Prompted by Three-by-Three, 75 and Punching the Clock

Lately I have had it entrenched in my mind that writing suits my desire. I am steering forward in 2021 firmly fixed on the idea that it is imperative for me to put pen to paper more often.

I heard that a writer should simply start the process by jotting down anything. Could this be a lasting routine in my life? I hope so. And I also hope that as the days progress, that I will make the routine stick by doing a lot more with my love for writing.

I have come across a couple of different writing ideas that motivated me to write today. For one, the importance of consistency is at the forefront of my mind. And that is when I came across two prompts that I combined in one; also adding in a writing idea from another source of information that is not so much of a prompt.

Robert Lee Brewer who is the senior editor of Writer’s Digest has a Wednesday Poetry Prompt 

every Wednesday, and today’s prompt is three-of-a-kind. And so, I wrote a poem with each 

verse being exactly three lines. Second, on my to-do-list, I added an idea found in the book, 

How to Get Great Freelance Clients: Learn how to earn more — find quality clients and get the gig (Freelance Writers Den Book 3) by Carol Tice, Linda Formichelli and Chris Marlow which is to tell a story in just 75 words.     

The poetry prompt for three-for-three was written in 75 words.  Third, for every day of the year is a bizarre or unique holiday. Today is Punching the Clock Day. The three-for-three poem I wrote in 75 words has to do with punching the clock. And so, I wrote the poem Punching the Clock. Tell me what you think:

___________________________________________________________________

 

Punching the Clock

by Stephanie Jeannot

Besides doodling around on my free time

I punch the clock everyday

As part of my daily routine.

 

I work with children

who demand my attention

to who I try to influence their thinking profoundly.

 

I walk in with my quiet regal presence

With the heightened expectation

That I’ll get through to them.

 

Who knew of the Herculean challenge

That would bring on the Working Woman Blues

When they do whatever instead of simply listening.

_____________________________________________________________

With this poem in mind, I teamed up with John Mueller from Chicago, IL, to write a song” about being a woman in the work force entitled Working Woman Blues. If you are interested in hearing it, check it out on YouTube Music here: https://youtu.be/poznZy6eDso

It was fun to write because I always wanted to write a blues type of tune and I was able to talk about some of the things I have seen in my 9-5 experiences that I think many can relate to. I also got a chance to get a bit freer with my piano playing enough to add a piano solo to it. 

I’m no Elton John on the piano yet though I actually fell in love with the piano in 2020 and ever since been trying to enhance is and so during the quarantine, I had ample time to hone my writing skills in all areas, including writing compositions, and I am more than grateful for that. The song is featured on our pandemic musical project The Stephanie Jeannot & John Mueller Project which was released on October 10, 2020, and is the first of 13 tracks that are featured on the album.  

Thank you so much for reading my journey. God bless and enjoy your day! 

The Indie Music Show Airs This Tuesday, January 6, 2021 at 9PM EST/ 8PM CST with your hosts Stephanie Jeannot & Johnny J

 

Have you heard of the Indie Music Show?

It is an on-line radio show that airs each and every Tuesday evening at 9PM EST/ 8PM CST on The English Connection Media with your hosts Stephanie Jeannot from Brooklyn, NY and John Mueller from Chicago, IL.

Every week, the hosts come thick with words and have endless fun discussing a broad variety of topics and playing some beautiful indie songs that might peg your interest. This week’s topic is on the art of songwriting.

Nobody follows the same recipe when writing a song. Each person has their own way of approaching the creative process. The sounds you hear flooding through your speakers when you are listening to a tune went through a series of colorful actions by the composer, songwriter, and vocalist.

What inspired them? Were the lyrics written first or the music? How did they come up with the chord changes? What instrument or song was a source of inspiration? Did the writing process begin with a prompted idea? 

One thing is for sure; writing songs requires a lot of time and patience. You write the song then tweak it and can become hermitish because of the focus that a producer of a tune may have trying to correct and smooth out the problems.

The show hosts always have a jolly time interacting with each other and discussing whatever topic they cover. Hopefully you will join into the discussion. Tune in this Tuesday evening at 9PMEST/ 8PM CST on http://theenglishconnectionmedia or http://mixlr.com/jnotemusic to listen to the show. It is definitely worth the listen.

I’d also like to let you know that if you are an independent artists interested in being on this show to talk about your music, please send an email to jnotemusic@gmail.com and hopefully we can get you on the show.

Looking forward to connecting with you this Tuesday, January 26, 2021 at 9PMEST/ 8PMCST for the Indie Music Show on http://theenglishconnectionmedia.com. The show can also be heard at http://mixlr.com/jnotemusic 

Jazz on the Jnote Featuring Professor Roman G Mitchell Airs This Sunday, January 24, 2021 at 7:30PM on WNYE 91.5FM

 

Music has always made a difference in my life. Ever since I was little, music has been like the coziest blanket someone could sleep on when they are seeking maximum comfort.

I remember being at an awards ceremony at Medgar Evers College and seeing Professor Roman Mitchell with his singer on the stage, directing her through her song from start to finish. I was impressed for a few reasons. 

First, it takes incredible courage to get up on anybody’s stage to perform song selections and I noticed that the singer didn’t seem scared or worried at all. She just honorably worked. I had always dreamt of the day when the butterflies in my stomach wouldn’t be a thing; but it was. The thought that I could one day rise above my jitters, started to come to my mind.  

Second, the selection was not an easy one to sing but for some reason, I couldn’t help but to feel mesmerized by her vocal approach and skill. I can’t tell you how many magical moments I pulled out of the song that the singer had been singing. She even came up for air appropriately between vocal phrases and it made me wonder if maybe, I could join forces with her director one day, to help me along in my own vocal journey.

A few months later, I was coming from one of my late-night classes at Medgar Evers College, and I saw Professor Mitchel at the front desk, I walked up to him and said, “I want to sing.” It took a while to get the response that I wanted out of him but a few months later, he called on me and invited me to come and be a part of his jazz ensemble, and I started working under his wing, getting vocal stretches, exercises and performance opportunities that were way beyond my expectation.

One thing that made Professor Mitchell stand out was his ability to help one to understand 

what they were doing with their instrument. He had a way of getting his point across with his sunny temperament, that is both witty and fun. When he plays the piano, you are reveling in sounds of brilliance. He blows his trumpet with freshness and delight. And then this man can sing, very well.  But the most important thing about him is that he likes to challenge those people who are under his wing to go beyond their comfort level and to try things that are both musically and lyrically complex, which can only make them stronger in skill.

Not only am I glad that I got to have him as a mentor at my alma mater, but I am excited that I will be sitting down to discuss a wide breadth of topics with this educator, musician, musical director and all-around talent such as, teaching music to college students during the pandemic via remote learning, the culture of jazz, the Dr Umolu Jazzy Jazz Festival at Medgar Evers College and more. 

Jazz on the JNote is a jazz-based radio show that stems from Medgar Evers College Community Radio Station and is hosted and produced by Stephanie Jeannot. The fact that Professor Mitchell was willing to sit with me to share bits of his life, speaks value to me.

On Sunday evening, January 24, 2021 at 7:30PM EST, I invite you to turn your radio dial to WNYE 91.5FM for the latest edition of Jazz on the JNote with your host Stephanie Jeannot, featuring Professor Roman G Mitchell. You can also listen by logging on the http://theenglishconnectionmedia.com and pushing play to start the online radio version of this show.

Listening to him speak will definitely inspire you in some way because he has a lot of good things to say. Turning your radio dial to 7:30PMEST this Sunday, January 24, 2021, will be a good investment of your time. Hope that you’ll join us this Sunday evening.

My Resolution to Write More in 2021

 One of my resolutions for 2021 is to write more consistently.

 

Writing is one of my favorite things to do. I have had a fresh appetite for adding strings of word to a blank page ever since I was in the fifth grade. I am hoping this year to write more boldly, much more often without abandoning the idea. Why? Simply put; because I am a writer.

One of the things I have started to do to try to rise to the occasion of consistently writing, is that I joined a few writing groups that encourage writers to write with a prompt. One is a short story group which made me realized that the 3000 words that they encourage you to write, is similar to writing just one chapter in a book. I love knowing the fact that if I can write a chapter-full of words, there is nothing stopping me from writing a chap book at some point. I am thankful for that.

The other group is a songwriting circle. The curator of the group gives a weekly prompt to enhance the motivation of the songwriters in the group.

Most of the times when I write songs, I piece together ideas based on what I am reading, watching on television or perhaps by a few chords that I come across when I am in practice mode. To have a guided topic to be influenced by, makes the piecing together of a new original song even that more interesting to do; especially because it challenges me to be more passionate about writing.

This week’s prompt was everything is gonna be alright. I invite you to check out the song that was written based on this prompt. It is entitled, “Everything is Gonna Be Alright.” All lyrics, music and vocals are by Stephanie Jeannot. You can listen to the song on Soundcloud here: https://soundcloud.com/songwritersclubsd/everything-is-gonna-be-alright-stephanie-jeannot

If you like the song, let me know what you think. If you think I can improve my writing in some way, please share some encouraging words that might help me along my journey. Thank you so much for checking out my blogpost. Have an amazing day! 

The Songwriters Club · Everything Is Gonna Be Alright-Stephanie Jeannot

Onward to 2021

 

Currents of emotion broadened my palette the minute the time square ball reached to the top of 2021.

You can never be too sure if destiny will allow you to collide with a future date because tomorrow is not promised. Looking back over 2020 has given me reason to pay attention to that truth. To be experiencing 2021 firsthand is truly a blessing.

If I was in need of a ray of light to burst in me hope, it was amplifying my voice to sing “Auld Lang Syne” that night, as I cheered to the moving image of confetti and kissing couples celebrating at that Rocking New Year’s party rolling across my television screen.

I knew that I would be obliged to find my cadence for this new set of 365. To know of the life altering events that wreaked havoc over the stretch of the past year, embracing the uncertainties of the new one still fresh with the grizzly wounds of circumstance, makes me know that I need to continue to hold on my faith in God’s miraculous provision over my life.

If I made any resolution at all, it is devoting my life to muddling along with every spurt of energy that it takes to tackle each moment. No need to mutter under my breath about how much I hate wearing the mask on my face or being unable to indulge in my routinized lifestyle of being out and about. I admit that I am struggling with the swift currents of these new ways of life. I am craving for the moments when I can get all dapper and polished again to thrust back into the way things used to be when the quarantine and the pandemic weren’t a part of our everyday vocabulary and my world was stuffed with activities. But until then, all I can do is express my appreciation for the mere fact that I am still here in the land of the living.

I’m still muddling along. 2020 was not all lost. I teamed up with the cheery and loquacious bassist, John Mueller, who helped to stitch me back together like patchwork with his happy talk and musical ideas that caused positive thoughts to ferment in my brain. We may have been under lock and key in our pandemic prison cells, but the time spent became valuable hours lumped together to come up with a cohesive set of songs that later became our collaborative album, The Stephanie Jeannot & John Mueller Project. 

I also found time to dig into books that I had been 

dying to read and also ones meant to leverage my 

strengths of honing my crafts and enlarging my 

territory; not to mention the binge watching of the 

many television shows that strew across my screen 

watching me most of the time.  

If it was never as evident before, 2020 cultivated an image that God is bigger than all our problems and that even in despairing circumstances, he still provides reassurance that is far beyond my comprehension. If 2020 is significant to perfect vision, it gave me the clarity to see what is important in 2021.

Appreciation is the most important thing. Sharing love is not something you have to bend over backwards to do. Not every tremor that is hurled into your life by a foolish skeptic, is a reason to spark another fight. If you have a dull longing to do something, make the strategic decision to do it or you might one day be riddled with regret, especially since tomorrow is not guaranteed. Appreciate God’s masterpieces of good moments and don’t let those times slip you by without acknowledging them. Love your family, friends and loved ones with heart and mind because they can be here today and gone tomorrow. And finally, keep hold to the love of God because from crisis to crisis, he makes it easier to deal with it all.

If you are interested in hearing the pandemic album that John Mueller & I created, you can check out The Stephanie Jeannot & John Mueller Project on Youtube here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mOpEdeTJ5N9SawA-9FxqwQtt_SR8nty8Q

I pray that your 2021 is filled with fascinating moments and comes with floods of wonderful blessings to fill your cup to the brim.