Slideshow video for "The Dream"

The video is comprised of images which I consider to be "dreamlike" in one way or another. The dove image is from the Holy Spirit window in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. I've been there twice and can't wait to go back again. After I saw the window, I couldn't listen to the line "A dove born from the sky / bathed in Love's Pure Light" without recalling my pilgrimages there, especially with light pouring in from the nearby glass windows.

I hope this video is enjoyable to viewers. I feel that it is highly imperfect, a feeling which perhaps is manifested in all attempts to recall images which one has seen in a dream.

CD Baby Gets a Facelift

CD Baby has a new and improved look; I like it. There are now "Artist Pages", so all our stuff is available here, whereas before it was on the seller-centric all page which is still available.


The CD Baby page is a little more up-to-date, but it has retained its homey cuteness, sporting a bubbly seventies font on the lowercase logo and a scribbled arrow pointing to the login link. If anything, the site has been simplified for customers and artists alike. To me, it's great to see the kind of concern for ease of use, up-keep and style which all serve to maintain viability for a company I've come to greatly admire and appreciate.

A Stinging Rain Reissue Promo Poster

I know I just said we weren't promoting the band anymore, but over the last few weeks I've produced a magazine-sized promo poster for some spurious marketing opportunities which might arise. It doesn't look half bad, if I may say so myself.



Here's what the text says:

In the summer of 1993, the indie rock foursome Stinging Rain ascended into a vacant third floor and recorded their masterpiece, Face of Stephen.

Shortly afterward they disbanded, and their rhythmic brand of hopeful, melodic rock seemed consigned to the twilight of silent memory.

Now — after being out of print for 15 years — their full catalog of original studio tracks is available again via digital download. Visit:

cdbaby.com/all/stingingrain

Not too "over the top", but still attention-getting, I hope. At the bottom of the page I included the phrase "Clear Tears of Light", a line from Grey Shapes, the first song on our first album, then across from it "One Eternal Flame", from Nothing Ever Changes, the last song on our last album. The large text bordering the picture is, of course, from a middle song on our middle album, On Eagle's Wings from the dream, but I didn't really plan that one as much. "Come with me, take this hand, we'll travel far across the sea and land" has always been one of my favorite lines from the pen and the mind of Nathan Depew.

Click on the picture, look at the large photo and tell me I don't look like Harry Potter with the messy hair and the glasses.

The Dream

Nate sent me several copies of the Dream. I received the parcel last night. Thanks, Nate.

The first thing I noticed about the song "The Dream" was that the strong influence of Talk Talk/Spirit of Eden can be felt not just in the orchestration but in the vocals as well. Nate's note trail echoes reminded me of Mark Hollis's more than ever.

The effect is a little bit accentuated by the fact that the tune is sandwiched between two faster numbers, Like a Child and On Eagle's Wings.

Had fun with the scan. I pretty much re-manufactured it, stripping out the picture then re-adding the border and the lettering.


Didn't mess with the brightness at all.

But back to the music. I've been listening to all the stuff which we had on all the time back at The Plant. I remember picking up a cassette of Spirit of Eden in 1989 -- out of the bargain bin -- and having it just blow me away. Yeah, it went to the bargain bin within a year of it's 1988 release. Needless to say that cassette got a lot of play.

I was reading on the web the other day where Hollis points out that "I believe in you" was a kind of anti-heroin song, and that he never shot up himself, just saw what it did to others. Kind of cool; a lot of people back in the day said they were junkies -- at least that clears up the record.

Artwork: I'm on a roll, call me "Mr. Scanner"

Got the Shadows cover artwork down.



This is a JPEG of the million-pixel TIFF format that CD Baby likes. Once again, I did very little tweaking. I added darkening in the scanning process and upped the contrast. I also trimmed the top and bottom very slightly and moved the top lettering downward a tad.

This is such a cool photo, taken by Stephanie Gaydos. It was a double-exposure, then she used a special process to get the ultra grainy look.She really did some great photography for us. I googled her name and turned up a studio in San Diego that might be hers. I'm planning on calling to see if it's her place.

Another funny thing about the photo shoot was that the field we were in was replete with burr-laden weeds, so naturally Duane and Jon were throwing the sticky seed-pods at each other, the object being to get them to stick to the other's clothes. They were both laughing in the exposure where they are facing each other. As I recall, everyone had been tossing them at some point.