10 years of sweet adeline

may 18, 1998 isn't 10 years from today, the anniversary of sweet adeline, but it was the day that got things going that lead up to this day. in the beginning of 98 i was lucky to be introduced to elliott's music through good will hunting. angeles caught my ear because it reminded me of the beatle's white album. something sincere, something as beautiful in my opinion as julia or long, long, long. also i took something personal from my life at the time and it just seemed to capture how i felt or what i experienced and i know so many fans had the same experience from all the emails and comments i've read over the years. anyway as time went on, collected more of elliott's work, and got to see his wonderful performance on the oscars it lead to the excitment of seeing elliott live at the bottom of the hill in san francisco on may 18, 1998. the setlist was awesome, the atmosphere of the people who were there was something you would take home and never forget because of the gentle, quiet, respectful and communal feeling you got from it. but it was the end of that show that shined for me because i was lucky enough to approach elliott for an autograph and as any fan fears who put themselves out there feel like they might be setting themselves for some sort of rejection or bad experience especially a dork like me. it was so simple, elliott was so kind to me and had no guard about him, willing to take a moment and put his beer down to take a minute with me. he asked my name while signed my 7" division day single with a heart. this simple act of kindness made an impression that has lasted me 10 years.

as i moved on, i learned that atmosphere wasn't limited to experiencing an elliott show or meeting elliott. it's something that i would eventually realize as i help put together the site with other fans. at the start i had to reach out to a lot of people to see if anyone was interested in helping me. i was lucky to find 3 great fans right off the bat. they are: scott kohler, jonathan vidal (both did elliott tablature for fun) and casey crynes (skylash/elliottsmith.com). scott and jonathan work on elliott tabs and were willing to let me post them on the site. not only that they went beyond and began tabbing more songs for the site. casey had an awesome elliott site of his own and became really busy with other projects. he was willing to push down his own site to help promote sweet adeline at the time. to me that was really unheard of especially when it was really competitive at the time when people were finding a place on the web. those fan contributions just grew from there. so many contributions in so many areas of the site and many names to thank and for me to try and remember. all this for free with no strings attached. it felt like it was something that was shared, that we loved elliott's music, that we were willing to do anything for the music or elliott to show our appreciation. the great thing is that elliott got to see that. i know elliott appreciated it so much too. from the bottom of my heart, thank you everyone. there would've never been a site if it wasn't for your kindness and support over the years. thank you for going out of your way to make the site something special to elliott, other fans and me (because i'm still a fan still too). i wish i could name names but it would be a long list and i wouldn't want to leave anyone out. your guys kindness means more than you could ever know.

thank you to everyone who was close to elliott as a family member or a friend too. your collecctive support has meant so much to me since elliott has passed. it hasn't always been easy to continue on and be reminded everyday of how much of a great loss elliott was and all the great experiences i had with him as a fan and through the site, but your kind support, inclusion, emails, actions, thoughts and stories have helped me through tough times and gave me the encouragment to continue on these past 5 years. thank you all for doing the right things in elliott's memory. you deserve more praise than you get and i truly appreciate all you've done. thank you to my family and loved ones for their patience and understanding about what i've been doing on sweet adeline. i am thankful for their support.

i'm sorry i probably wrote more than what another site would've wrote on their 10th anniversary but everything related to this site means more that i could tell you without going on and on forever. i really wish i could've had a big celebration to enjoy this milestone but like i've learned, elliott fans like me don't have much money hehe. i hope down the road that might change that we can get together for something one more time or for the first time to celebrate elliott's music with the people he loved and the people who loved him. in meantime, thank you everyone for making a dream come true and thank you elliott for the good you brought to so many people. i'm so happy to hear we were able to give something good back to you too. love charlie (7.11.08)

new jersey tribute show!

thanks to andrew for taking the time to send us information about an upcoming hour long tribute to elliott. the show is at harvest moon in new brunswick, nj and it is this wednesday june 11th! here is andrew with more info:

"there will be an acoustic show at the harvest moon in new brunswick, nj this wednesday june 11th. as part of the show we will be kicking the night off with an hour long elliott smith tribute. everyone playing that night is a pretty big elliott smith fan so we decided to dedicate a portion of the evening to his songs. the harvest moon is located at 392 george street in new brunswick, nj. the performers that night are andrew goulburn from meet me in montauk (www.myspace.com/mmim), billy perez from the love trilogy (www.myspace.com/thelovetrilogy), cameron boyd (www.myspace.com/cameronwilliam), and james wells from the gay blades (www.myspace.com/gayblades). the show will be starting at 10 pm. if you come out please stick around until after the elliott tribute, everyone playing is a fine song writer and i promise you will enjoy the rest of the night as well. we would love to see you there!" (6.9.08)

unreleased elliott benefit song update and yahoo's 25 best alternative rock bands of the 1990s!

kevin moyer was kinda enough to update everyone on sweetaddy.com about the process of the upcoming benefit record, 'live from nowhere near you vol. 2.' the benefit record will help bring in proceeds to support portland's outside in. the new benefit record was rumored to be out in november of 2007 but for various the record has been pushed for now. the record will be featuring an previously unreleased song and at this time uknown song by elliott which was a part of songs that were considered for 'new moon.' anyway, here is kevin with the latest on the record:

"sorry peeps, but please be patient. i want to get this thing out as badly as you want to hear it, trust me on that. its all i am working on in every second fo free time. and there is no problem with the elliott track being released... all the papers are signed and all the i's are dotted. the delay is more along the lines of so many artists involved (the cd is 75 minutes of music, lots of musicians and labels and lawyers to deal with) and boring stuff like setting up distribution and talking with labels about helping with its release, etc which will add a few months on to the release date unfortunately. but i hope that you understand that i owe it to the charity to make sure this is done as best as it can be so that they benefit to the fullest, so i apologize for having to keep you waiting while we get things done and finalized. and enough chinese democracy comparisons already, fuckers (!), its only 6 months after we thought you'd have it, axle rose has taken 8 plus years or so. if i had to guess on a release date right now, i'd say it should be out after these upcoming summer months... oct / nov time period. sorry but i hope you can be pleasantly patient?... i am thrilled that you are this interested and will continue to work diligently to get it released sooner rather than later so please don't get hit by an automobile or a fridge or whatever else. peace and love and thanks, kevin"

yahoo recently did a feature on who they thought was the 25 best alternative rock bands of the 1990s. thinking it was only featuring bands, they actually also included solo artists in their list and elliott smith made it at number 13! the list also contains elliott's picture too. it is a really nice to honor and if you are interested in checking out the listing and the other artists that make the list, please go here: the 25 best alternative rock bands of the 1990s. (6.5.08)

portland tribute show on may 18th

thank you to joel for sending us information about an upcoming tribute show happening on sunday, may 18th! joel is part of the popular music board at portland state university. the show is being held at hawthorne theater in portland, or from 8pm -11pm. the tribute is featuring local singer/songwriters and bands will be performing elliott's songs in his memory, and there may even be a documentary film crew there to take some footage of the tribute. proceeds from the tribute show will benefit outside in and the free arts for abused children! the cost is $10 general admission and $8 for psu (w/ id) at the door the night of the event. doors at 7pm. for more information, please visit the popular music board at psu website at pmbpresents.org.

sorry, things for the most part have been kinda quiet lately. there were some little happenings like elliott's music appearing in tv shows and the such that i had a hard time updating the site with, but there is still some stuff to look forward to this year including the unreleased elliott song that will be on the upcoming outside/in benefit album and we hope the paul thomas anderson dvd short that has elliott playing rastafarian basketball player that wholphin dvd plans to release. in the meantime, i hope to add more contributions to the site from fans and myself. please check out updates page for more info and thanks to everyone who is being patient about me adding new stuff to the site! (5.14.08)

pictures of me, autumn and larry crane at sxsw & paranoid park soundtrack

thanks to jen for sending us info about the upcoming showing of an exhibit at sxsw of autumn's pictures of elliott called 'pictures of me: rare photographs of elliott smith by autumn de wilde.' the exhibit will be held at 4 walls fine art and the address is 115 east 5th street, #1, austin, tx 78701. the opening for the exhibit is thursday march 13, 2008 from 4-7pm but you can also visit the showing from march 14 to march 22, 2008 from 11-5pm (except march 17, it will be closed). it's a really nice show to check out (i recently saw the san francisco showing) and i hope you can make it. please click the picture on the left to check out the announcement!

you will also have an opportunity to see autumn at a couple of other events going on at sxsw on the 13th as well. first autumn will be a part of a panel called 'through the lens: photographers on musicians.' the panel is described as "four notable photographers present a two-part program. each photographer will recall their favorite images as they are shown onscreen. then they'll discuss the issues impacting music photography,such as difficulties that restrictions on shooting shows present and the new business models for photographers being developed in the digital realm." the panel is being moderated by michael azerrad and will be in room 17ab on thursday, march 13th, 11:45 am - 1:00 pm. for more info you can click here: through the lens: photographers on musicians. then you will be able to visit with autumn at '2008 south by bookstore' signing. autumn will be there on thursday march 13th at 1:30 pm at one of these stands: 535, 537, 901. for more info about the signing please go here: '2008 south by bookstore' signing.

another wonderful person who will be a part of sxsw is larry crane. larry will be on 2 panels about recording. one is called 'quickies 4: in the studio' and the other panel is called 'producers: the analog-digital shift' while there is a chance that elliott won't be mentioned at the panel, larry and the other panelists are a amazing resource in the recording world and i am sure a lot of upcoming recording artists would get something from listening to them. larry worked with elliott at larry's studio, jackpot!, in portland, help bring the beautiful 'new moon' record together and is the archivist for the estate of elliott smith. for more info about larry and the panels we will be one, please check out: larry's bio on the sxsw page.

finally, for completists, i saw that gus van sant's import soundtrack for his movie 'paranoid park' is coming out this week. the movie features 2 of elliott's songs and both songs make the import soundtrack as well. the 2 songs that are featured in the movie is the previously released album versions of 'angeles' and 'the white lady love you more.' this is the second movie that gus has used elliott's music (the first being good will hunting). if you are interested in purchasing the soundtrack, amazon has a listing of it here: paranoid park import soundtrack. (3.10.08)

pictures of me: rare photographs of elliott smith at noise pop san francisco and xo & figure 8 reissues in color now sold out & iphone ringtones!

thank you to russ for sending us info via the elliott smith myspace page about the upcoming elliott smith photo exhibit, 'pictures of me: rare photographs of elliott smith by autumn de wilde.' the exhibition will be a part of san francisco's noise pop festival and will be held at queen’s nails annex (3191 mission street, san francisco, ca.). an opening reception will be on thursday, feb 28th, from 7 to 11 pm. then, the exhibition will be open from friday the 29th until sunday march 2nd, from 12 – 6 pm. it looks like there will be limited edition prints available for sale as well and i think autumn is going to be there for the opening reception for the show! for more information you can check out the upcoming page at the queen's nail annex or visit the listing at the noise pop site. please check autumn's site too at: autumndewilde.com

thanks to everyone for helping to sell out the limited editions of the xo and figure 8 on color vinyl that aural exploits were selling. those versions are no longer available but you can still get the 180 gram black vinyl versions if you are interested at aural exploits as well. if you are interested in ordering either (or both) 180 gram black vinyl versions of xo or figure 8, please go here: auralexploits.com

finally, for all the iphone fans out there, itunes recently added the chance to create ringtones out of songs from 'from a basement on the hill.' previously, fans were able to create ringtones out of songs from 'roman candle,' and individual songs, 'some song' and 'a distorted reality is now a necessity to be free.' now you are able to download and song and pick the spot you want your ringtone to start and end. i think it is $1.98 to download a song and create the ringtone all together. please check out the itunes store link in your personal itunes and search for elliott smith! (2.12.08)

xo & figure 8 reissues in color, new elliott smith site, baby britain video on itunes, autumn podcast and the official elliott smith store

thank you to joesph for taking the time to send this really cool email: "just wanted to give you a heads up that aural exploits (auralexploits.com) will have an exclusive color of each of upcoming xo & figure 8 reissues... of just 500 each. if you swing over to the website, steve of aural exploits just added it today on the front page which includes a pre-order." the vinyl color for xo is white while figure 8 includes 2 vinyl lps, one in blue and one in red. these special editions are only available from aural exploits and the projected release date for the lps is mid-february. figure 8 is listed at $20.95 plus fees and xo is listed for $16.95 plus fees. since both records are limited to 500 each, i highly recommend you buy one of each as soon as possible! if you are interested in getting either or both of the records, please go to: auralexploits.com

thanks to ryan for creating a really awesome and new site about elliott's non-album tracks. the new site is called 'the unofficial guide to elliott smith non-album tracks' and it features information about songs that do not appear on elliott's full length records from 'roman candle' to 'from a basement on the hill.' each song includes detailed information and is a really great resource that collects info from different sources. the site also includes documents about the information that has been gathered and some frequently asked questions about elliott's non album tracks. the site also includes links and contact info for ryan if you have comments, suggestions, questions or want to contribute. anyway if you are interested in checking out ryan's site, please go to: the unofficial guide to elliott smith non-album tracks

mike was kind enough to send us info that itunes recently added elliott's video for baby britain. the video is by steve hanft and it uses footage from steve's work on his short film about elliott, 'strange parallel,' including footage that was not in the film. like the recently added video for son of sam, the quality of the video is really great and is now the 3rd video of elliott's in digital format. the music video is selling for $1.49. if you are interested in downloading the video and you have itunes, please follow this link: baby britain video

chronicle books recently added a podcast to it's site that included autumn talking about a couple of photos in the book including the shot that was used for the figure 8 cover. she has some nice thoughts about elliott as well and talks about the motivation in creating her wonderful book photo, elliott smith. the episode that the interview appears on is #39 and runs about 5 minutes. if you are interested in checking out the interview, please click on this link: podcast 39 at chronicle books.

finally, thank you to chuck from cinderblock for updating us about a new url for the official elliott smith store. i just wanted to help fans be aware of the new link for anyone who has the store bookmarked and hopefully spread the word again that the store exists. the new url is: www.cinderblock.com/bands/index.aspx?site=eli. the store features elliott smith t-shirts, hoodies, stickers, cds and the recently added book 'elliott smith' by autumn de wilde. the best thing about buying from the official store is that proceeds will be donated to the elliott smith memorial fund! so any help would be awesome. xo (2.1.08)

more info about the upcoming lp reissues, son of sam video on itunes, & spin's best of 2007

thanks to luke, steve and gary for sending us additional info about the upcoming reissues of elliott's xo and figure 8 records on vinyl. it looks like plain recordings are planning to reissue the lps and these will be collectors pieces on audiophile 180 gram virgin vinyl and for north america only. the album art-work and music content will be identical to the previous vinyl releases from dreamworks/bongload. it looks like the license of these reissues will only be for 3 years, so get yours now because it is unknown at this time if plain recordings can/will license the records again or if another label will be able to. while there is no firm release date, musicdirect.com is listing the release of both reissues for february 2008. if you are interested in getting your copies, please check your local records stores or you can order online here: xo at musicdirect.com & figure 8 at musicdirect.com.

i recently discovered that itunes has added elliott's video for 'son of sam' to it's itunes store. aside from promo videos dreakworks sent to media outlets, the video is the best quality i have seen and the second official elliott smith music video on digital format (first being the miss misery video on the good will hunting dvd). autumn de wilde also directed the video. itunes has the video for $1.49 and if you are interested in viewing a preview, purchasing and downloading the video now, please go here: son of sam at itunes.

finally, spin magazine was nice to list 'new moon' as one of the best 40 albums of 2007. the record came in at #22. if you are interested in seeing what they said about the record and check out who else made their list, please go here: the 40 best albums of 2007 - spin.com. (1.3.08)