Summer album update

Hello Everyone

Hope summer is treating you all well. Most of us have been away on holiday throughout August so all has been quiet, and we're struggling back into our daily routines, but we thought we'd send this mail out now so we don't go months without an update again, as has become almost customary with us and something we're trying to rectify!

We are now really starting to heat up with regards the album. The finish line is in sight as all the tracks are now recorded and apart from the odd additional musician and last few touches here and there – we'll soon be in the mixing stage, which as any musician who has gone through this process will know is the time when you really have to start thinking about the bits and pieces before launch – i.e. duplication, album launch venue plans, distribution and album promotional tour, amongst many other things.

All of these are now on the horizon and some speculative enquires being made. We have as good as decided on a title, are close with the album art work and have started getting the promotional activity booked up, with at least one BBC session already confirmed for later this year.

We are hopeful that the record will be done and available before Xmas – with the timelines we're working to, it's certainly doable, but lots of hard work still to come.

For now though, here are a couple more snippets from songs from the new album – all unmixed, but will give you an idea.



As you will know, we had to say goodbye to our second bass player within a year recently, when Ian left for a career in the USA. Well, we 'think' we have found his replacement. Early stages yet, and much more will be revealed soon, but we're confident we won't be a 4 piece for long!

However, if any of you wish to see the classic ATC line up in a rare reunion, come along to The Proud Galleries in Camden this Sunday (26th August) where Ben Halls will be returning to play bass with us while he's on a 3 month holiday from Uni in Boston, which is quite frankly far too long (that's the US educational system for you). We will be doing 2 afternoon sets (roughly 4pm and 6pm) – one inside the venue, and one in the garden. Hope the weather's alright. This will be a free entry show, and as it's the bank holiday weekend, there is no better excuse for Sunday beers. Lots of other acts playing that day so it should be fun.

Anyway – watch this space as there should be a fair bit to announce in the coming weeks. We as always thank you massively for your support (this sort of thing would be a bit pointless without it) and apologies in advance if we hack any of you off with the upcoming promotion!

Cheers!
ATC

Gigs

Two shows in 3 days this week. We're in the very lovely village of Pangbourne, near Reading on Friday 29th June for an all acoustic set at The Hall of Sound.

Then on Sunday – it's an exciting return to the Crawley Folk and Beer Festival at The Hawth Theatre in Crawley.

Both shows completely free!

All Change Again!

Hello everyone.

Before launching in to the main bulk of this mail out, we'd just like to announce we have a London show this Friday, 8th June in Hammersmith at The Regal Rooms.

This is a free entry show at what is one of (if not) the best showcase acoustic nights in London. The quality and atmosphere is always really high, and so anyone who is in the London area and at a loose end on Friday, please come down to this – you won't regret it.

Anyway – now for the big news!

Bass players – an annoying breed. Generally quite reliable, do the things you want them to do, but also seem to have very high aspirations that only seem to take place in the USA...

So yes – here we are again. Last summer we said goodbye to Ben, off for a writing career in Boston. This summer we'll be saying goodbye to his replacement Ian, off to undertake some secret MOD mission in Washington DC.

What are the chances...? Irony is just not a strong enough word.

We'd like to thank Ian for his time in the band. With him we've gigged a total of 6 times, and written two songs for the album. It's been a slow year, but in that year he has come in, learnt the stuff, helped us write some more and been an extremely affable chap to have with us. We also would like to wish him all the best in the USA – we know it is a massive career boost to him.

So the search is on again – but instead of stopping, waiting and employing a new player this time, we've decided we cannot hold fire with this project for a second year. We have Ian until mid July, and then if a player hasn't been sought by that point, we'll consolidate as a 4 piece to continue gigging until the right player comes along. We have had a real resurgence in the last 6 months with the album and gigging, and we don't want to stop that again.

We have looked at a couple of players – one is promising, so watch this space for an announcement. We are only seeing bass players who don't hold a passport, so escape to the USA will be unlikely.

Other than that, we are still soldiering on with the album and are just about done with recording, so we're close. Tentative plans will be to release later this year – October/November time, and then to gig it extensively next year. As with us over the last couple of years – all plans are subject to change, but that is what we're aiming for.

As you saw at the top of this mail, we're still gigging and have a couple of nice ones coming up including a return to Crawley Folk Festival which was outstanding last year, and a show with the Our Friends Records guys in Kingston, which is always fun.

We thank you all for your patience while we're going through these line-up changes and finishing the record. I'm sure none of you are losing sleep over the fact we haven't released anything new in 3 years, but we really want it to be worth the wait – and we think it will be... we hope it will be!

See you all in London on Friday!

Cheers

ATC

Gigs & album preview

Well – here we are again, another sporadic update from All Things Considered. I think in the last one we wrote to let you know we are still just about plodding along, and I guess this is a very similar one – however it's pleasing to say we at least have a couple of live dates coming up in the next few weeks!

On Easter Monday (9th) we're making our second appearance at The Bedford in Balham. A better free night of music in London we've not found – and the globe like theatre venue is an absolute pleasure to play. This show is free entry, (did I mention that already?) with music kicking off at around 8pm. Check out more details. We of course strongly urge you to come along!

On Wednesday 25th April – we're making yet another appearance at what is rapidly becoming our second home, Jagz in Ascot – as part of a charity night to raise awareness of the closure of Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot. Those local to the area will know how important this place is – so this is something we're happy to get involved with, and it's also a good opportunity to see a whole evening of great music, taking place all over the venue. We'll be on sometime after 9pm – on which stage is still TBC.

Then – Saturday 28th April we're doing a show at Folking Live, which is held in The Cellar Bar, South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell. Folking Live has become in the last 3 years one of the top roots showcase events in the South of England, bringing together both local talent, as well as the best from the London circuit, and further afield – including quite a number of international artists touring the UK. This event will be headlined by one of the top London acoustic acts – Laveer. We'll be on about 8.30pm – and our appearance has absolutely nothing to do with the fact Phil and Adrian run the night... we're there purely on musical merit, we promise. Tickets £7 on the door for this.

The 28th April also sees us return to the studio. After a number of months taking stock of what we have already put down for the difficult second album, we've now all had a good listen – made the changes we wanted, and are now in a position to start recording the final couple of songs that will complete the record.

We are not far away with this – and although we've been saying it for god knows how long – we WILL have this album out this year. For your listening pleasure (we hope), we have a few snippets of stuff we have been working on – just to show you all we aren't lying! You can hear them here:



So that's about it. Would be great to see you at any of the upcoming shows. Let's face it – most of you will have forgotten what we sound like – so what better way to reacquaint yourselves.

Cheers

ATC

Last minute gig on Friday

We've added a last minute show to our slowly growing roster of gigs, this Friday (3rd February) in Camberley, Surrey. Please see the gig listings for address and entry details. Be great to see a few of you there.

We should also have the first of what we hope will be a string of summer festival appearances confirmed within the next fortnight. Details of that will be posted here as soon as we have them.

Happy New Year

Wishing everyone a very happy New Year, and all the best for 2012.

We're really starting to step up planning for 2012, with studio sessions increasing to finish the album, and also the first few live dates being confirmed. Our first of these is back at the venue we finished off back in July - Jagz in Ascot. Please come and join us on January 24th in the bar area for a free entry show to ease us back in to gigging! If we're horrendous - at least it hasn't cost you anything!

More dates to follow, along with a much more up to date blog as the new album draws ever nearer.

Thanks for the continued support

News Update

We're delighted to announce the arrival of our new bass player - Ian Greening.

Ian, being nearly as old as Adrian (we didn't know such an age existed) comes in to the fold with a wealth of experience in many different styles and genres. He's a very solid bass player which will work with our material well we think, and we have already got stuck in to writing the last couple of tracks needed for the new record - so he has to stay now!

We'll hopefully be announcing a couple of live dates for early 2012 very soon, so watch this space for the debut of the 3rd different ATC line up - and its always the bass players!