Sunday, November 29, 2009

Merry Christmas!

Hey...I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving!
We were in NYC to pick up Emma from school and we stayed to watch the parade and have our usual Hard Rock Cafe Thanksgiving dinner.
Since we were all home we went out and cut down our Christmas tree yesterday. Emma selected it because she liked that it was wide. It was wide, alright. When we got it home it looked HUGE in our small living room. I didn't even have enough lights to cover the whole thing. I put all the strands we have on it last night and the needles were so sharp they kept making little holes in my hands. You should see...my hands and fingers are all red today! When I finish the job later today I'm going to wear gloves!
So the tree is up and will be decorated by this evening....now all we need is some snow! Then it will REALLY feel like Christmas-time!

Monday, November 16, 2009

Okay..so once in a while I google my own name!

....and sometimes I find some really cool stuff that I didn't know was out there....like this blog from Vermont which was written by someone who attended our Dartmouth Hop-Stop Series concert about a year ago.
Thank you, Bettina! Hope to see you again sometime!

http://damnyankeevermont.blogspot.com/2008/10/judy-pancoast.html

House on Christmas Street Contests

Hey all you crazy decorating types!
There are currently TWO contests out there for homeowners who are using The House on Christmas Street in their synchronized lighting shows this year.
First, check out www.planetchristmas.com. I've talked about this site before as THE go-to site for decorating enthusiasts. There's a wonderful community there who are more than willing to share their expertise and help you get going in the world of mega-decorating. The site holds an annual decorating contest and this year there is a category for The House on Christmas Street. Go there and check it out!

The other contest is being run by http://www.litefavorites.com/christmas, an internet Christmas radio station. They are giving away copies of my CD to their winners. Check out the details on their website!

And good luck!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Christmas Time's a Comin'

Hello!
Well, the turkeys are still in hiding and the Christmas decorations are out in the stores! I hear rumors floating around that certain radio stations are going "All Christmas" sometime soon...and so I come to you with my yearly request for your requests!
PLEASE begin calling early and often and request The House on Christmas Street at your local station...even if they only play one Christmas song an hour.
If the station says they don't have a copy, please get the name of the contact person and their address and I will mail one out right away.
This blog is going to automatically show up on Facebook, and so I especially implore my FB friends near and far to please take the time to email or call your favorite station...especially all you PC and Lonestar Holidays folks!
This song has already made it farther than I ever thought it would all because of people like you...yes, you! You who have used it in your home displays, already got some of your local stations playing it, requested it on internet stations, written about it, blogged about it and told your friends about it. Now it just needs that extra little push to make it a hit.
Someone asked me recently how I will know that its a hit.....well, one way will be when I actually start getting royalties from it being played on radio stations. So few stations play it now that I really don't get much at all. Not even enough for ASCAP to cut me a check! The only way that will change is if there really is a grass roots campaign of people calling and requesting it. Think of it...that's how "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" became a hit. It was played in a California radio market for seven years before it finally "broke out." We can do the same! I know so many of you love the song because you have written to me about it! So please take this extra step.
I also want to let you know that this year I will not be selling my own CD of the song to make way for the new SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS 2009 CD that features it, along with other Christmas songs by artists like Huey Lewis & the News, Stephen Bishop, Richard Marx and more. This CD is to benefit William Shatner's Hollywood Horses Charity which pairs special needs kids with horses and does great things for them. I donated my song to this project because I believe in it and, let's face it, it's pretty cool to see my name on the same label as Huey Lewis!!
Thank you for all you have done so far and all you continue to do. Being a self-employed indie artist is a risky proposition and can sometimes be kind of scary, but your emails and comments of support...and of course, the laughter and smiles of the kids...really make it possible for me to keep going even when times are tough. I could never thank you enough!!
Please be sure to let me know if your local station needs a copy of The House on Christmas Street!