i am sitting on the starboard
of your only way
back home




Jana%20Pochop
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Thursday, September 30, 2010

What Are Happening

Decked out.
Makin' every band glow takes coordination.

Time management. Believe it or not, I used to give seminars on this stuff in college. For my job. Now I think I need to take one. See, I now have 4 jobs. This is the stuff of my life, and I feel the need to share it. So while I am incredibly lucky that I decided to give up the 8 - 5 office thing and go at it on my own, "on your own" sometimes means "piece it together."

So things at the music school are good and I am still working there, and Producer Dan has branched off that and formed his own recording studio, which is awesome. So I am splitting my time at the school and the studio.

I am, of course, still booking and tour managing for Susan. This is a great great job and I am thrilled every day that I get to do it, even if close friends maintain the booking end will have me chain-smoking in a unicolor tracksuit and talking like Marge Simpson in 3 years. Booking is not for the faint of heart, and I sometimes get a little antsy and yell at the air, but the thrill of the chase and the subsequent reward of seeing a gig go well for Susan is WORTH IT.

I was perusing the calendar from when I first started booking to now, and I am better. The dates are fuller, they make more sense. There's always a few dates that batter and bruise me until the bitter end, but things resolve. I am ending my 2nd year as a booking agent. Phew.

So anyway, the 3 jobs. I just started this new job division thing last week, and my brain almost exploded. It's not even that I'm working 40 hours for each job - the school and studio only add up to about 20 hours a week, plus the hours booking and traveling. But the diversion of attention when I am in Austin juggling all 3...requires a lot of energy. It requires a lot of energy to focus on one job to do it well, so I imagine trying to focus on 3 is akin to...working at the United Nations. Keeping everybody happy and out of war.

All this to say, my FOURTH job...is figuring out the Jana Pochop music part of it. A good chunk of it is fulfilled by traveling with Susan. I get to play, see the road, meet new people; it's a great way to do it. I recommend it for everyone in my equivalent boat.

Then there's the launching a new record thing that I am not so experienced at yet. The Early Year came out to a little fanfare, based mainly around my blog and my friends and family. For & Against deserves my utmost attention and a huge push, because it does. I imagine this to be a full time job, too...that's why they employ whole record labels to do this stuff.

Then there's the gigging around Austin thing, which I need to do more. Play with some friends, make some walls of sound. This excites me too.

Then there's the find time to write, find time to practice, take some voice lessons. This website needs redesigning. The blog needs to be fixed because Blogger made things weird with subdomains. Yadda. Make money, make connections, keep friends, do good jobs, keep up with my own thing, find an hour or 2 to watch Hulu. It's the stuff of life.

I hope this doesn't come off as a gripe session, because it's not. Like I said above, I have jobs that let me work with very awesome folks. I have the opportunity to put my music into the world. I just want to do it right. That's what's on my mind.

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Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Pre-Order For & Against (Please)





It's that time! I spent last week finalizing artwork (with the help of the fabulous Emily), and I mailed off my master to Oasis Disc yesterday evening. It's all out of my hands for about 2.5 weeks until it's back in my hands...like a ton of copies worth. My hands won't hold them all. Which is why I am asking you to pre-order your copy (or one for you and one for your best friend).

Seems like the pre-order thing is popular these days, and I'll tell you why. It's because being an independent musician is popular. We all get to do our own thing, and it's awesome. So what difference does it make if you get one now or get one in 5 months?

Well, firstly -- I want you to hear it NOW! I'm so proud of this record. We had so much fun making it, and it sounds really, really good. I'm not going to pull out my usual false modesty here. For & Against is great. It's the best thing I have ever sung on, played on, or written. Some of my favorite people ever are on it. How's that?

Secondly...hell. I started this long paragraph about how it costs money for independent artists to produce these things (no lie) and we front it out of our pocket (no lie)...but it got preachy and I've read one too many preachy pre-order emails for me to want to make one.

So I'll just say it: if you're here, you have an interest in me as a person or as a songwriter or as a musician or as a tour monkey for people you like. Thank you. If you wanna support and get some music, I'm thrilled! No infomercial needed.

Pre-Order For & Against here.

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Monday, September 20, 2010

For & Against

For & Against Cover

I just spoke with the kind people at Oasis Disc Manufacturing (yay Donna!) about getting a crap ton of CDs printed (dear Lord you all better buy 1 or 16), and things are underway to get this EP out into the world! Emily Shirley has once again rocked my artwork, and here is the cover. It took me several brainstorms of "what about this?" and "I feel blue. Blue is what I feel," to pin down what I wanted, and every time Emily was patient and presented me with stellar options. I knew we were done when I looked at it and said, "Oh, that's what I should have asked for in the first place."

THAT folks, is why you employ a graphic designer in stead of go all DIY on artwork. (Unless you are an artist, which Emily is, and she did her own artwork and it is stellar. I would end up with Crayola marker on my arm photographed or something).

So I'll get a bunch and then hopefully sell them to kind folks like you. It's a great little record, it really is. Pre-order chances and all that good stuff are forthcoming!

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Sunday, September 19, 2010

Jpo Shirt Phenomenon

Well, maybe phenomenon is an overstatement but I gotta say, I am continually shocked and humbled at the number of folks who wear their JPo shirt in exotic and foreign locales like Hawaii and Ireland and Fort Worth. I love it! So much that here is the Flickr stream for all to see.

If you want one of your own I am most happy to handle that here at the store!

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Saturday, September 18, 2010

Tour Recap

Sloooow! I am slow! The thing about this tour, being our second to Montana in 3 months, is that while it was fun and the scenery was gorgeous, it was kind of the same thing as last time except I was not hunting for ceramic pigs. So there's that.

We did get to detour through Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park this time, which was amazing even if it was raining when we got to Old Faithful. It started downpouring and while I like me a geyser, I like being dry. So we saw the geyser but not geysering. Still super cool. Still took a geeky photo in front of it.

Me and a Big Geyser

This is Yukon the cat who lives at The It Club in Butte, MT. He owned the place, and sat on the merchandise bag some of the night. We were best friends by the time the gig was over. I almost snuck him in the trailer.

Yukon the Stage Cat

In Saratoga, WY, Susan stopped by Big Brothers, Big Sisters to talk to the kids about songwriting. She's a natural teacher along with her natural entertaining, so I think everyone had a great time!

Susan the Professor

In Taos at Michael Hearne's Big Barndance Festival, Susan and Don Richmond ripped it up on stage.

Susan Gibson and Don Richmond in Taos

My buddy Dave was there as the official photographer, so I figured I'd paparazzi him. Sorry, Dave, your fans demanded it!

Dave the Photo Man

And then there was the Amarillo show with Gary Wayne! He was a member of the Groobees with Susan, and he is one of my favorite guitarists ever ever ever. Also he's hysterical. And a nice guy.

Gary Wayne and Susan Gibson

On the trip home we had 5 gigs in 5 days, and I preferred it that way. I was pretty proud of my booking that leap frogged us from northern Wyoming to Luckenbach, TX in 5 days without any horrific drives. Each day was about 5-6 hours long for driving, which is doable when you have energy drinks in bulk. Yes, it was good.

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Monday, September 13, 2010

Quarter Geography

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