Where Have I Been?

Great question! Seems like I dropped off the face of the planet for a while... may as well have...
We've taken on some extra work in music - some at a church, some at a school and one as a "judge" for a pretty huge music competition that is going on.

I'm being introduced to a lot of new music and artists I've never heard of before. As with any contest, there are plenty of not-so-great submissions, but I tell ya, I've found a few pearls and I'm pretty stoked about several of them, and I'll be blogging about these new (and not-so-new,) undiscovered artists shortly.

Right off the bat, though, let me post my disclaimer :) I am not paid to endorse any artist - in addition, I don't know these artists personally, so there are no "favors" going on here. I'll simply be writing honestly about what and who I like, for whatever reason. I won't bother posting about artists I don't like - what's the point? Lastly, I have a wide range of music styles that I like - right now, however, I am mostly being introduced to the music of female singer/songwriters, so that's where I'll be starting. The styles are anywhere from Joni Mitchell to Sarah McLachlan to Fiona Apple to John Mayer (yes, I am aware he is not female - the style, people, the style ...) The content of my choices will also be extremely wide - I don't care if the musician is gay or straight, Christian, Jewish or Buddhist, purple or green, single or divorced or swears...if it is good solid music, I will write about it.

The up side to all this new work is, it's steady and allows me to spend more time composing at home, and to do homework with/play with my son. The down side is I don't have as much free time to perform outside my city, or market Stardust, or do much social networking. We can't do it all. But I am okay with that.

Which brings to my first artist - check out Jenny Bruce. http://www.goodgirl.com and http://www.myspace.com/jennybruce

She is an awesome singer/songwriter whose last blog (under "journal") on October 8 2007, http://www.goodgirl.com/newjournal.html#October_8,_2007, is titled exactly that - You Can't Do It All.

She is the real deal - an amazing writer, singer, mother who put the career on hold a little while back for her kids. I know first hand the struggle of being in music and being a Mom and trying to do it all - trying to do it all well. I can't. But I have a great kid, and for now he is my most important composition. My hat is off to Jenny Bruce - her latest CD, "Left of July," is solid good music from beginning to end. There wasn't a single track I didn't get pulled into. Her songs have been featured in network shows, and she is a Billboard song contest winner. She gets a high five from Cher-Baby and 5 stars for being a great musician and a cool mom.

Check out Jenny Bruce's CD, "Left of July," available online at her website, at CDBaby and on iTunes. Check out her other CD's while you're there.

Okay, off to the other work :) Glad to be back.