Author: Jody Whitesides

  • Sleigh Bells in the Studio, Blue Boxes in the Browser

    It’s Christmas in July. Yes, I swear it’s true. Amidst the sweltering heat in Los Angeles, I’ve been running the A/C whilst I attempting to think of Toys and Sugarplums (What exactly are Sugarplums anyway?). I am all of four songs away from sending the music to be mixed and mastered. What a long trip it has been attempting to put this together. I plan on releasing it digitally for this holiday season. I’m unsure about physical copies for this year, but definitely for next year.

    In other news… I’ve been picked up by Neon Entertainment for the College/University markets. While the representation isn’t set in contracted stone, it’s well on it’s way to being done. I’m excited by that. I’m already putting some stuff together for them.

    In the non-music arena I’ve been making some updates to the website. Most of you won’t notice the change because you have browsers new enough to deal with them. Some of you will notice the change in the pictures in that they’ll have blue boxes and strange backgrounds to them (isn’t it time to update to at least I.E. 6 now that 7 is coming out). Essentially I’ve switched the site to CSS and started using PNG picture formats. The pictures when viewed in more modern browsers will look more vibrant. The layout still looks the same but takes way less code and is easier to change in the future. A good thing since I’m working on a new layout that should be a bit more visual than the current version. Don’t expect it in the short run as the Christmas project is currently top priority.

    Other non-music news… I won my first poker tournament last night at the Pachanga Casino. It’s taken a little over a year, but this weekend has brought me a couple of smiles. I finished 5th at Hollywood Park as well. Two tournaments and two final tables, one 5th out of about 175, and the other 1st out of about 250. I’m feeling a change in the wind and it all started with Neon Entertainment calling me up.

  • My Voice Hits the Big Screen—and My Music Blog Just Dropped

    It’s official!

    The song “Live Like I’m Rich” is slated to be in the movie “Material Girls” starring Hillary Duff. It will be coming out in August of 2006 from what I’m told. So if you’re a Hillary Duff fan and happen to hear my voice during a sequence in the movie where she’s riding a bus. Then you’re not hallucinating, it is my voice.

    I’m still working away on the Christmas project. I’m done with the first two CD’s worth of music and only have 7 more original songs to go. Then it will be mix and master time. I’m hoping to have it ready for digital release for this year’s holiday season. I should be able to pull it off.

    I’ve broken the 7,000 mark on Myspace. Still shooting to surpass 9,000 before the end of July. In fact, now I’m considering upping the goal to 10,000. Help a musician out, spread the word.

    I’ve also started a blog: “Single of the Day” where I plan on showcasing a song a day (no they’re not all gonna be mine) that I really like to the rest of the world. Stop on by, check out the site, the songs, and subscribe to the RSS feed.

    Superman came out today, I saw it in IMAX. Wow what a ride. I say it’s fun to watch and quite good. It really didn’t seem to be 2.5 hours long.

    Have a great day.

    Jody

  • With Distribution Locked and Buzz Building, All That’s Missing Now Is an Investor

    Things are hoppin’…

    Finally set an official release date for Practical Insanity. It’s currently going to hit stores on September 12th. What a long strange trip its been. I’m madly searching out investment money at this point. Essentially I have everything ready to roll but the marketing capital. The business plan summary.

    The first round of advance copy CD’s have gone out to press and magazines for reviews, so those should start rolling in in a few weeks.

    The Myspace numbers have been jumping. Current busting over 5100. Going for the goal of 9000 by end of July. Wanna help me get there? Tell all your myspace friends to add me. Better yet, make use of the MP3 postcards and have your message include something about myspace in it.

    The song “Live Like I’m Rich” is apparently still in the new Disney movie “Material Girls” starring Hillary Duff which is due out August 25th. In case you missed that news, I was hired to sing a song a few weeks back. I went in, knocked it out and they loved it. The cool thing is its in a scene where there isn’t much talking so it’s fairly prominant.

    Still working on the Christmas project. I’m hoping to get all the music done by the end of June. So I can get it sung by mid August. I’ll keep ya posted.

    Peace.