Not with others, although winter break facilitates that too, but I am reconnecting with music. Finally, after months where angst has topped passion, I am able to remember why I love doing this, why I’ve gotten myself into this whole mess in the first place. (I am being dramatic: my life is not truly a mess, and I am lucky in so many ways. However, the unpredictability of chosen profession and lack of current income is often downright scary).

The musicians who will be onstage with me in Nashville (in ONE WEEK, holy crap) came over for our first rehearsal last Friday. The cellist and I have been working on arrangements from our respective homes over the past few weeks using Logic and email, but we hadn’t yet played together live. Our multi-instrumentalist keyboard/accordion/melodica player was also there for the first time, and though I have worked with him on recordings several times, we have never been onstage together. Steely Dan is mostly to blame for that, as they have monopolized his time with massive U.S. and World tours (no, he is not a member of Steely Dan, but he does play with them and is a piano tech for their live shows). Our guitarist, also the producer of the album, is back from L.A. for a few weeks and Friday was the first time I’d seen him since we went to a favorite local pub and got drunk in celebration of my 21st birthday and his impending move. Our drummer, who I haven’t known nearly as long as the other guys (pushing ten years) has become a constant and stabilizing force for the band, and for me.

I expected rehearsal to be rough because we still had quite a bit of detail to work out concerning the arrangements, and for the most part it was. But when we played “Hallmark,” one of my earliest songs, and I was spellbound. Absolutely, rooted-to-the-floor captivated. Finally, finally I remembered the magic of making music. I’ve been enchanted since that moment, and so grateful for the relief. Though the change may be temporary, passion has fought its way back to where it should be, to where it always was before things got so crazy: unequivocally, unchallenged at the top.

I am so glad this happened now, before the Nashville show. Christmas is today. For many years I used to spend December 1st-23rd gathering excitement like a Swiffer picks up dust until I could no longer contain myself on Christmas Eve and would basically just bounce and grin through whatever we did that day. I’d try so hard to go to sleep, but end up spending most of the night smiling into my pillow and racing through the possibilities of what the morning would bring. Then I’d creep into my parents’ room and poke them awake sometime between 4 and 5AM (they are troopers) and we’d get up and start our Christmas morning traditions. Obviously, that routine hasn’t played out in a long time as I’ve grown into a slightly more rational adult, and last year I was actually sort of disturbed by the fact that Christmas would never be so magical again. Quarter-life crisis, perhaps.

But now. This year, I can’t go to sleep for a different reason. I think about arriving in Nashville in less than a week’s time, and my stomach flips just like it did when I was five and thought Santa was coming. I think about the other musicians, some of my most awe-inducing inspirations, that have been on the stage that I am about to play for the first time in my life, and I bite my lip to keep from grinning. There is magic out there. I can’t always feel it. Fickle human that I am, my faith runs low and I worry I will never find it again. But those spellbinding moments do exist, and they sneak up on you and rock your world. I will try not to forget this.

Merry Christmas, world.

One more thing: I watched the finale of The Sing-Off last night and Nick Lachey (the host) asked the judges to give advice to the two remaining groups seconds before the winner was announced. The grand prize was a recording contract with Sony. When Shawn Stockman (of Boyz II Men fame) opened his mouth to speak, he couldn’t. He just put his hand over his face and cried. “I remember-” he said, his voice breaking, “seeing how excited you are now, I remember when my boys and me were about to get our deal, what it felt like.” Nicole Scherzinger (of the Pussycat Dolls) put her arms around him and Ben Folds was just staring at him and smiling. They all knew, they all KNOW, what it feels like in the beginning. And while we, the beginners, look to them as role models and try to learn what we can from them, that raw, televised moment shocked me into realizing that a part of them will always stay a beginner: waiting, young, hopeful, naive, scared. They don’t forget the “before.” We think they forget, but no one really does. That got me to the core.

Late-night epiphanies brought to you by Hulu.

Join me on ONE CAUSE for Laini Kuumba Ngoma Troupe

Hello Family, Friends and Community!

I wanted to be the first to tell you about OneCause, the new home of Schoolpop! This free fundraising program helps you support Laini Kuumba Ngoma Troupe when you shop or search the internet.

Here’s how it works: Start your shopping at OneCause.com, click to your favorite stores, and you’ll automatically contribute up to 20% of your eligible purchases to Laini Kuumba Ngoma Troupe, at no extra cost to you. So every time you buy clothes, shoes or even plane tickets, you can save money and help Laini Kuumba Ngoma Troupe Earn! It’s so easy.

Help me make a difference by joining OneCause today. You’re going to buy stuff anyway… Make it count! You are going to seach the internet anyway so make it count. Please join us as we make every purchase and search count for 2010!

Thank You!
Laini Kuumba Ngoma Troupe, Inc.

http://www.onecause.com/causes/laini-kuumba-ngoma-troupe–5

Laini Kuumba Ngoma Troupe will be giving 1000 – three full months Dance Scholarships to Houston inner city youth in February 2010. Let us celebrate for being able to do this. Ashe, Ashe, Ahse!!!!! Special Thanks to Second Chance Entertainment!

Famous people have it rough.

Constant criticism of every fashion choice, every bad decision, every failure. No private life. Slave to the changing winds of popular opinion, carrying them here and there.

The minute they take one wrong step, the whole world turns to watch.

And yet, no one shows them much sympathy.

In a court of law, if individuals of influence and prominence sue based on privacy infringement, most often, they lose. Why? Because when they signed up for the fame gig, they agreed to the terms. Which includes signing away their privacy.

Famous people may deal with a substantial amount of unfairness being rich and privileged, but they get a lot of sweet deals too.

So for that, I am not ashamed to jump on the bashing bandwagon.

Most of these people have egos.

Celebrities don’t get where they are without at least a slight overly-modest belief in their greatness.

And once fame hits, the growing cannot be contained. No human ego can withstand the amount of petting, complimenting, showering of awards without growing to the extraordinary size that most singers specifically, such as Celine Dion and Mariah Carey, find themselves.

These individuals surround themselves with adoration.

They spend every moment with assistants, stylists and publicists whose sole job is to keep them happy. The last thing they want to do is tell their client that their performance was less than blow-your-mind fantastic. That their hands need to stay glued to the microphone instead of flailing in the air a little more often. That every time they contort their face during a high note, they look as if their lunch is returning at a highly inopportune time.

Fact: some singers are not performers.

Some are successful live. Some make a good effort. Others cause their viewers pain.

It’s not that they can’t sing; it’s that when they sing, I feel impelled to shut my eyes. Quickly.

I saw Carrie Underwood perform on Ellen today.

I had to change the channel.

I can understand moving like that in order to distract from her singing, but she’s a good singer. No twitching arms and disturbing facial expressions necessary.

Beyonce was on Oprah a while back. How any self-respecting woman can get on a stage and shake like that and still smile into the camera is beyond me.

Tyra’s always telling her proteges to model in a mirror; learn how to hold their head; find what expressions and angles look best with their facial features.

Tyra’s crazy–sure–but she knows her stuff. Carrie and her fellow gargoyles would do well to take note.

KYM JOHNSON and MAKSIM CHMERKOVSKIY from ABC’s ”Dancing with the Stars” curtain call in ”Burn the Floor” at the Longacre Theatre in New York City.

Kym Johnson won the championship this season on ‘DWTS’ beating out our favorite here, Mya,…but I love Kym Johnson, and fully enjoyed her in this production!

Looks like they are having a good run this Holiday season..

If you are in New York, check them out.

The show is hot!!!!

Today I’m blessed withe the clowns (youth group) performing for us.  The did a great job, & Tara & Teresa were in it, too! I’m really glad they made up this “Clown Ministry” thing.

Tasha L. Thomas

Say yes to life and life will say yes to you. That is the lesson I learned last Saturday, December 19th.

My showcase went really well, and it turned out, the audience could vote for their favorite artist of the night. People were walking up to me after my performance, telling me they were voting for me, and I had no idea what it was all about, but was mighty thankful all the same! Who needs to know the details (voting for what?? what’s the prize?? wait, is this a competition???) when you know people can vote for you?? So I decided to campaign for myself and scare the swag out of the hormone packed teenage boys hollering at me all night. They don’t expect you to actually talk to them!?! lol!

I walked up to them and said: “Boys!” [saucer eyes, eyeballs going side to side, then regaining their faux teenage swagger] “You liked my show?” “Alright then! Great! So vote for me!”. And swift as their young brains work (yes, yes… take that pun if you want to) they demanded hugs, so I found myself exchanging hugs for votes. And it paid off: I won a flatscreen LG tv plus a Wii (I’m selling the Wii so I can pay for a new photo shoot for my new website layout and promo pics!! yay!) by channeling my inner Mac Mommy and two people who voted for me both won a prize as well! So you see: spread the love and it’ll come back to you!

Gio aka Vanno aka Giovanno came to my showcase on his birthday (thank you so much!), so we all decided to have dinner at Bazar (the same place we recorded the very first of the Life Is A Musical videos) after the gig and we ended up singing Surinamese birthday songs and slamming the tables for the right afro-caribbean beat. I had such an amazing night, only a few days after feeling like I would break. And I did break: through! Through my fears and through my pain. If anything, this night reminded me to keep on giving. All of me at all times. Feels like the scariest thing to do, but I realize it will not eat away at me nor will it kill me: giving my all expands my soul and makes me grow. I feel intensely alive!

Hopping on stage to receive two cherries on top of an amazing night )

Today (the 19th) marks our first performance in OpenLife, and we hope you’ll be able to join us! We’re doing a half-hour mini-concert for Virtually Live Events’ Seasonal Party at 10PM GMT (which is 5PM Eastern, or 2PM Pacific). Himself and I will sing Christmas songs for the event, so likely several you’ve never heard from us before!

If you can’t make it inworld, you can go to this site at the time of our performance to hear us online. We’ll have our tip jar if you’re feeling generous, or you can support us via PayPal:

The event is to help support Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders). We hope we “see” you at Virtually Live: Virtual Life, Real Music! Read more about them here

AllStar Weekend was just one of the few artist who had a chance to rock at the Citadel Outlets on Monday Dec 14. They performed many of their songs from their EP, they even got into the holiday spirit, by singing a Christmas song! Hope you guys enjoy the videos!

I sing in our parish choir. Though I’m a new member of the parish and choir, I’m not new to singing, having sung and been musical since a young child. As a matter of fact, I earned scholarship to attend university on the trumpet. So I definitely know my way around any musical rehearsal or activity.

Recently, we performed at “Santa’s Village,” a Christmas seasonal and decorative activity of Alabama’s Constitution Village in downtown Huntsville. As well, we’ve been “invited” to perform at “Bridge Street Town Centre,” a recently-constructed shopping center, er… excuse me, a “premier mixed-use lifestyle center,” adjacent Cummings Research Park.

Our choir director recently sent out an ‘oh, by the way…’ e-mail message stating in part that there was “some more info about… the release form that needs to be signed and returned” and that “you cannot perform without it.”

After browsing that SEVEN pages of corporate crap… I made the following observations and remarks.

• “Performers are responsible for ensuring that their audience does not block customer traffic, access to vendor stalls, or cause a safety hazard.”

Should we bring our own bouncers, too? (Y’all keep in line, ’cause introducing…  “The St. Mary’s Bouncers!”)

• “Juggling knives, swords, sharp sticks or other objects deemed dangerous are strictly prohibited. All dangerous activity will be stopped. Failure to comply will result in a call to Huntsville Police Department and removal from the grounds.”

Dang! There goes crowd control!

• “Drinking of alcoholic beverages or performing while intoxicated or under the influence of controlled substances is prohibited.”

There goes having a beer with a sandwich, and wine with the meal.

• “All signage displaying the name of the act must be professionally made or computer generated. They cannot be handwritten.”

For years, painters have hand-written signs all over this town and America. Would it be acceptable for a computer to print a hand-written font… say, Comic Sans or Chalkboard, for example, be acceptable? And what about Chinese or Japanese? That ancient and classic form of writing is one of the world’s highest forms of calligraphic art which is done exclusively by hand.

• “I give permission to Bridge Street…. including… recordings or videos, without charge and without reservation, all or a portion of my story… I waive any rights…”

Nope. “Audemus jura nostra defendere.” It’s Alabama’s state motto, and means, “We dare defend our rights.” Women? Wanna give up that right to vote? Any non-white folks wanna’ voluntarily reduce themselves to the 1/3 person they were before Emancipation? Nope. I didn’t think so. I think I’ll keep my rights. Isn’t that what our troops are fighting for? Voluntary surrender our rights to some corporate mogul? I don’t think so.

• “… will indemnify, defend with counsel acceptable to… Wells Fargo Bank…”

Wait just a dog-gone minute. Didn’t I pay for their bail-out? And now you want me to have legal counsel “acceptable to…” you? I don’t think so! What’s next? Perhaps my choice of breakfast food is not acceptable. We private citizens accept responsibility. Why can’t corporations?

You know, I’m all for singing and having a good time – such as what we enjoyed at Constitution Hall Village – and we weren’t required to so anything but show up and sing.

This is not fun.

Count me out.

This Saturday, December 19th, I’ll be performing at Zuidplein Theater in Rotterdam around 9 pm!

Also, I am very excited to be working with producer / multi-instrumentalist Rory Ronde aka Kofi Anonymous. We are working on some tracks that really strike the right chords with me. I find myself weaving through the notes, exploring the spaces, while my soul feels like she’s coming home.

I’m very excited about the showcase on Saturday, so hop on over if you can! If not,  pay me a virtual visit on YouTube shortly after or keep an eye out on my blog for echoes. Not the actual thing, but resounding nonetheless! Or so I hope… ;o)

The pesky thing about reality is how persistent it is.  And so it was on Friday as I was forced to slog through my daily routine waiting for work to end so that I could go home to prepare for the Diamonds gig, and you know it’s either going to be an absolutely amazing or complete disaster of a night when the butterflies start at lunch time.  I had set my sights so high for the evening that I had to actually be reminded that the point of it all was to have fun.  Go figure.

Quick note of importance: eggs don’t make the best pre-game, throw-it-down, last minute meal.

And before I go any further I need to say: we looked good.  The black button down shirt and tie idea was definitely a winner.

Quote of the night:

Bar Tender: “What should I put on to warm the crowd up for you guys?”

Dan: “Muse!”

Alison: “Paramore!”

Bar Tender: “I have no idea what you guys are saying right now.”

Nerves and the waiting aside (the sound guy was almost 25 minutes late) we got on and pulled off a set that I believe we can truly be proud of.  We received a great reception from a crowd that was a mixture between those left over from the dinner hour and a very supportive crowd who had come just for us.  We certainly have a list of things that we need to work on, as any new band coming off it’s first gig does, but I believe that we accomplished the two main objectives with some style.  1) We had a blast.  I mean, who becomes a musician unless it’s something they enjoy?  I admit that I was nervous enough to need reminding, but it is the reason I love to do this. And 2) We entertained the crowd.  I would hope that one of the major goals of ANY musician, we who are in the entertainment business, we who rely on the attention and emotion and adoration of the crowd to continue to have permission to pursue our craft, I would hope that the enjoyment and entertainment of the crowd would be one of their main goals.  I think we accomplished that.

Some other items of note: despite the goal of entertaining the crowd, we definitely had a few folks leave when we started playing.  I say, although unfortunate, this is not unexpected.  We are not trying to cater to everyone, nor are we trying to be bar background music.  If you can’t handle it, we’re appreciate your time, but not every band is going for that kind of thing.  The music scene in Kihei, and even the whole of Maui to an extent, survives because there’s enough bars to place the bands.  But there’s not enough concert-type venues to sustain the number of truly talented non-bar, non-talk over, non-background, non-dinner time music bands.  Unfortunately some really good bands in this category have either left (The Cities Love You), found conflict (White Rose), or will soon be too big for Maui’s britches (The Throwdowns) due to this condition.  There’s not enough all-ages venues to serve the main populations that go to shows just to see the music and not just to fill the evening with dancing and booze.  We also had to be asked to turn down three times (twice directly from bar management and once by dirty look from the sound guy) despite the fact that we and the crowd really couldn’t hear over the drums, which is life on the bar scene I guess.  We’re just taking it in stride as a sign that we’re on the holy path ordained by the gods of Rock ‘n Roll and enjoyed by musicians since the first man beat on a rock while his cave-mate was trying to sleep.  It’s all part of the learning process.  We’ll hone our skills as a band through more time, practice, and gigs.  Eventually we’ll work it out so that we can play smaller venues without upsetting the stiffs, and yet still put on a good show.  For now we’re acknowledging that we’re more of a concert-type band and working on our versatility.

I just want to say thanks so much first off to Diamonds Ice Bar and Grill for taking a chance on some untested local music and giving us the opportunity to do what we love, thanks to Pete Sebastian for creating this gig for us out of thin air and the generous and positiveness of his own nature, Fish Tank and Mojomana and their individual members for putting up with a group of upstarts and for being so openly encouraging and positive about it, and every single one of our friends and family who either came or expressed their support and love to us in response to this opportunity.

Look for more from us soon…hopefully

-J

Bollywood bombshell Bipasha Basu is all set to give you a sizzling performance on New Year’s Eve at hotel Sahara Star.

The announcement made in an event held by hotel Sahara Star. Confirming the news, Mr. Vivek Kumar, CEO, Hotel Sahara Star says, “Hotel Sahara Star bids goodbye to the year gone by and lures you into the New Year with Seduction 2010- the happiest, happening and most sought party of the year, with none other than the dusky diva- Bipasha Basu, who will be performing on the evening of 31st December.”Along with Bipasha there are other stars who will be performing but their names have not been disclosed yet. Besides, the songs on which the sultry actress will groove have also been kept a secret. It is learnt that Bips is charging around Rs 2 Crore for the performance and the organizers have agreed to pay her as they want the event to be a grand success. Folks, Bips is going to set fire with her performance!

alkpop.com and I’m saying this again: I CAN’T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It has been announced that both TVXQ and Big Bang have been nominated for awards at the upcoming ‘51st Japan Record Awards‘.

TVXQ has been nominated for the ‘Excellence‘ award (Daesang equivalent) and Big Bang has been nominated for the ‘Rookie‘ award. Both groups have also been nominated for the ‘Best Work‘ award.

Big Bang has been receiving much love in Japan for their song ‘Rain is Fallin‘ with W-INDS, hence they have been nominated to receive the ‘Best Work’ award as. TVXQ has been nominated for both the ‘Best Work’ and ‘Excellence’ awards for their Japanese single, ‘Stand By U.’ This single has sold over 200,000 copies and has been acknowledged as a ‘Gold Record‘ according to the Japanese Records Company.

The ’51st Japan Record Awards’ will be held on December 30th.

In related news, on November 26th, both TVXQ and Big Bang were nominated to receive the ‘Gold Artist‘ award at the ‘2009 Best Hit Music‘ ceremony.

The two groups are also set to perform at the ‘FNS Music Show’, along with other Japanese artists.

Congratulations to these two groups for hitting it big in not only Korea, but also in Japan!

OMG! What’s gonna happen? Is it something good? I hope so.

Well another year has almost disappeared and hopefully it has been a fruitful one for all, full of joys and pleasures and a bit of learning thrown in for good measure.

I note that I have been somewhat remiss once again with my blog although I do tend to blog more frequently on my my space page which tends to receive significantly more visitors than this one for some reason, over the 2000 mark to date and this one only boasts in excess of 300 so far.  So do feel free to browse some of my postings that adorn My Space, should the fancy so take you. www.myspace.com/nickiehart

Anyway a few bits and bobs re what I’ve been up to in the music world recently. 

I now have my mini album available for download on itunes and Amazon, so if you’d rather a copy in digital format than hardcopy do pop over there.  You can also purchase the hard copy version directly from my website at www.nickiehart.co.uk.  Definitely worth it, it comes with full lyrics and original artwork by the very talented John Karley.

Been doing some performing with another gig lined up for this Tuesday, when I shall have the pleasure of playing on a real piano.  There are so few venues these days that have pianos, gone are the days when every pub, club and bar would have one as a matter of course, often taking pride of place in what may often have been a very, drab and dreary drinking establishment.

On to my CD now.  I was advised by a music lawyer not to make a CD but I ignored his words of wisdom, throwing any spare cash into the recording and producing of the CD.  Apart from some initial sales mainly from friends, sales have been, how shall I put it, interesting!  Always a useful word, that one:-) If anyone amongst you has any clues on how to boost sales, do let me know and leave your comments below.

Good news though, I did actually make some money from the film score that I wrote $100.  one of the initial versions can be listened to on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nickie-Hart/18087286938 you need to click on the boxes tab at the top of the page.  Its about 14 minutes in length.  Its called ‘Girl in the Swamp’.  People who have listened to it, like it, so maybe you will too.  The music is quite inoffensive, so you can let it play quietly in the background as you get on with whatever you want to get on with. 

Also I am currently the featured artist on Icarus Radio.  They will be playing one of my tracks every two hours or so.  Why not pop over and take a listen www.icarusradio.co.uk.

And now I think its time for a poem, always good to finish a blog with a poem, me thinks, its the desert after the main meal or something like that:-)

And finally before the poem, if I don’t make it back here before the end of the year, have yourselves a wonderful festive season full of hearty cheer and joyous moments.

Wonder

We wonder what we’re doing here

and wonder what its all about

Each involved in trivial pursuits

and always on the go,

Ruled forever by our ego

thats always keen to show

the miraculous being that we are

of such intricate design

our bodies and minds so well defined

Are we running out of time?

Faced with challenges we learn to grow

Remember always go with the flow

Acccepting life’s ups and downs

why your loved one may never be around

Accepting  hidden flaws and hidden agendas

Still we wonder why we walk so trepidly on this earth

just a breath away from another world.

copyright 2009 Nickie Hart

Oh my gosh, I am so in love with the show Glee. Tonight’s double episode was so good! It really made me miss performing

I haven’t sang in a very, very long time… it’s kind of depressing really. I’ve been so caught up with running that I’ve never really given it a thought.

I miss my performing days.

I really miss it.. I haven’t done a show since last christmas.

I’ll be back into it next year.

In the mean time, I think I’ll upload a few more youtube videos. Here’s an oldie from last year:

xoxo

Thanks to aleee on ibigbang fansite!

Big Bang’s appearance on “Music Station SUPER LIVE 2009″ on December 25th has been confirmed!
Music Station SUPER LIVE is the largest and most famous yearly event from Music Station. It’s a year-end celebration concert where 20 to 40 top artists from Japan are invited. Amongst many stars Big Bang who is currently having a lot of success and has recently debuted in Japan has already been invited to Japan’s biggest year-end show, and their appearance has been officially confirmed by YG Ent.
This is the first time Big Bang has attended this show and fans are really excited to see them. The show consists of performances by the artists invited and a small interview in which they’re asked how their current year was and what their plans for the years to come are.
This year-end concert will be held at Makuhari Messe Event hall, and it will open its doors to fans and artists at 5:30 pm, LIVE broadcasting will start from 7:00pm to 11:10pm on TV Asahi on Friday, December 25th.
Aren’t you excited? I so am!!!