be careful about stopping by la blogotheque take away shows if you’re never been there before because you might stay a loooong time.  this is my friend chris garneau on one episode.

this just made me real happy.  i give thanks for the legend of jim henson.

before you eat your turkey, give food or time if ya can. take a peek at this list of local shelters/food banks http://tinyurl.com/ma3uqn

cab ride through hollywood via quadcam

best live show in the back of a van of 2009, courtesy of @madidiaz, whose music you should buy…

hey minneapolis! go get the exclusive cities97 live cd with me, ingrid michaelson, snow patrol, ray lamontagne, and many more…

hey, stranger…

yeah, i know. it’s been awhile since you heard from me, non-twitter at least. there’s a reason for that… after i spent the first few years of my career running the show myself and releasing records from my house, i made a deal in 2007 for the last record “who you are” that i had hoped would be my attempt to put the work on the shoulders of others and allow me to just write and play music. i had seen some friends sit back and let their careers be controlled by other people, and that seemed like a good life. everything went well with the release, and i had a good year and half on the road promoting that record around the world. unfortunately, what i didn’t take into consideration was that i like the business part of this job. i like working with people. the songwriting and playing is a part of who i am whether or not i make money at it, but the details after the studio are what makes it feel like satisfying work. maybe it comes from a work ethic handed down by my family, but i like doing doing the day to day stuff - helping create artwork and talking to my distributor and knowing all of the numbers and, most importantly, having a one on one relationship with every single person involved in my music getting out there. i wanted to have control again. i’ve seen too many friends sign a piece of paper and lose their career because one radio single didn’t work or they weren’t enough of a priority at their label after their biggest fan left the company.

however, i was tied up in a record deal in which i still owed two more records to my label. after weighing the options, i decided to buy my way out. as these things often go, the legal wrangling took a bit of time (hence my musical disappearing act), but now it’s over. thanks to the great kindness of the president of my old label who could have held me to the contract, i am free, with a new record that i paid for myself, and it feels absolutely incredible. against the advice of many people, i took my sweet time to finish this record. after the better part of four years on the road, opening for great bands and headlining shows and producing the hotel cafe tour, i needed to live life. some musicians move from record to record and show to show and write about the shifts of that experience. with all due respect to their creative process, i don’t work that way. i felt like i needed to go home and see my friends and wake up in the same city every day. my songwriting comes from reflections on the world around me, and i needed to fill up that well with experience instead of just writing lyrics because i had a deadline for a record release. in that time, i have faced some demons and made many realizations about myself, and i spent some difficult and some wonderful and ultimately rewarding months learning eye-opening truths with my very closest friends on this earth. and i laughed. a lot.

at the end of it, i have the best record of my life. critics and fans and casual observers can debate that when i comes out, but it won’t affect what i think. this is it. one wise friend told me that, as songwriters, we each do one thing really well. if that’s true, then i finally figured out how to do that one thing better than i have ever done it before. i’m so proud of this record, and i can’t wait for you to hear it. it’s called “under control.”

so… i have a record but no record deal. luckily, some companies and people with great ideas have already approached me about my next step, and i’m mulling over the options. if in the next few weeks i decide to enter an agreement with another company, i will most certainly be in a better position to run the show. i will still have the independence i need.

whatever happens, i have this record, and i have my freedom.

thanks for sticking it out. it’s gonna be a fun ride in 2010.

be good,

-CB

p.s. in the meantime…

i am a sucker for the holidays and just made a 3-song christmas EP called that will be released digitally today, november 17th. i did covers of the kinks’ “father christmas” and a half-traditional/half-modern take on “o holy night” as well as an original acoustic tune called “christmas tree.” only $1.99 on itunes. it’s a completely indie release, so please spread the word, and feel free to write kind reviews if ya like it. you can find it on itunes here - http://tinyurl.com/ya2j2xz

and come follow me on social network-y thingies, too, if you’re into that sorta thing…

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/carybrothers

TWITTER: http://twitter.com/carybrothers

when i sat in my courtyard and wrote this tune for tiesto, i hoped this would happen, but… wow… dj culture…

After we had some fun working on and performing his “Ride” remix last summer, DJ Tiesto asked me to write and sing a song with him for his new record “Kaleidoscope.” It’s called “Here on Earth.” He also asked Jonsi from Sigur Ros, Kele from Bloc Party, Emily from Metric, Tegan & Sara, and many more artists to contribute their voices to the record, and it’s a cool new direction for a guy who is already one of the biggest DJ’s on Earth. You can buy the record/track on iTunes and Amazon and everywhere.

That’s all for today. Much more news coming in the next few weeks and much more music coming in the next few months.

Be good,

-CB

FINALLY finished mixing the new record last night! done and done. never been so happy. next up - disappear across europe for two weeks :)

cranked oldies in my car for weeks waiting to hear this tune so i would finally know who sang it. perfect single.

hey, thanks to kevin bronson at buzzbands LA for the kind words about my verve “drugs don’t work” cover here.

off to sing a song with the bearded one @wfitzsimmons at the hotel cafe

new favorite brunch-y (cuz i ain’t up for breakfast) spot is CJ’s on pico. 22 years “where the south meets south of the border.” perfect.

i made mashable? sweet! and thanks… RT @mashable Musicians on Twitter: 100+ Artists That Tweet - http://bit.ly/xBIFy