A note on future releases:

Independent artists have struggled for years to monetize their music in the face of the streaming giants and downfall of physical sales in the music industry. The CD died and some brave individuals have attempted to keep vinyl on life support. Albums are often not listened to all the way through, and society’s attention span has shortened. I don’t buy music as gifts anymore. Which is weird. It used to be I could give someone a legitimate gift when I bought them a CD of an artist they weren’t familiar with, or new music from an artist they were familiar with. Today, doing so its like, anyone can just stream it, so why buy the CD, or the vinyl? 

So many independent artists look at this problem and want to ditch apple and Spotify all together. I’m not sure that approach is wise but I absolutely understand the frustration and the mindset. So moving forward I am going to be releasing my music a little bit differently. I’m not going to abandon the streaming platforms altogether, though if you follow me there you will see less of my material there moving forward. 

Rather than treating Spotify or Apple Music or Tidal as the place to go to listen to everything I release, I am going to treat it as a singles market only (sort of like radio used to be). Want to hear the rest of the new album? It will be available in full for download on my website or available as a Musical Bead physical purchase at shows. Musical Beads are a NFC enabled chip cards or keychains that will bring up the album simply by tapping your phone to it. I will also be compiling a short “book” for the full length releases that will replace liner notes, that will also be available for purchase at shows. I will also be releasing a few singles on 7” vinyl but vinyl is such a niche market I don’t feel comfortable making investments at this point in putting a full album on vinyl. 

My most recent album If It Hurts My Head, If It Breaks My Heart is compiled of two chapters. The first chapter: Blackbird released in 2024 is available on Apple Music today and several other platforms, though Spotify removed it  because apparently I broke some rule at some point and have no way of fixing it. The second chapter: Missing the Mark has one single out already with some additional singles coming soon on the major streaming platforms. I will be releasing both Chapter 1 and 2 as one Musical Bead in 2026 that will be available for purchase at my shows soon. 

I don’t love or hate the streaming platforms. But I think independent artists and artists in general need to find a way to reclaim some ground in the market place of selling music as a physical product as opposed to putting EVERYTHING in the streaming basket. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe this is a dumb idea but this is what I am going to try as far as sharing my music with the world moving forward. 

-j

NEW ALBUM! If It Hurts My Head If It Breaks My Heart: Chapter 1- Blackbird

chapter 2 of If It Hurts My Head, If It Breaks My Heart: Missing the Mark coming in 2026 - check out the title track single

here——>

RAGE & LOVE LIVE ACOUSTIC volume 1 bremerton sept 2024

Listen on Spotify