New placements (with a video clip!)

The last couple of months have been pretty good to me. I've been getting some regular placements in a couple of new shows, Proving Ground on G4TV and Surprise Homecoming on TLC. In both cases, I'm seeing, or should I say hearing :-) some tracks that I wrote and pitched specifically for those shows. Both of the shows also contain some personal "records" for me in terms of placements. In the Harry Potter episode of Proving Ground, I had the most placements ever in any one episode of a show with a total of 14. And in this most recent episode of Surprise Homecoming, I had my longest placement with a total length of 1:16.

It's a great feeling to be watching the show and then hear a cue that you wrote specifically for a certain type of scene, actually show up in the show AND get used in that type of scene! In this specific case, I'm referring to most recent episode of Homecoming and the "reveal" scenes. I had four cues used in this most recent episode with two of them being the "reveal" scenes. I've posted a clip below of one of those scenes. The cue is used from the beginning of the clip until the family "turns around" and it's a piece that I co-wrote with my dear friend Lydia Ashton.



It's been fun watching these shows with my wife next to me. Every time one of my cues starts I'll point to the TV and exclaim "MINE!!!" with the giddiness of a little kid at Christmas time. Though I've been writing music for a while, I'm still kinda new to the film and TV music aspect of the biz, and so far, the new-ness of hearing my music on TV has to yet wear off. I don't think it ever will. This business is tough and I feel I've been very blessed to see my placement totals continue to increase on a weekly, and in some cases, daily basis.

Some other recent placements that I've had would be in the shows Curb Appeal (HGTV), I Hate My Kitchen (DIY), 10 Grand In Your Hand (DIY) and according to my ASCAP international statement, an episode of America's Got Talent that played in the United Kingdom.

Like I said, the last couple of months have been pretty good to me. Can't wait to see what the rest of the year holds!

August Update

It has been a rather eventful summer to say the least. A couple of days after my last blog post my parents came down to visit. It was a short visit but a great one filled with lots of laughter and food. In other words, a typical family visit :-)

A few days after that I had a chance to write some music for a new reality show about a pest control service. Not sure if I'm allowed to say more than that at this time. I ended up writing and signing some new tracks in a couple of genres that were new for me, classic rock and hip-hop.

A couple of days later I got an opportunity to write some tracks for a new show that recently debuted on TLC called Surprise Homecoming, hosted by Billy Ray Cyrus. The show is about soldiers returning home from war and surprising their loved ones. It was a very quick turnaround time for the new cues as the show was already being edited. I wrote a few cues and I also did some co-writing with a couple dear friends, Lydia Ashton and Cathleen Weinrich, both of whom are amazing musicians. Cathleen and I had two tracks signed and Lydia and I had four tracks signed.

Placement on TLC's My First Home

I was looking through my ASCAP account online and noticed that I had a new cue sheet listed. Looks like it was for an episode of TLC's My First Home that aired just a few weeks ago.

I tried to find the clip online but wasn't able to do so yet. I'm sure it'll show up at some point, or I'll get the episode on my DVR.

Once again, this was a result of being forwarded by TAXI to a music library.

Another placement on TLC's Toddlers & Tiaras

Another ASCAP statement, another placement on TLC. I can get used to this.

I tried to find a clip of the episode online but wasn't able to. I actually purchased the episode from iTunes for a buck. The track that they used was a pop-punk instrumental piece and it was used as "the reveal" at the end of the episode.

And yes, this was a result of a deal I signed with a company as a result of a TAXI forward.

Back in the swing of things

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joiseyshowaa/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

I knew it had been awhile since I last posted, but until I actually looked at my site, I didn't realize it had been almost a month! Yikes! Gotta say that the blog contest I participated in definitely helped me post on a more frequent basis.

One reason for my lack of posts is that March is the height of the college basketball season here in the States and I end up spending quite a bit of time following my favorite team, the Kentucky Wildcats. I really thought we were going to bring home Championship #8 this year but alas, that didn't happen. We had our worst shooting night of the season against a team that was having one of their best and in a one-and-done type tournament, that usually spells disaster for you. But regardless, I was very proud of our team this year. I can't remember when I ever had so much fun watching the team play but it was probably the '95-96 season, ie. Championship #6, and the first one that I could remember. I was only 4 when they won #5 so I don't remember that one. But I can tell you exactly where I was at when we won #6 (and #7) :-) Earlier tonight several of the players announced that they would be entering the NBA draft so it looks like next year's team is going to be a brand new group of players. Let the fun begin!