"You Can't Always Get What You Want." (sung to myself)

Before we go "full on announcement" about the band, I want to get a bit personal on this one.

Sometimes in the pursuit of our goals we find ourselves in the difficult position of having to make decisions that disappoint, hurt and/or anger people who have supported us. Well, it's one of those days for me and I'm feeling a bit badly about it.

When it was time to start putting the band together I was faced with a big dilemma. I recorded "Ownership" with musos from both the US and SA side - all of whom I really wanted in the band. But it was just not logistically feasible to bring multiple players from either side to the other. So I had to decide: do I launch a band from Jo'burg or NY. Well Jo'burg became the obvious choice due to both the PR attention we've received, and the fact that more of the musos from the album were more centrally located there.

But making this economic/logistical decision meant that I had to disappoint a few people, particularly someone who had supported me from the very start of this project on the US side and I might add, was fully expecting to be a part of the band.

I had to tell my friend and brother Nery Arevalo, who supplied "Ownership" with some just deeply soulful percussion, as well as musical, spiritual and moral support, that I could not take him with me to SA. And though it's an economic issue and not a personal or musical one, that doesn't make it any less painful, for either of us.

Nery, you are a stellar musician, an indominable spirit and a dear friend...and I love you. I know you understand and I promise you here, publicly, that I will find a way to make it up to you.

Your brother in music always,
Ema