Delicate Cutters

Happy New Year!

Janet Simpson-Templin — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 07:22:34 +0000

Thanks to the kindness and support of our fans, Some Creatures was named best album by an Alabama artist in this year’s Moddys! We are grateful to everyone who cast their vote our way. It was a completely unexpected gift to close 2011 and start 2012.

That said, we are now in the mixing phase of our upcoming album, Ring, at Ol Elegante Studios. Engineer, producer and the all around savvy Les Nuby III has put his own personal touches on the record, making this, our third release, something wholly new. We can’t wait for you to hear it! We’ve already got the beautiful cover art by Birmingham’s own Megan Kimber. Guest musicians on the album include David Hickox (Broken Letters, The Gum Creek Killers), James P. Fahy (Teen Getaway), Opal South (Trees With Bells, Ferocious Bubbles) and Daniel Farris (Lunasect). We’re talking about a June release, so keep your fingers crossed we can stay on track.

In the meantime, we’re a mere two weeks away from our January tour, during which we’ll be looping around from Georgia to Florida and onward to Texas, stopping through Louisiana and Arkansas en route. Visit our SHOWS page to view specific dates and venues.

End of the year news and a nomination…

Janet Simpson-Templin — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:04:14 +0000

We’ve got one weekend left of recording booked at Ol Elegante studios with Les Nuby III and we couldn’t be more excited. This session, we’ll be laying down the last four tracks on the new album, including three never-before-heard tracks! After that, we’ll be working on album artwork, photos and a video for the upcoming album.

By the by, we’re feeling extra inspired by all of our Alabama friends, musical and otherwise. We, along with some other fantastic Alabama musicians, have been nominated for both “Best Album” and “Best Song” this year on Mod Mobilian. Check out the full list and vote HERE. In the words of our friends from This Is American Music, it’s simply too much awesome to have to choose from. What a tremendous blessing to be in a place with such a wealth of talent.

Lastly, we just want to mention that we are getting some shows together for a Southern tour in January. So far, we’ve confirmed Savannah, GA and Denton, TX, but many more are on the way! Be sure to stay tuned…

Another album is coming soon…

Janet Simpson-Templin — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:47:03 +0000

Last Saturday, we started tracking for another album. This time, Les Nuby (Vulture Whale, Verbena) is behind the board. So far, we’ve tracked six tunes. Already we can hear a distinctive difference in this album and the two previous albums. It’s amazing how different a band can sound, actually, just by playing in a different room. Janet will be back in the Ol Elegante studio this Saturday morning to track some vocals and guitars. During the month of November, the band will be learning a few more songs, including one called “Tilt a Whirl” and another called “Rattling From Our Cages.” By the end of the year, we’ll be finished tracking!

Cutters take a break at 8th & Rail while Janet plays a couple of solo tunes.

In other news, we’re working on a nice January trip out on the road, where we will be hitting some of our favorite towns from Texas to Florida to Georgia to Tennessee. Check back in a few weeks for details!

Janet Simpson-Templin — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 15:34:00 +0000

The album has now been out for a month. We’ve had some time to digest what that means for us to finally have our second release hit the streets. Skybucket Records has done an amazing job of spreading the word for us. We’ve had some great reviews and feel like there are folks out there who really connect with what we were trying to do with the album.

It takes a lot to put an album together and so many people go unrecognized for their hard work. Let’s take a moment to talk about some of those people. Our bass player, Brian Moon, is also our engineer. Getting to record and produce your own album has its perks. Since you aren’t paying by the hour, you can spend as much time as you like trying to find the sound you are looking for, plus you have complete creative control. On the other hand, you can also spend too much time recording, wearing out your ears and your brain and everyone else’s patience. As a member, Brian has a keen sense of what the band is looking for in terms of sound. He was instinctive, patient, and incredibly resourceful. Each session, we invaded his home and took up all of his free time. Not only did he engineer and record and help to produce the album, he also spent long, arduous hours mixing it. No single member spent more time on this album than Brian. For that, we owe a serious debt of gratitude. In the end, he did a fantastic job and made an album to which we feel deeply connected.

While we are on the subject of band members putting in hard hours, drummer Chance Shirley, who just so happens to be a filmmaker in his “spare time”, has now made three music videos for the band. One of them is released, the other two are in the editing process. Shooting and editing the video while also starring in it is another sign of serious dedication to the efforts of this band. Seriously, these guys need a break!

Then there are the people outside the band who are helping make all the parts move. Of course there is Travis Morgan and the Skybucket team, who’ve been great cheerleaders for the band as well as helped manage our affairs and get our records into more hands. But also, there is Stacey Kines Jaynes, my cousin, who found all the great pictures of our grandmother to use for the album’s cover art. There is Joanna Holloway, who created the beautiful artwork for Some Creatures. And there is Mike Paragone in Nashville, who mastered the album, bringing the album to a new light.

There are so many other people who helped us along the way and who continue to support us and cheer us on. We are so grateful to have such wonderful, supportive people in our lives.

The latest.

Janet Simpson-Templin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:23:43 +0000

There’s been lots of fun stuff happening with us and our new Some Creatures album…

Give it a listen.

If you’d like to purchase a copy of Some Creatures, it’s available at the Skybucket store and Amazon.com.

If you’d like to hear the whole album before buying it, ModMobillian.com is hosting a free Some Creatures preview. You can also listen to Delicate Cutters songs on Spotify. And you can virtually spin digital Cutters tunes at Turntable.fm.

Folks in North Carolina might be able to hear us on good ol’ “terrestrial” radio, as the Cutters are in rotation on WNCW radio in Boone, Charlotte, Greenville, and Wilkesboro.

People all over the country might hear a snippet of our song “Picture of Health”–it’s being used as “bump” music on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

Read about it.

Some Creatures was awarded a 7.8/10 in this review at PasteMagazine.com. The album has also received positive reviews from “The Fire Note” blog, 40 oz. Robot, and the “Brand New Kind of Photography” blog. And here’s a brief mention on someone’s Spanish-language Tumblog.

Delicate Cutters, along with several other Birmingham bands, were featured in a recent B-Metro magazine article. It’s a nice read, and the photography (by Liesa Cole) is amazing.

Speaking of photography, here’s a retro-tastic snap of Janet taken by bassist Brian Moon on a recent video shoot in Rome, Georgia…

“Be Sweet.”

You can watch the video for the Some Creatures song “Be Sweet” at Vimeo or YouTube.

And “Be Sweet” was featured as the IndiePulse.net “song of the day” on July 31.

Upcoming.

As for the future, we’re working on a music video for our song “Warm Beer and Sympathy” and planning a short tour for the autumn. We will, of course, keep you posted.

It’s Release Day!

Janet Simpson-Templin — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:39:01 +0000

It’s the day we’ve long awaited. Some Creatures is officially out there on the street! This album is so important to us – not just because it’s our sophomore recording effort or all the work we put into it – but because it’s our first release on local label Skybucket Records. Skybucket has been so great to work with and has helped us open some new doors. (Yep, you’ve been hearing “Picture of Health” on NPR!)

Our first album, We Are Not Lovers, was a collection of songs about many various love/relationship themed ideas. A bit more cohesive, Some Creatures is an album about family, home, and in a way, about growing up. We hope you’ll enjoy the stories and sounds.

Read a review of the album by Paste Magazine here. Check out upcoming shows here.

Birmingham Sneaks a Preview!

Janet Simpson-Templin — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:02:16 +0000

Hometown friends, as you know, the new album hits the streets on July 19th. For you, however, we are throwing an early celebration and making the album available for one night only!

On Friday, June 24th, Delicate Cutters and Skybucket Records will be celebrating the release of Some Creatures at Woodrow Hall. We’ve invited our friends The Green Seed to open and DJFX will be spinning records all night long. Everyone who comes to the party gets a copy of the album for only $5. So come on out and celebrate with us! We’ll be the ones dressed for the dust bowl.

7:00 PM
$5 Cover

WOODROW HALL
5504 1st Avenue North
Birmingham, AL 35212

Release date set, fun stuff coming!

Janet Simpson-Templin — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 18:15:40 +0000

We have our new album in our hot little hands. The artwork, done by Joanna Holloway, is amazing and gorgeous. The album sounds great and we couldn’t be more proud. Now, the waiting game! While Skybucket Records is busy promoting the release, (relase date July 19th) we are plotting and planning.

In the works are videos, live recordings, fun giveaways, and shows, shows, shows. We hope to get to Atlanta, Athens, and Rome in Georgia, Chattanooga, Nashville, Murfreesboro in TN, Jackson and Oxford in MS, and back up to Florence and over to Waverly in Alabama.

Although we have lots of work to do before we release Some Creatures, we are having a great time. Can’t wait to share our efforts with you. Stay tuned!

Upcoming Album

Janet Simpson-Templin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 16:39:27 +0000

Delicate Cutters have been working on a new album, Some Creatures, to be released on Skybucket Records within the next few months. In the meantime, we’re stretching our boundaries a bit, playing some out of town shows, looking for new towns and revisiting some old favorites. Check back for some early listens soon!