Author: Joy Ann LaJeret

It has been an interesting ride checking my statistics on the various sites. Not a whole lot of visitors yet. I am hoping to spend a bit more money to further promote my songs. My viewers need to know, I need viewers and anytime they listen to my songs or follow me, I get credit for it. That is how online streaming works. I am, however, very grateful for the people who have listened to my music! Without fans no singer can survive in this endeavor of online streaming.

My next song, Honky Tonk Happy Hour, will be release May 7, 2021. It was written by Jessica Lynne Witty. Her husband Raymond Hayden did the piano work on it. The video in the first part of this post explains why I covered Jessica’s song. Jessica challenged her Rebel fans to video record the Honky Tonk Happy Hour fan club theme song and send it back to her. I decided to actually record and produce the song, with the help of Lusicious Moss Studios and Chad Quist. Chad does all the guitar work on the recordings for me and even does backup vocals. He is a very talented guitarist, singer and producer (Yes, I say that a lot). Please remember, Jessica’ Lynne Witty Rebels meets on Youtube Live or Twitch, every Thursday at 5 PM, Pacific time.

I went to my first jams at the Twin Dragon Sports Bar in Duvall, the past two weeks. I finally got up to sing and it was a train wreck! Those lessons are always the best learning experiences. I had not been playing music in public for the past 14 months and I bombed spectacularly! Next time I will have prepared the band players better. I am certain they were embarrassed too. Okay lesson learned time to move on. I think humiliations can help us realize how much work we still need to do. My only regret is I made the band sound bad! So, if you are out that way, you might to to grab a cold one, eat some Asian food and listen to the bands on Fridays from 7 to 11 PM, Pacific time.

Until we meet down the road, please support streamed and live music! We need our fans and hope we are pleasing you with our music!

New https://joyannlajeret.hearnow.com/honky-tonk-happy-hour preview.

Today my song was released. Seeing it on Spotify was an exciting experience. I enjoyed every moment of recording, after the first misunderstanding about how recordings work. I am still in the studio recording, at this time. Country Hot was a collaboration with Chad Quist. He was and is a great teacher and producer. Each of my songs were written for a particular reason. I made videos explaining where a song idea came from. They are posted on my website: joyalajeret.com in the Photo section.

The very first thing this morning, I got a message from my granddaughter stating she had played my song and my great Grandson Jay was dancing to the song! Jay is not quite two years old yet. It warmed my heart to hear that they enjoyed that song!

I got a call from my daughter this morning. She congratulated me on putting my songs out where people could hear them. Shortly after that call, I opened the door to go to the gym and a beautiful bouquet of flowers was on my back porch. She seems to know me well enough to know I would be in tears because of her thoughtfulness! When it is all said and done, this album was written for my family. When I am gone, they can hear me in the songs I write, even though I cannot be there with them. It is all I have to give them, besides my love.

When Singer/songwriters put their music on the streaming and listening platforms they are paid for their efforts and costs. It is .004 cents per hit. Think about how many hits it will take for them, and me, to make even a little money towards producing more songs. There are a few platforms that do pay more, but I have not tried them yet. I have spent about $8000.00 dollars to put my songs out. That includes a website, professional photos for the site and numerous costs to place them online with Cdbaby. So please remember, when you listen to a song, you are helping us write and record more music. No one in the music business can stay in business without our fans!

You can find me on Youtube

My release is ready to pre save. I am very proud to have my songs about to release to streaming services.

If you would like to pre save go to the link.

After months of recording and waiting for the release date it is finally here!

So much time has past since I first started this song writing adventure. Now I am up to my ears in learning new systems to get my music out to the public. I am often frustrated by the difficulty of some of the advertising pages being suggested. I spend hours just trying to find some of the tools they say you need. Also, the amount of money per month one can spend on this endeavor is astounding. Nevertheless, I have prevailed.

My first release Country Hot is suppose to be distributed on April 1, 2021 or April Fools Day. I am hoping that is not an omen! It has been celebrated for centuries in several cultures. But the exact origins of the day is still unknown. Whatever the history may be for this prankster day, my song is being released on that day. It is the first in a series of one per month for about 8 months. I am hoping that is the day of release and no one shouts “April Fools.”

I am back in the studio recording three more songs. The first ‘The Ghost of Tombstone” has an Americana theme. My producer Chad Quist is a progressive rock musician and I think he is wondering why the heck I would write a song like that. A lot of my listeners are older adults who still remember artists like Marty Robbins, this song is for them. The second song was a prayer I wrote when frustrated with the things happening in our government and the world during Covid 19. called ” God are You Listening.” The last song is about what it feels like being an older singer in a room filled with younger country dancers and a call out to other singer/songwriters. It is called, “Move Over Girls.”

I hope you will go to your favorite platform and listen to the first song “Country Hot”. It as co-written with Chad Quist. Until we meet again, have fun and enjoy life. Sometimes, it is not as long as we would like it to be.

This is a preview of Country Hot. The site you see is a FB posting. I have been struggling to use social media to let people know my first song is about to be released. It was scheduled for April 1rst, April Fools Day, because I was not thinking about the significance of that day when I posted my song to the system. Maybe it’s Karma🙃.

What I am learning about this singer/songwriter business is how much money it costs and how very little the returns are. I know being young and beautiful is what sells music today. Nevertheless, it is time for these girls to move over because I have something to say about many years of living in this world.

I have listened to the new stars songs and wonder if they know what it feels like to be a domestic violence survivor, or how losing a child can lead to the destruction of a marriage and family, leaving your heart broken with the pieces scattered all around you. I want to know if they have battled cancer or other life threatening illnesses or experiences, because older adults have lived through life’s many battles and have survived. Many want their voices heard and I am one of them.

I have no illusions about my voice range, looks or ability to sing a song that touches people. I have experienced first hand how people respond to my singing. I know being the best singer or writer out there is not what’s important. Touching the feelings of others, through music, conveys to your listeners they are important and not alone. We are part of one family with the label of human beings. So the key is loving the people touched by my music.

That is my goal and was the reason I continued to sing. Fans are the reason we work so hard to bring our music to a higher level of perfection, knowing it will never be perfect. Connecting with all of you is the reason most musicians work so hard to give you quality listening pleasure.

I truly hope all of the people listening to my music and the music of older adults will have a new perspective regarding life. I hope you enjoy hearing the wisdom in our messages and in our songs.

The website has been finished! I worked with Jessica Lynne Witty, the creator. I asked her to help, after I saw the beautiful site she has. I was extremely impressed with the dedication and effort she put into my site.

I have built my own website on Google. I have never used a offsite application before. So, I asked for help and Jessica LW was willing to lend her expertise. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate all the help she has given me. I would encourage everyone to follow this fine artist. Her concern and willingness to help new artists is beyond noteworthy.

I will be releasing the original music I created after the website goes live. I will release the five songs you see on the website, one song at a time. My first song to be released, was a collaboration with Chad Quist called Country Hot. It was my last song written of the five I recorded. I have therefore called my site: Country Hot Music by Joy Ann LaJeret, in its honor and Chad’s. The video section on my site will have a video of why each song was written and where the inspiration came from. In the song Country Hot, I was trying to explain what it felt like when jamming with established male jam bands. One of those jam bands was Chad’s. He helped me by telling me to rewrite the song, which I did. The music was essentially mine, but he encouraged all the right changes to the song. Please visit the video and/or media section on the website for the song history, when the song has been released.

I have a few other sites on my website. I hope you visit me them: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I hope to be able to build a following and you can help me by following me on WordPress, my blog site, and on the other mentioned sites. I do encourage comments, please let me know if you like my music!

I was rather happy to get an appointment to get my portraits done at the Pinto Studio in Issaquah, WA. Toni, the owner, was patient and knew what poses or positions were best to take and in what lighting. Her pricing was reasonable. No matter what you need, she is one of the best in this area!

In todays music market, it is becoming necessary for singer/songwriters to promote their own original music. A website is the perfect place to let your followers know what you are releasing and to view the current releases. I am in the process of setting up a new website in order to let my followers know when my recordings are being released and anything new that I might be working on.

I do not think songwriting is going to make me rich or help me make $64,000 a year, which is the listing on a blog I found on the subject. There are however, songwriters that do make that kind of money. I read an interesting blog on the potential of songwriting by Oscar Geovanny Euceda. He outlines a few of his struggles and how long it took him to earn enough money to call it a career. Geo, his preferred nickname, worked for seven years before he got his first paycheck.

I do not think I would like to write and display my music in the way he did. It seems like it is a joyless occupation. Singing is what I love to do. Songwriting is something I just fell into along the way. With this in mind, stay tune for the my journey to make my voice and music heard!

I began following live streams when artists and/or bands could no longer give live gigs and/or jams. I found out about streaming when I hired a guitar instructor, Lyle Ronglien, who was streaming his music at a site called the Banjo Bar Taco Tuesdays and Cabin Fever Fridays. He inadvertently helped me find a local Nashville singer/songwriter, Jessica Lynne Witty, whose band Lyle plays in.

Before long, I became a fan and joined Jessica’s Rebels fan club. Every time I watch her Happy Hour fan club I have a really good time. After a few weeks of watching, she asked her fans to take a challenge. She asked us to sing her Honky Tonk Happy Hour song, put it on video and send it to her. I took the challenge and was encouraged to write my own songs. She asked me to name a drink and they would concoct it in the bar while streaming. I chose one called Southern Hurricane and my second song was born. Since then I have written four and have one new one not published yet called, God Can You Hear Me?

I have spent the past three months recording them in a studio called Luscious Moss in Edgewood, WA. I hired the owner Chad Quist to record, produce, engineer and play guitar and etc., on my recordings. I asked Jessica Lynne Witty if she would help me with backup vocals on three of the songs, and her husband Raymond Hayden was asked to do the piano work on two of the songs. To my surprise they both agreed to help me with my recordings!

I was blown away by the extent of the talent I had hired! Not only is Jessica a good person, fun to work with, but her abilities are unlimited. Her husbands work on the piano is purely exquisite. When combined with Chad’s skills and guitar work the recordings are excellent and well produced, in my humble opinion.

My current guitar instructor, Dave Nichols, agreed to play bass. He is a veteran area musician with years and years of experience. He played lead for a short time with my band Gold Rush Fever. His guitar and bass playing is well known in the Tacoma area! His talent shows itself on the recordings. Finally, Doug McGrew, one of the very best drummers in this area, lent his drumming skills to the mix. Doug has recently been touring with Billy Shew.

To make a long story short, I am hoping to release these songs on platforms like Spotify. Apple and YouTube, to mention a few. If all goes well, I am hoping to release them in late February or early March, 2021. I would very much like you to listen to them! I am a country artist and love doing country rock songs. I have been extremely lucky to have these talented individuals helping me! Stay tuned!

After my last post, I was hired at Xerox in Redmond, Washington. I have worked there for almost three years. I was working on a contract with a major worldwide technical industry. I have worked on a contract with them before. I was troubleshooting devices that did not perform as they should and eventually moved into digital content issues, as a level one tech support customer service agent. It was a most interesting position and I loved the people I was working with and for. Finally, the contract ended. I was left with no job and several pounds of fat I do not need.

My physician told me I would need more blood pressure medication or I could lose weight. I decided I wanted to lose weight and did not need more medications to waste my money on. So I had a referral for a nutritionist and a few months to lose 52 pounds. Before I made the appointment, I found a logging or tracking tool on FitnessPal. I began on the 3rd of May, 2016 to track every mouthful of food that went in my body. I have been working out with a weight trainer every week for almost two years, with him prompting me to go to a nutritionist.

I decided to lose 1 pound a week for a year. It has been seven weeks and I lost 8.1 pounds so far. My biggest challenge is making certain I am getting the portions logged correctly. Weight Watcher’s point system did this for their clients. Now I have to figure it out with the help of my nutritionist. It is a real issue when I eat out. I am not certain how much they are really adding to the food.

I can only have 2000 mg of salt and it seems fast food establishments and restaurants love to dump the salt shaker into the menu. It is no wonder that so many people have hypertension. We are not even going to discuss sugar, which I have all but eliminated from my menu. With the exception of natural sugars which occur naturally in raw fruits and many vegetables; so, sugar is not in my foreseeable future.

In a recent article by Fox News they state Americans consume about 3500-4,000 mg of salt a day. A good consumption level would be less than 2,300 mg a day. I struggle daily to keep my intake at 2,000 mg. I cannot eat a lot of the foods I like, because a piece of pizza or fast food hamburger can have over 1,000 mg in just one portion. So the battle continues.

I am still looking for work, working on my diet and exercise and wondering if I can ever eat the foods I love without making them myself. So I will be spending my weekends checking all nutritional facts on my food. A rather time consuming endeavor for the sake of health.