From Gene Burnett
I’m almost done with the recording phase of my second album of
2014, “Crooked Love”. This one will be a double album for sure and will feature
several duets and trios with musicians I jam with regularly around Ashland. I can’t
wait to start mixing and really listen to all the great tracks my friends and I
have laid down. I don’t think I’ll do this again! But I do think it will sound
great. Hoping to have the mixing and mastering done by the end of September and
the actual album up on my site by the end of October.
I’ve also been working steadily on building strength,
particularly upper body strength since my back went out a few years ago.
Despite several set backs due mainly to the fact that my joints and soft tissue
generally are prone to injury, I persevered and happened on a method, finally,
that really works for me. See the video above. I’m very happy with this
development and it’s really been working wonders in my life. I’m significantly
stronger and improving practically daily and I’m not getting injured and my old
injuries are feeling better all the time. Good stuff.
Not a huge month for new videos but I did manage a few. Video links are included below.
My wife Samarra is now in grad school pursuing a master or arts
in education degree from Prescott College in Arizona. She only has to travel
there twice a term and so far so good. I think it’s a good program for her and
she’s very excited about it, even if being back in school after all these years
is somewhat daunting. I’m very proud of her.
Also, we just celebrated our 20 year wedding anniversary.
Amazing that we’ve been able to pull this thing off. As I’ve said before, our
relationship has been a long conversation about how we can best be true to
ourselves and still stay together. For two pretty independent and stubbornly
creative people, it’s kind of a miracle we’ve made it work so well for so many
years. The conversation continues…So far so good!
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.
There is so much to listen to and watch on the net these
days…I’m amazed anyone even gets this far in the newsletter let alone watches
or listens to anything I’m doing. I’m sincerely grateful for every view, every
listen, and every nice comment I receive. I’m happy if anything I post truly
reaches even one person. I’m offering all this stuff in a “just in case you’re
interested” spirit.
Recorded Music
My newest album is called “Doubles Hitter” and like all my other albums (30 so
far…), it’s available for downloading free or with a donation at my website: www.GeneBurnett.com
Videos In General
Overall Mission: I post a lot of videos on youtube, over
1000 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
New Videos
My
“Doubles Hitter” youtube playlist. Includes videos for all the songs from my
latest album:
I came in second this month. Three
more Rogue Poetry Slam videos of me reading my lyrics:
Two “How to Play” videos:
Two new music videos:
Three new T’ai-Chi videos:
Two new Nature videos:
And one kind of funny one:
Pictures
I've stopped posting as many 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. I am approaching the 1000 straight days mark. 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. I made it through my second year
recently, and hope to create another video slideshow set to another of my songs.
Stay tuned…)
"Head" and "Boot" (devoted to our two gerbils)
Upcoming Shows:
Monday,
September 1st, 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'll be playing from 8-10pm, maybe longer...
Wednesday September 3rd, I'll be hosting my regular Themed Open
Mike at The Wild Goose Café & Bar. Usually this
happens on the First Wednesday of each month. This month's theme is our
third annual “Songs About Work & Working” so musicians and spoken word
artists will be doing songs and poems, originals or covers that are about or
mention anything to do with work. 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 Ashland. Sign-up is 7:30pm. Show starts at
8:00pm. *A heads up for next month: Wednesday October 1st, 2014: “2nd
Annual Songs About Fall & Falling”
Sunday September 7th, I’ll be performing as part of a “Night Of Enlightenment” evening to benefit the Toby Fund which is dedicated to protecting animal life in the Wolf Creek/Sunny Valley area. Many other performers will be contributing. I’ll play a half hour set at some point during the event which runs from 5-7:30pm. There is a $10 charge for this event which will take place at the Merging Rivers Zen Practice Center at 243 SW J Street in Grants Pass Oregon. For more information call: 541-659-5111.
Sunday September 7th, I’ll be performing as part of a “Night Of Enlightenment” evening to benefit the Toby Fund which is dedicated to protecting animal life in the Wolf Creek/Sunny Valley area. Many other performers will be contributing. I’ll play a half hour set at some point during the event which runs from 5-7:30pm. There is a $10 charge for this event which will take place at the Merging Rivers Zen Practice Center at 243 SW J Street in Grants Pass Oregon. For more information call: 541-659-5111.
Wednesday, September 10th, I'll be playing at The Lounge
South in Ashland as part of their “Acoustic Wednesdays” showcase
series. Just me solo from 9-Midnight. Free show in a new venue for me.
Tuesday, September 16th, 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. $5 cover, all of which goes to the winning poets. 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 that 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.
Thursday, September 18th, I'll be playing at The Wild
Goose. Just me solo from 8-11pm. Friendliest bar in Ashland. Never
a cover at The Goose. I usually play here on the Third Wednesday of every month
but this month I’m playing on the Third Thursday.
Saturday, September 20th, I'll be at The Downtowne Coffeehouse in
Talent, playing from 10am-Noon. Great acoustics, super friendly neighborhood
scene.
Saturday, September 27th,
weather permitting, from 3-5pm, I'll be
playing at The Lithia Artisan's
Market, behind the Plaza
in Ashland. Come by and 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 7 or 8 years ago and
considered it a 5 year creative experiment. Well the 5 years passed and I
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.
GB
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