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Laatsch On Tour!

2009-06-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

Explained...

2009-05-04T00:44:00.000-07:00

Sixty Years War is proud to announce a brand new artist into our line-up, Scotty Briggs. Scotty's new digital-only LP, Me & Christopher is available for free! The record is a nine track song cycle based on the story of two friends, Steve and Christopher.

You can download the album, or just listen to some songs right here.

More info on Scotty, can be found at his website, www.scottybriggs.com.

Work to Live - Me & Christopher

We're also pleased to announce that we've created a new feature on the website, LEEBLOGMILES. It's a new sounding board for Mr. Lee Miles' thoughts on a wide range of topics. It should make for some informative and insightful reading.

Thanks!

Glowing

2009-04-29T22:34:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, Lee Miles and his band, The Illegitimate Sons did a low profile EP release titled, A Farewell to Sister Evelyn. This disc was recently reviewed by Whatzup magazines own, D.M. Jones. The entire article can be read here.

Within the dusty boot tracks, alternately funereal and hoedown tempos and clucking country-style electric guitars that populate the latest from Lee Miles and the Illegitimate Sons, A Farewell to Sister Evelyn, you'll find sorrowful and sordid tales alike.

You'll find murder, fever, wretches thirsting for salvation and victims who never sought it. Best of all, you'll find layers and levels of meaning tacked to the antique, esoteric lyrics. Rarely are lyrics printed on a page as moving or enlightening as they are when sung, but in this case having them in view adds to the experience.

"All the boys in skinny clothes cut wide open on the evening news," Miles sings over a single strummed acoustic guitar. "One says he's stepping on the throat of the man who would harm you. The other says all leaders must die, it don't matter the color of his lies if he's banking on our hopes and our money, if our children be killed in the street." Read More...

Wooden

2009-03-22T14:55:00.000-07:00

Great shots of Wooden Satellites playing The Brass Rail, courtesy of Drew at Fahrenheit128.com! Yes!

City Beat

2009-03-05T15:22:00.000-08:00

The San Diego City Beat just put out their 6th annual Local Music issue, which included a short review of Longsleeves' three EPs.

Jame Musselman (aka “Long-sleeves”) apparently had a long December. The first of his three EPs, Black Swamp, is sparse folk fare that bogs down in a mire of heart-on-sleeve dreck about “weeping willow trees” and the like. In contrast, the subdued electronica of follow-ups The Rift and Wire Fraud suggests that Mr. Sleeves should spend more time with his laptop and less time with maudlin introspective masturbation.

Fair enough.

Down The Line

2009-02-08T11:20:00.000-08:00

Several pictures from last nights performance by Lee Miles and the Illegitimate Sons were captured by Joel Faurote. Check out his website for more pictures and also his Flickr Photostream. Our great friend Drew Allegre of Fahrenheit128.com captured several amazing photos as well. Check them out here.

Congrats

2009-02-07T17:37:00.000-08:00

Tonight Lee Miles and The Illegitimate Sons played to two standing ovations at The Embassy Theatre in Fort Wayne.

As part of the Down The Line Series, they performed a split set of original songs and also songs by The Band.

We'll be sure to post pictures from the event soon! Congrats to Lee and the Sons!

Class Picture `09

2009-01-28T18:24:00.001-08:00

Our Family...

Longsleeves Winter Tour

2009-01-02T16:53:00.000-08:00

** INDICATES RECENTLY ADDED DATES

Humbolt Studios - Chicago, IL - January 9th
The Fahrenheit House - Fort Wayne, IN - January 12th
Caffe Paradiso - Urbana, IL - January 14th
Uncommon Ground (on Clark) - Chicago, IL - January 15th
Skinless Gallery - Kansas City, MO - January 16th
Fresh Produce Art Collective - Lawrence, KS - January 17th
Bela Dubby - Cleveland, OH - January 19th
**The CopPunch House - Kent, OH - January 20th
The Brillobox - Pittsburgh, PA - January 21st
Wild Goose Creative - Columbus, OH - January 22nd
The Apostle K - Bloomington, IN - January 23rd
Lazy Daze Coffee - Indianapolis, IN - January 24th
The Brass Rail - Fort Wayne, IN - January 24th
The 509 - Huntington, IN - January 25th
TBA - Lansing, MI - January 27th
** The Living Room - San Diego, CA - February 5th
TBA - Los Angeles, CA - February

Tell everyone you know. Longsleeves will be on tour this month with none other than Ben Laatsch performing alongside him. Mark your calendars. You can find more info on tour dates at Longsleeves MySpace page.

Name Drop

2008-12-30T12:42:00.001-08:00

This past weeks issue of the San Diego CityBeat mentioned Longsleeves three EP project in editor Seth Combs 'Locals Only' column.

Also releasing his music via free download is troubadour James Musselman, who works under the name Longsleeves. He has released three new EPs of varying styles of music through his MySpace page and the Sixty Years War Recordings website. Read More...

Thanks, Seth.

Happy Holidays

2008-12-25T12:02:00.000-08:00

The crew at Sixty Years War Recordings would like to wish everyone the best into the new year...

Here's a special treat from C. Ray and Andrea Harvey of Wooden Satellites for your listening pleasure:

What Child

Wire Fraud

2008-12-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

Today is the release of Wire Fraud. The third and final free EP Longsleeves will be releasing this month. We hope you enjoyed all three and we encourage you to share these recordings with friends. Spread the word!

WIRE FRAUD
1. The Pull
2. Check The Phones
3. November
4. Television News
5. Reaching Back

DOWNLOAD FULL EP - 17MB (192kbps MP3)

Listen Live:

The Pull - Wire Fraud

Check The Phones - Wire Fraud

November - Wire Fraud

Television News - Wire Fraud

Reaching Back - Wire Fraud

Out Of Five

2008-12-20T17:28:00.000-08:00

Scott Shoger of NUVO did a short review of Lee Miles', Heathen Blux giving it four and a half stars out of five.

Heathen Blux is the kind of rough-hewn, roots-rock record that one might think was recorded in a log cabin in the woods far from the madding crowd. And reportedly Fort Wayne’s Lee Miles suffers from allergies to both food and people that have left him bed-ridden for years at a time and nowhere near a stage. But who needs live shows when you’ve got a four-track, banjo and guitar? Miles sometimes channels his predecessors quite obviously — heading towards Dylan parody on the archetypal list song “Catch a Snare,” Johnny Cash at the beginning of the standout “Deserters,” Gold Rush-era Neil Young on the similarly brilliant “Down at the Massacre”— but Heathen Blux stands on it own as a well-crafted, jaded and violent reflection on contemporary politics in unvarnished folk song. Read more...

The Rift

2008-12-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

Today is the release of The Rift. The second of three free EP's by Longsleeves that will be released throughout the month of December.

The Rift
1. HU
2. ON
3. MI
4. EE
5. SU

DOWNLOAD FULL EP - 14MB (192kbps MP3)

Listen Live:

HU - The Rift

ON - The Rift

MI - The Rift

EE - The Rift

SU - The Rift

Black Swamp

2008-12-09T13:38:00.001-08:00

Today is the release of Black Swamp. The first of three free EP's by Longsleeves that will be released throughout the month of December.

Black Swamp
1. Looky, Looky Yonder
2. Goodnight Irene
3. Beneath the Weeping Willow
4. Wildwood Flower
5. Mrs. James
6. The Riddle Song
7. Banks of the Ohio
8. Big Rock Candy Mountain

DOWNLOAD FULL EP - 34MB (192kbps MP3)

Listen Live:

Looky, Looky Yonder - Black Swamp

Goodnight Irene - Black Swamp

Beneath the Weeping Willow - Black Swamp

Wildwood Flower - Black Swamp

Mrs. James - Black Swamp

The Riddle Song - Black Swamp

Banks of the Ohio - Black Swamp

Big Rock Candy Mountain - Black Swamp

Magic Number

2008-12-03T12:45:00.000-08:00

This month Longsleeves will be releasing three different digital EP's for FREE via Sixty Years War. The records are all quite different and are the result of a well of creative energy during the month of November.

The release dates of the records all fall on the next three Tuesdays this month. You can listen to clips of two songs from each record on Longsleeves' myspace player.

Here is what you'll be listening to soon:

BLACK SWAMP - 12/09/08
1. Looky, Looky Yonder
2. Goodnight Irene
3. Beneath the Weeping Willow
4. Wildwood Flower
5. Mrs. James
6. The Riddle Song
7. Banks of the Ohio
8. Big Rock Candy Mountain

Black Swamp is a very stripped down folk record carried along by only vocals, autoharp and banjo. The album was hammered out in less than twenty four hours (minus one song which was recorded at an earlier date). It was tracked live in a small bathroom apartment in downtown San Diego, in the Gaslamp Quarter. All of the tracks are traditional folk songs, except for "Mrs. James", which is a cover of a song from Lee Miles' very first solo record, Bear.

THE RIFT - 12/16/08
1. HU
2. ON
3. MI
4. EE
5. SU

Made directly following the completion of Black Swamp, The Rift was completed in a week and is an eleven minute foray into drum and bass instrumental music. Many ideas about black politics of the 20th century and the ethics of Democracy and civil rights in both the US and abroad were inspirations for the record.

WIRE FRAUD - 12/23/08
1. The Pull
2. Check The Phones
3. November
4. Television News
5. Reaching Back

Collected from several archived, unreleased projects Wire Fraud spreads through three years of accumulated recordings. All songs are original compositions. Track three, features Ben Laatsch playing acoustic and electric guitar, as well as contributing vocal harmonies. The photograph on the cover of the record sleeve was taken by Mr. Laatsch as well.

More news concerning a proper full length release and an extended midwest tour by Longsleeves and Ben Laatsch will be forthcoming. Keep your eyes and ears peeled.

Soft Drugs

2008-11-28T23:03:00.000-08:00

Sean Smith of the Fort Wayne Reader did an interview earlier this month with Wooden Satellites. The article can be viewed here.

"My goal was and always has been to present situations and observations without putting too much spin on them,” C. Ray says. “That's why I try to write from first-person perspectives most of the time, it's easier to express feeling without trying to comment on it too much. With commentary you have something a listener can disagree with. With a situation, or pure feeling, honest description, I think it's easier to take at face value. So I try to find characters I can relate to even though they were in very different places and times than me, because I figure if I can relate to these characters' jealousy, indignation, self-loathing, and frustration and express that well-enough, other people should be able to as well. Read More...

Kowtow

2008-10-30T23:28:00.001-07:00

One of Longsleeves' tracks from his latest release, Constellation was handpicked for a compilation disc put together by Kowtow Clothing. The disc is the third volume in a series of compilations that are given away free with orders from the shop.

Kowtow is based out of Wellington, New Zealand and is dedicated to using only certified organic, free trade cotton in all of its garments. If you're interested in helping promote a small homegrown company that is equal parts conscientious and stylish, then go now and check out their shop.

You can also sign up for their mailing list and be entered to win all three compilation discs they've put out.

Be sure to check out their Music Blog as well, it's the way forward...

Thanks, Boofa!

The Aftermath

2008-10-17T16:51:00.001-07:00

Beautiful pictures of Wooden Satellites record release show courtesy of Drew at Fahrenheit128.com.

The Release

2008-10-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

Brother

2008-09-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

Lee Miles and the Illegitimate Sons performed this Friday at an outdoor bloc party event in Fort Wayne. Drew of Fahrenheit128.com was on hand to capture a number of beautiful photographs of the set. Thanks Drew.

Why Can't I Be Enough

2008-09-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Today pre-orders are starting for Why Can't I Be Enough, the debut release by our very own Wooden Satellites!

$9.99 - Ships 10/18/08

Why Can't I Be Enough is an album meant to deal with the overlooked thoughts and emotions of Biblical characters. Additionally it seeks to find reconciliation between these and the same feelings of inadequacy and disappointment that echo throughout the modern age.

Musically it is a hybrid of acoustic songwriting and electronic music making, employing layers of guitar and analog synthesizers over electronic beats and textures. The songs have defined verses and choruses, but take time to examine timbres and combinations not often found in the pop world.

The band are also planning a big CD release show at the Pint & Slice in Fort Wayne on October 18th. Stay tuned for more info on that soon!

Further

2008-09-15T00:46:00.000-07:00

Just a note to readers and CD Baby users, both Heathen Blux and Pica are now available to purchase from CD Baby. If you'd like to buy direct from the artists, you can still do so by going to the Sixty Years War Shop. Also, keep an eye out for both releases to be available on iTunes in about a months time.

Plus

2008-09-11T01:04:00.001-07:00

Today we're pleased to announce the addition of local San Diego, CA folk musician, Evyn Oliver to the ranks of our record label. Evyn is currently recording his debut release for the label and will be embarking on a west coast tour in support of the yet-to-be-titled album.

You can listen to rough drafts of a couple of Evyn's songs on his Myspace to give yourself a taste. We'll have more from Evyn in the near future, so keep an eye out.

Those with a keen eye may also have noticed that Alabaster Fox has disappeared from our artists list and has been replaced with a band named, Wooden Satellites. We'll have some big news from them in about a week, if you haven't already caught wind of it.

Until then - visit the shop!

The Massacre

2008-09-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

John Hartman directed a video for Lee Miles' song, "Down At The Massacre" from Heathen Blux. Be sure to check out the video and if you haven't already you can pick up Blux in the Shop and we're also pleased to announce that it will soon be available on both CD Baby and iTunes.

Down At The Massacre from John Hartman on Vimeo.