A Blog about recording and performing musician Randy Granger told in his words. His life as a songwriter, performer, educator, serious Foodie and full-time musician with all the triumphs, lessons, life on the road observations told with humor, irreverence and reflection. An award-winning composer and songwriter Granger blends Native American flutes, the Hang, voice and world percussion into a completely unique contemporary Southwest World sound.
Randy Granger
In the Chihuahuan Desert near the Organ Mountains, New Mexico
Recording Cello and Hang with Alison Reynolds of La Cella Bella
Glad to report the Kickstarter campaign for the new CD project is over halfway funded as of today, the fourth day since launching. It is very encouraging and am I am beyond grateful. Remember that if I don't meet 100% of my funding goal I won't receive a penny so it is important to keep the momentum going. Please continue to share this project with your circle of friends, family, co-workers, other flute players etc. Recording continues and is spurred on by this great start of the Kickstarter campaign. I laid some tracks down with a Cellist friend Alison Reynolds for the song "Comes the Moon." So excited about the music on this album. It combines my life-long career as a musician with the newest instruments I've incorporated in to my music like Native American and World flutes, the Hang, Halo and hammered dulcimer.
A few things I do want to communicate to all of you:
You can donate ANY amount you want regardless. The reward levels are not the only amount or level you can contribute. You can even contribute more without accepting a reward. So please tell your circle of friends and family about this.
Since Kickstarter has only been around since 2008 many people still don't quite understand what it is. I get many emails from people on my email list who have replied saying good luck on the new CD but don't quite get what I'm asking.
Word of mouth is the MOST effective way of spreading Kickstarter campaigns. Please share this campaign with everyone, regardless if you think they might like my music, you know. Some people just love to support artists and good causes. Don't underestimate people.
I only receive the funds for the CD if 100% of the goal is met. Please do what you can to keep this momentum going. I'm am burning the candles at all ends to get as many songs completed and recorded before I go on a short two-week performance tour to North Carolina. Check my Calendar to see more.
Today I launched myKickstarter campaign for my new album "Strong Medicine." In case you haven't heard of Kickstarter, it was created in 2008, is what is now called “crowd funding” where the general public, or backers, contribute money towards at different levels in exchange for rewards. Rewards could be a copy of the finished CD, their name in the liner notes or a house concert and is quickly becoming a very popular way of raising money for projects as varied as recording or releasing a CD to films, inventions and books.
Artists, inventors, musicians etc. develop a campaign and a funding goal with a precise deadline to raise the money for their project. Kickstarter is an "all or nothing" model which means if your backers don't contribute 100% of your funding goal then you receive nothing. It can exceed the goal amount and all the funds go to the project. Different levels of "rewards" are an incentive to backers and are fulfilled once the project is completed, in this case once the CD is manufactured and released. The contributions are processed through Amazon.com and aren't processed until after the goal is met. If the goal isn't met then nothing happens and your contribution isn't processed. Very simple.
I'm personally inviting you to check out my Kickstarter campaign at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/randygranger/pre-order-strong-medicine-the-cathartically-joyous and take a look. Decide if you want to support my CD project and then contribute at the level you want. That is all you need do. This CD won't be released without your help so please contribute what you feel you want to and can and share share share it with your circle of friends and family. If you know anything about the inspiration behind this CD you know it is coming from my heart and a place of healing, humility and gratitude. I hope people who hear the music on this CD will find comfort in knowing that grief and loss can be transformed, through music, into joy and release. I am so excited about this new music and have recorded 3/4ths of the album.
If you have any questions feel free to email me directly or post your question on my Kickstarter page. The whole concept about Kickstarter is transparency. Something I believe in as well especially as I'm mining my experiences and transmuting personal emotions into universal songs that anyone who has experienced unconditional love, loss, fear and surrender will relate to.
Happy New Year everyone. I hope peace and contentment enfold you every day of the year. It’s been a busy start for me and my Blogging is slacking along with my belly from too much holiday Tamales, wine and general indulgence. But I’m doing something about it. I’m leaving today to play five shows at during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Brrrr. One of the venues is the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center Theater. Cool.
I was talking to the promoter who booked me and he was saying not to expect people to be to attentive when I play at the two Bars on Main street. He was saying people are there to schmooze and deal more than listen to the musicians. In fact, he said, he heard Riki Lee Jones at the same venue and she had to tell the crowd to please shut up. I thought well at list I’m being ignored by a higher class of people. Hey I’m moving on up. Truthfully it doesn’t bother me in the least. Last year 45,056 people attended Sundance film festival many of them the richest and most powerful people in the Biz. This year playing at the same time I am at the ASCAP Music Café (and why wasn’t I included in that?) is John Rzeznik and the Gin Blossoms. Damien Rice and Wynona are also performing. Woody Harrelson and Josh Brolin are doing a live panel/performance thing across the street and Robert Redford has his Sundance Resort just down the road.
I’m not one for celebrity watching and have met my share but promise to get photos if I can to post. The “cheapest” room I found in Park City was about $190.00 a night. Yikes! I’m staying in Salt Lake and driving back and forth. By all accounts there is NO parking in Park City…..ironic huh? You have to park at designated, cash only, lots and take the shuttle into the town. I’ll be lugging two Hang drums, a case of Flutes and a backpack full of CD’s around sloshing through the snow. Isn’t my life glamorous?
I look forward to bringing my style of Southwest Americana Peaceful music and touching that part of people that is the silent sentinel. Imagine my Hang ringing out into that snow filled air and flutes connecting with the ancient ancestors who once roamed that land. Yeah. I know something good always comes out of every performance so I’m not concerned at all. I’m gratefully at a place in my life where I’m actually content with who I am and what I do. I feel nothing need be enhanced or diminished. It has taken a lot of work to get here and I hope you can feel some of that contentment in whatever you do. The ambition, politicking and whispered lobbying I’ve seen musicians do is not for me. Making a living at making people happy or peaceful is enough for me and funny enough as soon as I relaxed into that, opportunities are presenting themselves without effort. Whew. Talk about the law of attraction eh?
The real goal for me is to; of course, get my music placed in films. I love love love independent film and have done some film work with my music but am excited and look forward to seeing my name on the credits of a film debuting at Sundance, or Cannes and more. One of my songs “Chaco Moon Meditation” is on a compilation CD that is being passed out to all the registered attendees so I’m happy about that. I’m grateful for these exotic instruments that help me to express something unique. Well it’s a 13 hour drive so I better get on the road. I’ve downloaded a bunch of free Podcasts on iTunes so I’m ready….
What is it about music that is so conducive to healing and emotions? I've been wondering this and mostly just accept it. Some recent experiences have brought it home. I know how affected I am by music and see the affect on listeners and sometimes hear from them about being brought to tears or moved by my songs. Other times I hear from people how much they hate my music and me in general. Hey, at least they are listening and are usually from either Canada, Germany or France and hear it on YouTube. Go figure ha ha.
I listen to podcasts when I'm travelling the hundreds of miles to gigs. Recently I was listening to a Living Dialogue with Dr. Larry Dosseyabout the late scientist, Susumu Ohno, who took strands of DNA from humans and other species and assigned notes or musical values based on a really complex method which you can read about at: http://www.mimg.ucla.edu/faculty/miller_jh/gene2music/previouswork.htmlHis wife is a violinist and performed the notes, which resembled a musical score. The result is something called DNA Music and when you listen to it knowing what it is you will be so struck with awe. The music sounds rhythmic and like a modern Bach or Mozart. It sounds like a Hang drum or celestial Harpsichord. Go to http://whozoo.org/mac/Music/samples.htm to listen. I've noticed things like melody and pitch are universal and people react to harmony and dissonance the same way across so many cultures. My main instruments, Voice, Hang drum and the Native Flute are all instruments that are exposed and expressive in direct ways.
Last weekend I was in Phoenix at the FarWest Folk Alliance conference where me and hundreds of other Folkies listened to tons of music and went to cool workshops about the music industry. All these people united in music was special. I did a showcase and overall felt flat and stale. I think when I am trying to impress industry people and be something more than I am at the moment I lose connection to that source of creation flowing through me and my Ego (the part of me who wants things) takes over and pushes the 'real' me out of the way. That is why doing concerts and informal performances are always so fun for me and the audience—I'm there for them and they are there to hear me. Oh well, I did it and heard some amazing music and met some fantastic people regardless.
I stayed an extra day with my musician friend Saggio and his wife Barbara. They live west of Phoenix in a Geodesic home. They were such gracious hosts and lead Healing Music Meditations one of which I was lucky enough to attend and offer some music of my own. The affect the music had on the attendees was very peaceful and healing I thought. Saggio and I played a lot of music on our combined 5 Hanghang, Native Flutes and the wonderful variety of instruments. Being amongst so much music I lost track of time and worries. What a retreat! I've heard it told that when we are being creative we are tapping directly into THE source and things like depression and pain can't enter our mind. I felt that lately and driving back to New Mexico I was blasting Coldplay and Snow Patrol and reconnecting with my own music in a new way.
Music is real and part of the now that I think Eckhart Tolle writes about. This weekend I'm playing at the 37th annual Renaissance Faire in my home town where they get about 35,000 visitors and as I play my Hang and Flutes I'll be aware that my music is part of something larger, innate and immediate. I'll remember to let it flow and get the hell out of the way……haha. See you all there! Check my Calendar for the performance times.
Here is a video I call Hang Heaven because being surrounded by 5 of them is pretty cool. It's a little improvised song on a couple of them.
Last Sunday I was delighted to perform at the Hillsboro Community Center in Hillsboro, New Mexico. I was invited to play and invited a few friends to sit in with me. I had a really great time and hope the audience did too. It is a real cool experience to bring your music to people who have never heard you play or don’t know much about your music.Bringing those listeners into your stories and music is a challenge and one that I really look forward to. They were very nice and attentive and I appreciated every minute they listened.
Poet Wayne Crawford sat in with me. We had been working on some recordings of mine and of his poetry set to music including the Hang drum. He did great and I was really pleased with how the audience seemed to enjoy it. Michael Kunz, a Native American flutist from Silver City, NM sat in with me and we did a duet on flutes. It was a fun improvisation and I always am amazed at his beautiful playing style. Brandie Thornburg, a singer from Silver City sang some awesome harmony with me while Veronique De Jaegher played her incredible Digeridoo.We all ended with a cool version of “Za Zee Za Zu Zing” that had the audience singing along.
The night before some friends and I stayed in Silver City at the Palace and partook in the festive night life of that transformed mining town eating at Isaacs, then dancing at the Twisted Vine. Really a whole lot of fun, wine, good food and friends. Who could ask for more? It was so incredible to meet some of the people I’ve gotten to know through MySpace. They came up and said hi and I knew who they were right away. Wow! I love when that whole thing works like it should. Here is a photobucket slide show I put together of some pics sent to me by the promoter Bob. Thanks Bob!
See you out on the road. I’m off to the Oklahoma Flute Festival this weekend, then to Mesa, Arizona.
Nothing like being on the road to give you an appreciation for home. This week began attending a memorial for a friend who died suddenly of a massive heart attack in his living room. His memorial was on a late afternoon in their back yard and art studio. It was so hot and we were all squishing around the shade like delicate plants. What was amazing was how he navigated so many different crowds here in my little town on the Rio Grande. Painters, poets, sculptors, writers and of course musicians all knew Juan and we gathered ate, drank and gave our funny accounts of our personal experiences. I played a song on my flute that he had suggested a title for. It was moving and interesting to see how many people showed up. I don’t even think I know that many people……
The chilie fields behind my house are growing so fast. I trimmed many Mexican Elder and Pecan trees trying not to wear out my hands. Rehearing for upcoming shows is going well. Problem is when I rehearse I always end up writing new material so have to give myself a talking to. The fires here in the west make our skies hazy. The Mexican border town of Juarez is just 35 minutes away and when our monsoon season kicks in we can smell the acrid fumes from the 2.5 million citizen’s cars and huge Maquiladoras where our cheap electronics are assembled. The violence in Juarez is out of control lately. Nearly 300 killed this year alone from drug violence not to mention the women of Juarez numbering in the thousands by some accounts whose bodies are found in the desert raped and strangled. Very sad and disgraceful.
Yet there are wonderful signs of art and friendliness. When I’m in town I try to make it to our Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings where growers and artisans gather to trade their wares in an open market. Even when I’m traveling I always try to go down to the local Grower’s Markets and busk, or play for tips. There is nothing better than playing for hundreds of strangers and trying out your music. Today there were volunteers walking dogs available for adoption so that was heaven for me. As usual the children always gather around when I’m playing and I love it. I think this must be the first time they are hearing a Native American flute and definitely a Hang drum. They love it when their parents give them money to put in my tip can. Cool.I bought some summer squash, plums, chilie and fresh garlic to make Calabacitas. Yum.
Musically some great things are going on I think. My music was included this week on Hearts of Space a nationally syndicated ambient/new age music radio program. I was so happy as this is one of those desires that is in my things I want to manifest journal. My T-shirts with the Kokopelli/Hang logo are here and I have put a website to order merchandise and CD’s. http://www.randygranger.net/order.html You can still order the traditional way through CDBaby.com, iTunes and Amazon.com. My newest CD “A Place Called Peace” is out in the world and I wish it well. It is all Native American flute music some with Hang, percussion and vocals. I’m very proud of this music and grateful for the opportunity to share it.
A couple of gigs fell through mostly due to the person I booked with initially was three persons ago and my contract is no where in sight or because my promised time slot was moved, trimmed or given to the friend of the organizer etc. Oh well. I believe everything is just as it should be so no longer fret. I uploaded a new song called “Chaco Moon Meditation” that has Hang and the mysterious Anasazi flute. I missed a chance to hang out with radio host Robin from NAMAPAHH due to conflicts of time. Mainly I had to take a friend to the airport very early Friday morning. Sorry Robin. Added some new shows to so it all balances out eh.
So check out the T-Shirts and give a listen to the new songs on “A Place Called Peace.” Say hi if you are at a show or festival. There is a special deal I’m offering to my MySpace fans for a few days. Order any CD and a T-Shirt from my website and I’ll throw in a free copy of “A Place Called Peace.” Yep free. It is my way to say thank you. Only one T Shirt per person please. I need some to sell on the road gas prices kicking my ass and all…… Just type in the word “myspacefan” for the deal.
For a while I had a quote from writer John Updike as my email signature it goes: “Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or doing it better.”I would take that further to say that is what an artist does.I’d like to think of myself as an artist because with every song, every performance and every recording is an attempt to communicate MY experience in life, love etc.Thing is I’m also a working musician and when summer roles around out come the requests to perform at Weddings, Receptions, Rehearsal Dinners…etc.When things are going well and my bank account can keep up with my bills I usually say I’m too busy or have a schedule conflict. Whew!Weddings are madness but so are the many other “gigs” we do like banquets, dinners and the dreaded private party.Recently I was performing at a winery/bistro for a reception/wake sort of event.The woman who passed away owned a huge winery as well as co-owning the bistro.I set up in a tiny little corner next to the bar.After the funeral service the hoards of people, about 300 poured in and it got loud and crowded fast.I’m blowing my little lungs out on flute interspersing with Hang drum selections.I was near the door that leads out to the Patio and at the end of the food line.A group was encroaching on my space more and more and I was getting nervous—they had their backs to me, a plate of food in one hand, a wine glass in the other.Of course one of the fun things about playing these gigs is that you are really paid background music so I must have been invisible. This man keeps backing into my microphone and then knocked over my mic stand which fell onto my speaker which hit a stool which then hit a collection of wine glasses of various levels of fullness.Dude! I’m standing here you know….. ha ha ha
It was crazy and the whole place went quiet.A man suggested I move my equipment further back.I answered a polite but stern,”No.”Anywhere where you, the artist, is not a featured performer has the risk of competing with Cappuccino machines, clanging plates and children.When I played the Hang for the Wake a group of children gathered around and started dancing. That’s cool by me, but they were bumping into the octogenarians standing in line for food.It was like a kindergarten mosh pit.
Weddings are nice in the abstract. When you are a musician you know there will be a request for a song you have never heard of before and can’t possibly be played on guitar, flute or any other instrument.You will be required to meet with the family, the priest, the dreaded church organist and get lost during the service.Of course they ask “could you do a special song at the reception?”And…will $40 be enough?Too funny and too true.
I get a lot of request to play at private parties and just about always say no unless I have my eye on a new flute.Heck, with gas prices the way they are here…..I may have to say yes.Let me set up what it is like to play at a party.It is awkward.Period.Unless you want to put on a show and have the chairs gathered around you like a small concert, you will be background.One thing that happens is as soon as you start playing people go to the other room. If you are playing outside they all drift inside.It’s nothing personal. People just don’t always know what to do with musicians in these settings. Another thing that happens is people will start talking to you as you are playing as if you’re just another party guest.Sometimes someone will bring their kid over and say he/she is really good can she sing a song?Of course when they start singing THEN everyone pays attention. And don’t even get me started on the subject of requests.
So with all these types of gigs you have to balance being background music, being a professional, with your need to be an artist and communicate what you do to a listening audience.If you think you have something unique and meaningful to express and share like I do you are grateful to earn a living doing your music period and I am.Luckily I am doing a fair amount of touring and traveling and had to already turn down some delightful weddings in northern New Mexico and a couple of parties here. Aaaawwwww.I will say that something good always comes out of where ever I play. They lead to other gigs or interviews etc. so as they say, It’s all good.
Here is a new video of the A Cappella song “Oh Shenandoah” or “Across the Wide Missouri” from my 2006 release Cloudwalker.I hope you enjoy it.It is already 102 degrees F here in the day.Ugh!
