In Like A Lion, Out Like Dexter Peterson

CAWFEE Holy crap, it’s April? I was just coming to terms with the fact that it was February.

As I sit here caffeinating I’m very conscious of the passage of time. The last three months flew by in a whirlwind of technology and meat. The former because I’ve spent a nauseating amount of time redesigning both my dot com and dot net sites. Seriously, that task alone took up the better portion of… well, honestly, all of January. With some of it spilling over into February.

Runtt and Me The latter is a reference to my new partner in crime, Runtt. Moving from a robot to a meat-based drummer was a lot more work than I’d anticipated. Sure, I knew I’d have to rehearse with someone else for once, but I didn’t realize I’d have to re-learn all my own tunes. You just can’t play the same way as a band that you can when you’re solo. A lot of piano subtlety gets lost under the flying lumber and you have to simplify your arrangements to avoid stepping on each other’s toes. With FWA as our debut deadline, we had a lot of work to do and very little time to do it.

And now it’s frickin’ April. And there’s snow on the ground. Dammit, there is fresh snow. All over my van.

Anyway, now that my website is in order and I have a 90-minute show worked out with Runtt, I have nothing planned for April except working on The Lives of Dexter Peterson. No concerts booked, no appearances, no speaking gigs, no road trips, nothing. If I can do this without going broke, I’d like to sit in my studio all month long and finally get the novel up to draft three. And while I’m at it, start releasing full draft-one songs to my hardcore fans. Since I just signed with a booking agent, I’m hoping I can rely on her team to make me busy this summer while I stay busy in the studio.

Don’t know where that relationship will go just yet, but it’s off to a slow start. Maybe that’s a good thing, I’m not sure, but anyone who knows me knows I’m perpetually impatient. Having just survived another birthday, I’m reminded of how fast time can slip by.

Holy crap, it’s April already? I better get back to work.


Announcing My First DVD Ever!


Buy the DVD for just $9.99!

I’m thrilled to announce the launch of my best (and firstest) DVD I’ve ever released. This disc is hands-down the most awesome video disc I’ve ever released, taking the #1 slot in a field of… well, one.

Regardless, if you missed the fun and excitement at FWA 2010, you can now own a small piece of that through the magic of television. I initially planned on trying out the filming thing as an experiment, but by popular demand it’s now been turned into a concert you can own and cherish and use to keep your cold drinks from staining your wooden tabletop.

The video was pieced together by volunteer editor Aaron Zschau entirely from donated footage. That’s right, all those people with hand-held cameras in the audience? They’re now official cinematographers (and awesome). Since this was an all-volunteer effort, I’m putting this DVD in the store for just $9.99!



Concussion, LIVE at FWA 2010

And following on the heels of I Just Want to Fall in Love, here’s another sneak preview of the upcoming Live at FWA 2010 DVD release. Now with more blunt force trauma!

I Just Want to Fall in Love, LIVE at FWA 2010

Here’s a sneak preview of the footage we got from FWA this year. Many thanks to all of you who donated footage (you’ll be in the credits when we get a final edit worked up). And, of course, a thousand internets go to Aaron (Tsaro for those of you who were there) for actually editing all this raw video!


Night Train LIVE Now Available for Podcasters

Hear the complete concert at <A HREF='http://matthewebel.net' TARGET='_blank'>matthewebel.net</A>

Hear the complete concert at matthewebel.net

In case you missed the concert at FWA 2009, I have released the entire concert recording to my subscribers at Matthew Ebel dot net. That’s over an hour of one of the best live shows I’ve ever played, to one of the best crowds I’ve ever seen. If you want the whole recording, just sign up for any of the passes at matthewebel.net before it’s too late!

As a bit of a teaser, I also just released one of the live tracks to the podcasting world. If you’re interested, check out Night Train – Live at FWA 2009 at matthewebel.com/podsafe.


She Will Set You Free live at FWA

I never really have a problem with being filmed during a concert… I think it’s great that people want to keep the moment going long after the show is over. Fortunately, most of my fans post their vids online when they’re done.

I debuted She Will Set You Free at FWA last weekend, and Marcus Noble was there to catch it. Check it out!


The Official FWAwk

Last weekend was the best convention experience of my life. Without question.

Photo by <A HREF='http://www.flickr.com/photos/48754458@N00/3382854067/' TARGET='_blank'>Zschamm</A>

Photo by Zschamm

First of all, I understand that being named Guest of Honor will definitely skew my impressions towards the positive, but after hearing so much feedback from other FWA attendees I know I’m not off-base. This convention was well-planned, well-executed, attended by amazing people, and in a hotel that seems built entirely for massive nerd gatherings.

Before I duck behind a cut to save people’s loading times, I want to remind everyone who attended to please tag your photos/videos etc. with FWA09 wherever you post them. I’ll be looking on Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, and other sites for evidence-gathering purposes, so please make your stuff easy to find!

If you’ve posted any pictures or videos of me in or out of costume, please tag them with Matthew Ebel or matthewebel. If you’re feeling nice, put a link to http://matthewebel.com at the top of the description. I always appreciate the traffic!

And now, on with the show…
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"Still Alive", live from FWA

Courtesy of BlueTailYappy who was filming in the front row. Unfortunately, his camera took a nap halfway through the tune, but here’s what he got (and God, do I love it when the crowd sings along):

The song is “Still Alive” by Jonathan Coulton, from the über-awesome game Portal.

(And if you’re REAL good, you can see most of the show on YouTube too!)

[tags]Matthew Ebel, piano rock, FWA, Still Alive, Jonathan Coulton, Portal[/tags]