Woo-eee!

what a week! I am still reeling from all the information and all the new people that I met in La. I was there to visit friends and to attend the “I Create Music” ASCAP music expo where I went last year and will attend many more.

The ASCAP expo is one of my favorite events of the year. It’s an event for music creators: whether it’s songwriters, producers, publishers, lawyers, people in the business. There were some amazing panels…My favorite was probably Bruno Mars and the Smeezingtons (his co-writing team). They were so funny and oh so charming!

There were a lot of amazingly talented musicians and songwriters and it was so inspiring to be around. Actually my REAL favorite was the songwriters “circle” that closed the event. 4 extraordinary songwriters performed songs that they wrote, most of them for other artists. They were Johnny Lang, Lindy Robbins, Hilary Lindsey and Priscilla Renae.

When you hear songs on the radio, you forget (or at least I do) about the people who actually wrote them. It was such a treat to hear the creators sing their songs. Priscilla Renae’s voice knocked me on the floor. She wrote “California King Bed” for Rihanna, and she sang it 1000 times better than her.( She also has a song on Madonna’s record.)

What I took away from the Expo is that if you’re a creative person, then you should be creating. Doesn’t matter if it’s for you, or your mom, or if you’re writing songs for Avril Lavigne. You create. That’s what you do.

There was something that all the panelists had in common too. And that was that they believed in themselves and they never gave up. Ryan Tedder (of One Republic) said “I don’t believe in Plan Bs”. He also told one of my favorite stories which is that Adele sang “Rumour has it” (the song he wrote for her) in ONE take! That means she sang the whole thing through one time, and that’s the take they used. It is pretty effing amazing….Especially when you hear the song. I’ll leave it for you here.

In summary, I learned a lot, met new friends, saw old ones, and I’m already looking forward to the expo next year:)

Hope you had a great week too,

Dana

02 Rumour Has It

Well I’m back from La.It was so much fun! Sunday was my bday (may 8th or mayth as I like to say) and I know it’s no excuse but I’ve been living it up. YAY!!!!! Giving myself a break and having some fun. LA is always good for that. I was also doing some business there so it was the best of both worlds.

So, let me tell you about the ASCAP expo;-) It was awesome! It was so inspiring and informative, and I had a great time. People were so friendly and overall it was a very supportive vibe. It got me even more excited to start work on my album art. I am taking things slowly but right now it seems like perfect timing. Just trying to enjoy the ride:-)

Sunday I took a ferry across to Sausalito and had brunch with my girlfriends. It was fun too! but here’s the thing. Birthdays are starting to become like New Years. So much hype, and little execution. But actually I have had a couple of great New Years in the recent past but you know what I mean. Last thursday I went down to this sleepy town in San Jose with my girlfriend, Beth, and we bar hopped, and then ended up at this bar and had a total dance party and had the greatest time! Totally unplanned, no hype, and ALL execution:-) WE got it done!

So now I have to return  from Lala Land and get back to reality. There is always an adjustment period. I hope you all had a great week and were living it up as much as I was! see ya on the flip side….

love,

D