Peace,

Lex 

I had received an email this summer from a friend telling me about a contest in Macon GA. The contest was created by the Gateway  Macon Initiative. You were to submit 3 songs, with one being about Macon, GA and it’s musical heritage, to be utilized to educate and attract visitors to Macon as a music destination. I got a little twinge when I read it, and thought, “I can’t do that, it would be so from my head”…. but while in Chicago performing, I woke up one morning, and the song just fell through me, like mist from the sky!!! So with a little time and few tweaks…… through my heart I submitted a song called “Sweet As A Peach”.

Since I moved to GA, I’ve been trying to learn everything I could about music from this region, and how it transformed music in general. In Feb, 2010 I went to an Otis Redding Tribute at UGA, and actually wrote a blog about the magical event. Click here if you want to read.  Over the past few years I’ve visited Macon several times specifically to learn about all of the heritage that exists there.

So I found out on Wednesday evening that I made it as one of the five finalists for this contest…… and one of the coolest things is that they are announcing the winner at Otis Reddings 70th birthday celebration. To me, that is just the icing on this incredible cake. If I win, it would be unimaginable because I would get to have the 3 songs produced by a super  two time grammy nominated producer named Steve Moretti, and mastered into a three-song EP (extended play mini album), an electronic press kit (EPK), and a professional music video of one of the three songs all worth 25,000. But most of all it would happen in this beautiful small town that has taught me so much about music.

Regardless how the competition finishes…… I am just real thankful to be recognized, through this leap of faith journey through the world of rock and roll!!! Being an artist is hard work, but these types of things remind you that the Universe has reasons for each of the dot’s that it reveals.

If you are on facebook and get a chance, go to their page and like them https://www.facebook.com/GatewayMacon. They are continually adding really innovative contests that are truly rewarding creative endeavors!!!

On a last note…… I just booked a show in Chapel Hill North Carolina. I will be singing on the patio from 6:30-8:30pm October 22 at a restaurant called Tarantini’s ….. with a merchandise show there on Sunday the 23rd. Also I am starting to book house concerts, so if interested please contact me. I have one out of town September 16th….. Finally I am hitting the road….. and I love every second of it!!! HAPPY September!!!

Peace,
Lex

On my home page is a new video I recently made in my art studio. I LOVE making music videos, so I will be working hard on that over the coming months. Hope you enjoy it.

Lastly, if you get a chance, check out my new store page. So excited to finally be able to share this with you. I have worked endlessly creating this website in a way I can communicate all that flows through this head of mine. I hope you have fun checking it out, and thank you so much for stopping by!!!

I am really excited because I have always wanted to sing in my home town, and the Midwest in general.  I grew up in Indianapolis and think I am one of the luckiest people in the world to have grown up in such a wonderful town.  I was fortunate enough to ride my bike in corn fields…. And stand on Charles Chip cans, and sing songs as LOUD as I could.

When I was little, my very best friend in the world was a boy named Tommy.  We went to preschool together, and his mom became a second mother to me!!!   Tommy and I would take all the pillows off their couch, and stack them one at a time,  to see who could jump the highest before they all fell down……or one of us broke something :0)    We would sit on the floor of the play room and eat split pea soup…….. Bang on their piano…….  And if we were lucky enough, we would sneak outside and watch the neighbors taking off in their hot air balloon.   I’m not kidding either….  The neighbors really had a hot air balloon,  but they never took me up!!!  :0(

At the end of first grade I got kicked out of the church school for the following year, because I couldn’t read ,  and those surrounding believed it would be impossible to teach me….  So off to my neighborhood school I went.  I never had so much fun in my life.  As we got older and into high school, the boys from my grade school created a band…..  and they were good….  Actually better than good.  They were INCREDIBLE!!!  The lead singer was a boy named Thomas Chang.  Thomas Chang could sing U2 almost as well as Bono….  And I just had so much admiration for all of them.  Their band was called “The Chosen Few”.  Secretly I wrote songs, and would always think it would be so cool to sing with them……  but was way to shy about it,  to even approach them.

Well on July 9^th, I am singing in Indianapolis…..  and Thomas Chang, and Matt Maher of the “Chosen Few” will be accompanying me,  and one of my dearest and oldest friends in the world “Tommy Glasel” will be playing on the same bill with me on a stage, rather than a potato chip can, with his band “19clark25″.  I was hoping I would return home as an opener for Tom Petty and he would teach me how to fly, But unfortunately that did not happen soooo…..  I decided to spread my wings ALONE, and am praying for a perfect landing, surrounded by faces I haven’t seen in over 20 years :0)……  The saying God doesn’t always give you what you want, but he does always give you what you need,  rings so true with this occasion….  Actually I never knew I needed this much……. To share my music for the FIRST time with friends who have known me my whole life, while being accompanied by 2 musicians I have admired as much as any rockstars in that era of teenage angst….  And then to have my second mother in the audience to HONOR, and to have my friend “Tommy”on the same bill, is just a gift I would have never imagined I’d receive.  I am just so very thankful.   And to top it all off… my OLDdest OLDEST friend (mom’s were dear friends and pregnant with us, same general due date, accept for I busted out 6 weeks early :0)) is having a merchandise show for me 2 nights before I sing.

Just so excited, and THANKS so much for dropping by….  And can’t wait to write about the evening!!!  This musical journey is a lot like a giant cake…..  I keep adding layers, and I’m just hoping that when it comes time for icing….  Their will be enough to cover it all…..  I certainly enjoy sharing the recipe of each layer ,with each and every one of you!!! :0D

Peace,

Lexers

I am a big believer that the Universe sends messages, if you pay attention…..  so this one really got my mind going.  After pondering the situation, I came to believe it was a sign that I needed to quit seeing with my eyes, and start using my other senses to guide me through situations…………while remembering that to truly see the truth, you have to take your desires out of the equation…  The desires are what muddy everything up, and get you into the real trouble.

I wondered what the Universe wanted me to see, that I was so blind too, that it felt the need to send over 30 people whacking my car…  and leaving me with an image stuck in my head, that made me feel as if my life were a Harry Potter movie.   Then……….. BIG things started happening.  All of the sudden I started to see EVERYTHING, without the rose colored glasses, in a GIANT way.  My vision became more intense than it has ever been!!!  I started seeing sides to others that I never even imagined possible…….  People whom I had had great respect for……..  Turned out to be people I would be happy if I’de never known….  I had been so focused on what I was trying to accomplish, that I became completely blind to listening to what the Universe(God) had to offer in  guiding me to the placement of my goals!!!  I spent the summer working harder than I ever worked before…..  getting about 4-5 hours of sleep a night…..  only to end up running on empty, and losing my ability to see with things other than my eyes!!!

Life is such a trippy place.  At the snap of a finger everything can change……  You can see something or someone in a completely different light, when you change your VISION.  I have so much respect for blind people, and the struggles they must work through everyday of their life.  The fact that I can see……  and still at times can be so blind to something obvious,  really makes me just in aww of what REAL vision is all about!!!   The world is so full of deception, and it takes great skill to SEE IT, UNDERSTAND it, without BECOMING it…… while PROTECTING yourself from it,  and maintaining the ability to live life with an open heart!!!

I am humbled to know that the Universe sends us all messages everyday, such as this…..  We just have to listen, and see with more than our eyes.

Thanks for reading my blog……  I wish for you, and also will wish for me,  that we  learn how to see with more than our eyes……. Taking the desires out of the equation, so the water is beautiful, clear, and pure……  without anything to muddy it up!!!

Peace To You,

Lex

Attached is a link to an organization that helps physically blind people see…….  Check it out…..  It’s a super organization!!! An Eye Opener In India – Unite For Sight

I Love Mother’s Day!!!  I LOVE being a mom….  and I LOVE my MOM!!! I think the best part of being a mom, is celebrating with your kids, that everyday is an opportunity to learn, love, live, and just cherish this adventure of life…..  and when things get difficult, to teach your children there are wonderful possibilities that always exist beyond that rough moment.  I just want my children to dare to dream, believe in themselves, and follow their calling!!!  I made the above video to celebrate my MOM!!!  My mom and I are real different, which always leads to lots of interesting situations…..  but one thing that is the same, is our ability to dream, and see possibilities, and the love we have for each other. I couldn’t have asked the Universe to have blessed me with a better teacher!!! :0)  Feel Free to copy the attached link, and send it to your mom.  Make sure you do SOMETHING for that special woman….. Cause On Mother’s Day…..  You need to make sure you ROCK Your MAMMA’s World!!!  Sending you giant hugs all over the UNIVERSE!!!

Peace To You,

Big Mamma

On another note…..  Many of you know, one of my  greatest passions is education and children.  I was asked last week to sing with a new band for a benefit this weekend called “Corporate Battle Of The Bands”  It is an event which will raise money for “A School Bell Rings”….  This event in particular will raise funds for the children of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.  I am just so honored and thrilled to participate.  So honored that I am singing some cover tunes that I would normally not do…..  but for a cause like this…..  What the heck.  Children are WORTH it!!!  They are our FUTURE!!!

Check out the link and come to the show if you can.  It will be an incredible evening!

http://www.aschoolbellrings.org/events.html

Hope You Have A SUPER weekend and to all the Mother’s Of the world…….  HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!

Peace To You,

Big Mamma

With all these scary , and crazy things that happened to me in the sea, one experience sticks out the most. When I was 9 and in sailing school……  I loved spending time in my sunfish alone.  I would just sing to the fish and the birds and feel the wind.  One day I felt this INCREDIBLE peace come over me.  All my friends jumped in the lake to swim, but I just stared at the water,  and felt myself melt into some kind of ecstasy.  In my life, I had never felt a peace like this, and to this day I have not experienced it again.  The sun just melted me.  The next thing I knew, the instructors were carrying me to the club house.  They laid me down on a lawn chair and covered me in Ice.  Turns out I had a Heat stroke.  My temp was over 105……

This experience really taught me that just because something FEELS really good, doesn’t mean it’s good for you at all(The Heat)….  And that  something that FEELS bad, might actually be good for you(Ice)….  This lesson is one of the most frustrating paradoxes in my life.  I think too much…..  and this is the  lesson I am still trying to figure out. Honestly makes me really irritated.  But then again………  The heat would have been fine in moderation, and there would not have even been ice in the equation……… But the problem was, I didn’t know I was over doing it, until the ice woke me……..  See what I mean?  ….. Lastly……  I must honestly tell you, that I am not upset that I experienced the stroke, because the peace was so incredible.  I would rather feel that experience, than never feel any of it at all, but I can say that, only because I ended up not hurt….. My head is starting to swirl.  When I figure out this lesson decisively…..  I’ll write another blog or song…. but until then…… I wish you JUST the right amount of sunshine and warmth……  One that WON’T and CAN’T hurt you…. And I’ll wish the same for myself!!!  :0)   Thanks for visiting……. and I hope you enjoyed my 3 part blog about The Sea and I….. and what it has taught me! :0).

Peace To You,

Lex