Back then, LPs were large enough – approximately 12”x12” – so that the cardboard cover they came in could have all kinds of information about the music and the artist.  I remember to this day literally paragraphs of my Ellington At Newport (Jazz Festival) that I played and read until the grooves wore out.

Back then they even gave a Grammy for “Best Liner Notes” each year.

Then the medium began to shrink – first to the size of a CD and now to nothing more than a digital download of the cover and the names of the songs if you’re lucky.  Lost along the way were other pictures besides the cover, lyrics and especially my beloved liner notes.

Several years back when I started producing CDs regularly I tried to keep the time-honored traditions by releasing CDs with 8 to 24 page booklet inserts.  Inspirational music depends a lot on its lyrical content and I always felt it necessary to include those lyrics and especially give credit to all the musicians, singers, designers, etc. who worked to complete the project.  But the cost of the booklet became prohibitive.

Today a 4 panel booklet CD will cost $1.14 per unit from the manufacturer if I buy at least 1000.  Take that booklet to 18-24 pages and the cost soars to over $3.00 per unit.  There go the profits.

So Watchfire Music and a few other artists turned to the Digi-Book.  What is a Digi-Book?  “A Digi-Book is an electronic version of an album’s liner notes and vital information.  This downloadable digital booklet contains photos, lyrics, and notes written by the artists and producers of the album as well as all sorts of information pertinent to the experience.”

Better yet, go look for yourself!  WFM’s latest is a gorgeous journey of nearly 40 full screen pages of pictures, lyrics, quotes, artist insights and credit material with bios that is visually stunning and completely informative regarding the experience of making the CD and other vital information.

Designed by WFM’s leading designer, Sara Gray, who also did Julia Wade’s Every Day gem of a booklet, this digital package looks fabulous on your computer screen and can actually be printed as well.  If you print, we suggest using Glossy Photo Paper for a beautiful treasured keepsake of the album experience.

But you don’t have to print it to enjoy it.  Backlit from your computer screen, it’s a colorful experience that is sure to delight anyone who is into the music on the album.

Best of all, it’s FREE!  You can download it and send it to a friend in just a click or two.

We even created a new section of the site just for Digi-Books!  Just go to the far right of the Nav Bar and click on Digi-Books.

I’m not going to write much more about it because that would be redundant to the experience, so take a moment or two right now to follow this link and experience it for yourself.

Oh yes, while you’re at it, Buy The Goin’ Home CD!  The whole package is worth far more than the price of admission.  That’s a promise.

We did a soft release last Thanksgiving Day and already, in one week, Goin’ Home is our best selling CD of the year.  I can’t tell you how excited we all are here at WFM at the promise that this CD and Digi-Book holds for the coming months.  We thank so many of you, literally hundreds of people who have already been so supportive of this project.

The package is finished. It’s available now.  We promised it for Christmas and delivered.  It’s a wondrous Christmas gift idea and with WFM’s Send To A Friend capability, it’s the easiest of shopping ventures – all from your easy chair in front of your computer.  Give the gift of music and a perspicacious look at the road to eternal life.

Don’t forget the Digi-Book!

Even More Inspiration

• Even Now
• Kickstarter.com Campaign – I
• WFM Listening Room — Series II Opener
• The Changing Scene
• Gabriel, Come Blow Your Horn
• My Body

Consequently we have begun a 30 day Kickstarter.com campaign to raise money to complete and promote a CD project that I’ve been working on now for over a year and a half.

It’s the making of new CD called “Goin’ Home” and a subsequent National Tour around this CD.  It involves an inspiring blend of great tradition and cutting-edge new music and deals with a very important aspect of each of our lives.

It deals with the experience at the end of our lives that we each face eventually that I like to call “transition”.

In the words of Jenny Burton, one of the project’s stars, “It’s a subject that, at first, we walk away from, but will walk towards one day, so why not walk towards it informed and without fear.”

I, personally, would like to go through that experience, when it comes, fully aware and alert, expectant joyful, and filled with spiritual curiosity.  When it comes to that transition, we Americans tend to look the other way and pretend that it doesn’t exist.  I don’t want to be like that.

What better way to prepare than to write about it.

So Goin’ Home is about Heaven and beyond.  I’ve thought from childhood that the much of the world’s perception of Heaven, though certainly idyllic, was really rather like a fairy tale or a Santa Claus story.  In a song entitled Heaven on the CD I write the following:

I don’t believe in Heaven
As a place up in the sky
A place where all the angels sit
As the clouds go passin by

I don’t believe in Heaven
Dressed in white and gold
A city in a world upstairs
Where all of our wings unfold
And a God sits upon his throne

I see it more as a state of mind
Since my body gets left behind
I see it more
As an open door
To a life of another kind

I don’t believe in Heaven
As a place this side of Hell
A place where all the good folks go
A place where the spirits dwell
An’ ol’ Peter a-rings dem bells

I see it more as a holy space
A place to pause
A spiritual base
I see it more as an open door
To a kind of a quiet grace

And when all is said and done
I think that Heaven
Like earth
Is what we make it
It’s a moment in the sun
It’s a cleansing time
In a state of grace
It’s a place where laughter reigns

Oh it’s Heaven
Heaven
It’s Heaven
Oh it’s Heaven

So this CD and eventual concert tour explores the eventuality that we all face at one time or another.

But it’s also an experience about music and great songs, and uplifting and joyful singing.  It’s fun, it’s funny, it’s rich in its depth and it definitely rocks the house.

Goin’ Home is written as a Gospel Cantata.  A cantata is simply short for “a musical composition for voices and orchestra based on a spiritual text.”

It’s performed by a mostly African American cast of top New York Session singers – great friends that I’ve worked with many years now.  In future posts I’ll tell you much more about this amazingly talented group of artists.

“So what is Kickstarter.com” you must ask.

Kickstarter is the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world. Every week, tens of thousands of amazing people pledge millions of dollars to projects from the worlds of music, film, art, technology, design, food, publishing and other creative fields.

A new form of commerce and patronage. This is not about investment or lending. Project creators keep 100% ownership and control over their work. Instead, they offer products and experiences that are unique to each project.

All or nothing funding. On Kickstarter, a project must reach its funding goal before time runs out or no money changes hands. Why? It protects everyone involved. Creators aren’t expected to develop their project without necessary funds, and it allows anyone to test concepts without risk.

We’re giving ourselves 30 days to raise the necessary $9500 of funding.  Those 30 days started October 3, 2011 and will end November 2, 2011.  I urge you to participate in this drive to not only support Inspirational music, but also Watchfire Music, the CD’s record company and on-line place of purchase.  Most of all, I ask you to support the uplifting idea behind the project.  Its purpose is to open our eyes to the timelessness of our future.

Your contribution, whether large or small, is critically important to the success of this endeavor.  Every dollar counts.  If each person on our mailing list just gave one dollar, we’d get there and beyond.

We’d love you to be a part of this very special event.

To learn much more about this endeavor please go to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/174116135/peter-link-goin-home-cd-and-concert-tour

Even More Inspiration

• Even Now
• My Body
• WFM Listening Room — Series II Opener
• What Is A Cantata?
• Gabriel, Come Blow Your Horn
• Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Barry Danielian - Trumpeter

Yesterday I had a blast.  Inspirational music took on new meaning as I recorded virtuoso trumpeter, Barry Danielian, here in NYC at Link Recording Studios.  I needed a 16 bar trumpet solo for the song, In That Great Gittin’ Up Mornin’ which is the climax song on my forthcoming CD, Goin’ Home – A Gospel Cantata – On Heaven and Beyond.

I had lost my precious musician phone book last year with all its numbers and so I called my friend, guitarist, Chieli Minucci and asked him for a recommendation of a great trumpet player who could play like the angel, Gabriel.  Chieli recommended Barry Danielian.  When Chieli speaks; I listen.  I hired Barry for the gig.

I wrote the first 4 bars of the trumpet solo for Barry to get him started and then gave him the direction to improvise the rest, to keep it Gospel, make it hot, iconic, hotter, joyful, timeless and apocalyptic.  Think, in the climax of the solo, Gabriel on acid trying to blow the roof off the moon.  I sent him home to listen to the track for a couple of days and he showed up yesterday afternoon ready to go at it, trumpet in hand.

We did 6 takes – each one discussed relating to shape, development and mood.  Barry was the perfect partner in crime.  He listened, but also brought his great ideas and mastery of his horn to the moment.

As I mentioned, the first 4 bars were written, but I wanted the next 12 bars to be improvised with the last 2 bars of the 12 sliding back down into the vocals.  Since this was supposed to be Gabriel, the trumpeting angel of Biblical lore, he’d better be good.  Barry was great.  He fulfilled the promise, hopes and expectations beyond my dreams.

After he had gone, I took a couple of hours and studied the various takes and composited together the best of the 6 takes into a gorgeous and soaring angelic moment.  As I sat back and listened when finished, I found myself suddenly standing triumphantly and raising my arms above my head like Rocky on the Liberty steps.  It was a true moment of inspiration.

Barry (blue shirt) w/ Tower Of Power

We talk a lot about inspiration here at Watchfire Music.  It seems like we’re always trying to get there one way or another.  Well, yesterday we did it, and, best of all, when we got there, we had recorded it for all to experience.  That’s the great thing about music.  It can do its thing to you over and over.  It’s a wonder.

There’s nothing like working with a great musician.  It’s not just the way they play, or their mastery of their horn, or their chops that makes them great.  What always stands out to me is their ability to listen and to take direction.  You’d think that somebody with all that ability would not have to listen, but that’s often what separates the men from the boys – their ability and grace to drop their own ego and listen, to take input, and to collaborate.

Here’s a little more info on this modern Gabriel:

Trained from an early age in his first love, jazz, some of Barry’s most memorable performances have been with such greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Illinois Jacquet, Paquito DeRivera, and Branford Marsalis. Equally valuable in the evolution of his style were some of his first New York gigs, with Latin giants Eddie Palmieri and Tito Puente. Starting in 1984, he toured widely with these bands over a number of years and began an impressive series of Latin recordings with such artists as Marc Anthony and Ricky Martin.

Dizzy Gillespie & Barry Danielian

Barry’s mileage on the road increased in 1985 with the first of several tours with rock fusion giants Blood, Sweat and Tears, and subsequently with Paul Shaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous Band, Queen Latifah, and Jon Bon Jovi. The early 1990s saw Barry on world tours with Latin-pop star Emmanuel and funk legends Tower of Power.

During the mid-1990s, Barry began to realize the reputation he enjoys today as one of New York City’s most in-demand session players and arrangers, racking up more than 200 recordings with such pop notables as Celine Dion, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Natalie Cole, and James Taylor, as well as with touring partners Queen Latifah and Tower of Power. His Jingle/TV and motion picture credits (for Touchstone, Columbia, and others) from this period are too numerous to mention.

I am deeply privileged in life to work with the best.  Yesterday was just another one of those great life experiences of music and creativity.

Even More Inspiration

• Light At The End Of The Tunnel
• Even Now
• WFM Listening Room – Series II – Event 4
• WFM Listening Room — Series II Opener
• WFM Learning Lab – Grand Opening!
• The Decline of Lyrical Craftsmanship – Part 1

Last week in her church service (which gets broadcast around the world on the Internet) the Missus performed a new song fresh off the presses.  It has received tremendous feedback, the kind of response that makes all the blood, sweat and tears of this industry totally worth all the effort.  I’ll have to admit that we were not prepared for this response.  Who knew that this national occurrence would come?

Julia Wade (The Missus) chose the song to fit the sermon of that particular Sunday over a month ago, but it turned out to be the right panacea for the moment.  The trouble is, it is a new song that she has been working on for her new forthcoming CD, Silk Road, due to be released this coming Christmas season.  We have no single completed; we have no sheet music to sell – yet.

So we’re going to rush this one out to you ahead of its time.  We’ll release it as a single and its sheet music in the next couple of weeks.  I guess it’s just a song that demanded its own time – not on my schedule or Julia’s, but on its own schedule.   Like a baby who comes early – once it’s born, you simply have to stop all else and deal with it no matter what.

Here are only a few of the comments that we’ve received:

“We had the great good fortune to hear you perform “Even Now” in the Mother Church last Sunday.  We were traveling and just happened to be there in Boston. We both wept, it was SO gorgeous… even my husband cried — who is a Methodist!

Is there a recording of that song available?  My husband is an accomplished guitarist and he loved the guitar music so much too. Of course your singing was a gift!

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful singing with all of us.  We will never forget how special that was!” –Carolyn

“Thank you Julia and Peter for your loving support.  That new solo is so right for what we’re going through… It was as though you were singing to us!

Thank you.  And thank you, Peter.  Deepfelt message.

And we’ve already heard from family in South Africa who listened and loved the Internet relay.

Your support means so much to us.” -Love, K.

In the meantime, here’s the lyric to tide you over…

Even Now
Music and Lyrics by Peter Link

Even now
The sun will rise
The morning come
The day begin
Even now
When all seems lost
And darkness falls over all
Even now
God’s watching over you
Here in the dawn’s first light

At every turn
In every need
With every breath you take

Even now
With cross to bear
He’s always there
In simple truth
Even now
With heavy heart
His love will lighten your way
Even now
He soothes the salted wound
And eases your troubled mind

At every turn
In every need
With every breath you take

God loves you
Hallelujah
God frees you
Hallelujah

Even now
With broken dreams
And weary soul
He’ll carry you
Even now
When all has failed
And mountains are in your way
Even now
He stands a sentinel
The shepherd of all you do

Your every turn
Your every prayer
And every move you make

Your every turn
Your every need
And every breath you take

God loves you
Remember these words that I sing
God loves you
God frees you
Hallelujah

Even More Inspiration

• Wonderful
• You Must Remember This!
• Love Is The Reason For Living
• My Body
• Nothing
• Spiritual Scientist

For me, that’s always a sure sign of wall banging.  I’m definitely a workaholic.  9 hours out of 10 I love my work.  It’s what I’d rather do than anything — especially in the studio where creation is always fascinating and rewarding.  Even that 10^th hour of basic drudgery (which probably comes with any great job) I can normally handle.  Normally.

It’s no longer “normally”.  About two weeks ago I started sleeping less to get in extra hours in order to get more done.  I hadn’t had even a full day of time off for over a year.  I thought to myself, “Well, I love my work; I can do this and get away with it.  Besides, it all needs to get done and it’s on my plate, so I’d just better work those extra hours.

Well, I found out how far I could push myself – and how far I couldn’t.

I hit the wall.

I’ve since been thinking about this wall.  Nobody runs into a wall on purpose.  We hit walls occasionally while driving our cars, while turning corners and even walking.  We hit these walls not because we mean to; nobody does that.  It hurts!  We hit walls because we’re not really watching where we’re going, because we’re not really in the moment of now looking clearly at the future.  If we were, we’d see the wall and stop before we hit it.  Duh.

What is “the wall” in this time-honored expression?  In my case, it’s simply the point at which you can go no further.  It’s a stopping point where you must stop or suffer the consequences.  What are the consequences?  Exhaustion, lack of focus, loss of desire, and often a great dash of frustration thrown in just to spice it all up.

My mom used to say, “Your brother got the brains, but you got the work ethic.”  To me back then, that was not always a compliment, but later in life I did finally see the value of that.  My ex-partner used to say, “Work smart, not hard.”  That’s probably why we two took different roads.  We had different styles.  What I’ve tried to reach for is to work smart and hard.  Well, I’ve come to realize, by hitting the wall, that the smart part is to know thyself and be conscious of my limits.

Oh I know that I’m an unlimited spiritual being, but I have to demonstrate that 24/7 as well and I’ll admit to being still in the learning process on that one.

So what am I doing about all this wall-thumping?  I’ve decided to keep it simple and practical.  I’ve decided to observe the metaphor and learn from it.  I’ve decided to take it a little slower, to be more observant as to where I’m headed, to, even in some cases, back off.  To not attempt to be Superman and set the world on fire, but instead, to experience summer on Planet Earth.  To take walks with the Missus in the evening.  To play my beloved solitaire game sometimes in the middle of the day.  To watch a few more good movies.  To sit more often in stillness.  To call an old friend.  To sleep in in the morning.  To go to bed a little early.  To require less of myself.

At first it weren’t easy.  Those little voices inside kept saying, “What are you doing?  You’re just falling further behind, you fool!”  So I figured out to reschedule my life and attempt to do less.  I found out it was OK to do that.  After all, it’s my life, not yours.  It’s mine to live.

After a couple of weeks, that began to work.  Yesterday morning I got up and found I had nothing to do.  That was a truly amazing moment for me.  For an hour I was lost.  Where was my addiction?  Where was my drug?  Then I realized that the pressure was off.  I actually considered myself a different form of human being.  I was more centered and somehow more myself.  I went to church and then into the studio and worked all day on a project that I started two years ago and never finished.  I had fun.  I worked all day and loved it – for the first time in a long time.

When the Missus got home from Boston I actually stopped working and took an evening walk with her down to the Hudson River Park pier where there was a tango orchestra playing and the city had laid out a dance floor and people were dancing under the stars.  It had rained that Sunday and the oppressive heat had broken and we watched the people tango into the night.  We strolled home together hand in hand, had a light dinner and watched a documentary about the Hubble telescope in space and got a powerful insight as to our importance in the universe.

Today, I’m writing you all to report that I’m on vacation – officially.  I’m learning how to let go.  I’m actually letting go of things I don’t really need.  By vacationing a bit, I find that I can better differentiate between the two – what’s really important and what’s not.

I see no walls in sight – just a clear road forward.

I think I’m in the middle of a healing here – a healing from head-banging, wall-hitting workaholism.  Perhaps we’ve coined a new word here.  At any rate, I’m officially on summer vacation.

Excuse me while I sip my lemonade…

Even More Inspiration

• Even Now
• Light At The End Of The Tunnel
• Breaking The Logjam
• Valentine Thoughts
• God Is doG Spelled Backwards
• Spiritual Scientist

People watching.  I got it from my dad who used to take us to the St. Louis Cardinal ball games when I was a kid and then sit backwards in his chair and watch the crowd instead of the game.  Never much of a baseball fan, he found it more entertainment watching the people.  He used to say it was worth every dollar of the ticket.

Now I find that I got the bug as well.  I watch over the course of a half hour at least ten thousand people rush by my window tryin’ to make it to their train, their bus, their subway.  Not one of them sees me climb into their private lives for those few seconds as they pass by.  They’re all far too intent on one thing – goin’ home.

Strangely enough, very few are on their cell phones – ignoring the phenomena of our times.  It used to be that when you saw somebody walking down the street talking to themselves, you knew immediately that he/she was a wacko.  Your guard went up.  You stepped gingerly around them or got quickly out of their way.  No longer.  Now everyone’s a wacko talking a mile a minute into cyberspace.

But now, at 5:30 on a Thursday, I see very few talking wackos – rather, most are grim-lipped resolutes, each focusing on one thing – going home.

This mass of humanity reflects the melting pot that is New York City.  They are people of every color, every nationality, every shape and size, every age – each one with a different face, a different body, a different set of thoughts raging through their minds.  The energy is palpable outside my window.  No two are alike.  Not one is the twin, or even from the same mold, as another.  I’m amazed at God’s design skills in individualizing the human face.

Not one smiles.  All are far too intent on simply getting to that train, getting to that seat – getting home.  Though thousands pour by, not one runs into each other or even bumps.  Even ants in all their organization run into each other, climb over one another in their work.  But people focus on not touching, skillfully negotiating the pavement.  There are so many of them that they disregard the sidewalk and take to the street.  The frustrated drivers of vehicles sit, for once, helpless as the masses completely take over their thoroughfare.  The pedestrians win this round.

I cannot take my eyes off of these people.  Each one has his/her complex life story, his/her fascinating or not so fascinating drama going on.  Each one a history, a plot, an Oscar winning movie if written correctly.

And oh, their clothing!  It’s July so we can see more personality reflected than by the usual black coats of winter.  No clothing designer could pick out a thematic style here except to say “highly eclectic”.  This mass comes from every walk of life, from every economic stratum.  Some dress as office workers; they are the least of interest.  Some are the constructionists with their dirty jeans and sweaty t-shirts.  But most are folks that I wonder if ever have been in front of a mirror.  I need to ask them each: “Is this actually the way you’ve chosen to look today?”

The heavy women wear their clothes far too tight as if to show off their fat.  The number of overweight people seems absurd and a sad reflection of the downfall of America.  The number of women showing off their cleavage is astounding for a summer’s day.  If they saw me staring, they would be shocked at my piercing eyes and yet they seem to flaunt them babies as if to say, “See what I got?” or “I dare you to look.” – though at this time in the 5:30 rush, trying to get home, not one of them seems to carry ‘bosom awareness’.

Some stride, some shuffle, some saunter, some strut – none run.  Each intent on a train/bus station another block away.  Each walk speaks of a personality, the history of a triumphant day at work, a beaten down giving up, a hope of future home enticements, a weariness.  Each walk reflects a grim and concentrated desire to simply ‘get there’.

It makes me wonder about my own body posture just sitting there.  It makes me wonder just who is watching me in my private thoughts.  It makes me sit up a little straighter.

And then I eat the last chip; take the last spoonful of cherry/pomegranate yogurt.  It’s time I get on home myself, but the show’s just too fascinating.  If I leave now, just think of all I’ll miss.  So I sit and watch another couple of thousand rush by and spy on their lives and thoughts and secrets for another 10 minutes.

Two days later I find myself doing it again with the Missus as we sit eating more chips on a Manhattan Hudson River pier.  I can’t quite stare at the cleavage like before, but the experience is just as entertaining, just as fascinating.  Watching the people go by…

Where am I going with all this?  I have no earthly idea.  Probably nowhere.  Just a slice of life.

But it happened.  I was there.  Just thought you might like to know.

Even More Inspiration

• Gabriel, Come Blow Your Horn
• Even Now
• Hitting The Wall
• WFM Listening Room Series II – 3
• WFM Listening Room Series II – 2
• WFM Listening Room — Series II Opener

For the producers, Watchfire Music, the evening has already paid back its initial investment in superb sound system and other ancillaries and is moving rapidly towards a day when the shows will be webcast across the world.  A T1 line (the technology one needs for webcasting large content like music and video) has recently been installed in the venue and now we are just organizing the future towards the implementation of a permanent 3-camera shoot.

People have spoken to me about franchising the WFM Listening Room – the idea of having one in every large city in America, but my feeling is, “Why do this when through the webcast we can reach everyone in the world with a computer?”  I know, there’s nothing like live music and I’m a great appreciator of that fact, but the costs, at this point, of franchising are truly enormous.  Let’s let nature take its course and see how the webcasts, a much more economical approach, will work.

In the meantime, the webcasts are still a lot to get together and require still further investment into additional equipment and staffing.  We’re on our way, but not there yet.  The prognosis is good!

Jimmy Roberts, a fine composer with wit and great charm, is also an exceptional pianist and most clever with his offerings.  My favorite was his Pachebel Canon/Stephen Sondheim Send In The Clowns fusion concoction.  A brilliant blending of two well-known iconic musical offerings from different centuries, different composers and vastly different styles.  Jimmy is greatly loved by his audience and did a 10 song set of tuneful panache from his treasure trove of musical comedy.

We’ll have him back again and again.  He’s a joyful entertainer and an experienced pro – just the kind of entertainer we love to present.

Following Mr. Roberts was the perennial Julia Wade who started this great adventure with 4 concerts in the fall of 2010.  This was her second concert this spring in Series II and one wonders how she could get better, but she continues to do so.  Her renditions of Upon The Mountain, Woman On A Train and Julie Gold’s From A Distance are becoming definitive standards for her as she weaves her spell over the audience with her gift of voice and commitment to the material at hand.

If you have not yet caught her act, do yourself a favor – no matter what kind of music is your choice – catch this act.  Here’s a major force in the music world on the rise.  It’ll be fun to watch her blossom.

Next show and last of Series II is a repeat of the Jenny Burton/Chieli Minucci concert of several weeks ago.  But it won’t be a total repeat – much new material will be presented and Chieli is adding superb vocalist Philip Hamilton to his set for several songs.  Word has it also that Jenny is adding a new closer to the act that should rock the foundations of 583 Park.

So if ya’ saw it before, c’mon back – there’s more to hear.  If you’re new to either of these two performers, do yourself a favor – click here for reservations! Friday, May 27^th @ 8:00 PM.

Even More Inspiration

• Gabriel, Come Blow Your Horn
• What Is A Cantata?
• Inspirational Music – The Category
• Spiritual Scientist
• Wonderful
• Kickstarter.com Campaign – I

Why?  Like I said, the problem is complex.  File sharing does not help.  The fact that many now find their music free and accessible on the Internet at any time and immediately also is huge.  Sometimes I think people are just too busy to listen these days and when they can, there are a myriad free ways to do so and access what they’re looking for.

So we’re all looking at alternate ways of doing business.  At Watchfire Music we are shifting more towards being a digital sheet music company and producer of ancillary music events.  Hence the WFM Listening Room and the WFM Learning Lab.

It’s a changing time and we’re having to change with it – whether we like it or not.

These changes have required wholesale changes within the company.  Focus, leadership, staffing, direction and the day-to-day implementation of just about everything we do has come under careful scrutiny as we fight to survive in a world of evolution.

So what it has meant to me, personally, is really a doubling of the basic work ethic at a time when we were already maxed out and maxing out our wondrous staff.  On top of that, less sales equals less staff, so for many of us our work-load has doubled and tripled as staffing has diminished.  Sleep becomes a thing of the past, people are more stressed, more fearful about their jobs, and the management of company morale becomes just one more issue to contend with daily.

Fortunately, we here at WFM do this because we love it and deeply respect the endeavor of inspiring minds and hearts.  Also your daily letters and notes of gratitude and praise are always a great lift.  That’s one of the great things about show business – there’s often applause.  Sometimes the applause is enough.  Sometimes ya’ gotta eat.

So we plow on.  Oh we sell recorded music, but not nearly on the level that we once expected and not nearly as much as we did just 5 years ago.

I don’t believe it’s our product.  We get letters every day from inspired buyers gushing their gratitude for our inspired words and musical notes.  I will tell you that every CD that we sell has inspired yours truly at one time or another and I keep going back to this music for more.  That’s why, as Creative Director of WFM, I picked it up in the first place.  The music is Inspirational.

So we plow on.  I know I already said that, but it’s what we do.  We come into a mountain of work each day and just plow through it.  I’m sure you do too in your endeavors.

I get asked about once a week, “How do you manage to accomplish so much?”  The answer is simple: hard work.  Hard work and a great dose of creative fulfillment.  We all get great joy out of what we do.  We work together well in a happy environment.  We feed our staff great healthy snacks all day long and keep their tummies happy.  We praise them for every little thing they do that adds to the effectiveness of WFM and we all do the grunt work.  There are no prima donnas in this company.  We all work together and get it done.

I just love our staff.  Most of us are spread around the country and work from home.  We communicate on the phone, through Google lists and email and the separation occasionally has its drawbacks, but basically works well.

Most of all, we try to run our business in a non-emotional environment of mutual support.  We work with a lot of artistic people and world belief is that these kinds of people can be highly emotional.  It comes with the territory.  But we try to diffuse that emotion early, stay away from the stress and offer a happy, quiet workplace that is conducive to concentration.

We set goals daily and expect everyone to fulfill those goals and work along side of them to make sure that it happens effectively.  Fortunately we’re still a small company and can do that.  It’s gotta be tougher as you get bigger.  I look forward to that challenge.

In short, we’re getting’ it done. We fall behind.  We catch up.  We work overtime to do so.  Just like the rest of the world.  Every day we turn out something new – something a little different.  We get off on the creativity.  Just yesterday our site manager, Craig Wagner, designed a new and innovative flyer (entitled New! New! New!).  When we first saw it, we all stopped our work and celebrated his creativity in the kitchen, ate some of my toasted, buttered, salted cashews, drank some Pepsi and then went back to work.  A happy family.

We celebrated Craig and his infinite creativity.  He was one of us — even though he was down in South Carolina.  He was Watchfire.

Today we pull off Show #4 of Series II of the WFM Listening Room – Julia Wade and Jimmy Roberts.  We’re inches away from selling out!  Bigger crowds mean more work.  But this will be a show to remember.  Jimmy’s a real pro and Julia’s debuting her new title song from her next CD, Silk Road.  It’ll be a night to remember.

‘Scuse me, I gotta get to work…

Even More Inspiration

• Even Now
• Looking Back on 2010
• Kickstarter.com Campaign – I
• It’s A Small World And Gettin’ Smaller n’ Smaller
• Love Is The Reason For Living
• WFM Listening Room Series II – 2