“It was a long process to get to where we are now, although it was only a handful of sessions with Mike,” Wells said. “He’s such a pro. He knows his room and gear so well and we were ready. It’s kind of nutty, but we basically demoed all of these songs twice so we really had everything down.”
While the sessions went quickly, the coronavirus shutdowns postponed the album’s release.
“Mike mixed it remotely after the pandemic started and then we sat on it,” Wells said. “At the time, it felt like we may never get to play together again. We didn’t know what to do.
“I finally just felt like, with everything still going on, it was time to put the record out,” he continued. “I started working toward how to do this and, ultimately, we’re doing what we’ve always done. We’re putting it out online digitally on Bandcamp and on Spotify and then we’ll do some videos and push it.”
The feature film is on hold for now but there’s plenty of visual content for Wells’ multi-pronged promotional campaign for “Raised on Rock and Roll.”
“Instead of just putting the album out, I decided to do it the most Cricketbows way I can,” he said with a chuckle. “We’re doing a 13-week roll out that started in late January with the first of four documentary videos we’re doing.”
The album’s first single, “Raised on Rock and Roll” b/w “Gracious Peasant,” was released on Bandcamp on Feb. 2. Each song also gets its own music video.
“I like making videos,” Well said. “It’s something I do anyway, but it happens to be an important part of the business side of what bands do now. We’re creating all of this content and putting it out in what I hope is the most well-planned and well-paced way.”
Artist info: cricketbows.bandcamp.com.
Contact contributing arts and music writer Don Thrasher at donthrasher100@gmail.com.
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