Ups and Downs in La La Land

It is funny looking at my last post, because within days of writing it, I was informed that I got an honorable mention for the second year in a row in the country category in SongDoor's International Songwriting Contest......I was hoping that I would actually place in a category, but I am indeed honored to have my song, "Driven By Angels" looked at a little more closely and to be appreciated for my writing. Perhaps one day, I will place in a category and get, A FABULOUS PRIZE!! One of the cool things about the contest is that they give you a free trial of a service that has a lot of online classes in songwriting, and also opportunities to pitch music to the industry. For whatever reason last year, I did not take advantage of this. It is a 45 day trial, which is a good amount of time to do some pitching and check it out-because it is fairly expensive, so I did, and actually ended up pitching 3 songs.......

In the last few weeks I have learned a lot and have had some ups and downs. In this field, one day you think you are on to something and am making a break through-and then the next day, you feel defeated. I have been getting so much work done. A new milestone for me, was getting a small album into online retail stores. It is music that I'm very proud of; I took a risk and went outside of my comfort zone to make some music that is a bit more modern sounding for me, all with the help of Chad Johnson in Arcata, Ca. He took my music to a level I had not experienced, and because of that, I felt it was good enough to put out there, so you can now purchase a copy of "To the Bone" direct from itunes, cd baby, and amazon. I do hope you will check it out, and if so inclined, leave a review. They are really helpful. This was an "up".

not the best pic, but one from the evening.

While I was getting the album project together, I got a call to play another spot at the House of Blues. I had a great time when I played there before, in the Voodoo Lounge. This time I would be playing in the Foundation Room, which I had never been. I had a funny dream the night before. I went to the venue and walked in thinking I was in the right room. It was really happening with lots of people. Someone came over and said, "Oh, there has been a mix up and you are playing in another room", so I followed up some stairs and when I went in, there was just an old grisled looking man-and no-it was NOT Tom Waits! Well, when I had my actual gig at the house of blues, the opposite sort of happened. I thought I was in the right room and it was not really happening at all. They said I was upstairs-when I went upstairs there was a BEAUTIFUL room with nag champa and bohemian furniture with lots of people.......it turned out to be a really great show. (Also an "up" day)

The next day I got a call from a radio promoter who was interested in promoting my music. He was really nice and was up front that it was a service that you have to pay for, but they had reasonable rates and successes. I researched them and found out they were a really great company-I found lots of feedback from artists who used their services with great success, so I was all excited. An intern had given him a copy of "To the Bone" and he really liked it. But then I was thinking about all the things I had to do with my music-like the recordings I'm working on and have to pay for, and some other online things that cost money, and I also read that ideally you want to be touring or playing out when you are doing a radio promotion, and I'm really not there yet, so I had to explain my situation......it made me really down, but maybe I can look at it again in the future....

I got my spirits lifted though, when I went to Santa Monica for work and play, and got to hang out at my friend's amazing photography studio and take some new shots of me in this new place in life. I needed some updated photos for my website and some press kits, and everything I had was from humboldt with some nature theme in the background, which is great-but doesn't really represent me presently living in the big city, so we had great success taking some cool photos. Check out JaneVictoriaPhotography for our shoot. With those photos I was able to update my website with something a little different, so I created this banner:

I've always been really into hearts, so I also created this logo for myself from a free online vector, and "bohemianized" it to make it different and unique to my personality. I don't really have photo software, so it was through like 5 different sites that I created this. I also got to wear my heart necklace for the shoot.....I think it looks awesome on my website.

One of the things that gets me down, is I often get unsolicited offers from people who want to help me, but I don't know if they are just flaky, crazy, or busy or something, but it happens where they really like my music and reach out and want to offer some (free) help, and they say they have contacts and I check them out and they are being truthful, and it never happens. They just sort of disappear. I never know what to do in those situations. I think some people would probably get on them, but I don't want to be a pest. It's hard, but I am also busy and don't have time to chase after people. One of the things that I'm excited about though, is that I am learning a lot on my own, and feel more capable everyday. I am really starting to utilize some skills that I have been developing that are coming along, like being able to create this banner, to make myself look and feel more professional, so that when something comes up-I can have the confidence to show people what I have out there.

Tomorrow I start a class that I'm super excited about-it is through the prestigious Berklee School of Music! It is an intro to the music business class, and because I have sort of reached a brain drain on various legal issues that have plagued me, gotten me into messes, and the fact that I find out daily how naive I am about issues that could greatly effect me, I am glad that I am taking this to hopefully make allies and learn in a more formatted way. So wish me luck! Can't believe I am putting more on my plate, but, you only live once.......stay tuned for some projects coming up that I'm working on!

---Cynthia