The preacher, the man, my friend...Grandpa

I thought I'd reminisce a little this morning.  

Sure miss grandpa who passed Sunday a week and a day ago.  What a special, unique guy!!!   Pancakes...he could make some pancakes now.  Super thin and just a little crispy on the outside.

And love...he had some love for everyone.  Hugs that were genuine and tight, so you really knew how much he meant it.   

I think he was probably the last of the true believers.  You know the dedicated kind of believer who doesn't need to entertain any other belief system. Sure,  that made him simple, but he was simple by choice...choosing to believe in a personal relationship with God as he understood him.  And it was that unique and very special relationship that shaped his character and life for 93 years. 

You could believe in God it seemed a little easier when you were around him, I think.  Not because of what he preached, but because of how full his own life seemed to be, and rich the surroundings of other people seemed to make him.   

After all, we love others because the love of God is in us.  If that is the measure of a man and  his spiritual condition, then grandpa was in great shape.   I never knew anyone who took so much joy from knowing and loving others.  

There are people who touch your life while they live.  And then there are those whose death creates the spirit of their life in you.  For me, that's evidence eternal.  

The greatness of his life is the impact he left on all of us.   What a man...what a friend...what a grandpa!!!

SayItBySong.com is for New Artists

Well, I've been having fun setting up this site.   Started last year with a simple idea...take a great song, find the apparent summarized message(usually in the chorus of course), then clip it.  Add the lyrics in video form, and "wooo-lah" a song message is born.  


But what's so hard about that really?   Well, the unique feature about a Song Message is text-ability.   A Song Message is not an e-card since an e-card is emailed.  A Song Message is text-able.  You can text it to a friend via your mobile device.  


The little video-song-clips are small enough that you can send 'em through your phone like a text.  There are still a few kinks and quirks to work out, but the system and method works really well for the most part, especially on Android and iPhones and over 200 other handheld phones.  


I decided to go with songs that are popular radio songs from all genres of music at first and then promote it to NEW ARTISTS as a way of helping them promote their own music.   Each song can be linked to an iTunes account for purchase if someone likes the new artists' Song Message.


The guys programming the whole thing are really phenomenal.  Robert Maltby is our main programmer and he has done such a fantastic job getting it programmed and scripted.  He is still working out the kinks with the search bar feature, but he'll get it working perfectly.  Meanwhile, you can browse through the categories of songs as they are divided according to Aritst, Genre, Topic, Holiday, Birthday etc.


Be sure to check it out and text a Song Message to a friend sometime throughout the day.  It'll make 'em smile!!!

Missin' You Feeling... getting radio play. ALRIGHT!!!!

Missin' You Feeling

I wanted to tell you about my new song, Missin' You Feeling.  Take a listen to see what you think.

Missin' You Feeling is obviously about missing someone, and I tried to capture that feeling in this song. You can decide for yourself.  One of the things I like about it is the feel.  I think I got the tempo right too.  It kind of lilts along to an understated mid-tempo groove instead of a sappy romantic ballad.

I had fun writing it and remember driving in the car with Cher...my dearest friend in all the world.
I asked her what kinds of words she could come up with to describe the moon.  We were thinking about all the ways the moon can make us feel, and one of her descriptions was, melancholy.   A "melancholy moon" was the term she used.  I thought it made for a perfect first line to the song, which goes like this... "There's a melancholy moon hangin' over the bayou in an empty sky..."

I've included a picture of the cover art we used for the single release, created by Thompkins Media Group.

Thanks to radio promoter, TC Thompkins, the new single is getting radio play in Alexandria, LA on KISS FM 98.7. DJ, Jay Stevens, is playing it on hia Mellow Moods program every Sunday night from 9pm-12am. It is also being picked up on these stations as well,
Monitored airplay: WEIB/Springfield, MA KQXT/San Antonio, TX (Jazz show on A/C station)
Smooth Jazz airplay: WBZC/Burlington, NJ (Philadelphia) WCHG/Hot Springs, VA Smooth Jazz Australia/Sydney, AUS KHIHonline.com/Internet TM Studios/Music sampler used for retail in store airplay, armed forces radio, etc. KTSU/Houston, TX KPVU/Houston, TX KUNV/Las Vegas, NV, WJAB/Huntsville, AL WTCC/Springfield, MA WMWM/Salem, MA KCOZ/Springfield, MO JazzNet247.com/Internet.

You can download it now at iTunes.  Thanks for your support friends, family and fans!!!

    

Me...rapping on an old song remake.

Well, I had a blast doing a remake of my old uptempo song, You Make Me Look Pretty. It's a classic A/C - Pop tune that I wrote several years ago. In the mid 90's, the original version was hip - but in this era, some of the sounds were dated. I downloaded it into my garage band and used the same original track, then added a few cool sounding drum loops. In the music bridge section, I rapped over it. Never did that before, but it was fun. Wouldn't call it a real rap, but it was close enough and didn't sound all that bad, I guess...

you can decide.

If you want to check it out, go to Jango Internet Radio or its also available on iTunes