GRAY

Today is gray. Not much more that you can really say about it, it's gray. People ask what's the weather like there and all you can say is "gray". Is it a weather condition, not really...but yet there is no other reasonable description. You're kind of in limbo between all the other weather conditions---is it going to do something? Certainly, but what you're not sure of, so it's gray.

Now the color and condition is what you make of it. You could let it effect your state of mind which would be catastrophic, or you can go with it. Letting yourself drift into limbo is unproductive and sometimes damaging so you must keep your focus. I choose to look upon this condition and imagine I'm in merry old England, involved in some mystery and my creative juices begin to flow again. With my creativity in gear I can now concentrate on my business and my life. It's a simple exercise that works for me, but not always simple to do.

How are you allowing "outside" conditions effect you? Have a blessed day now, make the most of it. Signing off here in Michigan...where it's GRAY. Until next time...stay tuned.

Happy Thanksgiving!

TGIF!

TGIF, can stand for a lot of things but the one it's most noted for is Thank God It's Friday. Now I can thank God for a lot of things but just because it's Friday is not one of them. Oh I still excite at Friday, but when you have shows on the weekend it's not like Friday is the end of the week and I can loaf and relax for the weekend. Anyways, I do have a lot to be thankful for and tomorrow's show IS one of them.


For one thing, tomorrow represents our first show at The Well! The performers for Rockin' 4 Gleaners and myself are very excited about this venue. Not only has this facility opened their arms to us, they have jumped on board to become a sponsor for our shows. That may not mean much to some, but to have people look at what you're doing and see "value" in it and put their name on it, like The Well and Buffalo Wild Wings have done, is priceless. I'm thankful to our two sponsors and know that with their credibility we're going to grow even more.


Also, The Well was there when we were in limbo, unsure of our next step. That's something to be thankful for! Being our first show there we're also thankful for all the friends who have said they will come and help out with various tasks throughout the evening. Knowing that you will never have a second chance to create a first impression, makes all of us at Lamocu "thankful" for our friends.



Then there are the performers for Rockin' 4 Gleaners, we're thankful we have met and established relationships with them. We're thankful for Gleaners, not so much for what they do for us, but what they do for our community! Being associated with Gleaners is an honor we do not take lightly. It is a privilege to be a small part of what they do. Thanks Michelle---you're the greatest!




Hopefully tomorrow we will get a promo photo of Mr. Hyde to show you (every attempt before has failed, lol) but we would be remiss if we didn't give thanks to them. Mr. Hyde is compromised of three individuals who refuse to let their dream die. They're not kids and have been told they are "...too old to rock and roll but too young to die..." but will not surrender to such thoughts! And thank God for that! They have been an inspiration for all of us here; in fact Bill Welsh, the founder of Flannel Nation records, is the lead singer of Mr. Hyde, so you know they are people dear to our heart. But until that promo picture comes through, we are destined to show you the other two performers we are thankful for and they are NOT too old to rock and roll. We're very thankful we have met...


















A HERO FALLS (L) and
CITY LIMIT (R)

With all that said, we need to conclude with a very special thank you to God for letting us do what we do for a living! Rockin' 4 Gleaners is tomorrow at The Well, tickets are $10 and include a $5 food coupon to Buffalo Wild Wings in Howell. 3 bands, food coupons and the satisfaction you're helping your community---there's no better entertainment value around! Well lots to do for tomorrow so we'll sign off for now. Be thankful no matter what day it is and hope to see you all there at the show. Until next time keep your stick on the ice and stay tuned.

On Line Music

This came across our desk here at Lamocu from one of our LinkedIn groups, Music Industry Forum, today and we wanted to share it with our readers. It was submitted by

ANIL KUMAR
MANAGING DIRECTOR - FUNDING COALITION LLC - M & A, Strategic Consulting, Capital Brokering, here it is:

MusicOnlineAlive (MOA) is the music platform for the internet. Codenamed “Music/OS”, our platform will give artists, record companies, and third party developers a powerful set of tools
MusicOnlineAlive (MOA) is building the music platform for the internet. Codenamed “Music/OS”, our platform will give artists, record companies, and third party developers a powerful set of tools to create and monetize an entirely new set of online musical experiences. As a core technology provider, MOA stands to become the primary pipeline through which music is heard, experienced and monetized on the web

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I hope this was helpful for someone out there. Just a reminder that Rockin' 4 Gleaners happens this Saturday at our new location, The Well, 7191 Grand River in Brighton (just next door to where we've been at InSights) hope to see you all there. Until next time, stay tuned.

Thought of the day

The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment; but it is no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy. A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all morality.
- John F. Kennedy

Friday the 13th!

Made it through the day, no worse for the wear. Made contact with Stever, listened and viewed her new song/video and got a signed cd coming! Truly inspiring to be conversing with a "working" artist who is taking the time to personally answer her own messages. Check her link out on MySpace.

Rockin' 4 Gleaners!

Saturday, November 21st, 2009 come to the Insights Bldg. in Brighton to help raise awareness and funds for Gleaner's Food Bank here in Livingston County. Show will start and 7pm, admission is $10 but you will receive a $5 food coupon good at Buffalo Wild Wings in Howell.

Bring no food, this is not a food drive. Gleaners can do more with CASH!!! Try and bring a little extra cash to support our performers that night and their merchandise sales. Lamocu is very proud of the efforts these performers are putting together to make this event happen. It will be hosted by Uptown Sound and their band, Mr. Hyde and will feature two of our favorites...A Hero Falls & City Limit. For more information please call us at 810-623-8131 or email at lamocu007@gmail.com. See you there!

Calling Aspiring Songwriters!

This came across our desk today from one of our LinkedIn Groups, Musicians, we'd like to share it with you. It was submitted today by

Koos Kalkman

Founder/Director at VillaMusicRights

SONGWRITERS WANTED

The world of music copyright is evolving. Monopolies of collecting societies are under pressure. Songwriters complain about a lack of benefit, music users about non-transparent and high tariffs. Collecting societies are old-fashioned. Now is the time for online DIY copyright management. VillaMusicRights is a website in English, Spanish and Dutch, and plays a role as a facilitator in the contacts between songwriters and users of their music. This means you can upload your music and arrange your rights. The music will be stored in a database and users can download it. Downloads for home users are free, but business users have to pay a modest amount of money. Both songwriters and users have to register. Songwriters have to declare to own the rights to the music and users have to declare that they won’t use the music for other purposes than agreed. VillaMusicRights takes care of payments between songwriters and business users and receives a commission in remuneration of the cost of display, advice and transactions. A lot of music genres already are represented in the database, from rock to reggae and from blues to easy listening.

Website: http://www.villamusicrights.com

Email: oxana@villamusicirghts.com
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We hope this information helps somebody out there...we know you writers are out there! Tomorrow look for details on our Rockin' For Gleaners show on Nov. 21st. Until later then, stay tuned.

Holiday Rock Music!

This came across our desk here at Lamocu from one of our LinkedIn Groups, The Music Industry Forum. We thought it might be of interest to many of our followers. It was submitted by:
Mark Allan Wolfe
Studio Musician / Songwriter / Composer / m_wolfe@rocketmail.com, on Nov. 9 early this AM.

ORIGINAL HOLIDAY ROCK MUSIC

I have several excellent ORIGINAL HOLIDAY ROCK MUSIC, as well as nearly 600 other songs and instrumentals in my music catalog. My catalog is made of of several different styles and genres, from contemporary rock and pop styles to some specialty styles. Licensed easily, no hassles,only one owner, and very unique. Some samples are available for listening on my website at www.markallanwolfe.com or my LinkedIn page or anywhere else online. Enjoy and share the love

Mark Allan Wolfe www.markallanwolfe.com
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Thanks Mark, we're glad to pass this information along.

3rd Quartermania

Our third Quartermania at InSights was overall a success. We had less vendors going into it, which is not a good sign, but we streamlined some things in the program, kept the enthusiasm up and actually had several parties booked.

For those of you familiar with "direct selling", these vendors who are the back bone of any Quartermania, need to book home parties. It is how they meet new people and all of them offer great gifts to someone who "hosts" a party for them. So we had some education on that point from Kathleen O'Connor of Arbonne International---thank you Kathleen!

Our next scheduled Quartermania is December 4th, again at InSights. If you haven't experienced the fun yet, please come join us. If you or someone you know is direct selling, you owe it to yourselves to join. For more information just leave a comment here or write us at our email address.

Until next time, stay tuned.

Quartermania

Our third Quartermania is tonight at InSights. If you haven't experienced this event you owe it to yourself---especially with the holiday season upon us. Great products, great company, and great fun.

Doors open at 6, see you there. The InSights Group is located at 7187 Grand River, two miles off exit 145 across from Enterprise.

6th Annual International Acoustic Music Awards Deadline Looms

From one of our LinkedIn groups, Musicians, Lamocu wishes to share this message that came to us yesterday. Submitted on November 01, 2009 at 02:48 PM PST
By Eric de Fontenay, Owner of MusicDish & Mi2N / Music Brand Development

Url: http://www.inacoustic.com/The 6th Annual IAMA's deadline is fast approaching. There is less than 2 weeks left to enter. IAMA promotes excellence in Acoustic Music Performance and Artistry. Acoustic artists in various genres can gain exciting radio and web exposure through this competition. Participating sponsors include D'Addario Strings, New Music Weekly, Loggins Promotion, AirplayAccess.com, Tanager Music Software (Songframe), Sonicbids.com, Broadjam.com, Acoustic Cafe Radio Show and XM Sirius Satellite Radio. IAMA is open to all independent artists and labels. Unlike other music industry competitions, IAMA focuses on developing new markets for Acoustic artists, labels and with or without CD releases. Past year's winners include The Refugees (USA), Kate Lush (Australia), Wayne Southards (USA), Larry Pattis (USA), Omega (Uganda), etc. Win awards in 8 different categories: Folk/Americana/Roots, AAA/Alternative, Instrumental, Open, Bluegrass, Best Male Artist, Best Female Artist, Best Group/Duo. There will also be an Overall Grand Prize winner awarded to the top winner worth over US$11,000, which includes radio promotion to over 250 radio stations in US and Canada. Winning songs will be heard on radio! Winners and runner-ups will be featured on our CD compilation. Also, we feature up to 10 different artists get featured and promoted on IAMA website every month, which provides a review, ratings, CD information and more. The sooner, you enter, the sooner you get featured!Judging is based on excellence in music performance, songwriting/composition/song choice, Music Production and originality. (Please note that IAMA is a different competition from USA Songwriting Competition). All entries must be entered by November 9 or earlier. Ways to enter:** For the regular entry form, please go to:http://www.inacoustic.com/entryform.html** Or enter online:http://www.broadjam.com/contests/details/contest/index.php?contest_id=1493** Or enter online via Sonicbids:http://www.sonicbids.com/iama2009

Phones!

Phones, I could just scream. You ever have problems with your phone? Sure you have. That seen with Chris Rock in Lethal Weapon 4 always comes up when I have a phone issue. "they **** ya".

About a month ago my phone took a swim and I found out that that IS the ultimate. I saved it within seconds but it was already too late. Oh sure if the stars are in the correct alignment and all other factors are correct...you "might" be able to QUICKLY get the battery out and salvage something. What that something is, if anything, cannot be predicted, but one thing it will not be able to do is retrieve stored phone numbers! "they **** ya"!

Knowing this you immediately start entering the numbers you "know" when you get your new phone. Oh and by the way, because it's a NEW phone, it's a NEW contract now too. "they **** ya." Why am I telling you all this? Because if I haven't called you lately, this is why. lol I was so accustomed to just pulling up names and punching a button---I had become a slave to technology! I remember one time at my first job in a kitchen, the slicer went down and the Line Cook couldn't put a sliced onion on a hamburger...the Chef hearing this walked in and said, "People listen up, this is a knife and this is a cutting board---watch." With mission accomplished the patron received their burger with onion and we got a lecture on being dependent on technology. As a young dishwasher I was quite impressionable and after his humiliation, I KNEW to stay away from the Line Cook for the rest of the evening. But nonetheless, when it comes to technology...they **** ya!

I believe this is why I love Scotty so much on Star Trek. When something went wrong, Scotty was able to pull out some basic knowledge out of nowhere to overcome the malfunction. Scotty made it seem soooo simple and always had that sheepish grin afterwards, like it was nothing. Capt. Kirk trusted and counted on him and he was my hero.

This probably explains the popularity of another TV icon, MacGyver. Talk about going back to "basics"! This guy was the ultimate. Granted, going back to my previous statement about the "stars being aligned correctly, etc." the odds that you would have all that stuff in your pockets or nearby to overcome a disaster is pretty extreme. But, he taught millions of viewers (notice how I didn't say "kids") to overcome situations in a logical manner. What MacGyver and Scotty both did was "think" through the situation, they didn't panic. Panic kills. Technology makes you dependent but it's panic that kills.

Thanks for reading along, more later so stay tuned.

Hell "doco" @ Sundance?

Followers of this site have heard of, hopefully experienced Mr. Hyde. For those of you who know them and those of you who don't...here is some exciting news. Mr. Hyde was playing out in Hell, Michigan on Devil's Night and there was a film crew there doing a documentary to submit to Sundance next year. Working title for the project is "Hell on Earth". Bill Welsh, the man behind Flannel Nation is a founding member of Mr. Hyde. Bill sent me the following message this morning:


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Al,
Some cool news to share. Mr. Hyde was filmed for an upcoming documentary about Hell MI. The film will be called "Hell on Earth" and they are looking to get it into the Sundance Film Festival in 2011. It was cool, they filmed us doing 8 of our originals. Will see what happens, but it was a very surreal Rock Star moment in Hell on Devil's Night.
Rock Star:Bill Welsh Billy Paul Jr. Mr. Hyde 248 798 1180 Cell www.reverbnation.com/billypauljr
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Mr. Hyde and their alter ego, Uptown Sound will be performing at the "Paint The Town Green" event at Lawrence Institute of Technology on Saturday, November 21st. Look for more information on that coming soon. Until then, thanks for reading along, keep the faith and STAY TUNED.