2012 Year In Review

I did a little bit of reflecting over the past year and thought I'd do a little wrap up of 2012 so I can start moving forward with 2013! Without a doubt, 2012 was one of the most rewarding years I've ever had, both personally and professionally. From signing deals and building new relationships to growing and strengthening existing relationships to even having to say goodbye to others, last year was a very significant year for me.

The year started off with the premiere of It's A Brad, Brad World on Bravo, my second main title theme. I was happy to find out a few weeks ago that the show got renewed for a second season.

The in March I was able to take some time to attend some Kentucky basketball games during the NCAA March Madness tournament. I had no idea that going to see them play in Louisville was going to completely change my life. See, it was the walk from the parking lot to the arena for the first game in which I finally got to the point concerning my health that I knew I had to make a change.

That change began one month later when I started the RevAbs program. My goal was to lose 100lbs in 6.5 months. By the time I stepped on the flight to head to L.A. in November for the TAXI Road Rally I wanted to be 100lbs lighter. That was my goal.

During the next 6.5 months I put most of my focus and attention on losing weight and getting healthy. And while I did some music during that time, it really did take a back seat in my life. But it was worth it as I was able to reach the goals that I set out to achieve with the weight loss. I'll never forget the moment after I boarded the plane and got in my seat of when I put my seat belt on. For the last 4 years that I attended the Rally, it was always a struggle to get it latched together. Not this time. I remember looking at all the slack that was left in the belt and then I became overwhelmed with emotion and tears began to flow. It was at that moment that I finally felt like my goal had been achieved.

The destination for the flight was the TAXI Road Rally. This was my 5th one and 2nd time as a guest panelist. And of all the Rally's I've been to, this was by far my favorite one. I'm sure it had something to do with the "Barry?!?!?!? Is that really you?!?!?!??" type moments, but I think it had just as much to do with me being able to give back to the community that's been so giving towards me over the past 5 years.

I finished out the rest of the year working on an alt rock project in the style of the Black Keys as well as trying to enjoy the holidays while trying to rest up and get recharged for the new year. If 2013 is anything like 2012 was then it's going to be an incredible year.

Until next time...

Brad, Brad World Gets Renewed and Music Placements Update - 9.14.2012

Just a quick update for everyone... I found out earlier this week that one of the shows that I wrote the title theme for, It's A Brad, Brad World, has been renewed for a second season. Seeing how late the renewal came, I wasn't optimistic that a second season would be happening. But it is and I believe they are going to keep using the same theme for the show as well. Woo hoo!

I've also had some new placements show up over the last couple of weeks as well. No new series debuts but quite a few cues in multiple episodes of returning shows showed up again. They include Access Hollywood, American Pickers, Auction Kings, The Dr. Oz Show, Fatal Encounters, Giuliana and Bill, Last Call With Carson Daly, My Big Redneck Vacation, Oprah's Next Chapter, Super Soul Sunday, and Toddlers and Tiaras. 

Until next time...

May Update

Thought it would be a good time to update the blog with some of the latest news about placements and deals and stuff. This is the time of year that my musical output tends to increase a bit as I find myself having more time to spend composing since the college basketball season is over, the NBA playoffs are nearly finished and most of my favorite TV shows are on summer hiatus (or cancelled!).

I had a chance to write some pop/rock cues in the style of Colbie Callait and Sheryl Crow for a new series that's about to debut on ABC Family called Beverly Hills Nanny. I wrote seven tracks for it and all seven were accepted and sent to the editors of the show. So I'll likely record that show to see if any of my cues get used.

Currently I'm writing some Hip-Hop cues for Fox Sports. It's been a stretch to say the least, but I've watched quite a few mix tapes of Kentucky basketball players to help me get a feel for the genre :-) I'm also co-writing with a couple of other people on these, one in particular who's VERY well versed in Hip-Hop. Thanks to most of their home games against lesser opponents being broadcast on the UK Basketball network via Fox Sports South, my dream of having my music played during a UK game broadcast is one step closer to reality!

On to some placement news... Since my last update, I've had placements show up in Clean House NY (4 episodes), The Rosie Show (14 episodes), NY Ink, It's A Brad, Brad World (8 episodes), and Last Call with Carson Daly (4 episodes). Now here is one of the rare times that I actually know in advance about an episode. The episode of What Not To Wear (episode title - "Desiree") that will be airing on Tuesday night, June 5th at 9pm Eastern / 8pm Central will feature 3 of my tracks in it. And since I know which tracks are being used, I can actually let you know which ones they are as well :-) So here they are, the first two are acoustic guitar based tracks and the third one is a driving pop/rock track:

Making Choices


Tough Decisions


Leave It All Behind


I'm not sure the exact moment when they will be used in the episodes, but it does appear that it will be in the back half of the episode, with the third clip being the next to last piece of music they use, and it gets played for 56 seconds. So it might be used during the final "reveal" scene based on the type of cue and placement in the episode.

And finally, an update on my progress with the RevAbs program that I started over 6 weeks ago. I'm VERY excited to announce that I just completed Phase 1 of the program and so far I've lost 37.1lbs, 4" off of my waist and about 18% of my body fat. I'm feeling great and can't wait to see the results at the end of Phase 2 later next month!

Until next time...

I actually remember how to blog!

Looks like my last entry was nearly six months ago. I knew it had been awhile since my last blog but I hadn't realized it had been THAT long. So much has happened between now and then. Some of it important, some of it, not so much. Let me start out with the least important stuff first... updates on music placements...

I landed my second main title theme for the show It's A Brad, Brad World that is currently airing on Bravo. I've also had numerous placements in a variety of other shows such as Access Hollywood, Auction Kings, and Little Couple. And the movie that I wrote the score for, Decision, made it's television debut back in October. I've also been busy writing cues for a variety of other shows but have yet to find out how many have been used yet.

In November of last year I made my annual trip to L.A. for the TAXI Road Rally. This was my fourth time going and it might have been my favorite one. It was great getting to see friends and "family" while I was there though it's amazing how fast the time flies while you're there. This one seemed to go by really fast.

After the Rally I made a big change in my recording setup. I switched from Pro Tools 9 to Cubase 6. There were lots of reasons for the change and maybe one day I'll do a blog post just about that, but after making the switch to Cubase, I can honestly say I've got no regrets. I'm LOVING Cubase!

Now on to some of the important updates... The last couple of weeks have been a sobering reminder of just how fragile life really is. Almost two weeks ago, my papaw (mom's dad) passed away. Even though he had been in a nursing home for over eight years and had been battling Parkinson's Disease for sometime, his passing was a bit of a shock. While it's never easy to see someone you love pass away, we know he's in a much better place now and we have faith that we'll see him again someday. I was able to spend about a week up in KY to be with my family. I wish I could have stayed longer.

I was just about to get back to a bit of a normal life last week but this past Friday saw an outbreak of tornadoes across the Midwest and the South. We were fortunate here in that we didn't see any damage. But the area that I grew up in, Laurel County, Kentucky, was not as lucky. In East Bernstadt, at least five people lost their life and as many as 40 others were injured. It broke my heart to see the pictures and video footage of some of the damage. While I grew up in London, we went to church for many years in East Bernstadt and I have some friends and family that live there. I basically consider all of Laurel County as "home." And to be away from there right now is definitely tugging on my heart. My body may be in Tennessee, but my head and heart are in Kentucky right now.

I posted this on facebook and will do the same here. I'm trying to find 5 people who are willing to donate $20 to the United Way of Laurel County to help out the tornado victims in East Bernstadt. I will match those donations myself and will also buy you a drink or desert the next time I see you in person. If you're willing to help, here's the link to donate at:

https://volunteer.truist.com/cng-uwa/donate/?fdn=19100&_vm10302425432_=UWW_LUW

Until next time...