March Newsletter

From Gene Burnett

Our typical February “false spring” has been longer and springier than usual this year with flowers blooming and butterflies doing their thing. We have gotten some rain and snow as well which is good news and helps a bit towards having a more smoke free summer.

Life and practice is good here in Ashland. I’m still working on adding more strength training to my T’ai-Chi practice and learning how much is too much so I can preserve my tendons which seem to be injury prone and have always hampered efforts in this direction in the past. So far so good! Only minor soreness here and there and I am definitely getting stronger.

Also working on new songs for my next album project. I’m in no hurry…I’m thinking maybe I’ll record in April…who knows.

Samarra’s busy with grad school but we’re still finding plenty of time to connect and share our many mutual interests. I even went trail running with her last month. ;~)

I made four more sky videos of songs from my latest album “Crooked Love”. Only a couple more and I’ll have videos posted for all 26 songs. I also made three more “Rogue Poetry Slam” videos. I won this time, which is nice but the main thing was that I performed my stuff the way I wanted to which feels better than winning. Busy month for T’ai-Chi videos…I posted 5 new ones, including a talk I gave at a local massage school grand opening, Samarra “throwing like a girl” (which is just a joke since she has an amazing arm), and some all-weather rainy day practice.

Links are below in the “New Videos” section of this newsletter.

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 Crooked Love and like all my other albums (31 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 last album:

Doubles Hitter Playlist

Here are some new videos of songs from my latest album “Crooked Love”:

Oregon

Fighting Tonight

Save Your Breath (2014)

Before I Die

Here are three new videos from the latest Rogue Poetry Slam:

Undiscovered (Rogue Poetry Slam Version)

Take Me Down Mosaic  (Rogue Poetry Slam Version)

Dancing  (Rogue Poetry Slam Version)

And five new T’ai-Chi videos:

My Wife "Throws Like A Girl"

All Weather T'ai-Chi-3

Bridging Martial & Health Oriented T'ai-Chi (Introductory Talk)

Walk Away From The Form

BaGua With Hand Weights-4   

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 recently crossed 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)

"Humor" 

"Me Playing Music"

Bathroom Pond Mural

Weird Book Covers

Trippy Clouds

Yellow Fungus 




Upcoming Shows:

Monday, March 2nd, 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 7-9pm, maybe longer...

Wednesday March 5^th, I'll be hosting my regular Themed Open Mike at The Wild Goose Café & Bar. Usually this happens on the First Wednesday of every month. This month's theme, is “Songs About The Weather” so musicians and spoken word artists will be doing songs and poems, originals or covers, that are about or mention anything to do with the weather. 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, April 1^st, 2015: “3^rd Annual Songs About Fools & Foolishness”

Tuesday, March 17^th, 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.

Monday, March 23^rd, 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.

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

www.GeneBurnett.com

Work Your Legs

It Might Save Your Life

Many modern people have weak and/or misaligned legs. So many of the machines that make our lives easier, also make it easier to avoid working our legs. Cars, TV, and the computers to name a few. This has led to people eating more and moving less and becoming less healthy and mobile all the time.

But this can be reversed simply by working your legs and working them regularly.

Not only is it good for your overall health and balance, but it might save or extend your life in other ways. You never know when life will throw something at you that will demand a strong physical response. It might be a physical attack or it might be a fire. It might be a runaway car or it might be a tsunami. An out of control animal or a trip down a flight of stairs. A bus accident or a freak storm. An earthquake or a loose floorboard. Having the ability to move, to take weight, to deliver force, to maintain physical balance under stress, to adjust physically in ways that are relaxed and flexible…all these things require leg strength and are useful in daily life even if a life-threatening event never happens.

I recommend working your legs in a way that’s rhythmic but not totally predictable. Something at least a little organized but not too rigidly. Find an activity you like that combines working your legs and paying attention. Activities like: walking, biking, running, dancing, playing tennis, martial arts, team sports…any activity where you’re working your legs and moving your entire body in patterns, but patterns that have to change regularly. It doesn’t have to be a super strenuous activity unless you want it to be. The main requirement is that you are working your legs at least a little past your comfort zone and that the activity have an element of unpredictability that keeps you paying attention and adapting to change.

If you have strong and springy legs you can push things, you can pull things, you can move through space smoothly, you can climb things, run to or from things, you can stand your ground. If you want to you can learn to focus your leg strength through your body and into your hands for striking or other martial uses. But you don’t have to be a martial artist to use this kind of responsive leg strength in everyday life, or in emergency situations.

And if it’s been a while and you’re really out of shape, a good way to start is with a year or more of some kind of posture discipline like Yoga or T’ai-Chi. That way as you increase your mobility your joints will be aligned and ready for the work and you’ll be less prone to injury. 

Earworms

And How To Fix 'Em

OK, so I just watched "The Interview" the other night...the comedy about a plot to kill Kim Jong Un. Gotta say, it's a trifle but it made me laugh my ass off. I liked it a lot. But then I love Franco and Rogen...The one downside for me was that while there was some really great and funny stuff in the movie regarding the Katy Perry song "Firework", that awful thing is now stuck in head. I believe it was Dave Barry who suggested that the reason we hate certain songs so much is that they have awful lyrics attached to super catchy melodies that we can't get out of our heads. Well I can't stand and avoid all things Perry but in this case, I was a captive audience. BUT, not to worry, I have the answer to persistent earworms my friends. Don't try to get them out, don't try to replace them with an earworm you like. Instead, just write some new lyrics that make fun of the ones you don't like. And sing them in your head in your own voice, not that in the voice of the bellowing water-buffalo who recorded them. So...I give you...the answer! You're welcome.

Narcissist (To the Tune of Firework) By Gene Burnett

Do you ever feel like a firework?

And everybody else is just a bunch of jerks?

Do you ever feel, so superior

Like you are specialer than him or them or her?

You already know who you’re better than

You keep telling them—But they don’t seem to understand

Do you know that there's still a chance for you?

'Cause there is dark in you

Chorus:

You just gotta expose your pose and let it show

And let it grow so we will know

That baby, you're a narcissist

A selfish little crazy bitch

Make 'em go "Yes, yes, yes"

As you become depressed, pressed, pressed

Baby, you're a narcissist

Come on, let your bubble burst

Make 'em go "Yes, yes, yes"

As you turn into a mess, mess, mess

You don't have to feel like a superstar

Like you're original and better than we are

If you only knew that you’re a little punk

After a hurricane comes a pile of junk

Maybe the reason why all the doors are closed

Is everybody wants you to hit the road

         We are losing hope, you’re so grandiose        

If you want a home…

Repeat Chorus

Boom, boom, boom

Baby you’re a loon, loon, loon

Everything is you, you, you

Now everybody’s through-through-through

February News

From Gene Burnett

This past month I was invited to perform again with my good friend T-Poe Varnado at the annual Martin Luther King Celebration in nearby Medford Oregon. It was a great event and an honor to be able to contribute to it. I decided to dust off a song I wrote back in 1989 called “Miles To Go”. It was a bit of a stretch because my vocal range is a bit lower these days but I think I pulled it off.

We are having another unusually dry Winter around these parts…the Mt. Ashland ski resort was only open for a couple of weeks before it closed down, waiting for snow. Last year, for the first time ever, it didn’t even open at all. This does not bode well for our water supply and forest fire risk this Summer, so we are all hoping for a little precipitation in the coming weeks.

Got a few new videos posted this month. In addition to the above mentioned MLK Celebration, I made four more sky videos of songs from my newest album “Crooked Love”, three new Rogue Poetry Slam videos, and two new T’ai-Chi videos as well. Links are below in the “New Videos” section of this newsletter.

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 Crooked Love and like all my other albums (31 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 last album:

Doubles Hitter Playlist

Here are some new videos of songs from my latest album “Crooked Love”:

No Worries-No Problem-Not Yet

This Heartache Sucks (For Darrin Wayne)~(Contains Adult Language)

The Minor Key To My Heart

Nothing But Trouble

Here’s the MLK link again:

2015 Martin Luther King Celebration (With T-Poe Varnado)

Here are three new videos from the latest Rogue Poetry Slam:

Daddy Wants A Touchdown (Rogue Poetry Slam Version)

Bad To Go (Rogue Poetry Slam Version) 

Fifteen Years Ago (Rogue Poetry Slam Version)

And two new T’ai-Chi videos:

Real "Woo" vs Fake "Woo"

Thoughts On Strength, Chi And Balance  

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 recently crossed 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)

"Humor" 

"Me Playing Music"

Bathroom Pond Mural

Weird Book Covers

Trippy Clouds

Yellow Fungus 




Upcoming Shows:

Monday, February 2nd, 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 7-9pm, maybe longer...

Wednesday February 5^th, I'll be hosting my regular Themed Open Mike at The Wild Goose Café & Bar. Usually this happens on the First Wednesday of every month. This month's theme, in honor of St. Valentine’s Day is “Love Songs” so musicians and spoken word artists will be doing songs and poems, originals or covers, that are about or mention anything to do with love. 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, March 4^th, 2015: “Songs About The Weather”

Tuesday, February 17^th, 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.

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

www.GeneBurnett.com