the trip, St. Louis power outages

a new 'working e.p.'

business trip

So, what's happening?

Well, I've been working on a lot of new music - I've got about 4 new pieces which are complete or virtually complete, and I'm pretty sure they will all be on the next CD. I'm very excited about all of them.

Aside from that, I've started working with a manager-type named James Lawrence. He came through my extended family - he's married to one of my many cousins, the wonderful Valerie - and I actually think she's a 2nd cousin or something like that...? You see, I don't really know because it's my mother's side of the family, and there are SO MANY people on my mother's side of the family. She's the 3rd of 17 children, just to give you an idea.

But anyway, I met James last summer at another cousin's wedding, and I knew he was working in entertainment management. I didn't pursue him at all, though. One day a couple of months ago, I responded to one of those surveys that friends e-mail you and etc., and I basically goofed on it while plugging my website. Valerie was on the address list, so she went to my website and directed James to it. They ordered my CD, and, a few weeks after that, I got an e-mail from James saying that he was interested in working with me.

So, you see, no nepotism! When I got to speak with James on the phone, I was very impressed with his honesty and his business sense. He explained to me why he was interested in working with me, and it was clear that it was because he felt I could reach a larger market. No BS or anything like that.

He and Valerie are also New Yorkers, and that interests me as well because if there's one city on earth I'd have an interest in having more of a presence in, it's New York, because there are a ton of people are resources there that could be of mutual benefit.

So, James would like to shoot a short, high-quality video to shop around to record labels. So, next month, I'll be visiting New York for the first time in my life.

I'm looking forward to it - I've wondered in the back of my mind when I'd be going. Looks like this is it.

I've actually been skeptical about record companies for a long time. I've been thinking along the lines of doing something self-run, actually. I mean, you have guaranteed and complete creative control and you keep ALL of the money from every sale. Those are the two big advantages that I know of.

But, alas, I'm not some kind of master businessman. So I'm open to the notion of record companies.

I have no concrete expectations for how these kinds of things will play out, and I never have. I just know who I am, what I do, and what it means, and I believe in it.