As a voting member of the Academy, I consider the process to have some validity, and take my voting pretty seriously. And while I would never vote just because I know someone, there are several folks nominated that are clients & friends, and I wish them well. Especially 2 in particular:
Category 4
Best New Artist (For a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that artist.)
Zac Brown Band
Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings
While I really like The Ting Tings, Silversun Pickups are on Dangerbird Records, the label for which I'm currently finishing a recording studio installation. I had nothing to do with the album, but the label folks are friends The producer, Dave Cooley, is also a client & good friend, and it's a great album. If I didn't think so I wouldn't bother to blog about it.
Category 7
Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals (For established duos or groups, with vocals. Singles or Tracks only.)
Never Say Never The Fray Track from: The Fray
[Epic]
The Fray were produced by Mike Flynn, and engineered by my dear friend Warren Huart. Apart from that, it's a great album of quality pop music. The Fray were also nominated in this category:
Category 11
Best Pop Vocal Album (For albums containing 51% or more playing time of VOCAL tracks.)
The Fray The Fray [Epic]
And in an unexpected category, keyboard player Skip Edwards, one of the best B3 players in L.A., is nominated:
Category 78
Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Story Telling)
Jonathan Winters — A Very Special Time Jonathan Winters (Music By Verne Langdon & Skip Edwards) [Dejavu Record Company/The Orchard]
So, these are quality recordings by great people, worth checking out.
(Pablo 'Pau' Casals: JSBach Cello Suite in G Maj, Prelude. F'n rock'n'roll!)
Most people reading here know that my day job providing technical support to L.A. recording studios. It's a great job. I learn new things every day, meet some wonderful people, get to solve problems and exercise creative muscles. And I stay involved in the music business.
Right now I'm doing all the wiring and technical installation work for a new studio for Dangerbird Records. Started in '04 by 2 great guys, Peter Walker and Jeff Castelaz, they are doing quite well for an indie label. Please check out the link above to see some of their artists.
All my initial dealings were with Peter. In fact I never even met Jeff until just before the installation started. I just figured he was more involved with the day-to-day running of the label. But then I found out what was distracting him: The Pablove Foundation:
The Pablove Foundation is named after Pablo Castelaz, the five-year-old son of Dangerbird Records co-founder Jeff Castelaz and his wife Jo Ann Thrailkill. On May 17, 2008, Pablo was diagnosed with bilateral Wilms' Tumor, a rare form of children's cancer. The cancer appeared out of nowhere, with no warning signs in Pablo's general demeanor or health. He is currently undergoing treatment at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, and is doing extremely well. Thanks to decades of research and treatment at places like CHLA, Wilms' Tumor is over 90% curable.
Read the whole thing. Sounds pretty promising, right? Guess again. The Get Well Pablo blog details the latest crises. Pablo had just gotten out of the hospital after his latest round of chemo, when he developed a sudden infection and was rushed to the ER last Wed.:
The fever hasn't really gone down after the first round of fluids and antibiotics. In an effort to cool him, we had to take his shirt off and take the blanket off his body. Not easy when he's shivering. It adds screaming to his repertoire.
Later that day:
Had to stop writing for past 15 minutes. As I was typing P's eyes bulged out of his head and he began to vomit mucous and a bit of blood. This is not a fire drill. There are more docs in here now. They are moving us to a bigger room in the ER. The ICU is full and we may be here for a while.
A tech is in here right now with a giant machine doing an echocardiogram. Another tech is drawing blood from his arm while that's going on. They need to test the gas level in his blood. P's entire body is swollen - out of nowhere. We are all staring at the black and white monitor on the machine, watching Pablo's superstrong little heart pounding away.
Still later the same day:
We are headed to the ICU. The fever has not gone down yet. The docs have him on ice. Pablo is miserable - his blood pressure is low and his heart rate is racing. There are no less than six doctors attending to him, many of whom have become friends of P's and ours over the past 11 months.
We are never in this part of the hospital for anything less than serious stuff. That's why it's called the 'emergency department.' There's something
We do have GREAT news: P's chest x-ray is totally clear. No pneumonia, no fluid and - most significant - no spots. You know Jo Ann and I are not fatalists, but we'd be delusional to not find comfort in the absence of cancer in Pablo's lungs. That's the first place the disease spreads to if it were to recur and spread. We are f**king NOT open to that. But, again, there are facts and we are grateful to have checked one potential issue off the list.
And Wed. night:
Pablo is still in critical condition. He still has fever of 38.4—38.9 Celsius. It's been that high all day. You could cook an egg on P's palm he's so hot. The nurses are literally packing chemical ice packs around his body as he lays in bed. He has the old skool traditional cold wash cloth on his head. Jo Ann and I told him how our mothers used to do that for us, and how much we loved it. He was nonplussed, and seems to hate all the cold stuff up on him.
Readers here know we went through a serious ER-ICU scenario last October, before Mom finally passed. That was tough to deal with, but there was also something expected. Mom was 82, not in great health, and everyone loses their parents eventually.
But I can't begin to imagine what it would be like to try and comfort a seriously ill child, day after day, in and out of the hospital. Jeff and his family and supporters are special people indeed.
Fast-forward to today, and much better news:
we're OUTTA ICU! back on 4 west w/ our FAMILY of docs+nurses+techs. feels soooo good to be here. I'm gonna sleep here again.
4 West, where Pablo knows all the staff, and which is, sadly, his home away from home. Those on Facebook who want to send messages of support, Jeff is: Jeff Castelaz. To follow his updates on Twitter: @dangerbirdjeff.
And Donate to Pablove, please. You get a cool yellow bracelet. For Pablo, for Lizzie, for Kristin, for Mom, for Jane, for victims and especially for survivors of cancer:
(Click here!)
Bonus video: Ray LaMontagne: You Are The Best Thing:
