One of our nearest and dearest, Strange Celebrity‘s Joshua Black Wilkins, is taking it to the fans to help him finish his record.  Please join us to support this incredible artist.

PLEDGE HERE:

ENJOY HERE:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrv8ChQyUn4

For all the flack the MTV VMA’s received this year, I thought I’d go against the grain a bit and talk about how the show was actually successful.

I was one of those teens who was glued to MTV when it was a newborn.  I loved the VJ’s, didn’t care that the videos were bad and made no sense.  There was some excellent programming at the time -- Andy Warhol’s 15 Minutes and The Basement Tapes to name a few.  Plus, they had incredible promotions -- anyone remember when Jon Bon Jovi gave away his house? (Full disclosure -- Hey JBJ, I grew up in Sayreville, NJ too!!)

It’s easy to bash MTV over the years, less innovative musical programming, making the world of music small instead of expansive.  But.  I watched this year’s VMA’s.  Not live, mind you, and not on TV, but on their website as I selected which highlights I wanted to see.  Kanye, Taylor -- whatever, no need to beat that dead horse.  Here’s where it all turns around.

Lady Gaga -- Paparazzi performance.  I’ve only heard her on Z100 radio, just the dance-y hits.  Hadn’t heard this song before the VMA’s.

My reaction: “Whoa, what the hell was that??  That song was pretty damn good.  Hey, she can really sing!  Refreshing to see a performance that was theatrical, intriguing and more than a little bizarre.”  I read in one of the descriptions that the performance was based on the same theme of the music video.  Music video??  Well I had to see that right away too!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZlBjzXjfMU

Reaction: “Jonas Akerlund directed, awesome, he did amazing videos for Madonna.  Hey -- that’s Vampire Eric!  Hmmm, looks like he’s a good kisser…OK I digress.  Back to Gaga.  Great f’n song, and the video took it to a whole new level -- as videos should.”

Now I want to know more about her.  Bought the album on iTunes.  Would like to see her live.  All because of the VMA’s.  Radio airplay made me familiar with her name, but it was her performance on the VMA’s the brought me into the world of Gaga.  Congrats MTV.

This week we honor Nathan Lee for his 40 Day trek around the country to support his new release ‘Risk Everything.’

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpSsRKttE84

In his own words:

“In the spirit of risking everything… I am stepping in to a journey that even I myself, find to be crazy.

On September 1st, I will travel to 40 cities over 40 days, with my piano, a webcam, and a hope. to love and be loved,… with the broken and the joyful. I will play for whoever will listen.

Each day… I’ll wake up and search for an unknown location that will have me. Each day… I’ll post / twitter the address of where I’ll be playing… as soon as I find out.

Feel free to show up wherever & whenever. Every day will be different… your guess will be as good as mine.

From truckstops to taco stands,… to rehabs and pubs,… from churches to strip clubs,… to backyard parties and everything in between. I’ll have no idea what will happen, or how each day will play out until I get there.

So why am I doing this? well… I recorded a new album this year. The normal thing for an artist to do is go out and promote the new project… but promoting costs money… which I don’t have.

But the one thing I’ve never wanted to see,… is money getting in the way of loving people,… and making art.

So in the process of a million meetings I realized its not all about money. I’ll need money to make it through these 40 days… but should I not go… just because I don’t have money? If it’s truly about making art and loving people… and getting out of bed and doing something about it… Well then… the time has come.

I will be in search of one thing… What does it mean to risk everything… and what does it look like when you allow faith to do what faith does?

I hope to see you out on the road along the journey.

May we never give up! May we never stop risking everything!”

Follow Nathan’s journey on Twitter and YouTube.

There was an article in New York Magazine in April about Dolly Parton and the opening of 9-5 on Broadway.   Dolly is a role model for so many – artist, entrepreneur, and good-humored dame.  But the article mentions something about Dolly and her most famous composition (I Will Always Love You) you may not know (I sure didn’t).

Quote:  ”At a time in Dolly’s career when she could still have used the boost and the cash, Elvis offered to record it—but only if she sold him half the rights. With precocious confidence in the value of her work, she refused. The lyric “We both know that I am not what you need” must have seemed especially painful under the circumstances, but as a result of that decision she has made millions of dollars in royalties on the song’s many incarnations, none of which improved on her 1974 original.”

WOW.  Do you get the impact of this?  Dolly, a then-struggling artist and songwriter said NO to The King.  What an easy meal ticket that could have been for her – an Elvis recording, notoriety, cashmoney, royalties.

INSTEAD, she believed in herself and didn’t take the easy way out.  Can you imagine what people said about that decision?  Crazy, nuts, who knows.  Not looking so crazy now though.

What does this mean to you, to any of us?  Be true to yourself, and believe.  Don’t take the easy way out if your gut is telling you otherwise.  Believe in the rewards that will come to you for following your true path, and do not compromise for a short-term win.

Easy to say, hard to do.  If you have any Believe & Be True success stories, I’d love to hear them!

The cobbler’s son had no shoes, which means that I – as a marketing consultant – had no official website.  This was temporarily OK when I was working with people I already knew, or who had been referred directly to me.  Now that my business has (thankfully) grown beyond the ‘friends and family’ network, I was completely embarrassed the other day when a potential client asked for my website.  ”Um, it’s still in dev…” (I lied.)

Can you say bucket of cold water?  Wake up call?  I tell folks all the time just to get a website up to use as a home base.  It doesn’t need to be perfect or fancy, it just matters that people can find you and reach you.

Too often, we have great ideas and advice for others, and we don’t give it to ourselves.  I’m now walking the talk.