From Gene Burnett
Well, if you live in Southern Oregon you know that the big
story around here is that we are surrounded by forest fires and our air is
pretty smoky as a consequence. It’s like being near a campfire 24 hours a day.
We’re in no immediate danger from the fires themselves, but the air has been
bad to awful depending on the wind direction. But we don’t really get too much
relief from the wind because we have fires in almost every direction. And on
top of the smoke, it’s been a very hot summer as well with daytime highs rarely
getting below the mid-90’s and sometimes topping out over 100 degrees. So
between the smoke and the heat, I’m minimizing my outdoor time and sticking
close to home. Everything is a little slow and woozy around these parts lately.
Luckily the air has usually been at its best in the mornings, which is when I
teach in the park. And, the last few songs for my next album project have been
slow in coming, which is just as well because I’d want to wait until the smoke
is gone and my voice back to near 100% before I start to record anyway. Samarra
is in Seattle helping out her dad. I wish she were here but I’m glad she’s not.
This is a good time to be away. It’s not horrible…I’m not freaking out…but it’s
a long way from great…so until these fires are put out or we get some rain…We
are at the mercy of the wind.
I posted several new videos last month, 5 T’ai-Chi videos, 2
from the Jackson County Fair, and a couple that fall squarely in the “Misc.”
category. See links below in Videos section.
My latest album “Thunder Moon”, along with over 30 others, is
available for downloading or listening free or with a donation here: Musical Recordings Page
So here we go…I’m going to start with local shows in case
you’re in the Rogue Valley and then proceed with the usual information about
where to find my music, videos, and pictures, including information about new
projects.
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.
Upcoming Shows:
Wednesday August 1st, 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 “Number
Songs” so musicians and spoken word artists will be doing songs and
poems, covers or originals, that mention or are about this theme in any way.
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 community events. 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, September 5th, 2018: “Songs About Work & Working”
*A heads up for next month: Wednesday, September 5th, 2018: “Songs About Work & Working”
Saturday, August 11th, I’ll be playing a short set on the side
stage at the 6th Annual West Coast Country Music Festival. This
is a great local festival that just keeps getting better every year. I’ve had a
blast there the past few years and I’m really happy and honored to be included
this time around. Great music, great people, and a really nice setting. My set
will be at 2:30pm. The festival is at The Greensprings Inn near Ashland. For
ticket and performance schedule information: West
Coast Country Music Festival
Saturday, August 18th, from 10am-Noon, my good friend Jesse
Biesanz and I are hosting a Hacky Sack session outside the former
Caldera Tap House on Water Street in Ashland. We’ll be under the
overpass. This usually happens on the third Saturday of every month but this
month we’re doing it on the 2nd Saturday. We both miss the fun and
camaraderie of a good friendly Hack Circle and…more importantly, we miss the
practice! It’s fun, aerobic, cooperative, demands balance, coordination, quick
thinking and accuracy…So whether you’re new to the game, or an experienced
player who wants to brush up your skills, or an expert who just wants to meet
some new players, come on by. Hacky Sack basically involves keeping a small
footbag in the air, usually leather and fairly soft, using only your feet. When
there are more than two players, it’s usually played in a circle. If the circle
gets too big, it is split into smaller circles.
The only rules of this Hack Circle:
1. You’ve got to use your feet to keep the sack in the air and off the ground. No hands! (10 voluntary pushups if you do)
2. If you miss or otherwise screw up, you can’t say, “I’m Sorry.” (10 voluntary pushups if you do)
3. No serving to yourself. (10 voluntary pushups if you do)
4. No hotdogging. Meaning this is not about how many tricks you can do before the sack hits the ground, and it’s not about working obsessively on tricks. Tricks are fine but in general, we want to keep the hack going as a friendly group and keep everyone involved.
See you at Caldera rain or shine. The overpass provides shelter from the rain and once the circle gets going, you’ll be plenty warm regardless of the weather.
The only rules of this Hack Circle:
1. You’ve got to use your feet to keep the sack in the air and off the ground. No hands! (10 voluntary pushups if you do)
2. If you miss or otherwise screw up, you can’t say, “I’m Sorry.” (10 voluntary pushups if you do)
3. No serving to yourself. (10 voluntary pushups if you do)
4. No hotdogging. Meaning this is not about how many tricks you can do before the sack hits the ground, and it’s not about working obsessively on tricks. Tricks are fine but in general, we want to keep the hack going as a friendly group and keep everyone involved.
See you at Caldera rain or shine. The overpass provides shelter from the rain and once the circle gets going, you’ll be plenty warm regardless of the weather.
Saturday, August 25th,
I'll be at The Downtowne Coffeehouse in Talent, playing original
music from 10am-Noon. Great acoustics, super friendly neighborhood scene.
Saturday, September 1st,
weather permitting, I'll be playing
at The Lithia Artisan's Market, from 2:30-4:30pm, behind the Plaza
in Ashland. Come support local music and art!
For more info about 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.
Recorded Music
All of my over 30 albums are 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.
A Note on Monetization: I won’t be able to monetize my videos on
youtube anymore. Monetization seems to be an option youtube wants to reserve
for bigger more ambitions channels. I’ve always had mixed feelings about having
ads on my videos, so to some extent, this is actually a bit of a relief. On the
other hand, it was nice to make a little money from my videos and nice to think
of “views” as adding slightly to my income. But such is life. I’m happy to be
rolling free and clear of ads. With the help of some savvy facebook friends, I
was able to ad this paragraph to the descriptions on all of my videos at once:
I hope this video has been helpful to you or touched you in some way that leaves you a little better off for having watched it. This is not a big time channel and I have no plans for it to become one. I’m too small to have ads on my videos and I’ve always had mixed feelings about them anyway. If you would like to support and encourage what I do here, you can make a donation to me directly via paypal. No donation is too small, (or too big!) and all donations are very much appreciated. https://www.paypal.me/GeneBurnett
I hope this video has been helpful to you or touched you in some way that leaves you a little better off for having watched it. This is not a big time channel and I have no plans for it to become one. I’m too small to have ads on my videos and I’ve always had mixed feelings about them anyway. If you would like to support and encourage what I do here, you can make a donation to me directly via paypal. No donation is too small, (or too big!) and all donations are very much appreciated. https://www.paypal.me/GeneBurnett
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
5 new T’ai-Chi videos:
One
Leg Joint Suspension
One Leg Hip Rotations
Pushing Hands With A Facebook Friend
10 Interlocking Rings (Semi-Instructional)
Best T’ai-Chi Shoes Ever? Lems Review
One Leg Hip Rotations
Pushing Hands With A Facebook Friend
10 Interlocking Rings (Semi-Instructional)
Best T’ai-Chi Shoes Ever? Lems Review
3 new Misc. videos:
Jackson
County Fair~The Zipper (Some Things Never Change)
Jackson County Fair~One Jeff Foxworthy Joke
The Ashland City Band Presents "The Sounds Of Dada"
We Hacked With These Dudes Five Minutes Before This!
Jackson County Fair~One Jeff Foxworthy Joke
The Ashland City Band Presents "The Sounds Of Dada"
We Hacked With These Dudes Five Minutes Before This!
Album playlists:
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 2000 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.
"Head" and "Boot" (devoted to our two gerbils RIP)
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 8 or 9 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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