Spring Tour update #1

Spring Tour 2017 got off to a great start on Sunday at Saddlebock Brewery in Springdale, AR. Last night was Evangeline's in St. Louis, MO. Heading back to Arkansas today for a gig at Brews in Eureka Springs. Also playing five shows this week in Oklahoma and one in Kansas. Check the SHOWS page for details.

Talk Will Tell EP is now available!

My new release, Talk Will Tell EP, is now available! It features four previously released songs - two from See Through, two from Things Moving On Their Own Together - and two new songs, “The Ballad of Cash and Dean” and “Radio Caroline” (both historical explorations of a sort, one that literally came to me in a dream). The feeling of this EP is the gripping immediacy of an intimate, live solo acoustic show. You can stream or download from Bandcamp.

The new EP was recorded during my 2016 tour. Engineered, mixed, and mastered by Tom Miller at Tritone Studios in Clayton, NC on Friday, October 7th. Tom also captured the session on video, which will be available soon.

Stay tuned for upcoming tour dates! Thanks for listening!!

New EP!

New EP!

Recording at Tritone Studios in Clayton, NC.October 7, 2016

Recording at Tritone Studios in Clayton, NC.
October 7, 2016

March Forth!

Today is the fourth day of the third month of the year 2017. Things are happening fast. Before you know it, my new EP will be here. The official release date is less than one week away! TALK WILL TELL on Friday, March 10th!! Follow my Facebook page for sneak preview videos of me in the studio recording the EP. Also, please be sure to sign the mailing list for a free download of all six songs!!!

New EP release date!

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be releasing my new EP, Talk Will Tell, on March 10th. It’s going to feature acoustic arrangements of songs from my solo albums, plus two previously unreleased tracks. Please sign the mailing list on my website (at the bottom of this page) so I can send you a free download of the EP. Thanks!

DoDIY.org

DoDIY.org has been an amazing resource for almost a decade. It's helped musicians like myself connect with like minded individuals to book shows around the country (and around the world). In the aftermath of the Ghost Ship tragedy in Oakland, CA, a few twisted souls used listings on the site to track down and close DIY spaces. As a result, DoDIY decided to remove all listings. Recently they started rebuilding! Please visit the site and continue to host, attend, and support DIY events. We need them now more than ever.
URL: http://dodiy.org 

A message from Billy Bragg

Billy Bragg reworks this Bob Dylan classic in response to the current state of affairs in the USA.

“In the land of the free and the home of the brave / Martin Luther King is spinning in his grave to see a bigoted bully taking the stage / And he calls upon us to be faithful to the ideas he died for in another age / For the times they are a changing ... back.”

Watch, listen, and learn here...

http://www.citypages.com/music/billy-bragg-reworked-a-bob-dylan-classic-for-trumps-hellscape-vision-of-america-video/411876645

Beware of Back Page in Lowell, MA

If you are planning to perform in Lowell, MA, DO NOT contact Back Page.

The following is a lengthy post for my fellow musicians. This is not an angry rant, a cry for sympathy, or an attempt to publicly shame anyone. This is a public service announcement for the concern of working class musicians. 

Back Page is a nice venue and the staff is friendly; but the owner Bob Ramirez is unprofessional, rude, disrespectful, and inconsiderate. He does not communicate properly with the club’s booker, and does not understand that a “guarantee" is to be paid to the musician(s) regardless of how many people are in attendance during their performance. Please allow me to explain.

I played at Back Page on Friday October 21, 2016 as part of a month long solo tour that I booked for myself. I reached out to them in July and after a few emails with the club’s booker, we confirmed the date and time and $50 guarantee that I would be paid to play an early set, opening for the headlining act. When I finished playing I went to settle up with the bartender. She walked back to the office, and returned to inform me that the owner, Bob Ramirez was only cutting one check that night for the headliner. Eventually, Bob came out from the office and angrily approached me about the money I was asking for. He was mad that I was expecting to be paid for an early set which was sparsely attended. He said that because there were not enough people in the room when I played, he should not have to pay me. (The booker and I agreed that it might turn out that way. Since it was my first time playing solo in Lowell, this would be more of an exposure gig.) I showed him my correspondence from the venue's email address that I exchanged with the booker, confirming my gig and guarantee. He said that he was not told about my performance in advance and was not going to pay me. (FYI: On the morning of the gig, I received an email from the booker saying that he informed the venue of my performance that night, and they were expecting me.) Bob texted the booker for more information, but did not receive a response (since the booker was out of the country at the time). I told Bob that the money was important to me since I was in the middle of a month long solo tour, but he still refused to pay me. I asked him a few times if he could give me the money, then work it out with the booker when he returned to the USA; but he still refused to pay me. I spoke to him calmly throughout the entire interaction, but he just continued to get more irate and belligerent. We went back and forth like this for at least 30 minutes, then I left without getting paid.

The next day, the booker emailed me to ask about the texts he received the night before, and I explained to him what happened. After a month of additional emails with the booker, he finally paid me out of his own pocket. The money did not come from Back Page or Bob Ramirez.

You may not think that $50 is worth all of this effort, but believe me that it’s a significant amount of money for an independent musician on a solo tour. Those funds would have gone towards essentials like food, gas, and lodging. 

Why am I sharing this if I eventually received payment? Because I don’t want anyone else to go through this, and people should know what kind of person Bob Ramirez is and how he runs Back Page.

Please feel free to spread the word and share this post. 

Thank you for your time.

Regards,

Stephen Chopek

www.stephenchopek.com

Bob Ramirez, owner of Back Page in Lowell, MA

Bob Ramirez, owner of Back Page in Lowell, MA

Memphis x 2

I'll be playing two shows in Memphis, TN this week!
Thursday, December 1st at FOUND Memphis
Friday, December 2nd at The Buccaneer
Check the SHOWS page for details and links!!

Friday 12/2/16 at The Buccaneer in Memphis, TN

Friday 12/2/16 at The Buccaneer in Memphis, TN