Senator and The New Republic is giving away a free song each month. Each free song is available here only through the end of the month, so be sure to check back often for the newest release.
I was walking down Mulberry Street when I came up with the melody for this song. It was well after the bars had closed and the streets were eerily silent. I waded through strewn piles of discarded food containers, empty beer yards, and the sharp rancid smell of some combination of day-old fried shrimp, roasted meats, and beer. It was a strong reminder of why I tend to plan my getaways this time of the year. You see, September brings the feast of San Gennaro and the feast brings the flock. Every cheap carnival trick, bargain bracelet, Grade-D sausage & pepper sandwich, and crappy wedding band (most likely playing all the greatest of Frank & Dean) line the streets of Little Italy to service the good residents of New Jersey and Connecticut as they swarm through for the annual street fair. Now, I don’t want to sound like a curmudgeon. I get why people like this feast. They come down to the city, bring the whole family, eat lots of fried food, buy cheap knock-off purses, maybe a DVD of a movie that comes out next week. But the problem is that they all get to go home at the end of the day. I have to suffer through it for two weeks. I don’t use the word suffer lightly either. Last year I had to stop three different guys from pissing on my front door. Anyway, I was walking home by way of Mulberry through what can best be described as an abandoned, possibly haunted carnival. The wind was blowing some of the lighter trash around. Garbage cans that were over flowing with half-eaten roasted corn and fried dough had morphed into a rats’ paradise. The idea struck me that all of the fantastical characters and acts of a circus also had a pretty seedy underbelly. Every block that I walked home gave me more and more lyrical fodder for the song. There are actually 13 verses to this song but this isn’t a prog-rock band. The feast turns Little Italy into a Dump. I took a train to Connecticut yesterday to visit my pop and meet up with my friend Gerry Giaimo. Gerry and I played together a year or so ago and I wanted re-kindle some of that old magic. What better place to do that than at the house of a magician? Did I mention my father is a magician? True story. Yes, I have been pulled out of a hat and oddly I was born in the year of the rabbit. I digress. So, Gerry and I toiled over what cover song to do. It came down to Beck and Motley Crue. Once we tried playing this Beck number there really wasn’t any question. In fact we never got around to even trying out the Crue tune. There’s always tomorrow! ~A Mixing three new tunes this week to give you all. I wish it didn’t have to be over the course of three months. I don’t want to wait! Welcome to Senator and The New Republic’s new site. And with its release are a couple of new installments in the coming months. We’ll be releasing a new single every month for your free consumption, starting this balmy February. All you need is an email address. Once in a while, we’ll send a little love your way in the form of new tunes, videos and exclusive content. Each free song release is available for download only until the end of the respective month, so don’t miss it. We’re also excited to start posting regularly on YouTube with our favorite covers, private performances and special guests. Your requests are especially welcome and subject to our whim. Keep us inspired! Tune in to our updates and thanks for visiting! Check out my new family of home studio toys! It’s been a dream of mine to have my own home recording situation where I can slap down ideas as quickly as they flow, with relative ease and quality. Thankfully these days, for an independent artist like myself of less than substantial means, assembling a basic homegrown studio doesn’t mean giving up my first born. With a couple of jobs and a few smart investments, I think I’ve got great thing going here. I’m now the proud owner of an Apogee, a sweet new Gauge mic, ProTools and a solid pair of studio monitors. Now, getting everything running like a well-oiled engine and figuring out ProTools is another thing… hmm… Senator and The New Republic had another productive weekend recording in the gorgeous studio upstate with producer / engineer, Scott Hollingsworth, drummer, Felipe Torres, and production assistant, Sam Kawahara. Felipe was especially on fire and in peak form. With the help of a little electrical tape and the right hat, he even treated us to a little costume change for the occasion! Nothing like singing in the bathroom (yes, it’s true about bathroom acoustics), a little studio magic, fresh cooked meals (thanks to Camille) + great company; it’s moments like these that remind me why I love doing what I do. Behind the Scenes with Senator and The New Republic: Recording at Mama’s Studio in Woodstock Get a sneak peak at all the toys and the magic happening in producer / engineer Michael Tudor’s (Mama) Woodstock studios. We’re recording new tracks for 2012 and I can’t wait to release them. Keep tuning in! Senator and The New Republic has just release their new single, “Smile to Pretend” on iTunes. Come and get it!
Adam Greenberg, front man of Senator and The New Republic, is starting the new year with a new single and new sound. “Smile to Pretend,” the highly anticipated first release since 2010′s self-titled debut album (produced by Grammy Award winning engineer Michael Tudor) is set for a digital release March 25th. Driven by poignant lyrics and Adam’s haunting vocals “Smile To Pretend” sheds the sonic skin of previous efforts for a more stripped-back sound. The result is a new-fashioned flair that explores the terrain of The Nashville Sound made famous by Patsy Cline. 2010 was an incredible year for Senator and the New Republic. Upon releasing their acclaimed, self-titled debut album, the band was featured in two, back-to-back iTunes campaigns, though it was the highly coveted iTunes “Single of the Week” spot for the infectious single “Intermission” which made the most noise for the New York City band. Downloaded a remarkable 65, 000 times in its first day online, and registering 300,000 clicks the first week of September, Senator and The New Republic hit the road for what became a successful southeast tour, garnering an array of new fans and support along the way. “Smile To Pretend,” co-produced by Scott Hollingsworth and mastered by TW Walsh (Pedro The Lion) is just the first release in a series of singles slated for the band, which includes a pastiche of some of the industry’s finest musicians and engineers such as: Scott Hollingsworth (Sean Lennon/Jesse Harris); Jack Petracelli (Rufus Wainwright/Joan Osbourne/The Fab Faux); Jason Hart (Rufus Wainwright/Duncan Sheik/Suzanne Vega) and Felipe Torres (Davy Jones). “The reason we are releasing these songs as singles as opposed to an album” said Greenberg, “is that the songs are so very different from one another. I thought they should all stand alone. And this way I can give listeners a little something special every 2 or 3 months.” The next few months will undoubtedly prove an exciting time for front man Adam Greenberg and Co. Regardless of the mode of distribution, the result will definitely be a sound that effortlessly gallops toward a rich tapestry of hook-laden-guitar pop. Stay tuned for tour dates.
Check out our radio interview and live set at ECU’s WZMB: The limited-edition hardcopy of Senator and The New Republic’s self-titled debut CD in new eco-packaging have just arrived! Drop by during our shows to pick up a copy or order them on CD Baby.
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A little backstory on “The Carnival”
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“Dead Melodies” – Beck (YouTube Cover)
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Why do I have to wait
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Welcome
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New Home Studio Toys
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Behind the Scenes: Back in the Studio
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Behind the Scenes: Recording at Mama’s studio, Woodstock, NY
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New Single Release: “Smile to Pretend”
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Press Release – Senator and The New Republic
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Live Radio Session @ ECU’s WZMB
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Available now: Limited-Edition hardcopy of our self-titled debut CD
