Testing out the Bose L1 Model 1

For the Nevaeh fashion show concert, we rented the Bose L1 Model 1 from Soundforce in Dayton.  We are thinking that this will be the next live rig we buy but want to give it a test.  I have mixed a few tracks and we will mostly be playing acoustic stuff.  I want to hear how it responds to a few tracks and how well we like singing through it.  Ill post more later but I got the entire sound system and all my gear in the back seat of the truck!  It is very nice that it is all this portable.  I'm heading to setup now so I will see it if is really easy to setup.  We chose the 4 channel board option, not the Bose board, just a simple Yamaha mixer. 

Download new worship EP Free on NoiseTrade

This is a great music service.  We are offering our EP right now as a free download to our blog readers.  You can click through and get the songs free from http://noisetrade.com/eurekapark

New Soundcloud account today.

We have written a lot of songs and even went through the complete studio demo process for our pitches to NSAI and other publishers over the past few years.  We just started a soundcloud account to share some of those songs.   The first one is, The God I Know.   We wrote this song for a friend, Jeff Denmann.  We began interviewing people with great testimonies and writing songs about that.  We have written a few really great songs this way.  This is one of them.

Listen to tracks now at http://soundcloud.com/eurekapark

Set List for Nevaeh Fashion Show Concert

We put our set list together.  I am going to work out the tracks this week in the studio. 

One and Only (track)
All Because of You
The Name that Saves (full track)
How Great is Our God
Mighty to Save
You Love Me
you Are Faithful (track)
Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us (Leigh Nash Version)

Getting ready for Nevaeh concert this week

This week we are getting ready for the Nevaeh benefit concert.  We will be testing the new Bose L1 or L2 sound system and making some tracks to use for the concert.  I am going to make some slimmed down tracks for One and Only using some of the guitar parts and drums and try to put together and bass and drum track for the new song, You Are Faithful.  Emily is working on the wardrobe!  I don't know what she will pick, but I have to be honest, she dresses me.  It's better that way. 

Anyone can donate money at this web site COTAforNevaehD.com

A creative voice speaking in us

I picked up my first guitar in the 8th Grade and I really haven't put it down since.  I am 34 years old now but at an early age,  I knew that music was the thing that gave me a voice.  There is a creative voice inside each person trying to speak and I found that out through the guitar.  I went on to play the drums and then, piano and other instruments as well.  During my studies at Wright State University in the piano program, I learned that I could sing a bit and completed my degree in vocal education, but I was always just feeding and growing my creative voice through musical expression.  When I got old enough to realize that the world wasn't lined up at my door with a few million dollars to pay my way into endless jam session, I began to get really creative.  I knew that giving guitar lessons paid very well and it meant that I could just play guitar and people would pay!  That was much better than stocking shelves at the Ace hardware, so I quit that job and began teaching guitar privately full time.  It was a weird conversation with my Dad, but it actually worked.  I was making 3X more money per hour than I did at the hardware store and that was great!  I always told myself that I wanted to make money doing something that I love to do.  So, my motto was: find something you love and figure out how to make money doing it.  So far, this motto is working great and it has pushed me to be even more creative and find multiple ways to market and use my music to make a living.  A few of the creative ways that I have made money with music include:

• Playing concerts
• Leading church music programs
• Selling guitars
• Selling music online
• Teaching lessons and group classes
• Writing and Publishing books
• Tuning and repairing pianos
• Buying and selling pianos for students
• Recording and producing music for other bands
• Managing recording projects for other artists

In each of these endeavors, I have also grown and learned as a musician and been able to develop my creative voice as a musician and producer.  There are many ways to make it and it is part of the creative process to find them and work on them until you perfect them.  I will be blogging about more of the concepts and how they have worked for me in future posts but the most important thing I have done is stick to it and continue to love the music and the journey.  If you can't do that, then there is no point at all.  You have to continue to seek to develop your artistic voice and do things that work for you and allow you to continue to do what you love.  

Blue Couch Video - You Love Me

This is part of our acoustic performance series from the Blue Couch.  I have included the lyrics and chords below. 

 

You Love Me – Capo 3

G                 

Worries are wasting my brain power today,

    Am7                                                         C2      C

And I don’t know why when you keep on chasing my worries away,

G

But they come back on me like a football defense line,

     Am7                                                               C

I’m under the dogpile, just waiting to see some sky,

              Em7     D 

And I don’t know why.

G                                    Am7

It’s kind of stupid, After everything You did,

    G/B                                       C

To show me Your power, To show me You care.

G                                      Am7

It’s kind of rude, Knowing everything You do,

 G/B                  C

Is because You love me.

G

Troubles are telling my heart not to listen,

Am7                                                            C2      C

My head holds the words that could heal my condition, I know.

G

Jesus says trust in my truth you can be free,

Am7                               

Faith trusts the unseen, but seeing’s believing,

          C2   C             Em7   D

That’s why I feel so blind.

Em      C               G     D/F#

You love me.  You love me.

Em           C               G     D/F#

Help me believe, you love me.

Copyright 2009 Eric and Emily Roberts.  Words and Music By Eric and Emily Roberts.  937-416-5166 www.studio43.org

New Worship EP available on iTunes

We spent the last year writing, producing, and recording 5 new songs.  We will outline some of the important steps that we took to get the album to this point in our future blogs.  Check the new EP The Name that Saves on iTunes. 

Living the life of a successful independent musicians and artists

This blog is the beginning of our effort to share with you all of the aspects of being independent musicians and artists.  It will cover many aspects of our music, art and business practices that have allowed us to live a great life making music and being independent musicians.  We left the 9-5 behind and have been making a great living from our music and online publishing for over 10 years.  This blog will show you how, inspire you, and give you insight into the crazy and exciting world of making music and living as independent musicians and artists.  It will also cover many topics, reviews, strategies, tutorials, stories and a behind the scenes video log that looks at the music industry and the colorful and brilliant personalities that make that industry amazing.  We are going to share our music and art as well as the work, talent and insights of our friends and successful musicians and artists.  Be sure to follow our Twitter feed and this blog feed to get up to date posts and news.