TANDY

 

"Let me introduce you to the most criminally overlooked artist in roots music.  His name is Mike Ferrio and his band is called Tandy." - Jim White (June 2007)

"Tandy is my favorite NYC band and the first music I ever played on my radio show." - Steve Earle (June 2007)

 

I am so happy to announce that July 24th will (finally) be the release of 2 albums by the great Brooklyn band, Tandy, on 00:02:59!!

 

I first met Mike Ferrio (Tandy) in 1999 at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ.  We were both there to see the amazing Malcolm Holcombe opening for some big and popular band.  We bonded quickly because we were basically the only two people in there trying to hear Malcolm's quiet and gritty set while the loud and trendy crowd drank and talked at the top of their lungs as they waited for the headliner.  

 

We kept in touch and ran into each other at various shows... and would often speak of our love of Townes Van Zandt, Tom Waits, Dylan, The Band, etc.  Eventually, one day he said, "Do you know I have a band too?"  He handed me a couple CDs and I became an immediate fan of his band, Tandy. 

 

Over the years, I would see him perform every chance that I could... and loved all of his releases, especially Lichtenstein's Oriole and The Bloodroot Transcriptions that he put out on his own Yellow Slipper label.  The songs were familiar, yet totally unique... simple, yet completely complex.  I always like to call Tandy "the thinking-man's blue collar band" because the tunes were simple and accessible while the lyrics were deep and super-intelligent.   

 

One day, Mike asked me to meet him for a drink at Siberia.  It was obvious that he was getting discouraged and frustrated because more people didn't know the band and its impressive body of work.  Thinking I was being the best friend I could be, I broke it down for him by saying, "Listen, Mike... your songwriting is amazing and unique... but if you want to get more fans, you need to dumb down your songs a bit by writing catchy melodies - and stick to more of a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus song structure." He left looking more depressed than when he walked in... not very good advice on my part.

Fortunately, Mike ignored all of my advice and went to work on his magnum opus, To A Friend.  I couldn't believe my ears when Mike gave me an advance copy.  I was walking around the streets of New York, listening to it on my headphones - becoming more and more amazed with each new track.  By the time the last track, "Providence," came on... I was in tears.  "My friend has made his masterpiece."

 

Mike made a limited quantity of 500 copies to sell on Yellow Slipper - with handmade packages made with all the love you can put in a project.  I started playing it for friends (who also loved it) - and for record labels who "didn't hear a single" (even though they loved it too).

 

One day, I was listening to the album for the 1000+ time... still more and more amazed by its beauty and originality... and I said to myself, "More than 500 people need the opportunity to hear this album."  So, I decided to start my own record label - a record label that released albums because the albums worked as a complete story, and were great from beginning to end - not because of one potential hit single.  I told Mike about the idea - and that I wanted To A Friend to be the first release... and he said "OK, cool." 

 

As I was working on starting my own record label, I stumbled upon the opportunity to release Streets Of New York by Willie Nile.  I told Mike, "Hey Mike, if I could put Willie's album out first, it could open a lot of doors for your release."  He said, "OK, cool."  This also happened when I had the chance to release albums by Matt Mays & El Torpedo and Matthew Ryan... and also The Sandinista! Project.  Every time, Mike said, "OK, cool..."

 

Well, Mike, the time is finally here... thank you for your patience. 

 

 

In the meantime, however, Mike was not just sitting around waiting for me to get my act together... he was hard at work on making a new album, Did You Think I Was Gone?  Where To A Friend had a tone of beauty and love... Did You Think I Was Gone? responded with a darker tone of mystery, fear, anger and regret.  After Mike played it for me, I yelled at him for being too good of a songwriter... then I said, "Well, I have to put this one out too..."

 

So, thanks to a totally cool packaging design by Nicole Mensinger, these two separate albums have been packaged together for you (for one low price).  We re-mastered To A Friend and re-sequenced Did You Think I Was Gone? and even added a bonus remix of the song, "Misery Boys," by Jay Braun and Blues Explosion's Russell Simins.

 

Again, as with The Sandinista! Project, we will be delaying the digital release of these albums (on iTunes, etc)... because the best way to enjoy these releases is to hear the physical product from beginning to end.  While iTunes will charge $9.99 for each album, you can get both (and the cool artwork) for only $14.98 in the stores.  You can check out some tracks from these two albums on the updated 00:02:59 website or on Tandy's brand new MySpace page.   

 

Mike will be playing a special record release show on the night of July 24th at The Living Room in NYC.  The show starts at 10pm, and it is free - so we hope to see you there.

 

Special thanks go to Monica Hopman at Think Press for the publicity, Jeff Fasano for the photo of Mike, and Jake Muirhead for the artwork photos. 

 

WE'RE ALL BROS

 

OK - I've been extra long-winded on this newsletter - so I'll wrap this up.

 

However, please take a moment to click around on the updated WE'RE ALL BROS page on 2minutes59.com - where you can find the links to a bunch of the great things our friends are doing.  Support our buddies!!

 

If you feel you are a BRO of 00:02:59 and you don't see your link, let us know and we will put it up.  Also, if you see your link on there and don't want to be a BRO of 00:02:59, let us know and we will take your link down... loser.  :-) 

 

Thank you for all of your support!!

 

Abe

 

"Wanderin' ain't no place to be..."

                                - Malcolm Holcombe