The Voice: Dan Palmere's Blog

Welcome!

I'm Dan Palmere (last name pronounced, "paul-mary"). 

I originally created this blog on the first day of 2009 to promote personal business ventures. One year later, I became aware that it has additionally transformed into a tool to explore how to live with an open heart and mind in a world that is growing increasingly troubled. Before we can solve the world's problems as a whole, we must first begin to examine our own lives. 

There is a lot to explore through future postings. Thank you for taking the time to read and provide comments throughout the 2nd anniversary of The Voice. My focus of this blog, among other topics, is to bring awareness and contentment into everyday life for my readers. I look forward to hearing from you. 

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More about me:

I'm passionate about helping others. 

 An important value for me that I am learning to embrace is to give without expecting anything in return, including recognition. I've found that more joy and peace can be brought into our own life through consideration and care for other people.

I'm passionate about music and the arts. 

I appreciate the aesthetic value in everyday things. I go through music phases of only listening to one particular artist at a time. I love being a part of an audience witnessing a moving performance. I'm an advocate for art and music education in schools. I enjoy composing poetry and appreciating film.

I'm unsettled with my direction in life and learning to embrace uncertainty.  

Here's a few guiding points I've come up with: See things from different points of view. Embrace the power of now. Travel the earth. Do things that excite or scare me. See things that startle me. Take my parents out to dinner. Challenge myself. Make a positive difference in people's lives through awakening to inner peace. 

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My Offerings:

• Dan Palmere Jazz Ensemble
• Music Preparation Service
• Voiceovers
  

*See contact forms on the left side of this page for further information regarding services.

Giving thanks helps your psychological outlook

In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I thought I would share this topical piece: a collection of psychology research reports in this article point to the fact that by exhibiting gratitude in our everyday lives, we can experience a more heathly and positive outlook on life. You may begin to feel more alert, alive, interested, and enthusiastic.

Some ways to begin, as suggested by the article:

Gratitude journal/diary

• List weekly or nightly what you are thankful for.      
• Write down 3 things that went well on a particular day and why they went well. 

Letter of thanks

• You have one week to write and deliver in person a letter of gratitude to someone who has been especially kind to you, but you never thanked. 

 

The Return: A Thanksgiving Day Special

Well, almost a year has passed since my last blog post. Where have I been and why haven't I updated the blog?, you may be asking yourself. I can assure you that the hiatus has proven to be rewarding; it was a time to refocus, organize, learn and most importantly, to live in the moment. My time away allowed me to explore new places in the country and reflect, being on the road for around 6 months throughout the United States.

I am glad to be posting again, beginning today. Looking over the blog for the first time since last year, I noticed that while previous posts were informative, they came across presumptuous at times. I hope to be more aware of that while writing in the future. I also hope to keep everyone informed of more happenings in my life, as many things are beginning to shift around. 

On this Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful for the many blessings given to me in my life: family, friends, talents, health and life. This is always a good day to take an inventory in your life and realize how much you actually have to be thankful for, even if certain things may be disguised as blessings.

Thank you for reading. May you have a blessed and joyous Thanksgiving Day and weekend! 

Yours truly,

Dan 

 

Study Links Emotional and Neural Responses to Musical Performance

I'm always interested in the learning more about the "science" behind music and how it affects people. It's one thing to learn the theory and apply it, but digging deeper, it's amazing to hear what research has shown in regards to music and it's impact upon the brain.

Two fascinating reads that I'd reccomend if you're interested in the subject are:

1. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and The Brain by Oliver Sacks
2. This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin

Of course, there are volumes of other published works available, but these two have seen a lot of success and critical acclaim.

In the meantime, check out this article. [From the heading]: 

"It is well known that music arouses emotions. But why do some musical performances move us, while others leave us flat? Why do musicians spend years perfecting the subtle nuances that bring us to tears? Scientists at Florida Atlantic University have now identified key aspects of musical performance that cause emotion-related brain activity, and they have shown for the first time how these performance nuances work in the brain, in real-time."

Photo Credit: Antenna

Gig Report

The performance this past Friday evening is one for the books. I sang with a trio consisting of piano, bass and drums for a large corporate dinner and awards show.

The venue was in the final stages of setup as I arrived and I was immediately blown away at the elegance and detail put into the process. The room was at the newly renovated Peabody Hotel on International Drive in Orlando. There was a sound crew already there getting a mix, which was a true blessing to us. It's always strenuous to haul everything in and set levels yourself.

We were led to our own private green room before the performance, which was garnished with a full spread of food and a waiter. It was all so overwhelming. 

The performance part was a lot of fun; we played shorter sets as people filtered in and sat at their tables and also between times when announcements were being made, awards given and meals served. The band was set up on a stage at the front of the room. 

I felt a lot more confident going into this performance and was more deliberate and clear with my cues to the band and melodic embellishment choices. There's still room for improvement, but I felt really good after we finished our final set. I think it had to do with the way we were arranged on stage; we could all really see each other well and more importantly, hear each other.

Hopefully this will lead to some more performance opportunities in the future. I'm learning so much through each one and meeting some incredible people along the way.

Thanks for reading! Have a blessed and safe Christmas season/weekend.

 

The room we performed in. The stage is at the back.

Gig Tonight

Dear friends, 

I'm pleased to report that after only a week, I'm on my way to my second professional performance in the Orlando-area. After shaking off some of the dust from the first performance and 'test-driving' the charts, I feel a bit more confident going into this one. 

I'll be singing as part of a trio (voice, piano, bass) for an annual corporate dinner and awards show at the newly-renovated, Orlando-icon: Peabody Hotel. There should be a fair number of attendees and I'm bringing my A-game. We'll be performing some classic jazz standards and Christmas favorites.

Again, if I'm able to take a few photographs, I'll post them here soon along with the report.

Have a blessed and safe weekend. Merry Christmas! 

The Peabody Hotel, Orlando, FL

Gig Report

Well, Friday night's gig at the Colony House in Lake Whales was a true delight. 

After moving back to Orlando in September, I was beginning to wonder where or when my first performance would be. The location was absolutely beautiful; the facility was set-back from the main road and the room we performed in was garnished with elegant decor, serving staff, and food/wine tables. Unfortunately, we couldn't use cell phones, or else I'd have a few pictures to post.

Our ensemble set up and we played three sets of music through 9:30PM, when the host asked if we'd play for a bit longer, which we were delighted to do. It was an honor to work with the musicians I did on this particular performance. All of them were well-accomplished players and pushed me to perform to the best of my ability. I'll admit, I was a bit nervous coming into my first professional performance (outside of Berklee, of course), but, nonetheless, we recieved many compliments throughout the night from various guests and even had some couples out on the dance floor.

I'm starting to keep a journal for gigs to record the details of the night and my thoughts about my performance, how I can improve, etc. This way, I can track my progress over the years in coming performances. 

All in all, a great learning experience and wonderful opportunity to launch my professional career in music. Stay tuned for details about my next gig this coming Friday (12/17).

Have a safe and blessed week.

Gig Tonight

Dear friends, 

In the midst of working, improving my craft and paying my dues in the Orlando-area, I've booked my first gig for tonight. The event is a private holiday celebration at the legendary Colony House at Mountain Lake in Lake Whales, FL. 

I'll be performing Christmas and jazz standards, backed by a talented quartet consisting of: saxophone, piano, bass and drums.

I'm excited to get out there and perform again and grateful for all I've learned over the past few years which has prepared me well for tonight.

Thanks for all your support. If I'm able to take pictures there, I'll post them later. 

The Colony House, Lake Whales, FL