Tag Archives: F. Alex Johnson

April Showers You With Rock And/Or Roll (three big shows this month)

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April shows
Friday, 4/12: Strong Style Coffee (Fitchburg, MA)
Saturday, 4/20: Extravaganja, Three County Fairgrounds, Northampton, MA (2:15pm set)
Saturday, 4/27: Bread Euphoria, Williamsburg, MA (solo show)

Hi all,

Hope you are well and enjoying the warmer and longer days. 

The band and myself have had some great shows and we are so lucky to have you on board as fans. Thanks for coming out when you could and for marking your calendar for events that are coming up. 

I’ll try and keep this quick as everybody is busy, busy, busy and that goes for me too. 🙂

This Friday, 4/12, Colorway will make a return trip to Fitchburg’s Strong Style Coffee for a no-cover (tips encouraged), all ages show beginning at 8pm. The band will do two sets of tunes for you all in a veritable “Evening With” style. It’s an intimate and very cool place so get there early if you want to grab a seat. SSC has food, craft beer, soda, and, of course, some very strong style coffee. They are really doing a great job showcasing original music from all around New England and we are happy to be returning. Join the Facebook Event page here if you like.

Saturday–4/20–we are thrilled to be part of this year’s Extravaganja at the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton. This will be the first event since recreational cannabis became a thing last winter and a first appearance for us. It’s only $5 to get in but you do need a ticket in advance. Click here to purchase. Colorway will play 2:45-3:15 followed by Shokazoba at 3:30 (Riley and Matt are in that band so make sure to check them out). There are bands all day on two stages from noon until six. Check out the details below to see the full lineup or click on the link above. 

And finally, on Saturday, April 27, I’ll be playing a solo show at Bread Euphoria in Williamsburg, MA (just down the road from Florence/Northampton). BE is a fantastic place to come, grab a table, order a pizza (gf options), a sandwich, salad, coffee, tea, beer or wine and enjoy two hours of music in a listening room setting. The new-ish music space in the back is a great environment to get lost in story and song. I hope you’ll join me for this special night. FB event is right over here. It’s a no-cover event but tips are encouraged.

Well, that’s about it. Although February and March were light on shows (by design) we did have a great time opening for the Yardbirds last month. If you want to check out a video of “The Cycle” from that show then follow this here linky.

We have some great shows slated through the summer. Check out our tour dates page for all the up-to-date info.

Thanks, as always, for being part of our family of music lovers. We can’t (and would want to) do this without you.

See you at the shows!

~FAJ

 

 

Friday, April 12, An Evening With Colorway at Strong Style Coffee, Fitchburg, MA 

Catch the band’s return to this very cool and intimate venue. Free ($5 suggested donation), early and all ages! 

Colorway plays two sets (8:10-9:10 and 9:30-10:30)

When: Friday, April 12
Where: Strong Style Coffee (formerly Chaibo)
37 Boulder Dr, Fitchburg, MA 01420
Directions
Phone:  (978) 855-5529
Time: 7:30-10:30
Cost: $5 suggested donation
All Ages!

Strong Style Coffee on Facebook

Food, beer, wine and coffee (duh) available!

This should be a very fun show. See a quick clip of Colorway playing “Everybody Wants Me To Love You” from that show right here!

Saturday, 4/20, Colorway Performs at The Extravaganja at the Three County Fairground

Come on out to the Three County Fairgrounds for a day of music, love, peace and cannabis. 

When: Sat 4/20 (duh)
Where: Three County Fairgrounds
Directions: http://alturl.com/rx6ux
What time: Colorway performs 2:45-3:15 followed by Shokazoba (full lineup below). The whole event runs noon to 6pm.
Cost: $5 must buy advance tickets. No on-site ticket sales.
More info here: http://alturl.com/qnoba
Parking fee: $5
21+

Click here to purchase advance tickets!

Join the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/342304729959630

Band, map and speaker/event schedule here: http://alturl.com/8zp44

 

Do NOT Bring: unsealed food (you can leave it in your car), alcohol, unsealed drinks, tents, coolers, pets, or weapons
DO Bring: blankets, a hat or sunglasses, sealed drinks or food, service animal if necessary, camera, valid ID, good vibes

 

Sun Stage
12:30-1:00 Shower thoughts
1:10-1:40 DPR
2:00-2:30 Fat Bradley
2:45-3:15 Colorway
3:30-4:00 Shokazoba
4:20-5:00 BOTB Winner

Moon Stage
12:30-1:00 Mass Music
1:15-1:45 King’s Buskateers
2:00-2:30 Rythm Inc
3:00-3:30 Zillawatt
3:40-4:10 Glass Planets

 

Saturday, April 27, Alex Performs Solo at Bread Euphoria, Haydenville, MA

Alex plays two sets of tunes from his 28 years of creating music in the Pioneer Valley.

When: Sat. 4/27
Where: Bread Euphoria
206 Main St, Haydenville, MA
Directions here
What time: 6:00pm-8:00pm
Cost: FREE!! (tips/bread accepted)
This event is all ages!

Join the Facebook Event Page here!

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

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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 Pandora, Amazon, Spotify, 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 TrĂşc 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 Facebook, Instagram 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!

A 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.” â€”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.”

Colorway’s Second Album The Black Sky Sequined Turns Two!

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Hi all,

Two years ago today Colorway’s second, full-length album, The Black Sky Sequined was released. You can see some pictures from the recording of it right here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The two week process began in the middle of October of 2014 at Sonelab​ in Easthampton, Mass with Mark Alan Miller​ at the controls and me and J.J. O’Connell​ and Dave Hayes​ behind the drums and bass respectively.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ten song album will always remind me of a special time in my life–gaining a better understanding of what this band means to me and what I hope it will mean to anyone who cares to let us in to their world, even for a few minutes. It’s different from the first album because before we went in to record the debut we had never really played out as a group. This second effort showcased how far we had come as a collective unit. I hear it in every note in every song.

 

I managed to recruit the bafflingly talented David Trenholm​ to score a horn section for the closer, “Telephone” and arranged for Tom Mahnken​, Nick Borges, Terry Nagel​ and, of course, Dave T to play the parts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was lucky enough to have some amazing artists grace the cover, namely Laura Nugent (for the front), Pietro Spica​ (for the back) and the incomparable Jodi Nicholas​ for the gatefold. And, of course, the ever present logo work of Tom Pappalardo​ who also did the layout of the album.

“The Black Sky Sequined” album cover (2015)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When it was ready to get pressed I got to check a big box off the list and was able to work with the legendary audio engineer, Bob Ludwig​ at Gateway Mastering​ in Portland, ME (I was sandwiched between sessions by Death Cab For Cutie and Mark Knopfler–wild world, eh?). This certainly fulfilled a lifelong goal of having his memorable name on one of my albums (check five albums in your collection. I’m willing to be he mastered three of them).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The vinyl was sent to Bernie Grundman Mastering Studios​ in Hollywood on Bob’s recommendation and was lovingly prepared for replication by another audio legend, Chris Bellman. To see his “CB” on the dead wax always makes me smile.

The album sold well and got some pretty stellar reviews which was nice to see. WRSI – 93.9 The River​ put “Come Back July” into its regular rotation and became a sort of theme song for those who pine for the heat here in New England through six months of cool, chill, cold, freeze and thaw. They still play it here and there and we’re all so lucky to have a AAA radio station that cares about its local heroes from their start all the way through their careers.

The great videographer Tom Adams​ at Reelife Productions​ produced a fantastic video that was shot right here in the valley and was fun to make and still fun to watch (it helps that July is only two months away). You can see it here.

 

 

Dave, JJ, and I went on the road for a bit in support of it and had some fun shows and met and reconnected with some great people from here to Raleigh, NC and back again.

The band evolved over that same time period for natural and understandable reasons.

And now–and for almost two years–I have had the pleasure of getting to know two amazing musicians Matthew Clegg​ (bass) and Riley Godleski​ (drums/vocals) who help bring my creations to life. We work well together and–though it’s a busy year for everyone–we’re planning to get back to work and put some of the new music down on record to share with the world sometime soon.

But this album will always remind me of one person who will forever hold the highest office–my mom, Judy. Because it was on the notebook page of the letters she wrote to all the people in her life that she wanted to leave a message to before she passed on that the words were written:

Then it began. Rockets. Stars. Flowers blooming.
The Black Sky Sequined.
Reds, yellows, blues, greens. Silver and gold.
Fireworks and the cheers of spectators.

And while she never expressly told me that this was a reference to my bursting onto the scene on May 9, 1970 I’m gonna go with that theory until another one comes along. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So thanks for all of you who have hopped on the Colorway train over the past five years. It’s been a thrill to play this music for you. Thanks for supporting our efforts, for buying our albums, for sharing our links, for coming to the shows and for just being you.

And Happy Birthday and Sto Lat to The Black Sky Sequined. May the music roll on and on and on . . .

~FAJ

PS: If you’ve made it this far I should probably tell you that in honor of the two year anniversary everything is on sale at the Colorway store. Check it out right here.