From Me...
Hi Friends,
All kinds of good stuff happening this Spring…the weather is
warming up and hay fever season is finally waning a bit…the pollen has been
terrible around these parts…I’ve been getting by fine in recent years using
only Jedi mind-tricks and the occasional over-the-counter meds…this year I’ve
also started taking wheat grass tablets and that’s been helping too…but I’ve
still had to resort to the pills more than in past years…looking forward to
Summer!
This past month was a lot of fun musically. We had our first
“Willie Nelson’s Birthday Bash” at The Wild Goose and our 12th
annual “Bob Dylan’s Birthday Bash” too. Both were great and there are video
links below.
I’ve also started competing in our newly revived “Rogue Poetry
Slam”. It’s been a real challenge to read my lyrics as performance poetry. I’ve
done all right so far but I have plenty of room for improvement. I’m really
enjoying this venue for my stuff and it’s refreshing to perform for a room full
of people who not only listen to words, but actually enjoy them.
My new album “Already There” should be done and posted on my
site soon and I’m very happy with it. I’ll send out a separate announcement
when it’s up on my site…
Samarra’s busiest season with teaching Tango is coming to a
close and we’re looking forward to having more time to spend together. Her
sister Serae is about to have her first baby so Samarra will be going up to
Canada later in June to be there for the birth, but after that things should
open up schedule-wise for us.
So here we go…starting with the usual information about where
to find my music, videos and pictures, including information about new
projects, and then followed by information about local shows in case you’re in
the Rogue Valley.
By the way, if you've gotten to this point, I thank you. I’m
offering all this stuff in a “just in case you’re interested” spirit. I really
don’t expect most people to even make it this far.
So…in case you’re interested…
Recorded Music
My latest album, soon to be second latest, is called “Why Start
Now” and like all my other albums (28 so far…), it’s available for downloading
free or with a donation at my website: www.GeneBurnett.com
I’m very close to completing what’s turning into my “annual
Spring album”. The title is “Already There” and I hope to have it finished
soon. The recording itself is complete and I’m very happy with it. I just have
to finish all the logistics involved in getting hard copies into the world as
well as getting it uploaded to my site. I’ll send out a separate email as soon
as it’s available.
Videos In General
Overall Mission: I post a lot of videos on youtube, over
700 so far! I'm not trying to build a fan base...In fact, I'm not trying to
build anything. I'm not expecting you or anyone else to follow what I'm doing
or watch all of these videos. Posting videos is just part of my overall plan to
make my music (and my T’ai-Chi and Nature videos too) as freely available as possible
and see what freely comes back. I think of each video as sort of like a message
in a bottle...and more I toss out there the more likely one of them will land
on a friendly shore and something good will come back to me. So here are some
video links in case you're interested:
How to Find My Videos: First of all, I've set up a "Videos" page on my website (www.GeneBurnett.com) with a menu similar to what you see
below as well as a digital tip jar in case any of you want to contribute to my
cottage industry. Every little bit helps and not just financially.
I've also set up some blogs that make navigating and viewing my
various videos much easier. You can go to any of these blogs and see thumbnails
for all of the videos posted there. Scroll across the thumbnails and you will
see the titles of each video. Click on it and a page will open that will let
you watch the video right there without going to youtube. My latest videos are
always in the upper left hand corner.
To see all of my Music videos in one easy to navigate place,
click here: The Unforced Videos
To see all of my T'ai-Chi videos in one easy to navigate place,
click here: The Unforced Movement
To see all of my Nature videos in one easy to navigate place,
click here: The Unforced Nature
For a quick and easy way to sort through, listen to, or
download all of my albums free or with a donation, click here: The Unforced Music
To see my regular blog “The Unforced Life”, click here: The
Unforced Life
To visit my youtube channel and possibly subscribe, click
here: My Youtube Channel
To see all of my youtube playlists click here: My Youtube Playlists
Some New Videos:
For Now (I performed this song at a recent
Hip-Hop Poetry Open Mike at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival)
Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other
(from the Willie Nelson’s 80th Birthday Bash Celebration)
Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die (from the
Willie Nelson’s 80th Birthday Bash Celebration)
If You Stop (A song about ambition, climbing and letting go…)
Don't Like Me Too Much (Rogue Fam
Jam) (A new song played by me and some musical friends at the Rogue Fam Jam
here in Ashland.)
Old
Guy Cell Phone Rant
(Just what it sounds like…)
“Cities and States” playlist below…
“Willie
Nelson’s 80th Birthday Bash” playlist below…
“Rogue
Poetry Slam” playlist below…
“Dylan
Night 2013” playlist below…
New Youtube playlists:
Rogue
Poetry Slam
(I’ve been competing in our local Rogue
Poetry Slams. A real challenge to read my lyrics as performance poetry…but I’m
doing OK so far…I’ve won one and come in second and third in two others…I’ve
got my performances from the last two slams here…)
Dylan Night 2013 (Featuring
highlights from the 12th annual Bob Dylan’s Birthday Bash Open Mike
as well as complete songs from me and a couple of my friends…)
Pictures
I've stopped posting pictures on facebook, (for many reasons),
and started posting them instead on Flickr, which I like much better.
Here's a link to my "home page" at Flicker: Photostream.
I have many photo galleries there but a few of my favorites are:
Small Miracles (mostly Nature related stuff)
The Dish Whisperer (I started posting a daily picture of my dish stacking
work over a year ago. This month I passed day 500. I have no idea how long I’ll
keep doing this. I’m so used to it, it hardly takes any effort at all to
continue. I made a video for my song “I'll Do The
Dishes Tonight” that
featured a slideshow of the first year. If I make it through this second year,
I may write a new “Dishes” song or use some other song I’ve already written to
make another video.)
"Head" and "Boot" (devoted to our two gerbils)
Upcoming Shows:
Monday, June 3rd, I'll be playing at one of my favorite
Ashland venues, Liquid Assets. A relaxed living room
vibe with great service, excellent food and wine, and a really nice place to
listen to music. I play from 8-10pm, maybe longer...
Wednesday June 5th, I'll be hosting my regular Themed Open
Mike at The Wild Goose. Usually this happens on the
First Wednesday of each month. This month's theme is "Number Songs",
so musicians and spoken word artists will be doing songs and poems that mention
a number in their title or within the song or poem. We're never too strict
or narrow about the themes for this event. The main idea is to focus our
attention a little to hopefully inspire and motivate us creatively. These
are always fun. No Cover at the friendliest bar in town. Sign-up is
7:30pm. Show starts at 8:00pm.
*A heads up for next
month: Wednesday July 3rd , 2013 “Love Gone Wrong”
Friday June 7th, I'll be playing at Paddy
Brannan's Irish Pub with my good friend Robbie Lindauer. We
play from about 9pm 'til around Midnight. Stop by after the First Friday Art
Walk for a pint and some music. I've always liked the friendly and fun vibe of
this place. I've done several First Friday shows here with Robbie and it's
becoming one of my favorite places to play.
Tuesday, June 18th, I'll be competing with many other
poets at the Rogue Poetry Slam which happens at Northwest
Pizza and Pasta in Ashland. Sign-up is at 7:30pm and the show
starts at 8. If you've never been to or competed in a Poetry Slam, I highly
recommend this one. Come to watch, compete, or be one of the judges. Some
people think of slams as hardcore hip-hop events or places where people are
mean and talk trash, but nothing could be further from the truth. All kinds of
poetry are welcome and people are very supportive. And it's so nice to
participate in an event which is all about the words, or in my case, lyrics.
For me it's really not about winning or losing, but just the fun of sharing my
words with people and seeing what happens.
Wednesday, June 19th, I'll be playing at The Wild Goose. Just
me solo from 8-11pm. Friendliest bar in town. Never a cover at The Goose. I
usually play here on the Third Wednesday of every month.
Saturday June 22nd, I'll be at The Downtowne
Coffeehouse in Talent, playing from 10am-Noon. Great acoustics, super
friendly neighborhood scene.
Sunday June 23rd, weather permitting, from 2:30-4:30pm, I'll
be playing at The Lithia Artisan's Market, behind the
Plaza in Ashland. Come support local music and art!
For more info on these and all of my shows, and to confirm that
there have been no cancellations, click here: Calendar
Since I'm putting this newsletter out once a month, it's
possible there may be a cancellation of a given show by the time it happens. Please
double check with my web calendar if possible to be sure the gig is still
happening. I'd hate to have you come out for nothing. Also another gig or two
might be added or times or locations might change, so do check the calendar for
the latest info.
Website
I continue to offer all of my albums for downloading, free or
with a donation at my website: www.GeneBurnett.com I started doing this about 5 years ago and considered it
a 5 year creative experiment. Well the 5 years are up and I've decided to start
calling it my "ongoing creative experiment" as I have no plans to
stop. Since I returned to my folk roots and stopped climbing, or trying to
climb, the industry ladder, I've been enjoying music in my life more than ever
before. And enjoyment, rather than achievement or worldly success has always
been dearest to my heart anyway. So now I focus totally on what I love most:
writing, recording, performing and sharing what I create. If other people like
it so much the better, but getting other people to like me or what I do is no
longer my goal or focus. I'm out to please myself first. I want to do my music
exactly the way I want to do it and see who likes it that way, not figure out
what people will like and try to do it that way. I put it out there freely and
see what comes freely back. So far so good. I've never had more success and
appreciation than I have since I started doing it this. Go figure.
Thanks, as usual, for your support and well wishes even if you
don't make to any shows. I hope this monthly format is working for you. It
certainly saves me a lot of time and energy to do this all at once.
GB
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