It's getting closer. Christmas that is. What better time to share the video for my only holiday tune to date I Can't Believe It's Christmas Eve. This year the song is available for the first time beyond the video. Just click to listen or download.
I posted a picture on Facebook recently that everyone seemed to enjoy so I thought I'd post it here as well. What I didn't do was tell the story as to how this unplanned photo shoot happened. My daughter had a play date at our house with her best friend and they went up to her messy room (they weren't supposed too) to get one toy to play with. One toy became two which rapidly became an assembly line of 100. Stuffed animals were gleefully dropped down the stairs by one to the other waiting below who then meticulously set them up.
When I asked what they were doing they informed me that they needed all of the animals because they were making a zoo. I can't argue with that kind of logic. So what you see is pretty much exactly what they did on their own. I would have had to pay top dollar to a photographer to set up this kind of shoot and they did happily for free. And because they were playing I think I brilliantly avoided any child labor laws and got an awesome photo to boot. Istvan.
Houby Day is the new release by Istvan. It's a collection of art pop songs inspired by his favorite song writers and the instrument he wrote the songs on, the ukulele. This is also the first record of music for adults that he's made since he started writing and performing music for kids and families.
Istvan reunited with his original band mates Steven Slivka and Tommy Miller to perform the e.p. as well as a bunch of hand picked cover songs on October 4th which was the Friday of Houby Day weekend. The title is named after the Houby Day parade, a celebration of Berwyn’s Czech and Slovak heritage. Pronounced “ho•bee,” the festival centers around the Czech and Slovak word for mushroom, which was the object of a hunting tradition and a significant part of the Czech diet. The set included an ongoing slide show of images that added to the stories Istvan told through out the set. This was a one time only performance.
Currently the e.p. is only available by download. The purchase will get you a special download card that can be redeemed via the CD Baby web site. Included in the download is the music from Houby Day as well as the albums cover art and a text document that includes the story of how the e.p. came to be. The physical CD should be available in mid to late November.
