JODY GNANT TO PARTICIPATE IN “PROMOTING MUSIC WITH PODCASTING” PANEL AT PODCAMP NYC

Independent musician and lifecaster Jody Gnant, who has been broadcasting her life 24/7 on the Internet at www.jodygnant.com since July of last year, has been confirmed as a panelist at Podcamp NYC, to be held Friday and Saturday, April 25 and 26, at Brooklyn Polytechnic University.

Podcamp NYC, billed as “an ‘unconference’ focused on educating participants on how to use, implement and share any/all new media tools including, podcasts, videocasts, blogs, Second Life, Facebook, and YouTube,” is free to attend, and a perfect match for Jody, who’s built a broad fan base on the Internet and is at the forefront of a group of indie musicians who are using social networking to further their music careers.

“The cool thing about Podcamp is that it encourages the sharing of information among individuals,” Jody says. “There is no ‘competition.’ We’re all braving Cyberspace together, and we know it.”

Jody had already planned to attend Podcamp on behalf of one her sponsors, Web site www.moguling.com, when she was asked to join the “Promoting Music with Podcasting” panel. She sees this opportunity as a way to conitnue building a bridge between music and technology. “The tech industry is a lot like the music industry,” she says. “We’re all rock stars at heart – and the Internet is the open road. It’s really quite the same thing, perhaps without all the drugs.”

Jody will join a panel that includes cyber-publicist Ariel Hyatt of Podsafe Digital Music Campaigns, Dan Herman of freeform Internet radio station Radio Crystal Blue, and Well-Rounded Radio host/producer Charles McEnerney. Jody plans to discuss, among other things, how musicians can utilize the Internet and various social media outlets to bring their music to an audience, as well as how to market and sustain themselves without the aid of a traditional record label. “Anything is possible now for an independent artist,” Jody says. “The Internet and new technologies have removed all of the boundaries that previously existed, and an artist’s success in today’s climate is directly tied to their willingness to embrace New Media.”

The “Promoting Music with Podcasting” panel is scheduled to take place on Friday, April 25, at 2 p.m.  For additional details on Podcamp NYC, visit www.podcampnyc.org.

Jody Gnant Jumps on Ice Cube’s Internet Channel and Sweeps a Casting Call Contest in 24 Hours

In a swift cyberspace coup, independent singer-songwriter, lifecaster, and “Bohemian Geek Soul” artist Jody Gnant corralled hundreds of voters and earned more than 1,500 star ratings for her photo in the last 24 hours of a casting call contest on rapper Ice Cube’s new social networking and video site, UVNTV (www.uvntv.com).

The Web site, which Ice Cube recently launched with his longtime collaborator, DJ Pooh, utilizes Microsoft’s new Silverlight technology to deliver media in real-time, and is being touted as “the world’s first real-time, online television network.” Channels include Snoop Dogg’s Snoopadelic TV and Ice Cube’s Hip-Hop 24/7 TV. UVNTV’s channels incorporate Dolby surround sound and DVD-quality resolution for live streaming video. The site also serves as a broadband social network for fans and burgeoning artists – members join for free and can post profiles, share ideas, and audition for shows.

It was the “Hollywood audition” casting call contest that first brought Jody Gnant’s attention to the site. Contestants were to submit head shots, and winners would be selected by the number of Internet votes they received. Jody clicked on a news link, saw the Web site and contest, and signed up on March 31 — the day before the Casting Call contest ended. Jody has been broadcasting her life 24/7, live on the Internet at www.jodygnant.com, since July 31, 2007. She’d built a broad fan base and social network during that time, and felt she could win the contest in a day. “I said to myself, ‘The person in the lead only has 150 votes. I can get that in one day from the visitors on the stream.’ It was the first real time we put the group we affectionately call, ‘The Legion’ to work on a specific all-or-nothing-project,” Jody says. ” But it was awesome.”

She quickly launched “Operation Cluster Vote” with her fans, campaigning for votes on her live stream at Ustream.com, on MySpace, Twitter, and any other means necessary by a quickly-assembled “virtual street team.” And it worked, garnering her enough votes to win the Casting Call contest – which had been going on for months – in one day.

It also grabbed the attention of UVNTV, who were baffled at the staggering number of votes she got so quickly, and asked her to explain her methods. “I’ve gained a ton of insight into virtual media, social networking and monetization over the last eight months of lifecasting — and I’ve been living and breathing the music business since I was a kid,” Jody says.

Once they realized how Jody had brought so many votes to UVNTV, the founders were excited. “[We're] glad that there are people who get sticky viral Internet marketing and use it to make accomplishments,” DJ Pooh says.

Jody’s excited at the prospects of working with UVNTV as well, and continuing to demonstrate her belief that “none of us are as powerful as all of us.”

“The Legion definitely won this contest. I could not have won it alone. When people ask me, ‘How is your life different because of the lifecast?’, I have a tangible example now,” Jody says. “This is an example of how all of us, together, made a difference in something.”

Visit Jody Gnant’s profile at UVNTV after registering for free, full access to the site at http://www.uvntv.com/join/jodygnant.

Jody Gnant on ABC 15 on Monday, March 31

Fans of Jody Gnant can catch her on the news Monday, March 31, when ABC 15 in Phoenix airs a segment on the Bohemian Geek Soul singer at 10 p.m. MST. The news crew shot footage of Jody and her band at rehearsal, and filmed an exclusive interview. Tune in locally, or visit www.abc15.com. Fans outside Phoenix might also be able to catch the news on ABC 15’s stream.

Jody Gnant to perform at the Phoenix Film Festival on April 5

The fast-action fury of Jackie Chan and Jet Li. A geriatric rock chorale. Whirlwind Wall Street romances. The “Bohemian Geek Soul” music of independent musician Jody Gnant.

Some things just go exceptionally well together – like movies and music. That’s one reason Phoenix singer-songwriter Jody Gnant has been asked to perform at the 2008 Phoenix Film Festival. The innovative artist is one of eight Valley music acts – including the Instant Classics, What Laura Says Thinks and Feels, and Black Carl — who’ll perform inside a 10,000 square-foot party tent over the first three nights of the festival.

The highlighted films at this year’s Phoenix Film festival include The Forbidden Kingdom (starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li), Young at Heart (the Sundance sensation about a fictional senior citizens chorus group), and the Wall Street romance Falling for Grace. And for Phoenix Film Festival President and Co-founder Chris Lamont, Gnant’s performance is among the musical highlights.

“Music is a huge part of making film work as an art form, and we want to use the festival opportunity to bring the biggest and brightest local music acts to the biggest and brightest independent filmmakers in the country,” Lamont says. “Jody Gnant is one of the bright stars in the Arizona music sky. We’re really excited to have her here.”

Gnant’s performance at the Phoenix Film Festival comes on the heels of a six-month buzz blitz following the release of her second record, Pivot, an album Village Voice Media praised for its “bluesy, funk-inflected material.” Gnant’s decision to open her life up to cyberspace via her 24/7 lifecast at www.jodygnant.tv has also landed her on the front page of news.com and The L.A. Times, along with national stories in The London Times, NPR, and a slew of other media outlets. Most recently, Gnant appeared on an episode of MTV’s Made as a performance coach for a self-conscious tomboy who wanted to sing onstage, and hit the streets of Austin for the South-By-Southwest music festival as a correspondent for Web site moguling.com. On March 30, the week of her performance at Phoenix Film Festival, Gnant will appear on ABC-15 News in Phoenix. Check www.abc15.com for information.

Jody Gnant performs live at the Phoenix Film Festival from 7 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 5, followed by The Instant Classics from 8 p.m. to midnight. Admission is free. Visit www.phxfilm.com or www.jodygnant.com for more information.

Gutterkitty’s two cents on SxSW fashion sense

Let’s talk fashion – specifically, music festival fashions. Now, I used to wear stuff in high school like giant, baggy, tie-dyed MC Hammer-esque pants, red Reeboks, and hot pink headbands — so obviously, I’m no fashion expert. But every time I come to Austin for SxSW, I notice various trends that simply baffle me.

For example, why do so many guys wear girls’ jeans? I have heard that this is part of the “emo” fashion trend — “emo” being a style of music where guys basically scream and whine over spiraling, repetitive guitar riffs about how some girl screwed them over. It’s a very un-macho genre of music. So I guess wearing girls’ jeans would fit with that whole shtick, but seriously, guys – your uh, “junk” doesn’t look very good crammed into denim so tight it looks painted on. How on Earth are you supposed to “adjust” yourselves? And your butts virtually disappear.

Here is an example of the “emo jean” thing:

I know the photo looks small, but it’s actually to scale (just kidding).

The afro was a big trend last year, and has made a kinky return this year. Everywhere I look, there are guys who look like a Chia pet exploded on top of their heads. The “band guy” look here still seems to be: big afro, scruffy stubble, and glasses. I blame trendsetter Jack Osbourne:

By the way, Jack Osbourne has lost a ton of weight and cut his hair since the above photo was taken. He looks awesome. So next year, I expect the ‘fro boys to look more like Justin Timberlake – I mean, Jack Osbourne:

The women’s fashion rage seems to be short skirts with knee-high, heeled boots. I hate this look only because I cannot pull it off without twisting my ankle, falling in a ditch, and exposing my uh, intimate apparel. I don’t do heels at all, unlike Jody, who’s been wearing them pretty much the whole time we’ve been here together (albeit without the short skirts – it’s freakin’ windy here at night, and lots of people are lying in the streets bemoaning how much they drank by Saturday night. They’re likely to look up from the gutter and see more than stars).

One thing I did see today that totally rocked my world was this guy with killer dreads, who was hanging around the Austin Convention Center:

Yes, they are real, and they actually hang down to his ankles. If Crystal Gayle ever dreadlocked her hair, it would prolly look something like this dude’s ‘do.

I’m interested to see what trends people are sporting at SxSW next year. By then, I should have my dreadlocked ‘fro, emo jeans, and knee-high boots all ready to go. I gotta stay a step behind, you know.

Now I gotta go dig my tie-dyed parachute pants out of my luggage.

On the lam from the ‘Dam

On the lam from the ‘Dam:

Just returned from a fantastic vacation with Jody Gnant in Amsterdam. After seven days of fun and (most recently) almost 20 hours of globe traversing, I’ve come to some realizations. Now, a good professional writer will tell you that the grit of any story is in the details. But a good professor of psychology will tell you that “brevity is the soul of genius.” I will attempt to give both grit andgenius in the blog entry that follows, but can promise neither in my current, frazzled state-of-mind. So let’s start with my realizations about some clichés:

“There’s no place like home.”

That is certainly true. But just because a place is like no other place, that doesn’t particularly mean it’s better than any other place. Amsterdam is an amazing city for many, many reasons. People seem to focus on those “tourist attractions” in the ‘Dam that stem from the city’s more lenient legal system about certain things, but there’s so much more to the city than that.

Art and music lovers, in particular, are drawn to the city, because it’s a mecca of international creative expression. On one corner, there might be a Parisian busker playing “Red, Red Wine” on an upright bass. On another corner, there might be a Dutch portrait artist with a small studio set up. Another corner might play host to an Indonesian flute player who’s placed her tip jar in front of her very cute dog.

And then there are the museums: Rijksmuseum, Rembrandt House, the Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh Museum – plus tons of shopping, restaurants, canal cruises, etc. So yeah – there’s no place like home, but there’s no place like Amsterdam, either. My goal is get Jody some gigs in Amsterdam and other places in Europe, because I’ve found that by and large, the audience for pop music (and singer-songwriters in particular) is much larger there, and people actively seek out new music.

When Jody gave one of her CDs to the clerk at one of the clothing stores on Nieuwdijk, the clerk and her friends looked genuinely interested in the music and happy to have a free CD. And not a single one of them mispronounced Jody’s last name. Jody’s heritage comes from European countries and she was happy to be “in ze fatherland” in Germany.

The fact that Jody tends to sleep all day and be up all night in the states makes me think that she’s just perpetually on European time. And I think Europe is a much better breakout market for Jody’s criminally underheard music than the U.S., where the market is flooded with so much blasé crap and consumers are sheep-herded and spoon-fed mediocrity.

“Home is where the heart is.”

Yep. It’s also where the bills, the jobs, and the everyday worries we go on vacation to escape are. Jody and I both needed this vacation for various reasons, and I would argue that while “home is where the heart is,” you can make anywhere you are “home,” and keep your heart with you. Jody and I made ourselves at home there. I think she was a bit taken aback by the Dutch’s lack of talkativeness – it’s not that they’re rude at all; they’re just not super-friendly and they seem to pay more attention to duty than dallying. But Jody took them equally aback with the random acts of kindness that are so intrinsic to her nature. On the outbound flight, we had a layover at O’Hare, where we met a poor young woman who had lost her wallet and been stuck at the airport all day, trying to figure out a way to rent a car or take a bus to her grandma’s house, with no money or ID. Upon hearing this, Jody didn’t hesitate to find out how much bus fare would cost and give it to the girl. In Amsterdam, Jody gave a girl on the street a whole cup of French fries because she didn’t like the mayo that was slathered all over them. She went out of her way to try to find somebody at Central Station who could use her bus ticket because she was done with it. She gave our friends on the train ride from Dusseldorf to Amsterdam a CD for each of them. She gave a police officer at the Philadelphia airport a bunch of hand and toe warmers.

And we made new friends. I got to meet Andrew from tradingnothing.com, who was just a great guy and so much fun to hang out with. The stuffed monkey he brought with him provided the most entertaining dinner I’ve ever had – the staff at the Italian restaurant where we ate, Peppino, fell in love with the monkey and ultimately traded Andrew a bottle of Chianti and four shots of Italian whiskey for the pillowed primate. We also met a Dutch-Irishman named Duncan at the train station in Dusseldorf (he actually helped to prevent us from getting on the wrong train), and got to spend all day Thursday with him as well. We had breakfast, we took a brief boat cruise, we went to the Anne Frank House, we walked around the park behind the Rijksmuseum, we had dinner, and we took lots of pictures.

So yeah. It was like home. Maybe even a little better.

“You can’t take it with you.”

Oh yes, you can (unless it’s liquid in a container that’s more than three ounces in your carry-on luggage). We bought plenty of stuff and took it with us. Jody bought some killer clothes at this place called Punky Fashion, and I had the joy of watching her try on outfits for almost two hours (no, I’m not being sarcastic; it really was a joy). I also bought a couple of things there. Dusseldorf had great shopping, too – that’s where I bought three pairs of shoes. I got two funky pairs of Converse high-tops (one’s a glittery blue paisley pattern, the other pair has skulls on them) and the ugliest Crocs I’ve ever seen. The color is a splatter-pattern mix of puse and dark blue, and there are Spiderman and robot buttons on them. They are sooo ugly. I love them. I figure if I’m gonna buy shoes in Dusseldorf, they should be striking enough – for better or worse – to be a catalyst of conversation back home (i.e., “What the hell are you wearing on your feet?) As soon as someone asks me that, they’ll get a great story about a day in Dusseldorf.

“You can never go home again.”

My interpretation of this cliché is two-fold. On one hand, I see the truth in that statement as an abstract expression. So many people think of “home” as a sedentary place, a bricks-and-mortar (or drywall-and-chicken-wire) building where they put all their stuff and sleep at night. But if one views “home” in an abstract sense, as in feeling at home and having a sense of comfort and safety, then “home” is not a stationary, concrete thing. It is a feeling, a state of being, and therefore, it is transitory and mutable. So you can’t really go “home again” if “home” is always changing.

But alas, I live in the literal world, and not only can I go home again, but I kinda had to come home again. If I had my druthers (and more money), I’d still be in Europe. There’s another popular saying: people need a vacation after their vacations. I’m so down for that, but it ain’t gonna happen. In less than two weeks, I fly to Austin, Texas to begin coverage of the SxSW music festival. Hopefully, Jody will be with me, and there will be more blogs to come – faster this time, too, since we won’t have to hunt down Internet cafes.

That’s it for now. Not quite brief, and not quite genius. But verbosity is the soul of early morning jetlag.

(Check out the fantastic photos Jody took on our trip here).

Jody Gnant on MTV: Saturday, February 16

One of the great maxims of American culture is “you can be whatever you want to be.” For years, the MTV show Made has been capturing the process of people from various walks of life who want to become something else – whether it’s a nerdy high school guy’s journey to becoming a hot freestyle rapper or a tomboy’s quest to become a beauty queen. Such was the goal of Arizona native Kelly, who decided she wanted to change her image to become a pageant queen and learn how to perform her own songs. She received assistance from beauty queen coach Jacqueline Brady on how to style her hair and apply makeup, and also received some vocal and performance coaching from independent music artist Jody Gnant.

Gnant provided Kelly with a base education on the craft of songwriting, but felt it was important to help Kelly compose and perform one of her own songs. She also taught Kelly stage presence, and added more style to her wardrobe by letting Kelly choose some outfits from Pathway Clothing, one of Gnant’s sponsors.

You can watch Gnant coach Kelly on her path to becoming a performer and pageant queen on Saturday, February 16, when the Madeepisode “Pageant Queen” airs on MTV. There will be four back-to-back episodes airing that day, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visit www.mtv.com for local listings.

Don’t miss the chance to catch Jody Gnant’s MTV debut!

Jody Gnant on Weekend America: Saturday, January 26

Hey Gnant fans — check out NPR’s Weekend America program on Saturday, January 26, for an in-depth story on Jody Gnant and her lifecast. The story will run almost nine minutes, and will include interviews with Jody and some of her friends and fans, as well as some music from Jody’s latest album, Pivot.

Stations and air times differ by region/state, but you can find a list of stations and air times here. If you miss the live radio segment, you should be able to catch it online here, after it airs.

Reporter Rene Gutel put this story together, on the heels of a widely-heard shorter NPR segment she did on Jody, which aired Thursday, January 24. You can stream that segment here.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow! There’s nothing better on the radio right now anyway.

Gettin’ Jiggy with Diddy and Jody Gnant

As most of you know, the Super Bowl will be in Phoenix this year, and it brings more than a hundred high-profile parties with it. Over the course of the weekend, everybody from 50 Cent and Paris Hilton to John Travolta and Hugh Heffner will be in town, and I for one will be getting almost no sleep. Starting Thursday, I’ll be hitting the hottest hip-hop parties in town – a merriment marathon that’ll kick my happy ass until Sunday afternoon. I’ll be covering performances by Diddy, Snoop Dogg, and Ludacris for the Phoenix New Times Super Bowl blog, and I’m thrilled to be teaming up with Jody Gnant on Thursday night for “Super Thursday” at Axis/Radius.

Diddy, we’re doin’ your party.

The two blocks surrounding the Scottsdale venue will be closed for outdoor music performances. Diddywill be there, performing for an hour and a half. Next and Valley rapper Pokafasewill also be performing. Inside the club, Nick Lachey and NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson will be hosting the Super Skins Celebrity Golf Classic Tournament. Confirmed guests include Michael Jordan,Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Charles Barkley,Justin Timberlake, Carson Daly, Jerry Rice, Carmen Electra,Lance Armstrong, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

And Jody and I will be there – on the red carpet, up near the front of the stage, in the VIP area. And she’s going to be recording and co-hosting video clips of the event on her Ustream for use in the Phoenix New Times Super Bowl blog. You never know who we’ll run into. Super Thursday is January 31. Be sure to hit up www.jodygnant.tv and www.phoenixnewtimes.com/superbowlfor the scoop.

Gutterkitty and Gnant on the red carpet? Now, that’s entertainment.

(You can also follow Super Bowl party coverage on Twitter: www.twitter.com/phxnewtimes_sb)

Who the heck is Gutterkitty, and why is she in my trash can?

Hello blog readers! Thanks for stopping by and resting your eyes here for a moment. Before I commence babbling, I’d like to thank Jody Gnant for introducing me to moguling.com, sure to be the baddest mamma jamma ever, especially now that we’re all up in it. [Insert green-smiley-face-with-purple-tongue-hanging-out emoticon here].

By way of introduction, my handle is Gutterkitty, and my real name is Niki D’Andrea. I’m the music editor at Phoenix New Times, a division of Village Voice Media, which makes me both revered and reviled. My musical tastes run the gamut, from classic rock and punk to hip-hop and classical. The only music I have a hard time listening to is extremely experimental, avant garde stuff. I have a coworker who listens to what I call “anarchy jazz,” and it often sounds like (for lack of a better metaphor), geese getting sodomized by elephants.

I am not PC. This gets me into trouble sometimes, but it gets me into FUN more often. I am always out and about, whether hobnobbing with hip-hop moguls like Ludacris or hanging with Jody Gnant at crazy company parties. Jody and I will be taking a road trip to Los Angeles this weekend, so I’ll be sure to blog from there. Instead of Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, it’ll be like Fun & Loving in Los Angeles — no imaginary bats flying at our vehicle, just good friends, good tunes, and good times (but if there ARE bats, I’ll take a picture).

That’s it for now. I’ve got a story on Super Bowl parties to finish. See you again in cyberspace soon.

“Privacy and security are those things you give up when you show the world what makes you extraordinary.” — Margaret Cho