July 2008
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 13, No. 7
NEXT MEETING: 5:00pm Sunday, July 6th, 2008
Officers:
President/Treasurer
Russ Robinson (407) 851-5328
Vice President/Member Reception/Newsletter
Matthew Griffin (407) 903-1212
Secretary
Jacquelyn Gould, crosstyes1@yahoo.com
Website
Carlos Colon (352) 326-4295
Membership
Gilda Corrales (407) 327-5494
Songwriters, composers, performers, publishers, and the curious are encouraged to join us. Non-members are invited to attend a meeting or two to get a feel for our group and what we do. For more information, visit our website at www.isgorlando.org .
President's Letter
Dear Members,
Since our July 6th meeting follows the 4th of July holiday by a couple of days, I guess you’ll be recovered from whatever celebration you choose to participate in. In the meantime, perhaps you might meet someone new who is also celebrating. They could be an aspiring songwriter. Invite them to the meeting! I believe there are writers in our area who might be interested in attending, if they only knew about us.
Remember last year’s state song contest? The contest was won by Broward County music teacher Jan Hinton. It seems that the Florida legislature couldn’t quite decide, so they kept a cleaned-up version of “Old Folks at Home” as the state song, and declared “Florida, Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky” the state anthem. So I just invited Ms. Hinton to our meeting. We’ll hopefully see what we might have missed out on.
In the meantime, wouldn’t it be fun to surprise the Orlando mayor with a new song? I suppose you might know that I have the present one, naturally called “ Orlando ”; it’s been used at official functions several times in the last few years.
Look forward to seeing all of you Sunday the 6th. Rest up from your busy (wild?) Fourth.
Russ
Wasted Days and Wasted Nights
By Matt Griffin
Do you find yourself wasting a lot of time? If you’re like me, and you take a few moments to really look at how you spend your average day, you’ll probably see that you do. I often complain that I don’t have nearly as much time to write as I’d like, and it’s certainly true. But when I look at how I actually spend my time...
How much time do you spend in front of the boob tube, for instance? On Sunday night, I realized that I’d burned about 5 hours or so watching the U.S. Open golf tournament. OK, so watching Tiger Woods limp around a golf course was pretty riveting, but 5 hours? My wife wasn’t real happy with that number, either. And later, it occurred to me I could have written for 3 hours and still watched the last couple of hours of the golf tournament. What a waste.
Let’s examine it from the reverse angle; call it “time well spent”. A good night’s sleep and meals are obvious necessities. We need to spend time with our loved ones. We need time for taking care of ourselves, showers and basic grooming and exercise. Most of us need to work to pay the bills and keep food on the table. Many of us have child care issues or schools to deal with. Church is an absolute requirement in numerous households. Add in a few other time-consuming basics—home maintenance, laundry, grocery shopping—and you might well begin to wonder how any of us have any free time at all!
And yet we need some free time, too, some time to kick back with a magazine in the shade or just take a nap. My wife and I went crazy for awhile when my kids were small, and I think that’s why: no downtime at all for a couple of years. Somehow that downtime doesn’t seem like time wasted, especially when you’re not getting it!
But other activities are more clearly wasteful, especially when you’re looking back at them. We obsess and have arguments over unimportant minor issues. Ever surf the web and discover you’ve lost a couple of hours you didn’t have to lose? Excessive daydreaming or excessive anything is precious time gone for good. Addictions of all kinds have a litany of bad effects, but often overlooked is how much time is wasted on planning, thinking about it, and the acts themselves. And so many of us have addictions of some kind; and even if they’re more “harmless” addictions like Ebay or video games, they’re still hugely time-consuming.
So where do you draw the line between “downtime” and “wasted time”? Perhaps it’s a matter of degree. When you come home from work and get through dinner, do you camp out in front of the TV for an hour or five hours? Do you have a beer on your front porch or buzz through a six pack in the back room? I don’t mean to preach; I’m as guilty as anyone. But as we get older, we should be getting better at time management, at spending our time on worthy pursuits. Shouldn’t we?
For me, turning off the television is a great start. J
ISG Bulletin Board
The services of Park Ave. CDs are available to local songwriters who want to sell their CDs. I have used their services for my 1st CD—Starling. This past week I left 5 copies of my second CD— Blue Star Highway (lyrics by Ester Starling, music by Mike Kondol).
There is no charge to you. They earn a modest commission from you on any sold. Location is 2916 Corrine Dr. , Winter Park , FL , phone 407-282-1616, web www.parkavecds.com. They are friendly and helpful; visit or call for details. Posted by ISG member Ester Starling.
Kitty Camp Pet Boarding—A loving, lakeside resort in Fruitland Park . Daily activities include: playtime, bird-watching, brushing, petting, purring, sunbathing, catnapping, and kitty’s favorite…mealtime! Daily/Weekly/Long Term, private rooms and suites available. 25% off weekly stay, FREE first night. Please call for details at 352-205-4284. Posted by ISG member Jackie Gould.
Jeff Mason’s gig schedule:
Appearing At O'Keefe's Irish Pub, Fridays & Saturdays from 5pm, musicians welcome!
115 S. Rockingham Tavares, FL, 352-343-2157
Appearing at Tijuana Flats on the Patio (weather permitting), Thursdays at 6pm
444 S. Hunt Club Blvd , Apopka , FL 407 774 0402
Lead Sheet preparation by Carlos Colon. A simple lead sheet contains the melody, lyrics and chord symbols. For more information, visit my website at www.cecoriginals.com and click on “Lead Sheets” at the top of the page. Website design also available. Use your website address in advertising. Newspapers, business cards, fliers, to name a few and let’s not forget the use of email. Send your link to potential clients. For more information, visit a few of my clients sites at http://www.ticopeach.net/clients.htm.
Meeting space graciously provided by Central Florida Musicians Association, Local 389. You are invited to join the largest union in the world, representing the interests of the professional musician. Visit their website at afm389.org for more information. You may reach them by phone at: 407-894-8666.
We’re always looking for material for the newsletter. If you have any information that you would like to see added to the newsletter, please see Matt Griffin at the meetings or email him at isgorl@cfl.rr.com . Please keep your articles brief and to the point. Print deadline for the newsletter is approximately two weeks prior to the monthly meeting.
Classified advertising may be placed free of charge to members in good standing with the ISG . For more information on display advertising and/or classified advertising for non-members, please call Russ or Matt or email: isgorl@cfl.rr.com ..
Why isn't your gig announced here? Call us with your appearance schedule!
Place your classified ad or gig announcement here! Free to ISG members as always! Just get your text to Matt by the print deadline (usually the Friday 16 days prior to the monthly meeting); email is best ( isgorl@cfl.rr.com ).
New members always welcome!
June’s Top Songs—Results of monthly critique session
(1) A Heart is Optional by Ester Starling and Ray Barnard
(2) Rat by Bob Witmer
(3) Pain at the Pump by Susan Foster-Trewick and Lisa Firestone
(4) My Baby’s On My Mind by Will Campbell
© 2008 ISG