger audience? “Yes. I do sometimes think, if I were to put it on the big streamers, I could reach more people, more people could see it, and all that.  

“But I do value the personal connection. And, in some ways, I don’t mind that people aren’t going to find us through an algorithm. I would rather they found us through either seeing us by chance at a gig or their friend telling us they should go and see us play or listen to the album.”

Hi!

Our next album is called Go On! Roll That Old Boulder Away, and it will be released on the 25th of March via direct download and Bandcamp.

You can even pre-order a vinyl copy of it now!

Hi friend,

In the toilet bowl of culture we’re all swirling in the same direction. You can’t just hang onto a bit of the porcelain that you like. You’re gonna get flushed with the rest of us.

But what if I told you (Matrix Neo Red Pill Blue Pill Moment) you don’t have to be in the toilet at all?

Thanks to a former-CEO that invests in AI war machines, the proliferation of AI slop and bots, and a really disgusting slew of other waste that I don’t have time to talk about; I - along with many others - have exited the toilet that is Spotify this year. 

And now the general consensus - at least among terminally online zillennials like myself - is that Spotify (and streaming as we know it) is on the way out.

hello everyone!

I don’t have anything smart and/or clever to say today except from : we are playing at the Golden Ball, York on the 26th of November, and I’d like to invite you all.

It’s 8pm, pay as you feel, and Joseph Futak & Katie Lou McCabe are joining us.

I’m hoping to try out some new songs with the band - so that’s something to look forward to.

hi friends,

over the last year we’ve been making our 2nd album. and as of 1 month ago it’s done.

here’s a picture of me taken by Joe Futak (our producer for this album) in our last mixing session, as proof:

5 Golden Greats is two today!

Hi!

I was rudely reminded by a calendar reminder this morning that our first EP*, 5 Golden Greats, is two years old today.

So here’s five facts about each of the five songs on that EP.

Hi!

We're back and LIVE at the GOLDEN BALL on WEDNESDAY the 24TH of SEPTEMBER at 8PM and it is PAY AS YOU FEEL.

Get ready for ROCK, get ready for ROLL, get ready for EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN*.

This will be MONUMENTAL**.

We'll be joined by Carpet all the way from LEEDS, and Sofa Sofa for their first (?) gig.***

Also getting back to my old tradition of only advertising GB gigs a week before they happen - how FUN!

This is also a de facto single launch for “I’ve Been Thinking About Jesus“., I guess.

Hi!

this is Rowan, from Rowan and Friends here.

I’ve just heard there’s a new top 5 jesus songs.

the ranking hasn’t changed in two decades (ever since “Jesus etc.” was dropped) so this is BIG news.

Dear friend,

I want to talk about God for a second.

…actually I don’t.

For anyone who’s followed our feed lately, you’ll have seen that we’re no longer on Spotify. I’ve already gone on and on about the reasons why, but here’s a big one:

Spotify pays artists a pittance. Our most streamed song had around 5000 streams on Spotify at the time of it getting removed. And that equates to just under twenty pounds.

I put our latest single - ‘You Will Never Get That Feeling Back‘ - on Bandcamp for free. Despite this, eleven people chose to contribute over thirty pounds.

And I know, that’s still nothing in the grand scheme of things. But its showed me how little to gain I have from focusing all my energies on Spotify and other streaming platforms.

Hey friends,

You Will Never Get That Feeling Back has been out in the world for a certain number of days now.

And so has the music video we made to go along with it.

In early May I pitched the idea of making a modern-day “Desolation Row” to the video’s co-director (and my house-mate) Rosa. Though instead of holding up lyrics, I’d hold up objects relating to those lyrics.

Dear friend,

About a year ago I thought I'd never write a song again.

It was creative blockage to the extreme. Days of not writing turned into weeks of not writing turned into months of not writing.

The truth is, a lot was distracting me at the time. My job was on the line. My love life was on the rocks. I was struggling to settle after moving house twice in the course of two months. And during those two months my band released our first album. I was burnt out.

Dear friend,

How’s it going?

I’m getting in touch because Frankie - a friend of mine and the band - has compiled a set of new and unreleased tracks of various artists in aid of Gaza Soup Kitchen.

Its called The Music Scene Stands With Gaza.

Hello Friend!

On Thursday our album was taken down from Spotify.

This was abrubt, annoying, etcetera. But it also lead to me asking a lot of questions (ones I’d already been considering) about streaming services and Spotify in particular.

So, over the weekend I asked my bandmates to vote on how we would release our next song. I gave three options: release on everything, release on everything but Spotify, or release just on Bandcamp.

Hello Friend!

Last night I got an email saying our album was being removed from Spotify because one of the songs had artifical streams.

This morning - when I checked Spotify - the album was gone.

Did the song have artificial streams? No shit it did.

Hello Friend!

I (Rowan) haven't written a newsletter in a while but its good to be back.

Tomorrow (the 25th) we are playing our only June gig. Its at the Golden Ball in York and we'll be joined by two good friends: Frank Lloyd Wleft and The Silver Reserve.

I would also like you to know that I am getting the masters back on four new tracks on Friday. One of these will be released next month with an accompanying video. You heard it here first.