The Steep Canyon Rangers have decided that those who haven’t seen them live, shouldn’t be excluded from the experience. To that end, they’ve began posting live tracks from recent shows on their myspace page. Currently there are two tracks from a performance in Gettysburg last month. Both tracks were previously recorded on SCR CDs.

The band tells me they are planning to start posting live versions of new material soon. The idea being to obtain fan feedback on a broader scale than could happen only at the shows. Most bands do perform new material while working out arrangements and deciding which material to record.

Fans could tell us anything they’d like us to know about a song, just to have people involved in the process; kind of like how we play new songs live and gauge the fan response.

The idea, I suppose, is to build interest in the new music and give fans an ongoing look at the creative process, two things that the internet is well suited for.

The Steep Canyon Rangers are uniquely positioned to function in this way since they write all their own material and won’t be bound by any copyright issues. In addition to the fan feedback, this serves to allow fans a chance to hear the live sound.

Right now the tunes are offered on myspace and reverbnation, but other sites may be included in the future.

This weekend is the 3rd Annual Mountain Song Festival in Brevard, NC. The Steep Canyon Rangers organize this festival each year to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club in the community. It’s a great event that has raised $63,000 for the club in the last two years. This year is sure to be a great festival and maybe we’ll get a couple more live tracks.