The Pretender

"I'm going to rent myself a house, in the shade of the freeway,

Gonna pack my lunch in the morning and go to work each day.

And when the evening comes around, I'll go on home and lay my body down.

And when the morning light, comes streaming in, I'll get up and do it again.........Amen!"

The Pretender

Jackson Browne

The preceding excerpt is probably one of my favorite verses in all of music where none other than the great Jackson Browne so accurately describes so many of us each day as we run the race together back and forth to work over and over. Hopefully, you are as fortunate as I am and you love where you work each day, but it should be noted that JB wasn't referring to us hating our jobs, just the fact that we race sometimes frantically for what he describes in his song as "The Legal Tender".

I think this is one of the most brilliant descriptions of what being stuck in middle class peer pressure is all about. Working, running, planning and consuming ourselves with things to keep up with the expectations of so many. Driving the same roads each day, punching the same clocks each afternoon with no thought of adventure or escape other than a pizza and a movie on Friday. Or, if you are one of the religious purple and gold fans, then a party on gamedays with plenty to eat before kick-offs make the rented house in the freeway all worth it. It is certainly a choice that we all make and most of us never stop to ask why. JB gave us a lot of food for thought with his writing of this song and nothing is more telling than the title of it.........The Pretender...............Kind of says it all! Jackson Browne is one of my favorite songwriters and I absolutely wore out my first copy of his greatest hits. If you haven't heard his music, you should treat yourself.

In GH Music News, I have two gigs this weekend, Tangi Fair in Amite - Thursday, 8:00-10:00 P.M. and a Private Party in Folsom on Friday. I should be receiving Radio and TV Promo Packages tomorrow and plans are underway for us to release the Louisiana Video and to start our push to TV and Radio....should be interesting. Cd Sales are going well and my cds can now be purchased at several retail outlets that are listed on my webpage at http://www.greghaydenmusic.com/. All of my songs from Weightless will be added to Itunes, Amazon, Rhapsody and other digital distribution outlets in the next few weeks. I will let you know when the files are put up for purchase.

Ok, I was told and advised to be consistent with my blogs so that I can keep everyone posted, so, I will do better and I will make the time to post something.

I hope you all have a great day!!!

Gregory

Fall Favorites

It is my favorite time of year.....the beginning of the Fall Season. I look forward to so many things in the fall each year. I am a jacket/sweater kind of guy who likes the cooler weather. I also like that all of the grass slows down and when my family ran our golf course for years, the fall was always a welcomed break from cutting acres of grass. I also like the smell in the air when the first cool fronts make their way down to South Louisiana. It is an awesome time of year that I always look forward to.

On the music front, we are currently preparing to mail out large numbers of Radio and TV Promo Packets for Louisiana, the 3rd song on Weightless. I gave the song to one DJ here in Hammond and he has played the song repeatedly on his show each day. We are looking forward to pushing Louisiana out as far as we can.

This coming weekend will be the first in a while that I will be off. I am planning to go hear some friends play in Ponchatoula Friday night and I am hoping to get some writing done Saturday and Sunday. I am eager to get back in my studio to track some demos that I want to get finished. Of course, as I have said many times in my blogs, song writing is the reason that I am in this business so I am eager to get back to work writing. I hear that Sunday may bring one of the cool fronts our way so if I am lucky, I can get the best of both worlds, songwriting in cooler weather.

Hope you have a great day!!!!
Gregory

Full Circle......

So, I have been on a lot of stages in the last four years of this journey. From small rooms with 15 people listening, to big stages in cities like Baton Rouge where folks were spread out down city blocks listening and enjoying the music. I've been lucky enough to play lots of festivals and events that brought large numbers out to hear the music. It has been a journey that already leaves me with hundreds of stories and memories that none could take away. This morning in a conversation with my bass player, I told him that I now realize that this music journey really has little to do with the venues or the crowds that you see, but more to do with the experiences that each bring to you as an artist. If not for the early coffee shop gigs that I played four years ago when I started, I would not be able to stand where I am today. Music Degree or not, legitimate or not, those are doors that every artist worth his or her salt must walk through. For some, that is smoke filled bar rooms, for others, it may be talent shows or charity events but every artist has to walk through those doors. In many ways, those trips through those doors determine whether you have the drive to push on even though you find yourself in places that you may think you are better than. It is a challenge but one that I now realize helped me to get wherever it is that I am now. I have only started the journey and I have a long way to go but I can tell that the experiences have all been very valuable.

Last night, we arrived in NOLA at The Neutral Ground Coffee House about 9. Cary Riche and Clay Wilson made the trip and played the gig with me. We went in to check it out and it was big time retro with a cool vibe that was unlike any place that I had ever played. From beads hanging in doorways to Beatles Posters on the wall, it was all throw-back and very sweet. The walls were solid wood and there were folk instruments hanging all over the room. It is definitely my kind of joint. PA was already set up and the stage area was really nice with most of what you need just to plug up and play. There was a guy singing a Dylan tune when we walked in. Perfect!!!

Across the street from the Neutral Ground was Newman High School where the Manning boys all went and played football. There was a game ending shortly after we got there and lots of traffic around. We had an hour to kill before we went on so we threw my tailgate down where we were parked across the street and pulled out the acoustic guitars and started playing. We were doing a trio acoustic version of Paul Simon's Slip Slidin Away as people walked by and nodded as to say......"Very Nice". It was fun and a great experience all the way around. Our performance turned out great and we loved the place. I have two more performances scheduled there this fall and I am really looking forward to going back. BTW, if you are in the neighborhood, they also make a great Iced Latte.

While my mission to promote my music requires me to play big stages like the many events that we have booked this fall, I have just come home to realize that my favorite is a quiet coffee shop where people are zoned in on every lyric to your music as opposed to raising a toast to a great guitar riff or a good drum beat. There is a purity and an innocence about playing your songs on your acoustic in a setting like The Neutral Ground. When I started this journey, I did not know how special those settings were but after walking through the doors that I have, I really enjoy and appreciate it now more than ever. I have shows like the Neutral Ground booked in Ashville, North Carolina in November and I am really looking forward to playing them.

Having said all of that, we just got a call confirming that we will be the featured band at the Ponchatoula Chamber of Commerce's Party In The Pits this fall on October 16th. We also recently got named as the Featured Band at the Dutch Battle Memorial Ride and Gumbo Cook-off which will be held this fall in downtown Hammond. Both of these are big events with lots of promotion and exactly the opposite of last night's Neutral Ground booking.

Last night inspired my bass player, Cary, and he phoned me this morning with an idea that I really think he stole from me to start an Original Music Night somewhere in the Hammond, La area for singer/songwriters to play their songs. We would like to find a nice place to build a venue and a community of singer/songwriters and fans of singer/songwriters to come out on a monthly basis to enjoy great original music. We are developing the idea but I really like it and when I get the Weightless Release behind me, I will start working on this idea.

Ok, lengthy today but I had a lot to say. Hopefully you read it all!!! Our Release has been scheduled for next Saturday, Sept 11th, with Budweiser and LaCarreta of Hammond as our sponsors. I will blog in more detail about this event as the week progresses.

Have a terrific day!

Gregory

Rained Out and Postponed

Well, in five months of preparation, I knew that there would be several xfactors where the Cd Release Event could be postponed or delayed. Rain was always the biggest concern, especially since we were planning it in Aug, the height of Hurricane season. What we feared happened and a small tropical disturbance churned all day south of us and the forecast was for rain.

Our sponsors, Budweiser and La Careta, did not feel comfortable holding the event with the forecast being what it was. So, around 2:30, we decided to postpone to Sept 11th. The real work began after that when we had to spend the entire evening letting people know. It was crazy and not at all the day that I was expecting. I woke up Sat excited about the event and full of anticipation only to end the day pretty bummed out.

There are some advantages to pushing back and we did hear from a lot of people who said that they were glad that it had been moved because the new date, Sept 11th, worked better for them.
We have a lot of work to do to prepare for the 11th but a lot of the production work is done because we were set to go yesterday.

I will make several appearances on local radio over the next two weeks to keep the promotions up and I am booked to play in New Orleans this weekend. I will go ahead and play the New Orleans show this weekend.

I want to say thank you to those of you who made plans to be at the release party. I hope that the 11th works for you and I look forward to FINALLY releasing Weightless.

In other news, I released my first music video today on youtube and facebook.

Here is the link! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SXOW3UYTSc

Have a great day!!!

Dang....That is my Song Playing!!!

Hi everyone. So, yeah, I know I promised to blog more this week but whew.......this has been the craziest week for all of us preparing for the Cd Release Saturday. There has literally been something to do every hour. Having said that, I had to find a few minutes to blog tonight about my experience today.

I went yesterday to Tangi 96.5 and taped an interview with a wonderful guy, Al Toups, who DJs as The Bayou Wolfman. Al agreed to have me on and to play Louisiana, from the new cd. I met him about 5 P.M. and we recorded the interview. Al set up the time for the interview and song to play where my schedule would allow me to listen.

So, after my fourth hour class exited my band hall, I grabbed my keys and headed out to my truck. Because I was in Denham Springs, the station was going in and out. So, I drove around in our parking lot until I found a place where I could listen and hear the signal clearly. I am sure that some people must have been mused by me driving around the parking lot seemingly with no purpose. When I stopped, I turned up the volume and listened to Louisiana. I can't describe the feeling of sitting there listening to my song play on the air waves. It was awesome and it charged me up to get ready for a huge marketing campaign which will include us pushing Louisiana and the project in many different directions. After sitting there today, I am energized to work even harder. I got a taste of what that felt like and I liked it a lot.

Tomorrow is the big day and months of planning has gone into preparing for this event. I hope the weather holds and everyone who comes out really enjoys their evening at the Weightless Release. Hope to see you there.

Gregory

Final Approach

Hey Everyone! We are almost home and I am feeling it for sure. The days are filled with so much to do before the release and I am literally having to plan each day very strategically to get everything done. From Sound and Lighting systems to press submissions to rehearsals to invitations.......the list just goes on and on.

Budweiser picked up my event and is now our sponsor along with La Careta of Hammond. This is awesome because they will bring out all of their nice covered tents and canopies for the event. I was very pleased to get this news yesterday.

Yesterday, my brother-in-law emailed me and suggested that we may need an alternate version of Louisiana for Radio Format and play. So, I emailed my engineer with the idea and within a few hours we were contacting Ben Manuel to help us track the radio version to Louisiana. We started tracking about 8:30 and I drove into my driveway this morning at 4:00 A.M. Needless to say, I am very tired today but I had so much to do that I just had to keep plugging along. We were able to get a good alternate version of Louisiana and I will have it played this week on 96.5 and 107.1 in Hammond, La.

This week ahead will be filled with interviews, TV Shows and printed press submissions in preparation for next Saturday's release. After a whole summer of hard work and two years of writing music, I am almost home. At this point, I am really looking forward to playing my music and getting all of the busy work done. Tonight, I got the opportunity to perform Macy's Dream for about 40 Teenagers who were totally zoned into the song and the lyrics. I played my new Manuel Patterson Cedar Top with no amplification in a smallish room. It was perfect and just good music without any artificial additions. That is the way I like it.

Ok, I have several things to do before crashing and preparing for the week ahead. I will blog throughout the week about the developments as we draw closer to Saturday. Pray for good weather and make plans to come out and celebrate with us. See you soon!

Gregory

26 Days and Counting

Wow, it's been an incredibly busy and eventful summer for me. I am off to prepare my new band hall at Juban Parc for the new school year. After working in administration for four years, I am very excited about the opportunity to teach again, especially music. I don't know this for sure, but I get the picture that a lot of people get up everyday and do things they just have to do to make a living. I have always been very lucky in being able to do something that I love so much, which is music. I am also excited about having the opportunity of teaching now that I have pursued my songwriting and music with all of my energy. I really launched myself into the music right about the same time that I went into administration so it will be awesome now to be able to share my story and stories with the students that I am honored to teach. I hope to be a living example to them of what they can do if they follow their dreams and passions. I can't wait!!!

After a full day of prep at the new school, I will have a short break and Casey and I will go back to work on Weightless tonight. We are close to being done with three songs, Disappear, Ghostly Writer and Time. All three of these are very close to being done. Believe it or not, we are just 26 Days from the release of Weightless. I pushed back a week and I am opting for a quicker pressing turn around in New Jersey in order to give Casey adequate time to work his magic in mixing the project. We put so much into the production of this that I am determined to get the mixes where we are both very satisfied. As I stated before, you could have the finest musicians in the world play on your album but if the mix is bad, then the album is bad. This project turned out to be huge in scope with all of the people that I brought in to play on it.

So, this will be a tough week for us to work the seven songs remaining in a very limited time frame but we will get it done. Gotta run, busy day ahead!

Before I go, just a line for you from a new song that I am writing:

Stop and think it over,
Before you waste away the day
And when you swim in the ocean
Always look for diamonds along the way!

Jesse Hayden, my grandfather, was and still is legendary to me. He was absolutely the biggest and most positive influence in my life. When I would be running my race each day, occasionally, I would stop for coffee with him. I would begin to tell him about everything that was going in my life and he would so eloquently say......."Boy, You Need To Stop And Smell The Roses".

Well Said Pop!!!! Thanks so much!!! Your words are with me everyday!!!!

Gregory