Update to the California Independent Film Festival – I’ve been informed that Falling In has now been nominated for Best Music Video award at the 2006 California Independent Film Festival. This is pretty cool if you ask me. I’m sure Byron Turk is happy too.

I’ve got about 18 songs vocally recorded for my parts on the Christmas Project. I should hopefully get all my vocals finished next week. I’ve also been fortunate enough to meet Dannielle Gaha. She’s an amazing vocalist from the land down under aka Australia. She’s come on board the Christmas project to lend her vocal talents and it’s already adding an amazing dimension to the tracks we got completed.

Material Girls and the song “Live Like I’m Rich” has been getting me a little attention over on myspace. I don’t think I’ve ever had so many friend requests from the demographic that follows Hillary Duff. I ain’t complaining, I think it’s cool.

I also just did a mix for a movie called Prozak. It’s an interesting short film shot on a digital still camera with short bursts that emulate video. They’re going for an Oscar, so we’ll see how that goes.

Byron Turk, the director of the ‘Falling In’ video, has informed me that the video will be screened at the 2006 California Independent Film Festival later this year. How cool is that?!?

Recording for the vocals on the huge Christmas project has commenced. There are 3 songs that are finished and ready for mixing. That’s 1/10th, which leaves 27 to go.

More recording with Devin Bronson later this week.

“Live Like I’m Rich,” the song I was hired to sing in the Material Girls movie staring Hillary and Haylie Duff has been seen and heard. I actually got phone calls about it opening day last friday. I also decided to trek down to the local movieplex and check it out. Obviously the movie isn’t gear toward me as a demographic, but it is a heartwarming little story. I believe the song is about 1/3 the way in. It was right after they burnt their house down on accident. I watched for my name in the credits and was able to snap a quick shot of the screen with my cell phone. However, I’ve been graced by a friend who was able to get an actual slide of my name on the screen. Woo Hoo. I’ll be blowing that up and putting it on the studio wall.

It’s Christmas in July. Yes, I swear it’s true. Admist the sweltering heat in Los Angeles, I’ve been running the A/C whilst I attempting to think of Toys and Sugarplumbs (What exactly are Sugarplumbs 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.

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

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.

It’s that time again, Monday morning you sure look fine…

I had a pretty good weekend. I ended up being hired to sing a song for a major motion picture staring none other than Hillary Duff, due out in August. It seems the director liked the song with my voice on it, so it should be in the movie as far as I’m told at this point. When we finished the session they played it back for me with the rough mix of the song in the part that it will appear in. It was so weird to see this scene and hear my voice coming out of the speakers. Keep your fingers crossed that the song stays in. For all the Hillary Duff fans out there. No, I did not get to meet her. She had nothing to do with this.

We start mailing out press kits to magazines and papers for getting Practical Insanity reviewed in major outlets this week.

I signed the distribution deal. Now its high time I find an investor or investors (please read the post about it from the last two news entries).

Will be working on more songs for the Christmas project. Getting close to having all the music done!

That’s it for now. Help me find an investor!

As I had mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I was to be getting reviewed in the latest installment of Taylor Guitar’s Wood & Steel publication. Well, wait no longer. It’s here, and I’m posting it for you to read, right now. So here it is:

“A proud partisan of the double-ought Apple generation, Jody Whitesides is armed and dangerous with his Mac, his looping programs, a boatload of effects plug-ins, and music editing software. Together with his rock-star guitar chops and creative instincts, the abundance of talent and tools could easily spell trouble — think runaway vanity project. But Whitesides sounds like he´s moved beyond the kitchen sink recording approach on his sixth outing, Practical Insanity, aiming to craft sticky melodies rather than simply strutting his skills.

That isn´t to say he won´t reach into his bag of tricks to juice things up with a backwards guitar solo, as he does in the opening track, or string samples, or a dollop of space-fuzz guitar. But even when Whitesides occasionally drops the hint that he´s a closet shredder, he leashes his impulses in order to give his songs a fighting chance for radio play. The payoff is a 12-pack of smartly groomed, inventive power-pop, fueled by grooves that lodge in your head and emit enough sonic coolness to invite multiple listens.

Whitesides covers vocals, guitar, bass keys, and loop programming on the record. His voice has an edgy soulfulness, and he steers it fluidly, using it to graft emotion and urgency onto his lyrics. One can hear shades of heavier rock influences reminiscent of Living Colour and King´s X in there, but Whitesides tends to stick with more of a groove-laden singer-songwriter approach.

Drum loops and his 615ce lay the structure for most tracks, with live drums added, as well. Among the album´s catchiest tunes is the upbeat acoustic love song Falling In, flavored with a bouncy slap-and-pop guitar figure and a benignly soulful refrain.

Elsewhere, Whitesides shoots for a crunchier electric-pop sound. He´s good at tinkering with familiar song structures and adding interesting sonic twists like an offbeat chord change to draw in the listener. Toward the end, he drops in a rock instrumental, Tracking Motion, and sinks into a meaty funk groove on Say Goodbye to close out the record. Whitesides´ disciplined approach pays off, helping to bring his talent into hi-res focus.

— Jim Kirlin”

There ya have it.

If you didn’t read the last installment, I announced that I have distribution for Practical Insanity now! So with that in mind, bear with me that I repost a portion of the last news feature here:

I really need to find an investor. I’ve talked about it before, but it’s becoming even more crucial now. I have written a business plan/proposal and I’m now seeking people that have venture capital interests. If you are, or have a friend who is, interested in investing in a musician and riding the coat-tails to glory then I’m just the musician you need to invest in. I’ve got a kick ass CD, I’ve got the first of several kick ass videos for the CD, I’ve got a great band, I’ve got a tour bus that I already own (that runs on used veggie oil), I’ve even GOT THE DISTRIBUTION to get it into stores. But I need you the savvy investor to help share that goal.

Wanna see the business plan summary online?

Help a great musician out. Pass this on to any friend with the connections.

Jody

p.s. – now that you’ve read this: If you DON’T pass this along to at least 25 friends who have money to invest with in the next hour, you will stub the big toe on your right foot tomorrow morning. That will lead you to hobble around as it swells to the size of a golf ball. Because it will get so big you will trip and fall in front of the person that you’ve been fantasizing about all your life and that will make them never want to sleep with you. If you DO pass this along to any of them within the hour, you will suddenly find yourself backstage at any show of mine you wish to go to. You will be given the royal treatment. Rose petals will be your path whereever you walk. You will find peace, love, and good happiness in your life. In fact you’d be revered as a God for helping to make so many souls happy with the music you helped to spread.

p.p.s. – now that you’ve read that: If you DON’T have any friends with money, then you have to either buy my CD from the purchase CD link on my music page (through CD Baby) or click on one of the iTunes links and purchase at least two songs. If you do that in the next 15 minutes, you’ll start becoming extremely sexy to members of the opposite sex, and all the people you’ve ever been attracted to as well. In fact you’ll get so sexy that you’ll need to get a personal assistant to deal will all the love and attention you’ll get from buying my music. If you wait more than 15 minutes to buy it, then you’ll just get a thank you from me and your life will go on, but a little less fulfilled.

p.p.p.s – wouldn’t you rather be sexy? On second thought, wouldn’t you rather know people with money?

If you’ve made it this far THANK YOU. Hope you haven’t wasted too much of your day.

April showers will bring May flowers, or so the saying goes.

I’ve got some very cool news today. Practical Insanity has been picked up for distribution! That’s right, I’m currently going through the paperwork with a very reputable distribution company out of Portland Oregon called Burnside. This is exciting news and I’m feverishly working on putting the rest of the puzzle together in order to get the tour and the radio, along with the video to all coincide. Before too long you’ll be able to walk into a favorite store and see my little mug sitting on a shelf waiting for you to take me home.

‘The Big Orange Crush’ is undergoing it’s surgical restoration. I can’t wait to get her back and see how updated she’s gonna become. Ten more days.

In an unfortunate situation, the video shoot for Closer To Ourselves has been postponed for several weeks. Byron, the director has been called out of town last minute for a big event. So we’ll do it in a few weeks. Gives the band more time to work on the different speeds of the arrangement that Byron is calling for.

Ever heard of “Ain’t No Sunshine” by Bill Withers? It’s a fantastic song and in the midst of all the other stuff I’ve been working on, I’ve whipped a version the classic song. I’m putting the finishing touches on it and in a few weeks, I’ll be releasing it as a digital single on iTunes and other download networks. It’s a great song and I think I’ve come up with a cool arrangement of it. I’m also working on the licenses for a cover I did a few years back called “Cruel To Be Kind” by Nick Lowe. Still talking with the co-writers publisher on that one, but expect to see it on iTunes as well.

I realize this is getting long but, in light of the distribution… I really need to find an investor. I’ve talked about it before, but it’s becoming even more crucial now. I have written a business plan/proposal and I’m now seeking people that have venture capital interests. If you are, or have a friend who is, interested in investing in a musician and riding the coat-tails to glory then I’m just the musician you need to invest in. I’ve got a kick ass CD, I’ve got the first of several kick ass videos for the CD, I’ve got a great band, I’ve got a tour bus that I already own (that runs on used veggie oil), I’ve even GOT THE DISTRIBUTION to get it into stores. But I need you the savvy investor to help share that goal.

Wanna see the business plan summary online?

Help a great musician out. Pass this on to any friend with the connections.

Jody

p.s. – now that you’ve read this: If you DON’T pass this along to at least 25 friends who have money to invest with in the next hour, you will stub the big toe on your right foot tomorrow morning. That will lead you to hobble around as it swells to the size of a golf ball. Because it will get so big you will trip and fall in front of the person that you’ve been fantasizing about all your life and that will make them never want to sleep with you. If you DO pass this along to any of them within the hour, you will suddenly find yourself backstage at any show of mine you wish to go to. You will be given the royal treatment. Rose petals will be your path whereever you walk. You will find peace, love, and good happiness in your life. In fact you’d be revered as a God for helping to make so many souls happy with the music you helped to spread.

p.p.s. – now that you’ve read that: If you DON’T have any friends with money, then you have to either buy my CD from the purchase CD link on my music page (through CD Baby) or click on one of the iTunes links and purchase at least two songs. If you do that in the next 15 minutes, you’ll start becoming extremely sexy to members of the opposite sex, and all the people you’ve ever been attracted to as well. In fact you’ll get so sexy that you’ll need to get a personal assistant to deal will all the love and attention you’ll get from buying my music. If you wait more than 15 minutes to buy it, then you’ll just get a thank you from me and your life will go on, but a little less fulfilled.

p.p.p.s – wouldn’t you rather be sexy? On second thought, wouldn’t you rather know people with money?

Hot off the AP wire…

‘Claire, the Big Orange Crush’ has been given the go ahead from the insurance company to be fixed and not totalled out. This is absolutely fantastic news for me and the band! We’ll be getting it back on May 10th. In the meantime I’m in talks with my current agent and another agent that specializes in the college/university market. I’m pushing through the two of them to hopefully get a full on tour booked through eastern part of the country and hope it will be soon, we’re itchin’ to get on the road and play.

The video shoot for Closer To Ourselves is fast approaching. It will be fun to see this when it’s a finished product. In the meantime, I’m feverishly working on my Christmas project which will include some cool guest appearances on guitar and vocals. It’s more than half done so I’m getting excited. It will be a massive reward for all the work and the scope of what it is.

Yes, I’m still working on the hush, hush project with the famous guitarist as well. Still not able to speak about it yet.

I did get a couple of friends on the case of finding a famous actress to befriend for the next two videos for the CD. So with any luck that will actually come to fruition and I’ll be able to put something together that will not only be a great two part video, but will also have someone fun and recognizable in it as well. I’ll keep ya posted.