If you saw yourself from a year ago, would "old" you even recognize "new" you? If you talked to yourself from a year ago, how many things would you have to explain or clear up? We changed. We all have. Some exponentially. The world is drastically different and so are our goals and aspirations. 

I am now learning German. I started playing the ukulele and the viola. I want to get my doctorate after I graduate from grad school. I started my own business and am getting ready to make it an LLC. I've changed. We've changed. 

I don't believe in coincidences, so I think we were built for these changes. I believe these changes were predesigned and there was no way that we would be able to accomplish our life mission and dreams without these changes. Some days were horrible and some days not so horrible. But everyday, we grew. And even now, every day we grow.

I am a storyteller. I love beginnings and middles (not so much endings, but they are okay, I guess). Illustrations and animation enhances the music and transports the viewer into a whole new world. It's one of my favorite things to do.

We are so excited to announce the newest addition to our little family, Animate with JAQ, which will feature illustrated and animated music videos, books, and short stories

The Greatest King That Is (Ebook) Amazon Kindle - Apple Books
Psalm 3
Greater Heights
kNow.

After the first Season of Music Matters with JAQ and the first 5 episodes of Vocalise! with JAQ, I took a break (of sorts). It was time to reassess the vision and plan for MMwJ.  Well, we do have a plan and a vision and it will continue to grow and change until it is fully realized. 

I hope you are as excited as I am.

The human voice is the instrument we are all born with... So whether or not you can afford instruments, you can still sing. Your voice is your first instrument. 

I am extremely excited to officially launch our 2nd Show on YouTube, Vocalise! with JAQ. It is a fully animated vocal warm-up show that features our Deep Matter host, AniJAQ. Join her in the Blu Room and learn a thing or two!

Our Youtube Page

I think we can all agree that The Rona turned our lives upside down and has caused us to change a lot of things in our lives. We had to quickly adjust, but we did. But, 2 weeks of quarantine turned into months and now we are hearing that things might be like this well into 2021. 

What about The Arts? 

I left my teaching job in January to start Grad School; then... COVID. I was working part time at a theatre in DC, but of course... COVID. Thankfully I am in a serious creative mode right now or I would have gone crazy the first week home. 

I watched a documentary last night about background singers. These singers sang behind The Rolling Stones, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder, Sting, David Bowie, Michael Jackson.. They did background work for some of our favorite Christmas songs, Disney movie themes, and even other Blockbusters. And even though most were black and started out by singing in church, each of them had a different story... 

After college, I began to direct at church and did so for a while. Many musicians and directors stood by me and I learned as much as I could from them. Glean. Decide what type of leader you want to be. Learn from others mistakes. Don't be afraid to be different. On and on, through mistakes, Sunday after Sunday, I continued to learn. To all of you, thank you for believing in me.

This is a continuation from my first post. I think there will be a Part 3. =)

 I don't have to tell you that The Arts are important. I'm sure you already know. You've heard the stories, you've seen the pie charts, and you know that children who play instruments are somehow magically better at Math (I LOVE Math, but know some great musicians who HATE Math.) All that aside, I really thought it needed to share an open letter of thanks to all the music teachers I have had over the years, and the lessons I learned from each experience. Let's start at the beginning and work our way to now.