Hey, everybody!  So, I have had a few people reach out to me regarding my decision to focus on live shows for the next month while I am working my part-time day job to help replenish my savings.  I am sorry I haven't had a chance to respond to everyone that has commented or written.  I will eventually.  I promise you that.  But, the strange thing is, some people prefer the live shows and others prefer the recordings.  Some people have said that they feel they get more value when it's a couple hours worth of entertainment as opposed to fifteen minutes of songs, and others feel like they were patrons because they wanted me to be able to provide them the fruits of a full week's worth of labor in the studio.  So, I was hoping to explain my position on all this.

For me, they both require a pretty significant amount amount of work, although, to be honest, when I am inspired and excited to write music, the recording process feels like it's easier and requires less actual hard work.  When I am not inspired and excited to write music, the live shows seem to require less work.  However, they both require lots of time.  For me to put together a live show, I have to spend a couple hours going through my music sorting out what songs I would like to play.  What deep cuts I think I can learn in the margins of my day and then it requires sitting down for a few hours every day, rehearsing.  Certainly, this does not require as much work as the time needed to write and record songs, but, when I am writing and recording, I am also not working a day job.  So, whether writing/recording or playing live, they both require significant time commitments.  So, whether you prefer the live shows or the recordings, please know that I am not phoning anything in.  I live to make music and sometimes, when I hit financially tough times, I have to make adjustments.

That said, this week's Ustream will hopefully be interesting.  It's a little more talking that I was expecting, as I sorta walk you through a narrative of my approach to song-writing and my inspirations from my very earliest days of songwriting up until the last couple years.  I tried to include some deep cuts, particularly from the early stuff.  And I am going to also provide you, for free, the complete collection of Vermicious K recordings.  Vermicious K was the band that directly preceded Get Set Go.  If you watch the stream, you'll get a better sense of what I'm talking about.

I will upload those tomorrow and make them available via a free Patreon release. 

Anyway, I gotta run.  I have to set up for band practice.  

I love you all and am so, so, so very appreciative of your continued support.  Be well and I will talk to you next week.  Click the link below for the live-stream.

ustream.tv/channel/mike-tv-live-now-with-30-more-feelings

M.

P.S. Oh, sorry about the advertisements on the stream.  I don't really know another service that allows me to archive multiple hours of live-streaming shows.  I'm already paying a monthly fee to make sure these episodes are archived.  The ad-free version of Ustream costs dramatically more per month.  I'm so sorry, but I just can't afford it.  If you know of a better service, please, let me know and I will switch.  

http://nightattack.tv/episode/81

It's our sixth annual DragonCon live episode! As is tradition, Tom Merritt, Veronica Belmont and Bonnie Brushwood join the show to talk about Justin's wedding, robot cockfighting, cosplay and Don't Get Brody'd.

Brian has finally cured his dance fever as he, Tom and Justin get ready to play Chatrealm Feud, watch Netflix and chill

The water on Mars announcement has inspired us to put our lab coats on. With the help of Dr. Kiki we bring butts to the audio listeners, we spread scientific knowledge to the art community, and we energize one of Brian's employees.