August is "upon us", the summer month during which (here in the UK) the plant life takes over! After months of careful care the rate-of-growth of the flora in my gardens has "sky-rocketed" and - here at Hapstow House -there is a lush sea of green (with an occasional burst of colour) to be seen in my gardens; if only the dense foliage were Square Dancers (with the occasional burst of colour being callers) and there was some way to bring about an "August growth-period" within Square Dancing itself… Well I can dream - but for the moment I must cut the grass and clear the weeds - now where did I put that scythe?

Meanwhile, back in the real world, I have to announce that - unfortunately - there will be no trip to Nashville this year for Sting and Snow. Hopefully, this is just an effect of the World-Wide Recession: not enough money about! I felt that I should let you know as this will lead to a brief "gap" in our production of new music - we are okay for the rest of this year and a little further but things will start to "slow down" in the first part of 2010.

However, I will be treating this as a "temporary glitch" and - even as I write - I am making plans for a 2010 trip to Nashville; as they say in the newspapers - watch this space!

I had hoped that our re-releases of older titles on CD might "bridge the gap" but - as I am sure you are aware - these are becoming fewer and fewer as a result of the "lack of space available" on the monthly Hanhurst's review service; there was only one new CD release in March, Two in April, one in May and none in June or July all of which cuts into our income stream. I hope that Tom will be able to include our CD releases (of older titles) on future reviews but only time will tell…

All I can say for sure is that things - at the moment - look pretty bleak. There has been another fall in sales (perhaps also a consequence of the WWR), these are now at the lowest level EVER (as far as I am aware). My hope is that we will be able to "rise" from this situation and will soon be able to confirm future production; as always any ideas / suggestions would be gratefully received…

Here is the "other news" for August:

BEST SELLER LISTING (positions on the June 2009 listing)
No.6 - If I Ruled The World - SIR 373
No.7 - Red Staggerwing - SNW 1204

NEW RELEASES (August 2009):
Let's Go To Vegas - SIR 378 - Vocal by Paul Bristow
Poppycock / Balderdash - SNW 515 - Double Instrumental Patter

NEW CD RELEASES - also available on MP3 & Vinyl (in most cases) / (July 2009):
None - again! - STILL no spare room on the Hanhurst's review Tape/CD/Internet service!!!

INDIVIDUAL RECORD HISTORIES including ALL THE ADDITIONAL LYRICS:
To find these, just click on the book symbol next to the title on the Catalogue, Future Releases or Latest Releases pages, this month's record history features our newest singing call release: Let's Go To Vegas

If you want to hear how these top-selling recordings sound, just click on the musical note symbol

So, as I work my way through - what now is starting to feel like "the jungles of Hapstow House" - with the sun on my back I am clinging on to the good news that there is no rain! Wait a minute… whats that black cloud in the sky? Where are these droplets of water coming from? Looks like I am going to have to dig out my water-proofs to continue! Ah well such is life here in the UK, in the wonderful month of August! Catch up with you all again, on next month's News-Letter!

Go Squareful! - Paul Bristow (Owner and Producer Sting and Snow Records)