Hungry Lucy

Happy New Year to all.

2008 has been an odd year indeed. An entire year passed by and there is little tangible to show for it. We performed just 2 shows and put our weekly podcast, “Tea with Hungry Lucy” on hold. Reflecting, as one does, on the past year, though, so much happened and so many lessons were learned.

Among them, we learned that “good enough” is anything but.
We learned that change is essential for growth.
We learned that transparency can be stressful, especially for introverts.
We learned to experiment without placing expectations on the results.
We learned that simplicity is often the most powerful and appropriate path forward.
We learned that “getting it wrong” is valuable and useful thing to do.
We learned to learn.

I know many of you patiently awaiting a new album. You will get one in 2009, you will also get back “Tea with Hungry Lucy”. We spent much of our time since pausing the podcast working on new songs, gradually easing them towards completion. We came within striking distance of a complete album. Many of these songs were good, but not great. These songs are now filed away somewhere and may or may not ever see the light of day. This took us quite a way back in the whole process, but everything we have ready, is truly some of our best work. This also means we still have quite a way to go. No one but Christa and I have heard these songs, and no one will until the album is complete.

So, with the lessons of 2008 behind us, we move forward. We are both very excited about 2009 and our current frame of mind/heart.

What can you expect from Hungry Lucy in 2009? Expect nothing. Expect everything.

Happy New Year to all.

“… the best way to predict the future is to invent it”
- Alan Kay, Pioneering Computer Scientist

“Following a trend just means you’re always behind”
- Lydia Hutchinson, Editor, Performing Songwriter Magazine

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War-N Harrison, from the band Hungry Lucy, speaks about his views and support of Creative Commons licensing.

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Tags: cc, creative commons, licensing, music, sharing

It is always kind of a milestone event when we run out of a pressing of one of our CDs. It allows to pause for a moment and marvel at the fact that all of you fabulous fans have enabled us to sell multiple thousands of copies of a CD (that still blows my mind). Typically that is quickly followed by a large outlying of cash, shortly followed by a shipment of a thousand CDs that look and sound identical to their predecessor. There is always the urge, though, to make a few tweaks to the new batch. Usually, we fall back on staying true to the original. When it came time to re-press our 2003 CD, “Glo“, we gave in to that urge. So much has changed with the world and our beliefs since the last pressing that a change was in order. The new version of Glo not only reflects our musical and artistic vision, but also our belief that large heaps of plastic and coated paper are not such a great thing. Also gone are the “duplication punishable by death” statements. There is also the reality that we must be a little more cost-conscious when stocking up on a dying medium, the shiny disc.

The original version of Glo, was a double CD. The first disc being our original vision for the album, and the second being a set of re-imagined versions by some great artists such as Bloodwire, Chandeen, Claire Voyant, and The Dreamside among several others. All this was packed into a double plastic jewel case with an 8 page, glossy-coated booklet, which was then wrapped in yet more plastic.

The new version includes only the first disc enclosed in a 4 panel, recycled board wallet, printed with vegetable-based ink and no shrink wrap. We’re pleased to say the only plastic is the disc itself. Fear not, the wonderful remixes and 8 page booklet are not lost. Anyone purchasing the Glo CD will receive a special website address where they can download all of the remixes and the original 8-page booklet. The audio files are available in 256kbps MP3, 256kbps OGG and FLAC formats. The booklet is available in PDF format. For those concerned about the audio quality of MP3s, FLAC is a lossless format, meaning a full-fidelity copy of the original CD files. Equally as important to us (and hopefully you) is the fact that Glo is now released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license.

All that simply means is that everyone is free to share, copy, distribute, remix, display and perform the music as long you let people know that Hungry Lucy created the music and include a link back to www.hungrylucy.com. This license only extends to non-commercial uses of the music. If you’re making money from it, just ask us first.

We first used Creative Commons licensing with our 2006 EP, “Before We Stand… We Crawl” and then with this year’s “Teatime Sessions” release. As we release new material, as well as re-press each of our previous releases, we’ll make sure each of those use the same Creative Commons license.

The brand-spanking new version of Glo is available now in the Hungry Lucy web store for just $11.00 USD.

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It’s hard for me to believe that Hungry Lucy turns 10 years old this month (Nov. 2008). Although our cover of Depeche Mode’s “Blue Dress” kicked everything off earlier in 1998, November of that year marked the first time we put pen to paper and fingers to keyboard to create our first original song, “Bound in Blood“. I remember getting up one morning and finding that Christa had left the lyrics with a little description of the “sound” for me. It was like a little present. Using that description as “instructions” I began to form the music. And Hungry Lucy was born!

We’ve sure come a long way since those days. Working in our own little bubbles was the way we both dealt with the very personal work of songwriting back then. The shear distance we’ve come was reinforced this past weekend when Christa and I (close to giving up completely) threw away several of the songs we had for the next release. Although this seems rash, it was just the catharsis we needed. Within a few hours of this decision, we had sat down together and created what is my current favorite song, “Pulse of the Earth“. Gone are the attempts to emulate the artists we love and respect. Frankly, that was the problem with the songs we threw out. It can be tough to trust one’s own instincts when you’re creating something for which you know people are waiting. Casting all the expectation aside is what it takes, and where Hungry Lucy is headed (once more) as we go into our 11th year as a band. We’ve never been a normal band. We never will be… and that’s OK. We are nothing more than husband and wife, creating the little pieces of art of which we can be proud.

Coinciding with our 10 year anniversary, we recently took a trip down memory lane for the excellent “Music for Midnight” podcast. Austin Beeman (our gracious host) did an excellent job of producing something that provides a lovely audio scrapbook of our past 10 years.

You can subscribe to Music for Midnight or listen directly to the Hungry Lucy – Feature. “In Their Own Words” (MP3 link).

Thank you Austin for shining a light on what we do!

In the absence of our podcast, “Tea with Hungry Lucy“, I’ll be writing more about the album’s progress in the next few days. For those of you that have emailed, TWHL will be back… just not yet! For all the people that have emailed and commented with your supportive patience, we thank you. Something special is brewing and we’ll share it with you all very soon!

That is all… as you were.

War-N

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