Phil Tweed - 7k here we come!_

Last October, Jodi and I travelled to Nepal to take workshops, help young musicians, and raise money for orphanages. We were there for just under 2 weeks. We stopped in Bangkok on our way home for a short break.

More than 20000 children are sold into sexual slavery out of Nepal every year. Many of them are simply stolen off the streets.

Over 80% of Nepal's population survive on less than $2 US per day.

We can't do much, but we can do what we can. And music can play a role in giving back some dignity to the poorest of the poor.

05/07/08

Saturday morning. Been getting some great feedback about Julie Julie - I'm wondering whether to do some more promotions with it ... It would be great to do some 'awareness' of Motor Neurone Disease and use the song as a vehicle for that.

Trying to find time to record my new song, but have a lot of jobs on in the studio - as always!!!! Finished three jobs yesterday, finishing the master of Wild Rose's album shortly (14 heeeeuuuuuge trax!!), writing for JF's album, recording backing trax for DM and MG

15/06/08

Spent time last weekend with my good friend Julie. Julie is dying of Motor Neurone Disease. She is on life support and is only able to mouth words to communicate. She has five children and is a solo mum. she is one of the bravest people I have ever had the privilege to know.

I have written a song for her, after we have played it to her, I will post it here on SAB

7/04/08

Mastered the Vegas Dragons album with Oscar at 301 on Friday - what a huge huge huge sound .... v happy chappy :) Got caught in traffic leaving sydney, but that wasn't a bad thing, 'cos Brian and I listened to most of the album whilst stuck in the car! (Very loudly too)

Can't wait now for my piano vocal album to arrive back from the duplicators - album launch set for May 2nd with band - cool!

2/04/08

Yesterday I got the final tracks for the new Vegas Dragons album off to the mixer - David Hemming. Wow, what a massive project!

I'll be putting up some new tracks here soon from my just about to be released piano vocal album - stay tuned

24/2/08

Hey there, well today I received the first draft mix of Vegas Dragons new album ,and it sounds - incredible. David has done such a good job of the mix. I'm convinced of his quality as a mixer, and am thinking that he will do a great job of my SAB album once it is tracked.

I've also seen the first drafts of the album cover for my piano vocal album. I can't wait for it to be released - the cover doesn't go for the photo look, but it's more an 'art deco' look - with a very modern look to it - I really like it. The album will be released ASAP!!!! I'm really looking forward to getting it into the hands of those who have already bought it, and also getting a couple of the tracks on rotation at SAB.

My only concern is that the album I will be recording with SAB will be a band album - jazz funk pop - and not the piano vocal stuff. So I don't know if it's a good idea or not to put solo piano and vocal tracks up there.

Just read Brians blog on the Vegas Dragons page - what an amazing guy - he doesn't seem to tire at all !!!! I spoke to him earlier tonight, and he was on cloud nine over the sound of the first mix. I also spoke to David Hemmings, the guy that did the mixing, and he is really a perfectionist, like me :) I've sent thru the mix to the other band memebers to get their feedback.

Tomorrow I'm  doing further preparation for the the Vegas Dragons mix - I've got another 11 tracks to finalise and get ready - and each track takes a good 4-5 hours. I'm really glad we've finished all the lead vocals, just got to get Joyce and Celine's vocal on it, and then tracking is basically complete, except for my final backing vocals and keyboards.

I'm at $5500 on SAB, and to be honest it's frustrating to see it moving so slowly - I wish it would all come easily ... oh well, I know it will happen someday soon ...

I'm planning for a trip to the US sometime this year to promote my new piano/vocal album. I'm also planning another trip to Nepal to continue working with the orphanage there.

12/12/07

I am currently snowed under with preparations for carols events! This Sunday I am musical director for Speers Point Carols, in front of an expected crowd of 30 000, the following Friday I am doing another carols with an expected crowd of 3 000. Because I am so full on with rehearsals and everything, it means I am unable to do much at all on this page.

Next week we are recording drums for Vegas Dragons at Sony BMG studios in Sydney with legendary engineer Braddon Williams! Can't wait .. :)

27/11/07

Reached $5000 on the 17th of November - Hooooraaayyy!!!!

Just uploaded a vid of our trip to Nepal onto you tube - you can view it here

8/11/07

Happy birthday 2 me! We arrived back in Australia yesterday after a fantastic trip away - now I'm back and motivated!

It was beautiful to come back and see all my children and family again.

3/11/07

We finished up our workshops - had a fantastic time! The kids were beautiful, they loved having us there, and sang us two songs and all gave us hugs when we left. We are planning on coming back next year to continue the work here. Bharat tells us there will be many more interested people for next year, and our meeting in Pokhara will have probably double the number come (800+). He wants to run another meeting similar in Kathmandu as well.

We've flown in to Bangkok, and this is the first time I've been able to spend any decent time on the net - hence the delay in the update. It really is a lifechanging experience to come out of your comfort zone as a musician and give into other people's lives. As I said earlier, so often we as songwriters, musicans and recording artists are SO self absorbed in our career and our music, and in trying to get people to 'listen' to us. Well, it's important to me that I make a difference now, and not put off until tomorrow what I can do today. I hope others are inspired by what we have done, and make the choice to invest in the lives of the next generation, whether it be in your own country, or in a poor country like Nepal.

Thanks again so much to everybody for your messages of support, as well as for those who jumped on board to believe in the time when I was away.

29/10/07

Had my first day of music workshops We went non stop from 10 am til 2pm. There were about 25-30 young people attending. Most of them had very basic skills, and so I spent most of my time showing them how to play chords, play together as a band, working on dynamics, how to simply start and end together etc. Then I worked with some vocalists to help them sing more effectively. They were really lovely, and keen to learn as much as they could. It really is a pleasure to be here.

28/10/07

Hi folks - WOW - what an eventful day on Thursday! We ended up driving for 6 hours to get to a town near Pokhara - the scenery was unbelievable - and after every turn it seemed to never end - to be honest, after a few hours you grew used to it! The quality of the road was .... 'inconsistent' :) - I think the driver reached a maximum speed of 75 kph, but to be honest, the average speed was about 25-30. We reached our destination, then were guest speakers at a meeting that lasted about four hours - there were about 400 people there. In Nepal, especially in the areas outside the cities, the average person doesn't have a lot to do, so when a visitor from overseas comes, it's a pretty big deal - they want to keep going!

We had a beautiful meal there (that's what the fundraising concert was for in Australia - to pay for that meal) and then we left to go back to Kathmandu - it took us 5 hours to make the return journey.

Friday we were exhausted, so we rested for much of the day, and had dinner with our hosts at the orphanage in Bal Kumari, Patan. We have been doing lots of eating here, and much 'experimenting' with local foods.

Saturday we were asked to come and speak at a church service, held at the orphanage - here in Nepal, an average church service lasts around 3 hours, they spend a lot of their time singing songs. They all sing in unison, and they had native nepali drums and tambourines, along with a drum kit (very strong in the rhythm section!) and one acoustic guitar - which was not amplified - so the whole group tends to start in key, and then when the song gets too high, they tend to all come down a bit gradually, because noone could hear the guitar. But really, it didn't matter, because there is such a sense of 'togetherness' when a whole community of people are singing together.

Sunday (today) we drove with our host Bharat up the mountains to see a school that his charity organisation has sponsored. Even though his organisation is a christian one, they support a hindu run school in this particular village a few kilometeres from Bhaktapur. I think it's fantastic that the concept of helping those in need can transcend religious boundaries. Then we drove to the other side of Bhaktapur to see a block of land they have purchased. Currently they pay very high rent on the building in Patan, and their plan is to build a new house for the orphans, as well as a medical clinic, school and church building.

Tomorrow I begin the music workshops - they last for three days, and then we fly to Bangkok on Thursday for a few days to recuperate!

24/10/07

Jodi and I flew to Nepal on Sunday - after resting initially and fighting off jetlag - we are now into our itinerary for the duration of our stay here. Today we made our first visit to the orphanage at Bal Kumari and spent some time with the people who run the orphanage as well as the 34 children at the home. Most of these children come from the mountain areas, and were beautiful - incredibly well behaved and polite. They all sang songs for us when we arrived, and we played some games with them. When we left we gave them all hugs, which was very moving.

Tomorrow we leave Kathmandu at 5am and drive four hours (about) to Pokhara for a conference where we are guest speakers, then we drive back. Friday we go back to the orphanage. Saturday and Sunday we will be holding some more meetings at churches. Then Monday Tuesday and Wednesday, we will be holding music workshops with a large group of the young people of Nepal.

Thanks to those who have sent messages - I really appreciate it!

17/10/07

Worked very late with Brian last night - almost finished pre production on Vegas Dragons SAB album - it's sounding incredible - can't wait to rehearse it with the band... :0)

Really looking forward to going to Nepal on Sunday

12/10/07

Jodi and I head off to Nepal on Sunday the 21st of October to take workshops, help young musicians, and raise money for orphanages.

More than 20000 children are sold into sexual slavery out of Nepal every year. Many of them are simply stolen off the streets.

Over 80% of Nepal's population survive on less than $2 US per day.

We can't do much, but we can do what we can. And music can play a role in giving back some dignity to the poorest of the poor.

17/09/07

I'm going to see Steely Dan in concert on Tuesday with Brian and another friend - Jay. Can't wait! This is the first time they have ever played in Australia. Last night I was driving to my gig past Bimbadgen Estate where they were playing and I stopped the car on the road and listened to the last few bars of "Green Earrings" - Cool, great brass lines at the end, note perfect as to the original recordings.

Have booked in studio time with Brian for the SAB album, and also Tiff has booked in to record another original song. It is fun working with these two again - I just gotta make sure I have the coffee plunger and the soy milk for the prima donna! :)

Had another seven people this weekend give me their email address because they want to know when I'm going to have my piano vocal album out. I really need to get onto finishing that off. Will schedule one night every week till it's done.

5/9/07

Spent some time this morning getting the video of my performance of Cascade at the Australian Songwriting Awards ready to put onto you tube. It's up there now in the video section.

A friend told me this photo (on artist page) makes me look goofy! - I'll look at changing that as well - I wouldn't want anyone to think I'm goofy - maybe mickey or donald ... *very poor attempt at humour*

Liaising with industry professionals re Vegas Dragons album - settled on mixer, getting commitments from other contacts re studio hire, ongoing support and feedback on the project.

4/9/07

Hi folks - thought I should take the time to start my blog!

I have an artist newsletter - you can check out the latest one at http://www.stylemusic.com.au/Phil/PTweedNewsletterAug07.pdf

Yesterday I had fun with Tiff in the studio recording the vocals for Stronger - the collaboration she has done with Dandelium.

Today I have been Sellabanding for awhile, but need to catch up on some studio clients, then if I get a chance, I'll do some more work on my piano vocal album. I'm doing a latin version of Nature Boy that has been pretty challenging - but all I need to do now is record the vocal.

I play solo piano/vocal every Saturday Night at the Grand Mercure, Hunter Valley Gardens, Pokolbin, Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia. If you're in the area, come and join me and make sure you introduce yourself!

I've just started playing every Thursday night at Harrigans Irish pub, Pokolbin - for their New Orleans piano bar.

Cheers, Phil