The BedRock Diary 2011
Wednesday 25 May
2011
‘DESERT ROCK’ Launched With A Chilled “Toyi-Toyi”!
 Another
milestone was achieved in the band’s history with the launch of our
5th CD, “Desert Rock”. We thought we’d capitalize on the fact that
it was a public holiday (Africa Day) by playing an extended
lunchtime gig at one of our favourite venues in town, “Op My Stoep
Pub & Restaurant”. Those of you who know Oranjemund will be aware of
the the fact that, when it comes to hosting such events in terms of
catering requirements, logistics and general bonhomie, it is hard to
beat Fanie “Pankop” Smit. We were, in any case, long overdue a gig
at “Stoep”. In fact, the last time we played there we had the
legendary John Edmond jam with us ~ what a day that was!!
The two days which preceded
the launch were extremely wet and high winds blew mightily for the
most part. Were we worried? No ways, China! In true Bedrock fashion
the morning of the launch dawned with largely blue skies and no
discernible wind. This perpetuates the old story that the sun always
shines on Bedrock!!
By late morning we’d set up and sound-checked and folk started to
slowly arrive. Everyone looked as if they were really enjoying the
day off ~ most were dressed casually and there were plenty of chirps
from the “peanut gallery” whenever we reached the end of a song.
Some of this banter was actually quite funny. Nice change. Our old
mate, Terry, was in good form and, thankfully, refrained from
throwing immovable objects on top of Eddie ~ as he has been known to
do in the past!
Playing on a mid-week public holiday is always a bit of a gamble
in Oranjemund. Just like playing any time in this place! This is due
to the fact that many people take a couple of days leave and
“disappear” for the week. Be that as it may, one cannot always hang
about trying to predict people’s leave behaviour!
We started off with the usual laid-back first set to give folk time
to orientate themselves, chat
and have a drink or two. One thing’s for sure – the kitchen was busy
from the off with Fanie’s specials for the day being in great
demand. These included his standard schnitzel burgers (unequalled
anywhere else!) and grilled baby chickens and chips. It was great to
see a few people who are not usually Bedrock regulars pitching up ~
we hope you guys enjoyed yourselves and that we’ll see you at future
gigs. And the junior Bedrock Fan Club was much in evidence. Don’t
think we’ve ever had so many “little people” at our bashes. In fact,
there were so many kids there I thought that they were maybe under
the impression that a “toyi-toyi” was the band giving out
playthings! Sorry, children, that happens at Christmas time.
People came and went. Some meandered in, had a few “dops” and
drifted out again. Others wandered in and stayed. The usual core
representatives were, of course, there throughout.
 One
of the day’s revelations were the selling skills of a certain John
Long. Having known John for many years we’d been unaware of what a
great salesman he is ~ until we asked him to sell Bedrock CDs and
merchandise for us. We could only but marvel at his ability to
cajole or threatened people into parting with their cash!! Thanks to
John’s efforts this was probably our best CD launch ever in terms of
sales. It’s a great pity we didn’t know about this talent of his on
previous occasions. One thing’s for sure, though – we’ll never leave
him at home again!!
We played a number of songs from the new album, including “Who
You Are”, “On Her Own”, “Burnt” and “Reasons”. Our back catalogue
also featured strongly with “Last Round”, “My Girlfriend”, “Miggie
In My Whiskey”, “Tell Your Ma” and “My Girlfriend” all being aired.
Eddie gave us an outstanding drum solo (as usual) and Polla held a
steady, fat, bass line throughout. Solange’s keys added all the
frilly bits that many songs require with some nice rundowns here and
there. Our lead vocalist and guitarist? Well, he went from one state
of panic to the next but managed to artfully keep it all together!!!
 And
so the afternoon unfolded with most people being happy just to sit
back, chill and enjoy the music. That was until our last set, of
course. (Why is it that people always seem to find their party vibes
just when the band want to pack up???). No sweat. Up until that
stage we thought we might not be handing out the “Party Animal Of
The Day” award. That would have been a first. Needless to say, a
previous winner of the award was out to regain it and did so with an
impressive, high energy display which captured the essence of the “toyi-toyi”,
Namibian style! Well done, Kat, on your double!! With that all done
and dusted it was time for the band to kick off their shoes and get
into a little bubbly…
So, thanks again, to the good folk of Oranjemund who turned out
to support the gig (as well as the “out-of-towners” who were present
– hope you enjoyed the Bedrock vibes!!). As always, your support is
highly appreciated. Special thanks to Lyn & John Long for taking
care of our merchandise sales and to Fanie & Ria for ensuring that
everyone left with a full stomach and ready for a good night’s
sleep! Last but not least, thanks to “Big B” for the great
photographs. Keep an eye on the local Community Notices, our
websites and Facebook pages for news of forthcoming gigs.
Sunday 21 March
2011 – DESERT ROCK IS HERE!!
 Our
latest album, DESERT ROCK, was officially released today, an
exciting occasion for any band! The CD, which has been many months
in the making, contains 14 original songs in the traditional Bedrock
formula. In other words, a little bit of something for everyone. We
still have to organise a launch gig, however, due to unavailability
of band members at various times over the next few weeks, this will
have to wait a while. The good news, however, is that you will still
be able to acquire the album in the meanwhile.
This is the band’s 4th album
of original material, following Recovery (2001), So, Where’s The
Party? (2003) and Simplicity (2007). The design and artwork has been
produced, once again, by Ralph Fisher of Zip Print of Fish Hoek in
Cape Town. Ralph can always be relied upon to do great work and he
has really excelled himself this time. The front cover features a
photograph of Africa Rock in the eastern part of the Sperregebiet
National Park in Namibia. It is called Africa Rock because of the
shape of the hole in the rock which roughly looks like the outline
of the African continent. To the more romantic, it may also be
likened to a heart. Take your pick. The photograph was taken by well
known local photographer, Freddie Groenewald.
Why the title of DESERT ROCK? This has come about as a result of the
music marketing industry’s insistence that everything is given a
label. Nothing can just be called “music”. Whenever we have tried to
catagorise our music it has been impossible to put ourselves
squarely in a box. In acknowledgement of this we created our own
genre of “Desert Rock”. And if you’re still confused, just listen to
any Bedrock album and you will understand what it is.
The first song on the CD, Band Song, retraces much of the band’s
history which is a long, interesting and amusing one. In terms of
the lyrics, this was a difficult song to write because it was really
tough deciding what events to include and which to leave out. So
much had to be excluded that there is a distinct possibility that
Band Song – Parts 2, 3 and 4 may well follow on subsequent releases.
Band Song gives away to a solid, understated rocker, in On Her
Own. The “feelgood” song of the album is next, Who You Are. This is
an upbeat, happy, song which should – we hope – get lots of airplay.
The infectious beat, under-pinned by Polla’s solid bass groove,
should immediately get feet tapping and arms swinging!
There’s a serious mood change as Who You Are is followed the heavily
distorted guitar and heavy drumming of Burnt. This is one for those
folk who like their music a little heavier. It also gives Eddie a
chance to pack out his drumming “chops” so listen out for this
feature of the song.
This sequence of songs is rounded off with a ballad called
Deliver Your Thoughts before another of those gentle rockers, You
Can, takes centre stage. This song unpicks the alphabet as it rocks
along to a conclusion of describing what “you can”. Dust Town is a
song inspired by the abandoned, sand-besieged, silent and ghostly
towns and villages of the Sperrgebiet. If any of you have ever
trodden the sands of Kolmanskop, Bogenfels or Pomona, this song will
definitely have meaning for you.
S-Q-Weeze once again changes the mood and is, essentially, a song
built around the bassline. What band, other than Bedrock, would ever
consider writing a funny blues song??? The next song, Life Is Kinda
Funny, is precisely that! A tongue-in-cheek marker to staying
positive no matter what Life may throw at you, it could also have
been called the Laughing Song!
These two interesting songs are followed by another piece of
splendid Bedrock humour in Feelin’s Gone. It is hoped that this
“sort of country” number will get lots of airplay with its
infectious melody and amusing words. This track is followed by the
second of the album’s acoustic ballads, By The Way.
The penultimate song is probably the album’s biggest rocker, Mello
‘n’ Wild. Listen out for the unusual timing changes in this one
which make it all the more interesting to listen to.
The final song is a short instrumental to close things out. We
always try to close our albums out with something a little unusual,
such as the sounds of a dying party, toilets flushing or packing up
after a gig. This time we’ve added a bit of an Eastern flavour to
proceedings. It’s called, rather unsurprisingly, End Song.
On-line digital downloads of Desert Rock will be available on
www.rhythmmusicstore.com
by the end of March. It will also be available via CDBaby (www.cdbaby.com)
and the major vendors like iTunes, hopefully, by the end of April.
We will update this page as it comes on-line at the various
suppliers.
If you would like to order a CD directly from us please send an
email request to
sandmaster@ananzi.co.za
Saturday 22 January 2011
A belated Happy New Year to you all and may 2011 bring you
everything that you would wish for yourselves, your loved ones and
friends.
Just to reflect on 2010 for a while, it was a good year for the
band. Not only did we make a return to the gigging circuit after a
forced lay-off for some months, but we finished writing the songs
for our new album and, in true Bedrock fashion, exploited a whole
lot of new opportunities technology offers struggling musicians
these days! Talking of our gigs, it was great to see so many of our
friends and supporters of the past back at these events. This
applied equally to the new faces to be seen and we hope that you all
enjoyed your first Bedrock experiences and will be back!!
On-Line Digital
Downloads
During the course of
the year we adopted a new business model (what was that song about
cliches?) for our on-load digital download sales, giving the
purchaser the freedom to decide what to pay for our songs. We have
gone this route for two reasons. Firstly, we would like to grow our
market and, secondly, we’d prefer people to pay something –
anything! – for our music rather than steal it. This has been a lot
of fun, especially seeing what the good folk out there believe our
music is worth. One thing that has come through loud and clear is
that people clearly feel that music is too expensive. I’m sure most
of us would agree and, as undesireable as piracy is, there is no
doubt that cost is one of the factors which has given rise to it.
To those of you who have bought our downloads, THANK YOU very much
for the support!
Predictably, sales of our downloads have picked up steadily. Just
for the record, our top selling downloads for 2010 were:
-
She’s A Lady
(Album: Simplicity)
-
So, Where’s
The Party? (Refrain) (Album: So, Where’s The
Party?)
-
Mobile Party
(Album: So, Where’s The Party?)
-
Yeah, Yeah
(Album: So, Where’s The Party?)
-
Nobody There
(Album: So, Where’s The Party?)
-
So, Where’s
The Party?/Angels (Album: So, Where’s The Party?)
-
What Crap Is
That? (Album: So, Where’s The Party?)
-
Rock ‘n Roll
Man II (Album: So, Where’s The Party?)
-
Nothing Worries Me (Album: So,
Where’s The Party?)
The
majority of our sales were through Rhapsody with Napster and Spotify
not far behind.
If you are not an iPod user, you can also buy our downloads directly
from
www.rhythmmusicstore.com or
www.cdbaby.com
Jango
Towards the end of 2010 we also signed up with Jango, one of the
largest internet music radio sites with an audience of 7 000 000.
The response to our music has been fantastic and dozens of fans have
signed up for Bedrock already. You can find us at
www.jango.com
where you can sign up and create your own radio station!! Don’t
forget to become a BEDROCK fan!
New Album On Its
Way!!
 Although the gigging scene has been a bit quiet of late,
this has mainly been due to the fact that we have been working
hectically on our new CD release. The new album, which we hope to
release in April, will be called “Desert Rock” and contains 14
songs. We’ve stuck to the tried-and-tested Bedrock formula so you
can basically expect a mix of everything!! There’ll be more news of
the album in the forthcoming weeks.
Facebook
A reminder that we have, both a Facebook group and page so please
feel free to visit both and sign up -
BedRock on Facebook.
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