4.1.02 :: Off Of The Pubweb, Onto The Net
I finally moved my site off the Northwestern student server and onto a real web hosting service (HostBaby, the sister site of CDBaby), so if you’ve got the site bookmarked at the old location, please change your bookmarks so you’re just headed tohttps://ellenshapiro.com. Thanks!
Look for upcoming changes due to the far larger chunk of space I have (200MB instead of 4, literally 50 times as much), like streaming audio, a complete redesign and a new email address, once I figure out how it all works. And I swear I’ll eventually redesign the site. I know it causes my semi-professional web designing friends to scream at the misuse of the color palate, but hey, it works for me. Besides, I’m audio, not visual.
3.5.02 :: Functioning Guestbook!
After months of having a somewhat jury-rigged guestbook, I’ve finally got a proper one again, this time from the wonderful people at Lycos’s HTML Gear. Just go to the guestbook section of this site to get a look at the new one and compare it to the old one. [2004 note: The guestbook is now gone. Sorry.]
2.28.02 :: Northwestern Magazine
Well, I seem to have landed in the Spring 2002 issue of Northwestern Magazine, the alumni magazine for my very own fabulous university. The issue hasn’t been posted online as of right now, but I linked to the magazine’s home page because I think it’s going up in the next couple of days [Obviously, it’s now up]. I’m very flattered to have been profiled in the magazine, and if you’ve stopped by after reading it, thanks a lot and I hope you enjoy both the site and my music.
2.16.02 :: Let Me Bring You Up To Speed…
I kinda didn’t post here for a while. Like from May until now. I have not fallen off the face of the earth, contrary to popular belief. I have been sucked into the phenomenon that is known as film school to an unfortunate extent, and my music has had to take a back seat for the last year or so. However, I’ve got some big news…
I’m getting ready to work on a new album! I’ve got about fourteen songs and am currently working on a couple more. I will be recording over the summer with a full band and I am hoping to get this album out by the end of 2002. I am looking into the possibilities of touring in the next year, but this will depend on when the album comes out.
So why do I want to get the album out so soon? I’m graduating from college! Yes, I will now officially be done in December 2002, and will have to go out and get one of those job thingies like the rest of the universe. Unless of course I create the best album ever and become a big rich rock star. Then I won’t need a job, I’ll just borrow money from my underlings.
Now since my last update, there were a couple of little things that happened: Here’s a review that came out last June from Jon at KozmicBlues.net. I’ve been getting a bit of play on the internet from Aaron Childs at The Sonic Chronichles, a wonderful little show out of Jackson, Michigan that is on from 7-11am Eastern time Mondays-Thursdays. Aaron plays lots of kickass independent music, so please do surf on over. Click the link and there’s instructions on how to tune in to the show.
And I swear, I will get around to writing a Newsletter someday.
5.26.01 Review From Persygrrl
(Note From Ellen: [Persy’s pretty much stopped reviewing and I’m pretty sure her email is dead, but you can still check out what’s left of her website.])
Ellen Shapiro – Bridge Over Bottled Water (Psychadelic Goat Records)
by Persygrrl
Except for some backing vocals on one track, Ellen herself plays and sings every note on this album. “Bridge Over Bottled Water” is seventeen folk-rock tracks from college-age Ellen. Armed with just her guitar, Ellen begins the album with ‘First Things First’, which showcases two of her best qualities, her voice and her honesty. The song ‘Andy Warhol Was Wrong’, however, is one getting a bit of attention, not just because of it’s subject matter, but because it is one of the standout tracks on the album in just about every way, great lyrics, great vocals, and great playing from Ellen. Here’s a new female singer/songwriter who isn’t afraid of being herself and breaking the traditional girl with a guitar stereotype. Instead, she’s bravely forging ahead for the next generation.
5.1.01 :: Site Updates
I found a copy of the Fall 2000 Psychadelic Goat Records Newsletter while dustbusting my Inbox, so if you’d like to read a copy you can check it out directly through this link. Other recent updates are posted on the News page, as is the Spring 2001 Psychadelic Goat Records Newsletter.
4.25.01 :: Site Updates
The The Spring 2001 Psychadelic Goat Records Newsletter is finally out. Scroll down to read it. I realized that it was dumb for me not to have a way to join the Psychadelic Goat Records Mailing List, so I’ve added such a section. I’ve also had to make some substantial changes to the Guestbook. Click on the link to read about the changes and see the new guestbook. [2004 note: The guestbook is now gone. Sorry.]
4.25.01 :: Psychadelic Goat Records Spring 2001 Newsletter
Hey everyone,
Hope you’re all doing well. Sorry it’s taken me so long to get the Spring 2001 Newsletter out, I’ve just been incredibly busy lately. Before I dive in to this quarter’s news, I’d just like to say that if you want to be removed from this list, please respond to this email and you will be removed. Also, since several of you are graduating from college or high school, you may want to change the email address in order to keep receiving this newsletter. Please tell me both your old and new email addresses in order to be updated. Thanks, guys. Okay, enough of that crap, on with the three ring circus!
I. WEBSITE!
Some of you on my joke emailing list got a little sneak preview when it initially launched, but I am proud to finally announce the arrival of ellenshapiro.com! I have put an enormous amount of work into this site, and while it is by no means perfect (or even finished, as I will constantly be tweaking it in order to avoid doing my homework), please stop by and give it a look. You can either click on this link: Ellen’s Website Or copy and paste this one: https://ellenshapiro.com. The website also has a version of this newsletter under News that has active links to all the web sites I talk about.
II. HEY, WHY ISN’T YOUR CD ON AMAZON.COM ANYMORE?
I have terminated my contract with The Orchard, the company that was distributing my CD to all the internet music retailers like CDNow, buy.com, and Amazon. I decided to do this because The Orchard had some extraordinarily shady accounting practices, changed the terms of their contract without notifying me, and basically didn’t pay me since June 2000.
III. DUDE, THAT SUCKS. WHAT ARE YOU DOING ABOUT IT?
As I said, I terminated my contract with those fu-ahem, jerks, so my stuff is temporarily off Amazon. It probably won’t be back up on most of the other sites, but Amazon has a we-deal-directly-with-artists thing that I will make use of as soon as all this Orchard crap is cleared up, and Bridge Over Bottled Water will be back on Amazon. Until then, you can buy it from me (there is an order form on my website under Sell Out to make your life easier) or from the fabulous people at cdbaby.com, who I think are even better than Amazon.
IV. SO WHAT’S SO DAMN GOOD ABOUT CDBABY?
Many, many things. One, they are extremely nice and helpful to both artists and customers. Two, they ship almost anywhere in the world (yes, even Botswana, Sean), with Global Priority Mail to most of Europe. Three, they’re cheap. The CD itself is the same price as I have it for (though they don’t have my offer for people who want to buy multiple CD’s, see the order form under Sell Out for details), and their shipping varies, but they’re cheaper than Amazon or buy.com were. Four, they promote independent music like crazy. Everyone on there is an independent musician. They have tons of other cool stuff, so please visit my page on their site athttp://www.cdbaby.com/ellens and help ’em out.
V. I’M ON THE MICHIGAN, WHOA-OH, RADIO
So I’m on a big musician mailing list, and there are a couple of radio DJs that post lists of what they play, and I noticed that this one woman, Persy, was posting a lot of stuff I liked. I sent her my CD, and I guess she liked it, because my name was on her next three playlists. So if anyone is driving through Port Huron, Michigan (which according to MapQuest, appears to be about 20 miles or so north of Detroit on I-94), turn that dial to 93.1 FM, WGSR. According to Persy, the station plays “interesting blends of rock/pop/alt/folk/metal/punk music.” Dude.
VI. SO WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN PLAYING LIVE LATELY?
Um…in my room. I’ve been swamped with school for a while, and though I did not make Dean’s List again, I came a hell of a lot closer than I thought I would. I am also teaching guitar lessons ($10/half hour for those near Northwestern…), and I’ve been doing a lot of writing. But for the most part school took a big wet bite out of my playing time this past quarter.
VII. WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS SUMMER?
Glad you asked. Oh wait…Anyway, I’ve got an internship in downtown Chicago with a place called Chicago Recording Company, which is considered one of the best recording studios in the country, so I’m very excited about that. Granted, it’s unpaid and it’ll be lots of errands, but it IS an internship. I also got myself a paying job at Blockbuster Video (hey, I’m a film major and I get free movie rentals) based on the qualifications that it’s relatively easy, it’s near my apartment, and it’s not Starbucks. I got it to start trying to scrape together enough money for a second album.
VIII. HOT DAMN! SECOND ALBUM?!
Whoa, whoa, whoa there, buddy. I need approximately ten times the amount of money I currently have to put it together and not have it sound/look like crap, so it’s going to be a ways off. Late 2002 is the absolute earliest I can see it coming out. I’m trying to think of ways to fundraise other than working crappy jobs, so I’m wondering if anyone would be interested in Psychadelic Goat Records Road Crew tshirts. They’d be either white on black or black on white, haven’t decided/seen what’s cheaper yet, and they’ll probably be between $10-15. Please let me know, because the more people who buy them, the cheaper they will be.
IX. COOL. YOU GOT ANYTHING ELSE?
Not that I can think of right now, but please check ellenshapiro.com every once in a while for updates. And please, if we haven’t talked in a while, drop me a line and let me know what you’re up to. I always love to hear what people are doing, even if you think I don’t remember you. Thanks a lot for reading through this whole damn thing, and have a great rest of the spring. See you in summer!
Much Love To All,
-Ellen
<by the way, most of the preceding was originally written at the Vic Theatre in Chicago while I was waiting for the North Mississippi Allstars show (which was excellent) to start, since I went by myself and it was too dark to read. It was much easier to write.>