Jen grew up in the 90’s listening to a mix of her parents’ collection of classic rock and pop/rap hits of the era.  She started playing piano at age 7, and quickly moved to bass guitar.  Drums and guitar followed suit, as her taste in music started growing to punk, metal, ska, grunge, and hip-hop.  She played bass in a rock band through high school.  She got great reviews in local papers, and was frequently invited to sit in on sessions. The band nominated her to do the business end of things as well.  She learned to book and promote, and even put on a music and arts festival at age 16 in her hometown. She decided to pursue these two trades as a career, and attended Berklee College of Music.  She played in a few bands through college as well; touring, gigging, sessions, booking, and writing music. She graduated with a degree in music business and principle in electric bass with a 3.7 GPA in 2008.  After spending the summer interning at Hopeless Records, she moved to Nashville. The next four years sawJenbooking at a local nightclub, bringing tours through like Fear, Agent Orange, iwrestledabearonce, Powerman 5000, Asking Alexandria, DRI, Animals As Leaders, OTEP, All Shall Perish, Deez Nutz, Emmure, Psyopus, Veil Of Maya, Dr. Know, ABK, The Faceless, Born Of Osiris, and The Murder Junkies.  Following the club experience she did some time at a label booking a European Tour for songwriters who have written hits for Jamie Johnson, Tina Turner, Phil Vassar, Kenny Chesney, Trisha Yearwood, and Brooks and Dunn.  Finally, she booked talent for an online music video channel booking acts like Yelawolf, Waka Flocka Flame, Big KRIT, MIMS, Afroman, Liquid Stranger, EOTO, Andrew WK, The Cancer Bats, Andy Shernoff, Cheetah Chrome, Chuck Ragan, The Coathangers, Lucero, and Polkadot Cadaver.

Jen is very happy to be part of the Notes For Notes team.  She hopes to bring a wealth of musical knowledge as well as business savvy to foster the kids and organization’s growth.  She believes sharing the gift of music teaches us not only academic, but life skills as well.

Jack Johnson and Zach Gill Jam at MusicBox East (2010)
Check out Part 1 of Jack Johnson and Zach Gill Jamming when they stopped by the before their SB Bowl Show. Visit the page for the rest of the footage.
Click Here for an article on the visit from the SB Newspress.

Jack Johnson and David Crosby with Rod and Phil

Steve Miller teaches “Jet Airliner” (2011)
Check out some footage from when Steve stopped by the MusicBox before he performed for N4N at the Seymour Duncan 35th Anniversary Benefit for Notes for Notes.
Click Here for an article about the concert in the SB NewsPress

P-Nut Jams and Talks Life (2011)
Check out some footage from P-Nut (311) when he stopped by MusicBox Studio East and West.
Click Here for an article in the SB Independent

N4N Participants Hang with Immortal Technique (2011)
Participants recently hung with Immortal Technique before his show at Casa De La Raza for some tips, critiques and wisdom from the Hip-Hop world.
Click Here for an article from the SB Independent.

C-Rush with Immortal Technique

Ziggy Marley Performs at the MusicBox Studio (2009)
Ziggy stopped by the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Barbara to play a few tunes before his SB Bowl show.
Click Here for an article from the SB Independent

Ziggy performing and signing autographs

Glen Phillips Songwriting Session (2011)
Check out some footage from Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket) visit to MusicBox Studio West.

Robin Thicke visits MusicBox Studio East (2009)
(Photo courtesy of Paul Wellman)
Click Here to read the article in the Independent

Robin listens and gives feedback on Luis’ track

Martin Gore hangs at N4N
 

Martin, Caesar and Phil

Martin, Rod and Phil

BackStage at the Lobero Theater
N4N Participants have had the privilege of hanging with Derek Trucks and Cat Power.

N4N with Derek Trucks

Amanda and Karisma with Cat Power

Alan Parsons at the MusicBox Studio
Pictures coming soon! 

2011 Rewind-A look back at an epic year

Whether you are just joining us or have been following from the beginning let me recap the amazing 2011 year Notes for Notes had…it was a BIG ONE! We opened two studios, grew to a national organization and threw some incredible events with the Steve Miller Band andMartin Gore.

Westside MusicBox Opens!

February saw the completion and opening of the newest MusicBox to the Notes for Notes arsenal inSanta Barbara. We began talks on this studio in 2009 and active development later that year, however it would take almost two years before we would strum the first guitar and spin the first record in this new studio. Our mothers always told us…” All good things come to those who wait” Agreed! The new MusicBox also meant we needed to expand the team and we were lucky to find our new Program Director inTaylor Hurtadoand Booking Agent in Dakota Gartner. Check out some press from the Grand Opening! Click to Play (will open video in another window)

P-Nut rocks the studios!

The folks over at Seymour Duncan do so much for us from outfitting all our guitars to the big show to some amazing introductions. Our good friend Evan Skopp reached out to P-Nut (bass player for 311) considering SD endorses him and asked if he might be interested in stopping by the Notes’ MusicBox Studios when he had time. That time was in May of 2011. P-Nut came up from LA specifically to hang in both studios, jam and offer his words of wisdom on music and life! He is also one of our newest Advisory Board members. Thanks to Evan Skopp,Peter Rasplerand P-Nut for hooking up an amazing experience! Check out the video recap!

Steve Miller Band and Seymour Duncan Rock it for Notes for Notes

There were about 600 of you that had the opportunity to experience what was perhaps one of the most special concert events Santa Barbarahas seen. In commemoration of Seymour Duncan’s 35^th Anniversary of making the world’s best pickups a benefit concert was conceived to support Notes for Notes and celebrate SD. Thanks to Cathy Duncan and Maricela Juarez (MJ) they were able to secure The Steve Miller Band as our headliner…Yes THE Steve Miller Band. Steve is a big supporter of youth music and stepped up to kick start what will be an annual concert with Seymour Duncan to benefit Notes for Notes. Keep your eyes out for announcements of this years show and check out the recap of the 2011 show including performance by N4N participants who opened for Steve.

Nashville Bound

Still whirling from the success of the Seymour Duncan Steve Miller Band show, Notes for Notes began the final leg of the Nashville expansion. After 3 very successful trips to Nashville over the past 8 months I packed up a Uhaul trailer and made the drive along a south bound route through Austin andNew Orleans. Now a national organization, this is only the beginning. Call it the Notes for Notes Tour, can anyone guess where the next stop is? After a few months of painting, carpeting, wall postering and equipping we opened the first of two (possibly 3) Nashville MusicBox Studios in collaboration with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee. The first is located at the Andrew Jackson clubhouse and is made possible by some really great folks and organizations including the Hot Topic Foundation, Gibson Foundation, KRK/Stanton, Seymour Duncan, KVB S.A.C.K Foundation, Peavey, Propellerhead, Avid, Thirdman Records and Jack White, Sheryl Crow, MV Pro Audio, SM Pro Audio and Line 6. Check out some of the pics and video from the Grand Opening (even though the official opening was in Feb 2012) Click to play (will open in another window)

Martin Gore spins the 1,2’s for Notes for Notes and New Noise again

We ended the Year as we should with a party… a fundraising party which was also especially celebratory for us considering the huge year we have had.Martin Gorewho remains one of our most influential and active Advisory Board Members (as well as a close friends) came back for round 2 to DJ the Holiday Soundcheck to benefit Notes for Notes and New Noise Music Foundation! It was another great event thanks to Jeff Theimer and the New Noise and Notes for Notes’ teams. We raised great support and awareness. Can’t wait to see what 2012 brings for this event! Thanks to Martin, Jonathan Kessler and all of the folks and businesses who donated to the silent auction. Check out the video recap!

N4N Participants Rock it… Everywhere!

2011 also provided opportunities for our next generation of musicians to hit the streets and pay LIVE! From opening spots at our big fundraiser with Seymour Duncan and The Steve Miller Band and Zion I at Velvet Jones to Santa Barbara’s Fiesta celebrations. One of our goals is to provide outlets for our musicians to perform, get out there and show the world the skills they have been honing in the MusicBox Studios.  Check out some footage from the Fiesta performance.

You can imagine that if I were to list every amazing thing that happened in 2011 you would have to take a few days off from work to read the full recap. I realize that you don’t have that kind of time (and that this has already eaten the better part of a lunch break) so feel please checkout the N4N Facebook for the daily updates and the video page for loads of cool vids HERE. A very special thank you to everyone that supported us in 2011 and continues to support us; The Hot Topic Foundation, The Wood Claeyssens Foundation, Santa Barbara Foundation,Matthew FisherFoundation, Johnson Ohana Foundation, Towbes Foundation, Gibson Foundation, Seymour Duncan, KRK/ Stanton, Numark/ Alesis/Akai, and our dedicated Board of Directors (Rod, Michael, Anna, Ian, Matt, Eric, Jeff and Natalie) as well as our Advisory Board including now members in 2011-P-Nut and Alan Parsons.  Thank you all for a great year and here’s to looking forward to a great 2012!

Lets see… “S” is for Springsteen, another for “Sons, as in Mumford and…, the “W” for White as in Jack White and the “X”…? It started off heading south west on Southwest and… (you can see where I am going with this) headed to SXSW for the first time.  Every year at this time the music industry descends on Austin, TX for panels educating on all aspects of music, showcases and parties featuring new bands and huge bands (Jack White, Delta Spirit, Tom Morello, 50 cent…) Needless to say you can’t go anywhere with out seeing and hearing music from all genres. On one corner a giant Doritos vending machine with a stage inside and on the other a 3 stage MTV festival that the day before was a vacant parking lot. For every amazing show I saw there was an equally amazing intro I made at the conference.

As enjoyable as the music was (which I will get to) my trip to SXSW was to all about building more relationships for Notes for Notes within the industry. As I am sure all you know, Notes for Notes is no stranger to serendipity. Our good friend Brendan at Receptive Music (who built the N4N site you are on now) picked me up at the airport on Wed…and three strangers. The line for a cab was absurd, encroaching on 3 hrs so Brendan with 3 empty seats offered them up to some folks who also happened to have just come in from Nashville. What are the odds? Well…probably pretty good considering the amount of Nashville music industry populatingAustin, however, what are the odds that one of our passengers was an agent at CAA inNashville! CAA is a huge talent agency with offices everywhere and would be a great resource for not only artist intros but also to educate our participants on another side of the music industry. Not only that, I ran into Matthew (our CAA passenger) again at the CAA SXSW party the next day and chatted further about some collaborations.

And it just got better from there with some very relevant panels for N4N. I checked out one called “Doing Good, Doing Better” featuring Marika from Arcade Fire, My Morning Jackets manager Mike Martinovich, Mike Mills from HeadCount and Erin Potts from ATC (connecting Artists with causes). Very interesting panel about how Artists can align themselves with causes they are passionate about for campaigns, concerts, etc. Managed to connect with everyone post panel. Marika who support causes forHaitiwith Arcade Fire mentioned they might be doing something similar to N4N in Haiti(N4N Haiti?) I also have to write up a little blog about my valet component of the N4N history for a post on Headcount.org-so look for that soon. After that panel, I swung by a Delta Spirit show (great band if you haven’t checked them out yet and hopefully they can swing by our Nashville MusicBox studio in April) That night I lucked out with the SXSW lotto and got to see Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band (all 16 of them) at the ACL Moody theater (>2500 cap) What a show!!! (worthy of way more than 3 exclamation points, so here is a few more)!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never seen a performer like him before. Every song had the energy that a final song would for any other band. The Boss even crowd surfed. Here is a few pics and video from that night in which Jimmy Cliff, Eric Burden and Tom Morello also joined him on stage.

Friday was a long… but epic day. I think I logged in between 5-10 miles of pavement walking. Started off with some early morning intimate performances for radio at the W hotel with Tom Morello and James Mercer from the Shins. I didn’t get a chance to talk with Tom about N4N but did with his rhythm guitar player. Caught an interesting panel about “garage recording” and connected with the Avid artist relations rep. Avid supported N4N last year with some PT9 licenses yet I didn’t have a direct contact… now we do. Post panel I watched some of Gary Clark Jr perform and hung with Mr. Eric Shiflett (who along with Jeff Theimer schooled me in the ways of SXSW) In the afternoon I caught our friend Brendan’s panel on Direct to Fan marketing, which was packed-glad to see a great turnout. After the panel I connected with our friend Benji at Pledge Music whom we are currently brainstorming some collaborations with. I also met Emily White there who manages Brendan Benson (The Raconteurs). Brendan is also aNashvilleresident and has a studio there called “Welcome to 1979” so hopefully we can get him involved. The day rounded out with some conversations with the Marley headphone folks about getting some units donated for the studios and last but far from least…the THIRDMAN RECORDS SXSW showcase. It was great to catchup with the Thirdman guys (Ben and Julien) and see Jack perform. If you get the chance you have to catch him on tour. He performs with two bands; an all female and then an all male and is a constant reminder of a man devoted to his craft. His tastes are so eclectic so there is something for everyone! Plus John C. Reilly made an appearance with some originals.

Friday seemed like two days, from the walking to the 20 hrs of just being awake in downtownAustin. However, Saturday brought an interesting panel on the “Values of Vinyl” and an introduction to Jay at United Record Pressing (inNashville). Hopefully we can bring groups over to tour the factory and see how records are made plus learn about the history of it all. Very interesting panel that hammers home the tactile relationship that can exist between music and a fan. Thanks to our relationship with Thirdman Records youth inNashvilleare getting turned on to NEW music all together because of the medium. I think I am going to get a record player for the release of Jack’s new album!

Saturday ended with a bang and a screening of Emmett Malloy’s “Big Easy Express”- a documentary following Mumford & Sons and Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros on their concert tour along the railroad across the south west. Great film and congrats to Emmett who also heads up Brushfire Records withJack Johnsonand helped coordinate Jack’s visit to our one of our SB MusicBox Studios a few years back. Following the screening, Mumford and Edward Sharpe performed. For those that have never seen Mumford & Sons perform…you got to catch them at some point- they know how to put on a show! Here is a little iphone footage of them performing a new track. I bet you can still catch the performance somewhere on myspace too.

Crazy, busy, loud, productive, fun, epic and rewarding just about sums up my first SXSW experience. Not a day goes by that I don’t feel lucky I get to do Notes for Notes and it is surreal experiences like this that amplify that reminding. Who would have thought this fledging organization would be expanding nationwide and I would be roaming the music industry inundated streets ofAustin,TXfurthering awareness. Thank you to everyone that has gotten us this far and continues to help us grow! To echo Edward Sharpe’s closing message from Saturday “this is for everyone who is here… and for everyone that isn’t” And I got a free pair of shoes from Vans!

Let Music Live!

-Phil

In advance we thank you for your support Nashville as you have embraced the organization and made it possible for us to do what we do. Stop by on February 2, 2011 between 3:30-6:30pm to learn more about Notes for Notes, see the studio and remember what it would have been like to have these resources as an aspiring musician.

The MusicBox Studio is located inside the Andrew Jackson Boys & Girls Club at 916 16 Ave N, Nashville, TN 37208

AND if you have musical instruments (guitars, drums, keys/synths, turntables, computers, digital music creation tools, studio gear, or something really cool) that you would like to donate please bring them as we are currently developing a second Nashville MusicBox at the Preston Taylor Boys & Girls Club.

Look forward to seeing you there!

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Please contact Philip Gilley (Executive Director/ Founder) with any questions at 805-318-3657 or phil@notesfornotes.org.

A guitar players dream! Don’t you wish you had access to a guitar “playground” like this when you were younger? Well, that’s why we do what we do and why Gibson has stepped up to support as well. The next generation of musicians now get a chance to learn on the best. We are honored to have their generous support in Nashville and look forward to building a long term relationship as Notes for Notes continues to grow nation-wide.

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