Back on Track!

Two weeks ago marks FIVE YEARS since I had completed recording my last album and this coming October will mark FIVE YEARS since my last album was commercially released! Last year I had geared up to do my sophomore album as a band leader, only to have to put the project on hold.

What has been the hold up?

Life!

My original intent with this upcoming album was to call it "A Day in the Life of...", but with all of these delays, I feel like calling it "A Decade in the Life of..."! So anyway, at long last things are back on track, Tierra Records is happy, I'm happy, and the guys in my quartet are all ready to get going.

The music for this project will once again be a little more ecclectic than most jazz recordings. This time, it isn't because I'm trying to show off my versatility as a musician. Actually, the ecclectic collection of selections comes from the fact that (A) this album will be comprised by all original compositions of mine and (B) I did not try to force any of the songwriting to make it all sound like the same style of jazz or what have you. I simply wrote each song the way I heard it inside my head.

I don't know what that says about what's going on inside my head!

The actual recording date has not quite been set yet, but I can say that the recording will take place in October, 2011. In fact, I can narrow things down a little more for you and say that there is a 99% probability that the recording will take place sometime during the week of October 23rd. I just haven't decided on which day yet (we will be tracking the album all in one marathon recording session over the course of a 12 hour day).

Once the tracking is done, it will probably take anywhere between 2 and 4 months to mix the album, about another 2 or 3 weeks for it to be mastered and shipped to manufacturing, and finally about another 2 or 3 weeks for it to be available for ordering and download. So, with all of that said, the actual release will most likely be sometime within the first half of 2012. Who knows, maybe the release date will end up being on the anniversary of the recording date of my previous album...making it SIX YEARS since I recorded "Front and Center". There are a lot of variables in play, but the main thing is to get the tracking done.

By the way, the line up will be Art Hirahara on piano, Thomson Kneeland on bass, Kyle Struve holding down the drums, and of course me on saxophones. There might be a track with some guitar on it, and possibly one with mandolin, but I haven't made a final decision on those tracks yet.

In any case, all I can say is that I'm just real happy that things are back on track and that it looks like I will finally have a chance to follow through with this project!

Stay tuned for more news about "A Day in the Life of..."!

by Shenole Latimer

February, 2011 Tour: Reflecting Back

Well it is now March and I've been home from my first tour of the year for 2 weeks. Actually, that isn't entirely acurate because I've really only been home for 1 full week. As soon as I came home from my tour, I had to hit the road again for a few days because of some performances I had in New Jersey and also in Buffalo, New York.


In any case, now that I've had a quick second to breath, I figured now wouldn't be a bad time to reflect upon the tour and how I think things went. It's true that, every single time I go out on the road, I learn something new. This tour would be no exception!


I guess the first thing I should do is mention that, as a whole, this tour had to have been my most successful to date. Not only was I very well received in all of the new regions I visited, I managed to meet some wonderful people and make a number of great connections in new markets for me. I even had the chance to do a few things that weren't planned, like getting on stage and singing with Jefferson Starship during their concert at the Magic City Casino in Miami, meeting Bonnie Tyler and spending some time with her and her husband in their tour bus, and even seeing old friends that I haven't seen in years.


It certainly was my most ambitious to date, with 26 bookings in 17 cities located over a total of 5 states in the southeastern portion of the United States. However, beyond my blanket statement of, "everything went great", here are some things I learned, observed, etc.:

1. 
   
   What To Pack? - This is something I agonize over everytime I have to hit the road. It doesn't have so much to do with what clothes I should bring, but more so with how much equipment should I take along. I'm slowing learning where the areas are that I can compromise with in regards to bringing certain items.
   
   The main thing is, I need to have a good understanding of the venues involved. That enables me to figure out what is the maximum and minimum audio requirements I'll need. This tour was probably the best I've done in that department, but I do see room for improvement and will undoubtedly be able to take even less gear next time around.
   
   


2. 
   
   Eating Habbits - I have actually got eating down to a science! I've been watching what I eat anyway, because I'm trying to loose weight. In october I reached the heaviest I have ever been in my life...275lbs! Since October and watching my diet, I have lost about 40lbs, but would like to loose about another 30lbs. My goal for my 6'3" frame is to reach the 205lbs.
   
   That said, I mostly ate chicken and turkey instead of beef, rice, a variety of vegitables, and drank mostly water. If I did have fast food, it was either Panera Bread, Chipotle, or Boston Market. The time I had to get away from this a bit was when I was in the deep South...the pan handle of Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. Pretty much the only choices I had regarding food was either deep fried or came in the form of "all-yo-can-eat" buffets.
   
   Lastly, it seems that the $25/day food allowance that I set for my tour budget is the magic number. I was able to eat just fine and actually ended up spending less than $25 a day on a number of occasions.
   
   


3. 
   
   Rest Habbits - This tour was the most well rested, over all, I have been on a tour...ever! That's not to say that I wasn't particularly tired on a few occasions, but I managed to schedule my appearances in a way that allowed me to have more time to get from city to city. The result was that I was often in a location I needed to be in the day before the engagement I had, which allowed me to sleep in more.
   
   Also, this is the first tour where I decided to follow a "6 hour rule". In other words, any day that I needed to drive more than 6 hours would not have an engagemnt booked for it. This worked very well for me and I plan on implimenting this rule on all future tours.
   
   Regarding bedtime, I imposed a curfew of 11pm on myself for evenings where I had to do "significant" driving the next day (2 hours of driving or more), and a curfew of Midnight for evenings where my appearances for the next day were all within a "regional" driving distance (less than 2 hours of driving).
   
   


4. 
   
   Help with Merchandise - This is a problem that has plagued me since day one of any of my performances, let alone my tours. More often than not, I don't have someone to sell my CDs for me while I talk to fans and people who have questions for me after a show or educational presentation.
   
   I can't even count how many times I am surrounded by folks who want to ask me a question or just have a comment after an appearance. And, while I'm being talked to, I see several people with money in their hands, who are waiting to buy a CD, turn around and give up because the wait got to be too much. Turning people away while they are talking to me, so that I can take care of some CD sales, is far more easier said than done.
   
   The only REAL solution is to have somebody sell my CDs while I'm talking to folks. The problem is, I don't make enough money to hire somebody and have them tag along with me during a tour. There's the volunteer route, but there's issues with that as well. This is a little something that I will certainly have to sit down and spend some time on to resolve, because I'm missing out on a large number of CD sales opportunities.
   
   
   
5. A Place for Everything - An important lesson that I learned during the tour I had in April of 2010 was to always have a specific place that I keep things so that it's easier to know if I'm missing something or not. I learned this the hard way when I lost both my cell phone and my wallet during that tour. Fortunately, I was able to back-track and figure out where I left my cell phone, but I never was able to recover my wallet.
   
   This time around, I had very specific places that I always kept things like my Flip video camera, digital audio recorder, etc. However, I still managed to leave my Ipod behind on a gig. But, because I had place a little extra wiggle room in my budgeting for the tour, just incase any emergencies came up, I had plenty of money to replace the lost Ipod with a new one and then I simply reloaded it with everything from my back-up Itunes library.
   
   
   
6. Family - As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I personally believe that the hardest thing about being a musician is spending long stretches of time away from home. With this past February 2011 tour being the longest time I've been on the road to date, I think I have found the limit for the amount of time that I feel I can stand to be away from my wife and, in particular, my 2 year old daughter.
   
   I doubt that I will book any future tours that will go past 3 weeks away from home...unless of course there is some real SERIOUS money to be made.

So, to round things up, touring has so far proven to be a great part of my developement as an artist, because going on the road has a special way of sharpening your skills that you simply can't achieve at home or in a practice room. Also, expanding into new areas seems to be the next phase for me anyway, since I have pretty much covered all of the bases in the New York metro area.


But, more to the point, this particular tour was a hugely rewarding experience that provided me with another platform to gain new fans, meet some wonderful people, and broaden my network. Not to mention, I was able to learn some important lessons and gain valuable insight that I can put to use with my future tours.


And so, onward to my April, 2011 Tour!






by Shenole Latimer

The Hardest Thing

It's been a while since my last post. This is mostly because I've been so busy with performances, booking appearances for 2011, upgrading my website, and a laundry list of other things that would be too long and boring to go on and on about.

But here I sit, in my hotel room in Columbia, South Carolina, at the beginning of my first tour of 2011, and I've been giving deeper thought to a question that someone asked me earlier today.

"What's the hardest thing about being a musician," was a question that a gentleman asked me, who has a son thinking about majoring in music in college. Of course, I explained that the level of competition is extremely intense and that it isn't enough to be really good at your instrument. I also mentioned the thick skin needed for the numerous rejections one receives over the course of time. However, now that I think of it, none of those things are the hardest thing about being a musician...at least for me.

To me, the hardest thing about being a musician is leaving my family and loved ones for weeks at a time when traveling for tours.

Touring isn't the partying night after night that MTV, VH1, and the movies like to portray it as. Just like everything else about being a musician, it's A LOT OF WORK! In order for a tour to be profitable, you need to cram in as many performances within a given time span that you can. In the case of the tour I'm on at this very moment, I will be doing 26 engagements, in about 17 cities, in 5 states, over the span of 3 weeks.

Yes, going on a tour is exciting, but if you were to ask me if I'd rather go on tour or stay home and spend time with my wife and daughter, then that is a complete no brainer...stay home, of course! There are things that help bridge the distance...Skype, for example. I always look forward to calling my family on Skype because then we can both hear and SEE each other. But it's still not the same as actually being there.

When you're traveling far from home and leaving family behind, there are the added stresses of wondering if everything is alright back home, did you forget to take care of anything important before you left, etc.

In any case, I guess I should wrap up this blog post. I'm looking to go to bed early. It's just that I found it funny that, as much as I was excited to be able to go on this tour (or any of the other tours I've been on for that matter), I'm just as excited, if not more so, to get back home to play with my daughter and spend time with my wife.

By Shenole Latimer

February, 2011 Tour All Booked Up!

After nearly 5 months of careful planning and more phone calls than I can count, I have (as of 12/9/10) completed the booking phase for my February, 2011 Lecture/Performance Tour.

I'll be visiting a total of 5 states (South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi) and stopping at a total of 25 locations residing in 21 cities. Here are the final confirmed stops:

* January 31, 2011 - Columbia, SC
* February 1, 2011 - Columbia, SC
* February 2, 2011 - Beufort, SC
* February 2, 2011 - Summerville, SC
* February 3, 2011 - Savannah, GA (afternoon)
* February 3, 2011 - Savannah, GA (evening)
* February 4, 2011 - Jacksonville, FL
* February 5, 2011 - Pembroke Pines, FL
* February 6, 2011 - Delray Beach, FL
* February 7, 2011 - Fort Lauderdale, FL
* February 7, 2011 - Coral Springs, FL
* February 8, 2011 - Coconut Creek, FL
* February 8, 2011 - Tamarac, FL
* February 9, 2011 - Tampa, FL (afternoon)
* February 9, 2011 - Tampa, FL (evening)
* February 10, 2011 - Brandon, FL
* February 10, 2011 - Valrico, FL
* February 11, 2011 - Tavares, FL
* February 13, 2011 - Mobile, AL
* February 14, 2011 - Flowood, MS
* February 16, 2011 - Hinesville, GA
* February 16, 2011 - Savannah, GA
* February 17, 2011 - Lyman, SC
* February 17, 2011 - Woodruff, SC
* February 18, 2011 - Spartanburg, SC



Check the events listing on the following websites for more information:
http://www.shenolelatimer.com
http://shenole.fanbridge.com/tourdates/

And now, it's time to tie up the bookings for my April, 2011 tour...stay tuned for more information regarding that one!

By Shenole Latimer

Announcing My New Video Blog!

Back in April, 2010, while I was on tour up and down the east coast, my cell phone received a software update that enabled it to record video and upload it onto YouTube or Facebook. I suddenly found myself with a way to chronicle my experiences as a musician, and as a regular guy with a wife and a daughter, so that I could share some behind the scenes stuff with my fans.

I began recording short video blogs, or vlogs as they are often referred to, and posting them onto my YouTube channel. Though my friends at YouTube, and the fans on my email mailing list, knew about the video posts fairly quickly, I didn't realize until just a few days ago that I have never made an official announcement that I now have a video blog...so now I am.

Ladies and gentlemen, fans and friends, I now have a video blog!!!! You can visit my video blog by clicking the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/ricimusic#g/c/A09CC7C3DEF974CC




by Shenole Latimer

Winter Tour Planned for February, 2011

If you live on the east coast, you surely remember the monster snow storms we had during the winter of 2010.

Originally, I had a really good number of bookings for the winter...unusual for that time of year, but a welcome sight on my calendar none the less! However, what ended up happening is that almost half of my appearances were canceled due to severe weather. Not a good scenario!

This coming year I have decided to do something to help fight off any further cancellations during the winter months...go on tour down in the south, where snow is not a concern.

Really, the decision to tour in February comes from two different contributing factors. The first one I already stated in regards to avoiding cancellations due to severe winter weather in the northeast. But, the second factor has to do with the success I encountered with my lecture tour this past April, 2010. That tour showed me that I don't have to rely on a booking agent to book tours for me. Also, even with loosing my wallet, my business debit card and $400 or so in cash, plus missing out on two of my bookings because of the time I lost looking for my wallet and filing a police report, I still managed to come home in a profitable enough fashion to have made the trip worth while.

With all of that said, here are the confirmed dates and locations that I'll be stopping at so far during my February, 2011 tour:

• January 31, 2011 - Columbia, SC
• February 1, 2011 - Columbia, SC
• February 2, 2011 - Summerville, SC
• February 3, 2011 - Hinesville, GA
• February 3, 2011 - Savannah, GA
• February 4, 2011 - Jacksonville, FL
• February 5, 2011 - Pembroke Pines, FL
• February 6, 2011 - Delray Beach, FL
• February 7, 2011 - Coral Springs, FL
• February 8, 2011 - Coconut Creek, FL
• February 8, 2011 - Tamarac, FL
• February 11, 2011 - Tavares, FL
• February 13, 2011 - Mobile, AL
• February 14, 2011 - Flowood, MS
• February 16, 2011 - Savannah, GA
• February 17, 2011 - Lyman, SC
• February 17, 2011 - Woodruff, SC
• February 18, 2011 - Spartanburg, SC

There are several more locations that I'm waiting to have confirmation for. When it's all said and done, I may be looking at as many as an additional 6 bookings. Not bad for someone who doesn't have a booking agent!

Then there is the tour I have already begun to book for myself for April, 2011, which will have me traveling to some of the locations I visited this past April, along with visiting some new ones. But, we'll save that for another blog post! : )





by Shenole Latimer

A Couple of Artist Friends I Look Up To!

I just received a phone call from a good friend of mine in Ohio. She's a spoken word artist who's stage name is "NeoSouljah".


I first met Neo in 2008 during an event held for an internet radio program out of Philadelphia known as Spotlight on Jazz and Poetry. Neo and I were among several other artists that the host of the show, Clayton "Big Trigger" Corley, chose to showcase. We became friends and kept in touch, with the desire to do some work on each others' future albums at some point.


Long story short, Neo beat me to the punch and had me featured on one of the tracks of her newest album that has just been released.


This is where the phone call comes in...


NeoSouljah wanted to let me know that a major music software company called Propellerhead, that endorses the producer of her new album (her producer's name is Mike Loyd and he is credited with mixing many of the albums that came from the Death Row Records label), has decided to feature the track that I recorded on for her on their website!


But that wasn't all.


Neo conferenced in Mike Loyd and proceeded to tell us that the Fox network has a heavy interest in using that same track that I recorded on as the theme song for a new TV series that they will be airing soon.


After hearing all of that, if I would have smiled any bigger, my head would have exploded!


And then there is the text message I got a couple of days ago from another friend of mine. Her name is Jill Washington Burrus and she lives in North Carolina. Jill and I met and dated together between 1991 and 1992. Jill is an artist and has shown herself to be a very talented painter, with a very recognizable style that she can call her own.


In any case, Jill was texting me to let me know that she had just secured a building that will become her very own art gallery!


Both the news from Neo's phone call and Jill's text message were truly exciting to me. But, you may be asking yourself, "what does that have anything to do with the title of this blog. And, why should I care?"


Well, lets put it this way...these women are getting it DONE!


It's so inspiring to see other artists, especially ones that I know well, work their way through some really rough times, only to finally gain an important triumph. All of us artists gain strength from such stories, because it provides us with the hope we must always keep in our back pocket that the incredible trouble we go through to live the life that we do, and produce the art that we do, is worth it all at the end.


In a broader sense, the reason that you should care is because these women should serve as a reminder that we ALL need to find a source of inspiration and hope during the challenging times that most of us are finding ourselves in these days. And, we all need to remember that, no matter how difficult things may get at times, there is always a way to triumph as long as we are willing to work hard enough and find new ways to be resourceful.


I'm so proud to have these two incredible artists as friends and I marvel at how good they are at their respective mediums. I would encourage anyone who reads this blog entry to at least check out their work, even if you don't end up purchasing anything. Here's where you can find them:


NeoSouljah - New CD release is located at Amazon.com and iTunes (just put her name into the search engine of either website).

Jill Washington Burrus - her website is at www.thecreativelounge.org and the address to her new brick and mortar art gallery is 300 S. Main Street, Winston-Salem, NC





Written by Shenole Latimer