Springtime is kicking some serious ass here in Boston and i don’t get to enjoy much of it right now. I’m spending all day in my recording studio mixing the April live recording for Matthew Ebel dot net. It always gets this way at the end of the month, “crunch time”, but I will deliver what I’ve promised to my fans!

Even if it means no biking today.

I’m brewing a new beer, a Stout, and I have no idea what to call it. Typically I give them names from my book or something about birds, like my Osprey Porter, but I’m torn on this one. So I’ll let you decide!

Poll closes in an hour or so when I’m done brewing!

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Poll’s done, looks like the robot wins!

Photo by be_khe

As the other good book says, don’t panic. To put things in perspective, the big flu epidemic of the 1800′s killed millions but so far we’ve seen less than 100 deaths in this country. More people died in the last 24 hours from car accidents than from the last week of swine flu.

Back then we also didn’t have Purell, antivirals, and clean public restrooms with hot water and soap at every Starbucks (every 10 feet). If you’re unlucky enough to live in a town with no Starbucks or some other dense concentration of sink/soap dispensation units… congratulations, you live in a town small enough that you probably won’t even see the next pandemic.

That being said, I know this kind of thing can be dangerous. I’m glad that most of my work is done at home- far away from densely-packed subways and cramped cubicle farms. I shake a lot of hands at gigs, but I don’t see nearly the exposure that your average commuter sees.

So while this post has nothing to do with music, I just want to wish you all well and offer two pieces of advice: don’t go nuts, but wash your hands.

New Music at Matthew Ebel dot net

• The software that runs the membership accounts was written by someone who doesn’t speak English very well… I finally went in and re-wrote ALL of the emails that the system sends out (password reminders, payment receipts, welcome emails, etc.).
• I rearranged the signup screen so, hopefully, it’s a little easier to follow. A lot of folks were basically buying themselves Gift Certificates when they didn’t mean to. Oops!
• Now that I figured out how to pass variables to the signup page, I’ve made links that automatically choose certain products or fill in coupon codes for you. Like this link to my All-Access Yearly Pass.

So keep your eyes peeled, there’s going to be more music coming out today. If you want to own it, you can now sign up for Matthew Ebel dot net a little easier!

It’s that time of year… time to pick the first-ever Matthew Ebel dot net VIP Song winner! Congratulations to VIP Subscriber Tony Carcieri, he’ll be getting a custom-written song from Matthew sometime soon!

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The blog’s been awfully quiet this week. Mostly because I’ve reverted to my analog journal (spiral-bound notebook and ball-point pen). I’ve been sitting in my “field office” this week- I have branches in every city in America, registered under the name “Starbucks” -doing what I do in coffee shops: lyrics. And getting caffeinated, of course.

Sometimes I have to sit and face the tough questions, though, like “should this song about the Spy from Team Fortress 2 go out to Matthew Ebel dot net subscribers or do I save it for an album called Songs for Geeks?”

These are the choices that make my life difficult.

I’ve been getting all kinds of email asking for permission to use my music in videos, post photos of me online, or for clarification on what my bootleg policies are. Maybe this is a good time to address this…

• If you want to post photos of me at a performance or convention, I strongly encourage it. All I ask is that you let people know who that guy in the photo is.
• If you’re videotaping or recording one of my live shows, I would love to see those recordings spread around. Just do me a favor- try to remind folks that they can get professionally-recorded live music at matthewebel.net. If you want more concerts, I need to keep paying my bills- subscriptions are the best way for me to do that.
• If you want to use my music in your project, just bear in mind whether or not it’s a money-making project. You want to put Everybody Needs A Ninja behind your kids’ martial arts tournament video? Awesome. Want to use it on a site that’s bringing in Google Adwords or affiliate link revenue? Talk to me first. I want to make things easy for you, but again… I have bills to pay. If I’m helping you pay yours, I’d appreciate some assistance.
• For anything you post online, try to tag things with either Matthew Ebel or matthewebel so Google and I can find it. And whenever possible, I always appreciate a link back to matthewebel.com as high up on the page as possible.

So there are some official policies straight from the musician’s mouth. Er, blog. The point is that I’m not some RIAA stooge, I’m not commuting to gigs in a private jet, and I’m not trying to break anyone. I want to see my fans get as excited about the music as I do, so if there’s anything I can do to help (or if you have any questions), just email me!