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2008 news below.....

 

SEPTEMBER 2008

Some brilliant news this month - national TV airplay, Foxtel & Austar digital radio play, an official nomination for a prestigious Gold Coast Honours Award, a digital single via Blue Pie Records, a free mobile phone ringtone and more.

GOLD COAST HONOURS AWARDS
John Harley Weston has just been nominated for a prestigious Gold Coast Honours Award by readers of the Gold Coast Bulletin newspaper. (There are half a million people on the Gold Coast of Australia). The awards, now in their 6th year, recognise those who inspire the community with creative spirit, courage, sense of community and passion in their chosen field. The awards night is on 24th September at Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort. John says, ‘I’m humbled to be nominated for a Gold Coast Honours Award. It’s great to be able to spread the word to other musicians that hard work along with support for organisations like Cancer Council Queensland or Amnesty International can physically help people and inspire others to do more and be better. I like to think that realists just live in the world but idealists create the better parts of the world we live in’.

SATELLITE MUSIC AUSTRALIA
Next time you’re walking through a major shopping centre or flicking through radio stations on Foxtel or Austar Pay TV you’ll hear John Harley Weston’s music. Several songs from the new album have just been added across their Homegrown radio channel, as well as a few select picks going into their Hot Contemporary and Special Events channels. This is a serious result for an independent artist to be included on these stations. Satellite Music Australia (a division of Fairfax Media) has the largest digital music database in the southern hemisphere. Their playlists are also used by major retailers, hospitality and businesses like Novotel, Ibis and Mercure Hotels, Dan Murphy’s, Coles Supermarket, Officeworks, Freedom Furniture, Spotlight etc.

OLYMPIC THANK YOU TO CHANNEL 7 TELEVISION & FANS
Many thanks to Channel 7 Television for including two John Harley Weston songs on their Beijing Olympics playlist. (Waltzing Matilda and Believe In Yourself). Having this kind of support is proof that John’s music is up there with the best of them, striking a chord with millions of real people.

And a very big thank you to fans who have already bought John’s version of ‘Waltzing Matilda’ via iTunes. Being a supporter of The Olympics and Human Rights all proceeds during the Games went to Amnesty International.

NEW SINGLES via BLUE PIE RECORDS:
Both songs chosen by Channel 7 (Waltzing Matilda and Believe In Yourself) will be released as digital singles via Blue Pie Records.....details to follow shortly.

FREE MOBILE PHONE RINGTONE
To say thanks for your support so far here’s a free John Harley Weston mobile phone ringtone for you and anyone you know. It’s pretty cool...it says, ‘What do you want....what do you want from me?' Click here http://www.johnharleyweston.com/mobilephoneringtones.htm

SONGWRITING ACCOLADES:
The consistency of great songwriting across John’s new album 'Welcome Back To Reality' is becoming apparent; three songs 'Whatever Makes You Happy, Welcome Back To Reality' and What Do You Want From Me' made it through to the in the Semi Finals of the UK Songwriting Contest (2008). Nine songs made it through to the 2nd round of the Australian National Songwriting Contest (2008) and two songs, ‘Believe In Yourself’ & ‘Let Your Life Begin’ received highest level and honourable mentions respectively from Billboard World Songwriting Contest (2007).

If you haven’t already bought it, heard it, reviewed it or played it on your radio station listen here http://www.johnharleyweston.com/soundbytes.htm

TAKAMINE & D’ADDARIO
John Harley Weston is already endorsed by the great Takamine Guitars and D’Addario guitar strings. We’d like to thank both companies for adding John’s profile to their websites.

http://www.takamine.com/?fa=artist&id=818
http://www.daddario.com/DADArtistDetail.aspx?CodaID=8598&ID=1

ATTENTION EVERYONE
If you have friends, family or media who may be interested in this email please forward it to them.

GIGS:
Sat 11th October
12 noon
Marina Shopping Centre
Hope Island, Gold Coast
Courtyard area

More gigs here

AUGUST 2008 (Take Waltzing Matilda to iTunes Gold during the Olympics)

From reading the late July news below you may already know, two of John Harley Weston's songs have been chosen by Channel 7 Television for their Beijing Olympics Playlist. That’s brilliant news for this hard working artist!

One of the songs is the Australian classic ‘Waltzing Matilda’ which is already receiving great reviews and been playlisted by several stations around the world. So we are officially releasing it as a single today 8th August 2008. But this is not just about John Harley Weston........it’s much bigger than that.

John says, ‘Now that my music is on the Olympic podium I’m putting my money where my mouth is. I support the Olympics and Human Rights and believe the spotlight on Beijing can only be positive – the world is watching. All proceeds made from iTunes downloads of my version of Waltzing Matilda during the Olympics will go to Amnesty International. They work tirelessly to protect Human Rights around the world. For fans - this is your chance to make a small donation toward a better world and fire up the music industry at the same time. Why? Because we only need about 5000 downloads (at $1.69 each) through iTunes online Australia Store to get in the top 10 national ARIA Digital Charts’.

To make it happen we need you to email everyone you know.....absolutely everyone....start the wave today!

The direct iTunes link is http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=281408516&id=281408202&s=143460

Or if you are in iTunes just do a search for ‘Welcome Back To Reality’ by John Harley Weston and you’ll find ‘Waltzing Matilda’.

For the chart position to be recognised by Australia's ARIA charts your download must be from iTunes Australian Store and you have to live in Australia to do that. If you live outside Oz don’t worry you can still buy it.......maybe we’ll top the charts in your country too.

If you don’t have Apple iTunes application on your computer download it free here http://www.apple.com/itunes/download

Listen to BBC Radio Scotland (presenter Iain Anderson) playing John Harley Weston's vesion of Waltzing Matilda here.

LATE JULY 2008

OLYMPIC LEAP FOR SINGER-SONGWRITER JOHN HARLEY WESTON
Channel 7 Television Network have chosen two John Harley Weston songs (‘Believe In Yourself’ and ‘Waltzing Matilda’) to add to their 2008 Beijing Olympics playlist. That’s huge! Statistics say 5 million Australians will watch the official broadcast on Channel 7. The games will also stream online at Yahoo7 and on mobile phones via Telstra BigPond. Both songs are on John’s new album ‘Welcome Back To Reality’. We’ve extended the $10 July special offer to include August so get your copy now and see why this major tv network is taking John Harley Weston to Olympic heights.

John’s doubled his trips to the gym just incase he gets called upon to stand in for a sprinter. Being originally from Glasgow, he’s had plenty of experience running through the rough parts of the city in the wee hours.

To all television/radio/press....many songs on John’s new album ‘Welcome Back To Reality’ are suitable for not only sporting coverage but lifestyle shows etc. They have positive lyrical content and broad musical appeal. Follow links at the bottom to listen and contact us. We’d love to hear from you.

GREAT REVIEW IN EUROPE:
John’s new album just had a great review by respected European online music mag and radio station ‘Rootstime’. (Belgium). The review is in Dutch so for a few days we weren’t sure whether it was good or bad. Now we know it’s brilliant cause lots of industry people in Europe are contacting us citing this review and asking for a copy of the album. Some of the words used in the review are ‘...would make Springsteen green with envy’ and of John’s version of the Aussie classic Waltzing Matilda, ‘Weston’s intimate translation has to be added to the gallery of the greatest'.

To view full article as PDF click here

To view all press articles and much more click here

WESTON GETS A PIECE OF THE PIE
Hard work does pay off.......John Harley Weston is proud to announce that he’s just signed with Blue Pie Productions in Australia. Blue Pie are a record label, digital music store, publishing house, web radio station and much more. They are a new breed of I.T. driven music industry specialists who’ve secured licensing deals with over 300 major companies including 20th Century Fox, ABC Network Australia, Columbia Tristar, Dreamworks, Coca Cola, Toyota etc. One of the more significant propositions they provide is placing their artists music in film and television. Let me tell you, as an independent artist this is near impossible to do no matter how good you are. It’s a non-exclusive deal so John is still free to sign to other labels.

More great news - after that brilliant review in the Belgian publication ‘Rootstime’ we are now talking to a European distributor that not only deliver CDs to stores but also book tours and deal with promotion in Europe.

AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL SONGWITING CONTEST 2007
Just heard this week - John has 14 entries (9 songs in 6 categories) that have just gone through to the 2nd round of judging at the 2007 Australian National Songwriting Contest. More at http://www.asai.org.au

RADIO:
Our list of 20 plus radio stations playlisting songs off the new album is growing.....added this month:
BBC Radio Scotland
Radio 2RDJ (Sydney, Australia)
Radio Ijsselmond (Netherlands)

For full list of stations with links to request John’s music click here and scroll down to radio. We’d love you to email every one of them.

GIGS:
Sat 2nd August
Marina Shopping Centre
Hope Island, Gold Coast
Courtyard area

Sun 10th August
The Artist Festival
Parklands, Southport, Gold Coast, Australia
John Harley Weston performs Sun 10th August 2pm
This is a free, 3 day event held by Arts & CI Central
Includes music, art, sculpture, dance, theatre etc
http://www.theartist.net.au
http://www.artsandcicentral.com.au

JUNE/JULY 2008

Bumper mid-year sale! New album 'Welcome Back To Reality' special offer for July only - only $10 plus postage (that's 50% off). Click here. You can listen free here.

Big thanks to all fans who have already bought my new album 'Welcome Back To Reality' and to those of you who have put comments on my myspace page. I've had over 5000 listens on myspace.....that's huge! Thanks so much for your support. It means everything.

Lots of fans have been asking me how the new album is being received by radio and press. Well we're starting to get some airplay around the world and press so far has been great. I've listed all radio stations that have playlisted (several plays per day/week) songs off the new album here. I 've shown the stations web addresses so fans can make requests to get even more airplay. The more requests you make the more bigger commercial stations are forced to take notice of the music. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to get airplay on big stations. I'll keep updating the list as stations add me to their playlists. I've also listed all newspaper/magazine articles that I know about.

On a serious note I heard recently that Laureen Large from England (who has been a fan of my music since hearing about me through the Wet Wet Wet forum) died last month. I send my thoughts to her family and hope that time will make their pain more bareable. I now think of Laureen when I'm singing my song 'Whatever Makes You Happy' which urges us to live now. As John Lennon said, 'Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans' and losing a friend makes you realise that you have to live 'large' every day.

John's new album 'Welcome Back To Reality' was officially launched at Cancer Council Queensland’s ‘Relay For Life’ at Carrara Stadium on 31st May 2008. The crowd who walked all day and night to raise funds for charity were given a second wind when Weston, showing his many years of live experience, immediately connected with them, cheering them on by performing uplifting songs from his new album like ‘Believe In Yourself’, ‘Let Your Life Begin’ and title track ‘Welcome Back To Reality’ which went down a storm. Rousing versions of Aussie anthem ‘Waltzing Matilda’ and the Australian classic ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me’ had hundreds of people singing along. John would personally like to thank everyone who bought CDs on the night. As well as performing free, 20% of CD sales went to Cancer Council.

MAY 2008

John Harley Weston’s new album ‘Welcome Back To Reality’ is on sale now. The official launch is not until 31st May but our fans, friends and family are numero uno so we’re letting you know 1st.

The album is only $20 plus postage here.

You can listen free here....we’d love to hear what you think.

A multi-instrumentalist, John Harley Weston engineered, produced and performed 90% of the album himself…….and funded 100% of it. Now that’s an independent artist! But without YOU we’re nothing...it’s all up to you now.....we hope you love it as much as we do. To add that final touch of class the album was mastered and pressed by Sony, Sydney. There’s some great quotes below from big names in the music industry....they obviously know a good thing when they hear it.

PAUL PITICCO (manager of one of Australia's biggest bands Powderfinger, Bernard Fanning and the Grates) says 'Congrats mate. DIY has worked great for you .....you should write a "how to" book. It has been great to watch it grow. Here's to your continued success'.

MARK HOLDEN - (Australian Idol judge, music producer and songwriter)
Hi John.....really good site you have for listening - excellent material - good onya...'

KHALIQ GLOVER (Los Angeles based Grammy award winning recording/mixing engineer for Prince, Justin Timberlake, Herbie Hancock, John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Stevie Wonder, Santana, Sting, Marcus Miller) says 'Wow, you sound great. Great songs and craftmanship and your singing is spot on..'

TONY BEARD (drummer/guitarist with Peter Frampton, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Bee Gees, Daryl Hall, Dave Stewart, Jeff Beck, Wyclef Jean, Madonna, McCartney, Jeff beck etc). He says 'Whatever Makes You Happy' is a hit and a great metaphor'.

JOHN 'SWANEE' SWAN (Iconic Australian rock singer - Swanee co-wrote one of the songs on John Harley Weston's new album). He says, 'The album sounds great John. I loved being allowed into your life as an artist and a friend. You can hold your head up very high my friend, your a class act.'

COLIN BUDDS (Australian Film/TV Director) says 'the song 'Righteous son' makes you really take notice.....this new album sounds like it's going to be the more essential John Harley Weston'. (Righteous Son is about the Australian Van Nguyen who was hanged in Singapore for carrying drugs).

The above quotes/testimonials have all been authorised for use.

APRIL 2008

Well.....at long last the new album 'Welome Back To Reality' is here.......I'm actually looking at it and listening to it. It sounds brilliant and the artwork is awesome. Thanks to Sony in Sydney for doing such a great job mastering and pressing it. The first online CD sales bought from this very website have just been mailed today to some die hard fans in Australia, the UK and USA. It's hush-hush at the moment - only fans on John's personal mailing list know the new album is available to buy right now. The official release will be at the end of May so get it now and be first to check it out. It's only $20 plus postage. To buy a copy click here.

MARCH 2008

MASTER CD LOST IN POST:
Yes, well it seems that Australia Post have lost my new album master disc. The master disc was posted ’registered post’ at the beginning of March to Sony (Sydney) for CD duplication - along with the final artwork and all the necessary legal documents.....never to be seen again.

Luckily Sony is the company that did the final master CD itself so they are preparing another disc as we speak and next week the album will finally be getting pressed. Big thanks to all at Sony, Sydney and a big raspberry to Australia Post for passing me around their labyrinth of ’we don’t know’ staff for a week. No doubt I’ll receive the original package in my mail box in 2 months.....now that’s service. At least if I don’t get on tour this year I can say my album’s traveled the country already.

Wow! I just got a phone call.......the package has been found and is now making it’s way across Sydney with DHL couriers........miracles can happen.....or maybe it’s the threat of a myspace blog.

Hoots!
John Harley Weston

BRAND NEW ALBUM RELEASE 'WELCOME BACK TO REALITY'
ONLY $20 AUSTRALIAN

It's hush-hush at the moment - only fans on John's personal mailing list know that the new album is available right now. The official media release will be at the end of May.

About the album - when you’ve won national & international awards releasing new material can be daunting. Not so for John Harley Weston. Welcome back to the essence of great songwriting; strong melodies, a variety of teasing hooks and coherent lyrics that inspire and uplift. It's all wrapped in hook driven, acoustic guitar-based rock, seasoned with folk, alt country, roots and blues. Weston's writing is reminiscent of the message songs of Ben Harper and Bernard Fanning. That common thread is evident from the cajun-flavoured ‘Whatever Makes You Happy’ to the Sheryl Crowesque ‘Believe In Yourself’ on to the epic self-discovery song ‘Welcome Back To Reality’. It continues with ‘Let Your Life Begin,’ revealing shades of Paul Rodgers, through to the bluesy ‘Wouldn’t Miss A Day’ and on to the Johnny Cash styled ‘Righteous Son’ about Australian, Van Nguyen, who was hanged in Singapore for carrying drugs. Comparisons aside Weston’s style is individual in it’s own right. There’s also a cover version of the Australian classic, 'Waltzing Matilda'. And the album artwork - courtesy of a 10,000 year old mandala from the dawn of civilisation. Pure harmony! Don't take our word for it - check out what top industry people say here. Take a free listen here. To buy click here.

MOBILE PHONE RINGTONES
More awesome news. The hugely successful myxertones.com is the largest and fastest growing mobile phone ringtones company. With over 10 million mobile phone downloads per month they are HUGE! Myxertones are so impressed with John’s music they may even make him a FEATURED ARTIST. We'll let you know if that happens. There are five John Harley Weston mobile phone ringtones to choose from - for only $1.50 (US). There’s even a FREE ringtone. All ringtones are from songs on the new album ‘Welcome Back To Reality’. Click here.

 

FEBRUARY 2008

A very happy New Year to everone. I trust you are all well and had a great festive period. May it be a safe, happy and prosperous year for you all. 2008 is already off to a great start for John Harley Weston....

BRAND NEW ALBUM RELEASE 'WELCOME BACK TO REALITY'
ONLY $20 AUSTRALIAN

'Welcome Back to Reality' is now on sale. It's hush-hush at the moment - only fans on John's personal mailing list know that it's available right now. The official media release will be around March/April because we are currently talking to a major Australian distributor and need to coincide the official release with them should they say yes.

About the album - when you’ve won national & international awards releasing new material can be daunting. Not so for John Harley Weston. Welcome back to the essence of great songwriting; strong melodies, a variety of teasing hooks and coherent lyrics that inspire and uplift. It's all wrapped in hook driven, acoustic guitar-based rock, seasoned with folk, alt country, roots and blues. Weston's writing is reminiscent of the message songs of Ben Harper and Bernard Fanning. That common thread is evident from the cajun-flavoured ‘Whatever Makes You Happy’ to the Sheryl Crowesque ‘Believe In Yourself’ on to the epic self-discovery song ‘Welcome Back To Reality’. It continues with ‘Let Your Life Begin,’ revealing shades of Paul Rodgers, through to the bluesy ‘Wouldn’t Miss A Day’ and on to the Johnny Cash styled ‘Righteous Son’ about Australian, Van Nguyen, who was hanged in Singapore for carrying drugs. Comparisons aside Weston’s style is individual in it’s own right. There’s also a cover version of the Australian classic, 'Waltzing Matilda'. And the album artwork - courtesy of a 10,000 year old mandala from the dawn of civilisation. Pure harmony! Don't take our word for it - check out what top industry people say here. Take a free listen here. To buy click here.

MOBILE PHONE RINGTONES
More awesome news. The hugely successful myxertones.com is the largest and fastest growing mobile phone ringtones company. With over 10 million mobile phone downloads per month they are HUGE! Myxertones are so impressed with John’s music they may even make him a FEATURED ARTIST. We'll let you know if that happens. There are five John Harley Weston mobile phone ringtones to choose from - for only $1.50 (US). There’s even a FREE ringtone. All ringtones are from songs on the new album ‘Welcome Back To Reality’. Click here.