Hello 2020
We’ve made it thru 2019 and we’re still here. That’s a great thing, all things considered. First off – Happy New Year. I hope you had a fantastic trip thru your holiday festivities. As for me, I had a great time hanging with family for the Christmas thru New Years holidays.
What does a musician do over the holidays? For this time of year I would normally be skiing most mornings (for exercise sake), though this past holiday season that didn’t happen. The reason? Your friendly neighborhood musician nearly broke his leg walking in his driveway. I was coming home from skiing where I was about to enter the house when I slipped and fell. In the short span of the fall I was thinking to myself as I was going down, ow, this hurts. Oh shit, I can feel my bones in my lower leg starting to twist. Please don’t snap, please don’t snap. Fuck that hurt as I was picking myself up.
Somehow my right leg folded under me and twisted sideways. The end result? A really gnarly sprain for my ankle, which was in a ski boot at the time and my knee. Almost two weeks later, lots of icing plus a couple of days in a device my sister had and my ankle is almost back to normal. I did attempt to get out for some runs last week as I was already walking without a limp, but that proved to be a short-lived 2 runs before I opted to nix that. At that time my leg was feeling unstable and the pressure on my ankle still hurt. Tomorrow I will find out if my ankle and leg feel better as I plan on attempting to ski again. Fingers crossed that my leg won’t feel unstable.
Music Backup
Another thing I tend to do at the end of the year is make sure all projects from the year are properly backed up. This year was no exception. No exception with a twist. This time around I ended up consolidating CD and DVD backups to much larger Blu Ray discs. The process actually took a few days of organizing to get completely finished, but now I feel so much better with less overall discs in the library of data – I think I reduced about 300 discs to about 110. Not a bad reduction.
Music Production
The song I was working on for an artist that I was producing has been finished! The long road of a song called Divine Intervention has come to a production end. She has approved the mix and master. She’ll be picking up her finished project likely this week and releasing it to the world in 2020.
Music Of Moi
I’m mid production on several songs. Right now, today, as of this post being penned, I’m starting the mix of a track that I wrote some time ago but started tracking a full-on production version back in December. That’s the NOW of this post.
Videos
Mid production of two lyric videos. I believe I will get them both finished later this week. On the business side of it I’m still working on distribution with VEVO. I’ve run afoul of my previous distributor due to their requirement to control collecting royalties for ContentID. The problem is I have a deal with YouTube for publishing and that means I’m not willing to give a middleman money I’m collecting directly. Thus my music videos and lyric videos are stacking up awaiting release until I have a direct deal with VEVO in place.
2020 Plan
There’s quite a few things on the horizon. The policy I’m sticking to right now is, only discuss that which I’m finishing or have just finished. This means that in 2020 I will be increasing my output of posts here. I’m guessing my posts will start happening weekly. I already know that there will be multiple updates for January – but without letting the cat out of the bag right now.
Have a fantastic day, awesome week and enjoy life.
Thanksgiving 2017 has rolled up on us (my U.S. friends). What are some of the things I am thankful for this year?
Thanksgiving 2017
I am thankful that I have family who support my musical endeavors.
I am thankful that I have a gift in creating music for you.
I am thankful that I have fans that love what I do.
I am thankful that I have been able to recover (slowly but surely) from a large theft.
I am thankful for the team of people who are forming around my music.
I am thankful for the people involved with a music festival / conference I’m putting together.
How About You
What are you thankful for, drop me a comment.
p.s. – may you have a wonderful experience with your friends, family, and/or loved ones this day!
Ready To Love 2017
Mere hours into the new year and I’m ready to love 2017 already. See, I got to spend time with my main squeeze at a really amazing party somewhere deep in wine country (a.k.a. Napa Valley, CA). Cool friends, cool place, great times. That’s an amazing way to get the new year started off right.
Happy New Year to you!
Ultimate New Music
My first thing I’m ready to love 2017 for is new music. My ultimate new music. That doesn’t mean I’m not looking forward to new music from other artists, but I do have a lineup of some amazing tunes. Tunes that cover a gamut of lyrical ideas – plus they are all sonically different as well as being stylistically different too.
In a time of when so many songs and artists all start sounding the same, I’m still sticking to the catch 22 land of proven difference.
Deliver More Themes
My second reason to love 2017 is another juicy opening theme. It was easy to miss last year when I snagged the opening theme to Nightwatch on A&E. A clever show that follows the engaging stories of police, fire and EMT heroes working the night shift in New Orleans. The show has been a rousing success.
I’m looking forward to having the opening theme on yet another show. I get all tingly thinking about having two shows running concurrently with music I created as their opening salvos.
Not sure how many Alan Thicke had, but I’d definitely love to measure to the number he had. I envision hitting 10 in my future.
Increase Live Performances
The third damn good reason to love 2017 is for the work I plan on putting into performing more live shows. There’s something in the works that should lead to the initial explosion for a particular song released a few months back.
I’m excited to be talking to some managers and agents about taking the show on the road and bringing it to you!
Plus it means getting the share the music with you. Which is what I want my 2017 to be all about.
He’s making a list checking it twice, that’s the phrase many people learn throughout then known planet of earth.
That time of year when people are generally supposed do things to relax, be merry and happy. The ultimate in humor is that many people do the exact opposite thing. Many are ignoring their better judgement and running around getting extravagant gifts, being stressed out and sometimes down right rude to others.
What Do You Do
You know what’s real odd? How does one approach wishing people greetings based on their religious or non-religious background. Do you stick to your own views? Do you try some politically correct thing? Ask their religious background and use that? What does one do?
Christmas
See, as an atheist who has a childhood linked to a religion that dealt with Christmas, I’m most accustomed to that and I’m fine with it.
In that sense, I technically enjoy the idea of Christmas. I doubt it would matter much to me if it were Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, or any other religion’s concept. The reason I stick with it is to cause less issues with the immediate family. Plus its a familiarity thing.
Whatever your preferred religious background is, know that I wish you that address.
Year End List Checking
The big thing a lot of publications do is list checking, or rather year end lists. Top 10 this. Top 20 that. Best of the Year this. Worst of the year that. So many lists. I’ll admit there have been times when I pay attention to them. Not any more. Not this year. Too many crazy things have happened from a celebrity death list to insane politics that I’ve pretty much checked out of the whole list checking thing.
This time around I’m hanging with family, watching movies and keeping a low profile. I’m taking a break from recording. I’m not concentrating on anything other than spending a bit of time with family, friends and loved ones.
Gifts
It goes without saying that nearly everyone on this planet loves to get gifts. True reality is that most people are not natural born gift givers. Maybe this is what list checking was meant for – to make a list so that its easier to purchase gifts for others.
Personally, I fall in the camp of not being really good at giving gifts. Though I do think I made some much better strides this year. At least this is what I’m being told by family already based on gifts I’ve given so far.
Movies
One thing I’ll be doing is watching a lot of movies and munching on popcorn. Mostly holiday themed classics like, Its A Wonderful Life, Love Actually, Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, etc. But I’ll also be watching some movies like Passengers, Rogue One (Star Wars), Collateral Beauty, and La La Land.
What are your holiday movie plans?
In Closing
Whatever you do this Christmas, be happy. Enjoy the company of others and know you are loved.
Oh, and give me a special gift of adding my Christmas song “Christmas Brought Me You” to your favorite holiday playlist.
Merry Christmas!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone
Been a couple of months since I’ve been able to throw out an update. A whole lot has changed in the world since September, then again, so much has stayed exactly the same.
Music Released
If you I can get you to recall, back in September I released a single called Thump Thump Thump. I followed it up shortly thereafter with a 2nd release of Thump Thump Thump [remixes]. There’s been some great buzz surrounding those releases and I’m really looking forward to making more cool announcements about that song and its remixes before too long. I’m very thankful that people have been taking to the song. Was definitely hoping to throw out some really cool news regarding Thump Thump Thump, alas I do need to wait until it confirmed.
Then in mid October I released another single titled American Mayhem. If you can’t tell by the title, it very much is a reflection upon the current environment of American politics. While I don’t fancy myself to be a political musician, this song does capture a vibe that resonates with the odd separation that was occurring during the election process. Not written about voting and yet it very much feels like something us 99% can relate to as compared to the 1% and those who are part of the upper 1% of the 1% (wrap your head around that one). This one is also starting to climb the streaming ladder. So I’m thankful people are listening.
New Website Design
If you’ve been a fan longer than the past two months, then you’ll likely notice that there’s a new look to the website. I did a quiet launch of the new website yesterday. This is probably the longest break I’ve had from making updates. Its also the first time where I decided to hire outside help to create a whole new look, feel, and functionality. So I have to say thanks to Dave Bloom of Ginger Soul who spent a lot of hours working on bringing this new design to life. There are still some cool tweaks to be coming, but at long last (because to me 2 months is a long time to spend on a website design) – the new look is here. The really great thing about it, it looks great on all devices. Plus more detailed information will be coming to the music section.
TV Music
The next season of Nightwatch begins on December 1st. I’m thankful for that as the theme of Nightwatch – Midnight Romp, was crafted by yours truly. Its been awesome to see people react with such a positive vibe to the show and the music that opens it. Plus its allowing me to get some things done more easily. There’s more news to come about Nightwatch in the not so distant future, alas, have to wait on confirmation before I put it into permanent print on the internet and social medias. I will say that I’m excited.
Skiing
The image to the right is a throwback Thursday image of my sister and I. My parents were avid skiers and this is them (in yellow) teaching my sister and I to ski at Snowbird Utah. Funny how I can recall that I hated it so much initially. Then years later went on to win multiple competitions in racing and freestyle. Now I get to enjoy it for the fun of it. I’m excited to be able to get to do a bit more skiing this year. Decided to purchase a season’s pass, aka an Epic Pass, to vail resorts.
What’s That Really Mean?
It means that while I’m working on booking shows for 2017, creating new music, and producing other artists, I’ll be taking some time out to hit the slopes and rip some pow. Or get out for some fresh air while carving some serious high speed turns. This will result in getting me amped up for new songs.
Lots To Be Thankful For
As we all start to reflect on 2016 and think about where we’re all headed next, there’s a lot to be thankful for. For me, its the amazing new music I’m churning out. The people I met earlier this year while working on a film that will release in 2017. The awesome woman I’m dating. And for the good things that are in the pipeline that I’ve created for you.
Hopefully we can all get beyond the bizarre election and move to a happier, healthier and safer world in the months and years to come. Happy thanksgiving and may it be filled with awesomeness.
“Happy Birthday to Jody. Happy Birthday to Jody…” “You say it’s your birthday? It’s my birthday too.” “Happy Birthday to ya.” Birthdays in song.
Lines from some great and widely known birthday songs. Why? Well, in case you’re not in the know – today just so happens to be my birthday. Thus, it would be awesome to hear from you about my birthday.
Birthdays In 5 Easy Steps
First, sending out a birthday wish on the various social networks is awesome!
Second, pledging to my Pledge Music campaign is even awesomer!
Third, telling others you’ve helped to support new music and got handwritten lyrics for it is a win/win situation.
Fourth, sing a little song.
Fifth, smile for bringing a little love and support into the world.
I’ll be out and about enjoying something special, some great food, and doing some music. What’s better than that? Nothing’s much better. Thanks, for checking out my site on my birthday, give the gift that gives back to you with music. Don’t forget to say “Hi!”
Organic Homemade Pizza
Besides being known for music, I’m also considered amongst friends to be a foodie. Mostly because I cook awesome meals. One of my favorite things to make is pizza. Could be because I worked a bunch of years in a semi-famous pizza joint while growing up. Nowadays I’m prone to making organic homemade pizza before I call for delivery.
In the video below, I show a method to making of my infamous organic homemade pizza. Plus I share a song called Clouds by Zach Sobiech.
Zach Sobiech Clouds
If you’re not aware, Zach is a young man who was diagnosed with a type of cancer. Sure a lot of people are having issues with cancer these days, however Zach has written a touching song about it called Clouds. The song gained a bit of notoriety online and went viral. His friends contacted other famous people and put together a touching video for Zach and that’s what prompted me to spend a little time learning the song.
If you’re coming here from YouTube looking for the recipe for the dough and the sauce, you’re in luck, it’s here:
Dough:
1 ⅓ cups of warm water
2 tblsp organic sugar
2 ¼ tsp of organic yeast
1 ¼ tsp of Real Salt (by Redmond)
2 tblsp olive oil
3 ½ cups of organic flour
Watch the video for the directions on it.
Sauce:
1 – 6 ounce can of organic tomato paste
6 ounces of filter water
2 ½ tsp of organic sugar
1 ½ tsp of Real Salt
2 to 3 cloves of fresh crushed garlic
add some fresh dried thyme, basil, and oregano
Watch the video for blending it.
That’s all there is to it. Pick your own toppings and above all else, don’t forget to use a pizza stone in your oven! Enjoy the organic homemade pizza and the song Clouds re-imagined by myself and Dave originally by Zach Sobiech.
– Jody
In the past year I’ve been approached by other artists to start producing them. Obviously it’s rather flattering to have other musicians come to you and ask you for your abilities to help them with their career. One such artist is Calysto Bourne. Calysto creates deep relaxing music. The kind of stuff that is used for getting centered and relaxed.
I have now produced three CDs for this budding master of the relaxation and chant genre. The first was a combo that contained 7 different popular chants in 7 different keys. Pretty unique idea I thought. It’s on iTunes and Amazon.
Then came a slightly more ambitious project called Deep Om Tara… Which was a lengthy 1 hour track. The idea behind it was to create a way to escape the outside world, find some inner peace and calm and relax. I think I helped him achieve that goal. Like the first release, that is also available on iTunes and Amazon.
Our 3rd adventure into the studio has yielded yet another 1 hour deep meditation track. This time around it’s Deep Meditation Medicine Buddha mantra. Like the Om Tara it’s a 1 hour track that is designed to wisk you away to your inner peaceful self. There are key changes and tempo changes to facilitate getting into an even deeper state of relaxation. This release is now out and available on iTunes and Amazon and your other favorite digital stores.
Thus if you need some real time away from the world, I can strongly recommend all of Calysto’s releases. Of course I’m biased as I produced them, but hey, I wouldn’t be telling you to get it if I didn’t like it myself. Calysto really knows how to create some great deep relaxing music and I’m happy I had a hand in bringing it to the world.
Stay tuned… another announcement of a side project I’ve recently started is coming.
— Jody
As I’m closing in on the songs that will wind up on the next release, I’m looking into other aspects of things that need to be brought into order. I put out calls to the musicians that I will be hiring to record the other instruments. I’m planning on going as live in the studio as I can for this next excursion into recording. I’ve talked the drummer. I’ve talked to the bassist. I’ve talked to the 2nd guitarist. I’m still putting out feelers for backing vocals. Beyond the studio I’ve been revamping my business plan into a shiny new PDF file. This is the point where I say: help me find angel investors.
Actually the reality is, I’m looking for investors in general, Angel or otherwise.
Do you know of such people? Would you be willing to link up a musician who has all the pieces of the puzzle to make things happen? I’ve got the proper connections to make a go of taking my act on the road and being successful with it. The only missing element is the money to make it happen. Being so inclined to make that link, I’m more than happy to sign an NDA. I’m also inclined to have you point them to the following special page: On Records Investor Proposal.
It’s not for the faint of heart. So please only do so if you’re serious.
For you, the helpful fan and music buff who wants to see a musician make it to the top without a label and with your help, I’ll make it worth your while. Details only given to those who are absolutely serious about this. It’s not a joke. Please contact me and lets get the ball rolling. Be a part of the magic and watch what happens!
For everyone else interested helping out. There is going to be a kickstarter campaign coming for helping to raise the money for the recording part of it. At this point, I’m looking at raising nearly $15,000 to cover recording costs, in about 4 chunks. Videos and details will be coming very soon.
So not only am I asking you to help me find angel investors, I’m also asking for you to be one as well.