From Gene Burnett
I’ve started work on my second album of 2014, tentatively
titled “Crooked Love”…This one will feature several duets and trios with
musicians I jam with regularly around Ashland. I’m not used to working with
other musicians and this process happening over weeks instead of a few days,
but I’m getting used to it. So far so good! I’ve recorded a handful of solo
songs, one trio song is done and two duo songs are done. Slow but steady…
Summer is coming but not quite here in full force, we’ve had a little rain and
some cooler temps which is good because we are in a drought around here and the
later the heat comes on the better. Outdoor shows are starting to happen too.
See below if you’re in Southern Oregon.
My wife Samarra has been out of town for several months,
helping her dad out with some important organizing and de-cluttering up in
Seattle. This is the longest we’ve been apart in 20 years but she’s doing good
work and this is a good time to do it. With luck, she’ll be back home in
mid-July. I’ve certainly missed her a lot, but I’ve enjoyed my solo life as
well and am definitely staying active and creative.
Several new videos posted this month…see the links below.
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.
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
New Videos
My
“Doubles Hitter” youtube playlist. Includes videos for all the songs from my
newest album:
Me
“live” at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Hip-Hop Open Mike playing my song
“Save Your Breath”:
I came in first this time. Three more
Rogue Poetry Slam videos of me reading my lyrics:
Two new T’ai-Chi videos:
One new Nature video:
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:
The Dish Whisperer (I started posting a daily picture of my dish stacking
work over a year ago. I just passed the 900 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…)
Upcoming Shows:
Wednesday July 2nd, 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 “Stones or Beatles!“ so
musicians and spoken word artists will be doing songs and poems by either band
or that reference either band or are about either band. Hell, you can play a
song about actual stones or rocks or beetles. 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 August 6th,
2014: “Third Annual Songs of Summer”
Friday, July 4th, weather
permitting, from 12pm-2pm, I'll be playing at The Lithia Artisan's Market, behind
the Plaza in Ashland. Come by after the parade and support local music and art!
Monday, July 7th, 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...
Tuesday, July 15th, 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.
Wednesday, July 16th, 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, July 19th, I'll be at The Downtowne
Coffeehouse in Talent, playing from 10am-Noon. Great acoustics,
super friendly neighborhood scene.
Friday, July 25th, I'll be playing at Paddy
Brannan's Irish Pub with The Graceful Losers, a.k.a. Me and whoever else I can
scare up for the gig. I’ve decided that whenever I play with other musicians in
anything like a band setting, we will be called “The Graceful Losers”. We play
from about 9pm 'til around Midnight. Stop by for a pint and some music. I've
always liked the friendly and fun vibe of this place. One of my favorite places
to play.
Saturday July 26th, I’ll be playing a set before the Tommy
Emmanuel show at the Britt Festival’s new Performance
Garden Stage! I’ll be there from 6pm-7:15pm. This new stage
looks great, can’t wait to try it out. Really looking forward to this one. For
ticket information: https://www.brittfest.org/performances
Saturday, August 2nd,
weather permitting, from 11am-1pm, 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 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
