zac, tristan and i played at luce cafe the other night – the majority of the audience were new listeners. yay! new friends! not only did we have fun, we gave away some prizes (cds) for guessing answers  to some jess trivia questions. fun.

the new album now has a lovely name, which i’ll wait to tell all of you about. gotta have some anticipation. i know already you who have heard the new material are eagerly awaiting this new gem of musings…i am also very excited.

anyhow. thanks for coming out – next show is tristan’s last show (sulk) on september 3 in GINKGO on Andingmen.  not to worry though, a good friend sebastian will be playing with us for the birthday gig! september 16th…ygys.

joy to you all…jess

scratch tracks were laid. drum tracks and most bass parts. now for my work to really begin. tomorrow i start laying down the guitar parts. then vocals and other instruments. this takes the most focus on my part, because i can record as i am available. voice must be in tip top condition, as the microphone loves to record everything. i find that the recording process has brought me to a much more intimate understanding of my voice and what it is capable of. i can hear how i breathe, shape the sounds, go flat (ick) and sharp (grimace). the mic is so sensitive that if i stand in the far corner of the room and whisper, it can hear it. so. this includes neighbors, outside construction and cars, etc. thankfully, creative room designer and friend, fede, stuffed a mattress into the window so it muffles many outdoor noises. the blankets along the walls also help to quiet the echos and dampen the sound of the instruments playing.

zac and tristan have been great. they just come in, record until it’s done. so patient. we’ll see how much has to be re-recorded after i start laying down the guitars.

will let you know how it progresses. it’s exciting, these songs are all new…mostly. feels good to have them so immediately available for listening. enjoy your day, night, midnight, morning, afternoon…xoxoxo  JESS

supporting a natural creative process is an invigorating and easy task.

obvious support:  attend our live shows, purchase cds (give them as gifts too), hang a gig poster in a welcoming public area, hold a house/garden party and invite jess to play.

less obvious but still very desirable support:  listen. enjoy. share the music. dance. smile. be enthusiastic. learn. live. smile. relax.

without listeners, the music is only a masturbation. with more listeners worldwide, jess’s music naturally spreads its magic into human society. with such a positive message, it is contagious, addictive. even on a small scale, jess’s music reaches into hearts, which reaches into more hearts, like a fanning wave…

be creative. there are many ways to support. remember that we are all one. every thing we think and do affects us all.

love and light***

written by jess meider, june 2009

i’ve been milling thru the old karma

sticky sadness, biting anger, persistent demons

cleansed now, feelin right as a long gentle rain

i know my attitude’s fresh, tuned and changed

i’m ready for something good

i’m ready for something smooth

i’m ready for something good, bring it on

telling stories of my melodic martyrdom…those were trying times

always choosing fear when change was close…mmmm…a common mistake of mine

doing for others what i longed to do most for myself but that’s an old story line

i’m a little fledgling unraveling my wings to fly fly fly!

i’m ready for something good

i’m ready for something smooth

i’m ready for something good, in the sacred arms of the now

i am grateful for the wonderful souls, the terrifying lies

i am grateful for salt filled wounds and the kind healer’s eyes

i am grateful for the breath for my birth for my mom and my dad

i am grateful for everything that i have ever had or not had

and now i’m

ready for something good

i lie to myself,

i lie in bed with you

i feel so pretty

the moon waxing all over this city

so lovely so light tonight

i throw away expectation

no knowing what comes next

i feel so pretty

delighting in the sensuality

so lovely so light tonight

soft sighs smooth skin

touching intimate places within

falling leaves dancing above

we’re falling soft into a song of autumn’s love

souls mingling, entwining, reclining into this light tonight

the light of the candles

dances with the shadows on your face

i feel so pretty

keith jarrett trickling quietly, tenderly

so lovely, so light, tonight

creative expression is something that comes from being in a relaxed state of mind, body, energy.

in my experience, the art of music has been dragged willingly into the business of making money. fame arises, untouchably so, the artist is slowly enveloped into “stardom” another interesting unbalanced living in the implied “above” human existence…the art changes. i am not saying that the music ceases to be created. it’s being created…just turn on the radio for your next top 40 hit. catchy. jingly. shiny. sexy.

i am experimenting with a new set of rules. live from love. follow the natural path. live in balance and breath and presence. you start to realize this when you hear the new songs that i’m writing.

i pined away at a little mission statement today in my restful easy sunday. here’s the first draft for your willing to read me eyes.

jess meider’s mission

i long to balance the business and the art. so many times the musician is overworked by a business that does not seek balance in life and work.  most circumstances, the business does not respect the artistry, the creative process, the idea of health. it is common in all fields we work in these days, not just the music industry.

there is this wonderful thing called the internet that internationalises us all. we are truly connected. my music reaches out into the world from hand to hand, ipod to ipod, computer to speakers. there is something so beautiful about live art, shared art which i feel inspires our creativity. to place expectations on art is to vandalize and mislead the process. i am cultivating a simple, natural way to create and live.

i am on the look out for a small powerful selection of humans to join my field, to play, to create, to spread goodness into the world thru the a more natural process. it involves my music, party creation, unique and beautiful atmospheres that propigate ease and hearty musical experiences for both the artist and the listener.

if you are interested in knowing more, please email thesoniclady@jessmeider.com

[View with PicLens]

ah yes, the recording is going well. so far we’ve got scratch tracks down, and zac has begun to lay down the drum tracks. we’re using a condesnser mic for the snare, and my vocal performance audix mic for the kick drum. it sounds good. the room looks fantastic. got the blankets and sheets hanging to soak in the sound.

zac should get his tracks all nailed in by this afternoon, and tristan will begin his work as soon as zac is done. then my guitars, then my voice. getting excited by the idea of having this new album done. it’s interesting for me to have so many new songs (all new songs have been written in “open D” tuning by the way), and to be recording them right away. the songwriter album i did last year was a decade full of songs that i’d been feeling quite remiss about not recording for so long. to record this new album, it’s a new feeling to have such fresh material.

so far the list includes:
Over
Just Say It
It’s Happenin (an old tune)
Different is Beautiful (old Junglecat)
The Fire (Junglecat)
Burnin Burnin
I Get A Feeling
Hundreds of Years Ago
Ready for Something Good
then the rest of the tracks are questionable. I may include “Become my Future,” a tune I’ve performed with Junglecat (my electronica DnB band that is currently on haitus), a new accapella tune called “I’d Shed a Tear” and possibly another Junglecat tune called “The Rhythm of my Own 2 Feet.”
It’s interesting alot of my new tunes have a sense of blues written in (not the emotion, but the scale and chord structure).  We’ll see how it flies…to be continued.