joel preston west

And we give thanks for the anticipation which prods our lungs to gather and drain, gather and drain.

April 5, 2010

The Tree Ring and I are preparing to record an album together and have been busy writing for the past couple of months.  It’s going to be a bit before we’re done, but we are happy to announce that one of the new songs we’ve been playing, Dreams Where I Am Sleeping, is finally being released on a split 7” with Portland band Norman.  A couple weekends ago, some great people got together to make this video of us playing the song for our neighbors:

On April 30th we will be previewing the new record live at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla. The show will be an intimate performance in MCASD’s Sherwood Auditorium, and we are happy to be joined by Black Mamba.  More details will be available soon, but we wanted to make sure that everybody has time to get it in their calendars because we are really looking forward to the show and working hard to prepare.  It’s not often that we get to share our songs in a quiet, beautiful place with good sound and comfortable seats.  You can buy tickets here and the essentials are on this poster, designed by Andrew Glendinning:

April 1, 2010

I haven’t done much songwriting over the past year or two but I have recently gotten hooked on it again and am slowly working on a new record with any spare hours I can find.  I am trying some new things and it’s great to be writing this one with The Tree Ring.  There’s no better way to spend time with people than to work on creative projects together and it’s especially great to be the worst musician in the mix.  I’m going to be recording some of it myself, and it’s going to be a very different process that will let me get to know the songs better before I put them to print.

A few things with a new season:

Bullet Point 1 : We’re going to take it easy on shows to make time for writing.  Everyone in the band is very full-time with other things so we’re trying to spend the little time we have together on new things.

Bullet Point 2: After a year and a half of really inspiring exchange with all sorts of people, I’ve put the Dust Jacket Project to rest.  You can read more about it there but in brief, I’m not going to be trading the record for art anymore, which brings me to my third bullet point.

Bullet Point 3: Daytrotter just launched their beautiful re-design and my session now includes the option to purchase digital downloads of Something Makes Us Move and Dust Jacket.  Way more stoked for the percentage to go to the good people in Rock Island than to Mr. iPad.

Thank you to everyone who has been coming to shows so persistently and giving us feedback on the new stuff, it goes a long way.

Bonus Bullet Point: San Diego friends, mark your calendars for April 30th.  More to come.

March 12, 2010

February 10, 2010

January 29, 2010

For anyone who missed it, feel free to download the Born Without Arms score here.

January 27, 2010

Big thanks to everyone who braved the weather to make it out for our set last night.  It was a great gathering of fun, inspiring people and we’re glad to have gotten to share some songs with you all. Jamuel Saxon’s remix of Pinhole, as well as all of the other remixes performed last night, are available for free download on this Sezio post.  Get hyphy.

January 22, 2010

The Tree Ring has been rehearsing a new batch of songs that we plan to record later in the spring.  We will be trying a couple of them out in our set at Casbah on Thursday.  The night is going to be a fun celebration of a lot of collaboration and good times that have happened over the last two years and the cash all goes to Sezio, who finally has 501(c)3 status.

Also, the Bring Me Hope benefit compilation that Doug and I contributed to way back when is releasing in a couple weeks.  You can read a little about the project, preview our song, and pre-order the CD on the BMH website.

January 19, 2010

Thanks for the piece, Destin!

November 22, 2009

October 19, 2009

October 14, 2009

Switch the old lamp off
Watch where moths go
Hear their dark disarray

Tell me is it blasphemy
How they’ll wander out
Each to his own corner

Without the obvious end
To huddle tightly around
Among other wanderers

Fragile and dusty bodies
Thrust suddenly into the
Terror of consciousness

October 12, 2009

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October 1, 2009

September 21, 2009

September 13, 2009