naomiland

special surprise acoustic show!

hey guys......i've just decided to do a special surprise acoustic show with some of my friends. it's totally low key, just me and my guitars and piano, maybe a friend or two sitting in on a few songs, and no one knows about it - not even my management! hahahaha

just decided there are a bunch of songs i never get to play at my full band shows and i really want to play them, so i'll be doing that THIS FRIDAY. and i'll play some old favorites as well.

(wow - i love this! feels like the old days - writing my bulletins and letting you know about the next show!)

here's where to find the information:
http://www.themiller.co.uk/

i think the show will start around 8pm, and i'm not sure about the price, but it won't be over £10 and all the proceeds will go to a london based charity - not sure which one yet, but something having to do with feeding people for christmas, or one of the local shelters. i know something like that exists, and now i just need to figure out which one to contact! which i will do today.

anyway - now you have the info and i hope to see some of you there.
oh - i will also have copies of my CD, 'under the influence' as well as 'up here'  7"single and CD single.

and i'll have a few of my closest friends there, too. playing music for you. you will love it!

see you soon,
lots of love
terra

oh - btw - it's a really small venue, which is why i'm only posting the info now! i think it only holds about 100 people. really nice place, though. and they have yummy food. so i would suggest arriving early and having dinner or drinks or something like that, so you can line up early for admission. there are no advance ticket sales. it's not that kind of a venue!! and if you want to bring underage people, please call and make sure that it's ok to bring them upstairs to the show, because i'm not sure that it is.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox                                                                                                                                                                        

tonight....

just cooked a ton of food for salvador's birthday tomorrow. should be really fun. having some friends over. i made mole for the first time. from scratch. chicken and 3 kinds of chiles and almonds, raisins, chocolate, sesame seeds, tomatoes, other stuff.......was cool! followed a recipe and it took about 4 hours, but i think it will be worth the time. there is a slow cooker in our kitchen with a sheep's head in it. and i'm not joking. it took me a little while to get over that fact, but then i thought about it - if i'm willing to eat certain parts of the animal then i should be willing to eat EVERY part of the animal. it's the right thing to do. oh - and there are tongues in there, too. in with the head. it's a lot to get used to, having been a vegetarian only a few months ago. but i think i'm adjusting quite well.

i have more really exciting news, but i can't announce it yet. i hope to provide you with exciting news all the time. i wish it happened every day, and i know it will, at some point, but you'll have to settle for weekly excitement for the time being. maybe go check other peoples' blogs if you want more.

and that's all i have for you tonight. cooking and getting ready for a big party. missing my family and looking forward to going back to the states to spend some time with them. missing my friends and wishing i could see them more often. feeling really grateful for my new friends in london and the people i'm meeting. trying to keep from thinking too hard. focus on the good things, of which there are many.

etc etc etc

xo

'Up Here' single released today!!

hey guys!

just wanted to let you know that the single for 'UP HERE' is available as of today!

it includes 2 new recordings: my new song, 'In The Summertime' and my cover of 'Umbrella.' and as i might have said before, my cover of 'umbrella' basically blows away any other covers of 'umbrella.' sorry, it's just the honest truth.

;)

but anyway - the single is available on colored (RED!) 7" vinyl and also available on a regular (but lovely) CD, and through iTunes.

wanna buy it? go here for links to buy:
BUY TERRA NAOMI STUFF!

they make lovely holiday gifts. guess what all my friends and family are getting this xmas! hehehehe

and if you're not hearing it on the radio and feel like you should be, call up the station or email and let them know!

thanks everyone for your incredible support!!!
lots of love
terra
:)

a bit more serious...

got the following email from a friend in LA and want to repost the info in case people are wondering about things we can do to help the people of Darfur.

DARFUR NOW
what: don cheadle's new documentary
about six people who try to stop the genocide.
when: in theatres nationwide now
where: dude, just type “darfur now” and your zip code into google
info & trailer: www.myspace.com/darfurnow

THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK
what: in this heartbreaking documentary film, former U.S. marine brian steidle goes to darfur with the african union, and as one of the first americans to witness the genocide firsthand, he returns to the united states with his photos and stories to try to stop it.
when: on dvd now
where: buy it on amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Devil-Came-Horseback-Brian-Steidle/dp/B000UUX2UK
or netflix it
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/70066337?trkid=73
info & trailer: www.thedevilcameonhorseback.com
(you can read the book of the same name, too, also available on amazon and at your local bookstore)

NOT ON OUR WATCH
what: don cheadle and africa expert john prendergast give us a historical and activist guide to darfur.
when: in stores now
where: buy it on amazon or at your local bookstore
http://www.amazon.com/NOT-OUR-WATCH-MISSION-GENOCIDE/dp/1401303358

OXFAM AND THE INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE
what: donate money for humanitarian aid
when: asap!
where: https://donate.oxfamamerica.org/02/sudan?qp_source=06fy%5fd%5fsudan%5fsub
https://secure.ga3.org/03/darfur

thanks guys. i will continue to re-post info sent to me which i think could be useful to the rest of us.

xo

an honest request...

good morning lovely people...

i've got some fantastic news - Uner The Influence is finally available on US itunes!!
this is actually due to some other fantastic news, which is that 'say it's possible' will be featured almost in its entirety on the grey's anatomy spin off, Private Practice, tonight, wednesday, 14 november 2007.

i'm really happy about this. and excited for all those people to hear that song. it reminds me of the time right after i wrote the song, when it was featured on youtube's front page. hundreds of thousands of people saw the video and heard the song for the first time, and they responded in a big way. and now millions more people have the chance to hear it, and i'm hoping (that's an understatement) that they will also respond with passion and love for the song.

and here is where the help part comes in. last night i sent an email to a bunch of my friends and family, asking them to please buy the album on itunes and also to forward the email to anyone and everyone they know and ask those people to do the same - download the album on itunes and forward the email. below is an excerpt from the email, and i would be grateful if everyone reading this would be willing to take a moment and forward this to your friends and family, business colleagues, anyone you feel comfortable sending it to. it feels very homegrown and grass roots, sending out an email like this, but that is, afterall, how i got here - word of mouth, first from one person to the next, over a span of years, until the words were bigger and they were coming from a greater number of mouths...and here we are! what seems like a billion years later! :)

so - here's an abbreviated version of the email. like i said, please feel free to copy and paste and send it to everyone, and let's see if we can sell some downloads over the next few days!!!

hello to my friends, family, friends of friends and family of family, friends of friends of friends, and onward .....

if you are reading this, there is a good chance that you do not know me. that is because i have asked a bunch of friends and family to forward this email to everyone they know. the person sending this to you might have mentioned me in the past, or not - but here is my website: www.terranaomi.com. if you feel really inspired after listening to my music, please feel free to forward this email.

i am writing to share some incredibly exciting news and also to ask for your help.  (some of you are now thinking "how incredibly cheeky!" Indeed.)

tonight, my song, SAY IT'S POSSIBLE will be the final song in "Private Practice," the new spin-off of Grey's Anatomy. and to coincide with tonight's show, my album 'Under The Influence' is now available on US itunes!!

i am writing to let you know about the show, let you know about itunes, and hopefully you will check out the songs and want to purchase the album!

click here for US ITUNES!
 
if you do buy the album, please feel free to write a review of it on my itunes page. i think those reviews actually help a lot.

and one more request - if you would be so kind as to forward this email (or the information and link in an email of your own) to everyone you know, i would be incredibly grateful.

oh - and the album is already available in countries around the world, on itunes, so feel free to send to anyone and everyone, worldwide.

thank you for taking the time to read this, listen to my music, and perhaps purchase some new songs today!

yours,
terra

a quick update...

been meaning to write a little something after our final date with the fray at the hammersmith apollo...
it was such an amazing night at an amazing venue. hmm. there's not really much more to say! the audience was incredibly attentive and enthusiastic, and i was able to meet a lot of people after my set, and sell a lot of cds. it was cool!

last night i did something really fun...played a very last minute gig without letting anyone know - just showed up at a friend's gig and played an acoustic set. it was wonderful to play songs i don't get to play at my shows these days. the acoustic songs are such a big part of my music and playing them brings me incredible satisfaction and happiness. i'm writing a lot now, too. new songs on the way...my dream is to record a double album - band on one disc and acoustic on the other. that would be amazing. or start another project and record a separate album. we shall see...oh - i think i'm going to start a monthly night of music promoted by myself and a friend. not sure where or when. but it will be cool as hell. somewhere in london. details as soon as we come up with them.

i'm also considering another virtual tour from home. i have lots of songs i would like to play for everyone. my main issue with it at the moment is that i've been giving away my music for so long now, and a HUGE thank you to people who have bought the album, but i am aware that many people choose to download my songs illegally or rip files from my videos. i know this because they write to me and tell me how much they love having them in their ipods and mp3 players!! i get emails like this EVERY DAY!

in the past i have been supportive of people trading files. but i feel that once an artist finally comes out with an album which can be purchased, people who have been listening for free should show their support and buy the album. i think there is a very dangerous misconception out there and people seem to think that once someone signs with a major label, they are suddenly rich and famous. i guess that can be true in very few cases of mass-marketed, label-created pop acts, or reality tv stars, but in the case of a somewhat left of center artist like myself, the battle has just begun. and the only way someone like me gets to make another album is if people actually purchase the first one!

it is frustrating to me. i know that a huge percentage of my fans come from early youtube users. and early youtube users tend to be incredibly computer savvy and know how to create mp3 files from just about anything. of course there are tons of youtubers who bought my album - and i am eternally grateful - but it's frustrating to me when people are trading files of my songs without buying the album.

and this is why i am holding off on releasing more of my music online at the moment. i know it's unavoidable - filesharing - and i appreciate what it does as far as making people aware of new artists and music they might not otherwise have heard. i just have very mixed feelings about it and need to sort those out before providing any further music.

so in the meantime, i will continue to write and figure out  how to go about sharing my music with the people i want to share it with. i have some ideas already and will keep everyone posted.

again, i would like to say THANK YOU to those of you who have bought the album and the single. the new CD and 7" single for 'up here' will be out on nov 19th. it has 2 new songs - 'in the summertime' and my live cover of 'umbrella' with guitar man pete rinaldi, which, in my humble opinion, makes all other covers of 'umbrella' seem pointless... :)

calling it like it is.....
xo
terra

how it is

it's friday night. today i went to ikea and bought furniture. everything came in flat boxes. we stacked up a whole room's worth of stuff in the back of a minivan. i like that. putting it together improved my power drill/screwdriver skills. i like that, too.

sitting in my new room now. i like it a whole lot. i'm usually pretty weird and depressed after a tour, and having something else to think about helped in a big way.

of course, while standing outside for an hour keeping watch with my stuff (stacked up on the doorstep), waiting for one of my housemates to come home and let me in (wrong key), laughing to and at myself and the silliness of the situation, i realized something again, for the i-don't-know-how-many-eth time.

it never seems to get any easier.

i'm not complaining. just stating a fact. it never seems to get easier. with each step upwards there are increasingly more ways to fall. and thinking about the falls are scarier. i guess this is the way it is. i have never known "ease." i have been lucky, i have had moments of feeling completely safe, moments of peace....and i guess i always (mistakenly) thought that at some point it all irons out into some smooth surface and i glide along, smiling and waving. hmm...not so. at least not yet. i haven't stopped hoping for that, but i might have refined my search.

obviously, the answer lies in the way i deal with it. the way i take it all in, and the way i judge this journey. i need to take my own words to heart right now. the tougher the struggle, the tougher i need to be, the stronger i need to make myself. the harder it gets, the harder i need to work. when i feel as if i am up against something insurmountable, i need to direct my energy inward, resist the urge to look for outside solutions, and find the strength that has taken me this far for years. for my whole life. now is not the time to fold. 

i will admit to  being envious of people to whom things seem to come with less of a struggle. but i'm past feeling upset about it. all i can say is "wow. that must really be nice." but it's not something that can be judged or measured, because to people like that, who do not really know what massive amounts of pain feels like, well, there is nothing to compare it to. and everyone's threshold for pain is different, so who knows - waiting in a long line at the airport might be incredibly devastating for some of those people. and again i say, "that must really be nice."

and then there are people who never think about stuff like this at all because they are homeless and starving and dying. (just inserting a quick reality check to let you know - dear reader - that my head is not completely  up my own ass. i know all this shit is relative. this is my blog.)

yes, so back to me.

some vague notion of a hard-earned victory being sweeter no longer does it for me. i don't think i believe in some moment of reward. i want to enjoy this moment. now. today. for whatever it is or isn't. i want to stop judging individual events as "good" or "bad" and i want to stop judging myself as "success" or "failure." it's impossible to judge these things. we have no understanding of the outcome. there is no outcome. just an ever-evolving course of events.

maybe this is where things smooth out and i coast along...nothing has changed to anyone observing from the outside. and no one observing from the outside ever sees the true picture, anyway. so i will find the ease in working hard? i will find the peace in instability?

none of it really makes any sense to me. one day i was sitting in a stuffy apartment in hollywood. or a tiny 3 bedroom flat in lower manhattan. or a dorm room in michigan. or was it a pink and lavender bedroom in upstate new york? or a ski lodge or a farm or a condo in cleveland...i was born and then all these things happened. i think i remember them, but who's to say, really? and then i write them down and thoughts become words which are read by god knows who....out there on computers in some other place. got to admit - i don't really like that thought. but i'm compelled to type.

i think this moment is ok. i think things are smooth now, at 12:46am, and i have everything i need.