Songwriting around the world...

I was in LA last week and got to write and hang out with Matt Scannell, of "Vertical Horizon." Dreamy!! We wrote half of four songs. Three of them are unprintable but we had so much fun working on them. The fourth one broke our hearts. That's always the sign that it's a keeper. Now finishing it will be the hard part as we keep taking off for the next place...



Now I'm in Copenhagen again. What is it about this city? I figured while I'm here (I'm doing a workshop for the artists union) I might as well get together with my pals Ole and Lars Jeppeson. They are the famous Danish brothers of "Yesteryear" who did the fabulous remix of "Everything I Wanted."



Well, we worked on a gorgeous remix for "ten cent wings," and then decided, after a little bit of red wine. to work on a brand new tune of mine. It was a little too disco for my new record so I thought, perfect, I'll work on it with the dance pros! Well, it may be a heavy metal song after all. After the spicy thai dinner and some more wine all bets were off. But we certainly had fun jamming. They are also starting to work on a remix from the new record.

A song called "Baby Wait." I can't wait!!

Check out their site: yesteryear.mymusic.dk

Copenhagen, and SNOW...

I love Copenhagen. It snowed while I was there, windy blustery snow that snuck up in the afternoon and continued all night. It was so quiet, and enchanting to wake up to a white city. People still bicycling everywhere through the slush.

I have to thank the artist's union for another really lovely workshop day. Rikke and Lene take such good care, and make me feel so welcome and comfortable. It's a challenging exercise for me to try to take stock of my own career and sum up the parts. But in a lot of ways it's reassuring. I remember where I've been and why I'm still here! Thank you to the musicians who come and listen and ask such great questions. I'm honored.

(JB and Rikke)

(JB and Helle

And thank you to the chairman, (and his cute boxer).

So far the reviews in Denmark are off the charts. I've posted a few links on the discussion board. We'll work on getting some translations, but I hear it's all good. We just need to sell a bunch of records so I can bring the band back for a tour in April! We're working on dates in Aarhus and Odense, but we have 4/21 for sure at Vega in Copenhagen.

Many thanks to Lene and the team from Attack Records for their support.

Lene

Attack Team

More soon!
jb

Hi all,

Couldn't get any colder here in New York, but I have to say it's a relief. That 72 degree day in January really freaked me out. I had just seen "An Inconvenient Truth" and was very, very moved, depressed, inspired, appalled. So I'm happy it's cold. I just wear my dumb full length orange down coat, $80 at L. L. Bean. You can't beat a deal like that. Just call me pumpkin.

We're in the process of overhauling the web site. I think it's time. I'm ready to move out of the sweet, homey phase into. The rock. (We've had many pleas from friends who will remain nameless to keep the ballerina in there somewhere. So we may have to pull her out of rehab.) But we're excited about some of the new possibilities. Mostly thrilled that we can add stuff quickly as we choose. More journal entries hopefully and pix from wherever and whenever!

We're going to update the posting board too. It's definitely had its pros and cons over the years. But on the whole I think it's been a great place to communicate and I've appreciated all your contributions. We're going to upgrade it and create specific sections. We'll have a new official in house moderator who can really keep track of the day to day concerns for us.

The new record is out in Denmark. Super fun doing television in Copenhagen at 6 in the morning on my birthday. We decided what the hell, everything was in place over there, why not try the opposite approach from what we've done in the past. So far so good the reviews have apparently been fabulous although it's all Danish to me. We'll post the links in case anyone can figure out what they say and fill us in!! And we're trying to bring the band back for a few dates and workshops in April!!

I'm going back to Copenhagen feb 17th to do a workshop with the artists guild, (I just can't stay away!). I really do love the city. It is where my husband proposed to me, but Denmark as a country is just an amazing place full of music lovers. The workshops I get invited to do have become a great part of my identity now, and I love it. I get to meet some great musicians and songwriters and expound about this mysterious thing we do.

We're shipping the first single to AAA radio in the US as we speak. It's just Stephanie and me stuffing padded envelopes day after day. Still so glamorous after all these years. But I have to say it's still satisfying knowing what we've accomplished all on our own. And I think this record is going to kick some butt.

The release date for "Careful" here in the states is April 3! We'll start taking pre-orders here March 1. But we promise it'll be worth the wait. As you may already know, you can download the first single, "Careful What You Wish For" from I-Tunes. Please send your friends there, gift it, whatever you can, it's 99 cents well spent and the number of downloads DOES have an impact on radio programmers and tastemakers. And meanwhile, why not let your radio stations know you want to hear it. We think it's a smash. I wrote it with Eric Bazilian and JC Chasez, (yeah, NSYNC) and we had a blast!! And Bob Clearmountain's mix is sublime.

Cheers,
jonatha