The first set of tour stops are in!!

The booking agent for my tour informed me today that our tickets are purchased. I am so excited!! I put the confirmed stops on my calendar today. You can check it out. I thought we were going to be in Sicily. I had the wrong island, y’all!! It’s Sardinia. Anyway, we do get to go to Switzerland – up in the mountains. Someone told me that I should pick up a Swiss watch while I’m there. Cute!

Today was my last day holding piano lessons. I had been providing piano lessons since I left my corporate job in 2004. It’s been wonderful watching these students grow and learn. They all pushed me to grow and get better as well. I’ve learned to sight-read – something I’ve always struggled with. I’m still not fluid like I want to be but I am sooo much better than I was.

Since I’m going to be out of the country for the last part of December, I’m working feverishly on getting all of the end-of-the-year stuff done at church. We have a Christmas production to do – but I won’t be here to direct it. So, I’ve got to make sure everything is set before I leave. But I have to say… I have some of the best ministry leaders in the world at Gethsemane. These young people are on top of things. I am so blessed to know that things will flow smoothly while I’m gone. And the praise team is tearing it up!

Lately, the songwriter in me has come alive. I get to spend some concentrated time tomorrow finishing some songs I’m working on. I can’t wait to record them and share them with you. I may do a limited release of the songs in demo version so you can hear them and tell me what you think. Let me know if you’d be interested in a sneak peak.

Arrivederci!

Michael

I’m headed back to the studio! Today I’m mixing a few tracks that I produced for a new artist names Irreka. Her project will be coming out early 2008. Working with her has been a wonderful learning experience for me. When I produced my first solo project, Worship Of A Redeemed Man, it was my first time producing a full project. Using God’s wisdom, I surrounded myself with people that understood the process and who would keep me on course. With their counsel, things came out pretty well.

Advice for independent artists… We are not all gifted to produce music. Many of us can create the music, but our music would be better prepared if we had someone else produce us who has the experience and the gift for production. Don’t let your music suffer because of your inexperience or your pride. Even if you feel you do have the gift to produce yourself, surround yourself with people that have even more experience and expertise that yourself; people that won’t mind telling you the truth about your production; people that won’t feel obligated to appease your ego. Those are the people that I surrounded myself with and they guided me to a successful product.

So, I am getting ready for Italy. This is very exciting. The promoter wants a piano, acoustic tour so I can’t take my band. I can, however, bring 5 singers. So, I’m taking my four background singers and my drummer – who happens to be a great singer as well. The blend is wonderful! Next week I’ll be finalizing the set list and the arrangements. We fly out on the 15^th. Our scheduled return is December 31^st. I’m hoping we get back in time for New Years Eve service.

Look out for blogs much more often. You will be hearing from me a lot more. If you ever want to communicate with me, feel free to email me at hayahsounds@cox.net. I’d love to hear from you. If you have any Italy stories or production stories to share, please email me. I’d love to hear what you have to say.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday. It’s time to get ready for Christmas. Happy Birthday, Jesus!!