Hi everyone!!!!

I hope you are all well and enjoying your grooovy moments here on our fine planet!!!

I had one of the most purely great, fun and down-to earth experiences i've ever had in the music business last Sunday in New York City, and I feel compelled to let everyone know that YES, there IS hope in an industry that continually gets hammered for it's ruthlessness.

Aleks Syntek (see my blogs) played a show in Manhattan, and it was just an amazing nite. Aleks and everyone in his operation are the ULTIMATE in hospitable, generous, and just plain REAL, down to earth humans.... it never ceases to amaze me!!!!!! He should be commended for putting so many great folks around him, altho I guess you draw to you what you are. And Aleks is just a great guy. Everyone in his organization (and these people are around each other for MONTHS at a time!!!) can't say enough what a great guy he is, and vice-versa....my god, it's refreshing!!!

From my fresh-off-the-street half hour or so chill session with Aleks during sound check to the small gathering after a RIDICULOUSLY AMAZING (the guy is so talented, it makes your head spin...!) almost 2 hour show, I and all were treated splendidly, and were surrounded by some of the groooviest folks around. THANK YOU Aleks, from the bottom of my heart, you are one special dude! : )

Another happening comin' soon that I feel will rival the fantastic vibe that Aleks and his gang were spreading last sunday is my guest appearance at Elizabeth Diaz's August 9 show at The Bitter End in Manhattan.

I'll only be doing one song with her, but i urge anyone and EVERYONE in the NYC area to check her show out. Her band is amazing, and they are awesome people, just a pure joy to be around.  Elizabeth's in my top friends here on myspace (check her profile out), and SHE is just AMAZING. The woman just exudes peace, and she is ridiculously talented. She is without a doubt a great human, and humanitarian (check out her official website and see what i mean..) I had the pleasure of having her join me on the Aleks Syntek (!) song I do in English in my sets during one of my shows a few weeks back in NYC. Her voice is just so ethereal, and u should see her if at all possible. Once again, a group of people in the biz who are just a pure joy to be around, talk with, and play music with....AHHHHHHH, if we could all just be this way to each other ALL of the time in ALL facets of life, i can't help but imagine the GROOOOVY, love-filled, much less stress-laden world we would be living in..........

As of now, i'll more than likely be doing a Beatles "album track" with her and the band.......COME OUT AND SUPPORT HER if u are in the NYC area!!!!!!!

Anyway all, have amazing moments, and BE EXCELLENT to each other!!!!! :)

more to come soon........

peace and groovy good love to you all

Jim

Life really is amazing when the present moment really, simply, IS
Current mood: inspired
Category: Life

Life is totally and completely amazing because you can take advantage of the present moment in all its glory.  You can watch a silly movie (just watched "Garfield II") and laugh yourself silly or you can hang out with friends at Starbucks and watch 2 of your friends play music and even though you yourself are a musician, feel absolutely no need to join in their time of musical expression but rather be a happy observer (last night) or you can watch an amazing lightning storm as you drive home thinking how incredible it is to be alive (also last night).  And for me, those are just the last 24 hours.  I asked myself what I would be doing this summer with all my free time and I think I found the solution--there is nothing I "should" be doing but rather I just simply can enjoy the present moment and see what it brings.  Because, really, life is all about the changes each new day brings and accepting them totally.  Another for instance, I just ate a whole cucumber and some mac and cheese (not mixed together) and my tummy hurts!  But laughing through that because, well, it's fun to eat those foods while watching the aforementioned silly movie.  ;)  Anyway, point being there is nothing to be bored about or disgusted with or angry at or frustrated with because life just is, and that is-ness ROCKS!!!!  I might be without a lot of funds right now and my tummy really does hurt and I wonder how the universe is going to provide for me for another month with no income and there is a war going on and there are people starving in the world and puppy mills still really do exist and kids kill kids for being gay...but...that doesn't mean that we STOP LIVING.  Yes, sucky things happen, and people sometimes behave in sucky ways, but that doesn't mean we have to join in.  Instead, let's enjoy the is-ness of our own lives and revel in the fact that we are alive for another beautiful day and let's do something fun, amazing, silly, inspiring, or completely and totally lazy.  And enjoy it.  Do good in the world, but more importantly, be good.  Beingness is what matters most.  Be and the rest of the world will see your beingness and be 10 times more inspired that by just simply doing.  Maybe 20 times.  I don't have statistical data to back this up, but I'm pretty sure it's true.  Just ask my friend Jim Stevens, Mr. Be Do.  He'll back me up on this...

THAT I WILL KEL!!!!!!!!!

: D  peace and BEING to all!!!!!!!

Jim

Tonite i'm blown away and in awe of friends. They're amazing, and they're what make this world more like the place it CAN be, the place we all would have it be if we just could blink and make it so. Other people who just realize, KNOW what we're all about, and vice-versa, and who are just THERE for us, in so many ways, big or small ways, always, no matter what........

During this amazing musical trip i'm on, these people are continually appearing in my life anew, and, together with the friends i've made already, they're helping me and more importantly US along the road to helping us ALL be more chillin', grooovy and excellent to each other (thank you Bill & Ted!)..........

My friends who have stuck by me thru the years and have been there in "day-to-day" life up till today know who they are, and they are ALL very much a part of me and always will be. I WORSHIP you all, and you know this. I wouldn't be here, as i am today, without you!! I usually see tons of you during any given day, but I wish I could see ALL of you, EVERY day!!!   :D

And the music biz....or what i'll just call the music "community"     after all, what IS the "music biz" any more?  Ahhh, the music community.....well, the friends i've made IN that community over the years and in particular over the last year and a half are just amazing, some of the most generous, honest and caring folks a person could ever know...what they have given of themselves to me, both as a friend and creativity-wise is just beyond description.....what THEY'VE given and are continuing to give me enables ME to give more of the same back to others, to all of us, YOU & I, and in the end it will help make us all more chillin and groooovy to each other....!!! oh, and we'll ROCK a bit more, too!!! sound good?  Does to me!                  Thanks, Friends.............    : )

Hi everyone, I just have to jot down some quick thoughts about my upcoming show at Chaplin's in Spring City (near Phoenixville) Pa. on March 1.

Now, a show in general is not such a momentous occasion that I feel the urge to write about every one of them, but this show has turned into something special, I feel.

Due to some changes that went down a couple of weeks ago, the basis of this set, while remaining acoustic, has turned from guitar-based to keyboard based, and thus the set list has turned into something totally bizarre that we may see only at this show, once.  It will be just myself on vocals and Vinnie on keys. That space has created a set list I'm totally psyched (besides playing with Vinne, who is just SO chill !) to be performing.

Along side a chunk of tracks from the BeDo cd, I'll be singing a truly amazing group of other cover songs. That's one of the strange and cool things about this show  -  there usually won't be this high a percentage of covers to my original songs in one of my sets, and i kinda dig that!  There'll be mostly obscure, yet great songs by Elton John, McFly, L.E.O. (a song of theirs written  by Bleu and Andy Sturmer of Jellyfish...it's definitely one of my favorite Sturmer/Jellyfish associated tracks ever), and Rick Santers.

Additionally, I asked three separate friends/artists who have written some of the most amazing songs in my recent memory if I could perform one of their tunes for this show, and all three have been just too gracious by giving me their blessings & support, and saying "go for it"!  To Derek Chafin, Aleks Syntek, and Mister Zero (& The KINGS), I can't say thank you enough, your tunes fit in perfectly with the lyrical flow and musical vibe of the set,  and the show will just benefit  greatly from them!!   You guys are truly amazing…….

Knowing me, I'm just nuts enough to do more set lists along this line, but something seriously tells me that this exact track list may never repeat itself, and that could make this show truly a one of a kind………

I hope all you folks in the general Philadelphia area ( or who feel like traveling hundreds or thousands of miles!  Yeah, right! : D  ) can make it to the show, I know I'll be transported to another place the whole time I'm on stage, maybe you'd like to come along with me……

Peace and all the best to you ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Jim

Hey Gang!!!!  

Hope everyone is well and having AMAZING moments!!!   : D   

Well, here, for what it's worth, is my "Top 10 CD's for 2007", which could also just as easily be called "The Jim Stevens What I Listened To Most in 2007" list, cuz although MOST of these albums were released in 2007, a few came out in 2006 or earlier, and I just picked them up and LISTENED to them all for the first time, and continuously, in 2007!   I had meant to get this written a few weeks back, but………..

And REMEMBER folks, this is, as are ALL the things I write here, JUST MY OPINION!  : )

May this list turn you on to some of the GROOOOVIEST tuneage out there!!

Drum roll, please………. (!)….here they are (if anyone really cares!), IN a particular order, the cd's that most blew me away in 2007

11) BONUS ENTRY!!! (you can never fit JUST 10 in!)               

           THE DONNAS - "Bitchin" (2007)   I respect these girls immensely. Since they formed and first performed in 1993, they've stuck together, taken no prisoners, formed their own label after being signed, and just plain kicked ass! This album melds the best of "classic", "American Teenage Rock n Roll Machine/Spend the Night" - donnas with some arena rock to boot, and is just balls to the wall sing-alongs, featuring some of the most anthemic, old-school rock ditties in ages, yet the women still have never lost the toughness and sense of humor that  has always been their trademark...great stuff, and if u can, get all the different bonus trax from all the different countries of release (Japan, UK, US vinyl, etc.), do it.  Allison SHREDS on guitar, one of the best in the biz!

10) SARA HICKMAN – "Motherlode" (2006)  This woman is, simply put, one of the most talented singers and acoustic guitarists on the earth, no questions asked (she's also a pretty amazing person as well, they don't get any more "real" and caring than Sara!). This 2 cd set is put together rather interestingly, and contains one disc of slower, more "dramatic" tunes, and another disc with more uptempo, lighter-themed tunes, kind of a "pick your mood" set.  Guests include Adrian Belew and Shawn Colvin.  See this woman live, is all I can say, YOU WILL NEVER FORGET IT!

9) JASON PLUMB and the Willing – "Beauty In This World" (2007)  Jason, in my book, has been one of the great singers/writers around, since he appeared with this band The Waltons in Canada in the early 1990's.  A second great solo effort here, chillin' and cool….ultra-melodic

8) VANILLA – "Vanilla" (2006)   Seattle geniuses Lair's Club, featuring Jayson Jarmon and Scott McPherson, were one of my all-time favorite "power-pop" bands EVER, hailing from the northwest when the 'grunge' scene was kickin' in the early 1990's.  The fact that they were so NOT that grunge sound is probably why they got lost in the sauce overall, and that's a shame. BUT, in 2006, after a LONG layoff (the guys scattered about in projects such as Tiny Volcano, Haste, etc.) from the Liar's Club" vibe", Jayson, Scott and some friends put together the Vanilla cd…and THANK YOU to that!!  It's the closest thing we've seen to a Liar's Club album since 1994, and it's GREAT, kudos guys!!!  Any fan of powerpop MUST get their hands on this!!!!

7) EARTHSHAKER – "Aim" (2007)  Simply put, the KINGS (with all due respect to Kyoji's Bow Wow) of Japanese hard rock since 1985 (their first album was released in 1983), return with THE best album they've done since "Real" in the early 1990's….FINALLY back on target ALL the way, just an amazing melodic yet in-your- face album!!!  Marcy has one of the best voices in rock……….

6) THE WILDHEARTS – "The Wildhearts" (2007)   THE ROCKIN'EST band on a regular basis on the planet since the early 1990's, Britain's Wildhearts kick us in the ass with just an unreal blend of viciousness and poppy sweetness (check out "The Sweetest Song"!)…it's just SICK how long Ginger has been writing stuff like this, these guys are the true riff-masters with REALmelody these days……make sure you get the Japanese version of this album with extra track "Oh Bonita", the album's not complete Wildhearts without it!! TURN IT UP!!!!

5) ANY TROUBLE – "Life In Reverse" (2007)   One of the greatest British pop groups, period. 27 years after their debut release hit the streets, and 23 after they put their last album out, Clive Gregson's band has reformed and put out an amazing pop album that sounds JUST AS GREAT as the band did in 1980…serious….it's like no time has passed at all. Gregson, one of the greatest pop songwriters EVER, has been putting out solo stuff regularly since 1985, and great tho it has been, none of it sounds like the BAND Any Trouble, and here, all this time later, the BAND still sounds brilliant, and the same….great pop songs by Gregson…  man, a real album to drive and sing to!!!

4) JELLYFISH – "Fan Club Box Set" (2002)   I put off getting this amazing 4cd box set of unreleased and live tracks by the legendary powerpop band Jellyfish for ages, before breaking down in 2007….what an idiot I was!   Simply put, the unreleased gems in this, and the amazing different live arrangements make this, well, just stunning….while I was listening to these tracks from the box-set all the time, I was also listening to both versions of the Beatnik Beatch album (Andy Sturmer's pre Jellyfish album/band)….all in all a SMORGABOARD of AWESOME Jellyfish tunes, vocals and melodies…….PHENOMENAL times 10!!!!

3) SCORPIONS – "Humanity Hour 1" (2007)  I'll just re-iterate what I said about this album in my blog….just listen to the songs "Humanity Hour 1" and "Love Will Keep Us Alive' back-to back, and that says it all about how great this band still is, some 37 years along……amazing album, real strong collection of songs, and Klaus Meine (vocalist) never sounded better……..

2) L.E.O. – "Alpacas Orgling"  (2006) If you like melody and great singing, just get this cd, Japanese version, and ask no questions…..i wrote about it in my blog….Jellyfish connection (Andy Sturmer wrote 2 of the songs, and actually SINGS the bridge on one!), great great great stuff, masterminded and overseen by the ridiculously talented Bleu (yep, that's how u google him, and you SHOULD google him and hear more of his stufff....), you'll sing it endlessly……..includes one of Sturmers' best tunes ever, "Nothing Will Ever Change"……….

And here it is, Numero Uno, no surprise here if you've read any of my blogs since mid –December….

1) ALEKS SYNTEK – "Leccion de vuelo" (2007)   The best pop/rock album of the last  five years, easily, to me.  You can read LOTS about this album in my blogs, so I'll just say here that the genius in this album is that it CONTINUES to grow on you for a long while, and you always find more things to dig and appreciate about it the more you listen….very well put together and thought out, yet not stuffy and calculated,  well polished production-wise, and yet not too OVER- produced, the album feels very relaxed and real…and the SONGs, vocals (vocal arrangements as well)  and melodies are all out of this world………TO DIE FOR………

Well gang, there we have it, and I an just amazed as I look at the list how many GIANTS of the biz, in my opinion, put out great albums over the last year or so…what a treat it's been!!!!!  If you've got the hankerin' for any new music to check out, and are into the music I make in the LEAST, check out these albums, you may dig what u hear!! 

Peace and grooooovy good love to you all, and thanks for takin the time to read all this! (if u did indeed make it all the way thru!!)  : )

talk to you SOOOOOOOON...........

Jim

Hey GANG!!!!   : D   

     I hope and trust you are all being amazing and groooovy, and havin' the BEST of days!!!

     A few news items for ya……

     First, a show at Chaplin's in Spring City , Pa. is scheduled for Saturday, March 1.  Spring City is close to Phoenixville, about 4-miles away, and after the show, I'm gonna  see about having an after-show chill-fest at Artisan's Gallery and Cafe in Phoenixville…..the Chaplin's show is an ALL AGES show, and it'd be great to get a huge group of folks of all ages together at the show and then to chill and have fun afterwards……I'll keep you posted….

     Chaplin's is an old vaudeville theater, and it's an AMAZING place to both play and watch a show, great acoustics and a real intimate vibe, will be groovy!!!  

A HEADS UP, tho, if you are thinking of coming, there's a good chance it'll sell out, so get your tickets ASAP online at the Chaplin's site if at all possible.

     The site is    www.chaplinsthemusiccafe.com    

You can get directions there as well, HOPE TO SEE YOU!!!!!  J

     Next, we're having the next FUMCOG "extravaganza" in Germantown on Feb 10 at 6pm, and it's something you shouldn't miss if u can get there…….the theme is FORGIVENESS, which is perhaps the most powerful thing in life…..to forgive, "let it go", is one of the hardest, yet one of the most amazing, satisfying, relaxing and empowering things we as humans can ever allow ourselves to do…EVER…

Forgiveness is the essential, main, underlying concept of UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.  To BE forgiveness can change you, me and the world in ways most folks only imagine and never really allow themselves to try…..try it, you'll agree, I guarantee it………

     It's gonna be a tight, steamy, awesome FUN event this time around (for reasons that anyone who comes will IMMEDIATELY see and hear!), and features, as always, AMAZING music (rock band and volunteer choir) and  chillin' talks, and u are, as always, GUARANTEED to leave "high on life"!  love that phrase, never really FELT it till I saw one of these events first the first time in 2006…..

     Again, just check all my past blogs with FUMCOG in the title and you'll get a better vibe on what it's all about……..

www.fumcog.org

     Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the GROOOVINESS and vibe of the Katmandu Acoustic Showcases that run most Wednesdays at an AMAZING club, Katmandu, on the riverfront in Trenton, New Jersey.  Set not IN the center of the city itself, but on the more "palatial" outskirts, and on the water that is always great to look at, Katmandu truly is a work of art……4 stages/music areas, which can accommodate everything from national acts to a guy or girl sittin' and chillin' on the guitar, are set all around the place, inside and outside (you should see the place in the warmer weather!).

     ALL the folks that work and run the place are phenomenal, and they all really help to make ANY time there cool, but the Acoustic Showcases (NOT open mikes) really shine, due to the diversity and overall high talent level of the acts (ME not included of course! :D) that Ringmaster Lance ends up putting on the bill.

     The Showcases run, usually, from 6 to 11pm, and it's amazing that you can just sit there for 5 hours and  soak up act after act (15 minute sets each), and have a great time ALL nite.  People really LISTEN at these showcases, in general they don't just talk away over what the performers are singing and playing. There's almost a certain, unspoken "respect" in the air.....hell, i can do A Capella and not worry about blending into the crowd!  : D   At a show in December, i talked to a couple that was in from Dallas and had been chillin' ALL NITE at the bar listening to all the acts, and they were LOVIN' it! The shows bring performers from all over New Jersey, Philadelphia, and NYC, and it creates a great melting pot, or potpourri, if u will, of sounds and sights. I HIGHLY recommend it, and even ones that I DON'T play there, I sometimes go anyway just to chill and hang out with the great "family" of musicians and folks who come out regularly……it's the "we are all one' vibe to the Nth power, and it kicks serious butt!!

DEFINTELY come and check out/hang with  the gang at some point, you won't be sorry!!!  And, it's amazing how central Trenton actually is to all the places (Philly, NYC, Jersey) I mentioned before, really no big deal to get to at all!!!

www.katmandutrenton.com

  SSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, anyway gang, more to come real soon (my Top 10, if anyone cares, cd's of 2007, perhaps?), and don't forget to treat yourself and EVERYONE like they're family….which, after all, they, -I mean WE-, are!  :D

Peace and Good love,

Jim