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Let's Talk About the Next Four ApX CDs
Fri., Sep. 29. 2023 5:28pm EDT
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.
Yesterday I did an interview with Philadelphia radio host Tim "Timmy D" DeMoss on his afternoon drive-time show. He's a longtime booster of ApX and was talking about how I'm always thinking ahead as far as projects go.
Although Tim was playing cuts from our latest CD, Septuagint, he said something like, "You probably already know what you want to do for your next three CDs."
At least three, as a matter of fact, and possibly four. We sent the artwork for our 71st CD, Just Reword, to the duplicator last Thursday, and we sent them the master recording Tuesday night.
If you've been reading our newsletters and listening to our singles over the past 14 months, you ought to know that we've been working on a rock opera dedicated entirely to the story of Samson.
Right now, there are only four tracks left to go before it's complete. They all feature female vocals. On Wednesday, ApX bassist Keith Haynie's daughter Abby sang the vocals for one of those songs, which is slated to appear on this weekend's single. And she did a splendid job!
Abby has shared lead vocals on previous ApX parodies such as "Bought by the Egyptians," "Don't Scoff," and "Jesus (Sermon on the Mount)." She also sang prominent backing vocals on "For Just You," "Heaven's Gonna Lift You Up" and "Elizabeth's Song." This time around, it's all her.
Abby's older sister, Sarah, who sang on previous ApX songs "Heavenly Hill," "For Just You," and "Bought by the Egyptians," recently moved from Nashville to a place not too far from Pittsburgh, and we're planning to get her involved again, too.
Furthermore, we're also thrilled to have Keely Singer returning to the studio with us later in October to sing a couple of the Samson songs. It's hard to believe it's been six years since her last ApX appearance!
You'll recognize Keely's voice from previous parodies such as "These Streams," "Gimme Helper," "Hanukkah," "Must Seem Silly," "Act Selfless," "I Went in the Stream," and "Turn to Luke."
Anyway, the Samson CD is titled, Play It Again, Samson, and we hope to release it by the end of this year as our 72nd CD. There's also a decent chance we may release our third Christmas compilation, featuring frosty favorites we put out from 2014-22, plus a couple brand-new ones.
Finally, our current plan for the CD after that is an album of full-length versions of all the parodies that appeared in our 10-song '80s medley, "Octagon but Not Forgotten," in 2011. Longtime listeners have been requesting that for the past dozen years, and they've finally won us over.
In recent months, we've released all-new, full-length versions of two songs in the medley, "Wicked" and "James 1:3," and there are a couple more already well underway. I'm supposed to sing one of them next Tuesday. ApX keyboardist Rich Mannion recorded the backing vocals today.
It's not just a matter of rerecording the songs; they all need additional lyrics, since the medley versions only had one verse and/or chorus. It's a big undertaking, but we're doing it for the fans. The title of that CD is Unchained Medley, and we hope to release it in the first quarter of 2024.
That's a lot to look forward to, Lord willing! Stay tuned, and don't touch that dial.
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