Consultancy: Bringing a Beautiful Voice into Internet View

Over a year ago I wrote about my friend Neva:

I wasn’t living in Long Beach when Melissa Etheridge made her breakthrough playing locally at a club called Que Sera on 7th Street (funny that her wikipedia article doesn’t mention Que Sera), but every time I come out and watch Neva I think I’m seeing the beginning of the same thing. – neva rocks taco beach! *video* – May 4, 2008

I don’t remember how long I’d been going to my favorite watering hole, Taco Beach, when I happened to be there on a night when Neva was performing. Nothing formal or flashy, just an acoustic guitar and amazing voice playing over the bar PA, taking the passing attention of the audience between their conversations and drinking. Doing a solo acoustic set in that setting was not for the faint of heart. The audience wasn’t overly obnoxious or disruptive, but I’ve seen pretty talented musicians stare down at the floor, reduced to mumbling through their songs because they couldn’t break through the conversational sound-barrier. Sometimes it seemed to take a whole band to grab the audience’s attention, or at least something electric and loud. Neva had a backing-band a couple of times, but most of the time it was just her and her guitar and she was able to get the whole place rockin’ in her direction.

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Papers

I got my papers a few weeks back & finally turned them in. sad [Sound of a door closing behind me]

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Remembering One’s Voice… Musically

Like most things, I started writing songs because I didn’t know any better. Teenage angst is like that. Fortunately for me it was a hell of a lot less destructive than all the other things that I could have been doing with my frustrations and energy. I also started writing because that’s what my best-friend, Jimmy, was doing. He wrote the happy tunes and I wrote the not-so-happy stuff. Anyway, being self-taught meant that pretty much all the things I wrote came from stumbling upon things that sounded good to me. But I felt like I was working from a pretty limited pallet and eventually what I wanted to write about just wouldn’t fit into a three minute three chord song. So I stopped writing songs. Lately I’ve been carefully listening to artists like Neva and Peter Himmelman and it dawned me that I might have made a mistake stopping. I thought everyone else was better than I’d ever become. I never realized the power of playing within ones strengths, to play within oneself.

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With One Voice Reflections

Saturday Afternoon, The Theater at Avalon Island, Downtown Orlando. The speaker shared his insights into what he called the seven concentric circles of spirituality or mysticism. I’m usually leery of anything that looks like a kind of spiritual “system.” But then as I listened I was reminded of my first year of university, at LMU, taking a class on Christian mysticism, and how surprised I was to discover that my conversion experience as a teenage could be understood as a mystic or mystical experience. And all these 30-years later I’m left with the term, Das Heilige, which encapsulated the idea of an encounter with The Holy that is both internal and Other.

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Neva – Acoustic Video

I can’t believe that it’s been six weeks since I last saw Neva. Damn. I miss her and the friends at Taco Beach. I hope that they’re doing well. The whole thing inspires me to find my own voice and share the gifts God’s given me. Hopeful. jbb

Neva Solo Acoustic

Music: The Things I’ll Never Be from the album “Neva” by Neva

Technorati Tags: california, friends, girls, longbeach, love, lust, music, musicvideo, neva, tacobeach, video

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Safely Arrived in Baton Rouge

After an incredible 31-hours on the road straight from Prescott AZ, Matt & I arrived in Baton Rouge this afternoon. You can follow along on our journey at http://twitter.com/jbb where I post little 140-character snippets of what’s going on from my phone and where we are at. You can also view posted photos from the trip here at my flickr account.

Thanks for your good thoughts, prayers and continued support. jbb

Technorati Tags: california, comedy, family, iPhone, kids, longbeach, travel, twitter

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Bye Bye Long Beach, Bye Bye So Cal…

Friends for the past few weeks have been asking me how I’m doing. And my usual response has been that I’m keeping everything on as even a keel as possible because with as much as I need to do with as little time as I have to do it, I can’t afford to fall apart and curl up with a gallon of ice cream. So I’ve tried to emphasize the positive and enjoy the moments with my friends and just keep moving on. Unfortunately I am a great deal more emotional than all of this and as things are coming together I can feel the emotions well up at the edges of my consciousness. I’m not quite there to be able to let it go. I know it’s going to hit me like a ton of bricks some time over the next few month. Anyway, I don’t want my “very well adjusted” facade to make you think that I don’t care or that I can throw off the last thirteen years of my living here in Long Beach like it’s nothing. I very much want my friends and family to know how much I am going to miss you and how much a part of my life you will always be. No matter where I am, I carry you with me. jbb

Music: When You Go from the album “Thing a Week Three” by Jonathan Coulton

Technorati Tags: california, community, family, florida, friends, jonathancoulton, longbeach, love, lust, media, musicvideo, tacobeach, travel, youtube

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They’re Here….

Waiting all morning, driver pulls up at 11:50. Dominoes could learn from these guys

Music/Podcasts: Buzz Out Loud 744: A date with Firefox from the album “Buzz Out Loud from CNET” by CNET.com

Technorati Tags: california, florida, iPhone, longbeach, moving

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Last Day with Kids

Lot’s of pix, lots of memories. I had some very cool kids this year. Gonna miss ‘em.

Music: Buffalo Soldier from the album “Legend” by Bob Marley & The Wailers

Technorati Tags: friends, kids, longbeach, teaching, work

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Adios Citylights…

Just got back from a going away party for moi and two couples who are also moving throw for us by my church friends at Citylights. Good folks. Ever the perpetual outsider and inconsistent participant for the past six-months, it was really really nice of them to give want to include me in the party. Good thoughts…. jbb

Music: Jet Airliner from the album “Greatest Hits 1974-1978″ by Steve Miller Band

Technorati Tags: california, community, faith, friends, longbeach, love

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