facebook post
Just a quick video I put together to show you we are still here and working on new music. about :34 you will hear a score that will be a part of the new album in some form or another.
yes :). Documentary and album. Can't-friggin-wait!
4/18/11 1:19AM
not much to include save for this Jessy posting a rather light instrumental piece on his blog the other day. http://jessyribordy.net
27 plays may not indicate much, but hopefully that number will go up a lot.
3/23/11 8:43AM
http://theriverempires.com
normally, this wouldn't really be much if any *news* but given how interested I and presumably many others are in this project, it's probably still worth passing along. It sounds like this record won't be coming until sometime in the 4th Quarter. More realistic, especially with Jessy's other work of late: Falling Up + The Dear Hunter Colors Spectrum contributions.
March 10th
Update!
Wow, sorry for the lack of updates guys and dolls. The truth is, I’ve been working really hard on getting this new album scheduled to be tracked. Trying to really secure a lot of finances to make this next album the best we can. Bad news is the previously announced release time will not be this summer. The good news is we are shooting for a 2011 release still, and the album is going to contain a very special addition that we are really, really, really stoked about. I will explain the very exciting details soon… for now, I just wanted to post something to show a little sign of life on our end.
1/7/11 12:32PM
short update Summer it sounds likely. It'll be amazing, if their projection of a record every year until 2015 happens.
The River Empires
So tracking time has been delayed a bit, hopefully starting up in April. But the new TRE album will STILL be out THIS SUMMER! So excited for this new album, I lose sleep every night thinking of it. Also all you guys and dolls are awesome.
10/24/10 10:15PM
Jessy's tumblr post
New music and other biznatch
So another journey into self funding and self releasing a project is underway. I am beginning to create plans for the tracking of the second album of The River Empires, entitled “Mars/Brighton Part II” (For those of you who understand that I am writing the 7 albums backwards from the end of the story to the beginning, you will have noticed that Epilogue was the first album, then M/B Part II is next, so naturally following that will be M/B Part I). And some insight for the nice tight group I got going on here following me, Mars and Brighton are essentially the two main characters in the tale. The tale being a love/mystery story between Mars (girl) and Brighton (boy).
The toughest part of self funding and releasing another album is the balance I have to develop between budget planning and writing. The journey, full of success and failures, excitement and disappointment, business and art, is a story in itself that could make for a movie (maybe years down the road I’ll have to write about this crazy process of remaining independent in an extremely shaky and tough industry), but for now the hard work is just something I have to live through and continue. I do have help and support from friends and family, and of course all of you who are interested in and purchasing the music. And I also have started a kickstarter.com account where I can attempt to gain donations by having exclusive material/happenings available for those who donate to the cause of the new album. I will be posting that account link for all of you to take a look at when it becomes available.
In news involving the films…
I recently received some advice from Casey while complaining to him about my worries with the scripts. I was concerned that if I broke the story up into three scripts (trilogy) like I had originally planned, I would run the risk of only one script being picked up and the rest of the tale ending up untold. Although I wrote each script so that individually they could exist as stories on their own, I found it may be unfair to the followers of our band, because then the story just wouldn’t match up. I was also a little concerned that, after reading some articles about the way the film industry was moving, I had three very fringe ideas that may not be accepted as marketable within Hollywood (with the decrease of original ideas and the increase of 3D and remakes, sequels, vampire stories and book adaptations, my science fiction drama/mystery original concept has little chance). Casey mentioned a good icebreaker to begin the story was to create some sort of intro that kind of pitches the whole thing, so that The River Empires story can gain followers and attention, just like out first album did for the band. I took that into consideration. Then after further contemplation, I realized that if I changed the format from a film trilogy to a miniseries (one hour television drama of about 2 or 3 seasons max), the pilot episode could be a good intro and not only pitch the story to the audience but also the network. So I set about plotting out the story to be told over 3 seasons of a one hour long episode television series. Planning is done and pilot is finished, currently being pitched to networks. The series will of course be called “The River Empires”.
um, so 1st off the next album has this title, which is explained there. The story is being told backwards, so I wonder if in Epilogue this section "Mars/Brighton II" is referenced at the end of that record or not. I wonder if in a way, it'll be like The Good Guys or Pulp Fiction kind of "here's what has happened, and here's how we got to this point" kind of thing.
And of course the other big news there is about the Films. Doing a mini-series or MS -> a tv show makes realistic sense. The question being, WHAT NETWORK would go to bat for this. My suggestion would be 1 of the Cable networks and not a Major. AMC, HBO, Showtime or even SyFy would have better odds at the show lasting or at least not requiring demands that a network would. Sure, the financial part might be a lot better via a major tv network, but the odds of a mini-series receiving ratings that would have the network order it back (or order and AIR IT, even if it was a just a Mini-series) are not all that high.
The American Television industry, like the film industry, has become so watered down with Reality Shows and cheaply-made no-talent trash, the suits at the networks demand ratings become an overnight success or a show (and miniseries) often doesn't last.
Cable the odds are a lot higher. Just consider the many Miniseries over the last decade: The Lost Room, Alice, Earthsea, Tin Men, Battlestar Galactica, The Prisoner...not to mention all the ones like Angels in America, Dorothy Dandridge Story, etc and others that always show up at the Emmy's and Golden Globes.
I guess I'm hopeful about what happens, but at the same time, to actually witness these finally will be another thing. A lot of cases like musicians or small-budget film-makers now, end up making something that is put online. Even Kevin Pollak and his original programs like Vamped Out and Kevin Pollak Chat Show. WEB ONLY. I'd say that stuff is realistic in budget and expectations. But Jessy and TRE project is so ambitious, the idea of not at least trying to see them made in a more legitimate, wide-spread fashion might be selling it short.
I do wonder if making a Short Film might even be or might have been an idea that Jessy considered. Look at Cashback. It became an Award-winning short film, and then went on to become full-length feature. Napoleon Dynamite I recall as well.
I guess we'll see. The Pilot episode is already written apparently according to that. I wonder who might be in mind as far as casting, directing, etc. Hopefully that stuff will be known relatively soon.
