http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/index.php Music, songwriting, sailing, personal stuff en brent@jbcmusic.com Copyright 2012 2012-05-04T03:05:28+00:00 http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/free_sheet_music_on_scribd.com/ http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/free_sheet_music_on_scribd.com/#When:03:05:28Z Ya just missed “Cry Unto Me.” I’ve had the score for “Cry Unto Me” available FREE for awhile on Scribd.com.  Sorry, though, I intended it to be temporary since it’s normally for sale on this website, so I’ve taken in down now.  I also intended to replace it with another free sample, only to find that Scribd won’t accept password-encrypted PDF’s, which all my sheet music is (set to view, print, etc, but they can’t be changed), except “Cry Unto Me” seemed to have slipped through unprotected.  So I have to get on another computer that has Acrobat on it and unprotect anything I want to upload to Scribd.  Since that would be a Windows computer and I don’t feel like leaving my Mac to deal with the frustration of Windows tonight, that probably ain’t gonna happen for a few nights.  So, yes, I do intend to post more on Scribd occasionally - look for it…“real soon now” - but not tonight. Songwriting, Sheet music, lyrics, etc. 2012-05-04T03:05:28+00:00 http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/in_the_water/ http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/in_the_water/#When:02:44:07Z Blackwatch #38 launched! Finally got the Blackwatch in the water Sunday before last, mast up, but it got too late to do much rigging.  Did some basic mast tuning the next Saturday, but the wind was coming over the breakwater at 25-30 mph, so we couldn’t raise the sails and finish up the rigging.  I have to go or send somebody up the mast for a couple of jobs (we’ll probably use a bosun’s chair on the the marina’s mast hoist instead of actually going up the mast).  Pictures posted on Picasa. Sailing 2012-05-04T02:44:07+00:00 http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/free_sheet_music_-cry_unto_me/ http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/free_sheet_music_-cry_unto_me/#When:01:30:44Z Based on Hosea 2:21-23 I’ve made the sheet music for “Cry Unto Me” temporarily available FREE on Scribd.com.  This is the seminal work of my song-writing - the first thing I ever formally copyrighted, and still one of best and one of my favorites.  Let me know what you think.  If you like it, you can come back here and help me out by buying off this website.  The CCLI number is 4443971 if you use it in a church subscribed to CCLI. Songwriting, Sheet music, lyrics, etc. 2012-03-12T01:30:44+00:00 http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/shoestring_piano_repairs/ http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/shoestring_piano_repairs/#When:04:20:31Z Some shoestring and tacky glue, and my piano’s back in play. As much as I love my Yamaha electric keyboards, there’s still no substitute for sitting down at a nice acoustic piano when that’s what you’re in the mood for.  My living room acoustic’s been out of commission for a couple of weeks.  This is the piano I wrote about in My Piano Savior - still plays, still sounds great. Until something breaks.  Rose Hale fixed a lot of the problems some twenty years ago by replacing the little plastic knees that had grown brittle over time, but now other things inside are well past their prime.  The D below middle C broke first - the action has these cloth ribbons connectors that let the lower part act as a counter-weight for the upper hammer part.  With the strips intact, the hammer rebounds sharply off the strings; with them broken, the hammer goes clunk! against the strings and sticks.  After 50? 60? years, not sure how old this piano is, the cloth is brittle and breaks pretty easily.  So I was poking around underneath the D key and broke the E-flat next to it.  This has happened before - I’ve fixed 5 or 6 keys broken like this before, I just couldn’t remember how I had done it.  Rose replaced a few of them, and I seem to remember actually sewing the cloth strips together on a couple of them, but I don’t see how I ever got my big hands in there to do that.  Then I saw a bit of string tied on one of the keys - aha!  Once I saw how I fixed that one, these two were a piece of cake.  Just took two pieces of shoestring, some clever close-quarters knot-tying, a bit of tacky glue to hold the knots in place, and voila!  The acoustic’s back in business.  Songwriting 2012-02-23T04:20:31+00:00 http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/feb_12th_-_ya_missed_it/ http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/feb_12th_-_ya_missed_it/#When:03:56:07Z Great Warehouse Live show Feb 12th The Feb 12th Afton show at Warehouse Live went great - except - YOU missed it!  Angela from work and her friend showed up, Deb was there as both “roadie” and “groupie,” and everyone else was there to see the other bands.  My part went great, much better sound-man than the last time I played there, I was pretty much in the groove, and I got several compliments on both my songwriting and performance from the Warehouse staff, other performers, and fans.  Both the other performers and the crowd were generally better than the last time, too, though the sheer volume was a bit overblown for a couple of the bands.  Only problem with Afton is, they expect you to make advance ticket sales, which didn’t happen this time (a few who did buy tickets, though, didn’t make it in the end).  So I’ve told Afton I won’t do any more downtown Houston club gigs.  Although Afton puts on an “all-ages” show with a wide variety of music, I think a lot of people I know have looked at the Warehouse Live website calendar populated mostly with heavy metal, grunge, screamers, rap and hip-hop, and just don’t feel comfortable with that kind of venue.  The other downtown Houston clubs tend to have the same type of lineups.  Most of my acquaintances are suburban or country folk, and a lot of them consider downtown a scary place at night.  I didn’t feel that comfortable playing there at first, either, but it’s turned out better than I expected, truthfully.  Musicians who can stay away from the drugs and excessive drinking turn out to be a pretty good group of people that are fun to hang out with.  Still, though, I just can’t guarantee the ticket sales Afton wants downtown, so no more downtown gigs.  Until I get big enough to play the House of Blues, anyway. See ya next time - hopefully in some coffee shop or wine bar in the far north Houston suburbs, where I can actually get people to come out to. Performance 2012-02-23T03:56:07+00:00 http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/new_afton_show_-_february_12th_warehouse_live/ http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/new_afton_show_-_february_12th_warehouse_live/#When:03:05:27Z Afton show at Warehouse Live Studio Room, Feb. 12th I’ve accepted (and confirmed this time) another Afton show at Houston’s Warehouse Live, Studio Room, February 12th.  I’ll get time, ticket links, etc. posted in the next couple of days (feel more like practicing tonight than messing more with the computer).  SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC! Performance 2012-01-11T03:05:27+00:00 http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/blackwatch_progress_6/ http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/blackwatch_progress_6/#When:02:39:37Z Bowsprit, rigging, bottom job Over the Christmas holidays, I got about half of what I’d hoped to get done on Blackwatch #38.  I bolted on the bowsprit temporarily without caulk, later got “the boys” (son and son-in-law) to help me raise the mast.  Dave Autry’s mast-raising system mostly worked; I can see it getting easier the 2nd or 3rd time when I’ve got all the lengths of things figured out.  Quickly determined there’s a six-to-eight-inch “something” missing from the forestay built into the roller furling jib, but it appears that when I add that (probably a turnbuckle), the other wire lengths I have will turn out OK.  I still have to order some new shrouds and stays because of kinks and no backstay (used a temporary wire halyard when we raised the mast).  Meanwhile, I’ve started sanding the bottom to remove the old anti-fouling paint, was making good progress but have blown out 2 sanders - one ancient Sears one that’s survived two previous bottom jobs finally blew its bearings, and a fairly recent Black and Decker, still works, but the pad just disintegrated.  Still, though, I got about 2/3 of the bottom sanded before getting sick Sunday - either breathed a bit too much copper dust from the paint or just had a mild flu.  A few small dings and blisters to repair on the bottom, but that should go pretty quickly, then it will be 4 coats of epoxy and 3 to 4 of bottom paint.  Still have the interior wood in the garage, partially sanded, and still have to tear out rotted wood around the companionway step/icebox.  Also took parts of the old bent mast and made two crutches to hold the mast for travel. We took the bowsprit and mast back off when we returned the boat to storage, though.  Just didn’t like them sticking out that far in a pretty tight storage yard - that’s how the previous owner got the original mast bent, the wires kinked, and the bowsprit gone. Sailing 2012-01-11T02:39:37+00:00 http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/afton_show_not_coming_up_jan._22nd/ http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/afton_show_not_coming_up_jan._22nd/#When:19:15:13Z Afton show at Warehouse Live Studio Room Jan. 22 Before Christmas, I had tentatively accepted the chance to play another Afton show at Warehouse Live Jan. 22.  Guess I took too long confirming for sure, and all the slots got filled up, though.  So I’m not on the ticket for now,  but I’m truthfully thankful - downtown Houston’s a bit of a hassle for me, and I wasn’t that impressed with the Studio Room sound last time.  We’ll see - the last Afton show I played, the lineup changed almost daily up until showtime. Performance 2012-01-04T19:15:13+00:00 http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/split_personality/ http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/split_personality/#When:19:22:02Z I’ve split myself up on Reverb Nation I’ve split myself up on ReverbNation.  My bluesy, folk-pop, countryish singer/songwriter secular side is now at J.B. Clifton.  My Christian contemporary/praise and worship side is still at Brent Clifton.  Both sides still hang out together at my website and Bandizmo.com. I think the split was a good choice - I’ve already got 6 new fans on the J.B. Clifton page in the first 4 days .  I’m further convinced that Reverbnation’s song counts are off, though - how would I pick up 6 fans from only 3 song plays?  Wouldn’t most people listen to a song or two before hitting the “become a fan” button? Other stuff - Heard Sheila Marshall live at Winestyles (The Vintage) right down the road from home.  Great music, and very nice, low-key venue.  May try to get myself playing there. Got close to having new audio of “About You Blue” ready to post, but having a few technical difficulties with the home-studio setup (as in, remembering what settings work and don’t sound like I’m singing in the bottom of a well).  Pretty much a “live” take (okay, the 5th or 6th live take); sounds great through the monitors from Garage Band, but the mp3 comes out muddy.  I may be able to fix what I have or will just record it again - it’s a pretty easy song to get through without mistakes (at least the 5th or 6th time).  Hope to have some new recordings posted on both the secular and Christian sides “sometime” this winter, though.  Real soon now. Uh-huh.  I mean it.  Promise. Performance, Songwriting 2011-12-02T19:22:02+00:00 http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/song_statistics_at_2_years/ http://www.jbcmusic.com/NewsBlog/./index.php/site/song_statistics_at_2_years/#When:18:56:17Z Bandizmo skunks ReverbNation (still) X 10! I started uploading songs to Bandizmo, then ReverbNation a little over 2 years ago.  As reported on this blog in the past, even though ReverbNation is the slicker website, either their song-play statistics are just plain wrong, or Bandizmo just totally trounces, skunks, whips, rolls over ReverbNation when it comes to song plays, at least for non-commercial, non-famous artists like me.  My Bandizmo plays passed ReverbX10 a couple of months ago; I now have 5 of 12 songs on Bandizmo that individually have more song plays than all 11 songs posted on ReverbNation, and the others are not far behind.  Plus my ReverbNation count was absolutely flat for the last half of 2010, so I’m pretty sure their song count was broken for a while - there’s usually at least a small increment.  The songs were all basically uploaded the same time, except I put “Start it Out Here in Bethlehem” on Bandizmo and not on Reverb.  Here’s some details- Bandizmo - Total 1844 song plays, most popular- “Little Man”, followed by “Freeway Song”, “A Child of Yours” very close behind.  Fastest recent climber - “In the Presence of God”, but “Start it Out Here in Bethlehem” has been the fastest climber since it was uploaded (surprising me, since it’s not that great a recording). ReverbNation - Total 164 song plays, most popular- “Clap Your Hands and Sing (Jehovah Rises)”, then “Little Man”, third is a secular country-ish song, “Empty Air” (which I think is my best home-studio work so far).  Fastest recent climber - “Little Man”, but “Empty Air” has been the fastest climber since it was uploaded. Bottom line - I like how you can add shows (and look for local shows) on ReverbNation, and RN’s tracking of who’s listening to and liking your songs and communication with those people is much better, but if you just simply want your songs listened to, between these two, it’s BANDIZMO! Audio/Recording, Songwriting 2011-10-17T18:56:17+00:00