This week’s blog update comes to you from a bit further away. I am writing this from a rooftop of an apartment building in Tel Aviv. I am over here with few friends to play some music and celebrate the 15^th birthday of the Molly Blooms Irish pub. I have a long history with this place as I was over here with Sliotar to play at the opening of the pub fifteen years ago, and since then I have played at almost every one of the birthday parties.

This time it is not Sliotar, as such but me, Des (from Sliotar) and a great young piper Stephen O’Connor. Some of you have been following the vlogs, where I am documenting as much of this trip as physically (and with in the iPhone memory and battery life limitations) possible. So far we have done four shows, and there is another five to go.

But as much as we are here mainly for the music, I do make sure I enjoy the local food, sun and the weather. Morning runs are bit easier in weather like this 😉

One of the things I love traveling is that I always seem to learn so much. And this trip has been no exception. So what have I learned?

1. The European budget airline frenzy has made traveling much more affordable, but the Turkish Airlines reminded me how good old proper airline can make a longer flight much easier experience.

2. Once again I was reminded how music is so much more important than just an entertainment to pass the time with. It can genuinely bring hope to the people.

3. To be disciplined at something, sometimes you need to take a break as well.

4. Good crew makes for easy traveling.

5. Preparation is half the battle.

And now on to this weeks blog posts. We had quick tips, we had vlogs, as well as the good old-fashioned blog posts. But Without the music, I am not sure if I would ever started to blog, or vlog this regularly. So let’s get started with this weeks song. “Eviction Day” takes a close look at the true victims of the recession, who are still today being thrown out of their homes. Check it out here and grab a download copy from my Bandcamp Page:

Eviction Day

After the Paris attacks I felt the need to write something. When It happened I wrote down my initial reactions. But now that I had time to reflect more, I had to have my say about few things. Not every one are going to like this blog post, but it had to be said:

Moral high ground

The first quick tip of the week talks about one sure warning sign that your music promotion efforts might be on a wrong track:

Quick tip 226 A warning sign that you are doing it wrong

The first Vlog of the week captured my trip to my good friend Barra’s daughters christening:

Vlog 21 Sadhbh’s Christening

In your early days in the music business you should concentrate on building the roots, and worry about the fruit later:

Quick tip 227 Expect nothing in the beginning

I got some feedback during the week, which was a good reminder that from time to time I need to share my story, my limitations and why my writing might not always be perfect grammar:

The reason behind the mistakes

Learning to recognise small victories can make your life in the music business much easier:

Quick tip 228 Recognise small victories

And here is the first of many vlogs from my current trip:

Vlog 22 Off to the airport once again

I got to play through some extremely powerful and compact sound systems on this trip. This got me thinking how the new technology is showing us that bigger is not always better:

Quick tip 229 Bigger is not always better

Being busy and productive is not always the same thing. Read all about it here:

Quick tip 230 Good busy, or bad busy?

And to end the week, we have the second of the travel vlogs:

Vlog 23 In the good hands of Turkish Airlines

And that wraps up the week. I’m expecting to be Vlogging in the week a head, so keep a close eye on this space 🙂 Also subscribe to my YouTube channel to make sure you won’t miss any episodes HERE. I’m working really hard on reaching my first 1000 subscribers and you can help 🙂

Speaking of helping, if you like what I do, the vloggs, the blog posts, the Quick tips and songs and you want to support me, the best way you can do it is through my Patreon page HERE. Patreon is a great platform where you can pledge as little as $1 a month to help me, to make sure I can keep doing all of this. And thanks for sticking around, you guys are awesome!

J.P.

The author J.P. Kallio is a singer songwriter
To get EIGHT of his songs for free go HERE