Jeff Hartman

Jeff Hartman & Friends Take a Hike

April 12, 2010
jshartman

Jeff Hartman & Friends Take a Hike
Veteran Touring Artist Supports Cause
Carowinds on April 17 from 10 am

CHARLOTTE/HICKORY – Hickory’s own Jeff Hartman returns to entertain the walkers for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s 2010 Charlotte Walk to Cure Diabetes held on Saturday, April 17 at Carowinds. The four-mile walk will begin at 8:30 am with registration starting at 7 am.

“We have performed several Walk locations, including Lenoir-Rhyne College and Carowinds in an effort to help raise money and entertain ‘the troops,'” says Hartman.

Jeff Hartman has been touring and promoting original music professionally for 15 years. Hartman most recently made an appearance for Newton-Auditorium’s Music & Mud festival and sold out a concert in Hickory Community Theatre’s Firemen’s Kitchen for Jimmy Rhine and Five Head Entertainment’s Summer Concert Series. Jeff & Friends includes Brian Burton, Scott McCloud, and Jeremy Shaw.

“The Walk to Cure Diabetes is a cause near and dear to my own genes and I like being involved as much as possible. We’ve enjoyed a beautiful relationship with the JDRF since 2003 and this year is no exception. Please register to walk!”

The Walk to Cure Diabetes is a walkathon held in more than 200 locations throughout the year. The JDRF’s Walks are family-friendly, held at great locations, including Lenoir-Rhyne College, and feature plenty of entertainment, food, and fun. All are invited to become one of the 500,000 plus people at the 200 Walk sites nationwide this year who are making a difference in the lives of people with type one diabetes. Folks are guaranteed to have a great time, get some exercise, and most importantly be a part of the cure, one step at a time.

More information is available by visiting the JDRF’s Charlotte Chapter and Jeff Hartman online at jdrf.org/charlotte and jshartman.com or by calling 800-580-2873.

Saturday, 4/17/2010 Carowinds CHARLOTTE, NC
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation from 10 am
Avenue of the Carolinas
Charlotte, NC 28273
800-888-4386
carowinds.com
jdrf.org/charlotte
jshartman.com

Jeff Hartman & Friends Get Muddy

April 6, 2010
jshartman

Jeff Hartman & Friends Get Muddy
Music & Mud: A Heritage, Music and Pottery Festival
Newton-Conover Auditorium on April 10 from 1:30 pm

NEWTON – Jeff Hartman & Friends will “get muddy” and join an incredible lineup of artists and entertainers for Newton-Conover Auditorium’s first-ever heritage, music and pottery festival, Executive Director Reggie Helton coined “Music & Mud.” Jeff & Friends features recent Hickory Rotary Club Rotarian Idol winner Carol Anne Hartman and introduces up-and-coming recording artist Lauren DeLeary, who recently released her first music video. The festival begins at Newton-Conover Auditorium in Newton, NC on Saturday, April 10 from 10 am. The event is free to the public.

“This is another in a string of recent opportunities for original artists to be heard. Original music often escapes unifour venues and events. Arts champions like Sarah Frisbey, Jimmy Rhine, Rufus Smith and now Reggie Helton are all offering original artists and music lovers alike much-needed opportunities to inhale something fresh (and early).”

Jeff Hartman has been touring and promoting original music professionally for over 15 years. His group most recently sold out a concert in Hickory Community Theatre’s Firemen’s Kitchen for Jimmy Rhine and Five Head Entertainment’s Summer Concert Series. Hartman had the privilege of performing for Supreme Court Justice Alito in 2009 at The Lafayette Room of the Hay-Adams across the street from The White House. The President took residence at the Hay-Adams prior to his inauguration.

A published poet and influenced in equal parts by folk and funk artists alike, Jeff’s songs are a mix of dazed beauty and bitter-sweetness. Here are tales of abuse and misuse, of vulnerability and resolve, poetic trances like the Appalachia-esque “Erica’s Song” and the biographical “Northern Accent.” Friends include Forrest Brown, Carol Anne Hartman, and Jeremy Shaw, and features Lauren DeLeary. For more information please visit jshartman.com.

God bless you and thank you for supporting performing arts!

Saturday, 4/10/2010 Newton Conover Auditorium NEWTON, NC
Music and Mud: A Heritage, Music, and Pottery Festival
Jeff Hartman & friends from 1:30 pm
60 West 6th Street
Newton, NC 28658
828-466-0920
newton-conoverauditorium.org
cahartman.com
laurendeleary.com
jshartman.com

Gypsy | Ken Burns Photography

Joy of Teaching

March 9, 2010
jshartman

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.Chinese Proverb

I’ve had the privelage of teaching and directing in the area since I was a student at ASU. It is and should be a thankless, selfless profession and its greatest reward is in the connections I make with my students. You’ll never catch me telling a student what they want to hear and I surround any expectations around the hope that they’ll learn more from my mistakes than my successes. Helps to blog. If you can avoid my pitfalls, advantage you!

Although I’ve never received the cliche apple, a former student of mine recently sent me a very fruitful message, simply titled, “Just A Lil Note.” With her permission, I’d like to share…

“Hey, I was talking to one of my friends about good and bad teachers I have had over the years. I have had a wide variety. Your name came up in the mix and I realized I had never thanked you for all that you did. I know that this may seem strange seeing as I took lessons from you for such a short period of time… but you instilled a good bit of confidence in my singing ability and that confidence has improved my singing remarkably. So thank you for your encouragement and I hope you continue to build up the students you teach. I hope you and your family are doing well. How are you guys? How are you, your wife, and the boys? Keep me posted on you, the band, and the fam. Can’t wait to here what’s going on. Overwhelmed by His Grace, Jules”

I spent days chewing on how to respond to this. I can’t tell you how much this sort of thing means to me and what a big difference a “lil’ note” makes in the life of a teacher. I was fortunate and blessed to have been able to work with someone as unique and gifted as Julia Gruver. She’s someone who really stands out among the fray. She’s a genuine, honest artist and I’m forever a student of her sincerity.

There was an episode of “Glee” when Mr. Shue turns to his students and says, “The best teachers don’t give you the answers. They just point the way and let you make your own choices; your own mistakes. That way, you get all the glory.” I might only add, ask not what your students can do for you, but what you can do for your students.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.2 Timothy 4:3-4

House Concerts

February 20, 2010
jshartman

Book a House Concert! What’s a “House Concert?” It’s exactly what it sounds like. The fastest-growing trend in live, original music is to bring the (often unplugged) artist to your home and invite all your friends and family! We’ve had the good fortune of performing successful house concerts since 1999. For tips and more information on booking a Hartman house concert, please call 828-291-7227 or email booking@plasticmoon.com.

House Concert Basics

Performers love what they do and they also have to make a living at it. Typically, house concert guests pay $15 to $20 each. If you have 30 guests, that’s $450 to $600. Typically, all proceeds go to the performer (I don’t know anyone who presents house concert and expects to make money on the deal). It has to be for the love of the music. Sort this out with the performer in advance to avoid misunderstandings. Of course, the rates reflect the times, and times are hard, so it is wise to negotiate. You will find many artists are in the same shape and would love to play for less. Remember that distance and travel impact cost, etc. Sometimes a bed, warm meal and good company helps a lot! Some concerts come in around $10 each. 30 people = $300. It all helps keep our artists from starving. These folks are fine human beings making it easy to connect!Rufus Smith

10 Brookside Blues (Valentine Day)

February 11, 2010
jshartman

I’ve been blessed with the best of friends over the years. Sometimes the biggest inspiration for a song can come from the smallest and unlikeliest of moments. One particularly pathetic Valentine’s Day, a mutually lonely, good friend of mine sent me an inspirational Valentine’s Day card to bring us both good cheer. “10 Brookside Blues” became New Year’s Eve without someone to kiss at midnight. It’s Valentine’s Day without the valentine. It’s jealousy and her address. The music and lyric style is an homage to my blues influences. “10 Brookside” was simply the street address of a girl who was on my mind at the time (nothing really to do with the song), in the tradition of Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” neither of which are mentioned in his song.

10 Brookside Blues
Words and Music by Jeff Hartman

Valentine Day jus’ roll my way
Gift wrapped candy
Jus’ three words to say
I
With my letters of love
Her
With the flowers she was dreamin’ of

But I’ll say it again
I’m a lonely valentine again

Valentine Day lately leave me be
The luv she been givin’ should-a been from me
The luvers start kissin’ and tears roll away from my eyes like-a elder man’s years

After all that luv we grown
Now it’s Valentine Day alone

It seemed so true
Now my heart be blue
Never thought I would regret the day I says I luv you

Valentine Day
The big news today is the fresh cut roses he slew from my grave
I’m home with ‘da Valentine blues and the every reason I should-a been choosed

And I’ll say it again
I’m a lonely val-
After all that luv we grown
Now it’s Valentine-
But I’ll say it again
She left me the lonely valentine again

Kiss the Frog (Timmy’s Song)

January 29, 2010
jshartman

I find that on the road you’re living a very unreal type of existence. There’s nothing really to write about. There’s little source for material. So, it takes me a while to jump start the writing process, just to feel human again. I often find inspiration in metaphors, parallels and perspective. Fatherhood certainly changes your perspective. “Kiss the Frog” is through the eyes of a toddler. My toddler, Timmy, with all his toddler-isms. The one I called my “frog” when his lil’ toddler legs resembled such. But, one could easily see KTF though the eyes of an amorous bar “hopper.” Folk served best, funky, through the eyes of a toddler.

Tragedy and comedy are but two aspects of what is real, and whether we see the tragic or the humorous is a matter of perspective.Arnold Beisser

Kiss the Frog (Timmy’s Song)
Words and Music by Jeff Hartman

I’d be obliged if you could help me
Your legs are long
Are you alone?
Most find it hard to live without me
A two foot frog to call your own

I search for comfort in a bottle
I don’t speak English very well
Well
I guarantee we’ll wake the others
I promise I won’t kiss and tell

Kiss me
Kiss the frog

Pick me up
I’m getting restless
Give your hands a thorough rinse
You’re in for a few surprises
Carry on your wayward prince

Gimme that
Gimme, gimme that
Gimme, gimme, gimme that now
I’ve been known to cause a scene
It’s not hard getting everything I want
It’s not easy being green