Adele To Win Music Biz Award

From Billboard: The Music Business Association (Music Biz) announced on Monday that the British juggernaut will be crowned artist of the year at the upcoming Music Biz 2017 conference.

The singer's third album, 25, has been certified Diamond by the RIAA for selling 10 million copies. She went five for five at last month's Grammy Awards, winning album of the year, record of the year, song of the year, pop vocal album, and pop solo performance.

“Adele is a once-in-a-lifetime talent who has clearly struck an indelible chord with music fans all around the world,” said James Donio, president of Music Biz. "Her accomplishments are unprecedented, from the record-shattering success of 25, to the glowing reviews and sold-out audiences for her massive world tour, to her Emmy-nominated TV special Adele Live in New York City."

Read the rest HERE.

Stage Fright - Banish it Now

(Ed. note: Not really. Banish it, that is. "Stage fright" is just the human adrenal response. Happens when you perceive some level of stress - which in this case, just means you care.
The idea is NEVER to get rid of the fright, but to mitigate the negative effects and to use the adrenal response to your advantage.)

You're about to walk on stage, for a talk, a musical or theatrical performance, or similar. And suddenly....

Stage fright has famously effected many people, including Brian Wilson (Beach Boys), Megan Fox, Rhianna,Andre 3000, Katy Perry, Carly Simon, Barbera Streisand, Olympia Dukakis, Maya Angelou, Hugh Grant, Adele, and many others.

Some just suffer through it, struggling their entire careers with it. Some resort, quite famously, to drugs or alcohol or other unhealthy (and only temporarily effective) approaches.

I've seen all manner of articles on conquering stage fright. They offer all manner of advice, from "just get out there more often and you'll get used to it" to "imagine the audience naked" to "you have to address your negative thoughts and realize they aren't realistic" to "imagine positive images" to "visualize success" and many more.

While somewhat helpful, these are all woefully inadequate, ultimately, because they address psychology and ignore physiology.

GUITAR GODS: Cody Wright

Cody Wright: Remember that name. Awesome chops, excellent musicality, superb ear...and on his way up!

Currently playing in guitar master Eric Gales' band, Cody has also played with the likes of Michael Manring, Tommy Emmanuel, Victor Wooten, Stu Hamm, and others, and has received the highest praise from fellows like Greg Howe, Felix Pastorius, and a host of magazines, from Bass Player to Modern Drummer to iBass Magazine.

Cody also teaches via Scott Bass Lessons, and has a solo album coming out later this year. You can check him out on-line at Cody Wright.

I had a chance to chat with Cody recently - check it out!

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Poetry Series: RISE SISTER

~Rise Sister~

Liz Fink-Davenport

Rise up, sister. Rise up.

Because the mountain's jagged starts are the rocky soles of your shoes. Because the pump and pulse of the oil beneath the ground is your dark drum beat. Because your sleep is that of the fog tangled web in deep forests. Your sigh breathes Spring's warmth resuscitating the cold crusted earth. Steam rising. Lazarus the world. Your hands orchestrate the waltz of leaves on the wind and the stars in their falling from the heavens. Because when you rise, you rise the nations! The very depth and breadth of the planet feels your intake of breath, your setting shoulders square, your jaw clench and lift, your eyes flash white lightening electric determination. Your movement. Your forward steps.

So rise up. Move the world with you. Move the people with you. You hear the rush of the waterfall ahead? Row. Row to it. Like your very life depended on it. Be not afraid because you are made of that very wonder! Row to the sound of the roar and roar with it! Rise up and do that which you were made to do. 

Rise up.

 

editor's note - the original public post contained this preface:

"My play on Still I Rise (the gorgeous Maya Angelou poem that I adore) for Rachel Crabtree. Her birthday poem! Because she is going to do big things. I can just feel it."

Review: "FOREVER WORDS" by Johnny Cash

"...The lights are on past midnite
The curtains closed all day
There's trouble on the moubntain
The valley people say..."

A beautiful little book just came out earlier this year. Edited by none other than Pulitzer Prize winning poet Paul Muldoon (with introduction by Johnny's son, Grammy winning record producer John Carter Cash), it is, simply, a book of poems.

Poems written by the Man in Black: music legend Johnny Cash.

Poetry Series: FIST SIZED HEART

~Fist Sized Heart~

Liz Fink-Davenport

I can tell you that when I say I love you that I wish for more than words that form round sounds in my mouth, rolled around, tumbled out on the ground and wash away in dirty salt water streams. I want to gather sands from cold dark ocean pools in my pockets until I am heavy, white stars splattered across skies dragged close by the aching armful, the feathers of infinite cotton down blown in fields of milkweed warmed in my clenched fists, and all the lovers thoughts of all the hearts they may never fully hold pulled tight to me like a shawl. And because I can't say the words; they aren't even in a language that can be spoken from my lips to your ears. I put my hand on your chest and allow your heartbeat to pulse into my open palm. The rhythm moving up my arm and into my ribs and changing me. Electric stop of my heart. Restart to your beat. You are hearth and fire and home. And this familiar rhythm. It is the song my heart has always longed to sing. It only needed the metronome of you. In the soft milkweed nest of a fist. The size of a heart.

Poetry Series: PAPER WORDS

Paper Words

Liz Fink-Davenport

Don't ever underestimate the power of your lips forming a few select words that are tailor made for one soul. Cut and etched and delicately laid out. Like intricate paper dolls holding hands to form a thought. So unique. So rare. That the receiver holds them tenderly between trembling fingers and retouches. Rehears. Rereads. Until the joints are thin and start to tear. Those lace-sewn syllables made a quickened heart. A fast paced breath. A sigh. Eyes closed. Relished thoughts like the last roll of honey on the tongue. The sun as it warmly sets on the face. Leaving heat. Don't stop saying the words they need to hear. Don't stop sewing. Don't stop handing over paper dolls. It is with these small things that you hold a heart. They tie. Little. Paper. Hands holding.

The Truth About Learning Guitar

Everyone wants to learn to play guitar.

Okay, not everyone, but if someone walked up and said they had a magic button that, when pressed, would magically bestow guitar abilities, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who wouldn't push that button. Whether it's the dream of shredding in front of a packed stadium, the idea of strumming tunes by a fire pit with friends on a cool fall evening, or the desire to strengthen one's mind through music, playing the guitar is a skill that's on many people's bucket lists.

Learning guitar isn't as easy as pushing a button, but the ability to play simple songs, something most anyone would like to be able to do, is far more achievable than one might think. Obstacles do exist, and overcoming them is the cornerstone of effective learning approaches. As with most things, there's a right way and a wrong way to do this.

The advertising, marketing and publishing industries and ever-popular YouTube videos collude to promote false ideas that have become commonplace in the guitar industry. While on the surface, these sources ostensibly provide easy, do-it-yourself solutions to someone wanting to learn guitar, they are ultimately designed to do one thing – generate sales.

The outcome is predictable – the vast majority of learners come to the realization that the only realistic way to progress as a guitarist is to have a teacher to guide them. This is where the selection process begins. It is also the point where many students unknowingly determine whether they will or will not achieve their goals as a guitarist.

Poetry review: FLESHED

"Fleshed" is a fabulous little book by what I can only describe as a stunning writer. Twists and turns and fabulous word play...but always in the service of a piece with all the edge and precision of a sharped spear-head striking a bullseye into the emotional heart of the matter.

To wit:

"Therapy"

After I got
a diagnosis
& prescription
the doctor said
You need 
to keep in mind 
          – noncompliance 
is common 
for people 
with your condition. 

No it’s not 
I thought, then left
without paying
my copay

-----

That's the 7th of 15 wonderful poems in this book.

Worth every second. Worth every cent.

I'm looking forward to much more from Leigh Anne Hornfeldt in the future!

Find it here: FLESHED at Argus House Press

Poem Series: Sea Water Heart

~Sea Water Heart~

Liz Fink-Davenport

Gravity pulls tears down to the heart
that soaks them up like a sea sponge
<because this is where the boat capsized>
sucks it through the chest
gets drunk on it
greedily draws it up
fills it to weightiness
oh it's too hard to carry
ribs breaking cracking open
drops to knees
salt water heavy heart pours out hits against the floor
struggling to even beat
like a fish breathing out of water
watch it
slowing down
to a struggled, please stop this pain, death
but never
fully
released to a peaceful anything
nothing finished
because it's never finished
please count the death heaves, they are brutal
Like drowning on solid ground.
This is what heartbreak feels like.