*#70 on the charts*

Oh, bloggity blog! Bliggity Bloggity Boo.

How come I have let 5 whole days pass without an update? For shame.

Last Thursday I had a great gig. It was a private party at Revival. It was really fun! Everyone was a bit frazzled because of the weather, but for some reason I was not. It takes a lot these days to get me stressed out. It didn't use to be that way - but now I am so......zen.

I got there early because I was coming straight from my Portuguese lesson, which is right near by. I hung out while the place got set up, and when the band got there, we did a short sound check. We played an hour long set for a wonderful crowd. I love the "hour long set". It just flies by. Not that I want to get it over with, but it usually has a good flow.

I am happy to say that "Like A Lover", as of Wednesday last week, was #70 in Canada on the Jazz Charts. Whoo-hoo! Hopefully it will stay somewhere around there this week.

My Indies submission is in, and I decided to go with "So Danco Samba" as the third choice. Thanks to all who wrote in and voiced their opinion. It was about 50/50 actually. I just had to pick one and go with it. Now it is out of my hands.

Tomorrow I have to put together an email flyer for December. This means I will waste hours of my life fiddling around with photo shop! Time well spent.

*Indies*

On the list of things to do today: submit my CD and press kit to the Canadian Music Week Indie Awards in the Jazz category. I have been on all my friends' cases to get their stuff submitted, but have neglected to get my own package in. Shame on me.

In the package, I need to specify three songs that the judges will listen to. This is a hard task for me. But, I think I am going to go with Like A Lover, The Things We Did Last Summer, and the last one, either Just About Everything or So Danco Samba. It's hard to narrow it down to three!

The Indie Awards are held during Canadian Music Week - sometime in March I think.

Baby, It's Cold.....UPDATES...

Well, apparently Toronto's EZRock 97.3 is not going to play it because they are already playing 4 different versions of the tune, and are going to narrow it down to only 2: The Rod Stewart one, and the Holly Cole version. So be it!

So, I am going to remove the EZRock Request links, because there is no point in bombarding them with requests if it just is not on their playlist.

I now focus my efforts on ChumFM because the word is that there is some interest there! This is FANTASTIC news.


ChumFM requests!!!


"Jingle Bells we shake" and "Hey big Fella"

In response to numerous emails.....

I am singing AND doing the voice-over on the Bay Radio and TV Christmas commercials: "Jingle Bells we shake, Fa la la we sing, Deck the Halls with boughs of holly" - blah blah blah "Only at the Bay. The Official Store of Christmas"

(by the way, did you know that I am The Official Jazz Singer of Christmas? - it's true)
(and Rex is the official dog of Christmas - though he doesn't know it)

Also I am singing on the LCBO radio spots to the tune of Santa Baby (also BGs on the "guy" versions)

Other V/O spots currently airing are:

Hyundai TV commercial - VO (woman in car)
Cogeco radio - VO (perky sales clerk)
McDonalds radio - McDeal Value Meal (announcer)



I have more Bay radio spots to do today and then I am going to come home and cook chicken pot pie!! Comfort food for a cold day.

Tomorrow I have a Portuguese lesson and then a private corporate gig. I am hearing bad things about the weather for tomorrow. Eeeek. The first big(ish) snowfall always freaks people out. Happy driving!

*adding ChumFM to the list*

'Tis the beginning of a new week. And as much as I try to resist Christmas, at least until December, some of the radio stations have already gone ALL CHRISTMAS!

So, on the bright side of it, this is a great opportunity to try to get "Baby, It's Cold Outside" some airplay (no, I'm not going to let up with this!)


I would like to add 104.5 ChumFM to the list of radio stations. Click on the link below to be taken to the "contact" page. From there, choose a contact from the scroll down list - either of the music people (Barry Stewart or Sue Mills) and make your request.

ChumFM requests


For more links, you can scroll down 2 posts, or go to my website news page. It is not easy to get radio play on any of these stations, but it is worth a shot.


Last night I think I had a dream where I was speaking Portuguese. When I woke up I was translating all these sentences in my head. Dumb things like "Maria works in an office. Her pen is black. Maria is married". Oooohhh, what happens next!!!?

Okay, I need to buckle down today. And Rex needs his walk. Boo - I don't feel like it this morning. Ahh, once I get out there, I'll be glad I did.

*estudo tudos os dias*

It is Sunday once again. I really can't believe how fast time is flying by. This past week I didn't get as much done as I had hoped in terms of working on charts. There was so much other stuff going on. Obviously, I have been pouring a lot of energy into Baby, It's Cold Outside. It is a ton of effort to get it out there and try to get the radio play going. Not to mention the ITunes/Puretracks availability. But the wheels are in motion and now I have to rely on music directors an the radio stations, and the requests of fans (hint hint).

I have posted the list of request links on my website on the news page. If you have a minute or two, please check it out and send an email to some of the radio stations - ask for Baby, It's Cold Outside by Emilie-Claire Barlow and Marc Jordan......


Something else that has been keeping my busy....I have decided to go back to my Portuguese classes. I had 2 classes already and a lot of it is coming back to me. I am going to try to fit in 2 more classes this week before my teacher goes to Brazil for a month. Hopefully she will leave me some stuff I can work on while she is away. It has been really fun to get back into it.

Now, I must go.

até logo!

*make a request*

Baby, It's Cold Ouside has now been serviced to Jazz and AC radio across Canada.

If you would like to help get it on the airwaves, you can call your local station and make a request.

Just ask for Baby, It's Cold Outside - Emilie-Claire Barlow and Marc Jordan!

I am still working on the list, but this is a start!

Toronto and surrounding areas:


ChumFM requests

98.1CHFI Requests
91.1JazzFM Requests
102.9 K-LiteFM
Wave94.7 Requests or call 1-877-947-WAVE
105.7EZRock Program Director


Belleville
Lite107 Lunch Requests

Ottawa
Majic100 Requests

Montreal
91.9 Couleur Jazz Requests
Q92fm Request

Winnepeg
Cool Jazz 99.1 Music Director

Calgary
The Breeze 103.1 Requests
Lite96 Station Manager

Edmonton
CKUA Music Director

Saskatoon
Magic 98.3 Reqests (specify Sunday evening smooth jazz)

Regina
Lite 92FM Requests

Vancouver
104.9ClearFM Requests

Kelowna
SilkFM Requests

Moncton
Magic 104 Call 506-858-1220 to make a request

*new track is up*

Well then, 'fake spring' went a way in a hurry! Today is gross and rainy. I am having my coffee, sitting at the dining room table, where Amelia is doing figure eights between my chair legs. It's 'Cat-ese' for "I love this time we're spending together". I understand it.

Coupla things:

Baby it's Cold Outside is now up on both emilieclairebarlow.com and MySpace for your listening pleasure. Check it out and get an advance listen before it hits the airwaves tomorrow. I am waiting to get a list of stations from my tracker so that I can put them up on the site and if anyone wants to call in and request it they can! It would be a big help. I'm really trying to push it to get some radio play. It is not an easy task, so all the help I can get is greatly appreciated. More on that later.

I am very excited because my aunt Kirstin, who lives in Germany is coming for a visit before she goes on tour. She arrives tomorrow, and then on Thursday night we are all going out for a big family feast. Can't wait! I don't think I have seen her since my wedding almost a year and a half ago. I just love a big family gathering!

Gotta run - more soon.....

*I love this day*

I love this day.

Rex and I had a lovely long walk this morning. We strolled through the park, bought the newspaper, sniffed some fire hydrants, marked our territory - the usual.

Is it spring? There is a spring feeling in the air. The breeze doesn't have the bitterness behind it that a November wind usually does. And it is damp out, but not a shivery chilly damp - more of a fresh, clean dampness. And the sun is out! Let's hope it stays for the rest of the week.

Now that some of my major gigs are out of the way, I feel like I can focus more on the December Montreal Bistro shows. I will definitely be doing some Christmas material. More than usual. I think I will have at least 8 new charts! Maybe I could even convince Marc Jordan to swing by and we could sing our duet! That would be a great guest appearance!

Speaking of our duet, "Baby, It's Cold Outside" will hopefully be available on Puretracks soon. I am working out some details with the powers that be. If all goes well, it could be released a week from Tuesday on Puretracks.com

I have finished The Sirens of Titan and am now itching to read more Kurt Vonnegut. Right now though, I am whipping through a book called Incendiary by Chris Cleave. It is keeping me intersted, but I am not really impressed. It is written as a letter and has a conversational style, without proper puncutation. I am finding this a bit irritating. The lack of proper punctuation in "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" didn't bother me at all. Maybe I found the main character more likeable. Anyway, you can check out the link above to find out more info. I will definitely finish the book, but probably wouldn't recommend it.

Next week looks like it won't be quite as frantic as last week. I know that I am working on more Bay V/Os on Wednesday and Thursday, but other than that I will be working on CHARTS! I am also going to give the band books a much needed facelift. I swear, I don't know what the guys do to these charts sometimes. Some of the pages are ripped, crumpled, and there are strange stains on some of them......hmmmm.....

*KR, ECB & MD*

IMG_8412, originally uploaded by emilie-claire.

The three girls last night at the Isabel Bader Theatre.....

That's Kathryn Rose (with child) on the left, yours truly in the middle, and Melanie Doane on the right.

The event, called Myles of Smyles, was a fundraiser for cancer research, but specifically, cancer in pregnancy. It's the second annual, and was started by Jon Magdisohn, who lost his wife Susan to cancer soon after their son Myles was born. The goal is to raise money and awareness about cancer in pregnancy, and to hopefully, offer better treatment choices to women who are diagnosed with cancer during their pregnancy.

the evening was a mixture of music (us three girls) and comediennes, including the Second City Comedy Troupe.

We each did about 15 minutes on our own. I was accompanied by Reg Schwager and we did Like A Lover, Just About Everything I Need, Blame it On My Youth, and Aguas De Marco.

The big finale was us girls doing our 3 song set, accompanied by Mike Borkosky and Thomas Payne on guitar(s) and piano. It was such a thrill to sing with these 2 girls, and also just to hang out in the dressing rooms, getting ready.

Poor Kathryn was (and still is) fighting a yucky cold. She was a trooper through the whole thing and sounded beautiful even though she was feeling like her voice was going to go.

There was a good turnout and even though the show went past 11:00, people were in no rush to leave, and hung around after for autographs and a meet and greet.

I think all of us did pretty well with CD sales!

I got out of there after midnight, got home, and fell into bed. Another busy week comes to a close.

*more fundraising*

I went on JazzFM on Sunday and then again today to help out with fundraising. I was really getting into it today - feeling the groove.

It's pretty fun actually. There are lots of people running around, good snacks - good times.

Yesterday I had a Mattell voice over for Barbie/Toys "R" Us. Tomorrow I have a V/O for Cogeco and then Thursday it is Bay V/Os.

Talkety talk. That's what I dooooo!!! (Well, when I'm not singing)

I know I said that I was going to make an announcement - and now that it's all over-hyped I have to put it off yet again because I will jinx it if I say anything until it is completely official. Annoying!

Oh! On Sunday, when I was on with Heather Bambrick we played "Baby, It's Cold Outside". The world premier!! It was fun to listen to it on the air. Unfotunately it skipped right at the very beginning. The Jazz FM remix!

I have hired a tracker to get it out to radio and see if we can't get some serious airplay. The hype starts this week. The ideal thing would be if one of the AC stations added the short version to their Christmas playlist.

*The Rex ROCKS!*

What a fantastic night! I am feelin' so groovy today. Yesterday, I was dead to the world all day. I was lucky enought to be able to veg out on the couch for a good portion of it - watching silly TV (Has anyone watched Airline? - there was a 4 episode marathon. Good times.)

I was wondering where I was going to find the energy to play 3 long sets of music late into the night. But the energy came. It came from the crowd. There was a lineup to get in - that is always exciting. And the room had a nice buzzy feeling. The audience was really giving the love and I could feel it! We played a couple of new charts, which went really well. The band felt great!

You just have to love the Rex. It totally has it's own thing going. I love that people were still coming in at 12:45, ready to have a good time and hear some music. We played until about 1:20 or so. By the time I left, my contact lenses felt glued to my eyes. It was nice to have D with me to chat with on the way home. I am always so buzzed after a show and want to re-hash every detail with anyone who will listen...

Thanks band - thanks jazz fans - thanks Rex!

And now I am going down to JazzFM to sit in with Heather Bambrick and help out with the fundraising. Also, if time permits, we are going to PREMIERE the "Baby, It's cold Outside" track - SO TUNE IN!!!

And call in. I'll be bringing CDs and autographed pictures to give away to people who call and donate to the station......

I'll be on at around 2:45 or so for a few hours.......


ta ta

*great show last night!*

We had such a great show last night at Hamilton Place! The band was so incredible. I can't say enough about the amazing musicians I had the pleasure of sharing the stage with. Especially Laila Biali. What a great chick! Not only is she a wonderful piano player, but she is also such a great person. So enthusiastic, positive, and a great sense of humour! Not to mention a HEAVY musician.....

The past couple of days have been a bit of a blur. On Wednesday I did a bunch of Christmas Bay commercials - both singing and voice-over. You'll be seeing them soon on TV and hearing them on radio.

Yesterday morning I did a solo sing for LCBO radio. The spots are to the tune of "Santa Baby". There is a guy version and a girl version. They are pretty funny!

After that session I had a voice-over for McDonalds. Radio spots - the announcer line for the Value McDeal thingy...at selected McDonalds in........Manitoba.......Quebec.......Southwestern Ontario.....etc.

Hmmmm what happened next.......oh yeah, the carpool began...

I had left the house early yesterday morning with everything ready for the gig that night. My bag was packed with the charts, percussion instruments, directions, CDs, wardrobe, makeup. It's a lot of stuff! I wasn't sure if I would have time to go home before I headed to Hamilton, and it turned out I didn't so I was glad I was prepared.

I picked up Perry White first, and we sat in Lakeshore traffic for ages. Then we picked up Laila and were on our way. It was actually really nice to have the company. It made the drive go that much faster.

We parked in the loading dock at Hamilton Place, and were led to the back stage area. We put our stuff in the dressing rooms and then headed to the stage. Ted Quinlan and Mark Kelso were already there getting set up. Once we were all there and set up, we did a sound check and had a quick run-through of some of the tunes.

The show started at 8pm and as soon as we played the first few notes, I knew it was going to be good. There was a very positive energy from the audience, and the band was just 'clicking' right away. There was so much chemistry, and everyone was having so much fun! It was just a fantastic show all around. After it was over, I went out to the CD selling area. My mom was there to help out and sell CDs. She also brought me food before the show - bless! I ended up chatting with a bunch of vocal students from Mohawk College. They were great! They had all these questions and were wondering if I could come to the college and do a master class. I was really overwhelmed and honoured. Hopefully it will work out. I would love to go and hang out and pass on anything I can...


After a slight delay - involving not being able to find our way out of the building - seriously, we had to call security from the emergency phone - we got to our cars and got out of there. I drove Laila home and then made it home at around midnight. Not too bad.

This morning, the alarm went off at 7:00 and it shook me right out of the middle of a dream. It was some kind of "Survivor" type setting and I was voting someone off. Off what, I don't know, but it was very serious business in my dream. I was jolted into reality and knew immediately that I had not gotten enought sleep. But I always look forward to working, so I can't complain. Up and at 'em.

I started today with a voice over for Hyundai. A TV spot for the new 2006 Accent. Then I headed back over to Pirate to do some BGs on the LCBO spots with my fabulous friend Kathryn Rose. It is always fun to sing with her. It doesn't get better than that.

Then it was time to get home and start working on charts for tomorrow night. I am adding a few new tunes, so I have to do a bit of writing and transposing. I am going to have to finish tomorrow because I only have about 2 brain cells left at this point.

I think it's going to be a fun night at the Rex tomorrow. It is always such a relaxed vibe there. The band will be great, and I have several friends who are coming down, so - built in supportive fans!!!

Sorry if my posts have been slightly half-assed lately. I just don't have it in me to do more than just blab it all out into the keyboard and post it. My posts are jumbled! But frequent!! Oh dear.

Oh yeah, I almost forget. I was booked to go on JazzFM to help with fundrasing today, but I had to call Terry McElligot and cancel, because my sessions got moved around. Boo! I was looking forward to going on-air, but Terry completely understood. It's the freelance singer/actor thing - hard to make commitments......

Anyway, I will most likely be going in to the station to help out this week. It's just a matter of pinning down the time.

That is all for now. I have a busy day tomorrow so I'm going to try to get to bed early. It is bath time. And I'm going to try to finish the Sirens of Titan tonight.....

Happy Friday night everyone....

*the busiest day*

Well, not the busiest day EVER, but definitely a contender.

It all started with a 9:30 radio interview on CKLN 88.1. It had been forever since I went on Colin Smith's show to chat, so it was nice to catch up. We talked about what's been going on and he played a couple of tracks from Like A Lover - the title track, a Time For Love, and The Things We Did Last Summer.

After that, I went over to my agent's to say hi and discuss some jobs I have tomorrow. Then I went to Deschamps, the studio next door to my agency and recorded 4 radio spots for Epson Printers. They were holiday tracks - group sings in a carolling style. It was a fun session, but I was stressing, because I had a 1:00 session and it was already 12:15, and we still had 2 of the spots left to do.....

I hate that feeling. I don't like being late! But I don't like trying to rush through a session either. They were good about it and let me go. I booted over to Oglivy and did a voice over for Mattel/Polly Pockets.

Then.......I went over to Sanderson Taylor, my lawyers, and signed some very important papers - on the many dotted lines!! This is a hint towards the big announcement, but I still can't say anything until the papers come back from the other end, signed. I am very excited that this is coming together.......

I had a business meeting in the late afternoon and then had to go back to Oglivy to re-do part of the voice-over.

Finally, I am at home, with my Rexy dog resting his chin on my lap.

Tomorrow, I am in session all day doing Bay commercials - more Christmas commercials!


Now, it is time for some tea, a bath, and bed. I think the time change is messing with me, because I feel like I should be going to bed, but then I just looked at the time and it is only 8:30. I think I shall do some reading. I finished "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime". A quick read, but so enjoyable. Now, I am almost finished "The Sirens of Titan" by Kurt Vonnegut. Loving it.