Letter to everyone: (long post filled with lots of love and gratitude ahead)
First, I know this may be a couple days overdue. I’ve had a whirlwind of emotions to process these last couple days and after 8+ months of putting day and night into this album, I just wanted to relax. Now that I’ve gotten off the roller coaster(temporarily) and had a chance to step back, I’m in awe that I made it through, and happy that I could finish the ride with my hands in the air. Here at the end, it seemed to have flown by so fast, which is wild considering all the hardships and adversity I faced along the way. There were times, many times, I asked myself why I’m still doing this after years of failure and nothing(physical) to show for my efforts. Yet, the other night at the CD release party, I was quickly reminded exactly why I do this, You. All of You. And so here is my letter of love and gratitude:
First I want to thank my band mates- Cory Sokolis on drums, Ryan Lawton on bass, Casey Masters on Trumpet, John McCahey on Trombone, and my brother Nick Jano on Keys. You guys are some of the most top notch professional and talented musicians Ive had the pleasure of working with. You all deserve to be doing this for a living, and I hope to play a part in making that a reality for you. Thanks for all your hard work and contributions to these tunes.
Shane Haddaway, for opening the night with his music and being the hardworking original songwriter he is. As a writer and musician, he is a brother to me in our genre and is helping keep this style alive. Also, big thanks for creating the cool looking flyer for the show and supplying stage monitors. Thanks brother.
Second Self, including Jeff Hunter, Nick Stampone, and Jimmy Hunter. These guys create some of the most inovative and original music to come out of this area. To have them join Shane and my band for this show added a very honorable icing on top of the cake. Not only did they perform, but they ran sound for the whole evening and delivered more than I could ask. Also, for helping break down the stage at the end of the night, that was such a huge help. Thanks guys!
The Main Street Tower, Mario Bountempo, Bobby Louis, Aaron, the staff, security, lovely bartenders. I had never worked with The Tower before, so when I presented them with this big event wanting to take over more than half the venue, their skepticism was definitely appropriate. Thanks for taking a chance on me, and believing that I could deliver. We pulled in over 100 people as planned! Great work and thanks to everyone who worked that night serving all our guests.
Ashley Hood, who had been my partner for this event. She designed a colorful and beautiful merch table display, sold a bunch of CD’s and other merch, and helped manage the onsite operations when I had to take off my manager shoes and pick up the guitar. I couldn’t have done it without her help. Also she showed up on the morning of the help build the stage, which was not in her job description but she showed up to help anyways. She stayed the whole night, helped break everything down, and then without going to sleep, drove to Frederick, MD and ran a half marathon of 13.1 miles the next day. When you’re managing and putting together one of the most important events of your life, could you ask for a better partner? I could not.
My parents, George and Sonya, for creating me, and indirectly being responsible for pretty much all of this. My debt to you is one I cannot pay back, but being able to share with you what I do for a living, in the life that you gave me, is one of the many things that keep me doing this. Dad, you showed up on the morning of to help me build that stage when you heard I was doing it by myself. Having known all the hard work that it takes in being a performer, you showed up to take some weight off my shoulders. Im so thankful to have a father who knows a life on stage, and knows what I need before I can even ask. Mom, for your support over the years, and attempting to steal a bunch of pallets for me as soon as I put out the call for recommendations. You didn’t have to do that, but you did. And that moment truly speaks to your character as a Mother. Looking forward to being with you for mothers day for the first time in 6+ years. Thank you, I love you both.
Shout out and thank you to Wes Cohen, a talented local musician and great guy, along with Hillside Landscaping for donating the 12 pallets that became our stage. It did a great job. Thanks Wes and Co.
Michael Riskin, for coming out to the show and filming. You’re a great guy Mike, I’m looking forward to seeing that footage and doing the music video this month! thanks man!
Also shout out and thank you to Whitney Robinson, Pat Schuler, and Jaime Strickland. These three friends have clicked “Share” and shared my posts/music more times than I could ever count, and maybe even more times than myself. After having spent a couple hundred into advertising, and wishing day after day for more shares, it’s hard to describe how thankful I am for you sharing my stuff. I know for you all, it’s probably not a big deal, but for me it’s huge. It accomplishes exactly what I’m trying to do, share my music with people. I’m not sure why so many others don’t share posts, because as you know, it’s so simple. But the fact that you do, without ever being asked, is a huge compliment to me and lets me know you all care. Thank you, thank you, thank you. (If you didn’t grab a copy of the album at the show, I’ll get one to you)
To everyone who joined us on the night of the “Good For You” CD release party, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!
It meant the world to me to see your smiling faces. It was such a nice surprise to see so many of you, although I know you wouldn’t have missed it for anything, I was still surprised. And so very grateful to hug, smile, laugh, and dance with you all night. To hear so many of you sings my songs with me, even the new ones(!!), it warmed my heart so much. This was what I was missing out on while on hiatus, and now I don’t think I’ll ever utter the word hiatus again. Sharing moments like these with you, and resonating within them, that is a big part of why I do this, and I won’t be stopping again anytime soon.
Sincerely,
-George
Additional Notable Thank You’s:
-Graham Snodgrass @ Graham Snodgrass Photography, for photographing and creating the album cover, and coming out to the release party
-Jason Embrey for designing the album cover and layout.
-Kenny Kingsborough @ Harbour Red Studios for recording the album back in September/October of 2017.
-CD Baby/Disc Makers for the distribution of my music and manufacturing of physical albums.