10 Ways to Awaken Your Inner Artist Part II

This is Part II and the conclusion of the article written last week about awakening the inner artist in you.  To read Part I, click here. 6.  Learn to feel feelings.  In many ways people and experiences incorrectly encourage the suppression of feelings. Sometimes guilt and fear can drive us to disregard our true feelings without giving them a chance to evolve.  Feelings is one of the building blocks of art.  If you don’t allow yourself to experience them, you are inadvertently blocking your own ability to create.  Let your feelings happen. If you need to cry, then cry.  If you need to be angry, then be angry.  This does a few things for you.  It aids in the processing and releasing of feelings.  If processed in a healthy way, this can also filter out negativity and make room for more positive things to come your way.  Plus, it’s great fuel for your art

7.  Challenge yourself.  Think about what you like.  Then challenge yourself to create it.  Do you like music? Create your own.  Do you like photography? Start taking pictures.  Force yourself to go through the creative process. It will encourage you in pursuing your art as a lifestyle.

8.  Hang out with other creative types.  There’s an old saying that goes like this:  “Birds of a feather flock together.”  This is often used to discourage children from hanging with the wrong crowd.  But it can also have the reverse effect. When you surround yourself with people who are actively pursuing creativity, it will eventually rub off on you.

9.  Create a space for your art.  Select a physical spot to produce art.  It can be a chair on your porch or a hideaway in the backyard.  It can be anything and anywhere as long as you make it yours.  Carve out time to be there and do something artful in that space everyday.  This will condition your mind to be ready and welcome creativity every time you are there.  Before you know it, you will be craving that space because this is where you will be most open to experiencing inspiration and receiving creative revelation.

10.  And finally, confront your fear.  Do something to shock your system.  Are you afraid of heights, go rock climbing.  Are you afraid of water?  Go swimming.  Show yourself that you can overcome what you are afraid of.   Fear is the number one factor keeping us away from our artistry.  As an artist, you are at your most vulnerable because you are presenting your deepest feelings, desires and thoughts for the world to see.  It is a scary place, but it is there you will be the most fulfilled.

Each of us is an artist.  Art can be anything from drawing to making yoga mats.  The concept behind art is simply to create.  Your thoughts, feelings, and desires are the building blocks of art. Don’t be afraid to use these to promote creative expression in your life.  It may not be as great as Beethoven or Picasso, but it’s yours!  The steps above can help you unblock creative flow and will awaken the inner artist in you.  Give it a shot!

If you are pursuing or interested in pursuing a career in music as an independent artist, I've got a slew of tips and advice for you over on my other site specializing in building your career.  The site is called The Crafty Musician, click here to go to it now.

How I Got Into Music

Music was always a part of my life.  I grew up singing in the choir at church and also participated in the worship band during college. I've always wanted to be a singer.  I had a keyboard all through high school and college and wrote my own songs but I never had the gumption to go public with my music until something big happened to change everything.

It was a catalyst and a shift in paradigm for me that drove me to relentlessly pursue music.  I thought I had everything figured out.  I graduated from high school, went to college, got my four-year degree, and began climbing the corporate ladder.  I did everything according to that plan and excelled at my job.  But then I got laid off because of the economy and those plans came to a halt.  What challenged my thinking at that point was that if I did everything the way the world wanted me to (going to college and getting a real job) and even that didn't work out, what if I pursued what my real passions were?

So, I decided to go for it.  I started learning some songs and writing and before I knew it I was ready to play my first show!  It was quite interesting.  Rob and I were event planners for an apartment community and we decided to put on a show for the residents right there in the clubhouse.  We had practiced a few times together but were completely nervous about the whole thing.  About 15 people showed up and we did a mixture of covers and originals. Everyone loved it!  They even signed up to my mailing list.

Ever since then, I knew in my heart that I needed to pursue music.  Actually I think music is pursuing me in some ways.  It's had a hold over me ever since I could remember.  The lay off simply opened my eyes to just how strong the hold really was.

My advice to anyone wanting to go into music or pursue their passions is to go for it.  What have you got to lose?  Find a way and figure out how to do it.  Even if it's just a little bit!  If it doesn't work out then do something else.  When it's all said and done, you will regret mostly not the things that you did, but the things you didn't do.

I'm Going to Remain Silent

So we're in the car traveling back to Charlotte for a show right before Labor Day.  We see state troopers and police vehicles every 10 miles on the I40 stretch between Memphis and Nashville.  I'm driving, and I get comfortable using my handy-dandy cruise control to make certain I don't go over the speed limit.  We get into a congested traffic area.  The speed limit is 70.  A truck/construction thing is in front of me and abruptly slows down to 62.  I look in the rearview and notice a black SUV with lights in the dash.  They haven't turned on yet, but I slow down even more just to be on the safe side.  Ten seconds later, the lights come on. "We're getting pulled over," I said to Rob who was half asleep.

After pulling to the side, all the images and thoughts from #ferguson began to race through my head.  I tried to think back for the past several miles, "Did I do ANYTHING to break the law?"  I couldn't come up with anything.  So I put both hands in the 10 and 2 position on the wheel and just waited.  Luckily before the #ferguson incident happened, I had already done an extensive internet investigation into police misconduct and in particular, traffic stops.  I was painfully aware of profiling, arrogant/condescending attitudes demonstrated by some (not all, but enough to be weary of all) police officers, and what's more sobering- the fact that they (the police) can legally lie, manipulate, and intimidate you into getting you to do what they want which most of time involves giving up YOUR RIGHTS!  I prayed that I never got into a situation where I'd have to assert myself to a police officer but lo and behold it happened.

Two officers get out and approach my vehicle.  They come over to the passenger side.  One officer bends down through the passenger window and says, "Ma'am I pulled you over because," (get ready for the worst crock of bull I have ever heard from an officer's mouth) "your tag is partially covered and you got too close to the vehicle in front of you."

He then asked me for my license and registration.  Then came The Questions.

Now, before I get into what happens next, let me tell you the real reason why they pulled us over:

1.  We have out of state tags

2.  We have a back seat full of stuff

3.  We're an interracial hippie looking couple (enter Rob's hair) 'who probably has drugs in all of that stuff they've got in the back seat'

But he couldn't say all of that because that would be profiling.  So he came up with the other lame excuse.

Back to the Story:

While collecting my documents, he starts the questioning.  "Where are you coming from."

We answer and say "Memphis."  I can tell from his glances that he wants to know what's in the back seat.  Our back seat was pretty full.  We had lots of camping supplies, my merchandise suitcase, Rob's drum, and our clothes suitcase.  In my mind I'm thinking, "I'm only answering one nosy question and he better not ask any more."

Then here he comes with a second question.  "Where are you headed, back home to North Carolina?"  An assumption he made based on my license and tag.

I looked at him in the eyes and said, "I'm going to remain silent."

He said in a joking condescending manner "You're going to remain silent?"   Almost as if what I just said was incredibly stupid and proposterous.

"With all due respect, sir, I'm going to remain silent," I repeated.

He steps away from the vehicle and speaks to the second officer.  I heard him say, "The driver is not talking.  They are coming from Memphis, and they're going back home to North Carolina (still going with that assumption, heh?).  She gave me all I asked for though, so ..... (I couldn't hear the rest.)

He comes back to the car and gives me back my documents and tells me to drive safely.  I said ok and thank you and drove off as fast as I could.  No warnings, no ticket, no citation.  That's how I knew his reason for pulling me over was baloney.  I believe that officer really wanted to search our car.  According to the Constitution, they legally can NOT search anything without a warrant or in the case of a traffic stop - reasonable suspicion (i.e. a bag of drugs laying around).

Unfortunately with the recent influx of police misconduct and murdering of unarmed individuals, I've developed a heightened sense of mistrust when dealing with anyone in law enforcement.  Their job is to Stop The Bad Guys. However, the supposed "war on terror" and "war on drugs" has made innocent US citizens targets.  In essence, a lot of innocent people now become The Bad Guys.  Additionally, incidents like #ferguson and #trayvonmartin have fed into the racial divide and it is so easy to get caught under the cloak of racism.  Don't get me wrong, racism is a huge issue on its own, but this phenomenon goes far beyond race.  There are people who wish to subject everyone, not just minorities, to a totalitarian climate where no-one is free and where democracy is dead.  We can see it happening everyday in laws that are constantly being implemented making it hard to vote and easy for law enforcement and government officials to kill without any repercussions - The Police State.

The Police State, oddly enough, has been foreshadowed in mainstream music.  Click here to learn about that.

Pop icons like Beyonce, the Black Eyed Peas, Rihanna, Brittany Spears, and so many others all have performed on live TV and in their music videos with a militarized police force looking dance squad showcasing it as "glamorous" and "hip."  The link I shared is a site dedicated to addressing symbols displayed in pop culture that speak to a hidden agenda.  Now you may not subscribe to all of that and that's ok, but the particular article that I linked to specifically dives into facts about how the police state is being showcased in mainstream music.  Anyone with eyes and ears will see the parallels between what they are showing in the music videos and what's going on in the world today.  It makes you wonder if there is more to it than art mimicking life.  All of this "art" was created before the recent law enforcement attacks on American citizens.  And it is far from "glamorous" and "hip."

Learn your rights.

Be ready to assert those rights.

And most importantly, get reconciled to Christ.  Death is not the end.

Be Vulnerable and Grow

Last week I had a performance that was completely out of my comfort zone.  I performed without my guitar accompanied by a pianist I had never worked with before with only one good hour to practice right before the performance!  That alone might have been manageable, but there's a kicker.  The thing that really pushes this over the top is that I was expected to make up words on the spot -  as in IMPROVISE.  To improvise at home is one thing, but to improvise in front of an audience is a whole different thing.  I was beyond nervous and very vulnerable, plus feeling a little bare without my guitar. This show was a faith-based Art Discussion combined with a jazzy musical element (enter myself and the pianist) at a local prayer room called 24/7.  It was a very unique and revolutionary way to praise God.  I got involved because the person leading the segment is a very good friend of mine (we'll call her Kay for the purpose of this discussion) and she asked me to be a part of it.  Well of course I said yes, but Kay didn't tell me she was about to stretch me til' it hurts.  I thought I was going to do some worship songs with my guitar and Rob on percussion.  But she concocted something entirely different.

When I tell people I'm a singer-songwriter in the streets, sometimes they ask me to sing.  They think if I'm a singer, then I should be able to sing at any time and anywhere.  Well, that would be great and I wish I was that confident and prepared.  Unfortunately, that's not the case.  The reality is, I get very nervous when it comes to singing without my guitar.  My nerves get so bad that if I did sing something for them, they would be offended that I wasted their time.  For some reason my guitar is my safety blanket.  Without it I feel alone and bare.  And that's what Kay was asking me to do plus be prepared to sing made up on the spot prayers and exhortations.

So we get to practice and Kay directed us in what we should do which was good.  But my friend Kay was very clear in her vision and she had to whip us into shape big time.  It was kind of unsettling and made me feel even more nervous because I wanted to make sure I was doing it right.  I was afraid.  Very afraid.  I was afraid for myself that I was going to sing in the wrong key and say something stupid that didn't make a bit of sense.  I was afraid for the pianist that we might not be jazzy enough, and I was afraid of Kay.  I was afraid that she was going to beat me to a bloody pulp if I didn't do something right.  It was a tough situation.

We went through a couple songs and next thing I knew people started coming in and it was 7 o'clock.  EEK!  This was happening, and there was no stopping it.  I had to put my red shoes on and act like I knew what I was doing.  So we start with the opening song and we did pretty good.  This was a song I knew so there wasn't too much to worry about there.  But as we got into it and I started singing the improvisational stuff, my nerves started to rattle and something amazing happened.  As I took a deep breath and let go, my voice got louder and more confident.  I heard words and started to repeat them melodically and next thing I knew I was making vocalizations and praying while singing and it sounded good.  Kay showed the art pieces and gave a lecture on the meanings and interpretations while we backed her up musically and it was beautiful.  I have never seen anything like that.  Everyone said we did great.

The next day as I was on set for my music video, I was doodling around and found a nice groove on my guitar and I started singing and humming.  I made sounds similar to what I had done the night before.  It actually sounded awesome.  It was organic and melodically salacious, which is something I strive for with my music.  So, I now have a new jazzy improvisational element to add to my performances and I have Kay to thank.

Thanks Kay, for forcing me to stretch, put myself out there, be vulnerable and grow.

9-8-7 Tour Recap Part 3

Well, I know it's been too long since I last visited the tour re-caps, but there have been lots of new updates that have demanded my time.  I didn't want to leave anyone hanging, so here is the last installment of my East Coast Tour re-cap. We last left off at our city-walking extravaganza in Brooklyn!  After that, we headed north to a small town called Croton On Hudson about an hour north of Brooklyn.  Here is where we met a lovely distant cousin whom Rob cyber-ly met through his genealogy research.  He's really big on family history.  She was kind enough to let us spend the night and she also invited friends and family over for an intimate house concert which turned out to be a highlight of the entire trip.  Not only did we get to hang out with family, but we enjoyed sharing our passion of music with them.  It was even fun to integrate a bit of technology into the mix with a live streaming Hangouts on Air show.  And to our sweet cousin, thank you so much for the love and hospitality you showed us.  I am glad to have you as part of my family.  :)

You can check out the show we did here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbiWr7WhJKc

As we continued on our journey we arrived to our next stop about an hour late due to NY traffic.  Oh what a pain it was.  On top of that, it rained the whole time.  We arrived at our destination to find a handful of smiling, beautiful faces eagerly awaiting their entertainment for the night.  It was a house concert in the Baltimore area, that also happened to be a ladies night.  Not by design though.  That's just they way it turned out.  The amazing host had a great basement party room where we performed.   It was very fun and intimate.  There were also a lot of women with natural hair there, so I got to test out some of my natural hair songs from my upcoming album, "Crown & Glory."

Thank you Lydia, for being such an excellent host!

And our final stop was the ever popular Ebenezers Coffeehouse in D.C.  We gave Rob the night off and I performed solo to a house of about 50.  Not bad for my first time playing in D.C.  It was a phenomenal experience.  The venue is a quaint, intimate, artsy type place.  The kind that gives you the feel of elegant hippie when you walk in.  I opened for a very talented married couple, the Kelly McCrae Duo.

We performed on the upper level where the main room is, but never mind the loud coffee grinding noises, the audience reception was incredible.  Everyone really enjoyed my show and I for one had a blast.  :)  After being on the road for a whole week, this show was the best ending to a great tour.

Here is a video of me performing "Every Time" from my album "Genesis."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdrAUjpoesk

To all who helped with the booking and planning for this trip, I give a big heart felt thank you.  And to all my new friends I made while traveling, let's keep the momentum going.  Rob and I really enjoyed you and we can't wait to see you the next time.

Check out earlier recaps here and here.

This is probably my last blog of the year, so have a safe and happy holiday season and please tell Santa to bring me some new red shoes.  :)  Love you sweeties.

Your Fan, Anitra Jay

9-8-7 Tour Recap Part 2

I'm back for another round of updates from my tour.   As you may have read from the first installment, we learned a lot of lessons throughout the tour but mostly, I felt encouraged just from all the new friends and fans we met along the way.  The amount of positive feedback we received was overwhelming and it just confirmed for both me and Rob that we are on the right track. Our first stop was at Young Harris College in Young Harris, GA.  A small college nestled in the mountains right on the border of North Carolina and Georgia.  I've never been there, but that area is absolutely breathtaking.  We followed the gospel choir and did some poetry, some rap, some praise and worship, and some acoustic soul.  Very fun times.  Here is a review of our show from one of the students.

Then we headed up north to Lynchburg, VA.  A small town but not without a lot of soul and heart.  We celebrated the beauty of natural hair at the Hair and Health Expo of Central Virginia.  What a blast!  My only regret is that we didn't get any pictures of the event.   If you're ever in Lynchburg, be sure to visit the Peruvian restaurant right inside the Holiday Inn Select.  They won't steer you wrong.

Next we headed up still north to a city outside of Maryland to visit some friends.  It's always nice to stop and say hello with friends.  We laughed, ate, and laughed some more.  No shows here, just eating and making merry.

Our next stop to Boston was "womp, womp."  We didn't even get to perform.  I was so excited because this was the Legendary Lizard Lounge Open mic in Boston, a competitive style open mic with a cash prize at the end.  Parking was a nightmare, our hotel was depressing, and Boston driving in general is a holy terror.  You have to pay to get in even if you are performing, which I did not know at the time.  We had to walk for 30 minutes with our instruments in tow while our car was at risk of getting towed because we weren't sure if our spot was legal or not.  When I finally got there and he asked us for $6, I threw in the towel.  You ever just get to the point where you are so distressed that you just want to give up?  I was in no condition to perform, so I made the decision to cut my losses and move on.  We ended up in a Chinese restaurant some where in Boston and let our sorrows melt away.  I tell you, I'm done with competitions.

The next stop was at New Haven Boys and Girls Club in Connecticut.  What a fabulous time.  I don't know who was inspired the most, me or the kids.  The DoSo Guitar Program students opened for me.  They did "Johnny Be Good" by Chuck Berry.  And my sweet dancer, I forget her name, but she also performed and was so amazing.  We must have performed for about 30 minutes, and the kids were attentive the entire time.  They loved it.

Our next stop was in Brooklyn. This is where we learned about the potholes (see Part 1) and also learned about city walking (also see Part 1).  We played at a quaint little night club in the Bushwick area called Goodbye Blue Monday.  It's a bar, an antique store and a listening room all rolled up into one.  It's the kind of place where you have to know about it, in order to go.  You just don't happen upon it.  We rocked out and were gone with the wind fabulous!  No really, afterward, we got ghost.  This is where we put our "city walking" in high gear.  I don't think you wanted to be caught in that area too late at night.  However, I do think we performed like there was no tomorrow to a crowd of six.  No complaints here, they seemed to really enjoy it.

Stay tuned for Part 3 coming soon.  We've got a lot more to share - house concerts, peanut butter, and hopefully some video.

Missed Part 1, check it out here.