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The Sun Still Rises - Available Now!
Dec 4, 2011 by JeremiahOn November 13th, we had a wonderful release party. I am so grateful for all of you who showed up. I thought we would have several people, but never imagined we would have such a packed house! The CD is now available here on the website as well as on iTunes, with many more options to follow. The best place to purchase the CD is still here on the site, and with Christmas so close, we are starting a special promotion. When you order your copy by December 25th, you will be given a complimentary, immediate download copy, as well as the option to have the CD autographed to you (or the person of your choosing)—perfect for a Christmas gift!
As you can no doubt tell, this website is in the process of a transition to a new design. Rather than wait for all of the pieces to come together, I figured it would be easier to go ahead and develop the rest on the live copy. The store is up now, and while the design is a bit rough, it is indeed functional. If you have any issues with the checkout process, do not hesitate to get in touch. If you wish to purchase now, you may at the following address:
https://jeremiahrich.com/store/
Finally, if you pre-ordered a CD and have not received it, let me know. It is entirely possible, given the sheer number or pre-orders we received, that one or two have been missed or more likely went to old addresses. If you have yet to receive your pre-order, I hope you will be happy to find that we have doubled all of the orders placed. If you purchased one copy, you'll get two, if two, four, etc. It's the least we can do to show our appreciation for your extreme patience.
My communication may be light as we finish out the year as I am been busy with this site as well as a handful of freelance projects. Have a wonderful Christmas, and be sure to join us in 2012 as we kick things into high gear!
We are pressing records!
Jun 1, 2011 by JeremiahIt is with much excitement I can finally announce that, today, I approved the proofs for the album booklet, traycard, and CD. As such, The Sun Still Rises is now being replicated!
Replication is the very last step in creating a CD. This process includes printing all of the design elements as well as pressing the discs themselves. Then, all of these pieces are assembled together and packaged.
To mark this special day, I have updated the songs here on the website to their final mastered versions. In addition, I have added a song called What We Make Of It. This tune was written during the process of recording the rest of the record and talks about some of the difficulty and struggles encountered. Hope you enjoy it!
Lastly, I would like to mention that Hannah and I are celebrating five years of marriage on July 1st and will be taking a much needed vacation. Due to the complexity of this project and other various factors, we have not taken a trip for ourselves since our honeymoon. It is quite fitting that shortly after receiving the final product, we will be able to celebrate the completion and our five years together by taking time away. We have nearly 500 pre-ordered copies to send out and will begin this process once we return in July.
As I have said many other times, thank you for sticking with us during this long project. We could not have gotten here without you, and look forward to seeing what the future holds!
Final Master In Hand
May 6, 2011 by JeremiahToday marks a major step forward for The Sun Still Rises, as we received the final master via Fedex. I was unfortunately unavailable to accept delivery of the package as I am out of town, so it was sent to Hannah at her work.
This leaves the final step of duplication. In order to be ready, we must complete the album design. John Holcomb has been working hard on the album art, and we are just about finished. I am looking over the text a few last times before sending John the final pieces.
Once I arrive back home, I will be sure to update the songs on the site with the final mastered versions, so look for that soon. Thanks for checking in!
Mixing Complete!!!!
Mar 11, 2011 by JeremiahI usually make it a point to avoid superfluous punctuation in my blog post titles and content, but I believe this is an occasion worthy of such treatment. It is 11:50 AM and I just approved the final mix: Anxious Awaiting. That means we are done with the mixing!! Every song!!
The last couple of days has been a marathon of sending mixing notes and revised files back and forth with Joe Kane, my mixing engineer. He has been very patient with me as I have nit-picked every last detail. I couldn't be any happier with the mixing, yet I know it will get even better when we go to mastering.
Keep checking back as we finalize this thing and get it in your hands!!
Impending Completion
Mar 8, 2011 by JeremiahIt is 4:00 AM, my headphones are cranked, and I am sitting in absolute awe of what has transpired over the last four years of my life. This reflection is fostered in no small part by the impending completion of The Sun Still Rises. We are making final changes, and will be done mixing as soon as this weekend. I am sure we will sit on it for a couple of weeks and make a few minor final changes, but pretty much everything is set in stone.
This evening I will be heading on over to Stone Ridge Recording Studio to finalize a guitar and vocal part. This will be a momentous occasion for me, as it will signify the very end of all changes and corrections I will have needed to do. Joe Kane, my mixing engineer, has been incredibly gracious to allow for a myriad of revisions. While the way we went about things for this record has worked out, I certainly will know better how to plan next time!
All that will be left after we finish the mixing will be to finalize the CD booklet text and back panel design, mastering, and then replication. The exciting thing about being finished with the mixing is that it is the final time sensitive portion of the project. Mastering takes a day, maybe two at most, and replication will simply be based on when we can get the final funds together.
Back to mastering, after talking with several different engineers, I have decided to work with a gentleman named Benny Quinn. Benny has worked with many artists I deeply respect, including Eric Clapton, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, The Newsboys, and DC Talk. His wide range of experience will be perfect for The Sun Still Rises, and I cannot wait to take these final steps.
Now that we are so close, I would like to post a copy of my proposed song order. Things could change, but I am pretty sure this will be the final. I've spent so much time going over different ideas, and think I have come up with the best presentation of the material. It is as follows:
- What We Make Of It
- Finished
- Waves
- Restore
- Most Wonderful
- Perfection
- Great
- Afraid
- All For You
- Anxious Awaiting
- Yet To Come
As I have said so many times before for both Hannah and myself, thank you for all of your patience, care, prayer, and support. We would not be here without you!
Fun In The Snow
Feb 27, 2011 by JeremiahThis is coming a couple of weeks late, but I wanted to share a video Hannah shot of my failed attempt to make a snow angel in the nearly 2 feet of snow we received on February 9th. I suppose many of you also got hammered with at least one of the two systems that moved through the midwest around this time. The week prior to the two foot system, we received approximately an inch of ice and seven inches of snow. Having lived in more northern places for most of my life, and with the fact that my family spent five years in Chicago, I never thought the biggest snowfall I'd experience would be in Northwest Arkansas! So, without further ado, check out my fail angel!
3 Completed Tunes
Jan 1, 2011 by JeremiahWelcome to 2011, my friends! What a crazy year it has been for Hannah and myself. My full-time job ended back in the beginning of February. Since then, I've been working odd jobs and doing contractual work. It's been fun because I have been doing a wide range of things from video editing to website design to helping a friend start up his recording studio and serving as an interim worship leader again at Faith Journey Fellowship in Bentonville, Arkansas. Hannah has now been working at Cobb-Vantress for over a year and a half. The weeks leading up to Christmas were extremely busy for her as they moved to a new lab. Fortunately, it was built on the same campus, but the challenge of moving was still daunting. On top of this, Hannah and her sister Melissa decided back in October to make a quilt for their parents as a Christmas gift. The process took longer than either of them expected, and they finished at 4:30 on Christmas morning. The final result was stunning! But, needless to say, I am so glad to have my wife back!
Regarding the holidays, I have had the privilege of leading a Christmas Eve worship service as well as morning worship the day after Christmas. Christmas itself was a relaxed day in the midst of much busyness as we spent the day with Hannah's family in Siloam Springs. Her brother, John, who moved to Los Angeles nearly a year ago joined us as well. I am so thankful for having such a wonderful extended family; I truly feel blessed.
Regarding the record, we have ten songs completely mixed and have just two more to go. I've posted three completed songs for you to (hopefully) enjoy. I won't say much about the album in this post because I'd rather let the music speak for itself, so be sure to check out the three recordings that I have posted here either in this blog entry or on the audio player on the main page of the website.
One final note: I have submitted my first song to be available on iTunes. It is called “Clear Nights And Spring Days”, and it is an electronic song that I've been working on. I hope that this tune becomes the first two tracks on a side project I'm working on. You can check it out here: itunes.apple.com/us/album/clear-nights-and-spring-days...From both Hannah and I, please know that we are truly grateful for the immense support we continue to receive from all of you. We look forward to hearing about and sharing the challenges and victories this new year will hold.
Tunes In Tulsa
Aug 27, 2010 by JeremiahGreetings everyone. It's been a little while since my last post, obviously, but if you've been following my Twitter account (@jeremiahrich), you know we've been busy mixing. I've completed my work with David Teegarden at Natura Digital Studios, and have moved on to the final mixing stage with a gentleman named Joe Kane. The original intent was to finish at Natura, but the cost would have been too great. Joe has done an outstanding job so far, as we now have two songs fully completed, as in ready to go directly to mastering! I spent today (technically yesterday) in Tulsa Oklahoma working on the second song with Joe, and will be working with him tomorrow as well. Joe's mixes are by far the best anyone has produced, and he has been able to complete them in the shortest time and the lowest cost. That's a very amazing and rare combination indeed!
I know many of you have been concerned, and rightfully so, that I would never be content with the songs and the mixes. It is certainly difficult, as I am a major perfectionist. Through this process, however, I've learned that a CD cannot ever be completely perfect, but the project is finally at a point where I am 100% satisfied ecstatic about our work. Our delays in the past have either been due to the cost of the mixing, or in other cases I've been unhappy with the results. Neither scenario is the case this time. When Joe and I first met and discussed finishing the mixing together, we decided we would start on the song that has been the most difficult mixing: All For You. This song has now been completed for over two weeks, and I am still just as pleased as I was when we first finished it. I waited to post this entry as I wanted to be completely sure before I did. Perhaps I've finally learned my lesson on jumping the gun with this kind of news. 
Now to answer the burning question: what is our timeframe? While I cannot yet offer an exact release date, we've recently been blessed with the financial resources to complete the mixing. This is a huge answer to prayer and a major encouragement that we are continuing down the right path. Due to this and the satisfaction I feel with our two completed songs, I expect to be finished with the mixing by the end of September. Once the mixing is completed, we will master and duplicate the album. The album art is already finished, so there won't be any more creative barriers to hold us up. Concerning the mastering, I will be working with a gentleman named Bob Katz. Bob is renowned as one of the top engineers in his field (read: in the world!), and has graciously spent much time communicating with us already by listening to mixes, and providing constructive feedback. I feel extremely blessed to be working with such talented individuals who have been and will continue to deliver amazing results.
Back to today's (again, technically yesterday's) session, Restore took us approximately thirteen hours to complete. Not only is Joe mixing, he is adding some other final touches as well. For Restore, this included recording tambourine, nylon guitar, electric guitar, and a percussion instrument known as a Cajón. I could go on with several more details, but we begin again at 9, so I had better get some rest. I will be sure to keep the blog updated as we go through these final steps. There is much happening, so there will continue to be much to share each week. Thank you for keeping up with our journey, it means more to both Hannah and I than you will ever know!
State of the Record
May 20, 2010 by JeremiahGreetings all! Figured I would pop in and post a quick update about the record. Yes, we are still working on it. Yes, it will be done soon. Of course, soon is a relative term. I think it's important to clarify just exactly what is taking so long: the mixing process. I am more than pleased with how everything is sounding, so the delays have nothing to do with my satisfaction with the material. I am beyond amazed with how great everything is sounding and am eager like nothing else to let you hear the results. It took much longer than expected to find the right people with whom to mix the record.
Mixing costs money and it takes time. In addition to finishing the record, I am of course working… a lot. Fortunately, for my sanity, we are chipping away at what is left constantly, and I am doing some of the work from home. I really cannot complain about where things are. I am trying to stay patient, but, after more than three years on the same project, I am pretty eager to get this finished and out there. I have so much new material that I cannot wait to share, and I cannot do that until this record is completed.
Next week, I will be meeting with Lendell to do some backup vocal work. It has been the plan all along that once we had several songs nearly finished that we would put on the final touch of some backup vocals. I can't wait to see how they finalize the tunes.
Computer Tunes
Apr 29, 2010 by JeremiahYesterday I said I would put up some new tunes today. I have posted them at the beginning of this entry, so feel free to listen while you read along. First, some background. For quite some time I have been wanting to jump outside my comfort zone and get back into the piano. I like playing guitar just as much as ever, but there's only so much I can do with one instrument. Through working on this record, I have discovered a love for arranging music and composing, though before Saturday I had not really given it a shot. I spent the weekend writing 4 songs. Since then I have written three more. The two I included here I feel are the best of what I have done, though I definitely have a lot to learn.
The first song is titled Tweetie Learns To Fly. The idea of this tune is probably self evident. After I started writing it I just felt the name fit, and did a nice job conveying the feelings I was trying to get across. This kind of tune is something I would consider using for a videogame if the opportunity were to arise.
The second song is a song of comfort, of peace. It can be interpreted many ways, but I like to think of it as looking back to my childhood at the fond memories. I remember the joy I felt when my parents tucked me in at night. I felt so safe. I remember the sound our furnace used to make when it came on in the winter, and the strange sadness I would feel when it turned off and the quiet returned. There were several Christmases where we were warm and cozy inside as a snowstorm raged on. Not all of my memories from childhood are pleasant of course, but I hold on to many things that bring me comfort. So the river I refer to in this song represents the memories in my mind. The words are incomplete, but will work until I have them finalized.
Obviously these tunes are quite a different kind of endeavor for me, but I am finding myself having a lot of fun putting them together. I hope you enjoy them as much as much as I have enjoyed writing them.
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