big 'ol sky
what a beautiful life. there’s so much to see, so much to do, and so many places to go. i feel super-grateful that at this point in my “career” i get to live so large. from the long, slow spring of new england to the april lushness of the south, the second quarter of 2019 has been a cornucopia of joy. the van gogh brothers wrap their “school year” dates at vincent’s worcester on saturday, may 4th- “Quattro de Mayo”— thank you for the hilarious moniker, john wheatley!
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i had an amazing trip to nashville, memphis and new orleans earlier this spring. I met with several publishers, reps and radio people all in advance of our forthcoming (really!) album. after a day of meetings in nashville, I met the folks at made in memphis entertainment, hall of fame writer david porter’s new company and new partner to my LA publishers, heavy hitters. all in all a fantastic trip with a return scheduled for early june to write in nashville and to work with MIME execs in memphis. amazing.
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record production continued in April with david minehan at woolly mammoth and we now have mixes of 16 new tracks. i will re-track vocals with our new gear on a couple of the previously-recorded songs in may and june and we will most likely knock one or two of the original tracks off the album, with final tracks ready for mastering in july. progress.
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i’ve had the pleasure of working with new distributor distrokid, as well as the American Music Licensing Collective this spring on issues that are far-reaching for music as we enter the age of the “Music Modernization Act” passed by congress earlier this year. this work is a continuation of my career in music modernization and democratization that began in 1998 with eMusic, where we invented the $.99 mp3 download. i am blessed to remain relevant in an industry i love.
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i will also return to LA in May and June, with trips to New York and Outer Cape Cod fitted in + a move to a free-standing space in Newton where I can write 24/7, a must-have at this stage of the game, as my best work is usually done between 4 and 7 AM.
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thanks to all who have come out to vincent’s for our regular shows in that special, namesake bohemian music room. we look forward to a last hurrah with you on May 4th before summer.
see you soon,
JC