Muse update =)
Alright, so here is some exciting news about my next few days.
Tonight, I meet up with Teporah & the Baltimore Songwriter’s Association (BSA) board memebers, I’m being “discussed”, there is a chance I might end up being a board member in the BSA, which would be really awesome.
HonFest is coming up in a couple of months, I had received the email which basically asked who would like to play, the only problem is, it has to be a “band”, no solo acts are allowed = (. So I’m in a bit of a pickle, either I gather up friends to put together a “band” in order to play at HonFest, or actually peruse putting together a REAL band…but it’s such a short time, and I don’t want to blow it. I hear that HonFest has a nicely sized crowd, around 2 thousand or so, which could be great. That topic will also be brought up at the board meeting tonight.
Tomorrow I’m planning to make an appearance at the Java Mammas, it’s been a couple of weeks already, and I honestly just miss being there and seeing all my cool friends. I shall make the effort to go there tomorrow; also the fact that I’ve fixed my car’s low-light problem does help, now that I can actually SEE the road when driving at night.
I have been corresponding with the owner of a Bakery/Cafe in Ellicott City; hopefully a gig or few will come out it. He’s new to the whole “live music” thing, and asked me to kind of explain it to him, so I did. Now I await a reply (hopefully with dates) and then it’ll be one more venue to add to our resume, and of course cake. =)
In other news, John Hopkins Healthcare has offered the Tech position, I start with them on May 18 Insha Allah (God Willing), which means, pretty soon soon soon, I would make my official move to Baltimore, sweet =).
There you have it.
I’ll catch up with you all again soon.
Salaam.
Stage Name + upDates
First of, I would like to apologize to the 3 people who read this constantly =). It has been a while since I’ve posted, but you will shortly know why.
Since my return to MD, I have promised my self to hit the music scene with friendly Arab storm of acoustic-ness, and that’s the same reason as to why I haven’t been blogging the past few weeks.
I’ve become a member of the Baltimore Songwriter’s Association (BSA), and I just heard that I have been voted to be part one of the Board Members, I am deeply honored.
Since my joining of the BSA, I’ve befriend a super talented woman by the name of Teporah, she is an amazing performer, classically trained multi-instrumentalist, French-Armenian vocalist & songwriter. Luckily for me, she enjoys my material very much, so I end up being the opening act for many of her shows, also I’ve played a bi-weekly event called “Acoustic Baltimore” which she hosts at Bar Hon in Hampton.
I have been approached by an Indie label run by a friend of mine called Nas Jota records, there has been some oral agreement to get me signed up to the label and into the studio for a full length album, waiting to see the contract before I make any big announcements.
I actually sat down with my brother Meezo, who will be my musical director in this project. We have some amazing ideas for this album, all I can say is we are defiantly trying to win a Grammy or two with this sucker =)
Hopefully pretty soon, I shall a permanent move back into Baltimore City, because its awesome and I love it.
The past few days I have tweeting and FaceBooking about me getting a stage name. I know most people know me as “Ash” or “Ashraf”, which is fine, but the problem is “Ash” is already taken by an Irish band that is still well and alive, and “Ashraf” has proved difficult for people to remember, especially when they meet/hear me for the first time. I’ve been called “Ashram, Assraf, & Ashrath” to display a few..the only few I can see coming are “Ashram, & Assrash”…need I say more? I didn’t think so.
So then my quest for a stage name continues yet again, I’ve always had the most difficult time finding a cool, easy, yet odd stage name. I do tend to over think things a bit so I am open to suggestions.
So far the possible candidates are as follows:
- tarVo
- rafwood
- yazoul
I do have a few gigs coming, so make sure to frequent my ReverbNation or MySpace page for a show near you. I have some shows actually coming up in Fredrick MD, a few in Baltimore (naturally), some potential gigs are flying into my radar in Ellicott City. If you know of a venue near your area that would enjoy an acoustic show, let me know.
There you have it, I hope I’ve given you a worthy Ash-Fix for your long wait =)
Take care, be safe, and enjoy this wonderful weather we are having.
Salaam.
Approached by an Indie Label
My good friend of about 7 years approached me about 3 weeks back, he had started his Indie Label/Production company, and have been going strong for a few months now. They even won “Best Video” at the DMV Awards late 2008.
Here is the deal, they are willing to invest time, product, & marketing, up-front. In return we would split profits 50/50.
What that means is, they would get me professional studio time (for free), make me a music video (for free), make me a website (for free), and help market my sound through their audience and connections (for free). At any time one of us sells a CD, we split it 50/50. That way, everyone gets paid from the very beginning.
I would have complete control over the production of the CD, which means the songs I want, the way I want it. And I still have the rights to the songs, which means I can also sell the CD or any of my songs, in which ever way I like, not forgetting to give them 50%.
There is another option, which is they still do all the above for free, but instead of 50/50, once I start selling CDs, I would only get paid after they’ve made the money they invested in me.
He tells me that there main goal is to get me signed to a major label, and when that happens, it would be a different ball game.
So at this point, I’m simply thinking about the Pros & Cons of the situation. I have not made any decisions yet, but wanted to share the core of the conversation I had with my friend’s Indie Record label.
Check’em out, keep in mind they started this recently =)
NasJota Records.
K’naan & Keegan
So this weekend has been a musical weekend, of some sort. =)
Friday, I took Meezo & we saw K’naan perform live at the Bourbon Street Ballroom in Baltimore, MD. One thing I didn’t like about the show was the fact that they opened the doors at 8pm, but K’naan didn’t get up on stage until freakin 10pm. There was no opening act, just some DJ spinning music for 2 damn hours. Aside from that, the show was really nice, Meezo took some photos (as well as videos) so his Facebook should be very entertaining the coming few weeks. =)
Saturday, Meezo & I drove up to Rockville to watch Keegan Corbey perform at the Austin Grill. It was freakin packed, and aparantley they didn’t have a sound guy there either. Hmmm this seems to happen a LOT at the Grill. The one in Silver Spring also doesn’t have a sound guy, they need to fix this issue, pronto, especially since they ALWAYS have some kind of live performance.
Saturday night I was a little inspired to write a song about Sudan, but nothing came out, I guess I’m going through a block again, I also have another idea in my head surrounding haunted homes & spirit communicators, but again, nothing is coming out.
Today is Monday, and I can’t wait for the weekend already, I don’t have any major shows happening this week, so I’m either going to lay low, or hit a few open mics to promote my next apperance in Fredrick, MD 4/13, for Teporah’s CD release party.
I wish you all a good week.
Salaam.
Big Musical Post! including the musical bill that will kill us all
Oh man, its been a while since I got up here, I apologize to all the avid reader, all 3 of you =)
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I had received an email from Rob of ilyAIMY, bring to my attention the HORRIBLE new bill that the city counsil is thinking of passing, this bill will literally kill any potential “live entertainment” in the Baltimore area, including weddings and even jam sessions, JAM-SESSIONS-PEOPLE.
****The vote for this bill is on MAY 6TH****
So lets get envolved and stop this insanity.
The list list of City Council members.
Here is the actual bill.
Here’s a City Paper article about the whole thing.
Thanks Rob for the info
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Alright, here’s what’s been going on w/Me:
Wednesday | 4/1/09
Seriously, Not an April fools.
Teporah & I were on 89.3FM WPFW, on “From The Vault” hosted by Glady’s Brooks. It was an hour show, Teporah & I got to play some songs live on the air, I got to Djembe as well as sing a couple of my original songs =)
It was SO much fun.
Then later that day I had an Hour set for the Acoustic Baltimore Showcase at Bar Hon, which also went really well. My whole set was recorded and aired on Umberlla Radio. Speaking of which, they are trying to set up and interview/performance with me soon. So hopefully you’ll be hearing about me being on the internet radio soon =)
Thursday 4/2
Was the open mic night at The Java Mammas. It was supposed to be the New Song Night, but since Rob & Heather weren’t there, I guess people thought that it wouldn’t be done. There for not many people signed up for there. Michael Berkowitz & Rick Millman both had a “Sad Little Bells” song, which they will replay on which ever night the new song night gets “re-done”.
A band called The Sunflower Specticle came over and rocked the house, they were loud, and proud. And a whole lot of fun to watch. There were about 7 of them, all crammed in the little area infront of the counter (because I decided to go with the old set up) and just played funky loud music.
My PA was acting VERY strange, but Chris of The Honest Miskates totally saved my life. Apparently he has a similar system and was able to get it working. For some reason the sounds would only come out of “monitor”, so it was weird to say the least. Non the less, I was able to broadcast the night, and Heather watched it, YAY!
Friday (today) 4/3
After work Insha Allah (God Willing), I will be picking up Meezo and we’ll be seeing K’naan play in Baltimore. Should be a fun show, I enjoyed K’naan’s CD, but I haven’t seen him live (except for Youtube). Meezo on the other hand thinks he’s a genius, so I’m sure he’s looking forward to it =)
Window into the Future:
I have several gigs & mini-gigs coming up, including one that may end up being Next Thursday 4/9 at Joe Squared, but nothing is official in that yet. Check out my MySpace or my ReverbNation page for more details.
Also I’m not sure if I had mentioned that I am now a proud memeber of the Baltimore Songwriter’s Association, and I’m trying to see if I could get on the board of the BSA, we’ll see =)
The membership is only $25 a year! and you get to be part of a WHOLE bunch of events, and shows, I’ve already gotten 3 gigs already from it, and more are on the way. So if your a songwriter in the Baltimore area, make sure to check out that site and join up =)
Its been a crazy few days, but the music makes allll better.
