2011 already?

I'm excited, nervous, apprehensive, anxious, impatient. I'm not an advocate of New Year's resolutions because I strongly believe that every midnight starts a brand new day and a brand new year. I break commitments to myself daily. As a result I constantly have to make amends with me and decide to consciously do better. Without the tag of "New Year" on my resoutions I'm not relegated to believing that if my goals aren't accomplished in January I'm a loser and I should give up until the calendar says I should start again in 11 months.

Calibe After Rocking Bayside

My resolutions are more like 'new day' or 'new minute'. If I've skipped the 5PM class at the gym and I can get myself up to run at 7PM instead, I do that. If I skipped the whole day, I try to get in there the next day. It's that easy. We get through life by trying again and by not giving up on the goals we set for ourselves... It would follow that we have to set goals then, right? So let's do that.

Let's decide that we are going to (not going to try, but actually going to) be strong, happy, fit, healthy, wealthy and whatever else we want and need to be. I tell it to myself as often as I can and I encourage you to tell it to yourself too.

On a professional note - please visit my website at Calibe.net. We just redid the flash and static versions with a fancy new media player and finally the ability for all the fabulous people who support me to buy music.

And back to being inspirational, please also give your thoughts on what I've said here. I wish more people would say they need encouragement sometimes, and be willing to give it to others. I'm happy to say that every now and then when I get an encouraging word from a fan or supporter, it brightens my day. When I see something negative, I try to assess whether someone is trying to be constructive or just being a hater. Haters get deleted, constructive criticism and healthy suggestions are appreciated. That's how I think people should live. It'd make us all so much easier to get along with.

Love, kisses and chocolate to us all!

Today is a Great Day!

250 hits in the first day! I'm working people. That's how many spins I got on the Great Day (Radio Edit) video after starting to submit to video sites online. If you know of one that you haven't seen it on, please let me know or submit it for me. Put it in your blog, on your facebook page, on your myspace, share it with your friends.



I'll tell you straight up, I'm on a campaign to be on tour in Januray, I don't know how, but I want to be all over stages at least regionally. I want to be meeting new people and actually exploring places, something I never really did on the other tours. I need as much help as I can get!

The original video already has over 800 spins and has been shared 160+ times on facebook. That goes to show you the power of networking and having good people around you.

Love to you if you're supporting me with this, and love to you if you aren't. Have a great holiday and I'll see you around (hopefully sooner than later)!

What's Going on October - November

So I've been pretty lax about keeping my blog up to date. All part of the daily grind though. I still have other stuff to take care of and sometimes it seems overwhelming but guess what?... we press on!

Quick recap of the last several weeks - the Republicans got control of the House back (I'm upset), GM paid taxpayers back close to half of what they owe (that's great), my mom and sister came to visit (yay!), and I did lots of great work for people I love and respect.

The highlight for me was the debut of my official video for "Great Day" ft. Ice Cube which I uploaded to youtube and got over 600 hits for in just over a week, just from linking with my Facebook friends. Networks are it! I have the greatest set of friends, fans and supporters.

I've performed at Femme Fest / Tobacco Road promoted by DJ Oski, sexy latin lover (kidding about the lover part), and am heading over to Bayside Rocks today to perform on stage along side Marcia Griffiths, Toots and the Maytals, Steel Pulse, Bunny Wailer and others.

Also saw that the song I co-wrote and sang on the hooks for "It's My Birthday" by Ultimate, is on the Ultra 2011 Dance Compilation (one of the biggest selling annual dance compilations worldwide). Came out November 9, 2010 I believe. Very exciting stuff. I'm Looking forward to closing out the year with a bang! Hope you'll all bang with me ;-)

New music I like

So I'm trying to stay up do date on great new music and artists that inspire me. Check out these that I cam across today:

This is my first time seeing her but she's a more earth version of Colby Collait to me
Artist: Jordan Corey
Song: Truth

I know he's like 12 but this piano and the vibe of this song reminds me of Elton John's "I guess That's Why They Call It The Blues". For some reason I get very emotional listening to this.

Artist: Justin Bieber

Song: U Smile

I think that's it for today. Everything else sounds like everything else you've heard before. I think this stuff is fresh. Here's hoping fresh isn't the new stale!

C.

Countdown to release date

I'm pretty excited at this point. It feels like a hurry up and wait kind of situation but I'm sure it'll be fine. "It's My Birthday" goes to radio on Tuesday of next week (September 21 to be exact). I'm not sure my name will be listed as a feature on the record but I'm actually the female singer on the hook of It's My Birthday by Ultimate. The song will be released on Ultra / Payday Records.

To date there's no official video but you can watch a mashup of the song with some of our escapades from the road here:



I've had people say - "Oh but Calibe, you're hardly in the video". Thanks for your concern :-). It's actually a marketing strategy. When you're promoting one artist, that's the face you keep in the foreground. This is Ultimate's promo but we're all on the same team. Ultimate Domination Records.

Until it's my turn, I try to keep my online presence up so people can find me elsewhere when they need to. You can always visit my youtube channel (look to the right for some of the links) or visit me on any of the other links on the top right of the page. Make sure to look out for the "Great Day" video which will be posted up right here the minute it becomes available.

In other news, I've been recording a lot with Balistic / Grammy Society, big ups to Balis, Face, N'Gai and Chad. I'll have some of that music up in a bit too. Also been working on some reggae tracks for my associates Walboomers in the Netherlands. Gotta keep busy. Mix tape still in the works but moving slowly :-(.

Here are a few pics from trips out on the road this year together with me, Ultimate and the crew:

Party 101.5FM MegaJam 2010 out in Long Island.

Don P, Me, Blackout and Rhona Fox at Gyptian's album release in Miami

Ultimate, Damion Daniel and Calibe before going on stage for Best of the Best 2010

I'm discovering a lot of great dance records now that I'm in this world too. I'll try to find some to share. We all need something to be excited about daily. Let me see what I can give you ;-).

May chocolate never make you fat!

My Mixtape

Spent today today working on some tracks for the mixtape. It's still untitled and it's morphing every day. The original plan was to flip a bunch of old school hip hop tracks the way we did Great Day, but I'm finding old school in other genres is just as appealing. I'm excited to see what the end product come out to.

Heading over to Black again tomorrow to try and get these balanced up and see what the next move is. So far I've flipped Mary, Ice Cube, Usher, Sly and Robbie, Lionel Richie... yeah, it's getting eclectic but you know, that's how I do :-). It'll be available for download by the end of September. No date set in stone yet, but I'm working.

When Birthday drops, gotta make sure listeners and potential fans have some current stuff to listen to, even it is all throwbacks. You know it's going to stay sexy, mellow, fun. If you have ideas for any tracks you want to hear flipped, let me know. @DennisBlaze already gave me a beatjack to reggae out the project.

I'm excited for this, for "It's My Birthday", for the "Great Day" video. Feels like there's a lot going on but the waiting is killing me. In the meantime, trying to stay focused and busy. Until tomorrow, or something else pops into my head that I just have to share ;-)

C

It's My Birthday (almost)

Got some inspiring news over the weekend. The single "It's My Birthday" which was signed to Ultra Records a few weeks ago is tentatively set for release on September 20th. If you live in Miami you'll have heard Power 96 banging it a few months ago. It was pulled from the playlist at a time when it was number 7 most requested on the station. Why, you ask? Sometimes music bureaucracy is beyond human comprehension. No hard feelings 'cause we'll get back up there soon.

Now, this is the dance / reggae record I recorded with rapper 'Ultimate', also signed to Ultimate Domination Records / Blackout Movement. The single should be pushed to top 40 radio this time so in Miami you'll hear it on Y100. Exciting stuff!!! Not sure about a video or when tour dates come up but we are looking forward to having a pretty successful go at it. The fans in Miami, McAllen, Corpus Christi and Long Island really showed us love the first time around. Now we're after the rest of the world. Wouldn't it be great if every day was a party?

Thanks for reading today. Leave me a message. I love the interaction and appreciate your feedback. Of course, I'm counting down until I get the "Great Day" video in hand later this week (or early next week). Straight to youtube and then everywhere else we can place it. Let me know if you have a local station that plays indie artists and we can shoot it to them.

Love you! Keep it upful. Keep it sexy.

Gots To Keep Going

Sometimes it's hard to keep a positive attitude when people around expect 'wonderful' every time. In this industry I've seen highs and lows. My highs haven't been as high as they should be yet, but I know I won't get to them if I stop working. Sometimes things seem shiny and bright and by the time you hold them in your hand you realize it was a glare from tarnished metal. You can't stop looking because you found a dud a few times.

I wish today to be surrounded by love, friendship and good energy. It's there in the world but I guess we all absorb at different rates. I think I need a quadruple dose to get the boost I need right now. I met some good people last night so I'm going to get my network on. It was also reinforced to me that stuff happens, not always as planned. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying. The people you want to be there for you, won't be there every time. Got to press on anyway. Better will come because it almost looks like for most of the world the only place left to go is up.

If I sound like I'm counseling myself today, it's 'cause I am. Sometimes you got to. Would love some positive feedback from anybody at all. Good energy is always appreciated in my world and I send it out to the world from my heart in as much abundance as I can muster.

Love.

Wallpapers

Got some free downloads for my peeps. Check back with me for free music downloads too.

Click HERE to open then right click to download.

Click HERE to open then right click to download.

Click HERE to open then right click to download.

So This is Life, Huh?

Calibe or MissCalibe. Does is make a difference? It's Sunday morning, I have lots to do to prepare for the 2 shows I have tonight yet here I am online trying to figure out what to do about my name. The real story is that Calibe.com was taken years ago. I've always had http://Calibe.net. In starting my youtube page, somebody had already made off with my name there too (who knew there were so many Calibes?). So youtube suggested MissCalibe. I liked it. Since then, most of my pages use MissCalibe for consistency. So now that MissCalibe prevails, should that be my name?? I'm not really stressed about it. I'll answer to either. NEXT challenge please!!

On to the internet at large. As an independent artist, albeit signed to a small label, a lot of the responsibility for stuff like web presence falls on your own shoulders. I've been spending hours for the last few days making sure that I'm popping up in as many online music sites as possible. Who knew that I was already on Last.fm and iLike.com? I didn't. If you have any kind of catalog, you're probably on there too. Get on it or get your people on it. I don't mind doing it myself.

There'll always be people who want to believe it should all be glamorous from the get go but until you find that hit and radio agrees that it's a hit, believe that the grind needs to be implanted in your daily psyche. Even after you find that hit you have to stay on the work. I've seen it too many times, people get caught up in their own hype and start to feel like they're above the support of their teams and the people that got them where they are. Bad move!

I'm not going to get preachy here but, I'm finding more and more that whether you've made it or not, we're all struggling with something, in mind, in pocket, in direction. A bright spirit is hard to maintain sometimes but if you can find a light every day (I don't mean for your spliff), then let it guide you and keep you grounded. Otherwise you'll lose yourself or go mad. I'm trying not to do either :-)