This Is The Day! A New Album Is Born And We’re Throwing A Party!

Hi everyone,

Well, it’s been a long time coming (three years, in fact) since our last album came out. But the day has finally come for These Are The Days to be released and we are just so overjoyed about it all. 

As of this morning you can buy a download of the new album on our Bandcamp page. If downloads aren’t your thing and you’d rather have the physical CD then head over to our webstore where you’ll receive a brand spanking, new, round, vinyl Colorway sticker with each and every purchase!

While we know lots of people just stream music these days (including myself) you have the option to listen to our music on PandoraAmazonSpotify, iTunes and lots of other streaming sites. We’d love it if you did listen to us that way to maybe share us with a friend, tell a co-worker or just yell out your car window “Colorway rocks!” That would be so cool. 

We put a ton of work into this album and we hope you hear it when you play it. Myself, Matt, Riley, Danny Bernini and Chris Collingwood went all out to make this something special and I couldn’t be more proud. 

Even Jodi, my wife, provided the new background artwork you see above and is in the inside of the album and on our website. And the estimable Julian Parker-Burns provided our new (and now ubiquitous) band photo. Tom Pappalardo did a great job with the layout as per usual. 

It takes a village, they say. And this village dweller thanks everyone who came together to help make it happen. 

The lyrics are up on the website and for those of you who buy the download but would like the credits and liner notes and all the extra artwork head over to the These Are The Days EPK.

You can read a fantastic review of the new album here by Eric R Danton who has written for Paste, Pitchfork, The Wall Street Journal and Rolling Stone. 
 

There’s a list of local music stores at the end of this email as well where you can pick up the new album in person. It’ll be $10 no matter where you go and that’s what we’re charging at the shows. We think it’s worth it and hope you do too. 

Let’s party!

We will be celebrating the release tonight at New City Brewery in Easthampton, Mass. It’s located right behind the Eastworks building at 180 Pleasant St (directions here). There should be plenty of free parking for your convenience. 

If you’d like to purchase advance tickets head over to Laudable Productions. We’re hoping there will be tickets left at the door but you never know. Tickets are $12 either online or in person. 

Our Facebook Event Page is here. 

The show starts promptly at 7:30 with an amazing new supergroup: Easy Weasel. This trio features none other than Chris Collingwood (from Fountains of Wayne/Look Park) as well as Rick Murnane (Group Deville/The Prestons) and The Glad Machine’s Brad Thayer.  They promise to bring you a set of “throat rock” and kick it with guitars, keys and mucho vocals. It should prove be an amazing confluence of talented dudes, indeed. 

Colorway will go on shortly after that (around 8:15) play a chunk of tunes from our first two albums followed by the new album in its entirety. We’re aware it’s a school night so we’re gonna try and keep things from going past 10pm. But if it gets rowdy we are gonna have to flow. 

There will be creative southeast Asian food available from Little Trúc and New City Brewery will have their famous ginger beer (both alcoholic and non) as well as plenty of other options for your drinking pleasure. 

And just so you know, this show is all ages. That is so damn cool that I wish I was 17 again. 

We hope you can be there and we’ll be so happy to see you if you can make it. Thanks, as always, for your support of what we do. 

We’re gonna be on the TV!

Also today (Thursday) tune in at 11am EST to WWLP-22 (channel 822 on Xfinity) to watch the band play “Always Been Summer” on Mass Appeal. 

We had a great time filming three tunes at the studio the other day. The host with the most on the whole east coast, Danny New even got his shot as frontman. Good to know I have a sub in case of emergency. 🙂

And I took part in the Father’s Day forecast. Let’s call it my fifteen seconds of fame. 

Anyway, if you want to catch the band performing tune in or set your DVR to record WWLP Channel 822 from 11-noon EST

We also recorded “Come Back July” and “Keys To The Kingdom” which will be shown on another date. I’ll be sure to keep you posted on that via our FacebookInstagram and Twitter pages. 

And that about does it, gang. Really, really excited to share the new album with you. I’ll include some quick quotes from recent reviews at the end of this. 

Hope to see you tonight for the big show. If you can’t make it but felt like sharing this email or even just the event on your FB or Twitter page that would be aces. 

As always, more info on our upcoming dates and more are all over at www.colorwaymusic.com 

Rock on and believe in the power of music. Sometimes, in this crazy world, it’s the only thing that makes sense. 

And on we go . . . 

~FAJ
 

When: Thursday, June 21 (first day of summer!)
Where: New City Brewery
180 Pleasant St, Easthampton, MA
Directions here
New City on Facebook
Phone: (413) 529-2000
What time: Doors at 7pm 
Cost: $10 advance $12 at the door
Tickets at: http://www.laudable.productions
This event is all ages!

Laudable Productions event.

 

“GREAT guitar throughout these nine, tight, non-overproduced songs. Very fluid and imaginative playing and Alex isn’t afraid to take chances. An excellent album.” —Tom Guerra, Vintage Guitar Magazine

“These Are the Days shows Colorway’s breadth, without stinting on depth […] a rock-solid collection of songs with catchy hooks, taut riffs and hard-won wisdom.” –Eric R Danton, Listen, Dammit(Paste/WSJ/Rolling Stone)

“This record sounds f*cking great! Sounds like you’re channeling Golden Earring . . .  which is f*cking sweet.” –Chris Collingwood

“Their third album is their strongest yet . . . songs you want to drive to on a summer day . . . songs to put a smile on your face.” —Lauren Daley, Southcoast Today/The Boston Globe

“Alex’s guitar playing is exceptional, and the whole vibe is positive and fun–well done!” Morgan Fisher, Mott the Hoople/Queen

“The nine tunes here showcase his ability to craft hooky pop-rock tunes and fill them with his always inventive guitar work.” –Sheryl Hunter, Greenfield Recorder

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Remember, our music is available at www.colorwaymusic.com on CD and 180gram vinyl (for The Black Sky Sequined) and any of the following valley stores. Thanks for shopping local:

Turn it Up
5 Pleasant St
Northampton, MA

Platterpus Records
28 Cottage St
Easthampton, MA

Electric Eye Records
52 Main St Suite 6
Florence, MA

Mystery Train Records
178A North Pleasant St
Amherst, MA

“No music, no life.”

Album Update Plus Video From NYE

Hey all,

Just a quick post to share some photos from the recording of the new album. 

We were thrilled to have one of the best photogs in the area, Julian Parker-Burns come by Spirithouse Studio and take some pics of the sessions. You can see the whole album of 24 pics here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo above is Danny Bernini who is recording and mixing the album. 

 

We had a great show on First Night at The Parlor Room. Thanks to all who packed the place for each of our two sets. 

Here’s a vid of one of the new songs on the album, “Keys To The Kingdom”

 

We hope to have recording finished by the weekend and then it’s mixing time. I promise to share some snippets of what we’ve been working on during this brutally cold winter for our summertime release. And don’t forget to mark Friday, June 22 on your calendar. That’s going to be our album release party at Fort Hill Brewery in Easthampton!!! More details to come. 

Rock on and see you at the shows!

~FAJ

 

 

 

 

 

Last Shows Of The Summer (mostly free, too)

Hey gang,

Just wanted to drop a line about some shows coming up over this weekend and next which will close the official summer season for us.

Tonight (Friday) Colorway will be playing a long night of music at Manhattan Pizza right in the heart of downtown Burlington, VT (at 167 Main St). The show is totally free and we’ll play two long sets beginning at 10pm until around 1am. 

Manhattan is a very laid back place with amazing pizza (but, of course) and the elusive and exclusive (to Burlington) Heady Topper behind the bar. Word has it there will be a steinhoist tonight at 9pm. So if you got the muscle and want to win something (not sure what, really) come on down early and show off what you got. Anyone with peeps in the Burlington area we’d love it if you could forward this email or invite them via our Facebook Event Page here. Thanks so much!! 

Tomorrow (Saturday) we’ll be returning to one of our favorite places to play in the area: Luthier’s Co-op on Cottage St in Easthampton, MA to play a full set of tunes starting at 9:30.

This very cool night starts out at 7pm with some amazing fingerstyle guitar courtesy of Caleb Wetherbee. If you’ve not seen Caleb before make sure you get there early. He is mind-blowingly good and definitely worth a listen. Check out his rendition of the “Stars and Stripes Forever (arranged by Guy Van Duser).

 Larry Dulong and Random Sighting play at 8pm and they will surely bring some good, rootsy tunes to the stage. 

Colorway will play at 9:30 and may throw a tune or two in from our Stevie Ray Vaughan set from this past year’s Transperformance. You can check out just a quick minute of that show here. (and while you’re at that video, why not follow us on Instagram). 

This will be Colorway’s last local show for a while so come on out and take it all in while you can.

Finally, next Friday, September 22 I’ll be doing a solo set opening up for The Mal Thursday Quintet at the 13th Floor Music Lounge right in downtown Florence, MA. I’ll play a solo set at 9pm followed by Ray Mason at 10pm and then Mal and his cohorts take over for the rest of the night. Special guest will include Amy Sullivan and Liv Damage (of the Immolators). I’ll also be getting up a couple of times to join Mal and band for a tune.

Thanks to all the new fans we’ve met over the past month. We had a blast last weekend at our friend Jeff and Sharon’s party in Salem, NH and at Mine Oyster in Boothbay Harbor, ME. Got to play nearly all of our catalog of tunes and it was great to stretch out a bit and explore. Great to meet some new peeps and make some new fans. We love that you took the time to check out what we do, sign up on the mailing list and support independent music. We can’t do this without you so thanks for making this journey an exciting and vibrant one. Please forward this email to anyone you think might enjoy what we do. They can listen to both of our albums completely free over here on our Bandcamp page. 

BTW, there are some new pics from our good friend (and exceptional photographer) Julian Parker-Burns up on the website from both the Transperformance as well as our set at the Calvin Theater when we opened for The Kenny Wayne Shepherd band. You can check them out here.  and see a video of our song “I’m Still Running” right here.  

Well, thats about it for now. We’ll have some exciting news to tell you about next month regarding our next album. Really looking forward to sharing our new music with you all in the new year. But more on that soon enough. We have some rock and roll still to make in 2017. 

Let’s do it together. 

Thanks so much for supporting original, independent music and we’ll see you at the shows.

Rock on,

~FAJ

All the deetz:
 

Friday, September 15, Colorway Performs at Manhattan Pizza, Burlington, VT

Come pizza party with us as we head back up north for an all-nighter in the heart of downtown Burlington.

When: Friday, 9/15
WhereManhattan Pizza
167 Main St
Burlington, VT 05401
Directions
Manhattan on FB
Phone: (802) 658-6776
What time: 10pm-1am
No cover!
21+
Join the Facebook Event Page here.

Saturday, September 16, Colorway Performs at Luthier’s Co-op, Easthampton, MA

Come join us as we play one of the best rooms for live music in the valley.  Early and free!

When: Saturday, 9/16
Where: Luthier’s Co-op
108 Cottage St
Easthampton, MA
Directions.                                                           
What  time: 9:30-11pm
Phone: (413) 527-6627
Email: info@luthiers-coop.com
How Much: Free (tips appreciated)

Join the Facebook Event Page here!

Other acts on the bill:

7pm Caleb Wetherbee (amazing solo fingerstyle guitar)
8pm Larry Dulong and Random Sighting (great singer-songwriter with full band)

Friday, September 22, Alex Performs Solo Opening for The Mal Thursday Quintet, 13th Floor Music Lounge, Florence, MA

All the way from Austin, TX, The Mal Thursday Quintet returns for an evening of old school rock n’ roll for your listening and dancing pleasure. With special guests Ray Mason and F. Alex Johnson, who will open the show with solo sets, then join the Quintet for a number or two. Also making guest appearances are Amy Sullivan (as the Nancy Sinatra to Mal’s Lee Hazelwood on “Some Velvet Morning”) and Liv Damage of The Immolators, plus even more surprise guests to be announced. The evening will be recorded by RoboSound for a live album.

When: Friday, September 22
Where: 13th Floor Music Lounge
99 Main St (above JJ’s Tavern)
Florence, MA 01062
Directions
Phone: (413) 586-5705
What time: 9pm-1am

Join the Facebook Event Page here!

Here’s a great piece by Ken Maiuri from the Daily Hampshire Gazette from the last time the MTQ was in town. Gonna be a fun night!