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July 18th, 2010 What's in the NEWS today? Well, a few things. First a little review. Seinking Ships was released by S-Curve Records as scheduled about a month ago. The good and glowing reviews are coming in now, and at retail it got a nice start thanks to lots of pre-orders and fans eager to hear our Miki Berenyi sing again. Thanks to every one who came out and ordered CD's and song/album downloads. Album on sale for $9.99 at Amazon. If you don't have it, buy it now!
Facebookers ALERT! A music users group called IATP (I Am The Programmer) will be featuring an appearance by me. I will be posting songs on
the IATP wall, a sort of "VJ of the day" where he can interact with the fans, trade jabs, get knocked around for his odd taste in
music and an all around good time of 21st Century mixing it up. My time slot is 4-6PM (EST) on July 29th, 2010. Special thanks to
Ryan for putting it all together.
And here's a big cool announcemt. Eric's music featured in an Off-Broadway musical called Bible And Wine. The show will debut on Dec. 10th, 2010 and feature 12 of Eric's best song
recordings (including 2 new songs recorded exclusively for BAW). The show will highlight various styles of dance, storytelling,
mulit-media, and other modern theatrical devises. Details as they become available will be listed here and of course, on the BAW
website (above). Stay tuned.
Cardinal fans: sorry to keep you waiting but Richard and Eric are stil at work on the pending album.
The word (and or name) of the day is Felicity. Say it slow and say it just so...
April 9th, 2010 Two quick but brilliant things on the Seinking Ships front. Stereogum is offering an exclusive song premier from the upcoming debut album Museum Quality Capture.
And similarly (but a different exclusive song), the great Andy
Von Pip Musical Express is also featuring one of the Seinking Ships songs on their website. So, please hit
both, enjoy the songs (and Miki's singing), then spread the word (and links) around to anybody you might know who might LOVE
IT!
April 2nd, 2010 Where to start? Well, it's been a busy winter season for me professionally and there finally are some things to report.
The much awaited Too Much World is newly remixed, mastered, and ready for release. I am in talks with a pretty cool label
at the moment regarding a fall release. I will announce here when a contract emerges. Cardinal is back in the studio
working to finish our "on again, off again" album project. We have a deal for an Australian release but talks are underway already
regarding the US and UK. Announcements pending...
But in BIG BIG NEWS, my newest band Seinking Ships
(with my partner Christopher Seink) has been signed to a deal with S-Curve Records. Our debut album Museum
Quality Capture will be released on June 8th, 2010. EMI will be releasing the record globally. So, it's a big deal for
Christopher and I. Museum Quality Capture is a largely instrumental album, quite experimental really. Christopher handles
most of the synths and electric guitars while I do my thing on all sorts of other sound making. And really thrilling for us is we
managed to coax Miki Berenyi(Lush) out of semi-retirement and into the studio for the first time in many years. I penned 3
songs for her to sing and she did a hauntinly brilliant job. I think that LUSH fans are going to flip out about this
record. If you know fans of the band LUSH, let them know. They will thank you for the tip.
Oh, I now have a FACEBOOK page. Please come by and hit me up with questions, comments, and to browse through my
millions of pictures.
Oh, and I now have a YouTube
Channel. The videos are all made by fans and if you want to make me a video, contact me through Facebook and we an get
that going so you can take part in the fun of helping to promote this music of mine. Thank you for coming by and sticking with my
records. There is so much more coming. Stay tuned.
October 17th, 2009 Just a quick note today, a few days late but it's still fresh. I made the front page (kind of) of the Magnet Magazine News page on the web-version of the mag. Look for the big picture of Nick Cave and read below and of course, click on the link to hear (FOR FREE) my new coming album preview. Go to: MAGNET October 8th, 2009 It's time for another update, right? I have been super busy but most of that was not directly related EM stuff. Sure, I have been doing lots of production-work on other projects, and in due time I will speak more about that, but the main focus is coming into focus. The summer messes me up but it's now coming on fall, and the mornings are cold. So, I am starting to feel proper, and inspired. Mine is the music of the North and it feels like it's my time again So, here I am. Getting straight to the point then; I finished a new album Too Much World about 6 months ago. It is 12 gloriously intense songs (+ B-sides) that blow holes through walls and get you to tear up a little if you are really listening. It's not this standardized medicated-sounding music you are accustomed to hearing. I heard a certain very loved band tonight, everybody loves them, but it was some new song and though the band was rocking and the guy was pouring himself into what was on paper a "good song", the whole thing just sounds flat and meaningless. It's the modern way. It's the modern approach. It's the modern person who makes music. They are going through the motions. They are phoning it in. They are "playing it cool". I don't know what they are up to but it's not what I am up to. Their sounds are not my sounds, and I think you should listen for this difference I am speaking of. There are only a few of us working on that level where it sounds like we are COMING OUT OF OURSELVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did I just review my own album? Really, who does that? But I digress, and of course while striking my usual confrontational stance filled with bravado, forgive me this indulgence... And now back to the TMW (Too Much World) story: shortly after I finished the sessions, the record company I was on for 4 years decided to close it's doors. So, I had a finished album and no contract to push it into high gear and make it happen. But that is probably a good thing given the way things went on my last. I know that many of you (my most loyal fans) were put through HELL by E______n Records on my last record, The Imagination Stage. My beloved last album really did get abused and barely came out but it's still out there if you didn't get a copy, Amazon is your best bet. Anyway, Too Much World has been "in the can" and ready for release for most of the year and I am just now getting mobilized into action so that I might find the right label to get it serviced. So, today I uploaded a short version of the album to my EM MySpace Player I offer this version of the album for you the fans, but also as a sort of service depot to those labels that might be interested to come by and sample the sound I am making. So, take a listen, and tell a friend you did if you are so inspired. I promise to be back here sometime soon for more of a detailed update and some teasers relating to some of my outside production work. Love, Eric Matthews
March 16th, 2009 If you are reading this it means that you have found (or been directed to) the launch of my new website.
Thanks then for coming to the all-new cyber center of me, Eric Matthews. And what a difference it makes to have a real web
designer on the EM team. Nate Lewis
of Vividscope Design Lab. We have him to thank for this all-new
punched-up web presence. Thanks Nate.
...and now the news. It's the ides of March 2009 (yikes!). The big announcement today is that my next record Too Much
World
is mixed and ready for release. The flip side of that fact is that Empyrean Records, my label of the past 4 years, is no
longer my record label. In fact, they are nobody's record label anymore. Things are tough out here in the record business so for
now, they have opted out of the game all together and have no future releases planned. So, I am out here on the auction block
looking for a new label home for my records. Stay tuned here for further details and any relevant announcements.
On a personal note, things are very good. I am feeling healthy, the food is good, the wine is good, and as always, God is
good and continues to make my life way easier than most of us deserve. And part of the personal is professional too. So I will
mention that I have a number of projects in studio - primarily ep's and lp's from new artists that hope to have releases in the
shops later here in 2009 and 2010. As those projects come to a close and have street dates attached, I will promote and announce
them here. It's some very good stuff I am working on. Young talented people seem to be all over, people who make me feel old when
saying they "grew up" listening to my records. But that's a beautiful thing, isn't it.
Oh, for those devoted users of the old guestbook/forum, I thank you. That said, Nate and I decided to not include such a
thing here at ericmatthews.net- Instead, I would invite all of you over to my myspace page. There, we can all carry on over all things
eric matthews and keep the personal contact alive there. I may also give in a start a proper EM page at Facebook but that is a
pending idea. I am open to suggestions on this topic and especially if one of you wants to start an official blog site regarding
my music and career. So, let the plotting begin...
Ever Grateful, Eric Matthews
November 29th, 2008 I have been neglecting this news site and this site in general. I am too busy making records to be a responsible contributor here but must become better to it and to all of you. So, here are a few of the haps: My next album is going to be called "Too Much World". I am starting now with finishing touches and hope to be finished (mixed and all) by New Years. I am in talks now with Empyrean about the terms of its release. And let me just say that this album is another major step up, something out of this world is happening in this musical mind of mine, and soon (in what looks like mid-2009) you will all be hearing the nature of this change. The long suffering plans for a Cardinal reunion have been canceled. In the end, Richard and I decided to shut the project down over what are essentially "creative differences". Visit the Cardinal Myspace page for updates and quite possibly the posting of the the 3 songs that we had more or less finished. Upcoming guest appearances on albums and ep's by: Pugwash, Brookville, Shawn Park, Paula Kelley, Nive Neilsen, and a few more I can't recall now. Sorry those not listed. It's been a very busy year and my head is like an overcooked omelet this morn... Seinking Ships is still seeking a label for our debut full-length. It's gonna be a brilliant 2009. I can feel it. Also, this site is being redesigned and replaced by a brilliant young man named Nate Lewis of - Vividscope Design Lab - www.vividscope.com. The new site should be up early in the new year. The new site is going to be Star Wars compared to this site you are visiting now, that at it's best is say, - American Graffiti. And Merry Christmas to all. That too is coming.
December 19th, 2007 Merry Christmas Already. If you have not already, please come by MySpace, check out my Christmas display. My audio player is loaded up with an assortment of new Eric Matthews Christmas recordings. But onto the rest of my career... It's been an insane time, very busy. After a very long delay, the Seinking Ships debut EP is coming out in February. Some mail orders, direct from the label, already went out last month and I thank all of you so far who gave such good feedback and support. The February launch is the real deal with full retail support, advertising, radio, publicity, etc. The full length is completed now and in the process of finding a label home. News on that should be coming soon and can be found at the Seinking Ships website. My new album The Imagination Stage is getting the full push and street date of January 22nd, 2008. The feedback from press so far is amazing. I haven't seen this kind of universal praise since my first record so that is hopeful to see. I want to direct all of you to the various sites and magazines who are hyping the record but that would be too much. So, for those of who want a peek, check out THIS HERE for a quick blurb and a free mp3 preview. Cardinal has the reunion blues. Richard is writing songs and I am doing some pre-production work on a few songs. The outcome so far is hopeful and we hope to have something finished by the end of summer. At this point, I would say that 2009 could be the year for the long missing 2nd record. Let's see, the debut was in early 1994...you do the math. Oh, please come by the Axe Riverboy page to hear my production/remix work on the new Axe Riverboy single. Axe Riverboy is actually Xavier Boyer from Tahiti 80, in his new solo artist incarnation. What else can I say? Things are going well and looking up all over the place. It was a very good year, this 2007. I do
hope that the sun is shining in your lives. October 2nd, 2007 I have been dreadful with keeping this website up to date and humming. Shall I just pull the plug on it? As most of you must know I have made the leap onto MySpace, where I have a nice little artist page with songs, a blog, lots of pictures and all that goes along. Please be my friend... It's quite gay but it really has been a great way to have contact with those fans of mine that are also on Myspace - like everything, a mixed blessing. The main reason I type tonight is to announce the street date for my next coming album The Imagination
Stage. After the customary delays that we all live with from the blessed Empyrean Records the record is
finally going to come out on January 22nd, 2008. How's that? Beyond this news I could tell you here about a
planned release of b-sides and the obscure sometime in the summer (late summer) of 2008. I have also been keeping quite busy
with lots of session work for other bands but there are currently no street dates to announce, not that I know of. Keep on
coming - I won't totally fail you, promise! May 19th, 2007 Here I am again, finally paying a little attention to this news section. The truth is, this past 3 months have been one giant holding pattern where actual reportable news is concerned. I was working on my new album, the Seinking Ships LP, the Seinking Ships EP artwork, and a bunch of stuff not quite worth reporting here. But now finally I have something to tell you about, well, a few things. #1. After months of negotiation I just signed a 3-record contract with Empyrean Records. Record one of that installment will be released on September 11th, 2007. The title of this epic return to the sound (that put me on the map in the first place) is The Imagination Stage. #2. The Seinking Ships debut EP release if finally done and ready for release. There were massive delays in getting the art done and then a log jam with the ADA distribution schedule but mid June 19th is the new date. #3. I am now on MySpace. This was a big decision on my part as I had resisted for so long but now that I have been on, for about a week, I am happy to report that it's the best thing I have ever done. The response there has been shocking. Hundreds of onlookers, fans, and new fans are coming by to read a little, look a little, and listen to my audio offerings - everyday. Yes, audio offerings. There, I am going to use the audio player as my gift to all my fans and yes, potential fans. For now I put up a little "best of", and I will continue that with regular song line-up changes but most enticing will be the audio exclusives - songs and recordings that have never been released that I will put up from time to time to best serve my most true fans. The other category of song items I will be posting will be the b-sides and bonus songs from my first 3 records, songs that were never released here in the United States. So please, all that read this please come to MySpace and sign up for being my "friend" so you will receive the bulletins that will contain the announcements of song changes on my audio player. That will be all for now. Thanks - EM January 26th, 2007 Miki Berenyi, formerly of the band LUSH, has agreed to sing on the full-length album that Seinking Ships is currently working on. Both Christopher and I have been fans of LUSH for many years and are very pleased to have landed such a beautiful fish as singer for this music we are creating. I just finished writing the vocal melodies for the 3 or 4 songs that Miki will be our featured guest on and it's going to be really, really, really good. Just thought you should know from me, here, before reading or hearing about it elsewhere. Tune in to www.seinkingships.com for up to date news about all of this as it
happens... January 23rd, 2007 Seinking Ships is ready for business!!!. Pre-orders for our Sinking Ships debut EP are now being taken at www.empyreanrecords.com And for the first 500 customers, there will be a limited edition silk-screen poster included, along with free shipping for the sum total of $12.00. Direct orders from the Empyrean website will ship on February 7th, 2007. The actual street date (for the shops) is March 6th, 2007. Downloads on iTunes and other such services will be available on, or by March 6th, 2007. Look here, and at the official Seinking Ships website www.seinkingships.com for those precise dates and download locations. Remember, only 500 of you get that Limited Edition Poster, so act now!---> hucksterism. Finally, I had hoped to make another very special announcement by now concerning the future of Seinking Ships, but this will have to wait. It won't be long now. My next record is now almost fully recorded and sounding great. This one is going to be full of string arrangements, a few instruments not yet used on my records so far, and some of the most serious sounding songs of my career. This one should be called It's Heavy In Here. Can I do that? So now that the music is very nearly fully cooked (that would be a good title), it's time to figure out how and by who to put it out. This has me talking with Empyrean (of course), as well as entertaining a few other options. I hope to have some sort of announcement on that front by springtime. Until next time... December 17th, 2006 medical log #2: The Recovery. My hand is ugly and still a touch swollen but it is going to be fine. I am back in the studio, YEAH!, and on my various instruments I have total facility. The tragedy has come to an end. Seinking Ships continues to roll along and release dates will be announced on the Seinking Ships website any day now. It's Christmastime again and there is a Christmas single that everybody simply must buy. My Irish peers Pugwash wrote a new pop Christmas classic (it really is good), and it is now available for order or download on the Pugwash website, as well as select European retail locations. My hero Neil Hannon mentioned me on the The Divine Comedy website a couple days ago in connection to the track. If you want to know more about the single please visit www.pugwashtheband.com to read a well written account of how we all came together to make this cool song. Neil Hannon and I sing a short duet on the track and David Gregory of XTC played electric guitar. So, in a strange way it's kind of a career highlight for me. Other very exciting developements are pending and you will read them here first. Stay with it baby. October 19th, 2006 THE GUESTBOOK IS BACK UP, AND RUNNING... thanks Christopher Seink!, geek-boy genius! October 11th, 2006 medical log #1: Well folks, I made it through the surgery in fine shape. I am wearing a ten pound protective cast that comes off next week in exchange for a smaller, lighter cast. The pain is already starting to decline and I am eager to get these next couple months done with so I can get started moving these fingers. I am shooting for Christmas, that is, playing instruments and hard core recording sessions with my new scarred hand. I have to finish my record and the Seinking Ships LP by Spring if possible. Thanks to all who sent well-wishings to me, and prayers to the above. Pain-Pills and Movies, Eric Matthews September 27th, 2006 First of all, I would like to say thank you to all of you for going out and plunking your hard-earned cash down and getting Foundation Sounds. Early sales figures are not in yet but I am sure we had the usual nice little burst out of the gates, for which I have all of you to thank. THANKS! Yesterday morning I did a radio interview that went out over much of the New England radio drive-time landscape. click HERE for an MP3 download of the interview. And thanks to Rick at WPNH for being such a great host. Hopefully there will be more of these great opportunities to spread the word on Foundation Sounds. In other news, The Christmas song that I did with Pugwash, Neil Hannon, and Andy Partridge has finished tracking and will be mixed soon. For those that did not catch the news about this, I was asked to do some singing and a brass arrangement on this Pug-penned Christmas song that was being put together for charity this coming Christmas season. The song is really good and the recording is insane, now up to 126 tracks. And thanks to Thomas Walsh, knowing how much I love the work of the great Neil Hannon, he designed the middle-eight for Neil and I to sing together. Neil has the melody and I soar above with a bright little harmony. Fun stuff man! Seinking Ships is plugging away at our full-length LP for Fall 2007 and the songs are coming out well,
amazing. Music like this has never been heard, not on this planet. But more to the point, I should perhaps announce that our
debut EP Sinking Ships is coming out on the Empyrean label on December 6th,
2006. You will want to get in line for that one. And to quote Rick James, and as we always refer to
ships as being female, "she's a super-freak, super-freaky..." August 8th, 2006 (A Foundation Sounds update to help you get what you need) Please take a look at the guestbook as David Silva (the owner of Empyrean Records) made an entry this morning on the subject of ordering the record and getting the EP. In addition to his comments there he also came up with an idea for all of you that will assist in making sure that you are all among the first in line. Here is what David has for you as pasted from an email he sent me last week: "I will be doing an email blast to the thousands and thousands of music fans on the Empyrean mailing list
the night before the site goes live for pre-orders. Your fans can email me directly at David@empyreanrecords.com and I will
add them to the mailing list. Just tell them to put" Eric Matthews email list in the subject and they will be added.
This way they will get an email the night before release so they know when to order. yours, eric matthews August 2nd, 2006 Good news, that new instrumental band of mine Seinking Ships is more or less locked a loaded with that
self-titled EP ready to come out in October. And of course, a new website (www.seinkingships.com) to launch off the whole
thing. click HERE to check out the new website and
hear a song sample. And in other Seinking Ships news we are also about half of the way through recording our full
length LP, not yet titled, but with intentions of a summer 2007 release. You will be able to keep up with all things
Seinking Ships at the new website. And now onto the issues surrounding my coming LP Foundation Sounds and the "free EP" that is said to come along with it. Here is the scoop. The first 200 people to order the record from www.empyreanrecords.com will get the 5-song EP (all tracks exclusive to this EP) for free. The only other way to get this EP bundled with Foundation Sounds will be to buy it at one of the smaller "mom and pop" shops that are participating in the promotion. I will publish a list here (as soon as I get it) of the stores that will have the EP. Other than these two ways of the getting the EP, David Silva (Empyrean owner) promises to make a special effort to make the ep available to those that really need it. After this initial period we will probably have to make the EP a retail item with a really good price for those fans that got passed by. I hope that this is clear now to all of you that have been patiently waiting for this news. Sorry for any confusion/anxiety that may have filled your heads on this issue. I suppose that is all for now. I am nearly done recording my next record and it sounds amazing. I want to hesitate
in talking about it now, here, as I think it might be in poor taste somehow to discuss it while Foundation Sounds
is waiting in the wings. In a few months I will say more, once that FS dust has settled. June 2nd, 2006 I was just informed by my label that Foundation Sounds is now going to be released on August 22nd. I am
assured that this move is the last and that it is being done to best allow for maximum set-up time for the press and radio.
Let's all just hope that this REALLY is the final street date. What a long strange trip it has been. More news soon, all of
it good, unlike this particular posting. Time to go kill something innocent, small, and fluffy. May 15th, 2006 Well, where do I begin? Let us start with the news concerning Foundation Sounds. As a great big thank you to my most loyal fans my record company cooked up the idea to offer (to the first 1000 people that buy Foundation Sounds) a limited edition EP that will have 5 non-album tracks. The EP will be in a separate sleeve but bundled with the album proper. I will let you know here very soon exactly how to be part of first 1000 people to get the record. The songs: the first three tracks on the EP were slated as Asian and UK exclusive bonus tracks but will be released here on this EP to you without having to gather up 6,700 Yen. (I will post the sleeve art on the guestbook for all of you to look at. We love to look.) Filling out the EP are two songs that I recorded a couple weeks ago and will be available on disc only here in the USA as American exclusives. For those that miss out on this initial offering, all of the tracks will be available on iTunes. So, get that pot of coffee ready because now we are talking about 22 new EM songs on July 18th. It's huge! I have a new band. Well, actually a side-project of an instrumental nature. It's me and a new guy from
Cleveland named Christopher Seink. He hired me to produce and arrange his debut solo record and
once I was done with my work on the project we both realized that the songs sounded finished, and should stay instrumental.
Tony Lash is mixing this debut EP next week. The self-titled EP will be released in the Fall (October I
think). Look here as we get closer to the fall for details concerning Seinking Ships. That is what we are.
April 19th, 2006 Hello all, and thanks for sticking around through this long wait just to find out when Foundation Sounds is to be released. Without further delay the new and final street date is: July 18th, 2006. My label has gone through the long process of hiring on the proper radio promotion people, the right publicity firm, etc. etc. I am sorry for the delay (and so is Empyrean Records) but the most important thing for my record is that all of the ducks are put in the best possible row(s) as to ensure the record its best chance. After long work on the part of my label we are finally ready to roll out the red carpet for this very important record of mine. And Finally, as to not make this too long here is a quote I recently ran across on the subject of my recent radio success with the Elliott Smith song: ---"Eric�s track on the To: Elliott From: Portland compilation earlier this year was by far its most successful. The track was a huge hit at commercial specialty, as it made Top 20 on both the Mediaguide and FMQB charts. At college, the track peaked at #19 on the Mediaguide Independent Singles chart." ---This quote comes from the radio promotion firm that "worked" the record to the radio industry. So, what we have here, in theory, is my size 10.5 foot back in the door at radio in preparation for the big push coming that is Foundation Sounds. love, eric December 21st, 2005 My new next record is to be called Foundation Sounds and will be released on May 3rd, 2006. There were a handful of delays for reasons I will not list here but at long last we really have a date set in stone. The record is being mastered soon and now we are on to the artwork and all of the many months of planning it will take to give this epic of mine the full launch it deserves. The few people out there that have heard it, or parts of it are claiming that it is my best material so far. I happen to think so too so I will continue to use the word "deserve" when it comes to all things Foundation Sounds. In the new Magnet Magazine there is a nice write-up of that Elliot Smith tribute record I contributed to. Evidently my contribution is noteworthy since a good 30% of the article focused on my track and reprinting quotes of mine from the liner notes. I hope all of you will go out and buy this compilation or hit iTunes to purchase the download of my track. Andy Chase let me know the other day that the new Brookville album is finally done and in the can. It gets released early next year and will contain (like on the last one) huge stacks of Eric Matthews tracks. I played all sorts of intruments on that one and can't wait to hear the finished product. Lastly, my label has posted 3 Christmas songs (MP3 format) that I recorded 2 years ago. It was for that movie
Elf. My publisher asked that I record a few Christmas classics to submit for the movie but a week
before the deadline they changed their minds and decided to not use tracks by current artists and go with standards
from legends like Stevie Wonder and Ella. I saw the movie the other day for the first time
and I think they made a wise choice. I never really finished the recordings and the masters were lost so this is it.
I am not starting over but they sound cool, stripped down, and mellow. click HERE to hear the Eric Matthews Christmas set. October 22nd, 2005 Once again nothing big to report, Tony and I finished mixing the record and it turned out to be something really
special. I give so much credit to Tony and his various insights in the way that he hears my music, and thinks about
music in general. He made some really great decisions and this record will be better for it. click HERE to see the
bizzare evidence. September 8th, 2005 Nothing big to report, Tony is mixing the record and life rolls along, laying in wait like a hungry tiger for all of us. I am here today to direct you to the front page of the Billboard.com news section. Hell, I made the front page of something which I will not complain about. click HERE to see the news. August 12th, 2005 Hello again from the subject of this fine little web space. Is this website about me or my music? I don't think I
know at this point. Anyway, it's been a terribly busy time, this whole year really, but the past 6 weeks have been
more over-drive than I can remember. Highlights include: July 3rd, 2005 Just very briefly today, but I woke up and found out that I am in the local paper. Today's edition of the Sunday Oregonian. It's a story about Cardinal and various EM things. I sat with the writer more than a month ago and scheduling trouble delayed the story until now. Anyway, I popped onto the web version of the newspaper and decided to link it for those of you outside the Portland metro area. This is not the major announcement I was talking about in the guestbook. below is a link to the story. Thanks for coming. click HERE to read the interview. May 20th, 2005 It took forever but here I am with a little bit of news. First off, let me thank those of you who bought my record and have frequented this website and made both things a real hit as far as I am concerned. And a very special thanks to Al Gore for inventing the internet because without him I would not have this contact with all of you. But all ribbing aside, my new record started with a bang (sales-wise) and is still going strong. Radio play is getting going, the press has been dependably great, and now a third printing of the CD is just about underway. And with the upcoming blast of Cardinal attention I am looking forward to another big push for my record, which leads me to news item number one. Cardinal (the self-titled debut) is finally about to happen as a reissue. It will be available everywhere that sells CD's on June 11th and like my solo record, it will bear the Empyrean Records stamp. Cardinal will be distributed throughout the world and is literally stacked with tracks. The original was a 10 song/30 minute collection but in this new edition it is 21 tracks at just under one hour, 58 minutes if I remember correctly. Tell all your friends about it, buy one for mom and dad, and do what you can to help make this effort a big smash too. The liner notes are really great to read and there are new photos. Is anybody drooling yet? Actually, one of the first reviews just got posted at OneTimesOne The other big announcement is the coming Japanese release of "Six Kinds..." A JVC Records affiliated label called Caraway Records is putting "Six Kinds..." out on June 6th, 2005. The big deal here is the bonus tracks. There are two exclusive songs not heard on the domestic CD that we all know and l___. The bonus tracks are entitled "So Clean" and "The Big Side of You". "So Clean" is one of the coolest songs I have ever done. Is anybody out there drooling yet?, again. This Japanese CD will be available at most of the major online retailers in a week or so. I also added a link to Caraway in the "links" section of this page. You have to be able to read Japanese to enjoy it but... In my next news report I will detail some coming release dates of albums (of other artists) I have been working
over these past six months. It's a crazy year so far and next year should be crazier. I should be finished
recording a new EM album by late-fall. Hopefully soon after in early 2006, with the right label on board
(quite possibly Empyrean), we will be bringing out an overly long new one that will be well referenced as one of the
longest records released in 2006. Save a prayer... March 23rd, 2005 First off some really good news about Cardinal. It has just been announced that the reissue that we have been working on will be hitting the streets on June 7th, 2005. It will be released on the Empyrean Records label. This will be a must have for every Cardinal fan as it will include 11 bonus tracks and a new round of artwork with liner notes supplied by Richard Davies and I, Eric Matthews. And speaking of Eric Matthews(third person), I did an interview last week with a pretty cool looking online music rag called One Times One. click HERE to read the interview. That is all for now but other things are developing so stay tuned for more info very soon. -eric matthews I had no plans on another news update so soon but the life of this new record is coming at me at quite a pace. Some of you have already mentioned this on the guestbook but I wanted to call your attention to it here on the NEWS page where more of you might see it. N.P.R. (national public radio) has always been a big supporter of my music and once again they have stepped up to the plate and produced a new spot for "All Things Considered" on the subject of my new record. I just listened to it and think that those of you that wont be near a radio when it airs would like to hear it. It's a classic bit of propaganda. Wake the kids, alert the family dog, and tell everybody that Eric is on the radio again. Kind of...
March 3rd, 2005 Hello again, it's been too long but here finally is the news update that I have owed this web space and more to the point, all of you. The first order of business is that "Six Kinds Of Passion Looking For An Exit" is now out, kind of... I say "kind of" because though my record is now shipping via online services such as Amazon.com and Empyrean.com (my record label, where you get the best price) . The actual street date (when real stores like Tower and Virgin will have it) is March 8th. Again, this is confusing but it's just a rough couple days that we all have to get through. The good news for me is that I was just looking in at Amazon.com and there is an impressive sales ranking, and better than that - sound samples of all of the songs on the record. Next, in a couple months the various import versions of the CDs with the bonus tracks (spoken of in the guestbook) will be available. The second major order of business is pretty huge really. Cardinal is coming back!!! I don't mean to tease anybody here as we are NOT making a new record together, not yet. It's better than that...the story goes that Richard and I took ownership of the record in March of 2004 and in that time since we began looking for the right label to help us bring it back in the form of a reissue for all of the world to once again enjoy. We found the label (Wishing Tree Records) and after many months of getting through all of the legal stuff, picking the bonus material, mastering the new collection, tracking down the old photos, etc...we finally got it together. This time it's going to be even better than before as it will contain the whole record in it's original form plus the added value of an almost unheard of eleven (11) bonus tracks. Also included in the new package will be new liner notes by Richard and I, some classic unpublished photos, and an enhanced set of credits that will lend greater understanding into the making of this record that so many of us love. We don't have a street date yet but it should be out sometime in the summer of 2005. Look here to this NEWS page for more specific details as they become available. I will do what I can to be better in keeping this news section a more regular connection to me and the happenings in
my career. There are other things that I could tell you of now but I have to go downstairs before it gets too late to
play a couple of bass lines on an album project I am finishing up. More on that in the next report. Thanks again to
all of you for making this site a "GO". Let's keep it going and growing. -Eric Matthews December 2nd, 2004Welcome to installment number one of what will be a long-running presentation covering the career of our Eric Matthews. Check back from time to time for anything that Eric wants to share with you, his community of favorite passers-by. The big announcement today is that Eric Matthews has been put back into the game in the biggest way. Eric has a brand spanking new collection of songs due for release on February 15th, 2005 for the Empyrean Records label. Eric has some impressive label mates such as Donovan, The Aluminum Group, Super Furry Animals, and other well-loved record makers. Eric also reports that the details of the deal that brought him to Empyrean Records can only be described as "very favorable". Either way, it seems that finally, after nearly seven years, Eric has found a record company that is ready and willing to get his music back into the hands of the people who most desire it. Congrats to all of you, Eric's fans. Stay tuned for more details concerning this new release entitled "Six Kinds of Passion Looking For an Exit". Oh yeah, there is also a new website that Eric helped to design for all of you. You are here now. Revelations! Again, stay tuned�
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