As a follow-up to his previous highly successful world-wide solo CD release, Öfkem ve Ben, internationally renowned guitarist, composer, songwriter and singer Demir Demirkan releases his latest instrumental single, The Other Within. Istanbul based Demirkan is one of a handful of guitarists in the world today that can legitimately lay claim to the often over-used and hyperbolic designation ‘guitar hero.’ Yet, contrary to many that have received this kind of high praise, Demirkan has the goods in abundance to back it up. His emotionally driven improvisational prowess and technical virtuosity are outstanding in their conception and execution and this is amply demonstrated on his new single, The Other Within.

“Demirkan's . . . superb guitar skills are . . . extraordinary . . .”—Dave Thompson, All Music Guide

Featured on The Other Within is an array of Demirkan’s many formidable ‘hats.’ Not only is this an original composition on which he plays outstanding and compelling electric and acoustic guitar, but much like a classical electronic composer he plays and/or programs all the other instruments on the cut, as well as functions as producer and arranger in a fascinating individual display of his many diverse talents.

Upon completing his studies in English Literature and Humanities in Ankara, Demir Demirkan moved to Los Angeles and studied at the world-renowned Musician’s Institute. Returning to Istanbul in 1996, and mainly concentrating on electric guitar, he also produced, wrote songs, composed for orchestras and film while pursuing his singer/songwriter/guitarist albums and stage-work. Apart from his solo career, he formed the band Painted on Water. Demirkan recorded the self-titled successful debut album Painted On Water, collaborating with musicians such as Dave Weckl, Trilok Gurtu, Alan Pasqua, Al Dimeola and Kai Eckhart. He tours with Painted On Water in the U.S. and Europe and plans for the near future to concentrate on guitar and instrumental composing and performance, while also pursuing his band Painted On Water.

“. . . Demir Demirkan gave the intimate and enthused audience at Le Poisson Rouge [in New York City] an amazing performance . . .”—Turka Magazine

The Other Within is a multi-layered palate of alluring, fresh sounds with an infectious sensibility. At the same time, it is a brilliant preview of what Demir Demirkan is capable of in-person. Putting on The Other Within at a high-powered social gathering or party is a sure bet, but seeing this talented, innovative performer live really brings home just how unique and engaging Demirkan is.

For information contact: Janet Castiel, Redwood Entertainment, Inc., 212 543-9998
info@redwoodentertianment.com, www.redwoodentertainment.com

Recording, recording, recording, promoting, promoting, promoting pretty much sums up our last couple of weeks. The recording part we love, the promotion part, not so much and it is because of this I am going to let off a little steam.
For those of you who have never had the pleasure of trying to promote your own music allow me to give you a quick crash course in how this stuff works. You have a band, you spent obscene amounts of money and time, writing, recording, producing, mixing/mastering and finally printing your work in CD form. For SWG the dollar amounts and time is a little more extravagant because we circum-navigated the afore mentioned third parties and settled on doing it all ourselves. It may have took years but in the end it was worth it as we do not have to rely on anyone, that has always been the theme of our lives and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
So you have your product in hand, now what? Well now you have to find an audience, after all the six copies your grandmother bought isn’t going to re-coup the money you put into it; this is where promotion comes in. Before you actually release the album you have to get your music some attention and the only way to do this is through the usual list of suspects, blogs, print, radio, social networking and so on. This is a little trickier and as time consuming as it gets, but no one is going to get your music to the masses like these avenues.
To give you an idea of how challenging this task is, let’s use music bloggers as an example. Music bloggers do not want you emailing them like some generic spambot, they want to know you know who they are (they are people too after all), so you have to search out their websites, read their stuff, try to get a sense of who they are and what their taste is in music. It may not sound like much, but this takes huge amounts of time as there are literally thousands upon thousands of these blogs out there not to mention these folks receive thousands of emails a year and there is no guarantee they will even get to your stuff (patience is a virtue). I offer one example because radio, print and everything else all have their own challenges associated with them and I have to get back to work!
Now Saltwater Gypsy is not made up of a couple of teenage kids living at home, we are grown men with families (well Kevin has a family, I just live vicariously through him) and jobs. I (Justin) am a construction worker and recently completed a three year project as a shift supervisor for a 52 story tower built in beautiful down-town Calgary. I worked twelve hours shifts, starting at 7pm (that’s not a typo) and would come home each morning to the monumental task at hand. At that point we were promoting the release of our first Fifth and were still in the midst of building our studio, not to mention our online presence, it was crazy!
I hope it gives you a little idea of what every independent band goes through if they want to make their passion into their career, it’s the business and I am not complaining, hard work is something Kevin and I live for, I just want you to know that when you share one of our songs or suggest a friend to check us out we truly appreciate it. Why? Because we had to fight to get every single one of you and that makes you something to us. Thank you.
Update for the week, keep an eye out for a sample track to be posted soon and on 11/11/11 we will be releasing a new song off the new album!

Keep doin’ what you’re doin’

SWG

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