Whether it's Music or Media - this is the Voice you're looking for.
From the Chicago Tribune:
“Jim Goodrich, right, and members of the Caroling Connection singing group, perform Christmas carols during the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival on Nov. 19, 2016, in Chicago.
(Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune)”
That’s what the holiday season brings…Of warmth and happiness, friends and family, sleepy-eyed children trying to stay awake long after bedtime. The Caroling Connection helps set the mood with quartets and double quartets of costumed a cappella Christmas carolers with the highest musical standards and performance experience to welcome our audiences into not only the season, but connect with the larger Caroling Connection family.
2016 is the first year for The Caroling Connection. After performing for 22 years as a professional Christmas caroler and more, having sung with the Grant Park Symphony Chorus and many other musical opportunities from Rock to Opera and everything in-between, it was time. Time to create a group that embodies what I wanted to see and be during the holidays.
Starting with the highest standards in music and performers as the foundation, but knowing that there’s so much more to the group and the holiday season itself. The knowing wink of an eye when something seemingly impossible happens, the smile that spreads warmth and joy and just the outright excitement that is the holiday season. Friends and family, joining together in the spirit of the season. Bringing the best holiday entertainment in the Dickensian style with live music. Four or eight singers using their voices to bring cheer. Something special when you’re hoping for it and when it’s least expected. That’s what it’s all about.
The Caroling Connection is a quartet of Dickensian costumed a cappella singers who sing four-part holiday songs to provide an almost magical experience to our audience, helping to make holiday memories that last a lifetime. We’re trained musicians of the highest quality with experience to match that add that little something extra when you hear and see us sing. Some of the ways to use us are:
Our goal is to create the atmosphere of warmth, joy and wonder that is a part of the holidays for your special event, party or business that will make a memory for everyone involved.
From time to time, we’ll post something from behind the scenes at The Caroling Connection, maybe a bit of fun or perhaps a new arrangement of a favorite carol, like this arrangement of Deck the Halls. This was done by our Head Voice, Jim Goodrich and the video features him singing all four parts. Of course, that won’t be the case when the Caroling connection sings it live, but like we said a bit of fun and behind the scenes all at once. Enjoy!
You can find out more about us by visiting The Caroling Connection’s website or using our Contact form.
[Note: While serving large video files from your hosting service using WordPress is not the recommended method for many reasons (flexibility, host issues, bandwidth and storage space to name a few), sometimes it is necessary for proprietary reasons. Keeping that in mind, this video shows you how to do exactly that.]
Add From Server WordPress plugin Homepage
Embedding a large video file in WordPress
If you have a video file over 50 MB, you won’t be able to upload it using WordPress. First, you’ll need to upload via FTP.
I use Filezilla. Once you’ve connected to your Hosting server, on the right side double click the wp-content folder to open it, then double click uploads, then double click the year folder and then double click the month.
To upload the file, click and drag it from its location on your computer to the open month folder and it will begin uploading.
I use Filezilla because it’s a free program and works the same way whether you’re using Windows, Mac or Linux, you can find a link below. Your hosting service will also have an FTP program available.
Once the file is uploaded, you’ll have to make an entry in the database for WordPress to recognize it. I use a plugin called “Add from Server” for that, you can see a link below.
Once you’ve logged in to you WordPress site, on the left hand side of the dashboard, hover over Media and click Add From Server. This takes you to a new window and you’ll see the uploads folder is one of the quick jump destinations.
Click that and you’ll see the file you just uploaded. Click the checkbox for your file and then click import.
When it’s finished importing, you’ll get a success message and you’re ready to Embed your video.
To do that, hover your pointer over Posts or Page Click add new, title it, then click in the content area and click the add media button.
The insert media window will open, click the file you want to embed. Information about the file will appear on the right side and in the lower right double check that the Embed or Link dropbox says Embed Media Player.
Click the Insert into post button. The video is inserted.
Click the publish button on the right and the embedded video will be saved. Once it’s saved, click view and you will see the embedded video and you can click the play symbol to check that it’s working.
If you have any questions, let me know in the comments.
This should put you all in a festive holiday mood! Thanks to our Ed Curran for providing us with the footage!
Posted by CBS Chicago on Saturday, November 28, 2015
(ELGIN, IL; November 12, 2015) Home for the Holidays, A Musical Revue, opens its 19th season in a four performance engagement at the Elgin Art Showcase, 164 Division Street, 8th Floor, Elgin, IL 60120, December 4 – 6; presented by With A Voice Like This and FAME – Flora Ann McIntyre Entertainment and sponsored in part by an Individual Artist Grant from the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission.
Inspired by the classic films, Holiday Inn and White Christmas, this spectacular holiday concert will take you on a musical journey of classic songs from the ’40’s & ’50’s: Beginning with a WWII performance for the troops, we’ll move on to a Florida nightclub and finally settle in to a New England town. Christmas Eve In My Hometown, Home For The Holidays, Baby It’s Cold Outside & White Christmas are just a few of the classic songs performed in this magical revue. Complete with lavish costumes, original arrangements, comedy and plenty of sentiment, this show proves that the holidays will warm the heart and enrich the soul because everyone longs to be, “Home for the Holidays”!
“In the summer of 1995 I had an idea: Why not create a holiday concert that includes songs from some of my favorite childhood movies, like Holiday Inn & the classic 1954 film, White Christmas? Those old movies had everything I loved in a film; comedy, sentiment, song & dance plus a love story all in one.” said Flora Ann McIntyre, owner of FAME and co-producer. “From the beginning I wanted this to be a show that the entire family could enjoy and I consider this group of artists to be a part of my family.”
Home for the Holidays runs 70 minutes with no intermission and features 30 classic songs performed by four singer/dancers and one keyboardist. For the last eighteen seasons Home for the Holidays has performed in multiple locations in Chicago and the surrounding area, including Kankakee, Joliet, and Door County. It’s also frequently performed at private venues. By performing this engagement at the Elgin Art Showcase people who have wanted to see the show for years will now have an opportunity.
“Every year people ask us where they can see the show and we’re usually either too far away from them or we’re performing at a private event and just can’t invite them” said Jim Goodrich, owner of With A Voice Like This and co-producer. “So this year we’re self-producing the show and I am fortunate to have received an Individual Artist Grant from the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission to help do just that.”
Add to that the Romance Premium Cafe has partnered with Home for the Holidays to provide a “Dinner and a Show” package for the Friday and Saturday evening performances and anyone can make it a wonderful kickoff for the holiday season.
The four performances will be Friday and Saturday, December 4 & 5 at 8:00 PM and two performances on Sunday, December 6 at 2:00 PM and 6:00 PM. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 Day of performance and Dinner and a show packages are $32 advance sale only. For more information on the show and to purchase tickets, visit http://HomefortheHolidays.show/tickets.
Come to the Elgin Art Showcase December 4 – 6 and be “Home for the Holidays”!
What: Home for the Holidays – A Musical Revue
Where: Elgin Art Showcase 164 Division Street, 8th floor, Elgin, IL 60120
When: December 4 & 5 at 8:00 PM, December 6 at 2:00 PM and 6:00 PM
How much: $20 in advance, $25 Day of Performance, Dinner and a Show package Dec. 4 & 5, $32 advance sales only
Ticket info: http://HomefortheHolidays.show/tickets
Click or tap to open in a new window
In case you can’t see the letter above, it reads:
Jim Goodrich October 6, 2015
Dear Jim,
On behalf of Berghoff, we would like to thank you for being part of our 30th Annual Oktoberfest! The Fest was a huge success, and it would not have been possible without all your time, efforts, care, and support.
There is an old German saying the goes: Dankbarkeith und Weizen gedeihen nur auf gutem Boden, which in English translates to: Gratitude and wheat prosper only from good soil. your contributions and planning helped lay the foundation for an extraordinary event, which helped raise funds and awareness for two great organizations; Mercy Home for Boys and Girls & Delete Blood Cancer. A combined $6,000 was raised and over 40 new blood donors were registered, not to mention the 60,000 Chicagoans, we helped spread cheer to. I cannot express my gratitude enough.
It truly is an honor to have you and your team as part of such a great Chicago tradition. Thank you for your continued support and cheers to our 31st Annual Oktoberfest in 2016!
Cheers,
[Handwritten] Thnx for stepping In.
CBCarlyn Berghoff
CEO, Berghoff Catering & Restaurant Group
Jim & Tim take a hiatus every year around the holidays. This year, we’re just starting a bit earlier. But we’ll be back in 2016, so keep a eye out for our dates coming up. In the meantime, we’d like to thank Double J Sports Bar, Salt Creek Pizza and Pub, Church Street Brewing and the Moran Athletic Club and the private functions that we played during 2015.
Jim will be out and about during the holiday season, in fact, you may even trip over him if you’re not watching closely as you bustle along during the busy season. We’ll have more information on where you can see him in the coming weeks.
One of the biggest internet buzzwords is SEO (an acronym Search Engine Optimization). I use Yoast SEO Plugin for WordPress and I tell everyone I work with to do so as well. There are a few excellent plugins to help, but what puts Yoast SEO way out in front is its ease of use and it guides you to good SEO practices.
This guide is not comprehensive. It focuses on the process to set up good SEO on a post or page, the everyday stuff. It deals with the General and Page Analysis tabs of the free Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress and includes some SEO best practices. This guide is built so you can run through the steps on your own at any time. Here we go!
When you create a new post, the Add New Post window opens. In the Publish box on the right side of the page you will see SEO: N/A Check with a gray dot next to it.
Click or Tap the Check link
– This will take you to the bottom of the Add New Post and the Page Analysis tab of the Yoast SEO section with a “No focus keyword…” error message.
To set a focus keyword, click or tap the General tab in the upper left corner of the Yoast SEO box
– This will open the General tab of the Yoast SEO section
The four areas of the General Section are:
This sections shows you what displays as the search results of a Google search. The example above is blank, but if you have information in the event itself, it will display what would be pulled by Google by default.
This is a word or phrase about the event and is the basis for the scoring of the SEO on the event itself. It should be a combination of:
As you begin to type, a drop box with possible keywords will appear, these are results from Google Suggest and will change real time. Once the focus keyword is filled out, the event will be ranked based on its usage and additional factors.
This is the Title that will show in the search results. It defaults to the title of the event. Recommended length of a title is 40 – 70 characters. If the title is too long, it is cut off and an ellipsis (the three dots “…”) is added to the end. For good SEO it’s not recommended to have a title that is too long. By default, WordPress adds the site name to the end of every title.
This is a brief description about the post or page. The section is limited to 156 characters and by default pulls from the beginning of the event, so it is best to have a short, descriptive paragraph about the event ready to place here for anyone searching the web to help them know what the event is about immediately.
The following is an example of a completed General section with a good ranking:
To start (or update) the SEO scoring, enter a focus keyword in the Focus Keyword field, then go to the top of the post/page and click or tap one of the following buttons in the Publish section in the upper right of the page:
-Once you have entered a focus keyword and saved it, you will see one of the following 4 SEO scoring indicators:
To improve your score, click or tap the Check link to the right of your indicator
– The screen will return to the Page Analysis tab of the Yoast SEO plugin.
IMPORTANT: Don’t forget to save your revisions/changes or they will be lost and you will have to start over!
Some SEO targets:
NOTE: these targets are not hard and fast rules, different combinations will still score the good SEO ranking! The biggest factor in good SEO is to start with good content!
SEO works best when it is a habit, whether it’s a page, article or post. Yoast SEO gives you an easy to use, logical framework to help develop SEO at every level.
If you want to print out a copy of this guide, you can download the pdf guide. You can just have it, No e-mail signup, no joining anything, it’s yours.
This in directly from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE):
The Lake FX Summit + Expo presented by Google is the region’s largest FREE conference for artists, creative professionals and entrepreneurs in the areas of film, music, fashion, culinary and the visual & performing arts. The inaugural four-day event, running April 16-19, will host keynotes, panels, professional development workshops and interactive labs featuring leading artists and industry innovators at the Chicago Cultural Center, the Virgin Hotels Chicago, the Gene Siskel Film Center, the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago and Macy’s on State Street.
Pre-registration for the summit is encouraged and allows registrants access to a “Fast Pass” to some programs at the Chicago Cultural Center in the Claudia Cassidy Theater (priority seating based on availability) and special giveaways including a commemorative Lake FX Summit + Expo poster created by internationally renowned Chicago-based artist Carlos Rolón/DZINE (while supplies last). Only the Google Workshop on Friday, April 17, requires advanced registration which opens separately at 10am on Monday, March 23.
By signing up in advance you will also be entered in a chance to win reserved seating to a future DCASE produced event in Millennium Park between May-September 2015. Paid, ticketed and contracted rentals are not included in this offering.
The Lake FX “Fast Pass” will give you priority seating (first entrance based on availability) for the following programs (schedule subject to change):
Friday, April 17
Saturday, April 18
Happy Holidays and welcome to my site! If you want to see my calendar of upcoming shows, simply click the link below
Also, if you’d like a little more Christmas music, buy my Christmas EP With A Voice Like This Christmas directly through me.
Thank you for stopping by, I’m glad you did and I hope to see you back soon!
Jim
Working with Jim has been an incredibly wonderful experience. I first want to express the amount of patience he has. In running my business, I have been very behind in keeping up with Jim’s requests/homework for me as far as getting content to him to build my website. He has been understanding, and also has been in touch often just to make sure I hadn’t forgotten to finish what I needed to do. He had to wait lengthy periods of time for me to get him images, text and other content, yet always maintained a positive character with me. I still cannot thank him enough for that.
Jim also took the time to understand me, my business, and what I needed and wanted to do with each of my websites (he built three for each of the three major areas of photography I am marketing). I trusted him do choose which images to use in representing each of my image galleries, and he exceeded any choice I believe I would have made. He made sure that so many of my demographics were represented, and chose images that complimented one another visually. I’m so thrilled!
Since he and I have been working together to build these sites, my search engine traffic has improved! In addition to programming in behind the scenes technical “stuff” to get my website seen, Jim has given me a lot of advice and insight on SEO how-to’s, what not to do’s, and is always there to answer my questions and help me make this process easier.
Jim stays up to date with all of the latest programming changes, too, and has kept things in mind throughout our working together. He and I even changed aspects of each website as the changes were happening, so that the final product would be its absolute best upon completion.
I highly recommend Jim’s services and expertise, and plan to continue going to him for any website need I may have.
Thanks, Jim!
—
Amy Aiello President/Photographer Amy Aiello Photography, Inc www.amyphotochicago.com amy@amyphotochicago.com
There’s a story I heard that was credited to a well known piano accompanist (I don’t remember who) about accompanying a famous diva. The accompanist was on stage and the diva walked out to begin the program. Just as the accompanist was about to start playing, the diva, leaned across the piano and hissed in a stage whisper “Don’t play too loud.” Taking a moment to recover from being startled by the outburst, the accompanist was just about to start again, when the diva leaned across the piano again and hissed “But don’t play too soft.”
While that story doesn’t speak specifically about phlegm, it does speak about something directly related to it; balance. While it’s pretty much there all the time, the only times you notice phlegm, mucus, snot or whatever you want to call it, is when you have either too little or too much of it.
Phlegm protects your nasal passages, throat and vocal folds by trapping all sorts of things keeps it from interfering with the works and it keeps them lubricated so things don’t get irritated or grind and cause more damage. The big difference is that a car doesn’t produce its own axle grease. The body does and because of that, it also has to get rid of it on a regular basis. That’s usually done by absorbing it or expelling it (yeah, I don’t want to know what you’re thinking right now). If that gets out of balance, then there’s trouble usually. You don’t want too much and you don’t want too little (Hello diva!).
Whenever the seasons change, I tend to have an issue especially when the weather turns colder. That also tends to coincide with one of my busiest singing times of the year. If I get out of balance, then I can be sick through the entire season and that’s neither good nor fun.
I know some people use this as a last resort when they’re so congested they can barely breathe or they have a really bad case of post nasal drip that leads to what I call the “Naso-Pharynx of Fire”. I use it to flush the system and give it a fresh slate to do it’s work. I know it sounds gross to a lot of people, but it’s very similar to gargling with warm salt water (same principle). It cleanses the nasal passages without prohibiting production of more phlegm; giving a good base for the body from which to work. Once you’re used to the process, it can be pretty soothing too.
There are two main ways to do this: a Neti pot, which uses gravity to circulate the Saline through your nasal passages and a squeeze bottle, which combines gravity with the force the fluid as you squeeze the bottle. You should figure out what works best for you, but always be careful and read all instructions first. There are specific ways to use these flushing techniques and you need to know what you’re doing before you do it. If it’s done right, it’s a very good thing and if it’s not, you can easily damage yourself, so be careful. It takes a little getting used to.
Yes, you’ve heard that you should drink water, but or the most part, as long as you’re drinking something, you’re hydrating. I’m not going to give you a set amount of fluid to drink in a day, you can figure that out by paying attention to how you feel. You might have to focus on that or a bit until it becomes a habit, but if you feel dry, drink something.
The exception are fluids that dry you out or make your vocal folds feel thick. That can vary from person to person, but things like red wine, caffeinated drinks (yes, that means a ton of those energy drinks), heavy sugary drinks and even milk. It all depends on you, but you know what affects you in which way, so be smart about it. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of remembering (Oh yeah, I’m singing for six hours tomorrow, maybe I shouldn’t drink red wine tonight).
Just some things that I do and make my habits to keep it all in balance and my phlegm friendly. I’ll talk about some other things that can have an affect on this, but aren’t directly related to this topic in future posts.
Up next: Protecting your energy.
I am NOT a Medical Doctor.
Who I am is a professional singer with a Masters Degree in Vocal Pedagogy (Teaching Voice) and over 25 years of professional performance experience.
Having said that, I’m currently in my busiest time of year as a singer. Which means that I’m pushing myself as hard as possible. And that means I’m concentrating on taking care of myself and my voice to make sure that I perform to the best of my ability.
That includes a lot of things that I have learned over the years through training and experience that I can pass on as tips to you. So I’m starting this series – Keeping Vocally Fit. I’ll try to keep them short and I can’t guarantee a set schedule for posting them, but they’ll be here.
These tips aren’t meant to take the place of advice from a Medical Professional, if you need to see a medical doctor, see one!
First up: Phlegm is Your Friend!
Photo Credit: bradleygee
If you follow us, you know we had a gig at El Sombrero Restaurant last Saturday night.
We had a great time and from all the indications, so did everyone else. There was a lot of dancing in a room with no dance floor (the aisles were packed), a few of “That’s my most favorite @#$*in’ song” proclamations and then singing every word along with us, a request for a ‘foot’ song (I don’t think I can tell that story by myself if I wanted to, but ask me sometime and I might try) and a couple of impassioned pleas to the bartender to let us sing ‘One more song’ at the end of the night. But the one that got me thinking was when one of the dancers danced close to us and at the end of the song was looking around to the side of us and on the floor, looked at us and asked
“Where’s your tip jar?”
And we replied in unison “We don’t have a tip jar”.
First, let me tell you, I’m all for tipping. If you want to tip us, we’re going to let you. We just don’t have a tip jar. And that got me to thinking about it and why we don’t.
I think that like all things, tip jars can be used well and abused. That goes for musicians as well as anywhere else you see them. I expect to see tip jars when I see:
Where I don’t expect to see tip jars:
Jim & Tim setup at El Sombrero
Last Saturday’s gig falls into that second category. In that case it’s not about us, it’s about you. Now before you go thinking I’ve gone all saccharinely sweet “our music is all for you” on you, there’s a business reality to that statement too. If the owner thinks that having us back to play will get you back as a customer, we’ll be back to play.
So dance in the aisles, tell us that’s your most favorite song, sing along with us, beg the bartender to let us play longer, tell the staff you’re having a great time listening to us play and even ask them when we’ll be back there. Have a great time and let the staff know about it. If that happens, we’ll all be back together to do it again.
And if you feel like it, feel free to tip us. We’ll take it, just don’t expect to see a tip jar at our gigs anytime soon.
Where is your tip jar? originally appeared on Jim & Tim on July 10, 2012. Tweet This
The post Where is your tip jar? appeared first on Jim & Tim.
I was in a reflective mood when I recorded this week’s show. So here is an outline of my reflections.
First reflection, a Happy Birthday to Cara Carriveau, a friend and someone you should thank if you listen to this show. You’ll understand why when you listen and listen closely you should, I’ll leave it at that.
Second reflection, a farewell of sorts, I was surfing the web as I am wont to do occasionally, and I came across the Elburn Days website (The home of the 2007 seven and a half hour Jim & Tim Gig) and saw the Jim & Tim won’t be playing this year for the first time in quite awhile. And we’ll miss it. But things change and this is one of those changes.
Third reflection (well, this is multiples, but along the same line), is in regard to people who are impressive. a little about Paul McCartney as an example, but mainly about Jay Conrad Levinson, the creator and author of Guerrilla Marketing. I saw him speak over the previous weekend and there was was a quiet elegance and air around this man and what he had to say.
Fourth reflection(s) are about the internet and business at large and how they’re adapting to each other. I had the opportunity to attend a seminar/convention whatever you want to call it call Internet Prophets. Interesting to see and hear and I share some of my somewhat muddled thoughts about it with you. and how they might affect this show itself.
[runtime 00:15:40]
[audioplayer file=”http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-52008/TS-634722.mp3″]
Listen above or download by right clicking and saving.
