Documentary Launch Tomorrow / Free Music

Hey guys -

So here we go… This has been an exciting couple of weeks. I’ve been featured in Paste Magazine, Relevant Magazine posted a video of me, AND (cue trumpets and confetti), “Spirit First“, the documentary that the fine people at ADDvocate Films are making about me, is launching its IndieGoGo Page. (Will update with link tomorrow when it launches).

We’ve been through a lot together these last few years, you and I. I guess this is what they call “traction”, and I feel like I owe it all to you guys. Well, now it’s time to dig in and take advantage of it…

Tomorrow, the teaser for the film will be released, along with the launch of the IndieGoGo fundraising page. The good news is that roughly 70% of the film has been shot already (by me, Aaron Dethrage, Allen Clark, Aaron Long, Ryan Ondriezek, Sam Hale, anyone else that’s been with me on the road, and an infinite number of you who took a camera and started filming at a show). But there are a lot of expenses left. Editing, Promotion, Sending a cameraman with me for another week (they’re going to pay for my gas that week, you guys!!) Film Festival submission fees, printing up DVDs, etc, etc.

So tomorrow, I’m going to be making ALL of my music free online for one day. My hope is that you guys will share the link to the IndieGoGo page, where everyone can view the teaser and we can get all of these expenses paid for. (IndieGoGo, if you’re not familiar, is somewhat like Kickstarter).

Everything I’ve done, even down to the hundreds of house shows I’ve played, has been because of you guys. So I’m counting on you. I have no idea what the next year or two holds for me, but these last couple of weeks have been encouraging, and I hope we can ride this wave until it turns into a bigger wave.

See you tomorrow!

-Levi



Leg Two Starting Wednesday

I added it up the other day, and when the first of September rolls around, I will have been on tour for roughly 200 of the last 365 days. I remember being 20, hearing that Dennison Marrs was doing 200 dates a year, and wondering if it was as cool as it sounded. Living on the road, being on tour.

It is that cool.
It isn’t that cool.
And it’s cooler.

The truth is that the longer I do this, hopefully the more perspective I am gaining. It’s not the college-dorm life of hanging with your 4 best friends; at least not the way I’ve been doing it. But it is something good, something meaningful, and yes – something exhausting.

I’ve enjoyed seeing your faces so far. It’s been good to reconnect with old friends, make new friends, and have meaningful conversations that just don’t happen on Facebook or Twitter.

For the rest of you, I hope you can make it to a show this year. I have some new songs, some old songs, and hopefully I’ve continued to improve. I hope to never put on another boring show in my life. (That’s always been my goal, but just know… it continues to be.)

I fly back to Reno tomorrow to pick up my car, and hit the great northwest. Until then, you can see the upcoming dates at http://www.leviweaver.com/tour (or if you’re reading this on the website, just click on the “tour” tab up there.)

-Levi



How A British Crime Show Tipped Me Off That You Guys Are Awesome…

Not that I didn’t know this already…

-SO- a little back story, for those of you that (wisely) choose to stay off the internet on the weekends…

I’ve been sitting on a completed EP for almost two weeks, waiting for the release date so I could share it with you all. Saturday afternoon, I just couldn’t take it anymore. In a spontaneous fit of impatience, I uploaded the songs and declared Saturday and Sunday to be the “Sort of Secret Sneak Peek Weekend”. It would be up for the weekend, and then I would take it back down until the “official” release date of March 29th.

Well, the response was overwhelming.

However, I probably wouldn’t have noticed just *how* overwhelming if I hadn’t been spending a night in with Heather, catching up on Season Two of Luther on Netflix.

Since we were using the computer to watch the harrowing tales of the most conflicted law enforcement agent this side of John McClane, I had to use my phone to take down the EP. Thus, I saw a screen I don’t usually see: the bandcamp.com homepage / log-in screen.

This is what I saw:

What the what?!

After I took the screen shot, I refreshed the page to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. Sure enough, there I was. #4 on the Bandcamp.com homepage.

You guys!!

I turned and showed the screen to Heather. “I can’t exactly take this down now, can I?” I said, probably not in a British accent.

She agreed. You guys have spoken. “I Am Only a Tiny Noise” now has two official release dates: Saturday, March 24th for the digital, and Thursday, March 29th for the CDs. (They’ll be available at all my shows this Spring / Summer).

I can’t thank you enough. I hope the EP is worth every penny you spent on it. Please know how grateful I am that you bought it when you could have just listened to it for free as many times as you wanted. Without going into detail… it will be nice to be able to actually *get* to Texas to resume the tour on Thursday.

With sincere gratitude and probably still not a British accent,

-Levi

EDIT: a quick addendum to the story: a couple of weeks ago, I had right at 500 plays in one day on bandcamp when I put “The Letters of Dr. Kurt Gödel” up for free for one day. It was the most bandcamp.com plays I’d had in one day, ever. Since “…Tiny Noise” went on to the charts late last night, I’ve broken that record. Twice. Last night = 625 plays. Today so far (at 11:14am): 720 plays. You guys’ support has not only been direct, but you have exposed me to a whole new pool of potential new fans. You Did This. Thank you!!