Sunday, January 23, 2011

Step Four: I Can Give You More - Part 2

Further to Step-Four-I-Can-Give-You-More's catalog of songs, here's a look at progress since October. 

Milestones
~Recorded and released first song for free download.
~Had my first press interview.
~Played a prog rock horn gig in Bay Ridge.
~Subbed for pianist/choir director at PSUMC. Also sang ballsy a cappella duet with Leila.
~Worked chest voice up to F4, comfortably. Heading toward C5.
~Writing two new songs.
 
Next Steps
~Arrange and record "Boats & Snow" for piano, horn, vocals.
~Keep vocalizing with my real voice and get rid of all that awful training.
~Buy big ukulele chord chart poster for music studio wall.
~Book voice lesson for March?
~Book horn lesson for April?
~Continue block-buzzing on horn mouthpiece and work range up to C5. (F4) Practice duets and etudes from July lesson.

Play Dates
~Regular meet-up with brass quartet at PSUMC.
~Learn something, anything on uke.

The Free-lancer's Life: Eating is sleeping is working is pants

New business venture: rolling. Sense of time/place: questionable.


This panel excerpted from The Oatmeal's "Why working at home is both awesome and horrible."

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Step Four: I Can Give You More

By the way, did anyone else see NKOTB on New Year's Eve and freak out? All six of the ladies at our castle were reliving their tween years of fake making out with posters.

Also it is the middle of winter now and I want to die until it's summer.

So instead of doing that I'm wearing bright colors, dying my hair red, buying insane lipstick, layering, like, six different kinds of awesome tights, going to the gym a hellalot and making lists of songs that I'm going to record despite myself.

I've trolled some of the archives and decided on these. Of course, this is absolutely going to change but it gives me something useful to do.

songs in line for recording:

ask seek knock (1999)
boats and snow (2010)
one two/january ballet song (2010)
microbiology (2010)
laundry (2009)
la plus belle (2008)
when it rains (2002)
ft. lauderdale first date song (2003)
you're a rescue (2010)
my momma says (2009)
i am a projector (2010)
god only knows (2004)
naked/good man (2004)
regret robot/defense chicken (2010)
red leaf falls on old virginia (1998)

second string songs i don't think i'll do anything with:

pale blue horizon (2002)
raindance (2000)
birds (2008)
red sky (2001)
pluto (2000)
no reason to doubt (2000)
sinking (1994)
another round (2002)
shu-sha (2000)
rita's song (2005)
dandelion (1998)
blessed is the man (2005)
lay you down (1998)
feel the breeze (1998)
red sky (2002)
oh see thats fine (2001)
she flies (2002)
uncle Sam (2004)
crepe myrtle (2000)

Monday, January 3, 2011

Gary Gnu and the Good Gnews

No, I have misled you. Gary Gnu is not really making a guest appearance on my blog. But oh, how I wish. (If you're out there, Gary, please come see us sometime!)

 There will be other guests appearing soon. For now, we cut to the good gnews.

If you take a peek at my last blog entry where I made my first song release available for download that's right I said DOWNLOAD and that means you can have it for free to rip/burn/mp3/post-to-Ukrainian-piracy-sites, you might notice that there are two comments. The first was quite the jaw-dropping surprise to me: a request for a press interview from Fredericksburg Patch.

Now, press interviews I know aallll about. Like, what time of day Steve Reich, John Adams, Elliott Carter like to have them. Which phone numbers to use depending on where they are currently residing. What clips, photos, and autobiographies to send in advance, which questions aforementioned gentlemen are dog-tired of answering, and which topics will light them up.

But this press request was for me -- wha? Tread lightly, publicist! Hmm, boundaries. I'd certainly never feel it appropriate to pitch myself to any of my music contacts, but in the case where an editor and writer come across my blog and approach me? Well, that seems ethical. Aaaaaaaaaand completely unexpected.

Gee, gorsh. The result was a 20-minute phoner, conducted via cell phone from our 1999 Subaru as it traversed the great great horizontal length of Pennsylvania. The story appeared online just 6 days after the post -- oh, that every song would get its own story!

Many thanks to the writer, Michelle Habel, for a generous interview and a sweet piece. http://fredericksburg.patch.com/articles/a-song-12-years-in-the-making.

(Note to self: learn to speak in intelligible sound bytes. I mean, yee-haw.)