Brand New Me # 132 Not Just a Show
Brand New Me
As a songwriter, I set my life to music. I paint my songs like portraits. They become particular expressions of who I am, or who I have been along the way. These songs organize themselves around a particular theme with later becomes a CD project. I love to share these with an audience in a concert setting because it becomes much more like a conversation. And that is what makes Portraits of White more than just a show!
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Brand New Me # 131 Do You Get Paid?
Brand New Me
Do your wages determine your value?
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Brand New Me # 130 Ideas Are Your Friends
Brand New Me
"There's nothing so powerful as an idea who's time has come." — Jim Rohn
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Brand New Me # 129 What Inspires You?
Brand New Me
What inspires you? How can you turn that into creativity?
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Brand New Me # 128 It Feels Good to Be Free
Brand New Me
When do you feel the most free? What is your safe place?
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Brand New Me # 127 More Religious?
Brand New Me
"Do you ever consider making Portraits of White more religious?"
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Brand New Me # 126 If I Weren't the One in Charge
Brand New Me
Do you feel a bit overwhelmed in your life? Even if you're "living the dream?"
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Brand New Me # 125 Facing the Spooks
Brand New Me
What are you afraid of? What keeps you from moving forward?
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Brand New Me # 124 YOU Are My Friends on the Yellow Brick Road
Brand New Me
"The enemy of love is self-consciousness." — Tom Jackson, Live Music Producer.
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Brand New Me # 123 Are You Rusty?
Brand New Me
Do you need some oil in your life? Are you feeling rusty, unable to move, like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz?
info_outlineWhich comes first, the chicken or the egg? Do you choose the players for Portraits of White first or the music first? So many questions!
Hear the answer to this question and take in another journal entry from Frances in this episode. You'll also hear a beautiful arrangement of "When I Survey" with Frances on the piano and Doug Cook on flute.
As for the chicken question...we had chickens on our farm and I don't ever remember having trouble deciding which came first...the chicken or the egg. It was obvious to me. The peeps came first.
My mother and I would drive the very curvy and hilly Pennsylvania back roads to a little poultry farm near us and pick up boxes of peeps. They'd "peep" all the way home. The sound was comforting to me. Then we'd unload the boxes of the little yellow fuzzy balls into our chicken house. My mother, along with our apricot poodle, Angie, and I would sit in the chicken house and watch them for hours. It's one of my favorite memories from childhood.
What do chickens and eggs have to do with Portraits of White, you ask?
It's what popped into my mind when I read this week's fan question. It's really one of those "chicken or egg" questions.
"Do you pick the musicians and then select the songs and arrangements around those musicians? Or do you select the music arrangements and then find the musicians to fit your needs?
Thanks to Doug Cook, Eastman School of Music alumni [Performer's Certificate]—one of the star players of Portraits of White, I can select just about any arrangement I want, because we have such great musicians to draw from. Doug was the first person I approached about playing in my "orchestra" and his musical network consisted of pro musicians throughout South Central Pennsylvania. Since he knew that I wanted to put together an orchestra, he made a very special offer.
"Would you like me to be the music contractor for your Christmas show?"
At the time, I didn't know what a gift Doug was giving me when he offered to do this. I knew anyone he chose would be amazing, so I immediately said, "yes!"