Tuesday 5 January 2016

Happy New Year!

Hi folks, here's a way overdue update from Ballistic Pig land! As the December parties have wound down and a number of the local venues have closed for seasonal maintenance the local gigs have slowed down leaving room for fun projects like new albums and new bands.

The Ballistic Pig rock band has become a smaller part of the empire as Gef Zeppelin gigs, solo cocktail party sets and jazz-soul gigs with Tara have become more common. The rock band is still kicking though, we had a lovely New Year's Eve show at Black Rock and are already booked for next NYE so the band will keep kicking.  Meanwhile Geoff is working with a few other island musicians on a couple new projects, hopefully details will be available, soon.

Since the acoustic duo and trio shows are becoming more popular we intend to record an album of standards in the coming months to highlight Tara's voice. Also Geoff is going to record an album of acoustic Led Zeppelin covers he plans to call Swine Song to accompany his Gef Zeppelin project. Daz is hard at work setting the stage for a Garvies album and if time, inspiration and finances allow an album of original songs from Geoff may be in the works as well.

The beginning of a new year is a great time to reflect on the people who made 2015 so awesome for the Ballistic Pig family;

First off, a big thanks to all the musicians we've played with and shared stages with. From 1 time jams to recurring member, acts we've played with at local events, digital collaborators and more. One of the greatest thing about the music biz as we see it is that your competitors are also your allies, you inspire and motivate each-other to work harder, do better and explore new avenues. Without our musical colleagues lots of that inspiration would be a lot harder to find.

Secondly, but no less essential has been the venues and promoters. From event planners to bar manager, fellow road warriors and fans there are a lot of people that put faith in us to throw a good party and, without a place to play we'd probably just be nuisances to our neighbours playing in our homes.

Finally, I hesitate to use the term "fans" as it doesn't imply the mutual respect that we share with the people that come to our shows or refer their friends, clients and complete strangers to us. Your faith in our music is what makes it all work.

I really hope that in 2016 Ballistic Pig will continue to meet more great folks like the ones that have made 2015 so fulfilling. Happy New Year and thanks for listening.

-Geoff