Gig tonight in Auburn

Here's your reminder: I'm in Auburn, Ind., tonight, playing at the Cupbearer Coffee House. (Strange... some of the links on their web site, like More Upcoming Events and Special Drink of the Month, don't work. Hm.)

The directions are easy peasy: Get off the interstate, drive toward Auburn, turn left on Grandstaff, find said coffeehouse on left.

If you don't show up, you won't get to hear my new song, "River," with lyrics right below this post.

For more information, you know the drill: Go to my engagements page on my web site.

New song: 'River'

Here are the lyrics of the song I wrote this afternoon and performed this evening at the Concert at the Campground in Fremont, Ind., sponsored by Lake Area Christian Church.

River
By Jon Swerens

River, you carve the valleys in two
River, you bring new life into view
River, you prove His promises true
River, o river

River, you smooth the rocks and rough planks
River, and so I stand on your banks
River, I offer my humble thanks
River, o river

CHORUS:
Flood my walls and flood my ceilings
Flood my reckless thoughts and feelings
Soak me through like laundry in the rain
Flood my cellars, flood my rafters
Flood all my befores and afters
Leave no place where dryness can remain

River, bleach me whiter than snow
River, until my heart overflows
River, take me wherever you go
River, o river

CHORUS

River, sweep me far from this place
River, to an ocean of grace
River, where I can look on His face
River, o river

©2006 Jon Swerens

Concert in Churubusco

I'm happy to announce I have yet another gig to put on the schedule. I received a phone call from the folks at Mountaintop Coffeehouse in Churubusco. 'Busco is northwest of Fort Wayne in the next county.

So, a roundup of my out-of-town gigs:

• August 20, Fremont, Ind.
• August 26, Auburn, Ind.
• September 9, Churubusco, Ind.
• November 4, Angola, Ind.

Plus all of my gigs here in Fort Wayne at The Anchor Room Cafe, including my next gig on Friday, August 18.

Check out my engagements page for all the details!

New gig in Aubun

Hi! There's now a new gig for me at the Cupbearer Coffee House in Auburn (not Angola). It'll be Saturday, August 26, starting at 7:30 p.m.

More details are on my engagements page.

If you're in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by.

Auburn gig canceled

Hey, everyone. My gig that was scheduled for this Saturday at the Cupbearer Coffee House in Angola Auburn has been canceled. I'll be working on rescheduling sometime later this year.

A quick thanks

I just wanted to publicly thank Mitch Harper of Fort Wayne Observed for his link to my blog. He speaks about my CD and baklava video here.

"Wordlessly" on iTunes!

Hooray! Now you can download my entire instrumental album, "Wordlessly," from iTunes! Just like all other albums on iTunes, my album costs 99 cents a song or $9.99 for the entire album.

Click on the button below to find my album on iTunes, if you have iTunes installed.



Click below to download iTunes, which is free and available for both PCs and Macs. (Of course, when you buy music, that's when you pay!)

Three gigs in August

Check out my engagements page to get the scoop on my gigs in Auburn, Ind., Fremont, Ind., and right here in Fort Wayne.

Jon's music on the radio

Exciting news! The local public radio station will be playing a couple of cuts from my CD, "Wordlessly"!

The songs will be played a little after 3 p.m. Saturday (July 1) on WBOI, 89.1 FM. It'll be played during WBOI's "All That Jazz" show.

If you live somewhere other than Fort Wayne, and you have a decent Internet connection, you can listen to the radio station live online: Go to http://www.nipr.fm and click on the little WBOI logo in the black bar near the top of the page. Or just click this link.

And remember: if you know of anyone who would be interested in receiving these occasional emails, just direct him to my website at www.jonswerens.com, and follow the simple link, "Sign up for email newsletter." Or just click this link! And you should get no spam!

And thanks for your interest!

The CDs are here! The CDs are here!

I heard the familiar rurr-rurr-rurr of a diesel engine. I looked through the upstairs window and, behold! A UPS truck was trying to negotiate the tricky corner at the end of our street. (Why did he even try that alley?)

Are there any songs about the UPS truck coming to your house? I think I could write a couple about now.

And don't think I'm too weird. In the musical "The Music Man," an entire song is sung about The Wells Fargo wagon a-comin' down the street.

And by reading the lyrics, you can also find out how exciting it was in the not-that-distant past just to get unusual produce via wagon.

Unusual stuff like grapefruit and raisins.

So I took the 18-pound box from my friend, the UPS man, and of course opened the box right away.

(There were three smaller boxes inside the big box, in case you think that the small box to the left could possibly weigh 18 pounds.)

I've gotta hand it to the folks at TuneCore, who reproduced the CD for me. The CDs look awesome. I am stoked, as the kids say. (Not my kids. Other kids.)

I am right now listening to the CD, keeping my ears open for technical glitches. I'm up to track 9, "Conner Prairie Air." Everything is fine so far.

I just really want to thank everyone who has been in any way supportive of my music. It was your support, even in little way like with comments after I played the hymns at church, that gave me the confidence to even attempt this project.

And certainly thanks to my brother Jeff who asked for this music for his wedding reception. I think you will like.

Oh, and of course, I'm looking for venues to play, especially in Northeast Indiana. For example, I'm trying to find a place to play up in Angola, Indiana, but the coffeehouse I've played before has moved and no longer can host musicians. Write me if you'd like me to come to your neck of the woods!

Baklava to the future

This is a strange post, only because it has nothing to do with my CD.

But it does have a lot to do with my first video voiceover.

Photojournalist Steve Linsenmayer at The News-Sentinel put together a great three-minute video of local women putting together baklava for the Greekfest. But it needed some descriptive audio to go along with it. So yesterday at work, I cajoled information from coworkers, took a crash-course in iMovie, spent 60 minutes writing three minutes of yadda yadda, recorded the voiceover and saved it in some QuickTime-friendly format.

You can see and hear the video here. Opa!

The CDs are coming

Sometime today, a box of 75 "Wordlessly" CDs should arrive on my front porch.

If not, well then, I'll get them later, I guess.

Details as events warrant...