NEW SONG ABOUT THE “JERSEY SHORE” FEATURED ON JOHN NICOLE’S CD:  STILL LOVE
Album described by reviewers as a wildly entertaining journey and a deeply engaging ride 

John Nicole’s second album, STILL LOVE, features a new summer song and music video called Everybody’s  Gonna Go which reviewer Nick DeRiso describes as “bounding out like a sock-hop party track that holds no emotional reservations.”  DeRiso explained:  “It’s an unabashed celebration of summer, and just as sun soaked as any old Beach Boys favorite.”   The song musically describes the joys of summer along a 217-mile strip of land in New Jersey called the “Jersey Shore” recently popularized by MTV’s program of the same name. 

Nicole, heavily influenced by musical artists such as Moby, David Byrne and The Beatles, says he’s now moving back to the Jersey Shore after leaving it more than 15 years ago.  “Living in Washington, DC, has been a wonderful experience, “Nicole explained, “but I really miss the beautiful beaches and people of New Jersey.”

DeRiso described the songs on the album as” roundhouse blues rock to dreamy synth pop, from the Beatles to Elvis, from Far Eastern enigmas to the fun-filled Jersey shore, there’s a little something for everybody on this deeply engaging ride.”  And while 8 of the 13 songs are original, Nicole also covers a number of classic songs, such as All Along The Watchtower, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Love Me Tender and What A Wonderful World. 

“Nicole has an exotic take on Bob Dylan’s legendary tune All Along The Watchtower, as violinist Susan Jones imbues the tune with an Indian mystery.  Niko Lyras’ guitar follows a similarly intriguing path, moving with snaking Santana-ish lines between Jones’ flourishes and Nicole’s gruff vocals.  He then switches to acoustic for an offbeat solo segment before returning for another scorching turn on the electric.”

DeRiso also reviewed the remakes of a pair of Beatles tunes.  “Nicole explores a processed, dreamland vocal on both While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Tomorrow Never Knows, but that’s where the comparisons end, though,” DeRiso said.  “Nicole speeds up the somewhat somnambulant rhythm found on the original While My Guitar Gently Weeps, to great effect.  That provides an interesting platform for a jazz-informed solo section, as guitarists Kareem Darwish and Lyras tangle – with Lyras offering a grease-popping concluding solo.  Nicole then drastically slows down Tomorrow Never Knows, giving the song an even deeper psychedelic magic.”

Two of the new songs,  Beyond Words and Love Me Tender, were recorded in Memphis with Nadia Elvista who he discovered living for more than seven years in a homeless shelter.   “Nadia has such a sweet and natural voice,” Nicole said, “I hope she’ll consider a career in music.”  Elvista also appeared with Nicole in the Beyond Words music video which was filmed along the banks of the Mississippi River.

DeRiso said Elvista brings a “stark spiritual complexity to the song, which has an old-world gypsy feel at times, even as she conveys all of the shattering hard times she must have seen.”  Elvista then returns for Nicole’s quietly effective update of “Love Me Tender,” the great old Elvis Presley hit, and once again she’s a wonder of furtive sensuality. “

Nicole began work on STILL LOVE last year after releasing his successful premier album, BREATHING YOU.  He is now working on his third album which will be released during the summer of 2012. 

For more information about John Nicole, or to listen to his music or watch his music videos, visit JohnNicoleMusic.com.

 

I'm becoming anxious about the long-awaited moved back to New Jersey where I plan to live in a little town on the water near Sandy Hook and the Atlantic Ocean.  I even dreamed a bit today about owning a boat and exploring the Shrewsberry and Navesink Rivers which empty into New York Harbor.  It's a little old-fashioned and old town called Highlands, NJ.  My dad gbrew up in thnis town and we used to come ever summer to visit my down deceased Grandma Vi in a house which still stands on Seadrift Avenue.  I'm headed to meet with current occupant and to take measurements of the rooms so I can begin to plan where I'll put my recording studio and where I'll paint or exactly where I'll sleep or play.  I'ts a very cool house.

But this blog is not about moving to a cool house, but instead it's about the necessity to take a break from my continuous urge and passion to create and produce music.  It's been almost nonstopfor the last four years.  Three completed CDs and at least two more in the works.  I'm releasing songs more quickly than ever and I just can't seem to stop or even slow down -- at least, until now.  This move to NJ is quite a wonderful distraction.  It's got me thinking about what's important in my live -- living, breathing, playing and doing.  The last four years I've been studio bound turning out songs faster than Neil -- Sedaka  or Diamond.  I'll be less than a block from a private my own private beach.  I'll walk through a small town rich with a seaport-like history and speel the salt water in my nostrils.  I'll imagine my dad livingin this town as a very young man and my grandma, the owner ansd barkeep of a large aterfront hotel, restaurant ande bar.  She knew everybody in town and everybody knew her.  But perhaps more importantly, I'll be less than an hour from where my daugther and her husband lilve, New York City.  NYC is where I met my first wife and where I studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

So a break it is...

Meanwhile, I haven't written a so-called blog in more than 30 days.  Feeling a bit guilty, actually, especially when all the professionals tell me to write one every day if I'm ever going to have a chance at gaining visitors to my website and therefore sell more of my wonderful songs to the general public.

Actually, I could probably write a song more easily than write a blog.  I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a diary of my daily life or opinion on a world event or professional guidance for all those striving to be a musician like me.  But it's just a lot of trouble to write this stuff and then to edit it and all the while knowing that very few people will read it.

I've visited other musician's blogs and it's funny when I see the age of their own posts.  When they first start out, it's exciting to write a blog and so they blog away promising to share their views about everything -- that was more than a year ago.  But at least I'm now trying a monthly approach to reporting what I feel.

Commitment to my blog is like a lot of commitment I make especially to working out or losing weight.  I start out with some sense of passion, but that dwindles after a good night sleep.  Maybe if I knew there were actually people who blogged along with me.  Perhaps then I'd feel like I wasn't just talking to myself.

And I'm truly sorry about any typographical errors.  I know they must be difficult to read over, but I'm doing my best to catch them along the way.  I'm not always successful, however. 

In the end, I guess it comes down to making the important and time-consuming activities in my life more habitual -- from wake up at 6:30am to go to bed at midnight -- oh, yes, and all the things in between.  I'm pretty good about waking up and going to bed, but it's all the thing in between that are the most difficult.

Then there's Google to consider.  If I don't use timely and/or controversial words, there's no chance I'll be included in someone's search for how difficult it is to write a blog -- because nobody searches for stuff like that.  And don't even get me started on Twitter.  Yes, it's much more simple to write a short sentence or two, but I just forget to do it.  It's not habitual yet.  The professionals tell me I should be Twittering 20 times a day.  I can't now because I'm writing this blog entry -- unless I break it down and Twitter the sentences.

I've got five or six songs in my head today and none of them will come out to play.  Maybe they're interfering with each other and it's causing some confusion musically.  One of my fans asked that I write a song with the words "Ooh La La" and I've been trying all day to come up with something from the sublime to the absurd.

Composing and producing music isn't always fun.  It's mostly fun, but not always fun.  Sometimes it feels like more like work and less like play.  Sometimes I feel like I'm just going through the motions of what I always do.  Which brings me to the topic of this blog -- now that I just came up with it -- "How To Write A Really Good Song."

My friend, who lives in Charlotte, has been coaching me lately to embrace country music.  in fact, he's not the first to do so.  Some people have told me that at my age country fans are the only people who will embrace me at 62 years of age.   Anyway, my friend says that country songs have more passion in them than other songs in other genres. 

You know, there used to be a half dozen genres.  Now there are books describing hundreds of genres.  And every time I put out a new album, I have to decide which song fits into which genre.  Hell if I know!  Even the genre of Class Rock may not be what you think.

You can always tell when I'm not inspired to write songs because i write an entry for my blog instead.  So the first rule of thumb in writing a really good song is to get inspired.  But how?  In this case, i thought that writing about my lack of inspiration would actually get my creative juices flowing and inspire me.  Hold on a minute. Let me check.  (pause)  Nope.  Not inspired yet. 

The next step in the process of writing a really great song is to figure out why working on your blog (or whatever you do) didn't do the trick.  And unfortunately you can't really stop in the middle of writing a blog because it's a good opportunity to get a blog entry completed. or did I already say so.  I'm not going back to proof what I wrote because -- quite frankly -- I don't want to be reminded that I have a clue about what to do to get inspired again.

Hey, I know!  You know it's difficult for a guy like me to be successful in the music business because -- no, it's not because I can't write songs when I'm uninspired -- it's because I don't really have a fan base.  That's very sad.  Oh, I have folks who buy my CDs and provide some nice feedback once in a while, but I never have the chance to get out in the open to play for a live audience.  Why? That's a good question.  The answer probably lies in the fact that i don't much care about being in a band all the time.  It's like being in a marriage.  And we all know what that can lead to eventually. 

So, I'm thinking that I have about enough paragraphs to constitute a blog worth publishing.  I didn't really explain very well how to write a great song, but you probably get the idea.  At least I'll feel better about getting something completed today before I take a nap.

JN

"And so it begins," always seems such a trite and sampled turn of the tongue.  One cannot think of anything more glum than the look upon one's face after a day at the races.  Pouring fuel and wiping down very fast cars to catch the bad guys.  It didn't seem such an awful life as a copy in 1927.  I wasn't a carbon copy, but my outlook on life had changed the moment we put Mister Leroy into cuffs and read him the charges.  It was, and shall always be, a delightful memory - or was it a dream.   Regardless, there were just too many of us to concentrate on life's petty problems.  It took an event of unimaginable power to focus our attention on something more significant than ourselves.

I knew that she had been watching me for some time just as a two cats approach each other with respect and caution.  That was the moment her guard fell to the floor and I moved quickly in to guard her position.  I could feel her subtle movements against my skin.  I smelled her as the air that I breathe.  I touched her with repentent sexuality almost reaching climactic heights never before realized.

Yes, this was a story of the truest kind of love.  Pure.  Simple.  Yes, so complex that even realizing the levels could take a lifetime.  I was used to jumping through the hoops of my seemingly challenged existance.  I wasn't ready for this, was I?  It was very interesting to feel some connnected tissues within our conscience.  This was like some kind of insane computer in our heads.  Nobody saw it coming.  Nobody ever thought it woiuld happen.  Not a soul wondered why.  Not one person cried out against the movement.  Not even me. 

We all thought it seemed natural at the time to become smarter with age, but never realized that we were really being trained to consume so that only a few of the world's most powerful and wealthiest men (yes, men) can increase their success and so-caled happiness.

I will tell you what I know if you ask me.

This is a great review of my first CD, "Happy Life," which was released more than a year ago under my real name:  john Schneider.  i changed my name to John Nicole because I didn't want to be confused with "John Schneider" from the Dukes of Hazzard.    The review is located at
http://romanmidnightmusic.blogspot.com/2012/01/john-schneider-happy-life.html?showComment=1326564399505#c5359622169714311083.  But here it is reprinted:

Think the solo albums of Queen's Roger Taylor but subtract his hopelessly cliche social commentary & put in its place some country twang, a dance beat & some downhome love songs & you'll get a close approximation of JS's musically surprisingly Happy Life. Or, this very well could be a hip new Tom Jones album. A mix of ambiatic electric backgrounds, from synthetic strings to odd sounds, & a slight laid back country twang that brings one through a collection of songs of love & everyday life. Laid back being the key word. One critic has called JS "sophisticated pop" due to the dominance of a light dance beat for an intimate dancing moment (i.e. "Feel You In My Arms", "Everything Will Be Okay"). Though, that dancing moment changes through the hour into a bit of calypso (i.e. "This Is The Time"), funk ("Dig That Bone") & some spirited dixieland feeling with playful horns, cowbell & handclaps (i.e. "Do I Love You (Go Away)"). Happy Life opens on a high & then slowly melts away as the songs progress into a somber emotional reminiscence that ends the album ... but it's too late to turn back when you realize JS has pulled you from a dancing mood to a pondering one. Hypnotic jazzy ballads (i.e. "I'm Not Too Old", "Peace Of Mind", "You Are My Woman") punctuate the second half of the album bringing the evening's dance to a slow waltz. The dance floor allows itself one final pop with "Dance With Me" that includes a horn line against a disco beat sequewaying to the closing sober acoustic title track, a duet with Laura Baron, with the line "happy new year for the last time, my dear" that brings the dance to the close suddenly waking you up to the story that you were dancing to. Laid off after numerous decades serving as a marketing executive in the wake of a national economic crisis 60 year old JS decided, like many in his shoes, to make the most of his free time while looking for more work & do something that he wanted & not just what others wanted out of him. Happy Life is the catharsis. Happy Life is his first solo album, though it's title is deceptive as it was created in the shadow of losing his job & not finding another in the face of mounting debt, losing his long-time girlfriend & even having his cat die. The project started with the funky bass heavy poem-turned-song "Can't Get A Job" as a personal protest of his situation & then turned into a full length album. But, as JS sings ... "Everything will be okay." Highlights include "It Ain't All Up To You", "Feel You In My Arms" & the particularly Roger Taylor-esque "Remember". A definite must hear is "Together Forever", which opens with the line "I'm doing the laundry" & is filled with an array of odd sounds against a dark bass line in a moody song recounting doing the laundry, cleaning the house, putting away the dishes, making soup & sitting on the couch before going into a church organ chorus about being together forever in a song that needs to be heard for it's use of non-musical sounds coming together. If you're wondering ... this is the not the same JS that had a country-western career outside of acting on The Dukes Of Hazzard. This one is far more creative.

I am so happy that Nadia Elvista of Memphis, TN, sings two of the songs on my new CD, "Still Love."  She a beautiful woman with a wonderful vocal quality who really adds something special to my music.  I can't wait to get started on my next CD so I can write more songs for her to sing -- either alone or as a duet. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Today, thousands of independent musicians look for resources to help them position themselves and market their songs.  One of many companies offering such resources is A&R Select which claims to help bands and artists in artist development, publishing, and radio promotions by providing tools and connections to help achieve their goals.

Unfortunately, complaints against the company are growing daily, according to Musicians for Charity, a nonprofit organization focused on connecting musicians with community service.  

"The Better Business Bureau is aware of ARSelect.com's questionable business practices," explained John Schneider, President of MFC.  As a result of these complaints, Musicians for Charity has established a new website -- ARSelect.org -- for members of ARSelect.com to register comments and complaints.

To date, a number of members have registered complaints on the internet while some  of those are in the process of formulating a class-action lawsuit against the company.

Employees of ARSelect.com were notified by the Better Business Bureau of existing complaints, but none of the employees were available for comment.

A&R Select claims it helps bands and artists in artist development, publishing, and radio promotions by providing tools and connections to help achieve their goals.

Unfortunately, complaints against the company grow daily. The Better Business Bureau is aware of ARSelect.com's questionable business practices.

You may now register complaints at www.ARSelect.org and let us know if you'd like to be part of a class-action lawsuit now being developed against the company.

Before filing my complaint with the Better Business Bureau, I wrote the following note to Mark Burns, President & CEO of ARSelect.com:

I am normally not driven to write to anyone with such venom, but you and your company have driven me to extreme behavior.  It's been along time since I've been treated so badly by anyone.  AR Select is a total scam; I see it now.  F*ck your company and the people who have screwed me for the last six months  What the hell is wrong with you people?  If I were you, I would have written a personal check to do the right thing.  But you have chosen to ignore me and lie to me over and over again.  I hope to God you find some way to do right by the people you have screwed.  You have completely misled me and I will now do everything in my power to make sure everyone knows -- including state officials in California, all of your partners, many of your members, and the Better Business Bureau.  I'm also coming out to California in January to file a law suit..  You have not behaved very well and blaming others would be a very stupid idea.  You are not a very nice human being and it must be difficult for you to sleep at night.  Do the right thing -- NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!