What if the Beatles NEVER existed??

What do you think music would be like if the Beatles never existed? What if Elvis, Elton John, Billy Joel, Madonna, Taylor Swift or [Insert Your Favorite Artist] never wrote or sang a single song? What if most of the artists you grew up listening while growing up never played a note?? Can you imagine never hearing those songs that meant so much to you? Can you imagine what living in a world without all the music we've ever loved would be like?? Well neither can we!!

Most of the musical history we love and cherish so much was created by people whose very first experience learning to play an instrument or sing was in school. I believe our entire musical history past, present and future depends on continuing to keep music alive in our schools and communities. We need to keep as much music and arts education in our schools as possible. If we fail to do so, then the quality of new music we hear will diminish over time as young creative minds are no longer nurtured and encouraged to create.

As part of our “Keep Music Alive” mission, we are publishing a book on May 1st entitled “88+ Ways Music Can Change Your Life”. We are searching for inspirational music stories, anecdotes and quotes to include, and I was wondering if you might have a story or quote you’d like to share with the world? Our goal for “Keep Music Alive” is to raise the awareness of how important music is in all of our lives: educationally, therapeutically and our overall happiness. The book “88+ Ways” will help us spread this message with inspirational stories & quotes, highlights of recent research demonstrating the importance of music education plus tips for schools and communities trying to save or improve their music programs.

"88+ Ways Music Can Change Your Life"

Here are some questions that may give you some ideas for a quote or story:

• Did music help get you through a difficult time in your life?
• As a musician/performer or audience member, did you witness a particular touching situation involving music?
• Was there a particular song, or artist, that strongly resonated and influencing you while growing up?
• Was a there a person in your life who influenced you with their music?
• Did you learn to play an instrument or take part in your school's band or chorus and how did this experience affect you?
• Was music used to help you during a type of therapy, either to motivate you or to "just get you through it"?

When you look back now, how do you think your life is different, or has changed, because of music?

For more information on the book and story submissions please visit www.lovesongs.com/keepmusicalive or simply visit LoveSongs.com and click on “Keep Music Alive”. Our story submission deadline is Feb 28th, 2015 so still plenty of time to have your musical story included in "88+ Ways Music Can Change Your Life".

Please also LIKE our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/keepmusicalivemission and if you have questions about the book or mission you can email us at MusicStories (at) LoveSongs.com.

We hope you all have a great weekend and we'll be back on Sunday with another pppppost!

Music, Love & Happiness

Vincent James @ LoveSongs.com

Why we still remember John Lennon

Today marks 34 years since the world lost one of its most beloved musical souls and an inspirational leader for a generation. My biggest memory of the time was that I had just begun playing keyboards in a wedding-club band called the "Sound of Gold". I was the newbie in the band barely out of high school, and this was my first real working band experience. Along with the band leader Mark, who was a huge Lennon fan, we put together an extra large selection of John Lennon and Lennon-led Beatles songs to play for our shows that month. For the Beatle tunes, I got to do the Paul McCartney parts although I don't think my voice was totally up for that challenge yet. I later grew into a higher tenor range :)

It definitely felt therapeutic to share those songs with our audiences that month and into the new year. I remember we also played some of John's newly released songs including "Woman" and "Starting Over". and it still amazes me today how talented John still was as a writer and performer. One of the last songs he ever wrote and recorded, but didn't release, was the song "Grow Old Along with Me". Written for his wife Yoko, this song later became a huge hit for Mary Chapin Carpenter. Despite whatever people thought of Yoko, I think its important to remember that if John really loved and cared about Yoko, then it never should have mattered what we thought of her. She was his soul mate and that was that. Its just like we should tell our own children some day. If they love their spouse and as long as their spouse is good to them, it doesn't really matter what us the parents think of the them. That's my mini-sermon creeping in a bit here sorry :)

Collectively we all firmly believe that we lost much more than a talented songwriter and musician that day. John was one of our biggest musical heroes and perhaps the most important voice of that generation. I happened upon an article written by Candy Leonard who is also the author of Beatleness that spells out very well why John was so important to the 60s generation and why he is still so important to many of us today. NextAvenue.Org - Why We Still Mourn John Lennon

I'll leave you with the John Lennon song that I still play today at many of my shows and will see and hear audience members singing along with me. I think more than anything else, the song "Imagine" embodies what John was all about: Imagining how beautiful our collective future could be, if only we could escape the trappings of life that many of us hold too dear. Enjoy the music and feel free to post your favorite John Lennon memories here:

Peace, Love & Laughter:

Vincent James @ LoveSongs.com

John Lennon Educational Tour Bus Brings Unique Music Experience to Schools

For 17 years, the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus has brought music recording and video production experiences to students all over the USA with their high-tech (and colorful) bus. With the assistance of three on-board engineers, students learn how to write, perform, record, and produce original songs, produce and shoot music videos and documentaries and complete a broadcast quality music video – all in a single day. Boy what I would have done to have experienced something like this when I was in school! Endorsed by John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, the bus is also supported by long list of corporate partners including Apple, Sony, Yamaha, Gibson and many more

From the LennonBus.org website:

The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is highly adaptable, and is designed to provide students, their schools and communities with performances, demonstrations, remote recordings, and studio sessions customized for their needs, levels of experience and interest. The bus travels the country visiting schools, musical and technology conferences and events, and partners with newspapers and other media to host Battles of the Bands with the national winner selected online

I recently learned that the tour bus will be visiting a school just 10 minutes from where we live, so we are hoping to get a up close glimpse of what they are doing and will do another post about it.

I can remember very clearly the time period when John Lennon passed away. I was playing in a wedding & club band called "The Sound Of Gold" and we played many Beatles songs with the band leader Mark Tully taking the Lennon parts and me doing my best with the McCartney parts (my voice was definitely still developing then :)). I remember we played a New Years Eve event just 3 weeks after he passed and performed a tribute to Lennon with a heavy dose of Lennon influenced Beatles songs along with some Lennon solo tunes. To this day I still perform "Imagine" whenever, wherever I can. This song along with "Let There Be Peace On Earth", perfectly embody what each and every person in this world need to fully embrace, one by one. I can only hope that through music, arts and other non-violent means we can slowly move towards this end for the human race.

I'll leave you with the song that John Lennon is most remembered for.

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
No religion too
Imagine all the people, living life in peace..

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

I hope you have a wonderful day and stay tuned for some more fun posts coming this week on "how music can help you!" :)

Music, Love & Laughter,

Vincent James @ LoveSongs.com www.facebook.com/KeepMusicAliveMission

The Beatles come to Pittsburgh - 50 Years ago this week (1964)

I had the very good fortune this summer to meet the man who was largely responsible for bringing the Beatles to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during their first US tour. This would end up being the Beatles one and only appearance in the "steel city", and was near the beginning of Pat DiCesare's legendary career in the concert business.

Pat DiCesare started out as a songwriter and Doo Wop performer in the 1950s and later moved on to booking shows and concerts. In time, he and his partner Rich Engler became the single most powerful force in the Pittsburgh area concert business. It wasn't long before DiCesare-Engler Productions became one of the top grossing concert companies in the entire US. Their dominance in that industry would continue for over 3 decades. During that time, Pat and Rich would go on to produce and promote concerts by legendary artists including Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin, The Temptations, Aretha Franklin and many, many more.

My wife and I both were fortunate to meet Pat this past August during a Quantum Leap conference (nope, its not about the very cool TV show, but instead it's an incredible training and mentoring program). It turns out Pat took his lifetime of experiences and stories and turned them into an amazing book "Hard Days, Hard Nights" and was there like us learning how to promote his book. This amazing book of musical journeys tells many of Pat's own personal stories of working with and promoting many of the legendary artists we all grew up with.

To honor Pat and his incredible career, the governor of Pennsylvania just announced that the week of Sept 14th was The Beatles week to honor the Fab Four visit to our state 50 years ago on their inaugural US tour. In addition, the governor named the day of the Beatles concert, Sept 14th, as Pat DiCesare Day in Pennsylvania. I can't believe I met someone who has a day named after them how cool is that! In talking with Pat, both in person and on the phone, you can tell he's just about the nicest and most genuine person you will ever meet, especially in this crazy music business. If you are a music fan like me, I highly recommend you head over to Amazon or Barnes and Noble and pick up a copy of "Hard Days, Hard Nights". You will absolutely enjoy the experience!

That's all for today kiddies. I will be back tomorrow with another post, but that topic will be a mystery until I put my writing hat on tomorrow :) Have another great nite and we'll see you soon!

Music, Love & Laughter,

Vincent James @ LoveSongs.com

AMAZING - 41% Increase in Music Education in the UK over the last 15 years, BUT...

I was astounded to read that over the last 15 years, there has been a 41 percent increase in the number of kids in the UK that know how to play an instrument. WOW, that's just amazing! A study by ABRSM, the exam board of the Royal School of Music, also found that the piano, recorder and classical guitar were the favorites with drums, electric guitar and bass guitar not far behind. Now, I'm thinking if they did this in the 60's, guitar, bass and drums would have been tops thanks to the Beatles and the entire British music invasion.

But, back to the topic: In an article I just read, the Royal School of Music study credits this positive musical trend on recent government initiatives, particularly in England. The piece doesn't specifically mention what those initiatives are, but perhaps we need to dig a little deeper. Some of these ideas could possibly be implemented in the US and other countries.

One interesting thing about the article: It mentions that the children from well-off families have a much higher chance of playing an instrument, which itself is not surprising. But I also found it very odd that the title of the article mentions that fact, but not the dramatic increase in the number and percentage of kids playing an instrument. I know as musicians, and for me especially, as part of our "Keep Music Alive" mission, we want to shout out from the mountain tops "WE NEED MORE MUSIC!". But we also need to trumpet out the good news stories where more music is being played. This provides a fairer and more balanced (and ultimately more believable) argument, and also provides us with positive examples that others can learn from.

Here's a link to the article - take a read and post your comments and let me know your thoughts on the topic: Music education still a preserve of the rich, UK study shows

On Deck: Pat DiCesare and "Hard Days, Hard Nights"

We're back on the blog kick folks and we're gonna try to do at least one short blog post EVERY day. Tomorrow we'll be talking about my new music friend Pat DiCesare who is a legend in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania concert world. Pat was instrumental in bringing The Beatles to their one and only appearance in Pittsburgh back in 1964. He also went on to produce hundreds of concerts over 40 plus years, hosting acts like Led Zeppelin, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations and many, many more. So look for the new post on Pat and his new book Hard Days, Hard Nights tomorrow. Till then have a grrrreat nite all!

Music, Love & Laughter,

Vincent James @ LoveSongs.com

Tell us your Story about how Music changed YOUR Life!

LoveSongs.com wants to know how music changed your life, whether as a child or some time as an adult. What specific song or artists helped you get through a particularly difficult time in your life and why? We are compiling your original quotes, anecdotes and stories about how music has affected you.

Many of us already know how important music is to our lives: The educational value, the therapeutic value and how music makes us a much happier society. Imagine what our lives would be like if the Beatlesor Elvis never existed, if Michael Jackson, Billy Joel or Elton John never wrote a song or sang a note, or Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones (or insert your favorite artist) never picked up a guitar and began to play. Can you even imagine this? Well unfortunately I can foresee a future where there is no new quality music because of the continuing de-emphasis of music and arts in our schools and the general devaluing of music in our society (when was the last time you bought a CD or purchased an MP3 download)?

We are looking for your stories to include in our blog and a book about "how music can change your life" to be published in the spring of 2015. If you have a quote, anecdote or story you would like to share with the world about why music is so important to you and how it changed your life, then please hop on over to www.LoveSongs.com/keepmusicalive where you'll find a link to be able to send us your story. Each quote or story that is included in our blog or in the book will entitle you to a complimentary copy of the book when it is published. Even more importantly you'll be sharing your music story with the world which will greatly help in our mission to let the world know what music really means to us.

That's all for today kiddies - I'll be back with another post tomorrow as we resume our daily posting now that the "Summer Love & Music" Tour has finally come to a close. Have a great night and will see ya very soon!

Music, Love & Laughter

Vincent James @ LoveSongs.com

Our MISSION- Lets "Keep MUSIC Alive!"

Well music's not exactly dead or on its last legs, but I am very concerned about the current state of music in our society. Year after year we see more and more school systems cutting Music and Arts programs for our kids. Adding to that, the general public (that's you and me) are no longer buying CDs or even MP3 downloads. CD sales have been declining for years and last year for the first time the number of paid MP3 downloads declined from the previous year (yes ITunes was getting nervous which explains the Beats acquisition).

I know there are certainly reasons behind these trends. The recent recession hit states and school systems very hard and tough choices have to be made. However, I don't think the decision makers realize just how important the music and arts programs are AND how much they contribute to the success of their students in their traditional subjects including Math, Science, English and History. As for CD and MP3 download sales, that fate was sealed when kids discovered they could play any song they wanted over and over (and over and over) again on YouTube. I mean I love Katy Perry's hit songs but I don't really need to hear the same Katy Perry song 30x in a row (I'm thinking of my daughters as I type this :)). Add to this the multitude of music streaming services now available Pandora, Spotify and Beats to name a few), and it pretty much assures the sales of prerecorded music has been forever changed. Although artists and writers are compensated for these streaming plays, the rate at which they are paid is not anywhere near what they used to be able to earn with actual sales.

The reason for my concern is that I believe these trends will ultimately lead to less and less kids taking up music and reaping the multitude of benefits that playing an instrument brings, especially when doing it as part of a group, band or ensemble. Less kids playing music will lead to less adults playing music and eventually lead to the decline of quality new music being available for everyone's benefit.

Beginning today, we at LoveSongs.com are making it our mission to get at least 10 Million More Kids AND Adults playing Music. Why adults too you may ask? Because adults also receive many benefits when playing music and every adult that plays music will help inspire children around them to play music as well. Music is the gift that absolutely keeps on giving. How are we going to COUNT how many new adults and kids start playing music because of us - Don't worry I've got our expert statistician working on an equation to help us figure it out :) Seriously though, according to the US Census about 8% of US adults play a musical instrument . This adds up to about 18 Million adults out of 230 Million adults in the US. Our goal is to make certain we don't lose any ground on this as less kids potentially start playing music.

To start us off, I'd like to share with you the "Legends of Liverpool"and their own "Help Keep Music Alive" cause they are helping with. Hand picked by the late George Harrison's sister Louise, these 4 lads are one of the finest tributes to a band that will forever live in our musical memories. Please listen and enjoy and I'll be back again tomorrow with a new post!

Music, Love & Laughter,

~Vincent James @ LoveSongs.com

p.s. I invite you to stop back daily as I began to share stories of music empowerment and inspiration from all over the world.

Mondays Featured Song - "Never Gonna Be Alone" by Nickelback

Its hard to believe Nickelback started out way back in 1995, had their first mainstream success in 2000 and 38 million albums sold later can still crank out the hits. Criticized for their lack of originality (which I agree they are not the most original sounding band or songs), Nickelback has that knack for writing a pop-hook and building up a production that gets you singing it over and over. Hey if it was so easy every other band and label would be doing it - you can't tell me they don't want a piece of 38 million albums sold in 10 years in the US alone. And being from Canada, they are the 2nd biggest foreign act (record sales wise) in the 2000's decade just behind the Beatles. What can we say..the bigger you get, the louder your critics are :) Well the current Nickelback song caught my attention with its strong anthemic chorus and heartfelt verse lyrics. The story line is so simple but sometimes that is the best message to deliver. What girl doesn't want to hear "You're never gonna be alone"? Check out the tune and video here:

Never Gonna Be Alone - YouTube

Whirlwind Valentines Tour at Borders Books - Sat Feb 13th.

On Saturday February 13th I'll be attempting to play a 30 minute set at 8 different Borders Bookstores in one day. I'll be starting at 9 AM in Newark, Delaware and circling the city of Philadelphia to end up in Wynnewood, PA at 9 PM. If nothing else it will be a day to remember (and one to see how my voice holds up :)). To get more details and the locations/times please visit me at http://www.vincentjames.com/ . We'll also be posting updates on a new Facebook fan page we'll be launching this week we'll post that info mid-week.

Well Monday's a wrap folks - I hope you enjoyed the Grammys last night - certainly was one of the more interesting broadcasts in a while with the highlight being Michael Jacksons Lifetime achievement award being accepted by his children. I am glad to see that Michael's memory will live on in both his music and his family.

Please have a great nite and we'll be back tomorrow with another tune and American Idollll talk!

~Vincent