New for 2025

Happy New Year!!

It's all about the  music here on Blogspot, but I felt that I should share with you my 2025 plans for my Instagram and YouTube channels.

I'm planning to challenge myself to having a 'Photo of The Week', whereby I pick a random subject and take 2 or 3 photos of it and pick a winner.

Why? Well, I think I need to get 'out' a bit more and I'm hoping that by setting myself this challenge that I'll get a bit more fresh air and exercise.

This should have the added benefit of more energy and motivation to create the music that I love.

As you know, I don't like making too many plans, just in case I can't deliver, but I do think it's good to try.

On the music front, I've made good progress on my latest batch of songs. I've had to make a bit of an adjustment though...

Simply, my main Studio, 'The Riverbank Room' is just too cold for me to work in over Winter. For it to be the temperature that I would prefer, it would cost a small fortune to turn on the electric heaters - and that's just not practical or beneficial.

So I'm in what I call, 'The Winter Room' (some would call it the dining room) until things heat up again. It's a bit more awkward, but not impossible - I just have to plan my time and space better.

So that's the latest. I hope and pray that we all enjoy a fruitful and blessed 2025 and I thank you for your support and look forward to sharing with you all something new later this year.

Thanks For Stopping By...

Mark

SARAHS_HUSBAND

An Update

So there you have it, my EP has been released at long last. 

If you read my first post of 2024 you'll know that I had planned to have it released before the summer but didn't due to health reasons. 

In May, I explained a bit about it in this post and had hoped that once I got the 'Lamplight' single released in July, that it wouldn't be too long until the rest followed, but it didn't work out like that.

So here we are in December and the remaining 3 have gone out into the world, at last. 

Needless to say, I am delighted that they're out there. 

So what's next?

Well it goes without saying, that I fully intend to keep releasing more songs. I'm hoping to complete and release the final 4 songs to finish off the series of 'early songs' that I have been releasing for the last 2 years.

My hope is that they will be released in 2025...

After that, I want to begin to record the songs that I feel are a bit more developed and that have built upon the ideas that were started in the earlier work.

I also have started to explore some new musical ideas in a completely different genre and I also hope that I can release that too.

Again, all this is dependant upon how my health is - it does impact greatly upon my energy levels which in turn affects my motivation.

But I'll get there, no matter how long it takes. 

Thankfully I'm not under any pressure to release within a certain time frame, just my own.

Anyway, I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read this blog and for those who continually pray for me and the family. I also am very appreciative to those of you who listen to the music (some even do it more than once!!) as it does give me a bit of a boost.

As always, 

Thanks For Stopping By...

Mark

SARAHS_HUSBAND

'He's My Lord' EP released today.

 

Click on the link to listen on Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/album/0NdC0hrJG4FHW9emZ9eg5c?si=1nZiSBVzRfO5VTh1_T22xg

Thanks For Stopping By

Mark

SARAHS_HUSBAND

Lamplight - Out Today!!

 

The wait is over!! My new single - 'Lamplight' is live on Spotify today!! 

As I said in my last post, the chorus is taken from Psalm 119:105 which says, 'Your Word is a lamp to my feet and light for my path'. 

It's my hope, if I can presume to be so bold, that you'll find it of some help to you as you go through your day to day routine.

Here's a link to the song on Spotify. 

Enjoy!!

Thanks For Stopping By...

Mark
SARAHS_HUSBAND

New Single...At Last!!

 

So it's finally here! 

I'm delighted to report that I've got a brand new song due to be released on 22nd July 2024. 

As I've posted before, this year's plans haven't gone exactly the way I've wanted or expected, but isn't that the way things go sometimes?

So it's a relief to announce that a new release is imminent!

The song is based on Psalm 119 v 105 which says,

'Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path'.

Which is, as a Christian, something that is a most important part of my daily life.

So keep an eye out on Spotify on release day and maybe even add it to a playlist to enjoy again and again...😁

Thanks For Stopping By...

Mark
SARAHS_HUSBAND

Best Laid Plans And All That...

You've probably noticed (or maybe not 😜), but I haven't posted anything about my EP's progress since January!! And there's a very simple reason for it - I haven't been in the studio.

The fact is, I haven't been feeling very well. February and March in particular were very tough and even now in May, I'm still not where I was both physically and mentally. 

So as I sit and type this today, I'm just not sure when I'll be releasing new music.

I gave you a plan for 2024 in my previous Post and indicated where I was in the recording process but unfortunately, things haven't moved on from where I left them. 

Also, my plan for blogging more regularly hasn't materialised either because I haven't been doing anything. Which is disappointing.

I'm not going to go into details of what's been ailing me because that's private, but needless to say it has had an impact on my day to day. Because of this I've had to prioritise things and recording hasn't featured very high on the list of those priorities.

Now, I haven't completely shelved my musical plans - but I have been thinking of how I'm going to go about it.

I guess you could say that I am now on Plan B, which is not to have a plan 🤣. 

But as I still want to release something new this year, I'm looking at what is an achievable goal and I think I've worked out what that will be.

Having said that, I'm not going to reveal what that is as I'm wary, now more than ever, of committing myself and not being able to attain it.

Frustrating I know, but that's the way it is for me right now. I'm just glad that I release music for pleasure and that I don't have deadlines or pressures from a demanding fanbase - though a man can dream 😂...

So watch this space.

Thanks For Stopping By and For Your Patience...

Mark
SARAHS_HUSBAND

Plans for 2024

I have plans for 2024! 

That's a good start isn't it? But, 'What are these plans?' is the next obvious question. 

And I don't think it's too big a stretch to guess that it will involve releasing more new music.

But before I get into that, I want to say thank you to all of you who gave my latest album 'Those Were The Days' a listen, even if it was only once! 

Releasing my music has been a big highlight for me in 2023 and whilst it was both hard work and a seemingly impossible task, the proof is out there for the world to hear - if they want to 😁.

- But what of this year?

Well, as I've said, more new music is planned and I'm excited for you all to hear it. 

- What can you expect this time around?

I'm going to be releasing an EP of either 4 or 5 songs this time. It's not that I don't have the songs for a complete album, it's just that the process of recording and releasing the music does take time and I want to be able to get new stuff out earlier on in the year.

Yes, I could release a single every few months, but I much prefer to release a bunch of songs as a complete  project, with maybe one single as a pre-release. I loved albums growing up, so this is a nice compromise for me.

I also want to try a few more experimental things as well and release those too. As to what and how - well that really is going to be a 'Watch This Space'!

- When can we hear this new music?

That of course is a big question. 

I hope that it will be in the first half of this year. But I also don't want to set any targets and not hit them. As you've probably already discovered, I'm not a full-time musician so I can't exactly devote all my time to this. 

And without moaning about it, I've been having a bit of a flare-up with my Crohn's disease recently that has had some impact on my day to day. 

- Have you started recording yet?

Yes!! I've just finished what I call 'pre-production'. 

This has involved...

• Deciding on what songs to record
• What song tempo fits best
• What instruments are going to be played
• Finalising song lyrics
• Transferring any previous demos, if they are available, for reference
• Working out any musical key changes if needed
• Recording a temporary or 'scratch' track of each instrument to confirm arrangements
• Recording of 'scratch' vocals

So I'm now at the beginning of the proper 'Production' phase. 

And as these recordings will be on the final release, I will be taking as much time as it takes to get each instrument's performance right. No pressure then 😂!

I'm pleased to say that I've now got the drums completed. As someone who began their musical journey as a drummer, I generally find that getting these right sets up the rest of the sessions. 

On the whole, I'm delighted with how it's coming together. And I also think I've picked great songs for you to hear. 

After releasing the last batch of songs, I'm now returning to recording my Christian songs, as that where my heart really belongs. That's the reason why I released 'Faith In God Above', 'Just Like Me' and 'Horseman Of The King' first. It's a statement of intent so to speak.

My faith in Jesus is the most important thing in my life and I want to share it with everyone who checks out my songs. And whilst I don't write the big 'Praise and Worship' church songs, I still think they are valid to release and I can only hope and pray that they will be of benefit to someone - not only me!

But there you have it. My intention is to release more songs in 2024 and I feel I've made a great start to reaching that goal.

I also intend to keep Blogging a bit more consistently - for some reason this seems more difficult that it should be! I'll keep trying though.

That's all for now

Thanks For Stopping By...

Mark

SARAHS_HUSBAND

30 Years In The Making...

Well, as the title says, it's been 30 years in the making...

And so I'm so delighted to say that my new album, 'Those Were The Days', is now released in its entirety to the world. 

You can listen to it Spotify and on Apple Music.

https://open.spotify.com/album/5rrNDnDy7dNlpQoX2dkUeR.

I'd love to hear from you if you have any particular favourites. You can leave a comment here on the blog site or on my Facebook Page at, https://www.facebook.com/sarahshusbandband.

So this is the conclusion of my musical 2023 and I'm delighted that the effort has come out so well. 

I've got an alternate version of the album saved, using the original 30 year old demos, which are pretty awful so believe me, these are so much better than them - thankfully!!

I'll be putting up some Production Notes and Behind The Song info here on the site when time allows so there'll be plenty of stuff coming up here on the Blog.

So I'm getting myself ready for 2024 and I'm already looking forward to starting something new. 

More soon.

Thanks For Stopping By...

Mark

SARAHS_HUSBAND

No One's Better Than You Single - Out Today!!

 

The Last Single from my New Album is out now on Spotify And Apple Music.

I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks For Stopping By...

Mark

SARAHS_HUSBAND

It's Almost Here...

The final single from my New Album will be released on Monday 11th December 2023.

New Single - Remember The Days - Out Today

 

I'm so pleased to have another single out for you all to listen to on Spotify and Apple Music. 

'Remember The Days' is definitely a bitter sweet song and is a great snapshot of a young man's feelings in his late teens/early twenties.

I hope you enjoy it.

And I've another single coming out this time next week just before the album drops on the 18th December.

Thanks For Stopping By...

Mark

SARAHS_HUSBAND