From Gene Burnett
My latest album, ”Almost Ready”, as well as my other 39 albums, is available for listening or downloading free or with a donation here: www.GeneBurnett.com It’s also available at many e-retailers of music as well as Spotify. I also made videos for all of the songs. Here’s a link to a youtube playlist with all of them: Almost Ready Youtube Playlist
One thing that’s really fun and gratifying as a songwriter, especially an outlier like me, is when someone covers one of my songs. I have a youtube playlist called “Cover Me” where I put videos of people doing my stuff. It’s not a long list. ;~) But I added a video to that list this month that I’m particularly proud of. My Seattle music pal Bill Davie has been sidelined as a guitarist by MS and so he’s channeled his creative expression into a facebook/youtube show called “Poetry Break!”. Bill’s been a poet and “poetry evangelist” for a long time and I’m very happy for him that MS did not mean the end of his creative life. It’s a great show and worth looking up. We were having an email conversation about something…oh yeah…becoming old guys…and I happened to think of a song that might work as a poem. I sent him the lyrics and he recited them on his show that week which was amazing. Bill has a real way with a poem and I was moved and very impressed with what he did with my simple song lyrics. And it’s always nice to add another video to my “Cover Me” playlist. ;~)
I have, I think, one more song to write and then I’ll be ready to start work on this year’s album project. My songwriting/recording process has changed over the years. These days, as I write new songs, I share them with my Southern Oregon Songwriters Association (SOSA) friends either at our monthly ZOOM Open Mike or our monthly in-person Open Mike. These meetings are recorded on video and I edit out my sets and post them to my youtube channel. This is not only to share them with “the world” but also to have a record of the song because as soon as I have that song videoed I promptly forget all about it and move to the next one. When I have a couple of dozen, I stop writing new ones and go back to those SOSA videos to relearn the songs, polish the rough edges, and get them to where I want them for recording. Then it’s into the studio to make the album. So right now, I’m just about go back and start relearning everything I’ve written since I recorded “Almost Ready”. One thing we do at SOSA is give each other songwriting prompts or challenges towards the end of each year. We had 10 this year and I’ve done them all except one. So once I finish that one, I can really move forward on this. It’s kind of fun…I have all the song lyrics printed up and I just cycle through playing and working on the songs again and again in the order I’m going to record them until they’re all where I want them. This way the actual recording is easy. If you’re on a budget like I am, I strongly recommend rehearsing outside the studio. It’s a lot less expensive and troublesome than figuring things out inside the studio with the clock running. So…one more song to go and then I get to woodshed all these tunes, many of which I can’t even remember the titles to much less how they go. ;~) Stay tuned…
As I’ve reported here many times…during the pandemic I lost my taste for playing in noisy rooms and therefore play out much less often than I used to. When I see people playing music at craft fairs, bars, coffeehouses, farmers markets and places like that to largely indifferent chattering audiences, I wish them well but have zero desire to do it myself. I had as much fun as could be had doing that, but I am done. ;~)
I play shows the Vintage Coffeehouse in nearby Talent a few times a year, I play the occasional benefit show, and if I’m lucky, I play a Green Show or two at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It’s looking like I will get to do that again this year. I haven’t signed the contract yet and thing sometimes change but it’s looking like it will be June 15, 6:45-7:30pm. There can be anywhere from a hundred to several hundred people at these shows. Great staff, great sound, cool outdoor stage…and people tend to listen. Check my performance calendar at my site for details. I will post them as soon as this show is a definite yes.
My “Sunday Stay-At-Homebodies Virtual Open Mike” continues to be my main musical outlet. As of this writing, I’ve posted 60 of them and I’m enjoying it quite a bit. I don’t get a lot of views but I’d like to think that I’m getting as much actual listening as I used to when I was playing out more. I have a folder filled with links to my various musical friends’ websites, youtube channels and such and if people don’t post anything I go find stuff to post and listen to myself. It’s been great to give my musical friend’s music the attention it deserves. So much of the time when I was younger, I was too busy, too ambitious, and sad to say, too competitive to do that. So I’m making up for lost time and thoroughly enjoying it.
Here’s the basic info on the open mike:
I post youtube video sets on Sunday nights (usually 3 songs) around 8pm PST USA and share them to my facebook timeline as well. With these posts comes a standing invitation to singer-songwriters and spoken word artists to share a recent video of some of your own stuff in the comments below my posts, as well as a promise that if you post your stuff on the same night I post mine, I will do my best to watch and comment. My Sunday nights are reserved for listening to music, preferably of the homespun variety. So join me if you can either on youtube or facebook.
I tend to focus more on music news for this newsletter but teaching T’ai-Chi continues to be my main income and central practice of my life. I consider my music as a subset of my T’ai-Chi practice. I teach mainly private lessons and very much enjoy helping people with their balance as well as their personal and physical goals. I’ve been teaching in the park here in Ashland, all weather/all year, for something like 23 years now. Even though psychologically, I feel “retired” or “semi-retired”, I have no plans to ever stop teaching.
We’ve been having a wet and cool late-winter/early-spring, much like the weather we used to have here when we first moved here in ’99. I’d gotten so used to drought-ish conditions that I forget how nice a normal year could be. The hills are as green as Ireland and the park is looking great. A pleasure to teach in. Of course, we could still have a smoky summer, but everyone around here is hoping all this rain will prevent or at least minimalize that. The only downside is…POLLEN! It’s off the hook this year but I’m hanging in there. Things that work for me for hay fever: Exercise! Caffeine! Jedi Mind Tricks! And if necessary Antihistamines and Pseudoephedrine. Onward!
I posted another batch of videos to my youtube channel this month.
I posted 4 “Sunday Night Stay-At-Homebodies Virtual Open Mikes”, each with a different theme.
I also posted 2 Zoom open mike sets for Southern Oregon Songwriters Association (SOSA). One Zoom, one “semi-live”.
I posted a video of my Seattle music bud Bill Davie reciting the lyrics to one of my songs as a poem on his facebook/youtube “Poetry Break!” show.
And I posted 6 new T’ai-Chi videos.
And I posted 1 new Nature video.
For links to all of these and more, see the Videos section below…
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:
Nothing scheduled for sure at this time.
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 2000 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
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
To see a youtube playlist featuring all my Pandemic And Post Pandemic Open Mike sets and songs click here: Pandemic Open Mike Sets & Songs
And here are links to my individual album youtube playlists.
Who's A Good Dog?
By Ear~20 Songs From 2020
From The Temple To The Street
The Way Of All Things
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?
New Videos
I’m going to do something a little different with this section of the newsletter. Rather than provide individual links to each video, I’m going list the titles to the videos followed by a link to a blog I’ve set up for that category of video. Just click on the link and you’ll go to either my Music videos blog, or my T’ai-Chi videos blog or my Nature videos blog. Once there you’ll see a wall of thumbnails. The ones in the upper left corner are the most recent posts. You’ll be able to scroll over any of these thumbnails. It will flip over and show you the title of that video. Click on it and you can watch that video without leaving the blog. This method is much less time-consuming for me and actually, I think, more convenient for you. It might sound complicated but it’s very easy. Give it a try.
I posted 7 new Music videos:
Sunday Stay-At-Homebodies Virtual Open Mike #57
Sunday Stay-At-Homebodies Virtual Open Mike #58
Sunday Stay-At-Homebodies Virtual Open Mike #59
Sunday Stay-At-Homebodies Virtual Open Mike #60
SOSA Zoom Open Mike #43
SOSA Semi-Live Open Mike #5
“Some Sad Two Word Poems” recited by Bill Davie
These and all my music videos are right here: The Unforced Videos
6 new T’ai-Chi videos:
Short Chain Punch Cardio Workout
Where You Feel Pain~Go There And Breathe
Silent Video: Stay Over Your Stuff
Use It Or Lose it
Silent Video: Finger Ripple Variations
Form Refinement, Explorative Practice And Pressure Testing
These and all my T’ai-Chi Videos are right here: The Unforced Movement
1 new Nature video:
Kingsnake!
This and all my past Nature Videos are right here: The Unforced Nature
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 "Albums" page at Flicker: Albums
I have many photo albums 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 over 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 way. Go figure.
Thanks, as usual, for your support and well wishes!
GB
