Simply In BOLD

Americana Music Festival Wristbands on sale now!

I told you that I would let you know when they went on sale (here)...

Wristbands are now on sale!

They are only $50 for four nights of music and online you can only buy them through the Mercy Lounge at this link. (If you live in Nashville then you can buy them at Grimey's New & Preloved Music and The Groove) The Americana Music Association is not selling them through their office unless you already purchased a conference registration and just want an 'extra' wristband.

So I have been going through trying to make my plans of which bands I want to see and man, is it a tough decision. I think I have chosen, but some are really hard decisions. There will be free shuttles that will take you from one location to another, but why waste time on a shuttle unless it is REALLY worth it, right? You would be fine planting yourself at one venue per night because the quality of the music this year is THAT high. Here is MY schedule (for the full lineup click here):

Wednesday, September 18th

10pm - The Lone Bellow at Mercy Lounge

11pm - Black Prairie at Cannery Ballroom

Midnight - Headed up to a room above The High Watt called 'ONE' to see Ed Helms (from The Office) perform with friends. It's supposed to last a couple of hours and I am told the room is small so get their early! (Second choice: Wheeler Brothers at The Basement)

Thursday, September 19th

8:30 - John Fullbright at Cannery Ballroom

9pm - Hurray for the Riff Raff at The High Watt

10pm - Spirit Family Reunion at The High Watt

11pm - Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers at Mercy Lounge (2nd choice: The Wood Brothers at 3rd & Lindsley OR Sturgill Simpson at The Basement)

Midnight - The Howlin Brothers at The Basement (2nd choice: Steep Canyon Rangers at 3rd & Lindsley)

Friday, September 20th

(I will probably use the shuttle a lot this night... or maybe not at all. This night is really hard to decide... too many good bands!!! Here's the scenario if I use the shuttle.)

8pm - Nora Jane Struthers & The Party Line at 3rd and Lindsley

9pm - JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound at The Basement (have you seen his video with Nick from New Girl and April from Parks & Rec? love it!)

10pm - Field Report at The Rutledge

11pm - Holly Williams at 3rd and Lindsley

Midnight - Two Man Gentleman Band at The Station Inn (2nd choice: Luella & The Sun at Mercy Lounge or maybe The Farewell Drifters at The Rutledge)

Saturday, September 21st

8pm - Lindi Ortega at The High Watt

9pm - The White Buffalo at The High Watt

10pm - Houndmouth at Mercy Lounge (or Shakey Graves at The High Watt... tough decisions!)

11pm - Matt Mays at The High Watt (2nd choice: Amanda Shires at The Basement)

Midnight - Rayland Baxter at Mercy Lounge

What does your schedule look like? Who are you most excited to see?

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Random: Single-mindedness

It's Monday and I usually do a "This Week in Music" post. I personally use the post to plan my week but I already know what I have to do this week and won't have time for music! *gasp* Are they useful to anyone else? Please speak now or forever hold your peace. If no one speaks up then most likely I will put the "This Week in Music" posts on hold for the next six weeks. Life is crazy and those posts are time consuming. But if you want them then I will definitely still give them. Moving on...

I work best when I am allowed to be single-minded. Single-mindedness gets a bad wrap. Here's the definition:

Single-minded: "having one driving purpose or resolve" : Determined, Dedicated

So, how is single-mindedness a bad thing? Please, let me give ONE thing my full focus and determination and I know I will succeed.

Unfortunately my life hasn't worked this way in years and currently I am being pulled in more ways than I even have time to go. Oh, let me count the ways... 11... no 12. Yes, definitely 12 different ways. I do not work well this way and something typically falls by the wayside. I have already posted about time management here, but what do you do when there just isn't enough time? Even Zen master, Leo Babauta, only has 24 hours in each day.

How to be single-mindedly productive...

Be single-minded in each moment. FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS only on the one task you are trying complete at this very moment. Yes, that is reading my blog. So easy task for the day: Finish reading it without allowing anything to distract you. For some this will be hard, but keep practicing and single-mindedness will get easier.
Eliminate something off your list. Take a hard look at all your commitments and how you spend your time. Cross atleast two off your list. You can't get rid of two? Yes, you can. Do it. Do it. Dooooo IT! I know that there are two things on your list that do not make you as happy as the rest. They are not as important as the rest. Those two things will not enrich your life in ways that you desire. Mark them off forever. (Fine... if you can't do that then at least save them for later. Much, much later.) Why two things? Because one is easy but two takes contemplation.
Prioritize the rest. What is most important to you and your family? Those should get your complete focus first. If you have time for something else further down the list then great. Otherwise, oh well. (By the way, something relaxing and/or fun should be high on your list. Not just work, work, work.)
Only touch things once. Your focus is on it now, so do it NOW! I mentioned this before regarding email. Don't open that email until you are ready to deal with it. This "suggestion" should carry over into the rest of your life from little things like scheduling appointments to dealing with your junk mail. I am the world's worst at making piles and overwhelming To-Do lists. I "touch" things three to four times a piece. This is not being single-mindedly focused and wastes my precious time!

Okay... I need to go contemplate which two "ways I am being pulled" will get the axe. What are you eliminating today? Do you have any suggestions on how to be single-mindedly productive? Remember, if you want the "This Week In Music" posts, please tell me!

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This Week In Music: 8/5/13

Tuesday is a great day for music! New releases (Civil Wars!), many artists on TV, and I get to go see The Mavericks record a PBS special (so can you. see link below).

I am especially excited about Live on the Green on Thursday. That is going to be a GREAT show! If you don't know the artists then please click on the artists names to see Youtube videos. It will totally be worth it!

(Click on the artist/band names for a YouTube video.)

August 5 - Monday
TV
Amos Lee - The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

August 6 - Tuesday

NEW RELEASES
Chris Thile - Bach: Sonatas & Paritas, Vol 1
The Civil Wars - Self-titled
TV
Houndmouth - The Late Show with David Letterman
Steve Martin & Edie Brickell - Conan Show
Michael Kiwanuka - Jimmy Kimmel LIVE!
Walk the Moon - Last Call with Carson Daly
IN NASHVILLE
The Mavericks - Live Taping for PBS at Marathon Music Works

August 7 - Wednesday

TV
Gary Clark, Jr. - The Late Show with David Letterman
Jake Bugg - Last Call with Carson Daly

ONLINE AND IN NASHVILLE

MUSIC CITY ROOTS: The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band, The Cleverlys (hilarious!), Trace Bundy, Ernie Hendrickson, Sarah Potenza & the Tall Boys (you can LiveStream this here. To physically attend tickets are only $10 or $5 for students) ***

August 8 - Thursday

IN NASHVILLE
Live on the Green: Matt & Kim, ZZ Ward, & Gin Wigmore - Free show at Public Square

August 9 - Friday

IN NASHVILLE
Folk Soul Revival, Whiskey Gentry, and Holy Ghost Tent Revival - 12th and Porter

August 10 - Saturday

August 11 - Sunday

IN NASHVILLE
Over the Rhine with Alys Longmate - Lightning 100 at 3rd and Lindsley

*My favs out of the bunch!

What are you most looking forward to this week? Did I leave anything out?

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Random: Life Manager for Hire

Life has really kicked up a knotch for me. I need someone else to manage my life and just tell me where to go and when. Nevermind, I am too much of a control freak for that... I will be contracting at a full-time basis through September, plus running my online retail business, plus attending many awesome summer concerts, plus loving my new exercise classes, plus, plus, plus! There are not enough hours in the day! I must be excellent with my time management for the next two months or I will drown and miss out on some really cool opportunities. So, how can I do that?

(sorry for the completely unflattering picture, but it is a true representation of how I feel right now!)

1 - Get enough sleep. This is the most important for me! When there is so much to be done it is tempting to stay up really late at night to get as much done as possible. This logic works great if it finishes the task and you were able to take a recovery period sometime within the next couple of days. However, when life is not slowing down then sleep is imperative! I have a tendency to stay up late working on whatever project has my attention at the moment and the next morning I suffer. Then I fall asleep while working, stay up late again and suffer even more the third day. It snowballs... and snowballs quickly for me. I don't work well on anything less than 7 hours of sleep. Trust me I have tried... for years... In addition to the snowball, the more tired I get the more I skip exercising and turn to fast food which (you guessed it) makes me feel even worse. You get the picture.

2 - Limit distractions. "Oh, I got an email." "Now where was I?" "Ooo, another email." Focus on one task at a time because it takes time to get your brain back on track each time you are distracted. Plus, do not read your email until you actually have time to answer it; otherwise, you are reading it twice (or more in some people's cases). I could write a whole chapter on how to deal with email in general, but email is not the only culprit. Working on a big project? Turn off your phone and return the messages later. By the way, it is okay to politely tell people you don't have time to talk. A phrase a co-worker commonly uses is "Okay, man, I gotta jump", meaning he needs to move on to the next task at hand. People are fine with it because he took the time initially to listen and make them feel important.

3 - Say No! Well, not to everything, but say it to anything that does not coincide with your priorities. For example, I love my friends, but... The next two months are pretty full, so that means that friends are going to have to be patient. If they want to see me then I would love for them to come with me to one of the concerts I am planning to attend (it's for work and the blog); otherwise, "Are you free in October?"

4 - Don't get overwhelmed. You can do it... just take it one task at a time and ask for help if you need it. If I allow myself to get overwhelmed then avoidance sets in and that screws everything up. Live in the moment. Take it one moment at a time...

Okay... so this is going to take some work... just in writing this post I was distracted a minimum of 8 times and I am so sleepy. Atleast I am not overwhelmed. Oh wait, I have an appointment in an hour and am not even close to being done with my to-do list! Now, I am overwhelmed. Gotta go!

Any other time management tips for me? Anything you struggle with time-wise?

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