Selling "Out"

Advertising is getting really gay.
Should we feel eploited by companies trying to tap into that expendable homo income or thrilled that they're including us? I find myself torn on the issue, especially when you look at campaigns like S.C.U.M.






HRC recently released their Corporate equality index for 2008.
Take a look to see which companies done right and which ones done wrong. :)
Linkity Link Link

The call of the Pigeon Captain

I was torn between calling this post what I called it and the alternative
"I really need a digital camera!"

I have to give a shout out to someone you would only find
brightening up the streets of New York.

Let's call him the pigeon captain.
He wears a big peacock feather in his pimpin hat with lots of jewelry and
he screems out bird calls through his ?gold? capped teeth.
Brilliant. Ugh. I need a picture. I passed him on the street today and I instantly became his number one fan.
Maybe I can get him to do a cameo on my third album. ooh, or better yet, he should be in my next music video!

Every Vote Counts

As previously announced, the music video is playing on MTV's Logo on their New Now Next program.

Logo also has a video countdown called the Click List and the video has just become eligible for voting.

Please take the time to Vote for Open Wide and help to get it on the click list.
You can vote as many times as you want, no limit.

Vote Now!

:)

Lotsa Love

Robert

Rest in Peace, Ashes and Dust

Early this morning very quietly and I hope peacefully,
my grandmother took her final breath and slipped away from this world.

Leona Messer raised 7 children, one of whom is my mother.
I know that her life was hard at times. I know that she wasn't always
able to deal with the hardship. I understand.

My fondest memories of my grandmother are the car rides to the orthodontist
when I was only 14. I was allowed to drive because Kansas laws are strange, but
I had to have an adult in the car with me, so grandma would come along.
She would let me get fast food from McDonald's before they tightened my braces and the pain was so intense that I couldn't eat solid food for days. At the time, this felt like a naughty treat.
Grandma btw was a terrible driver. My sister once returned from a trip with her
saying that grandma had cut off a man, forcing him to take an exit to Amarillo, TX.
Apparently the man wasn't planning on going to Amarillo.

Over the last couple years my grandmother's health rapidly declined and dementia began
to take away her memories and eventually even her will to eat. She no longer recognized her own family members. The last time I visited her, she did not know who I was. After I left she kept asking where that boy had gone, wandering around looking for me.

In the last few months
her quality of life reached a place that was heartbreaking.
She no longer found anything in life that she enjoyed.

I am glad that she is no longer suffering and I hope that she is at peace in a better place.

The final song on my album is titled ashes and dust. I have never posted the lyrics. K and Laura both have requested this song played at their funerals. Today I post them in honor of my grandmother, a strong woman who lived a full life.

Ashes and Dust

In the beginning there was dust
the sun, the water
then there was us
but all the bridges began to rust
we must all return to dust when we are done

In the beginning there were ashes
there were no wars or social classes
now the buildings burn to ashes
we must all return to ashes when we're done.

In the end I wish you virtue
to hold the hand of the ones that hurt you
to heal the pain that is inside you
to hear your heartbeat and let it guide you
to have a smile for the ones that greet you
to find the time for the ones that need you
to let the love pour out like water from your soul.

Don't hold it in.
Just let it go.

Finished!

I write to you from my Brooklyn apartment on a cold December Saturday.
The sounds of sunrise at the speakeasy fill the apartment as I play the finished
tracks in their final order. It is a strange feeling that comes over me when I finish something. Yes, there are still photographs to be taken and art work to be designed, but the recordings are done. The process of recording my first album was at times painful and frustrating, not only because of the content of the songs but also due to my virginity to the world of production. I tried things. I failed at times and rerecorded them, but kept pushing forward. This album came so much easier. I knew what I wanted. I took what I had learned on Sirens and expanded it. I feel proud of this album. I think it is timely and important. The songs are new and fresh. I can't wait to share it with everyone. The release date is going to happen next summer, June or July. I am excited.

Now a question has been looming in my head. I have all of these songs that were written during the Sirens of Brooklyn and Sunrise at the Speakeasy sessions. I find myself unable to stop working on the next project. I don't know what that is right now. I don't want these songs, now b-sides to be left behind. Many of them are my favorite songs in certain ways but just didn't feel right for the album at the time.
These are a few that sort of stick with me, in the back of my head, wanting to be heard...

God in the Telephone Book
Cherry Falls
The Ocean and the Easel
Single File
Duct Tape and Superglue
600 Miles (Thank You)
Down So Low
Pretty Decent Guy
Lullabye
The Siren
Wash Away
Afraid of The Dark
Big From Down Here

Perhaps, the next thing is an album of b-sides. We shall see. For now, I am going to enjoy the holiday with some time in Kansas starting next Friday. Perhaps some new songs will try to push their way out. Perhaps some old ones will beg me for a pair of dancing shoes. Only a little time will tell.

Music Video Magic!

I stayed up late last night with Mr. Carpentier and K to watch the Premiere of Open Wide on Logo.
I stated in a previous blog that I don't usually get too excited about accomplishments. It helps me to avoid
a crash and burn following the sugar rush.

Well, Last night, sipping on champagne and watching the video air on national TV, broke through my calm unaffected status and turned me into a squeeling kid, running around with my hands above my head.

If you missed the video last night, I recommend you check it out at the most random location one could imagine my video being posted....
CMT's Website. Your eyes are not deceiving you. That does indeed stand for Country Music Television.

If CMT is not quite your taste,
VH1's website is always a viable option.

The world is full of magical possibilities and choices! Oooh, so the 2nd album is almost done. I go back into the studio on Tuesday for my last session before the studio closes its doors.

BIG NEWSLogo This Sunday

Tune into MTV's Logo
Sunday, Dec. 2nd
12 Midnight EST (Monday Morning in NY)
for the television premier of the Open Wide music video.

For those of you who don't get Logo
or have the bedtime of a 12 year old girl,
here's the video for your viewing pleasure.

Send the link to all your friends. It makes me look popular. haha.

12 months on the chart

The folks over at Outvoice and Rainbow World Radio have always been supportive.
I'm excited to announce that Sirens of Brooklyn has been on their chart for 12 months "straight" along with some other very talented artists.

This month I find myself at number 32.
Their chart is decided by listener voting,
which makes this such an honor.

Thank You Joe Velasquez

Some of you may know the name Joe Velasquez.
For those of you who don't, He is my graphic designer.
Today he sent me a video that really touched me
a great deal. If this isn't art, then I don't know what is.

Dolly + Amy

I love Dolly Parton, and I love Amy Sedaris.
Who would have ever imagined that the two would
share a scene on camera?

Yay! New Dolly Video with Amy Sedaris!

The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

My favorite musical of all time + Johnny Depp + Tim Burton =
Need a moist towlette.

Sunrise at the Speakeasy

The album is getting close to being done.
I am so excited. It will be hard to hold onto this
for so long before I release it, but I must bite my tongue.
You will have to wait until next summer, but i promise it will be worth the wait.

R

The Egg Report

Last night I was given the egg report. Those girls are gettin' busy having laid 17 eggs yesterday. Congratulations ladies.

In related news I started recording Chickens & Eggs last night.
Ooh La La

Open Wide

Here you go kids, my first music video. It will premier on MTV's LOGO this month. It is currently on Spike Tv's website, was breifly up on CMT and VH-1's websites but pulled temporarily due to some technical issues.

Enjoy!

not biting my tongue- Amy Winehouse

A friend kept telling me a few months back

"You have to hear Amy Winehouse. She's incredible."

So I decided to listen to her music. I purchased her music and put it into heavy rotation on my ipod. I even performed Back to Black at a Kitt & Kaboodle show.
btw, she was incredible.

I say WAS, because she IS a mess. I understand that there is a great deal of pressure when you go from complete obscurity to becoming an international superstar, but...



Dear AMY,

You have been given an opportunity. So many musicians work their asses off for years and years without ever achieving a fraction of the success that you have. You cancel your shows after people have purchased tickets to see you. These people are supporting you. You show up to shows so drunk that you don't know the words to your own songs and you can barely even stand. You consistently perform at the level of a drunken sorority girl at Karaoke night. You not only spit in the faces of your fans by doing this, but you spit in the face of every musician who would kill for the opportunity you have for your music to be heard. You have a serious drug problem. It's not cute anymore when you're singing about not going to rehab when you are the one person in this world who really needs to go to rehab. It is painful to watch you falling apart when you are so extremely talented. Please go to rehab. Please have the decency and respect to show up to venues capable of performing when people have paid to see you. Please pull yourself together and make more great music or quit wasting our time.

Sincerely Yours,

Robert German

I must have been hungry when I recorded that album

photo by the very busy Carrie Thomas

I am a foodie by nature, the food version of a Junkie.
I love cooking, eating and fantasizing about food. I guess it should come as no surprise that this obsession has creeped into the new album. I realized last night that I talk a lot about food on this album. As many of you know, I have a bacon fixation. Last Saturday was K's birthday. He asked for something fatty and decadent. I of course made him fried pork chops cooked in a blend of bacon fat, butter and Crisco. I swear I am not trying to kill him.

Thus far, the following food items have made it into the lyrics and let me just say that it sounds like I'm cooking up the heartattack special at the Greasy Spoon Diner.

chocolate, bacon, biscuits, gravy, pickles,flapjacks, mashed potatoes, milk, meatloaf, chicken, and eggs.

I forgot about your birthday

Yesterday was November 14th.
I went into the studio last evening to put some fine tuning on three of the tracks from Sunrise at the Speakeasy. Ooh, Glitters and Sparkles is sounding really amazing.
Tonight I go back into the studio and work some more on Ashes and Dust.

Last night as we were finishing up, it suddenly struck me.
I released Sirens of Brooklyn on November 14th 2006. It completely slipped my mind. I guess it's not an anniversary so much as it is a birthday. Yesterday, SOB turned 1 year old. I didn't buy a cake or hire a clown. I focused my energy on bringing another child into the world to keep SOB company. I hope that they get along.

So, happy birthday SOB!
1 day late.

The Egg Report

In a previous post, I mentioned liberating the cooped up chickens with visions of their egg production doubling. I am please to announce that last week, the chickens laid their daily best of 17 eggs in one day. This tops the previous record of 9 eggs in one day and is more than double the 7 eggs a day that was their previous average production.

I receive periodic egg reports on which I will keep you updated.

A letter to fans and friends

Dear friends and fans,

Thank You for all of the support that you have given to me over the years by coming to shows, helping with posters, mailings and the other numerous ways that you have spread my music to the masses.

I recently was given the news that the studio where I record my music will be closing its doors on Dec. 3rd of 2007. Having recorded more than half of the music for the
next album, sunrise at the speakeasy, I was rather heartbroken to learn this news. Though I could possibly go to another studio or work with another person, I have gotten into a rythm with this album and want to keep a continuity to the sound of the record. I am confident that I can finish the album before this time.

Most of the expenses for my music come out of my own pocket without the backing of a major label. This is something that I wouldn't change for the world. For this reason, I am only able to pay for recording time in small increments. I find myself in a position where I must finish this album with less than a month to do so. I believe this is possible with some help.

For those of you who would like to contribute $10 or more to the production costs, I will send you one signed advance copy of the cd when it is finished.

For those of you who would like to contribute $20 or more, I will send you 2 signed advance copies of the album when it is finished.

For those of you who make a donation of $100 or more, I will give you special recognition as a sponsor for this album and the opportunity to put either your name, company name or and/or website in a special acknowledgement section on the inside of the album artwork and you will receive 3 signed copies of the album.

If you are unable to help, do not worry. Many of you have given more to me than I could ever repay. I love you just the same.


Again, thank you for your support.

Yours truely,

Robert German









"I am not a common bum, but I can sing and I can strum and turn your change into a meal. One step from being homeless, fucked up but never hopeless. Is this the way you feel?"- Selling out

Fragile

Today, I find myself fragile and raw for some reason.
Maybe it is lack of sleep.
Maybe it is stress, fear of failure, acknowledgement of failure.
I don't know.

I feel like the smallest wind could send me into tears.
A part of me holds it all together another part of me wants to fall to my knees and cry.

Sometimes I don't know if I can do it all.
I don't know what all this work is for.
I see a light at the end of the tunnel and imagine it to be a train.

Often, I don't revel in accomplishments.
I don't allow myself to be proud or happy.
I just look towards the next step.
It is uphill with the wind against my face.
The weather has changed. It is colder.
I haven't adjusted. Maybe it's just the weather.

I have given birth to another baby, a small one.
I have begun the presale for the Unplug single.
I wrote Unplug right after releasing sirens of brooklyn when I really felt exhausted and burnt out.

I had expected this monumental change, magic.
Instead I looked around to see that things were pretty much the same.
I couldn't answer my phone. I looked at the world crumbling around me, not my world, but rather the global sense of the world.

I am sure that tomorrow I will wake up with a spring in my step and a new found resiliance, but today I do not have it.

Tonight I go into the studio to work some more on glitters and sparkles and to add some vocals to ashes and dust. I will try to channel this for the greater good.