It's a holiday weekend....AND
I'm sick. Ugh - throat infection.
So due to all the rest I had today, I wanted to share with you my thoughts about my new song, Stay (available on itunes now, yes, I know it's a corny shameless plug, but I had to do it, lol)
Here's what happens when you release a new song - ready?
You pray very hard every spare moment you have that you will have a successful song
You hold your freaking breath...
You hold your breath some more...
Anyone who wants to be in this business, be prepared to wait. Waiting, my friend, becomes such a big part of the music industry. You wait for someone to discover you. You wait to get signed. You wait to release a song or album. Then you wait to see if anyone bites and adds the record onto a radio station. You wait to hear it on the radio. You wait to see if your fans will buy it. You wait to hear what they think. You wait to go onstage and sing it. Wait, wait, wait, but wait.
Last year, I submitted many songs to my lable for consideration to which they declined all of them - frustrating, but I didn't give up. Then I asked my label if I could record Stay. I was told, "Okay, let's see what you come up with." I called Valentin, producer of Faithfully, and we recorded it. I got my good friend, Wilma, to sing back-up for me, and submitted it to the label...who wanted "changes." LOL. If you're considering being an artist, you've got to get used to hearing, "it's not enough...something's missing. Go back and do it again." We did it over and over, added, took away, and FINALLY they said yes...but then there are contracts to sign. And I HATE the business part of the business, but until everyone is happy and everyone has signed all papers, NOTHING happens... At the very end, one day, the label wanted a little piano fill in just before the second verse...that little change delayed the release. I admit it sounds great, but I can't hear that part without either flinching or laughing because those four notes they wanted delayed the release. God bless Valentin for his patience! LOL
Today, I find myself waiting again, lol. I'm still holding my breath. There is an excitement that lives and breathes inside me when a new song is released. The label released Stay much sooner than I had expected...although I've waited almost a year for it to be available. So now everything is rush, rush, rush...rush to order photos, rush to get my bio updated, rush to do a video! Oh, my God, we have to do a video NOW!!! Oh, yes I forgot, you wait and then you spend...you spend a LOT of money. I have paid my bio writer to update my bio, paid my web designer to update the site (judytorres.com - another shameless plug, but it looks great, lol). I paid my manager 20%; I paid the printer for photos, paid an internet publicity company to help me get the song heard...
Stay was released on June 22nd. I was watching tv and saw this woman, this beautiful woman, sing this song called Stay, with tears in her eyes...and the tears were real and her voice was REAL!! Really amazing! Who is this woman? I googled and googled and found Jennifer Nettles of country duo, Sugarland. She wrote it while going through a divorce, but man, what a voice!! I had to record it...why? Because we ALL put ourselves in relationships that are unhealthy for us at some point and need to find the courage within ourselves to admit it. I have a passion for singing about empowerment - that's just me! Well, I recorded the song almost a year ago...look how long I've waited to see that happen.
It is VERY difficult when I release something other than freestyle, because I know I'm gonna "get it" from the fans, lol. I know what they want: simply put, more freestyle. In this big music industry, what you don't know is what the bigwigs think, say, etc....to them freestyle is now considered a "classic" style of music, to some, they think I'm too old, and the only way to suvive in this business is to evolve...All the best of the best artists do that - they evolve, they reinvent themselves, they surrender to the fact that music always changes and you have to change too. The current shifts, and you have to practice the art of flowing with the current. Swimming upstream just doesn't work. You'll end up tired, you'll end up wasted...you'll end up alone.
So, although freestyle is always in my heart, I close my eyes like I'm watching a scary movie, and PRAY that my fans love me...not just my music...So far the record label told me it is too soon to know how it's doing...I have heard some like it and some don't. So I've done all the things I can actively do, and now....I wait. I am proud of the recording...vocally, it's one of my best! That I can be proud of.
In many ways, I see these next five years at my last chance to prove myself in the music business - to make a bigger mark than before. In the meantime, I continue to do all I can - record, write new songs, make appearances, perform...and the rest , I leave up to the people...LOL. And then, I leave it to God! That's all I can do. In a future blog, I will tell you why Stay means so much to me and when I work up the nerve, I will tell you about the ugly politics...but not today. Today, I wait...I wait for my throat infection to heal, I wait to get another chance with the public, I wait to see if the song gets radio play...I know, it's not a very exciting blog, but hey, I'm sick, lol! Just wanted you to know it means so much because I've watied so long. Oh, here's a teaser, Navy Guy is returning home at the end of the month!!
