Old News Items...

24 January 2004

Just a quick update...

For once, I'm happy to report some degree of activity, instead of excuses for inactivity. :) The recent strip-down and re-approach to the project necessitated by our life changes has provided a nice perspective and framework from which to evaluate the project: that is, imagining that you have nothing. Starting there, it's much easier to see what you do have, and sometimes even where to go.

Since September, we've been performing almost monthly at the cozy and band-friendly home base of Oz's Music Environment, a music store located on Packard Road in Ann Arbor. Oz's has provided us with a small-but-functional space where we can produce our own shows on our terms without the hassle of trying to handle bookings with semi-professional and/or market-swamped bar- and cafe-owners. Having the freedom to run our own door, book our own opening acts (like Sari Brown, Brian Lillie and Chris Buhalis), and such has resulted in some really fun evenings, the most recent of which, our first dual-percussionist performance since Art Fair in 2002, was particularly memorable.

With our performance and rehearsal routine more or less worked out, we now begin the forays back out into the more visible world, such as with our booking at Espresso Royale Cafe and our radio appearance on WCBN in February. We plan to gradually re-extend ourselves into the doable and worthwhile ends of the more public music scene, while keeping our community-based home gigs at Oz's as a base. As time goes on, we'll be looking for more opportunities to do this, but not at the expense of keeping things managable and enjoyable for us, and fresh and high-quality for our fans.

Speaking of which, the North fan base - or rather, North Family, as it really has become - has been the rock that has made our survival and continued creative outlet possible. I've often mused that while we don't seem necessarily to appeal to screaming mobs of teenagers or partying hordes of college underclassmen, the listeners that we do attract tend to be spirited, friendly and intelligent folks who are supportive to the end. It's been the die-hard enthusiasm and faith of these friends and fans that have kept us going, and for this we are grateful. We hope that they are enjoying the music that they continue to make possible as much as we do.

With our performance schedule settling into a nice steady state, we begin to turn our attention to other aspects, such as recording, and the idea of eventually venturing out to perform in other regions. As with our performances, we will proceed slowly but steadily, so that the progess that we make is sustainable and worthwhile for everyone.

We will keep you posted, and thank you for your continued support!

4 August 2003

Our last news update was way lame, so I thought we should provide a little more in the way of an update.

After a long hiatus for largely real-life-related reasons (moving, changing careers, buying real estate, marriages, kids being born - y'know, little stuff), we've regrouped and gotten into something of a routine. We plan to be playing at least one show a month in the Ann Arbor area starting this September, and we have a few new opportunities for recording and special studio shows that may pan out.

We've started working regularly with drummer and long-time friend Hans Masing, who will likely be joining us for most of our shows. Hans has appeared with North on many occasions over the past few years as a special guest, and we're looking forward to working with him more for our upcoming performances and recordings.

How agressive we may be able to be about more advanced ideas - like touring, pushing for industry support, etc - remains to be seen. There are still some life changes in the works that will need to get settled first. We're thrilled to have arrived at the point, however, where we can at least get back to playing regularly, developing new material, and recording. We're looking forward to that alone, and will happily keep our eyes out for what the future may hold.

As always, thanks for the support and interest. We'll keep you posted and hopefully seeya at the shows!

22 July 2003

Time is tight, so all I will say is...

hang on!

:)

16 November 2002

Well, we're way overdue for an update, so I found myself here on a Saturday morning and thought I might go for one.

Reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated. (Forgive me if I screwed up the quote.) Lots has been happening outside of music in the worlds of the rest of life, and something of a hiatus resulted from a few factors.

Sadly, one of these was the falling through of our plans to gig monthly at Leopold Bros. here in town. The venue decided to axe their Sunday night performances, the slot within which we had made our niche. They offered some options, but none that worked well, and after long dialogue we went from having four prospective shows on the books to zero. This was, needless to say, a bummer.

By the time this occured and other late summer commitments were handled, it was pushing too late to book fall shows to replace those lost, and the circumstances pointed us toward taking a break instead. It seems like we do a lot of that, I suppose, but such is the superposition of indy music and, well, real life.

As always, we turn to the future. Some changes that have occured that have seeded some new ideas. Possibilities include a new venue where monthly shows might actually be possible, as well as new opportunities to embark on the long-awaited LP recording project. I wont tip my hand yet, but I'll just say it's unlike any opportunity we've had before, and leave it at that. We're also talking with Tom about revitalizing North's presence in Chicago, and we're watching for openings there.

While you're waiting, there's always news. SharpeWorldMusic is cruising along, of course, and a handful of North personnel and fans trucked out to Chicago for their downtown debut earlier this month, a two-night engagement at Link's Hall. (...and if you still haven't heard Tom's album yet, you officially, at this point, have no excuse. :) ) On the same weekend, old friend of shows past Brian Lillie made a rare appearance with fellow Great Lakes rockers The Original Brothers and Sisters of Love; and North bassist Markus Nee represented the group at this special event.

So when can we expect the new shows, the new recordings, the new NEWS? Think after the new year (near the turn of which an entirely separate and massive long-term creative endeavor begins), but not long after. Until then, enjoy the season and stay in touch.

16 June 2002

The latest from North: more big changes in the works. We're currently at a crossroads that could lead the group in a few different directions, and we're looking at the possibilities. A full update would be somewhat premature (and quite complicated) at the moment, as there's still a lot being worked out. For now, let's say things are a little up in the air.

The show must go on, however, and there are some biggies coming up... namely our THREE sets at this year's Ann Arbor Art Fair! Check out the performance dates online here for the full rundown. All of the shows are FREE, and we plan to have our debut performance with multiple percussionists! Stay tuned for details...

The biggest news, however, is the release, as of TOMORROW, of Tom's debut solo project, Like Setting Myself on Fire! Without launching into a formal review, let me just state for the record that it's an amazing piece of work. Over two years in the making, the album is truly a treat for anyone who's ever appreciated Tom's percussion work with North - especially his trademark percussion solos. Ordering information, music excerpts, photos and other resources are at www.sharpeworldmusic.com, so check it out!

Tom's album is available via his website, as well as at shows (both for Sharpeworldmusic and North), and at Amazon.com. Tom's also planning to be performing with North at two of our Art Fair performances on Saturday, 20 July.

Hope to see you then!

25 February 2002

Just a quick news flash amidst the busy-ness of life...

North marches on, currently in the middle of our Southeast Michigan Borders Books and Music Mini World Tour, and looking into dates in April and beyond. Things being what they are, just being out there and playing is quite cool, and we hope to keep it up. Do check out our performance dates online!

The biggest news at the moment is that our very own Tom Sharpe is in the final mastering stages on his debut solo project, Like Setting Myself of Fire, and it's quite an amazing piece of work! The title track earned him the Grand Prize in the World Music category of the nationally renoun John Lennon Songwriting Contest, and we're expecting the LP release within the next few months. Details and some MP3 samples are available online at the Sharpe World Music Web Site. If you've ever appreciated Tom's work with North, we highly recommend checking this out!

Finally, for those of you interested in North rarities, the U of Michigan GMen, a male a cappella group of which our own Joseph Mancuso was a part way back when, has recently released their second CD, They Might Be GMen. On it is the GMen's version of Jabberwocky, an original vocal setting of the famous poem by Lewis Carroll, composed by Joe in 1998. (Some North fans may rememeber this piece from its North debut at the Revolutions CD Launch in October of 1999, where it was performed live by Joe and the GMen.) The CD features a dozen tracks of fun and moving contemporary a cappella, and ordering information is available via the GMen Website.

More news as things develop. Thanks, as always, for your support, and we hope to see you at some of the upcoming shows in March (all of which are FREE... how can you lose?!?).

30 September 2001

Well, not much time to write, but I thought an update was in order.

We're stoked to announce the release of our new EP, Five, as of this past Thursday, 27 September 2001.

As promised, this is the "quick and dirty" EP we've been talking about doing to document our newer material for our dedicated fans who keep threatening us with bodily harm if we don't record such and such a tune or other. Of course, things never turn out as planned, and while Five was quick, it's anything but dirty.

Five combines some of the more "live" performance aspects of our recent shows (such as flute and vocal work from Christine Kapusky and percussion by Al DiBlassio) with some of the strongest studio production work we've ever done. Its material ranges from a new version of the oldest North song ever recorded to favorites from our live performances debuting as recently as last year. Recording techniques span the range from a single-take live cut of a Sharpe percussion solo to tracks requiring nearly a dozen performance layers to create. Needless to say, it was new ground for us, and we were pleasantly surprised by the results.

As per the last news update, performances are still few and far between due to our schedules and responsibilities. The goal in that department has become to keep our performances meeting one or both of the following criteria: 1) big, 2) easy. To that end, we're slowly working on some big plans for performances where we can really pull out the stops and make a scene, as well as taking the quick and easy opportunities for smaller shows that come our way. Keep an eye on the dates page for news in that regard, or contact us to join our email mailing list.

More details and possibly MP3s from the new disc will follow, but until then, we hope to hear from you soon. Thanks again for the support.

13 May 2001

The news in a word: change. In an almost-oxymoronic set of three: change, as usual. :)

Joe changed jobs last summer and took up a position as an Office Guy (a technical job title) with tape/CD production/duplication house World Class Tapes and as a Staff Engineer with Perfect Balance Recording Studio, the studio where Revolutions was cut back in '99. While the job has afforded him much in the way of cool experience and very cool project work with a variety of musicians, it has also kept him pretty busy with studio clients off hours, so time has been limited.

Meanwhile, Tom's been busy out in Chicago, not only composing for and touring with percussion troupe Jellyeye, but also working on finishing up his first solo album and heading up his own percussion performance ensemble!

The result of all of this new activity has been something of a new focus on North's end. After Revolutions was released and promoted for awhile, the group spent some time devoting energy to its live repetoire. The group's set diversified heavily, working in more and more elements beyond the straight-up folk/rock tunes, such as Tom's new percussion work, the flute and vocal talents of Christine Kapusky, appearances by guests such as the brass section from The Johnstown Cats, and inevitably more dynamic songwriting. Now, as our time and travel abilities begin to narrow, our focus returns to taking some more steps forward in the recording and production department.

The plan is, as it has been for some time, to get some of our more popular live tunes out to friends ASAP, because some are starting to make threats. (Seriously!) Whether we hammer this out on our own, in the studio, or via a live recording, however, remains to be seen. In the longer term, we expect the advantages of Tom's home studio and Joe's access to Perfect Balance to manifest themselves in a more serious project, but given the raising of the bar on what we'd like to get out of an LP project musically, we fully intend to take our time with it.

The flipside, of course, is that we'll likely be pursuing fewer live shows than we initially wanted to aim for, and that the project in general will be taking on a more relaxed and creative pace, rather than the one of all-out quest for glory that we always aspired to but never really achieved anyway. :) In some regards, this might have been the right pace for things all along, but either way it definitely seems so now.

Does this foreshadow the end of North? Bah! The pessimists might say so, but they're not in on the Secret. It does mean that you'd best get out to as many of our live performances as you dare, as they may be fewer and further between (though also less pressured, more personal, and therefore more fun)!

In the end, it's you, the person interested enough to read this, who'll be there with us to enjoy the crafts of our progress, and for your involvement we're always appreciative. Thanks.

18 March 2001

I'm happy to report we've survived another stunning St. Patrick's Day, one of my favorite typically under-celebrated holidays of the year. And now, the news.

First, in web news, we have, at long last, started our online photo gallery, thanks entirely to Markus! I know he's got more material in the works, and plans to keep it steadily growing over time. If you've got material you'd like to contribute, let us know!

North's first gig of the 2001 season is on the books, and there are quite a few in the works spanning the calendar from April to July. (We'll keep you posted, of course.) Our goal of carrying the momentum of spring and summer into fall and winter this year depends on us finding more venues and events to play, so we're open to ideas.

With the closing of so many local music venues, like the very mighty but very short-lived Lonely Heart's Club, and long-time local staple, The Gypsy Cafe, Ann Arbor is becoming a more and more difficult town to play for mid-size bands like us. Many resturants and other venues in town with regular crowds can't book bands except on their very slow nights when most fans can't make it anyway, while others like to narrow their musical focusses to a few genres or small stage setups. Our personal muses on the reasons for these trends are many (and often bitter), but the important part is that we're looking around for options, albeit occasionally a bit off the beaten path, to keep the shows going and our hearts into it.

Festivals and multi-group concerts are a great option for us, so we're always looking for information about the Top of the Park equilvalents in other towns or during other times of year. Venues outside of Ann Arbor, too, are becoming more alluring, although it's tough to balance the value of having a great venue with the convenience of having a show close to our friends and fans here in town.

The other option, of course, is to do what we would eventually want to do anyway: move up. We're preliminarily working with some other groups on joining up to put together bigger shows in bigger venues, like The Michigan Theatre or The Ark. This is something we'd very much like to see come together before the year is out.

What else? We've been thinking about recordings - mostly a quick and dirty single of some of our new material to hack out and get out to our patient and devoted fans. :) We're hoping to find some time for this amidst our preparations for the performance season, and would like to see a web and short-run CD release sometime in the next month or two.

So that's about it, really. As always, thanks to the many who stick by us over the passing time. We hope to seeya real soon.

13 January 2001

So what can we say? I guess we hibernate or something...

We're just now awakening from an unplanned but well-needed winter nap of sorts. It seems it's been since July since we performed at full force. Wow...

Thankfully, there are many plans in the works for 2001. First and foremost, we've got some new material and plans to record a new single to get out to our friends and fans. The exact number of tracks and what they'll be has yet to be decided, but we're taking into account a lot of the feedback we've received over the past year in our selection. We'll likely release the tunes via the web, so keep an eye out for that over the next month or so.

Second and also foremost, we're itching to play out. As time's gone by, our live show has been getting bigger and better, and we're hoping to continue that trend. Between contributions from Tom's percussion compositions, Markus' frontman work, and more new material and general vocal/brass/symphonic madness, we expect to be keeping audiences pleasantly surprised this year.

In the meantime (no jokes, please), we'll also be slogging away on the website, online photo gallery (coming soon) and pushing for the big shows we'd like to see this season. In some ways, it'll be more challenging than ever, but as the stakes go up, so do the results - or at least that's held true to date.

As always, we're very grateful to those who are along with us for the ride. We'll see you there.

6 March 2000

A lot's been happening, and we're stoked. I figured I'd jot a brief update.

We're coming off our winter break of sorts, and booking lots of shows! Our Chicago debut is this month, and we're already booking performances elsewhere in that area, which we're very excited about in terms of expanding to new audiences. We're also in the process of lining up some bigger and better things here on the home field, as well, and plan to put together some great shows with some of the local bands with whom we've worked in the past.

We've been focussing a little on working out some more material in our solo and duo lineups, and we plan to continue to be out and about in the cozier venues, possibly with some friends and guests from time to time. In some ways, we're really just getting to know the tons of cool people in the local folk scene, and we want to keep growing in that direction as well as we are in the band/rock direction.

The aforementioned (see January's news) home-grown recording is still planned, but we're not going to rush it. Right now, keeping our limited band time concentrated on putting good shows together feels like the right thing to do (and a tasty way to do it). Hopefully we'll have something together in a few months or so, tho.

That's really the bulk of it... leaving out, of course, the heaps of things going on in our personal lives, which I'll leave to elsewhere. Thanks, as always, for sticking with us, and hope to see you at the show!

20 January 2000

I admit that I'm writing this mostly because the previous news that was here was just butt-old (13 Sept!). :) Things have been quite busy lately, which is my official excuse for letting the news sit idle for as long as it did.

So what are we up to now? Lots, albeit a bit behind the scenes.

Given Tom's recent move to Chicago, we thought it might not be the worst idea not to book January and February too heavily. Doing shows in rough weather is bad enough locally, but with a 10-hour drive involved, it can lead to last-minute cancellations, which are just not cool.

We're taking the time instead to focus on some other work. First, Tom's in the process of finalizing his first solo project, which we're all looking forward to hearing. Markus and I have been involved in some of the tunes on it, so we hope to be making our appearances on the disc, as may a handful of other musicians, on Tom's compositions.

North-wise, we're focussing our time on working on a few pieces (some old, some new) that we'd like to try to work into our performance set in the near future. We're also playing around with some home recordings of new tunes that didn't make the EP, pretty much by demand of friends who've got some new favorites from our recent live shows. No promises, but we may have some home-grown material for our hardcore fans sometime soon...

Other than that, we're looking into next steps - bigger gigs, working more with our friends in other bands, and trying to move the whole project to the next level. We hope to be inviting everyone to some milestone events during the year 2000.

So that's more or less it. All I can say beyond that is that I plan to keep the news more up to date in the future! :)

13 Sept 1999

Finally, things are in motion.

Our discs are in hand, and look and sound great. The date for our launch show for Revolutions is set (15 October), as is the release of the EP itself (1 October).

Joe's more or less recovered from his hand injury (see the 22 July entry on the old news page), although hardcore practicing has been a tad challenging, and the time for bookings is nigh. 'Tis the season for PR, and we're hard at work getting out the word about the EP (keep your eyes out for us in the October Current, as well as in other pubs as the launch approaches).

Other than that, we're polishing up the disc tunes and breaking out some new material we're pretty excited for everyone to check out. Thanks much to all the people who helped the EP come together, and to everyone who's been supporting us along the way. It's been a long but fun ride.

What more can we say? At this point, it's time for the discs and shows to speak for themselves. With the CDs in hand and the fall on the way, this is where the real fun begins...

22 July 1999

What can I say? We're STOKED.

Our new EP, Revolutions, is mixed, mastered, and in the last design stages. We're hoping to go to press late this month, and see full-out release in early or mid- September. Digital artist Lisa Cargill has worked some wonders for us graphically, and we're honestly as amped about the CD's look as about the music. We're proud to have this disc representing us on both counts, and looking forward to what people have to say about it.

Want a preview? Check out the aforementioned MP3s of the final masters of Wheels and Pacifica, as well as the new online-only release of What God Wants.

Performance wise, we're getting back into bookings, and plan to be out and around fairly often come September (after Joe's healed up from his boneheaded move playing ultimate*). We're looking forward to finalizing the plans for the launch show, which should be our most extensive set yet, with a few special guests selected from the pallate of fine musicians we've enjoyed playing with in the past.

In the meanwhile, check out the cyber-single and keep in touch. We're planning a small storm of activity around the release, so there should be lots to hear about real soon. Seeya around...

2 June 1999

Things are rolling along behind the scenes, and within a month or two, there should be a lot to see (and hear) from us! We've been on a short hiatus from performing to focus on some other things.

First and foremost, the Revolutions EP is in it's final stages of completion. In addition to new mixes of Wheels and Pacifica, another song has been added to the track list, bringing the total up to seven.

The remixes of the demo tape tunes and the addition of the 7th tune have, of course, put us behind our May 1st estimate, but it's been worth it. We're most interested in having the best collection of music we can, and don't mind a little delay to do it. Since every date I give online here for the EP release estimate ends up wrong anyway, I'll just provide a completely inaccurate one and leave it at that.

The EP will be out tomorrow.

When it does finally get released, anyway, we'll be getting back out on stage around the area, and are looking forward to spreading our wings a bit both within and around the Ann Arbor area. In the meantime, stay tuned...

23 February 1999

A lot's been happening!

For starters, we now have our two-song demo available, and hope to get to distributing that to interested parties (including via our MP3s on the web) over the next several weeks. We're hoping this allows us to appear presentable (ha!) to lots of new venues, so that we can get booked on more than faith alone (though faith has been very kind to us!).

With the demo having gone well, we're booking studio dates over the next few months to cut Revolutions, the planned EP we're all been waiting for for so long. Our target release date, albeit possibly optimistic, is the 1st of May. We're thinking about six tracks or so, with Wheels and Pacifica, the two demo tracks, being among those. We're also thinking about releasing the EP on cassette to provide an inexpensive means for folks to check us out, and then cutting hand-labeled/autographed homebrew CDs upon request for a bit more - sort of like a decorate-your-own-cookie kinda deal.

Of course, amidst all this, we're continuing to book performances in the Ann Arbor area, and having a blast playing with kickin' folk and rock bands from the region.

So that's more or less it! Hope to see you soon...

12 November 1998

Over the past few months things with us have been picking up. In addition to making some changes to our recording plans, we've been spending some time and energy on filling out the trio sound and preparing for performances.

We've taken a step back from our recording plans as they stood for many reasons, many of which had to do with time availability and some technical concerns regarding our equipment. The bad news, of course, is that the EP release will likely be pushed back to sometime after the new year. The good news, however, is that Revolutions will likely benefit from the change of plan, both in content and in recording quality. In the meantime, however, North fans will have to join us at our live shows to hear our latest work.

That being the case, we're that much more pleased to announce more performance dates coming up with the trio. Tom's involvement with recording has led to incorporation of his intricate percussion work into our live shows, and we're looking forward to sharing the results of our collaboration. We hope to see this continue and provide plenty of opportunities to check out our sound over the coming months.

Thanks again, and hope to see you soon.

14 September 1998

The latest with us has involved us being very quiet. In the time that's passed since our debut performance at the URC Coffee House in March, much has happened behind the scenes (though never, of course, quite as much as we'd like).

First and foremost (in addition to unexpected amounts of decadent vacationing from our otherwise relentless day jobs) we've spent much of our time working on our new recording project. The planned EP (we decided to defer the full CD production until finances were more in alignment with the idea) is engineered toward the goal of sounding good but being cheap to provide to those wishing to check us out for the first time. We hope to produce tape copies for easy distribution that will contain six original tunes, and also home-produce CD copies for our friends and fans on demand. The CD version should still be relatively inexpensive, and will contain one or two bonus tracks in the track list. While we do not have a hard release deadline (due to a mix of meeting our hopes and fixing a fair number of techical SNAFUs), we are expecting a release sometime near the end of November.

Helping us out in our recording efforts is percussionist Tom Sharpe of the local progressive rock band Jester's Crown. Tom's percussion work has already added a lot to the tracks we've recorded, and shows great signs of developing our sound in the work to come. In addition to contributing to our EP production, Tom also hopes to appear with North in many of our live performances in the coming months. We're enjoying working with him, and are psyched to have him involved with the project.

With the beginning of a new school year here and the recording arduously moving toward completion, we're getting back on the ball to do some serious performing. We expect the availability of additional players and collaborators such as Tom and good friend and musician/engineer 'Liam van Kampen, as well as the impending availability of some demo material, to continue to catalyze more performance dates this fall and throughout the next year.

So that's the latest. Do keep with us and hope to see you soon...

26 January 1998

Well, several things are up with us at the moment, including the new web site here. We've spent the past few months chipping away at it, and with a little graphics help from Craig Wesbrook at EtherRealities, we're happy with the resources we've managed to get online. As always, we're interested in feedback and ideas, so feel free to contact us with any you've got.

Also, we're happy to announce Markus' completion of a Master of Engineering degree in Aerospace Engineering from U of M as of December 1997, which, in addition to meaning no more homework, means we're ready to focus some time into the project, specifically to some preliminary recording for a CD production.

North has also recently been working with local flutist and vocalist Christine Kapusky on several tracks, and we've been enjoying her input to the music. We hope that you will be hearing some of her flute licks and great vocal work via the studio and even live before too long.

We're hoping to continue performing around the area (and who knows where else) while working on the recording, which we fully intend NOT to hurry along, in the interests of getting it right. Along the way we'll also be working on new material, of course, and picking up additional studio (and maybe permanent?) players to add their ideas to the mix.

Overall, we're pretty psyched. We plan to keep the web site up to date as time marches on, so check back now and again for additional news and upcoming performance dates. Hope to see you soon...

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