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Check out the cool Riverwolf Website I designed for Tony!
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To those of you new to this site and to Thieves & Kings in general, Yes. There really is a music CD. It's a co-publication between I Box, and Tony's production company, Riverwolf Music, (which will in another day or two have a logo to book-end the one above. --I keep realizing how fortunate I am to be able to hammer out my own logos and graphics as they occur to me. For other people, this is a much more difficult task to overcome.) This project has been in the works for a couple of years now, and as of the end of 2002, it became a reality. I've put up a handful of 2-minute audio clips in MP3 format so you can hear the kind of music I think in. --The kind of music I would probably play if I were skilled as a musician, which I am not. Fortunately, I know Tony Davis, who just happens to be a very skilled musician. (I am further lucky in that he also happens to enjoy my work. Isn't it great how life works out sometimes?) Anyway, shortly after we first met, we realized that we would definitely have to collaborate on something at some point, and after a few years of talking and sketching and singing and such, this CD was the result. We are both quite proud of it. It includes ten tracks of Tony's first recorded solo work, (he has always in the past worked with a band but has been aware that recording something entirely on his own was something he needed to do. My stories of self-publishing and the joys of working with total creative control helped nudge him along, I have no doubt. There is something about the term 'creative control' which calls out to every artist's soul.). --And along with my first CD design work, this project includes my very first full-color painted comics story. --Something I probably never would have gotten around to doing without Tony regularly suggesting that I give it a try. "I like your black & white work, but compared to the way you paint. . . You should really do a painted comic." "Well yeah, but do you have any idea how demanding watercolor is?" "No. Is it that hard?" "My best paintings have each had a way of making me feel at some point like I was about to die. --That's how you can tell when you're doing a good job." "Hm." "Though, you know. . , CD booklets are pretty small. And it has been ten years since I did a series of paintings; I know a lot more these days, and I've been wondering for a while what would happen if after I got over the re-learning hump, I just kept going instead of putting the brush down. . ." "It would look awesome. The whole project could be amazing. Artists can do amazing things when they work together." "Yeah. The few times I've done collaborative work with other artists, the work has been more like play. Tara, Greg and I once had three drafting boards set up in my apartment, and we spent the afternoon tossing cartoons back and forth, adding our characters to each one. The energy was amazing. We were all drawing way above our skill levels. Some of my best work came out of that afternoon." Tony nodded. "I really think we should do this." So we did. All in all, we pushed ourselves and were pleasantly surprised with the results. That happens when you grow. --I know for my part that I've learned a lot of invaluable gems of painting and print publishing knowledge. Some really great stuff. --Now, as for the CD itself. . . For those of you who have been reading Thieves & Kings and who know the story world and it's characters, you will no doubt be able to recognize things in these songs which others unfamiliar with my work will not pick up on. (This CD is going into broad release through regular indy music channels, not just comic shops, so people who have never read my work will be listening as well.) However, Tony prefers not to describe too much regarding what his songs are about. To describe is to limit; every new person who listens will form their own interpretations which by necessity, will fit like a glove. As it should be. Artists are regularly surprised and enlightened by the endlessly unique views which come back to them from their readers, viewers and in this case, their listeners. This CD is also now officially for sale both in comic shops and here on the T&K website. I've set up some PayPal buttons and snail-mail instructions on the order page. These download sample tracks live on my little server, so the connections might be slow if it's a busy day. I don't expect things to be terribly hampered, but if problems crop up, email me and I'll set up something to deal with bandwidth demands. But for now. . , on with the show! |
Best listened to with headphones at a solid volume.
Right click and choose, "Save link target as"
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Here are the cover and a few frames from the story. . .
Interested in purchasing your very own copy? It's normally US $16.50, but I wanted to give free shipping on this item. --The only problem is that PayPal's set up doesn't allow a company to waive the shipping on selected items, so instead I just lowered the on-line price of the CD to $14.50, which after PayPal does it's extra calculations, amounts to the same deal. A couple of people ended up paying the extra three bucks while I worked out this bug. Sorry guys! I don't really have any way to pay you back, so I offer a BIG thank-you for being test rabbits. If I ever meet you at a convention, let me know, and I'll do a nice sketch for you!
