Hey there! Welcome to this weeks TAGLINE! Thanks for popping in. Its been nice to see this blog growing each week so far! Make sure you subscribe so you’ll get an automatic notification when they come out…go ahead…I’ll wait.

Done yet? Good. Thanks!! OK. so let get to it. I’m writing this blog from 35,000 feet up in the air on American Airlines Flight 1533 from Miami to Boston. It’s a full flight, Harmony Grace and Laureen are sitting next to me and it’s our first time all together on a flight. Kinda cool. Its really amazing being a dad.

This weeks topics:
– June In Key West
– ‘Days Like These’ Promotion kickoff
– ‘Days Like These’ Music Video
– Live From The Dawg Pound Music Series
– Traveling with Harmony Grace
– World Cup
– Random Thoughts
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So my month in Key West is over. June was one of my best months ever as a performer, entertainer, for my fitness and as far as business is concerned. It was a great month as a vocalist as my voice is really starting to come around to it old self and I sang some of my best shows in a year. Its mentally comforting to find myself hitting notes I’ve been scared to try for a long while. When you do something for so long and take it for granted, it sort of messes with you when it just doesn’t work. So to be back in the ballpark of y old self was amazing. Some of my older originals, old Journey, Styx, Boston and bands with vocalists I’ve had to shy away from were easy. And I lasted all 21 shows at full force and was even able to jump up with the Durtbags at Durty Harrys and rock some songs out full band, which I haven’t done in a while. In May, if I did two shows in a row took me out for a week. I still have a lot more to do with my vocal therapist, but it seems we are on the right path.

Aside from musically, I had some of the best workouts I’ve had in a long time this month. I ran the Tutu 10k Relay and my team took first place overall. Was nice to get that medal to add to my collection. My workout partner/trainer Jenessa kicked it into high gear with our muscle confusion and cardio work. I’m running strong & swimming better than ever. My biking might be my weak spot right now due to lack of road time, but I’ll kick it the next two weeks getting ready for the Triathlon in Falmouth, MA on July 12^th.
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Promo for ‘Days Like These’ has kicked into full swing. Watch on my Twitter (which is headed for 7000 followers!!!) and my Facebook art pages for lots of upcoming details. We are giving away a signed guitar, LOTS of downloads and more. Its really nice having such a dedicated team around me. Dave Tedder and I have been together for 13 years now. My new Social Media Manager, Mohd Imran, is just kicking ass with raising the awareness on all my online fronts. My art master, Joe Duhamel is helping to put together a kick ass visual package & promo art. I’m truly in love with this EP and hope that you guys like it even half as much.

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The music video for ‘Days Like These’ is coming together. Anyone who wants to be in it has to get their video in by July 7^th. I’m really excited to see what everyone comes up with as far as their submissions and editing all the silliness into a fun video that represents the song really well!
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I’ve decided that once every other month when I’m home, I’m going to start doing live web concerts from my studio, Dawg Pound Studios. They concerts will be called ‘Live From The Dawg Pound’. You can tune in, interact and we’ll have some fun from the comfort of your own living room. I’ll take requests, tell stories about my originals and we’ll go all over my catalog. These will be 60-minute shows. Watch for the date for the first one to be announced in the next few days, But I’m thinking the 21^st or 22^nd.

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So, Harmony Grace made her first trip to Key West! Laureen and Harmony Grace came in on Sunday 6/22 and stayed the rest of the month with me. She did SO well on the plane and just traveling in general. She’s such a happy and wonderful baby and seems to adapt well to whatever we introduce her to. It was so much fun having her meet all of our Key West family. HUGE thanks to Dani Holiday, Jorden Bringle & Laura Andrae for ALL they did for us on this trip. From airport pickups, to baby stuff loaners to letting us borrow a car, you guys are amazing and just showed why we love that little island and the people on it. Harmony flew on her first plane, went to her first beach, saw her first Key West shows and smiled and giggled thru it all.

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Is the World Cup still going? Does anyone still care? Did we give everyone a trophy yet? I mean, we lost and still advanced, so it’s kinda like Little League Baseball these days. It’s ok not to win. You’re still a champ in our book. Sheesh. And I’ve had no choice but to watch a little as it was on during my shows. I will say, those guys are some great actors and take dives as good if not better than the Miami Heat. Excellent flop skills kids.

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Random Thoughts:
–       The new Night Ranger CD, ‘High Road’, is AWESOME. Classic NR sound and amazing musicianship.
–       People in airports of all shapes, sizes, ages, colors, creeds, religions & sexes all love itty-bitty babies. I can’t begin to tell you how many people changed direction just to come say hi to Harmony Grace.
–       Congrats to my friend Aryk Crowder for a successful Kickstarter Campaign for his CD project “2X4″. Aryk is a kick ass singer/songwriter from Chicago, so do check him out. 30% of his campaign is going to help the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
–       Hogfish Grille has possible the best seafood in Key West.
–       I still will never do hot yoga again. I was asked 3X this month.

Well, that’s about it for this week. It’s been really nice to see more and more folks checking out the blog. Please chime in and lets make it a conversation. I’m excited to be home for July 4^th for a change and not gigging. We’ll be partying up lakeside with all our MA friends at Mike & Kim Kostas’ house. I hope you all have a great week and July 4^th. Be careful and don’t lose any digits.

Watch for the ‘Live From The Dawg Pound’ date announcement, for more ‘Days Like These’ promo info, and get those videos to me!

#LiveWithIntention #TrainIntense #NeverBeSatisfied #HarmonyGraceRocks #DaysLikeThese #JohnTaglieri

Thanks all! Talk next week.
TAG

Hello all! Welcome to this weeks TAGLINE! Its been a fun week, and theres lots going on…so, lets get to it.

This weeks topics:
- A Day Late – Life Gets In the Way…
- A great week of gigs
- ‘Days Like These’ EP news
- Harmony Grace comes to Key West!
- World Cup Madness
- KFC Hoax
- Random Thoughts
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Sorry that this weeks blog is a day late. Its been a it crazy the last week with gigs, prepping for the start of promo for ‘Days Like These’ and Laureen and Harmony Grace coming into town. My schedule has been hectic and I just havent had time to sit and write the last couple of days. As I type this now, we are just back from gym/lunch and Laureen is feeding Harmony Grace. We have about an hour before we head out to dinner and then prob home for the night. I love the pace but unfortunately I’m late on the blog! 
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So, playing in Key West has its ebb & flow nature sometimes. Busier times of the year mean bigger crowds and conversely, slower times mean smaller crowds. That said, it doesn’t always affect the quality of the crowd. Some of the most fun I’ve ever had here were to smaller bunches of folks. This past week, has been exactly that. It been a little slower in town, but the nights have been busy. And the quality of the crowds has been fantastic. Lots of weddings/bachelor/bachelorette parties and truly fun, upbeat happy people looking to have a good time. Two of my gigs at The Lazy Gecko (which are all four hour shows) turned into six hour shows because the crowd and I were just in a zone and I didnt want to stop. No one was on after me, and the bar gave me the ok. Sometimes, when lightning strikes, you go with it. So I made 3 simple rules…#1 – They keep drinking, #2 – they keep tipping both me and the bartenders, and #3 – they sing loudly to all the songs. They do that, I’ll play an all request show from here on in and stay as long as all three rules keep going. They turned into two of my longest but most favorite Key West shows I’ve ever had. I’m hoping its a good sign of what the summer here will be like!
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Promo for ‘Days Like These’ has officially gotten underway. We are heading for 6,000 Twitter followers, 4,000 Facebook Fans, are holding #1 on Reverb Nation for my local area in MA and more. We are setting up a bunch of online radio and some traditional radio, press, interviews, PR and more. I’m truly excited about this EP and can’t wait to get it out! But til then, there will be a lot of teasing. I posted a video sampler of the EP it its had over 500 views in less than a week between my YouTube page and my record labels page. We will be giving away an electric guitar, lots of downloads of my catalog and more. Its gonna be an awesome time getting ready to put this EP out!
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Laureen and Harmony Grace landed in Key West Sunday night. Its Harmony Grace’s first real trip. She flew on her first airplane and did amazing. She fed on the way up and down and slept the rest of the flight. She’s had a fun time here in Key West so far meeting all the Aunties that are fawning over her! Dani, Jorden, Melissa, Joy, Laura, Jenn…everyone just steals her from us and holds her all night. She is alert and enamored with all the new faces. Its amazing to see her trying to put it all together. She’s really starting to find coordination and you can see her trying to touch everyone and connect with them with her eyes. Its so wonderful to see all our friends having such a fun time with her. This is her first of what will be many trips here, so I’m looking forward to her having a ton of friends here!!!
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Have you been watching the World Cup? Yeah, me neither…lol. Look, I get it. IT brings everyone together. Cool. I dig the camaraderie of watching a game and getting into it. What I don’t get, and never will, is the bandwagon need to be cool. SOOOO many people are SO into it…really? Because I’m willing to be they don’t watch ONE soccer game at any other time. And I guess the holier than thou attitude that comes along with “I LOOOOVE SOOOCCER” just annoys me. I hope Team USA does well, but I’m still not gonna stand around saying I’m a fan. 
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Did you see the story about the KFC Hoax? If not give it a quick read…
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/06/24/local-report-brands-story-kfc-booting-pitbull-victim-hoax/
I feel SO bad for this child. Not only did she have to endure being attacked by the family dogs, her shitty parents use her to try to get money, and they outright LIE and basically steal $135,000 from KFC as well as SO many generous people who took pity on their ‘story’. They should be forced to pay back every cent, they should be prosecuted for slander and theft, and their child should be taken away. What they did is nothing short of extortion and I hope that KFC goes after them.
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Random Thoughts;
- I’ve got a triathlon coming up in 2 weeks…and can’t seems to stop eating Ruffles potato chips and Frito Lay French Onion dip…eeesh. Hence why I don’t have six-pack abs. That said, I owe a lot to my trainer Jenessa Berger for constantly keeping me inspired.
- Harmony Grace’s favorite Binky is her Monkey one. Due to that along with her long toes and fingers, she’s inherited the name Liddle Munkey Gurl.
- LeBron James has opted for free agency. Further proving to me that he’s a douche.  

Thats about it for this week. Chime in and let me know your thoughts. Thanks for an amazing week online and off and for all the feedback on last weeks blog! Talk next week!
TAG

#DaysLikeThese #LiveWithIntention #TrainIntense #HarmonyGraceRocks

Hey all! Welcome to this weeks TAGLINE Blog. I hope you are well and having a great week. Lots to talk about…busy week personally, professionally and a few note worthy stories from the web that caught my eye. SO…lets get to it!

This weeks topics;
– Rooming with someone vs not
– Running
– Gig Recap
– Vocal Issues
-Twitter hits 5000, FB hits 3500
– EP Sampler
– Friday The 13th
– Wayne Wax Tattoo Article
– LeBron James

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So for many years I’ve been on the road. Some of that travelled solo, some with a band. Here in Key West I stay in an apartment owned by the management of Irish Kevins. Great place, right on Duval and 4 blocks from work. Nothing fancy, but it doesn’t need to be. Most times I’m here alone. I’m usually the only traveling musician when I’m here. But there are times I have to share the place with another musician on the roster who is in for a week or so. Just like on the road, it really changes your whole at home routine. I always had my own apartment. I never ever wanted roommates, unless we were dating of course. I know how neat I am and I know it would drive me nuts if someone else wasn’t. Plus I need to be able to make noise whevever I want. That means playing music, watching TV, playing guitar, etc. On the road, I’ve had to share many hotel rooms with band mates, as well as had my own, just like here in KW. Mentally, theres such a BIG difference between the two. You have to think every time you open your door to go to take a shower…is someone else home? DO I need to be dressed? LOL. I can’t take a night and lounge on the couch in my undies or less. I have to think when i’m looking in the fridge ‘Did I buy that or is that someone else’s?’ Always making sure no one is in the bathroom before walking in…you get the idea. When I’m alone, I’m very neat, dishes done, floors swept, stove cleaned, bed made. but I’ve always loved the freedom of doing what I want when I want. Having a roommate for a week, or on the road changes all that and reminds me every time, no matter how great the person or experience with them is, that I am definitely made to not have them! LOL. That said, I live now in MA in a multi-generational home with 7 adults, 3 kids, 3 dogs and 2 cats. But its different because they are all family. If I was still on my own in an apartment, I know that Id be living alone with no roommates…no question.  How about you?? Roommates…yay or nay?

That all being said, my temporary roommate just left this morning and I have the place to myself for the rest of this trip. Excuse me while I run around naked for a bit…  
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I’ve been back to a better gym schedule and running schedule this week. I lost some motivation for about 10 days but it seems to be coming back! Its the hard part of working out alone. Sometimes its hard to push yourself. My runs this week have kicked butt and feel amazing. I have a triathlon in a month in Falmouth, MA and really want to do much better than my time in my last Tri, which was 1:47. So I gotta keep pushing. I’m trying to get my runs consistently in the mid 8 minute/mile world, which is proving hard for my old knee. Feel free to yell at me on Facebook or here and tell me to get my ass moving! LOL.

Speaking of running, I ran in the annual Tutu 10k Relay here in Key West this past weekend and my team took First Place Overall! We won by ONE SECOND but thats all that matters. Thankfully we had two really young, and really fast guys on the team to start and end it. The rest of our team ran well, but I know I’m not that fast!! But it was a good team effort and my first ever First Place finish and medal! Was a nice feeling.
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It was an interesting week gig wise. The island is not that busy right now, and the crowds are seemingly lacking in stamina. I’ve been playing night and closing shifts and while every gig had its moments throughout the night, a few petered out earlier than I’d hoped or wanted. Though Sunday night at The Lazy Gecko was a DREAM gig. Perfect crowd…packed but not overly, loud, energetic and everyone of them in for the long haul and for the fun of it. I said when lightning strikes, you go with it. I was supposed to play 730-1130p…I ended up going til 140am! WE had three simple rules…They had to keep drinking, keep tipping both me and the bartenders, and singing along with all their might to all the songs I played. They held up their end for 3+ hours and we had what turned into the best party on Duval for the night.  They made me play better, and I made them drink, laugh and dance. My voice was tired after 6+ hours but worth every second. As an entertainer, it was the night we all dream of. I hope I have a few more of them this month.
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So another reason this week was kinda awesome was my voice. It’s working again. For about a year now, I’ve been battling bad acid reflux issues that damaged my vocal cords…actually scarred the edges. Its been a true struggle most nights to sing. I had doctors tell me to take 6 months to a year off and let everything recover but that was just not feasible. This past May, I went to the Mass Eye & Ear Institute in Boston and got a full scoping done, strobe light and all, and while there is some scarring from the acid on my cords, for the most part they are in really good shape, especially considering the beating I’ve given them in the last 12 months. I went into Vocal Therapy and we have been working to get me reversing a lot of bad habits I’ve acquired to just get thru all the shows with the damage. It’s all working though as even in May, doing just two shows in a row was a struggle, and now here I am in June, 10 four hour gigs in, one being six hours, and I still feel good and am hitting notes I havent hit in a year. I’m not back to 100% yet, and who knows if I’ll ever be. I’m not 21 anymore, and I have over 3500 shows on my vocal cords so some wear is unavoidable. Its been an amazingly frustrating year. but my voice is definitely on the road to a good place and I’m excited for where I’m heading back to.
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Twitter & Facebook have exploded for me as of late…word of mouth has really sparked my numbers and we broke 5000 followers on Sunday on Twitter and 3500 on Facebook! I really never thought we’d get that far and its still growing…its a great feeling for all the work that goes into it by my team. I work with great people and they are kick ass at what they do.
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I posted a link yesterday to a Sampler of the upcoming EP ‘Days Like These’. If you havent checked it out yet, please do! There are one minute snippets for each song to give you a good flavor of it all. I’m REALLY proud of this one and August 19th can’t get here soon enough!  Heres a link in case you missed it…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq8prWwUpSs
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Random Thoughts:
Did you all have a good Friday the 13th? I woke up Saturday to see a lot of Facebook friends saying their lives went haywire the night before! LOL. I had a strange gig night, but the day was basic. SO….how was yours??
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Did you see the article floating around Facebook about Tattoos and what they tell about you? It was written by some asshat named Wayne Wax. You can read it here:

http://thoughtcatalog.com/wayne-wax/2014/06/5-types-of-tattoos-that-mark-you-as-an-idiot/

Let me say this. I have two tats. The one on my right arm is a copy of a necklace that I wear that Laureen got me when we first met. To me, its the beginning of us and I put it on my arm to symbolize that. It’s called The Watcher and means inquisitive and ever Learning…which describes me to a tee. My left arm has my dads Staff Sgt. stripes from when he was in the Air Force, along with dog tags with his birth & death dates. It keeps me connected to him and means the world to me. NOW…do I think some tats are douchey as Mr. Wax points out. YES. Sorry kids, but if you got a tribal wrap on your big swole bicep because everyone else at the gym has one…you’re a douchebag. But to me, if you got a tat for something that means something, then I have no issues at all. I honestly don’t even care if you have a tribal and got it for a douchey reason…but own up to it. And don’t walk around like it really means something to you. lol. But to be truthful…who cares. What you do to your own body is YOUR choice and who is anyone else to judge you for it (except if your douchey…then you deserve douchey judgement    )
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Did y’all see the Miami Heat get the ever loving crap beat out of them!? Made me very happy. I have nothing against the Heat as a team, but LeBron James is just the top tier of assclown in my book. And it makes me happy to see him not win. And whats with the cramps Nancy…take a Midol and get back on the court. I ran the Boston Run To Remember Half Marathon with a cramp in my calf for 9 miles of the 13…and I’m not getting paid millions to do it! For the money you’re making and for how much you run your mouth about being the best, you should NEVER come off the court, short of dying on it! LOL.

And for the record…Michael Jordan is STILL the best basketball player to ever step foot on a court.
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Well…thats it for this week. I hope you enjoyed this blog, share it with your friends and chime in! I really want to know your thought on all of the above! Have a great week and see ya next Tuesday!
TAG

Hey! Welcome to this weeks Tag Line! I’m excited to chat every week about stuff with ya! So lets get to it. This week…
– Chasing Your Passion
– Being a New Dad
– New CD
– ‘Days Like These’ Video
– Chris Daughtry Incident
– Working Out
– Random Thoughts
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Passion. Funny word. It gets used a lot by people who don’t seem to know what it means. I mean, we all know the romantic meaning, but I’m talking the life meaning. People will say they are passionate about something but then you never see them do anything that proves that. I’m passionate about life. My life is pretty blessed, but to be fair, I’ve worked hard for a long time to be where I am today. I have a great family, I get to do what I love for a living, I get to travel and see awesome things and meet amazing people and find all the nooks and crannies of life that elude many. But I get to do that all because of my passion. Because I wake up everyday without any fear of failing…with knowing I’m gonna go after what I want. Music and physical fitness are my two personal passions (besides family of course), and everyday I do something for each one of them to make them better…to grow. But I see SO many people everyday on Social Media & personally that talk about how unhappy they are and yet do nothing to change it or worse, contribute to their situation even more. I don’t get it. I’ve unfriended folks for it. Their negative energy is just not something I want in my life. SO….whats your passion. I want you to think about it for a minute. Then think about what you are doing to achieve that passion. Thats my challenge to you this week. Its a retouch on an old blog I wrote years ago, but its still valid and worth a revisit. Tell me…whats your passion…what MOVES you in life. The more importantly, what are you doing about it. Everyday I post #LiveWithIntention….so whats yours?
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So as you all know, I’m a new Dad to an awesome little girl named Harmony Grace Taglieri! Laureen had a little bit of a difficult pregnancy, but in the end, she was born happy an healthy on April 27th at 5:16pm. She’s six weeks old now and I have to say that I couldn’t be happier with being a dad. I always heard that ‘it’ll change your life’ stuff from SO many people and never believed it. Well, guess what. The SECOND I laid eyes on her, I was done…over…finished. lol. She owned me like nothing ever before. Its been a humbling and life changing experience. I’m SO excited to be a dad and can’t wait to show her all that life has to offer. I want her to grow up knowing there are no boundaries and you don’t have to follow the ‘plan’ society hands you. I hope I teach her to find her own way, look for new things and as I always say, Live With Intention. I hope she finds her passion in life and rocks it to its fullest.
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SO…’Days Like These’. My 12th release in 15 years is coming on August 19th…which happens to also be MY BIRTHDAY!! Its my little celebration to myself for my Days Like These. This is the first release that i’ve truly done start to finish in my studio. Lucky #9 had two songs I didnt write, Southern Paradise was mostly done in Nashville & my Best Of was a collection of already recorded stuff with just two new songs. For Days Like These, I wrote or co-wrote every song on this one, and every song was started and finished in my studio. IN the process, we used 10 studios from 10 cities all around the country with some of the best players in the biz. I’ve been fortunate in my career to be able to work with some amazing people, and this time I added a childhood idol, one of my favorite drummers, and several good friends to that list. I was fortunate enough to get my childhood drumming idol, Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, John Fogarty), to play drums on a song, as well as uber talented drummer Rich Redmond (from Jason Aldean) to play on a track. If you don’t know who these guys are…google them. lol. I also was fortunate enough to have long time friends Keith LuBrant, Lee Turner, Alan Jax Bowers, Chad Cunningham, Joe Gilder, Greg Juliano, Sean Mormelo, Eric Ragno & Kim Kostas lend their amazing talents to the EP. I also wrote songs with Joe Gilder, Rayen Bechere, Bobby James, Tyrone Noonan & Matt Colligan. I’m blessed to have so many amazing people bring their gifts to this release. I am really in love with these songs and can’t wait to get them out to you!!
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So we are shooting a video for the lead single ‘Days Like These’ and I want you all involved! We are asking anyone who wants to be in the video to shoot footage of themselves singing along to the song having fun on their days like these! Hit my Facebook page up for all the details and get in on it!! Go here https://www.facebook.com/events/1497684797112807/
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So, Chris Daughtry apparently had to apologize for…what? He performed on Fox & Friends on the D-Day Anniversary and after his performance was asked to do another song. He was late for his next performance and declined to play saying he was ‘off the clock’. Well, apparently this offended EVERYONE in the world. REALLY? People got nasty in their criticism of him saying he was disrespectful to the troops….ummm, this is a band that has toured for the troops and done shows all over the world for them. I think as a society, we need to chill out with the ‘getting offended’ over every little thing. Chris put up a big apology, but frankly, I don’t think he had anything to apologize for. People need to stop with the overly sensitive crap. Its annoying as hell.
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I’m back on a heavy gym/workout schedule. I have 3 triathlons coming up this year in July, Sept & December and I want to make sure that I’m in better shape than I was at my last tri. I just ran the Run To Remember Boston Half Marathon in May, and while not as fast as I wanted to be, I finished the race, so that felt awesome. I have some nice solid but attainable goals for my races and fitness this year, so I’ll be working hard to make them happen! Feel free to ask me about working out or weight loss. I think SO many people are terribly misinformed on both subjects. I’d love to help anyone who needs it.
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Random:
– I’m SO glad to be back in Key West. I’m playing shows this whole month at Irish Kevins and Lazy Gecko. The first 5 shows were awesome and set the tone for what i hope will be a great month!
– I havent watched TV in 8 days…and frankly, I’m not really missing it! I’ve been so consumed with gigs, Cd release stuff and working out, that I havent really cared.
– Apparently, all of us bald guys look the same. I’ve heard that I look like at least 5 different people this week…of course, all bald celebs.
– My daughter projectile pooped and pee’d on me during her first diaper changes, and now she’s projectile puked on my wife the other day. I guess we’ve completed the ‘long distance body fluid trifecta’ finally. Glad we can put that to rest. Amazing what comes out of a 6 week old body.
– I drink about 2 gallons of water a day…just saying. Its good for you. Do it.
– For some reason at the moment, I can only do shows in my Adidas Clima Cool sneaks. Everything just feels wrong working my pedal board.
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Well, thanks for reading along. I’ll be posting these blogs every Tuesday from now, so I hope you tune in, chime in and help make this something fun and cool.

Don’t forget to click ‘like’ on the blog and follow me so you’ll know when I publish these each week!
Thanks!
John
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#LiveWithIntention #DaysLikeThese #TrainIntense

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Hey all! I realized I havent written a blog in a while…ok, 5 years, but who is counting. lol. Life has been a crazy ride for me in that time. Those of you that keep up with me on Facebook and Twitter know most of it, but I think its time to get back to writing and staying in touch more this way. 

So…what have I been doing for five years? Well, Lots. I released 4 new projects…’FOREWARD (with my old band TAG), ‘Lucky #9′, a Best Of CD, and ‘Southern Paradise’. They all had great success and solidified the reasons I am still doing what I do after all this time. I also moved from NJ to MA, built a house, had a baby named Harmony Grace, started and disbanded my own band, joined and left another band (Long story…lol), landed a gig in Key West 6 months a year, and more. I had a #1 single on Amazon, two Top 5 Cds there, charted on Billboard as well as overseas and have been able to still wake up everyday and make music for a living. I’m very lucky and blessed to have the life I have.

So I was thinking, and decided that I’m going to get back to blogging and writing more in general. I’ll be posting a blog each week on Tuesdays. It’ll be a recap of my week, random thoughts, music, being a dad, and other things that have gotten my attention throughout the week. From silly to serious, nothing will be off limits. I would love for you to be as interactive as you want with me on this and kind of have a weekly running chat with all of us. Even maybe a weekly fan question part where I’ll answer whatever you ask me. The person who gets their question in the blog that week gets a free download or something. We’ll figure that out!

I’ll be doing a redesign on this page (anyone want to help with that?), announcing a new name for this blog…(Suggestions welcome!), I have a new EP coming this summer, lots of shows, a new baby and more to talk about. So start watching. Next Tuesday will be the first installment (not counting this one of course!) During the week, if you have something you think I should bring up, send it to me and I’ll work it in. 

I hope to hear from a lot of you and look forward to a fun weekly blog!

John 

Hey! I’m working hard in the studio today on what will be track 2 of the next Lives EP. The song is called “Something Easy”. It’s bascially Cate’s only song for the next EP, which is based around Max’s life following book one. I wrote this with Brad Whitley.

The song is a bit different then the first EP. And I think this EP will be more straight up rock ‘n roll then Volume I. The first two songs are going in that direction.

So, “Something Easy” picks up with Cate on the train after leaving Demming. It basically goes through her thought process and how shes just wants life to be easy.

I used my Les Paul and Les Paul Jr. exclusively on this track. Plugged into my Marshall amp on the clean channel and driven hard to overdrive it. So it’s not a distortion as much as a nice clean overdive. I have a Marshall JTM60, with and extension cabinet. So I mic’d the amp with an SM57 and an MXL V63M, the extension cab got a MXL 1006, and then I used an MXL991 pencil mic about 4 feet from the amp directly in front for some room ambience. So each take was four tracks. I used the Les Paul for the rhythm tracks left and right, as well as the lead, on the neck pickup. For the intro and chorus guitar tag line, i used my Les Paul Jr. Gave it a slightly different tone to help it stand out in the track. The lead was on the Les Paul, with the Amp on the lead channel and really driving it hard, and using the neck pickup. Gave it a nice round tone.

The bass went direct as well as through my Hartke amp which i mic’d with a kick drum mic for a nice thick sound. The drums were fun to play on this one. A very open losse sound on them. Not processed at all. Just a bit of the room mic for some life.

Vocally, i went into my Sterling Audio ST65 tube mic, through a tube pre-amp, into my dbx 166XL for some light compression and then a little more in the box, a little delay and thats about it. Vocals are very clean, and nearly dry. I LOVE the way this mic makes my voice sound.

So, all thats really left to do is get the keys laid down. Lee J. Turner is going to be doing the keys. Lee lives in Nashville and is a good friend of mine who has played with many top names. He’s currently touring with Darius Rucker. Lee played keys on “Make A Mistake With Me” off the first Lives EP. I love his style and that he has real vintage Hammond and Wurlitzer organs. The sound cant be beat.

So once the keys are down, it’ll be done. Then just a good mix and we are set!

OK, well thats about it. I’ll be working on After Farewell a lot this weekend, so I’ll hopefully have some more detail for you on that in a few days!

Thanks for reading!
J.T. 

Hey all, I’ve been writing studio notes for the new EP. I’ve never done this before, and it’s pretty fun. I’ve posted them on the LIVES message board, but I thought I’d condense them here as well into a blog…so here goes!

SONG 1 – After Farewell
Brad and I have penned the first track for Volume II. It’s called “After Farewell”. It picks the story up right where the book left off and when Cate and Max part. Its a rocker and I will start recording it this coming weekend.
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Hey all. I’m getting set to work on this song in the studio. I’m still pondering aboutn the chorus as i’m not sure that it’s strong enough. So there may be some changes lyrically, but musically, i think i’s set, so I’m going to get moving on the recording this week!
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Ok, so the drums, bass and basic rhythm guitars are done! I spent a few hours today working on the song and I’m really happy with it so far.

The drums were done in one take which always makes me happy. I played a little differently than I normally do to get a bit more of a groove into the song. I played around with how i worked the hi-hat a bit and like how it came out as well as some of the fills. For the bass on this one, I went direct and skipped the amp. This has always worked well for me. My bass has a great tone when i go direct. I ran it through my Art TPSII Tube preamp and then through my dbx166xl for some compression at a 4:1 setting. Makes it nice and round. Then a little more compression in the box to smooth it even more. I add an EQ cutting everything below 120hz with a nice slope so it doesnt sit too heavy on the kick drum.

For guitars so far I used my Les Paul straight into my Marshall JTM60 with a similar mic set up as I used on the “Something Easy” recording. I mic’d the amp with an MXL V63M and a Shure SM51. The extension cabinet was mic’d with an MXL 1006 and then I used an MXL991 pencil about 4 feet away for some room ambience. I recorded a seperate left and right track to make it nice and thick sounding. The Marshall was on the clean channel driven on 10 and the master volume about half way up.

Thats as far as I got for today. But I’ll be back on it tomorrow afternoon to work on some more guitar parts. After I get those done, I’ll update this thread and give you some more details
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HEY! Ok, so the song is for the most part done! I spent a good part of the last two days working on lead guitars, fills and taste parts, as well as lead and backing vocals.

For the guitars, I used several different pieces to color the song from fills inside the verses to nice intro and connector fills as well. In the 2nd & 4th verses, i added a cool double plucked, two note riff that runs on the beat…really gives the ear something to find in the mix. I also wound up adding it to the outro of the song and it will ultimately fade out on it.

For the vocals, i sang everything into my Sterling Audio ST66 Tube mic…LOVE that thing. I sang all the verses first, then went to the Bparts and then the chorus parts. I was struggling with the actual lyrics in the chorus. Brad and I wrote what we thought was a really cool chorus, and musically it worked well, but on second and third looks, singing it was awkward. So i re-wrote the lyrics and structure. I used some of what we had already. I would up doing sort of a call and answer with a nice 3-part harmony doing the call part and answering in a scruffy, throaty voice. I’m really happy with how it came out.

For the bridge, Brad had come up with a cool riff when we wrote the song, so I took that idea, and expanded on it building the riff with each pass into a 3-part guitar harmony underneath a lead. About half way through the band kicks back in full and the solo rocks out. I like it a lot.

All thats really left is to have Lee lay some keyboards on it. Hopefully we’ll get some of that done next week. I start travelling Tuesday for 4 weeks, so I want to get the songs to Lee before I leave so he can work on them and have the parts done when i get back.

I’m going to start to put some daily’s together to let you hear what I’m up to!

OK, now it’s time to get to writing the rest of the EP! I hope that you are enjoying these studio updates! Let me know if you have any questions…thanks.
J.T.

Hey all, how are you? I’m sitting here right now working and read an email from Brian Austin Whitney, the founder of Just Plain Folks. It’s an organization for Indie Musicians that helps you network, and many other things. Each month Brian starts off with some quotes from famous people and then adds one of his own plus an opening dialogue…I want to share his opening this month as it’s awesome….
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From Brian Austin Whitney’s Just Plain Folks Newsletter…
“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” -George Carlin

“I don’t have hobbies; hobbies cost money. Interests are quite free.” -George Carlin

“It’s never just a game when you’re winning.” -George Carlin

“Everybody dies, but not everybody lives the life they want.  Have you?” -Brian Austin Whitney

My Take:
When NBC commentator Tim Russert passed away a few weeks ago, one of the most interesting stories I heard about him in the coverage came from his old boss Jack Welch.   Jack said that when Tim was negotiating his last contract, he did so without an agent, which was unheard of.   His only concern in the negotiation was that he could keep doing his job for at least 12 more years, which would represent 3 full US Election styles.   He was so passionate about his work that the money didn’t matter to him, only the comfort of knowing he could keep doing what he loves no matter what.  On the day he died, he was in the sound booth doing exactly that.   Though it’s really sad that he’s gone (he was a great fair minded journalist) isn’t it great that his priorities were in the right place.  A big contract will never be paid out.  But he got to do what he loved up until the last moment.  We should all be so lucky right?  

We’ve always strived to provide our members with some motivation and support to pursue real world success.  To me that means learning to write better songs, learning to perform better and learning how to make enough progress in your passion to keep doing it.   That might mean an extra gig here or there to cover the cost of the babysitter needed to give you time to play.  That might mean learning how to sell 10 more CD’s at a gig so you can quit the part time job that takes you away from playing.   That might mean getting a placement for one of your songs on a TV show or movie so you can make enough money to go to a songwriters workshop to improve your craft.   You get the drift.   Sure, we’ve been very fortunate to boost and then cheer on many JPF members who have crossed over into mainstream popularity and success, but we all know the truth is that out of our 52K members, most of you simply won’t reach the pinnacle of success in the music industry.   But so what?  Our goal is to help you be like Tim Russert and keep doing what you love for as long as you possibly can.  

Just Plain Folks has been around now for 10 years.   We started with 60 people in a chat room on AOL and now have over 50,000 members in over 150 countries around the world.   Like Tim, I’ve never done this for the money.  I work hard to find enough sponsors (several of which we feature today in the newsletter) to give us enough funding to do the amazing things we do and keep it all free for you.   Our awards passed the half million song mark this year and getting to do that program is like Tim covering a presidential election.   Like Tim, I always want to make sure I can keep doing this as it’s my true passion in life.   My goal has never been to die rich, but rather to live the richest life I can while I am alive.   Everybody dies, but not everybody lives the life they want.  Have you?  If not, I bet you still have time to do it.  

If you love to make and perform music, I hope you’ll get even more involved with Just Plain Folks as we enter our second decade.  We’ll do everything we can to educate you (or find the answers when we don’t know them) and point you in the right direction.  All our volunteers do this for the same reason.  We love being facilitators as much (or maybe even more) than you love writing and performing music.  The more involved each of you are, the more likely we’ll also get to keep doing this.  I’m game if you’re game!

Here’s to our second decade of JPF and rest in peace Tim and George.  You guys certainly lived the way you wanted and left the world a better place for it.”
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I was sad to hear that George Carlin passed as well as Tim Russert. Tim was too young, George was in his 70’s but still too young. I grew up on Carlin and his rantings. He made sense in so many ways. He wasnt a comic, he was a realist who pointed out life’s absurdities and made you laugh your ass off in the process. The thing about George and Tim both, as Brian pointed out, was that they knew what they wanted and lived the lives they truly loved and wanted to be doing. I honestly only know a few people that do that…and thankfully, they are some of my closes friends. Ari Nisman from Degy Booking, Ariel Hyatt from Ariel Publicity, Bob Baker of The Indie Buzz Factor, Josh Rifkin from B-Dreams Music, Edgar Montesdeoca, Brad Whitley…the thing they all have in common is that they are all entrepreneurs and have made careers on their own doing what they love. Its funny. I just got back from the Indie Buzz Bootcamp a week ago where i was talking about this very same thing to a group of indie artists. Thing is, that i started my talk telling them that I wasnt going to tell them anything they didnt already know…just some things they may not be thinking about.

I live a very blessed life. I live in a nice town, in a great apartment, have the most awesome wife in the world who I love more than anything, and who supports me 1000000%, great friends, a great family, and I get to wake up everyday and do what I truly LOVE for a living. I can put in an 18 hour day everyday and never actually go to work, because it’s what i want to be doing. I never cared about being famous, just making a living at what I love and I’ve achieved that and more. If the fame comes, then great. I’ve flirted with it a few times, but it doesnt matter to me either way. Getting here was a lot of work, but it wasnt really hard. All it took was time, dedication and planning…and truly believing in myself and the things I could do.

I’ve noticed a lot of people that want something, and say that they arent happy with their lives, but do nothing significant to change that. To me, life has always been simple…it’s a choice. You can either choose to be happy or not. Thats really what it boils down to. But most people muddy that up with second guessing, fear, false starts and mindsets that have them convinced that they are stuck where they are. I’ve found that the only thing that seperates a successful person from someone who isnt is the fact that they believed they could do it.

I’m a big believer in positive thinking and the power of positive attraction. Believe it and you can get it. People have always accused me of being non-chalant about my life. And ya know what, maybe I am to an extent. But if i am, it’s because I dont feel the need to stress over the things I believe are going to happen. My wife laughs at my sometimes because I dont say words like “maybe”…it’s always “when”.  I love when people tell me I cant do something, because it only makes me believe in it more and work harder to make it happen.

Like Just Plain Folks, I have hit a milestone in my career in as much as my company, Leap Dog Music is 10 years old this year. Thats pretty cool to me. As someone that started in my bedroom writing my first solo CD, I’m here 10 years later making a fun living. I own a record label with 4 releases, working on a 5th, have a publishing company, signed a film and TV licensing deal with another publishing company, have had songs in an indie movie, have acted, own a nice recording studio, have produced 6 other artists CDs, teach voice, mentor indie artists, work at Ariel Publicity as their Director Of Indie Sales and Affiliates, tour 200+ days a year, have released an audio book with Bob Baker and am working on my first real book, have sang at Giants Stadium 10x, at Shea Stadium, for NASCAR, and much more. I’ve gotten to see and experience some amazing things in my life and I know it’s far from over!! I’m always striving for more and never truly satisfied with things. I’ve always felt that the word comfortable is a bad word. I think when you get comfortable, you stop trying. You should always be just short of it so that you can see it and feel accomplished but still want to work harder because you arent quite there. Celebrate little successes and dont always expect to hit a home run everytime.  Comfort has always equaled complacency to me from what I’ve seen in other people.

It’s funny where you get inspiration sometimes, but believe it or not, my Beagle, Java, is someone that keeps me in check. Ever watch a dog?? Life is just always good. Sleeping is great, but now it’s PLAY TIME!!! And oh, i get to EAT and OH,  i can go outside and OH A RIDE IN THE CAR and OMG THE PARK!!! New People, new dogs, a tree, a bench…EVERYTHING is exciting even if they have seen it 100 times before. I can leave the house for 5 minutes and come back to get something and he acts like he hasnt seen me in a month and is all over me. That kind of innocent joyful exuberance is amazing and has always made me think…what if we acted that way?? Most people would think it’s uncool. I always say i dont ever want to grow up. Ever watch a “grown up”? They tend to be miserable and tell you to “act your age”. Ever watch a child?? They have an innocent joyful exuberance and everything in life is fun…where does it go for some people? How do they lose that? Why dont they just make the choice to be happy and strive to only do things that make them happy? People will do something that they KNOW isnt what they want to be doing…then complain about it…but it was their choice to do it. I dont get it. I vowed to never lose it. I’m adult, handle my affairs and take my responsiibilities very seriously, but i dont ever want to grow up and dont ever want to do what makes me not happy.

I think that it comes down to what you want out of life. I always knew what I wanted…to make a living doing what I’ve loved and have been doing since I’m five years old. We are taught in this country to settle or to fail…but rarely to succeed. There are those who live in the box, those who say they live outside of it and then those who dont even have one and never have…I like to think thats where I am. I’ve never thought that something was out of reach…just might take longer to get to. And if i fell on my face trying, then good. I just learned something new. I like to stay positive and say i never make mistakes…I have learning experiences.  When you look at it that way, it’s far less defeating to your psyche.

So, here’s a question. What makes you happy. And if you can answer that, are you doing it or doing something to head towards it?? And are you the kind of person that can believe in what you say you want?? Chime in…would love to hear what you have to say…

J.T.

 

So, I’m just home from an amazing weekend at Bob Baker’s Indie Buzz Bootcamp in St. Louis, MO. It was truly an amazing educational weekend for me. The concept was unlike any other music event I’d been to. I’ve been to a few and they always have panels on various subjects and showcases for bands that have had to submit and spend their money to try to get onto the event. This was totally different. Bob simply put together 6 speakers, 3-4 mentors, a behind the music songwriter section, and what turned out to be one of the most educational weekends of my life in this business.

Bob Baker and I became friends about 7 or so years ago when we met on the web. He wrote about me in one of his books and our relationship and friendship grew from there. To me today, he is one of my most trusted friends in this crazy business.  He has written about me in 4 of his books, we have done an audio book together and we continue to work together on finding new ways to educate indie artists on how to be successful. He is a genius with indie music marketing and I was honored when he asked me to come and speak as well as perform at the event.

The lineup of speakers that he put together was amazing. Ariel Hyatt (Ariel Publicity), Derek Sivers (CdBaby), Tom Jackson (Performance Coach), Nancy Moran (Azalea Music), as well as Bob himself. I was flattered to be asked to be part of the group. He also has RyLee Madison host her “Behind The Song” songwriter show. Rylee is a VERY successful and award winning songwriter. She brought HIT songwriter Will Nance along with her as well. Sharing the stage with them, as well as Nancy Moran, was truly a highlight for me as a musician.

The event began Friday night with a welcome party, but I had a show at The Green Turtle in Columbia, MD. After my show, i headed back home to NJ, changed, packed and headed to the airport, so I missed the Friday night portion of the event. I arrived at the hotel where i was staying and the event was being held at about 10:30am Saturday morning. I walked right into the conference room to find Ariel Hyatt already on stage and giving her talk about Web 2.0 and how to take advantage of it. Ariel is a GENIUS when it comes to online promotion and Web 2.0 applications.  I have known Ariel for a long time and she is one of my best friends. I’ve heard her talk many times at the office and in our conversations, but never like this. Her presentation was totally on point and chock full of all the info any artist could need to navigate and get started in Web 2.0, and make headway doing it. It was a very enlightening talk and I found myself nodding my head at the info.

Tom Jackson was up next and was totally mind blowing. Tom is a performance coach to some of the biggest stars on the planet, helping them shape their shows so that they can make the most connection possible with their fans. He took an acoustic duo, had them perform, and then started to take their performance apart and put it back together. When he was done, their show was so different and so much more powerful that no one in the room could believe it. As a performer, it was truly amazing. 

Next up was Derek Sivers, owner of CDBaby.com. CDBaby is THE largest distributor of indie music in the world and Derek knows this business better then almost anyone. I’ve known Derek for a while, but had never met him before this weekend. He is one of the coolest people. For someone so successful, he’s down to earth and normal, and totally “gets it” when it comes to the world of an indie artist. We’ve talked on email many times, so when we shook hands, it was like we’d met 100 times before. His talk was stunning. He focused on what he has seen successful indie artists he knows have done to get to where they are.

We broke for dinner and then came back with Rylee Madison’s “Behind The Song Cafe”. It was Rylee, hit songwriter Will Nance, Nancy Moran and myself. We each played songs and told the stories behind the songs. It was a cool way to add some music to the program without doing the traditional showcases that every other conference does. Then Natalie Gelman and another writer joined the stage andput on some great performances as well. We were done for the night and I went back to my room to try to get my presentation for the next morning up to the level of what i saw from the other. I had my ideas of what I wanted to say, but was not as focused as i thought i could be. So i put a Powerpoint slide show together and rehearsed my presentation in my room for a few hours so that I would be comfy on stage the next day. I’ve talked at conferences before, but always on panels. I had to do a 75-minute presentation all alone on stage, so I was a little nervous! lol..

The next morning, things started at 8am with Bob doing a quick Q&A and then give the stage to Nancy Moran. She talked about alternative avenues for gigs and finding new fans. It was very cool to hear all the things she said, a lot of which most musicians never think about as far as not just having clubs to perform at.

Then it was my turn to talk. I was very happy with my talk and how it was recieved. The practice in my room the night before paid off and I was pretty comfy on stage. I talked a lot about mindset, positive attitude and how to stay focused and organized in runninng your business.  After I was done, it was Tom Jacksons turn again and this time he used a full band and in 45 minutes transformed their show…was soo cool to see.

After that, had dinner with Ariel, Bob, Pooki, Derek and about 10 others and we ate, laughed and had a great time until about 10pm or so! Monday I had breakfast with Shawn Madden, who ran sound the whole weekend and is a talented singer/songwriter in his own right. Then Bob picked up Ariel and I and we went back to his house to work on a new educational recording. We hit the airport and Ariel and I waited for our respective flights. She was heading out to San Francisco for another seminar and i was heading home.

It was a long weekend, but one of the most educational and rewarding weekends I’ve ever had in this business. I am hoping to be a part of it next year. At the very least, I’ll be attending.

I’m back in my studio today working on a mix for a song I’m doing with Tracy Pedergast, and I have my radio show in about 45 minutes, so I have to finish up. I’ll be blogging a lot from now on, so stay tuned!

Talk soon.
J.T.