Hi All - Sorry the blog's been quiet for a while, I've been winding down after the events of the previous week. There have been several meetings over the week with therapists & funding bodies to ascertain the best way forward for Chris. It was gratifying to hear from the Rehab team that Chris has made significant cognitive improvements over the last few months. His stamina has improved & he is much steadier on his feet now. His speech, however, remains minimal & it is time for the family to look more seriously at incorporating other means of communication (thanks for the blog comments with suggestions, we're working through them).

Chris will be going home soon. It's been a long 5 1/2 months of hospitals & wards with nurses' visits & snoring neighbours - Chris has bourne it very well. We're about to enter a new phase of Chris' recovery & one which will take some time to understand & come to grips with.

We're working on the US release of 'Stroke - Songs For Chris Knox' which will come out around Feb 2010. I mis-credited 'My Only Friend' as being by Willl Oldham when it should read as being by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - my sincere apologies to Will: it will be fixed on the US pressing (making your Kiwi version more valuable as a rarity - so maybe you need two copies?).

Roy

Howdy - 'Stroke - Songs For Chris Knox' has sold out of its first NZ pressing & we await more stock to be delivered on Monday the 30th of November. Thanks so much to everyone who has bought a copy to help Chris' recovery & if yer still wanting to buy one as a stocking stuffer for Xmas please don't blow yer bucks on just any other disc of muck - patience is a virtue! Wait a week then get 'Stroke'.

Oh, and it's also No 8 in the album charts ... like a little yellow egg sandwiched between the Scots, just below Fleetwood Mac and just above Rod Stewart.

Rod Merkin

Hi All - The album is selling well & may even make the charts this week. So I'd encourage all of you in NZ who may be intending to buy the album to buy it this week to help it on its way!

Chris was a very happy chap on Saturday but was wiped out by all the excitement. It's definitely good for him and his mood to be back performing though - it's who he is. And yeah, it is very inspiring, life-affirming stuff as many have pointed out - and we all need more of that eh?

Rod

Hi All - It was an amazing night! Sorry to all those who couldn't get in to the show - we sold out very early on & as music fans we've suffered through too many horrbly packed gigs to want to inflict that on anyone else. I had a great time playing with David Kilgour & we even did a number with Chris. There was lots of footage shot which I'll post on the site as soon as I get a copy. (The TV3 website has some footage and there are some clips on the Launch Party Page).

Chris had a fabulous night and stayed til the end - merrily swaying away with his friends to Shayne's set of past songs (& even a Gordons cover!). There was so much love for him there.

Big thanks to Trilby who was one of the major stars of the event. And thanks to Neil & Sharon, Don, David, Shayne, Graeme, Sean & all their bandmates - we hope you had a blast.

All the best

Rod Merkin

PS There's been some teething problems with digital downloads which I apologise for but it should all be fixed now - here's the soluition from the guys at Amplifier for those affected -

"It has been bought to our attention that due to a technical issue the
audio for the first 9 tracks of disc 2 of Stroke on the iTunes Store was
incorrect.  This problem has now been corrected.  For those of you who
purchased Stroke through iTunes you can re-download the correct audio by
following these instructions:

*    When you receive your invoice for the purchase, the album will
be listed on there.
*    Click the "Report a Problem" link that is associated with the
affected tracks / album.
*    This will take you through to a web page where you can initiate
the re-download. "

PS ...... Ahhh Barry - you should have come over!

Hiya - Sorry for the slip in yesterday's blog - yes it was Campbell Live not Nightline that featured the segment on Chris & the album & it is online here.

Last night Chris was awarded an Arts Laureate by the Arts Foundation of NZ. It was a fantastic night & Don McGlashan presented the award which was accepted by Roger Shepherd & Nick Bolinger for Chris. Chris attended the ceremony & let out a throaty roar of success when he was handed the award at the table.

Our friend Mark just emailed saying he had a cup of tea with Chris this morning & he is in great shape & very chipper.

Friday is the release party at the Kings Arms & it's looking like a great night.

Hi All - Yep it's out - free to run amongst the daisies & find it's own warm cuddly place in between your most prized discs or in bargain bins nationally depending on the decrees of fate. Anywhere you buy it is fine & the amount of money that returns to Chris is equal across the different outlets thanks to the kind & generous work of many. If you're in the land of small brown fuzzy fruit I believe there will be an article on the album on Campbell Live (sorry for earlier error)  John Campbell has been a staunch supporter of Chris & his music for years - for those of you overseas I will try & find someway of posting it online.

Welcome to the new site. I'll be posting up-dates about Chris' recovery here. We're really hoping people like the album & I'd like to say a huge thanks to all the bands, artists, engineers, and others that have contributed to getting the album together.

We're gearing up for the release party next Friday at the Kings Arms. The fab Trilby has taken over the management of the gig & is doing a wonderful job of bringing it all together.

'Stroke - Songs for Chris Knox' will be in shops on Monday 16th Nov but you can pre-order from this site now.

Hiya – Chris spent the weekend working on more Tall Dwarfs stuff & hanging out with his family.

On Sunday, when we were recording, his memory & cognition struck me as improving. He wanted me to do an edit of a song loop down from 12 bars to 8 bars – not an easy thing to communicate without speech. It took a while to work out what he wanted but the result was worth the frustration and showed that his musical thinking was intact.