Operation 365... Blog 349

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Archives - 355 Jefferson Jay "Strive and Thrive" 8-19-09
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVY46EYl3gk


Another version of the truth. In history class, I learned that the history is what people say happened, more than what actually took place. So with that in mind, I am offering an alternate take on the recent events of my life. I shared some details in yesterday's blog, but maybe I didn't paint the whole picture. Maybe the show was packed. Great friends and all kinds of other folks came out to the CD release on Friday night and had an amazing time. Thanks to everybody who made 11-11-11 a night I will always remember. Charbra played great. Chris Zach and For the Faint tore the house down and are probably nicest people on the planet. The Jefferson Jay Band played well and it was a lot of fun. It went exactly like it was meant to. Was able to get some "Gift To Be Alive" CDs out to the people and that's the point of the whole thing, right? The music.

In other great news along these same lines, I have been overwhelmed with the response to the CD online. I have had it posted on bandcamp at

http://jeffersonjay.bandcamp.com/album/gift-to-be-alive-2

since 11-11-11 and since then hundreds of folks have jumped at the opportunity to download some free, organic music to enjoy. Some people have even made some really generous donations in return for the music. It means a lot. I am humbled by the response. It has made it all worthwhile.

Finally, more great news, the Open Mic I'd been hosting has been picked up for syndication. Yes, we will be opening Jefferson Jay's Acoustic Open Mic at The Reunion franchises in several cities coast-to-coast. I couldn't be prouder. It's great to see my years of hard work have finally found an audience and a home in this perfect country we call home, The United S's of A.

"People see only what you allow them to see." Dr. Jennifer Melfi, The Sopranos

This is my song, "Strive and Thrive," recorded at The Belly Up Tavern on August 19, 2009. I wrote it in 2008. It was my favorite song that I had for awhile. Then I was informed by one of the guys in my band and another one of the guys in my band didn't like it (due to its unusual time change) so instead of forcing it upon anyone, I just cut it out of the repertoire. Or maybe that was just a bad dream...

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Covers - 355 "Angry Chair" by Layne Staley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9CT2BF_yPA


Back in 1993, just a little bit after I learned how rough life could be in a manner I would never forget, I found solace in the music of Alice In Chains. In particular, Layne Staley's vocals and particular, their album, "Dirt." Layne was so tortured, so expressive and so over the top about it that it was like gangsta rap to me. It was so over the top, I couldn't imagine. Yes, I could still relate to the feelings enough that it made me feel better to hear it.

In Alice In Chains, Layne wrote some songs and collaborated with guitarist Jerry Cantrell on others. Jerry sang terrific backups too. "Angry Chair," Layne wrote by himself. It is particularly hopeless. Layne died in April 2002. He overdosed and died alone in his apartment. He was found two weeks later. Sad.

What is not sad is that in Layne's life, he affected a lot of people. He reached a lot of people with his art and his voice. People learned from his pain. It was not for nothing. It's too bad Layne had such a steep price to pay.

I decided to put my own spin on it.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 355 Jefferson Jay "Strive and Thrive" 3-21-10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQrQqbTSc3g


How songs came to be. That there was a note to me to remind what I wanted to write here. I decided to leave it. So I was planning for the last week plus of this here 365 to focus on these tunes and tell about how they came to be and their significance and all. Playing these tunes was instrumental in me getting through a very tough time after losing a friend. I doubt I would have even played these tunes that much if it hadn't happened. Alas, everything happens for a reason. Yep.

So I've gotten off-track as to what my plans was for this end here and now I'm getting back on. So I'm going to go back a few days and catch up some. I hope that's alright with you. On the page where you can download these tunes on bandcamp, it shares a little detail I wrote about how the tunes got written. So I'm gonna share those real quick and extrapolate a bit beyond that. I will start with Tune 2 "Gift To Be Alive." You can check this out and listen to the song at.

http://jeffersonjay.bandcamp.com/track/gift-to-be-alive

"Gift To Be Alive" was written when I was taking a break from working on the Primary Colors trilogy. Appreciate every second you have here. That's the point of this song.

I remember it well, I was walking around Kip's place in Mira Mesa. Kip was taking a break with his girlfriend at the time. I love recording music and working on this sort of thing. I played Kip's roommate, at the time, Rahmeen's guitar and wrote the tune. That's the story. It just sat unplayed for awhile and may have stayed that way if life's events hadn't conspired to change the course.

Tune 3 "Believe It" http://jeffersonjay.bandcamp.com/track/believe-it

I was playing the riff to "Believe It" in 2008 when my stepdad, Bobby Brown said, "Jay, why don't you write a song about your mom?" They were visiting from Jersey. I agreed and immediately wrote "Believe It"

The point of the song is that everything happens for a reason.

I have had so many long talks over the years with my Ma, where she imparted the wisdom to me that she gained from living life all those years. A big part of what I really know, what I really believe, came from those things that she shared with me in those talks. Bobby Brown, her husband, is a more pragmatic fellow. So my mom and I were talking with him on trip to the mall here in SD about how everything happens for a reason and how we're all connected, if I remember correctly. It was fun trying to explain it to someone else. Mostly we had discussed these things alone.

So when Bobby said what he said, about a tune for my mom I was already playing it on my guitar. There's that reason, again.

Tune 4 "Strive and Thrive" http://jeffersonjay.bandcamp.com/track/strive-and-thrive

Strive and Thrive was written in 2008. It just came out of me. I wrote the whole thing on paper, no guitar. I was feeling prolific at this time. The lyrics turned out to be disarmingly prophetic.

Strive and Thrive encourages listeners to seize the opportunity of life.

Yeah, I have wondered about that second verse of "Strive and Thrive" many times.

We try to avoid disaster
Survival is on the line
Defining what we're after.

Especially, those first two lines. Written weeks before Don Truesdail died. Nancy Truesdail just called me as I was typing this. I appreciate the diversion. She said she was reading my blog. I'm gonna go now. Bye.

Onward and upward.

Nancy just told me it's the beginning of The Age of Aquarius and that this is a good thing. "Huge change," she says, "Revolution. We all feel it. We're on the cusp of something crazy. It's supposed to be good change. I don't know."...

We'll see, Nancy. There's something to everything. I like this talk about the stars and the planets. It's a New Age. I can go with that.