Listen to "Mantra" now, a brand new song by Tracy Shedd

"Mantra," scheduled to be released on Friday, May 22nd, was written and recorded by Tracy Shedd during the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020. Just as the butterfly effect caused the coronavirus to spread across the world, Tracy Shedd's new song, "Mantra," is an optimistic melody set in motion to make a positive change in our world.




Cover photograph by Julia DeConcini

The full story behind Tracy Shedd's "How Your Eyes Affect Me"

This coming Friday, December 20, Tracy Shedd will be releasing a brand new single - a new version of an old song - "How Your Eyes Affect Me," which was originally released on Shedd's EP88 (Eskimo Kiss Records) in 2010.  EP88 was Shedd's first collection of songs that the classically trained indie pop pianist had ever written or performed on piano.  Prior to, Shedd had been playing and writing all of her music on guitar; until she was given an opportunity by Tucson AZ radio station, KXCI, to perform a few holiday tunes during the winter of 2009, when she bought her first piano to play a few jingles on the air.  The ultimate result of that purchase was EP88, including the song "How Your Eyes Affect Me."

The following year, Tracy Shedd and husband / band-mate, James Tritten, decided to embark on a US Tour as a duet; leaving out a live bass player or drummer.  Instead, they used a drum machine app from their iPhone to create a beat, while both played electric guitar; adjusting their delivery of each song to fit this new arrangement.  On December 2, 2011, the couple performed at New World Brewery in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida, and friend, Aaron O'Laughlin just happened to capture the performance on video. Eight days later, O'Laughlin posted his video recording of a more upbeat drum machine driven version of "How Your Eyes Affect Me", which would end up serving as the main inspiration that motivated Shedd and Tritten to start their electronic music project, Band & The Beat.

Fast forward eight years, Tracy Shedd documented a studio recording of that same version performed in 2011, and now the aptly named single "How Your Eyes Affect Me (The New World Brewery Version)" will be officially available on all digital music download and streaming platforms - Amazon, Apple Music, Bandcamp, Google Play, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube, etc. - for your listening enjoyment this holiday season.   To help celebrate the New World Brewery version of Shedd's classic tune, Aaron O'Laughlin himself made a new music video for "How Your Eyes Affect Me (The New World Brewery Version)" using his original video footage taken at New World Brewery nearly a decade ago.

Enjoy this visual rendition below of the "How Your Eyes Affect Me" story, which includes O'Laughlin's original video recording, plus his music video for Tracy Shedd new single:

Here is the original studio recording of "How Your Eyes Affect Me" from EP88:



Here is a live performance of the original version, performed at The Rialto Theatre in Tucson AZ:



Here is a live performance of the original version, performed in Tucson 12's Television Studio:



Here is Aaron O'Laughlin's original video recording from New World Brewery in 2011:



Here is Aaron O'Laughlin's music video for the new version of "How Your Eyes Affect Me":

Listen to Tracy Shedd's remix of L.A. Dies "Tend To Do" now!

On Friday, November 29th, our dear friends at the Harding Street Assembly Lab record label will be dropping the new L.A. Dies maxi-single! “Tend To Do” is the second official cut to be featured from the four-piece’s spectacular LP, Drifting Still. Harding Street Assembly Lab fans can hear the entire release here prior to the 29th!

At L.A. Dies album’s release back in September, Harding Street Assembly Lab reached out to their friends & family about the possibility of reworking one of the tunes. Multiple responses were that the track would have to be “Tend To Do”. For this maxi-single, which clocks in at roughly 18 minutes, the single proper is paired with remixes from Fort Lowell Records' own Tracy Shedd (ex-Band & The Beat), Benjamin Mauch (Colin Phils) & Opin (who are currently mixing down their new LP for Harding Street Assembly Lab).

The single comes across like a long-lost remnant from the last Cocteau Twins album. Slithering bass lines that work around programmed rhythms with a vocal delivery that earns allure as it escapes translation. Each of the remixes lean into the ethereal space trapped within the original. Tracy Shedd & Opin both find themselves working with processed percussive elements to augment the tune. Ben Mauch’s redux is floats away from the base, landing at an authentic recreation.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO L.A. DIES MAXI-SINGLE NOW, and HEAR TRACY SHEDD'S REMIX NOW!

Tracy Shedd's third album, originally released in 2004, is finally available again!

Louder Than You Can Hear, Tracy Shedd's 2004 full-length studio album was originally made available by Devil In The Woods, on the heals of Shedd's debut and sophomore records - Blue and Red [Teen-Beat], and was distributed through digital music streaming / download platforms... until now!  Fort Lowell Records presents to you: Tracy Shedd Louder Than You Can Hear.  Download or stream it now on Apple Music, Bandcamp, Google Play, Spotify, etc.!

La Cerca tourdates announced for November and December

Tucson-based indie rockers La Cerca are heading back out on the road this fall for a few west coast dates.  Don't miss their live concert in a town near you, and be sure to give Andrew a high-five for us!

Nov 11 - Elliot's on Congress - Tucson AZ
Nov 16 - Prospector - Long Beach CA
Nov 17 - Redwood - Los Angeles CA
Nov 20 - Kelly's Olympian - Portland OR
Nov 24 - Hotel Albatross - Seattle WA
Dec 2 - Old Nick's - Eugene OR
Dec 6 - The Boxyard Yard - Tucson AZ
Dec 13 - Sister - Albuquerque NM

Listen to La Cerca's Fort Lowell Records full album Sunrise for Everyone here:

Tracy Shedd has a new single out today - Friday, November 8th

Inspired by the Roland TR-808 Drum Machine and old-school hip-hop beats, Tracy Shedd's latest single - "The Rest Will Follow (The Freestyle Version)" - is a NEW version of the song "The Rest Will Follow" that appears on her latest album The Carolinas.   This is the exact version of the song that Shedd performed at her Record Release Party for The Carolinas, which was held at Bourgie Nights in Wilmington, North Carolina with friends De La Noche.  The Digital 45 Single is backed by the virtual b-side track - "Wake Up" - which is an outtake from The Carolinas recording sessions.  Both new songs are now available on all digital music streaming / download platforms, such as Amazon Music, iTunes, Spotify, etc.

LISTEN NOW:

La Cerca perform live concert November 16 at Prospector in Long Beach CA

VNYL features Tracy Shedd, Beck, The 1975, and more on Spotify 'What's Hot' Playlist!

[Repost from VNYL]

Ooooooh la la lovers of retro. Do we have the power up for your bonus hour of weekend. Our Spotify What’s Hot playlist has just been updated to include new tracks from The 1975, Beck, Power Glove, and Tracy Shedd; featuring “Vengeance” the lead track from Power Glove’s Halloween special glow in the dark vinyl Throwback. Impending doom lingers atop synth-wave backsound as the anonymous duo catapults you straight into apocalyptic soundscapes.

The Good Graces hit the road with an amazing new record!

The Good Graces of Atlanta, Georgia are heading to North Carolina next week in the beginning of November to promote their fantastic new album Prose and Consciousness (POTLUCK Records):

Nov. 5 - Chapel Hill NC - Songwriter's Night at Imbibe with Neville's Quarter
Nov. 7 - Kings Mountain NC - The Revolution1
Nov. 8 - Asheville NC - Static Age Records with Matt Southern & Lost Gold and Joshua Carpenter

Listen to "Standing in Line" from The Good Graces 2014 Fort Lowell Records release:

Happy Birthday, Howe Gelb!

VNYL.org features EXCLUSIVE Tracy Shedd 'The Carolinas' on Electric Green Vinyl

The vinyl subscription service - VNYL.org - is now offering Tracy Shedd's new album The Carolinas (Science Project Records / Fort Lowell Records) to their subscribers, and they have an extra special treat for all of the vinyl loving record collectors out there: the copies of The Carolinas that you will receive from VNYL.org are on a beautiful electric green wax - EXCLUSIVE to VNYL Members only!  Sign up now to subscribe to VYNL.org and received your copy of Tracy Shedd The Carolinas on translucent green vinyl!

[Repost from VNYL.org]

Veteran indie singer/songwriter Tracy Shedd has returned with her latest album The Carolinas, her first in over six years. If you're feeling those summertime withdrawls, fear not because this album is the perfect fall record for you to spin.

The Carolinas, which comes on electric green translucent vinyl, was written and recorded by Tracy and her husband/bandmate James Tritten nearly two years prior to it's release. After tragedies in the family, Tracy needed time to heal and revisited the album to ensure her vision was still there. The final product doesn't disappoint. There's a little bit of very thing on this album, from feel-good, synth-tinged indie rock to 90's singer/songwriter softies. Her lyrics sound like they were pulled right out of a poetry book, her wealth of life experiences inspiring many of the themes here. Shedd has shared the stage with artists such as Cyndi Lauper, Cat Power, and Iron & Wine, and those influences bleed through in this eclectic collection of tunes.

Happy Birthday to Andrew Gardner of La Cerca!

Live Concert Photographs of Tracy Shedd at Bourgie Nights, Wilmington NC

Check these awesome pictures of Tracy Shedd performing at Bourgie Nights in Wilmington, North Carolina for her Record Release Party [Friday, September 20, 2019] for her new album 'The Carolinas' [Science Project Records]!

Photos by Haley Smith [Modern Legend]

La Cerca play live concert at The Quarry in Bisbee AZ

On Monday, October 7th, Tucson, Arizona's La Cerca will open for Levitation Room (Burger Records; from Los Angeles, California) at The Quarry in Bisbee, Arizona!

Happy Birthday to Brennan Hamill from Moyamoya!

Happy 10th Birthday to The Harding Street Assembly Lab Record Label

[Repost from The News & Advance; by Emma Schkloven]

[Lynchburg, Virginia] label Harding Street Assembly Lab celebrating 10 years with birthday bash

Nathan McGlothlin can tell a story about every recording his label Harding Street Assembly Lab has ever released.

He’ll happily divulge a misstep in the guitar part on the first single released by his band, or talk about the demos that were recorded before Richmond group the White Laces actually became a band.

There’s the album that led to a show on the roundabout at Fifth and Federal streets in Lynchburg, and the series of delays that caused #30 to be released at the same time as #39.

Founded by McGlothlin and his wife, Joanna, Harding Street Assembly Lab (HSAL) — which celebrates its 10th anniversary and 50th catalog entry with a festival this Saturday — has been giving a voice to Virginia music for an entire decade.

“He’s trying to help support a creative ecosystem that rewards experimentation and that rewards a kind of independent thinking and a kind of independent expression,” says California-based producer Chris Schlarb, who has worked with HSAL on several records.

“It’s a total labor of love. We need things like Harding Street, just like we need people like Nathan out there who are supporting the fringes of the creative world.”

Like most labels, Harding Street doesn’t produce a band’s music or design its album cover. Instead, it connects artists with the right people to help in every step of the record-making process, from crafting the songs to mixing the tracks to making the vinyl it will be cut on.

“We know somebody that does all of the parts to putting a record out,” McGlothlin says. “We can connect you, who don’t know those people, with those people. I think the magical part of what Harding Street does is we do all those things in the name of support.”

Visions of the Lynchburg label began in 2009 when McGlothlin received a call from a fellow musician in Richmond asking if he wanted to help produce a record.

While the other investors eventually backed away from the project, McGlothlin and Joanna decided to move forward. But they decided to do it their own way.

It wasn’t about making money for the couple but about helping artists share their music.

“Harding Street offered me this blank canvas to make whatever I wanted to make,” says former Lynchburg artist Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon, who saw his popularity spread beyond the Hill City music scene after competing on “American Idol” last season.

“... They just support you as an artist, and let you do whatever you feel led to do creatively. That is incredibly affirming, and liberating, as an artist. I totally feel like I was able to utilize that opportunity to find my own voice musically. And that process continued after I moved.”

Harding Street’s philosophy wasn’t the only thing that set it apart.

Often, labels focus either on a specific style of sound or genre, or they focus on a geographic area, McGlothlin says. But HSAL doesn’t quite fall into either category.

Yes, there is a Virginia component — after all, the label’s slogan is “doing right by Virginia since 2009” — but there’s just as much focus on highlighting the sounds of the region.

“The way we’ve kind of pitched it is what are the sounds that are either coming out of South Central Virginia or what are the sounds that come through South Central Virginia?” McGlothlin says.

While catalog entry #34 is from Raleigh’s Band & The Beat, the act has played in Virginia several times, so they fit the bill.

Steve Scott (HSAL #38), a British poet McGlothlin adores, lives in Northern California, but he records in an ambient style, and Lynchburg has a big ambient music scene.

“You don’t necessarily always know what you’re going to get when you go into Harding Street[’s catalog],” says Richmond musician Landis Wine, whose bands White Laces and Opin have released music through the label. “There’s always new stuff to explore.”

In the early days of the the label, McGlothlin worked with bands he knew from touring with his band, TLVS, and interesting acts he’d found on Bandcamp.

McGlothlin wasn’t just taking a group’s music and putting it out there, Landis says. He was nurturing these fledgling bands, helping them find their voice and sound in a vast, sometimes intimidating, musical landscape.

“Harding Street has helped us grow in so many ways,” says Melody Ouellette, of the Lynchburg indie rock band L.A. Dies. “We have learned how powerful and useful collaboration can be when making music. They’ve pushed us to do things outside of our comfort zone, leading us to try new things musically we probably wouldn’t have thought of.”

Every HSAL release has been fronted with the McGlothins’ own money, something that can be very validating for a young band.

“Quite often, those little acts — those small decisions to help press up some CDs and help get a little bit of extra attention— those are the things that encourage artists to keep going,” says Schlarb, the California producer.

To cut down on expenses, early releases often involved some DIY aspect. McGothlin played as a studio musician on some of the albums. He and his wife would screen-print album jackets, print inserts at Kinko’s and assemble the components themselves.

One time, McGlothlin got a good deal on a large batch of vinyl, so a record ended up being printed in various colors.

Things changed at the end of 2017 with the release of Harmon’s self-titled EP.

“At that point, it had all been about Virginia,” McGlothlin says. “We really wanted to buy back into Lynchburg. Like, there’s a lot of cool stuff that’s starting to happen in Lynchburg, and we want to document that.”

Schlarb flew in to Lynchburg and recorded the album with Harmon over two weeks. He then returned to the West Coast, where he brought in studio musicians to fill out the sound.

“The album sounded so professional we didn’t want to DIY it,” says McGlothlin. “We wanted to do it as legit as we could.”

Harmon’s EP became HSAL’s first release without any DIY components. From there, they never looked back.

Removing themselves from the physical making of the album not only reduced stress for the McGlothlins, it also changed the perception of the label.

“Suddenly, there was a lot more interest in somebody being on Harding Street,” McGlothlin says. “Like we started getting demos, we started getting emails.”

Bands would show up with fully-recorded albums or ideas for artwork. All HSAL had to do was manufacture the product.

“Now, when people come to Harding Street, there’s a certain expectation,” he says. “You’ve got to come with some of those things already dreamed up.”

HSAL’s lineup of Lynchburg-connected artists has continued expanding and now includes current local acts Good Dog Nigel and L.A. Dies.

There’s also artists like Harmon and Nathaniel Roots, known by his stage name KillGXXD, who no longer live in the Hill City but still work with the label, and Wine’s current band Opin, which is based in Richmond.

“We did a really cool compilation — it’s #44,” McGlothlin says. “What we did is we took five Lynchburg bands, like current Lynchburg bands, and we said ‘We will pay for your studio time if you go to the studio and live track a new song and a cover song that we pick.’ They all did, and the cover songs were all old Lynchburg bands, like the old Lynchburg guard.”

Even when bands leave Harding Street for larger labels, McGlothlin continues to support them, says Wine.

“Appreciation isn’t attached to what you are necessarily going to do for them; it’s not transaction-based,” he says. “... When you’re hopping around between labels, sometimes things get a little bit weird, but Nathan’s always been very supportive, very consistent. He’s always wanted to see whatever the artist wants, whatever their vision is, to come to fruition.”

While bands now reach out to them, McGlothlin says he still likes to search on Bandcamp — or, as he calls it, window shop — for exciting talent.

“You know [how] most old guys sit on their back porch with their cup of coffee and they do the New York Times crossword?” he asks. “I’m searching the internet for bands.”

Harding Street, which McGlothlin estimates has put up tens of thousands of dollars, has in no way broken even, but that isn’t the marker of success in his mind.

The ultimate achievement, he says, is that he’s helped create a brand new piece of art that can now be shared and enjoyed.

“To date, we’ve made over 50 things happen, that weren’t there before. We’ve helped almost two dozen artists release things,” McGlothlin says. “It’s not world-changing, but it does change their world.”

Such a fantastic compilation of amazing music: Luz de Vida

Tracy Shedd new album 'The Carolinas' is now available everywhere

Buy Tracy Shedd The Carolinas now on vinyl record at https://scienceprojectrecords.net, or listen on all digital platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Music, Bandcamp, Deezer, Google Play Music, iHeart Radio, Pandora, Spotify, or YouTube Music!

This may very well be our favorite Tracy Shedd album review ever

[Repost from The Vinyl District; by Joseph Neff]

Tracy Shedd, The Carolinas (Science Project) I first heard Shedd as one of the later offerings from Mark Robinson’s Teen-Beat label; starting in ’01, she’s on four consecutive annual Teen-Beat samplers. While her entries always sounded fine to me, I never grabbed one of her full-length works, of which she now has six, and based on the sustained quality of The Carolinas, I feel like a total fucking dunce for the procrastination. Shedd’s bedrock is guitar-based indie pop, but she infuses it with elements of electronica that succeeds partly because the tech is applied to varying degrees (a sorta “as needed” scenario) and because her stuff never settles into standard synth-pop. If you dig Bridget Cross’ work and/ or would’ve liked to have heard Mark Robinson produce an LP for Lois Maffeo, check this out. A-

2001 Teen-Beat Sampler - Tracy Shedd "Circles"


2002 Teen-Beat Sampler - Tracy Shedd "Faint Pale Smiles"


2003 Teen-Beat Sampler - Tracy Shedd "Rise"


2004 Teen-Beat Sampler - Tracy Shedd "Living in an Abandoned Firehouse With You" (by The Magnetic Fields)


Tracy Shedd The Carolinas (September 20, 2019 - Science Project Records)

Happy Birthday to Andrew Collberg, Fort Lowell Records Artist