Holidays and high stakes...

It gets hard to post as regularly as I would like...there is just so much to do. My manager, the divine Robynn Ragland, keeps me hopping, and the ordinary demands of my life are sort of daunting these days. I am trying to finish up my debut CD (have two more recording sessions before the mixing process gets under way), attend to promotional stuff and keep moving forward. And it's happening in the middle of a busy holiday season. This week, my first national interview on TV is scheduled to air. It'll be either Wednesday, Dec. 23 or Thursday, Dec. 24, on the CBS Evening News. Check your local listings; here in St. Louis, the show airs at 5:30 p.m. I had a great time doing this interview and Jim Axelrod asked all the right questions. Meanwhile, though, the holiday season is hitting me hard--it's my first Christmas without my mom, who died in April, and my dad, who's stuck in a nursing home and not doing that great. I have terrific friends cheering me on but I'm pretty blue. I keep writing new songs, but I've taken a breather even from that to attend to some priorities. I just feel like the stakes are sort of high...I want to make a quality debut recording, and I want to be able to acknowledge every one who writes to me about my song...they tell me the day will come when I can't do this anymore. But I'll do it for as long as I can, because I really do appreciate every single person who takes the time to write. So for those of you reading this, thank you for caring, thank you for listening to my "Up in the Air" song or any others soon to come, and thank you for communicating. I hope to touch your heart, or help you reflect on things, or simply to realize you're not alone. A very Merry Christmas to all, and I'll post again as soon as possible.

Songwriting 202

Despite all the external things and the unpredictable circumstances taking place around me, one thing is always constant...I love to write songs and to figure out how to keep writing better ones. It's a mysterious process, and I never know when the urge or impulse to write a song will strike. It's easier on me when it happens at home, because then I can grab a notepad and start scribbling things down. I have alot of half-written songs right now; I need to spend time finishing them. And I can't always tell the potential of a new song idea; it can seem like a wonderful, inspired idea at first, then it begins to lose steam later. But I can feel when something is really at a higher level. I am working on a new song now which really moves me and seems to have a unique emotional power to it. It's the kind of song I can hardly wait to do live, and I'll want to record it on my second CD, the one tentatively called "Our Mother's Place." What is it, the chord progression? The way the melody grabs me in these early stages of composing? The way I hope people will respond to it if I do my job? What is it that makes a song like this more potentially memorable and artistically potent than others? I don't know, but it's the mystery of this that keeps me hooked, and keeps me doing it...

When good things happen to brooding people...

So much has happened so quickly, that I barely have time to blog about it. Friday the 13th was a lucky day for me...the Joe Williams feature story was printed in the Post-Dispatch about my saga, and I finally received my check from Paramount. I can start to dig myself out of debt and become the musician/songwriter I always wanted to be. An era has come to an end, with a better one starting. November 14 marked the exact one-year anniversary of my final day at Momentum North America, and it was coincidentally the day of the UP IN THE AIR premiere at the St. Louis International Film Festival. What a night! I was interviewed on the "red carpet" by several reporters about my story, and I was acknowledged by Jason Reitman when I thanked him from the stage about what he's done for my life. Despite a few sound problems, my trio did a short set of original songs, and I unexpectedly had to do "Close to Something Beautiful" when the proceedings were delayed. Reporters filmed some of this. And I sang "Up in the Air" and received warm and enthusiastic applause. Though short, this was the biggest gig of my life, and I was told I did well. I enjoyed it and the vocal sound was good. Attended two fantastic parties, at which numerous people told me they liked my song. So this is what celebrity feels like? I could almost get used to it, after the hellish year I've been through. The movie is so great...I really love it, after seeing it twice. Karen, Melinda and Sue were in attendance to cheer me on...God bless my friends! There was no time for excessive reflection the next day...I had booked some crucial studio time with Mike Martin to take advantage of Ted being here. The session went really well...we got good takes of four full-band songs. I was so happy to get a decent take of "Call It, Friend-o," one of my newer songs which is a frenetic, blistering rocker. And we nailed "Don't Go," for which we did about as fine an imitation of Neil Young and Crazy Horse as I'm likely to do for awhile. This session was critical for making me feel the goal of having a full CD release was attainable, and all of us were pleased with the results. I'm liking this new phase of my life, and I am not slowing down, creatively. Full speed ahead!

Total Immersion

When my friends Ted Moniak and John Sobocan arrived in town, it was the beginning of a period of almost total immersion in music-related stuff. We recorded a bunch of demos, including a nice one for my song "Janey," which might be good enough to make the CD I'm working on. And we had an amazing jam session today with Ned Watson and Larry Perlmutter that peaked with a fantastic first run-through of my brand new song "Call It, Friend-o," which I am more than a little fond of. I'm having some fun now! I'm still broke, but things are going in the right direction. We paid a visit to the home of Gretchen Hewitt, one of my most talented musician friends...John taped her singing tones at her piano to make the strings echo, and it was just gorgeous. We were all totally silent as this was going on. I sense another ambient album in the near future. I'm going to do a short set for my dad at the nursing home Tuesday nite, and then gear up for the big premiere of UP IN THE AIR at the Tivoli on Nov. 14. I'm a bit nervous, but looking forward to thanking Jason Reitman personally for picking my song. Tomorrow nite is my interview on Channel 5; that should be interesting. The gig at Fred's Sat. nite went decently, but I bloodied my thumb strumming so hard; it made the second set a bit more muted for me. But people said nice things, which is always appreciated because I tend to notice the mistakes more than anything else. All part of the deal for an evolving musician, which I certainly am...

It's getting interesting

So much is happening, and so rapidly, that I am not able to keep up with blogging and sharing all the interesting tidbits the way I should. But the imminent release of the UP IN THE AIR soundtrack is definitely news, and I am so honored to be a part of it. Brad Smith was recently declared ineligible for an Oscar nomination for his song "Help Yourself," as I am, and the incontention.com website had another story discussing the whole thing. Meanwhile, reviews of Up in the Air at the London Film Festival have been almost unanimous raves, and several have mentioned the music. I am waiting to find out if the version of "Taken At All" by Crosby, Stills and Nash that appears on the soundtrack is their trio version, or the one that also features Neil Young which appeared on the CSN box set. I'd be tickled if the latter, just so I could say my first recorded song came out on an album that I shared in some manner with my musical idol! I am hoping to record a few more songs in the next two weeks, and I wrote a brand new one over the weekend that I really like. The title is "Call It, Friend-o." It's really fun to play, and it has a nicely quirky arrangement. All in all, these are very interesting times for me!

Got ourselves a controversy!

Well, this is something I never could have expected...a controversy! Steve Pond's article stating that my song was ineligible for Oscar consideration has resulted in a few other bloggers offering their takes on the matter. Alex Billington at firstshowing.net posted a great little piece that has generated comments:
http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/10/10/original-song-from-up-in-the-air-disqualified-from-the-oscars/
This is all quite fascinating. Complicating matters in an interesting way, one of the guys at Incontention.com updated his predicted Oscar nominees and now has my song listed as one of 5 likely contenders! It'll be fun watching all this play out, even though I think my chances of a nomination are minimal at best. But like one commenter said, even if I'm nixed from the Oscars, there's always the Golden Globes and the Grammys!

An amazing day!

I want to remember days like Oct. 8, 2009. Despite heavy rains that wreaked havoc with everything, I woke up to find two new online pieces about my song, including a terrific column by Joe Williams responding to the Pond piece stating that I was disqualified for Oscar contention because my song wasn't "written specifically for the film." Bummer, but also kind of a relief. Robynn wrote something amazing about why this was unfair, and I feel like it deserves to be posted here; I hope she won't mind. So here it is:

My personal opinion is that especially in this day and age in the music business, a rule that the song must be "written for the movie" is ridiculous.  First - it is more possible than ever to discover unknown artists with unknown songs that have never been produced or released in the marketplace, and these artists and songs should be given a chance to revel in the original glory of their "first official showing."  If they cannot be considered, you keep the whole Oscar concept completely out of reach for the unconnected, uncommissioned musician, which means a huge body of work or potentially exceptional music is immediately disqualified from the running, just because the songwriters aren't already connected in the Hollywood circuit.  (And people wonder why there are so few quality Oscar nominated songs each year!)  Secondly, it is impossible to draw an accurate line to regulate the requirement that songs be "original" and "written specifically for the motion picture."  Any songwriter would tell you that this is a seriously amorphous line.  Even songs portending to be specifically written for specific use are most likely developed from at least some pre-existing song fragment, lyrical idea, or song hook or "nugget" if you will -- existing before the specific use (i.e. movie, in this case).   Must we then get into what percentage of the song existed before the movie?  Or are we talking about the specific moment of completion of the song - i.e. when the song is fully fleshed out and truly "finished" or "finalized"?  If so, does this mean that even if the lyrics were only slightly tweaked to "specifically" fit the movie, it would then qualify?   Any attempt to police this rule would be ludicrous.   So how should we regulate whether a song qualifies as a candidate for an OSCAR and is "original" to the movie?  I think the only way to draw a line is to go back to the rule (like ASCAP and BMI's qualifier) basing eligibility on whether the song has ever been published.

That is truly brilliant, and I hope alot of people read it and comment. Especially YOU, Academy rulemakers! The truly pivotal event today was my second rehearsal with the Keysor School kids. We continued practicing my song "Read a Book," and it was just magical. These four kids, probably around 8 or 9 years old, were completely receptive, engaged in the process, and even forthcoming with their own suggestions. Gretchen and I had a marvelous time working with them, and their teacher told us they were all very excited to be part of this. So am I! It was a magical experience for me, and I want to savor every minute. Later in the day, I confirmed with Cliff at the St. Louis International Film Festival that UITA is indeed screening on Nov.  14, and Cliff asked if I'd want to perform a short set at the Tivoli before the movie. Like, wow! Things are sure getting interesting with this adventure!

Starting the recording

Well, Up in the Air may not be opening until December now, but that's not gonna stop me from doing stuff! With my song "Read a Book" finally finished to my satisfaction, and good rehearsals with the wonderfully talented Gretchen Hewitt, I was ready for the next phase on this one: recruiting some children to sing on it with me. Who better to join in on a song about the value of books, than some elementary school kids? Went to my old school, Keysor Elementary, in Kirkwood, and contacted the nicest music teacher, a woman named Tracey Sinclair. Gretchen and I met the 4 kids Tracey thought would do the best job, and we rehearsed in a music room downstairs. It was a blast! The kids learned the song fairly quickly, and we're going back on Thursday to refine it. And a couple of them had great input, too. What fun! On Friday, Robynn has me booked into a recording studio for the first time. I'm nervous but excited about it. Sessions for my first recording are officially under way!

A few updates, including Oct. issue of Sauce

The October issue of Sauce Magazine has a few paragraphs about my song, and our upcoming anniversary show at The Grove Deli. The phone number they list has been disconnected; you can use 651-1694 instead or just call The Grove at
314-962-9078 if you want directions. I was bummed to find out that UP IN THE AIR has been delayed until December. Doggone it! There will be a limited opening on Dec. 4, some more cities the following week and then a wide release at Christmas. It's too long to wait! Other news: Robynn Ragland has officially become my manager; I signed a contract with her yesterday. We are planning our strategy...looks like my first release will be a 6-song mini CD. I'm still riding quite a creative wave. I love this cool new song I wrote called "Think Twice About It," which we will debut at our Oct. 23 show. And I wrote another one yesterday, called "Gateway." Sounds like kind of a psychedelic, yearning love song. Will require a few other instruments to be effective.

Official soundtrack!

I just found out yesterday that Rhino Records wants my song for the official UP IN THE AIR soundtrack. Unbelievable! My first song that will be on a real recording! The letter they sent lists other artists they hope to include on the soundtrack, artists like, uh, CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG! Only one of my fave groups of all time! I don't know what song it would be, I'm curious to find out. But I did hear that a Graham Nash song plays at the beginning of the closing credits and then leads into mine. How cool is that? I love Graham and I could not possible be more honored to have someone as my "closing credits mate." Lol. What a gas this is!

Sept. 22

This blog and the related website will keep those of you interested in my creative activities informed. Much has been happening, and I am ready for what I hope will be a fun ride. My song "Up in the Air" will play over the closing credits of the movie, and I couldn't be more proud to be associated with a film like this. It's gotten tremendous buzz! The movie opens in limited release on Nov. 13, then nationwide two weeks later. Meanwhile, I am plotting the details of my debut CD. Stay tuned for the adventure!

Checkout my website

Hey everybody I have a new website. It's still in the beginning stages so check the site often. http://www.kevinrenick.com/

Telluride Watch: Up in the Air Will Fly

Telluride Watch: Up in the Air Will Fly

Oscar Buzz

Listen to one of my songs


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