Do Fun Stuff!

The day is here! This kids album that Mindy and I have a song on that I was blabbering about a while back is out and it's awesome. A friend once described my songwriting style as "nice music for people with good jobs". And it's true! A lot of you reading this have nice-ass jobs - so go spend $10 buying this sweet piece of kinder music and then you can have your Executive Assistant burn copies for your sisters as Christmas presents, which is kind of a cheap move, but you didn't get where you are today by giving the store away for free!

Below is a computer picture that tells you everything you have to do to get these songs all for your very own while serving an important cause.

I really do hope that you'll go check this out and buy the album or just a couple songs even - whatever works for you.

Thanks,

Steve

Won't someone think of the children?!?!?

I am a lucky mo chucky because I have been included in a fantastic musical compilation called Do Fun Stuff put together by superblogger, Ryan Marshall of Pacing the Panic Room to benefit research for the treatment and cure of a rare disorder known as Smith Magensis Syndrome that has struck all too close to Ryan's life. If you aren't already a regular reader of Mr. Marshall's blog, I suggest you head over there and find out what all the fuss is about here.

Understanding the glacial pace at which I am able to complete projects, Ryan started writing me in May of 2009 asking me to turn in a song for this compilation that debuts on August 30th on iTunes. Every penny earned from Do Fun Stuff will benefit the cause.

Seriously, I can't believe that I'm sharing space with the other talent on this album. I am a big, big fan of all of the acts that I'm familiar with here and I'm guessing that I'll like the ones that I haven't heard yet because Ryan don't make no junk!

The song I wrote, despite its nihilist's title, Nothing, is actually a less-sad-than-most-things-I-write-little ditty inspired by our amazing three-year-old-ball-of-light, Whistle Emmett Foxbury. Whistle even makes a cameo at the end of the song, which for me is the highlight of the track. Well, one of two highlights: The other is the fact that The Battle Sigh's resident grumpy siren, Mindy Steinberg sings on the whole thing and like she always does, adds a sweetness that would have been otherwise absent.

I am bugged out crazy ass excited to be included in this compilation. Because Ryan is a world shaker, of course great things are already happening with the album. In fact, a pretty cool grass-roots effort to alert The Great and Powerful Ellen DeGeneres of its existence via twitter-bomb is already in action. You can learn more about that here.

If I haven't made this abundantly clear, I want everyone to know that I am wildly grateful to Ryan for including me in this and I hope for the benefit's sake that loads of people find out about it and love it and buy it. So please feel free to mention it wherever it is you announce things to all your little computer friends. So do yourself a couple of favors and visit www.pacingthepanicroom.com and then plan to pick up this album of kids' songs written by a bunch of people who should probably not even really be allowed to be around kids. Put it on your calendar. August 30. iTunes. Do Fun Stuff. Listen. Love it!

I'll tell you about the other super rad awesome thing I've got coming up as soon as Kim Fox finishes the poster for it. Get off her back though because she's got a lot on her plate right now, what with being an amazing artist, wife, jelly-maker and mother to our child.

I'm trusting all of you to do the right thing here.

Thanks a million.

Steve

Let's talk about everything

It's been a weird year for me filled with loss and possibility. I won't get too far into the loss, because, hey, we all get enough shit in our lives already without me adding to your pile. So let's skip to the brighter days of 2010, which actually started in 2009 (and which, coincidentally, so did the loss).

It all started with letters from a friend I've never met, who decided out of the kindness of his amazing heart that he would like for our band to make a record and would cover the costs associated with doing so. Were it not for his modesty and request to remain anonymous in this process, I would be screaming his name to the heavens, but out of respect for his request this is about all I will say about him.

OK - I know that I said I wouldn't talk about the loss, but it's essential to this story, so I'm sorry. In trying to verify the timeline of this story, I discovered that the same day I sent our prospective budget off to this fine patron, I got a call from my mother letting me know that she had had a scan of some kind (CT, PET?) and that it had shown what the radiologist believed to be loads of cancer in her lungs. Further tests confirmed this and also showed that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. The prognosis was bleak and my mom's illness became the central focus of my life. This was in September of 2009. On January 15, 2010, she passed away and I disappeared into what might be the longest and snowiest winter I will ever endure.

Some time in late spring, I reemerged and began thinking again about what kind of life my mom would want me to lead. She was always my greatest champion and my biggest fan. So this led me back to the album. My dear friend, who would probably like to remain anonymous as well, but failed to make that request in advance and shall therefore be named: Jason Ross, put me in touch with famed producer Brian Paulson, who had worked on Jason's last album, Day & Nightdriving (If you haven't listened to this, the album is amazing), along with albums for Wilco, Son Volt and Beck.

Much to my surprise, Brian not only called me back, but agreed to produce our album. So on July 9, 2010 we all met up at Greg Rike Productions in Florida to begin work on the tentatively titled, Secret Family. We only had nine days in the studio and planned to record eleven songs. I'd love to say that we finished the thing with time to spare, but the fact is, we're still working on it. All of the big stuff is done, but now we're adding oooooos and space sounds and flanged triangle parts. The experience in Florida was truly amazing and one that I will never forget - so, so much fun. I know that when we release this thing (hopefully in November) it will be an album that I will be proud of for the rest of my life.

Wow. I just erased a ton of sappy sentiment and will instead just say thank you for reading this and that I love what I do.

Our first song!

Well, we've done it. We've recorded our very first song as a band. It's Springqueen and I love, love, love it. Mike Maurice mixed it and the band did amazing work all around. I can't wait until we have more songs to share with you. You can listen and download for free here:

http://www.reverbnation.com/thebattlesigh

I sincerely hope you'll try to make it out to our show at The Social this Friday, (July 17th) with the amazingly talented bands Rabbit and Northvia.

Thanks,

Steve/Battle Sigh

Welcome to the (for now) official site for The Battle Sigh!

Hi There,

My name is sort of Steven Foxbury and I sing and write songs for a band called The Battle Sigh. We formed nearly a year ago for the sole purpose of playing a benefit concert for a friend of mine with a sick kid who needed a little help. At the time, I was certain that I would never want to be in a band again and did what I could in putting this night together to help me keep this little promise I made to myself.

See, I live in Pittsburgh and the show was to take place in Orlando, so I solicited the help of my former band mate and longtime friend, Eric Steinberg. The plan was for me to fly down on a Wednesday, rehearse for a couple days with a band of players that Eric had assembled so that we could perform some songs that I had recently recorded with Paul Doucette, Mike Maurice and a few contributing friends - and then I would fly home and get back to my life as an urban hermit.

Serving as more proof that in life, planning is for suckers; I now find myself placed squarely in a band. I don't want to get too ooey-gooey here, but I love being part of this band. Greg Perkins, David Tinsley, Rick McGonegle, Eric Stenberg and his wife, Mindy Steinberg all contribute something unique and beautiful and I become giddy as a girl with a pony every time I get to make music with them. This, simply put, is what I have worked most of my life for.

So our plans right now involve getting together as often as we possibly can and playing as many shows as we can squeeze in. Hopefully, with the help of this site and a few of you folks out there, we can raise the money necessary for us to record a full-length album. There will be more of those petty but necessary details to follow here and I hope that you'll check back.

In the mean time, I hope those of you living in Orlando will mark your calendars for Friday, July 17, 2009. We will be performing that evening at The Social along with the bands Rabbit and Northvia. It should be a great night of music and it would mean the world to me to have you come check out what our band can do.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I'm working on adding a few widgets that will allow you to download songs for free and join a mailing list and all the other shit that most modern bands are already set up to do. UPDATE: I think that I have done some of this - check out the side bar of this posting.

Hugs and whatnot,

Steve

p.s. - I have a LOUSY track record of maintaining blogs.

(see: http://michaeljacksonsglove.blogspot.com/) That said, I will do my very best to stay on top of this. Pinky swear.

p.p.s - The song that I have made available for download was recorded with Mike Maurice and myself. The Battle Sigh does play this song, but this is not an actual Battle Sigh recording due in part to the fact that there are no actual Battle Sigh recordings.