Emily Richards: Blog

A couple of weeks ago, I shared a predicament I'm facing with some of you.  I've been a member of ASCAP since 1995 - I joined when I was recording my first album 'I Should Be Flying' in Nashville.  Last October, our little company of artists celebrated as we took over operations of collaborative music site ccMixter.  ASCAP is attacking ccMixter saying "we're undermining copyright and artists livelihoods."  Those of you who know me well know this is totally the opposite of the truth!

Today, ccMixter announced the Freedom To Share Remix Event in response to ASCAP.  I hope this project, and the music bound to be created through the process, has a positive, educational impact on my friends at ASCAP -- that are clearly speaking untruths from a place of ignorance.

I'm encouraging my friends, fans and family to participate.  Write a poem or song about artistic expression, the collaborative process, freedom, inclusion, evolution -- and record it and upload it for the project.  If you don't have the ability to record your poem yourself, share it with me under Creatieve Commons non-commerical license -- and I just may record for you!  You will see yourself that collaborating doesn't diminish your copyright, but rather, increases partnership.

Peace.

---

Finally - the digital-LP for Valhalla is done!   It's only taken me a year (but what a crazy year - sorry for the delay Alex!)......

Anyone can listen and preview for free so enjoy! If you want to download, join my Listening Lounge (Purple Room - it's dark with hot purple black lights in there-haha!).

The recording of each song on the album created such great memories for me. Like Fire of Lonely at DrumRoll Studios where John Jones recorded us all live (we added Clay's flute later). And recording Ralf's drums with Sean at Juscat.

If you join the Purple Room, you'll the download for all of my digital-LPs (11 albums). I know it might seem expensive at $69 bucks, but you get at least $110 worth of music and merch, and receive an Executive Producer Credit on 'One or Ten' CD (environmentally friendly CDs made from potato of course!) set for summer release.

Thank you for your continued support and for listening!

Here's a kiss for your love!

Peace....

Happy Holidays! I'm so happy about my new Peace of Winter album!

Peace of Winter was created by Snowflake (me) and some of my favorite international musicians: Loveshadow (UK), ditto ditto (France), @nop (Japan), RadioZero (Dominican Republic), SackJo22 (Los Angeles), and many more. 

Would you like to enjoy music that sends peace straight to your Soul? And also send a message of goodwill this holiday season with a gift to the Dalai Lama Foundation? Join Snowflake's Listening Lounge for only $5 and do just that!

Peace of Winter digital-LP

Joining Snowflake's Listening Lounge gives you the full Peace of Winter digital-LP (CD-quality download, artbook) and other neat treats. You can buy Peace of Winter at iTunes too!

Creating this album has moved me - musically and personally.  I feel closely connected to each of the musicians and artists that contributed their creation of goodwill in spirit of the season. I hope you feel that connection while you listen to the magical music and look at the beautiful art.

You can read the official press release here.

 

Thank you for supporting me and my music. This journey has been filled with turns and surprises, but at every turn, you've been there cheering me on.

Peace,

~Emily
(the artist also known as Snowflake!)

Happy Holidays! I can't believe it is already that time of year again.

I apologize to all of you that back when I released my album Christmas Angel in 2000 on MP3.com, it was only released in low quality (128k MP3). John Jones had the masters, and crazily, we never released a full CD quality version of it. I'm embarrassed Christmas Angel in its low quality form has been on iTunes all these years.

Thankfully, JJ gave me remastered song files earlier this year, and we sent the new and improved files to Big Fish Media and they released it on iTunes Tuesday - you can get it HERE.

In the spirit of Christmas, we've put together the Christmas Angel digital-LP, complete with original artwork, credits, lyrics and CD-quality downloads (iTunes only offers 256k MP3 to its listeners) - for the Emily Richards Indigo Circle members. You can preview it here!

Christmas Angel digital-LP

My favorite song on the album is the title track, written in honor of Annie. Listening back to it again these 9 years later, I'm reminded the holidays can be wrought with polarizing difficulty when you've just lost a loved one. "There is a new star, and a new angel, an empty place at the end of the table..." I hope Christmas Angel may give just a little bit of comfort to those who understand what I mean all too deeply. Thank you for your love and support these many years. May music fill your hearts this season, giving you peace and joy.

Always,
~Emily

Emily Richards Offers Free Download of Album 'You Give' with Artbook Enabled Music Player

Sep 09, 2009 – Emily Richards has just announced she will be offering her entire hit-album 'You Give' as a free download for fans (in full CD-quality), along with the record's album art, liner notes, lyrics, and other extras at TuneTrack.net on 9/9/09. A new interactive music player at TuneTrack.net allows fans to experience 'You Give' as they would the physical CD, with uninterrupted streaming while 'flipping' through 19 pages of album art and also perusing liner notes, credits and lyrics. You Give' is the second of Emily's 11 albums and was the most popular pop/rock album on MP3.com from 1998-2000. 'You Give' includes hit singles 'To Love You', 'Do You Remember', and 'Lie to Me', all written by Ms. Richards. 'To Love You' has been downloaded by more than 1 million listeners alone.

          

Richards offers her GreenClub and IndiClub Members the same high-quality audio and visually interactive experience with 'One or Ten', her best-of album, privately released on TuneTrack.net on 4/20/09. In addition to Emily's 10 best songs voted upon by her fans, 'One or Ten features two remixes (by Brad Stanfield and Jayson Haws) of her song 'Apologize' (about the North Pacific Gyre) from the ccMixter Earthday 2009 Remix Project. 'One or Ten's' 18 page artbook includes lyrics as well as personalized comments from Emily about the composition and recording of each song. Downloads are available in 128k, 156k, & 320k MP3, FLAC (lossless/full CD-quality) and OGG.  'One or Ten' will be available via standard iTunes release (without the extras offered through TuneTrack) in October '09.

ArtisTech Media's Co-Founder and Software Architect, Alex Goodwin, designed TuneTrack's new music player in a way that gives indie artists and their fans a more robust musical and visual experience. "We've heard iTunes and the Majors may be working on one or more new album formats that incorporate some similar elements, but they are likely to be proprietary with delayed or even outright denial of access to indie artists," stated Mr. Goodwin. iTunes does not include credits, lyrics and other liner notes provided by indie artists, and does not offer full CD-quality/lossless downloads at all.

Emily Richards is the CEO and co-founder of next-gen music label ArtisTech Media and is best known as the most downloaded indie-rock artist on MP3.com. She has self-released 11 albums and her songs have been downloaded more than 3 million times.  Ms. Richards is also the Chairman of AWAKE Community and Heal The Gyre.

Visit http://tunetrack.net/emilyrichards/releases/you-give/player/ to experience 'You Give' via the new TuneTrack music player. Visit http://tunetrack.net/emilyrichards and http://tunetrack.net for more information.

 

Join Emily's GreenClub and get her new album "One or Ten" along with three Living Room Live concerts, videos, private blog posts and more!

Namaste....

I'm getting excited for the john jones album release party on August 3 at Life on Wilshire!  I'm also feeling a little overwhelmed with so many songs to learn (and I'm not even sure which song of mine to do).  It is going to be an amazing night - like a reunion of all the LA music folks I haven't seen in years.  It is great to be involved with a record company that brings the creative collective together.

I'm excited to share the stage with so many super talented people at once - john, sean, brad, sebastian, jason, jayson, davinci....and more!

My GreenClub and Indigo Members can be put on the guestlist for free...let me know.

Cheers....

Annie, Keri, Natalie, Emily at Lake Powell

Today marks the nine year anniversary Annie's passing.  The efforts I make to understand this marked moment of my life have expanded my consciousness and opened my heart.  On this particular anniversary, I seem to have a deeper understanding of 'timelessness.' 

My memory of the event of Annie's death is timeless.  This morning, I allowed myself to relive it.  I was in Cleveland, OH on the MP3.com tour bus, with Jason, Barlow and my band.  My sister, Natalie, was the one who delivered the news of Annie's death to me. I can still feel that blast of shock and the ends of my nerves, suddenly ripped to sheer, raw exposure.  The days and weeks following felt much like wandering helplessly underwater.  The early years clouded in grief have folded into moments of change and perhaps even evolution.  And now today I reflect on how Annie's death has shaped my life perhaps more than any single event...thereby it is timeless, and so is the love wrapped around it all.

My dear friend Wendy said it best in a card she sent me yesterday (she sends me a card each year on this date without fail), "...what happened to Annie turned the world over...what happened to Annie has formed you."

Sunrise at Haleakala July 19 2007

I spoke at length with my mother this morning, reflecting on our memories of Annie and July 19th's past.  Two years ago, we watched the sunrise atop the volcano Haleakala...when the first glimpse of hot light appeared above the cloud line I felt the mysterious power of regeneration, and the universe outside this dimension called time.

I am grateful to all of you that have been part of this journey with me...for your love, support, and friendship.  AWAKE Community is  going to clean-up the canyon now in honor of Annie! 

Love,

~Em

It is a very hot Sunday here in San Diego. Jason has made us pomegranate mojitos and I'm enjoying Alex's guitar in the backyard with my solar-powered Roland Micro-Cube I got for Burning Man 2007.

So WHO made that hat???


Camille Wood of DigMyHat.com designed this 'Out of Africa' hat especially for me. She is awesome and has dozens of custom-made hats available...or she can design you your very own for a little extra!

Enjoy your Sunday, wherever you are :D

Hey ya'll! So Jason and I are kicking off our 2009 Tour in my home state of Utah...with a little press tour and private concert at the Hoopers in Bountiful on June 19. Ten percent of our merch sales will be donated to their nonprofit, Think Outside Children's Charity. I really can't think of a better way to begin, than where it all began!


Gary and Bonnie Hooper were my backdoor neighbors when I lived in Centerville and recorded my first album in Nashville with Mark Stepheson and Kevin Carmony. They sat-in on my basement rehearsals for the show with Martina McBride. Just after I started recording in Los Angeles with John Jones, I remember writing the song Let's Pretend
late one night...Gary and Bonnie came over and listened in my front room in the dark and gave me honest feedback! Jason, Jayson and I performed at many rockin' Christmas Parties at the Hoopers.

After I moved to Los Angeles, Gary, Bonnie and their son Trevor attended a special show with my MP3.com touring band (Jason Brock, Geoff Hartman and Mike Nieland) for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Long Beach. Annie was there! The Hoopers and my entire family were at the third show of the 50-city Club.MP3.com Tour at the House of Blues in Vegas - what a crazy party! One month later after Annie died, the Hoopers were an integral part of a special all ages show we did at the legendary Zephyr Club. At the 50th show in San Francisco two weeks later, Bonnie was there with her energetic love and support that I will never forget. And after the tour was finished, Trevor spent a weekend with me in Los Angeles, taking all the beautiful photographs for my Tribute album, Folded Wings.

I am amazed at the time that has passed and all the life we've experienced since those early days. The Hoopers hold a most revered place in my heart and always will.

Information about this show, Living Room Live III featuring Emily Richards and Jason Brock with special guests Jayson Haws and Debbie Wesemann Siebert, can be found HERE!

Meet and Greet: 7:00-7:30
Concert begins: 7:30p
Intermission: 8:45-9:00pm
GreenClub After-Party: 10:30-Midnight
Charity: Think Outside Children's Charity

RSVP to reserve your place at this Guest List only event.  See you there!

I'm very happy to introduce you to one of my favorite musicians and producers, Brad Stanfield. I first met Brad when I played at the House of Blues Los Angeles back in 1999. We, along with Jason Brock and Periel Marr, were in a band called the Freedom People for a very magical period from 2004 to 2006. We will be releasing some of our mystical recordings from Kevin's house as Freedom People in the next couple of months.



Brad has been here in San Diego since late Thursday night and we are having a blast! We're nearly finished with creating his TuneTrack website and new release Wizard (he is giving away AWESOME source tracks to his GreenClub!!). For a limited period time, my GreenClub members can get his album, source tracks and GreenClub membership for only $4.20 (now you can't get that at iTunes!). I'm certain you will love his work as much as I do!

We are headed to the ocean for a quick, refreshing dip...then onto recording the tracks "The Noose", "Rise" and "Alabaster Dove"!!!! GreenClub members just might get early versions if you let me know you want them!

Peace! ~Emily

Happy Mother's Day! My two Mothers are forefront in my mind.


I am truly grateful for my amazing Mother that gave birth to my physical being, cared for me, raised me, nurtured me, taught me...and so much more. I know I was not the easiest daughter to raise (I was very rebellious - imagine that?!?!), but my mother's patient support gave me the strength to follow my inner world and my dreams. When most other voices suggested I just put my head down and follow the status quo, my Mother lifted my face to the sky and walked with me to the rainbow's end! I love you Momma!

My thoughts turn to the Mother we all share...this miraculously complex planet called Earth. Without this intricate ecosystem, sustaining all lifeforms as we know them, we would not experience Life. The air we breath, the water we drink, the food that nourishes our cells....is all provided by this huge whirling, living mass in a mostly dark, empty solar system. We cannot separate ourselves from her and the resources she provides without question or judgment.

In honor of our shared Mother, I will donate 1% of all my GreenClub Memberships created this week to the Mother Earth preserving nonprofit of your choice. Email me or post your nonprofit selection on this blog entry and the donation will be made in your name!

Thank you, Mothers, for giving me life!

~Emily

I am much more excited about the One or Ten Release than I anticipated. Selecting the songs was quite difficult - thank you for sending me your favorites to assist me!

Today marks the Beta Launch of my FanClub AND TuneTrack - our new record label's music website for the best musicians I know. John Jones and Jayson Haws will both be launching new albums in the next several weeks. You will be blown away by each record - I am so honored to work with these guys. All of us at ArtisTech agree we haven't heard albums this good in a very long time.


Thank you, everyone, for your tremendous support. I sit here with tears in my eyes, thinking of my friends, family and colleagues that bless my life.

Thanks for joining my GreenClub! A portion of the price goes to each artist that participated on the album. Oh, and let me know what you think of One or Ten!

Emily's FanClub launches on 4/20! Members receive her upcoming new release, One or Ten, a compilation of Emily's favorite ten songs she's ever recorded. For just $4.20 on 4/20, Emily's FanClub Members will also receive exclusive access to recordings of rehearsals and performances as well as Emily's For Member's Only private blog.

Submit three of your favorite Emily Richards songs to win a free 4.20 FanClub Membership*! Correctly guess all ten tracks on "One or Ten" and win Emily's musical catalog (over $100 value).

Send your picks to Emily at Twitter or Facebook.

I just happily discovered over 70 remixes of various source/vocal tracks I've uploaded to ccMixter!  ccMixter is a community music remixing site featuring remixes and samples licensed under Creative Commons licenses. I believe the sharing of my musical creations in this format aligns with the Future of Music philosophy....inclusive, collaborative, expansive.....



Check out some of the remixes of my stuff HERE!

'Bewildered' is the third recording from Emily's upcoming acoustic live album available to fan club members only at www.tunetrack.net. View the other videos at www.youtube.com/artistechmedia!

Composer/Vox/Piano - Emily, Guitar/Engineer/ - Jason Brock, audio/video alignment - Alex Goodwin

How do you decide which of your musical creations end up forlorn in a notebook somewhere, never to see the light of day, and which are subject to the collaboration and participation of the best musicians you know? (long sentence!)

I have narrowed my album, Open, down to 18 songs and I think five or four more need to be cut. This album has been five years in the making compared to one year or less for my other ten. The year-long tour of 2004 and nearly four years as President of MP3tunes took me away from recording, but not from writing, so I am having a bit of difficulty deciding which songs to exclude.

At TuneTrack.net, I'll be posting preproduction versions of the songs for members of my Fan Club so you can help me determine which songs, and how many in total, will make it on the actual album. I will also be putting up certain source tracks for remix and creative commons license at ccmixter.org.

The songs being considered are:
1 - Open
2 - Reflection
3 - Trigger
4 - No Escaping
5 - Apology
6 - Inside Outside
7 - To This
8 - Compromise
9 - The Pool
10 - Navigate
11 - Really Nothing
12 - Legacy
13 - Rise
14 - Alabaster Dove
15 - Salkantay
16 - Brother John
17 - Earth
18 - Biodiesel Willie



Early versions of tracks are available for private access on TuneTrack.net now and should be available for your listening perusal early March. I will keep you posted! Cheers...

“Being deeply learned and skilled, being well trained and using well spoken words; This is good luck." ~Buddha

What of the Luck of Love? The Love of Venus (shining high and bright in the early evening sky) hearkens to the Buddha quote above...being well trained and using well spoken words. The Love of Cupid can be likened to dumb luck and is fleeting. The Love of Souls, the painting below by Jean Delville, is one of my favorites. Clicking it will launch a special Valentine's Song for you.



May the Love of Venus and the Luck of Buddha be with us all...

I've had the most amazing week - certainly one of the most magical of the past decade. Monday, I arrived in San Francisco and spent the evening with my NBB family, Joe and Lisa Jobe, Jason and Jason Hoar. Tuesday, we opened for Melissa Etheridge at the General Session of the Biodiesel Conference and she impressed me to no end. Her life experiences have awakened her...her voice, her music, her message....all powerful. That afternoon, Jason and I met Chuck Leavell (Rolling Stones) and ended up rehearsing and later performing You Can't Always Get What You Want together. Jason and I closed out the night with a powerful concert to a wonderful crowd and dear friends.

Wednesday, we flew to Salt Lake City and performed for the Investor's Choice Conference. I reconnected with PwC and other colleagues I haven't seen in many years. Today, we met with a variety of investors for our new record label, ArtisTech Media. I am blessed with abundance in a time of difficulty. Tonight, a small group of Wayne Brown Institute Folks gathered for dinner and later drinks. What a bright and genuine group of people.

Tomorrow we ski Deer Valley and will later celebrate my birthday with family and childhood friends. In times of despair, have hope. Love abounds!

P.S.Happy Birthday Jayson Haws!

Emily Richards is not only a talented musician, she is also a yogini. Emily has practiced yoga, Kundalini, Vinyasa, Hatha, and Bikram since 1998. Emily teaches private yoga classes for individual students only.