John Lennon and CMAS and CRAS and Maricopa and on and on and on, all in April

The month of April was a pretty busy one for CMAS.  Even beyond our normal "busy."

Last Friday (4/19/13) we had the John Lennon Education Tour Bus (www.LennonBus.org) come to CMAS.  It was an amazing day to say the least.  The bus is a kind of mobile recording and film studio.  All in line with Lennon's basic philosophy on the importance of Arts education.

With CMAS in the mix is was certainly a different kind of tour date for the guys who run the bus, as we do what they do every day - just not in a mobile facility.  But in a lot of ways that is what made it so good for the CMAS students.

This was a fantastic opportunity for the students to draw direct ties to career options they can pursue in the future.  The students were blown away by the bus and the people on it and their expertise, but much of the day was spent talking to those experts about the industry.  About getting jobs like theirs. About how they can control their musical destinies and futures if they choose to do so.  It was really a wonderful experience.

So how did we get the Lennon bus to CMAS?  Well that was due to the recommendation of some of my friends at CRAS (The Conservatory Of Recording Arts And Sciences - http://www.audiorecordingschool.com) particularly Robert Brock.  The bus was going to CRAS that week anyway and he told their tour manager that as long as they were in town they must stop by CMAS.  So cool of Brock, and frankly very flattering, that he would consider CMAS an essential Phoenix destination for them.

And earlier in the week, CMAS as at CRAS anyway, for our now yearly "pilgrimage."  I've talked about this in other posts, but in brief, CRAS is very much the logical next step for many of my CMAS students.  The connects they make are just awesome.  I love taking CMSAS students there if only as it gives them some real perspective on the entire CMAS program and why I created it, and just what it can lead to.  It's always very gratifying.

The previous Friday (4/12) we did a huge show at the Maricopa Fairgrounds.  It was another awesome night for CMAS as we pushed the skills of not just our perfumers but also our producers, as we did some more testing of new gear and new processes to make our shows even more exciting but also more logistically simple - all in an effort to be able to do even more shows in the future.  Things are looking very good indeed in that regard.  More soon...

The week prior, Friday (4/5) we did another show in our Black Cat  series. I love that place.  It's not a big production for us, but it allows CMAS to stretch out a good bit without all the pressure of some of our more extravagant production shows.  It's become a very important regular gig for us.

"Works in Progress vol. 3" also came out in the first weeks of April.  And we did a bunch of things on Arcadia's campus too.  Oh, and the original Musical from last weekend, and the subsequent gig this past Wednesday at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts.

Ok...wow!  That's a lot.  And we're not done.  What's really cool is that we are at a point now with CMAS were we can do so much, and they students do it all so well, that it feels like we are not really restricted.  Makes me almost wanna start revealing what I have planned for the not distant future for the program.  Almost.  Ha!

I will say this though:  In may we will play Black Cat on 5/10 and then a huge show at Arcadia (Song Writer Night) on 5/17.  We will also release "Works in Progress vol 4" in late May, along with hopefully (I hope I am not jinxing things) some additional CDs of both CMAS Live and Studio work.  Oh, and a slew of lunchtime shows on the main CMAS stage as we head into the end of the school year.

And yet, for all that, it's nothing compared to what's coming.  Really.  But I've already said too much.

More soon.  I promise.  You won't believe it....