Follow Us. http://shoeswire.com/shoesnews.cfm Wed, 09 May 2012 18:58:35 GMT http://bandzoogle.com Update on the release of Ignition. http://shoeswire.com/shoesnews.cfm?feature=2732143&postid=2061974 We haven't posted updates for awhile so, we thought we should let everyone know where things stand.  The final song sequence has been decided on and the album is in the post production/manufacturing stage, with the final artwork and layout design (by John and Gary) going through some final tweaks.  Our pal Butch Vig referred us to a great mastering lab in NYC called The Lodge and a mastering engineer there named Emily Lazar, for the mastering.  He had done work with her on the latest Foo Fighters CD as well as the new Garbage CD.  This is where the final CD prep takes place.  Once the mastering and coding is finished, the parts are sent off to A to Z Media, the pressing plant for replication.  From that point it looks to be about 4 weeks turnaround. Meanwhile, the band has finished an extensive interview for a feature article in Magnet magazine.  The 4,000 word article, written by Corey DuBrowa should be in their upcoming issue (July). Also, Cary Baker, publicist extraordinaire and owner of the media company Conqueroo has been hired to work the new album, upon it's release.  Cary has been a friend of the band since the late 1970's and has worked at both IRS Records and Capitol Records, as well as zillions of independent promotional projects.  Cary is THE MAN when it comes to spreading the word! There are other exciting deals in the works, but we can't reveal them, just yet.  Stay tuned...
Meanwhile, the band has finished an extensive interview for a feature article in Magnet magazine.  The 4,000 word article, written by Corey DuBrowa should be in their upcoming issue (July).

Also, Cary Baker, publicist extraordinaire and owner of the media company Conqueroo has been hired to work the new album, upon it's release.  Cary has been a friend of the band since the late 1970's and has worked at both IRS Records and Capitol Records, as well as zillions of independent promotional projects.  Cary is THE MAN when it comes to spreading the word!

There are other exciting deals in the works, but we can't reveal them, just yet.  Stay tuned...
]]> Wed, 09 May 2012 18:58:35 GMT 8775D1865A5F08FD24842E13260BCC86 "Ignition"- the new album by Shoes coming soon! http://shoeswire.com/shoesnews.cfm?feature=2732143&postid=1931615 After months of work and long deliberation, the title for the new Shoes album was decided on late last night.&nbsp; It will be called &quot;Ignition&quot; and the 15 songs are going through final tweeks and adjustments, prior to being taken in to the mastering lab for final sequencing and level matching.&nbsp; So far, the very early responses to the new album have been very positive and we're all very excited about getting this new music out very soon!&nbsp; There are also several other exciting developments in the works.&nbsp; We'll post more info as it becomes available. ]]> Sat, 31 Mar 2012 02:25:28 GMT 55A8B97308494EC63C64A74F8DFD45FF Shoes radio feature this saturday on "Homemade Hitmakers Month"! http://shoeswire.com/shoesnews.cfm?feature=2732143&postid=1820561 Ted Ehlen, host of&nbsp; &quot;Saturday At the '70's&quot; show on Lake 96.1, WLKG in Lake Geneva, WI is hosting an interview with Jeff Murphy of Shoes, this saturday, 3/3/12 to kick off their &quot;Homemade Hitmakers Month&quot; feature.&nbsp; The discussion includes not only the origin of the band and progression of Shoes over the past 35 years but, also talk about the new Shoes album, which is quickly nearing completion.&nbsp; You can get more info on the show at their website; <a href="http://www.lake961.com">www.lake961.com or on their Facebook page; <a href="http://www.facebook.com/saturdayatthe70s ">http://www.facebook.com/saturdayatthe70s www.lake961.com or on their Facebook page; http://www.facebook.com/saturdayatthe70s


]]> Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:22:21 GMT 67FF5F4398E0AA05F0C2382C0718D748 New album update... http://shoeswire.com/shoesnews.cfm?feature=2732143&postid=1791484 It's been a few weeks since the last posting, so we wanted to let folks know that progress continues in earnest on the new SHOES record (as-yet untitled)!&nbsp; While final overdubs are being completed on the last 2 songs, the other 13 songs received basic mixdown.&nbsp; With digital recording (as opposed to tape-based recording) these basic mixes can be returned to, after being reviewed and tweaked, without having to start from scratch.&nbsp; This makes life alot easier and final mixes can be altered at anytime, without sacrificing previous tone or volume settings.&nbsp; If John wants more cowbell on a song, the mix can be retrieved and the cowbell can be turned up, without hours of advance set-up.&nbsp; No fuss, no muss.&nbsp; But, to get the best of both worlds (analog and digital) the mixing is being done through a process called &quot;stemming&quot; where the digital tracks are sub-grouped and fed through outboard analog gear, to capitalize on the &quot;warmth&quot; that comes from using analog gear.&nbsp; It's a bit more work to set-up, but Shoes has never skimped on working to get things to sound the best they can.&nbsp; You gotta love technology! ]]> Sat, 18 Feb 2012 07:20:09 GMT 4E0A0BDB7C27C5CF7D1367CB89904381 Song Listing for new Shoes album! http://shoeswire.com/shoesnews.cfm?feature=2732143&postid=1732773 While an official album title has yet to be decided on, we now know the song titles for the 15 songs that look to make up the forthcoming disc!&nbsp; So, here they are in alphabetical order with the songwriter listed in parenthesis;&nbsp; Diminishing Returns (John) Head vs. Heart (Gary) Heaven Help Me (Gary) Hot Mess (collaboration by all 3) In On You (John) I Thought You Knew (John) Maybe Now (Jeff) Nobody To Blame (Gary) Only We Remain (Gary) Sign of Life (Gary) Say It Like You Mean It (collaboration by all 3) Out Of Round (Jeff) The Joke's On You (Jeff) Where Will It End (Jeff) Wrong Idea (John)
Diminishing Returns (John)
Head vs. Heart (Gary)
Heaven Help Me (Gary)
Hot Mess (collaboration by all 3)
In On You (John)
I Thought You Knew (John)
Maybe Now (Jeff)
Nobody To Blame (Gary)
Only We Remain (Gary)
Sign of Life (Gary)
Say It Like You Mean It (collaboration by all 3)
Out Of Round (Jeff)
The Joke's On You (Jeff)
Where Will It End (Jeff)
Wrong Idea (John)
]]> Sat, 21 Jan 2012 21:00:00 GMT 643DB3B446C6E72C649A08BB94D990B9 New SHOES album nears completion! http://shoeswire.com/shoesnews.cfm?feature=2732143&postid=1725194 Cooper House Studio received a couple of visitors over the weekend to preview some rough mixes of the upcoming SHOES album; the author and editor of the upcoming book cronicaling SHOES' 35+ year musical career-Mary Donnelly (author) and Moira McCormick (editor).&nbsp; A post was made yesterday on the PowerPop BlogSpot webpage, commenting on their brief, initial sampling of the 15 new tunes.&nbsp; The band is hopeful that the music community at large will receive the new album with the same excitement and enthusiasm as these first witnesses.&nbsp; You can read their observations here; <a href="http://powerpop.blogspot.com/2012/01/just-little-bit-excited.html">http://powerpop.blogspot.com/2012/01/just-little-bit-excited.html http://powerpop.blogspot.com/2012/01/just-little-bit-excited.html
]]> Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:10:50 GMT 335432FC4BBFA285F4D0C438CF6A89F3 Will Birch C-90 compilation for MOJO includes a song by SHOES! http://shoeswire.com/shoesnews.cfm?feature=2732143&postid=1702099 There's a&nbsp;CD&nbsp;compilation listed on Power Pop Criminals Blogspot&nbsp;that includes a version of Tomorrow Night by SHOES!&nbsp; Apparently, this comp was originally compiled in 1994 by Will Birch (drummer for The Records) for&nbsp; MOJO magazine, but is now downloadable.&nbsp; It looks to be one of the better collections of this type of stuff. We're in with Tom Petty, Badfinger, Cheap Trick, The Posies, The La's, The Raspberries, Big Star, Dwight Twilley, The Byrds, Phil Seymour, Aimee Mann, etc. Great company to be in! Read more about it here; <a href="http://Apparently, this comp was done in 1994 by Will Birch (drummer for The Records) for a C-90 cassette, but is just now coming out on a MOJO CD! Cool. It looks to be one of the better collections of this type of stuff. We're in with Tom Petty, Badfinger, Cheap Trick, The Posies, The La's, The Raspberries, Big Star, Dwight Twilley, The Byrds, Phil Seymour, Aimee Mann, etc. Read more about it here; http://powerpopcriminals.blogspot.com/2012/01/various-will-birchs-c90-1994-will-birch.html ">http://powerpopcriminals.blogspot.com/2012/01/various-will-birchs-c90-1994-will-birch.html We actually had the chance to meet Will and the boys from The Records while we were in England in 1979 recording Present Tense. Apparently, they were fans from the BVS LP and the BOMP! single and invited us to their show at a place called The Music Machine in the West End of London. We hooked up with them again at the Park West Theatre in Chicago when they were touring the States later that year with Moon Martin (also a friend of ours, he wrote Bad Case Of Lovin' You that Robert Palmer covered) after Jude Cole (an Evanston, Illinois native) had joined the band. Nice blokes. They had a follow up to their radio hit Starry Eyes with a single called Hearts In Her Eyes. http://powerpopcriminals.blogspot.com/2012/01/various-will-birchs-c90-1994-will-birch.html

We actually had the chance to meet Will and the boys from The Records while we were in England in 1979 recording Present Tense. Apparently, they were fans from the BVS LP and the BOMP! single and invited us to their show at a place called The Music Machine in the West End of London. We hooked up with them again at the Park West Theatre in Chicago when they were touring the States later that year with Moon Martin (also a friend of ours, he wrote Bad Case Of Lovin' You that Robert Palmer covered) after Jude Cole (an Evanston, Illinois native) had joined the band. Nice blokes. They had a follow up to their radio hit Starry Eyes with a single called Hearts In Her Eyes.
]]> Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:55:00 GMT 426AC9F2BEB7CC7D150E368B62BF6C53 High hopes for 2012! http://shoeswire.com/shoesnews.cfm?feature=2732143&postid=1674716 After taking a seasonal break from the studio and with the holidays behind us, Shoes look forward to getting back to business and finishing up the new record.&nbsp; We hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable holiday season and we wish you all the best in 2012.&nbsp; HAPPY SHOE-YEAR! ]]> Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:21:55 GMT 507DE86A00C05ECF746B2869573C8854 Final rhythm tracks recorded with John Richardson! http://shoeswire.com/shoesnews.cfm?feature=2732143&postid=1621281 Johnny Richardson broke away from his gigging and Drum Farm Studio obligations long enough to lay down the drums for what should be the last time on the new Shoes project.&nbsp; John breezed through the last song, &quot;Wrong Idea&quot; and even had time to relax with Jeff's 1988 Fender American Standard Stratocaster.&nbsp; John brought with him a new Hi-Tone 30 watt amp for us to try out in the studio and we thought it was FANTASTIC!&nbsp; The amp's design is based on the classic English amp made by Hiwatt (popularized by Pete Townsend), which has been a Shoes staple amp since 1978. ]]> Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:40:00 GMT 140C31E496AC1B696F68CEF64EEECBC2 Backing vocal bonanza during the month of November! http://shoeswire.com/shoesnews.cfm?feature=2732143&postid=1562881 The month of November was a busy one for the guys with John working on the final arrangement for his latest song, &quot;Wrong Idea&quot; as well as numerous backing vocal overdubs dominating most of the sessions.&nbsp; John Richardson is scheduled to make one last trip into the studio to lay down the drums for this final song and any additional percussion overdubs.&nbsp; A night off for John's birthday consisted of drinks and dinner at a local pub.&nbsp; Mixing should begin shortly after the first of the year. ]]> Wed, 30 Nov 2011 06:06:04 GMT 363C548D2D257D0D2FCB3996341F61DE October points to a bountiful harvest on new Shoes recording! http://shoeswire.com/shoesnews.cfm?feature=2732143&postid=1472215 October has been a fruitful and busy month, as progress continues on the 15 new Shoes songs currently in the works.&nbsp; Despite having played drums with the band for over 17 years, since the Propeller tour of 1994, John Richardson has never appeared on a Shoes studio album!&nbsp; Just wait until you hear what he can do in the studio environment with the guys!&nbsp; Just you wait . . . ]]> Mon, 07 Nov 2011 01:29:01 GMT BDEC9ADB3BB28A5A6AA7A12810B45C93 Shoes take Labor Day weekend literally http://shoeswire.com/shoesnews.cfm?feature=2732143&postid=1355855 As a result of The Gin Blossoms playing a gig in nearby Naperville, IL drummer John Richardson was able to find some free time during the extended Labor Day weekend and pounded away the days in the studio with Shoes. The results yielded 6 brand new Shoes songs! Included in the new tracks were John's &quot;I Thought You Knew&quot;, Gary's &quot;Sign of Life&quot;, Jeff's &quot;Maybe Now&quot; and the rockin' collaboration, &quot;Hot Mess&quot;. Jonathan Pines, from Private Studios in Champaign, IL was kind enough to lend the band an assortment of sE Electronics mics to try out for the sessions, including a pair of the new, Rupert Neve designed sE Electronics RN17 SP mics (pictured below). They were put to good use capturing the crystaline tones of JR's overhead cymbals. Thanks, John! John Richardson prepares for the assault Gary tweaks something in the rack JR adds maracas to &quot;Hot Mess&quot; All 3 members of Shoes appear in this candid, &quot;behind the mouse&quot; view photo! Can you spot them?
John Richardson prepares for the assault Gary tweaks something in the rack
JR adds maracas to "Hot Mess" All 3 members of Shoes appear in this candid, "behind the mouse" view photo! Can you spot them?
]]> Sat, 03 Sep 2011 04:30:00 GMT 56D3831F0CA4675BAF3C073C5770FB98 Shoes continue work on new tracks, in lieu of extreme weather http://shoeswire.com/shoesnews.cfm?feature=2732143&postid=1279297 Despite dramatic weather conditions over the last 6 weeks including, tornadoes, waterspouts, hurricane velocity winds, fallen trees, lightning strikes and torrential rainfalls, work continues on the new album project by Shoes, with overdubs continuing and new songs being brought in.&nbsp; Braving the power outages and property damage, Gary, John and Jeff weather the storms and forge ahead with the recording.&nbsp; No hard drives were harmed in the making of this album. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;John &nbsp;John &nbsp;And More John
     
 John  John  And More John
]]> Sat, 23 Jul 2011 08:15:00 GMT 26DD2BE49C1BA3D39DD36AB0EEAF35E6 SHOES lay down more basic tracks with John Richardson http://shoeswire.com/shoesnews.cfm?feature=2732143&postid=1279334 Shoes' drummer John Richardson was able to find some time away from the construction of his new studio, The Drum Farm and his touring dates with The Gin Blossoms to head into the studio over Mother's Day weekend, to lay down the basic rhythm tracks to 4 new Shoes songs. Originally allocating 3-4 days for the task, Johnny ended up pounding out the drums for the new songs in just under a day and a half! The four songs consisted of one newly penned composition each from John, Gary and Jeff and the 4rth tune was a 3-way collaboration.
The four songs consisted of one newly penned composition each from John, Gary and Jeff and the 4rth tune was a 3-way collaboration.]]> Tue, 17 May 2011 09:10:00 GMT 65531A905A34603FA7F0D8B50DEA5850 Chicago-based film maker includes SHOES song in new film http://shoeswire.com/shoesnews.cfm?feature=2732143&postid=1279343 Chicago-based, independent film maker Daniel Cooper, of COOPERsPLANET productions is premiering his new short film comedy, &quot;Bigger &amp; Better Things&quot; Friday, June 24th, 2011 at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago. The film, which was written, directed, &amp; animated by Daniel D. Cooper, includes many cool songs, including &quot;I Knew You'd Be Mine&quot;, from Shoes. The song originally appeared on Shoes' &quot;Stolen Wishes&quot; CD. The quirky comedy clocks in at around 30 minutes and is a combination of live action and animation. We're anxious to see how the song is incorporated into the film and we wish Daniel continued success with this project. You can read more about the film here: <a target="_new" href="http://www.biggerandbetterthingsmovie.com/index.html">http://www.biggerandbetterthingsmovie.com/index.html http://www.biggerandbetterthingsmovie.com/index.html]]> Mon, 21 Mar 2011 09:15:00 GMT 9D110DFA9F951CC34266957DFD883C7C