Two of my students/artists are in American Idol right now (Dilia Michelle & Marissa Pontecorvo – that’s  Marissa to the right.) Who knows how far they will go, but the fact that they went the distance by auditioning for American Idol and made it into the top few hundred out of the whole country is really awesome. I am so proud of them. It takes a lot of craft, experience, talent and courage to go [...]

Every musician, had a mentor — a person who, in one way or another, inspired them to plug in their guitar or step up to the mic. Mentor / men-tor, noun: A wise or trusted advisor or guide. An influential senior sponsor or supporter. I want to take this moment (for Thank Your Mentor Day, Jan. 26) to really acknowledge those people who have inspired me in my life – I want to sing their [...]

Most often artists I meet are either worried they are not good enough, are afraid they’ll arrive too late, are too old, ill fated or flawed in some irreparable manner. And because of it, sometimes unknown to their conscious waking selves, they don’t commit fully. And commitment is one of those non-negotiable things. You’re going to need it for the long haul because it’s not just about how good you are at your craft, it’s [...]

What is the one thing that without it, you most likely won’t be successful with your music (at least not enough to live off it anyway?) Well you might quickly blurt out “talent”. But think again. Think about the artists who are not so talented or “gifted”, that even in spite of it, have achieved music success – even fame. Yes, some mega stars are super-talents, but many others are just moderately talented, yet somehow [...]

2012. Doesn’t it just sound powerful? Must be the two “t’s” . Nevertheless, this quite anticipated year, perhaps, will hold nothing more than change. Are we ready? Any new year is an opportunity, if charted with care, thought and precision, that holds the promise of your innermost unbridled desires and deepest yearnings. The New Year is a perfect time to reassess, realign, set out on a heart filled journey, set new goals, and go for [...]

Wouldn’t you love that to be your journal entry Dec 31st, 2012? Wow – that would be off-the-hook incredible! The crazy thing is, it’s possible. Stranger things have happened. You never know what’s around the corner, unless you lock yourself away in your room day after day – and then the story is clear. You know what’s going to happen – you’ll be in your room safe and sound. But what if this is the [...]

Having an attitude of gratitude creates ripples of positive vibrations in your life and not only changes you, but changes the air around you. Every time I do this, I notice there is an effect that gratitude has — it boomerangs right back to you. I call it the Gratitude Effect. I wonder why I don’t do it more. So I started to – do it  — more, that is. Louise Hay (creator of Hay [...]

Let’s face it – we all know that mastering time is a big piece of being successful. And even more, is fitting it all in, especially when you have a career in music. It seems like every artist I meet is pretty overwhelmed these days – everyone needs help managing the hours in a day, and knowing how to better slice the pie.  Most of us still spend far too much time on Facebook as [...]

It’s a new time in this new-fangled era of the entertainment industry. As the traditional ways of doing things fall apart, now, more than ever, calls for a new set of ideas, new rules, new emerging paradigms and new ideas being called out from everywhere – even from the music shakers and makers. And the best ideas which, I am sure, have yet to arrive. Who knows where this will go? No one knows exactly [...]

What word do you end that sentence with? Stop Struggling with “blah blah blah”… pick one. You want to know why you struggle? Are you ready for this? Because you do (sigh). Didn’t ya just know it was your fault? But hey – it’s a little more complex than that. Look – we all know life isn’t fair and all that stuff is totally true. But to struggle with it? — That part is actually [...]