The Christian Behind the Music

I read a very insightful article on successful rap artist, Kendrick Lamar. A friend of mine introduced me to his music a good while ago, and though I don't listen to much rap, I can appreciate a good flow and crafty twists of words. I had heard that Kendrick was a Christian, and in reading some music related articles on ChristianityToday.com, I was led to a BuzzFeed article titled, "The Radical Christianity Of Kendrick Lamar"

It's nice to see someone of Kendrick's stature in the music industry openly professing his faith. Read the article by clicking the link above. None of us are perfect, but we follow Him who is perfect, Christ.

Love in Music, Love Through Music

I have to admit, society has really disappointed me. Facebook is filled with constant break-ups. Radio ads "glorifying" divorce are on every morning. How is it that two people can be so in love one moment, and then hate each other?

I think true love is when you are more interested with the others' well being and happiness. When you make life more about you, and not the one you love, things can easily take a turn for the worse.

I challenge you to ask yourselves that question today, "Are we in this relationship for the right reasons?", "What do we need to do to put each other first, and avoid being selfish?"

Here is where you start: Write down at least 3 things about the one you love that you can't live without. I'll start...

I can't live without my wife's laugh, smile, and touch. Even watching her sleep makes me smile, and realize how blessed I am to have her.

Next, out of the millions of songs ever created, pick one that identifies best with your relationship. Print out the lyrics, and every now and again, pick a line to text, or to leave in a note to each other.

The above ideas are just me thinking out loud. My piece of mind that I want to share with you.

Here are two songs of mine, that show love, adoration, passion, and desire for that special someone...

New Single - Am I Really

Have you ever sat back and wondered what, or who it is that you can't imagine living without? That is the reality faced in "Am I Really".

Usher expressed how he feels in the David Guetta produced, "Without You", Justin Timberlake expressed the feeling in NSYNC's, "Gone".  With an abundance of EDM, pop music out currently, I felt it was time for a reflective, ambient, heart-wrenching ballad.

Hear "Am I Really" now at www.jaredkfjones.com

 

 

Hear "Am I Really"

 

Continuing Self-Learning Piano

I can't remember exactly when I got the itch to begin learning piano. Maybe when first seeing how easy it looked for a singer-songwriter to go anywhere with a set of keys and be able to entertain. I've been playing drums since I was maybe 4, but drums aren't really an instrument to accompany voice alone. So...I've set about to continue my journey in learning to play the piano. I've been off and on over the last few years, and if I keep making excuses like 'I don't have time', it won't happen. No pressure. I get to go at my own pace. I see YouTube videos showcasing my new skills in the near future.

Increasing the Skill Set

As some of you may know, I have had a fascination with wanting a Canon DSLR camera for almost two years. I see all of these great pictures and videos being created, and I wanted in on that! Finally I made the purchase about 4 week ago, and I love it. It is fun to learn something new every now and again...actually...we should be learning something new each chance we get (one life remember). I've been slowly putting together my ideas for video concepts I will produce over the next year, but in learning this camera, I am really enjoying taking photos too. All this to say, here are a few recent photos I've taken (featuring my little ones), and I encourage you to being learning something new as well....

 

 

Join The Jared KF Jones Journey

Music Placement on BET's "The Game"

Very exciting news today! My song, "Reason Why Your Heart Breaks" was used on the hit BET show, "The Game" earlier this year. Yeah, I know, I find out extremely late. This makes my 8th TV placement over the last few years, and I am just getting started.

Top 5 in Best Song of The Month Contest

Very excited to share this news....

I made Top 5 in the Best Song of The Month contest at WWW.SONGWRITERSUNIVERSE.COM!
I have been a fan of this site for many years, and the site is visited by songwriters, artists, publishers, and record label executives all over the world. The song that made it is "The Best of Me". Big thank you to producer Ezemdi Chikwendu (www.ezemdi.com), mixing engineer, Unne Lijeblad (www.unne.net), Mastering Engineer, Tom Waltz (www.waltzmastering.com), and CEO of SongwritersUniverse, Dale Kawashima. Please visit the sites listed to learn more about each person who contributed to this.

More to come!

New Song: Is Love That Hard To Do?

After many months...okay let me be honest! After about a year of not releasing any new music, I've decided to put out a new Pop/R&B song, "Is Love That Hard To Do?" Everyone can download it for free at www.jaredkfjones.com. Enjoy, and share with friends!

Why the Name Change?

If you haven't noticed, I have recently changed the name on most of my sites (Website, Twitter, etc), and I have also taken down my last album release "What Could've Been". The reason is, there are other 'Jared Jones' artists who also have music on ITunes, Amazon, etc, and I do not want their music associated with me, nor do I want my music associated with them. This is not a knocked against them, just a business decision. Instead, and going forward, I have decided to use my full name with middle initials, Jared KF Jones.

This was a pretty easy decision actually. I'm not going to be releasing music to sell any further, but whenever I do release new music, it will be via SoundCloud, YoutTube, and Spotify. I continue to be more of the songwriter/vocal producer than artist. Truth is, I get my most enjoyment from writing and demoing songs that other artists will record, and release on their albums.

Lastly, if you're wondering why I haven't released new music in a while, I want to be certain that I will not pitch the song to another artist to record before putting something out myself. Each song I do holds a very strong value to me. I will put something out within the next few months though.

Music Playing in Retail Stores Nationwide!

A few weeks ago I received the email below...

"They play your song at my job everyday, and I like it alot. Just thought I'd let you know..I sing along with it all of the time".

This email was from Simone, who works at Office Depot.

A week or so before that, I get a YouTube comment from 'tobigdiesel'...

"Great song heard it at OD. Love the songs words gets me over stuff"

It has been one of my goals to have my music played in stores across the county, and it looks like it has been realized!  Thank you for letting me know Simone and tobigdiesel! Knowing I am accomplishing my goals continues to fuel my passion for music.

More to come!

(for free music downloads, visit Jared Jones Online, and sign up for the mailing list)

Artist: Lauren Eylise

Today begins the day where I begin featuring artists who I have become a fan of. I came across this young lady from a daily email I receive from MI2N.com (Music Industry News - you can read the article here). Her name is Lauren Eylise, and she hails from Dayton, OH. She has what I like to call, a rustic soul vibe. I especially enjoy her song, "Mr. Jonesy". No, not just because my name is in it! :-)

You can hear her music and read more about her by visiting https://www.reverbnation.com/laureneylise

Been a while huh??

Please don't be mad at me. I apologize for neglecting you, but you're not the only one I've been neglecting. I've been neglecting myself.

Thinking back to my high school days (not too long ago), when all I wanted to do is sing, be the artist. One taste of the negative side of the music business, and I realize my passion is actually writing the songs, and hearing others sing them.

But then...I hate the wait. Doing the demo, letting others hear the demo, waiting....

See, that's how my first album "What Could've Been" cam about. Most of those songs were written and intended for other artists. But I got tired of waiting. My mentality became, "these songs need to be heard, not later, but now". And hey, people say I have a good voice. So it works.

But truth be told, can I really sustain my career as an artist? I'm a family man, wife, and two daughters, and I really do hate being away from them. Usher, Ne-Yo, their fathers too. But during a recent brief interview in the during a break in performance on Good Morning America, Ne-Yo did say the part of the "road" (read artist life) that is the most tough, is that he can not be there to see the milestones his kids reach. I do not want to miss out on that.

So where do I stand now? Currently doing tons of wedding performances, but that has no effect on my career as an artist. When I do have the time for my own performances, will I spend more time writing and cutting song demos for other artists? What do I want??

The more I think about it, regardless of how many people say that I need to continue singing, and being the artist, my most fulfilled moments come when I'm writing and cutting demos. Knowing that soon, I will hear it on the radio, not my voice, but my song.

I'm not sure if any of you like gardening, but it's like planting a seed, and knowing that it will produce fruit...envisioning that fruit, tasting that fruit.

Will I release more songs? Absolutely. Am I working on some as we speak? Absolutely. But please be patient with me, please pray for me. And I promise I will continue to share my God given gifts with you and the rest of the world.

Talk again soon.

- Jared

40 Acts of Compassion - YouTube Video

I was curious as to what I wanted to write about this week, and began browsing Facebook to see if anything I wanted to weigh in on caught my eye. A friend of mine, and my brother in Christ, Micah Christian posted a recent status saying..."If you're looking for little ways to change the world...". I proceeded to the YouTube link titled "40 Acts of Compassion". And I'll admit, probably like many of you, I had the TV on in the background, cell phone by my side, etc. After about a minute, I paused the video, and made sure the TV was muted. I really wanted to focus on the messages in the video (one of which I think I even contributed to and had forgot about). I've posted the video below, and please take a break, and spend the next five minutes viewing positive, reinforcing messages on the little things we can all do to change the world...

New Song On The Way

My wife highly suggested I take a small break from music over the last few weeks. I had become so immersed in trying to make this happen, that happen, get this done, get that done, that I had begin to lose myself. So I promised I would not work on any music for a few weeks. (officially, I was not going to continue until March 1). But something happened over the last few weeks. I became refreshed, my mind became open to fresh ideas. What happened reminded me of what my father always says, "No sitting, No soaring". Because I was able to take a short break from music, I'm now able to come back, and bring you creations I didn't even know was possible...let's begin. New song on the way in two weeks.

I Wanna Make You Cry Too!

Gotta give it to Adele, she pours such real, and raw emotion into each and every record she does (would love to see Grammy performance). After reading an article by Beth Teitell on Boston.com titled, Why Cry Over 'Someone'?, I could not help but to ask myself....has any one of my songs ever made someone cry?

Now with many of my songs, I would hope it would any tears would be of joy, which I would hope songs like "Gorgeous Girl" may do.  But then I write songs that reflect a time when I myself was going through a struggle, like "Stuck".

One can only wonder. But I would love hearing from any one of my fans with how one of my songs has made them feel.

Keep on being you Adele!

www.jaredjonesonline.com

Love Lyrics (Countdown to Valentine's Day"

"No New Year's Day to celebrate
No chocolate covered candy hearts to give away
No first of spring
No song to sing
In fact here's just another ordinary day" - Stevie Wonder - 'I Just Called To Say I Love You'

"I Don't Need No Dreams When I'm By Your Side
Every Moment Takes Me To Paradise
Darlin', Let Me Hold You
Warm You In My Arms And Melt Your Fears Away
Show You All The Magic That A Perfect Love Can
Make
I Need You Night And Day?" - Michael Jackson - 'Baby Be Mine'

"A foreign beauty so exotic
When she smiled at me
She took my breath away
She's reminiscent of a goddess
It's a shame that we could not communicate
How do I say" - Usher - 'How do I say'

"You should be in magazines, baby
The world should know who you are
Can't help myself from staring
Forgive me, can't turn away
I'm caught up in your eyes" - Jared Jones - 'Gorgeous Girl'

These are just a few lyrics from some of my favorite artists, and artists who inspire my own music. With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, and the sale of Hallmark cards, chocolate candy, and red roses about to spike, it's a great time to highlight the lyrics in love songs. Are these lyrics reminiscent of what's being said to you ladies? Have you said something like this to your ladies fellas?

www.jaredjonesonline.com

Where do we go from here?

At church today, with only a little time left during the sermon, I felt inspired to write. The pastor was speaking on the book of John, and how Jesus is our light and only way to achieve eternal life. Now I have grown up in the church, and on a few occasions I have had some lyrics come to mind, but not like this. Over the next few minutes, I wrote what I hope will become the first of many spiritually inspired songs that will be created along with the help of Ray Greene, lead music leader at First Baptist Church in Randolph.

And now, sitting back at home, I'm wondering where everything goes from here? I've been back into writing over the last few weeks, on a variety of different projects, including my next one. I want every song I do to mean something, it can't just be a song you hear, and go, "oh, that was nice".

I guess it goes back to taking it one song at a time. We all get so caught up in extreme productivity (we are socially constructed to believe greater quantity = ___________. fill in the blank)

Where do we go from here? We take a step back. Take a deep breath, and dive into ONE song at a time.

Did I say Tuesday??!!

Okay, maybe with the new year I'll do a lot better posting more frequently. Hope everyone's new years eve, and new years day went wonderfully! Right now I'm home with my two beautiful daughters, the 4 year old is on her new LeapFrog Explorer that she got for Christmas. She's doing a great job tracing her letters (will be in school later this year!), and my little 8 month old is...relaxed.  Today I'm getting my personal music catalog onto my GoogleMusic cloud, as I have plenty of songs to learn to perform SPLASH, (the function band I'm also in). We have tons of private gigs scheduled throughout this year, and it will be keeping me busy. I will not be performing any original shows this year (at least not anytime soon), but I will be doing a lot of filming for projects that you will see over the next few years. Trust, I'm not going away! Just in a huge state of preparation.

Thought I'd have a change to put out a concept mixtape by February, not happening. I would not want to just rush anything out just for the sake of having something new. But I can say be prepared for new music over the next few months.

Talk to you soon. Email me at jaredjones@jaredjonesonline.com if you wanna discuss anything.

American Music Awards Showed Me

How can I put this lightly...what happened to the music? Each award show I get very excited to watch, hoping to see something new. Yes, Chris Brown had a great performance, and J-Lo made me situp in my seat (she still got it), but for the majority of the performances, it felt like I was just listening to the radio (which I turn off most of the time). I know all of the artists performing work very hard at what they do, but they also have tons of handlers, and people telling them what to do, and how, and when, to do it. I just wish the award shows would call for a certain standard of performance when choosing who should perform. I'll be sure when I schedule my next performance to keep this in mind, and to make sure I can provide something that will make people sit up in their seats.

What I'm Watching Now: Patriots Game of Course!!

Link to my website: www.jaredjonesonline.com

Talk with you Tuesday!

Looking Back to Move Ahead

I can honestly say that for as long I've been focusing on my music career (since 15 years old when I began learning how to use studio equipment, songwriting, etc), as of today I feel like I'm just getting started. And that's the absolute truth. The music industry looks and operates like a completely different animal than even just two years ago. Below I've listed somethings I've learned over the last 10 years (yes, I'm 25 years old now).

1) Embrace my personal circumstances

With every job I've ever had, I've always made it a battle between job and music. Sure the job was paying my bills, and keeping food on the table, but when it took too much time away from my music, I would find a way to get out of it. Then to be without a job for a few months, realize that I not pulling in any money was helping my music career either.  Only recently did I realize that having a full time career can actually enhance my music career. Forget that it would take time away from music, no, it would allow me to put more money into my music career.  Sure I'm not going to be able to attend all the music conferences across the country, and easily hope a flight to L.A. or Atlanta to work with certain artists, but I do have the power to build the music career that I want for myself. My thoughts used to be, "If only I could get a contract I'd be able to make music full time, and then my career would really take off". But after reading tons of articles on the music business, the reality is I'm in the best possible position without the contraints of a contract, and still having money. And let's look at what my true desires and passions are at that. Did I want to have to fly all over the country at a moment's notice, or feel obligated to write songs I did not like, or sing songs I did not like?  I have a wife, and two daughters that I enjoy seeing everyday. And last time I checked, I've always wanted creative control over everything I do. So maybe a contract isn't what I wanted (or needed) in the first place.

2. Run with any idea, don't second guess it

I'm sure you've had an idea, only not to act on it, and then see someone else do the same thing you were thinking. I'm sure you may have even stood the chance to earn some money too. Well that was me, and producer Ezemdi Chikwendu, just four ago, when we were sure we had the formula for music and financial success. Music Licensing. You see at the time, little was known in the independent music world about music licensing (which is the practice of granting permission for a film or television show to use your song, and negotiating the amount of money they will pay you). At least little was known in the R&B/Pop world. The only talk we would hear from other artists, songwriters and producers was about big time album placements. So we focused our attention on music licensing, and wouldn't you know within 5 months of learning about it, we had our first placement on CBS, "The Young and The Restless". We went crazy! How many people can say they've had music placed on a national television show?

Anyway, we thought we had our ticket. We went on to achieve a few more placements through various 3rd-party licensing services, and then something happened. Nothing. Let the waiting game begin. Instead of continuing to pursue more placements just as frantically as we had done in the past, we waited....and waited, for that next e-mail, or phone call telling us that we had a placement. Nothing.  What was the difference? Well, as the record labels began to sell less and less music, all but killing the dreams of many artists, smaller companies and producers to hi big, they all had to look for other ways to bring in money, and they all seemed to find music licensing at the same time. So much for our ticket! Needless to say, there are more and more networks developing every month, and all are creating new shows, and most all will need music. Time to get focused again. And when the next idea hits, we can't let up.


3) Plan 3-5 years ahead

Yes, we are not promised tomorrow, but I'd sure like to go into with a plan. I thought was pretty good at long range planning, but I've really only ever had long range hopes, not actual plans. I know it has a lot to do with being in and out of jobs, in and out of apartments, and it's I because I was chasing something I never really wanted in the first place. With a new plan in place, that includes new music, films, a new brand, and an all encompassing direction, my mind has never been more clear.

Beginning with this blog on Friday, November 18, 2011, you have entered with me into the Jared Jones Journey.  I'll talk with you again Monday.

What I'm Listening to Now: "Just Me" - Brian McKnight

YouTube Video You Should See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoMkJ87uMBU
(One of my favorite commercials)

Visit www.jaredjonesonline.com to download free music.