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Best R&B Dream Come True: KAZI 88.7FM
KAZI started as the dream of University of Texas professor Dr. John Warfield 26 years ago. Austin's oldest community radio station thrives under the guidance of Steve Savage, with a small staff and a team of volunteers who keep jazz, hip-hop, reggae, and gospel music alive and well in the ATX, digging deeper than your average commercial playlist: Where else do Raphael Saadiq, Estelle, Angie Stone, Sam Cooke, A Tribe Called Quest, and Honeybrowne share the air? KAZI also keeps us plugged into the real world with independent news via Democracy Now!, and it broadcasts Austin City Council meetings, making local goings-on accessible to us all. www.kazifm.org

photo by Celesta Danger

Hill-Bert's Closing

We had a great party to close the Hill-Bert's Lamar location on Sunday. I am now the "official" DJ for Hill-Bert's. Here a couple photos, courtesy of my sister Lori. These are my awesome nephews, Andrew and Nathaniel:

  

Big Weekend Coming

This will be a full weekend of DJing!

I have three DJ gigs this weekend, plus doing sound at church on Sunday.

Friday, I will be rocking Fulmore Jr High once again for the fall dance. We have been doing all their dances since 2006 and I expect this one to be rocking as usual. All the latest hip-hop, plus some reggaeton, and cumbias too. Always a blast!

Saturday, I will be at the Omni for Brad & Erica's big day. We have a great evening lined up for them.

Sunday, will be the Hill-Bert's closing party at 3303 N Lamar from 4-8 PM. Come by and say hello to me and goodbye to this Austin landmark that has been around for 35 years.

DJ-RJ

WeTV Features Austin Wedding Planners

I went to a packed premiere tonight for Austin Wedding Planners at Dave & Buster's. They were featured on 2 episodes of The Wedding Planners reality show shot from WeTV. The episodes will air on WeTV on December 14th & 28th. The show, which was shot at Angel Springs was entertaining and very funny. The couple they worked with had a budget of $15,000 and the other couple featured on the show had a budget exceeding $100,000 and had their reception in a very well decorated horse barn.  Kathie & Vivian of Austin Wedding Planners made it a great event.

Congrats to Kathy & Vivian and the whole Austin Wedding Planners staff on the success of their show!

RJ

Having So Much Fun!

I had two amazing gigs this weekend and this week has taken off!

Saturday night I did Kelly & Jon's wedding at S.F. Austin hotel downtown. We all had a great time. Their Grand Entrance/First Dance was choreographed by Kathleen Stegall from Austin Uptown Dance. They danced to Legends Of The Fall and it was just incredible. The work they put into those 9 dance lessons totally paid off. I did an interview with Kathleen today for Austin Bridal Secrets. She is a retired school teacher and is absolutely on fire about dancing in every way and it shows as soon as she talks about it. If you are looking for some dance instruction for your first dance, you owe it to yourself to check her out.

The rest of the night was incredible with the dancefloor full. We did a special dance for her grandparents, and her mother was into line dances so we did a few of those too. We had custom created scripts for the Grand Entrance and all the other special dances. We even did a special dance for a couple who was about to celebrate their 1st anniversary. We had a special announcement for everybody thet they were expecting a baby and we played their frist dance from their wedding last year. They had their own special moment and it was sweet.

The event finished at 12:15 and I was able to get a few shots of Jon & Kelly dancing their last dance. The photographers were gone already so I was able to capture a few shots.

I did the math on what we put into this event tonight:

12.5 hours pre-production/planning time, dance rehearsal, and rehearsal dinner
6.25 hours of travel time
9 hours on location day of the reception
--
28 hours total time invested in this event.

I am pretty certain that if somebody is looking to hire a $500 or $600 DJ that they will not be able to get this kind of service since most entertainers working at those rates probably need a day job to be able to pay their bills. If one is looking for somebody to just show up and play music, then they should consider hiring a lower priced entertainer.

What I love is being able to hang out the couples I work with and putting all of our heads together and creating unique ideas that people will remember for a long time.

On Sunday, I played a pool party for Michael in his back yard off of Rundbeg & Lamar. I had a great time and played lots of dance and club music. So I was able to be creative and keep mixes going for a long time. Quite different from a wedding gig and wide open to just be creative. I loved it!

On Monday, "Labor Day," I took most of the day off and realized how hard it was for me to not work. I just enjoy what I do and most of the time it doesn't seem like work so it's hard to stay away and stay offline. Went and hung out with mom that evening and we always have a great time talking about business, music and many other things. She is just so supportive in my life and I don't know where I would be without her.

On Tuesday, Ann Texter and I went shopping at Home Depot for some hanging supplies for our upcoming event in October called Shootenanny at The Nomad Bar. It's going to be a photo exhibit and I am going to playing classic country and honky tonk music. I'm really looking forward to it. The owner Miguel is a sweetheart and has been very supportive of what Ann and I are putting together. Here is the flier:

Later that evening, I went to the radio station and ran a replay of The Dad Show and then met a couple for a planning session. We worked an hour and 45 minutes just on music and got a lot accomplished. Their first dance of The Carpenters, "Close To You" is going to be pure cheese and we have some other great similar ideas that we are putting together in our next planning session that will be fun along with some trance music that he is into.

Today, the other interview I did was with Andrew Perkel of Belvedere's Mens Day Spa at 10th & Congress. Andrew knows his business very well and delivers what men want in a spa experience. From cuts and shaves to shoe shines, waxing, coloring, massages, facials, pedicures, and manicures. The staff is very friendly and I have enjoyed both of my visits there so far. I also took some photos of Cheryl Goldberg of A Beautiful Smile Now that came out great.

Tonight, I met with Caryn & Zach at 360 Primo. We worked on their playlist for about an hour and a half until we were all fried and ready to go home. We didn't even get to the timeline, though we came up with some great ideas for their special songs.

Tomorrow night, I will be at the monthly ISES meeting when Airstar Space Lighting will give an overview of the types of lighting available for use in the special event industry, and how to work with a lighting designer to make your events shine. They have some awesome lighting ballons.

On Friday, I will be interviewing Linda Lucas of Dream Images about her photography services for Austin Bridal Secrets and then I will be DJing and playing with my band Vida Deluxe at Ruta Maya, 3601 S Congress starting at 9:00 PM. Come say hello.

Let me know how I can help you?

DJ-RJ
512-973-8686

Another Amazing DJ Conference

I went to the North Texas Entertainers Conference yesterday in Grand Prairie, TX. I attended some great workshops and drove back to Austin quite inspired despite three hours of sleep the previous night. Three lectures were presented by Peter Merry that were excellent. Peter is setting the bar higher for many DJs by showing how great service can be delivered. His first seminar was about marketing and using web 2.0 websites to expand and share things. I am way into that already in many ways. For instance, you can follow me on Twitter if you want to keep up with my day to day runnings. His second was grand entrances and how to make them more personal to all in attendance. He told a very touching story of a widow that he introduced in a bridal party that I am sure touched everyone in attendance. My grand entrances will be different from now on. And his last presentation over dinner was the Starbuck's Effect and how their model of service and quality can be applied to the DJ profession. Erlier in the day, we had a great presentation on Latin music from Jaime Chavez that gave me a much better understanding of Mexican regional and tejano music. We also saw a great presentation on computer-controlled DMX lighting that amazing. Big props to the DFW ADJA chapter for a great show!

Let me put this some of this knowledge to use for you!

DJ-RJ

North Texas Entertainers Conference

I will be heading to Grand Prairie, Texas for The North Texas Entertainers Conference on Monday, August 25th. I am excited to be hanging out with some of the best entertainers in the Dallas-Ft Worth area and also attending some great workshops all day long including one with Peter Merry titled "The Starbucks Effect: Working With The Personalized Bride"that will be great.

It's another way that I am working hard to serve those I work with and to keep growing as an entertainer.

DJ-RJ

The Knot

I went to a great gathering of wedding vendors this week for TheKnot.com and I even got to meet the president Janet Scardino. It was a great event with food and drinks and lots of people to talk with. I met some new vendors that will be on upcoming episodes of Austin Bridal Secrets and was accompanied by Austin's favorite PR queen, Dean Lofton. Being an advertiser on the The Knot has really helped me meet some great people who I am proud to serve and be part of their special day.

Let me know how I can help you.

RJ

Monday on RJ's R&B

On Monday, July 28th on RJ's R&B from 1-3 PM on KAZI 88.7 FM, I will be interviewing Austin singer-songwriter Sarah Temple. I am quite excited to have her on the show for her to share with us her story.

RJ

Tonight at Masala Wok

I will once again be playing some awesome Bollywood music tonight at Masala Wok, 1100 Center Ridge Dr. Suite 300 (Parmer & IH35, NE corner, behind Office Depot) from 7-11 PM. Join us for dinner and dancing later in the evening to all of your favorite Bollywood Hindi songs. It is soooo cool. Great food and great vibes too!!!!! Come say hello.

DJ-RJ

Sarah Temple - Great Music!

Wow, I just discovered her tonight via MySpace and she is just awesome! She does jazz, latin, and Brazilian music. Her drummer is one of the best in Austin, Brannen Temple, who I'm guessing must have been very smart and married her. Please check her out: SARAH TEMPLE

Listen to the show here:

Music4Life Podcast

DJ-RJ

Does Your DJ Have Time for You???

I just had an initial meeting with a bride-to-be who is getting married next year. We had a great time and hung out for an hour and 45 minutes.
I was surprised when she told me about another DJ company that she had dealt with who would not let her meet with her DJ and also that they could not guarantee which DJ would be supplied for her wedding reception.
This is the most important day of her life and she needs to know who she is hiring and if they vibe well together. To my way of thinking, that is very important and is one key ingredient to the success of her event. If you have fun together hanging out at a consultation, you will definitely have fun at your reception.
If the "unknown DJ" just shows up at your event to play music, how do you know that it is going to turn out as you expected?

At Music4Life, we prefer that you meet your DJ ahead of time before you hire them and we also guarantee that they will be your DJ on your contract. You have the option to spend as much time as you need during multiple planning sessions to work out all the details from music selection to the timeline.

If you're looking for more in a DJ, contact us and we would love to sit down with you and see how we can have fun together! Because life is a big huge party!

DJ-RJ
973-8686

Inspiration

Wow, I woke up at 7:00 this morning on fire about life and my business! I had to get up and get right into some things. At the moment, I am ripping some Brazilian CDs in preparation for the gig today out in Leander. It's a 4th of July celebration and also Eugenia's 83rd Birthday Party. She is from Brazil and her daughter hired me after seeing me perform at a wedding a few weeks ago in Dripping Springs. We're going to have a lot of fun. The playlist that we built has 141 songs on it! Some things on there I have not heard in a long long time! This will be a great party that they will remember for a long time.

Happy 4th of July to you!!!

DJ-RJ

Two New Shows Today

I met John John "The Wedding Butler" and also singer-songwriter India Taylor and interviewed them both for Austin Bridal Secrets.

Check out the shows: Austin Bridal Secrets.

RJ

Free Personalized Wedding Maps

This site is very cool:

WeddingMapper.com
RJ

Special Edits

I worked with Brandi yesterday, one of my brides who is getting married in July. She really wanted Tim McGraw's song "My Little Girl" for her Father-Daughter Dance. She told me about the song and one line from the lyrics that was not acceptable to her:

I know he'll say that he's in love.
But between you and me. He won't be good enough!

So at the coffee shop we were working at, I was able to pull up the song and make an edit and remove that verse from the song so it would work. She was quite happy about it and so was I.

On Wednesday, I was working with Jesse and Elizabeth and put together a nice medley of 5 songs for their first dance that was about 5:40 total time. I gave them a CD to take home with them so they can practice and get their moves down.

Being an audio engineer gives me other skills that I can bring to my events to add more spice to the night.

If I can help you with any special ideas you have, let me know. I am here for you.

And also, don't forget to check Austin Bridal Secrets for some great interviews with other wedding service providers around town.

DJ-RJ

What A Weekend

Wow!

Saturday, I had a wedding at Vista West Ranch in Dripping Springs that was great! Congrats to Monica and Tyler!

Sunday, had the morning off from my audio gig at Unity Center and then played for the first time at Marriot in Round Rock. The staff was fun and friendly and we all had a good time. Congrats to Amber & Taylor!

Both events featured a lot of country music on the playlist. I give them exactly what they want and have fun doing it!

I took a few pictures at both events and I have been having a lot of fun doing some photography again. I am also playing with Twitter if you want to follow me there.

RJ

Hands in The Air

A shot from Friday night at the Fulmore Jr. High School dance.

Last Night at Barr Mansion

Wow, what a great wedding last night at Barr Mansion! I started with cocktail music at 3PM, then dinner and dancing, finishing at 10PM. It was an awesome musical marathon!

Congratulations to Natalie & Andy on their big day. They gave me some ideas of what they wanted and really let me be creative and wow the people with music. Played lots of great classics and standards with some pop things through dinner and then rocked the dancers with some great rock-n-roll, country and 80s things.

It really feels great seeing people light up when they hear a song that delights them.

RJ

Tuesday

Today, I met with Nycia from Inspired Events and we had a great time together. I interviewed her for Austin Bridal Secrets.

Next I am off to finish production from Sunday's Unity guest speaker, then off to do The Dad Show and then a planning session and dinner with Monica & Tyler who are getting married on June 7th.

Another great day!

DJ-RJ