It's the Summer of Oh-Ten!

6.1.10 - A Review, Twitter, Lemons, and Lemonade

A couple weeks back, Justin over at Sounds Good Ink put up a well-written review of "Cracked Open." Read it!

If you're into that sort of thing, follow me on Twitter. @zachvinson

Also, lemons and lemonade. Also, summertime.

More to come...

3.12.10 - Warped Tour and other shows

Good noon everyone!

I'm in the running to get a spot at the Cleveland stop of the Warped Tour this year. However, part of the competition is based on voting. So if you've got nothing to do for the next 90 seconds, head over to Battleofthebands.com and vote for me real quick. You can vote once per day.

I have a show tomorrow night in Madison that I'm really excited about. I'll be performing at the University of Wisconsin, opening for David Ford (he's from an island called England).

Lastly, for my Grand Rapids friends, I have a free show coming up at Calvin College on Tuesday March 30. So come. Please. Not to beg or anything.

2.19.10 - Bullet Points!

--just got back from a tour all the way down to New Mexico, where the headliner dropped out of all the shows at the last minute. Lessons learned.

--It was sunny outside yesterday, so I went for a run with shorts on. Returned home with numb legs. Turns out it is still cold outside.

--I've got about 10 songs written for an EP that I'm planning to record at some point this year. I'd like to get closer to 15 songs finished, and then whittle it down to 6-8 for the album.

--This old guy has treated me well, but a website re-design is in the works as well!

--I have been eating dried mango, thinking it is an exceptionally healthy snack, only to realize that it is indeed coated in sugar.

--I have 3 shows in the next couple of weeks that I'm really looking forward to (Oshkosh, Sheboygan, and Holland). Every once in a while I trick myself into thinking that I have people who come out to see me play music. I don't really have people. But you could be my people if you wanted to. Just saying.

--Keeping my eyes open for a really small cargo trailer so I can fit myself, bass man, drum man, and all our gear in my station wagon. Anybody know of anything?

Farewell, live well,

Zach

12.1.09 - Noam Chomsky and Vladimir Manski

For a while now, I have had two names in my head pretty frequently--Noam Chomsky and Vladimir Manski. Not that these were people I knew (or even was aware of), but simply a pair of names.

I would often call other people those names in my head, saying things like, "That guy is a regular old Vladimir Manski," or "Look at that Noam Chomsky over there." In case you're confused, no, this is not a normal thing for people to do.

So imagine my shock when I was reading through Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell recently and came across his reference to a famous linguist named Noam Chomsky! I suppose I had heard his name somewhere along the line, and it stuck in my head all this time.

So this got me thinking--if Noam Chomsky was a real person, what if Vladimir Manski was also a real person?

Thanks to the wonders of the world wide web, I have my answer.

HE EXISTS!!

But all I can find out about him is that in 1975 he painted a picture entitled "A Cityscape from Sofia." You can see it HERE.

This blows my mind a little bit.

I keep on wondering--what if I created this guy by thinking up his name in my mind? Can one person think another person into existence? Probably a longshot, I suppose. Probably more than a longshot, actually. More like a ridiculous impossibility. But these are the things I wonder about.

Vladimir Manski, Noam Chomsky: I keep your names in my mind. I'll do my best to take care of your names, now that I know you're real and everything.

10.5.09 - Empty the Bookshelves Tour!

From October 20-30, all over the Midwest, some wonderful things will be happening.

Myself, Mat Churchill (bass), and Chris Wilson (drums) will be squeezing into the station wagon and embarking on the Empty the Bookshelves Tour, which means a couple of things.

First off, we are really excited to play what I think is going to be some really nice music for you guys. I hope it's the kind of show that you'll go home from thinking, "you know, I'm glad I didn't write that really important paper that's due tomorrow."

Secondly, we're bringing with us a large assortment of books that we're going to be giving away for free with our CDs/T-Shirts. I really love a good book, so I'm handpicking some of the best to bring along for you. So far the list includes Dickens, Melville, Thomas Wolfe, and a few others, but I'll make sure to find something for everyone.

Thirdly, we welcome and encourage all gifts of home-cooked food while on the road. We may also be looking for a hospitable floor to sleep on in a few cities...

Fourthly, I will see you there.

9.22.09 - Forward Music Festival

I had a super nice weekend in Madison for FMF 09, and I wrote a blog about it over on myspace.

Rather than squeeze it all in this narrow little space, I'll just give you the LINK.

9.17.09 - Interview with Dane101.com

The fine folks over at Dane101.com were so kind as to interview me recently (in preparation for the Forward Music Festival which I'm playing at this weekend).

I've heard a lot of good things about Dane101, so I'm ecstatic that they thought an interview with me would be worth their internet space.

Enough mumbles from me; here is the link: Dane101.com.

I'm thinking about you, and I am hoping you are well.

8.24.09 - There is something about these mornings...

As much as I hate the sound of my alarm going off, I really love being up early in the morning. When I walked outside this morning, I was brought back to the memories of so many camping trips when I was growing up. The sunrise, the stillness, the inexplicable crispness of early morning air--these are wonderful things.

I dropped the Mrs. off at work, stopped by the post office (The PO in Eastown Grand Rapids has the nicest postal workers I've ever encountered), and now I'm taking a few minutes to just sit and be, with Iron and Wine as the chosen soundtrack of the morning. I think we waste a lot of our time, but I don't think that sitting is a waste of time. I love a good sit.

So much of the music that we listen to is birthed out of angst and frustration, and I think a lot of that is necessary. But on mornings like this, I remember how much I love songs where I can tell the writer was truly at peace when he penned the song. I wish we had more of them. Thank the Lord for Iron and Wine.

8.7.09 - Back in the Saddle Again

That title makes me want to watch a John Wayne movie.

Here are a couple tidbits for your perusal:

--I just typed up a blog over on Myspace about my new determination to support my fellow artists. Check it out HERE.

--The plans for a 11-date, full band Midwestern tour in October are becoming more and more solidified. Check the dates on the "see in person" page. What is not solidifed is a clever name for the tour. Suggestions are encouraged. zachvinson(at)gmail.com.

--I highly reccommend married life.

7.9.09 - Pardon My Absence

I'm not going to be quite as accessible for the next two or three weeks due to the joyous fact of my own wedding. (!!!) To keep yourself busy until my return, you should endlessly watch these tantalizingly awesome live videos of my friend Cedarwell performing with The Daredevil Christopher Wright.

See you on the other side!

6.18.09 - Pop Headwound Review

James over at the highly-respected blog Pop Headwound wrote up a very kind review of "Cracked Open." Check it out HERE!

5.10.09 - "So Much to Blame" video

I know your spines have been collectively tingling in anticipation. Just click on the "See on Screen" link at the top of the page and take a look for yourself. Many books were harmed in the making of this video.

4.10.09 - Just Checking In

Good afternoon, my fine friends. Thought I'd give you a quick update so you know I'm still alive and kicking.

Here are the bullet points:

--my songs are now getting played on several radio stations around the midwest. Check out my space for a list of the stations and bug any of them that are in your area.

--after a very busy March, April is settling down a bit and I am starting to focus on booking for the summer/fall

--been doing some writing here and there. Finishing up a song about swimming and houseboats and heaven and squirrels.

--rumblings are that the music video I shot last fall for "So Much to Blame" is almost ready for public viewing.

--my friend Ashley Albritton just released a new album called "Making Names." It's wonderful, lazy spring day kind of music You can find it on iTunes and also listen on her myspace


Enjoy this ironically named Good Friday.

Fare well, live well,

Zach

3.1.09 - Nothing says March like my birthday!

To me, at least. It is coming up on Saturday, and I am celebrating by playing a show in Chicago that will likely have three people at it. Which reminds me to remind you that I have quite a few shows coming up in the next three weeks all over the Midwest. On Friday I embark on a mini-tour of sorts. Tour Schmoor as we like to call it in the biz.

So for those of you who are in/near Ft Wayne, Chicago, Sheboygan, Kenosha, Chicago (again), Kalamazoo, or Grand Rapids, check out the calendar and make plans to come say hello to me. Because, as someone reminded me the other day, if we don't support the things we like, they will disappear. I'm beginning to make a more concerted effort to do that myself. I've decided to set aside money every month to by myself a new album. I think it's do-able for me to scrape together $10-15 per month to make this happen. It's a start, at least.

1.2.09 - I welcome Oh-Nine with a half-stale Christmas cookie

Chocolate cookie, you hold all my memories of this past year. May your powdery crumbs not soil this blanket that is keeping me half-way warm in our nippy apartment.

Frosted, church-shaped, half-burned sugar cookie, you hold all my hopes for this new year. You are sweet and satisfying.

11.25.08 - Cracked Open now for sale online

"Cracked Open" has finally been released, after many months of working and waiting and pining. You can now order it off of this website, if you click on the 'own music. wear shirts' link at the top. You can also order it off of my space profile.

It is also available on the fine digital establishment known as iTunes (as well as a few other digital download places if you hunt around).

I hear that they make great Christmas presents. Or Thanksgiving presents, for that matter. One year when I was young, I cross-stiched a turkey for my uncle and gave it to him on Thanksgiving. And then I was confused as to why no one else was giving presents on Thanksgiving. True story.

I'm guessing my uncle threw the cross-stiched turkey out.

9.3.08 - Pre-Ordering "Cracked Open"

So for those of you who are interested in getting your copy of "Cracked Open" a bit early and before they are available to the general public, you are in luck. There are two different pre-ordering packages (one includes a t-shirt, one doesn't). I should be getting the discs in about 3 weeks (give or take a few days), and will send out the pre-orders the very next day.

#1 - one copy of "Cracked Open," one Zach Vinson t-shirt (you can see what they look like at www.myspace.com/zachvinson), one 11 x 17 Cracked Open Poster (which has an amazing drawing of a dinosaur terrorizing a city), and two free mp3s of songs not yet written, which I will write and record in the next couple of months. These mp3s will not be put on any album or on myspace for at least a couple months after you get them, meaning they will truly be exclusive to the select few people who choose to pre-order "Cracked Open." This bundle of goods is $30.

#2 - one copy of "Cracked Open," one 11 x 17 Cracked Open Poster, and those two mp3s I was talking about in the last paragraph. This one is $20.

Lastly, to anyone who decides to pre-order one of these things, I just want to say that I truly and sincerely thank you. I wish I could afford to give you these things for free (or at least for much cheaper), but I am not able to do that right now. Know that your dollars are going either to help pay for the recording/copying of this album, or for rent/gas/food. And know that, as cheesy as it probably sounds, I consider you to be a part of the small musical family of Zach Vinson.

Thanks so much for reading,

Zach

8.26.08 - FREE download of new single, misc. news

Sorry for the lack of recent updates. It's been a crazy month. Went back to Wisconsin for a few weeks, moved back to Michigan (to a new apartment), started sleeping on the floor, looked at a lot of dinosaurs, started school again, frantically finishing up everything for Cracked Open (the new album), yada yada yada.

If you go HERE, you can download (for FREE) "So Much to Blame," the first single from Cracked Open.

I also just uploaded chunks of 6 songs from Cracked Open onto myspace, so be sure to check those out and let me know what you think. As we get closer to the release of the album, I'll put up full versions of a couple of the songs.

The artwork and CD were sent off to be printed yesterday, so the album will be available within a couple weeks, as long as there are no snags, hold-ups, or snafus (which there always seem to be). I will soon put up some info for pre-ordering for anyone who is interested in that.

Thanks for reading,

Zach

7.15.08 - Photography and other news

Last friday I had a photoshoot for the new album. The photographer was a guy named Ryan P, who shoots quite a few of the bands around Grand Rapids. He does some very very cool stuff that you can check out HERE.

I got the final mixes back on the album a few days ago, and it is going to be mastered next week Tuesday in Milwaukee with Trevor Sadler of Mastermind Productions. He has worked on over 1000 albums, including projects with Moby and Madonna.

Moby, Madonna, and Zach Vinson. Three peas in a pod.

6.28.08 - Recording Update

Good Saturday, all.

Just a quick catch-up on this new album. The songs are almost done being mixed, and I am very excited about how things are sounding. The audio side of things should be done in the next week. We are just getting started on artwork/design. The very-talented Drew Melton is going to be designing the album for me. Exciting, exciting.

Right now I have a tentative release goal of early/mid-September.

6.6.08 - New Video! Ping. Pong!

If you would be so kind as to click your way over to the "see on screen" page, I have uploaded a new video.

It involves ping-pong, a nasty old basement, and a song called "It Don't Come Easy."

You can also watch it on youtube or on my myspace page.

6.1.08 - Recording Diaries: End of the Road

I have made it back to Grand Rapids at long last. Don't know much about cars, but I have learned quite a bit about air conditioning compressors in the last couple days, as mine was making some ominous noises in the middle of Illinois.

So the record is done. I just have some very rough mixes right now, but even those have sounded pretty awesome on a couple different stereos I've listened to them on.

It was a great experience working with Will (willgraymusic.com) and Ben (soulthink.com). They both have excellent minds and ears, and they work very well together. We butted heads a few times, but I could never have made this album sound near this good without them, and they were patient and flexible with me as I tried to explain my vision for how I wanted the record to turn out.

We are now in the waiting phase. The album isn't going to be mixed and mastered for another month or so, and hopefully in that time I can get all the artwork and everything else sorted out. I'm going to tentatively say that it will be late August or September by the time it is released.

The fact that I just referred to the record as "it" reminds me that I need to come up with a name for it yet too...

I just put some new pictures up from the recording process, so click your way over to those if you so please.

I'll be putting some snippets of the new album up on myspace in the coming weeks, so keep your eyes peeled.

Until next time...

5.28.08 - The Recording Diaries: Day Ten

It is the end of a long and generally satisfying day. The album is done. Not mixed yet, but completely recorded.

I'm beat. I'll write more in a day or two once I've returned to a greater level of sanity.

5.27.08 - The Recording Diaries: Day Nine

Yesterday we only had a half-day of recording, during which we tracked vocals for three of the songs. You can read about what I did with the rest of my memorial day HERE. I strongly encourage clicking on that link.

Today we were able to finish the vocals on four more songs, as well as fill in a few gaps here and there. I clipped a washboard neck-tie to my pants, Will intentionally dropped a big bucket of sundry bric-a-brac, and Ben turned the A.C. off and on like an addict.

Tomorrow is the end of the road. Yikes.

5.25.08 - The Recording Diaries: Day Seven

Today we are taking a bit of a Sabbath from our labor of this past week. So instead of writing more today, I thought I would go with a visual aid instead. So I put up some pictures of the past week; you can look at them HERE.

5.23.08 - The Recording Diaries: Day Five

The 29th Annual St. Louis Senior Olympics are this weekend. I may see if I can take in part of the festivities. Nothing like seeing some senior citizens compete in ping-pong, bocce ball, or a javelin throw to get my goat. I called the phone number on their website to ask if one had to buy tickets to come and watch, and a very nice lady seemed ecstatic that I would consider coming to cheer on the octogenarians.

Day Five. Yikes, Day Five already. We are slowly working our way through the songs, adding some bells, a few whistles, and a lot of guitars and vocals. Like a bowl of jell-o before the eyes of an impatient little tike, the songs are slowly becoming solidified. I suppose that makes me the tike.

5.22.08 - The Recording Diaries: Day Four

I suppose I should give a two-day update, as I was too exhausted at the end of the day yesterday to write things down. Yesterday's session featured the DeJames brothers, Luke (drums) and Mark (bass). I had high hopes that having a pair of brothers in my rhythm section would lead to some excellent chemistry, and upon further review my hopes have been met.

Today we threw heaps and mounds of guitars on a few songs. They are starting to sound very much like songs.

In other news, I learned what an Oxford Comma is, and that I have liked them for a long time without knowing there was a term for it.

5.20.08 - The Recording Diaries: Day Two

So I was one out of two on my goals for the day. I did have more fun. But I was not able to share any chocolate. Apparently Will Gray has some sort of personal vendetta against chocolate. But tomorrow is another day. And tomorrow I have some old friends and some new friends coming to visit. Perhaps a chocolate intervention is in order.

5.19.08 - The Recording Diaries: Day One

Perhaps it should be Day Two, as I actually got here (St. Louis) last night and started working through a few things. I wouldn't say that really counts, though. Last night I dreamt that I had to sing Sweet Caroline but couldn't remember the words. Dream did not come true. Tonight I will let a little bit of air out of the air bed I am calling home for the next week and a half.

As far as the actual recording goes, we jumped, tweaked, massaged, and stretched our way into some real lovely piano and acoustic guitar sounds. All in all, a productive first day. Tomorrow's goals: (1) share some chocolate, (2) have more fun.

The air bed is calling my name...