Notes From Nashville...Job Ops

Today I head downtown for a music video shoot. The artist name is Matthew West, if you want to check out his myspace. I am also applying for a job as a stage manager for the band Pillar. They are going on the road for a few months and I got an email about the job yesterday.

I spent the greater portion of my Tues. Walking around town in the rain handing out resume's at restaraunts. I had a couple of interviews so we'll see.

j.

127 on 1/28 at 1:29

Notes from Nashville

I settled into a steady diet of ramen and tuna, and I've learned how to eat out at even the most expsensive restaraunts for about five bucks. They key is to go with a large group and split a meal with other poor people, order just soup, or eat before you go out and say you just came to hang out.

Saturday was spent trying to make our living room be liveable, It was sooo cluttered with needless furniture and endless dvd's and unrelated art. None of the wood matches and then there's the black furniture and so on. I don't mean to complain but Is it to much to ask to pick one wood color and one theme. There was a lot of compromising and it is now "infinately better" according to my roomates female friend who helped us on saturday.

I've been doing a ton of socializing and job hunting and mixing the two. No luck but I did make a second resume of restaraunt experience today, and I'm likely going back into the depths of the food industry. Oh well, one day at a time.

It's weird being in music city, when Michael W. Smith is one of the worship leaders at your church of 350 and the lead singer of Audio Adrenaline is hanging out and sharing at your sunday night bible study. At the managers of Kutless and Toby Mac are to your left and right. And it's no big deal because they are just your friends from church. Yeah it's like that.

j.

Notes From Nashville week#1

I arrived here on thursday exactly one week ago. I moved into my small house that sits less than 4 miles outside of downtown. I was told the house was furnishe which it is, this aparently did not mean the bedroom. I have my little foam pad on the floor and its folded over itself in the corner of my room. I made a desk out of my plastic dresser, laundry basket and elec. guitar case, and I stole a chair from the kitchen table. Who needs four chairs any way?

My roomates are nice, they are quiet and work opposite hours so we rarely all three are toghether at the same time. Ryan works nights for ups, and has enjoyed playing videogames on my projector, which my old roomate returned to me last week. Adam works for an insurance co. he likes eighties music and japanese movies.

Saturday I was in a music video for Mute Math. It payed fifty bucks but it was 12 hours of standing and holding up heavy band members for crowd surfing. I'll let you know when they post the video.

I'm going to new river fellowship, it's great only about 3 or 4 hundred which for here is nice and small, i got lost on the way and ended up at a mega chuch, I stayed long enough to get directions to my church and left before I got roped into a program ministry. There is also a young adults meeting on sunday nights and a bible study on tuesdays. Someone said to me tues. night, "wow your getting plugged in fast!".

Job hunting is slow but i'm trusting God and praying for wisdom on a balance of necessity and will. I'm trying everything but I don't want to take just anything. Not yet anyway, I may adorn the blue wal*mart vest but only if necessary. Its not really my color.

Everyone here is a musician or works for a musican or takes pictures of musicians or writes articles about them...except my roomates and this girl lindsey from boston I met at the video shoot, she's a lawyer and doesn't work with musicians at all.

j.

The Niavity Story

I started writing songs nine years ago. I didn't play any istruments, i couldn't sing, and I hadn't even listened to much music. When i was in first grade i took piano lessons and would write little diddies instead of practicing my lessions. You know weird variations on "marry had a little lamb" and all, but that was it until highschool.

Here I am, almost 24 with a degree in Public Relations and marketing, and in less than a week I will join the ranks of the hundreds of other Nashville hopefulls. When people ask me what i'm doing these days its, tough to say "I'm a musician". because I know most are thinking, "but what are you reallly going to do?"

Never the less, i spent the day yesterday working on packaging ideas for the cd I am releasing soon, and pricing out merchandise, and working on web page designs for my publlishing companny, indie label, and personal music.

One day at a time I suppose.
j.