Where is your Heart?

Proud to be an American

Some jackass, yes I said it, makes a film that degrades and insults Islam and now Muslims want him killed and are even more anti-American.  Personally all I see is a bunch of people who have hate in their hearts and are using this stupid film as an excuse to hate and kill even more.

When a certain movie I won't name suggested certain things and activities regarding my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I didn't go out and demand the producers be imprisoned or punished.  That isn't up to me to decide.

I'm afraid all I see regarding the "Muslim" belief is hatred toward others who believe in anything else other than Islam.  As an American, a film maker should have the freedom to make whatever they want regarding any subject they choose, whether I like it or despise it.

As a Christian I regard Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses and others that are NOT Christian as the wrong path to follow.  However I see only harm being done if I were to promote hate toward these other religions.  Christ is love and love is even more what the world needs today.

Some of the worst songs on the internet!

Jerry Corelli | I'm Not Dead Yet | CD Baby Music Store

Why I stopped doing music.

I still recall writing my first song and how thrilling it was sing my own song.  Then one day in January 2011 it stopped.  It was no longer fun or thrilling to write songs that people didn't hear.  And what ever calling I thought I had in singing my songs seemed to run dry.  I did think that I would continue to record but when I upgraded my recording software "Cakewalk/Sonar", because I upgraded to Windows 7, nothing worked anymore.  To get them to work I would have to buy this and do that and to tell you the truth I was just too tired.

Before the computer problem I sent out invitations to talented musicians asking them to record with me.  My plan was to showcase local Northwest Christian talent and call the album "Jerry Corelli & friends".  But out of over 20 invites one accepted and another declined by telling me they were busy and booked the following year.  My best friend in Denver Kevin Mannarino would have also recorded but having only 2 friends record on the album was laughable.

Recently a friend emailed me through FB wanting to do music with me, he was one of those I sent an invite to record with me.  I thanked him, said I don't sing anymore and he wrote back I should change my mind because I have such a gift.  I think the biggest gift I had with my music was disillusionment.  No in fact that was the biggest gift with my music.

I'm glad I still don't sing and haven't written a song since my last album.  Almost 40 years of struggle with my music I finally got the point no one wants to hear it.  Can you believe it took that long?  Man was I stubborn.

"Valor" by Sovern

Sonar XL and Windows 7, what a waste!!!!

It was in 1997 when I got my first Cakewalk (Sonar) program.  All I knew about operating systems for computers was Windows.  Mac computers were way too expensive and they still are high priced.  But, if there's anything that could change my attitude and mind about Windows and Sonar, and switch to MAC and a different recording program, it has arrived.

I've purchased 4 versions of Sonar and the first one was a real learning curve.  But once I got the program it was easy.  Then Sonar came out with a new version that not only recorded midi but recorded audio.  That version had a learning curve too.  Mostly because it was considerably different than the first version that was just midi.  So after that version I updated to a newer one and it was a piece of cake to just load and go.  Both of those versions ran on Windows XP and everything was fine.

Then Windows goes to Vista which didn't work for anyone I knew and then finally Windows 7.  Well my computer bit the dust awhile back and it was time to upgrade.  I figured I'd go with Windows 7 and guess what.  Almost every program I had didn't work on Windows 7, even in XP mode.  So I started upgrading other products and finally upgraded my Cakewalk to Sonar XL.  I had to because my older version of Sonar didn't work on Windows 7.

I've got to tell you that both of them, so far have proven to be just about worthless.  This new version of Sonar is like starting all over again.  What an idiot company.  And to get service from them takes forever.  It's been a month since I've had the program and I still haven't heard from the tech's at Sonar.  Oh, and try getting someone from Microsoft to help with a licensed Windows 7 program,..I'm still waiting to hear from them and it's been about 7 months that I've had Windows 7.

So, this is to vent and tell you that if tomorrow, or next week or next month I came into some money I'd literally throw away this PC with Windows 7, along with the Sonar and get a Mac and better music recording program.  Both are worthless to me.

That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. 

Kevin Mannarino - His Life In Music

To my best friend Kevin Mannarino for his 53rd birthday.

Happy birthday Jesus by Jerry Corelli

35,169,207 hits on Youtube

This has had 35,169,207 hits on Youtube since November 10, 2010

53 and I'm tired!

November 19th and it's my birthday again.  This time I'm 53 years old.  It was around this time 40 years ago that I picked up a guitar for the first time and started teaching myself how to play the thing.

My goodness, that's me and that first guitar.  It was a "Kay" guitar.  I've never seen that brand since.  I was mostly all ears back then.  Anyway, I couldn't read music but could figure out where to place my fingers on the frets using a guitar chord chart.  In order to play something I had to find what chords sounded good together and then put words to it so I could play a song.  Now 336 songs later there are times I wish I had never picked up the guitar.

I've recorded 7 albums since 1980 and out of the 7 albums I either wrote or co-wrote about 80 or so.  Yet out of the 336 songs I've written so far about 200 of them are what I consider "Recordable".  Since I've recorded 80 or so, so far, I've got another 120 I'd like to record.  But that will never happen.  Fortunately most of my songs are at least recorded on some type of media like cassette or digital.  They aren't the finished product but at least they're recorded.  I can't read or write music so I record them after I write them so the style, melody line and chords are there others to know how they go.

A few years after learning the guitar I started teaching myself how to play the piano too.  But as time goes by it gets harder and harder to pick up the guitar or sit at the piano.  Music, for me, has lost the fun and excitement it once had.  It used to be that when I was writing a song I could envision people listening to it, either in an audience live performance setting or on their CD player.  Now when I sit down to write, which is few and far between, I wonder "How many people will NOT be listening to this song?".

When I first started writing it was to spread the message of "Jesus Christ".  It was a message I thought others needed to desperately hear.  Today you're hard pressed to find songs on the Radio that speak of how we need Christ's redeeming blood on the cross to save us from our sins.  Today it's la-la-la family friendly songs, what ever that means.  Actually it means let's not play Christian music about what Christ has done for mankind.  Let's play songs that people won't find "offensive" so we can get advertisers who want to sell their cars, or furniture or whatever.  

I once again turned on the radio to a local Christian station as I was driving to work last week and for the 40 minute drive I didn't hear the words Christ or Jesus at all.  I heard plenty of "Praise and Worship" songs that had the word "God", or perhaps "god" in them.  Mostly, to tell you the truth, if I didn't know I was actually listening to a "Christian" radio station I would have thought I was listening to a station other than a Christian station.

I stopped singing live and stopped writing because I was tired.  No one wants to hear songs about Christ's redemption and no one wants to book Christian artists who write and sing about Christ on the cross.  Every time I'd begin the booking process with a church or coffee house it was, "Do you sing Praise and Worship songs?"  

My family and I attend a wonderful church that has a "Worship team" and we sing Praise and Worship songs every Sunday.  For me that's great because we're all, or at least most of us attending, are Christians.  We know what and who we're singing about if the word Christ or Jesus isn't in the Worship song.  Plus, we hear the message of Christ crucified in the Sunday sermon so the Worship songs simply add to our worship experience.

But, for me and my out dated songwriting Christian songs need to have the message that we are sinners and need Christ in our lives.  Those songs need to be played on Christian radio and in every Christian coffee house, church and Christian concert venue where a "Christian Soloist or Band" is playing.  If not, then what's the purpose?  Are we suppose to just go around and sing songs for other Christians or songs that won't offend non-Christians?  

We're suppose to "Proclaim the Gospel" and to do that we have to "Proclaim the Law first and then the Gospel".  In other words the world needs to hear they are sinners and that the only hope is Christ.  

Now on my 53rd birthday I can at least say I gave it a shot.  My biggest problem has always been the politics of it all.  If a church or coffee house asked me to tone down the "You're going to hell if you don't accept Christ as your Savior" songs then I simply thanked them for the opportunity to sing for them but that due to a scheduling conflict I would have to decline.  That's about as politically correct as I could get it without saying, "Shame on you!"  Anyway, I had to finally just walk away from it all.  Little ol' me wasn't going to change things and I finally learned that after too many years.

I have one more album, or CD, in me to record.  It's mostly going to be a CD set of Favorite songs through the years with new ones as well.  I may even release it with a DVD.  Kind of a box set.  We'll probably sell enough to pay for the packaging and overall release and then that will be that.  I might title it "The Christian songs we don't listen to anymore because their about Christ".

Well if you read this whole thing I thank you for taking the time.  I plan on having a Great day today with my family and I Praise the Lord Jesus Christ for the life he's given me through his Redeeming blood on the Cross.

Cowboy Christmas by Jerry Corelli

I'm Tired of the pointing!

I am writing this because I just can't get it off my mind.  Over the years I've heard from various people that this is wrong and that is wrong.  I've heard Christians stand there and tell me they believe in evolution.  I've heard T.V. evangelists proudly state that the words Jesus spoke, in the Bible, carry more authority than any other scripture.  And my list goes on and on.

Recently I received a prayer request from someone asking that I pray for a 19 year old woman who is engaged to a 36 year old man.  The request went on to state that the man must undoubtedly be a pedophile.  The letter also stated that both went to church, I assume a Christian church, but that the man only had a job bagging groceries.  Imagine that!  

Well here's my reply.  Church history tells us Joseph was most likely 30 years older than Mary and that she may have been as young as 13.  So what do we make of that?  Neil Diamond is engaged to a 40 year old and he's 70.  The list goes on when it comes to age difference.

Hey, in today's very rough economic times, when millions of people are unemployed this guy at least has a job.  I'm not going to pretend that I know about this couple but on the surface of the prayer request I can't believe it was sent.  Why are we so intent on pointing our fingers at people and saying this or that is wrong.

She's 19 and obviously of legal age.  You can't call someone a pedophile because they're 36 and going to marry a 19 year old.  You may not like it.  You may not agree with it.  But why send a prayer request to people asking them to pray that the marriage NOT take place.

Corelli's Music Box: Check out music from SOVERN

Corelli's Music Box: Check out music from SOVERN

The Songwriter's Guide to Submitting a Demo

The Songwriter's Guide to Submitting a Demo

Jerry Corelli at LakeBridge Forza

Join me at LakeBridge Forza on Saturday September 3rd from 7pm - 9pm.  I'll write more on the gig later.
Forza ReverbNation

Singing Again

I've been receiving requests to sing live again and with the dust beginning to settle I'm giving it some thought.  It's been since January this year, at Monroe, that I last sang live and may start singing again late September.

Selling my Guild 12 String Big body guitar

I'm needing to sell my Guild 12 string guitar so if you're interested let me know.

6 volume Hexaglot Bible

If there is anyone out there wanting to purchase a 6 volume, 1901 Hexaglot Bible for $400 just email me at jerrycorelli@yahoo.com  They are in Good, to very good, condition. 

Hexaglot Bible (6 vols.) Comprising the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments in the Original Tongues, Together with the Septuaging, the Syriac (of the New Testament), the Vulgate, the Authorized English, and German, and the Most Approved French Versions, Arranged in Parallel Columns [Hardcover]

Questions why I've retired from Live performances.

Some of you have been curious and some concerned as to why I've retired from live performances.  I have always been a strong supporter for the Independent Christian Artist, in part because I am one, but unfortunately the local support for Indie artists in this area rarely shows it's face.

The simple and plain fact that I write and sing Christian music should say to churches, Christian coffee houses and Christian promoters in this area that I sing for the Lord and minister in song.  If that wasn't the case I would sing secular music and get gigs in other genres.  But, in this area it's not enough to say that.  In this area churches, Christian coffee houses and promoters use the excuse to not pay any honorarium to local artists because they should be "Doing it for the Lord and not for money."

Churches don't survive without money.  Christian coffee house don't survive without money and Christian promoters who promote events wouldn't promote events unless they made money too.  But, all of these venues and more I suppose fail, or refuse, to pay Independent Christian artists anything for showing up and ministering in song to their audience.  So, who ends up paying the tab?  That local Christian artist who wants to share their music and ministry with others picks up the tab and ends up paying for the opportunity to sing.

Many would say that's "Going through the ropes" and "Paying your dues."  To a small degree that's true but in the big picture it's simply a way to take advantage of talent.  But then there are those so called Christian venues that not only won't give you an honorarium but won't allow you to sell your CD's at their venue.  They will tell you it's not about commercialism.  Yet those same venues will sell a wide variety of "Crap" in their display area to help them generate money.

In the end I just simply got tired of it all.  Independent artists spend months and months recording a CD.  Then they spend what money the can to record, mix, master and produce the physical product.  In the end that artist rarely gets a return on the money they've put out to make their CD.  Trust me I know.  I know plenty of local artists who have given me their CD or album in cassette form and I didn't even know they had an album.  I've asked them why they don't sell them when they sing and I hear the same thing I say about venues.  In the end they didn't make enough on the album to pay for it so they didn't even make a next album.

I'm not bitter, I'm tired.  I'm tired of the what seems to be "the fight" for indie artists to receive some kind of compensation for driving 100 miles to minister in music, or even 5 miles.  The distance should be irrelevant.  Well that's my 2 cents.  And that's about the average amount of honorarium Indie artists tend to make at live performances too.

Closing Blog

Due to the low volume of traffic to this site I will no longer be posting.  I'm not going to shut this blog down because I do believe there are a lot of good posts that people can find interesting.  And perhaps from time to time I'll be loading a new video on my Youtube channel and then post it here.

I'm in the process of recording my next CD and have renamed it due to the lack of local musician responses wanting to record on it.  The title is now going to be Jerry Corelli "The End".  It will be my last CD as I've retired from "live" performances.

I want to thank those of you who have followed this blog from time to time and hope that you find my last CD enjoyable when it's released around February of 2012.