The Fallout!

Comrades!

  Now, now, now...What a fun gig on Friday!  With the first big show being broadcast over the "interwebs", YouTube stats tell me that we had 13 countries viewing!  I'm not sure if that was live, or right after the fact, but STILL, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

  THANK YOU!

See, now, we all really are taking over the world!

Highlights included - accidentally dropping the vocal mic (a Shure SM57) right on my laptop, probably deafening anyone viewing the show and listening through headphones...Having the whole room clap along to the Johnny Cash A Boy Named Sue for the whole song!  I think everyone collaborated, and tried to see how fast they could get the beat to go, but I hung in there!...But the best event of all was having one of my guitar students join me onstage to play lead guitar for Tribute.  He played some awesome lead guitar, and totally rocked the house!

 It was so cool to have people joining in the festivities from literally across the world, across the room, and across town.  This video feature is wayyyyyy nifty!

Here's the video for those of you who missed it!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIZy9uZ2R-E 

Now, the sound quality isn't that great, but that's another project.  Improved audio shows coming soon!  I think I'll need to use an external mic.

THANK YOU, WORLD!  You were a great audience, and are comrades of mine!

- Josh

The Video Concert

Comrades, friends, and family!

  Boy, oh boy, I'm excited to bring you my first big video concert!  I'll be playing a hometown show in White Plains, MD, this evening, starting around 7:00 pm EST.  However, many of you have the great good fortune to live somewhere other than Charles County, and therefore won't be able to make it in person.  

  Sad you'll have to miss the show? Fear not!  I'll be broadcasting the whole thing over the Internet with the help of my trusty laptop, webcam, and Google +!  

Here's two ways to watch

1.  On my YouTube channel:  Go to http://www.youtube.com/user/Poodlemanjosh/feed (Or, go to my channel, poodlemanjosh, and click the "feed" tab.)  

2.  On my Google + page:  gplus.to/joshurban  click "Join Hangout" when you see it say "Josh is hanging out."  Note:  You'll need the (free) Google video plugin installed:  http://www.google.com/talk/  (It's the one on the left.)  

I recommend the hangout - the first 9 people to get in can interact!  And an unlimited number of people can watch.  I'll hear you clap, jeer, cheer, etc.  However, if you throw a tomato at me - that's your screen that you'll be bombing.  Ha!  

  Why only 9 people?  It's a feature of the group chat.  I didn't set it.  However, again,  an unlimited number of people can watch!

I'm very excited about how people from all over the world will be able to participate in any concert that is live on the web!  As a matter of fact, I got to call in to Andrew Apanov's presentation in Finland a few weeks ago.  Check out his post about the technology here, and see the video of the cameo!  http://dottedmusic.com/2012/features/google-hangout-on-air-for-musicians-explained-via-a-live-google-hangout/  

  Plus, note that the expression of "I'm so glad that guy's on a screen, and not in the same room with me" is universal, as displayed by some of the guys sitting in the audience.  Not to worry, good Finnish sirs!  I don't have a fighter plane...yet!  

See you comrades online soon!

- Josh

Speak your mind, even if your voice squeaks

Comrades!

  Well, it's almost time for the student recital, and my students have been working hard to get their songs ready for prime time.   I teach guitar in Waldorf, Maryland.  I'm always yelling about overthrowing things, so we are going to be renaming the town WalGRAD, in honor of the Revolution.  And one of my students thought the recital would be boring...

  I had a great lesson yesterday that I'd like to share with you.

Sam stopped by for his lesson yesterday.  Sam is about nine years old, and has been taking guitar for about two years.  He is naturally verbose, something that he says is discouraged by his teachers and cousins.  "You've got some cool stuff to say, man!"  I reply, then encourage him to express himself.

  Well, it's crunch time with the recital less than  24 hours away.  He sits down in the chair, and just as I'm about to ask him what he's been up to, he holds up his hand with a very sincere look on his face, and says most intently "We shouldn't talk this week, we've got to practice for tomorrow's show."  He dives into his practice, pauses where he would normally mention something cool, and says "I went to my aunt's work today!", then remembers his goal, and dives back in.  Surfacing again, he says "I made a castle!...but I'll tell you about that next week!"

  We're working on the George Thorogood tune "Bad to the Bone", and we've decided to play a duet.  I'm singing and playing guitar, and he's playing guitar with the occasional "YEAH!" thrown in, as instructed, blues-style.

"B-b-b-baaad"  "Yeah!"

  "Wow, my voice sounded really high there"  Sam says with dismay.

"Nah man, it's fine."

He doesn't seem convinced.  So, I tell him about falsettos, have him listen to the end part of "Stairway to Heaven", and tell him that since he's "like nine, dude, your voice is gonna be a little higher, no worries!"

  "But wait - your teenage cousin teases you about it, right?"  I ask.  "All the time."

I told him that his voice will be lower in a few years, but in the meantime, never, ever be ashamed of how it sounds.  I told him that while we as a culture always seem to be striving towards the lower voices, certain styles of music like the higher sounds, and that his voice was always something to be proud of, no matter what anyone says.  I should have told him there's always a "cousin" around to tell us what's what, and how we might not want to pay them any attention.

  I wonder how many of us are going around, literally or metaphorically, "singing" through life with a false voice because someone, somewhere, told us it wasn't right.

  I'm not just talking about vocals - our song doesn't even have to deal with words or speaking.  It is the act of living.

  I wonder how many of us are striving for uniqueness.  Many of us artistic folks are.  But doesn't this just lead to false notes and sung lies, too?

  What if, instead, we strove for authenticity, and sang how we really sound?


At the gym the other night, given the choice between lifting weights or watching Christina Aguilera on TV, I found myself watching The Voice.   Man, what a lousy show, though!  What the heck is wrong with us?  Who can judge musical merit, or any merit, for that case?  Sure, sure, notes can be hit or missed, skill can be practiced - but man, what a shame that we would take anyone's opinion serious enough to put them in...way cool red chairs!  (Man, so Revolutionary - I want one!)

  But seriously, folks...


What people in your life are sitting in those red chairs, saying "Ehhh.......your voice squeaked."?

More importantly, how long will we continue to say "Yes, cousin?"




Now, I'm off to go set up the stage for this overthrowing of Waldorf.

I think the night sky is going to be filled with stars.  Red ones.

- Josh  

Don't waste my life, bro!

Comrades!

  Man oh man, I hope spring has been treating everyone well!  Each year I'm reminded what a cool season it is.

Plus, the frogs and crickets are back, who are, in my opinion, the best musicians around.  #winning!

  I've been doing a lot of music marketing lately, as well as watching even more happen around  me.  It is both fascinating (on a good day), and discouraging and frustrating (on a bad day.)  There seems to be quite a bit of noise cluttering the airwaves, and I wanted to talk about that in a philosophical and practical sense today.  While this post is aimed at musicians, I think it can apply to anyone.

Here's the question:  Remember when we were little kids, thinking "Man, I can't wait to grow up, be a musician, and... harass my friends until they buy my CD or come to my show."?  No!  We wanted to be stars!  We wanted to change the world!  And yet, here we are, endlessly inviting each other to events that we don't really want to go to, and pushing merchandise.


For, indeed, there seems to be a lot of taking going on, and I think it's worth a look, both from a tactics standpoint, and a life purpose view.  (That being said, I just got some really cool wristbands.  You should buy one!)

  The advent of the Internet has created almost limitless possibilities for to connect with people.  We have this magnificent vehicle for building meaningful connections all over the world.  However, since we're humans, we have promptly turned around and used it as a means to get in people's faces more effectively.

  Perhaps we need to re-examine what we're asking for.

We're generally asking for people's time.  "Come to my show!"  "Like my Facebook page!"  "Follow me on Twitter!"  Sometimes it leads to money (you should really buy that wristband!), but most often, it's time.

  Now, there's absolutely nothing wrong with engaging an audience.  It must be done to succeed. There are fresh, creative ideas all around us, and it's nice to be told what's going on. The danger perhaps is this - maybe we don't value people's time as much as we should.  It's funny, because time is the most precious commodity in existence. Yet, any time we tweet something lame, we're wasting both ours and theirs.  If we play a show, and we don't give it our all, even if there's only one person watching, and they're the bartender, we're stealing time from people.  As the noise fills our screen, our lives are literally being taken from us bit by bit.  I resent that, and I think you probably do, too.

 So, definitely keep on engaging, tweeting, taking cool shots with Instagram, releasing EP's, and playing shows.

  Just know that your audience is giving you part of their lives.  Make it worth it.

Thank you for reading this post!

- Josh

Meaning

Comrades!

Man, oh man, it's been a rough couple of weeks. I went to three funerals in just as many days. One was for the lady who was helping me become an adjunct professor at a community college, one was a friend's mom, and the last was for my Aunt Janene, who finally lost her battle to cancer.

Sitting there in a suit and tie, watching the family circus, and wanting to utter so many profanities that it would be must unfitting of the occasion, but perfect for the underlying and all-too-real situation, I got to thinking, grieving, and changing a bit.

The question has been asked so many times it's been beaten into a pulp of cliches, but seriously, man, what is it all about?

I don't have an answer.

You know, I think at my funeral, I want somebody to stand up, and say "Josh is dead. It's really sad. There's no happy ending. Perhaps we'll never see him again. Perhaps he's burning in hell. Perhaps he's jamming with Jimi Hendrix. All I know for sure is that he's in the ground, and now I'm gonna go cry." I'd like someone to grab a guitar and sing "One Kind Favor" with the line "Now you'll know the poor boy's in the ground." (To be honest of what I REALLY want, perhaps the guitar could be from my personal collection, and encrusted with diamonds and rubies for that "authentic delta blues sound.")

In times of distress, we grasp desperately for answers. Maybe there aren't any.

I seem to be growing into an adulthood where things are a bit more somber, grayer, sadder, and more poignant than I had expected - and that's OK.

I read the achievements on the cheap paper that litter the pews after the masses shuffle off, equally as uncomfortable with death as with the ill-fitting suits they wear, and think how empty the degrees and towns and jobs sound.

I pick up my guitar, glad to be able to feel the strings under my fingertips, and play to the early evening street corner, where only a few people pass by, none of them really listening.

And I'm so glad that I'm alive and well to add to the night music.

Maybe what my mom said is right - it's not what you do, it's how you do it.

- Josh

Happy Birthday, Bach!

Comrades!

First off, I'd like to wish a very happy 327th birthday to Comrade JS Bach! It brings up the question - will people be playing "Stairway to Heaven" in the year 2340? Probably not. I bet they'll be jammin' on Justin Bieber tunes, 'cause, well, you know how people are. Send 'em to Siberia!

I'm pumped! I've got not one, but two gigs this weekend, plus a radio show! I hope you can tune in! www.wdce.org I'll be on the air from 3-5 pm EST.

If you're in the DC area on Friday, stop by the free gig up on U street. Here's the vital stats: https://www.facebook.com/events/303849253002652/

If you're in Richmond, VA, I'll be playing a funky little coffeehouse. This gig is also free admission: https://www.facebook.com/events/342437069140558/ I'm playing an unplugged set, something a bit unusual for me. Hey, Three Little Pigs is Three Little Pigs, no matter what you play it on, though!

Which brings me to the next story: I was playing at a marathon this St. Patrick's day. The stage was at mile 17, and the runners were amazing - AND wearing green! I asked one girl if her green tutu helped with aerodynamics, and when I offered to yell encouragement at her, she said quite seriously that she'd hit me. I promptly backed off, and stressed that, above all else, I'd prefer not to be kicked.

Well, there I was, playing Three Little Pigs, and, at mile marker 17, mind you, a runner joins in the chorus when I yell in a falsetto "not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!" It made my day! Remember, that takes a lotta air anyways, and this dude had just run seventeen miles!

I'm off to go fix my acoustic guitar. It keeps eating strings. Popped an elixir-brand string right in the middle of playing Ain't no rest for the wicked at the Marathon. Bummer. I'll have more stories from the road soon!

Remember, tune in to www.wdce.org this Saturday, 3/24, and stop by a show if you're in town! And happy birthday, Johann!

I'll......be......Bach,

- Josh

Images and Reasons

Comrades!

Well, this sure is a funny time for a musician to be writing a blog, but as my comrade Miche just pointed out, artists are hardly...what is that word? Oh yes, predictable.

It's a quiet, rainy night here in Maryland, and surprisingly, I'm not out running around town making fun of Pat Buchanan, introducing unsuspecting people to The Annoying Orange video series, or otherwise making a nuisance of myself. "Apple! Apple! Hey! Hey! Hey Apple!"

I was driving home after watching a few movies with my folks, and I got to listening to one of my new favorite songs, War by Poets of the Fall.

I've been thinking a lot lately about why I'm playing music. Perhaps you've thought the same thing.

Now, it's not really a question of it being my passion, or a connection to my home galaxy of M82 or anything like that. No, it's a train of thought of who I'm doing it for.

I played a gig in Richmond last week, mostly as an emcee, but I got to share a few tunes. This picture was taken at the show.

I'll sound silly, but I'm really a fan of this shot. I look like Eddie Van Halen's little brother, for cryin' out loud!

And, for once, my good-natured vanity will prove useful in the illustration of a point...I hope! (The funny thing is, too, there weren't even that many people at the show, even though it looks like I'm on a mega-stage.)

It took me a long time to get to this shot. Countless hours of guitar practice, vocal lessons where I was so uptight I was literally sweating, thousands of miles driven, and even a bit of time at the gym - AND extra small shirts. Ha! (It's my new brilliant strategy. For some reason, it's not working as well as I though it would.) And this is just the beginning of my musical journey. Now, let me tell you, it's been so much fun in addition to the work.

But - if I could have portrayed any image that evening, this would have been it. Boom, I got it, even though the audio component wasn't in my top ten or even fifty performances. I was in another city playing music, and I even had a hotel room to go back to.

Then, the strangest thing happened. I got off the stage, finished putting tables and chairs back a bit later, and then went to my hotel. I woke up the next day with exactly the same hopes and fears, problems, aspirations, and quirks that comprise a Josh.

That image I presented to the world the previous evening didn't change a darn thing.

Now, the trip was a blast, I got to wander around Richmond, chase trains, meet new people, have way too much caffeine, and sing along to songs on the car stereo. I wasn't, however, any different than before my projection of the image. And strangest of all - The whole sorority didn't turn out and bow to my music. Good thing, too, 'cause they kept staggering by in the strangest assortment of hunting camo shirts and neon shorts. I'm guessing it was a Ted Nugent 80's throwback theme party. I blame it on the alcohol they were obviously consuming. (It does funny things when it mixes with the extra oxygen contained in their skulls.) Maybe if I wear my blaze orange turkey suit next time?

The whole thing made me realize that I've drifted into the ambition of projecting an image, rather than painting a picture, and of talking at, and not with, the audience. Additionally, I was rattled at how dependent I am on other people's opinion of me. This wouldn't be a problem if I was playing music to give my inner self a voice.

Sitting in my car this evening, listening to War, I was pulled back into the soul-stirring reasons that we're all practically compelled to express ourselves. There's just so much inside all of us, and regardless of how we let it out, be it music, sports, nurturing, art, spirituality, or whatever else moves you, it simply must be heard.

So, I'm going to start asking myself why a lot more. Sure, sure, I love entertaining, the comedy bug is biting me (watch out, there's going to be an annoying time when I'm learning the ropes), and it's fun to make rock the venue. But why am I using up my short time on Earth in this particular way? And why are you?

You can tell you're on to something when your soul wants to raise a lighter as you sing along to the music - even if you're not in key.

Rock on, brave souls!

- Josh