The best fans outfit their children in Lander attire. Because I print Lander Tees and other merchandise myself, from time-to-time people send me clothing for their babies and I put the Lander touch on it. This Lander fan in particular is the son of my best friend and the inspiration for the song Clementine. When I found out he would be having a child, I surprised him with a stylish Lander onesie and trusted it would get him through the hard times. Thanks Joe for the picture- I’m glad to see you’re raising your son right!

Whether you know it or not, recording and producing music is extremely expensive and always a climb for indie bands everywhere. You can have talent, heart and loads of original music but in the end, it will require an enormous personal investment to see any of that material immortalized onto an album. This spring, I hosted a concert and live recording at Mississippi Studios with the plan of eventually releasing that recording to the public. However, all of my money was spent hosting that show and without a surplus, that recording has sat on the shelves waiting for my pocket book to catch up with me. I have no doubt that it would have collected dust until 2020 if it wasn’t for one very generous fan…

I am overwhelmed with gratitude toward Super Fan Jeff Sanford and his family. He emailed me asking when are you going to release the Mississippi Studios recording? I answered with the truth, probably never. I gave him my financial sob story; explained how I am still paying for Orange Chrome Sky and a new solo album (See That Gleam) (amongst life itself). I expected nothing from that conversation but nonetheless, a check arrived at my door today.

There are no words to explain his Big Heart. He simply shrugs and calls it an investment in good music. I will never disclose the amount donated to my cause but the recordings will be heard and I will no doubt dedicate them to his name. Thank you Jeff, for everything you’ve ever done for me.

Big Hearts are filling up the hemispheres
Big Hearts are warming up the coldest years
They’ll lie beside me forever more
Cause Big Hearts make mine grow

Big Hearts

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Paul the Music lover found us one night at the Bitter End in Portland- he bought an album and gave me his card before he left for the night. Weeks later I received an email letting me know that Lander had been featured on a Pod Cast on the IndieMusicSampler.com with my song What I Feel Like As Winter Comes. We are the last band featured on this particular Pod Cast but Paul ended with some really kind words about our sound. Click here or on the image above to listen to the PodCast featuring Lander and our ‘knock you over with a feather’ music.

Click to listen to the Podcast
Click to listen to What I Feel Like As Winter Comes

Join me tonight for my hour set at the Laurelthirst on NE Glisan!!! I’m one of three acts on the bill so come support your local artists, have a beer and hang out with us. See you tonight!

We were scheduled to play at 4pm on the opening day of the 2007 Oyster Ridge Music Festival. Our plan was to leave Salt Lake City at noon in order to give us time to check into our hotel and arrive at the Festival with time to spare. From Salt Lake City, UT to Kemmerer, WY is never more than a two-and-a-half hour drive (but nobody told us of the two hour traffic delay that was ahead). We set out at a standard pace, abiding by the law until we hit the unforeseen traffic that put us well behind pace.

We had an obligation; Tommy was driving the van and knew what needed to be done. We were pushing the limit of the vehicle and well on our way to making up the lost time when we happened upon a State Trooper 13 miles outside of the Kemmerer city limits. The officer was kind, understanding of our situation but obligated to teach us a lesson. As you can see, he quickly issued us a ticket (as not to delay us any further) and set us on our way. We were sure to signal as we re-entered traffic that day and continued with haste as we entered Kemmerer. We pulled up in a daze, unloaded our equipment directly onto the stage and started our Friday set slightly winded but conveniently on time.

PS. 79 in a 65 was a very generous white lie (courtesy of the State Trooper) to avoid the ticket posting on Tommy’s long term driving record.