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*** THE SECRET BEACH NEWS
        NEW YEAR'S EDITION ***

     Visit http://www.secret-beach.com today!
        Musical dreams for your consumption

WELCOME

Happy New Year to you. I hope that your holiday season was fun and relaxing.

The brisk winds and chill of winter are with us and the warm air of summer is just a memory. The once lush green trees that encircle the secret beach have shed their leaves and now give it up to anyone who can see. Anyone who is looking to see, that is.

A few nights ago, I went for a walk on the beach for a little R&R. The sound of the waves was hypnotic, relaxing, and thought- provoking. The sun had already set about a half hour ago. A partial moon sat over the lake, illuminating the crest of every wave, and highlighting the silhouettes of bare trees. Wisps of clouds were blowing in from the northwest and drifting towards the moon but the sky was clear straight above. I could see every star perfectly, and even noticed a satellite that looked like a star, but it was floating in a straight line. Meanwhile all the others stood still. It seemed that, well, if time didn't stand still, it slowed down a little.

Clouds were rolling past the moon, lit up like a glowing wave across the sky....

My first CD release in 2002 will feature, along with plenty of music, some environmental sounds of the beach. Arranged in one 19-minute track is a complete journey along the secret beach, into the dark woods surrounding the beach, and then ending up back on the beach and into the water for a swim. All of these sounds were recorded on location in superb digital stereo. I assure you that you will be in a different state of mind after an earnest listen.

At this time, most of my studio remixing and archiving project is complete. There is now about 10 CDs worth of material to pull from. These are mainly instrumental pieces featuring guitars. But some of these songs were made for vocals as well. For a proper CD release, I want to record three new songs featuring my voice and lyrics also.

Photoshop expert needed ASAP for easy scanning of some already finished artwork, resizing and setting up layers in Photoshop for the CD version of the original Secret Beach cassette. May also bring into Quark. Must be 100% reliable. Email eric@secret-beach.com to discuss details.

As always, the website is in a state of transition. You will notice upon arrival that there is a link to preview the "new website." It is still under construction but will eventually take the place of the current site. You will experience numerous changes and upgrades. A new shopping cart system, a new bulletin board system that rocks, and of course, more music to listen to - (currently available in mp3 format.) There is a new way to purchase Secret Beach stuff - online using PayPal. If you are not familiar with PayPal, it is the leading way to transfer money over the internet and is used by millions of people. It is faster, safer, and easier than mailing a check. Best of all, it's free. Your transactions will be secure and are insured, too. For more information, visit www.paypal.com. You can, of course, still order by check through the mail if you choose. And incidentally I'd like to thank everyone who purchased Secret Beach cassettes last month.

Note: I am in the process of making the website look right for all browsers and all monitor's screen resolutions. Depending on your system, the pages may not appear as intended. In the interim, my best advice is to open your browser window as wide as it can go, set your screen resolution either at 800x600 or 1024x768 and ignore the slight layout errors you might encounter right now.

DAVID HORAK - originally convinced me to build a website. David Horak could easily go into business for himself building the fastest PC computers in any configuration you desire. He is a Computer Guru and deserves eternal kudos for his feedback, positive energy, and boundless enthusiasm.

PAT HARTNETT - Pat and I worked together some time ago as Associate Editors of Tail Spins Magazine in Chicago. Along with a group of very creative and fun people, we grew the magazine from an 8-page xeroxed music flyer, to an internationally distributed 180 page music zine. Pat continues to zealously seek out worthwhile new music from bands and share his latest finds with me. His opinion is of great value.

JERRY SCHULMAN - is a patent, trademark, and copyright lawyer. He has been very helpful providing advice and direction for setting up the embryonic publishing wing of Secret Beach.

DIANE NARDOZZI continues to be a great web-advisor and now she has a new website herself: www.filomedia.com

Thanks to everyone for their recent feedback: Here are some of the comments:

"Hi, Eric. Congratulations on continuing to make steps forward on your project! I know that even the website itself represents an awful lot of work. Things are looking good. What a special place you found."
Barb Nashold
Colossal Mastering
Chicago, IL

"...I especially enjoyed reading your intro piece. When I have some time this weekend I am going to check out the site."
Jeff H.
Barrington, IL

"I visited your site and it was splendid."
A.P.
Sweden

"Secret Beach newsletter...I thought it was great. I enjoyed your description of the metamorphosis of the project. In one regard, I thought exposing so much degraded the mystery a bit, but on the other hand, I found it interesting.

Ultimately this is your website and I feel it should emulate you as a person and artist. It should reflect your attitudes about your art and the world...this is your project to have fun with and do as you wish...that comes first in my opinion

I was reading the newsletter with anticipation to find a date for releasing some tunes, but perhaps you have learned from the past that hard deadlines are often compromised by unforeseen circumstances and better left unpublished. Once your songs are released, or even prior to, I would enjoy some documentary on what the songs mean and where they came from...you touched on this.

I guess if I could offer blanket advice, it's to remember that this is a work in progress just as you have sold it. Don't focus on things, minutia, in any one point in time but rather accept the site and your communications as something that will naturally evolve over time as you and the world both change in unison (or discord like me)."
Ken Brink
Denver, CO

"Cool! I like it alot; ...Good luck man, and let me know anytime you'd like more assistance! Keep on rockin'! :)"
Amie Hartnett
Arlington Hts, IL

Look for Newsletter #3 in March. [:-v
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Copyright © 2001 Eric M. Roth. All Rights Reserved. Feel free
to forward this newsletter on to others as long as you send it in
its entirety.
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