Woo-eee!

What a day…It actually started out gray, raining, and gloomy partly because it was actually raining and the other part because I didn’t wake up to go to yoga and I’m always in a bad mood when I do that. It’s funny how you can know something like that about yourself and yet I still rolled over and said “I’m not going today”. But I digress…. I’ll leave that topic for another day.

Of course, I couldn’t fall back asleep because I was so concerned with the fact that I wasn’t in yoga class, so I still got up early and decided to at least be productive in another way. Which was ORDERING my CDs with Dismakers!!!!! yep, that’s right folks. The day has come. The artwork is finally finished (you never thought it would be either, right?) and the order is IN!

What a great feeling! Well, the great feeling will come when I actually have the Cd in my hands and everything is correct and beautiful but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.:-) I can’t wait for you to hear it and my brain is amuck with all these ideas as to how I’m going to let you guys listen! Of course I’d love for you to purchase it (it will be available on CDbaby and there is a limited # of physical CDs) but ultimately I want you just to hear it too:-)

So the Brain is working overtime and I feel like I haven’t stepped away from the computer in way too long. I am actually going to finish this blog and watch “Smash” (there I said it-not sure I really like it but it’s entertaining enough) so I can relax a bit before bed (depending on the dramz that occurs in the show of course:-).

I just wanted to share my exciting piece of news with you! Oh, and actually I got the link for my radio show from Jan.18th finally too so I have that for your listening pleasure! 2 Delicious nuggets on one rainy day. I’ll take it!

Thanks for all your love and encouragement! I will be posting more news about my album, “Validity”! YAY!!!

lot’s of record listening love,

Dana

Listen to my awesome Radio show HERE!!!! It starts at minute 9 so skip ahead…

As I sit here writing my 2nd blog in two days, there is a voice in my head that is saying “see, you should work with what you DO have, not what you Don’t”.

I wrote a draft of a blog yesterday with the intention of putting in the link for the radio show I just did, so that you could hear it. The only problem, is that I don’t have the link yet. I emailed the host, who is a very nice yet busy guy, and so the link is yet to be received. And so, I planned to write this blog with information that I did not have. I was waiting and waiting and in doing so, I  delayed my blog by about 3 days.

Now I know for you, whether my blog comes out on monday or thursday is not the biggest deal. But for me, it is. Consistency is key baby! But alas, it is another lesson learned. I didn’t have the link on monday, but I could have written about something else. It’s funny how when the mind is set on something (“this week I want to put the link to my radio show on the blog”), it can be hard to adapt (or maybe it’s just the taurus in me:-).

I remember when I was living in NYC and I was just starting to play music out. I met up with a friend from high school, Sam, and I was saying “yeah but I don’t have a band and it’s hard to play out by yourself”. His response is something I think about to this day and it helps me with a lot of things. He said “well concentrate on what you DO have, not on what you don’t. If you have to play by yourself, at least you can do that”. And that is exactly what I did.

It’s very poignant now when I am trying to plan my CD release party. I still don’t have a band, and yet I want to have a HUGE party and find people to play with (which I will probably do)… but at the same time, I am thinking that if I concentrate on what I DO have, I could play a house concert and do a “story-tellers” type of release where I play by myself and talk about my songs (which I will also probably do).

So, the lesson continues to be learned. Sometimes it takes forever but it is always a great reminder to do what you can with what you have. Thanks Sam:-)

Lots of learnin’ love,

D

p.s. do you have any other ideas for a CD release party? or do you know any musicians? I’d love to hear your ideas!!

So this week I am writing about inspiration due to Mentha’s comment on the last blog (thank you, Mentha:). What do I do to get inspired, where does it come from? Inspiration is such a personal thing, and it can be so different from day to day. I’ve been trying to ask myself these same questions so that I may be able to control it more.

There’s a quote from one of my favorite books “The War of Art ” by Steven Pressfield (I highly recommend this book esp. if you are an artist) where someone asks him if he only writes when inspiration hits him or if he has a specific time. His response is “I write when inspiration hits me. Fortunately it’s everyday at 9am.” Basically he’s saying that if you are an artist, you work on your craft every day ‘cuz if you waited until you were inspired you could wait forever.

For me, I don’t write every day but I do play and practice my existing songs every day or as close to that as I can. Mostly, that’s just because I have a lot of songs already and writing more is not a focus. Getting the songs that I already have out into the world is:-)

But when I am inspired, it’s something that seems uncontrollable.(There’s an amazing TED talk given by Elizabeth Gilbert the author of “Eat Pray Love” about that topic, that I highly suggest googling). Lately it’s been happening at 2am when I’m trying to fall asleep. I’m humming a melody with some lyrics and I think “Oh I’ll remember it in the morning”. Having learned from the past, I of course, get up and record it into my recorder because you never remember it in the morning.:-)

So sometimes, that’s how it starts. Just a melody with some thoughts on lyrics. Then I try to find the right chords to put behind it. Other times, I’m playing around on the piano or guitar and I find chord progressions that I like, and I start singing a melody with the first words that  come to me. It may take a few hours and even days or weeks until I find the right words. Sometimes I don’t find the fit, and I have a bunch of “unfinished songs”. There’s a song I have that is probably 2 years old “If it’s Not Broken”, that I love and I go back to it occasionally  but I can’t seem to find the right words. The lyrics are usually the hardest part just because I think they are so important and if they don’t feel right, I don’t enjoy singing the song.

Then there is the rare and lovely occasion where lyrics and melody come at the same time and it feels like it was written by the heavens!:-) Those are the moments you live for, as a songwriter. That happened with one of my songs called “Right Now”, on the upcoming album. I think I wrote it in about 30 minutes or so and I cherish that experience. I cannot wait for you to hear it.

To get inspired I try to do all kinds of different things….like go out with friends, see live music, try a new restaurant, go for a run, talk to a stranger, listen to some of my favorite music (which is mostly old school stuff) like The Beatles, Pearl Jam, or Fiona Apple. Or sometimes a good ol’ dance party in my living room can inspire me (for that I like cheesy top 40:-). It doesn’t always happen right away but doing these small things consistently, leads up to a more inspired life.

What do you to to stay inspired? Do you have any tips? Any songs or stories about inspiration you’d like to share? I’d love to hear whatever you got! Happy MLKJr. Day!

Lot’s of inspirational love,

Dana

Happy New Year!

Wow, I gotta say I am happy that the holidays are over. I am still recovering from an unexpectedly fun but a little too-much-partying New Years Day. Yeah that’s right, the day AFTER New Years. I had a lot of fun with friends but forgot to eat and was paying for it the next day.

But enough about me. Let’s talk about what YOU think about me:-) haha….one of my favorite jokes. I figured I’d start off the new year with a blog about blogging. It’s very 2012 of me, I know.

At the last radio show I did on fccfreeradio.com, Phil the host asked me why I blogged. I thought it was a really good question and I’m going to give you my response here.

There are of course many different thoughts on the matter. “You’re a musician-it should be about the music”. “Nobody wants to hear about your thoughts on life, or what you’re eating for breakfast”. Whereas this is probably true, the fact of the matter is that there is a new paradigm for the musician.( For anyone in the creative arts…I’ll get back to that in a minute)

And another truth is that yes I am a musician, but I am also a person who cares about and is moved by many other things (including elephants, the WAY you listen to music, and the Good ol’ Days). Music is a part of me that allows me to express myself but it is not the only part of me. Sometimes things that move me, don’t enter into songs. It’s sounds crazy but I don’t really have control over what my songs are about.

As a fan myself, I LOVE knowing more about the musicians I listen to and love. If I know more about where they are coming from, the music resonates more. I also know that if someone doesn’t want to know anything aside from the music, s/he doesn’t have to read my blog.:-)

Back to the new paradigm…..it’s hard for the DIY (Do-it-yourself) musician. There are a lot of really talented people out there whose music is not being heard. I think if fans gets a glimpse of an artist’s life and can somehow relate, the chances of them also relating to the music is higher. Again this is just like, my opinion man. I know many people who would disagree.

So, my mission with this blog is just to tell you more about myself. To let you in a little (which is hard for me to be honest), to start a dialogue and to share my music and (parts of my) life with you. It may be a little woo-woo for you but so so what what? What’s wrong with a little woo woo from time to time?:-) If there was one thing I learned in 2011 it was just to “be open to the possibility of….” I don’t have to change my mind or my beliefs but just have to be open to the possibility that there are other beliefs and mindsets and open to the idea that maybe I don’t know everything.!

Why should you care? Maybe you don’t! I think now more than ever it really is about building a community. Without a community you’re just by yourself. It’s a lonely feeling (I’ve felt it for a long time which I’ll probably blog about soon:-I even have a song on my new album called “Alone”). So, I’m glad you’re here reading this. I’m glad we are starting this dialogue and I look forward to seeing what 2012 holds for all of us! As always leave a comment so we can actually start this dialogue!:-)

With so much love,
Dana

Happy Boxing Day!
Wow, what a week/weekend. My Xmas over all was very relaxing. I went to see the Muppets (as an avid Muppet fan there were some things I did not approve of but I laughed quite a bit especially at the end), made a quiche, drank some wine/beer, watched football, attempted to leave my house to go to a friends house for a party, only to realize the attempt was futile, made pasta, went to sleep at midnight. If Xmas is about doing what you want to do, then I was going to stay home on my couch and drink beer while not feeling bad about any of it.

Today all I want to do is sit and read Mindy Kalings * “Is Everyone Hanging out without Me? (and other concerns)” before I go to work but I should probably venture out into the world at some point. I am hoping this new bond I’m forming with my couch is due to the freezing-ness of my apt. coupled with the Holidays when most people (aka me) tend to hibernate.

Seeing as how it’s the end of the year and there is usually so much reflection going on at this time, I figured I’d reflect on my own year and tell you some of the most notable, inspiring, un-inspiring, lame, exciting moments of 2011. Without further ado and in no particular order…..

1. I finished my first full length album (sonically) in August. **
2. I am STILL waiting for the artwork for said finished album
3. I went to Israel to visit my very awesome grandmother and we drank lots of Johnny Walker Black Label together
4. I attended the ASCAP “I create music” expo in LA in April, got inspired, and realized there is a whole community of musicians out there that I do not know /:-(
5. I attended an event in NYC with amazingly supportive and brilliant women entrepreneurs and met a lot of inspiring people. It put my ass in gear to really focus
6. I upped my yoga classes from 1 to 2 times a week and have begun practicing it in my house alone:-)
7. I got to see my adorable niece and nephew a few times (in NY) and realize that it really is all about your family
8. I wrote many new songs that I have yet to debut because I am still waiting for my album /:-(
9. I am in an artist development program that is helping me focus even more on my dream of having lots o’ people hear my music
10. I am getting more interested in my spiritual side ( I really hate using that terminology but there is nothing else to describe it) by reading books about it, listening more to my gut (albeit hard to do), and meditating.
11. Have realized how much work it requires to go after your dream /:-(
12. I have started developing faith in the universe that it has my back. Doesn’t always feel like that, but I hope that the faith alone is enough to get through those times

I know there are one million other things to write about over the last year. In looking over my list, I see that music and “spirituality” (bleh! there’s that word again) are monopolizing it. I’m OK with that. It’s definitely reflective of where I stand today, looking back on the year. Trying to find the “balance” of what’s really important and what we’re ingrained to believe is important. Clearly, they are not the same.

How was your 2011? What do you want for 2012? I hope to continue on my quest for music, love, sprituality (can we make up a word for that? How about Swoowoo? It’s a combo of “So” and “woowoo”…or swoo for short), I mean swoo, and whatever else comes my way. Patience maybe? That’d be a good one since I don’t have any.

I hope your holiday season has been safe, healthy and happy! I will see you on the flip side!:-)

love,
Dana Danes

*Mindy Kaling plays Kelly Kapoor on “The Office”. She is also a writer and director on the series. Her book is pretty funny but mostly, it’s just entertaining.:-)
** /:-( denotate whether the moments were inspiring or less than inspiring.

(Photo courtesy of Tom Curtis)

About a week ago I recorded a documentary on Oprah’s network called “One Lucky Elephant”. Lately, I’ve been digging a lot of things going on there. Well last night I finally watched it. It was a beautiful story about an orphan African elephant named Flora. She was adopted by a human David and spent 16 years of her life as the star in David’s circus, aptly named Circus Flora.

Watching this documentary, I fell in love with Flora and the beauty that is the elephant. It was amazing to see the strong connection between “father” and “daughter”. To see how brilliant Flora is, and to realize that animals too have emotions.

The story follows David as he realizes that Flora no longer loves performing the way she used to, and that she needs to be around other elephants. Elephants apparently are very social beings (female elephants-males live independently from the herd). The problem was that Flora was never around other elephants and thus preferred being around humans.

David struggles to find the right place for Flora. He does not feel comfortable with zoos because of their lack of space and less-than stellar treatment of the animals. (There is one exception being the Pittsburgh zoo but they won’t take Flora because there are elephant babies due soon). He eventually finds a place in Miami where Flora is introduced to 2 other elephants and feels comfortable leaving her there as he will be able to visit.

So as not to write a synopsis of the whole documentary ( I strongly recommend watching it -look for it on OWN) I will just say that Flora eventually has a couple of incidents of aggression towards humans….One where she wrapped her trunk around the body of a woman and hit her against a tree breaking her ribs and femur and ulna.

When the woman describes the incident she says that she didn’t feel the pain. The only thing she felt was heartbreak because her love for Flora was so strong and she had felt so connected to this beautiful creature.

It brought up some interesting questions for me. In the end (spoiler alert!) Flora is put into an elephant sanctuary where again she is introduced to two female African elephants. Because she was not used to other animals, she had a hard time getting along with the elephants. She acted out towards her care givers.

David had been sick and wasn’t able to see her. The owner of the sanctuary believed that the acts of aggression were caused by David only coming once in a while to see Flora. That because their love was so strong, every time he came and left, she went through grieving process and felt abandoned. David did not agree but accepted the fact that if it was better for Flora, he would abstain from visiting.

It was actually pretty emotional for me. Aside from realizing just how amazing the elephant is, and seeing this strong bond between human and elephant, it made me see just how deep an elephant’s emotions go. Or any animal for that matter. To think that her love for David would prevent her from making friends in the herd, or that feeling abandoned would cause her to act out, was really just so moving.

The other emotional part for me was knowing how much cruelty is going on in the elephant (and animal) world. Flora was lucky to be in a place like the Elephant Sanctuary but so many elephants are not that lucky. They are being killed for their tusks and taken away from their family (some elephant experts believed it was Flora’s distress from seeing her mother killed in front of her that caused her to act aggressively, even saying she suffered from Post Traumatic Disorder), or mistreated in zoos and circuses and being totally exploited.

I don’t know why I was so moved to write about this today. It certainly doesn’t have anything to do with music. I wanted to share Flora’s story and bring some attention to the majesty of these animals. I just made a donation to the Elephant Sanctuary. It is such a great place for these elephants to roam and to be free. If you’d like to know more about Flora, go here or more about the elephant sanctuary go here.

I hope you enjoyed my random (yet thought-provoking, no?:-) post. When I find something that moves, me you are definitely going to hear about it!:-)

Flora-sized love,

Dana

This is a story about a song named “Emotional”. I wrote it many moons ago while living in NYC. I had feelings for a guy that was playing lots of games, lying, leading me on-you know, a real winner.
Sometimes, when I’m really emotional (no pun intended), the only way for me to deal with it, is to sing. And to write. So I sat down at the piano and I wrote this song.

I remember distinctly feeling and realizing that my emotional state, had nothing to do with this particular guy. Or at least that’s what I was trying to tell myself.That if it wasn’t him, it’d be someone else. I put that line in the song. It is my dad’s favorite one:-)

I often think that I chose these guys or would feel sad/emotional, just so I could write songs. I’d like to think I’ve matured since then….hopefully anyways;) It’s so rare to writes songs about being happy! Can you imagine Adele singing ” We really had it all. We didn’t lack a thing”? It wouldn’t sell. There’s something very cathartic about singing when you’re feeling blue.

I wanted to revisit this old song because it is my dad’s favorite and because it reminds me of being back in NYC. I recorded it a couple years back with just me, the piano, and a cello. It’s pretty minimal but I really like it. I’m going to talk about the different recording processes in another post. But for now, here is “Emotional”. The lyrics are below.

Please let me know what you think! I always love hearing from you.

Lots’ of listening love,
Dana

04 Emotional

“Emotional” Lyrics

I’m flashing back to that night
When I thought that everything would just work out fine
But baby, I guess I knew, somewhere deep inside
That it would be the last time

I’m emotional, but it doesn’t mean I feel for you.
I like to have you on my mind
But it’d be someone else if it wasn’t you

Baby, some things are meant to be
Cuz I needed you like you needed me
I know, it doesn’t mean a thing
But can I keep you on my mind?

I’m emotional, but it doesn’t mean I feel for you
I like to have you on my mind
But it’d be someone else if it wasn’t you

I like that way you look at me
Don’t worry baby, I won’t ask you what you see
Yes, I know, that you don’t feel a thing
And I won’t try to change your mind

I’m emotional, but it doesn’t mean I feel for you
I’m just trying to pass the time
And it’d be someone else if it wasn’t you.

Not “problem”. Not “p#$sy” (get your mind out of the gutter!), but “PATIENCE”. It is one virtue that I do not have. One that I desperately try to work at. To know that everything is happening as it should, and that I can only do the best that I can.

Right now, my patience is getting tested because of my album. It has been sonically done since August, yet the art work is taking soooooo long and I’ve been primarily less than happy with what I’ve been seeing. I’m not sure if it’s because the images I want are hard to work with or because I’m being picky. Either way, it gives me a pit in my stomach when I realize how long the whole process is taking….when I realize that my CD release party will probably not be until March because the CD is not yet ready and because I have so much planning to do beforehand.

But I can only do what I can do. I don’t want to put anything less than stellar into the world. I don’t want to look at the cover of my album and say “ugh”, just because I was in a “rush”. and so, I (try oh so hard to) practice patience. To just breathe through that pit in my stomach. To enjoy the journey of making this CD and doing it all by myself. To have the faith that in due time everything will come to me as it’s meant to be. That my album will be picture perfect, and the CD release will be the most fun show ever because of all the time and planning that went into it. Sigh.

What is one of the virtues that you have a hard time dealing with? How do you do with patience? I’d love to know any thoughts or practices around it! Hope you having a patience-filled week!:-)

love,
D

p.s. Maybe a little GnR will fix the problem:-)

Happy Sunday everyone!
ah, the sunday after Thanksgiving. I am grateful to not be traveling today. To be looking out my gorgeous window, drinking tea, and to have a fridge full of leftovers. (well my body is not very grateful for the last one but my heart is:-)

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE Thanksgiving. I love the general feeling around a holiday that is geared towards food, family, friends and thanks. There isn’t much else in my opinion.

I hosted it this year at my place. It was originally going to be just 4 people, but we found some more orphans and it ended up being 8. 8 great friends and lots of laughter. I miraculously found a friend with a table I could borrow that sat 8, and I bought a turkey breast (2 to be exact and we didn’t even put a dent into 1), and made stuffing and apple spiced cider (spiked with Brandy!mmmm)
Everyone that came also brought a dish and we had sooooo much delicious food!

I have been trying to be more thankful in my life everyday regardless of whether it is Thanksgiving or not. For whatever reason, it is harder than it seems, and than it should be. I saw a great video about “simple gratitude”, that you should def. look up on youtube or you can see on my Facebook page .

It is easy to lose sight of all that we have and focus on what we don’t have. What are you grateful for? Leave a comment below!

I am sincerely thankful to you for reading this blog….for being a fan and for bringing your energy to mine.

Next week, I’m going to write about a virtue I am not so good at , “Patience”. so get on the list, so you don’t miss it:-)

with all my love,

Dana

Me and Kimi at Nopa-drinking 1 too many margaritas!

Oh wow,

What a weekend! I had one of my very best friends come into town from LA and we went all out! She is one of those friends who I laugh until I cry with and I trust her with my “vault-worthy” secrets:-) Those kind of friends are hard to come by so I truly cherish them.

I am still recovering from the weekend and feel pretty exhausted. This post is going to be a “song of the week” post….although this one really is about a band.

Last week I realized that my ipod has not been inspiring me. I need new music in a bad way! (please, if you have anything that you can’t get enough of, LOVE , or even just like enough to recommend, leave a comment below and tell me! I really need some inspiration!;-)  So, instead of listening to new music, I listened to some old favorites.

The Black Crowes. As I’ve mentioned before, my brother and sister are 7 and 9 years older than me, so I am the baby of the family by far. When I went online to search for the Black Crowes, I realized that their first album came out when I was 10! I’m not sure how many 10 year olds were listening to the Black Crowes, but I sure was and I was LOVING them.

So when I listened to them last week, it brought me back to that time. I won’t say much else, but I’ll let you listen to you one of my favorite songs of theirs “Thorn in My Pride” (I tricked you by putting Remedy as the title, huh?).

My favorite line is : “Do you hear me breathing? does it make you wanna scream?                                                                                              Did you ever like a bad dream? Sometimes life is obscene.”

Lots of listening love,

Dana

03 Thorn In My Pride