I get lots of messages/tweets/comments/billboard signs (okay, no billboard signs) every day with one general theme…’what the hell are you guys doing’?  I don’t answer, because, well, I don’t know.  I hope I don’t tick anybody off (like especially anybody who’s potentially in charge of my career..) by writing this, but I think people oughtta know what’s going on, so I will do my best to give you my version of the scoop.

The rundown of the past 2 years: In 2008, we released Supergirl..it charted and peaked around #38, had a great run on some cool tv shows, and got lots of love from some righteous female athletes before it started to go away in late ‘08.  Though I’ve done lots of writing over the past several years, Supergirl was released as a single and after it declined, the label decided that we should release another single.  In November of ‘08, i wrote the song “Butterflies”.

(crash course in radio, the Marti version-Top 40 and Adult Contemporary.  Top 40, these days, leans heavily toward rhythmic and very poppy music, while Hot A/C is a good launch pad for singer/songwriter type artists and bands.  Example-Ke$ha is a Top 40 artist all the way.  A band like Train would find a home at Hot A/C.  While Saving Jane has been the most commercially successful at Top 40, when you look at our music as a whole, we sound more like a Hot A/C type band.)  Sooo..it was decided that “Butterflies”, being a ballad and songwritery type-song, should go to Hot A/C.  For a multitude of reasons, this didn’t work for us.  We don’t have many relationships at Hot A/C, and while our team works very hard, they are very small.  I greatly appreciate the stations that DID believe in this song and supported us, but we just couldn’t get enough stations and spins on board to keep it in the charts.  Round about April of ‘09, Butterflies crapped out and there we were again, going, what now?

At that point in time, our recording contract was about to come up.  All parties involved did some wheelin’ and dealin’, and we agreed to provide the label with one more single by July of 2009.   So to answer your question, when are we releasing another album?  It’s obviously a much greater investment for a record label to record and release an album than it is a single.  While I have written enough material for several albums, and while I am DESPERATE to release another full length Saving Jane album, it hasn’t been permitted with the contracts we are currently engaged in.  I’ve tried to keep you and me both satisfied by posting new songs for listening, but I know that’s not the same as being able to own the material and listen whenever you want.  And for me, it’s not the same satisfaction as releasing one whole body of work.   But, it is what it is and there’s not a whole lot I can do.

Now-why haven’t we released a single, if we were due in July?

Well, that goes back to the Top 40/Hot AC debate.  The stance of the label and the management is that they’ve spent a significant amount of $ building a brand for Saving Jane at Top 40 radio, so the song we release has to be something that would be a “smash” at Top 40.  Understandably, they want a return on that investment.  But in case you haven’t listened to the radio in awhile, what’s working is dance music.  And in case you haven’t listened to a Saving Jane record in a while, uh, I don’t write dance music.  So since July, I’ve been turning in material but none of it has been deemed worthy of release.  In fact, I’ve even turned in some Marti-written dance type music, and (irony of ironies), everyone thinks it’s a smash, but it’s “not me”.  (DUH!  That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!)  So basically we’re kind of at a stalemate right now, and we’re supposed to have a conference call next week to figure out what the hell we’re doing.  We’re not working on albums, I’m not writing new pop material…just waiting.  Waiting.  Waiting.  As a band, everyone is branching out and working on other projects until we all know what’s going to happen with Saving Jane.

In the meantime, I have had some cool things happen in my songwriting career…Suzie McNeil cut a version of Supergirl that went gold in Canada, a German tv show used a song I wrote as their theme and a single, and the Kat Von D thing with One Girl Revolution just went down.  I signed a publishing deal, which means it’s officially my job to write songs, and I’m enjoying it!  I’ve made a short term move to Nashville and have been here writing both country and pop material, with the intention of working on a solo project with a more country feel.  There’s lots of upheaval and change right now, but hopefully in the end it’ll be a good thing.  If not, I can always get some more cats and call it a day..

xoxo

M