So yes, we’ll be back.

The video itself was produced by Mycrofilms in Kilkenny, the same group behind the London video released late last year.

We’d love to hear your feedback on the video (and so would the band), so feast your eyes on some 1080p high definition goodness below.

Von Bizmark – Address The Silence

We’ve also released some footage of Clive performing in France with roots legends Taj Mahal and Eric Bibb which can also be seen on YouTube.

Clive takes to the road in May for a co-bill tour with Luan Parle. For full dates check out Clive Barnes on MySpace.

Clive Barnes – Highway 61

If you’re a podcaster and you would like to feature the new single on your show then drop us a line and we’ll get one over to you straight away. You can also find the track hosted for podcasting for a limited time on Music Alley – and if you like the sound of Address The Silence, you can grab a copy of the lads’ first single, London, as well.

Address The Silence gets its official release on Friday April 9th. We’ll be launching a tasty new AddressTheSilence.com promo site for the single next week, stay tuned.

You can preorder your copy of the single from DownloadMusic.ie now.

We’ll be releasing a few videos this week on Clive’s own YouTube channel, the first of which you can see below.

The setup was unintrusive – a live feed from the desk, HD camera planted at the rear of the video for a single camera shoot. If you’re interested in having your own show recorded then why not get in touch? It’s all about the video these days you know…

Clive Barnes – Looking Down The Cross

Buying from Ireland

To get your digital copy of the single, text music 5491 to 57501 to add download to your account. (Texts cost €1, which includes operator revenue share. ROI only.) Visit DownloadMusic.ie for more.

Buying from the UK

Text track 5491 to 83262 to add download to your account. (Texts cost £1, which includes operator revenue share. UK only.) Visit TextATrack.co.uk for more.

The band play their first outdoor gig on St. Patrick’s Day as they form part of Twilight in Kilkenny with a 45-minute set scheduled for 6:30pm on The Parade. There they’ll be joined by The River Valley Band, Pyrotechnix and more besides for a full evening of music from 4pm through to 7:30pm. The band mark the launch of Address The Silence with an early show at The Mezz (Dublin) on Friday April 9th, doors 8pm. We’ll have full details of their single tour dates shortly.

ReverbNation brought their store out of beta and into the public domain, giving listed bands the chance to get their merch out onto Facebook, amongst other things.

We’ve been poking our heads around the site recently, encouraged by RN’s recent facelift as well but the latest addition makes it easier again for bands to connect to fans through Facebook, and get some merch shifted at the same time. If you’re checking out ReverbNation, look for the My Band app for Facebook. Alternatively check out the Music app for Facebook from iLike.com.

Case #1

I was at a gig before Christmas, a double-header which featured two acts who had recentlt released new albums. The first act performs a selection of new material, all of which is available on the new album, finishes the set and waits for the next act to get up. Just before the second act gets up, the first act realises they forgot to tell people that the new album is available in the venue, cheaper than in the shops and asks the second act to do some plugging for him. That’s a fail in my books.

Case #2

This one in particular I find with a lot of younger bands coming up through the ranks. They put the time and money into the fun of recording, have their launch gig, and then when they’re pitching their CD they’ll tell people right at the very end of their set that “our new CD is available, here, somewhere, only a tenner, sure it might be good for a coaster or something”.

Pitch Your CD The Right Way

You’re the sales man/woman, you’re the spokesperson for the band, you’re trying to push your recording into the hands of as many people as possible so why on earth would you undersell both yourself and your recording?

If you’re selling your CD at gigs, you’ve got to pitch the CD to the audience. Tell them you’ve got the new recording, that a selection of tracks from your set (and maybe more) are available on the disc, that it would mean a great deal for them to take one away with you. If they don’t like the price, don’t be afraid to barter or agree to a haggle to get the sale, but don’t pitch it so flippantly or treat it like a coaster.

When you think about it, how many hours did you have to put into the recording? How many others worked on the recording? How much did it cost you to get the disc printed? How much for the venue, the PA, the support act, the engineer? Why would you undersell yourself if you’re trying to recoup your costs? You could be guaranteed that if you were pitching the CD as a festival application or venue application you wouldn’t be selling yourself short.

When it comes to the venu itself, don’t forget the in-house advertising. Gig sales can be very much a DIY job, even if you’ve got someone looking after a merch stand for you. Bring the blutac, the printed signs with your band name, CD name and price, and get them up around the venue. On the off chance that people ask at the bar on the way out, have a couple of copies there too as well but people are only going to be asking if you’ve genuinely encouraged them to go and buy your CD.

Full instructions are available on TuneCore.com though quite simply “If you currently have a MySpace music page, make sure you enter your MySpace ID# with every release you distribute”.

More revenue streams for artists? Yes please.

Taking two artists (to start with)who have a strong digital presence but little in terms of physical, their first release is a limited edition print of Sophie Madeleine’s Love. Life. Ukulele. This will be followed up with the release of Sola Rosa’s Get It Together.

BCWax produces high-quality physical artifacts of some of the very best independent music hosted on Bandcamp. Why is a digital music company pressing records? Because we believe in the eternal power of physical goods to delight, and to act as a legacy and means of self-expression for their owner. Because we believe software gets better when the people building it actively use it. Because we want to demonstrate to others the kinds of goods we ourselves would like to buy. And because we want to test out a different kind of model for a record label.

For BCWax, A&R consists of browsing through aggregate system stats, seeing which bands are exhibiting the early signs of success, giving them a listen, and discovering favorites. Production and manufacturing consists of taking an already excellent recording and coordinating the production of an awesome physical package around it. Distribution is Bandcamp itself. And the record “deal” is nothing more than a co-marketing agreement, where we recoup our manufacturing costs and then share the profits with the artist (but take no ownership rights in the music). It’s a model that diverges enough from a traditional label role that it seems wrong to even call it a label. “Unlabel” maybe? Yeah, OK, maybe not.

We hope you’ll collect BCWax releases because first and foremost, they’re great albums and great physical packages. But we also hope you’ll pick them up because you believe in a world where motivated, independent artists can make a living selling directly to their fans, with little outside help.

After starting out strictly with digital downloads, last year saw Bandcamp introduce physical sales for artists and recently introduced custom (as opposed to BC-generated) discount codes that you can apply to individual tracks or full releases.

We’ve had a listen to the album here in the office and it’s pretty good stuff. Then again we’ve hearted the outpouring of uke songs from Scrubs (tv series) and releases last year from The Guggenheim Grotto.

The limited edition print, LP and download package of Love. Life. Ukulele is available to buy on Bandcamp.com priced $30.