Musical Stories..."The Long View"

Many times I am asked if there are "stories" on each song I compose.  There are!  I am going to tell you a thrilling story about "The Long View".

Let me begin with telling you, that my musical journey is always filled with meeting new people, how they touch my life in many ways.  This song "talks about" those many people that have touched mine.

"The Long View" was taken from the vaults of my past.  I was in Texas when this song took its shape and form.  I was dating a guy that was seriously plagued with problems.  He would verbally abuse me, then it became physical abuse.  I am sorry to say, that I enabled him to hurt me.. to cross into my "bubble of space" and hit me to crack some ribs too.  THAT was an eye opener.  My life would have been hell if I stayed in that abusive environment.  So.. I picked up my heart and soul and left Texas... and drove west to California.  My loyalty has its limits... you mess with me whether its verbal or physical abuse.. or even treating me like crap... Good Bye.. end of story.

When I told my friends I was moving to California, it was the hardest thing I had to do at the time.  All my friends were against me coming here.  "Too expensive", "You won't ever get married", "Too far from your family"...etc etc etc.. NEVER tell me to never do something.  You are just asking for me to reach into my deepest part of me and I will conquer whatever you tell me I can't do.  This song is also a reflection of that spirit.

After certain events in Texas, I wrote this song in the early days of my California residency in San Diego, where I met my beloved Don.

I brought it out of the my musical vault when I went to Imaginary Road Studios. I played it for Will, and he immediately loved it.  Its so simple, but very strong.  I told him about what this song meant to me, and he named it "The Long View".  I found the name to be very ironic, because there is a Long View, Texas!  I liked the name so much.. because it is exactly describing my view on the whole lesson.

Meanwhile, before I went to Imaginary Studios.... I had been corresponding with a very talented Emmy Award winning musician: Jace Vek. We met online via MySpace.  He helped me with several questions I had with music software and introduced me to Jeff Oster.  This set the stage for what was to come...

I met Jace in person,  the year he was terribly injured by some attacking scum vermin in the city of Pittsburg.  He was jumped, he was beaten the crap out of with a brick. Mind you, he lived to tell the tale, and his story is amazing.  He came to California and performed with Scott D. Davis in San Diego.  I also met some wonderful people that night as well. We had talked about collaborating on a song long before this happened....  before he came out to California, he called me and told me all about this whole situation.  I chose "The Long View" to be orchestrated. Then we met.  We talked and talked... I love meeting kindred spirits and he is one of them.

I suppose it was a year later that he sent me the orchestrated version of the song... I.  WAS. Stunned.  I was amazed and what he had done.  He created "The Long Vue".. he 'Jaced' it.  He played the piano melody, and created the orchestration around the melodic line.

This version of "The Long Vue" made me cry because.. he didn't really know the whole story behind "The Long View" at the time.. and he re-named it to "The Long Vue".

So that is how Jace and I collaborated on my song.  I am so thankful that he was able to do it and that he took the time to rework the song.

Please take and listen, comment!  Its free of charge, and is my way of saying THANK YOU for supporting me.  Also here is a link to Jace's website. He has a concert coming up in DelRey Beach Florida.  For you Floridians... go see it his concert.  It is on Saturday, January 5th, 2013. He has some wonderful artists coming and performing with him.  It will be something you won't forget!!

The Long Vue

Jace Vek



Peace in Music....

Kori

Kindness goes a long way....

Lately, I've been thinking about how I want to be treated as a friend. I want to be talked with, go hang out with good kind friends, treating each other with respect, laugh, sing, love our quirks AND our strengths, love even when mistakes are made and makes things difficult.

That said, the other day I saw a post on FaceBook by Will Wheaton regarding toxic people.  He basically said to cut the negative people out of your life.  Which I have been doing.  I am tired of the amount of energy it takes to be constantly on call.  And then they hurt you.

My best intentions always tend to have my accepting nature taken advantage of, and I end up being a scapegoat, used and hurt, then finally I end up doing things I don't wish to do.  Nothing is worth the pain and stress of a toxic person.  They don't give, they take.  They don't treat people with kindness.

Dejunking my life of toxic people has been the best thing. My life is calmer, peaceful, more loving and me not being stressed out.

Then, there is the other part of this... being kind.  I know I am not the most patient person on the planet and I have my moments of anger, but I find that being kind, doing things for people helps me to get out of my funk.  I don't do these things for gain etc... I do it because I truly believe in the gift of giving.  I tend to do better when I think about other people than myself. Those times makes my day better and brighter.  I can walk with my head a little higher, shoulders straight.

So if you pay it forward by being kinder, that is the best gift ever.

Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Prose

I've gone in the vault of my writing from the past years and this is something I wrote, thought I would share:

 Heart of Chrome...  KLC 2000

 opened my heart and gained some real, opened my heart and got steel..

dropped to my knees..blood drained away... opened my eyes 

how I should feel?

too dependent on others opinion

too confident in world’s solution...

would be friends, betrayed in the end

learned fast and remembered again

what was real, what was then

Now..

heart of chrome, 

walking alone... 

better...