The long wait is over. The song from last week is finally in the system. It took my SNOCAP people a long time to get my new song into the SNOCAP store. In the mean time, I just look like an ass. I promised to write and record a new song every week. I did it last week and uploaded it to SNOCAP. It has just arrived there. You have no idea how frustrating that is for me....or maybe you do. I do my part and leave the technical stuff up to the techs. That's where my knowledge ends. So I'm sitting here with my hands tied waiting for the modern miracle to happen. How does that work anyway? The song starts in my computer, travels through that air like the kid in the white suit in "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory", then it ends up on the Internet(s). How does it know? I'm on wireless.....is it like a cloud floating in a blue sky towards it's new home on the web? Well, my cloud didn't get there for a while!
I've totally digressed. What I am here to talk about, besides the weekend's debacle, is this weeks song. I am really exited about this one. It's up-tempo and has a hooky little melody. I think that i stumbled on to a bridge yesterday and a cool lyrical theme, which I will now share with you!
I was doing an imaginary interview in my head yesterday as walked through Golden Gate Park. One of the questions the interviewer asked was, "Do you consider yourself yo be successful?" My response was, "If you consider loosing thousands of dollars every year, driving around the country playing songs to no one in the middle of nowhere, leaving my wife for extended periods of time and beating my head against a wall in the name of creativity for little or no recognition, then YES, I do consider myself to be successful."
This interview has spawned this week's song topic. It seems that no matter how hard I work at this thing, I never get any closer to my goal. What is my goal you ask? Well, I would like to be able to pay the rent, eat, feed my children and put outrageously over priced gas in my car all with money that has been earned through my music. Is that too much for me to ask? Am I dreaming? Have I lost my marbles? I'd say...YES....I have definitely gone off the deep end.
But, I am the perpetual optimist. I'm a dreamer! I play golf.....poorly! I only see the tarnished bright side of the coin! I'd rather die trying to live my dream then dream about a life that could have been (I smell a song in that).
OK.....enough of my yackin'. Due to last week's technical mayhem, I created another MySpace page where the songs will be posted every week. You can download them onto your MySpace profile, listen to them in their entirety and purchase from the SNOCAP store all from the SONGS IN THE RAW MySpace page. So, now you're got links out of the ying yang to look into for your weekly SONGS IN THE RAW fix.
And here they are;
Songs in the Raw (SitRaw) MySpace;
www.myspace.com/songsintheraw
Jon Roniger MySpace;
www.myspace.com/jonronigermusic
Jon Roniger website;
www.jonroniger.com
I'd love to hear from you.
Peace,
Jon
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Songs in THE RAW!!! July 28
Well, I've decided to rename my blog. I am now the blog formerly known as "New Song Every Week". I am now known as "Songs in the Raw". I am still working on my symbol for my new blog. I record all of my songs "in the raw". I write all my songs "in the raw". I perform "in the raw". Perhaps an image incorporating an acoustic guitar and a nude body. Then people can just point to the symbol and know that I am "in the raw".
That being said, I have a new song for the week; "Pay The Toll". I was stuck on this idea all week about "you can't take it with you when you go". I use this line in the song, but didn't find that it was the real underlying theme to the song. I've been driving around this country playing music quite a bit. If you've ever been to the East Coast, you know about tolls. If you ever try and get into San Francisco, you pay a toll. Cross some water....pay a toll. But I was thinking about the human existence and how it take it's toll. How we stop and pay the toll with every step of our lives.
It's not about money. It's about soul. It's about compromise. It's about choices and consequences. No matter what you do or what you want in this life, you will pay for it some how. Life is a series of toll booths. What are you willing to give up for that which you want?
I want to write and perform music. I've had to make sacrifices in my life to make that happen. I'm not a professional baseball player. I gave up my dream of being a fireman. I've had to give up drinking and doing drugs all night and day. I've worked crap jobs and completely abandoned the idea of a "career". Girlfriends have come and gone when they, one day, realised that my music came first. Thursday night wasn't date night. It was rehearsal night. Instead of buying a big screen TV, I bought a new guitar. The series of choices and consequences continues through today. Fortunately for me, I have a wonderful wife who knows and excepts who I am and what my goals are. I am truly a lucky man. In that area of my life, I pay no toll!
In this addition of my weekly self-indulgence, I have included a video of a show I recently did in Norwich, UK. I was with my good friend and musical compadre Rico Mastrodonato. I hope you enjoy it.
Here's the video;
Here's the "SONGS IN THE RAW" Store;
Find me on MYSPACE;
http://www.myspace.com/jonronigermusic
Find me on Hi5;
http://jonroniger.hi5.com
Check out the website;
http://jonroniger.com/
Here's my EPK;
http://www.sonicbids.com/JonRoniger
Demand it!!! I'll come and play your town/city/region/county/district/parish
Send me a note....a hate note....a love note.....be a friend....be an enemy.....let me know you're out there.
Peace,
Jon
That being said, I have a new song for the week; "Pay The Toll". I was stuck on this idea all week about "you can't take it with you when you go". I use this line in the song, but didn't find that it was the real underlying theme to the song. I've been driving around this country playing music quite a bit. If you've ever been to the East Coast, you know about tolls. If you ever try and get into San Francisco, you pay a toll. Cross some water....pay a toll. But I was thinking about the human existence and how it take it's toll. How we stop and pay the toll with every step of our lives.
It's not about money. It's about soul. It's about compromise. It's about choices and consequences. No matter what you do or what you want in this life, you will pay for it some how. Life is a series of toll booths. What are you willing to give up for that which you want?
I want to write and perform music. I've had to make sacrifices in my life to make that happen. I'm not a professional baseball player. I gave up my dream of being a fireman. I've had to give up drinking and doing drugs all night and day. I've worked crap jobs and completely abandoned the idea of a "career". Girlfriends have come and gone when they, one day, realised that my music came first. Thursday night wasn't date night. It was rehearsal night. Instead of buying a big screen TV, I bought a new guitar. The series of choices and consequences continues through today. Fortunately for me, I have a wonderful wife who knows and excepts who I am and what my goals are. I am truly a lucky man. In that area of my life, I pay no toll!
In this addition of my weekly self-indulgence, I have included a video of a show I recently did in Norwich, UK. I was with my good friend and musical compadre Rico Mastrodonato. I hope you enjoy it.
Here's the video;
Here's the "SONGS IN THE RAW" Store;
Find me on MYSPACE;
http://www.myspace.com/jonronigermusic
Find me on Hi5;
http://jonroniger.hi5.com
Check out the website;
http://jonroniger.com/
Here's my EPK;
http://www.sonicbids.com/JonRoniger
Demand it!!! I'll come and play your town/city/region/county/district/parish
Send me a note....a hate note....a love note.....be a friend....be an enemy.....let me know you're out there.
Peace,
Jon
Monday, July 23, 2007
New Song Every Week ......week 2
Well, last week's email campaign and blogfest has opened up my inbox and message machine to quite a barrage of incoming comments. It's nice to hear that people are actually reading the page and listening to the music. The Internet is so impersonal that it's hard to know that there's actually anyone out there. Nine out of ten times I feel like I'm just writing to myself. Maybe I should start responding to myself. Asking myself questions about my inspiration. Telling myself that my songs suck and I should give up writing and go back to being a drunk waiter. I could start doing happy hour gigs at local pubs and play "Margarittaville" and "Free Bird". Maybe some one would request "Brown Eyed Girl"....god do I love to play that song.
Anyway, I had a great conversation yesterday about writing, playing gigs and following your dream. This here business will beat you up and spit you out and turn you into a real jerk if you let it. I've played my share of shows to no one in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, me and the bartender. The only reason he was there was because it was his job. BUT, that's not the point. The point is that I was following my dream......actually living my dream. I have travelled around the country and parts of Europe playing MY music for strangers. I've made some great friends in places a lot of people will never go. I've been back to small towns several times and watched the crowd grow with each time I return. I've heard my songs on the radio. I've received messages from people who had seen me play telling me that a song of mine really touched them. I've had strangers shout out requests for my songs at shows in foreign countries.
I am not only following my dream, but I am doing exactly what I was put on he earth to do. I will never get rich doing it. I, however, feel like I am the luckiest person on the planet to be able to clearly identify my purpose. To not only be clear about what I want to be when I grow up, but also to be able to maintain the focus and drive to follow through with becoming that. There are not many people who can say that. I am truly blessed.
I, of course, still dream of being famous and having people line up to see me play. Mothers, Fathers, Sons and daughters lining up to get my autograph after a show. Booking agents calling me asking me to play at their club. I dream about nice hotel rooms and a driver for my tour bus. Shooting a video on the beach in Hawaii and taking the band to Amsterdam for a "Post-Tour" party weekend. I think that it's CRUCIAL to dream. I believe that once you stop dreaming, you die. I am grounded in reality, but I keep my eye on the sky. I think that the most important part about being human is realising that YOU have the potential to be what you want to be. For me it's clear and I'm being that. I am a songwriter. I play shows for people who line up to buy CDs (or beer...I usually set up my merch table near the bar). I make records. One day some one will find one of my CDs, probably still in the shrink-wrap, and they'll put it in some kind of digital rejuvenation machine to decode the ancient medium and play it. I have left my very small mark on the world. I am fulfilling my soul and I am a part of the culture of humanity. I am part of the pulse of the artistic community.
Got to go!
JR
Anyway, I had a great conversation yesterday about writing, playing gigs and following your dream. This here business will beat you up and spit you out and turn you into a real jerk if you let it. I've played my share of shows to no one in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, me and the bartender. The only reason he was there was because it was his job. BUT, that's not the point. The point is that I was following my dream......actually living my dream. I have travelled around the country and parts of Europe playing MY music for strangers. I've made some great friends in places a lot of people will never go. I've been back to small towns several times and watched the crowd grow with each time I return. I've heard my songs on the radio. I've received messages from people who had seen me play telling me that a song of mine really touched them. I've had strangers shout out requests for my songs at shows in foreign countries.
I am not only following my dream, but I am doing exactly what I was put on he earth to do. I will never get rich doing it. I, however, feel like I am the luckiest person on the planet to be able to clearly identify my purpose. To not only be clear about what I want to be when I grow up, but also to be able to maintain the focus and drive to follow through with becoming that. There are not many people who can say that. I am truly blessed.
I, of course, still dream of being famous and having people line up to see me play. Mothers, Fathers, Sons and daughters lining up to get my autograph after a show. Booking agents calling me asking me to play at their club. I dream about nice hotel rooms and a driver for my tour bus. Shooting a video on the beach in Hawaii and taking the band to Amsterdam for a "Post-Tour" party weekend. I think that it's CRUCIAL to dream. I believe that once you stop dreaming, you die. I am grounded in reality, but I keep my eye on the sky. I think that the most important part about being human is realising that YOU have the potential to be what you want to be. For me it's clear and I'm being that. I am a songwriter. I play shows for people who line up to buy CDs (or beer...I usually set up my merch table near the bar). I make records. One day some one will find one of my CDs, probably still in the shrink-wrap, and they'll put it in some kind of digital rejuvenation machine to decode the ancient medium and play it. I have left my very small mark on the world. I am fulfilling my soul and I am a part of the culture of humanity. I am part of the pulse of the artistic community.
Got to go!
JR
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Song of the Week (July 21, 2007)
Well, here it is. The first installment of many, many more to come. I have included a song off of my new CD, "Charmed Life", called "Only Human". I had recorded it a few weeks ago and through it on the SNOCAP store as a test run for this process. I'll do this from time to time since I have a few more of these songs just sitting around doing nothing. But I will always include a new song from the current week.
So, anyway, I realise that I am not the only person doing this. As a matter of fact, I didn't even come up with idea on my own. A good friend of mine sent me an article about a guy from the New York area who has been doing this type of thing for a while. So, as I got ready to take this on, I read a few more articles and spent a while on Google looking into and listening to what other people were doing. What I found was a TON of great music out there. Very creative people who are committed to their craft and are working hard to promote themselves. Thank god for the Internet! It's the ultimate tool for unknown, independent artists...in all mediums.
What I do want to say it that I am not going to have the "production value" that I have heard from other artists. I will never use a whole band on my recordings. No drum tracks and no string sections. I may, from time to time, include a lead guitar or a piano part and maybe a backing vocal. My intention is not to put out songs that one day will be made into a record. My goal is to continually put out songs that are current to what is on my mind....if there is anything on my mind.
I am intentionally keeping the format in the raw. Some people call them "demos". I prefer to use the term intimate. I want the song to be the point of focus. I want the melody and lyrics to stand alone instead of being clouded by drums, keyboards, guitar solos and studio production. Not that there is anything wrong with making a kick ass recording including all of those things. I do it all the time. That, however, is not my goal with this endeavor.
OK...enough of my yakking'......let's boogy!
Here' the SNOCAP store with the two songs from this week. I will keep all of the songs available until I run out of room in my SNOCAP store. Then I am going to open another store and post both of them. So you will always be able to find any song you want from as far back as you want.
I hope you like what you hear.
So, anyway, I realise that I am not the only person doing this. As a matter of fact, I didn't even come up with idea on my own. A good friend of mine sent me an article about a guy from the New York area who has been doing this type of thing for a while. So, as I got ready to take this on, I read a few more articles and spent a while on Google looking into and listening to what other people were doing. What I found was a TON of great music out there. Very creative people who are committed to their craft and are working hard to promote themselves. Thank god for the Internet! It's the ultimate tool for unknown, independent artists...in all mediums.
What I do want to say it that I am not going to have the "production value" that I have heard from other artists. I will never use a whole band on my recordings. No drum tracks and no string sections. I may, from time to time, include a lead guitar or a piano part and maybe a backing vocal. My intention is not to put out songs that one day will be made into a record. My goal is to continually put out songs that are current to what is on my mind....if there is anything on my mind.
I am intentionally keeping the format in the raw. Some people call them "demos". I prefer to use the term intimate. I want the song to be the point of focus. I want the melody and lyrics to stand alone instead of being clouded by drums, keyboards, guitar solos and studio production. Not that there is anything wrong with making a kick ass recording including all of those things. I do it all the time. That, however, is not my goal with this endeavor.
OK...enough of my yakking'......let's boogy!
Here' the SNOCAP store with the two songs from this week. I will keep all of the songs available until I run out of room in my SNOCAP store. Then I am going to open another store and post both of them. So you will always be able to find any song you want from as far back as you want.
I hope you like what you hear.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
New Song Every Week ......week 1.1
OK....I'm still at it. This is not going to be as easy as I'd hoped. I spent most of yesterday just working out the guitar parts. It's a little tougher than I thought since I have to focus on both the part I'm playing and the general arrangement of the song. I am going to have to focus a bit more on the arrangement before pressing record next time.
I have a bad habit of jumping right into things with my eyes closed and hoping for the best. Yesterday was a great learning session for me, but I did manage to make it out alive, so I can't complain too much. Plus, it's only music. How bad can it get.
Well, here's some good news.....when I got on line this morning, I got an email from a friend in Norwich, UK who sent me a video from our show at The Norwich Arts Centre. I figured that I'd share it with everyone. Here it is;
The Song of the Week should be up by Friday morning. I just had have of my head numbed for some work on my teeth. Maybe I'll write about surrender. I basically had to sit in the chair and let go. I figured it was a temporary situation and it was necessary. No wonder I didn't go to the dentist for so freaking' long! It's not fun!
Peace,
Jon
I have a bad habit of jumping right into things with my eyes closed and hoping for the best. Yesterday was a great learning session for me, but I did manage to make it out alive, so I can't complain too much. Plus, it's only music. How bad can it get.
Well, here's some good news.....when I got on line this morning, I got an email from a friend in Norwich, UK who sent me a video from our show at The Norwich Arts Centre. I figured that I'd share it with everyone. Here it is;
The Song of the Week should be up by Friday morning. I just had have of my head numbed for some work on my teeth. Maybe I'll write about surrender. I basically had to sit in the chair and let go. I figured it was a temporary situation and it was necessary. No wonder I didn't go to the dentist for so freaking' long! It's not fun!
Peace,
Jon
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
New Song Every Week ......week 1
Well, I am putting the finishing touches on the song for the week. While I realise that it's only Tuesday, this song has been floating around my head for a few days and if I don't get it out it might drive me insane.
I've spent a long time thinking about how to approach the art of songwriting. There are lots of different camps on the endeavor. I tend to fall a little more towards the "real" camp. That is to say that I like to keep it real. I like to keep the song as relevent to my life as I can. I try to write from the events of my life and my interpretation of those events. Maybe it was a woman that I dated or a former employer. It cold have been some one that I passed on the street who left an impression on me. As long as I can pull from my life, I know that I will relate to some one out there. After all we are all only human and the the human experience, while unique to each individual, is shared by all individuals.
So, keeping that in mind, I have rewritten this weeks song to bring it closer to home. I hope that this doesn't bother anyone. And, quite frankly, if it does, well........it's my life!
Just to keep everyone up to speed on how to get a hold of my songs I am including the SNOCAP "store" that I have available for my material up to this date.
This store will always be available. But I am creating a new store for my new material. Every now and then I will add one of the songs to my MySpace page;
www.myspace.com/jonronigermusic
So keep an eye out for that as well. Also, please feel free to contact me on myspace. Stop by and say hello, check up on tour dates, all that good stuff!
I've spent a long time thinking about how to approach the art of songwriting. There are lots of different camps on the endeavor. I tend to fall a little more towards the "real" camp. That is to say that I like to keep it real. I like to keep the song as relevent to my life as I can. I try to write from the events of my life and my interpretation of those events. Maybe it was a woman that I dated or a former employer. It cold have been some one that I passed on the street who left an impression on me. As long as I can pull from my life, I know that I will relate to some one out there. After all we are all only human and the the human experience, while unique to each individual, is shared by all individuals.
So, keeping that in mind, I have rewritten this weeks song to bring it closer to home. I hope that this doesn't bother anyone. And, quite frankly, if it does, well........it's my life!
Just to keep everyone up to speed on how to get a hold of my songs I am including the SNOCAP "store" that I have available for my material up to this date.
This store will always be available. But I am creating a new store for my new material. Every now and then I will add one of the songs to my MySpace page;
www.myspace.com/jonronigermusic
So keep an eye out for that as well. Also, please feel free to contact me on myspace. Stop by and say hello, check up on tour dates, all that good stuff!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Introduction to my plan
Hello Everyone,
My name is Jon Roniger. I am a singer/songwriter living in San Francisco. I am originally from New Orleans, LA. I've been out here for about 15 years. I spent time back in New Orleans a lot more recently in the post-Katrina world. Since Katrina I've felt a lot closer to my roots than ever before. It's amazing how, the thought that you might loose something that you may have been taking for granted, brings you closer to that thing. It's been that way for me and New Orleans.
My time in San Francisco has taken me through a ton of life's changes. I've basically grown up here. I've been in 6 bands, released 4 records and another 4 EPs. I've been kicked out of the house by girlfriends and drank away years of my 20s. Cocaine habits and a fondness of Southern Comfort left me with giant blank spots in my memory bank. I've seen close friends die at very young ages and had family members pass away from old age. You can say that it's just life happening. I'm just trying to sit back and enjoy the ride......when I can.
Most recently, I've made another CD during a time that my wife and I spent in Nashville, TN. I am extremely proud of the work we did on the new record. I am planning on releasing it in early 2008. My wife and I are expecting twins in a few weeks and I need some time to let the dust settle a bit before work begins on a new release.
Even with a new CD on the way, I find myself with an urge to write. I have new material popping up every week. I am looking for a new avenue for this surge of creativity. A goof friend of mine has suggested that I start a blog and post my new songs on my blog and make them available explicitly through downloads via the blog.
I have a nice home studio and the sound quality will be Professional. The MP3s will be "priced to sell" and there will be a new song every week. Hence the title of this blog.
Once a month I am going to put together a new Podcast via Garageband and host it on my Hi5 page. Also the catalogue will be available via my SNOCAP account on my MySpace, Website and here on this Blog.
This is my first attempt into Blogging and I'll be figuring things out as I go along. I would love to hear suggestions from anyone. I've included links to my website, MySpace page, Hi5, BeBo and Sonicbids EPK. Check 'em out and let me know what you think. I've also included a link to a video that I put together of my recent tour to Ireland and The UK.
I'll begin posting my new songs next week. Wish me luck. This is going to be a long haul. I hope you enjoy what you hear. Please send me your thoughts!
All the best,
Jon Roniger
http://jonroniger.com/
myspace.com/jonronigermusic
myspace.com/jonroniger
http://www.sonicbids.com/JonRoniger
http://jonroniger.hi5.com
Video link;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na50tZvFenE
Html for video;
My name is Jon Roniger. I am a singer/songwriter living in San Francisco. I am originally from New Orleans, LA. I've been out here for about 15 years. I spent time back in New Orleans a lot more recently in the post-Katrina world. Since Katrina I've felt a lot closer to my roots than ever before. It's amazing how, the thought that you might loose something that you may have been taking for granted, brings you closer to that thing. It's been that way for me and New Orleans.
My time in San Francisco has taken me through a ton of life's changes. I've basically grown up here. I've been in 6 bands, released 4 records and another 4 EPs. I've been kicked out of the house by girlfriends and drank away years of my 20s. Cocaine habits and a fondness of Southern Comfort left me with giant blank spots in my memory bank. I've seen close friends die at very young ages and had family members pass away from old age. You can say that it's just life happening. I'm just trying to sit back and enjoy the ride......when I can.
Most recently, I've made another CD during a time that my wife and I spent in Nashville, TN. I am extremely proud of the work we did on the new record. I am planning on releasing it in early 2008. My wife and I are expecting twins in a few weeks and I need some time to let the dust settle a bit before work begins on a new release.
Even with a new CD on the way, I find myself with an urge to write. I have new material popping up every week. I am looking for a new avenue for this surge of creativity. A goof friend of mine has suggested that I start a blog and post my new songs on my blog and make them available explicitly through downloads via the blog.
I have a nice home studio and the sound quality will be Professional. The MP3s will be "priced to sell" and there will be a new song every week. Hence the title of this blog.
Once a month I am going to put together a new Podcast via Garageband and host it on my Hi5 page. Also the catalogue will be available via my SNOCAP account on my MySpace, Website and here on this Blog.
This is my first attempt into Blogging and I'll be figuring things out as I go along. I would love to hear suggestions from anyone. I've included links to my website, MySpace page, Hi5, BeBo and Sonicbids EPK. Check 'em out and let me know what you think. I've also included a link to a video that I put together of my recent tour to Ireland and The UK.
I'll begin posting my new songs next week. Wish me luck. This is going to be a long haul. I hope you enjoy what you hear. Please send me your thoughts!
All the best,
Jon Roniger
http://jonroniger.com/
myspace.com/jonronigermusic
myspace.com/jonroniger
http://www.sonicbids.com/JonRoniger
http://jonroniger.hi5.com
Video link;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na50tZvFenE
Html for video;
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