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special thanks to:

the princess, as usual  - tom evers and tom sontag for a good many things over a good  many years - steve cook and mike speer or their continued support and perspective - bacon, tasty tasty bacon  -  coffee, the most important meal of the day  - lucy, for pulling out the football  - this activity is made possible through a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council with funds from the McKnight Foundation

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bc

within my particular musical niche as a kind of “solo” artist, it’s all about inspiration and iteration.  an idea comes, and you capture it.  maybe it’s a piano part you record – just a passage or two – and then you add a bass guitar.  then more instruments.  as you add the words and melody, the desired structure emerges (eventually)... and you start all over again with that framework.  as you go along, some things work and make it through to the final version.  those many ideas tried and abandoned are not wasted effort but instead absolutely necessary steps in the iterative process to reach the final product.  

 

once i was asked where i get ideas for songs.  well, they mostly come from real life or are inspired by curiosity.  strong emotions are often a driver, but some just come as random thoughts.  “just business” for example - i was mowing the lawn and thinking about how much i disliked my job.  realizing maybe it’s not so bad, i starting making a mental list of occupations that sucked far worse than mine: proctologist, telemarketer, rosie o’donnell’s personal groomer – then i thought, boy, the grim reaper has a tough gig! 

 

and there it is. 

 

there is admittedly some satisfaction from being able to transform an idea into a tangible composition.  songwriting forces you to explain an idea in the confines of a rhythmic structure.  recording music requires and understanding of hardware, software, inputs and outputs.  performance not only requires a basic understanding of musical language and theory, but application of technique and purpose specific to each instrument. peripherally, there are copyrights and trademarks to acquire, websites to manage, marketing to consider and a host of smaller incidental tasks that are always interesting challenges.

 

i am blessed to have much better family and friends than i deserve and often call on them for advice and perspective. so while it's a journey that i take mostly by myself, i’m never really alone.  for that i am ever grateful.

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​jamie leonard

my career began at the tender age of 3 years in a residential recording studio which captured pitch-perfect renditions of little ducky duddle and the itsy bitsy spider.  fast forward through high school musicals and choir, many gigs as “the wedding singer,” a few funerals, and too many karaoke performances to mention…  currently serving as a sunday school choir director, praise team leader and member of the church choir.  still not to be confused with “janie”…. 

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