Tuesday, August 22, 2006
MySpace - I caved.
I've given in. I now have a MySpace account. Here's the link. Ever since the MySpace phenomenon began I've poked fun at the way they use the word 'friends.' Most of my younger friends, and by this I mean people with whom I play music, socialize, go out to eat, go to church, etc., have accounts. I chuckle when they talk about how many 'friends' they have on their accounts. Of course I know that they know when a person you've never met asks to 'friend' you, it doesn't really mean anything, but that's how it works and if you can't beat em, join em.To entice you to check out my new MySpace account I've placed the studio version of Malcolm's Gift, the ZitherjaZ tribute to Malcolm Dalglish. This is one of the cuts that will go on the upcoming ZitherjaZ CD, due out in January 2007.
Oh, and while you're there, won't you be my friend? Ooooooo that hurt. But seriously, sign in and 'friend' me. I can't have my real friends having more make-believe friends than me. (what is happening to me ---- arrrrrrgggggh)
Promo poster - hot or not
My friend Brad Bower designed this promotion poster for me for an upcoming concert. What do you think?
Monday, August 21, 2006
Jukebox is Back Online
I've added quite a few new songs to the jukebox and it won't even cost you a quarter, or a dollar, or whatever jukebox songs cost these days. Give it a test and let me know if you experience any problems. I'm going to go play music for a few hours now. I get to work on my solo show this morning and then rehearse with ZitherjaZ this afternoon. It will be great to get back in the studio as I've been staring at this computer screen too much lately.My next revision here will be adding new topics to the Forum page.
Any suggestions?
One last unapologetic solicitation. We have about 30 brand new t- shirts left over from this year's Chattanooga Dulcimer Festival. They're 12.98 and will cost you less than $15 dollars when shipping is added. C'mon, you know you want one. Click the store link to check them out.
Dan
Jukebox update
My jukebox will probably be down for an hour or so this morning as
I'm adding new songs from the Landrum /Humphries and Winter Mix CDs.
Thanks for your patience.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Moving Commentary
I'm removing the the comments section of my journal page now that the forum is working. I haven't completely figured out the best way to structure the forum for ease of discussion but I've slowly realized the comments section of a blog (journal) isn't the best way to talk. This is mainly because each time the blogger posts a new entry, the previous entry gets bumped. The more I entries I make, the quicker new comments dissapear.I'm also adding a links section to the upper left of this page. This gives a good short term home to links that I want to be easy to find, like the recent YouTube videos.
ZitherjaZ Videos
Click here to see the videos from our recent Nightfall Concert on YouTube.Take a moment and rank them while you're there. Every little bit helps. - Dan
Friday, August 18, 2006
Fun with Forums
It has been fun getting my forum going set up. The new feature is really just a replacement for my old guestbook, which as I mentioned in a previous post, became overburdened with spam.Take a moment to sign up, and say hello. My old guestbook was not recoverable so I lost hundreds of contacts. So please, make yourself known again!
Audio Samples and a Freebie or two
I have finally completed posting samples from every song from every one of my CDs to the store page. Just click on the song title you'd like to hear and it will open in a small player window.The javascript code I used for this is supposed to be nearly bullet-proof, so give it a try. Of course if you have javascript turned off, it can't open the window. In most cases the song will still try and open in your default mp3 player.
For example, I use a plug-in to Firefox called "no-scripts" which allows me to choose whether or not a page is allowed to run javascripts. Once I tell it that a particular page is OK, it remembers that page and I don't have to tell it again. When I left the javascript option turned off and tried to select samples from my store page, they opened up in iTunes which is my default player.
You'll notice a few songs that are surrounded by stars like ** this **. These are complete songs which you're welcome to download and enjoy.
Try it out and let me know what you think.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
More ZitherjaZ Videos
Friend and fellow ZitherjaZer Alan Shikoh posted more songs from our Nightfall concert this afternoon. Click the title of this journal entry to be taken to the YouTube site and let me know what you think!You can also get to the videos by clicking here.
Press Page and Calendar Page Now Working
I spent a good deal of time today working on the website again. My press link contains updated information and the calendar link is now working, though I've only had time to get August and September gigs posted so far.I'm quite sure you can only get to the calendar page from this page as I have not enable the new link on any of the other pages.
The calendar is a web calendar that you can subscribe to if your into such things. I like the way it works with iCal, which both Angie and I use.
Thanks to those of you who signed the guestbook today. C'mon everybody, make yourself known with a quick note by clicking the forum link.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Video from our last ZitherjaZ concert
If you have a decent internet connection click the title of this post for a 4 minute video from our ZitherjaZ concert a few weeks ago. The song is the opening number from the concert which was held as part of the Nightfall concert series in Downtown Chattanooga. I was joined by Steve Phillips on keys, Matt Broom on drums, Alan Shikoh on guitar, and Fred Gault on bass.The song is "Split Rail Fences" which is found on my CD "Questions in the Calm."
Thanks to my friend Philip Luckey did all the camera work. The first half of the video is a wide shot from above. You'll get more close ups of the players in the second half. Alan is working on getting the entire concert up for free download. I'll let you know when it is available. - Dan
You can also click here.
Return of the guest book, well, sort of.
I've been tinkering around with this site again tonight. Those of you who've been around for a while probably remember I used to have a guest book. I had to take it down because of spam. To replace the guest book I've added a bulletin board which works like most any other bulletin board you've used before. If you're new to the concept, don't worry, it is self-explanatory.The link at the top of the page will take you there. I just set it up tonight so it may be buggy. Please, sign in and give it a try. Also let me know if you have suggestions for general topics and ways to use our new 'community'.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Me and Alfie on YouTube
PBS stations across the country are now airing "Yanni Live: The Concert Event" in which I performed during the last tour. The show is being used as a fund raiser for PBS and to drum up excitement for the CD release date August 15th and the DVD release of September 19.I've done on air 'pitching' as its called many times at our local station, WTCI, so it seemed only natural to be there for Wednesday night showing. My friend and band mate Alfreda Gerald came along to help out too. About an hour before leaving my friend Philip Luckey suggested I take my hammer dulcimer so Alfreda and I could perform something in the studio. This was a great idea but we don't actually play any songs during the show that would work as a solo piece. We put our heads together and figured out a simple arrangement of the piano and orchestra accompanied song "The Promise."
Thanks to whomever it was that recorded the broadcast and stuck it up on YouTube!