There are Angels Among Us Always

The year of 2014 has been life changing for me. Many very rough moments that happened this past year that I thought I would never recover from as it all unfolded. But as the old saying goes, that which does not kill us only serves to make us stronger.

I do not want to dwell on the moments that brought tears but I want to reflect on those chance happenings that changed everything for the better. I believe we all have angels looking over us encouraging us to try new and exciting things. Influencing us in ways, if we are only open to the signs.

I had many angels this year that affected me in ways they may never truly understand. My first angel I met many years ago,  Eva Shaw opened a lot doors for me in the writing world. She has been a mentor over the years and this year, our relationship became so much more. She had helped me grow as a writer and our relationship also helped me grow as a person as well. I will forever be grateful for the lessons I have learned that she so patiently allowed to be revealed. She not only is a mentor but she has become a friend that will always have a special place in my heart.

Then there was a woman I met at the beginning of 2014 who sings like an angel named Rebecca Newman. She had shown an act of kindness by a chance happening of introducing me and my music to her fans called the Newmaneers. I joined her fan page as I had never been a fan of classical music until I listened to her sing. Her voice is an instrument of its own and I was in awe of her talent and even more impressed by the love of her fans. I had never witnessed such admiration for anyone, like the Newmaneers had shown her. I thought anyone that received as much respect as she was given not only had an obvious talent but a generous heart as well; it was an honor to be a part of something that was so much bigger than simply a fan page.

She was in a contest called Artist Signal and won the month of February. I had joined the contest many months prior to meeting her but never really understood that a win could be a possibility until witnessing her hard work. I started paying attention and making friends within her group and I eventually had the honor of a gentleman creating a fan page for me, Kevin Wrapson created a page that eventually soon became what we now know as the Hoskettes. He joined forces with Robert Scullen and I had started with 34 members that generously came from the Newmaneers. Many said they never listened or cared for country music until Rebecca had told them to listen to me. Thank you Rebecca Newman for giving me that chance.
 
I had the good fortune to be able to do a tour in the Northeast with a good friend Renee Wahl. We had a great show in Philly that Jennifer Logue had set up for me at Milk Boy. It was a great crowd and I was also able to meet my friend Andy Whatt face to face as he made the journey from DC to come see me.

Renee and I then journeyed to NYC. I had wanted to play in that city my whole life. Unfortunately it did not turn out as good as Philly, however it was where I met the very talented Micheal Castaldo. He was the only person who said he would come to my show who actually showed up. He not only came to the gig, he proceeded to show Renee and I around Little Italy afterwards and bought us dinner. After my car breaking down and learning of limited time left with my brother and wasting time on a rough gig in NYC; he gave a pleasant ending to an extremely rough day, yet another angel here on earth.

We had to cut the tour short and head back home. I was able to spend some unforgettable moments with my brother that I will cherish until we meet again. He is now with my Mother and I am blessed with angels in heaven as well as on earth.

The Hoskettes are now 183 members strong and we have gained members from all over the world. I have had the good fortune of meeting and joining forces with Ashei and through them I met and befriended Sonja Garard who allowed me to become a member of The Pack. I also met Into The East and became friends with Liv McBride. I also soon met the leader of the Pack, Wolf Man who then took me under his wing and did many radio interviews with me and I eventually made the top ten most requested on Fame Music Radio hosted by Georg Hegelmann out of Johannesburg, SA. These acquaintances have quickly become life long friends I will cherish always. 

I have had a very successful year with my release, My Soul is Already Sold, produced by Scott Neubert. My first release with him since Love and Other Disasters. I have made several cuts on TV and films from songs on this CD, being featured on, The Lost Girl, Bizarre Foods of America, also featured on Delta Airlines, Smithsonian Channel and many more.  Scott and I are finishing up my latest release, A Few Broken Pieces which should be out literally within weeks. We make a good team and I appreciate him always believing in me and helping me make my musical aspirations a reality. He is a God send to say the least.

There are so many others I have not mentioned and you all know who you are, that have impacted me in one way or another. You never really fully realize or appreciate how blessed you are until you sit and count your blessings. There are so many angels that have been there for me through thick and thin. I have been blessed 10 times fold and will never know what I have done to deserve such love.

I will be closing the year with a win on Artist Signal, ironically ending the year basically how it began; with angels looking after me and changing my life forever.

Enter to WIN!

Its time for us to have a little fun. For those of you who know me, know I am an artist as well and work under many different creative realms. I have been hired to do many portraits in recent months and now for a little fun I'm going to give you all the opportunity to show me what you can do!

Starting today until the end of the month I want you all to draw a portrait of ME! It can be a stick figure or whatever you are capable of doing you will be judged on originality and how well you know me, for example, my favorite color is green and my favorite flower is carnations and I play guitar, sing and write! If you can't get my likeness draw a stick figure that will show its me by the things incorporated in the drawing! Be creative and show the world your talent and how much you know me. Another hint, I have two cats name Linus and Speck whom I love very very much! :o)

The winner will receive a never before released completed demo of my song written for my family called, Every Chance I Get!

Meet your judges, my dear friends and 2 people who know me better than my own family, Scott Neubert and Renee Wahl all of whom you should check out their pages and enjoy their music while your posting your drawings of me! Scott Neubert and Renee Wahl

Don't be shy visit my blog and you will learn I believe we all are creative, only not all of us tap into our creative whims, like others do. Creative Compromise! 

So now is your chance to show the world your vision of art and how your eyes perceive one of the artists you enjoy listening to.

You can submit your entries at my fan page: Rebecca Hosking Support Group aka The Hoskettes!
 

Winners will be annouced on Sept 8th after the judges have a week to review all entries! Can't wait to see what you guys come up with! Make me PROUD but first and foremost let's have some fun!

Paz y amor siempre

Monkey Wrench, Anyone?

Funny how life keeps going no matter what, you know when people say, don't feel so bad, no matter how bad things are there is always someone who has it worse. Ever feel like you were that person who had it worse?

God, life is a funny little cycle and time stops for no one, does it? We do our best and make our plans and strive to reach our goals, but some days no matter how you try, there is a monkey wrench and it is jammed right in the middle of everything causing all your hard work to fall apart.

Life is balance and 9 times out of 10 so rarely does any of us actually have the balance we need in order to survive these bumps. We go day to day with our routines thinking there is an end in sight and when that end comes and it is never what we had planned; it makes us feel like we did something wrong.

But guess what, your not alone and you did nothing wrong. Its called life. We can plan as much as we want and be prepared, but no amount of strength or preparation will ever make the bumps any smoother. Some things do not have visible answers, hell, some things have no answer at all. It simply is what it is, good, bad or indifferent. At the end of our life when we have to answer to our maker, I imagine that is when all the mysteries will be revealed. But, who knows? As I have planned this day to come I also think, it most likely will never be like I imagined.

Call it a mid life crisis or a bout of depression or maybe things are right on track for you at the moment. Regardless the state you are in nothing is permanent and nothing lasts forever. When the tide rolls in and we are treading water and struggling to breathe; we have to tell ourselves this too will pass. When we are on top of the world and everything falls right into place, enjoy it while you can, because it will eventually fade as well.

To live with the philosophy that nothing is permanent some find to be grim and bleak. But I find it to be my comfort when I feel like the world is focused on killing my spirit. There is nothing, absolutely nothing that lasts forever. But maybe that belief  is not the complete truth either?   

Humans are riddled with flaws and imperfections, but it is also our nature to nurture and build bonds that cannot be broken by these cycles of hard times. I used to live my life by the philosophy that nothing is permanent, but here I am learning yet again. There is one thing that is constant, there is a monkey wrench that messes with my program of belief.

When I look back on my life and all the hard times I have been through it is true with time the sorrow did pass and the monkey wrench that broke the cycle of sadness was always love. When things were great those good times were always shared with those closes to me and their pride for me was shown through their love. When we lose someone close to us, the love never dies, in fact, it is felt even stronger with their passing.

When it is real and comes from a true place love is the one thing, the only thing, that lasts forever, no matter the circumstances.

My Soul is Already Sold Tour 2014

Being on the road is a huge part of being a musician. It is when I put all the hard work behind the scenes out on the front lines for the world to see and hear. Hours and hours of writing, rehearsing and recording comes down to this moment, walking out on the stage. This is where I connect with all of my fans and hopefully meet and make new friends and build an even bigger fan base.

I kicked off this leg of the tour with Scott Neubert, musician extraordinaire, best producer any girl could ask for and an amazing friend. We performed in my living room through Stage It an online performance venue. It was a great turn out and I want to thank all of you who attended and donated  money to help fund my road expenses.

I then headed to Philly with Renee Wahl. Renee is from Philadelphia and had heaps of her friends

Renee Wahl and Rebecca Hosking at Milkboy in Philly

come out to the Milkboy and shared the evening with us. My good friend Andy What made the trip and I made a whole bunch of new friends there as well. It was a packed house and phenomenal fun.

My good friend Jennifer Logue is the host of the show Rock on Philly and had invited me to play their Tuesday night show. I'll forever be in debt to Jennifer for thinking of me and always supporting my music. We met through the magazine I write for, I was offered a column and she was my first story, and we have been friends ever since.

It is almost inevitable that a musician runs into a little bit of strife while on the road. My car started overheating and I was concerned. Renee contacted a friend Rob Branco aka (Cousin Rob) and he put me in touch with a gentleman named Donnie DiDonato, please forgive me if I got the last name wrong. He owns the Advance Auto on 1826 South 11th, Philadelphia, PA 19148, he took me in right away, fixed me up and even drove me around the city to make sure the problem was fixed before sending me on my way. I cannot thank him enough for his kindness and concern. A genuine soul and thank you seems too little of words. BUT, THANK YOU so very much! If anyone is ever in need of work done in Philly go see Donnie!

I'm headed to NYC today and playing at the Ella Lounge, 9 Avenue A. NY, NY at 9pm. I'm looking forward to see what this night will bring. I have been wanting to play Manhattan my whole life, for me, this is a milestone of my career. To be able to share it with the amazing Renee Wahl is an added bonus. I'm hoping for another packed house and looking forward to seeing some old friends and making some new ones.

The Importance of Self Evaluation

Have you ever been on that journey, trying to find yourself? 

Salvador Dali

I am pretty sure most of us have, especially us creative types. We do tend to dig a little deeper in order to delve into depths of emotions most people choose to bury. These emotions are the catalyst to our art. In other people's lives they go to work, come home and spend time with family on the weekends and have created a routine that works very well. To stray from the routine is usually cumbersome, we all are creatures of habit

Although regimen and structure can be very beneficial if you are like me, I get bored quickly and need to keep things interesting or else I tend to get myself into little messes. The details of those messes is for another post altogether.

The world around us is forever changing even if we continue on our same path, everyday is a new day. I think we should always redefine who we are and what is important to keep up with the changes. I believe you should be unapologetic for changing your mind. You may feel one moment one way and the next moment completely different, especially if you keep your mind open to new ideas and different opinions.

I can only speak for myself and I know that I play many different roles in any given day and I act accordingly. I work in the corporate world and I behave as such, when I'm on stage, I'm a different person. I can be a writer, a friend, a daughter, a sister, whatever role I am, each is deserving of its own reaction and personality.

Stagnated ruts can quickly kill our creativity. Force yourself outside of your comfort zone daily. It is a sure fire way to learn your flaws and improve and build strengths where you were weak. Not only does it spill into our work but it makes us more well rounded individuals.  

I have a plethora of personal flaws that hold me back if I succumb to them and give them strength. But, you cannot fix something until you know what is broken, you have to view yourself with an extremely crucial and judgmental eye. If you are honest with yourself, you will see the good and embrace it and feel compelled to fix the bad. Once the bad is revealed it is your responsibility to make the change. Try not to justify, simply accept that it needs to be addressed.

For most of us it is difficult to view ourselves objectively. I find a good rule of thumb is to pay close attention to the insults you put towards others, often times if you spot it, you got it. Keep it to yourself, you do not have to air your dirty laundry, I'm simply giving you a way to gauge honestly. If you think to yourself, I am fine, it’s the rest of the world that is crazy; there is some truth in that, but you are still a part of that crazy world. Trust me don't be embarrassed I have said that many times and genuinely believed the statement.  

To ask someone to define who they are, I think is an impossibility unless you ask, who are you at this moment? It is easy to say here I am, take it or leave it, and be okay when someone decides to leave it. But if we really evaluate why that person decided to leave, and in all honesty try to improve on that flaw then maybe next time you will make a better companion.

This works in every aspect of our lives, be it creative or not, be critical and decide to always change for the better. It is human nature to be mad and offensive, but try not to even waste a moment with all that nonsense. After all, think about how many times someone said something and it made you angry, then later when by yourself in a quiet room, you thought more rationally that maybe they did have a point.

You have to start by loving yourself, I believe when we reach a point of comfort in ourselves it is easier for us to be happy and put good back into the world. Viewing people and things negatively is a reflection of you and who you are, do you want to be that person, if not, the only solution is to stop.

I'm still learning how to love myself, I beg your pardon while I'm on my journey and thank you to all of those people, who have been a shining example of who I want to be.  

To Post or Not to Post?

To post or not to post, that is the question? I get several arguments from other musicians saying it drives them crazy when people post so often about shows and upcoming events. I have to ask why is it so bothersome? If it does not interest you simply do not follow the posts. I work it, because it works. 

I accept all friend requests and yes I have some family members and friends who are not interested in hearing every step I make in my endeavors and have blocked me; fair enough no hard feelings. But for all those wonderful new fans who eagerly visit my page every single day, this one is for you and thank you for your genuine interest in my career.

For the few people who block your page, you will gain so many more friends who start out as strangers and become loyal life time friends and fans from across the globe. I am speaking from real life experience. If you are working from ground zero this is the best time to start. There is nothing more exciting than following an upcoming artist from nothing into something really big. 

I have been working on building my fan base one fan at a time and the journey has been time consuming, but worth each individual who has reached out to me with wonderful accolades on how they feel about my art. People do not like helping strangers. Get to know the ones that can help you and when they learn who you are and that you are worthy of their time, they will help, because now you are friends.

I say post away all my unknown friends and thank you for following me and my posts about my music and my freelance work. I'm happy to help advertise for you as long as you keep coming back for more. I had the pleasure of shadowing a young woman who is an amazing classical performer, Rebecca Newman. She took me under her wing and showed me the ropes, I'll forever be grateful for the knowledge she shared.

We became friends and she introduced me to her fan club the Newmaneers. I got to know many of them through this exchange and eventually, I was made an honoree Newmaneer and can not be more proud. I have sold countless cd's, I have been added to countless radio shows and currently working on a tour in the UK and so many other benefits I have gained from simply making a friend. Thank you all so very much. I say thank you right here on my blog, as I can guarantee they are most likely reading this post right now.

I have to encourage all my other musician friends who think it is bothersome and do not post anything at all. Well, how does anyone know if you are any good if they do not know you exist? Take a chance and get it out there, no one should be above a shameless plug here and there, so let people know what you are up to, if they like what they hear or see they will support you in return. 

All you freelancers out there know as well as I do, sadly it’s a numbers game and it has always been, who you know, verses what you know; even before Facebook or MySpace existed. Popularity has always been the defining factor of success in most all cases. Even Taylor Swift and Mylie Cyrus would not be known names had it not been for their relentless networking. 

Build those numbers and thank your fans by showing them what you got and they will be very appreciative and continue to give their support. Do not be afraid to give things away for free to those loyal ones because those are the ones who put their money where their mouth is, time and time again.

Twitter is my media of choice as it is quick and to the point and designed to reach much larger numbers. Do not put all your eggs in one basket however, hit them all and try to give as much time as possible to each person who finds you and shares your link with more friends. 

I know we have become quite the narcissistic society with all these social media pages. But, can we at least examine the favorable benefits these networks do provide. Especially for us creative types whose livelihood solely depends on the attention of the unknown public.

I want to encourage everyone in the promotion realms get out there and network online as well as face to face. Life is a contact sport, start living and sharing with others and no matter what you do in life always treat each other with love and respect, no exceptions.

The next time you ask yourself to post or not to post???? No one sees it if you do not, and potential, countless, nameless faces soon become life long friends if you do. The beauty of meeting someone on a different continent and the things we can learn from each other is a valuable tool. Get out there and make some friends, if you get blocked once or twice, oh well, you can never reach them all, but the ones you do reach, makes it all worth it. Nothing gained, nothing lost what are you waiting for, if you chose to block me, well then you never saw this anyway. :o) 

 

Paz y amor por todo, siempre!

Back to the Basics

Ok, allow me to step back for a moment and get back to the basics. I set out to create this blog in the hopes to reach like minded individuals who find it sometimes difficult to live a creative life in a predominantly secular world. 

To reiterate my problem, my rants in recent weeks have been consistently about the negativity that has taken hold to our society. Living in this environment is next to impossible to be creative especially when you are over worked, stressed out and genuinely unhappy. 

A creative person or spiritual being if you will, needs time to refuel and step away from the chaos in order to give birth to artistic value. We are adventurous souls that get bored easily with the every day mundane. This boredom encourages us to branch out into unknown territories quite often.

We are deemed as flighty at times and never given credit for our general passion for knowledge. Rarely do people understand why something so trivial to them can mean so much to us. Countless hours of hard work goes into every meticulous stroke on our canvas; no matter what medium we choose to use. 

Us humans, we are not so different; we all live for the pursuit of happiness. We all want to love and be loved, even the darkest of evils hold some good deep down inside. I think these passions should be celebrated and embraced. Think of how colorful the world could be if everyone chose a path outside of their every day comfort zone. But be careful not to stray too far, we do have a tendency to get carried away.

You see, the beauty of art is it is limitless. Those who strive for greatness knows there is no end to knowledge and never stop learning how to improve their craft. The best part of creativity is the rewards are bountiful. It builds the person we are from the inside out. We have the ability to reach others on levels they may not have been aware even existed. Opening our hearts and minds to a realm that is more conducive to pleasantries. 

There is not one person on this entire planet that was not given a talent that is unique to themselves. I do not accept when someone says they are not creative, they simply need to be shown what their creativity might be. 

Today, I want to be grateful for my gifts and to show my gratitude, I am putting a piece of it out into the world. Sometimes we all need to step outside our comfort zone. This always leads to new and exciting discoveries. However, other times straying too far from what we know also can potentially make us lose sight of where we came from and that does not fair well for our art.  

Getting back to the basics is always a gentle reminder and refreshing homage to the gift our muse so carefully chose for each and every one of us.

 

Working from the Bottom, Up

We as a global community have become completely self centered and narcissistic.
We shut ourselves off to other views and close our minds to new discoveries. We have stopped learning and collecting data and I find more and more people accepting things at face value with little or no compulsion to even fact check what has been learned. 

Although we live in the age of technology having everything at our finger tips has made us lazy and therefore dumbing down our populations. If you read it, it does not make it true. Allow me to continue by saying, this is an opinion piece nothing I am writing is fact other than the rawest emotions that I'm spilling within its words. 

This trend has created a harsh reality; we have lost accountability and the results are proving to be catastrophic. Even though certain social medias have made it easier to connect to millions around the world it has also destroyed personalization in our actions towards each other. It has made it easier to speak our minds but we have used these tools to insult a few words on a page, verses having the courage to say something to someone's face. It has made it easier to forget the human reading the message has feelings that can easily be hurt beyond repair. Bullies do not only live in the school yards but are running a muck in all corners of the earth.You can easily scar another human across the map with a few simple keystrokes. It seems easier to debate deconstruction, than it is to build positive foundations. 

I have noticed that it has also created a misunderstanding between two words that should be self explanatory. The words "Fact" and "Opinion", are not synonyms. A fact is something that truly exist or has happened. An opinion is a belief or judgement about a particular thing. 

Now days it is rare to find even a news source that states strictly facts without engaging a small or even a rather large majority of opinions mixed in its contexts. When the news we are being fed as truth becomes unreliable, I feel we have reached a very sad time in history. We need to stop taking people's opinions as truth and we need to start holding our journalists and news broadcasters more accountable for the reports we are reading. 

The only way to do this is to double check the resources until they are forced to do their jobs with integrity. I realize it is their responsibility to fact check, but when they are not being held accountable for leaving that part of their job out, then we allow it to continue. When something does not look right or reads as an opinion, then I believe we have a civic duty to research and call them out on any misinformation that is found. There needs to be consequences for reporting anything other than a factual statement about something that has happened. Let the opinions be saved for blog's such as this one. When it comes to news it should be reports of actual facts about what took place, no opinions.

I believe we all need to start being held accountable for our own actions, stop pointing fingers and start looking in the mirror. Starting from this point we can then start by fixing ourselves instead of being so quick to judge others. I have found by experience it takes one to know one, so when we point out flaws in others we are really seeing our own. It is not easy to accept what we do not like about ourselves, however you cannot fix something until you know what is broken. We can change for the better if we have the strength to see what is at its worst.

We can look towards the new year and I think we should collectively as a concerned society make the resolution to start from the bottom and work our way back up to greatness. We have potential that lives beyond our own capacity of belief. We are highly intelligent people that seem to have lost our way. We can make a positive change, it took a course of bad habits that brought us to this state, it will take considerable effort but we can train our brains to think more positively and allow ourselves to pick each other up, instead of knocking each other down. 

Everything works better when we work together. Let's make 2014 be that year we change. Nothing less than the highest level of success, from this point forward, mediocrity is unacceptable.