Hello, and Happy New Year!

My 2012 is starting with a bang: Sunday night The Descendants won Golden Globes for Best Picture – Drama and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama. So now I have music in a double Golden Globe award winning film!

Two songs I cowrote with alt-country band The Flutterbies are background in the climactic confrontation scene at the end of the movie. Both “Hummingbird Heart” and “Faith in Rain” are available on The Flutterbies EP. My songwriting is all over it. Check it out here.

Sincere thanks to Maureen Davis from The Flutterbies and music supervisor Dondi Bastone for all this coolness.

Now, onto the Oscars!

I’m writing to tell you about my newest creative venture, which could make a fine gift idea for you or someone you love this season: Tunesmith Factory.

For years, I’ve produced and recorded my own tracks, designed my own album art, written my own biography and e-blasts, built my own website, and navigated all the busywork involved with being an indie artist: copyrights, licensing, etc.

Now I’m offering all or any of these services to my fellow musicians! Tunesmith Factory is a full service agency for any artist needing a multimedia promo package. Our first clients The Flutterbies have two songs synced into the new George Clooney film “The Descendants”—Tunesmith Factory produces all the band’s promotional materials.

If you or anyone you know needs recording, artwork, biography, website, or help with copyrights, etc. please forward them this URL:

www.tunesmithfactory.com

SPOILER ALERT: Tunesmith Factory is also currently producing… FINALLY… a new Adam Daniel album! I’ve already tracked drums, bass, piano, and electric guitars for a long overdue new full-length powerpop record, to be released this spring. Thank you for your more than decade long patience, waiting for a proper follow-up to Blue Pop. It’s finally coming! Stay tuned…

The Descendants is directed by Alexander Payne, the auteur behind Sideways, About Schmidt, and Election. A deep drama, it’s already generating Oscar buzz. My sincere thanks to Music Supervisor Dondi Bastone for the placement, and Maureen for the collaboration.

The film opens nationwide November 16. Click this link for more information, and to stream previews: www.foxsearchlight.com/thedescendants

Seriously?! Jimmy Webb wrote my all-time favorite bit of 60′s camp: “Up, Up and Away.” And he wrote “Wichita Lineman” for Glen Campbell. He wrote songs for The Supremes.

I said yes. I’m doing a half hour set, debuting all new stuff. It’ll be outdoors and lovely. There are still some tickets available… Contact me for details, and come on down!

I’m surfacing to share a weblink I think you’ll enjoy… "Come Alive," a duet I co-wrote and recorded with my alt-country side project The Flutterbies, was featured in the Adult Swim/Cartoon Network television show Children’s Hospital, and they’ve just posted the clip online! Click the link below to hear me and The Flutterbies’ Maureen Davis croon pretty under a particularly surreal TV scene. Thrilled to be part of the show!

http://video.adultswim.com/childrens-hospital/owens-dead.html

Thank you to Maureen for hooking us up.

The track is available for purchase at iTunes, Amazon, etc. Click the cover art below to reach the single’s page at The Flutterbies’ website, which has direct links.

Also at The Flutterbies website are links to two other singles I co-wrote and produced: a breathtaking power ballad called "First Rain of October" and a raucous acoustic cover of Motorhead’s "Ace of Spades!" Click here for links to listen.

Finally feeling rested enough to be restless, I’m also readying to get back to into the recording studio with my own material. Long overdue, I feel another powerpop album coming on… Stay tuned!

I’ve also spent the last couple months designing new curriculum for Rock the Classroom, the nonprofit “Literacy Through Music” program to which I’ve been devoting more time and attention. I was recently interviewed about my experiences in arts education by Music Connection magazine, and the article is out at newsstands now! It’s called “Hot for Teaching” and it’s in the September issue, with Ray LaMontagne on the cover. The magazine is also readable online at:

www.musicconnection.com/digital

To speed you along, I’m on page 42!

Sincere thanks to Rob Putnam for writing such a complimentary piece, and to Maureen Davis of The Flutterbies for hooking me up with Rob. It’s an honor and pleasure to be featured in Music Connection.

Started by writer/musician Bradley Kesden and Rhino Records founder Richard Foos, Rock the Classroom is a nonprofit dedicated to restoring music education in underserved public elementary schools. I’m spending three mornings a week teaching the fundamentals of songwriting to 4th and 5th graders, infusing their standard literacy curriculum with music and creativity!

Last week the kids wrote their own verse and chorus of lyrics to “Help!” by The Beatles. Songs were written about needing rescue from schoolyard bullies, graveyard ghosts, evil monkeys, and alien abductions!

Needless to say, I’m having a great time. And my students are learning about song structure, storytelling, syllables and accents, rhyme schemes, etc.

I’m thrilled and proud to be introducing an upcoming generation to the craft of songwriting.

In a spare web surfing moment, please check out Rock the Classroom. They’re a great organization working in service of the worthiest cause: keeping our kids musical, lyrical, and creative.

First, my alt-country side project The Flutterbies is playing NAMM’s opening night show, Wednesday January 13 at 8:00 PM at the Hilton stage. We’re honored and thrilled to be sponsored by James Trussart Custom Guitars, a boutique company that makes amazing instruments played by Keith Richards, Sheryl Crow, Paul Simon, and, now… me! Thursday, The Flutterbies’ singer Maureen and I will also be playing a set at James’ booth on the convention floor.

Thursday evening at 6:00 PM I’m back at the Hilton stage, playing guitar and singing with classic country chanteuse Lynda Kay. And Sunday, the last day of the convention, I’m playing with Lynda again at the Gretsch booth! She’s proudly endorsed by Gretsch, and I’m delighted to be playing for one of my favorite guitar companies.

If you’d like to attend either Hilton stage show, they’re both free and all-ages. The convention floor shows require a NAMM badge. Full information about addresses, badges, etc. is available online here.

See you there!

Daniel’s set was a melange of sweet-voiced folk embellishing captivating melodies and tasty hooks, delightfully played on acoustic guitar and piano. His wry lyrics served as an able presage to his version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” — only slightly retouched; a brave choice for the comparisons it begs to Rufus Wainwright’s and Jeff Buckley’s famous covers. Daniel’s treatment stands well among them.

Thank you, James!

The gig was filmed, and a clip of my Leonard Cohen cover is up now at this website’s Video page. More songs are also posted at my YouTube channel. Enjoy!

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the release of my debut album Blue Pop! Can’t believe it’s been a decade since the CD first hit record stores… This post is to thank you all—fans, friends, and family—for your ongoing, enthusiastic support.

Originally released by APG Music, and then reissued digitally in 2006, Blue Pop continues to earn new fans worldwide. I could not be more delighted by the album’s staying power, or more deeply flattered. In celebration and thanks, I’ve posted an mp3 of “Finally Asleep”—a song that was recorded for Blue Pop but left off the CD—for free download here. An unmastered version of the song circulated around the internet some years back, and it’s my great pleasure to have now mastered the track, and to offer it to you finished and for FREE!

Also, upcoming in August, the Blue Pop 10th anniversary celebration continues with a reunion gig by The Adam Daniel Frequency! We’re getting the band back together, man! For one night only, as part of David Bash’s International Pop Overthrow festival here in Los Angeles, CA, me, Derrick, Brian, and new drummer Topher will be playing “Cured,” “Her Shake,” and all your Blue Pop favorites. Details are posted at this website’s Tour page.

My love and thanks to you all.