Yesterday, I taped 4 songs for a new NBC show called "StarTomorrow". The show airs this Monday night at 8pm so tune in to see what it’s all about. From what I understand, Monday’s show is just their "Audition Special"(something along the lines of American Idol’s audition shows)…There’s a little video clip that explains more about it on http://www.nbc.com/StarTomorrow . I don’t think I’ll be on that part of the show because I was out of town when they were taping that but a friend of mine [Tony B.] should be on it [he’s also part of the show too].

I have no clue if I’m in the top 100 of the bands that will be competing but I’ll find out in the next few days I guess. What I can say is what yesterday was like

We were told we needed to perform a total of 4 songs. 2 Originals and 2 Cover songs from an approved list. The songs were to be played back to back with a little introduction to each and they told us we couldn’t stop. If we were to mess up, we had to just keep going…no 2nd takes. Not a problem there…we breezed right through ‘em and I thought it sounded pretty good (at least from on stage it did).

We played:

1. Ain’t Too Proud To Beg (The Temptations)
2. Upside Down
3. The Easy Way
4. I’ll Be (Edwin McCain)

What a great stage it was too!

After, the band and I were placed in a holding room for a bit and then they took us to another part of the building where they interviewed us. 4 chairs sitting there with lights…cameras and a crew. A nice gal interviewed us and asked questions you would expect to be asked …like "how long have you been playing?", "What are your influences?"… etc…

So there I am with sweat dripping off me being silly and answering without trying to look too foolish (I’m not sure I succeeded there LOL).  I tend to get this sort of nervous energy while talking and I have a hard time controlling what comes out. I hope I don’t come across as sounding too silly though. At one point the gal interviewing us said "ok…um…we’ll need a shorter answer to that question" LOL. I stumbled over a few questions that caught me off guard but all in all, it was rather painless. I’m sure they’ll edit it down to what they want to get.

I must say… I REALLY loved the whole experience. I want more of that

And so…if I get the official word that I’m on the show it’ll be a little like running for office. I just hope I don’t get put against the guy with no arms who plays the guitar with his feet…kind of hard to beat that

Last night’s band rehearsal went pretty nifty…things are really starting to come together and that makes me feel pretty good. Any musician knows when playing, that there are some moments when everything just seems to click (AKA brief moments of magic). Last night, I was feeling it big-time!

I came home after to shower 4 layers of dried sweat of me since it’s been a heat wave here in Hollywood…and then relaxed and watched some things on the DVR…Luckily, the DVR can record 2 programs that air at the same time. For last night, it was set to record:

1. Rockstar 2 [CBS]
2. So You Think You Can Dance [FOX]
3. The One [ABC]

Rockstar’s always a treat…I’m enjoying the girl from Puerto Rico duke it out with Dolby Clark Gilby Clarke. It’s entertaining…we all know she’s not going to be their next lead singer but it’s certainly fun to watch as she tells them she doesn’t really like their music I’m sure they’re just keeping her for rating and drama …smart move.

So You Think You Can Dance? Yeah…I like this show too. Listening to the host say "jijjes" (judges) makes me smile My only beef with this show is …with the amount of money the show’s making and with the high ratings, you would think that they would have 2 winners; 1 male and 1 female. My favorite is Heidi…she seems like an all-around great dancer.

Now…as for THE ONE? HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA There was only one guy on that show who was worthy of being on it [Austin–that guy can sing]. Last night, it looked like they pulled the plug on the show…I went to play the show and something else was in it’s place. I guess the ratings were so bad that they wanted to push it under the carpet ASAP. It looks to me like it’s now off the air.

If they did pull it, I’m not shocked about it…not it the least! The audio was so crappy and the format was even worse. The set was amazing though and it looked like they spent a ton of money on it. The show MIGHT have stood a chance if they had better talent on it….better audio and a different time slot…it was a Monday or Friday night show that tried to compete with Rockstar and So You Think You Can Dance…..it was doomed from the start. I feel a little bad for the people chosen to be on that show…they probably thought it was a big break for them but then again…10 of the 11 people on it I could really care less about …but as someone who knows what it’s like to be on a TV show(a few years back) that’s been canceled…it really can blow your world to pieces.

Speaking of shows…I downloaded the Pilot of AQUAMAN on iTunes. It looks like the show didn’t get picked up so they released it to iTunes. If that show was on TV, I’d watch it…it’s no Smallville but anything to do with the Comic Genre and I’m all over it! Perhaps if that show gets downloaded enough, someone might pick it up…who knows…i liked it though.

I never knew I’d go through blogging withdrawals but the break was nice. Lotza stuff to catch up on now that I’m back home. My trip was nice but with stuff going here I felt a little like my hands were tied.

It’s super hot here in CA…as I’m told it is the rest of the country. When I stepped off the plane last night it was a bit shocking. But I’d much rather be super warm than super cold though so I won’t complain (too much).

So now? This week is all "catch up" and there’s much to do…and so I should get to that. I just wanted to jot a little something down to get my blog-fix.

Good to be home!

Tomorrow, I leave for my vacation- heading back east. I’ll be gone a week and I’m not sure if i’ll have time for bloggage. I’ll have email though [mental reminder to bring along my phone charger].

I hate that feeling of thinking that i’m forgetting something. Guess I should start packing.

See ya’s in a week!

About a week ago, I hinted about some exciting music news. Well…I was asked to submit for a new NBC show called "StarTomorrow".  It’s basically a network-quality program distributed online and people will need to vote on the performers. It seems to be set up similar to American Idol. The winner gets a recording deal or something along those lines.

The show sounds like a ton of fun to me and with it being internet based, it’s right up my alley since the fans I have out there are pretty web savvy. If I get on it, I’ll be asking for your votes though…and your friend’s votes..and their friend’s votes and their grandmother’s vote….etc…The band and I will have to perform some cover songs and some originals ( I think as the show goes on… and if we remain, we’ll get to do more originals but I’m not too sure about that just yet). I am told which covers to do, but I’m not sure how much say I get in the original songs.

I was going to be part of some of the filming of the casting episodes of show but half my band are out of town…and I’ll also be gone on a trip that’s been planned for the last 8 months that I can’t get out of :-[  …but we’ll all be back in time for the regular filming and ready to rock!

Anyway…That’s was the news I was speaking of…I’m hopeful and excited.

Check out the show’s website for more info: http://www.nbc.com/StarTomorrow/

Oh…and I also stumbled on the NBC Press Release for it here via Google.

Thanks for the birthday wishes …cards and all that. I’m just glad it’s over. I try not to groan too much about getting older but that’s life. It sure beats the alternative. New Years Eve is another one of those times I’m not much a fan of either…I suppose any event that marks time FLYING is never fun. On the bright side… As I get older my car insurance should be going down

I updated the last blog about being scammed from my bank[it’s in Red]…I went down there yesterday to talk to someone face to face rather than argue with people on the phone. I walked away feeling like it was my fault because I didn’t read the fine print. Ah well….will be changing banks soon regardless. It’s just seems like such a pain…it’s like moving..or changing web servers or something.

I watched the last couple shows of the new RockStar: Super Nova. There’s about 3 people on that show that seem to be pretty good singers and only about 2 who seem like they fit the band. I think the winner will end up being a female this season. 1st impression? I like that Storm gal’s voice…this could change though.

I’ll admit, It’s a little depressing to watch it and see some of the crappy singers on there. I guess it wasn’t meant to be for me(maybe for the best)…or perhaps next season I’ll give it another go…or maybe by then I won’t need something like that. I’ll still watch the show though…The one thing I really like about it more than the INXS Season is…the bottom three get to sing a song they like rather than the band making them sing one of their own. (That poor fellow singing a Duran Duran song…I knew he was a GONER the second he said he was going to sing one of their tunes…he basically cut his own throat there)

Off subject, there’s a chance I might be on another show but I don’t have enough details on it to really say anything just yet other than NBC has something to do with it. The second I know anything…I’ll be hyping it to death though…and if it doesn’t happen, I move on to something else.

More to come.

WARNING: RANT about to happen in 5….4…3…2..1…..0

I’ll try to just stick with the facts here and make them easy to follow.

1. My Bank is Wells Fargo.
2. Over the last year or so, I built up 10,000 credit card points.
3. I called a few days ago to redeem these points [which only translated into a measly $100.00, but hey…it’s 100 bucks]
4. Today I look at my online banking and I see a charge that says "REWARD ANNUAL PROGRAM FEE $80.00"
5. I call the bank to say how this makes NO SENSE and to cancel my REWARD PROGRAM.
6. They tell me it’s going to cost me $80.00 to cancel.
7. So basically…my 10,000 points translated to $20.00.

This is FUCKED! I’m lucky to earn 10,000 points in a year and I would be charged $80.00 a year so I might end up OWING THEM money next year[as if they don’t make enough money off me already]. I cut my losses and paid $80 to cancel and made a whopping $20.00 off this wonderful REWARD PROGRAM.

I’ll be banking somewhere else in the future because of this utterly idiotic event. Be warned for anyone who banks with Wells Fargo and who thinks they’re getting some great deal on Rewards and Points. I’m pissed!

UPDATE ON THIS:

I went into the bank yesterday to try to sort this out (with a person face to face) and get my $80 back…The lady there was very helpful. What happened was…whoever signed me up for this reward program…well they signed me up for the Super Program(so if i spent tons of money spending 80 a year would be a good thing) …the other deal they had was $29 a year…none sounded good to me…so i opted out of ALL REWARDS and will be changing banks when i get back from my trip in a few weeks. I STILL only earned $20 for 10,000 points…nice rewards.

Basically…it’s all my fault for not reading the fine print.

For anyone who signs up on their reward program..just be sure you get the right one.

For a short time, I’ve decided to give away some RingTones of a few of my songs. They’re here for anyone who wants ‘em. I’m actually testing this company out to see how easily it works for people. The last company let me sell the ringtones but I wasn’t able to mess with where the song started. Anyway…I’ll keep these posted for short time.

It seems to work pretty easily…basically you check what tone you want then check out [the cost for all is $0.00]…enter your mobile number and the type of phone you have and then it sends a text message to you so you can download and have it as a ringer. At least that’s how it’s supposed to work….there’s also a place on the page where you can test your phone to make sure it’ll work properly.

My Birthday is 2 days away[The 6th]

I’m told I share it with:

George W. Bush, Merv Griffin, Bill Haley, John Paul Jones, Dalai Lama, Janet Leigh, Nancy Reagan, Della Reese, Geoffrey Rush, Sylvester Stallone, Burt Ward….to name a few. I’m not sure what this says about me.

…I’m going to be 25 again..and again..and again…etc…DAMN THIS AGING STUFF! I’d like to think I’m getting wiser as I get older but uh…it seems to be the other way around.

Well…I’m off to a BBQ.