From Gene Burnett
My latest album project “The Way Of All Things” is available for listening or downloading free or with a donation. Just click here: www.GeneBurnett.com It’s also available on iTunes, Spotify, CD Baby, and other e-retailers of music.
I’ve already begun recording my next album project, tentative title: “From The Temple To The Street”. Right now I have good takes of 20+ songs and I’m working on some second guitar parts. I will of course, keep you posted as things move forward.
FYi: My site has been updated and our new player and download system is much better than the old one. Just click on the “Download or Play Songs” button for any album on the Musical Recordings page and a player will open that will let you listen to that album. There’s a little arrow at the right of each tune. Just click that arrow to download that song.
So far, the pandemic has mainly affected the musical side of my life. I’ve been continuing to meet with students one-on-one in the park and have only had a few cancellations. Moderate mindful outdoor exercise is one of the best things we can do for our health, well-being and vitality, something we will all need whether we get sick or not. I’m grateful to be able to help others as well as myself in these difficult times. Breathe deep my friends, and do it often, outdoors or with the windows open. Musically, things have shut down. No open mikes at the Goose, The OSF Green Show along with most of the OSF season has been cancelled, and there’s no chance of any pop-up gigs happening. I miss the open mikes but we have been doing a virtual version of the Wild Goose open mike on facebook and Southern Oregon Songwriters Association had one too. So we are finding ways of sharing music with each other. I videoed my sets and plan to continue posting them to youtube. If you subscribe to my channel, you can opt to get notifications whenever I post a video. I will, of course, link them in these newsletters as well.
Samarra and I are doing well and keeping the home fires burning. It’s also been a great time to take long walks and appreciate the natural world as well as to train and practice our various physical and creative practices, which I am very grateful for.
Here’s something I recently posted on facebook:
“When you're under attack, it's too late to build a wall. You have to fight with what you have and hope for the best. It's looking like the attack is starting to pick up force around here. But, we have been building a wall. There are holes in it for sure. Some people don't believe there's even been a need for a wall. Some people can't see past their own needs. But I think the majority of us have done our best to balance the risks and benefits and do what we can to at least toss a few bricks into it. Personally, I'm grateful for anyone who did anything at all to help build this wall. Thank you. Now we will see how good it is and we will also see how well we fight when we're on our backs. Continued best of luck to all of you.
“When you're under attack, it's too late to build a wall. You have to fight with what you have and hope for the best. It's looking like the attack is starting to pick up force around here. But, we have been building a wall. There are holes in it for sure. Some people don't believe there's even been a need for a wall. Some people can't see past their own needs. But I think the majority of us have done our best to balance the risks and benefits and do what we can to at least toss a few bricks into it. Personally, I'm grateful for anyone who did anything at all to help build this wall. Thank you. Now we will see how good it is and we will also see how well we fight when we're on our backs. Continued best of luck to all of you.
One thing that will help your luck is to sit up or stand up straight and take 10 slow breaths, as deeply as you can without strain, outside or with the windows open, at least 3 times a day, preferably morning, noon and night. Remember, if you want something to show up under pressure, it's not enough to know how to do it, it's not enough to be able to do it, you have to be doing it regularly and a lot. I want my breath to show up under pressure so I work on it daily. Because...when I'm under attack, it's too late to build a wall.”
This month, of course, I posted more videos than usual: 7 new T’ai-Chi videos, 5 new Nature videos, and 5 new music videos including two of my virtual open mike sets, a birthday song I wrote for my guitarist friend Jef Fretwell, my entry in the NPR “Tiny Desk Concert Contest”…since I knew I had zero chance of winning…a little song called “Fucked Up”, and my set from my last themed open mike for a while “Love Gone Wrong”. Links to all this stuff below in the “Videos” section.
So here we go…I’m going to start with local events 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:
Saturday, April 18th, from 10am-Noon, my good friends Jesse Biesanz, David Brown 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. We missed the fun and camaraderie of a good friendly Hack Circle and…more importantly, we missed 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.
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.
5. For the foreseeable future, foot serves only. ;~)
See you under the bridge 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.
See you under the bridge 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.
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: 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. Paypal Me
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. Paypal 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 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
And here are links to my individual album youtube playlists.
Slow Down Fast
Thunder Moon
Love & Heartache
Better Off Broken
Crooked Love
Doubles Hitter
Already There
Why Start Now?
Where I Belong
Have A Wonderful Miserable Life
Too Busy To Worry
No Other Life
See No Evil
Brand New World
Up For Grabs
Flow More ~ Force Less
Undiscovered~Parts 1 & 2
Maybe Nothing’s Wrong~Parts 1 & 2
Without The Moon
Nothing’s Impossible Now
You Are Wrong
My Song Now
Terms Of Surrender~Parts 1 & 2
Undiscovered Country
Plan B
Where Will You Sleep Tonight?
Thunder Moon
Love & Heartache
Better Off Broken
Crooked Love
Doubles Hitter
Already There
Why Start Now?
Where I Belong
Have A Wonderful Miserable Life
Too Busy To Worry
No Other Life
See No Evil
Brand New World
Up For Grabs
Flow More ~ Force Less
Undiscovered~Parts 1 & 2
Maybe Nothing’s Wrong~Parts 1 & 2
Without The Moon
Nothing’s Impossible Now
You Are Wrong
My Song Now
Terms Of Surrender~Parts 1 & 2
Undiscovered Country
Plan B
Where Will You Sleep Tonight?
New Videos
5 new Music videos:
“Love Gone Wrong” Night
Fucked Up
Happy Birthday Mr. Fretwell
Pandemic Sunday Night Virtual Open Mike Set #1
Fucked Up
Happy Birthday Mr. Fretwell
Pandemic Sunday Night Virtual Open Mike Set #1
7 new T’ai-Chi videos:
Pushing Hands As Balance Challenging Environment
Manifesting Skill Under Pressure
Let’s Bring Back The Bow
One Leg Balance Free-Style Practice
3 Lb. Hand Weight Free-Style Practice
Why We Train
Manifesting Skill Under Pressure
Let’s Bring Back The Bow
One Leg Balance Free-Style Practice
3 Lb. Hand Weight Free-Style Practice
Why We Train
5 new Nature videos:
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 3000 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.
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 10 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
