A new video, plus Cactoid Jim

 I figured I'd take a step back from my somewhat political rant last time and focus on more music-related stuff this time around!

 

Work on the new album is still going smoothly.  I'm trying to take my time with it, which brings its own annoyances, mainly because I'm really impatient, and I'm really excited about the new album.  I think it's going to be good.

 

After some (somewhat strange) insistence, I went ahead and made a Youtube video for "You Don't Know My Heart."  It is nothing fancy -- just some various pictures made into a slideshow.  But I guess it helps to get a more "official" video out there.  Take a look:

 

 

I'm not sure if I've mentioned before or not, but I am a huge fan of the Thrilling Adventure Hour, an online program done in the style of old-time radio.  It is really funny, the music is fantastic, and the actors involved are some of my favorites.  I decided to invoke my inner nerd and do my own rendition of the Cactoid Jim theme.  Cactoid Jim, King of the Martian Frontier, is a recurring character voiced by Nathan Fillion.  I sent them my song, and they liked it!  How about that?

 

I've been thinking a lot lately about what I want to do after the album is done.  I've mentioned about working on a Christmas album, but what with my wife and I expecting a baby this winter, I'm thinking shutting myself away for hours on end to record would just be kind of unrealistic.  I've got some ideas swirling around for at least two musicals, as well as ideas for my own radio-themed comedy show -- those ideas involve more writing than recording, so it might work out easier to squeeze in while raising a baby.

Who knows?  The future is looking rather exciting.

Cheers,
Aaron
www.aarongabriel.net

Everything is new

My goodness, it has been an awfully long time since I last posted a blog.  A lot has been going on, so I figured I'd get that done first.  Ironic, because normally I live a rather boring life -- now I'm too busy to write up a simple blog.  Go figure.

Time to bring you up to speed!  I've been doing a tremendous amount of work on the website, trying to make it a little more eye-catching, a little more streamlined, and a little more user-friendly.  And while I'm certain I'll be tweaking things here and there for a good while yet, I'm pretty happy with what I have so far.

www.aarongabriel.net

"You Don't Know My Heart" took 5th place in the Indie International Songwriting Contest 2013.  Wasn't really sure what to expect, but I'm pretty happy with that.  Here's the link to the Winner's Page: http://indieinternational.com/winners.php

I had been thinking about putting out a Christmas album, but I've decided to put that on the backburner and wait until I've finished my next solo album.  Speaking of which, I think I have a good idea of which songs to include on the next album, and if it pans out like I hope it does, I think it could be pretty good.  I've tentatively called it Ghost in the Pages, but we'll see where it goes -- I might even come up with a few ideas and make it a contest or something for which one gets chosen.

Took part in "Chewelah's Got Talent," a local American Idol-type show put on by the local radio station, KCHW 102.7 Chewelah.  A lot of crazy good performers -- I was lucky enough to be awarded an honorable mention, which was nice, because I was not all that pleased with how I did.  Then again, I very rarely am...

My wife and I are trying to get pregnant.  Not really music-related, but it's a pretty huge deal, and it makes me happy thinking about it, so I thought I'd share.

Still trying to get awareness of me and my music out there.  Good grief, what a slow and tedious process.  It's an interesting position to be in, because I'm not usually very quick to sing my own praises -- self-deprication is sort of my thing, which creates its own set of problems.  That said, I'm still scouring the interwebs for reviewers, promotors, blogs, anything that caters towards the more independent-minded musicians; sites that cater toward the more independent-minded folk musicians are the real diamonds in the rough.

Once again, I apologize for the length between these last two posts.  I hope it's not a recurring theme.

-Aaron
www.aarongabriel.net