A pep talk for me

Stress. January. The cold. The economy, the people loosing their jobs. Is January driving you as crazy as it is me. If I have to hear another conversation, another news report, another person say we are "On the verge of another Great Depression" I am gonna scream!!!!!! 

Maybe it is bad. Maybe we are in a recession. Ok, we are. But... you know...maybe we are on the verge of a new beginning too. At the end of something that was fat, and arrogant, and over the top, and on a credit card none of us could afford. Maybe we are at the dawn of innovation. And cars with better gas mileage, and people who live within their means. Maybe this isn't the end of the world as we all know it.  Maybe it's the beginning of something better.

So, instead of the winter blues stifling my creative spirit. Making me wanna sit on the couch and facebook all day long...I'm gonna change my thinking a little. Cause like Bob Dylan said "The times they are a changing". There is a season for everything. And don't forget ...... it may be darkest before the dawn, but after the winter.... comes the spring!!!

Keep your chin up.

Much Love and much better music in the interim.

Brandon Jane

Listening to:

Simon & Garfunkel

Concert in Central Park

The net below . . .

Being a singer/songwriter ain't easy. I'm not complaining, because it beats the hell out of flipping hamburgers (no offense if that's your job ;) but I am probably told no and for no reason whatsoever more than most. Unless your job is of course lawyer. Then you may be told no more than me. It is amazing to get to be creative everyday. It is also frightening, and hopeful and a roller coaster of emotion to make that bet on yourself. And the older I get, the more I realize.... at least personally, how stacked my odds really are. But what do you do when then this is all you know how to do, and all you can think or dream of ?

I will say that on that occasionally good day, when you write something that makes you feel like you have just found the missing piece to a puzzle in the form of an adjective you have been searching for relentlessly on rhymezone.com, it feels like..... this is what you were made for. When I have worked all day on a verse and a chorus if fills my tank back up when I listen back and I can sing along. And all of those days where people pass on your songs, or on you as an artist.... and they tell you they just don't get it, well those days all go away and are totally worth it. Because you feel like you are standing exactly where you are supposed to be, in the palm of God's plan. I think he gives me those days periodically to remind me to keep on, and pick myself back up and try again. Even if I am writing nothing but crap this week, to be able to write music makes me feel like God will never let me up on the high wire without a net below. And I'm not quite so fearful anymore. So, to anyone up on the high wire trying to reach their dreams, don't be afraid!

There is always a net below.

Peace & Love,

Brandon Jane

Listen to:

Patty Griffin

Living with Ghosts

I'm a fashion Inspiration Ho.

I don't have alot of indulgences.  So, while it's chilly outside and you all have more time than you would like here are a few things that i love, relatively inexpensive and in these challenging economic times one or two of them absolutely free. So.. feel free ;) to indulge.

1. www.goop.com

If you don't read it already this is a website started by the lovely beautiful Gwenyth Paltrow. Great food ideas and fashion tips and places to visit if you have time and the best part is it's totally free.

2 . These Minnetonka boots are $80 and really comfortable and can be worn summer winter fall, to the grocery store, you get the point. Totally worth it and they come in many different colors. www. nordstrom.com or www. minnetonka.com

  

3.  My Ray Ban Wayfarers are under $100 and if you need a new pair of sunglasses these are timelessly cool and don't make that ugly makeup mark every time you take them off. And they come in Fire Engine Red if your brave. Also for dudes who wanna look like Tome Cruise ala Risky Business. www.macys.com among other places

4.  www. dominomag.com

Domino Magazine. This is a great website and magazine to find ideas for how to turn your house into a home. Plus you can save pictures that you find online for inspiration to your account. And it is totally 100% free to go to the website.

5. www.intermixonline.com & www.barneys.com

This is one of my favorite stores to shop at in New York, but if you can't get there, then their online boutique is great to and with the economy the way it is you can find some fantastic deals. Also www.barneys.com has some super sales right now Like these Ernest Sewn Jeans that were $232.00 are now $59.00 at Barney's or these Stella McCartney Skinny Jeans  that were $295.00 for $99.00 

 

6. www.trunkltd.com

I have been wearing Trunk T shirts for some time now and I never get tired of them & right now what used to be a $100.00 t shirt you can get for half or even less. Try googling them also to find good deals. 

7. This patch work dress from Urban Outfitters is seasonless, comfortable and fifty bucks. I heart Urban Outfitters. 

8.  Target's Home Design Event

Target's home Design Event going on at every target in the USA right now is awesome because everything is 30% off and I'm thinking if you wait a week or two you may be able to get the awesome imports for even less $$$. Good for freshening things up at home.

9. My last and final one is kinda boring but completely useful. 

www.foodnetwork.com is great for looking up a new dish for dinner especially when you are at a loss like I am so often and nothing sounds good.

What a beautiful, ever changing world we live in.

I don't usually talk politics and I hope that is not how this comes across. I have to admit I wasn't quite sure who to vote for in this last election. Some people may find that absurd depending what side of party lines you were on, but I found that I wasn't alone. This morning I sat there looking at the television, and watched a well spoken, young, articulate black man take his oath to protect and serve us as President. I was moved to tears.

 I am from Mississippi. I probably know more about old southern ideas of discrimination that most. I am also a white girl with blonde hair & blue eyes and therefore haven't experienced the discrimination that some have. I was one of those voices that had little faith in the American people to see beyond the exterior. To elect someone with such a different name and opposite skin color.  I was so moved when he was elected and surprised at the at how far we have all come over the last 50 years. Look at us, we wouldn't have been able to dine in the same restaurant not that long ago. Watching our new president this morning gave me hope in human goodness. We still have so far to go, but I am excited and proud of my country today as I was able to bear witness to history in motion. 

I pray for our new president, whom I did not vote for, but I will follow and think of as he heads this great nation at a time when we need a great leader.

I hope we can all put aside our politics, at least for a while and see the significance & impact of this moment.

What a beautiful, ever changing world we live in. 

I hope to not be so cynical of people in the future. Time really does march on.

Peace & Love on this historic day.

Brandon Jane

Happily 2009!!!!!

Me and my baby brother in 1980 something. 

It amazes me how our lives in a conversation can be reduced down to a little blurb. Oh, "She lives in Nashville", "She is a songwriter", "They have 2 kids", " "They lost their house". You know how you can be in a conversation with someone, and ask " Oh, how is Billy doing, I heard he was sick", and then the only thing you really know about that person is that they worked 20 years at the papermill and passed away from cancer. I want my life to be more than that. To be more than just a little blurb about being married, or being an artist, or a sister or living in Nashville. And I really wanna know people, know the people in my life better than reducing them to one sentence in my head when I think of them. I only say all of this because if I have a new years resolution, it is to be a better friend, and to be known more fully. I read this great quote "You can only be loved to the extent to which you are known".

Maybe it's the new year, the fresh start that God gives us begin again. But I like January. Because all the good things, and all the bad things that happened last year are still there, but for some reason it feels like I have a clean slate to work with. I think everyone deserves a clean slate and a new beginning. I also like January because February is next and I am sucker for the Hallmark of Hallmark Holidays!

So here's to all all my goals, the lofty and over stretching and the easily attainable. And to being known for who I am, and being there for the people in my life. 

And to working out more :)

Happily 2009!

Peace & Love,

Brandon Jane