This is what it sounds like...

Yesterday I began working on my new single and I've decided to do something risky. It will either a) yield exciting, stellar results b) go disastrously wrong or c) do nothing at all. I'm of course hoping for c...oh wait, maybe A! So what is it I'm in the lab concocting these days? Drum roll please... I'm diving head first into my very own rendition of a Prince classic. If you're keen enough you've probably already figured out which song I'm doing.


The band went in yesterday to lay down the basic skeleton of the song. By the end of the session we joked that there were at least FOUR different styles of music going on all in one song. We started off rock, then somewhere along the line we hit a Latin feel, then hip-hop but to top it all off my guitarist pulls out a sitar that was perched nearby, giving us a middle eastern flair to mesh with all of the other sounds we already had going. At the end of the day I'm happy with what we've done so far but I hope to edit everything down to one clear distinct sound. I head back tomorrow to finish up and lay down my vocals. Even though its scary to do a Prince song, because Prince fans take his music very seriously, (as they should... the man is an iconic legend) I'm super excited about it!


Yesterday also marked day one of filming for my new documentary American Soul. I will have to create another post to talk about that project so stay tuned for that. I've got a lot more in store. Hope everyone is ready...

Three for the price of a steal

Somewhere in the middle of the second set of the night I stood in the middle of NUBLU in amazement and then turned to my friend and said: I can't believe we only paid $10 for this...

I went to a Revive Da Live event last night with some friends. I went to support my homegirl Melanie Charles who was with her band The Journey. When I first got there she was talking some nonsense about being hoarse, but of course as per usual she slayed her entire set doing some originals from her debut album as well as covers from two of my absolute favorite artists: Stevie and Lauryn (I'm on a first name basis with both of them). I always love seeing Melanie perform. Anytime she's on stage you just get the notion the she was born to do it.

I stayed for the second set because my friend Lenny has for the last few month been singing the praises of one Jean Baylor who you may remember as one half of the 90s duo Zhane. (she's the light skinned one) She's featured in her husband, Marcus Baylor's band Free Day. You may remember him as the drummer from the Yellowjackets. side note: Sea Folk by the Yellowjackets still remains my all time favorite jazz song. When Free Day, which last night consisted of simply Marcus and a keyboardist name Yuki, took the stage it was an experience unlike any other that I've ever had the chance to encounter. I'm not even sure I can describe in words the level of musicianship, excellence, beauty and creativity that took place on that stage. There was one point in the night when Yuki began to solo on Great Is Thy Faithfulness (yes...hymns in the night club) and I was actually moved to tears...but I didn't let my friends catch me being soft. Then my mind was blown when Ms. Baylor took to the mic and effortlessly slayed every single note that left her lips. I heard a fellow audience member say after their set that it was a master class in musicianship and I must say that I agree.

I wasn't able to stay for the final set but I've seen Mavis Swan Poole and her Soul Understated band perform before and I know that they were no less magnificent this time around than the last time I saw them. Three amazing bands with talent out of this world for a $10 cover...just a typical night in NYC. I love this town.

So are you trying to say it isn't about me?

I sat down with a friend, Gary Felder, one day to tell him about a project I've been working on and developing for the past year called American Soul. I told him about the concept: my life and struggle to break into the music industry. He said (with all due respect of course) a show about you is cool, but I think what you really need is something that will be beneficial to others instead. Maybe people don't wanna watch you living out your dreams every week while they sit in their own cages waiting to break out and break into something new (he didn't use those words...I made it sound prettier than he did)

So that night I went for one of my usual late night walks to talk to God about the whole thing. I took what Gary said to heart and tried to rethink the concept to make it more inclusive. I began to focus on the website surrounding the series rather than the series itself in an effort to create a way for people to become more involved and active with the series and ultimately with their own lives. I won't go into detail about what concepts I began to envision but I do want to share with you the framework I'm beginning to see take place with me lately.

I've been singing since I was 5 in my dad's church choir. I wrote my first song when I was 13 and I've been pursuing music ever since. This whole time I've been thinking of ways to make my dreams a reality. This whole time I've been trying to create marketing concepts that would help put me on the map and make people take notice of me. And yeah I always say to myself, I want the music I make to be beneficial to others and that it’s all about ministry and blah blah blah. But that night as I was walking and talking with God it was as though He flipped a switch, opening my eyes to something I was too engulfed with my own aspirations to see. I'm finally beginning to grasp the concept that perhaps has been right in front of me all along. This whole music thing is not really about me....it never was. It’s not about me saying "Hello everyone, here I AM look at me!" Instead, it’s about me saying: "Hello everyone, here I AM…how can I help you? Can I help you find yourself?"

Music is my passion. But my passion isn't there to bring me pleasure. It’s there to help ignite YOUR passion. What if I were to say..."I can show you the tools you need to create something different in this life far beyond what you've ever imagined." And what if I not only showed you the tools, tools that you undoubtedly already posses, but that I helped you learn the craftsmanship behind using those tools? What if me being the best possible musician/singer/songwriter weren't about me amassing wealth but instead helping others find the wealth of creativity and passion inside of themselves? Yes. I know that by writing good songs that maybe it will give people the emotional boost they need to make them feel as though they can survive. But what if I were able to influence people in a way that gave them the confidence to do more than survive, but to conquer the world? Wow. What a concept that would be. A performer who is focused on how well others perform on the stage of their own individual lives.

OK God. So, is that all you've been trying to tell me for the last 28 years? Well why didn't you just say so in the first place? *big gulp* So now what...?

Random Thoughts On Music

Someone on my facebook friend list posted this question as his status update: What does music mean to you? He's a young kid who faithfully attended the music sheds (jam sessions) that I used to host. Very talented young man who admires a lot of the musician friends within my circle. I fully expected his peers to put their 2 cents in, sharing what music has meant to them. I decided to give him something worth thinking about. This was my response:

Music in particular and the arts in general are the backbone of society. You can gauge a lot about a generation through what their artists are saying. So the question is...what are we saying? And is it of substance? When we as artists speak...everyone listens. Make sure we speak what is pure, edifying and true. So that being said...music to me is the chance to shape and influence an entire generation.

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

They didn't kill it. They couldn't kill that tree. Don't tell me that tree's gonna lay down and die that easy. Look at that tree, see where it’s coming from? Right up out of the cement. Didn't nobody plant it. lt didn't ask the cement could it grow. lt just couldn't help growing so much it pushed that old cement right out of the way. When you're busting with something like that, can't anybody help it. Like that little old bird right up there. Listen to him. He didn't ask anybody could he sing, and he certainly didn't take any lessons. He's so full of singing, it’s just got to bust out someplace. They could cut that old tree right down to the ground and a root would push up someplace else in the cement.

Lauryn Ava Fisher

Its official...a star was born today. My very dear friends Lavalle (aka Woody) and Cherise Fisher had a baby girl this morning and named her after my greatest musical influence: Ms. Lauryn Hill. I haven't met her yet but I'm on my way to the hospital now. I'm so excited!!! I'm going to teach her everything I know about music and she's gonna be a beast!

Eli Stone

For those who aren't familiar, Eli Stone is a show about a lawyer who has a brain aneurysm which causes him to have "visions" or hallucinations usually involving people randomly breaking out into song and dance. Through these visions he's able to get some type of understanding of what events will transpire and in turn he helps the people in his vision. It sounds a little quirky and weird but I absolutely love this show. I started watching it last season and at the end of every episode it left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. Not because its "good wholesome television", but because its about purpose. See, before he started hallucinating he was your typical bottom feeding corporate lawyer climbing his way to the top of the food chain. Once he started realizing that he was put here for something more, not only did he change, he changed the people around him.

I just finished watching the season 2 premiere and Eli Stone hasn't lost its ability to inspire me when it comes to living a life of purpose. Last season's finale left off with Eli in a coma after having his aneurysm removed. At the beginning of the episode he's meeting with his post-op shrink and telling her that he no longer has visions. By the middle of the episode he realizes that she was just one big hallucination put there to make him realize that something is missing after the operation. They go back and forth with one another (yes he talks to his visions) and she points out to him that he was put here for a greater purpose and that the visions were apart of that purpose but he had the aneurysm removed so he could have a "normal" life. And suddenly she says something that resonated so deep within me. She said "normal would be a failure of potential for you." Wow. That statement spoke volumes for someone like me. Someone who has never been normal but often times longs to be so. A lot of times I'd love to just chuck this whole eccentric life I live and have normalcy. A normal career, a normal way of thinking...normal everything. But normal is definitely a failure of potential for someone like me. It gets to be a difficult burden sometimes but I'm grateful for quirky little shows like Eli Stone that come along to remind me that purpose is far more important than a desire to be normal and fit in.