Limited Time Preview of New Music
Posted by: Gymshoes on: November 5, 2009
First newsletter from the new mailer! Thanks for making the switch with me. 
Though newsletters won’t usually be hitting your Inbox weekly, it’s been a busy week…
I’ve got a limited time sneak preview of five new tracks from my upcoming release Sand In My Shoes, on Facebook (Boxes tab at the bottom), myspace and ReverbNation. (Artwork is temporary, btw.) Sand In My Shoes will be released by Idiolith in spring 2010, or early summer at the latest. Get a little taste of summer before winter sets in and check out the new music!
Mailing List Changes, Halloween Soundscape, New Video
Posted by: Gymshoes on: October 29, 2009
I’ve got lots of news. I apologize for not keeping up with the newsletters. There should be more timely newsletters in the future because I’m changing my newsletter mailing list to ReverbNation! (New newsletters will have better formatting, too!) To continue getting this newsletter, click this “opt in” link: http://www.reverbnation.com/gymshoes?add_email=true
Please “opt in” if you want to continue receiving the newsletter! I don’t want to lose any of you in the transition!
Add a little Reverb: In addition to joining ReverbNation, I also have Bebo profile now via ReverbNation. If you have a Bebo acct you can add Gymshoes music to your profile: http://apps.bebo.com/my-band/artist/gymshoes.
Streaming Music: I once again have streaming widgets, with all my music, courtesy of Tunecore. You can listen to full tracks of all songs in the widget in the sidebar of gymshoesmusic.com. You can also stream full tracks of all songs on my Facebook Page: (become a fan!) and iLike Profile. Selected songs are streamed in full on myspace. (Currently the Halloween Soundscape album is on myspace, but that will change in November.)
The EP, A Tropical Depression, which benefits The American Red Cross is now available from iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, and Amazon mp3. I have ended my relationship with MusicBlaster as a distributor. In the future singles will be made available through the online stores listed above.
Reviews: Please go to your favorite music store and leave a review of the album or songs you have. Most online stores have a place for fan reviews. I’ve also got a place for reviews on my Facebook Page, at the top of the Boxes tab. Leave a review there. Become a Fan. Tell your friends. I love it that you all are telling me you like my music, but I need reviews and recommendations in public places! Thanks!
Just in time for Halloween: I’ve got a new bit a video on YouTube featuring “The Witching Time” (and have redone my YouTube channel design and layout). Check it out! This is the first year Halloween Soundscape is in wide release. As Halloween draws near and you’re reading spooky stories, decorating, and preparing to unsettle unwary trick-or-treaters, grab some Halloween Soundscape tracks to set the mood…and pass the word to your friends.
“The Witching Time” on YouTube
Posted by: Gymshoes on: October 9, 2009
Yesterday and today I’ve been working on my YouTube profile since they’ve now implemented the new design/layout/options. I also uploaded a new video with a clip of “The Witching Time” from Halloween Soundscape. 
The video is short and amateurish as always, but it’s got a spooky vibe. 
The actual track is much longer than the music in the video. Track length is one of the things that makes Halloween Soundscape such a bargain: all the tracks are long, some excessively so, but with only 7 tracks on the album and the album price based on number of tracks, it’s a steal.
Also, I’m tweeting tracks from iLike almost every day and am putting those tweets in my Favorites, so you can access them to listen or retweet any time.
Halloween Soundscape now widely available
Posted by: Gymshoes on: October 6, 2009
Though it was released a couple of years ago, this year is the first year my Halloween Soundscape album will be available on iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon mp3 and Napster. Want to hear it before you decide to buy? It’s streaming during the month of October on my myspace profile and all the time on my Facebook page (Music tab and also Boxes tab), as well as on my Gymshoesmusic website.
Please pass the word, share on your social networking sites, and write reviews on your favorite music store and/or my Facebook page (Boxes tab). Though this album is good background for reading scary books, it’s “season” is really Halloween, which is a real short season. Please help me get the word out. Thanks!!!
A Tropical Depression live in iTunes and elsewhere
Posted by: Gymshoes on: September 3, 2009
The rootsy EP I did on the heels of hurricanes Katrina and Rita is now for the first time widely available. A Tropical Depression is now available from iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, Napster. All profits goes to benefit the American Red Cross, so please tell your friends and pass it on. Once again, I’d like to express my gratitude to Buzzingstrings, aka Rick Ellis, for providing vocals on two tracks. He gave my songs powerful life and breath.
Below you’ll find links to the EP on various sites. The album is carried by iTunes US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand & Japan; the link below is presumably for the US store. Or you can search “Gymshoes”…it won’t be listed as a recent album because it was done so long ago, but it’s there!
A Tropical Depression on iTunes
A Tropical Depression on Amazon mp3
MusicBlaster and transitions
Posted by: Gymshoes on: August 13, 2009
Some of you may have noticed that the MusicBlaster app from BlastMyMusic.com is dead and gone. I’ve had the EP A Tropical Depression and two singles there, using that site to release singles between albums. I’d been thinking about moving the EP to iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, Amazon, etc. and this extended outtage combined with a coupon from Tunecore 
made up my mind.
BlastMyMusic.com has been down for at least 2 weeks, with no response to my inquiry through myspace. I asked them to post something to let people know what’s going on. My message was read, but they did not reply or publicly post anything about the situation. No one knows if this is something horrible, but temporary, or if they’ve abruptly gone out of business. (IMHO stonewalling artists who are posting questions is not a reassuring way of handling the situation if this extended outtage is a temporary problem.) I’m not sweating it since they don’t owe me any money. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I’ve been thinking about dropping them; after a few initial sales a year ago I’ve sold nothing through them since. Which is what prompted me to change to Tunecore distribution for the major stores earlier this year for albums. Blastmymusic’s current problems, whatever they are, have simply accelerated the inevitable.
I’ve submitted the EP A Tropical Depression and it should be in online stores no later than September 21st. Based on my experience with three other albums, it will probably be available sooner than that, could be more like 2-4 weeks. I’ve only had one album in one store bust the given date (and Tunecore was very helpful resolving that issue, btw). I’ll drop in some blog posts as it goes live in various stores. A reminder about this special album: this is mostly singer-songwriter stuff, with Buzzingstrings as guest vocalist on two tracks. All profits go to the American Red Cross. It’ll be good to get this into wider release.
Streaming Widget: All Songs, All Albums
Posted by: Gymshoes on: July 17, 2009
Free Rain!
Posted by: Gymshoes on: May 15, 2009
I’ve been meaning to let you in on one of the projects I’ve been working on for the past year, involving field recordings. In the spirit of immediacy (since I should have done this sooner) I’ve uploaded one of my most recent recordings of rain (and frog!). Just under 3 1/2 minutes, it’ll be a refreshing break when the heat and drought of summer sets in. So click on over to the Downloads page (on gymshoesmusic.com), scroll down to the freebies and grab some free rain.
New iPhone Music App
Posted by: Gymshoes on: April 30, 2009
As a Tunecore artist my music is available from the new Tunecore app for iPhone, TuneCore: Discover Music which is available from the iPhone store. Unfortunately, the app features the top 25 Tunecore artists, overall, by category, or by location which means that you’re more likely to see a big artist (or at least one with some real PR behind them) than me. Myself, I’m a crackberry chick. I don’t know too many people with iPhones and none with the app, so if any of you get the Tunecore app for iPhone, please leave a comment and let me know how it works (and what you think the chances are of anyone finding me on it) 
I’m optimistic about eventually popping up, as I think there’s a random feature but only your purchases there can get me into the top 25 for genre, location, overall etc. Check it out! 
Tweet! Tweet! Follow Me!
Posted by: Gymshoes on: April 3, 2009
Gymshoes is now on Twitter. You can follow me at: http://twitter.com/Gymshoes_
(Don’t forget to put the _ at the end!) I’ve got a Twitter widget in the sidebar and assuming it loads (which it doesn’t if Twitter is overwhelmed) you can read my latest tweet and use the arrow at the bottom to scroll back through previous tweets. If you’re on Twitter, follow me to read the bits between the blogs and assorted other things. (Today I’m boring even myself, but once I slog past the webstuff the tweets will get more creative.)
