Gender: Male
Status: Married
Age: 104
Sign: Pisces
City: MONTEBELLO
State: CALIFORNIA
Country: US
Signup Date:
10/13/04
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Monday, April 21, 2008
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Youtubed
Current mood:  accomplished
One of our SongNet members, Tom Bishel, came & video'ed several of our members this week & posted to Youtube. Here's mine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnsu5cN8ETE
There's a link to the other song there too, & a bizzare video I'm in with my co-producer friend Aaron Loo too (Kau Kau to da Max) See if you can find me in that 9 minute collage of eating & insanity!
4:53 PM
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Friday, March 21, 2008
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Affirmation
Current mood: accomplished
Category: Music
It’s been a while since I actually had some of my work critiqued.
My friend Cat Cohen was the guest speaker at the Songwriter’s Co-Op last night.
Interestingly, He’s also been an attendee at many of the other songwriting events around town & I thought this to be a lil’ strange, like, "Why does a guy with HIS cred stoop so low as to go in with the rest of the huddled masses?". I found out pretty quick. He explained that you’re NEVER gonna be perfect, & in this business you not only need to see the trends, but also the competition. Makes sense. Especially these days, when major labels have revolving doors movin’ faster than the blades on a helicopter, & your primary "industry contact" may suddenly wind up pushin’ batteries at Radio Shack this week.
Yeah. Keep those doors open, ’cuz you never know who will be bringin’ your next meal ticket.
I recently finished a co write with my friend Tom Bishel, who is a great songwriter & vocalist in his own right. Tom suggested bringing it in for critique.
Since Cat was the guest speaker & half the song was mine, I figured "why not", ran off a bunch of lyric sheets & burned a copy of the song to CD.
I arrived early, only to find the venue CLOSED for painting! But just as I turned around to go, I saw another one of the "regulars", so she just got up & went past the caution tape to find out what was up.
Right about then I realized I wasn’t sure about what I was doing.
I run a Songwriting org, I own my own label, I’ve produced dozens of songs, albums, Cds & artists, & I’m pretty well received wherever I go. Heck, I’ve even TAUGHT this stuff @ the Musician’s Institute! Here I was, risking MY cred in front of all these other songwriters, some who have come to MY workshops & seminars. What if they said the lyric sucked? What if the whole SONG sucked? What if it didn’t fit the guidelines that have been hammered into our heads all these years? What if…
She came back, the painters close behind, pulling up the tape & floor protection. We could go in now.
The music business is a strange place, where art & commerce come together, often at odds, because sometimes it’s not always about what is good & correct. Sometimes it’s about the entertainment value, or weirdness. As I was parking I heard the news about this guy on youtube & his "Chocolate Rain" song. It’s so bizarre I thought it was a parody of somekind. Others love it, some laugh about it. But this guy has generated more hits than any other artist on youtube. I suppose sometimes there’s a certain complacency when you have nothing to prove. But there’s also a certain try anything attitude on the other side when you have nothing to lose. Just like William Hung, This Chocolate Rain guy will get more play & notoriety than most serious artists, not because of a LACK of real musical talent, but an ABUNDANCE of everyman-ness that connects to their fans. I thought of Mike Huckabee, playing Bass, Bill Clinton jamming with the Saturday Night Live band. Jimmy Carter hammering nails with Habitat for Humanity. These guys had nothing to prove OR lose. Because their cred will remain intact even if a nail goes crooked or a wrong note is played. Sure, there are parts of their lives that may be questionable, but they were voted into office because they connected with the PEOPLE.
Now Cat Cohen lining up to pitch a song right there with everyone else made sense.
Sometimes it takes risking your cred to maintain it.
Some of you who are Christians know that in fact, God provided this model in Jesus, right down to dying the worst possible death a "regular guy" could suffer.
& here I was worried that a lyric might not be appreciated.
Duke Horn & Eliza Doria from The Pacific Coast Band were almost killed in a head-on collision a couple of weeks ago, but they came up to the SongNet awards & played a couple of songs. Although they had some obvious injuries, they did sound great, & there was an obvious grace about their performance, because of what they had just been through. Never mind if a wrong note was played or a lyric forgotten. They were ALIVE & they had an opportunity to share their lives with everyone there. The music was no longer a primary concern. Connecting with the people who came to listen, in every way possible, talking, singing, playing an instrument, it was all the same. Sharing the life-gift they were given.
As artists, although we do need that affirmation from time to time, I hope we all remember that it makes no difference what some people think, because if your art, your work, touches another life somehow, then you know they were the ones your gift was intended to be shared with, & the value of that gift is priceless.
Oh, and, yes, we got the best review of the night!
2:52 PM
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Thursday, March 06, 2008
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A review award!
Current mood:  amused
Category: Music
Looks like a review I wrote caught someone's attention.
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/features/article/52995/superior-scribing/
Interesting.
Every now & then I google my name just to see what's up.
That's when I found this little item, based on a lil' review I did of someone's CD.
The owners of the site appreciated my writing & honesty I suppose, yet for some reason, when I searched their site for other reviews of this artist, mine was not linked.
So, in case you were wondering, yes I can write less-than-wonderful reviews, & if I've ever written one for you, I really am being honest.
If the artist ever does read the review, I hope I get response.
If they came to a SongNet or Co-Op workshop, they'd really learn something.
:)
4:04 PM
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Friday, November 30, 2007
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gettin’ what you deserve
Current mood: amused
Category: Music
Finally feeling almost human again after 3 intense days in the industry @ the annual TAXI convention. TAXI is "The Independent A&R vehicle" for those that know, & for those who don't know what A&R means, hit me back (no, not anal & retentive).
Every year, the convention hosts a couple thousand (!) songwriters from all over the world, & usually, Most of 'em are NOT from L.A.
Why? Because people come to ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />L.A. to be DISCOVERED. They expect to become ROCKSTARS. They often come with dreams & little else, some times, that also means talent, other times, it means a grasp of reality.
When you see that ocean of songwriters at TAXI, it's both humbling & encouraging.
Humbling because you're not the only one. Encouraging because some of the random stuff that get picked to play is truly a waste of mylar. You know you're in trouble when the best they can say is how round the disc is.
This year, a noticeable change was apparent. Well over half the people I met were from Southern California, & most of those people were aware of at least one songwriting org.
Better still, the ones with demos in hand knew what they were up against, & actually had some commercially viable stuff to listen to.
I believe it proves the industry is expanding. There are more opportunities for serious songwriters to improve their craft & record it well, & for those who are uncertain an opportunity to find out both on line & at local events. The industry no longer has gatekeepers who dictate what is acceptable for public consumption. Both artists & fans now have access to each other. What once was considered fringe is now niche, & there are more options than ever to share the music. & buy it because you want to listen over & over.
It means music is becoming what it should be, free expression, unshackled by corporate greed & control. It means fans will buy product because they WANT to, not because they HAVE to. There will be a higher demand for merchandising. New avenues for new product.
Radiohead understands this. They were one of the first major artists to offer their new CD for whatever their fans & listeners thought it was worth, even ZERO.
Sure, a LOT more people went for the freebie. Odds are, they would not have bought a Radiohead CD anyway. BUT, there are also curious people who went for the freebie & liked it enough to want more, & attended a concert, bought a t-shirt, told a few friends…hopefully in numbers that will make up for the potential lost revenue from giving away free music…Oh yeah, no physical product given away. Perhaps they lost a theoretical amount of income equal to what they would have paid a high-end publicist or advertising company? Hmmm… maybe it actually balances.
There will be crying from those who believe they need to get paid for EVERY play of their music.
It's not all about that anymore.
Now, you get to look for corporate sponsorship & alternative revenue streams.
The good news is that the best of the best will be sponsored because someone is willing to pay for it. Everyone loves a winner. Vanessa Carlton's lil' intro riff has been licensed by SO many companies, it almost makes me want to switch channels when I hear it.
For her, that lil' riff sounds like "KaCHING!".
The bad news is that there will always be a way someone will figure out how to abuse the system. Hopefully, there will be people, fans across every genre, who will be able to keep the playing field level, fans that are smart enough to know their own mind & not be told what they should believe they like. This can only improve the quality of what is available & provide variety for all.
Musical Utopia.
Seeya there!
Jimi
4:58 PM
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Tuesday, October 23, 2007
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Radio
Current mood:  mellow
Category: Music
The podcasts are working.
The radio is intermittent.
The fires that are burning up much of Southern California are affecting the broadcast towers that happen to be located in those places.
Somehow it's kinda like a wakeup call to the future.
And to the past.
The only reason I listen to radio these days is for traffic & news, & in fact, I get even less news there 'cuz it's in my face all day online anyway, so I switch between "traffic on the 5s" & "traffic on the ones" constantly during my commuting. I only listen to indie music, friends & recommendations from friends. I catch a taste of top 40 when the kids are in the car, & it seems to be getting worse & worse. Rappers with no sense of groove or rhyme, songs with no melodic structure at all, unrelated samples in different keys that don't connect. So we switch to "oldies" (90's music for them)
Recently, my wife & I went to see Barry McGuire @ the Coffee Gallery. Great show, & he talked about what it was like as a musician in the 60's & 70's. And, amazingly, he even recognized me from back in the day when I met him as an up-& coming artist who's band was opening for his new Christian friends.
So then I started thinking about what it may have been like even before radio. People HAD to go places to see new artists, to be entertained. There was interaction & dialog. "What would you like to hear?" or "I just wrote this one last week". There's a movie titled "Songcatcher" that my wife rented, & ultimately bought for us, because the story is nice. For me, it's the concept of the music being passed along.
My kids are starting to find their own musical voices, so I know some things will continue on.
Some of my friends recently got Grammy nominations, so hopefully their legacies will also continue.
And as I begin the long process of archiving my own stuff, I am reminded of how much recorded material I have online now, where it's living in so many places it cannot ever be completely erased.
One of the homes destroyed in the fires had a lot of historical pieces & archives, all burned to nothing.
Irreplaceable objects that tied us to a point in time. The images are probably documented but there's something about holding a physical object that was in the word at a different point in time.
I think of the irony of terrorists planting land mines long the paths where Christ may have walked, yet how insane amounts of money have been paid for celebrity leftovers @ a restaurant, or used toothbrushes.
That's twisted history at it's ultimate.
Is it ignorance? Is history even relevant?
Perhaps the cycle needs to continue.
As long as you're close enough to converse, there will always be communication, & my friends will always be relevant.
& loved.
:)
1:00 PM
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Friday, October 12, 2007
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new songs and...
Current mood: accomplished
Category: Music
Posted a new one to my myspace.com/mtnbch page.
You can also just go to my friends & click mountain beach enterprises there. You'll see ai also blogged a lil' about this song there.
Afraid to Fall" came from a seminar by my good friend Steven Memel.
He's one of the most amazing PERFORMANCE (not just vocal) coaches around, & his cred is impeccable (google him). The seminar was about taking risks, & addressing your fears, kinda like 12 steppin' in a few hours. One participant (Happy Ron here on myspace) mentioned a fear of falling, & everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
I've been in kind of a "dry spell" in my songwriting. Being busy, stress, all the usual excuses. Part of it was guilt over not finishing up the Caliyorka Project I started with my friend Hyde almost 2 years ago. I've been trying to force myself to find time to jump into the studio & get those tracks done, but between funerals & my co-producer's frequent trips to Hawaii for family business after his fathers passing, a whole year flew by with almost nothing done. I wrote a new one for Christmas, but that was about it.
Then I got inspired by a typo. For the Christmas concert, one of the artists accidentally transposed the tech rider with the songtitles & "I am singing too" wound up printed in the program, instead of the actual song title.
Well, you know me, I thought it was a GREAT song title,...so I kept that in the back of my mind. After the holidays, I began sorting last year's stuff, & that note to myself fell out of the program. So I figured I'd better start writing, since last year was so unproductive, it could take a while.
The song came together in about an hour. I thought I was done, but more songs kept appearing. There was a picture of a friend on a magazine cover, & it reminded me I hadn't seen many of my friends in a while outside the music community, so after a quick thought, I wrote "Comfortable". A month later, I came across a yearbook, & wrote a song about that. When I debuted that song last showcase, the response was SO overwhelming, I decided to refocus the direction of my "coffeehouse" CD...which inspired yet another song about "Suburban Life".
At the IMC conference, Tom Bishel heard "Afraid to Fall" & asked if I'd co write with him, so I just finished a lyric for him a couple o' days ago. Then Lynda on the musicthoughts forum asked about my songwriting & as it happened, I wrote a lil' throwaway ditty at the gas station rhyming along to the cadence of the pump.
And last nite, dialogging with a friend about a broken relationship, I wrote "12 steps Away from You".
It's been an amazing couple o' weeks, & it feels good to be writing again, & playing out a bit. Now that Steven GC is running the showcases, I feel better about getting out & playing other open mics & shows around town, & because Hyde is such a wonderful & forgiving friend, I don't feel quite as pressured to use every spare second trying to get into the studio to finish the project (but it WILL happen!)
I'm considering another trip to Seattle, to play a few solo gigs, 'cuz it's a long ways to go to play just one song. & last time the PA was dead for my one song.
So, if any of my Seattle friends are reading this, let me know when it's best t' fly up!
:)
Songs are always around. For me, as a songwriter, I like to think I'm just capturing a point in time, like a photograph. Good or bad, it's all about communicating a thought or emotion, & I'm thankful that the things I've been allowed to capture have touched the lives of my friends.
Thanks for listening!
8:57 AM
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Wednesday, August 22, 2007
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S l o w . . .
Current mood:  thankful
Category: Life
Shoulda known it was happening.
I tend to get involved with life, trying to utilize every waking moment, synchronizing every second of my day to enable multitasking & getting things done.
But when you live like that, sometimes living gets lost in the shuffle.
In the last few days, I've preached, performed, been interviewed (hear the podcast here on myspace.com /flatcatradio) repaired guitars, got a haircut, cooked, cleaned, ordered stuff, written articles, networked, secured a new showcase director, figured out the logistics for my daughter's commute & much more,
All while coughing & hacking my way thru eveything.
A good friend since high school day owns a hair salon up the street, so I go to support him & get a hair cut every now & then. He does a great job, & I even put up a few pics here of the process.
This time, he was running a lil' late, so I sat there for a LONG time, hair color & chemical fumes swirling around from the half dozen women ahead of me. Since I have sensitive sinuses, it affected me more than most, & the next day, I was barely able to breathe. But the lawn needed mowing, the garage needed sorting, & I hacked my way through, making it worse. & of course, my dayjob is all about talking on the phone.
Last week, I went to the doc & got some meds, but still kept up the pace.
Last nite, I finally crashed. I barely got home, took a shower & went to bed. Got up extra early to do the trial run to CSULB with my daughter & her friends…& one of her friends was late enough getting ready so that I wound up stuck in traffic, & lost a half hour on the road.
Got in to work & started reading my email.
One friend blogged she felt like a commercial failure 'cuz her Cd is not selling well
Another friend wrote she was wondering about the support she is getting as a missionary in the middle of nowhere.
& I looked at the unfinished vacation blog I started to write, the unfinished forms I still need to fill out for my 501c3, unfinished songs, guitar projects, business plans, & realized I cannot handle all the things I started. But if I do not finish, it will affect many others.
Yet, I can't just stop…unless GOD steps in. Yup, this hacking cough, fatigue, person being late, it's all part of the BIG picture. I am powerless to force the hand of God. Stuff takes time, & often, it's out of our control. Cd sales take time to build. The fruits of a mission project can take generations to see. Forms need research, guitars need parts & sometimes the resources are just not there.
It's kinda like coming up to a major car accident just moments after it happened, & realizing that if you hadn't gone back to grab the wallet you forgot, that may have been you.
The reasons for delay my not seem clear at first, but eventually, it will finally get to a place where you discover that if stuff had been done on YOUR timetable instead of God's, it may not have worked out as well in the big picture.
Psalm 46 says "Be still, & know that I am God".
Sometimes sitting in one place & living in the moment is the best way to keep moving forward.
11:23 AM
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Monday, August 06, 2007
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giggin’
Current mood:  grateful
Category: Music
Playin' other people's gigs is nice.
A couple o' weeks ago I played @ my cousin's church in San Jose (Campbell), playing the worship ervice & doing one of my own songs with her.
Then I got to sit in with Karie Hillery (Karie.com) @ the San Luis Obispo Farmers Market. & finally yesterday, Generations Church in Torrance, & The Viper Room (lounge) with Grace Holmes.
Being a sideman is cool 'cuz there's no pressure to be great, which allows you to take chances & play to the moment, supporting the song in a way that may have very little to do with how it was recorded, but still finding just the right pocket that keeps the song moving in the right direction. Blues licks with Karie, Flamenco chops with Grace. Big full chords @ the churches, & lil' harmony lines behind the other singers too. I guess it's the point where the music takes over, & there's no attitudes, no "stardom" none of the pomposity that drives some of us to overselfpromote ad-nauseum.
It's where success means fulfillment, feeling good that you've just had a great time musically conversing with another artist, & their audience, & it didn't matter if you had the right "look", were too old, young, fat or ugly. You just brought a lil' taste of music to the table. Maybe lil' spiritual sauce to kick the main course up a few notches.
Joy. Life.
I'm smilin' all day!
And this Sunday, I get to PREACH about it all!
081207 11AM
Christ Presbyterian Church
4011 Clinton Street
(free lunch!)
LA. CA
4:47 PM
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Sunday, June 24, 2007
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dad
Well, it's been busy, & I didn't get around to it as soon as I wanted to (2 weeks ago) but I posted the song I wrote for father's day on my other page:
www.myspace.com/mtnbch
I also stuck on one from my February project just t' lighten up a bit if "dad" puts ya in too contemplative a mood.
:)
Let me know whatcha think.
:)
8:59 PM
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Tuesday, June 19, 2007
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1972
Current mood:  touched
I just got an email from one of the orgs I belong to, about a worship seminar online.
All free, reputable lecturers.
One (actually a couple) is Jimmy & Carol Owens, who were kind of revolutionary at the time, writing contemporary church music just before the Jesus movement hit full swing in the early '70s.
My first band, Inspirit, was one of the first bands from the Asian-Christian community back then, & as a result, wound up opening for many "major label Christian" artists as they came through town.
Some of you know more of the story, & the disappointment that came from that.
Whenever I see a reference to some of those artists, I do a quick google search to see how they've been doing. Not that they'd remember me, but it's still something to see what's happened. With those you've shared a lil' history with.
The Rettinos got married & still do children's ministries.
Tommy Coombs still does Christian music, as does Bob Bennett
Karen Lafferty started her own missions project.
Oden Fong is a pastor, as many others became after they put away their guitars for a deeper ministry.
And here I am, following the same path I was set upon over 30 years ago.
As I was surfing the links, one of 'em brought me to the Hollywood Free Paper. I used t' go out to their house on Fountain Ave often, picking up copies of the paper for distribution at my high school, learning songs & jamming with the people hangin' out there, some of whom were pioneering legends in "Jesus Music". Some had radical theological ideas. Many were hardcore junkies turned Jesus addicts.
The truth & reality of it all is that we all had found Christ personally, & that we knew God in a personal way.
These days, I see people talking to the air, then realizing, as the turn their heads, they're Bluetoothed.
Prayer is kinda like that. & though sometimes the reception isn't quite what it should be, for over 30 years, I'm thankful God has never dropped a call.
5:06 PM
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