Cara LaGreen - Jazz Singer and Man Eater

"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." – Aldous Huxley

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February18th

Via The Boot – Jewel Shares Sweet Love Story and Bittersweet Memories

Posted in: Articles
- Posted Feb 12th 2010 9:45AM by The Boot Staff
She’s a multi-platinum selling recording artist who’s conquered the pop, folk and country worlds. And in addition to penning the majority of songs on her eight studio albums, she’s also written books of poetry. If there’s one thing in which Jewel prides herself, it’s being a writer.

The blond beauty, happily married to rodeo star Ty Murray, also prides herself in her relationship with her fans. Jewel has teamed up with The Boot to share personal photos and what could be the most personal pieces in her writing portfolio. The songbird will be blogging every Friday for the next month right here on The Boot, sharing with her fans memories about life on the ranch, life on the road and life lessons.

In today’s blog, Jewel tells the sweet story of meeting her future husband. She also shares some painful, yet poignant, memories from her childhood. Read below, in Jewel’s own words, the first in her series of exclusive blogs, as she opens up to fans like never before.

I’d like to tell you a love story. I warn you first though, that I do not believe in “love like the story books say.” I guess it’s the overly simplified romance movie plot lines that fill our heads since birth that could be partly to blame for our unrealistic expectations of what love is actually like – and frankly, for depriving us of a lot of the grit it takes to not only be in love, but stay in love.

Love doesn’t mean you are never annoyed, it means being annoyed isn’t enough to make you squeamish. I know it doesn’t sound romantic, but what cowboys refer to as “intestinal fortitude” has a lot to do with how happy and fulfilled we can be in love. It takes equal measures of determination and romance.

I guess I did not come from what you would call a happy home. My mom left when I was 8, and my dad raised my brothers and me in his hometown of Homer, Alaska on the family ranch. I am grateful my father stood up and raised us. I can’t imagine that finding yourself suddenly divorced with 3 kids and living in the saddle barn of your dad’s place is what he had in mind when he took his vows. It certainly was stressful for us all.

My dad was a very charismatic man and very popular with the ladies. He was part cowboy, part mountain man and part poet. He would woo ladies with songs he wrote just for them. Much of my childhood was spent living at a succession of girlfriends’ houses and bouncing back to Anchorage to visit my mom, who was always house-sitting at random people’s places. When I’d return to Homer, I’d find myself at a new girlfriend’s house sleeping on a couch or sharing a twin bed with a small daughter of said girlfriend.

Around age 15, I came to a sobering realization: you become what you are around. What led me to this realization is I had been reading a lot, the classics – Plato, Pascal, Dante – and as my mind began to grapple with these grand topics I found in books, it led me to contemplate the grand topics of my own life and heart. I began to write feverishly and try to apply an analytical and objective eye to myself.

Most children grow up to become their parents, whether they like it or not. No matter how much we want to be different, we learn from our surroundings, and unless we learn new ways of being, we simply repeat, for better or for worse, what we absorbed around us. What that meant for me was not what I wanted for myself. Statistically, I should have ended up with an abusive alcoholic who was controlling as I played the unconfident and scared female lead that was never told she was good enough or “loved enough” as a child. I should have ended up bar singing the rest of my life, or any number of other jobs I had over the years. This is not how things ended up for me though. I did find love. A great love. And I want to tell you how: I learned French.

Ok – not literally. I didn’t learn the French language, but this was the code word I used with myself as I undertook my great project – to learn a new emotional language.

The reason I use language as a metaphor is because it helped me understand that emotions are a language we speak to each other in. Emotions are a series of feelings and habits and actions and reactions all rolled into one.

If you were raised speaking Spanish and say you hated the language and swore that when you grew up you’d never speak Spanish, the chances are that no matter what, you would grow up and speak Spanish – unless you learned a new language! It takes dedication and conscious learning to do that. Well, I decided emotional habits were the same. I needed to figure out a new emotional language for myself.

I moved out at 15 and began my “Project French.” I wanted to get away from everything that was unstable and random in my life and afford myself some stability and peace. I wrote faithfully, documenting myself with brutal honestly. It wasn’t always pretty – I was a mess of mistrust, and overly eager to impress everyone due to a really low self-esteem. But I kept writing and reading, tried to find people I respected, and tried to learn from them a new way of being. Over the years I would take bits and pieces of lots of people I met as I tried to build how I wanted to be. Honest. Loyal. Self-assured. But it was a brutal and painful process, made more painful by the honesty reflected back to myself through my pen.

Fast forward many years. Amazing years. I famously went from homelessness at 18 to worldwide fame by 21. The girl who grew up with an outhouse was on the cover of Time Magazine. Talk about surreal! And the writing I had done for all those years is what suddenly made me famous. My evolution was now on CDs and in books of poetry for the world to see.

I sure had gone a long way – but as far as actual bona fide love goes, I never found it. I had never been held in my entire life and told it was all going to be ok. There was no unconditional love. I never had any one person there who had my back. My life was a feat of sheer will and stubbornness, but not one I could share. And so I wrote love poems, but to no one. I wrote love songs (“Kiss the Flame,” “What’s Simple Is True”), but for a man I hadn’t met yet. I even wrote love poems, as though they were from a man, and they said all the things I wished would be said.

To tell you the truth, my fictional love poems were better than the real thing quite often, and even after laying with a man, I would turn to my pen at night to rewrite the evening, so it could be more magical than the clumsy fumbling of reality. Until one day in Denver, Colorado January 11, 1999.

I had just finished a show in Aspen, celebrating the launch of my second album Spirit, and my hit single “Hands.” I had a night off and decided to go to the Denver Rodeo and Stock Show. It was sold out, so I asked my label if they knew anyone at the venue to get me in. As fate would have it, the car service they used sponsored a cowboy, and was able to get me tickets.

After the rodeo I found the cowboy I should thank for the tickets, having no idea this soft spoken man would be my future husband, Ty Murray.

It didn’t happen all at once. It wasn’t even love at first sight. I had a flight to NYC right after the rodeo, but we exchanged numbers.

I toured Europe and when I got back I left him a message. I toured Australia and Asia, and when I got back he had left me a message. I began a US tour, and we began to talk on the phone frequently until we decided to finally have a first date – about 6 months after we first met.

I know the exact moment I fell in love with him. We were sitting by a river in northern California, and his thick, calloused hands worried a lure while we talked. Small silver fish were strung on a line, their silver bodies glittering like diamonds in the clear mountain water. The ripples shattered the sun’s rays into a million particles of white light, dazzling my eyes. It wasn’t any one thing he said – it was his whole being. It was his quietness. It was his toughness and strength, but it was the counterpoint of his kindness that set it apart. I knew I would love him. I knew instantly that he would be solid as a rock and someone I could depend on. I felt like I knew everything about him in an instant, and I swear to you, that after 11 years he is everything I thought he was and more.

It wasn’t a straight, smooth line from that day to where we are now. It hasn’t been all riding off into the sunset, with “The End” popping up in fancy scroll as the music swells over the credits. But it has been the best experience of my life. I am a better person and human for loving and being loved by him. Love has transformed me from a scrappy, mistrustful vagabond, to a healthy, still slightly scrappy, stable human being. (Click here to hear my favorite song I ever wrote for Ty called “Break Me.” I wrote it when I was first falling in love and knew I could not resist and had to make myself vulnerable to be in love.)

And none of it would have been possible if I hadn’t asked myself to learn “Emotional French.” And even once I met Ty, I have had to task myself to let go of fear, let go of doubt, let go of remoteness and emotional detachment. I have done all this because the prize is so worthwhile. I did not want to be a statistic, especially considering my background with the added trap of fame. How many normal couples, much less celebrity couples make it? Celebrity marriages have a short shelf life! I didn’t want to become a singer who perpetually chased success at the expense of a stable love life. Even my favorite novelists ended up with great works of art but were often estranged from their own families.

I decided around 2000 to make my love life as important and beautiful as my artistic life. I wanted to make my entire life my greatest work of art. I didn’t want just my words to thrive, but my relationship too. This meant making choices. I have let go of acting so I could live in Texas and actually have days off when I’m not touring or making music. I turned work down regularly and took time between albums because my goal wasn’t to be richer – it was to be happy!! And building happiness is like building anything – it takes conscious attention.

My love with Ty has been my favorite living song, and it’s one I write every day. If I quit creatively participating, it withers, as with anything, and so love and life and writing are my garden and I tend to it daily.

And now I write songs and poems for a real man, and amazingly, my cowboy writes me love letters that are better than anything I had hoped would one day be said to me. In fact, Ty and I exchange love letters on every holiday, including Valentine’s Day. I wrote some lyrics for him that are actually in the movie and soundtrack for ‘Valentine’s Day.’ I am including the lyrics here. It’s about enjoying the person you’re with so much that going anywhere is fun, but staying home can be even better.

STAY HERE FOREVER

LAYIN’ HERE DREAMING

STARING AT THE CEILING

WASTING THE DAY AWAY

THE WORLD’S FLYIN’ BY

OUR WINDOW OUTSIDE

BUT HEY BABE THAT’S OK

THIS FEELS SO RIGHT

IT CAN’T BE WRONG

SO FAR AS I CAN SEE

WHATCHA WANNA DO

BABY I’LL DO ANYTHING

CHORUS

IF YOU WANNA GO BABY LET’S GO

IF YOU WANNA ROCK I’M READY TO ROLL

IF YOU WANNA SLOW DOWN

WE CAN SLOW DOWN TOGETHER

IF YOU WANNA WALK BABY LET’S WALK

HAVE A LITTLE KISS HAVE A LITTLE TALK

WE DON’T GOTTA LEAVE AT ALL

WE CAN LAY HERE FOREVER

STAY HERE FOREVER

IF YOU WANNA SEE

THAT ITALIAN TOWER LEANIN’

BABY WE CAN LEAVE RIGHT NOW

IF THAT’S TOO FAR

WE CAN JUMP IN THE CAR

AND TAKE A LITTLE TRIP AROUND TOWN

THEY SAY THAT CALIFORNIA

IS NICE AND WARM THIS TIME OF YEAR

BABY SAY THE WORD AND WE’LL JUST DISAPPEAR

CHORUS

BRIDGE

IT’S A BIG WORLD FOR A BOY AND A GIRL

LETTING GO OF IT ALL HOLDING ON TO ONE ANOTHER

THERE’S A WHOLE OTHER WORLD TO DISCOVER

UNDER THE COVERS

CHORUS

(Listen to the song, along with the entire ‘Valentine’s Day’ soundtrack, for free here.)

So as this Valentine’s Day rolls around, if you don’t have someone yet, take the time to learn your own personal “French.” Practice every day being the person you want to be, so when you do find someone, you don’t sabotage yourself and you’re ready to do everything it takes to follow that rabbit down the rabbit hole for the craziest, most hair-pulling, most romantic journey of your life.

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Jewel Live Performance
February6th

Can I eat yet?

Posted in: Articles, General Musing

So modern day society says that women have to be a size 0 to be pretty. A size 6 is the new 2 and size 10 is plus size.
WHAT? Are we forgetting that the biggest sex symbol of all time was a size 16? Marilyn Monroe — still held up as the epitome of beauty, style, elegance, and grace! So what I mean to say is that the leading sex symbol of all time if measured by today’s standards would be modeling for Layne Bryant instead of Playboy. Unreal. I don’t know how many times in the music and theater industry I have been told, “Lose a few pounds and you will be great.”
“You will be great if you lose a few pounds.”
Voice is great — lose another 20 pounds and you will be golden.”
“We will cast you tomorrow if you lose 10 pounds.”
No matter how it is said, it still feels the same way. Like the only thing that matters is my waist line. Whatever happened to talent? Whatever happened to the Ella Fitzgerald’s and the Mae West’s? If they were getting into the entertainment industry today they would probably be singing back up or doing bit parts. I mean can you believe it? Ella Fitzgerald singing backup? The greatest singer of all time? The woman I want to name my first born child after (male or female)? Look at the talent we would have lost out on if society had been as skin deep as they are now.
I was once described in a theater review as zaftig. Naturally I didn’t know what this meant so I went to the handy dandy dictionary and what does it say? Pleasantly plump. Wow, did that adjective really need to be there? Why is it that you can have a 2 note range but as long as that is your dress size your record can still go platinum? In an industry that used to be about talent it is now all about looks, image, and sex appeal. And what does it say to young girls out there that they have to look like Barbie? They have to look like a plastic doll with proportions so out of whack if she was alive, she wouldn’t even have a menstrual cycle? This is what we are striving to be? It sounds like big breasted blonde haired Invasion of the Body Snatchers to me. Everyone wants to look the same, there is no individuality, no character. You have a bit of a crooked nose, that isn’t seen as character, that is seen as a flaw. Who decided all this, and when did we as a society start buying into it? When did we decide we were fat at a size 8 and that no man would ever look at us if we touched a piece of chocolate? It’s the same with fashion — since when did we decide that if a magazine says its in, its in. So because the magazine says you have to wear a mini skirt with leggings even we have thunder thighs, we do it. And who made us think our thighs were thunderous in the first place? Oh right, the same people that are telling us to wear unflattering clothing that will make us feel even worse about ourselves because oh, right, its in fashion.

The other day, I was pondering why we don’t have great talent coming out of the woodwork anymore. Great musical geniuses like Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Axel Rose, Elton John, and then it dawned on me. I think those people are out there but it is now more important to let the image rule the voice. To create a packaged product — a brand as opposed to a performer who already has what it takes. Because of this, I think we are really missing out. I mean our parents are able to tell us about legends like The Supremes and our grandparents can tell us about Louie Armstrong, but what will we have to give our children? Dear Diary and lick me like a lollipop? Where is that passion, that feeling and emotion that a song creates that reach the depths of your soul? That makes you lost for words, unable to catch your breath and tears running down your face?

What made Brittany Murphy, the cute and curvy brunette from Clueless become skinny, blonde, and addicted to plastic surgery and pain killers? I will tell you what, the media never leaving her alone, the producers not casting her. One thing after another led an incredible actress to an untimely death. And she is just a recent of a long list of Hollywood tragedy.

Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with being blonde, skinny, and fabulous at all. Its just that in the Hollywood scene you are either tall skinny and blonde, or tall skinny and brunette. Oh sorry red heads, Or tall skinny red heads. That seems to be the only type of beauty accepted out there right now, and yes that is beautiful but there is so much beauty out there of all shapes and sizes to be explored. In ancient rome it was thought of as gorgeous to be rounder because you were thought of as more upper class if you ate well and more matriarchal which was sexy. And why is it that all the programs on right now seem to depict a skinny blonde wife and a big pudgy funny husband? How come the wife has to be skinny but the husband doesn’t? And why is it the older a woman gets, the skinnier she gets. Its like we are compensating our face getting older for our body getting younger. Though ironically if you are a little rounder your face looks younger. Go figure.

It’s no wonder when Rachel Ray has plastic surgeons on telling you how the stars get “red carpet ready.” Which entails endless expensive cellulite treatments, laser treatments, chemical peels, and my personal favorite, botox in the under arms to make you not sweat. Where does the sweat go? So this is telling normal women, go out and spend thousands of dollars on temporary treatments that only last a few days to look like the stars you want to look like. I bet you those stars would look fabulous with a bit of rouge and an updo but instead they have to go to extreme these lengths to make themselves feel beautiful which in short makes normal society feel even worse about ourselves. Jennifer Anniston put it really well one time, she said to not try and be her. That she has a whole staff creating her meals, fitness, hair, makeup, etc. She even said that normal women try to achieve stars looks and its not possible. That they have a full time staff whose full time job is to make her look great.

In England, their media reports the real story, how beautiful people are — not how fat they are. They are more interested in how many countries a star went to on their vacation than how many pounds they gained on it. Every magazine at the checkout stand doesn’t say how to lose ten pounds in an hour. In Greece and many other parts of the world women of all ages, shapes and sizes go to nude beaches and feel confident and lovely. Because their society doesn’t make them feel any different. And get this, people on TV look normal, not airbrushed and anorexic. They look like normal human beings like you and me and it makes me as an audience member relate more to them which makes me want to watch it because I don’t feel I have to compare myself.

And why does our society make men out to be more distinguished and sexy when they get older while women are undesirable and washed up after a certain age? Getting older should mean that we get more confident in ourselves as individuals and can share or wisdom with others, yet instead the older we get, the less secure we become because of what society makes us out to be. In other countries they stand up when an elderly lady gets on the bus and they help them across the street. When I offered to do that for someone the other day, something that I would think would be common courtesy the woman was so shocked and surprised because no one ever offers. Other countries respect the elderly and what they have lived through and their stories, confidence, wisdom and knowledge. Yet here, even the elderly woman I take care of is more interested in getting her 21 inch waist back from when she got married than celebrating and sharing all the wonderful stories and adventures her life has had which I find way more interesting than her waistline.

So ladies, the only way we can stop this is by not letting it happen. By not buying into it. By being happy, healthy, and fabulous. If we buy into it and let society dictate how we feel about ourselves it can’t change. So tomorrow morning I challenge you to get out of bed, put on your favorite lipstick, let your hair down, and proudly shaka what your mama gave ya all across town.
October2nd

Do Your Singing Voice a Favour – The Reasoning Behind Quality Singing Lessons

Posted in: Articles, Guest Post, Music

Do Your Singing Voice a Favor – The Reasoning Behind Quality Singing Lessons
By Lea G Reyes

When you think about it, everybody sings. It’s the mood that gets them or they’re just pottering around singing to themselves. A lot of people have taken the plunge and after a few beverages of the alcoholic variety, jump up on stage and karaoke the night away. That’s fine, but what if someone is serious about singing and wants to take it further?

If you want to impress at the karaoke bar or do your self justice at an audition, you should very seriously consider investing in some quality singing lessons. Singing lessons will give you the chance to bring out the best in your voice. After all, if you’re going to be a professional entertainer, you’ll want to do things properly.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a good singer or are just plain awful, you will definitely benefit by taking singing lessons from a reputable teacher. Many performers of today, no matter how famous they are, continue to take lessons. They need to tidy up those techniques that are holding them back from their true potential.

When choosing a singing teacher you should definitely do your homework and find out how reputable this person is. Do they get good results? Who have they taught before? Are there any testimonials that can back him or her up?

There are various types of lessons that you can access via the internet. Well known performers such as Keith Urban and Taylor Swift currently take lessons as well as Miley Cyrus and Hayley Williams (from the hard rock band Paramore).

What’s the alternative if you don’t look after your voice?

Possibly nodules, permanently damaged vocal chords, frequent sore throats and talking like Rod Stewart for the rest of your life.

Learn how to position your face, neck and jaw when trying to reach certain difficult notes. Discover new teaching techniques available today that have eliminated the old boring hours of practicing your scales.

I’ve been involved in the music industry for many years playing in bands, promoting bands, a tour manager and production manger. I’ve met many people and I’ve experienced many things. As a guitarist, I kept it really simple. No lessons, I taught myself to play. I met some other players and we jammed for hours, days, weeks! That’s where I learned the most. Today I record and play at home in my little studio in the corner of my bedroom, for now anyway. http://www.ultimate-guitar-studio.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lea_G_Reyes
http://EzineArticles.com/?Do-Your-Singing-Voice-a-Favour—The-Reasoning-Behind-Quality-Singing-Lessons&id=2969853
September20th

the LIGHT WENT OUT

Posted in: Articles, Events, General Musing
AGGHH R.I.P. Guiding light. After 72 years and 20,000 episodes CBS has pulled one of the most historical shows in television. For those of you who don’t know it started in 1937 as a 15 minute radio segment on NBC and moved to television on CBS in 1952. It leaves behind a legacy of over 5 dozen Emmy awards(Why it didn’t with this year I can’t understand) but in any case as I was watching the last episode it really made me feel as though someone had been buried. Now I know that most people would say that soap operas are boring, unrealistic and stupid, my husband the first time he visited America and I was watching one had to start throwing things at the television screaming at an actress to stop wining and kill herself already, so I know its not for everyone. But for me it wasn’t about the stagnant story lines or the unrealistic so and so sleeping with so and so’s brother’s husband, getting pregnant, dying, coming back to life, kidnapping her kid and turning into an alien, but about escaping from my world into someone else’s for a brief moment in time. When I watched it, as ridiculous as it was sometimes I would get out of whatever funk I was in realizing that my life wasn’t half as bad as these peoples. When I was a baby and my mother was home with me she said it wasn’t the story lines that drew her to the soaps it was the interaction with adult voices that kept her sane when she had to play tea party for the millionth time.

And despite people thinking how depressing soap operas are they are also about love,joy, family and babies. I mean everyone is always having a baby weather it is their own or one they stole from Scandinavia only to find out it was really their cousins dead wife’s mute child from a previous marriage. But none the less as much as soap’s celebrate drama and conflict they do also put much value into love and family and there is so much making out on these darn shows that I surely want to pounce on my husband when he comes home from work after watching them(bet he didn’t know that when he was screaming at the TV).

But in reading all of the fan comments about the ending of the show I notice a pattern in their lives as well as mine about the death of this show and that is the bonding it created in so many families nationwide. Stories I read about how a woman would get out of work at the post office and run home to watch the show with her daughters, referring to it as the light of their day. Or how so many people used to watch it with their mothers or grandmothers before they past. One woman even said the death of guiding light was just as bad as her mothers which is a bit much but in reading all of these stories I realize how important it was not just in my life but in so many others as well.

My grandmother got me watching soap operas with her when I was probably around 10. They were a comfort for me when I was at home sick and when she would babysit me we would turn on the soaps and then we would talk and argue for hours afterwards while playing crazy 8’s about who these characters should be with and how this and that shouldn’t have happened, and it became a bonding moment in our relationship. As I got older and went off to college I couldn’t watch them during the day so my grandmother would write to me with the recaps of all of the story lines so that I could catch up. Now here is a proper woman of the 40’s era writing me, ” That Brooke is such a bitch, she slept with her daughters husband and is now having his baby.” This is a woman I have never seen swear or raise her voice in her lifetime yet something about the soaps made her speak more freely.

It was my grandfather’s 96th birthday yesterday and I had to be sure to watch the last guiding light episode on line at 3am the night before I went to visit so my grandmother and I could discuss it. And I realized that though not all soaps are ending it very soon will be the end of an era. Where once stood 16 now remain only 7. CBS says it was due to low ratings but what caused this? As I ask people they say:
1. Bad time slot (because you watch Y&R, then think well I can watch B&B its only a half hour, then you watch as the world turns and decide you can’t watch Guiding light because you have to do something with your day its already 2PM. So lord help whatever replaces it.
2. Younger actors with less interesting story lines emerging which lead older fans astray(who were most of the viewing population as how many teenagers stay home from school to watch soaps)Though I did always admire soaps for not firing an older actor because they got a little heavy or were showing more lines than they used to. It was nice to see in a business and society so focused on youth and image that soap operas stayed true to the fans and the reality of aging and didn’t can an actress for gaining 20 pounds, having some baby weight, or god for bid going on vacation and eating some cheesecake. Women are working more and not at home as much to watch soap operas which got their name from all of the detergent and dish soap commercials advertised during the segments.
3. That most prime time evening shows have now developed the soap opera format only in a once a week segment.
4. And then the big one that not many mention is reality TV, yes reality TV has yet again lost hundreds of people their jobs. It’s cheaper to make a reality television show than to create a soap. With a soap you have way more actors to pay than you do in an evening drama, a script a day which means more writers, And though Guiding light tried(they even made the mini mart for the show out of the television studio’s basement bless their hearts.) But with reality shows being able to not pay writers for scripts and not pay actors(but rather pray upon innocent people promising them fame but instead making fun of them and editing out what they really said) its the perfect situation for television studios to be in. Of course it doesn’t help that while most actors are starving the cast of friends wanted 1 million per episode instead of their measly 100,000 they were getting. Now of course we know that soap opera stars make nowhere near that, but instead of worrying about money the whole cast of guiding light took part in building homes for under privileges families. As a straight male friend of mine said to me, “One of my fondest memories as a child was being home with my mom on a weekday, laundry going, a soap opera on TV. Don’t know why, but it’s a nice memory. I doubt that children nowadays are going to grow up saying their fondest memory is being at home with an only-parent, watching reality TV.”
So as the light goes out on the family of guiding light and 55 year old actors trade in their TV family for standing in line at 6am with teenagers to compete for roles, just remember next time you sit down to watch TV that you might enjoy a well written well acted program that will assist you in relaxing and escaping your day than watching someone be tied upside down body painted in the blazing sun eat a live tarantula. Good night guiding light, sleep tight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.
September6th

MALIBU FAMILY WINERY

Posted in: Events, General Musing, Music

OK, so first off Happy Birthday to my good friend Mike Drolet.

We went to Malibu wines for his b day party last night and I soooooooo recommend it. Its a bit hard to find and I was hating him a little as we were on the 101 from orange county for having his b day on a Friday but once you get on that Mullholland road all the stresses of LA life melt away and you are surrounded by trees and peace. It’s just a gorgeous drive and you get there and its this gorgeous open grassy area with tables and chairs and they have wine tasting and you bring your own food and buy a bottle of wine for around 20 dollars and you have a whole night. It would cost you about 20 bucks a drink if you went out anywhere else in LA. There was also this great cover band that played everything from jimmy buffet to Yo ho Yo ho a pirates life for me. So I highly recommend this place for a laid back chilled evening where you can enjoy music and actually hear your friends talk.

Anyway I met this country/blues singer named Laura Bryna. OK, actually I didn’t really meet her, turns out she and I went to college together and were in choir together where we wore big black prom dresses and sung fancy arias, who knew? She was wearing a cutie patootie one piece pink shorts outfit(I tried one on the other day and I looked like an orange marshmallow) but she was totally sporting it. Anyway she just got a record contract and has been on the scene for quite some time now since the debut of her hit single I don’t have a thing to wear in 2007 and released her first album trying to be me in 2008. She also is on the board for the make a wish foundation which is what the song make a wish is about and she just sang at the house of blues for a sold out audience honoring 5 air guard women for their service singing them a song called Hometown heroes which she also sang at the Nashville airport for the men and women being deployed to Iraq.

Now of course when you meet people that have gotten to where you want to be in life you can’t help but be a bit jealous. And though I am working on this, I am the first to admit it. Of course I am sitting there thinking I am just going to relax and have some wine and not think about my career goals for the evening and then boom its staring you straight in the face but honestly two seconds of talking with this girl and all of that goes away. It was like one of those darn she is nice, can’t hate her moments:-) This girl is the real deal. She even came to mike’s party even though she had to be on a plane to Nashville the next day. Now that is true friendship. Kinda blows other friends, have to get up early in the morning excuse out of the water.

But anyway, all of the charity events she does are because she truly believes in it, not because its good for her career, she got teary even talking about the make a wish foundation and the first thing she started talking to me about was different venues I could sing at and how she could put a good word in for me. She was even talking about putting mike and I and other friends in her show. I mean when does that happen in this awful competitive music business we are in. Everyone is usually fighting for the top and kicking everyone down that is trying to get up there with them. We talked about where music is going and how we don’t have the gun’s and roses, and the Michael Jackson’s, and the bon jovis, and the queen’s anymore. That musical genius is just not happening in this over saturated image driven pop culture market and its sad. So just as my phantom audition was a pleasant surprise, so was this experience and I just want to put her name out there because Laura Bryna is going places and she is one of those girls that has the talent and a heart as big as Texas to back it up. (maybe I can be one of her back up singers, ha ha) You can find her at laurabryna.com. You can buy her album off iTunes, which I did in the car last night, and you can become a fan on her facebook.
So do it do it do it add her cd to your ipod and make it your new work out cd(except for the sad soldier one cuz I was crying on the treadmill and people were looking at me) and support the nice people in the arts:-)
August25th

How to Write a Good Song – 3 Steps to Easy Songwriting

Posted in: Articles, Music

How to Write a Good Song – 3 Steps to Easy SongwritHow to Write a Good Song – 3 Steps to Easy Songwriting
By Dusty Thornton

Songwriting is something some people can do off the top of their head and others struggle just to find words that rhyme. Now I believe songs should be from the heart, but if you’re struggling, this article is going to give you a step by step process of how to write a good song.

1. Know what you’re writing about

Don’t blindly write. Just like when you write a story or a paper, you outline it. Outlining helps you keep on topic and makes sure you don’t stray away from the main point. Well, the same is true for song writing. Choose a topic and stick with it.

2. Put your chorus together first

Since your chorus is the main theme of the song, write it first. Take your topic and put together a chorus that is both catchy and repetitive. You may say, repetitive is bad, but think about some of the songs you hear on the radio today. Repetitive is what gets stuck in your head and it’s what people enjoy.

3. Make the Verses point towards the chorus

Once you feel like you have a strong chorus with a good theme, use the verse to write the story. Imagine your chorus as the backbone, and then your verse is the muscle, bone, and skin of your song. Let it flow into the chorus. In a sense, build up to the chorus.

Imagine this. The first verse tells a story and leads either down (or up) to the chorus. The chorus is a simple repetitive theme or kind of like the climax. Then the second verse leads back up (or down–whichever it didn’t do the first time).

Using these 3 simple tips, you should have a good framework for putting a song together. Once you get comfortable you can start throwing in a bridge and making more complex songs.

Good luck in your song writing.

Dusty Thornton is a college student that loves to write. He wants to share his experiences and knowledge with others.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dusty_Thornton
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Write-a-Good-Song—3-Steps-to-Easy-Songwriting&id=2796456
August21st

the PHANTOM has no ZOMBIES!

Posted in: Uncategorized

I went to the Phantom of the Opera Audition for the Las Vegas show on Wednesday. The waiting room was as big as my apartment and filled to the max, I almost had a panic attack…

I showed my equity card and went to sit down in my own little corner, in my own little imaginary chair, ha ha I wish there were chairs.
Of course as is my luck I get this crazy man in a green bell bottom suit, gold medallions and a yellow bow tie singing ‘I found love on a two way street’ in the corner next to me and Japanamation girl that sits down next to me dressed in her pig tails with her shorty short ruffle skirt and thigh highs asking me in broken English what equity is.

I am like; where do these people hear about these things?
Of course Japanamation girl could have been amazing for all I know.

So I only had to wait about an hour which was all I could take of people warming up, talking about head shots, agents, auditions, who got what, who can’t sing and do I look fat in this?
It’s really a whole other world that I forget even exists until I bravely step into it again. The room was truly like one of those boxes that you open and hear sound and then close it and the song goes away.
So I go in and sing my song and its quite hard to sing opera while listening to the music of the hip hop dance audition next door.
Though listening to some of the opera songs from outside the room with the hip hop beats underneath sounded very cool and 5th element like. A girl I met said she had a friend that got into Legally blonde by singing an opera version of ‘I touch myself’. Now that is cool!
So I sang my song and the two auditioners were really nice and they asked where the song was from and I told them it was from a musical called ‘Feather top’ that didn’t really make it. They asked me if I knew what it was about and we got to talking and I told them it was a musical that didn’t really make it. Then we were laughing later and I told them that I probably shouldn’t have said that it didn’t really make it because what if one of them wrote it and they laughed. They asked who it was by and I told them it was by Skip Kennon and the piano player was like and now I would like to introduce you to Skip Kennon and pointed to one of the casting directors…
…I laughed, I would have been mortified if it was him.
Then they asked how long I had my hair blonde and I told them it came about from the show shear genius when I was a hair model and it was rainbow day and my hair turned a rainbow bright, pink, purple, and blonde, or a matchstick as Kim Vo said. And out of that came blonde. I guess they were referring to why my head shots not being blonde but I should have asked them which they preferred and I should have said ‘well if I get this job I can afford new head shots’. Ha ha. I should have given them a demo also. I should have done alot of things that I didn’t…
But then I started telling them about how my first grade students dyed their hair with kool aide to look like Mrs. LaGreen and they laughed saying the parents must have been thrilled about that.

This was a required call so they were not casting as with the economy no one is leaving the show and you know its bad when the person ahead of you was in the national tour of Miss Saigon and the girl behind you was in Into the Woods on broadway. But I was perfectly prepared to come home and write on my blog…
…how auditions are like being an alcoholic, in that you know its bad but you keep going back for more but in all actuality it was a really positive experience.

I want to write them a thank you note and say thank you for treating us like people and not like numbers or zombies. I think the mistake I always make is thinking they must be in a rush because there are so many people waiting. That I should go in, do my thing and get gone, but I need to remember that if they are taking the time to talk to me I should stay as long as they want me to.
I also make the mistake of thinking they are not real people and I forget to be a real person back to them.
This time after being away from the whole auditioning scene for a while it was easier to be myself so that was growth. You have to love growth.
August14th

SOMEONE HACKED the SITE!

Posted in: Articles, Events, Uncategorized

What the hell people! Someone actually hacked the site and replaced the music for the music page.
I was treated to an anonymous email telling me that the music had been replaced, on visiting the mp3 player I was treated to ‘This is War!’
Now I’m not really sure why this person did this, kind of stupid really because I know who did it as the IP address was logged, Unlucky You!

I corrected the problem and have made sure this won’t be happening again.
So anyone who thought Cara was doing a cover of a death metal song, sorry!

Thanks
August14th

HORSES, BLACK EYES and BARRY MANILOW

Posted in: Articles, General Musing, Uncategorized

Well I made it through the rain or storm…

…I should say my Barry Manilow concert in Rancho Cucamonga last friday and I think we have booked some casinos. One of them is next to a prison apparently so you have to go through security to get in. I was wondering if they let the prisoners out to gamble. Probably do being as though they get acupuncture and cable.
Speaking of casino’s, Gavin and I found a great one in Warner Springs, it was hilarious, super small and had a $4.95 prime rib special. Of course we went there on my birthday and the restaurant was already closed so we wound up eating cold hot dogs and nachos with chemical cheese at the bar, happy birthday to me! At least the nice lady at the bar carded us and couldn’t believe we were as old as we are.
Warner springs was awesome though, Gavin found pics of my grandfather when he was ten years old hunting in Warner Springs, he had a rifle in one hand, a handful of rabbits in the other and a big smile on his face. Crazy right? I guess we followed in his footsteps because Gavin ran over flopsy by accident. He really didn’t mean to, I mean this is the guy who had two spiders in a jar and one ate the other one before he could set them free so he set the other one free telling him to think about what he had done. He is kinda buddist that way. So we thought we blew out a tire and when Gavin got back in the car he had a kinda pale look on his face and asked me if I wanted a lucky rabbit’s foot. I know gross.

That reminds me of when I was in NY with my friend ryan and we didn’t have any money so we would buy fish for his piranas and watch the piranas eat the fish. Well about two weeks went buy where we really didn’t have any money so we couldn’t buy fish. The one pirana got really hungry and ate the other one. Then he was so stupid he kept swimming around looking for it. We were like you ate him remember?

But I digress. Warner springs, ahhhh yes, can’t beat it, in the middle of no where but in between Temecula and Julian, which has the best apple pie ever. You can even get it without any sugar. I would recommend the Julian Pie Company though because the other place we went to said it was grandma’s recipe so we thought it must be good. Well grandma thought it would be a good idea to put salt in the apples.
I guess all the pie places are competing to be unique or grandma mistook the sugar for the salt. Good thing I didn’t say anything though because the town is so small our server said it was actually her grandmother that makes the pie.
There are lots of fun stores there, you know you have your typical small town middle of nowhere stores with the fairy’s and the crystals and the books on how to put spells on your boyfriend to get him to marry you type stores, but my favorite one was Pistol’s and Petticoats. Oh yeah you can buy a gun and lingere right in the same place.

We also went on this awesome breakfast horseback ride where we got to ride all over the hot springs and then a nice fellow named Paco brought his golf cart with his portable cantina and made us breakfast in the wilderness. It was awesome. Much better than the last time I went horseback riding in the hollywood hills where my horse casper was so old he was about to drop right off the side of the hollywood sign, or the time before when my dad and I went horseback riding in Mexico and our guide was an eight year old boy who dropped us off at a swimming hole and I thought it would cool to be Tarzan woman and fly into the pool on a rope, of course when my head popped up the rope came back and gave me a black eye. Yeah that trip was fatal. We were playing tequila musical chairs at the mexican fiesta that evening and this drunk woman from Colorado pounced on me to get my chair and squashed me. One of the guys at the hotel asked if mi novio was beating me up. So funny.
August10th

WE are UP and RUNNING

Posted in: Articles, Events, Inspiration, Music, Projects, Uncategorized

We are up and running, the website is just about complete just a few minor tweaks here and there left to do.

All the photographs are now in place and the comments to posts are working, if you find any problems let me know by replying to this post.
Thanks everyone for being so patient.