Congratulations and Happy Birthday Ben N Jennifer Glen for being the grandest liker of them all! An iTunes album of your choice!!! Thank you! from the Ian Rhett Music Facebook page
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Just realized that at this point, the incentive to get over 1,000 likes might be backfiring, as people might be holding off… Sort of a standoff at the 1k Corral. Ah well, seemed liked a good idea at the time…. Still think it is. Like this post if you’re among the standoffish? from the Ian Rhett Music Facebook page
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I’m buying an iTunes record of the winner’s choice for being the 1000th “like” on my new music page. At 992!!! from the Ian Rhett Music Facebook page
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Someone from Nashville needs to write a break-up song about Taylor Swift changing so much leaving Nashville for New York. Without even leaving a note. Seriously, someone do this. And it’s not me. I’m happy to share Taylor with the rest of the world and to let her find her happiness wherever she wants. And I love New York and Nashville (and San Francisco, and yes, even weekend flings with LA) I’m poly-metropolitanous like that. I just think it would be a hit novelty song that’s very timely… so…? Go! from the Ian Rhett Music Facebook page
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So last night’s living room concert was awesome fun, though to be honest, I felt a little rusty. I’m noticing that this feeling really has a lot to do with the degree to which I feel fully free in expressing the emotion of a song. And last night I felt ever-so-slightly constrained. Could’ve been the tight quarters of a crowded living room, or the boots I was wearing (a little too tight and slippery on the floor), but I also think it had to do with not rehearsing as much as I’d’ve liked. Since I was packing up and getting ready for the roadtrip, I hadn’t been practicing/rehearsing so much. Part of consistent rehearsal is lubricating the muscle memory to make the mechanical part of the performance something that doesn’t take much mental energy. But I also don’t think it’s a zero-sum game, where there’s only X energy units to be shared between playing and emoting the song. I do think it’s about being able to fully connect with the emotion behind/in a song. Anyway, in rehearsals for the show, I noticed varying degrees to which I was able to fully let it rip and I was “on”, and other times when I stumbled. After last night’s performance, I am eager to take on a practice of performing with/from/in a context of “everything/all or nothing” instead of “pushing myself to do my best”. It’s a subtle shift, but I like the emphasis (and the experience) of fully revealing the emotive energy behind every song – of focusing expressing the energy instead of the structure of the music, if that makes sense. I do it to varying degrees all the time (I think this is true for many musicians, but I could be wrong), but I think my point is to declare this new practice in rehearsing and performance. So there. from the Ian Rhett Music Facebook page
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Mercury Cafe in Denver, CO on Tuesday 11/18! See you there! from the Ian Rhett Music Facebook page
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I’ve come to believe that life is a great big sandbox that we get to play in and create things like experiences or paintings or albums or children or jobs. I’ve also always felt that I could do anything I set my mind to, as well. Actually, I believe anyone can do anything they set their mind to, and I don’t exclude myself from “anyone”. Sometimes my mind comes up with big ideas that get me excited and often overwhelmed when I start to put things in action towards the envisioned Big Idea. Things are not as easy as they seem. If they were, everyone would be doing it, right?
I’m coming to learn that going after the Big Idea right out the gate is a recipe for disappointment, because my vision and aspirations always exceeded my capacity in terms of time, knowledge and/or resources.
Making my first record was a hyyyooooooge learning process for me. I feel like I’m so much better prepared for doing it again, now that I’ve gone through it and I’m looking forward to writing more new material and eventually recording it. Songs are still coming, which feels great.
Now, as I turn my attention putting the record out into the world, I’m coming up to what seems like another huge chasm – the promotion of a record. I’ve never been in the music business so I have no idea how it’s done. And to be fair to myself, the rules and winning strategies are changing all the time. Over the last few months, I’ve been contemplating a North America house concert tour, driving from Nashville to LA, up to Vancouver, across Canada to Chicago, then back to Nashville, and then a big East Coast loop.
But lining up house concerts in all 30 cities has felt a little overwhelming, since I don’t really know people in a lot of those places.
One of the big messages I’ve been getting back from the Universe is to take small steps. Taking “THAT” step doesn’t necessarily mean taking the giant leap. It does mean pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone, leaning into places that feel risky and scary. It’s only when we lean in like past the point of no return that the Universe answers with solid ground.
No one said your first (or any) steps have to be death-defying giant leaps of faith. They can be baby-steps, too. Just take them.
I’m sharing this here. So grateful and moved that this powerful message is emanating from Nashville, Tennessee. Wasn’t so long ago that the idea of praying for peace was considered a fringe, leftist ideology. Show ’em Reba. A new hero.
I’ve sent out most of the Kickstarter fulfillment packages. Kickstarter for some reason didn’t send all the surveys out so it’s been a lot of emailing, phone calling and manually updating the master list, then sending it all out. But it’s out, now and on its way to a couple hundred people. Pretty amazing.