Hello to all on the black tape email list. i hope you are doing well.
my apologies for not getting a list together sooner. you'll see my
"excuse" a bit further down the list.
: )

i plan to try to send out the black tape list more frequently. if you
have any questions you'd like me to answer, please email them over.

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a few web page updates:

i've added some new "scavenger bride" reviews to the projekt site:
http://www.projekt.com/projekt/product.asp?sku=PRO00130

i've added links to some recent interviews on the black tape site:
http://www.blacktapeforabluegirl.com/int1.html

and i've put a special sale up at projekt. get black tape's "the
scavenger bride" along with audra's "going to the theatre" for just
$19.98! as you might know, audra's bret helm sings two songs on "the
scavenger bride." audra's new album is excellent! i highly recommend
it, and i hope you take this opportunity to get your copy....
http://www.projekt.com/projekt/product.asp?sku=PROGOT03

check out tracks from our new album, download them and burn copies
for your friends! i don't fear mp3s!!!
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/127/black_tape_for_a_blue_girl.html

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hello. i sent the following email earlier this week to the
projektlist. i thought it would be nice to share it with you, as
well. my apologies if you already received this...


The Truth behind Art, by Sam Rosenthal



hello..... the projektlist is my way to communicate with all of you
about the going-ons at projekt; and it's also been my way to get on a
soapbox and talk about issues in the music business & the world which
i think are worth stirring up discussion on. this week, however,
there's no projektlist, there's just a personal message.

i've been in touch with many of you for years and years and we've
shared a lot of music. today, i thought i'd share some private
things. lisa had our baby boy this weekend!!! we're back at home now
and doing very well, thank you..... we had planned on a natural
childbirth without drugs and medical intervention (if possible) and
that's what we got! lisa's water broke at 7:57pm saturday nite, we
were at the hospital around 9:05 and sasha was born with three pushes
at 9:32. it couldn't have been more natural, except if sasha had been
born at home -- which almost happened! you can see sasha's first
pictures and read more about the labor here....

Sasha Nikolai Rosenthal
http://www.projekt.com/sasha/
Sam Rosenthal & Lisa Feuer


in interacting with some fans, i notice that you place musicians on a
slightly elevated plane. while that compliment is kind, believe me,
we're normal people like each of you. we work every day (and
weekends) to bring home enough money to put food on our table and
keep ourselves healthy; you're the people that make it possible! like
most projekt artists, we have a 9-5 job. for lisa and i, that job is
getting you the music you want to hear! your orders through our
website serves as our primary source of income! (store sales end up
"costing" as much or more than they earn!). the fact that i don't
have to work in a corporate job is very nice. the fact that i have to
be my own boss and make sure that EVERYDAY there are sales coming in
is pretty scary! we work at home, which will be very convenient for
raising a kid, but a bit of a daunting reality when i know that if
projekt doesn't succeed, we're moving to cardboard boxes under the
overpass!
: )

in preparing for sasha's arrival, i've been trying to step back a
bit.... keeping aware that his life marks an important change in
priorities. this doesn't separate me from projekt, but rather helps
me keep focused on the important stuff. yeah, i've pissed off a few
djs in the last months, when i told them "no, you can't have five
free cds, you can only have one!" and also artists, when i question
the logic of releasing their cd.... but i have to be realistic. i
have to make sure we earn enough "profit" to pay the rent each month,
as well as keep supplied with cloth diapers and soy milk (for
lisa)....

you know, you (whomever is reading this) are the reason we release
cds at projekt. people in the industry would like me to believe
otherwise. black tape for a blue girl (lisa and my band) creates
music first to satisfy my artistic need, and then to satisfy our
fans! we don't do this because we want to pay thousands of dollars to
co-op the album at a record store, because our desire is to buy
expensive ads in national magazines, or 'cause we really want to send
600 promos to try to get publicity, only to see them turn up on ebay
for 1¢..... that's all capitalist crap that makes being a record
label owner suck!

we make music for ourselves and for you.... this is the perspective
and priority i want to remind myself about. everyone wants something,
but i need to focus on WHY i do this. Basically, i'm an artist. i
make art. like all artists of the last 100 years, i also have to be a
businessman. i have to be my own agent, i have to sell something
every day to keep eating and living in the poverty i am used to. so
that's where i'm gonna get sappy and cheesy. if you wanna do
something nice for sasha, lisa, projekt and me... please purchase a
couple of black tape for a blue girl cds from the projekt site this
week. it's not that we're desperate --- you have been very good to us
these last few years -- but a little extra never hurts when you have
a new baby in the house....

http://www.projekt.com/projekt/product.asp?sku=PRO00130

with lots of love from the three of us....
Sam Rosenthal
& Lisa Feuer
& Sasha too (though he's too sleepy to say anything)


[ feel free to circulate this message in newgroups and with your
black tape fan friends ]