My friends John and his wife, Sarah, recently had a baby named Henry. About two months before the due date I asked a number of the musicians on my record label to record lullabies that I could gather and put on a CD for baby Henry.
I got back 12 tracks, which was an amazing response. And all of them are so cute. Some original works. Some covers of traditional lullabies.
I sent the CD to John and Sarah the day after baby Henry was born. They listened to the CD over dinner and have already added it to mommy Sarah’s iPod.
I wanted to make the lullabies CD available for free download. So if any of you, or your friends, have newborns, or you just love falling asleep to calming lullabies, feel free to download and burn your own DFTBA Lullabies CD:
The track list is below. But first, thanks to all the wonderful musicians and friends who recorded a lullaby for this little compilation. John and Sarah were very touched and send their thanks. As does baby Henry, I’m sure.
1. “Lullaby” by Alan Lastufka
2. “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” by ALL CAPS
3. “Pretty Baby” by Tom Milsom
4. “Cow Town” by Hank Green
5. “Candy Canes” by Alex Day
6. “Somewhere Wonderful” by Caitlin Sky
7. “Don’t Want To Live on the Moon” by Craig Benzine (of Driftless Pony Club)
8. “Sentiments” by Dr. Noise
9. “Peace, Love and Understanding” by Katherine Green
10. “Three Is A Magic Number” by Molly Lewis
11. “Baby Child” by Paige Harwood
12. “Why Does the Sun Really Shine” by Charlie McDonnell
Back in the early 90’s, when a single broke through, it would typically be rereleased as a “maxi-single”. The maxi-single version would include various remixes and covers, anywhere from three to nine tracks or more, from various bands all remixing and covering the same song. I used to love maxi-singles. You just don’t see them around anymore.
So, I decided to release a maxi-single for “Can’t”, the first single from the EP Tom Milsom and I released, Taking Leave.
The maxi-single is called C4N’7 R3M1X35 and comes out on Valentine’s Day. What better day to release a song about a cold-hearted bitch, right?
C4N’7 R3M1X35 includes performances and remixes by MC Lars, Hank Green, Eddplant, Dr. Noise and ALL CAPS. Listen to a preview of all six tracks here:
C4N’7 R3M1X35 is being released in two different formats. There is the standard edition, which includes six remixes of Can’t and is available at DFTBA.com or on iTunes on February 14th. And there is the Collector’s Edition.
The Collector’s Edition is limited to only 100 copies. It comes on a custom-printed USB drive (both Mac and PC compatible) that includes both .wav and .mp3 versions of the complete maxi-single, plus three high-quality music videos and the complete multitrack session of the original studio recording of “Can’t”. The multitrack session allows you at home to remix and restructure “Can’t” in any way you’d like. You can mute the drums, or the printer clicks. You can record your own vocals and erase Tom’s, etc.
The music videos included are the original animated official music video from my YouTube channel, the ska/rock cover music video from Dr. Noise and the pop remix music video by ALL CAPS.
Each Collector’s Edition USB drive comes in a durable collector’s case and includes a hand-signed and numbered certificate of authenticity and a physical CD copy of the album.
But if you want one of the Collector’s Editions, act fast, we only made 100 and then they are gone!
So, why “Can’t”? Well, I’ve been writing and recording music since I was fifteen years old and “Can’t” is by far my most listened to song. On YouTube alone it’s been streamed more than 500,000 times. And “Can’t” continues to dominate my iTunes individual track sales each and every month. One fan was even inspired enough to get a tattoo of the song’s character from the music video (see picture).
I hope you’ll pick up this collection of remixes; I’ve been working on this release for five months now. I’ve had a lot of fun along the way with some really great musicians who’ve enjoyed this silly little song I wrote during algebra class in high school. Thank you to everyone who’s listened to and enjoyed the original recording. Now rock out to six completely new takes on the song by MC Lars, Hank Green, Eddplant, Dr. Noise and ALL CAPS.
The music video for “Winter’s Song” premiered Monday night at midnight, you can watch it in HD by clicking here.
The single (including the digital booklet of lyrics, chords, additional artwork and a pdf of the complete sheet music for vocal, guitar and piano and more) can be downloaded for FREE for a limited-time by clicking here.
I’m very excited to introduce my new band to the world through “Winter’s Song”. Luke Conard is on vocals and guitars. Luke has written for and played in the bands ALL CAPS, Ministry of Magic and The Oceanic Six. Ted Hu is on piano. Ted has been playing the piano since he could walk, and routinely plays live concerts in the Boston area. And I’m on lyrics and bass.
I really hope you enjoy the new band and our debut single together. Please tell your friends about the video and limited-time free download. It’s your word of mouth and support that make all of this possible.
Exactly one year ago Hank Green and I announced DFTBA Records. We had a simple goal, to create a record label that treated its artists fairly, paid huge royalties, released only good music, and never forgot to be awesome.
One year. So weird how we perceive time. While we were reminiscing earlier today Hank said “seems like it was just two months ago”. To which I replied “or three years with everything we’ve accomplished”. “Yeah”, he said.
We’ve signed over a dozen artists and released fourteen records in the last year. Our first year. We received a write up in YouTube’s official blog (which has over 2.6 million readers!). We were featured in The Times. And we just finished an interview with the Chicago Tribune’s Red Eye.
I don’t have much more to say about it. I know today is just another day. But I felt like I should write something here for posterity.
Thanks to all of our awesome artists. And to every one of you who’ve listened to and enjoyed anything we’ve released.
recording music since I was fifteen years old and “Can’t” is by far my most listened to song. On YouTube alone it’s been streamed more than 500,000 times. And “Can’t” continues to dominate my iTunes individual track sales each and every month. One fan was even inspired enough to get a tattoo of the song’s character from the music video (see picture).
