went to the doctor on thursday for a follow-up.  while the swollen polyp is still holding on for dear life, the amount of inflammation (from acid reflux and straining my voice) has been greatly reduced.  good sign.  NO SURGERY!  so excited to hear.   i’m just gonna keep on doin’ what i’m doin’ and see how this off-time treats me.  during this down time, i’ve accumulated a very talented drummer, and have got a few prospects for other parts, such as keys, guitar, and bass.  it could all just be coming together for me.  plus i’ve got a bunch of new material that i’m ready to hash out.  i’m looking forward to this being another exciting year in music.  glad you guys are here to support me through it.  talk with y’all soon.

I NEED YOUR HELP!!!!

I have been selected as a finalist in the Folk/Singer-Songwriter Album Category for the record The Twenties in the 8th annual Independent Music Awards program.  They are going  to use the song Smokescreen from the album for the IMAs to include the track on the next Independent Music Awards Winners CD compilation.  This CD will go out to a whole lot of people in the industry (i.e. agents, managers, labels, publishing co., etc).  So that’s pretty sweet as a first step.  The winner of this will be decided this month, January ‘09.  If I win, there are even greater things that will help me get noticed.  

So, this is where you come in.  If you wanna help and vote for me, it would be greatly appreciated.  Here’s what you’ll need to do.

First you’ll click on this link and then follow the below instructions:

• REGISTER (in the upper left “Login” box).
• Once you login or register, the same category page will refresh with the Star Voting/Rating system in place for you.  Just click on the star rating and that will be your vote.
• When fans rate a track and logout of the Jukebox, their rankings are “set” and cannot be changed later.
• The system is programmed so that fans can only vote/rate tracks one time (no ballot box stuffing!).  But if you have multiple email addresses….you can always register each one and keep voting.

That’s it!!!  Pretty simple.  Thanks for taking the time to help and I’ll let you know how it turns out.

So…another MTV licensing deal has squeaked thru for me.  My song, “smokescreen,” will be on the first episode of MTV’s acclaimed series “The Real World: Brooklyn.”  The first episode is tomorrow night, 

January 7th at 10PM EST

So, set your dvr’s and check it out.  Can’t beat being showcased on the series’ first time having a transgendered cast member.  Livin’ the dream!

NO bueno!  I haven’t been playing any shows for the past two months.  My ear, nose, throat doctor scoped my throat…(thru my nose, which is ridiculously uncomfortable if you’ve never had it done)…and he found scar nodules on my vocal chords.  So, I’ve been on a hiatus from even writing and singing at home, much less performing.  I’ve been going to voice therapy once a week for the past month or so.  My therapist is optimistic that I’ll be back to performing by mid february if I stick with the exercises…(which are awfully silly, but I guess necessary).  I just went back to my ENT doctor yesterday and he said that the nodules had flattened out, showing progress, but he gave me a choice to try and laser them off and/or continue therapy.  No guarantees I’ll be back to normal singing voice after, but I think all will be well.  I’ll keep everyone posted.  Thanks for the support.

On Oct. 13, I had my first licensing deal go thru with MTV.  My song, “Now,” was featured on “The Hills.”  You can check it out by clicking on “the hills” image below.  Now, I know it’s such a magnificent show, and I’m sure you’ll wanna watch the whole episode, but in the off chance you just wanna skip to my segment, it’s about 16:45 into the show.

I have teamed up with the promotions company, Tinderbox Music, and have got some things in the works for my album, “the twenties.”  I will be promoted and played on over 300 college radio stations nationwide firstly.  Then when that 8-week campaign is over, I will be shooting for some licensing gigs to get my music heard on TV shows.  Cross your fingers and spread the word.