I’ve been practicing – are you coming?
Here’s a link on how to purchase a $1 ticket to the show.
And here’s a link to my show.
See you Thursday Night @ 7:00PM (CST)!
Category: music & art
the friday rundown
Here’s the rundown:
* i’m in Omaha this weekend visiting family & attending the Global Leadership Summit with my dad. If you would like to “see” a few of the sessions, you should check Tim Schraeder’s blog or follow him on twitter. Tims’s a communication guru and you’ll be able to read through his notes of each speaker from both days.
* if you have an iPhone you might want to consider the bookbook case. Everything has trailers now, so here’s a link to see it action.
* i’m playing a concert online next week (Thursday) & I would be THRILLED if you would come. Check it out here & email me with any questions on how to “get in” to the concert. Also, be sure to come back Monday for a few more details concerning the concert. It’s going to be a lot of fun, so don’t miss it!
* great advice to musicians from one of my heroes, Charlie Peacock.
* i still love tilt-shift…
* are you a creative? what defines “creativity”? A look at the various types of creatives in this post. Very encouraging if you ever compare yourself to others…let’s be honest, we all do this, right?!
* …& here’s a little more tilt-shift-loving proof!
* if you would like to see the actual size Chicago, you should consider joining us for the STORY Conference in September. Click the picture below to see a few more details or EMAIL ME. I’d love to answer any questions you might have about this amazing conference.
* this 1 minute video could instantly save you 10 minutes.
* one last thing – last saturday marked my 11th anniversary with my wife, Felicity. I just wanted to say to her once more – I LOVE YOU!
Have a great weekend!
be available to you
Here’s a quick story:
Recently a woman heard a podcast about a professional musician who had started mentoring other artists. This artist-mentor started by meeting with friends locally and then began leveraging the latest internet technology to help him meet and befriend artists across the nation. He was passionate about the artists he was working with. He was also very engaging as he spoke, so that evening the woman told her husband about the podcast she had heard.
He listened to it and after hearing it reached out to this artist-mentor via email. Within an hour the mentor had responded back and had scheduled a time for the two of them to start meeting regularly. Within the week they had their first chat & during the end of their first online video chat, the arist-mentor said, “I always want to be available to you, so here’s my cell # & my email address. If you ever need to talk, or just want bounce an idea off of me – I’m here.”
All of this took place back in April of this year and is the (very) condensed story of how I met my new friend Ramy Antoun. He and I have only recently met, but already he has been there for me consistently as a mentor, a friend, and someone who will just listen.
I know I’m lucky to have people like Ramy, my wife, my parents, and great friends that will listen and be honest with me. So, while I was thinking about all of that, this idea hit me…
I bet there are people out there like me who have wanted someone to hear their story, or listen to their idea, or be able to chat with someone who cares about what they have to say.
So this Friday, August 5th, I am doing something new. I am holding open office hours from 9:30am – 12pm and YOU are invited. All you need to do is email me <--[click the link] and we'll set up a time slot for us to talk online or by phone. You pick the topic, I'll give you any advice or thoughts I might have, but mostly I'll just be there to listen. I hope you'll sign up because I simply want to be available to you.
the friday review [07.29.11]
quick rundown:
* The BKFST site. Beautiful site that may leave you feeling hungry.
(via pigginell’s photostream on flickr)
* You may already know, but if you haven’t heard yet…I’m having my own solo online concert on August 18th (@ 7:00 PM Central) and I would LOVE IT if you would come! Just go to My Concert page at StageIt.com to buy a $1 ticket (tips are also welcome but not required). You may want to check this post out for all the details.
* This app/book “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” looks amazing – has anyone tried this yet? Check out the trailer for it below.
* The Evernote Tumblr. One of the easiest ways to learn Evernote (& yes I’m a fanboy of Evernote – it is an amazing little app).
* Watching Derek Paravicini – musical genius:
* Lion OS (which I love) & Wunderlist. After installing Lion I realized my To-Do program was not working as smoothly. Switched to this free, multiplatform [iPhone, iPad (basically iEverything), Android, Windows, Mac OSX] to-do list. It syncs easily across most devices and is worth checking out.
* John Mayer’s simple, yet great advice. This is for musicians, or anyone in the business of creating. Quick read guaranteed to challenge.
* “The Accidental Creative: How To Be Brilliant At A Moment’s Notice” – this book is not just for creative-types, but also for those who want to “unlock [their] latent creative abilities”. Excellent read so far.
What have you seen this week that we might have missed? Let us know!
daniel john concert!!
Today is a very exciting day for me (& I’m hoping for you too)! I wanted to invite you all to come join me at my first solo concert live on Thursday, August 18th at 7:00pm. The concert is called “Live From My House” because…that is where the concert will be held! Now, I understand that a lot of you might not be able to make it to Missouri the day of the concert, so I thought I would see if maybe I could come to you? Here’s the story of how this works…
Two nights ago I happened across this site called StageIt.com and quickly realized they were doing an amazing thing. They are giving musicians the ability to begin hosting online concerts through their site. After a bit of researching I found the area where I could sign up to become one of their approved artists. I sent in my application and they sent me a response later in the day that I was all set. I immediately logged on and scheduled a concert which I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE for you all to come and watch!
This first concert will be rather short (15-20 mins) as we give this a trial run together. And, because it will be a shorter first show, the price of a ticket is only $1. I can almost guarantee you can cover the cost by searching through your couch cushions right now. You are welcome to pay more than that price or to leave a tip, but the money is not my goal. What I am most excited about is the opportunity to try a brand new concert “venue” out and for you all to come and join me!
I will be playing songs that we wrote during our [5in5] challenge, but I will also be taking requests for the next 2 weeks. So leave me a comment here telling me a song you would like to hear, OR send me a tweet OR a facebook post. Then, I’ll reveal at the concert whose song I chose and play it for you live.
One last thing – of course I want you all to come to my first show, but I understand that it might not work for your schedule. Or you might be saving that dollar for a Grande Peppermint Mocha. Now I don’t ever want to come between anyone and their coffee. I am serious when I say if you can’t make it, no worries – there will be other shows! What would be great instead is if you could help me by invite people you know to the show or simply by posting this link – http://ow.ly/5OibY – and encouraging people to come to my show.
So don’t forget – get your tickets, send me a song request, & help me get the word out. I will see you on August 18th in my living room!! Thanks!!
friday review – free music
[Quick note: I am changing the Tuesday 10 (at least for a while) over to the friday review. While I seriously love putting this list together, I have been so busy lately that I have neglected it. So, instead of neglecting it anymore I thought I would move it to later in the week and not worry about the number of things that I’m bringing to you. If I have 10 on the list, I’m sure that will be cool. But if I have less than 10 at least I will have been consistent.]
Today is about free music. I know we all love free stuff. We like giveaways, contests, the possibility of something for nothing. We like free so much that we even wrote it into the last line of our national anthem.
So, while I personally don’t have anything to give away to you today, I do have these wonderful ideas for you on some freebies you might want to consider this summer….
1. Back in the month of May, the lovely folks who make Reason software offered some great free music lessons that are currently still available. You should run, not walk…run to their site to learn how to take your music production to the next level. Fantastic videos.
2. Maybe making music is not your thing, but how about listening to music? Then check out Spotify – a seriously cool new service that has just become available in the US. It legally let’s you listen to any music you want and right now you can get a free membership by clicking this affiliate link for Klout. Once you signup you’ll receive a free account PLUS you’ll help me get an upgraded Spotify account. Win Win.
3. Here’s yet another site you need to know about. I have doubled (& possibly tripled) my music collection thanks to the crew at Noisetrade. When you get there you can browse by **Artist, Album, or even For Fans Of, which lets you put in artists you like to discover ones you might not have heard of just yet. Preview the full tracks, & if you like what you hear, trade them your email address for their music. Does not cost a thing – free! (You can leave a tip, but that is up to you).
4. If you still don’t have enough free music, try out this site – Come And Live. While you’re there you can download even more great albums for free. If you would like, you can donate at Come And Live to help support “musicianaries” (like myself), but the main idea is to download the music & share it with people if you like it. (referred to me by @extremehick)
5. I’m sure everyone has heard of, if not tried, Pandora Radio at some point. I love to use it in the mornings to pretend I’m rich. I’ll explain – remember early in the movie “The Family Man” where Nicolas Cage is rich and not quite the best version of himself yet? The classical music is blaring as he steps out of his posh bathroom. And, even though the point of the scene is that he’s not the ideal role-model at this particular point in the movie, when I saw that, I liked the thought of having classical music playing in my house as I prepared for the day. So somedays, when I have extra time to get ready I will pull up Pandora (which already has my YoYo Ma playlist set up) and pump the classical tunes. It’s a fun way to start the day plus what is it kids? That’s right!! FREE.
6. You know this, but if you’re like me, I sometimes forget the resources available to me. This summer I’m searching out and watching some amazing concerts & music videos on YouTube (much like the classic one below). This video is for all my drumming friends. Even if you are not a drummer, check out this video. It holds the key to unlocking your inner rhythm – the MULLET!
tuesday 10 – hit the “links”
I know – bad pun – but usually in the summer I love to hit the golf course (aka – “the links”) with my brothers and dad. Unfortunately that isn’t possible right now, but when they visited last week we did get in a quick round of golf at a local course.
Regardless, I thought today would be the day to share some great links, sites, recipes, & music for this summer day. So without anymore stalling here is what I have for your various interests:
Summer Listening
1. I unintentially came across this group – The Brilliance – the other day and it’s all I’ve been listening to lately (in fact I’m listening to it while I write this now). If you enjoy piano & beautiful string arrangements, or perhaps just need an album to turn on after a long day, then you definitely want to check out The Brilliance Music. My current favorite track is “The Sun Will Rise”, but honestly there isn’t a bad track on this sweet little album.
2. My good friend Jason Benson, along with his team, put out their first album of original songs last month. The album is called “You Are God” and I had the chance to listen to it (for 3+ hours) on a recent drive. It is cool album with songs you can immediately use at your church, plus charts are available for download free from their site.
I have a few copies available for $10, OR if you would rather preview the tracks before you purchase, then go to their Download Album Page.
3. This is ridiculously amazing!
What are you listening to this summer?
4. This idea falls somewhere between music & reading and is my summer challenge to you…Try to take 15-30 minutes each day during the summer and read something, or watch a tutorial video. Work on increasing your skill/knowledge in an area that interests you. I’ve been challenging myself lately by digging into Ableton Live’s Launch Pad & software. Hopefully this will make it’s way into some upcoming songs & perfomances.
Summer Reading
5. Ever get your best thoughts in the shower? An interesting article on why this happens, with record producer Brian Eno over at the99percent.com.
6. I’m currently reading the Kindle versions of “Poke The Box” by Seth Godin, “The Accidental Creative” by Todd Henry, and “Prodigal God” by Tim Keller. (sidenote: if you have not downloaded the Kindle software for any of your devices you are missing out. The Kindle software is great because you can put it on almost all of your mobile devices, plus your computer. So whenever I have wait time I can pull up a book and keep reading.) These books are all challenging me in various ways and I am really enjoying it.
What are you reading this summer?
Summer Viewing
7. Holy W O W Batman!!
8. I still love watching Michael Jordan highlights.
What movies, shows, or concerts are you watching this summer?
Summer Cooking
9. We were driving by our friends’ house the other night when they waved us down and forced us to stop and have smore’s with them. Check out these great ways to enhance an already awesome dessert. The Smore’s Maker…
and now at your local grocery store… the Stacker Mallow!!
10. Delicious & easy fish tacos. Felic and I made these the other night and half way through the meal I revealed to the kids that they were eating fish tacos. They were shocked! Great recipe from over at pinkofperfection.com.
What fun foods are you cooking this summer?
Thanks for checking out the Tuesday 10 – see you later this week…