Video Blog 2008: The future of Fusco-Moore Productions’ songwriters!

By Chris Moore:

Hi all. I became lax in my posting during December, so I wanted to start 2008 off right! Now, I don’t have a Laptop Session to post today, but I do have a rant, two hot-off-the-press updates, and some thoughts on the new year. So, here goes…

First, I need to thank all those who came to the second annual MoU Christmas Party this weekend. I really appreciate those of you who said they would be there and actually came. Unfortunately, we had a great deal of people — almost a third of our “confirmed” guest list — who didn’t show and who gave little to no warning. This year, it was especially important to have an accurate count so that Jim would know how much food to make. Instead, we ended up with two thirds of the ziti back in our fridge… Let’s just say I can predict what Jim will be cooking for dinner for the next two and a half weeks! Seriously though, especially since I was the one who took on the task of inviting people, setting up the facebook page, etc., it felt like a big failure. Everyone seemed to have a good time, but the band fund lost $80 in the process rather than making money for our second album, Homestead’s Revenge. It was pretty depressing looking out into the sea of… 24 faces. But, to those 24 who did attend, I want to thank you once again!

Okay, the two updates, as promised:

1) The MoU album – I’m still running this by the other band members, but at this time Homestead’s Revenge will be released as a digital download on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008. It’s about freakin’ time!

2) My essay collection – I’ll be releasing a collection of my essays (academic and otherwise) from 2003-2008 on Tuesday, January 8th, 2008. The collection (which, as a warning, is really only for die-hard essay / Chris Moore fans!) will include essays on relationships, society in general, poetry, and music. It will be released as an e-book and is tentatively titled “Essays” and Other Essays.

Finally, my thoughts on the new year. 2007 was okay, but I felt I was not very productive overall. I think Jim felt the same way — as he said to me the other day, he’s been without a solo album for over two years. I think he’s getting the itch again… That being said, my goal for Fusco-Moore Productions in the new year is to build on the audience of the Laptop Sessions, release some music (perhaps the long-awaited “Fusco and Moore-funkel” album!), and release the short story/poetry book that I’ve been working on for over a year. I really feel like this is a make it or break it year for F-M Prod, and I think both Jim and I are feeling the pressure to really make something of this while we can.

As always, thanks for reading — this is certainly the most I’ve ever written here at one time. Best of wishes from Fusco-Moore for 2008 — keep checking back for new laptop sessions and more all the time!

-Chris Moore

What’s happening (or, “Why I Haven’t Been Posting Much New Music Lately”)

By Jim Fusco:

Hi folks! I’ve been pretty down lately about my computer. As I mentioned earlier, my hard drive just died out of nowhere and I’m left with a bare computer that I’m kind of avoiding right now. I haven’t put all the software back on, plus I can’t get the files off of my old hard drive. It’s SOOO frustrating. Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to:

  1. Chris and I put up all of the Christmas decorations in the house a couple days ago. We’re hoping to get the tree tomorrow (but since I’m still awake at almost 4 am and we have a party to go to at noon…), and that will complete our decorating. The place looks GREAT! We took video, and I’ll be posting it HOPEFULLY tomorrow with some Christmas music in the background.
  2. I had the day alone today. I spent it working on something (see point #3), but I was also hoping to start working on the MoU Holiday Party 2006 DVD, since I found the master tapes just today. Problem is that I don’t have my video editing program, so I can’t even start putting the tapes into the computer yet! ๐Ÿ™
  3. Today, I spent most of the day cooking for myself and working on a cover of one of my favorite songs of all time: the Moody Blues’ “The Voice”. I’ve always loved that song, and I just finished making a completely produced version of it, complete with synthesizers. I can’t believe how great it sounds and I’ll hopefully be mixing it tomorrow and putting it online as a FREE download at the Fusco-Moore Store!
  4. New Laptop Sessions will be coming soon. I just have been so upset about losing all the sessions I had done just before it crashed, I haven’t really gotten up the gaul to just do them again. I hope I get my stuff back…
  5. We’re planning the Fusco-Moore Christmas Party (search in the side bar to the right for the old post with the info.) and we hope it’ll be a success. Let us know (by leaving a comment) if you can make it!

I hope everyone’s having a great Christmastime and I promise we’ll be back to 100% soon! ~Jim

You’re invited to the Fusco-Moore Christmas Party!! – New Music to be Performed!

Hello everyone. On behalf of all of us here at Fusco-Moore Productions, I’d like to invite you to the Second Annual

Fusco-Moore Productions Christmas Party!

Here are the details:

Where: Masonic Hall (same as last year!)
50 North Main Street
Wallingford, CT 06492

When: Sunday, December 30th, 2007 @ 3:00 pm

Cover: $7.00 gets you a copy of last yearโ€™s Christmas Concert on 2 CDs or 1 DVD,
Plus a FREE ziti dinner prepared by Jim Fusco, head chef for the Fusco-Moore Experience!!

RSVP: (203) 314-3556 โ€“ Chris or
(203) 500-3879 โ€“ Jim

** Various members of Fusco-Moore Productions will be playing acoustic Christmas/Holiday songs at the party, and we would love to have your input. So when you call, please give us a request for a Christmas song you would like to hear. This year, you can also come up and help us sing along!! **

I hope to see all of our supporters living in CT (or thereabouts) there!!

The Moody Blues Concert, Video Blog Updates, & a BIG Announcement!!

By Jim Fusco:

Ladies and gentlemen… I have a HUGE announcement for you!!

But, you’ll have to listen to the Fusco-Moore Productions Podcast to find out what it is!! But, I can say this- there’s definitely something in it for YOU if you listen in!

How, you ask? Well, click HERE to visit the Fusco-Moore Podcast’s feed, and click HERE to open it up in iTunes (if you have iTunes installed on a Mac or a PC- it’s free!!).

Let’s get those numbers growing!!

Okay, now for some other news:

Obviously, I’m as thrilled as Jeff about our growing popularity on YouTube (my version of The Laptop Sessions is got 1,000 views in only 11 days…the FIRST 11 days!!), and Jeff’s and Chris’ numbers are also growing fast. I can’t wait to see where this all goes… Please, please, please tell your friends and relatives to subscribe to all of our podcasts and YouTube feeds. Why? Because these things are “viral”, and believe it or not, that’s not a bad thing. In this case, “viral” means that if places like YouTube, Google, and Yahoo! see that we’re gaining popularity, they’ll consider it more important. And when they consider it more important, it goes in front of the eyes of MANY more people. And, it just snowballs from there!

That’s why you see some videos go from a few hundred views to over a MILLION views in just a few days! So, it’s flu season…and let’s all get viral.

Another great way you (yes, YOU!) can help to promote us is by going on message boards (not the Brian Wilson one, though- we’ve already made some great connections there) for the bands we do covers of. For instance, Jeff did a Wallflowers song. So, find a Wallflowers fansite, join their message board or forum, and tell them about us! Put links! Get in conversations! You may go on to promote, but in the end, you’ll find some great new friends. I never had the intention of advertising on the Brian Wilson site- they’re just great people that saw my love of his music and loved it, too.

Speaking of music I love, Chris and I went to see the Moody Blues in concert at Foxwoods a couple weeks ago. What a show!! Of course, I’ve seen them plenty of times, but Chris has only just become a HUGE Moodies fan, so this was a special treat. We had a great night. Chris won a bit on the slots (of course) and I played for an hour and 20 minutes, only losing ten bucks!! And, everyone knows that on a Friday night, that’s a BIG win.

The Moody Blues are not in the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame. These guys had 3 number one albums (the Beach Boys with…one) and had PLENTY of hit songs including “Go Now”, “Nights in White Satin”, and “I Know You’re Out There Somewhere”. It pains me, especially because they’ve been around for 40 years now, are still touring, and each one of them is one of the BEST at their instrument. And, as you’ll see with many of the bands I like, each member of the band writes his own songs. Some albums actually have an equal number of songs from ALL FIVE MEMBERS! Plus, they’re all great.

Moody Blues Concert 1

Here are some illegal photos I snuck while at the concert. It was a blast, as usual, and the dinner at Hard Rock Cafe was a great cap to the week. It’s been really crazy at work and with things in life now. I’m so happy I have things like the concert and the great response I’ve gotten to the Laptop Sessions to come home to. I’m happy to be sleep-deprived and overworked to make these things possible.

Moody Blues Concert 2

Well, this is one hefty post- I hope you’ll go on and subscribe to the podcast to hear my big announcement!! Talk to you soon,

~Jim