GRAMMY DAY!!!

Playlist Pick: Grammy Family - Kanye West
Thankful For: The opportunity to be so close to winning a Grammy!

It is Wednesday December 3rd, 2008 3:17PM Eastern Standard Time.
Today is the day that the nominees for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards are announced. The nominations will be posted on GRAMMY.com after the CBS special tonight dubbed, "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night," airing from 9–10 p.m.

This day is relatively special to me because I'm one of the fortunate ones on the Official Grammy Ballot. How did I get to be one of the artists on this prestigious document?

I'll nutshell it for you...

Over the summer, I wrote a song for a contest on MySpace. The contest was to write a theme song for the upcoming Luke Wilson film, "Henry Poole Is Here". From over 3,500 entries, my song was selected by Director Mark Pellington, Overture Films, Lakeshore Entertainment, and the MySpace Community. It was an amazing moment. I had never really won anything like this before. I think I won a set of steak knifes in a raffle at a Zayre's when I was in Jr. High. Anyway, from the win, I got to make a music video with the director from the film, Mark Pellington, attended the Hollywood Premiere of the film where my music video was debuted in front of 500 Hollywood Stars, Actors, Producers, Press, etc... It was so exciting. I then had an appearance on The Late Late Show w/ Craig Ferguson on CBS, my music video was widely featured on MySpace, and it will be included on the DVD release of the film. The theme song was also added to the Henry Poole Is Here Official Motion Picture Soundtrack, and was featured as the title track.

I was up late one night checking my MySpace inbox, and someone had sent me a message congratulating me for making the Grammy ballot for "Henry Poole Is Here". I remember running to my fiancee' and saying, "look at this, is this real, or some kind of spam thing?" The next day I confirmed the ballot inclusion with a friend who is a voting member of NARAS, and he sent me a copy of the offical ballot.

Since then, I've been sending positive thoughts out into the universe, and asking everyone to do the same. Since I was a child, from age 13, I knew music was my destiny, my career path for my life, and more so, something I knew I had to do and needed. I attended a concert by a singer named Russ Taff (who is actually a 3 time Grammy winner), and my life was changed. My father took my brother and I, and I was mesmerized by what I heard, what I saw. The sounds, the way they touched my soul and affected me. It was magical, and to this day still is. One of my favorite records by Russ Taff was called Medals. The songs and the sound of that record was created by a producer named Jack Joseph Puig (also a Grammy winner). As I grew up, I listened to many of his records he produced. He recently did one of John Mayer's records, and is currently working with one of my best friend's, Ashley Clark, and his brother's "The Clark Brothers," who won last year's Fox's "Next Great American Band".

So whichever way the cards fall tonight, whether I make it from ballot to nominee. It's been an amazing ride, and it's not over yet either. That's the great news of it all. I never thought I'd be this close to achieving a Grammy Award for something I created. I have friends that have won Grammys that I've held in my own hands, but this moment, this time, is so very beautiful and exciting for me.

Tonight one of my best friends is throwing a Grammy party for me, for the achievement of making it as far as I have, and if it's in the stars for me tonight, we will celebrate a nomination too.

Thank you all for your beautiful words of encouragement over the last few months.
I appreciate each and every one of you who have taken the time to reach out and express your thoughts to me.

Have a blessed and amazing day, don't EVER give up on your goals and aspirations, and may your wildest dreams come true...