26 June 2008

For Your Mental Musical Database--MMD

1. Bob Dylan's Day Job, and Terry Teachout's NYC arts blog
www.artsjournal.com/aboutlastnight/2008/06/tt_bob_dylans_day_job.html

2. The Business of Music
www.huffingtonpost.com/mike_ragogna/the-business-of-music_b_108449.html

Interesting, thought-provoking, eyebrow raising stuff...your turn to comment please:

20 June 2008

Who Fights For The Music?

Here's a coupla things about music hopefully you'll find interesting: main article really makes you think, Natalie is just a little bonus for you...comments welcomed, and hope to see you at Shooter's tonight!

www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/who-fights-for-the-music_b_108113.html

www.independent.com/news/2008/Mar/13/natalie-cole-speaks-out-music-grammys-and-life/






17 June 2008

The end of the beginning...

On one of our favorite TV shows, LOST, the third season ending episode featured an exchange, threatening "the beginning of the end" if one particular choice was made rather than its alternative. Then the fourth season opener was appropriately titled "The Beginning of the End" referencing this, as well as the fact that the whole series had passed its halfway point toward its recently published end date.

Our condition today is the exact opposite. Kaleidoscope CreatiVEntures has recently closed its Urbandale location, signaling the end of Phase I, and is now officially in transition to Phase II, a new and improved upgrade in a new and improved location. Instead of a downward slide to a predetermined end, we are full steam ahead, upward to new levels toward our dreams of musical revolution. Although our recording services are on temporary hiatus, we are still doing business in all other ways, including consulting and artist management, and are in the process of restructuring all things Kaleidoscope for the goal of providing even more and better services in the very near future.

Our heartfelt THANKS goes out from the bottom of our hearts to all of you who contributed in ways big and small to the success of Kaleidoscope CreatiVEntures Phase I. We believe that for both the music and business industries, revolution is in the air! We want to be in the mainstream of this, and not be left behind on the shore. Please keep in touch with us during this transition, as we will continue communicating regularly and frequently through this blog, Twitter updates, and the e-mail address, kaleidoscopegroup@yahoo.com.

So stay tuned to this adventure series not called Kaleidoscope Lost, but Kaleidoscope FOUND! And get involved now on the ground floor of Phase II, by responding with your comments here, (or even subscribing to this and our other blogs that might interest you--see links section) and letting us know your thoughts about both the music and business revolutions in progress, and all your dreams for how the incredible gift of music and the arts could be expressed in new, transforming ways. And above all, please keep letting us know how we can help you on your journey of making beautiful "kaleidoscopic" music! Thanks, friends, for all your encouragement and support--we crave it and cherish it deeply.

PS--Congratulations to our own Brandon Findlay who has just been appointed by the Des Moines City Council to a subcommittee called the Des Moines Live Music Commission (not to be confused with the Des Moines Music Coalition--DMMC). This is quite an honor and we are extremely proud of our resident "musicologist" as he moves forward to lead the way in making an impact on our city's music scene and overall creative economy.

09 June 2008

KALEIDOSCOPE the song--Chorus

Chorus:
And the world needs the passion of our sound
And the world waits for this treasure to be found
When we pour out our souls, we bring the world alive
With all the colors of hope
And together we find inspiration
In the heart of this KALEIDOSCOPE

Wow, that just about sums it up! I am once again humbled by this sentiment. It's a high calling and seems a tad pretentious to attach such a power to your enterprise by saying, "the WORLD needs what I have to offer!" But as the famous Margaret Mead quote says, a small group of people can literally change the world; indeed, that is the only thing that ever really has changed the world.

If you had the cure for cancer, you wouldn't hesitate to share it. If you had the remedy for our overbloated out-of-control national budget deficit, you wouldn't hesitate to share it. If you believe so strongly in the benefits of anything you have to offer, to the point that you view it as one of the main reasons you were put on the planet, and it's one of the things that brings you alive at the very core of your being, you wouldn't hesitate to shout loud and sacrifice long for the sake of this deeply-resonating destiny.

These lyrics, and the rest of the whole song, aren't just about our own business and dreams. They are for you. Whatever it is in your life that you naturally think of when you read words like those above, we hope you are reaching out and taking the steps toward it; so that you can, in the words of Mama Cass, "make your own kind of music, and sing your own special song!" And if you are, then know that you have kindred spirits at a place called KALEIDOSCOPE.