Alan Semerdjian: News

The Big Beauty is what we're calling the new batch of songs that Alan Semerdjian is currently shopping around. And what exactly is The Big Beauty? It's a group of songs that explores what it means to be in a relationship - the good, the complex, and, of course, the beauty. We're all a part of The Big Beauty in one way or another and, in fact, we're all big beauties...each and every one of us.

Several incredible people came together to create The Big Beauty and they are:

Mike Bloom (producer and multi-instrumentalist)

Philip A. Jimenez (additional production, multi-instrumentalist)

Matthew Cullen (engineer, The Clubhouse, upstate NY)

Brian Blackburn (additional engineering, acoustic guitar)

Matthew Iselin (pianos, organ, wurlitzer, keys)

Dave Diamond (drums, percussion)

Christopher Kuffner (bass)

Melinda Hirsch (viola)

Maureen Keenan (flute)

Rebecca Perea (cello)

Franz Nicolay (accordian, tack piano)

Jivan Gasparian (duduk)

Daniel T. Levin (trumpet, flugelhorn, euphonium)

David Moyer (baritone sax)

Melissa Menake, Blaire Eltringham, Scott Bloom, Jenelle Kunz, and Casey and Olivia (backup vocals, claps, and great energy)


Alan Semerdjian is doing a residency of showcases at The Living Room during the month of September (every Tuesday at 9pm except the 16th) to promote the new songs to friends, family, fans, and industry.

Songs from The Big Beauty can be heard on Alan Semerdjian's Fan Page on Facebook, myspace.com/semerdjian or right here on alansemerdjian.com.

Free downloads will be available at the shows in September.

See you soon, you big beauty.

It features 14 songs, 11 of which are completely new...

Mike Bloom handles production (with Philip Jimenez and Brian Blackburn helping out), Philip Jimenez, Mike Bloom, and Matthew Cullen handle the engineering, and Fred Kevorkian mastered it.

More news to follow + website updates and much much more...

Here's what it looks like so far for the new record:

CAST:

yours truly on acoustics and electrics and pipes

Matthew Cullen in THE CLUBHOUSE in upstate NY for the basic tracks

Philip A. Jimenez for tracking all sorts of goodies and final mixes on a bunch of the tunes

Mike Bloom mixes and lap steel and banjo and electric and programming and what else?

Dave Diamond on drums
Matt Iselin on assorted keys and piano
Chris Kuffner on bass
Franz Nicolay on accordian and tack piano
Melinda Hirsch on viola
Rebecca Pereira on cello
Maureen Keenan on flute

and Mr. Brian Blackburn?

and FS for the mastering?

and investors? label support?

We're all looking forward to this one at the alan semerdjian camp...hopefully so are you.

I'll be playing select shows in the NYC area to highlight some new songs I've been working on. The plan is to figure out how recording is going to happen by the spring...let me know if you have any ideas...

Thank you friends and fans and family for continued support. It's pretty amazing how (when you least expect it) this making-of-art business brings people together and we all grow and mature and love and start figuring things out and discovering new questions...

Shows in NYC (Makor and Living Room) in the spring and summer touring in little cafes, bars, and performance spaces near you (maybe?). Itunes and Cdbaby and other digital music stores carry the new CD. Or pick one up at the next show...

Thank you WFUV.

If you like some of what you see on this site and on alanarts.com, please contact Peter Ragona at arete@optonline.net.

some relevant information on alan semerdjian


· Alan used to front the alt-pop indie-rock outfit SURREAL in the 90’s.
· SURREAL was too indie for the hippies and too hippie for the indies but, nevertheless, was able to gain college and commercial radio success, television credits, and regional touring.
· Alan is a poet and essayist with numerous print and online publication credits. His chapbook of poems is called “An Improvised Device” and is published by Lock n Load Publishing.
· Alan’s new cd, “When There Was Something Wrong With You,” is produced by Phil Jimenez from Wheatus and Gordo Gringo, Michael Bloom from Rilo Kiley and The Elected, and Brian Blackburn from the “clandestine” studio at The Sunset Marquee in Hollywood, CA.
· A song of Alan’s appears in a little-known short film entitled “Whatever We Do,” starring Robert Downey Jr., Tim Roth, and Amanda Peet, produced by Toby Maguire and written and directed by Kevin Connolly.
· Alan is a high school English teacher and leads writing workshops for teens on Long island and New York City.
· Alan does some tutoring.
· Alan has over ten years and 800+ performances worth of touring experience on small intimate stages across America.
· Alan collaborates for experimental hybrid soundscapes with poets and free jazz musicians attempting to serve as a conduit between the entertainment world and its vast continuum and the glowing complexities of academia.
· Alan is an Armenian-American.
· Alan has an MFA in Poetry from Goddard College.
· Digital homes for Alan’s work (press, bios, images, etc.) can be found at www.alanarts.com, www.myspace.com/semerdjian, www.music.download.com/alansemerdjian, www.sonicbids.com/alansemerdjian, and by google searching “alan semerdjian”.
· Alan’s grandfather was a cubist painter and genocide survivor – a very serious painter and beautiful man.
· Alan layers several hundred printed or handwritten words on a piece of paper and calls it artpoem.
· Alan used to be the caretaker of The Walt Whitman Birthplace and co-curated an arts series there called “The Body Electric.”
· Alan flirts with being a performance artist (he loves public displays of art or art in public).
· Alan is afraid of balloons.
· Alan is in a relationship with a wonderful lady named Melissa.
· Alan is an only child.
· Alan believes art is about entering a conversation.

Alan Semerdjian's new catalogue of songs "When There Was Something Wrong With You" is currently available through www.cdbaby.com.