3/31/11 "Mourning Time" Officially RELEASED!

Today, March 31st, is the official release date of our second album, "Mourning Time"! It's now available EVERYWHERE (iTunes, CDbaby, Rhapsody, Last.fm, Zune, Napster, etc.). Since it's been available on our site as a pre-release, we decided to make sure this release is still special for those who have already heard it. Thank you for supporting us and making this second album possible.

*NEW Merch Store! We opened a store through Printfection with a new band logo. There are "unisex" and "women's" shirts, mugs, totes, and a few other things. They print them on demand. The designs are available on American Apparel, 100% Organic, and Gildan UltraCotton t-shirts, so you can pick whatever style works best for you (the sizes go up 5XL depending on the style you choose). You can still pick up our original t-shirt directly from us for only $9.99 (follow the link and scroll down- you'll see them).

*NEW Remix Page! Here's a collection of all the remixes folks have done of our tunes. You can download them all for free in one zip. Be sure to check out the remixers of the remixes. There are links to the remixers on each of the song pages.

*OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO for "Truth and Fact"! Oh yes... that's right. The music video we've spent months creating is now released (above). Please let us know what you think on YouTube and Facebook.

"Mourning Time" is NOW available right HERE!

We are thrilled to announce the pre-release of our second album, "Mourning Time". It's available for immediate download and shipping ONLY at our website. It will not be available anywhere else until it is officially released on March of 2011. We want to give our closest fans, friends, and family the chance to hear it first. Get your copy here and let us know what you think about it!

Extra album details:

This second album from Team Smile and Nod explores the constantly morphing state of mourning in an oddly uplifting and quirky manner. Many of the songs were written during Kara's grieving process for the loss of her mother. As depressing as that may sound, the album visits a wide range of themes and emotion, and ends with an empowered, upbeat song of healing that goes by the same name as the album. Listen to the title track here. In summary, many of the songs are upbeat, idealistic, and even danceable (this track, "Truth and Fact", will be the single). "Mourning Time" is released on our indie label Thinkroot Records. The vocals and guitars were recorded in Kara's home studio. The electronic production, mixing, and mastering took place at Rich's Ostrich Studio. The amazing art is by Jesse Smith. It took us 2 years to make this album what it is. We're proud to finally share it with you. Get your digital and/or physical copy here.

Thank you for your constant support. It helps us continue to create music. We really, really hope you enjoy this album.

Take care and cause ruckus,
Kara and Rich

p.s. Download "Truth and Fact REMIX" for free in exchange for one FB or Twitter post!

Neglect! Update from Team Smile and Nod...

Ahhhh... I just remembered that I have this blog. Eeeps. Here's what I've been doing instead:



As far as Team Smile and Nod is concerned, we are progressing on our next album- "Mourning Time". In fact, I just ordered the blank digipaks today. It felt like progress. We are in the post-production phase... working on mixing, mastering, and design. Jesse Smith already has the cover art completed (it's amazing!). So now I've gotta type up the lyrics and lay them out. In the meantime, I've been updating Mind Map That! once a week. Hopefully, the action there can get you by for now... Wheeee...

Super SNEAKY Peak of Team Smile and Nod's Next Album- Mourning Time!

So we did it! We posted a track that you can download and/or stream and get a feel for our next album, Mourning Time. We included these songs: Build, Unknown, Come Back Here, She's Gone, and Mourning Time. For that matter, you can listen right now on the player to the right. Oh yeah, we've got it alllll planned out. Mwah-ha-ha... ha. We still have tons to do with the album... lots of editing/ mixing. Then we must master it. Plus, we must figure out what to do for cover art... (Any ideas? Are YOU an artist who has always wanted to do an album cover?? E-mail us if you are or know someone rad: questions[at]teamsmileandnod[dot]com
In summary, that's me and Katie's cat. Isn't she dapper?

Will our second album find completion?

Soooo... Rich and I plan to release a second CD this year. There is so much to do... Right now we're working on recording and mixing the songs. All the songs are written, however, whenever we work on the planned songs, we often get side-tracked by new songs. And soooo... while it's creatively necessary and fun, it lengthens the process. Today and tomorrow I'll record the vocals for "Truth and Fact" and either the ukulele and vocals for "Can You Feel It" or the guitar and vocals for "She's Gone." The problem with "She's Gone" is that it is massively depressing for me to play. I definitely need to be in the mood to deal with that. I am actually tearing up thinking about recording it. Seriously. When Rich and I were listening to a demo version of it and deciding when to work on it, he said "That is the most depressing song I've ever heard." But the thing is, it must be on this next CD. The CD will be called "Mourning Time." Many of the songs are about dealing with my mom's death. So yeah, an upper. Really though, it will be an awesome CD... the songs are coming together in such an amazing way. Okay... I should get to recording now...

In summary, the Kinks rock.