3 (the band) Dropped By RoadRunner Records/Resign w/ METAL BLADE

6/8/10 5:45PM

small update from Blabbermouth

Guitarist/vocalist Joey Eppard of Woodstock, New York's 3, one of the world's most innovative rock bands, has issued the following update:

"We just wrapped up our first week [recording the new 3 album] at Applehead Studios. It's been a personal dream of mine to record in the room my father designed and built. It's almost like having him play on the record.

"The drum sounds CJB [Christopher John Bittner] dialed in were fantastic and the Gartdrumm was in full effect.

"This record is going to be something very special.

"Our live performances are going to be rare this summer because most of our energy will be going into the making of our new record, but we do have a few very special shows coming up.

"June 11th will see 3 perform at the Basement's three-year anniversary show. Later this summer we'll be debuting new material at our August 28 Bearsville performance where we'll be joined by Josh Eppard's new band: TERRIBLE THINGS. Of course I'll also be doing a few solo gigs to keep me sharp."

3 recently signed a new deal with Metal Blade Records.

The band previously released "Wake Pig" (2005), "The End Is Begun" (2007) and "Revisions" (2009) on Metal Blade.

3's entire discography now spans over a decade, going all the way back to "Paint By Number" (1999) and "Summercamp Nightmare" (2003).

Over the course of its career, 3 has toured with the SCORPIONS, PORCUPINE TREE, DREAM THEATER, OPETH, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, and many, many more.

based on that time frame, if all goes smoothly, their new record could be out in the Fall.
3/27/10 9:08PM
Three sign with Metalblade Records again.

Joey Eppard Mailing List

Hey everyone...

We are well on our way to making our greatest "3" album yet. After lookin at several horrific offers from other labels we decided to continue with Metalblade records because they actually care about our music and truly believe in what we do. We were tossing around the idea of releasing it one song at a time, each with a video. Basically like episodes. Let us know what you think.

Meanwhile I'll be doing a couple solo gigs in April...

Saturday, April 10, 7:30pm
Joey Eppard
w/ Selfish Steam
@ The Powder Mill Barn
32 South Maple Street
Enfield, CT 06082
860-749-4494

Saturday, April 17
Joey Eppard
w/ Bergkamp Bros
@Woodstock Harmony
52 Mill Hill rd, Woodstock, NY

www.realdealmerch.com/three
www.myspace.com/officialbandthree
www.theband3.com
www.myspace.com/joeyeppard


I'm a little confused by that statement about Metal Blade. Wasn't part of their beef about Revisions was LACK OF PROMOTION?..blech.

guess we'll see, it hopefully will benefit them more still going with MB than on their own (or the offers they turned down).

Record Industry :facepalm:




12/10/09 5:18PM


New 3 Newsletter explains it all pretty much.

Hey all,

Couple thoughts... I'm sick of rules that don't really exist. From now on we're offering our fans and friends an open invitation to literally be part of the band. The stuff that goes on in the music biz is so crazy that it can make you crazy if you let it. So instead of loosing our minds how 'bout we share with you whats been going on in our world.

This Summer we wrapped up our Metalblade record deal with our new release "Revisions." Soon thereafter we had signed a contract with Road Runner Records but unfortunately they dropped us before we could even record a single note. Whats worse is this is the 2nd time thats happened to us (Universal Records '98). Ok so the rug was pulled out from underneath us but what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger, right? Well now we have a new deal on the table, but they're asking for 100% of our publishing!!! I've never even heard of that! Whats worser than worse is that they are offering very little money to do it. The truth is our self esteem just can't get that low. We're considering going DIY but we need your support and feedback to do it! Let us know what you think and we will listen.

We have a bunch of new songs and want to make our next masterpeice but we need to raise money to do it. If you want to support please consider buying our latest live set from:

www.aftershowmusic.com

it was a 21 song epic performance including a version of Purple Rain where I had to try to sing through the tears in my eyes! Everything just hit me in that moment. Everything we've been through, all the hard work, all the tough breaks and all the victories we've shared. I don't want it to ever end!

in peace, Joey / 3

Upcoming shows...
Saturday, December 19th, 10pm
Joey Eppard solo acoustic
Mariner's Harbor
1 Broadway, Kingston, NY

so, I wonder if RR dropped them due to lack of sales of Revisions. And that deal that was offered to them sounds much worse than the ridiculous offer 100Ft Snowman was given by a label rep.

I certainly would be willing to support them if they went on their own. But this reeks of someone new over at RR calling the shots.

Sad story, but maybe it'll be for the best. Circa Survive gets on a major, and Kaddisfly goes into hibernation; while Water & Bodies is created and has a higher chance of success based on headway and expectations.

I am sick of seeing this industry bullshit with many of the bands I like. Almost to the point I might expect it, from any label, even many of the indies. Bands don't last and get screwed over. It's how it is, how it's become, and how it probably will be until something changes.

Wonderful. Long live 3, one of the best live bands over the last 2 decades.

Water & Bodies + 3

Water & Bodies whose debut EP was released back in May have mentioned looking to release their debut full-length soon. And by meaning soon, I got the sense from some people on the boards, and now their blog (Beau their drummer mainly) that it could happen rather soon. They have a lot of songs; many of which I guess if they end up on that debut album, will not include any of the songs on the EP perhaps. But here's the important bit from that blog the other day:

3. We’ve been writing like crazy in all our spare time and things are sounding fab! We have a big surprise to tell you all about, but we might just drop it on you when it finished! hint hint. All I can say is September will be a busy month, busy in a good way ;)

so, something's cooking; and it'll likely be announced next month. Perhaps it'll be the EP as a vinyl sales, or a bigger tour, but the way that reads, it more likely will be

a) details on the debut album, and even perhaps it being released in September or by the end of the year.

b) if not it being released in 2009, details on it, and WHEN, like early in 2010.

If that were possible..within the last week news about them, Transatlantic today, and Kevin Gilbert's 2 cds. Potentially, THAT DEPTH for the year just got hiked up a bit, close to where I thought it might be early in the year.

However, it won't mean all that much if these albums aren't amazing..heck, even just 1 of the 3(4) are. No gurantees, but it's interesting how within a short period of time, once I start to question things a bit, stuff starts to excite me again. The fact is, with really only 2 1/2 months left, the anticipated and known work to come out, will happen rather fast. But that goes back to my point about procrastinating artists. Maybe there's something about releasing an album in the fall like movies? It's not for Grammy's, but maybe for Holiday gifts or something. I wonder if more artists just considered that habit of trying to get an album out by the end of the year, and instead think of it more like in Quarters. How about try and get it out by May, or July.

Deadlines suck, I know, but it just seems like many of them CRAM shit in at the last minute every fucking year now. Or they push it back until "early [insert next year]" which then ends up more like Spring or Summer. And before you know it, it's been a year since the original target date. There is such a thing as TAKING TOO LONG and getting COMPLACENT. OVERTHINKING, OVER-DOING. Sure, it helps to be a perfectionist, but how many times have some of the original versions of songs end up being better than what ends up on the record? A lot more often than I'd imagine.

3 they just announced today "Revisions Volume 1: Anyone Human" will be released on October 27th. Couple of points to be made right off the bat.

http://blogs.myspace.com/officialbandthree

New "3" record: "Revisions" to be released on October 27th / upcoming "3" related performances
Hey Everybody,

We've been hard at work making music ever since we got home from our last tour and now we finally have the word on when our next record is coming out. On OCTOBER 27th "Revisions" will be released to the world!

A word on "Revisions"

"3" has always been a band apart. We've never been afraid to follow the artistic impulse, whether it has lead us to genre bending progressive experimentation, or, as in the case of "Revisions," drawn us into a world defined more by melody and lyric than by instrumental prowess. It goes without saying that our goal has always been to create a symbiosis between these qualities, but on this record we find the poles have shifted in favor of the singer-songwriter element of what we do. This collection taps the rich history of "3" by reexamining some of the earlier songs that made us who we are today. Some of them are known from early live bootlegs, others existed only on cassette and were transferred to the internet by dedicated fans who some how dug them up(possibly out of my garage). In any event, these are songs that we felt deserved a second chance, a "revision," if you will. Our passion for music is truly the common thread that binds our diverse body of work.

Upcoming "3" related performances...

Friday, August 28th, 9pm / Joey Eppard - Gartdrumm & JB Tenney
Live @ Keegan Ales - St James Street, Kingston, NY - - no cover

Saturday, August 29th, 10pm / Joey Eppard solo acoustic! (w/Special guests)
Dave's Coffee House
Partition Street, Saugerties, NY
Joey Eppard solo acoustic!

Saturday, September 5th, 10:15pm / Joey Eppard solo acoustic!
Live @ Sober in the Sun - Coffee House Stage
Treasure Valley Boyscout Camp in Rutland / Oakham, MA

Saturday, September 19th / Joey Eppard solo acoustic!
Live @ Alchemy, Woodstock, NY

a) this is an album of OLD/EARLY songs never recorded or re-arranged. It's not NEW music they've written. And it'll probably end up sounding more in the vein of some of the stuff on "Paint By Number" just guessing. Maybe more heavy on the funk stylings, which might be good, but may not be as catchy or like their last 3 albums which I and many fans enjoy most.

b) they have another album, of all-new music, that'll be released on RoadRunner Records. The idea was this year sometime. Given that posting, I'm kind of skeptical. This again goes back to time-left-in-the-year/season.

c) I'm hoping this will be good, but even if it's not that great, my thoughts about their new songs writings (Joey Eppard) on the RR debut, will be an easy thing to fall back on.

To add to this, not involving the band themself or their label, but with mp.com. Why do I post shit there and expect people to remember/find it when more news comes in about it? Seriously, it's turning into a PREDICTABLE waste of long-term rarely-if-ever-bumped topics INSTEAD OF THEM BEING SEARCHED FOR.

While I may have looked foolish in the TA announcement by seeing "coming in October" and what i thought were missing release dates from another site, I would think the attention-seeking users (whores) who continue to create new topics that fail to find or even SEARCH for an older topic should feel just as foolish. But do they?..I have no idea. But it's not just me, and certainly I've been guilty of it in the past..and guilty with the release-dates-in-the-topic-title-that-ultimately-change-but-the-topic-title-is-never-since-the-forum-software-won't-allow-nonmoderators-to-do-so.

But what ends up happening is all my effort (and ego-stroking, I won't deny) for announcing a new release in a brand new topic ends up being a 1-day or 5-hour thing, and these people don't consider the user who started the 1st thread on said album (or just the band in general) never feel learn. I don't keep track of if some users continue to do so. But I think it's an attention thing, and a NEW-TOPIC thing. A freshly posted new topic looks better.

For some reason though, mp.com is maybe the only board I'm on that continues to have this problem. Pretty much every other board, save for progressiveears which really is pretty fucked up without more than 1-month of history anyway, if a new topic is made, a suave happens and new topic gets locked. Most the users do use the search function better and more regularly. It's really not that hard. But the mp.com people often don't care or think about it.

I dunno, my new year's resolution may be modified but become more of a reality next year. No new topics about albums, and NO REPLIES. Frankly, pretty much lurk-mode on the busy boards. But I need more discipline to do that of course. {Perhaps just try and finish out this year and decade I suppose. But I would think those who really care or notice will stumble their way over here. And certainly, what this blog could be is just commenting and fwd-ing shit I see on the forums.

I've thought of just making 1 topic over on progressiveears "mnprogger's music news" but now thinking about that, it's rather silly because ultimately it'll look much like the modern indie thread anyway, and most people barely can keep up with it. I doubt it'd fly, but I think there is something to be said about 1 topic being focused on JUST MY BACKGROUND. Too many times those threads end up having shit posted in them I don't care about, and hurt the thread's intention. With a narcissistic, self-indulgent thread, it would be like passing along shit in this blog mostly anyway, but those people don't come here as far as I know. It would force my shit to be there.

but I still say they have got to get a real fucking message board with history that goes back years. Marillion.com forum is like that, but much worse. Short-term forums suck. Topics should be searched for and bumped. I don't see why it's not looked at as, as necessary as it should be.