Joel Eckels - The Weight of These Things (2015)

Tracklist

01. Good to Be Bad
02. 45
03. Shame
04. Valentine
05. Maybe Tonight
06. Just Don't Know
07. The Devil's Heart
08. Back o' My Hand
09. Girl
10. The Weight of These Things

I am happy to announce the release of my new album, "The Weight Of These Things". I have never been so proud of something I've created. This record has a great deal of meaning to me and how far I've come musically. It's very much a documentation of the past 10 years of my life. I am connected to this album...more than anything I've done in my entire music career and I really hope all of you enjoy it.

I'm someone who still believes in albums. As an artist these days, we constantly hear how no one cares about albums anymore. That they don't matter. I don't believe that. I believe that songs are snapshots of time and an album of snapshots tell a deeper, more interesting story. When you connect with an artist, you want to hear more than just one song.

Therefore, I encourage you to listen to this album the way it was intended, as a collection of songs placed in an order that can take you on a journey if you let it. Of course, I feel that all of these songs stand on their own, and you can certainly pick and choose if you like, but I definitely feel there's something to the way it all goes together as an album. At the end of the day, I'm simply making a suggestion.

I recorded "The Weight Of These Things" in Portsmouth, Rhode Island over 2 weeks in February of 2014 at Stable Sound Studios with my good friend and co-producer, Steve Rizzo. The studio, attached to a working horse stable, is a magical space that I first stepped foot in 20 years ago when my band out of college, Soul Food, recorded our debut album. To go back after all of these years was a full circle experience and put into perspective how far I've come in life and as a musician. It was amazing to work with Steve from a much more mature approach as an artist and to really be able to relate and collaborate with him on a whole new level. Steve is amazingly talented and his touch is very much a part of this record.

We were going for something very specific in our intentions for this album. We wanted the focus to be the songs and for the core to be me and my guitar. We tracked all of the songs as live performances of just my vocal and guitar together in a room with almost no editing. From there, we added extra guitars or other instrument overdubs, but only if the song called for it. Our approach was to only add what the song needed, no more. Because of this approach, it's a very live record.

When it was all said and done, we achieved a very dynamic collection of songs with a very cohesive theme. Songs like "45" and "Just Don't Know" wanted to have drums, bass, vocal harmonies and extra guitars, whereas other songs like "Valentine" and "Good To Be Bad" stayed pretty simple as just guitars and vocal. The musicians we had play on the album did an amazing job of playing to those original live tracks and maintaining the core feel. You would think they were in the room with me the whole time. They each enhanced the performances beautifully without losing any of the personality of the tracks.

On the Bandcamp page where you will be downloading the album, you can click the individual songs and read some of the background of how the song was written and/or recorded as well as the lyrics. Over time, I'll add videos and other cool stuff that I can share. I plan to edit together a little documentary of the album based on the footage I've collected. Now that it's finished, it's going to be fun to look back on the process and moments we had making it.

Those of you who donated to my Pledgemusic Campaign, first of all, thank you! I couldn't have done this album without you. Seriously. It's been fun to share the experience of making this album with you. You guys have had an inside look into how the album was made and have seen a lot of footage from the studio and how the album came to life. I will be sharing more of that footage and stories with everyone now that the album is completed.

I'm using Bandcamp to release the album online because it's a great platform for artists to release their music, interact with fans, keep control and have all of the money go directly to the artist. I have chosen to use a "pay what you want" format because it's most important right now for me to get the music to everyone that wants it. It helps me most for this music to find it's way to everyone that gets something from it and enjoys it. Of course, I love to have your support so I can continue to do shows and make more music, but I want you to hear it more than anything.

So, this is what I ask. If you want the music for free, please take it. It will just ask you for your email so I can stay in touch with you. I probably already have it anyways if you're on this list. If you like the album, recommend it to a friend or gift a copy of the album to someone you think will like it. The more people talk about it and share it, the more it spreads and opens opportunities for me.

If you choose to pay for the album, pay what you want and thank you in advance for supporting music. Every sale helps me continue to do this and make more music. I appreciate your belief in me and can't thank you enough. It truly means the world.

All PledgeMusic contributors will be receiving an email with a download code. This is the fully mastered recording that is different from the version I previously released to pledgers. Be sure to get it even if you've already been listening to what you downloaded from Pledge. This is new and improved!

DOWNLOAD ALBUM [flac]