On January 9, I got the official release date in an email from Rye Randa, and took the announcement to the aforementioned blog and forums. News that good can't wait to be shared amongst fans that frequent those sites daily in search of any tidbit of information we can find about future music releases.
Within just a few hours of that announcement, the song list and link to Amazon.com was posted at Michael Johns' message boards by MaJa K, who'd gotten the link from OregonMJFan. As you can see, news travels at light speed amongst the fans and fan sites. By January 12, news had spread to mjsbigblog and American Idol forums too.
For answers to the latest round of inquiries caused by the newly surfacing stories, I went back to my original source to find out the details. Although Rye has always been courteous in his responses, I'll have to admit I was a bit reluctant in sending questions again this soon after his last interview. I jokingly reminded him that he'd put the phrase 'Talk soon' in one of his email responses, and then sent him the questions anyway.
Rye in his usual prompt and gracious manner responded within a couple of hours to my note. The man continues to impress me with his complete dedication to courtesy and professionalism. He replied, "No problem. Happy to oblige."
When I asked if the soundtrack will also be released in hard copy, in addition to the digital downloads on Amazon.com and on iTunes, he responded, "Yes, hard copy via Amazon, and digitally through iTunes and most all digital outlets."
I told him about the ESPN news release that announced the three music video highlight reels on the DVD. Then I asked if he, Michael, and Jeff were in the videos at all, or if they planned to make any videos for the songs.
He said, "There have not been any videos produced with Michael, Jeff or myself. If there are any video "reels" on the DVD, they are most likely just clips of Shaun put to our music."
My final question to him was whether or not the January 18 appearance at the X-Dance had been confirmed.
His answer was, "No, not yet. But at this point, given the time frame, it will be difficult to pull off."I finished the email, laughing as I gave him a word of advice at the end. I told him writers tend to take words like "Talk soon" literally.
Now, a bit more about the soundtrack and music itself. This album contains numerous songs that are single worthy in quality, and could easily stand on their own. It's an album I'd buy if I heard the songs on the radio instead of hearing them with the film.
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