First, and foremost, here's the poster I spent a while working on (have I ever told you that I stink at Adobe??) to promote the Bitter End show on September 22nd.
For whatever reason, I'm getting jitters about this show, so do spread the flyer around if you can! Me, Jon the bassist and Dave the drummer could use all the support we can get. Somehow, band shows still make me kind of nervous. I guess I've just been solo-ing it for so long...
Oh, and since I am not scheduled to play in NY around my Birthday, which is October 11, then I guess this sort of becomes my early b-day celebration.
Maybe we'll have CAKE too???
Good friends Laura Dadap and Alex Sovronsky should be making appearances too, if that is enticing at all!
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Secondly, I've been thinking about moving out to L.A. sometime next year. Yes, seriously. Thoughts?
Last night's performance at "Walk the Talk" for Stop Child Trafficking Now was an eye-opening experience for me. I know there are a number of great organizations working towards eradicating child trafficking globally, but I think SCTN has a truly far-reaching approach to their work. Instead of attacking on the supply side - getting the girls and the pimps off the street, which is often temporary because of sheer numbers - SCTN attacks from the demand side. Now I don't know the specifics too well, but the idea is to work on prosecuting pedophiles and getting them into jail. Apparently, they can be prosecuted for 20 years to life for having sex with a minor - the problem is just that we aren't getting enough of these people arrested and jailed. Once arresting pedophiles becomes the norm, we can actually have a shot at curbing demand for child sex and we can shrink the market for this awful practice.
Please take a moment to check out Stop Child Trafficking Now's website and see what it's all about for yourselves. There's no reason any innocent child should have to be put through this atrocity: sctnow.org.
Also, somewhat in conjunction with this... I wanted to share the latest from Jeremy Manongdo (aka Passion). It's not dealing with child trafficking directly, but was just a shot of inspiration for me...a reminder to stop looking at ourselves and putting weight on our petty problems, but to start looking outward and gearing our lives towards others. I know this has been a challenge for me, but listening to this gave me motivation to change my perspective on this... life, music, everything: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jGLFBpeTKg.
By some strange alignment of the stars, or something else other-worldly, I came out of Kollaboration Acoustic 3 tying for the Grand Prize along with Mike Isberto. If you've been following me on Twitter or Facebook, you may know this already, but since this blog format allows me to ramble any way I please, I just have to express how totally surprising this outcome was for me. I recall prepping myself thinking that all that mattered was I sold some CD's, maybe made a few new fans and got to network with some other artists (who, by the way, were ALL fantastic! All tremendously friendly, making this East Coaster feel very welcome). So when they announced me as the other winner, I kind of did this: I looked to the audience - searching for someone to explain this descrepancy to me - and then put my hand to my mouth in an instinctive gasp, not really sure what just happened.
I played "Supergirl," which was my instinctive choice. Though I did reconsider the week before. Which song might I have played? I don't think I want to say. :)
Anyway, there is a lot more about my West Coast trip, but I'll save that for another post.
Tomorrow night, I am playing at "Walk the Talk," a fundraiser for Stop Child Trafficking Now. This is an event I'm really psyched to be a part of. Check out the event on Facebook here: http://bit.ly/4ILPP.
The night starts 6:30 pm at the Sage Theatre (711 Seventh Ave., NYC). Child trafficking is a cause that seems to always come back to me. I don't know if it's because the issue is so relevant to Southeastern Asia - though it truly IS in more places than people realize - or just because the thought of this horrendous practice is absolutely disgusting to me. Either way, I hope you'll come out and support this event! There will be a few other singer/songwriters and some video clips, plus the $15 admission includes a drink (alcoholic and non-alcoholic). Hope to see you there!
