JRRecordingCo.com, The Official Website of Singer-Songwriter/Composer JR Rhodes
JRRecordingCo.com, The Official Website of Singer-Songwriter/Composer JR Rhodes
Music. Love. Life.
Recently, though, I decided to give football another chance. Why? Well, my beau, Eric, really. See, Eric gets excited about football. From the sparkle in his eyes when game season rolls around you might think Christmas came early and often. So I thought I would give football another go. Maybe this time I would find something in it for me. Eric agrees to be my football coach. But when game time comes here come my questions: “Down? What does that mean? How come that’s not an interception? Fumble? What’s that?…” and more. And usually these questions came one right after the other during key plays. Not cool. Bad girlfriend! So, after a few games of this I get the stink eye from Eric. I don’t blame him or even take it personally. My questions were getting between him and the game. I decided it was time for me to give football a rest until next season. When next season rolls around I take more of a listening approach. And something starts to click. What happened was I started to hear more and more stories about players. I heard stories of like how a kid raised by his single mom kept at it and kept at it until one day against all odds he made his dream of being in the NFL come true. Then that same kid, a young man now, turns around and gives back to his community working with kids to inspire them to follow their dreams. And then there are comeback stories like about a guy who was diagnosed with a life threatening disease. Doctor says he will never play again. But this guy keeps on believing and keeps on track with training and makes a full recovery to make it back in the game. These stories behind the game humanized football for me. Once I connected with the players I connected with the game and began to develop an appreciation for it. I admit I have a lot still to learn about football. For now, though, it tickles me and still surprises me that I have learned to actually like it. It inspires me. Yes, it’s true. It inspires me to get up and go, to just do it, to go for it. When it comes down to the last minutes of the game you don’t just lay down and die! No, Sir. No, Ma’am. You go for it! You work it play by play because most anything can happen to turn most any game around as long as you play. A lot like life. Thanks for lending your ears. Truly, JR (c) JR Rhodes http://www.myspace.com/jrrecording http://www.twitter.com/jrrecordingco         |
The JR Rhodes Blog is about music, love and life written by Seattle-based singer/songwriter JR Rhodes. This entry is on the life side of things, which inspires the music. This entry is inspired by Tina Fey’s Bossypants. In her latest book, Bossypants, Tina Fey comes at you from all angles. her humour is dimensional and sprinkled with all kinds of what may best be described as sneak attacks. The pictures of her growing up! I’d be impressed with anyone who saw those hairdos coming! It’s more, though, than the dated “looks” and “dos” that are hilarious. Those are just icing on the cake, if you ask me. Listen if you’ve got ears to hear because Tina Fey’s got something to say. She is a storyteller. And a wise and funny one. Among the many gems in Bossypants there are 3 stories that stand out for me. There’s the chapter about when she was at summer theatre camp where she spends her time hanging out with her mostly “in the closet” gay and lesbian friends and how she comes to witness homophobic discrimination and speaks up. There’s the chapter about working at Saturday Night Live where you get behind-the-scenes glimpses of her days and late nights there working with a strong circle of women comics, the gifts and challenges of being a female comic and her male comic colleagues peeing in jars! And then there’s the chapter about her dad. I’m here shaking my head and grinning just thinking about that one. My favourite thing about Bossypants is that it’s a life tour and through the lenses of Fey’s mind, heart and eyes the reader gets to experience how a very funny person frames her world. When you do come to the book’s end you might just find yourself finding life a little bit funnier than before. Bossypants is available most everywhere. You can find quick information at amazon.com here. Thanks for lending your ears. Truly, JR (c) JR Rhodes http://www.myspace.com/jrrecording http://www.twitter.com/jrrecordingco         |
As February is Black History Month here in the USA, I thought I’d kick the month off with a little story about my very spirited grandmother, Pinkey Mae. So, a few years back a friend calls and says, “Hey, so, I saw your grandmother on TV!” I wasn’t convinced. I thought she was kidding me until the tone of her voice changed, “Pinkey Mae?!” As if to say there could only be one Pinkey Mae in Seattle! When I got a similar call from another friend I knew something was up. So, I call my grandmother. “Hey, grandmommy. What’s going on? I’m getting calls from friends telling me you were on TV?” I ask. “Well,” she starts, “I didn’t want to worry you.” She goes on to tell her story. And as it turns out my friends were right. Pinkey Mae was on TV. That day while working alone some twenty-something year old male came into my grandmother’s store, Rhodes Grocery, and held her up at gunpoint. Growing up I’d worked there in the family store with her. Working there we all knew that should something like this happen there was a gun in the cigar box on the shelf right under the cash register. And so, of course, Pinkey Mae knew the gun was there in this emergency. This sassy septuagenarian, though, evidently didn’t even reach for the gun when her spiritedness would take care of business. Armed with indignation she chased that young boy out of her store and down the street. And not long after that the local TV news crews came with their cameras asking her tell them all about it. I like to think that at that moment when my grandmother chose to defend her store, this southern-styled general store she and my grandfather started together years before, that she was drawing on the strength of not only her personal will, but the will also of her ancestors before her. I like to think that although she worked in that store alone that day, she was somehow in no way alone in her remembering in that very moment of just where she came from, her roots. There are lots of Pinkey Mae stories and they comfort me since her passing a few months ago. My grandmother was a Mississippi girl. The rhythms in the phrasing of her southern sayings seeped into my songwriting years before I realized it myself. There is a lot of her in my music. And so lately it seems only fitting that genealogy has been on my mind a lot. After years of talking about it, my mom, sister and I have at long last started to research our roots. It seems like an important thing to do, to delve deeply into the roots that make up one’s history. And, I believe, this is especially important for African-Americans to fill in for themselves the blanks left empty in many history books. I’ve started research using a book by Tony Burroughs called ‘Black Roots’. If you’ve started genealogy work of your own send an email and share how it’s going for you. Happy Black History Month! Thanks for lending your ears. Truly, JR (c) JR Rhodes http://www.myspace.com/jrrecording http://www.twitter.com/jrrecordingco         |
To the University Christian Church in Seattle, WA, I’d make it there for the ceremony just as it started at 2pm. I somehow managed to slip into one of the last remaining balcony seats when the music began. And even after it began people continued pouring in and overflowing throughout the halls, sitting on stairs, sitting wherever room could be found in between aisles, leaning against walls, standing in aisles just to be there. And from the stage and podium instrumentalists and vocalists were overflowing. George Shangrow was a man of music and a distinguished one who, from what I understand, won the hearts of community members with his musical prowess as well as his hometown loyalty. He founded the Seattle Chamber Singers, Orchestra Seattle and his list of contributions goes on. And where others might have easily taken their musical gifts to someplace far away to make their name, he instead based himself out of the area where he grew up. And from the outpouring of song and love demonstrated in the music and remembrances and the reverent presence of attendees, it seems pretty safe to say his roots grew deep in this community. I had to remind myself this was a memorial and not a concert; the music performances were so sublime in quality and heart. The remembrances were touching and funny with stories told by loved ones. Story after story painted a picture of a man who lived fearlessly and included others in his many journeys, of a jokester, of one who chose to see life as more joyful than painful, of one who knew the importance of sharing the gifts that one is given. A man of the cloth spoke of this man as a bright light and yet reminded us all that every lamp has a shadow as no man is perfect; and still George was loved in this community in all his many ways. I left the memorial grateful for the experience and also wishing I’d known George Shangrow. But maybe in some small way I did get to know him in that I came away inspired to be a better musician and a better human and best of all to share these parts of myself to hopefully inspire others forward. I close with a quote found fastened to George’s computer: “To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a health child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson **** Here are links to articles in the Seattle Times and Seattle P-I about George, to tributes posted at the Orchestra Seattle site, the published death notice and related articles. http://www.seattlepi.com/thiel/425574_thiel24.html http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thearts/2012535854_shangrow08.html http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/seattletimes/obituary.aspx?n=george-shangrow&pid=144529680 http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012509572_conductordeath02m.html http://crosscut.com/blog/crosscut/19662/Remembering-George-Shangrow/ **** Thanks for lending your ears. Truly, JR (c)JR Rhodes http://www.myspace.com/jrrecording http://www.twitter.com/jrrecordingco         |
This blog is about music, love and life. This entry is more on the life and love side of things which ultimately, I find, inspires the music. I thought I’d pick up where I left off in the blog entry before last about a close family member who was recently diagnosed with cancer. Needless to say, these last few weeks have been life changing. I’ve blogged not as regularly as I’d have liked, I’ve come to realize, because I wanted to blog about something on the lighter side, you know, like about ice cream, kittens, or unicorns, anything but cancer! But that’s life, I suppose. Sometimes when we find ourselves in challenging places all there is to do is take what’s given to us, do our best to turn it around and find the good in it, even if it’s simply some small treasure of a lesson. So I thought I’d share a bit about where we are so far in this new journey. Weekly I go to chemotherapy treatments with her. In a room called the Infusion Center we meet. It’s basically a long, rectangular room. On one side there is a long, open nurse’s station where medications are prepared and nurses are available to help at a moment’s notice. On the other side of the room are spaces sectioned off by curtains. In each space there is a reclining chair and television where patients sit for hours receiving their chemotherapy treatments intravenously. Recently her doctor found another cancerous spot and so upped her to a stronger medication. Treatments now will take nearly double the amount of time as they had previously. So patience is in order while we wait in the quiet longer. It’s quiet like a library, but a little more relaxed. The chances of being shushed for talking are low, yet somehow the quiet is understood. And it’s a still, respectful and calming quiet. With each visit I have charged myself with the most very important task of bringing her animal cookies. You know the kind in the little cardboard box with the string handle that has the circus animals printed on it? She loves those. It’s funny how the littlest things can light up someone’s eyes. Animal shaped cookies can somehow transport a grown woman who’s a wife and mother back to carefree summer days when she was just a pig-tailed little girl running out to play. The gift is more than the cookies, though. The gift is presence, for her and for me. Being together and relishing every moment now and those that came before. And relishing even the embarrassing ones like fighting over a piece of chocolate cake when we were little! What was that about?! From a chair seated right next to her I kiss her forehead, watch her doze off, come to, we chit chat for a few words, then she dozes off again. Our time together flows in many directions, but no matter when at its core is Love. And our time together melts away my worries of what tomorrow may bring as gratitude somehow holds my heart in the time we have today, here and now. We’re compiling a list of resource links for cancer care support to share. If you have links you want to share please email to: admin@jrrecordingco.com. Thanks for lending your ears. Truly, JR (c)2010 JR Rhodes http://www.twitter.com/jrrecordingco http://www.myspace.com/jrrecording         |
My dear friend Aiko Shimada invited me to go to a house concert with her. It’d been a while since we’d last spent time together. She’s always been very inspiring to me, as a singer/songwriter and human. And her invitation came when I was up to my eyelashes in unpacked boxes after recently moving. My head would’ve had me pass on the concert and instead finish unpacking. You know, be practical, responsible. Eat my vegetables. My heart, though, wanted dessert first. So, we met at a house nestled in the Fremont area of Seattle. I was greeted at the door by Richard, the host of the house concert. Come to find out during the course of the evening that he hosts house concerts failry regularly at his home. A most generous host. There was a tasty spread of food and beverages. Chairs were circled around a grand piano in his living room. There was Aiko close to the entrance. She’d saved me a seat next to her. It’d been a while and somehow it was like we’d just seen each other the day before. We chatted a bit and there was pianist Jessica Williams. Jessica was why we’d come. Aiko and Jessica are friends. Jessica asks Aiko to sing a song with her. Aiko says yes. Aiko introduces Jessica and me. To my surprise, having just met and having never heard me sing, Jessica asks me to sing a song with her as well. It happened that quickly. Amazing! I’d come to hear Jessica play and now here I’d get to hear Jessica play and hear Aiko sing and sing myself. Once everyone was settled, the music began. I’d heard of Jessica, but this night would be my introduction to her music. From the first note I was in. Her sound was undeniable to my ears. Aiko joined her near the end of the first set. It was a traditional Japanese song they played together. The name of it I don’t recall and the words I didn’t understand since I don’t speack Japanese. No matter. The magic of their performance together came through. Talking about music, a lot of times I find, lots gets lost in translation. So, if you’re not already familiar with Aiko’s work, you might best understand by checking out her music first hand. We in the audience understood. It was magic hearing their musical lines intertwine. You could feel people listening. A little into the second set, Jessica called me to sing with her. I’d chosen the song Nature Boy. I knew the song, but figured I’d jot the lyrics down in case I had an out of body experience and spaced them. We decided we’d feel through the song, see what happens. Jessia starts to play and sure enough I lift off, tethered to the moment seemingly only by deep breaths. Interestingly enough, what I remember most about performing with her were two things – 1. The feeling of the profound space she creates with her sound, this otherworldly sea of sound that is at once deeply soulful and playful and 2. Witnessing her listening. At the end of the song she hit a note on the upper register of the piano and then held her hands quietly hovering above the keys in the middle register as if she were listening, sensing whether or not there was more to play. And then she rested her hands as if her musical muse had whispered to her that last high note was it. Again, talking about music, a lot of times I find, lots gets lost in translation. So, if you’re not already familiar with Jessica’s work, you might best understand by checking out her music first hand. I hope you enjoy her work and Aiko’s as much as I do. What an inspiring night of music! Aiko Shimada: www.aikoshimada.com [Note: Aiko is not currently performing live. So, if you like what you hear, I encourage you to contact her via her website and tell her so. Together perhaps we can convince her to play out for us in the near future!] Jessica Williams: www.jessicawilliams.com [Note: Jessica has a CD release concert scheduled for Saturday, September 4, 2010 at The Triple Door in Seattle. Two shows: 8pm & 10pm. www.thetripledoor.net] Truly, JR © 2010 JR Rhodes http://www.jrrecordingco.com http://www.myspace/.com/jrrecording http://www.twitter.com/jrrecordingco         |
I got the call that she was in the hospital. A close relative was admitted into the Oncology Unit waiting to be tested to get to the bottom of her shifting pain. One day it would be pain in her chest. Another day the pain would have moved to her lower back. It was on a Thursday she was admitted into the hospital. Friday the pain claimed her ability to walk, at least for now. Waiting becomes a kind of surrealism. This time in between knowing what’s to come has you feeling like life is holding you upside down kind of and shaking your pockets empty of the baggage that had only moments before cluttered your heart and mind as important. Then the shaking stops and all you’re left with is the only thing that matters at the end of the day – Love. I haven’t showered in days and find it hard not to wonder if the nurses wonder if I shower at all, but what they think of my appearance isn’t important. Although I hold a deep respect for medical professionals, I generally don’t do hospitals, but I’ve been camped out in the hospital for over a week now because you do what you have to do and that’s what’s important. A week ago I barely knew what the word oncology meant or maybe I didn’t want to know, but that’s not important. What is important is now. Right now she is still with us. Right now I can learn what I need to learn to support her because that’s what’s important. At http://www. jrrecordingco.com we’re building a links page to launch soon and will include cancer resources to share . In the meanwhile, there are links below I found so far in this early stage of this journey that may be useful to your or someone you know. Take good care. Truly, JR Gilda’s Club: http://www.gildasclub.org This is a worldwide organization that has many welcoming communities of free support for everyone living with cancer along with their families and friends. CaringBridge: http://www.caringbridge.org This is a free service that allows patients to create a free online website presence easily and quickly to communicate with friends and family from one centralized location. Lotsa Helping Hangds: http://www.lotsahelpinghands.com Create a free of charge, private, web-based community to organize family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues during times of need. Easily coordinate activities and manage volunteers with our intuitive group calendar. Communicate and share information using announcements, message boards, and photos. (c)2010 JR Rhodes http://www.jrrecordingco.com http://www.myspace.com/jrrecording http://www.twitter.com/jrrecordingco.com         |
Finding the bright side in our current recession for many may be something quite similar to looking for sun in Seattle before July. My friend Ted grew up beneath the heavy clouds of the Great Depression. Ted used to play upright bass with cool jazz cats like Bird (Charlie Parker). In case you were wondering, I don’t typically use the word cat unless I’m meowing about furry, four-legged creatures. I can be cool – not bragging, just saying. But I’m not that kind of cool. Ted’s that kind of cool, though. One time I asked Ted if I could see a picture of him playing music with Bird. Me: Hey, Ted, can I take a look at your picture of you and Bird? Ted: Swing, baby! Me: [Brain freezes. Then I ask myself: Self, did he just say Swing?! Hmmm, yes, well, I'm just going to go with swimg means yes.] Ted and I talk about music when we get together. A lot of our talks are me getting schooled on not just jazz, but also on the art and heart of music. Just after the first big blows of the recession hit, Ted was inspiring to me in saying he believed that this time, much like the time of the Great Depression, will be a time of great art. He said it is times like these when a lot of folks experience jobs and all their shiny things fall away and are left with what’s most important to them. And if they don’t know yet what’s most important to them they find themselves soul searching for it hopefully. My sister, Dawn, had known herself as a top sales person wherever she chose to work. Recently laid off from Microsoft, she’s getting to know herself now as a very happy, full-time mother. I’ve also had friends with health problems laid off with no warning and left with medical bills to reckon with as they suddenly find themselves without medical benefits. So, get me right, I agree with Ted’s Blessing in Disguise outlook in these times. I also believe that there is personal work involved so we may get to the point where we see for ourselves the bright side in this dark economy. Here are 7 simple ideas for things to do to stay inspired while we all wait on the sun for brighter days to come: [Note: Those of you outside of Seattle might want to do an online search for similar listings in your area.] 1. Listen to inspiring music created by cool jazz cats who managed through similar times like these: http://www.pbs.org/jazz/time/time_depression.htm 2. Experience free live music performances and art showings around town: http://www.seattle.gov/arts/ 3. Experience new art at Art Walks: http://www.seattleartists.com/blog/?page_id=6 4. Share a meal hosting a potluck dinner party. Folks bring what they can and all have a good meal with great company. And if you want to get real about it, how about a themed potluck dinner party? 5. Write a letter to a good friend or dear family mamber. Who doesn’t feel special receiving a letter someone took the time to hand write? 6. Walk in the park or walk on the beach. Seattle Parks & Recreation has listings of outdoor spots for free fun: http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/parkspaces/index.htm 7. Go to the library. Ben Franklin got it right dreaming up this community hub. Follow the link for the calendar listing of events: http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=calendar © 2010 JR Rhodes http://www.jrrecordingco.com http://www.myspace/.com/jrrecording http://www.twitter.com/jrrecordingco         |
JR Rhodes Blog 8 Things My Sister Taught Me About Music, Love & Life The thing about music is it won’t leave me alone. I wouldn’t call it stalking or anything like that. It’s more like a longing. Not like unrequited love longing, but more like a beautiful and necessary longing. Sorta like breathing. When my sister, Susan, died in 2000, question mark after question mark rained over me and one of the big questions was “Why am I making music?” And until I could answer that question music would be in the background for me. You might say I kinda held my breath. Flash forward to today years later and even in the background, music still won’t leave me alone and the question “Why am I making music?” I don’t have all the answers for, but I do have some. And for that I have Susan to thank. Simply put, she was a beautiful human being. See, Susan loved life and was a generous soul to family, friends and strangers alike. And she was funny. Susan knew how to have a good time. And she had a laugh. Did she have a laugh. She had a laugh you could hear down the hallway before she even entered the room. I always thought she should’ve been born on my birthday, April Fool’s Day, she was so funny. Instead, my birthday has in a way become a day to remember what my sister taught me on ways to being a better human being, really. Each of them are, in their own way, deep breaths of humanness, clues somehow to what’s brought me back to music. Here are 8 things my sister taught me:
Like I said, the thing about music is it won’t leave me alone and for that I am pretty darn grateful. And I am grateful as well for listeners like you. April 14 – 20 we’re giving away a free music download of ‘Woman of My Dreams’ to celebrate the launch of the new JR website and as thanks. Thank you for lending your ears. For your free music download join us April 14 – 20 at www.JRRecordingCo.com. Truly, JR © 2010 JR Rhodes http://www.jrrecordingco.com http://www.myspace/.com/jrrecording http://www.twitter.com/jrrecordingco         |
Listen to
the 2010 remix of
‘Woman of My Dreams’
