jdb...

My.  Dad.  Is.  Awesome...

Much Love,

j

The 24th...

Starchild's new landlord invited us to his place for a 24th style BBQ.  That turned into, "Jon, will you and Floyd play for us?"  That turned into, "Can the JDB play?"  THAT turned into, "Bring whomever you'd like-it's catered!" (And, as it turned out, it wasn't a BBQ.  It was fantastic Mexican and chocolate covered fruit!) THEN, the guys started loading gear and we went up the hill to the top of the world.

Sunset on the Great Salt Lake.

I love the smirks on their faces.

Valley shot.  Jordan River Temple is in the middle.

I really liked the silhouettes.

We had a few dancers.

The dot in the middle is Venus.

Moonrise!

We shot a video of the show-you can see the camera in the middle.

The end of a song-and the beginning of fireworks.

I LOVED the movement in this one.

The end of the show.

Fireworks behind Michael!

We invited good friends Dan and Virginia (the BEST Karate instructors I know) and Winu and Kyle (owners of High Note Thai Cuisine) to come with us.  It was an absolute blast!  Thanks again Tony, for such a great time...and view...and food...

Much Love,

j

9 Little Letters...

Equals a Dream Realized.

STARCHILD

A year ago March, my family and Floyd Kunz (the coolest guy I know, next to my dad, of course,) opened Starchild Guitar Studios & Artisan Guitar Works in Union Square (Sandy, Utah).  About a month ago, we felt that we had out grown our small space and went in search of a better and bigger home.  We were lucky enough to STAY in Union Square (9460 S. Union Square Suite 104, Sandy, UT 84070) and double our floor space!  The past few weeks have been spent sanding, painting (Cream in my Coffee, a most excellent Noir and a sticky sweet Red...), replacing carpet, building and transforming the space into a rock and roll heaven.

My contribution?  (Other than manning the long board?)  See for yourself:

Between myself being extra anal and the scale (the guitar is about 7 feet long) this took me about 12 hours to complete...

I can't wait for you all to come see it in person... 

What do you think?  ;)

Much Love,

j

M.U.S.E. you satisfy my soul...

Life is good.

Thanks to the time off (all total, I get 10 weeks. I'm in the middle of week 4 of 10 now) I've had LOADS of free time, creative time, down time.

Time to FINALLY get some of those "sudden bursts of stupidity" (thanks Mr. Miller) out into the open, onto paper, out of vinyl.

After sitting in front of the fabulously addictive Cricut, I had one of those inspiring moments and out of it came M.U.S.E. Guitar Bling! :)

So far, I've made a good 300. Lots of cutting, figuring, arranging, sitting with a quilting needle pulling off the vinyl that's not part of the design. Happily, they are selling and selling FAST at Starchild. Then...people in Bountiful saw the designs and wanted some-they then went to their local amazing shop (Murphy's Guitars) asking for them. I've since been in contact with Murphy's and sent them 80 designs, on a consignment basis. In less than a week, he's decided to place them ON the counter by the register and sell them full time! I'm in negotiations with him now...

I created M.U.S.E. Guitar Bling as a way to personalize MY guitars without damaging the surface. The brilliance of Static Vinyl is it's just that! Static! It sticks when you want it to (to any slick/shiny surface) and comes right off-no mess, no goo, no damage to your gorgeous piece of soul. (Yes, I'm talking about your guitar!) Or mirror, pic frame, sliding door, window, bathroom tile, candy jar, etc., etc., etc.,

Just HAVE to have one but can't make it to Starchild or Murphy's? Good news... 6 of my best selling designs are now up on Etsy!

Find them here! jonnajonna.etsy.com

Stars and Love, ;)

j

Starchild

I've talked a lot about Starchild Music Productions and the projects that I'm working on for M.U.S.E. a lot lately, but I haven't shown any PICTURES! I took a few when I was in working the other day and thought you might like to see! Starchild offers guitar lessons taught by Jon and Brandon Dansie (all ages and skill levels encouraged), custom guitar work-done by THE Floyd Kunz of Artisan Guitar Works, M.U.S.E. (a line of goodies by me: static and adhesive vinyl images (that won't harm your guitar and look great on car windows, mirrors, walls, guitar picks, etc.), sterling silver jewelry (workin on it!) and a monthly newsletter-scheduled to be available in August (hopefully sooner!) called; 'M.U.S.E.ings of a Starchild'.)

Starchild Music Productions is located @:

650 E. Union Square Suite B

Sandy, Ut

84070

Can't make it to Sandy for M.U.S.E.? Items are also available at http://jonnajonna.etsy.com/. It's a slow process getting items up, so check back often!

What do you think???

M.U.S.E. Guitar Bling in action!

My workspace and home of M.U.S.E.

Some of the guitars and swag Starchild has to offer...
See the guitar keys?

Some of the available M.U.S.E. Guitar Bling images.

Starchild is currently accepting students AND teachers! Email me for more info!

j

The Diabetes Expo

Yesterday morning, at the crack of sunrise, I made my way to the South Towne Expo Center to attend the 2009 Diabetes Expo. Officially, I was there to take pictures of The Jon Dansie Band, answer questions, and to see friends that I've made over our two year friendship with the American Diabetes Association.

The guys of TJDB were asked to play a few acoustic sets during registration and to talk a little bit about Jon's life with diabetes. We made many new friends and contacts yesterday-and as always, everyone at the ADA was VERY happy! Check out http://www.thejondansieband.com/ for more info and pictures!

While there, I got my team: Team The Jon Dansie Band signed up and registered to participate in the Step Out to Fight Diabetes Walk on September 26th, 2009. As of today, we are a team of 7...and counting! Please join us! My personal goal is to raise $1,000 and have already picked up $35 of that. I haven't told the Team yet, but I would like us to aim HIGH! How about $10,000?! The BEST part is that you can be a part of our Team even if you have other plans on the 26th OR if you live out of town! I will be posting more info in the coming weeks and months-but I want you all to consider this as an open invitation. PLEASE ask your friends and join me in the Fight. Together, we can find a cure!

AND...I volunteered to be an end of line greeter/cheerer at this years Tour de Cure (also to raise money for a cure to diabetes) in Brigham City. I can't wait!

Also while there, I spoke with an Usborne Books rep and decided to have a home show. It is tentatively set for March 11th, but I think I may have to reschedule. More to come!

j

V-Day

Lucky for me, I got to spend a good chunk of my Valentines Day at Guitar! I was more than a little apprehensive to walk in this week because of the ABSOLUTE mess I was last week...

See, I've been learning The Sound of Silence-Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades version-for a couple of weeks and for some reason, I had NOT been able to get the strumming pattern and palm muting down! I was extremely hard on myself and allowed myself to get STUCK. Truth be told, I was thinking too much, too hard about what I was supposed to do and not subcoming to the "creative process" of the music. Once I let that go...it was a different story.

The R&R rainboots in The Jon Dansie Band studio with bassit Floyd Kunz (his boots are yummy...)

So, on Saturday I donned my Rock & Roll rainboots, sucked it up and flew to guitar. While it wasn't perfect, I did well! With a sigh of relief and one eye closed I looked at B-who was smiling-for conformation that I wasn't the gangly teenaged boy I felt like. He was pleased...

He then presented me with a challenge: "I've learned one of the songs (Phasination Phase-Carter Burwell) you want to play. It's fun, slow and is ALL finger picking. I would also like to see you learn Don't Panic (Coldplay) because it's full of odd chords and HARD strumming patterns. Which one is it?" I never thought that I would be confronted with such an inner battle at guitar: Do I go with PP because while it won't be SUPER easy, I'm comfortable with finger picking (I actually prefer it over using a pick). Or...do I go with DP because I need to PUSH myself, to move past the hang-ups? I shared that inner dialog with B. He smiled and said, "I know your choice, then..." and began to write up Don't Panic.

With a small voice I said, "bring it on"...still not convinced...

B just smiled again, "Don't Panic" he said, laughing at his joke.

After a successful lesson, I rewarded myself with a HUGE peanut butter cookie and an IBC Cream Soda from Hungry Bear (how lucky am I that there is a HB RIGHT across the parking lot from The Acoustic Musician?!!!) and went home.

Later that night-after a 3 hour nap-I woke up to find my house full of friends and family. As a group we decided to NOT get sucked in the V-Day trap and stay home and have...NACHOS! Julie built the LARGEST tray of nachos anyone at the table has ever seen-then we topped them off with olives, artichoke hearts, chunky salsa, hummus, and jalapenos. It was perfect...

We decided to prolong V-Day and have Floyd and Julie come over on Sunday for ice cream-and another dinner. This time B and Andrea came to join us. (Thanks guys!) Andrea and I figured out how to make "One at a Time" cakes out of No Pudge brownie mix, a spoonful of plain yogurt and a little vanilla! They were amazing (and fat free! Yay!)!

I love that ALL of my parties and holidays are filled with amazing friends and family, great music, tasty food and late nights! I am so grateful for everyone sharing these experiences with me!

X

j