Two new items have come to light regarding the forthcoming release of Mike Watt's third solo album The Secondman's Middle Stand. Watt himself announced on the Mike Watt Yahoo Group that next week he would be shooting a video for the first single from his new album. The video, for the song "Tied A Reed 'Round My Waist" will be directed by Lance Bangs, whose music video credits include Sonic Youth's "The Diamond Sea". The clip will be shot in Watt's hometown of San Pedro, California, and according to Watt himself, will feature a scene or two of the ex-Minutemen/fIREHOSE bassist "paddlin'" his canoe.

In addition, Watt's label, Red Ink/Columbia, announced in a mass e-mailing to Watt fans that they will be "pre-releasing" The Secondman's Middle Stand as digital downloads through iTunes this week. If you have iTunes installed, you can click here to buy or preview the record.

The formal release of the album will occur on August 24th.