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8.5.10
Tone & Niche Music Video Coming Very Soon...
The T&N music video is for a song they recorded back in 2008. The song is called "Closing In". It is a track that captures the "unplugged" side of Tone & Niche. They always wanted to showcase the tune a little more, but instead released it as a b-side on their House Of The Rising Sun single. The b-sided song can now be put out front and stand on its own.

8.2.10
We had a blast playing this years GLCC fest! The whole band loved every second. The stage was great, the sound was great, the people were great. Click HERE to see photo's of T&N performing and more.

7.19.10
NEW T&N Photo's - "The Filming Of Their Upcoming Music Video "Closing In" On FACEBOOK

6.17.10
CHECK OUT THE PHOTO'S FROM OUR TRIP TO THE MANSION STUDIO IN COLUMBIA! I POSTED A TON OF PICTURES ON FACEBOOK AND MYSPACE. WE HAD A WONDERFUL TIME TRACKING THE NEW ALBUM! IT WAS SIMPLY AMAZING. WE ARE VERY EXCITED FOR THE NEW RECORD. HOPEFULLY WE WILL HAVE IT READY FOR RELEASE BY THE FALL. UNTIL THEN....PICTURES GALORE! NOTHIN' BUT FUN.
-Tone

6.14.10
We are finished with tracking at the mansion studio and back in Michigan! It was an amazing experience! We recorded 14 songs and plan to use at least 12 of them on the new disc. It was a rough week, full of long days in the studio, but we had fun doing it. Now we move onto mixing, mastering and setting a release date! We are thinking of releasing the new album in October. We shall see. Home Tone Records is hoping to have the album ready to go by the end of August, so we might have a digital download single available before the release of the CD. I will post a new song or two when we get the mixes done. All excitement here for T&N! Be well.
Talk to ya soon,
-Tone

5.25.10
We have been practicing and writing constantly over the last few months to prep for recording our new CD. The label Home Tone Records out of St. Louis/Columbia, MO. is going to help us record and release our new album! We leave June 6th to go record at the Mansion Studios. The plan is to spend a week in Columbia tracking the new tunes. The band is very excited! Tone & Niche is booked to play a sort of "send off" show Friday, June 4th at Liberty Street Brewery in Plymouth, MI. Our set will consist of all our new songs as well as some of our older jams. We are pumped and want to play the new stuff live once before we leave to record. Come join us! It's FREE show! Liberty Street has great beer too! Our good friends Mike Galbraith and Big Livy will open the night up. They are a pleasure to listen to. It all gets started at 9pm sharp! We will have our merch there too: t-shirts, cd's, stickers, etc. Everything will be 10 bucks each, no matter what it is - a CD, a t-shirt - anything! Also, I released my solo CD "Empire" back in February and ended up selling the whole first run! (Thanks for all the love and support). I just got a new batch made up! They will be available as well! Each Empire CD comes with a lyric book! All fun. All hip. Niche and I are going to perform an acoustic set at the Mount Clemens Art Fair the following day, June 5th at 2pm at the Fountain Stage. If you miss us on the 4th then stop by saturday afternoon! We'd love to see ya! This year has been big for Tone & Niche so far. Our song "so long" was featured on Discovery channel, we are teaming up with Home Tone Records to make our new album and added a new member, Jimmy Sterling Lees, to our band! I am working hard with the band to get the new Tone & Niche CD released by the end of the summer. I will keep you posted on all of that.
-Tone

2.28.10
We have a few exciting things happening and I just want to share it with you! T&N has been on a break from gigs for the last six weeks. We still have a few weeks of no shows ahead, but on March 20th we will be playing the last local T&N show until the summer! It's at Smalls Bar in Hamtramck (details at the bottom of this e-mail). We have had to spend the the last few months and will need to spend the next few months re-grouping and working on new material. Breaks are good for bands. It helps give perspective and lends itself to helping us set new goals. Tone & Niche will be signing with an indie label, Home Tone Records, out of Columbia, MO. in the coming month. It is an opportunity we have worked hard at for many years now. We are not sure where it will lead us. Nonetheless, we are extremely excited about it. We are going out to Columbia for a week in June to record a new T&N album. Nick White will be joining us on the the record to play bass guitar! The plan is to have an album ready to release in July or August and do a summer release party. There is lots of good stuff in Tone & Niche's future. We look forward to every bit of it.
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I released my solo CD "Empire" last week at the Anton Art Center in Mount Clemens. The show was awesome. Thanks again to Justin Petrusak for opening up! Thanks also to Lee Weiskirch for recording the show. I will have some of the live audio available soon! And of course, thank you to Serious Artists, the Anton Art center and to everyone who came out to the Empire CD release show. It was wonderful to see so many beautiful faces in the crowd! If you were unable to get a copy of the new solo disc just go to anthonyretka.com and you can order it there.
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Lastly, if you did not have a chance to see the DR. G episode on Discovery channel that used the T&N song "So Long" then e-mail me back with your address and I'll be sure to get you a DVD of it for free! It should be up online soon as well, although I have not seen any recent epiodes posted.
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Oh, one last thing, if you're free March 20th then come on out to Smalls Bar in Hamtramck and join us! Our friend Jimmy "Skinny" Lees of the band Love Meets Lust will be playing bass with us! Good times will be had! Doors at 9pm / Show at 9:30 wsg/Blase Splee and Alison Lewis!

Have a wonderful week everyone,
-Tone

1.22.10
My solo record "Empire" is finally done and finally here! The new record is made up of songs I wrote back in the fall. I recorded them around the same time as well. It's a very simple acoustic album that features a few harmonies and percussion. I am very proud of it and I look forward to releasing the record. Come celebrate with me! My good friend Justin Petrusak will be opening with a set of his amazing and always tongue and cheek-like poetry! Justin is releasing his new book the same night! The show will be in the main gallery space at the art center. It'll be a good time!
-Anthony Retka (Tone)

Solo CD Release Show Details:
Saturday, February 20, 2010 - 8:00 PM
Empire CD Release Show @ The Anton Art Center
125 Macomb Place
Downtown Mount Clemens
$5 door
*For more info visit www.theartcenter.org


1.19.10
Time off and a New Record...
So the new year is here and things are good. Tone & Niche has decided to take some time off. Our show at Berkley Front Jan. 23rd will be the last one for a few months. We want to break to re-group, work on new material and record a new album for this summer. I'm sure we will take some gigs here and there, but for the most part we plan to lay low. In the meantime, my solo CD "Empire" is finished! The release is Feb. 20th at the Anton Art Center in Mount Clemens. More on that to come soon.
Have a great week everyone!
-Tone

11.26.09
HAPPY THANKSGIVING, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR TOO!
-Tone & Niche

11.14.09
SEAN FITZGERALD'S UNRELEASED MUSIC CD RELEASE will be on Sunday, 12.6.09 at PJ's Lager House in Detroit. Over the last year a handful of local musicians collected some of Sean's unreleased work and created a CD to release. It's important to keep his music alive. For More Info Visit SeriousArtists.com OR E-Mail: info@toneandniche.com

11.10.09
I have been working on a solo album. I am really excited about this solo disc! I hope to release it by Christmas. We shall see how that pans out.
The songs are coming along nicely and I have been playing out solo a lot to try and get back to that feeling a songwriter sometimes needs. A feeling of self and individuality on stage.
Anyway, just wanted to post a quick entry regarding the solo cd. Hopefully Tone & Niche and my other group The Mourning Voices can start recording new stuff in the new year.
Be well all,
-Tone

7.27.09
What can I say? New York City was awesome. Too much to say, too much to type! Just thought I would post this and tell you a little about the trip. The tour was a blast for all of us! The first night at the sidewalk Cafe was great. The audience was small, but they all got up and danced! We ended up playing an encore. It was a lot of fun.
The second night in NYC we played at Googie's. This gig was a bit of a let down. Our wonderful friends were there to watch the show, but the rest of the house was empty. We didn't let it bring us down though. That same night we had another gig booked at the National Underground! We were set to play the basement stage of the bar (they have upstairs and downstairs stages). We hit around 1:30am to a handful of people, but by the time our set was done, we had attracted people downstairs to watch. In fact, the sound guy grabbed us and told us to get our gear and get upstairs to the main stage and play a second set! We were all really excited about that. Pretty good stuff.
So, we get upstairs and set up. The house on the main floor was packed! The people loved it. They wanted us to keep going, but we only had twelve songs practiced with Patrick (who filled in on bass for us). So, we decided to cover Knockin' On Heavens Door". Its a simple song so I knew it would go over well and man it did. We had the whole bar singing back to us. It was great!! When we finished our set it was all congrats, compliments and CD sales. We were feeling kind of down about our gig earlier that night and this changed it all. Just goes to show that when something seems to be going wrong and a little sour there is always something better around the corner.
We are back home safe and sound. I plan to post pictures from the trip this week. Come on down to Cadieux Cafe this Friday, July 31st at 10pm. I can tell you more in person about Tone & Niche in New York, Pittsburgh and Cleveland!
Be well everyone,
-Tone

7.18.09
So tonight was our last show with our good friend and fellow band mate Nick White. Thanks to everyone who made it out to the belmont and thanks to Dale Wilson of the Four Hour Frineds for having us join the bill. It was a good show and a great time. I have to say that Nick played a huge role in the band and he will be missed. Nick has been in Tone & Niche for the last three years. He has helped us book shows, introduced us to tons of local musicians from Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti and has played bass for Tone & Niche better than any other. Nick is off to bigger things in Phoenix, Arizona and we wish him well.
In the last two weeks we had to scramble and find someone to fill in on bass guitar. Our friend Patrick has stepped up to play bass for our July shows (Thank You Patrick!). We have been practicing our butts off and I think NYC and the other upcoming shows will be great!
In other news, we have released a collection of our EP's and singles on one disc simply titled SINGLES. We chose the best of all our EP and single releases and put them to one CD. Being indie musicians, constant pressing of all those cd's can get expensive! This kind of solves that for us and lets us send home more music with people at our shows. The CD will be available online soon. Until then you can pick up a copy at any of our shows. Some of the songs on the Singles disc includes "Epitaph", "House of the Rising Sun", "Song One", "From Your Hands" and more. Well, that's it for now. I'm getting sleepy.
Here's to the future!
Be well,
-Tone

7.14.09
Hey all -
I hope this update finds you enjoying your week and the beautiful weather we have been having. I hope you can find time this weekend to join us at one of our upcoming shows. Most importantly, Saturday, July 18th at The belmont. This will be a special show for Tone & Niche. Our friend and fellow band member, Nick White (Bass Guitar) is moving to Arizona this month. The Belmont gig will be Nick's last show with Tone & Niche. It would be awesome to pack the place and send him off well! Here's the details: The Belmont in Hamtramck, MI. Saturday, July 18th / 9pm / 21+ w/our friend Dale Wilson and his amazing group The Four Hour Friends + Old Empire!
In other T&N news, we have put a hold on all our recordings and releases due to the change in the band line-up, touring, etc. Hopefully we can get some songs recorded in the fall. There are lots of tunes waiting for tape!
Finally... We have some other cool gigs coming up this month. Some festivals, a little touring and one of our favorite places in Detroit to play - Cadieux Cafe! Check them out...T&N Shows

7.6.09 / Formal Show A Success:
The Formal show was a smash! Thanks to everyone who came out and dressed up! It was good to see all of you in hip gear havin' fun. To be honest, we figured the show might not work because it was on a sunday and cityfest was still going on, etc. but we were wrong! The place was full and everyone seemed to have a good time. All the musicians played well (thank you Illy Mack and Kent Koller for joining us on this one!!). I posted some photos of the show on myspace. Give them a look. Good fun.
Be well.
Have a good week,
-Tone

5.29.09 / We Need Your Vote:
Just wanted to post this and ask for your vote!
Tone & Niche has entered to play this years Rothbury Festival and we need your vote!
To view the T&N entry page click here: Entry Page
To cast your vote for us click here: Vote
Voting goes until June 21st! You can vote every hour!!
Your support means the world to us!
Be well,
-Tone

5.17.09 / Live CD Available Online!:
So the Live CD Release has come and gone. It was a wonderful time and I would like to thank everyone who made it out to the listening party. If you were unable to come out to the release and would like a copy of the Live CD you can get it here online or at one of our upcoming shows.
Now that we have our live double disc is out its time to go to work on a new studio release - more to come on that very soon.
Have a great week all,
-Tone

4.22.09 / Live CD Release Update:
The Rustic Cabins Bar will be the location for the Tone & Niche LIVE CD Release and Listening Party. Its a wonderful little bar on Kerchival in Grosse Pointe Park. One of the really cool things for geeks like me is that Poet/Writer Jack Kerouac hung out there. Kerouac's initials are carved in the wall and there are articles you can read telling the story of when Jack Kerouac lived in Detroit and hung out at the Rustic Cabins! If you don't know or care who Jack Kerouac was - that's ok (not really, but I can handle it) the Rustic also has a few pool tables and tons of beer to choose from!
We will play the CD over the bar stereo starting around 10pm and have supplies out for you to make your own artwork/insert for your copy of the CD. There will also be pre-made copies of the Double Live Album for sale. There is no cover!
So, come on out May 16th to the Rustic Cabins and join us as we celebrate the release of our of live record!
Be Well,
-Tone
PS - Go to the "LIVE" page of our website for further details.

4.6.09 / LIVE ALBUM RELEASE AND LISTENING PARTY!:
So, we have chosen a release date for the Tone & Niche Live Double Album! May 16th is the date of the release, but we have yet to choose the venue. I will keep you posted when we decide where the party will be.
We plan to have a "create your own cover" listening party to celebrate the CD's release. Basically we will provide pens, markers, stickers, etc for you to make your own T&N cover! There will be pre-made CD's if you'd rather just come and pick a copy up.
More details coming soon...
Be well,
-Tone

3.24.09 / We Need Your Vote!
I submitted a Tone & Niche instrumental called "Billie's Theme" for the Ann Delisi's Essential Music show on WDET. It would be great if our tune made the cut.
Click Here to cast your vote. We are track #33. Much thanks.
Have a wonderful day!
-Tone

3.23.09 / NEW WEBSITE:
Welcome to the the new Tone and Niche website. We plan to expand the site over the next few months. Check back frequently for updates.

3.22.09
Thanks to everyone who made it out to the Live Acoustic Recording at Trixies Saturday night! It was a blast! We discovered the other side of our songs. Acoustic recordings have a real raw and pure sort of feeling. We have now wrapped up the "live recording shows" and will spend the next month listening, re-listening, mixing, mastering and pressing the Live Album. I will keep you posted on the details of the release date either here at the website, on myspace or through e-mail.
We plan to have a listening party to celebrate the record. If you have any suggestions on a good bar to do it at please feel free to E-MAIL us.
Have a blessed week.
Be well,
-Tone

3.15.09
So, the first of two live album recording shows is in the bag. Thank you to everyone who made it out to the Cadieux show. We had a wonderful time, despite some odd sound problems. The band ended up performing two identical sets so any mistakes we might have made were fixed in the other set...I think. My hope is that the recordings turned out well so we can put together 8 to 10 "strong songs" for the
CD.

I am looking forward to next weeks "acoustic" recording show. Come join us again for the second of two Live Album Recording shows on MARCH 21, 2009 at trixies in Roseville. This show will feature Tone & Niche performing as a duo/acoustic.
wsg/Steve D'Angelo
Be well,
-Tone

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