End of year ramble 2011

Hectic? Did we say hectic? It ended up being hectic from around April to September, but the beginning of the year certainly wasn’t as hectic as CMR thought it was going to be, and by the time they played the Help for Heroes Gig in November there didn’t seem to be enough energy left to be hectic. No, Christmas 2011 will see the lads taking a well earned rest after a busy and thoroughly enjoyable year.

It all started with plans to record the album that had started to gain momentum after being involved with Sky TV’s Must be the Music. Making plans for the album seemed to be the thing that stopped anything else productive actually happening in the first part of the year; with everything hinging on the release of the first two songs as a mini EP as being the catalyst needed to arrange gigs.

“Let’s go away” and “Stars” were recorded in March, with the final mixes being completed in April. The gigs were starting to come thick and fast, and an invite to appear on Calderdale’s Phoenix Fm in July prompted the release of “Let’s go Away” as Crush and the Mighty Rhythm’s debut single.

News that “Let’s go Away” had been accepted for release on Amazon and Itunes was received with great relief and enthusiasm. The song is now available to download on over 40 online stores, and whilst a number of expected sales was generated and greatly appreciated from friends and family, it was the astonishing news that sales had also been generated from as far overseas as the USA and Russia that really made the single worth celebrating.

“Stars” has taken a bit of a back seat in amongst all the activity, but is nevertheless part of much bigger plans for a 10 track album to be released in 2012. The intended track listing includes the following songs which feature prominently in the bands live set.

1. Kiss me once
2. Friday Night
3. Let’s go Away
4. Summer rolling on
5. Lovely day
6. Not scared
7. Suzie said
8. Native boy
9. Stars
10. Got that Woman

The live set includes new versions of Crush’s extensive back catalogue of songs and these are continuing to be well received wherever CMR appear. They performed acoustically to an audience of several thousand during an appearance on Phoenix FM, and despite hearing a slightly disappointing mix of the live performance afterwards, the show appears to have been responsible for a peak in website hits over the following few days, and further sales of “Let’s go away” from the region.

It’s all good and it’s all encouraging, as was the festival gigs throughout Yorkshire over the Summer, which included two appearances at Barnsley’s WestonPhest in aid of Cancer research.

December sees the finishing touches being applied to CMRs studio recordings, and it remains to be seen whether the early part of 2012 is going to be as hectic as 2011 was thought to be. If we say it isn’t going to be hectic then it probably will be, and if we say it is then it probably won’t be. Having said that, if we say it won’t be hectic, expecting it to be hectic, then it probably will be hectic and vice versa. Have we lost you yet? The only safe bet is to let things naturally unfold and see where 2012 goes. Whether it’s good or bad, tune in and keep yourself up to date and we’ll report back with a recap in 12 months time.

Have fun till then. Have a great Christmas everyone, and a happy new year !
CMR