DAY - 365

"All your hard work will soon pay off."  After filling up on delicious chinese take out, I broke open my fortune cookie and...no lie... that is what I read.

DAY

For the past 2 or 3 months, I've thought about what I would say on DAY - 365.  There is SO much to say.  But, I'm staring at an empty computer screen and honestly drawing a blank.   I don't think I can find the words to express how grateful I am for this project.  I'm not going to rattle off a list of my accomplishments. If you're reading this, you've probably already been along for the ride.  NO,  I did not sign a publishing deal or a recording contract within 365 business days by networking with at least one person in the music industry a day.  BUT, I have learned and progressed more as an artist, a songwriter and a business mind in this year, than I have in the past 10 years combined...and that is priceless.  Throughout the year, many people have asked me, "What are you going to do if you don't reach your goal?"  I never really knew how to respond, but through the process, an answer has presented itself.  You know, "Making it 365"... making it in 365 days...that's a set goal.  But, what I've realized is that making it 365 is more than a goal...it's a life style...it's a philosophy.  If you want something so badly, you HAVE to work at it every_ single_ day.

That being said,  I WILL continue the spirit of this blog.  I will continue networking, writing, recording, everyday.  I may not post everyday, but I will post very frequently with detailed recaps...successes, failures and lessons learned.  So if you're interested, STAY TUNED!

I don't think I could write anything that is going to sum up this adventure better than the mini-documentary that I've been telling you about!  So, being that it's the last day of this blogging adventure,  I thought it would be fitting to release, for your viewing pleasure,  "Making It 365", filmed and produced by Chris Zurzolo and J Paul Simeone from Olive Branch Productions.  Hope you enjoy!

http://youtu.be/UudmG5z5wfM

Finally, in traditional fashion...  Let's get back to business.
Today I met with Owner/Executive Producer at Turtle Studios in Philadelphia, Jay Levin.  Jay and I had a great meeting in which we discussed the possibility of teaming up on future songwriting/recording projects.  Turtle Studios is a beautifully restored facility with a killer live room and an amazing vibe.  Definitely looking forward to working with Jay on some upcoming projects.

Cheers!

DAY - 364

Very productive day.  Spent the morning and afternoon recording vocals at Medicine Man Studios (owned by long-time engineer/producer, Chris Zurzolo) in Philadelphia for a brand new song I wrote with Sweet Angeline co-writer, Liv Devine and Nashville's, Fred Knobloch.  It's a very sparse, vulnerable and heartfelt ballad and the recording is demonstrating that beautifully.  Fred recorded (from his Nashville studio) an inspired, finger-style acoustic guitar part and sent it to us via dropbox...then he skyped in for the vocal session this morning.  Liv did a fantastic job on the lead vocals and after I finished laying down some background harmonies we all sat, listened and decided to call it a day.  No use in complicating it with a bunch of layers and complex harmonies.  This tune truly speaks for itself.  The only thing left to add is cello which will create drama and serve as an added texture.  In the midst of the session, we discussed some pitching options/directions for the song and Fred is going to try to do a bit of "shopping" before the Holidays are in full swing.  Fingers crossed Santa gets us a big cut this Christmas :)

After the session, I reached out to the publishing head of Black River Music Group, Celia Froehlig.  If you read yesterday's post, I stumbled across Black River and reached out to the head of A&R, Doug Johnson.  Since Black River is both a label AND a publisher I figured I'd reach out to both parties to see if I could drum up some sort of response.  As always...we shall see.  

DAY - 363

Hope you had a great weekend.  Mine was pretty eventful!  Saturday night, one of my best buddies from High School had a Christmas/House-warming party.  Fantastic party, not to mention a beautiful house in Philadelphia.  He purchased it last year and the spent the better part of the year gutting the place and completely renovating it.  He seriously spared no expense.  The place is absolutely gorgeous... a bachelor pad fit for a king!  Sunday was pretty sweet.  After a brunch, celebrating my sister's boyfriend's 30th B-day, I headed straight to Haddonfield, NJ.  In a gazebo, in the center of King's Court, I had the honor of playing a song while an old friend of mine proposed to his girlfriend!!   She was TOTALLY surprised. They came walking down the court on a nice little stroll through town and some random guy (me) happened to be playing "their song" in the gazebo.  As soon as they walked up, my friend Matt got down on one knee and proposed.  She said, "yes" and it was a magical little moment.  Congratulations to the happy couple! :)

Have to admit, I slept in a little today.  Had to enjoy not having an 8:30am class.  Around 9:30am EST I started digging to find some new contacts and after about an hour of researching I stumbled across a Nashville label and publishing company called, Black River Music Group.  Today I reached out to the head of A&R at Black River, Doug Johnson.  I told Doug a bit about myself and my ambitions, kept it relatively brief and let him know I'm interested in meeting next time I'm in town.  We shall see.

We are getting down to the wire folks.  Today is day 363.  Stay tuned.

DAY - 362

TGIF!  Got a really cool "forward" today from Taxi.com.  Let me explain briefly.  Taxi.com is a site you can sign up to that sends you listings for industry pros (label reps, tv&film reps, producers) that are looking for songs.  If you've been following along you might have seen some of the listenings I posted here on the blog.  The way it works is that someone at Taxi.com screens all the songs submitted before sending to the industry pro... so in other words, our song will either get "returned" meaning rejected or "forwarded" meaning sent to the industry pro.   Anyway,  just got word today that one of my songs was forwarded to Vin Di Bona productions.  They're a TV production company that produce a bunch of popular shows including the most famous "America's Funniest Home Videos".   Just so you can see how it works, I'll post the listing below AND below that, I'll post what the person from Taxi.com responded AND below that I'll post a link to my taxi.com site so you can check it out and listen to the song.  If you're new to Taxi, this will give you a first hand look at how it works.  It's actually funny that they forwarded this one. It's only a rough mix of a half finished track! You'll see what I mean when you listen.  Nonetheless, it's definitely a good sign!  The song is an upbeat, pop track (a la vein of Maroon 5, The Wanted, Justin Bieber) called "Insomnia" and I wrote it with the Sweet Angeline team of Tyler James and Liv Devine.  The track is in the midst of being produced by Jeremy Cimino from Jungle City in NYC.

PRODUCER of a LONG-RUNNING, POPULAR REALITY TV SHOW needs UPBEAT, ENERGETIC POP SONGS a la Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Justin Bieber, etc. The producer wants to be able to play off your lyrics, so be CREATIVE and CLEVER with your theme and content. SUPER FUN, MID-to-UPTEMPO SONGS only. Remember that this is for national TV so please don't submit songs that will invite beeps from the censors. Please avoid songs with lyrics mentioning specific brands or people's names. Vocal and instrumental performances should be fantastic! MALE or FEMALE vocals OK.

Hi Michael, thanks for submitting your song. I really like it and I'm going to forward it. The listing says "The producer wants to be able to play off your lyrics, so be CREATIVE and CLEVER." I think your song has a good cliche "Insomnia," although it's not in the chorus I like how you used it in the verses. It stands out. I also like how the chorus explains what the theme of the song is in a direct and catchy way. I think if Justin Beiber sang this song it would do well at top 40 radio. For this listing I think it's great because there are few scenarios this song will work for. Good luck to you!

www.taxi.com/mynameisaugust  

DAY - 360 + 361

Wooo hooo!!! I am done and officially on Winter break.  That was by far the busiest semester thus far.  Actually, I venture to say, that was the busiest time period in my life so far.  Oh wait, I spoke too soon...let's throw student teaching into the mix next semester.  Oh well, it'll all go by way too fast just like the past 2 years.

Speaking of time flying, I have to say, keeping this blog has not only helped with my career, but it has also helped mark a bunch of amazing turning points in life.  Not only have I gotten engaged, but I've also had the opportunity to witness two of my best friends in the world walk down the aisle.  Between all the craziness of my recital and final's week, I was able to watch John (one of my best friends since age 15) and his beautiful bride, Holly tie the knot in an over-the-top, spectacular wedding celebration.  It was truly a power-packed day, from morning til night, full of laughter, drinking, fun, drinking, family, drinking, love, oh and a lot of...you get the point.  We had a blast to say the least!  Here are a few "up close and personals" with the newlyweds :)

Alright back to biz...

Yesterday and today have been spent planning and scheduling sessions for next week.  I have a lot of demos in progress as well as demos about to be in progress so next week it's time to play catch up.  Besides scheduling a vocal skype session for the demos that Eric and I need to complete (refer to last couple days) Nashville co-writer, Fred Knobloch has begun working on two new ones as well.  Working on a game plan for recording those...where, when and how.  Also, I still have a pop track in production with NYC producer, Jeremy Cimino as well as another one with my new friend and co-writer Josh McDonnell.  Also, working on setting up some new co-writes as well.  There are so many awesome songwriters I've met over the past couple months and haven't had the time to write yet.  Looking forward to it.  More to come...stay tuned!

DAY - 359

More back and forth today with co-writer Eric Schwank while he's in Nashville.  So after talking more in depth I got the full story about the studio sess went.  Overall, Eric said the musicians were fantastic.  We had some of the top session guys including the fiddle player from Josh Turner's band. (same guy that played on my demo with Kirk Penney)  He said trying to accomplish three songs in a day and have them turnout the way we wanted was another story.  I haven't heard anything yet but Eric said at least one of them suffered a little identity crisis as far as feel, groove and energy.  I've heard this can be a problem at demo studios but haven't run into it until now.  I'm really looking forward to hearing stuff now.  The other hang up of course was the demo singer canceling.  We decided not to go with someone else and Skype in at a later date, or possibly even be there in person on another date.  It holds up the process but, hey, we have to make sure it's right.  So that's the story so far.

Also, I heard back from singer-songwriter Justin Klump.  Looks like we're gonna try to get together next time I'm in town.  Looking forward to it...Justin is a fantastic guitarist and songwriter... definitely check out his new EP...it's beautiful.  www.justinklump.com 

Today I also sent an email to Fred Knobloch to start discussing new song ideas and demo plans for our latest 2 songs.  We've got some killer tunes on the way, one mid-tempo and one ballad.  After getting a new batch of demos together I'm planning on approaching Daniel Lee from BMG and Natalie Harker from Cal IV to follow up.

DAY - 358

The recital on Friday night was a success!  When asked what my favorite part about it was, I have been responding, "The fact that it's over!"  Don't get me wrong,  I had a BLAST!  The band was fantastic, the sound was perfect, the crowd was great, and everything went off without a hitch.  What I'm referring to is the preparation and pressure.  I can play a show in front of hundreds of people without getting worked up, I can play a crowded bar with people screaming, "play my song! play my song!" any day of the week,  but having to play in front of a dead quiet room full of my peers... now that's scary.  You know everyone is judging and critiquing and it takes a lot to forget it all and just have fun.  Luckily enough, I got in the zone and stayed there all night.  What a great memory!  Since most of you couldn't be there, here are some pictures...

Now, down to business...

Good friend and co-writer, Eric Schwank (as seen in above picture, in the hat) is in Nashville as we speak demoing 3 songs (2 of which we co-wrote) at Studio 19!!  I'm SO pumped.  I can't wait to hear the songs and I can't wait for you to hear them as well.  We ran into one snag.  Turns out, Eric got an email late last night that our demo singer lost his voice and won't be able to do the session today...ahhh!  This especially sucks because Eric flew all the way down just to cut these songs.  2 options we're looking at...1) Get a new demo singer 2) Have our original demo singer sing the songs after the fact while we skype in for the session.   We're still deciding...it's tough because we really like our guy.  More to come on this.

Also, today I reached out to an old songwriting friend from Vancouver, WA, Justin Klump.  Justin and I have managed to bump into each other a couple times over the past 6 years while playing shows.  It turns out that he moved to Nashville and is doing really well.  Just released a great 5-song EP.  I just reached out today to re-connect and let him know I'll be moving to town as well in the near future.  Great to know more people!  

DAY - 357

Today is being spent relaxing and getting ready for the big recital tonight.  I can't believe it's been 2 years since I started back at school.  With a BA in business marketing, I embarked on a mission to secure a master's degree, not in business, oh no, that'd be too easy, but in music.  I was accepted and started up at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia in January of 2010.  Having no undergraduate credits in music I knew it was going to be a long ride...going to school full-time while retaining a full teaching schedule, gigging, writing and recording. (not to mention throwing this blog in the mix last year)  Well, there is light at the end of the tunnel.  Tonight's recital marks the end of a 2-year journey through "undergraduate land" coming out with an Associate's in vocal performance and a minor in music education that will allow me to enter and finish the 1-year master's program starting this Spring.   Here's the details below...you're welcome to come and enjoy the show!


Tonight, 7pm, "Michael August Walton & Friends" at Caplan Center for Performing Arts on Broad Street, Philadelphia. The show is free and open to all! Also, performing at 8pm the wonderfully talented Rob Borchert Guaranteed to be a great night of music. Hope to see you there. Cheers!

DAY - 356

This has officially been the most stressful two weeks I've had...maybe ever.  The heaps of papers, tests and presentations at school, teaching every night, rehearsing and preparing for my recital, keeping up with bills, writing sessions, etc finally caught up with me and I was sick as a dog yesterday.  My head hit the pillow around 11pm on Tuesday night and I slept until about 2pm on Wednesday!!  I could barely move all day.  Managed to crank out a few emails...hopefully they were legible...but that's about it.  Thank God, I'm feeling SO much better today.  No more fever, chills or anything except for a few aches here and there and some fatigue.  I guess all the go go go finally got the best of me and my body just decided it had to shut itself down.  Anyway, if all goes well I'll be 100% for my recital tomorrow.

Back to business...

Following the conversation with Fred Knobloch regarding Major Bob, (refer to Day 354) I reached out to owner and President, Bob Doyle.  I gave Bob the normal spiel and let him know that I was a friend and co-writer of Fred Knobloch.  Hopefully, in this case, a little name-dropping will work to my advantage.  We shall see.  Stay tuned!

DAY - 355

Today I heard back from former EMI rep and owner of I Think I love It .com,  Katie O'Halloran.  I had contacted Katie over a month ago regarding the possibility of her knowing someone from Avril Lavigne's team. (Been trying to pitch the latest song I wrote with Scot Sax to Avril) Katie responded that she absolutely LOVED the song and could hear it for a number of artists, but let me know that she doesn't have any affiliations with Avril's camp.  I responded, thanking her for listening and for the kind words as well as letting her know it'd definitely be cool to forward it along ;)

DAY - 354

Connecting the dots may in fact prove useful! (refer to yesterday)  As you know, I reached out to co-writer and Nashville hit songwriter, J Fred Knobloch yesterday regarding contacting Major Bob Music.  Well, I spoke with Fred today and it turns out, Fred not only knows Wendi, but has also known the owner and President, Bob Doyle for over 30 years!  Furthermore, Fred let me know that he'd drop a line, put in a good word for me, AND he is also going to put together a promo package for Sweet Angeline and personally deliver it straight to Mr. Doyle hopefully getting us a showcase!  That would be amazing.   If it pans out, that'll be 2 showcases so far for the next Nashville trip including the one with Universal Nashville.  Fingers crossed.

DAY - 352 + 353

Apologies for the delay.  Had to do some MAJOR digging lately and stumbled across a really cool Nashville label/publishing company called Major Bob. (wow...no pun intended..I swear)  Artists like Garth Brooks and The Band Perry are signed with Major Bob as well as a team of really great writers.  Yesterday and today I reached out to two different staff members.  The first of which, Mike Doyle is the VP or Creative and the GM of the company and the second is head of A&R, Jesse Frasure.

I sent an email, yesterday, to Mike Doyle letting him know a bit about myself and my goals to become a published writer/artist.  I let him know I'm moving to Nashville in the near future and interested in co-writing with a member of his team.   Today, I sent a similar email to Jesse Frasure.  In the email to Jesse, since he's A&R, I focused more on what I'm doing as an artist both as "Michael August" and my pop/country side project "Sweet Angeline".   I've definitely hit a dry spell with people getting back to me, so we'll see if this sparks any interest.

On a side note,  I noticed there was another employee that works at Major Bob named Wendi Crosby.  I could swear she plays in a society 19-piece Big Band with my co-writer, J Fred Knobloch.  I reached out to Fred today to see.  Who knows...connecting the dots may help. Stay tuned!