Tuesday...

The morning started out with ripping CDs and accounting. Thank you Michael & Judy for the help!

Then met with Jesse & Mylissa to begin putting the works on their May 11th ceremony & wedding at Mercury Hall. Welcome onboard! They also told me about a place in Fredericksburg called Boot Ranch that looks like a nice wedding venue. I want to go and play golf there! Golf Digest voted it one of America's Best New Courses in 2007. It looks beautiful.

After that, a quick jaunt to mix The Dad Show from 6-7 pm and then off to Dillard's for some new pantalones. Very exciting.

Tonight, reading a few tech and photog blogs and trying to wrap it up so I can sleep.

RJ

Big Weekend

Austin Bridal Secrets continues to grow and bring me great joy. I did some voicework today with Hemma Jani. She is from London and is new in town and she did a great intro and outro for the show which will be in the next episode.
One of the challenges with the show I see has been to keep interviewing people and not ask the same questions. I got a book on The Art of The Interview this week from Amazon that is going to help me improve. I have an interview in the morning with photographer Eric Hegwer that I am excited about. We worked together a few weeks ago and had a good time together, so I expect more of the same. The launch party for Austin Bridal Secrets (see flier in this post) will be held on Sunday, May 4th from 6-10 PM at Casa Chapala. All past and future clients are invited to come enjoy some great Latin music, food and fun.

I met with Debbie today to put the final touches on her wedding which is Friday. On Saturday, I will be doing Tara & Rick's wedding at San Michele in Buda. My band Vida Deluxe will play on Sunday on Sunday morning at Unity and then I plan to take the rest of the day off. It will be a full weekend.

Big congratulations to Holly & Todd and also Elizabeth & Jesse who both signed on this week for their wedding receptions.

RJ

Van Halen

I'm up way too late tonight, listening to Van Halen for the last few hours and enjoying sounds I have not heard much in quite a few years. All the stuff from the first four albums mostly with David Lee Roth. Great stuff!!!

Working on learning more about Photoshop and having some fun seeing what I can do with some of the digital images I have taken over the last 5 years.

Also, cleaning up the database online so I can get ready to send out invites to the Austin Bridal Secrets salsa launch party coming up in May.

Saturday night I played at Courtyard Marriot on 4th street for the first time. Played 5 hours! After dinner, the dancefloor was full almost the whole time until 11:30. Congrats to Alan and Tracy!

Got to see Culture perform this weekend twice. Saturday night at Flamingo and Sunday night at ARF. Kenyatta Hill is filling his father's shoes quite well I must say! He is such a dynamic performer. We were all impressed with the rebirth of Culture.

All fun and exciting stuff!

Now I must sleep... on the air in 8 hours.

RJ

Great Wedding Ceremony Music

If you are looking for something classical, yet different and modern, check out The Vitamin String Quartet. They do classical covers of a lot of different rock and pop songs which Tara & Rick and I are using for their reception on the 26th. Great stuff!

DJ-RJ

Secrets That Brides Want To Know

Stay tuned here for a new project that I am working on! It is very exciting and Austin brides will want to know about it to find the perfect vendors for their event.

Today, I just finished a planning session with a couple that is getting married in April. Everything is wrapped and ready to go except for some more music, which they will add to their playlist later.

They turned me on to Richard Cheese. His group is called Lounge Against The Machine and they do cheesy covers of rap, rock, and pop songs. The version of Baby Got Back is hilarious!

Gotta get back to the studio. Work continues on the Vida Deluxe album. So far we have three songs down and we are putting down overdubs and vocals today. We will be playing on Friday at Ruta Maya at 11PM. Come out and join us!

RJ

Salsa y Bembe

I worked with Marion Sanchez yesterday to create a demo and proposal for a new weekly show tentatively called Salsa y Bembe that will air on KAZI. She hopes to have the show on-air by May 1st. We are very excited about the show.

Today, I am working with Patrick Timpone of The One Radio Network creating some audio bits for his shows.

RJ

Weekend Gigs

I have two drumming gigs this weekend!

Friday night with Vida Deluxe at Flamingo Cantina. We recently added a new vocalist, Jah Lion, from Antigua and he is going to be great!

Saturday night, I will be performing a short set with Urban Roots at Freddie's at 1703 South 1st street at 7PM.

Hope to see you!!!

DJ-RJ

Great Bridal Show

Just finishing up at the Bridal Events of Distinction show and it was great!

Special thanks to all of you who came by to visit with us.

Let us know how we can help with anything. We are here for you.

RJ
973-8686

Pandora / Vida Deluxe / Bridal Show

So, I've been hearing about Pandora for awhile and I finally decided I would jump in and take it for a spin. It is a music streaming thing that learns what you like and gives you more. Been listening to some Drum-n-Bass and seeing how it works. Cool so far. Some things I've heard and a few new things too. Haven't had a glitch in the stream yet after almost an hour listening. And speaking of drum and bass, I finally have some ideas about the project I spoke of earlier with the 40 songs and it is going to happen at the end of the month. I am very excited about this project--on fire actually!


And one of my bands, Vida Deluxe will be opening for the Mau Mau Chaplains on the 21st at Flamingo Cantina. That came out of nowhere, thank you Angela! That is up pictured above at Aster's on February 18th, 2008.

And of course, the Bridal Show this Sunday at Austin Convention Center will be great fun too!

So many good things happening--Music4Life is my life and how great it is!

RJ

Quite A Weekend

Did a lot this weekend and made some new friends too.

Friday night, went to the grand opening for Rozone Productions. They are a new provider in town for Versatube lights which are used in concert and stadium productions. Graphics and video can be shown on these LED lights with huge screens. They had some set up and I took my camera and got to take a lot of amazing pictures of people using them as fill light as they cycled through the colors. Met a sweet couple from Australia who have recently moved to town, Tracey & Andy Seymour. Andy is a singer and one of the things he does is called The Gospel According to Elvis. Great renditions of Southern gospel as Elvis would have done.

On Saturday, I went to the Texas Media Summit at the Texas Union at UT. It was an all day event and for the first time brought together those of us involved in community media from across the state to see what we can do to come together and address common concerns while networking. Made some good contacts and earned a lot about SB5 and the effect it will have on cable systems across the state.

On Sunday, did audio at Unity and then went to Fast Frame for a wedding event. Met some real sweet people who were wedding vendors. Brides looking for frames for their wedding pictures should go by and talk to Candice Rush about options for framing and also shadow boxes. I met two of Matt's sisters from Matty Cakes. The white raspberry cake was yummy! I met Steve Armstrong, a photographer who also has taught photography at ACC for 25 years. He showed us some amazing books that he had put together for clients. I met Jennifer Smiley, a mom of three who has recently started her calligraphy business and is able to address invitations and cards with calligraphy (512-301-6227). I met Jaime Arevalo from Circle C Cafe & Catering. They have a cafe at the Wildflower Center and also do catering for weddings and events. And I also met Renee Dahl with A Bed Of Roses. She is a Tx Master Florist and has been doing flowers for more than 20 years. She also does invitations. All great people and a fine day it was!

It is Monday morning and I am off to do my radio show.

Let me know how I can help you with anything!

DJ-RJ
973-8686

Bridal Showcase & Fashion Show Monday

Fashion Show And Vendor Showcase

Rare Weddings is HOT! Whether you're a bride-to-be or just someone who LOVES free food and drinks (and who doesn't), Rare Weddings is where you should be on Monday, March 3.

The event is from 6:00 - 9:00 pm at Laguna Gloria. Picture a Rare-style fashion show against the mansion featuring your favorite local boutiques and salons. Also, check out the vendor showcase featuring free food from Austin's best caterers and an open, FREE bar (yep, free booze).

Monday, March 3, 2008 (Rain Date: March 10, 2008)

Amoa - Laguna Gloria

Bridal Showcase 6:00 Pm - 9:00 Pm

Fashion Show Promptly At 8:30 Pm

Free Food And Bar (Yep, Free Bar)

Drum 'n' Bass 2008

I am up way too late tonight! Just so excited about a new lil project I am doing with DJ Soultrain. We are putting together 40 fresh new Drum 'n' Bass tunes for the podcast. Not sure how we are going to put it together just yet. Just trust that we will figure that out as we get there. I found some killers and I can't wait to see what he is going to bring. I hope to have it done before I got to Vegas in 2 weeks. It shall be exciting so stay tuned!

DJ-RJ

Sunday - Soca Time!

Inviting you to tune in this Sunday, January 20th on KAZI 88.7 FM from 3-5 PM for the latest Soca music from Trinidad & Tobago for 2008 carnival. Some really great stuff!!!!

RJ's R&B - New Podcast

I posted the 2nd half of my radio show yesterday to the podcast site. There is some great new R&B and neo-soul on it. Get it while it's hot:

Music4Life Podcast
DJ-RJ

Reggae Evolution - Best of 2007 Show

Jah Ray and I have joined forces for the Best of 2007 show and it will air on Tuesday, January 1, 2008 from 7-10 PM on KAZI 88.7 FM. We have picked out the very best tunes for the year so I hope you can tune in.

If you missed it, you can download the full show here: Music4Life Podcast.

DJ-RJ

Duran Duran

I got to go to the show this week at Austin Music Hall and it was awesome! They announced that their new single Falling Down, which was produced by Justin Timberlake was #1 on Mix 94.7 FM. They played it and it sounded great along with all of their obvious hits. My favs: Notorious, Wild Boys, Rio, Reach Up For The Sunrise, and Girls On Film (encore). For some reason they did not do Hungry Like The Wolf. Amazing that they can still be relevant and great after so many years!

First Dance Idea

This is great!



RJ

New Pictures Coming

We finally did a team photo shoot tonight with Jenny Rhea and enjoyed ourselves. Look for them on the website soon.

RJ

More Latin Vibes

My renewed passion for salsa continues daily.

Finally got a chance to see El Cantante with Marc Anthony & J.Lo on DVD this week. It's the story of Hector Lavoe. The music is great! Get the CD or check out the video.

Got turned on to Cortijo y Su Combo today from a friend and been checking out some of his songs via iTunes. He was popular in the 50s and 60s and incorporated the plena and bomba rhythms of Puerto Rico into his music.

Found that Andy Montañez was in his band in the 70s. He released an album called Salsaton in 2006, where he merged salsa with reggaeton that is very good. Nice that they kept most of the acoustic vibes of salsa as opposed to the same cliched reggaeton beat. Check out Se Le Ve.

All for now!

DJ-RJ

Great Weekend

I had two great gigs this weekend.

Saturday night, I did a Sweet 16 party for Paige. Played almost all hip-hop all night over at Chez Zee's Gallery Room on Balcones. I spoke with Mary Frances after the event and was surprised to find out that the place is quite affordable to rent. Great for cocktails or a small party. They can comfortably feed 70-80 people.

On Sunday, I did sound at Unity and then hustled over to Pfluger Hall for a wedding. It was an Indian-Filipino union and we had a great time. Played some bhangra music and lots of other Top 40 hits. Also did the ceremony earlier in the day at her parent's house in Pflugerville. The ceremony was an hour long and was so beautiful. They had Filipino and Indian rituals. I had a great time and feel so fortuante to be part of their special day. Big shout out and congrats to Venu & Liezl !

DJ-RJ