Over the past couple years, people stopped buying things, which, in turn, made the economy worse. As a result, we as a nation, though, started to really take notice of our excessive lifestyle. People started cutting back and doing more with less. Although I haven’t really bought fully into the lifestyle, I started reading things like “The 100 Thing Challenge”. Basically, this guy made a goal of reducing the number of personal items that he keeps. Now, anyone who’s seen our house can attest that I haven’t done this yet, but it certainly made me think about what I really needed vs. what I wanted. But what do I need? I have boxes and boxes of stuff that’s sole purpose is to look at…and it’s in boxes…in a closet, serving no purpose. But of course, rationality goes right out the door when you talk about throwing/giving it away. Each has a story and becomes a part of me (and some have said that I have become my stuff). So I’m still struggling with this part.

Here‘s a nice video about the story of Zeppo on our trip.  Definitely worth a look Although I am a percussionist by trade, one of my more recent musical endeavors has been into the realm of Old Time music.  For those of you unfamiliar, this basically refers to traditional Appalachian vocal and dance music as [...]

As we celebrate this most loathed of holidays, I just wanted to try to spread a little cheer about where this money goes but more importantly, what we get back. I think this is often forgotten when talking about the topic of taxes. We tend to focus on what we pay and not so much on what we get in return. The truth is that for many artists, the government actually does a lot for us. Sometimes money directly goes to pay us, and sometimes the money is spent on community endeavors that promote the art we work so hard to produce. I think it can easily be argued that many areas of music and the arts would not exist so strongly today without a little help. So here’s a quick rundown of some things your money goes to support. Quick story, I used to complain about the high tax North Carolina puts on gasoline. Then I lived in a state with much lower gas prices and some of the worst roads I’ve ever seen in my life. Now that I’m back in NC, I never once complain about the slightly higher prices.

In what will also be an ongoing discussion about psychology in music and the performing arts, I thought I’d give brief overview of some of the more recent things I’ve heard and found interesting. I left out a lot just to keep things concise, but I hope that you look into both of the men mentioned below.

Here is a little experiment for performers: Think about the worst performances you can remember. Now think about the best performances. Which do you tend to remember more? In general, we tend to remember our negative experiences over the positive both in the long term and in the short. I might have just played a piece 99.5% accurately, but what I remember is that one tiny section I messed up. The same is true in the big picture. I’ve given many performances, but the ones I tend to remember most are the ones that were my worst performing. I’ve learned to look past most of these memories, but many struggle to get over these issues.

Enter our drawing to win a FREE Apple iPad.  Click Here. With the release of the iPad this weekend, I thought that I would take some time to discuss what will likely be a continuously evolving discussion of technology in the arts.  Apple has consistently been at the forefront of technology dealing with music and [...]

Hi all, and welcome to the Projected Frame Blog. My name is Michael and in the coming weeks and months, I hope to bring you news and insight into my personal journey through this crazy world as well as interesting stories and events I happen upon. I am currently finishing my Doctor of Musical Arts degree in music performance. Like many of you, I hope to one day make a living with my art.

On Saturday we attended the UNC Greensboro Southern Entrepreneurship in the Arts Conference and absolutely had a blast. The SEA conference was designed for all artists, whether they be in the literary, visual, or performing arts, who have dreams of turning their passion into a career.

Southern Entrepreneurship in the Arts Conference Helping Artists Prevail in the Business World Saturday, March 27, 2010 9:00am-5:30pm Elliott University Center at UNCG Learn how to turn artistic passion into a living. This artist-led conference will present entrepreneurial strategies and resources for student artists and emerging artists to become self-supporting. The conference will feature numerous [...]

So you’ve hired a logo designer, bought a .com – what’s next? While I don’t recommend those things being your first call to action in starting your “business” – determining what business designation you choose is a very important first step.

Okay, so this probably isn’t worth a blog post but we have just made some adjustments to our web site based on an article in the latest issue of Entrepreneur magazine to help people like you find us easier on the Internet.  The article is on entitled “What you don’t know about SEO” and quite [...]