The End Of The Beginning

The End of The Beginning

by j

Fall 2009

Eugene, Oregon

I n   A   N u t s h e l l

I, James McKenzie Kennedy, was born at sunrise, January 5^th, 1984 in Flathead Valley, Montana. Born into a family of journalists, I learned to speak, read and write very early. I did not, however, learn the AlphaBet song and faked it while everyone sang along on the first day of preschool; my first improvisation.

Life continued for me as it does for so many. Many smells call up memories of various places and times, emotions and vivid life-experience. Several sounds will remind me of people, places and times in my life. Music and movies will call up ideas and thoughts of “past lives”, now memories.

School played a primary role, first as babysitter, then playground, then conductor and then social city. I learned how to play saxophone, read into the meaning of ancient literature, question authorities without hurting their feelings, resist pressure from antagonists, grow in difficult conditions, harmonize with the world and play well with others.

College answered an echo of the extracurricular work I started as a public school student. Privately investigating my ideas, ideals, hopes and dreams led me towards a realm of self-discovery I never intended. Once on the path, everything relates to the path; college became my jungle gym of musical exploration and mystical advancement. After one year of intensive studies, I felt wasted, jaded, tired and that I had not attended enough parties to justify my perfect GPA.

My ambitiousness to transcend myself and my schoolwork sent me sailing down the Oregon highways in my car with the radio on. As rain poured down, I drove South from Portland to Eugene where I planned to spend much of my 20s. The radio poured out news of the Shock and Awe campaign waged against Iraq. I listened silently, learning how to love and hate something at the same time.

After my appropriate initiation, I emerged a Eugenean Mystical Music Student. In Eugene, Oregon, I have studied and worked at so many odd pursuits I feel like a jester of a renaissance man. Never-the-less, ever-the-more, I continue.

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Music, Healing, Bicycle Touring, The World!

Music, Healing Bicycle Touring, The World!

Music, Healing, Bicycle Touring, The World!

Music has played a primary role in my life for the past 13 years. During the past 5 years, I have enjoyed writing , recording, performing, producing, promoting, selling, advertising, organizing, collaborating, and arranging music of all kinds. 5 albums hold the bulk of my discography. These records allow for a gateway into the darkest reaches and the highest heights of a human imagination; they offer healing opportunities for anyone moved to emotional and physical response. These 5 albums walk every listener through the developmental stages of an up-and-coming musical star. These records represent the beginning of my lifelong journey of self-discovery, education and communication with my world.

Dieing Day by James Kane

Citizen Kane, widely considered the greatest movie ever to come out of Hollywood, portrays a newspaper mogul and his life remembered. I grew up in a family of journalists. The smell of ink and the sound of the press feel very familiar to my senses. The name James Kane felt like an appropriate expression of an initial effort to express myself in a recorded format. The title Dieing Day hints at the late hours of the day, the last day of life and painting the day with all variety of colors.

This album sounds very ethereal and wild. Not for the timid, it carries a lot of emotional weight. Recording music, for me, is a way to simultaneously release and capture my inner angels and demons. I feel that anyone listening to my records gets a vicarious experience of my (sometimes horrific) soul-searching. These early years represent the darkest of those soul searching times.

This album features the track SAS (Still A Star), recorded in my Montana bedroom on a graduation present from my family. My Mac Titanium laptop recorded this and every song on Dieing Day. SAS kicked off the recording sessions for this record and inspired me to develop my guitar and vocal songs into more elaborate recordings.

Enormously excited for the successful completion and artistic decoration of this album, I personally handed out copies to every one of my friends and mailed copies to friends and family worldwide. I burned each disc, printed each label and cover, and created the art for the entire project.

H by Bubba Jimmy

My nicknames as a child included Bubba and Jimmy. As I recovered from my second bout with Chicken Pox, I thought it appropriate to reflect how the cycles of my life were manifesting in other areas as well. H stands for Heaven, Hell, Heroes, Heroines and every H in the English language.

Immediately after completing my distribution of Dieing Day, I moved out of my house, went on a road trip. After this magical road trip, I returned to Eugene, Oregon and wound up living in my car and on friends' couches. I bottomed out in ways I'd rather discuss in personal conversation. As I recovered myself, moved into a new apartment and gathered my sanity, an album began to take shape.

One lonely night in my new apartment helped me discover the healing power of releasing and capturing inner demons using recorded music. I composed and recorded for several weeks before putting the finishing touches on this record with the final song, Now! “Now I stand me up to see / the world of light and I breathe. / As I rise wide awake / Love I give for love's sake!”

I composed this poem in a more positive and aware state and it helped me pull myself out of my hole and into my whole each morning. Upon awakening, I would blink into awareness the Now poster above my sleeping space. Eventually, I'd mumble the words to myself until I felt them; hum the tune until I cheered up; and then, stand up, dance around and sing Now! the song that would finish this album, H.

Now That I Have My Attention by Jota Ka

Playing around with my stage name took it's final stages for this, my 3^rd album. Jota Ka, in Spanish, represents the letters J and K, my first and last initials. This also brought to a conclusion the initial record by James Kane. Ka also has significant meanings in Egyptian and Hawaiian.

The title of the record reflects my newfound stability and survival of my descent into hell and successful return as a renewed individual. Feeling more aware, alive and happy, I recorded the first four tracks of this record in response to the four tracks on H.

This album features many of my friends, whom I came to understand and value more through my trial by fire. After recording the first four tracks alone, I realized I needed to bring in my favorite musician friends to finish this record off. We played our favorite songs and made fantastic recordings with that same Mac Titanium that recorded the first 2 records. We played with attention!

P e r f o r m i n g   t h e   J o u r n e y

These records put me in a variety of costumes on many stages throughout Oregon, California, Washington, Wyoming, Utah,  and Montana to perform my music. James Kane performed in a black cowboy hat and black sunglasses and he looked very serious. Bubba Jimmy dressed like an albino, caveman, rastafarian and played drums while throat singing at the Oregon Country Fair. Jota Ka performed in each of these costumes, laughing at and celebrating the transformation of an individual through costume, song and dance.

These projects also taught me to carry my performances and recordings into the digital world. MySpace still holds relics of each of these past incarnations. Thanks to exploration and experience, my digital and physical promotional skills blossomed marvelously through these formative years.

Currently, I perform only a few of these songs from my early catalog. Many were just for the time, a ladder to help me climb out of my hole. Others expressed ideas and beliefs I no longer hold. I still listen to each of these records occasionally to reinvigorate myself for my exciting and transformational life.

We Vibe! By Ondamos

Ondamos, in Spanish, means 'We Vibe'. Throughout my musical life I have performed in many rock bands. This rock band felt more cosmically correct than any before it's time. We each respected each other and found ourselves equals with something to learn from each other at every turn.

Formed with the intention of composing music for a local independent film, we practiced and performed tirelessly. Nearly every day we worked on promoting our music online and around town. We also recorded every session of every song we ever wrote. The result was a substantial catalog and growing fan base in less than 6 months.

After completing several thousand recordings, we selected the top 25 and posted them online. Our music made it into the award-winning film and we separated soon after the film's release. We fulfilled our purpose with our soundtrack and continue gaining fans every day.

Ondamos does not continue as a band but each member of Ondamos still has the name of James.

Song by Little j

In a follow-through swing, I returned to College to study Arabic while working as a bicycle messenger to prepare for a bicycle music tour. For an Arabic assignment, I chose a name and composed a song introducing myself in Arabic. Ziryab (which means blackbird) added the 5^th string to the Oud, helping in the development of the guitar. He is a musical folk hero of the Middle East, similar to Paul Bunyan in American culture.

The letter Z in Arabic resembles the lowercase j. Noting the similarities, I began to sign everything with a lowercase j or Arabic Z. When I began my career as a DJ, my co-host referred to me as 'Little' j in order to distinguish the quality of my letter and the name stuck.

'Little j' or 'j' represents the cross cultural ideas I embedded in a song performed for an International Night celebration at the University of Oregon. A song called OK captured the essence of what I believe all cultures can agree upon. I wrote the song as a series of agreements in English, Spanish and Arabic; a song to evoke acceptance of every culture through our common human activities.

The album produced as Little j, I called Song. The theme song, EY, states, “Everyone's got a song stuck in their heads”! This, to me, represents the awareness of infinite circular thought in myself and the humans of the world. I followed up this eternal folk song with many songs I had written while playing with Ondamos and many I had worked on since before Dieing Day. This album felt like an escape from and a completion of the phase of name-changing and self-exploring. It replaced that energy with it's active form: constant Self-discovery and Self-awareness. This album felt like a record of my current (5 years) self awareness and discovery of my true purpose, Music: healing, unifying and self-affirming music.

The character of 'j' and the name 'Little j' will adorn all my future works. Through the process of self-discovery and plain old human growth expressed in a musical journey, I have found my stable ground. From my world mountain, I will sing songs and make beautiful musical sounds for me and for we!

B i c y c l e   M u s i c   T o u r i n g

Recently, I returned from The Pleasant Revolution Northwest Bicycle Music Festival tour. 20 artists rode XtraCycles (a bike with an extension/attachment which helps to easily haul up to 400 pounds of gear) 500 miles from Portland, Oregon to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada!  In Eugene, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver and Salem, we hosted Bicycle Music Festivals. At these BMF's, 6 touring acts and around 20 local acts performed at various locations around the cities, traveled to by bicycle. Bicycles also powered the PA (which we hauled as well)! Dozens of people showed up on their bicycles and we performed for hundreds of cyclists and thousands of spectators across the entire Northwest tour.

I decided to launch a bicycle music tour of my own nearly 3 years ago when my Dad asked what I planned to do after college. I worked several jobs over the two years following that initial idea. I worked as a bicycle messenger for the Center for Appropriate Transport, I worked for the University of Oregon as their Bicycle Coordinator and also at Lane Community College in advertising before launching. After 2 years of planning, preparing and saving, I found myself able to embark on my own tour. Weeks into that tour, a surprise e-mail invited me to join up with The Pleasant Revolution to produce Bicycle Music Festival's across the Northwest with other musicians as crazy as myself.

Bicycle music touring as a way of musical performance, promotion, touring and production just feels right. The idea has excited me for nearly 5 years now and at this stage, I believe it will carry me onward for another 5 years, hopefully another 50! Tour planning is in the works for The Pleasant Revolution. I am also working with Nikko (my life and music partner) to plan a bicycle music tour of every small town and village in the world.

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New Musical Horizons

New Musical Horizons

N e w   M u s i c a l   H o r i z o n s

Writing songs happens in a flash or over many years. I've crafted several of my current works since I first started playing guitar. A pace of 1 album per year no longer feels voracious enough to satisfy my creative appetite and I find myself working on numerous projects simultaneously.

Little j (lowercase)

Little j will release Cosmosisgnosis (or Cosm for short) which features songs about the solar system, love of life, making the most of pleasure and pain, and other subjects reflecting my outlook on life and my process for dealing with this beautiful mystery.

Little j will also release Suite Sunshine, a collection of songs inspired by the beautiful Nikko Fujita. The first week we started seeing each other, songs started flowing out of me like water. These have been written, performed and arranged into a veritable suite.

In addition to this set of records expressing love for my lover and love for my current home planet, Little j will release a set of songs using the words of Shel Silverstein as lyrics. In a particularly lucid and inspiring moment, I found Where the Sidewalk Ends and read through some of my favorite old poems again. In doing this, I found rhythm and melody in certain poems. Shel wrote music and I believe he intended for his poems to inspire this sort of creative fervor. Currently I am working with an old friend to produce the tracks, and I anticipate much more collaboration with others on this project as we continue the production process.

SOLON (pronounced Soul On!)

Hesiod, an ancient Greek farmer, collected the poems, stories, ideas, gods and goddesses of all the peoples of his familiar world and retold them in a massive poem entitled The Epic of Gilgamesh. Thousands of years later, his poem gathers the attention of mythology students the world over. I intend to repeat this exercise in cultural stimulation, preservation and dissemination with SOLON.

*parts omitted*contact j to receive a pdf copy*

WWW DOT ESS ZERO ELL ZERO ENN DOT COM

So Loon (the might may be of the Loonyverse)

Nikko and I have so much fun together playing music, writing songs and goofing off that we eventually decided to take our act on the road. In this beginning we are scheming towards a worldwide conspiracy for bliss and lightness of being. We will bike, perform, play, share, Undo, write, photograph, document, create, explore, experience, live, love, transform and bliss out the whole planet one village at a time.

Beginning in America, we will pedal to every small town and village around spreading our music, magic and love. Our early shows will take place in schools everywhere. We will perform children's songs to get folks singing, instrumental music to get them dancing and teach the children and the teachers how to build a drum analogous to the Hang drum (more on that in a minute).

The Hank drum emerged as a response to the Hang drum. The Hank is crafted from a new and empty propane tank. Tongues are cut into the tank to make tone centers or notes. When played with the hands or mallets, the Hank drum sounds like a full-toned, pretty and simple xylophone. We will play these as well as teaching shop classes everywhere how to build them. Our mission involves music- singing, dancing and making.

An early stop on our worldwide journey will put us in Bern, Switzerland. Bern holds the Hangbau where Sabina and Felix live. They build steel drums and gongs of all kinds and have for decades. As recent as the year 2000, they started building a hand version of a steel drum called a Hang (hah-ng) drum. (Imagine a small flying saucer that sounds like a steel drum from another planet).

The magical effect of these instruments is evident in the expressions of wonder and joy worn by all who hear and see them played. This instrument captivates, mesmerizes, astounds, delights and instills a special magic in the air.

Our vision involves purchasing 8 of these Hang drums over the next 5 years to use in performance and the sharing of music. We will write, record and perform music of our own, utilizing these Hanghang (plural of Hang). At schools and in other public and private settings, we will create Hang circles to encourage others to play and sing freely.

Worldwide, we will bring these magical instruments on our bicycles and delight everyone with giving them the chance to play one of these difficult to acquire instruments (must purchase in person after snail-mailing Sabina and Felix requesting an invitation). We also hope to attract additional members to So Loon to play these Hanghang as an orchestra. Inspired by the Pleasant Revolution, we will perform mind-expanding music, touring on bicycles as individuals and a group.

We will continue carrying Hank drums around to demonstrate their simplicity, ease and fun until we acquire all 8 Hanghang from the Hangbau. A few imitators have started manufacturing in the United States but their craftsmanship and commitment lack the magic or the sound of Hanghang created by PANArt (Felix and Sabina's workshop).

In addition to performing these shows for schools, we will perform live concerts for families of these children at village meeting places and in homes. We will gather the town through their children to experience the magic of So Loon and the mysticism of SOLON. Much like Raffi's Beluga Grads (20-somethings who listened to Raffi when they were youngsters) we will influence entire generations of children and adults to play music, to play with their world and to know themselves as healthy, strong Selfs.

We will build a following so immense, it will cover the world. Our e-mail list will span every continent as we sell Hank drums, albums, art and musical performances to every culture that will invite us in and listen to us play and sing.

UnDoing

“Become who you are. There are no guarantees.” Christopher S. Hyatt

As the New Age movement ages past obscurity and into the subconscious of the entire world (ever heard of Karma? Know what it means?) one particular therapy stands out among the herd. UnDoing recognizes the entire body, muscular, nervous, digestive, respiratory and energetic body system and treats them all as a connected whole; the brain exists across the entire body so to speak. One can discover and heal memories or “past lives” stuck in muscle groups and hardwired into self-destructive action.

The therapy of UnDoing involves regular breathing and simple body movements that stimulate the energetic body and overwhelm the muscular body enabling old patterns to become clearly accessible (and thus able to heal) and awareness may spread throughout one's entire life. This therapy involves lifelong work that my companions, partner & I have spent countless hours cultivating the seeds thereof.

Simple exercises such as stretching the face around while breathing calmly and slowly have immensely powerful effects in freeing our Selfs from unwanted emotions and patterned responses. We can easily communicate these exercises to anyone willing to work through them for an hour. We will offer private sessions (which resemble more commonly accepted 'masseuse – client' relationships) and group sessions or workshops. These sessions will require a donation or contribution to our tour, the signing of a waiver and contract of Self-responsibility and (in the case of a private session) familiarity with the participant(s). These exercises will also make appearances in the literature of SOLON.

One must experience an UnDoing exercise to understand how simple and powerful these movements truly feel. Stretch your face out for 5 minutes, starting right now. Stretch out all your face muscles; move gently and firmly; stretch your jaw, scalp, eyebrows, lips. Move your eyes around, your tongue, ears, nose, and so on. Breathe smooth, calm and continuous. Exhaust all the muscles in your face.

Look at the clock and stretch your face for 5 minutes to experience UnDoing.

If you did it, you know the power. If you didn't, go back and do it! :)

This exercise works to interrupt any unwanted emotions or feelings at any time. Whenever you feel yourself becoming angry or sad or scared or crazy, or any feeling you want to escape, stretch your face for 5 minutes while you breathe calmly (dismiss yourself if you need to be in private). At the end of those 5 minutes you will feel more awake, alert, attentive and alive!

This experience, we desire to communicate and celebrate with individuals everywhere. We will first offer this experience for free. As demand increases for private consultations and instruction, we will obtain licenses and insurance in order that we may legally practice in places that require such papers.

Our goals, stated simply, involve teaching the world to Lighten Up! while we play, sing, share, document and heal at every new place and time we arrive.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

F R E Q U E N T L Y   A S K E D   Q U E S T I O N S :

“What Next?”

Plans so rarely work out as planned. Despite this, Nikko and I (among many) have begun work, production and preparation for many possibilities. Currently, we hope to spend January through March in San Rafael, California and March through June in Basel, Switzerland. Nikko will attend the Ali Akbar school of Tabla and I will continue studying, creating, producing and preparing for our World Tour!

“OK, but how will you live?”

We implemented a strategy to follow our individual and group blisses. Every day we examine and fill in a checklist of our favorite activities. Everyday we eat fresh food, play music (guitar, singing, tabla, djembe, keys, etc.), dance, read, write, cold shower, work on our various projects and I meditate while Nikko practices Tabla. We work every day on our dreams and goals, helping each other to achieve them with style and grace. We smoke some ganja now and then for fun but seldom drink or party. I promote and practice for Little j and work on the internet. We both study ourselves as individuals constantly working towards more awareness and acceptance. We work on UnDoing every day, stretching our faces first thing in the morning. We comfort each other and provide affection, care, love, generosity, passion, celebration, exuberance, silliness, confusion, delight, joy, faith, acceptance, companionship, trust, touch, and all that we can do with and for each other.

“Right, but how will you make money?”

Thank You for asking!

While attending college, I learned some lessons I want to share with you.

The music industry operates like many other industries, familiar as any one may feel to you. Like many of these industries, it currently occupies itself grasping at grains of sand. Open source ideals become more real and practical every day. An idea popularized by computer programmers, open source embodies an artistic commitment to community and quality. Profit comes from a devoted fanbase of supporters who make donations, purchase merchandise, host shows, share with friends, and regularly devote their energy to the success of the open source work in question.

While attending school, a constant lesson involved the flux we constantly find ourselves experiencing. In the music industry particularly (particularly, due to my attention paid to it) we see the old paradigm fading and new paradigms emerging. In many industries (the video game industry for example) new technologies become assimilated and used to the growth and advantage of the industry in question. The music industry of yesterday does not eat at the same table as the industry of today.

Musicians now hold a bard-like responsibility to look out for their own income. The “middle-men” of the music business (I found out) have no one's best interest at stake, not even their own!

As a modern musician, I find myself in direct relationship with my fans. No more MTV, I broadcast on YouTube. No more CD release parties, I publish a new song and a new video every 2 weeks. Forget commercials, I use viral media to promote my blogs, sites, music and projects of every kind. Social networks comprise my friends & fanbase and new fans accrue every day from every corner of the world.

Touring will bring in money via sales of merchandise, music and the magic we can provide to any small town school, church, community, club, organization, family, event, festival, or concert. The Small Town World Tour will take us to the places where live music gets appreciated as a special occasion rather than another night at the bar. Our special blend of music, magic, meditation and love will dazzle anyone lucky enough to invite us back, again and again!

A network of websites will connect fans to SOLON, So Loon, Little j, Tittle8, Shel Silverstein Songs, and every additional project taken on. Each page will link to every other page. Each page will feature advertising in the web version: affiliate marketing. This means that every page will feature ads for anything noteworthy by google, ads to sell amazon books and miscellaneous products. When a visitor buys a product, a portion of the sale gets paid to my PayPal account. Profit made comes from listeners and consumers who visit the sites for the free entertainment and to support a culture they enjoy.

“Where does my money go when I pay you?”

By contributing appreciation in the form of an album purchase, an affiliate item purchased from the websites, a night hosting us on your couch, food, supplies, cash or digital donation, you contribute to a community of musicians who benefit from your attention, enjoyment, excitement and support.

When you contribute to Tittle8, Little j, James McKenzie Kennedy, SOLON, So Loon, or any projects with related titles (Tittle8 or SOLON presents:) you contribute to my future as well as the future of my partner and our family. You help me buy food, fix my bicycle, purchase gifts for Nikko and my valued friends and family, acquire materials to compose my next masterpiece, stay connected to the internet where I can give you a steady stream of entertaining, stimulating, astounding, delightful, insightful, beautiful, artistic creations. This while touring the world, performing for children of all ages, and broadcasting the entire adventure to you in the form of a series of websites, e-mails, live performances and engaging adventures. You will literally be a part of this amazing, astoundingly adventurous, beautifully built, mysteriously magical journey!

In short, when you pay me, your money goes to You!

“What about kids of your own?”

Nikko and I actively avoid conception (much the way our parents did when they conceived either of us). If we conceive, we will keep our child. We will find our way to the happiest home available, set up shop and raise kids for 7 years or so. This would delay touring, only until the child(ren) could ride safely with us on the bicycles.

We ultimately want children as well as a place in the woods of Southern Oregon to live with them. We have detailed visions of where this place sits and what we will build there (ask for more info).

“Bikes? Small towns? The World?”

We both enjoy biking, bicycle touring, music, small towns, exploration and adventure. These elements make a blissful life for us. We each have agreements with ourselves as individuals and each other as a pair to follow bliss wherever it may lead. This does not involve doing whatever we want. On the contrary, we follow a very specific (self-directed) diet of creative and exploratory activity every day requiring much self-regulation and development.

We really just want to have fun! We both grew up in small towns and we both enjoy the feelings of playing music for small town audiences. Close-minded as villages may act in opinion, they open their hearts and their wallets (as much as possible) whenever they get the chance. We want to take it back to the people. Fewer stadium arenas and more backyard parties!

“How can I help?”

What do you consider YOUR Super-Power? This element you can offer to us.

Do you take great pictures? Do you have a beautiful home you can put us up in after we throw a concert to remember for you, your family and friends? Do you enjoy investing money in philanthropy? Do you have ideas or talents to contribute? Do you enjoy bicycle touring? Can you fix bikes? Do you have a lot of friends who like to listen to music (and maybe ours)?

What do you appreciate most about life? Do that with what we do!

“How much money do you need to pull this off?”

Around $15,000 in personal expenses to spend the year creating and studying to create more; around $30,000 in tools and supplies to create, tour the world again and again! This money, invested in my future, will allow me to save this year's profits and fully explore how to employ myself as an artist. Contributions received towards this budget will give me wings and elevate my growth.

Every year will feature a new document from this camp which will include the year's story and our accounting. Anyone with the desire will have access to our profit records, savings, etc.

Nikko and I plan to build a house on land we purchase. This year we will study how to make lots of money as touring artists as we save every penny. Next year, we will support ourselves (which will still include donations from you and your loved ones) and continue in our journey as self-sustainers and self-creators. With your help, let's get this party started!

Thank You!

Yes. You! In reading this, your life has settled onto this train of thought if only for a few moments. You, in giving us any amount of your attention, contribute to our stimulated growth. If you choose to expand that gift of attention to the realm of appreciation, Thank You! You may show your appreciation in many diverse ways and we appreciate you for loving and living with us. Assistants, physical and otherwise, happen randomly or regularly. Thank You! to everyone who helps keep this train moving, growing and going through the world bound for bliss and blessings abound! Thank You!

InJoy!

j