Friends::
Hiss Golden Messenger’s Country Hai East Cotton, an album assembled by Scott Hirsch and myself over a period of three years in various studios, lofts, and farmhouses in San Francisco, New York, and North Carolina, is ready to be ordered and shipped!

As you’ve no doubt surmised, the album is out on our own label, Heaven & Earth Magic Recording Co. We started this label because we think it is important to control each step of the musical recording and dissemination process by ourselves; Scott and I could no longer reconcile leaving something so important to us in the hands of others.

Does the world need another record label? I suppose it depends who you ask. Obviously we think so. There is a place in the world for little people- like us-dedicated to making, spreading, and talking about thoughtful and deliberate work and, despite what the pundits say, there always will be. So there.

The miniature gatefold cover of Country Hai East Cotton was illustrated by our friend Nathaniel Russell, and printed on 100% recycled materials by Stumptown Printers in Portland, OR. The disk itself is encased in a woven inner sleeve, and the whole CD comes enclosed in a protective plastic outer sleeve. Country Hai East Cotton is limited to 500 copies, each one hand-numbered. Rest assured- if it’s your thing- that we have laid hands on every single one of these.

To order Country Hai East Cotton visit the “Shops/Downloads” page. You can easily order the disk there via Paypal for $14, plus shipping and handling. Alternately, you can obtain a digital version of the record; although it’s not mandatory, we ask that you consider making a donation- something between $5 and $10- in return for MP3s of the album.

I realize that Country Hai East Cotton will be easily obtained for free on a host of torrent sites and blogs very soon, if it isn’t already. That’s OK. We appreciate that. But, at the risk of sounding totally romantic and/or naive, we’re hoping that those who have heard HGM and like what we do will choose to spend a little money on a disk or download directly from us. And a word for armchair audiophiles: The actual disk sounds better. This is not opinion; it’s fact. More sonic information.

Also, if you prefer to buy a copy directly from a store, you can do that too. These fine establishments are all carrying Country Hai East Cotton.

Amoeba Music
6400 W. Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90028

Amoeba Music
1855 Haight Street
San Francisco, CA 94117

Amoeba Music
2455 Telegraph Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94704

End of an Ear
2209 South First Street
Austin, TX 78704

Waterloo Records
600A North Lamar Boulevard
Austin, TX 78703

Time-Lag Records
578 Congress Street, 2nd Floor
Portland, Maine 04101-3317

Aquarius Records
1055 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

Harvest Records
415B Haywood Road
Asheville, NC

CD Alley
405C West Franklin Street
Chapel Hill, NC 27516

Sonic Boom
2209 NW Market Street
Seattle, WA 98107

Tequila Sunrise
525 W. Girard Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19122

Exiled Records
4628 SE Hawthorne Boulevard
Portland, OR 97215

Piccadilly Records
53 Oldham Street
Manchester, M1 1JR, United Kingdom

Rest assured, we have no idea what we’re doing. But as a small organization that cares very much about music, we’re trying our best. If you have suggestions about something we could do better, please let us know at hissgoldenmessenger at yahoo dot com. This is not a one way street; we encourage conversation, so get in touch.

We welcome all comers. We want to be friends. Help us do a better job. And we hope that you enjoy Country Hai East Cotton, because we’re proud of it.

These two characters are really doing it. Tell somebody.

Roll some inspiration,
Jai Lil Diamond