Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Not long ago, I was asked to collaborate on some country music....
After a little writing, recording, and beer drinking: these six songs emerged as my first batch of country tunes! Now maybe you do or you don't like country, but the rest of this story is great regardless so keep reading:
The day the demos were finished, a friend Janice Duffy heard them and asked if she could have a copy to pass along to someone she knew. Next thing I knew I was on the phone with one of the cutest country accents I'd ever heard: Jaynie Chowning, daughter of the famed Si Siman. She loved the demos and wanted to show them to her brother Scott Siman, a Nashville country music music exec who's managed artists like Tim McGraw and Julianne Hough.
Turns out Scott liked the songs too! So much so, that he took them around to some big-time Nashville producers, and one of them was James Stroud (Toby Keith, Randy Travis, Willie Nelson, Clint Black, etc). Apparently, James loved the song 'Fall Madly In Love' (listened to it 3 times in the meeting) and wanted it for his new artist Margaret Durante to record and release on her upcoming album!
Holy sh$t, right? So I just signed my first single-song contract! Here's a pic of me and my co-writers Tyler Johnson and Douglas Showalter with our contracts:
Yay for AM picture time! I'll keep you posted about her album and our song!
And, as if that weren't enough, I was also invited out to Missouri, to do some country songwriting with Randle Chowning (of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils)!! Over a few short days we wrote 3 more songs that sound incredible, and I got to see the sights of Branson, Kimberling, and Table Rock Lake. By the end of the trip, Randle, Jaynie and I felt like old friends :)
The night before I headed back to California, we all jumped into the car to drive around the lake and listen to the newly finished demos on the car stereo. I was happy as a clam - top down, warm air, songs sounding great and [thanks to the great state of Missouri] I could sip on a bud light while riding shotgun! I think I'm really gonna like this country music thing...
Here's Randle Chowning and I (Jaynie's taking the photo).
Workin hard or hardly workin at the Lakehouse (yes that's an 8 track recording set-up!)
P.S. he's probably gonna kill me but check out this sweet throw-back pic of Randle!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Things are not half bad these days: I've got a song on the KFOG Local Scene CD, a sweet new indie/pop album in the works (!!), a quirky Americana side project called The Idle Cedars, and I just played a show at the infamous Viper Room. Heck, I could kick up my heels now and my grandkids might be midly impressed. Buuuuut I won't. I'm a traveler at heart (see track 1 of "Heartforward"), and I'm happiest when I'm in new places, so:
I'm touring the Pacific Northwest for the next few months leading up to my album release! There's a burgeoning music scene up there that I'm excited to break into AND I'll get a chance to work on some new material with my friend and musical accomplice Michael Sherry. If you know any music lovers in the Portland/Seattle areas, please pass along my music and tell them to come say hi at a show! (I'm decently sociable.)
This means I won't be playing in the beautiful Bay Area quite as often as I'd like. My hometown fans have been unrelenting in their support, and I hope I can make you all proud by taking this music on the road. Of course, I wouldn't dare leave without throwing a party ....and it's at the famous SLIM'S in San Francisco this Thursday!!
Bon Voyage Show!
Thursday, October 14th @ Slim's
8PM, $13 all ages
get tickets here
It's gonna be a BIG night with a BIG band of talented musicians with me (Patrick Shipp, Emily Bergen, Hamilton Ulmer, Andrea Poetzsch, Jacob Smith and Rene Vega). Erica Sunshine Lee will be releasing her album that night, Kelly McFarling is rocking the opening set and some special guests from UC Davis' only all-female a cappella group, The Spokes, are singing too! You might even hear a tune off my upcoming album....
I really hope to see you there ;)
love,
cam
I'm touring the Pacific Northwest for the next few months leading up to my album release! There's a burgeoning music scene up there that I'm excited to break into AND I'll get a chance to work on some new material with my friend and musical accomplice Michael Sherry. If you know any music lovers in the Portland/Seattle areas, please pass along my music and tell them to come say hi at a show! (I'm decently sociable.)
This means I won't be playing in the beautiful Bay Area quite as often as I'd like. My hometown fans have been unrelenting in their support, and I hope I can make you all proud by taking this music on the road. Of course, I wouldn't dare leave without throwing a party ....and it's at the famous SLIM'S in San Francisco this Thursday!!
Bon Voyage Show!
Thursday, October 14th @ Slim's
8PM, $13 all ages
get tickets here
It's gonna be a BIG night with a BIG band of talented musicians with me (Patrick Shipp, Emily Bergen, Hamilton Ulmer, Andrea Poetzsch, Jacob Smith and Rene Vega). Erica Sunshine Lee will be releasing her album that night, Kelly McFarling is rocking the opening set and some special guests from UC Davis' only all-female a cappella group, The Spokes, are singing too! You might even hear a tune off my upcoming album....
I really hope to see you there ;)
love,
cam
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
I had a Q & A with writer Sheryl Nance-Nash the other morning for an article she's writing about 'how songwriters make money'. After laughing out loud (so many jokes, so little time), we started discussing the topic seriously and I actually had quite a bit of knowledge to impart. Sure I fall closer to the left on the "Starving Artist------Lady Gaga" continuum, and sure my first cd isn't even 5 months old, but there I was, dishing out info on music licensing, social networking strategies and corporate partners.
The trouble is, with the current state of the music industry, nobody knows how to "handle all of that stuff" anymore. The old methods are no longer successful or profitable. The music industry has gone all topsy-turvy. For example: The NPR music website is now a "major player in the indie rock scene" (whaa?) while the world's fourth largest record company, EMI, couldn't afford it's own Grammy Party this year.
Already successful musicians like Thom Yorke of Radiohead call the whole industry a "Sinking Ship".
Typical creative type, to think we are the only ones suffering. The whole world is changing. It's the Digital Revolution yo (which means much more than the miniaturization of objects). Here is our opportunity for creativity. It's very much an artistic endeavor, to move forward where there is no set path. Like modern day explorers, we are.
So, how do songwriters make money? There are endless possibilities. The only generalizable advice is: 1) become amazing at what you do, and 2) get a business partner (:high five: Jason Shafton).
Sunday, April 4, 2010
I know, I know- it's only been a little over 2 months since my first record came out... But I'm one of those insatiable artists that's addicted to CD Release Parties (hah) so I've started working on a new album. You may have even heard a couple of the new songs if you've been at my most recent shows ;) Although the album is only in it's beginning stages, I can tell you the finished product will be a warm, dark, rhythmic EP (5 or 6 song album), that dives into sounds I didn't even know existed when we wrote "Heartforward".
It's both inspiring and daunting to be so new to the art of songwriting, but all in all the creative process is a fun head trip so I've decided to churn out these latest ideas whilst living in an 1866 hotel converted to lofts for artistic types, in the middle of nowhere, 1 mile from the Pacific Ocean, for a month. Not. fucking. bad. eh?
Most mornings, I wake up to the rooster, stumble down a spiral staircase, jump in the car for a soft, 7 mile wind along the ocean cliffs to the nearest town. I drink some coffee in the sun and eavesdrop on the old men grouped outside the store-fronts, talking loudly about the day's news. Hop back in the car and sing my most recent musical brainstorm to the waves as I travel back home, to soak up some more sun on the deck while trying to extend catchy chord progressions into full length songs.
I can't wait to share it all with you :) Send me some creative vibes, OK?
love,
cam
PS Here are some pics of the new digs:
It's both inspiring and daunting to be so new to the art of songwriting, but all in all the creative process is a fun head trip so I've decided to churn out these latest ideas whilst living in an 1866 hotel converted to lofts for artistic types, in the middle of nowhere, 1 mile from the Pacific Ocean, for a month. Not. fucking. bad. eh?
Most mornings, I wake up to the rooster, stumble down a spiral staircase, jump in the car for a soft, 7 mile wind along the ocean cliffs to the nearest town. I drink some coffee in the sun and eavesdrop on the old men grouped outside the store-fronts, talking loudly about the day's news. Hop back in the car and sing my most recent musical brainstorm to the waves as I travel back home, to soak up some more sun on the deck while trying to extend catchy chord progressions into full length songs.
I can't wait to share it all with you :) Send me some creative vibes, OK?
love,
cam
PS Here are some pics of the new digs:
Friday, February 26, 2010
Not to step on your sense of agency or anything, but I've decided to make you a do-gooder.
For a limited time, you can earn some brownie points with the cosmos when you purchase a physical copy of my "Heartforward" album here on my website.
Without spending any extra money, you can send 20% of your purchase price to charity! Feel a thrill of goodness rush down your spine as you choose which noble cause to support. The world will thank you AND you will receive a shiny new Camaron Ochs album in your mailbox.
Fonkoze
www.Fonkoze.org
Hands down the most sustainable way to help Haiti. Supplying Haiti's poorest with the tools needed to pull themselves out of poverty featured in Newsweek.
Contra Costa Children's Chorus
www.ChildrensChorus.org
A local non-profit devoted to children's music education, leadership skills and cultural awareness through music. The end result? Well-equipped human beings.
Amazing, right? So hurry up and get yourself a cd here on the website so you can finally one-up that guy at work that plants trees in his free time.
For a limited time, you can earn some brownie points with the cosmos when you purchase a physical copy of my "Heartforward" album here on my website.
Without spending any extra money, you can send 20% of your purchase price to charity! Feel a thrill of goodness rush down your spine as you choose which noble cause to support. The world will thank you AND you will receive a shiny new Camaron Ochs album in your mailbox.
Fonkoze
www.Fonkoze.org
Hands down the most sustainable way to help Haiti. Supplying Haiti's poorest with the tools needed to pull themselves out of poverty featured in Newsweek.
Contra Costa Children's Chorus
www.ChildrensChorus.org
A local non-profit devoted to children's music education, leadership skills and cultural awareness through music. The end result? Well-equipped human beings.
Amazing, right? So hurry up and get yourself a cd here on the website so you can finally one-up that guy at work that plants trees in his free time.
