I just posted another song from my new album “Seahorses” on myspace.   It’s a song called “Fear’.

Just click on this image to hear it:  (Don’t forget to turn up your volume!  This one sounds better at full blast.)

Ultimately, this is a song about being brave and having courage in the face of something  menacing.  I hope you enjoy it.

You can purchase this song from itunes, rhapsody, amazon mp3, or emusic.    (See the “Purchase” links on the menu to the right.)  Otherwise, you can support me directly by buying the full album.  It’s got a beautiful ten-page foldout and all of my poetic lyrics.  Just go directly to my online store:

http://www.gordonroque.com/store

Thanks.  More announcements to come soon!!

-gordon

I love my Sunday mornings.  I’m doing a few loads of laundry while I write this.  The smell of coffee floats in the dim sunlight that creeps through my window, and my toasted peanut butter sandwich is being casually nibbled on.

This past week has been  very enjoyable.  My family went out to dinner to celebrate my Mom’s  birthday on New Year’s Eve.  We ate out at the Rainforest Cafe.  With plants and vines hanging from the ceiling, the sound of water cascading down into a sparkling pool, and a rhinocerous asserting itself in a dark corner, it was a memorable place to chow down.  My current addiction to hamburgers has not abated.  I had a big fat BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger with fries.  Oh so yummy!!

The staff came out singing Happpy Birthday and presented my Mom with this decadent dessert called a “Volcano”.  Encased within a scaffolding of rich milk chocolate brownies,  mounds of sweet vanilla ice cream and whipped cream wait to delight your taste buds.  All the while, chocolate and caramel sauces ooze down around this entire volcanic structure.  We all shared it, and it was divine.  My Mom made a wish as she blew out the solitary candle atop this delicious delight .  .  .  .

The celebration continued as my sister and I took my Mom out to see the movie Marley and Me on New Year’s Day .  .  .  .

It is a very sweet movie about a rambunctious but impossibly endearing dog and the family that raised him.  You’ll need a box of tissue for this one.  If you love dogs and animals in general, this is the movie for you.

2009 has finally begun.  I’ve mostly just chilled out over the latter half of December.   This week, aggressive promotion for my album “Seahorses” starts up again.  I’ve just taken over the reigns for my website from my friend Ben who redesigned it for me, and it will now be loaded with a ton of new content over the next week.

I just reorganized my workspace here at home.  My keyboard sits by my window now .  .  .

Here is central command .  .  .  (Notice O and B mugging for the camera!)

There’s so much work to do.  I need to all of it situated first.

On Wednesday, I’ll be going out to see the new movie “Milk” with a few friends.  I’ve been ecstatically looking forward to seeing this one, and I’ll be offering up a full review of it as well.

Have a flower .  .  .

More to come soon.

-g

So, this has been one heck of a year for me.  In a nutshell, here are a few highlights:

1. Finished work on my debut album “Seahorses”.  This included getting all the recording finished, designing the album cover/insert/artwork, securing all the rights, mixing and mastering the songs, sending it all to the manufacturing company, paying for it all, and squealing with high-pitched glee as they all arrived safely at my doorstep.  I feel tired just having written this. 

My Debut Album (Isn't it lovely?)

2.  Performed several shows with my band.  This marked the end of my solo era.  (I will mainly perform with other musicians from now on.  It’s just too fun.)  The first half of the year was spent working on the album and preparing for the second half.   Here are the events and venues where I played my music in  the summer and fall of 2008:

The  Amnesty International Benefit Concert (Charlotte, NC)
The Rutledge (Nashville, TN)
Cafe Coco (Nashville, TN)
Loudhouse Coffee (Greenbrier, TN)
3rd and Lindsley (CD Release!  Nashville, TN)
Revive Coffeehouse (Nashville, TN)
Charlotte Business Guild Holiday Celebration (Charlotte, NC)
Pura Vida’s Gypsy Lounge (Charlotte, NC)

Performing at "Seahorses" CD Release Show.

3.  After 10 years of carrying me safely EVERYWHERE, I said farewell to my little Toyota truck Delilah.  She is with a new driver now somewhere here in Nashville.  I miss her  .  .  .  .

So cute and pretty . . .

4.  I finally got a new car with all the fixin’s, gizmos, and gadgets.  His name is Balthazar.  He’s a black Toyota Corolla.  As it happens, he’s very camera shy, but you can see him peeking through in this photo .   .  .

5.  The phenomenon that is Oreo and Buttercup happened.  They are on a mission to travel around the world, and I am here to document all of the insanity along the way.  Here is the first of many pictures I’ve posted .  .  .

Oreao and Buttercup stuck in the Grass AGAIN

All of this is just off the top of my head.  2009 has a lot more in store including a ton of shows in various places, a whole lot of promotion for the album, and all kinds of new stuff!!!!!!!

For starters, Oreo and Buttercup take on Seattle and Atlanta!!!  More on this later.

So long 2008!!  You have been very kind and gracious to me!

Welcome 2009!!  Bring it on!

-g

It’s been a wonderful week.  I spent Christmas Eve and Day with my family.  A hearty meal with our own traditional Turkey Adobo dish was deliciously decadent.  Um-Um GOOD!!!

I watched my niece and nephews squeal with delight as they unravelled each present.  They received toys, clothes, and more toys!!!  They are too precious.

These days, I rely less on others giving me what I want and am more active in just getting what I want for myself.  While shopping for the kids, I accidentally came across something I wasn’t planning on buying but desperately coveted nonetheless.  It was a Transformers t-shirt from Target.  Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE Transformers!!!!   Imagine my inner dork also squealing in delight as I discovered Optimus and the gang ready to fight an intergalactic battle!!!!   This t-shirt allows me to walk around with Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and a whole slew of other folks emblazoned on my Asian chest!!! AWW Yeah!!!  There is one more wee little gift to myself that I will get.  It is something I came across while I was in Charlotte doing my shows.  I’ll be ordering it within the next week.

New Year’s Eve is coming up next, and it is also my Mom’s Birthday!!  We’ll be celebrating together as well and probably cook up a huge dinner.

This morning, the big project has been to rearrange my room.  I’ve positioned my keyboard in front of my window where my bed used to be.    I now have a cozy little music nook next to my desk.  (It’s a complete workspace now with plans to connect my keyboard to my computer in order to transcribe my music.  More on this later.)

I’ve had to rummage through a lot of accumulated junk–sorting through it all and making different piles.  There is a pile of stuff to keep and stuff to throw away.  Thankfully, the throw-away pile is the taller of the two.  I am trying to make a habit of doing this every couple of months because before you know it my room will become a heaping, cluttered glob of mostly useless stuff.  I have too much to do without having to deal with a disorganized workspace.  I’ll post pictures as soon as I am done.   In another hour, I should be finished.  Yeeehawww!!

I have a few other things to announce, but all of that will have to wait.   There’s some big news to come.

Hope you all have a lovely Sunday!

Have a flower .  .  .

-g

-gordo!!

Yup, that’s right!!  They are at it again.  O and B were on another adventure while I was in Charlotte, NC this past week.

To see it all as it unfolded, just click on this image:

Hope you enjoy this!!

-g

Oh man it’s been a busy week.  I had a great time in Charlotte, NC doing a couple of shows.  I played for the Charlotte Business Guild’s Holiday Party and then I did my album showcase for several of my friends at Pura Vida’s Gypsy Lounge.

I also managed to eat a lot of hamburgers while I was in town.  Craziness.

I plan on enjoying the holidays over the next couple of weeks in addition to several other things.  I’ll also work on getting my website into tip-top shape.  This isn’t too bad of a project.

I have a lot going on for 2009.  This is going to be a full year by all standards.  I feel like a different phase of my life is just opening up.  I have so much more to offer to the world.  Surely enough, releasing an album of one’s own music is a great start.

The search is on by the way for a new keyboard.  I’ll be playing more shows than ever through 2009, and I’ll need a stronger instrument.  Yamaha and Roland keyboards seem to be the frontrunners, but we’ll see.
Additionally, I’d like to also get my hands on a hard case with wheels.  This will make my life on the road SO MUCH less backbreaking.  Ugh.

Look for some new stuff this week–including a much needed update to the highly-esteemed (and adored) Oreo Gallery.

Hope everyone has a lovely holiday season!!

Have a flower!!

Be well and be gentle, my friends.

-gordo

Yay!!  Yet another newspaper has decided to do an article on me!!  It is Q-Notes Newspaper.  They are a gay/lesbian focused newspaper with a readership and distribution all over North and South Carolina!!!!

To read the article, just click here or go to www.q-notes.com.  The article can be found in the “Top Stories” section.

In the actual paper there’s even a teaser on the  cover of the current issue with a photo of the album cover!!! This is pretty sweet!

I’m having a wonderful time here in Charlotte!!!  I’ll post more soon!

-g

Just checking in before I head out.  I basically stay on I-40 all the way through east Tennessee and through the mountains of North Carolina.  Passed Knoxville, it becomes a much more scenic route.  I plan on taking a bunch of photos for this trip, and I’ll post them soon.

I’ve travelled on this road many many times between Charlotte and Nashville.  My trips have been less frequent now, but I continue to have friends back in the Queen City.

I sing a lot when I’m on the road, and now that I finally have a CD player in my car, this will be much easier to do.  Radio stations come and go with so much static.  Besides, I can’t say that I like a lot of what is on the radio right now anyway.  A lot of it is pretty cool but mainly not for  me.

I’ll be listening to CD’s from the following artists:

Antony and the Johnsons
Norah Jones
Tori Amos
Radiohead
Madonna
Otis Redding
Tracy Chapman
Coldplay
and a few more .  .  .

I actually enjoy long road trips.  When by myself, I get plenty of time to do a good bit of thinking and daydreaming.  When with friends, it feels like an adventure.

I have to load up my car now.

Have a flower .  .  .

Be well everyone.

-gordo

PS–I’ll be taking Oreo and Buttercup with me.  They’ve been out of the limelight for a while.  This is going to change.  I’ll have more photos of them soon.

I am blessed to have some super adorable nephews and a niece in my life.

My one nephew is kind of the angry, brooding type, but he’s unbelievably adorable nonetheless .  .  .  (This is one of my favorite photos of him. )

Angry AND Adorable!!

Then of course, there’s my tiny, but very tough, niece.  I took this photo last year.  It was just one of those moments when she did something adorable .  .  .

Then, there’s my 0ldest nephew/football star.  He’s turning out to be very charming and easygoing.  I still remember having to change his diapers many moons ago.  He’s still a great kid.

My oldest nephew back in the day.

Finally, there’s Bubba.  I think that, more than any of the others, he’s perhaps the most eccentric.  He always seems to have a very clear idea of what he likes and wants.  He’s not shy, and he’s a darn good dancer too.

Watching these kids grow up is quite a sight to behold.  They have their own personalities and opinions, and they can be refreshingly honest about so much.

I also have two nephews through my older brother who I have not actually had the chance to meet yet.   They live far far away in the Philippines.  I hope to meet them someday.

For myself, I don’t think having kids will be part of my destiny.  I  have other worlds to explore and other vistas to behold.

In the meantime, I’m having a wonderful time as “Uncle”.

-g