Grammy Gets Its Groove Back

2010-05-02 David "Cat" Cohen CAT REVIEWS THE GRAMMYS AS HE SAW THEM FROM HIS SEAT INSIDE STAPLE CENTER

2010-02-02T05:39:01+00:00

25 true 2010-02-01 2010-05-02 false  Last night as a voting member of NARAS I was fortunate to be inside Staple Center for the 2010 Grammy Awards.  I am happy to report that after some fair to middling award ceremonies in the past few years, the Grammys have returned to the standard of excellence that they have given us in the past.  It was a welcome change to witness the contrast of the lukewarm presentations of late to this year's high level of inspiring professionalism in a wide variety of pop (and classical) musical styles that used to be the what Grammy nights were all about in their heyday. Sunday night, the celebrity-laden crowd inside the arena as well as the telecast audience outside was treated to one sparkling performance after another rich in emotion, vocal as well as physical virtuosity, and visual artistry, albeit a few glitches which one always expects in a live presentation thrown together with only a few days of rehearsal.  From the opening pairing of Lady Gaga and Elton John in their outrageous costumes and dueling piano playing to the three-rapper (Lil' Wayne, Eminem & Drake) medley, albeit laced with enough profanity to cause CBS censors to work overtime with their bleeping technology, the evening was filled with top flight entertainment.  This year the show's producers thankfully decided to change the focus from incorporating American Idol amateur hour and other young audience patronization to what Grammy used to do so well, showcasing seasoned performers doing what they do best.  Also, the nostalgic retrospectives of bygone styles and eras were deleted in favor of featuring what is happening in many of today's pop music arenas.  Using their big budget to full advantage, NARAS served up fully staged and produced presentations of contemporary hit songs from mostly Grammy nominated artists introduced by the usual who's who in the entertainment industry, including creative pairings of seemingly disparate performers like Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli, Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks, and Zac Brown and Leon Russell. Comedian Steven Colbert, who later won an award himself, set the tone for the night with a quip about one of celebrities' favorite pastimes, congratulating each other on their accomplishments.   Highlights of the evening included Beyonce's working of Alanis Morrissette's alt rock-styled 'You Oughta Know' into her own hit single 'If I Were A Boy', Pink's acrobatics a la Cirque De Soleil while singing 'Glitter in The Rain', and Blige & Bocelli's Haiti-directed rendition of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'.  Other standouts included the second half of the Black Eyed Peas performance, their anthem 'I've Got A Feeling', and country newcomer Zac Brown's 'Chicken Fried'.  Solid performances from Maxwell, the Dave Mathews Band, and Green Day added to the evening's excitement.  The only disappointments were minor such as Taylor Swift's somewhat shaky presentation and Bon Jovi's uninspired medley of their current and past hits.  Notably absent was bad boy Kanye West, who only received a minor award for rap-sung collaboration.  He didn't even come onstage with his collaborators to accept his award.  Also thankfully absent were any long winded self-promoting acceptance speeches. Another highlight was the tribute to Michael Jackson which featured a 3-D video presentation in the background of images of endangered species and faces of smiling children (we in the audience were all given special  two-tone glasses to wear).  This underscored Jackson singing his ecology protest 'Earth Song' along with vocal accompaniment of notable stars Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, and Smokey Robinson. Oh yes, I almost forgot, the awards.  It's was definitely ladies' night, as Beyonce garned six of them and Taylor Swift four, dominating the evening's honors.  The rest of the field was spread out among many other recipients, at least half of them, in my opinion, well deserving.  However, the envelopes and Grammy statuettes played second billing to the exciting performances and skillful productions, as I feel they should be.  After all, it is a night to celebrate the best in show, not the best in awards.  And the Grammys did that with full force.  They finally have got their groove back. Cat Cohen www.catcohen.com P.S.  Now that you have read my views, whether you agree with me or not, feel free to get back to me with yours.    Grammy Gets Its Groove Back

2010-02-04T12:06:38+00:00

2010-04-04 David "Cat" Cohen <ul> <li>2010 Starts With Warm Weather Even In The High Desert</li> <li>Cat To Teach A Songwriting Class At The Songwriting School Of Los Angeles In February</li> <li>Catcohen.com Is Dotting Its I?s And Crossing Its T?s</li> <li>Cat?s Chicken Soup Book Is Selling Like Hotcakes (Almost)</li> <li>It?s A Good Time For Us All To Roll Up Our Sleeves And Work Towards Our Goals</li> </ul>

2010-01-04-blog-january-blog

2010-01-04T21:43:51+00:00

23 true 2010-01-04 2010-04-04 false HAPPY NEW YEAR GREETINGS TO ALL,2010 STARTS WITH WARM WEATHER EVEN IN THE HIGH DESERT After a very chilly end to 2009, the new year is warming up nicely at its start, even here in the high desert.  It was so warm last night I didn’t even need to make a fire in my wood burning stove for a change.  The blue skies and warm sunshine are greeting our visiting throngs in both high and low desert with fine weather.  I spent New Year’s Eve and Day in LA with friends in similarly warm weather.  We all can use a respite from El Nino’s wetter and stormier than average season so far. The warmth is too late for any of my dozen or so fruit trees to stop losing their leaves, but as this is my first season towards my goal of being the fruit peddler of Morongo Valley, I’ll need to learn patience as my trees go through their dormant period.   I’ll also have to resist getting a shotgun and riding sentry with it to look for a couple of pesky gophers that have been chewing on the roots of my trees.    This spring I’ll need to put netting over the trees or install artificial owls to retard birds from picking at my harvest.  I’m also planning to build a greenhouse this spring to increase my growing season as well as protect my veggie garden from critters.  As a rancher-in-training I have more than a few lessons to learn. CAT TO TEACH A SONGWRITING CLASS AT THE SONGWRITING SCHOOL OF LOS ANGELES IN FEBRUARY I’ve been slotted to teach a songwriting class at the Songwriting School of Los Angeles (which paradoxically is in Burbank).  The course description for my class as listed in their catalog is included below.  It will be an intimate class with the opportunity to work with me and a select group of other motivated songwriters on your songs in depth.  If you haven’t visited the school yet on Magnolia Blvd. in west Burbank, I would encourage you to call them at 818-848-7664 and set up an appointment do so.  Rob and Ashley Seals have created a wonderful positive-vibe well-put-together sophisticated teaching and recording space for the songwriters of tomorrow.  They offer a variety of interesting courses including a special community chorus workshop by my colleague Lis Lewis.   You can find out more about the school at their website - www.thesongwritingschool.com.         WRITING SONGS FOR AN ORIGINAL ACT        Tuition: $329   (There is a special $25 off promotional special for all who sign up by Monday 01/04/10.  If you sign up online use the Code goodbuy2009 to get the discount)         To register: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/y93d5ay">http://tinyurl.com/y93d5ay</a> <blockquote> To learn more about the class: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/yc3pyu2">http://tinyurl.com/yc3pyu2</a> </blockquote>WWW.CATCOHEN.COM IS DOTTING ITS I’S AND CROSSING ITS T’S This month Cat will unveil his long-awaited rebuilt website at www.catcohen.com.  As soon as his webmaster finishes the CAT COHEN STORE with credit card purchasing opportunities there will be a formal unveiling.  In the meantime, you can browze over 100 Bios of Cat’s Alumni and Colleagues (check yours out)  and 40 Anatomy Of A Hit reviews of the top songs of the past ten years.  In addition he’s put up the first of his op-ed columns in the Songwriter’s Soapbox.  You can submit your own tell-it-as-it-is article about our country’s direction, or pop music or the entertainment industry.  Op-Ed is opinion oriented, not necessarily 100% factual, so air your views and submit your ideas for publication here as well.  Or write a rebuttal if you wish. CAT’S CHICKEN SOUP BOOK IS SELLING LIKE HOTCAKES (ALMOST) During the holidays I brought copies of the new books I self-published last year everywhere I went. This includes CHICKEN SOUPS FROM AROUND THE WORLD, MY DESERT BLOG CABIN and WHINE CONNOISSUER’S GUIDE.  It is obvious from the response I’ve gotten so far that the chicken soup book is the biggest draw.  Thumbing through the three books, many people said that they simply had to have the cookbook.  I even sold several copies where people saw me casually reading it in cafes and stores.   I left a few copies strategically placed at a few holiday parties and got some immediate sales there as well.  Without any real marketing effort, I will have sold over 100 copies by the time you read this.  I am now officially well in the black with this tasty, creative, nutritious, economical and practical soup book.  I’ve sent a copy to Rachel Ray’s people which was acknowledged by them and will send one to Oprah as well.  It is available at Amazon and it will be for sale on my website as soon as I get my credit card connection worked out and installed there.   IT’S A GOOD TIME FOR US ALL TO ROLL UP OUR SLEEVES AND WORK TOWARDS OUR GOALS If 2008 was a year of hope and dreams, and 2009 a year of downturn, struggle and disappointment, I hope 2010 will be a time where we can consolidate our wishes, work steadily, and make good progress towards our goals.  I intend to ride the economic recovery, such as it is, as far as I can with new books, new songs, new musicals, new classes, and other new creative projects.  I also plan to plant a few new fruit trees such as a pomegranate and a pear tree to add to my peach, cherry, apricot, apple, plum and fig trees.  MAY ALL OF OUR EFFORTS LEAD TO A FULL HARVEST THIS COMING YEAR! CAT COHEN  January Blog

2010-01-06T20:52:13+00:00

2010-03-02 David "Cat" Cohen Happy Holiday Seasoned GreetingsThe High Desert Sees Its First Rain Of The Season  The Coachella Valley Fills With Snowbirds And Visitors  The Taxi Road Rally Was A Great Motivator For All ParticipantsCATCOHEN.COM Grows By Leaps And Bounds With 100+ Bios and 39 Hit Song Anatomies Cat Reaches A New 'Low' With His New Low-Priced Low-Humor Whine Connoisseur's Guide Cat's International Chicken Soups Cookbook Saves The Day Cat's ALUMNI & COLLEAGUE Happenings - Alexandra Celano, Shakeh, Geoffrey Forward

2009-12-02-blog-cat-cohen-s-december-blog

2009-12-02T20:33:15+00:00

7 true 2009-12-02 2010-03-02 false Good December to you all, This goes out to all my alumni, colleagues, friends, relatives, and various and sundry gypsies, tramps, and vagabonds I have been fortunate to come across in the past few years.  A hearty welcome to the talented and creative songwriters and performers I met at last month’s Taxi Road Rally.  Welcome to my blog! HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASONED GREETINGS  I hope everyone had enough turkey and leftovers to get their tryptophan fix or tofufan fix as the case may have been.  In this challenging year for so many of us, it was a good for us to stop and count the many things we have to be thankful for (even if some of them were bought at The 99-cent or Dollar store).  Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone, and we can now face the holiday season with a re-evaluation of our values, which may be a bit deeper and less materialistic.  At least mine have become so.   I spent one of the best Thanksgivings ever with extended family in Northern California and in San Francisco.    THE HIGH DESERT SEES ITS FIRST RAIN OF THE SEASON   I came home to the desert to witness fresh snow on the nearby mountains and a surprise rainstorm that left puddles in the dirt roads around my house.  My dozen or so fruit trees (cherry, peach, apple, apricot, plum and fig) that I planted last spring are seeing their leaves turn red as they prepare to lose them for the winter.  And winter is indeed coming here, dipping to below thirty-five degree nights soon to be sub-freezing once again.  I am so happy that I ordered a cord of firewood delivered the previous week for my wood-burning stove.  Now I get to look out at the pine tree and snow covered slopes of Mount San Gorgonio from my dining room window once more.  I’m now adjusting for another round of rural winter living in the high desert with its long shut-in nights and cozy home fires, hot soups and holiday company. THE COACHELLA VALLEY FILLS WITH SNOWBIRDS AND VISITORS  Just twenty miles from me down below in the low desert near Palm Springs, the warm days still are here and what was once a leisurely ride through town is now filled with snowbird traffic and weekenders from the city enjoying their desert getaways.  This is a mixed blessing for us locals, and a boon for the businesses that cater to our visitors.  If you have not been to Palm Springs on a Thursday night when the crafts fair and farmer’s market brings everyone from all walks of life together here in a real celebration, you must experience this.  Locals from 50 miles around mingle with tourists as several blocks of Palm Canyon Boulevard are blocked from car traffic.  People walk, shop, eat, browze, listen to local bands, and socialize to their heart’s content.  Many people bring their dogs as well.  I always bring Stella, my socialite pit bull whose motto is “so many people, so little time.”  This is usually a highlight of both of our weeks.  This is also a great time to visit our local spas, such as a favorite of mine with hot mineral waters in Desert Hot Springs. THE TAXI ROAD RALLY WAS A GREAT MOTIVATOR FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS  The Taxi Road Rally as expected was filled with enthusiastic creative songwriters and musicians from all over the U.S. and some from abroad as well.  While the focus has been evolving from selling top 40 songs to more practical matters such as getting placements in tv and films, the panels in the big rooms and the “driver’s ed courses” in the smaller rooms were sites of sharing invaluable information and networking.  I gave my class in Writing Songs for our Original Act to a room of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed performers who participated in some lively back-and-forth discussion.  I also counseled a fair number of people at the Mentor Lunch which was as fun and informative as ever.  The Rally is always “old home week” for me as I get to see so many of my colleagues I haven’t schmoozed with in a long time.  I also got to attend a few industry workshops, standouts being “Pimp Your Song” with Nashville veteran Ralph Murphy, Robin Fredericks’ Hit Songwriting Presentation and publicity maven Ariel Hyatt’s course in Social Networking, which I liked so much, I attended it twice. CATCOHEN.COM GROWS BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS WITH 100+ BIOS and 39 HIT SONG ANATOMIES  Any day now, my webmaster Jacob Lyles and I will launch the new look of my amazingly expanded catcohen.com website.  I have assembled over 100 Bios of people I have taught and/or worked with including many A-listers, B-listers, and the rest of us C through Z-listers.  My web guy came up with a featured alumnus profile and a featured colleague profile that is randomly selected each time one visits my site.  I invite all of you to see if your bio is on my site and check if your profile is one of the two specially showcased on each visit.   Your bio is among quite a colorful and sometimes notable (or at least infamous) list of people whom I have intersected with, going all the way back to my early days as a budding songwriter and keyboard player with many bands and theater groups.    After each bio, where applicable, I have included a contact email link with a captcha filter to block any spammers, so anyone interested can reach you without any of us incurring too much risk.   I’m also including 39 Anatomies of the top 4 or 5 best hit songs of each of the past ten years.  I will continue to add to these analyses as new hits are released, and I plan to go back in time and analyze the best songs of each year before 1999 all the way back to the 1950s as I have time to do so.  Another feature will be the Songwriter’s Soapbox with Op-Ed Songwriting News and Views of mine as well as yours.  Feel free to submit anything you want to get off your chest about where the industry is, or the country is, for all of us to read, and I may include you as a guest columnist or editorialist. CAT REACHES A NEW “LOW” WITH THE RELEASE OF HIS NEW LOW-PRICED LOW-WHINE CONNOISSEUR'S GUIDE (a great stocking stuffer candidate)  Just when I thought my erudite self was starting to be expressed in my recently self-published autobiographical book about how I built my house MY DESERT BLOG CABIN, I succumbed to the lower half of my creative impulses and updated a work of complaints, cries, moans, sobs, wails, and whimpers that I wrote with Avry Budka a few years ago called WHINE CONNOISSEUR’S GUIDE.  I am hawking this piece of literary silliness and “punishment with impunity” as a testament to low-humor at a very low price.  Listed at $8.95, I will offer this homage to whines directly to all at a bargain basement price of $7.50 each (tax and shipping included) just in time for stuffing stockings.  I always get silly books like these as holiday gifts, so it is poetic justice that I offer this for others to give and get as well.  An order form is included below.   CAT"S CHICKEN INTERNATIONAL SOUPS COOKBOOK SAVES THE DAY   Brrr, it is getting cold!  It’s soup weather once again as well as flu and cold season once more.  Fortunately, I came up a great remedy to handle both of these concerns as well as a perennial favorite dish with nutritional and pocketbook considerations well in hand, to say nothing about culinary adventure.  My book CHICKEN SOUPS FROM AROUND THE WORLD covers all of these concerns and more with recipes from 13 states and 39 countries.  I made each and every one of these flavorful soups in my high desert kitchen and there is not a dead ringer in the whole book.  From Maine chicken and corn chowder to Louisiana gumbo to Wisconsin beer cheese soup to Armenian, Hungarian, Ethiopian, Thai, Cuban, Greek, Basque, and so many more savory dishes, there is a recipe for every week in the year. For my vegetarian friends, I have alternate variations with vegetable broth sans chicken for about half of the recipes labelled with a “v” rating.  While writing and researching this book, I ate nothing but chicken soup for lunch and dinner for 3 months, lost 10 pounds, and never felt better.  I still make many of these one-dish meals a staple in my diet.  You can too.  Order one below if you wish, or find it at amazon.com.  Better yet, you’ll soon be able to order it with your VISA and MASTERCARD directly from me at a discount from the soon to be launched CAT COHEN STORE on my website, which I hope to have up in a few days.   CAT’S ALUMNI & COLLEAGUE HAPPENINGS – Alexandra Celano, Shakeh, Geoffrey Forward Alexandra Celano is promoting her Christmas single “A Child Is Born” which has started to get Christian radio airplay across the globe.  You can find a listing of radio stations that are playing this song and others from her CD “I’m Overcome” at her website at www.alexandracelano.com/news. Shakeh is playing solo at the Westwood Farmer’s Market from noon to 3pm  on Thursday Dec 3 and on Friday Dec 4 she will be performing with Jerry Olson at the Namaste Café at the Redondo Beach Church of Religious Science. Geoffrey Forward, Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Shakespeare Company, is leading an Actor’s Shakespeare Workshop in Topanga on Saturday mornings.  For more information call him at 310-455-9400. Keep me posted your events and I’ll include some of them here when I can. As this year rolls on to a close, I hope everyone’s holiday season is full of creativity and good cheer. Wishing you all the best, CAT COHEN ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- David Cat Cohen P.O Box 275 Morongo Valley, CA 92256 I am sending a check or money order for ______  SONGWRITING FOR YOUR ORIGINAL ACT(S) (retail $14.95, now $14 for each copy) I am sending a check or money order for ______  CHICKEN SOUPS FROM AROUND THE WORLD(S) (retail $17.50, now $15 for each copy)    I am sending a check or money order for ______  MY DESERT BLOG CABIN(S) (retail $18.95, now $15 for each copy)   I am sending a check or money order for ______  WHINE CONNOISSEUR’S GUIDE(S) (retail $8.95, now $7.50 for each copy)   Tax and shipping are included. Make a check or money order out to David Cat Cohen. Please send the book to: Name                                                                                                         Address                                                                                                      City/State/Zip                                                                                                 Cat Cohen's December Blog

2009-12-13T11:42:53+00:00

2010-02-21 David "Cat" Cohen Desert Community Happenings<div class="im" style="color: #500050"> Cat To Teach And Mentor At <a style="color: #2a5db0" href="http://TAXI.COM/" target="_blank">TAXI.COM</a> Nov 7th <a style="color: #2a5db0" href="http://CATCOHEN.COM/" target="_blank">CATCOHEN.COM</a>  To Be Relaunched With Lots Of New Stuff 100 Bios Including Many Of You To Be Online Very Soon!   Are You On The List? Songwriting School Of Los Angeles Explores A Potential Cat Cohen Class  Cat Releases His New Book - MY DESERT BLOG CABIN Chicken Soup And Flu Weather Coming Soon- Get Your Cookbook Now! Cat's Wine Connoisser's Humor Book Will Be Ready For Holiday Gift Giving Soon</div>

2009-11-04-blog-november-greetings-to-all

2009-11-21T00:53:21+00:00

2 true 2009-11-04 2010-02-21 false November greetings to all,Now that we have fallen back an hour into a new month in fall there is a lot of news to share.DESERT COMMUNITY HAPPENINGS  I hope everyone got the tricks and treats they had in mind last weekend.  After such a long hot summer, October in the desert has had its chills and thrills.  We even had a couple of lows in the 30s up here in Morongo Valley just before Halloween.  Flocks of birds are starting to visit the creosote forest here on their way south, stopping by for their own brand of trick or treating.  Down below in the Coachella Valley, the snowbirds and tourists are beginning to trickle in from Canada and other northern locales.  Streets and stores and condos which were semi-deserted are now starting to fill up.  The weekly Thursday night  farmers? market/crafts fair is drawing crowds again.  The only down side is  a little bit of traffic to deal with, but by LA standards one could hardly call this gridlock.  CAT TO TEACH AND MENTOR AT <a style="color: #2a5db0" href="http://TAXI.COM/" target="_blank">TAXI.COM</a> NOV 7th  If its November, it is time for Taxi?s ROAD RALLY once again.  This year I am not only mentoring as usual, but I am teaching one of the ?driver?s ed? classes as well.  On Saturday November 7th I?ll be leading a discussion of my specialty, Writing Songs for One?s Original Act.  This time I?ll be focusing on defining one?s brand, a vital step in effective marketing, especially on the internet with all of its searches and search engines. <a style="color: #2a5db0" href="http://CATCOHEN.COM/" target="_blank">CATCOHEN.COM</a> TO BE RELAUNCHED WITH LOTS OF NEW STUFF Within the week I?ll be reposting my website as CAT COHEN?S SONGWRITING COMMUNITY WEBSITE with a lot of new goodies on it.  As soon as my webmaster fits in all the missing pieces and links, this will feature many new ANATOMY OF A HIT analyses, a SONGWRITERS? SOAPBOX for op-ed pieces and industry pundits, and a new section of BIOS OF CATS ALUMNI and COLLEAGUES.  Over 100 of them (see next paragraph).   100 BIOS INCLUDING MANY OF YOU TO BE ONLINE VERY SOON!  ARE YOU ON THE LIST?  I've googled many of you on my mailing list plus a great amount of people I have worked with over the years, cutting and pasting information from various internet sources to assemble quite a collection of biographical profiles that should make for a great read for all.  I invite you to browse through and examine your bio and see what fascinating company you are in.   As a songwriter, musician, songwriting teacher and industry panelist, I've taught and/or worked with a few A-listers, a large amount of nuts and bolts industry people and countless up-and-coming professionals.  I've included links to your URLs and websites.  I haven?t yet put up the email contact info because my webmaster wants to captcha this first to avoid spammers crashing and exploiting our info.  Good idea.   Are you on the list?  If I left you out, it was perhaps because I could find nothing about you on google.  Feel free to submit a one or two paragraph profile to me with your description and credits, and I?ll see if I can add you to the website.  Google picked up all entries on my original Cat?s Alumni list and is sure to include all of us on this one. SONGWRITING SCHOOL OF LOS ANGELES EXPLORES A POTENTIAL CAT COHEN CLASS Last month I was invited by Rob Seals, director of the new Songwriting School Of Los Angeles in Burbank, to be a guest at one of their classes to meet some of his students and critique their songs.  It went well, and we are now exploring the possibility of me teaching a class there next year.  It looks like I'll be one of the instructors on a weekend sampler they'll be presenting in January.  I'll keep you posted. CAT RELEASES HIS NEW BOOK - MY DESERT BLOG CABIN  I promised to finish, print, and release a book derived from the blog of how I built my house in the desert, and true to my word, it is now fact, not fiction.  112 pages in all, this book is perhaps one of my best and most exhausting creative efforts outside of designing and constructing the house itself.  It took 2 years to write.  I drew the blueprints, and my neighbor, who is a very experienced contractor, and I, along with a local crew of building professionals, spent well over a year turning these floorplans into reality.  It is a modest, but very efficient house on 2 1/2 acres with an awesome view.  MY DESERT BLOG CABIN describes the process in detail from inception to completion including the dreaming, planning, and getting permits stages, and step-by-step construction with all of the resulting headaches, challenges, disappointments, and ultimate rewards.  You can order it, or any of my other books (see forms below), or this will soon be available on <a style="color: #2a5db0" href="http://amazon.com/" target="_blank">amazon.com</a>along with my songwriting and chicken soup books.  From an artist perspective, ordering from me directly pays me much more than the meager profit margin amazon gives its self-published authors (they take 55% off and have the publisher pay shipping). CHICKEN SOUP WEATHER AND FLU SEASON COMING SOON GET YOUR COOKBOOK NOW! The chill of fall is in the air and winter is not far.  It?s a perfect time to get out the pots and pans and make some soup again.  With the H1N1 flu spreading, it?s a good time to have chicken soup around to help with any nasty viruses in our midst.  My book CHICKEN SOUPS FROM AROUND THE WORLD  could be just what the doctor ordered.  Cheap, tasty, adventurous, nutritious and healing recipes from 13 states and 39 countries await the reader, all tested by me in my high desert kitchen.  One can order below or from amazon. CAT'S WHINE CONNOISSEUR HUMOR BOOK WILL BE READY FOR HOLIDAY GIFT GIVING SOON As if this isn?t enough, I found a silly senseless humor book on my computer files that I wrote several years ago with my good friend Avry Budka, THE WHINE CONNOISEUR?S GUIDE.  Yes there is an ?H? in whine.  Avry was my collaborator on DIVING OUT IN LA, a successful and rave reviewed restaurant guide to the cheap eateries of Greater LA that we wrote in the 80s.  I gave regular dive reviews on KCRW and was a guest on Mid-Morning Los Angeles on channel 9 TV back in the day.  This book has the same style of painfully cute humor and punnnishment that Ruth Reichl once referred to when she reviewed us in the LA Times.  It will be offered soon in time for holiday gift giving and guffawing at a low price to match its low humor. I guess that's wrap in the desert land of the Cat.  I have been getting more students in LA, so I am now in town every Wednesday and Thursday to visit, teach, and consult, and perhaps meet for lunch or dinner.  Ciao for now and keep on being creative, CAT COHEN November greetings to all

2009-12-13T11:42:53+00:00

2010-03-07 David "Cat" Cohen It Was The Season For Me To Hunker Down And CreateNow It Is Time To Get Out And InstructIt's A Good Time For Us All To Get Ourselves Out ThereCat's Original Songwriting Book Gets A Rave Review From MUSES' MUSE

2009-10-07-blog-october-songwriting-community-blog

2009-12-07T17:35:53+00:00

12 true 2009-10-07 2010-03-07 false OCTOBER GREETINGS, At long last, the long hot summer has passed.  Whew!  I hear that in LA it’s been hotter than out here in the desert, and that’s saying quite a lot.  Also, the planet Mercury just went forward again after a long retrograde.  This means, after some obstacles and roadblocks, it is now a propitious time to move forward. Things certainly have been moving from retrograde to forward for me lately.  The year 2009 has handed me a slew of car trouble.  After six car breakdowns and a bad accident, it is now my 63rd birthday (October 1st), and I am happy to report that I have two new-to-me well-functioning cars, a Ford Ranger truck and a Chevy Caprice Classic station wagon.     CAT’S WRITING – IT WAS THE SEASON TO HUNKER DOWN AND CREATE  During my period of being essentially housebound for several months, I got busy with my creativity, writing two new books (see below) and bringing two musicals of mine back to life, OH SHIT, I’M GOING TO LIVE! (an outrageous comedy about a reluctant AIDS survivor) and REDISCOVERING AMERICA (a historical dramatic fantasy retelling the story of COLUMBUS’ voyage to the new world from the point of view of a Puerto Rican Taino Indian shaman).  With Mercury in my rear view mirror, I’m ready to let the good news roll (and hopefully keep on rolling).   e.g.  -   My songwriting book SONGWRITING FOR YOUR ORIGINAL ACT (2007) has been reviewed very favorably by Muse’s Muse. (see abbreviated version below) It is available direct from me or on amazon.com. Another book CHICKEN SOUPS FROM AROUND THE WORLD (2009) has been picked up by and is now available on amazon.com as well as directly from me. And another new book of mine MY DESERT BLOG CABIN (2009) is finished, and it’s at the printer’s as I write this.  I pick up the first edition on October 8th. You know I’ll be putting it on the market then and so will amazon. CAT’S TEACHING – IT IS NOW THE SEASON TO GET OUT AND INSTRUCT  I’ve been getting calls from LA to come back and teach from a few of you wonderful creative souls.  So, as much I love tending my little house, 2 1/2 acres and fruit trees and getting involved in the desert community here, I will answer the call and be making a weekly commute to LA every mid-week (Wednesday and/or Thursday) to be available for lessons and consultations.  The Muse (as well as the Muse’s Muse) has been with me, and I am more than happy to share this with you.    I’ve also made contact with a songwriting school in LA, (keep the fingers crossed)  and it looks like I may be teaching a class there next year.  Plus, I hope to be involved once again in the TAXI ROAD RALLY this November. There are other irons in the fire as well, but I won’t ”let the cat out of the bag”, so to speak.  I’ll keep you posted. It’s ironic that for so many years the desert was my getaway. Now my getaway is the city of my birth, La Ciudad De Nuestra Senora De La Reina De Los Angeles. ABOUT YOUR CREATIVITY AND CAREER – IT’S THE SEASON TO GET OUT THERE Now in contrast to the narcissist who said, “Enough of me talking about me, what do you think of me?”, let’s talk about YOU! I have been in the process of writing one or two paragraphs about each of you, those of my ex-students and colleagues who have accomplished some or many of your songwriting and performing goals, to post on my catcohen.com website, complete with a link to your email, myspace, or website address. This is part of helping all of us enlarge our internet (and Google) presence, a worthy goal for all of us in this new cyber economy.   My website is currently being revamped and I’ll let you know when it is ready to roll, hopefully by the end of October.  If anyone wants to add some recent info, please let me know at cat@catcohen.com.  Yes, and I’ll be overcoming my non-conformist instincts and establishing facebook and twitter sites as well. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. In the meantime, I wish everyone a very happy, creative and productive fall season. And if you come out to the desert, call me at 818-645-4078 and stop by or I’ll meet you for a drink in Palm Springs. All my best, CAT COHEN --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reviewed by Ed Teja for Muse’s Muse [musesmuse.com]  9/29/09 Songwriting For Your Original Act by Cat Cohen If you are a performing songwriter or the songwriter in a band, you probably already know that there seems to be a large difference between a "good song" and a song that is good for your act. Many great songs just don’t seem to go over. Perhaps what you haven’t worked out is what song crafting factors make those differences. Cat Cohen’s book takes his songwriting experience and focuses in on giving you some guidelines for crafting songs that will fit your act to a tee….....This book takes a look at some of the elements you can craft into your material—not boilerplate solutions, as those would be anything but fresh, but a more nuts and bolts look at some of the ingredients and how they work, and how they combine. The first part of the book takes you through something of a songwriter’s marketing checklist to help you position your act. .......What is original about your songs or band and how are your songs helping strengthen that message? He takes you through an analysis of your audience, your genre, and your core message that will help you define yourself.   In the second part of the book, Cohen tackles some song crafting guidelines that you can use to craft tunes to fit the image you’ve now defined. Cohen tackles issues such as the groove—what affect do various tempos and meters have on your song and how does the kind of syncopation influence the groove?  Amid some more or less conventional information are gems such as, when writing lyrics, focusing on the relationship between the singer and the person the song is sung to.  The description of song sections and forms also provides some good food for thought. If you understand the real purpose of each section, such as the chorus, then you can move from writing something that is like songs you’ve heard, to crafting one that serves your purposes. <img src="cid:3343023011_262826" alt="" />  October Songwriting Community Blog

2009-12-13T11:42:56+00:00