Upcoming EP, Hotel by the River (reposted from Facebook)

I wanted to give everybody an update on my newest music. As you may recall, at the very end of February, we released an EP, SAD SACK, which featured three new versions of the title track (originally from MEMOIRS OF A MANWHORE: THE REELING WALTZ OF A DRUNKEN LOTHARIO) and four new songs done in a 1930s/1940s big band nightclub style. In addition to my usual backing band, I also had live horns provided by our recording engineer and co-producer, Steve Jankowski, of Blood Sweat & Tears fame.

Of course, the very week we released the EP, I herniated my L4/L5 disc and we were unable to do any promotion after the EP came out.

Over the last month, we began working on the next EP, which includes two songs I wrote several years ago and three songs I wrote during a weekend in California in January, as well as, of course, the title track, HOTEL BY THE RIVER, a re-invention of the song of the same name from the MEMOIRS album.

As of Wednesday night, Paul (Galiszewski, my drummer) and I had completely finished all the tracks for three of the songs, the tracks for which have been sent to Steve Jankowski for mixing and mastering. He’s already completed two of those three tracks, and they sound great.

The instrumental tracks and my vocals have been completed for the other three songs; tonight, singer Barb Gurskey will be in my studio to add the final touches to the remaining three songs. I’m very excited to be working with Barb. She is a first-rate storyteller and interpreter, and it will be interesting to see how HOTEL changes when it becomes a duet. It will also be a joy to hear her touches to “I’m Told You Never Sleep” and “Ars Poetica,” two songs I wrote in January in California, the latter of which includes very tight (and difficult) three part harmonies.

Once the tracks have all been mixed and mastered, I will write some notes on each track individually and keep you all informed of official release dates, although we’re looking at mid-August. “Hotel” is, by all accounts, an autumn song, so releasing it at the end of the summer seems fitting. Hopefully you can all help spread the word about the new EP and request airplay on radio and help my get back on track as far as putting myself out there… Maybe we can manage to sell a few thousand copies and help pay off all the medical bills I’ve been acquiring thanks to the herniated disc issue!

June 27 2015 Follow-up:

Greetings one and all! The new EP is nearly done. Steve Jankowski has done preliminary mixes for four of the five songs for which all recording has been completed, and this upcoming Friday will be the finishing touches on the song "Hotel By The River" when vocalist extraordinaire Barb Gurskey completes her vocal on the duet version of this song, which you may already recognize as a track from the MEMOIRS OF A MANWHORE album.

I must say, the songs are sounding fantastic. I have my usual partners in crime working with me on this recording: Paul Galiszewski (who went WAY above and beyond the call of duty as far as sitting in on other musicians' sessions, and working around everybody else's schedules to make this happen); Jacque Jobes on bass; and Tom Briant on lead guitar for most of the tracks. Tyler Carbin contributed a little backing guitar on some of the tracks, and I was able to reuse some of Adam Silverstein's original piano and string parts in the new version of "Hotel By the River." The band played marvelously on all the tracks, and I am pretty proud of my string arrangements on the song "The Bed That Froze." I also must extend accolades to D.C. area guitarist, Mark Sylvester, for his amazing contributions to the tracks, "Oh Marie" and "Open."

Because Steve Jankowski (recording engineer, co-producer, and mixer/masterer of tracks) will be hitting the road July 11th (presumably with Blood, Sweat & Tears, although he also tours with Chicago and Three Dog Night, so one never knows... I guess check up on those classic ouftits' websites to see who's doing a short tour for two weeks in July), he will have all of the tracks finished, mixed, and mastered before then. So this is VERY exciting. The official release date of the EP will be either late August or early September, basically sometime near Labor Day to afford us a month of iTunes pre-sales and some hype and/or limited advertisement.

Meanwhile, though, I am offering a special day for the next week for anybody who'd like to play "catch-up" on The Random Hubiak. I have two previous EPs either partly or completed recorded with Steve Jankowski, both of which are fully mixed & mastered by him. THE TRICK EP has six tracks (two versions of the title track that differ from the original album version plus four songs written specifically for the EP and available nowhere else). SAD SACK EP has seven tracks (three versions of the title track that differ from the original album version plus four songs written specifically for the EP and available nowhere else). Normally I sell these for $5 each plus shipping and handling, which typically adds about $3.50 to the cost. Order both together NOW and I will waive the S&H fees! Two EPs for $10 -- given that there are 13 tracks, that's cheaper than the cost of an iTunes download, AND you'll have a SIGNED hard copy to add to your CD collection!

For additional $10, I will throw in a copy of the full length CD MEMOIRS OF A MANWHORE: THE REELING WALTZ OF A DRUNKEN LOTHARIO, which has 13 tracks, a gorgeous gatefold packaging with professional photography by Philadelphia artist/photographer Joseph Marchetti, and an 8-page fold-out lyric booklet. Again, that's 13 tracks plus deluxe packaging for $3 LESS than the cost of a full-album download. In addition, for those of you interested in the $20 option (both existing EPs plus the full-length album), I will also email you a free download of the HOTEL BY THE RIVER two weeks prior to the official release date of the album -- so, in other words, you will have 26 tracks across three hard copy albums, plus 6 additional brand-new recordings, all for $20! Every ACTUAL purchase you make guarantees that I'll be able to pay for my studio time to record these albums and therefore continue to bring you more new music in the future, as well as pay for equipment upgrades, medical expenses (touring is hard on the back!), and of course gas for the live shows that never quite pay for themselves otherwise.

To take advantage of this offer, please send me a private message on my music page (The Random Hubiak on Facebook) with your email address and mailing address included, the former so that I can send you a PayPal invoice (and subsequently email you mp3 tracks), and the latter so I can mail you hard copies of the existing items. If you want a hard copy of the upcoming EP (not just the digital files), I will throw in the new EP for an additional $5, but it will require a longer wait for your physical delivery in order to avoid killing myself with the shipping & handling charges.