From Me Shed, Son

Last weekend the vast majority of the Commercially Inviable stable of acts took a day-trip down to Somerset.  The reason for the trip was for each of them to record a session for the very lovely Songs from the Shed. World of Fox takes up the tale on his blog

“so, last saturday we all went down to north somerset where we ate sarnies, drank beer, snoozed in a hammock and played a few songs in a shed, captured on a camcorder by a lovely chap called jon. it’s quite a big shed, but even so it was quite a squeeze for gurdan thomas, given that there was five of them, and one was playing a tuba

the shed is an old billet hut and is stuffed full of fascinating detritus. one thing that caught my eye was an old magnetic theatre toy that i had when i was about four!

it was a thoroughly nice day out and some of us popped over to nearby clevedon for a glimpse of the seaside (well, the severn estuary, but close enough for a bunch of brummies). it has a nice pier:

 

i haven’t seen the finished videos, but i’ve a feeling they’ll be pretty good. jon will be posting them up on his website in the next few weeks, and obviously i’ll keep you posted when they’re up.”

Likewise, we can’t wait to see the results. A big thanks from us at the label to Jon from Songs from the Shed for accomodating 4 acts on the same day. Watch this space for links to the videos!

James Summerfield in Maverick Magazine

James Summerfield’s ‘Count To 10 & Start Again‘ LP recently had a 3-stars-out-of-4-star review in UK Country/Folk magazine, Maverick.

For those who missed the print issue, here’s that review in full..

Come and help us launch “Everything Is For The Best”…

Next Thurday 15th October in association with the lovely people from Colour, we’re launching World of Fox’s “Everything is For the Best” album with a special Commercially Inviable evening at The Victoria in Birmingham.  It should be a great night and it would be fantastic to see you there.

When you start a record label you are warned by lots of people about the unfortunate litany of independent record labels who start, with good intentions, and then fold after just a few releases.  World of Fox’s “Everything Is For The Best” is the 5th release on our label, and the 3rd full length album by a Brummie artist, and we’re naturally very proud to have gotten this far.  It’s a long, hard process hawking independent music in the 21st century and whilst we might not necessarily be pulling up any trees just yet, we’re still kicking and looking forward to a huge 5 (FIVE!) releases in 2010.

The following info is from the Colour website.

simonfox

We’ve teamed up with Birmingham’s own Commercially Inviable Records to celebrate the recent launch of Simon Fox’s new album, Everything Is For The Best. Simon will be supported by label mates and good friends James Summerfield, Friends of the Stars and Richard Burke.

Expect a night of luminous, contemporary takes on folk tradition, with collaborations between the musicians and Colour DJs playing some of the best leftfield folk, indie and Americana. We’ll be projecting vintage slides and there will be homemade cakes.

About the Artists

World of Fox
COMIN005 Album Artwork lo res

Simon Fox is one of the region’s most talented folk musicians and he’s just released a new album via Birmingham label Commercially Inviable. Featuring gentle fingerpicking laid over swirling, mesmeric backgrounds, it’s a captivating record that reveals itself slowly, unfurling a great range and depth beneath it’s beguiling exterior.

For the best part of a decade Simon was the leader of post-rock outfit Grover, which is evident on Everything Is For The Best in the immersive atmospherics that add a twist to the pastoral folk guitar that eddies above. This makes the extended instrumental passages coursing through the album a beautiful place to lose yourself a little. Lyrically, Fox playfully adapts tried-and-true verse and rhyme structures to tell modern tales of lost loves, existential malaise and drunken belligerence.

Stream: Everything is for the Best in full.

MP3s: Leaves Me Blind / Yarlington Mill / Idiocracy / Witness (.zip)

James Summerfield

jamessummerfield

Last year’s Count To 10 and Start Again (one of our favourite albums of 2008) saw James Summerfield working through the fallout and self doubt caused by divorce, but with a lightness of touch, dark and strange humour and his finely-honed, fantastic ear for melody to tell sweet tales of the biggest blows. Live, James is a revelation: delicate, hushed Americana and folk songs full of beautiful sadness. James has recently supported fellow Midlander Scott Matthews on his UK tour and has previously opened for Josh Ritter and Richmond Fontaine.

MP3s: Films / Another Day With You Is Like Torture / Once / Films (.zip)


Friends of the Stars

fots

Entering their seventh year together and soon to release their second album, Friends of the Stars aren’t a band who like to rush things – nothing about their songs feels forced or unnatural, which is why their country and folk debut Lighting and Electrical took two years to come out, as the band selected songs from hundreds they’d stepped into over the years. On stage, Anna Russell’s vocals take the centre, often with the rougher-edged harmonies of Craig and Cam in accompaniment.

MySpace

Richard Burke

rburke

In a similar way to Simon, Richard initially liked things a little louder – his previous band The Starries played melodic indie rock and toured with Idlewild, before splitting in 2003. Since then, Richard has focused on weaving the melodic surge of indie music with more traditional folk music, influenced by Elliott Smith, Jason Molina and Will Oldham

Moseley Folk Festival Bundle

The celebrate the appearance of 3 Commercially Inviable artists at the 2009 Moseley Folk Festival we’ve put together a package for you…

James Summerfield, World of Fox and Friends of the Stars will all tread the boards at various points this weekend at the sold-out, 4th annual festival and for a limited time only, you can purchase each of their albums for a bargain total price of £15 (including postage).

The Moseley Folk Festival bundle includes….

Friends of the Stars - Lighting & Electrical (COMIN003)

James Summerfield - Count To 10 & Start Again (COMIN004)

World of Fox - Everything is for the Best (COMIN005)

Hope to see you at the festival!

TEAM INVIABLE

James Summerfield supports National Autistic Society with album and tour

NAS PRESS RELEASE: 21st May 2009

James Summerfield supports National Autistic Society with album and tour

Birmingham singer-songwriter, James Summerfield, is supporting the National Autistic Society (NAS) by donating £1 from his latest album ‘Count To 10 & Start Again’ and collecting money for the charity at all of the gigs on his upcoming tour as he supports Scott Matthews.

The tour will take him from his home town of Birmingham to Nottingham, Oxford, Cardiff, Manchester, Bristol, Dublin, Glasgow, London, Leeds and Wolverhampton.

James said: “Autism is a cause very close to my heart as I have worked with children and adults with autism in the past. I hope that people will dig deep at the gigs and donate as much money as possible to the NAS as I know they work hard to support people with autism all over the country.”

NAS Head of Fundraising, Steve Cheshire, said: “We are really greatly to James for his generosity in supporting us in this way. Autism is a serious, lifelong and disabling condition that affects around 1 in 100 people. As a charity, we are dependent on donations and fundraising to continue to provide services and support to as many people as we can.”

For more information on James’ album and tour, please see www.jamessummerfieldmusic.com. For more information on autism, please see www.autism.org.uk

Please contact Kimi Gill on 0115 847 3528 or 07946 590614 or email kimi.gill@nas.org.uk for more information, interviews, photos

DOWNLOAD ORIGINAL DOCUMENT - PLEASE DISTRIBUTE TO YOUR MAILING LISTS

Commercially In Bandcamp

Commercially Inviable artists Friends of the Stars, James Summerfield and World of Fox now have pages on Bandcamp.

You can listen to entire albums, download selected tracks and share with friends, all within the individual Bandcamp windows.

It’s what all the cool kids are doing, you know.

Friends of the Stars

James Summerfield

World of Fox

James Summerfield on the wireless

In these times of viral interweb videos and social networking portals, charmingly quaint Commercially Inviable recording artiste James Summerfield recently played a live set on the wireless to promote his “Count to 10 and Start Again” album.  

James Summerfield @ BBC WM studios

To listen to James playing live and being interviewed, and also read the feature on BBC Radio WM’s site simply follow the link

Thanks to Brett Birks at BBC WM for sorting the interview. 

Enjoy

TEAM INVIABLE

Moseley Folk Festival - Special Offer

Roll up, roll up…

The 2008 Moseley Folk Festival starts tomorrow in the lovely Moseley Private Park, Birmingham. The festival, now in it’s 3rd year, promises to be the best yet with performances from The Accidental, The Bees, Waterson:Carthy, The Destroyers and many more, including headline slots from Seth Lakeman and Jose Gonzales.

 

Commerically Inviable artists James Summerfield & Friends of the Stars are both playing sets this year. James plays the opening night tomorrow (Friday) and Friends of the Stars help kick things off Sunday with an afternoon slot. For more precise stage times see the line up info on the festival site.

To celebrate the festival we are offering both the Friends of the Stars and James Summerfield albums for a special, one-off festival price of £12 (including postage). Click here for more info and to make your purchase.

Festivalgoers can also purchase either album for £6 - or both for £10 - on the site itself across the entire weekend by visiting the Polar Bear Records stall. 

Alternatively, and if you see us any of us hanging around, why not stop for a chat and a haggle…

Enjoy the festival!

Team Inviable

x

COMIN004 coming soon…

James Summerfield - “Count To 10 & Start Again”

Some photos, some songs and some information from our forthcoming release.

4 songs from the album  

Another Day with you’s like Torture - DOWNLOAD

Films - DOWNLOAD

A Little Time - DOWNLOAD

Once - DOWNLOAD

Information you may find useful….

                                             

“I know that feeling sad brings out the best in songs, but I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone” James Summerfield

 

James Summerfield has seen much in his 26 years; still in his teens when his first band, Buick 6, came to the attention of the late John Peel’s audience through the wonderful “Drunk on my Porch” single and 2 sessions for the show, and not even 20 before the band split after Major Label dithering and management company disasters. Only 21 when he self-recorded his debut album, “Hailah, Hailah” (Bearos Records), and already a happily married man by the time his second album, “Paint The Road” (General Records) hit the streets in 2004 to great reviews from Mojo and Uncut.

Since then, the acrimony of divorce and all the chaos this brings has dogged him. He endured a period of self doubt and reflection that saw him briefly retreat from music, his genuine true calling, dealing with troubles that could and have broken a weaker artist. On “Count To 10 and Start Again“, his 3rd solo album, Summerfield returns with a lightness of touch, dark and strange humour and his finely-honed, fantastic ear for melody to tell sweet tales of the biggest blows. It is his best work yet.

The album, co-produced with fellow Peel veteran Simon Fox (Grover), is undeniably frank and deals with his dark period yet contains the beautiful melodies and musical arrangements that followers of James’ work will fondly remember.

His 12 new songs and the 36 minutes of your life that this record asks for are more than a hint of what the future holds for this fantastic artist.

 

……and if you like what you see and hear, please spread the word.

 

Thanks,

Team Inviable!

James Summerfield Album Sampler

Hey all,

James’ album is set for official release in August, but in the meantime here’s a sampler for you to enjoy.

DOWNLOAD

It contains 4 tracks from the “Count To Ten & Start Again” album in 192 MP3 format. You don’t need to jump through any cyberhoops to get it, just click and download. The only thing we’d ask is you let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Please feel free to forward this on to your friends using the “SHARE THIS” doohickey below. For the techno-scared amongst you, simply copy and paste the following text….

www.cominrecords.com/audio/COMIN004-SAMPLER.zip

..into an email and the internet should do the rest for you.
Enjoy.

Love,

Commerically Inviable

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