Absence Makes The (Blogging) Heart Grow Fonder

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Corey Stewart

Hi everybody,

I’ve been away from you for a little while and guess what, I’ve missed you.

Life has been very busy for me of late and I’ve been taking the time off from blogging to reassess a big part of my life as well as take up a wonderful opportunity.

First of all the reassessment…

You might have seen me post from time to time about how I’ve been unwell of late. Well, over the last four weeks I had again succumbed to a nasty flu which had knocked me about but the scary thing about it this time around was how it affected me both personally and professionally.

Personally because I started getting migraine headaches for the first time in many years (the pain being so intense I was wanting to throw up) and professionally because it’s been really affecting my ability to play gigs, especially with my singing voice plus, the way I go about my business.

There was only one thing I needed to do… Reassess the state of my health. The latest flu attack was the straw that broke the camels back and something had to be done.

RIGHT NOW!

I realised that my health was non-existent. I had let myself go to such an extent that I was the unhealthiest and heaviest I’ve ever been and this was affecting everything else in my life.

I couldn’t go on doing this to myself any longer.

As of three weeks ago I started making some changes in my life. Drinking more water, cutting out breads, pastas, take aways and cutting down on coffee.

I’ve also been making time to exercise regularly, cooking at home every night and joining up with the Kate Morgan weight loss program for some extra help and accountability and I’ve already lost 5 kilos and I feel much better physically and mentally.

I’m not going to be one of those people who go on and on about it but it’s amazing what happens when you start to notice the positive changes.

Anyway, now for the opportunity…

A couple of weeks ago I started moving my home office out and relocating to some office space at Pro Advanced Media located at 88 Gibson Street in Bowden. The reason for this is that now that I’ve tried working at home and away from home I now know which I prefer.

I’ve known Alec who runs Pro Advanced Media for a fair while now and we’ve discussed from time to time the possibility of doing some work together and a couple of months ago the time was right to get more serious with the discussions.

I wanted to move into an office space and Alec had some office space spare so as of Monday July 22nd I now run my affairs from a new location.

The space at home has now been converted into a dedicated home recording studio which I finished tidying up and reorganising a couple of days ago.

Now that I’m feeling much better and much more organised, I’m ready to blog again.

The only thing left to say now is… Hello world I’m back, did you miss me? I certainly missed you.

Peace,

Corey

Gig Alert: SCALA Songwriters Showcase – July 28th, 2011

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Corey Stewart

Today I’m preparing for my first originals gig in a couple of months.

It’s a gig I organise for SCALA (Songwriters, Composers and Lyricists Association) showcasing songwriters who perform through my Open Mic Network and it happens tonight. It’s a great way to keep my songwriting chops up to speed.

As a musician who makes a living playing other peoples music, playing my own music is a real breath of fresh air for me. Even though I always put my own individual spin on the covers that I play, the greatest artistic satisfaction I get as a musician is through performing my own songs in front of a crowd that want to be there.

If you’re in the area the gig is at the Higher Ground Arts Cafe located at Light Square in Adelaide and the night kicks off between 8pm and 8:30pm finishing at around 11pm.

I’ll be sharing the stage with 3 other talented songwriters Bryan Foley, Martin Mount and Steven Fotineas with entry being $5 waged, $4 concession and $3 for SCALA members.

It’s going to be a great night so wish me luck.

Peace,

Corey

CS Gigs: W/E Sunday July 31st, 2011

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Corey Stewart

Here are the gigs that I’m doing for the week ending Sunday July 31st, 2011

Make sure you mark them in your diary in BOLD RED PEN

Wed 27 – Open Mic @ The Dan (8pm – midnight)
Thu 28 – SCALA Songwriters Showcase (8pm – 11pm)
Fri 29 – Bridgewater Inn (8pm – 11pm)

For more information please go to my gigs page.

Hope to see you there,

Corey

CS Gigs: W/E Sunday July 24th, 2011

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Corey Stewart

Here are the gigs that I’m doing for the week ending Sunday July 24th, 2011

Make sure you mark them in your diary in BOLD RED PEN.

Wed 20 – Open Mic @ The Dan (8pm – Midnight)
Fri 22 – Hotel Royal (7:30pm – 10:30pm)
Sun 24 – Bridgewater Inn (1pm – 4pm)

For more information please go to my gigs page.

Hope to see you there,

Corey

The Second Time Around – Song Video

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Corey Stewart

As promised here is the video presentation used at the CD launch of “The Second Time Around” a song written by myself, Heather Frahn and members of the Community Re-Entry Program at Flinders University as outlined in a previous post.

Here it is for you to enjoy.

The Second Time Around – written by CRP members, Heather Frahn & Corey Stewart

Here is some more information about the Musical Brainwaves project from the YouTube page…

Musical Brainwaves was a group song-writing project with members from the Community Re-Entry Program at Flinders University in 2011. Collaborating with songwriters Heather Frahn and Corey Stewart the members contributed their own song lyrics, voices and artwork expressing positive viewpoints about their lives.

The creation of the song “The Second Time Around” brought much celebration of the things that inspire life and wellbeing.

CRP Members: Ben Howell, Cherrie Almond, Ron Brooks, Bernadette Circtzki, Joelene Schmerl, Adam Houston, Ralph Kloss, Zeke Langsford, Peter Coulter, Gary Irons, John Weston, Peter Guidera, Joanne King, Andrew King, Jayne Linke, Darryl Thompson, Cele Richardson, Meg Bartel, Luna Aboulhosn, Janma Gazmere, Jasmine Grace, Matthew Thomas, Karina Wight, Margaret Ellis, Christiana Wu, Louisa Schettini

Musical Brain Waves was facilitated by Corey Stewart and Heather Frahn, with visual art assistance from Jasmine Grace. Recording and Music Production by Corey Stewart and Heather Frahn © 2011.

With thanks to Charmaine Mahar, Jaime Gardner and Roger Rees for their support for this project.

Let me know what you think.

Peace,

Corey

CS Gigs: W/E Sunday July 17th, 2011

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Corey Stewart

Here are the gigs that I’m doing for the week ending Sunday July 17th, 2011

Make sure you mark them in your diary with a BOLD RED PEN.

Wed 13 – Open Mic @ The Dan
Fri 15 – Bridgewater Inn

Hope to see you there,

Corey

Musical Brainwaves – The Finished Song

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Corey Stewart

In previous posts “My Involvement With Musical Brainwaves” and “Musical Brainwaves – Using The Home Recording Studio” you would’ve read about my involvement in this 6 week Songwriting Project held in conjunction with Flinder University and its Community Re-entry Program.

Well, last Friday was the CD launch party of the song “The Second Time Around” written by Heather Frahn, members of the Community Re-Entry Program and myself.

Held at Flinders Uni, it was a very simple affair with about 50 people ranging from members of the project, their carers and Flinders Uni staff and students in attendance.

After an introduction from the Co-ordinator of the Community Re-entry Program it was our turn to give an outline of what we had been doing for the last 6 weeks (well Heather did most of the talking).

Once we finished Heather put on a video collage she made out of all the photos and images taken during the project with the finished song as its soundtrack. Well, there was not a dry eye in the room, it was very powerful stuff. it went down so well Heather was asked to run the video again.

The launch was a great success.

Heather and I during one of our recording sessions

While I was watching the video I was feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and cold shivers running down my spine. This hardly ever happens to me at all but last Friday I was deeply touched, moved and inspired by the event.

I realised that over the past 6 weeks I was provided with proof that music can still matter and that it can still make a profound difference in people’s lives.

I was immensely proud of what we had all achieved with the writing of the song and especially how the finished product sounds as it was totally recorded at home.

Here is the finished product for you to enjoy.

The Second Time Around

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Once I get hold of Heather’s video montage of the song I’ll post it up here.

You have to see it to believe it.

Peace,

Corey

Creating Ambient Music

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Corey Stewart

Relaxation music, meditation music, ambient music…

Call it whatever you like, I’ve always wanted to create, record and perform this type of music ever since my ears heard Brian Eno’s “Music For Airports” and “Music For Films”.

For a start I love Brian Eno and anything he touches however, I was always entranced by his notion that music could be created specifically for the background but, it was artistic at the same time.

A muzak free zone of beautifully blended ambience in which you can say goodbye to the Kenny G inspired Soprano Sax melodies.

I recently completed a project for Pam Mitchell, recording and doing the graphics for a series of five Guided Meditation CD’s. It was a lot of fun and it gave me the opportunity to really muck around in my home recording studio composing some ambient music of my own starting from scratch.

I also did all of the CD artwork as well which turned out pretty well if I say so myself.

Below are some music samples. It’s not Brian Eno, but it’s a start…

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