Brian "snowman" Powers' debut release is now available on Myspace Music!!
Monday, March 15, 2010
From My Soul To Yours album by Snowman The Soulman
From My Soul To Yours album by Snowman The Soulman
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Something Fun!!!
Lets do something fun. It would rock if we can get a discussion going on this one. Ok, here is the question:
What moves our hearts and stirs our souls more, a song without lyrics allowing us to imagine our own thoughts and feelings, or a song with lyrics that shares something specific yet still touches us deeply?
What moves our hearts and stirs our souls more, a song without lyrics allowing us to imagine our own thoughts and feelings, or a song with lyrics that shares something specific yet still touches us deeply?
Random Thought
Recently, I have been wondering how to spark interest in my blog site. Should I post short blogs just about my day, or should I endeavor to post really serious thoughts and only update every so often? I think a little of both is a good idea. It is also hard to resist the temptation to do some serious venting on here. It's funny how open and how easy it is to write about my true feelings on here. This actually seems to be a trend when I sit down to write in general. A good friend of mine recently commented that my writing has a lot of emotion, passion, and good word use. Being a writer has never been a pursuit, however, after hearing from many different people since, I may try to write a few more songs. Instrumentals have always been my focus with the exception of a few full on pop songs I have written throughout the years. Lately, the bug to take lyric writing more seriously has really been growing to the size of a Louisiana mosquito. For all of you who know what I mean then you realize it is the size of a small condor. lol Perhaps I will even post some song lyric ideas on here to get some feedback from anyone who wishes to. I am such a believer in community effort and seeking constructive criticism. It is so important to our growth. Yet, maintaing the confidence and wisdom to know which advice to take and which to not is also quite important. I will say it again though, the more I learn the realization that I know so little becomes more apparent.
New topic.
It has been very difficult to remain positive about my solo career. Between spending every little bit of money I have trying to put together promotional material, never having enough money, spending countless hours keeping up with internet work, photo editing, video editing, and trying to create a buzz around something that is not actually moving forward very fast is so hard to do. Not to mention the fact that I feel completely alone in it most of the time. The company of wonderful people with whom I am kind of signed has been unable to do much this past year. In fact, I have never even signed a contract. How weird is that? The booking agent I am trying to work with claims they are interested, but is very slow in returning communication. Now, let me pause here since I have that trouble sometimes as well, and there are some good friends of mine who are greatly laughing at me right now. But, when it comes to business it is imperative to communicate. I have also been trying to put together a Twin cities CD release show together for a year. Living Word has been horrible about helping. Although everyone is interested and verbally supportive, someone who is not even a member of the church has managed to have a show there in the span of time that I have been asking to do one. In fact, they even paid for some of it. It is so frustrating. Anyway, I am very sure that this is what I am supposed to be doing and refuse to stop.
Every time I feel discouraged, God reminds of this beautiful testimony. A few months ago I posted two songs on Jango Internet radio. This wonderful woman living in Chicago emailed me and said her son heard one of the songs and really felt the peace and presence of God in the music. It turns out he has a specific type of cancer throughout his entire body. His mother who contacted me revealed that she used to live here in Minnesota but moved down to take care of him. well, they requested a copy of the cd in order to have it playing in the sons treatment room while he underwent his treatment. I immediately sent them a free copy overnight. He was having treatment on his brain stem and spinal chord where the doctors had recently found cancer. Well, the day of his treatment came and went. I received an email two days later from the mother. She revealed that her son had the cd playing in his room right when the got settled in. The doctors did another scan in preparation and found that there was no cancer in either his brain stem or spinal chord anymore. Before treatment. PRAISE GOD!!! If that were not cool enough, she emailed me a few weeks ago and said that her son who had been near death, a body full of cancer, was now completely healed with no sign of the disease. PRAISE GOD!! She said the anointing power on the cd broke the yoke of his disease. God's word is true you guys. He does move and heal and love. I am so blessed and thankful that He chose to use the music we created to fulfill His purpose. thank you Jesus. thank you.
Ok, I should probably get back to work now. Doing a lot of programming for next week. Peace and joy to you all.
snow
New topic.
It has been very difficult to remain positive about my solo career. Between spending every little bit of money I have trying to put together promotional material, never having enough money, spending countless hours keeping up with internet work, photo editing, video editing, and trying to create a buzz around something that is not actually moving forward very fast is so hard to do. Not to mention the fact that I feel completely alone in it most of the time. The company of wonderful people with whom I am kind of signed has been unable to do much this past year. In fact, I have never even signed a contract. How weird is that? The booking agent I am trying to work with claims they are interested, but is very slow in returning communication. Now, let me pause here since I have that trouble sometimes as well, and there are some good friends of mine who are greatly laughing at me right now. But, when it comes to business it is imperative to communicate. I have also been trying to put together a Twin cities CD release show together for a year. Living Word has been horrible about helping. Although everyone is interested and verbally supportive, someone who is not even a member of the church has managed to have a show there in the span of time that I have been asking to do one. In fact, they even paid for some of it. It is so frustrating. Anyway, I am very sure that this is what I am supposed to be doing and refuse to stop.
Every time I feel discouraged, God reminds of this beautiful testimony. A few months ago I posted two songs on Jango Internet radio. This wonderful woman living in Chicago emailed me and said her son heard one of the songs and really felt the peace and presence of God in the music. It turns out he has a specific type of cancer throughout his entire body. His mother who contacted me revealed that she used to live here in Minnesota but moved down to take care of him. well, they requested a copy of the cd in order to have it playing in the sons treatment room while he underwent his treatment. I immediately sent them a free copy overnight. He was having treatment on his brain stem and spinal chord where the doctors had recently found cancer. Well, the day of his treatment came and went. I received an email two days later from the mother. She revealed that her son had the cd playing in his room right when the got settled in. The doctors did another scan in preparation and found that there was no cancer in either his brain stem or spinal chord anymore. Before treatment. PRAISE GOD!!! If that were not cool enough, she emailed me a few weeks ago and said that her son who had been near death, a body full of cancer, was now completely healed with no sign of the disease. PRAISE GOD!! She said the anointing power on the cd broke the yoke of his disease. God's word is true you guys. He does move and heal and love. I am so blessed and thankful that He chose to use the music we created to fulfill His purpose. thank you Jesus. thank you.
Ok, I should probably get back to work now. Doing a lot of programming for next week. Peace and joy to you all.
snow
Friday, January 22, 2010
.... And Away We Go
Greetings all!
Ya know, setting up all of the different internet promotion opportunities and getting them to all function together and look nice is a lot more work than I ever expected. I think I have even set up a way to blog, enter new status updates on twitter, myspace, youtube, facebook, and who know what else with my phone. Hopefully if all this works I can keep you all updated and actually have a good time doing it. lol what a concept. Even pictures from my phone can be posted here so watch out. Who knows what random excitement you will find when reading my blogs.
One of the purposes I have for creating this blog is to document the journey of an independent artist through the industry. However, my life is so much more than that. I am a single, divorced, father of two beautiful kids, a struggling yet content musician, studio engineer, song writer, programmer, and Christian. So many aspects of our lives directly effect what we are able to do, want to do, and think we either can or can't do. I would like to be as honest as possible in these blogs in order to show the triumphs, let downs, complications, and true miracles of God in my life. did I mention that I am also legally blind and have a rare condition called albinism? let us add that to our list of things we can discuss.
I have always been very closed about my condition. As a child I was picked on and beat up a great deal for being different from everyone els. Throughout my life the struggle of not allowing my defect to define how I lived my life has always been important to me. In fact, a lot of people are not even aware of it until they see me lean in close to read something or realize that I do not drive. My nickname, "snowman", even sprung out of an attempt to regard myself as something special rather than as someone hindered by a disability. Mr. Catrell Wrenn, a fantastic trumpet player and my junior high school band director gave me the nickname when I was in eighth grade. He had formed a little jazz group that played around the community and various school functions, and it was mandatory for each member to have a nickname. He allowed everyone to pick theirs except me. Mr. Wrenn had always been aware of my difficulties with other kids, and he decided that my inability to handle the harassment was at an end. The choice of the word "snowman" stemmed from the simple fact that one of the most commonly used names kids called me was frosty the snowman. He thought that by taking something that was used to define me in a negative light would have more power to help define me in a positive way. We all know the entertainment industry is heavily rooted in image and branding. Well, he was right. I have a great look that is very unique, even in the music industry. The nickname has really become a part of my musical persona as much as my playing style has. Now, it is not as though I am reliant on my nickname or anything, but it helps remind me about where i came from and who I have always been deep inside. I am not defined by a disability or a name. I am defined by God and what he has created. I am proud and honored to look like I do, and the limitations imposed from my condition are minor inconveniences more than a definition of my potential. Thank you Lord for my life, the ability to love, to perform music, and to see beyond the natural limitations of the body. thank you for your love, blessing of life and joy, and I am nothing except what you have created within me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen!! Blessings to you all, and I can't wait to blog more.
snowman
Ya know, setting up all of the different internet promotion opportunities and getting them to all function together and look nice is a lot more work than I ever expected. I think I have even set up a way to blog, enter new status updates on twitter, myspace, youtube, facebook, and who know what else with my phone. Hopefully if all this works I can keep you all updated and actually have a good time doing it. lol what a concept. Even pictures from my phone can be posted here so watch out. Who knows what random excitement you will find when reading my blogs.
One of the purposes I have for creating this blog is to document the journey of an independent artist through the industry. However, my life is so much more than that. I am a single, divorced, father of two beautiful kids, a struggling yet content musician, studio engineer, song writer, programmer, and Christian. So many aspects of our lives directly effect what we are able to do, want to do, and think we either can or can't do. I would like to be as honest as possible in these blogs in order to show the triumphs, let downs, complications, and true miracles of God in my life. did I mention that I am also legally blind and have a rare condition called albinism? let us add that to our list of things we can discuss.
I have always been very closed about my condition. As a child I was picked on and beat up a great deal for being different from everyone els. Throughout my life the struggle of not allowing my defect to define how I lived my life has always been important to me. In fact, a lot of people are not even aware of it until they see me lean in close to read something or realize that I do not drive. My nickname, "snowman", even sprung out of an attempt to regard myself as something special rather than as someone hindered by a disability. Mr. Catrell Wrenn, a fantastic trumpet player and my junior high school band director gave me the nickname when I was in eighth grade. He had formed a little jazz group that played around the community and various school functions, and it was mandatory for each member to have a nickname. He allowed everyone to pick theirs except me. Mr. Wrenn had always been aware of my difficulties with other kids, and he decided that my inability to handle the harassment was at an end. The choice of the word "snowman" stemmed from the simple fact that one of the most commonly used names kids called me was frosty the snowman. He thought that by taking something that was used to define me in a negative light would have more power to help define me in a positive way. We all know the entertainment industry is heavily rooted in image and branding. Well, he was right. I have a great look that is very unique, even in the music industry. The nickname has really become a part of my musical persona as much as my playing style has. Now, it is not as though I am reliant on my nickname or anything, but it helps remind me about where i came from and who I have always been deep inside. I am not defined by a disability or a name. I am defined by God and what he has created. I am proud and honored to look like I do, and the limitations imposed from my condition are minor inconveniences more than a definition of my potential. Thank you Lord for my life, the ability to love, to perform music, and to see beyond the natural limitations of the body. thank you for your love, blessing of life and joy, and I am nothing except what you have created within me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen!! Blessings to you all, and I can't wait to blog more.
snowman
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