About

The Catch and Release Experiment: 

The record business is in turmoil. Labels are dropping away, CD sales are lower than ever, and streaming sites are paying artists a pittance. Many musicians now consider their albums to be expensive business cards, and no longer a source of revenue. But necessity is the mother of invention, and some mothers are getting inventive. Following the release of three successful conventional albums, the Nick Hempton Band is heading into uncharted waters with their new recording project, Catch and Release. With the public as their publicists, Nick and the band will write, rehearse, record, and release one new tune every 6 weeks. For a year.

In the lead up to each release, Nick and the band will document the process via a purpose-built blog, with videos, photos and posts detailing every step, from composition, to recording, to release and promotion. And listeners will be encouraged to get involved by sharing this material through their own social media, providing what is essentially organic promotion. The Catch and Release project will not be crowd-funded.

The recording itself will take place during off-hours at the famous Smalls Jazz Club in New York’s Greenwich Village. Recording without isolation in a club setting, the jazz musician’s natural habitat, will allow for a relaxed feel, and a natural live sound to the finished product. It will also prohibit the use of “drop ins” or overdubs, meaning what the band catches on tape is what gets released. And in keeping with the theme, said output is bound to have “more hooks than a fisherman’s hat!” -Brent Black (Bop-n-Jazz)

Tracks will be available to download from the blog, as well as iTunes and Amazon.