Well, since this has been a weekend chock-full-o announcements and celebrations, we figured now is a good time to share this with you: Thanks to the support of Modern Legend, as well as a few amazing individuals who simply want to see Wilmington NC continue to grow and remain the beautiful community it already is... Fort Lowell Records is very proud to report that Sean Thomas Gerard's stellar sophomore album -- Finally Found a Paradise -- will soon be made available on vinyl record! Jackets are printed, and vinyl lacquers have been cut, so records are soon to be pressed and we hope to have wax in hand sometime in the late summer / early fall. Can't wait to see Chris Frisina's artwork on 12inch format! Stay tuned, and enjoy your Sunday Funday!
Okay, okay... this is simply beautifully serendipitous: Earlier today we posted about it being KON Sci's birthday, and we also hinted at an upcoming project with his group MindsOne. Shortly after that, we learned today is also Holt's birthday, who is in the band Lauds... aaannd ALSO part of that same project featuring MindsOne! It sure does seem like all signs are pointing to this being a match made in heaven, and we now we simply can't contain ourselves any longer, so here we go...
Fort Lowell Records is very excited to share with you that we are partnering with Gravity Records, Cape Fear River Watch, Coastal Plain Conservation Group, Josh Putnam, Ross Langdon Page, Pufferfish Print Shop, and Dock Street Printing to bring you a very important series of 12inch vinyl record releases, titled This Water is Life. The purpose of this project is to help raise awareness for what has been happening to the water supply here in Southeast North Carolina, particularly with GenX. Each record will provide both Cape Fear River Watch and Coastal Plain Conservation Group an opportunity to help educate all of us on what has been taking place in our community for years, and how it affects as humans as well as the nature and wildlife in our region, respectively.
The cover art, which will include photographs by Josh Putnam, along with B-Side artwork by Pufferfish Print Shop, will speak to the overall message of This Water is Life. Side-A for each record will feature new music by one (1) Hip-Hop group from Wilmington NC, while Side-B will include the same for one (1) Indie Rock band [per record]. Ross Langdon Page will provide his own unique style of portraits to highlight each musical group. Each volume will be limited to only one-hundred (100) 12inch vinyl records, but will also be made available on all digital platforms. This Water is Life is designed to sustain itself indefinitely as a continuous outlet for education, support, and inspiration.
This Water is Life, Vol. I musically brings together MindsOne & DJ Iron [Side-A] + Lauds [Side-B], and is set to be released in the Fall Season of 2021. Stay tuned!
...Holda', holda', hold up! Did we forget to tell you that we will be releasing a few new tracks [not just one] by MindsOne later this year on vinyl record? Wait, what?! That's right! More details to come... but know there is a very, very important project [an indefinite series of releases] in the works to be released later this year that will feature MindsOne & DJ Iron on the first record, and then many other Wilmington hip-hop artists in the years to come! In the meantime, let's wish KON Sci a 'Happy Birthday' today, ...and if you are not familiar with MindsOne, do yourself a solid and go listen to Transitions [2008], Self Reliance [2010], Pillars [2014], and Phaseology [2016]. Every album of theirs is our favorite!
Thanks to Mark Robinson of Teen-Beat, plus Jeff Lipton & Maria Rice of Peerless Mastering, Fort Lowell Records is very, very excited to share with you that... to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Tracy Shedd's debut album -- Blue [Teen-Beat 312; March 19, 2001] -- we will be partnering with Teen-Beat this year to release Tracy Shedd Blue on 12inch vinyl record for the first time ever; completely remastered! Production is wrapping up, and we hope to have the records available by the fall season. Stay tuned for more details!
Soda Sun is an indie rock band from Tucson AZ, whose sound is relaxed, heartfelt and atmospheric. Blood Makes Noise is stoked to host the premiere of their new video “Beachwood”, the first single from their upcoming debut album “Stay Here”, to be released via Fort Lowell Records digitally on July 2 and on a vinyl LP on October 1. Scenic views interspersed throughout the video capture the nostalgic and longing vibes of the song. “You are a great mountain range that I keep seeing in different ways.. you are the heart, the blood of my life..” Soda Sun sings as the band members finally emerge in the video around the 3-minute mark. Chill indie reminiscent of the likes of Elliot Smith, Small Factory and other 90s bands mark Soda Sun’s sound, as this debut song gives us a taste of what’s to come on the upcoming full length. This seems to be a love song by the line in the chorus singing to the “blood of my life”, but you get the feeling it may or may not be a romantic love that is being spoken about - perhaps it is the imagery in the video that gives a familial feel to the aesthetic, but music is best interpreted by the listener anyway. Soda Sun are a new band with a developing sound that bodes well for an intriguing future. Check out the video and look for the full album July 2.
We couldn't be more excited to release the debut album for Tucson, Arizona's Soda Sun, Stay Here. Out July 2nd as a Digital LP, and then October 1st as a Vinyl LP, the record will feature four singles + music videos which will be released over the next two months, starting next week:
May 7, 2021 - "Beachwood" [single] - Video Premiere by Blood Makes Noise on Monday, May 3
May 21, 2021 - "Hildegard" [single] - Video Premiere by Independent Clauses on Friday, May 21
June 4, 2021 - "Blood" [single] - Video Premiere by Music Defined on Wednesday, June 2
June 18, 2021 - "Stay Here" [single] - Video Premiere by PopMatters on Monday, June 14
Be sure to follow Fort Lowell Records on Instagram or Twitter to keep up with Soda Sun Stay Here announcements.
Eleven years ago today we released our very first record as Fort Lowell Records. It was a 7inch single a favorite local band of ours from Tucson, Arizona -- Young Mothers -- for their song "Come On, The Cross", with "Good Sword" on the b-side.
ILM Music Outpost is the brainchild of a handful of local Wilmington, North Carolina (ILM) locals who came together to bring life to their local music scene. Inspired by NPR's Tiny Desk Series, ILM Music Outpost is a team that includes The Plant Outpost as the location, Boot Scrap with the video footage, Garion Worldslayer behind the photography, Tom Michels making sure it all sounds good as heck, and Modern Legend helping with booking and promoting.
Watch Fort Lowell Records' own Sean Thomas Gerard perform three songs -- "Walking On Air", "Jovie", and "Miles We Didn't Drive" -- from his latest album -- Finally Found a Paradise -- on ILM Music Outpost:
Available now on all digital music download and streaming platforms, Sean Thomas Gerard's sophomore solo album Finally Found a Paradise is officially out today: Tuesday, March 30th! Receive a *BONUS TRACK* when you download the album through Bandcamp, by printing out the Black & White artwork [PDF] included to make and share your own version of the album cover! Original artwork by Chris Frisina, of Sleepy Cat Records.
Please allow us to introduce you to Soda Sun from Tucson, Arizona: John Goraj, Derek Cerretani, Johny Vargas, and David Foley. Fort Lowell Records is very excited to share with you that we will be releasing Soda Sun's debut album Stay Here on July 1, 2021, plus a series of singles leading up to then. For now, follow Soda Sun on Instagram or Facebook and stay tuned to learn more about our favorite new band from our favorite city west of the Mississippi River!
A dozen years ago, Sean Thomas Gerard burst on to the Wilmington music scene with folk-rock outfit Onward, Soldiers, winning fans with such sharply written rockers as "Cinder Blocks" and, later, dreamy ballads including "Gentle Man."
Now an elder statesman of the local scene at just 33, Gerard is preparing to release his second full-length solo album. "Finally Found a Paradise" -- a textured, nuanced expression of domestic bliss -- comes out March 30 on Wilmington-based label Fort Lowell Records.
"I used to struggle to write happy songs. I wanted to write happy songs," Gerard said during a phone interview. "I'm happier with myself now, with my life. Having a kid gave me purpose."
That kid would be Jovie, his daughter with wife Heather. Gerard's fans met his now-20-month-old daughter a year ago in a song he named for her. "Jovie" comes off like a lushly melodic ray of sunshine, and it serves as a touchstone of sorts on "Finally Found a Paradise."
The song "Loser" -- about a former friend who fell from Gerard's good graces -- is the only one of the album's eight tunes to carry anything like a discontented edge. The rest are warm and fuzzy in the best possible way, smile-inducingly potent expressions of love and happiness.
"This record has got to be my most personal," Gerard said. "It's just a reflection of where I am in my life. I used to write about a lot of darker subjects. I was in a darker place ... If I start to write dark songs again, maybe come check on me."
In the hands of someone less eloquent, domestic bliss could sound cliche or even cheesy. On "Finally Found a Paradise," however, Gerard renders moments in ways that are both poetic and profound, paired with a sound that lilts along dreamily, like thoughts that are walking on air.
Speaking of which -- the song "Walking on Air" has a lazily bouncy Beatles feel with lyrics about finding that missing puzzle piece. "Strange & Electrifying," while less twangy than some of Gerard's output with Onward, Soldiers, maintains an arena-worthy pop-rock vibe, with an anthemic chorus and lyrics that are less than straightforward but that conjure the picture of a rewarding relationship.
Gerard, who grew up in Pittsburgh, said his lyrics used to be "more vague. I thought that was cool or something."
Now, he's found a way to deliver meaning without being too obvious about it, an approach that works with the upbeat yet cool rock sound displayed throughout "Finally Found a Paradise."
"My stuff in the past has been a little more all over the place" sound-wise, Gerard said. "I wanted something that tied together," which led to the keyboard-heavy approach he uses on much of the new album.
It's a sound that can fit in with, and is made from, any number of genres, from folk and rock to pop and plenty of blue-eyed soul.
Making appearances on the album are Wilmington's "one-take wonder," Bob Russell, on pedal steel, and Gerard's childhood friend Kim Greenwood, who Gerard calls one of the best technical guitarists he's ever known.
No release show for the album is planned yet, but Gerard said he'd like to give the record a proper celebration in a live setting later this year if possible.
Our friends at Gravity Records are hosting a special raffle this weekend -- Saturday-Sunday, March 20-21, 2021 -- to win one-of-nine extremely rare 'Signed' copies of the Test Pressing for our album GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter; signed by every musician + visual artist involved with GROW.In addition, artist HeyTVM has made a very limited edit GROW t-shirt that will also included in the raffle with the Test Pressing; they will custom printed to each winner's unique size. The raffle only costs $5.00 per ticket to enter, and you enter as many times as you want. Just like all sales from GROW, 100% of the money raised from Gravity Records' raffle this weekend will be donated entirely to the North Carolina New Hanover County NAACP to help ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination in our community.
A test pressing is what you might expect it to be from its name: a vinyl record made to test the quality of the finished product before pressing thousands of records. Test pressings are made to ensure that the grooves themselves are clean, deep enough, and formed correctly when the master presses into the vinyl blank; that the grooves, label and center hole are not off-center; that the vinyl does not warp; things like that. Test pressings are supposed to be destroyed, and most of them are.
These are literally the FIRST nine copies of GROW that were ever produced, and now is your chance to own one of them... signed by every single member of all (12) bands that are a part of GROW, plus Cover Artist James L. Williams, B-Side Artist and professional skateboard Chet Childress, as well as HeyTVM -- who not only designed the t-shirt for this raffle, but also provided the artwork for the back of the GROW vinyl jacket AND (and) is responsible for coming up with the name "GROW" for the title of the project.
If you haven’t heard of or seen Sean Thomas Gerard, you are robbing yourself of perhaps one of the more talented musicians in the indie game right now.
I had to get that out of the way. I am big on blunt and often superlative language when I am excited about an artist, music or film. It’s the verbal equivalent of getting chills …while also getting chills.
“Sail off in the Sunset” is easily one of those moments. It should comfortably become the song of the summer. As a filmmaker, I have a deep appreciation for the true artistry in regard to music and conveying that via visual medium. Music videos are, for all intent and purposes, a dying form of musical expression. It seems like forever ago, when MTV, The Box and other channels that existed in the time of Napster, that music videos were the main form of expression.
Sean Thomas Gerard’s almost ethereal beach feel and look made me immediately excited but also reminded me of those days. The super 8 like feel and coloring along with the song makes it, in my eyes, the theme song of a post pandemic summer that will exemplify an appreciation for the season that, at least in part, was taken away from coastlines here to SoCal.
The silky vocal stylings of STG set to the visual of people frolicking along the pristine coastline and in the vast ocean will leave listeners sprinting to the beach, begging for ill placed sand in their shoes that never ends and sunburns.
Below is the actual video directed by STG himself. Enjoy.
