Have Love Will Travel

Every season, every year, every era of my life has a soundtrack. I’m sure most people’s lives do whether they realize it or not. I was interviewing with a music magazine last week and questions came up about some of my favorite things…food, music, etc. The frequency of my travels this year have made my tastes broad to say the least. My favorite foods ranged from 5 or 6 different regional delights non-existent outside of their locale and the underscore to my cross-country journeys consist of approximately 75% music that hasn’t hit the Billboard charts and (sadly) may never though more than deserving. I’ve been given, whether by hand at gigs or via email, more demos than one could imagine. Considering my average commute is about 15-20 hours, I have plenty of time to listen. Man, there are some really outstanding talents out there, and I envy their artistic and/or entertaining strengths, and others…well, we can’t all be winners, right?

I’m sure the same is said about me both ways. Actually, I know it is. But that’s great, at least there’s passion in the opinions. The worst thing would be to create art and have it be so mundane that it doesn’t even leave a dent good or bad.

So whether you are the creative type or not, when you feel that muse tugging at your heart to express in song, painting, sculpting, poetry, etc., go for it and don’t let your inhibitions or insecurities hold you back. Let people hate you, love you and wonder about you. And if the muse is calling hard enough, pack your car and leave on a yearlong road trip playing songs for strangers across the country selling CD’s out of a suitcase.

Much love,
-Rod

Tags: Billboard Charts, Creative Type, Cross Country, Favorite Foods, Favorite Things, Food Music, Gigs, Hasn, Inhibitions, Journeys, Muse, Music Magazine, Passion, Poetry, Road Trip, Suitcase, Talents, Tastes, Travels, Underscore

13,000 Miles

I’m about 2 weeks short of halfway through this crazy year of touring – no home but the road, the hospitality of friends  and reasonably priced hotels.  My poor car is hanging in there like a trooper, she’s got more than 13,000 miles added to her just in the last few months.  There is only one word that can begin to sum up the year so far: amazing.

At the beginning of this year, I hit the road with a broken, but hopeful, spirit.  Friends I had held close told me that I  ”deserve all the loneliness &  misfortunes” and that I was a terrible person that would “get it back in tenfold”.  What kind of people would say these kinds of things?  I thought my friends would be happy for me, possibly encouraging.  It was, as my dear friend Marc would say, a “momentary setback”…he was right.

Not only were those negative friends in a small minority, those of you who have supported me have been a thousand times more kind and loving than I had ever expected.  You fed me, housed me, came out to my shows, bought CDs, helped me load in/out of gigs, spread the word to all your friends about my latest songs on the radio and didn’t mind when I rolled in at 4am after a gig to crash on your couch.  You thought it was important to show me around Los Angeles, Denver, San Francisco, Birmingham, St. Louis, Philadelphia or whatever city you reside in that I was passing through.  It was great to see the sites, don’t get me wrong, and gigs aside, the best part was seeing you – talking, catching up, making new friends, hearing how your life has been since we last spoke a year, 5 years, 10 years ago!  Let’s keep in touch.

Then there are my new friends.  Oh dear friends, that random meeting and then the long talk over coffee or good playlist…I am so grateful.  The same goes for you.  You trusted a random stranger and fed me, housed me, bought CDs, came to shows, etc.  (Hang in there trooper, it’ll work out…eventually…haha) I hope years and years from now, we are still talking about this year and supporting each other wherever we are.

Driving, oh the driving…15 hours seems like a normal commute now.  I’m just now remembering that’s not normal.  The craziest single drive was after playing Popfest 2010 on the Atlantic Ocean and then having 3 days to drive to the Pacific Ocean.  I had my feet in the sand of the East Coast and then 40-some-odd hours later, I shook my socks out into the beaches of the West Coast.  I drove through deserts without any food, fuel or cell phone signal for over a hundred miles, mountains, incredibly flat plains, snowy blizzards, big cities, small towns and everything in between.

And the music, let’s not forget the music.  I’ve had bad gigs, great gigs, radio interviews, press meetings, writing days and recording sessions.  Music has fed me and put fuel in my car…man, that’s a good feeling.  When I was a music student at Greenville College, Dr. J &  Ani used to tell me, and everyone we met, that we’d see my name in lights someday.  This year, it’s happening nearly every week.  I’m so humbled when I hear folks singing along with my songs at gigs or see lyrics pop up in Twitter or Facebook status updates.  I’ve had Dr. Luke explain Ke$ha and what was going on in his head while he was writing and recording TiK ToK.  My friend, Chris Trapper, and I finally got to play a show together (and started planning more).  There are literally hundreds of incredible memories that are just as amazing, but too numerous to list.

It has been an incredible year, and I’m only halfway through.

What does the next half of the year hold?  More songs are being recorded, I’m always writing and more gigs are getting booked as we speak.  There’s a few more surprises in store as well.

Tonight, it’s time for a late night playlist and some much welcomed sleep.

G’night friends,

-Rod

Click Here For The Tour 2010 Photo Album.

Tags: 10 Years, 4am, Dear Friend, Friend Marc, Friends And Strangers, Gig, Hopeful Spirit, Hospitality, Latest Songs, Loneliness, Misfortunes, Momentary Setback, New Friends, Oh Dear Friends, Playlist, Poor Car, Random Stranger, Small Minority, Songs On The Radio, Spirit Friends, Terrible Person

Good To Be Alive

Though I have agreed to keep my submissions for my upcoming book under wraps until the final release, I’ve been given permission to give a little peek at what I’ve been writing.  It’s not much, but rest assured, there’s a LOT more.

“…It’s funny, with nearly 2.5 months on the road constantly moving and averaging no more than a couple days in one place, I’m finding things a little differently than I originally expected. I thought that having no home, no “center”, no place to be away from and return to would be the most difficult part of being on the road fulltime. It turns out that not knowing where I will lay my head the next day and relying on music to provide for that has been the most fulfilling. It makes me feel alive and that I’ve finally found a groove to fit into.

Despite the jadedness of the business end of things, the kindness of friends and their incredible hospitality has been amazing. I can’t express how grateful I am and how good it is to finally be alive…”

Tags: 5 Months, Business End, Couple Days, Fit, Groove, Hospitality, Kindness, Music, Peek, Submissions, Wraps

Time For New Tires…

I’ve been terrible about blogging lately.  Between trying to write this book, hashing out details of this video game and book shows all while traveling and playing shows, I’m finding my true limits.  It’s a labor of love though.  For some of you that are reading that list and thinking “huh”?  Here’s a brief catch up:

January 1, 2010 marked Day 1 of my 2010 tour.  This tour was supposed to be a joint venture but turned into a solo tour suddenly.  It hurt, hurtful things were said to me, I moved on anyway, more hurtful things were said to me and I kept going anyway.  The shows have been better than ever.  There are so many friends, new and old, that it’s hard to keep up at the end of each night.  The tour will go all the way through early 2011 and I will be going coast-to-coast, north-and-south.

In February, I went back into the studio and tracked a new single, “Tomorrow She’s Mine” that is a new, upbeat direction for my songs and I’m very excited.  That new single releases as a digital single on iTunes, Amazon MP3, etc. on March 9, 2010.  A couple weeks after tracking was completed, I got confirmation that the new single was going to be featured on the video game “Rock Band” for Xbox 360.  It’s an exciting opportunity for me.

Around the same time, Jay$ of Rhyme Commission remixed my previous single, “By Now (Po’ Safe Reconstruct Remix)” and it went into club servicing almost immediately.  That remix will be released to iTunes, Amazon MP3, etc. tomorrow, on March 2, 2010.

The book I’ve been commissioned to write about my year on the road is still coming along.  I have to remain faithful in logging my daily experiences and submitting them to the editors.

I started this tour out east and as of today, have made it to Indiana.  There are already lots of experiences and stories in the first couple months.  I am both anxious and apprehensive of what lies ahead.

I’m still writing music, playing music and driving thousands of miles, friends.  I hope to see most, if not all of you soon.  Thank you for your love and support,

Rock on,

-Rod

Tags: Amazon, Blogging, Confirmation, Couple Weeks, Editors, Experiences, Hash, January 1, Joint Venture, Labor Of Love, New Single Releases, New Tires, Playing Music, Rhyme, Rock Band, Solo Tour, Tires, Video Game, Writing Music, Xbox, Xbox 360