Here’s To A Great 2008!

Hey everyone! I just wanted to send out my best wishes to you for a great 2008. I know this is going to be a great year. I have a lot in the works with new songs, recordings, television shows, and concerts. Also, I made some new years resolutions that I am really going to stick to. 2008 is not only going to be a big year for my music but for myself as a person. So make sure you hold strong to your new years resolutions, and I would love to hear what the are–so post them in a comment to this blog post if you feel like sharing!

Happy 2008! Let’s make it a great one.

All the best,
Chase

Letting People Go

Sometimes even when you still love someone you have to let them go. That is the problem I was facing recently. As much as I loved this girl, she had hurt me too many times and she had gotten enough chances. I couldn’t put myself through it anymore, and I had to start defending myself so that I didn’t get hurt anymore. Doing the right thing can be hard, but it has to be done. I am a changed person now though–I am not sure if I am weaker or stronger, but I know it’s for the better. I went through a lot and as much as I wish the ending could have turned out differently, I am happy it all happened. I learned a lot about myself and saw sides of myself that I had never seen before–and she is the one that brought that out. So I thank her for that. But if she is reading this, I have to say my final goodbye…goodbye. I wish all the best for you. I truly did love you.

Sincerely,
Chase

Click to hear the song, “Life’s Too Short,” written about this girl.

A Closer Look Behind the New EP, “Your Last Day Alive”

I wrote about the story behind my new EP, “Your Last Day Alive,” in my last post, but I wanted to give you an even deeper look into what inspired the songs and the message behind the EP. So below you’ll find a video I made. Hope you enjoy it.

The Story Behind the New EP, “Your Last Day Alive”

Chase Emery Your Last Day Alive coverIt all started out one day when someone made a comment that really hit me. I went to the store, bought Damien Rice’s album “9,” hopped in the car, and started driving north. I ended up driving through Big Sur to Monterey and must have listened to the CD at least 20 times. It made me think, was I being honest enough in my songs? Were my songs reflecting enough true emotions? Was I saying enough? I am thankful for the comment the person said to me that stuck in my mind, because it broke me down to a point where I could really get to know myself and what’s important in life. Following that, a girl entered my life and I fell hard. I never knew I could have such strong feelings and then she messed me up. I ended up writing some songs during this stage of my life that I feel were best expressed acoustically with a heavy focus on lyrics. More lyric-centered than anything I had written in the past. I wanted these songs to be honest, passionate, and painful–something everyone could listen and feel a connection to. The three songs from this EP were written, and the project was titled “Your Last Day Alive,” after a line in one of the songs, called “Life’s Too Short.” The title “Your Last Day Alive” was meant to be all the honest confessions and things you’d like to say if it was your last day alive. Oddly enough, the EP was finished on 9/11.

I didn’t record these songs for any commercial reasons. I didn’t write them to sell. I wrote them simply because they meant a lot to me and in case I died, I didn’t want them to die with me. I encourage you to take a listen and see if these songs end up meaning anything to you, the way they mean something to me. Maybe someday I will tell you what the person said or who the girl is that inspired these songs.

Click here to listen to the songs.

Chase

An iTunes Review of My New Album, “Definition”

I constantly check my page on iTunes to see which songs are the most popular and to see if anyone recently reviewed my new album, “Definition.” I ran into one review the other day of “Definition” that I thought was very nice and wanted to share it with you.

The review was from StudioWiz and read,

“A solid album from Chase Emery where you can see a vast improvement from his previous EP’s. The first song of the record ‘I Can’t Wait‘ immediately hooks your ear and reels you in. Each song here displays solid writing, infectious hooks and great production. The most standout track would have to be ‘Fragile,’ a catchy, pulsating tune in the style of classic U2. Another standout in my opinion is the track ‘Hallelujah,’ with its moving piano lines that drive a sense of urgency. ‘Marry You‘ sounds cheesy but its actually a great track with its jazz influence and upright bass, also includes some clever lyricism about Plato and Aristotle. ‘I Don’t Know,’ is a track of epic (literally) proportions with its rich, soaring orchestra and vocals.

“‘Underappreciated‘ is a little slow and dragging, but is sure to make your mother melt. ‘I Miss You‘ is an incredibly sad tale of losing a lover, while ‘Stand Right by Me‘ will have you feeling good.

“Overall, this is a solid effort. May drag just a tad, but a solid first full length album release from 19 year old Chase Emery. This kid will be going places, I’m glad I’ve got a solid copy of this record. Hasn’t left my car stereo in weeks!”

It was nice to read what he had to say about my music, and please don’t you forget to go to iTunes and write a review of my new album, “Definition.”

- Chase Emery -

Kids Groups Are Topping The Charts

So it seems like some of the most popular music out right now is music targeted at young teenagers between the age of 8 to 16 (I could be wrong on the exact ages). The past few times I have gone to iTunes the highest selling songs and albums have been from kids groups or groups focused at kids, like Aly & AJ, the Jonas Brothers, or High School Musical. I don’t think there is anything wrong with it, I just find it interesting. In fact, on the iTunes page for my new album, “Definition,” it said my listeners also bought Aly & AJ.

Personally, I don’t remember listening to many kids groups when I was younger. In junior high I was listening to bands like Crazy Town and 3 Doors Down. I was never into hearing what kids my age had to sing about. Music was more like an older brother that I could get advice from.

I feel like there have been less kid music stars over the last few years after Hanson and others who got their fame at a young age, but that the idea is starting to come back. We’ll just have to see how long it lasts and how long their careers last. It will be interesting to see if they continue with their fame throughout their adult years.

- Chase Emery -

Music Holds Us Together

Music has helped me get through some of the toughest times in my life. And I think deep down that’s why I really became a musician–hoping that I could help others get through their tough times. I’ll admit when I was younger I thought it would be cool to be a musician for the rock star life. But growing up that has become less important to me, and it’s not the girls or the parties that make me want to be a musician (like it might be for Kid Rock)–but it’s the hope that one terrible day a person can listen to my song, shed some tears, and realize they are not the only ones that have to go through that. We are all human and we can get through it together. We can move onto the next day, being stronger than yesterday.

Today I woke up to an email that said,

“Your music is beautiful. I found your track Fragile while looking for music to play at my brothers funeral. We played it and there was not a dry eye in the place. He, Danny, was 46 and an addict who left a 13 yr old son Tyler. We loved him so so much. My brother played the guitar and had a fascination with dead musicians. I guess now he is one.”

Another day a girl told me,

“So my dad left our family recently–and it’s been hard dealing with it and listening to my mom get upset late at night, and hear my sister cry whenever she hears a love song on the radio. I’ve been listening to “Fragile” a lot lately, and the more I listen the easier things seem to get. I know that it’s okay to get upset at what’s bothering me and what has hurt me. Going over the lyrics I’ve realized that just because I’m the oldest of my siblings and have a lot of responsibility doesn’t mean I should hold back what I’m feeling. ‘People say that wounds will heal, but a scar still gets left.’ Maybe I’ll always have a scar and looking at it will just make me think about the situation between my parents–but at least I’ll have music that tells me it’s okay.”

When I first played “Fragile” at a show in LA, a woman cried and told me something that I’ll never forget,

“The first time I heard this song was live at the knitting factory and it caught me totally off guard. Every word….it made me think of all that I’ve been through in my life–all the hurt, the losses, and how we move on but we never forget–the scars always do bring us back. My late husband always told me how proud he was that I was such an independent person and how he didn’t worry about me *if ever* anything happened to him. Well, when I lost him that kept me strong - but yet, as a caring human being I, like everyone, need someone, someone to lean on, to just hold me with no words spoken — taking all the pain in our hearts away. when I heard this song I immediately felt that it was written for me, as if someone had looked right into my heart and wrote about my life. While it made me remember how vulnerable i am it also made me remember how strong I am — where I’ve been and how I’ve got to where i am. :)”

So it’s not the girls or partying that makes me want to be a musician. It’s days like these when I know one of my songs helps someone and makes them feel like there’s still hope. That’s why I’m a musician.

Welcome to My New Website

If you’ve been to my site in the past, you’ve obviously noticed that there’s been a change. A completely new website! Why? While I really liked the look of my old site, the problem was that it was a static site, meaning, there really wasn’t the facility for me to post my thoughts, news, events, and general communication to my fans on it. Additionally, it didn’t allow you to comment back to me. Sure, I’ve got my MySpace and YouTube pages that are interactive, but my central website had no interactivity.

Please Subscribe for Email Announcements

I’d like to point out one important thing to take note of: many hundreds of you were subscribed to my announcement list when you entered your email address at my old site. This mailing list is no longer operational. But, you can easily subscribe again right now by finding the “Subscribe by Email” section in the sidebar and enter your email address once more. It just takes a few seconds. Then, you’ll be sure not to miss any new postings of importance. The feeds are delivered by Google’s Feedburner, which maintains your email address in complete privacy. And, on a selfish note, the more who subscribe, the better for me as it moves up the importance of my site on the internet and will help more people land on it when web surfing. So please, I hope you’ll take just a moment to subscribe.

So look around, listen to clips of my songs, and feel free to comment on the postings. There are more features planned for the future and I’ll be posting frequently.

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  • WHAT I'M DOING NOW...

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