Last October, The Fins played a really swanky gig for the 50th anniversary conference of National Write Your Congressman. My mom works for them so we had an inside connection, but we won over many of the other principals there once they heard us play.
The event was top-notch, top to bottom. Held at the beautiful Marriott Legacy in Plano, it was a ritzy black-tie gala and we were happy to be a part of it. Best of all, the audio-visual guys really outdid themselves. Excellent sound and lighting everywhere, giant video screens to each side of the stage, and they videotaped the whole thing with a 3 camera setup. We felt like we were on Austin City Limits!
So we just got our hands on the video and I have been cutting it up and uploading it to YouTube one song at a time. One video included below, and click here to see the full playlist.If you have a high-speed Internet connection, be sure to look for the “watch in high quality” link – it makes a huge difference!
I had heard about Facebook on and off for the past few years, but still had this impression in my mind that it was only for college kids and other juvenile hijinx. Okay, I was wrong. After hearing that my daughter had connected with a cousin of mine I decided to join up.
The piece I wrote last year for the Dallas Wind Symphony’s Christmas concert is selling like hotcakes for the upcoming holiday season. It is easily the #1 best-seller from the Lovebird Music catalog this year. I was informed this morning that the United States Navy Band will be performing it on Dec. 5th. Have you heard it yet? If not, have a listen.
The idea started with an arrangement of “Pat-a-pan” that I did in 2006 as a demo of the capabilities of the Garritan Personal Orchestra sample library. Pat-a-pan is such a cool minor-key tune, almost Slavic sounding, and I wanted to slip some other Christmas-themed material into it, so I decided to transpose “Up On The Housetop” to minor. It worked out great and the arrangement was completed…
