Good morning

A Letter to Elise

I've been in A Mood lately. I need more time for music in my daily life.

A few days ago, I found myself dusting off old CDs to listen to in the car for my daily 3+ hours of commuting to my thankless job. I put on The Cure: Paris and it has been on endless-loop ever since. I had forgotten how beautiful A Letter to Elise was and when I tried to sing along, I choked up a little. The song has been in my head ever since, so I decided to sit down this morning and play it on the piano.

It's not fancy or thought-out, my fireplace is out of tune...it just is what it is. And just for fun, I thought I'd share it with you.

Happy Birthday, Morrissey!

Dear Morrissey,
I often wonder what you think of me... but surely you know how much love I have for you. I hope our paths cross one day so that I can tell you in person.
Warm wishes for you on your birthday today and continued love the other 364 days of the year.

XOXO
Janice

Opperation: The Smiths Project YouTube Videos

When I started The Smiths Project, music videos were never in the plan. I was just happy to get through all 71 songs one year. But, as Youtube has become an important place for musicians to have a strong web presence, I am faced with a huge challenge: How do I create 71 videos to represent the project? It's a daunting task and I will be the first to admit I have no real video editing skills. Sadly, if it is up to me, these songs will never have videos beyond what you see now which is just a picture on the screen (a heart-felt thank you to the late Margaret Dale for creating those videos).

People write to me all the time telling me they found me through youtube and I know there is an audience there. Currently, with absolutely no effort on my part and not even having proper videos, some of these songs have thousands of views already. Imagine how many views they would have if they had real videos and links to/from other videos in The Smiths youtube community.

I know these songs mean a lot to you- and several people have even gone as far as to create their own fan videos for the songs. (I've seen many, so if you have made a video, please send me the link!) Much like The Smiths album covers, I am not visually represented in these fan-made videos, but I think it's in keeping with the aesthetic of The Smiths and it works. Plus, I like the idea that the videos are completely open to interpretation.

For Example:

by The Mystery Parade

It is with this in mind that I propose Opperation: The Smiths Project YouTube Videos

1. Comment below to pick the song you want to create a video for and I'll cross it off the master list of available songs
2. I send you a re-mastered mp3 of the song to use
3. You create a video and send it to me for upload on my channel (you can put it on your channel as well)
4. I give you free stuff such as digital album downloads, CDs, records, T-shirts, necklaces, posters, stickers, or even temporary tattoos
5. I promote the videos on youtube, twitter, tumblr, facebook, mailing list, reverbnation, last.fm, Jango, etc.

End result:
- You are forever associated with The Smiths Project and your work is seen by a lot of people
- I will have a youtube channel filled with creativity and love from people around the world
- Karmic dance party of internet awesomeness

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For each video, please include the following information:
Song Name, an a cappella cover by Janice Whaley, The Smiths Project, 2010
www.janicewhaley.com

The Smiths Project Song List

A Rush and a Push and the Land We Stand On Is Ours
Accept Yourself
Ask
Asleep
Back To The Old House
Barbarism Begins At Home
Bigmout Strikes Again
Cemetry Gates
Death At One's Elbow
Death of a Disco Dancer
Draize Train
Frankly Mr. Shankly
Girl Afraid
Girlfriend In A Coma
Golden Lights
Half a Person
Hand In Glove
Handsome Devil
Headmaster Ritual
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
How Soon Is Now
I Don't Owe You Anything
I Keep Mine Hidden
I Know It's Over
I Started Something That I Couldn't Finish
I Want The One I Can't Have
Is It Really So Strange
Jeane
Last Night I Dreamt that Somebody Loved Me
London
Meat Is Murder
Miserable Lie
Money Changes Everything
Never Had No One Ever
Nowhere Fast
Oscilate Wildly
Paint a Vulgar Picture
Panic
Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I want
Pretty Girls Make Graves
Reel Around the Fountain
Rubber Ring
Rusholme Ruffians
Shakespeare's Sister
sheila Take a Bow
Shoplifters of the World Unite
Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
Still Ill
Stop Me if You Think You've Heard This One Before
Stretch Out And Wait
Suffer Little Children
Sweet and Tender Hooligan
That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
The Queen Is Dead
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
This Charming Man
This Night Has Opened My Eyes
Unhappy Birthday
Unloveable
Vicar In A Tutu
Well, I Wonder
What Difference Does It Make
What She Said
William, It Was Really Nothing
Wonderful Woman
You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby
You've Got Everything Now

Mom and I circa 1975

These guys keep me company while I practice

I should have posted this on Star Wars Day

Behold: my cat.

Independent Music Awards 2013

I just received an email this morning that The Smiths Project was nominated for this year's Best Tribute Album in the Independent Music Awards 2013. This is a huge honor! I had no idea it was even under consideration so it came as a complete surprise. The best part for me is that Tom Waits is one of the judges. I'm constantly in awe of his music and greatly inspired by his experimental approach to music. A definite item on my bucket list is to play one of the musical instruments he invented. The idea that my music might pass his ears is already a win in my book!

The awards are decided by a distinguished panel of judges, but you can participate by voting 5 stars for the "Fan Favorites" Awards. Click click click!

Margaret Dale

This morning, I read the MorrisseysMum tweet, "RIP MD" and started to cry.  I immediately understood it as Rest In Peace Margaret Dale.  I went to her Facebook wall page and saw it was true. I'm currently a mixture of sadness for myself and relief for her. She confided in me her thoughts on life and death quite often and I know in my heart that she is at peace now.

Margaret was the first person to email me once I started The Smiths Project and she was a constant help to me in any way she could. Her and I became fast friends and I consider her friendship to be one of the great things that came out of that project.   Ever the die-hard Smiths fan, she sent me lists of Smiths songs *in the order by date written* and told me THAT'S the order I should post my versions. She's the one who made youtube videos of all 71 Smiths Project songs and uploaded them. She was my proofreader.  She asked me constantly if there were ways she could help with computer "grunt work" for marketing and promotion. I worried that I'd asked too much of her but she continued to ask for more things to do and said it made her feel better.  I honestly don't know what I would have done without her in those days when I was singing  ten hours a day and stressing out the other fourteen. 

When she came to San Jose, my son and I met her for dinner. My 4 year old kept confusing the name Margaret with Morrissey, and I'll never forget her amused smile every time he said, "Hey Morrissey!" and babbled something at her.

She loved animals more than people and she dedicated her life to helping them. She was a hero to them and to me. She helped me through the last few months of my cat Marzi's battle with cancer, for which I will always be grateful.

But mostly, Margaret Dale loved Morrissey with all of her heart. She lived for Morrissey. When she heard Moz had been sighted in LA, she dropped everything and drove 4 hours, straight to The Cat and Fiddle, and just waited.   Morrissey did not disappoint. She said he was kind and made all her nervousness disappear. I'll never forget her text messages after meeting him, so excited and full of joy. It was quite literally, the moment she had waited for her whole life.  The next day, I dedicated this Smiths Project song to her:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Is It Really So Strange?
I will dedicate this song to Miss Dale who was supposed to go north, but traveled south again... and ended up meeting Morrissey last night- a lifelong dream of hers. Thank you for all your support of my project! -------------------------------------------------------------------------

I feel privileged to have watched her opening her heart to new friends, loves and passions over the past few years. She lived her life the way she wanted, with deep love, ambition, understanding, compassion and truth, and without fear.

Rest well, Margaret. I will miss you the rest of my days.

Happy Valentines Day!

What I'm trying to say, and I'm sure you already know this, is that I love you. Hope you all get a chance to hug the ones you love and eat lots of chocolate. Not the waxy crap they put in heart-shaped boxes, but some goooooood stuff. The kind that Cupid shoots in his majestic chocolate arrow straight into your heart causing you to shout "Cacao!!!" in your last endorphin-bliss-induced dying breath. (That happens, right?) A little wine/champagne/sparkling cider never hurt nobody neither.

And here's one Smiths-inspired valentine for good measure:

2013 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award Nominees

The 2013 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards just announced the 2013 nominees and I'm so thrilled to say that Ive been nominated- and not just one nomination, but FOUR.

Album nomination
Patchwork Life: Best Pop/Rock Album

Song Nominations
Tunnel Vision: Best Electronic/Experimental Song, Best Professional Original Song, and Best Song By A Solo Performer

It's such an honor to see my name along side so many widely known and extremely talented artists- people who you've probably seen on TV, people who's songs land high in the Billboard charts... and here I am, with my debut album, right in the thick of it. This is also very validating as a songwriter because, although I'm known for my (metric tons of) cover songs, the work that was nominated was original material. And if you've been following me for quite a while, you *might* remember the very first thing I ever posted as a teaser for the Patchwork Life album was a snippet of Tunnel Vision even before it was mixed.

The awards are decided by a panel of judges and the winners will be announced on April 5 at an awards ceremony in Boston, MA.

Wish me luck!

2012 In Review

What a year 2012 was! As with every year since I started doing music again, each has brought so many musical joys, challenges, and plot twists. My continued advice for the new year is to go out of your way to spend time on something you love. Good things will happen.
xo

---

A PRESENT FOR CURT SMITH

This year started with a present for Tears For Fears co-founder Curt Smith's birthday. James Roday (from the TV show Psych) and I spent several months on the cover of Ideas As Opiates and in late January, James flew up to San Jose so that we could record at the Grammy Award Winning a cappella producer Bill Hare's studio. The song turned out fantastic and, for me, it's jam-packed with fuzzy warm feelings and appreciation for Curt and James, and also the faint scent of bananas...??
Listen to it here:

Ideas As Opiates was also chosen by my PR guru as the single off Patchwork Life and has been played on various radio stations across the US. My cousin heard it playing in a Hilton a few months back. Crazy.

---

NEW ALBUM

This year I also released Patchwork Life, my first album of original music. I still can't believe that I managed to make it happen while parenting a 5 year old full time. And I have the amazing Ryan Coseboom of Stripmall Architecture to thank for all his help in mixing and mastering it. What a job that was. The album was mixed via the internet, with each change emailed to me for listening/comments. Ryan is a SAINT.

I also created my first real music video using the most Macgyver setup on earth: projector made from a cell phone and magnifying glass.

---

AWARD NOMINATIONS... and ONE MORE MONTH TO VOTE!

Artist In Music Awards 2013
ONE MONTH LEFT TO VOTE! Thank you for helping me make it to the top five in both categories for the Artist In Music Awards which means I'm now also eligible for Artist of the Year and Album of the Year awards. The awards take place Feb 7th and I still need your votes to help me win! Please vote for me as often as you can in both categories:
-- Best Singer/Songwriter
-- Best Adult Contemporary Artist

Contemporary A Capella Awards
Patchwork Life album, Ideas As Opiates, and We Need are in the running for the 2013 Contemporary A Capella Awards as well. It's an honor to be along side some major a capella artists!

---

MEETING DURAN DURAN

I had the pleasure of creating a Duran Duran cover of We Need You requested by Simon Le Bon. After finishing the song, Simon gave me backstage passes to give the song to him and meet the band. What a very cool night that was! On Simon Le Bon's birthday, he sent me a message saying that he loved it and that it was "probably the best cover of a DD song ever" (gold star for me!). I released it on his birthday and you can hear the song here:

---

WHAT'S NEXT

Kickstarter
This year I'll be finishing the Smiths Project vinyl and We Need You flexi-vinyl for the kickstarter backers. The albums will be available on Record Store Day 2013 in Bay Area record stores.

New Covers
I'm still working on a few new covers that were requests from kickstarter backers. If only I had the amount of time I had in 2010 to work on music! Things may be moving at a slower speed these days, but they will get done and they will be awesome. :)

Performing
I am working on piano & vocal versions of the entire Patchwork Life album for live performance. I'm getting my gear together and will be attempting to dip my toes in the live performance waters this year.

The Voice
Who knows what will happen with this, but I'm auditioning for The Voice in February. If I happen to make it on TV... vote for me?

Prepared Piano
After being totally inspired by the outdoor public prepared piano in Joshua Tree on new Years, I've decided that I'm going to start sticking bits of plastic, rubber, nails, screws, etc into The Fireplace Piano and make some recordings. Get ready!

Happy Birthday to my love, Josh!

My goofball

My partner in baby-crime

Vote for Janice!

(This post is dated January 1, 2013 which is when voting closes for the award.)

Great news! I've been nominated for 2 Artists In Music awards at All Indie Magazine!
I need your votes in order to advance to the judges round on January 1, 2013. If I'm in the top 5 for fan votes, I will be eligible for Artist of the Year and/or Album of the Year awards, as well.

Please vote for me as often as you can in the following categories:
-- Best Singer/Songwriter
-- Best Adult Contemporary Artist

No sign-ups necessary, just head on over and click my name on those categories. Thank you so much!

XO Janice

Vote Vote Vote!

GET OUT THERE AND ROCK THE VOTE!

Simon Le Bon loves my cover!

 

And now that I know he's heard it, you can hear it too!

Needless to say, I'm floating somewhere up in the stratosphere on cloud nine. :)

Great news, new music and VINYL!

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1616392208/janice-whaley-on-vinyl-smiths-project-and-duran-du/widget/video.html" frameborder="0"> </iframe><BR>Ends Oct 11th, so please check it out and share with friends!

I was here

Presenting Simon Le Bon with his cover song request!

Check another dream off my bucket list: Meeting Duran Duran

I first heard them when I was 11. My band director used to bring a couple high school jazz students to tutor the jr. high band after school and I remember very clearly one of the tutors (hi Scott!), was always playing the bass line to Rio. I had to know what the rest of the song sounded like so the next time my parents took me to the mall, I bought my first cassette tape: Duran Duran Rio. I had previously been given two other cassette tapes in my young life, and Rio quickly replaced Madonna's Like a Virgin and Prince's Purple Rain. From that point forward, I listened to Duran Duran religiously and bought cassette tapes with my allowance until I had them all. At one point, I literally carried their sheet music books around with me EVERYWHERE. I never put them down and I had piano versions of every song memorized.

One summer I visited my grandparents and we went to a mall (because that's what you did in the 90s!) and I walked into a record store carrying my DD song books. The store owner said, "You look like a gal who could appreciate this" and handed me two DD fan club folders FILLED with fan club zines, posters, official membership cards, lyric sheets, pictures... as you can imagine, I nearly cried. I still have all that stuff, safely stored away at my parents house. I was so excited, I showed it all to my grandmother and I remember her saying, "Janice, honey... do you know what this song is about? Skin Trade? Do you know what that means?" haa haa! I had an inkling (not much!), but I could care less. It was all about the music and way Simon sings.

On my 18th birthday I went to my very first Duran Duran concert. August 18th, 1993. I had just finished school and made it to the other side of a 2-year long battle with a rare and debilitating muscle disease. Just the fact that I was once again strong enough to stand (and even kind of dance!) was HUGE for me. When Simon sang Come Undone, "Happy birthday to you..." I remember welling up because it was seriously a very happy birthday for me.

Fast forward.... Last year I did one of my tweets to the twitter gods asking to work with a list of my male vocalist heroes. Of course, Simon was on the list. To my surprise, he RESPONDED. I told him I had just worked with Curt Smith from Tears For Fears, I sent him a link to The Smiths Project. He listened and tweeted his followers about it and STARTED FOLLOWING ME. You can imagine the happy dance in my kitchen at 2am as this was happening while my family was fast asleep!

I asked him if I were to do a DD cover, what would he pick? and he chose "We Need You." I was currently in the middle of creating Patchwork Life so it took me nearly a year to complete his song request. Creating an entire song with just my voice takes a LONG time. I was already staying up til 3am every night and simply could not move any faster on it. Simon was so nice though. I apologized for taking so long and he told me, "Take all the time you need, dear." He let me send him all my CDs to his house in England and, in general, has just been a very supportive guy over the past year. He even tweeted his followers when Patchwork Life came out. I can't say enough nice things about him. He's just a truly stand-up guy.

When I found out DD was playing in my city, I asked if I could give him the finished cover song in person. As luck would have it, he went off twitter for a few weeks while on tour so I wasn't sure it was going to happen. But the day before the show, he told me he had tickets and passes for me. OMFG! So last night my boyfriend Josh and I went to the Mountain Winery, got our passes, called the number to find out where we meet (Oh hi Janice, you're Simon's friend, right? *dies*) and attempted to breathe as I waited in a converted wine cellar waiting room. When Simon came in, he walked straight to me and gave me a big ol' hug and my nervousness disappeared instantly. We talked for a bit and I gave him my cover of We Need You. This is a special song to him, so I hope I did him proud with my cover. (I know you all want to hear the song and, believe me, you will get to... soon. I just want to know the band has listened to it first. OH, the suspense!)

Then we got to take pics with the band. Simon introduced the band to me and told them that I've worked with Curt Smith and created The Smiths Project. It was so amazing to meet Nick, Roger and John and shake their hands!

The rest of the night was spent singing and dancing at the show. One week shy of 19 years since my 18th birthday Duran Duran concert, I welled up again when Simon sang, "Happy birthday to you.." Never in my wildest dreams, in all the years that I've listened to them, did I ever think someday THEY would be listening to me.

Thank you Simon for making all this possible!! I love yo forever. XOXO

Tears For Fears

Just had an amazing time at two Tears For Fears shows! They are truly an amazing band and I feel so honored to be able to see Curt Smith when ever they are touring. (If you haven't heard our song together, check out Trees off his Mayfield album right now!) He is quite possibly the nicest human being on the planet! Here are a few shots of the past few days. One of which makes me blush every time I see it. You'll never guess which one.

My personal goal as I contemplate my live performances is to someday be worthy of opening for TFF. Even if that particular opportunity never happens, it's positive energy in the right direction. If there's something I've learned well over the past few years, it's this: if you concentrate on a worthy goal, and put in the hard work for it, good things will happen. They might be unexpected good things out of left field, but they will happen. Guaranteed.

Yay, Curt!

Our docs are here:

Curt and Janice, sitting in a tree...