Let's end the speculation and share the latest in the "kaleidoscopic" saga...
MUSIC--are you beautiful?
If you are, then your beautiful soul and its bootylicious body-temple will be diggin' on bella soul!
http://www.bellasoulmusic.com/
www.myspace.com/bellasoulmusic
www.twitter.com/bellasoulmusic
We're back in the saddle in a big way, with an unprecedented rollout that demands we show up and show off with all cylinders blazing. A few months ago, I had a cold and lonely moment in my basement where I totally disassembled the Lady Blue music repetoire binder, not really too certain when or if another scenario would happen anytime soon. Fast forward to today, where we are now looking at new originals, new cover tunes, new re-workings of a few Lady Blue nuggets, and new playmates to share all the fun with! When Joe Lawler from Juice called yesterday (his blog is here) about featuring us on the "Meet The Band" page, I told him that this was a fusion of rock and soul, as I myself am, given my chocolate and vanilla genetic status, and that the vibe was very Aretha meets Ann Wilson. I also said rather incredulously that we intend to explore a wide range stylistically, and that given the current soup state of the music industry, I believe the future belongs to those rulebreaking niche-defiant renegades who dare to step out and pull what I'll call a Schwarzenegger; in other words, everything supposedly wrong about you according to the status quo, yet you manage to spin it all into your own uniquely compelling artistic expression. Need proof of this prophecy? Two words: Susan Boyle (relive the amazing 7-minute moment here).
In the interim, I've learned a few things about myself as a musician and as a person, the main one being how lacking in joy I can be. I used to hang out with a friend named Joy, and we would joke that she was Joy and I was Sorrow. The saying goes, there's no such thing as a happy genius. I would like to prove that theory wrong, in music and in life. I am simply fed up with wasting time, spinning wheels, being beholden to illusionary faux-rules that have absolutely no basis in reality, once you back up far enough to see them clearly. I've reached an exciting, if a little inconvenient, point on my journey where I'm just in the mood to perform what I want, when I want, where I want, how I want. Not in some selfish, controlling way, but setting a new unselfish standard of boundry-less musical freedom. So watch out world, bella soul is coming to rain down a storm of musical power and joy on your beautiful soul.
BUSINESS--the kaleidoscope is changing...
I like to think of it as graduating actually. After banging our heads too many times against too many walls, plans for a studio re-launch have been put on the backburner for now, as we continue to tie up loose ends from the Urbandale 104th Street days. It's been weird, but good, showing up for projects at other studio settings, such as Andy's basement for my SNAFU guest spot (www.myspace.com/thebandsnafu), Logan's house for my Dustin Smith guest spot (http://www.loganchristianaudio.com/ and www.myspace.com/dustinsmithmusic), and several times at http://www.livingsoundstudio.com/, where we've been fortunate enough to rehearse with the band the last two weeks. Bittersweet though it may be, I once again have learned a lot about the business of recording, and the business of business itself.
We are "hearing new visions and seeing new songs". Our kaleidoscopic dreams are by no means dead, they will be resurrected in what we are calling The Kaleidoscope Musical Initiative, a project that will not be limited by the scope of only one little business effort in Des Moines, but will literally reach out far beyond what we've ever dared to imagine before. Keep scoping out the scope...it's coming soon, really it is. In the last 3 years, we've put many of our own musical dreams on the backburner, in order that we might help others, and learn more of what we need to move forward when the time came to revisit them.
That time is now. These transitional months have not been without disappointment, disillusionment, probably a little of every negative "dis" word you could think of. Along with some vocal coaching, junior high mentoring, consulting on and contributing to others' artistic endeavors, the focus is finally swinging back to performing. During the Lady Blue days, we basically performed in between times we could get away from the business. Now we're going to practice our entrepreneurship in and around performing.
This blog is shifting and clarifying its focus. The appearance and content will be changing to reflect the new Kaleidoscope Musical Initiative, and all of its aspirations. I'll be weighing in more often at, you guessed it, the blog at www.bellasoulmusic.com. Please consider hooking up with us throughout our various social media outlets, and let us know how we can support and promote all of your good kaleidoscopic creatiVEntures!
Some tunes to end a blog with:
www.twiturm.com/38rc
www.twiturm.com/phbi
01 April 2009
A fusion of project review and love letter...
If you know me even a little bit, you know that Stevie Nicks has been my all-time top musical she-ro ever since my childhood. Fast forward to this week, which sees the release of Stevie's newest product, the Live in Chicago Soundstage CD and DVD. It's a lovely tribute to someone more than just an artist, but an enduring, multi-platinum selling, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame icon, who has above all remained true to herself and to her own personal "brand" for 40 years.
Let's just get this out of the way first and foremost: Stevie is 60, and she is hot...slammin' hot! Still workin' those fringy shawlish ensembles and the platform boots, every twirl, bounce, and high kick clearly shows that she's still got the goods. The wispy haziness has been replaced by a fiery wide-awake maturity with passion gloriously undiminished.
You know Stevie can do absolutely no wrong in my book, but I'll still do my best to be objective here. The setting itself strikes a strange vibe, as it isn't quite full-blown rock concert-size but isn't quite intimate either, being shot in a very controlled set, with a very controlled, politely enthusiastic audience. As for the song selection, Stevie has always been at her best in the extremes, succeeding with extraordinary resonance in the lowest lows (How Still My Love) to the highest highs (Fall From Grace, Enchanted). She also scores in her non-original cover interpretations (Crash Into Me by Dave Matthews, Circle Dance by Bonnie Raitt, and of course the big finale of Rock and Roll by Led Zeppelin). Unfortunately she has always spent more time than necessary in a "mid-tempo" mode, where the songs aren't quite as danceable or singable, and admittedly comes pretty close to self-indulgence. Heck, she goes way over the line here and there, but guess what? It's Stevie, rock's most beautiful gypsy survivor emeritus; and by weaving her mystical poetic spell the way that only she can, all is well, and she gets away with what for other artists would be called murder.
There is no such thing as too many versions of Gold Dust Woman, Rhiannon, and the "white winged dove" song--Edge of Seventeen, all delivered in stunning new renditions here. And when Stevie sings Landslide for the umpteenth time, it feels even more potent now that, at last, she and all of us are really "getting older, too." These moments of songwriting brilliance, sophistication, and perception, show us once again why Stevie is a legend. In a way, she's always been about the beauty of moments even more than whole songs, the staggering impact of certain lines delivered with certain "hauntingly familiar" emphasis.
As an artist myself, I am so different than Stevie on the surface. I don't look or sound a bit like her. And yet more than anyone else, she has without a doubt been my greatest inspiration. She was the first rock and roll woman who refused to sacrifice the femininity of her identity. Other women throughout rock history have come across too much as either one of the ragged jagged guys, or overtly sexual to the point of excruciating excess. Stevie has always been, is now, and will always be not just a woman, but a Lady. While watching this new gift of her artistry at 3:00 a.m., I celebrated along with her all the things we both have made it through; still singing, dancing, twirling, and weaving musical spells for all those who care to embrace us. You may or may not embrace me; however, you MUST embrace the original Lady of Rock, Stevie Nicks. It's true that not all her studio projects have showcased her the best over the years (combination of substandard production values, performances, and well-documented personal sagas). But over time, the body of work ultimately tells the story. Both solo and with Fleetwood Mac (with whom she is on tour right now), the story of Stevie is a story of a conqueror, whose failures in life have always been overcome and ultimately overshadowed by her greatest success, a splendid 40-year marriage to her music and to her fans, of which I will forever be one of her most devoted.
Let's just get this out of the way first and foremost: Stevie is 60, and she is hot...slammin' hot! Still workin' those fringy shawlish ensembles and the platform boots, every twirl, bounce, and high kick clearly shows that she's still got the goods. The wispy haziness has been replaced by a fiery wide-awake maturity with passion gloriously undiminished.
You know Stevie can do absolutely no wrong in my book, but I'll still do my best to be objective here. The setting itself strikes a strange vibe, as it isn't quite full-blown rock concert-size but isn't quite intimate either, being shot in a very controlled set, with a very controlled, politely enthusiastic audience. As for the song selection, Stevie has always been at her best in the extremes, succeeding with extraordinary resonance in the lowest lows (How Still My Love) to the highest highs (Fall From Grace, Enchanted). She also scores in her non-original cover interpretations (Crash Into Me by Dave Matthews, Circle Dance by Bonnie Raitt, and of course the big finale of Rock and Roll by Led Zeppelin). Unfortunately she has always spent more time than necessary in a "mid-tempo" mode, where the songs aren't quite as danceable or singable, and admittedly comes pretty close to self-indulgence. Heck, she goes way over the line here and there, but guess what? It's Stevie, rock's most beautiful gypsy survivor emeritus; and by weaving her mystical poetic spell the way that only she can, all is well, and she gets away with what for other artists would be called murder.
There is no such thing as too many versions of Gold Dust Woman, Rhiannon, and the "white winged dove" song--Edge of Seventeen, all delivered in stunning new renditions here. And when Stevie sings Landslide for the umpteenth time, it feels even more potent now that, at last, she and all of us are really "getting older, too." These moments of songwriting brilliance, sophistication, and perception, show us once again why Stevie is a legend. In a way, she's always been about the beauty of moments even more than whole songs, the staggering impact of certain lines delivered with certain "hauntingly familiar" emphasis.
As an artist myself, I am so different than Stevie on the surface. I don't look or sound a bit like her. And yet more than anyone else, she has without a doubt been my greatest inspiration. She was the first rock and roll woman who refused to sacrifice the femininity of her identity. Other women throughout rock history have come across too much as either one of the ragged jagged guys, or overtly sexual to the point of excruciating excess. Stevie has always been, is now, and will always be not just a woman, but a Lady. While watching this new gift of her artistry at 3:00 a.m., I celebrated along with her all the things we both have made it through; still singing, dancing, twirling, and weaving musical spells for all those who care to embrace us. You may or may not embrace me; however, you MUST embrace the original Lady of Rock, Stevie Nicks. It's true that not all her studio projects have showcased her the best over the years (combination of substandard production values, performances, and well-documented personal sagas). But over time, the body of work ultimately tells the story. Both solo and with Fleetwood Mac (with whom she is on tour right now), the story of Stevie is a story of a conqueror, whose failures in life have always been overcome and ultimately overshadowed by her greatest success, a splendid 40-year marriage to her music and to her fans, of which I will forever be one of her most devoted.
27 March 2009
If only we could sing away all the pain...
Throughout our time in the Urbandale studio, and now ensconced in "the studio of life", it has been our aspiration to make music "kaleidoscopically" and help others do the same. Someone said "the best way to predict the future is to create it." So in this transitional season, we've bravely allowed ourselves to dream, wish, spend valuable time in what Julia Cameron (The Artist's Way) calls "the i-magic-nation."
The personal reflections born during this time have had a lot more to do with "how NOT to do music kaleidoscopically" than "how TO do music kaleidoscopically." It's been a time of backing up from the musical universe in which we've been so enmeshed. When you're too close to something, you can't see it clearly. Only when you back up does the fuzzy picture come into focus. And as wacky, weird, wild, way-out-on-a-limb as this might sound, here's a little of what's been percolating:
If only we could...
sing away all the dysfunctional, out-of-balance, self-destructive, world-destructive crap
sing away all the disease, the disasters, the disgrace
sing away all the depression and anxiety
sing away all the harm, the hopelessness, the hate
sing away all the headaches and heartaches
sing away all the greed, illusion, and disillusionment
sing away all the small and shallow thinking and feeling
sing away all the milquetoast mediocrity passed off as the standard
sing away all the pain, SING AWAY ALL THE PAIN...
So much of what transpires in musicmaking, both onstage and off, doesn't really amount to a hill of beans. Sorry, but it's true; and not just true, but very overwhelmingly obviously true. And yet we go on, both as artists and audience, making our choices based on an insane, out-of-control web of untruth. I'm not elaborating any farther, it's something each of us has to arrive at our own conclusions about (but I'd be happy to dive in further with you over "brandy and cigars" sometime!).
The nature of a root can be known by its fruit. So I humbly ask you to look, listen, back up, question, and thoughtfully analyze the fruit of our musicmaking system. At that point, you may realize that we've been put on a planet in desperate need of the healing power that music possesses. You may wake up and say to yourself, "Sucker!" You may even start creating some plans of your own to do music differently, truthfully, kaleidoscopically!
Please don't think that we think we could dare say what the truth really is, on this or any other matter. It's very simple. We just want what is best, for both artists and audience, for both ourselves and you. I hope you are reminded from the statements above that we as world-citizens have a ton of "singing away" to do. And we need new paradigms and procedures about the power of music and all art, that will enable us to do the maximum musical healing we were put on the planet to do.
If only we really could sing (and play) away the world's pain. Guess what? We can...and we must.
The personal reflections born during this time have had a lot more to do with "how NOT to do music kaleidoscopically" than "how TO do music kaleidoscopically." It's been a time of backing up from the musical universe in which we've been so enmeshed. When you're too close to something, you can't see it clearly. Only when you back up does the fuzzy picture come into focus. And as wacky, weird, wild, way-out-on-a-limb as this might sound, here's a little of what's been percolating:
If only we could...
sing away all the dysfunctional, out-of-balance, self-destructive, world-destructive crap
sing away all the disease, the disasters, the disgrace
sing away all the depression and anxiety
sing away all the harm, the hopelessness, the hate
sing away all the headaches and heartaches
sing away all the greed, illusion, and disillusionment
sing away all the small and shallow thinking and feeling
sing away all the milquetoast mediocrity passed off as the standard
sing away all the pain, SING AWAY ALL THE PAIN...
So much of what transpires in musicmaking, both onstage and off, doesn't really amount to a hill of beans. Sorry, but it's true; and not just true, but very overwhelmingly obviously true. And yet we go on, both as artists and audience, making our choices based on an insane, out-of-control web of untruth. I'm not elaborating any farther, it's something each of us has to arrive at our own conclusions about (but I'd be happy to dive in further with you over "brandy and cigars" sometime!).
The nature of a root can be known by its fruit. So I humbly ask you to look, listen, back up, question, and thoughtfully analyze the fruit of our musicmaking system. At that point, you may realize that we've been put on a planet in desperate need of the healing power that music possesses. You may wake up and say to yourself, "Sucker!" You may even start creating some plans of your own to do music differently, truthfully, kaleidoscopically!
Please don't think that we think we could dare say what the truth really is, on this or any other matter. It's very simple. We just want what is best, for both artists and audience, for both ourselves and you. I hope you are reminded from the statements above that we as world-citizens have a ton of "singing away" to do. And we need new paradigms and procedures about the power of music and all art, that will enable us to do the maximum musical healing we were put on the planet to do.
If only we really could sing (and play) away the world's pain. Guess what? We can...and we must.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)