_This month Barbara Le’ talks about the Assembly of Dust Fansite
In March of 2001, Reid Genauer came to the ABC Cafe in Ithaca, NY, as a solo artist. The show sold out 3 weeks in advance, and ABC was packed to the rafters.
My husband Carl is an avid taper, surely knew he had to be at ABC Cafe for this special moment. He had bought all his taping equipment just weeks before the Grateful Dead were to play their final performance at Boston Garden, only to have the untimely passing of Jerry Garcia take place right before the shows. He began following Strangefolk in 1996, taping as many shows as he could. Reid began playing after a year away from the stage, and once again Carl started a new taping adventure in capturing the music.
Through Carl, I gained a great appreciation for Reid’s music and amazing lyrics, his words emulate and express those of our generation. Because he always wrote down the setlists for his tapes, I had all the information, of where a show happened and what was played. He would take the camera to shows, giving me a complete photographic history of each show he attended.
What was missing was a website. In late spring of 2001, armed with nothing more than very vague webpage-making skills, I put together a site of the photographs, setlists and dates of upcoming shows. A mere 3 pages. It took off immediately, getting close to 400 hits on the first month. Fans were very curious as to what songs Reid would be breaking out as a solo artist, and thrilled he was back up on stage.
Reid’s show at the Stone Church in July 2001 was pivotal, as Adam Terrell (lead guitarist) joined Reid for the first time. B&P’s began pouring into our mailbox, and the website now was getting close to 900 hits a month.
Now heading into the fansite’s 4th year, Reid’s solo career has blossomed into The Assembly Of Dust, with some of the finest musicians on the New England music scene. My website has evolved along with all the changes, recently becoming The Assembly Of Dust Fansite. I now have 70+ pages. Along with a complete setlist from every performance from 1998-2004, I setup a secondary MP3 webpage called Reiddust in 2003, in which I host full audience recordings of the shows.
The Assembly of Dust Fansite has now archived a collection of interviews, photos, reviews, setlists, MP3’s, latest tour information. It also offers links to other band’s sites,Amplified Messiah-a live song stats page, links to the official site’s Stone Choir.com which features soundboard recordings, and the Digital Dust series, a video documentary of the band’s evolution.
As The Assembly Of Dust flourish, they have written and performed more than 20 new songs since the band was created. The fansite keeps tracking their progress, now averaging about 25,000 hits a month, with hits from Japan, Austria, Germany, Poland, Israel, and as far away as New Zealand.
I’m humbled and elated by the response to the music of Reid Genauer and with the addition of Nate Wilson (keyboards) adding his touch to the songwriting, The Assembly Of Dust has yet to crest musically. Each performance pulls another rabbit from the hat. As the musical momentum builds, the band keeps me on my toes, learning new webpage skills almost daily, and constantly updating information and graphics, in hopes I can capture that same creative musical energy, and continue sharing that magic with their fans worldwide.
Barbara Le’
WebMistress
The Assembly Of Dust Fansite