Cubworld.

It was an absolute pleasure in every way to photograph one of my dearest friends, and favorite musicians, Jake Kongaika of Cubworld. Jake will be using shots from this shoot for promotional material in coming months, so it was really important to both of us that we really created something atypical and captured HIM in these images. I'm very pleased by how they turned out. Well then, without further ado. . .

Lame Video. RAD song.

This is dedicated to you Jase.

I Heart Pandora.

Heather, this post is dedicated to you because this is something your soul will love.


If you haven't already, you've got to check out Pandora. It's music you love, all the time. And the price is right. . . it's FREE! You create your own radio stations based on artists you already know you love. There aren't any adds and if you don't like a song, you give it the boot! THEN, get this, Pandora makes a note and doesn't play other songs with similarities to the song you didn't dig!!!!

Pandora,

I can't believe that two weeks ago, you weren't a part of my world!

I'm yours. Forever and truly.

xoxo,

Natalie

Giveaway: CUBWORLD CD.

My giveaway this week is 5 limited edition copies of Cubworld's album, Step Lightly Create Out Loud. It's a tremendous musical journey ranging from soulful ballads, upbeat ska-inspired rhythms, as well as modern, Indie-rock songs. . . all sure to inspire. Just a little FYI: This is by no means a promotional effort by the artist. I love his music so much that I personally purchased the 5 cd's for the giveaway. If you'd like to be entered in the drawing, comment on this post no later than Friday, 22 February. Winners will be announced Saturday, 23 February.

You can also (and totally should) download 3 free tracks here.

Here's the Cubworld scoop:

Meet Jacob Kongaika. . . the "Cub" of the magical land I've come to know and love as Cubworld. I'm so stoked to be set up to shoot this guy when his tour hits Oahu (the Hawaii leg of the tour is scheduled to follow the band's stop in New Zealand and should be the first 2 weeks in May: EXACT DATES TBA. . . stay tuned).

Jake grew-up in the South Pacific and has been heavily influenced by local island traditions and the rich, smooth musical cultures of Tonga, Samoa and of course Hawaii. These melodic harmonies were introduced to him from his infancy by his father who sang old Tongan songs to his children. Jake says, "this inspired my lifelong passion for music." It clearly ignited his innate ability as well.

He received his first Martin guitar in college, a gift from a knowing sister, and the rest is history. In the last year he's played the Paradiso in Amsterdam three times. This is the same venue that's been graced by a good number of Jake's musical heroes. Namely: Coldplay, Damie Rice, Jack Johnson and Dave Matthews. Ask him about this and he's out of his mind with excitement as well as the humility that is so characteristic of this musical giant. "Trips me out to know that i played on that stage!" he'll say with a smile that stretches the length of his face and a twinkle in his eye that would put the North Star to shame. Check out his first performance at the Paradiso here.

So I asked him flat out, "Jake, what makes you so cool?" I know him well enough to know that this question is going to make him squirm. But his response is dead on.

Jake: "I think I'm cool 'cause I'm a Poly that thinks outside the box musically."

Nat: "You sure do."

Jake: "I love that more and more young Polynesians are into rock music and actually making it. I don't do rock, but listening to it has helped me branch out of the rap and reggae world. I'm still very much influenced musically by my island roots but I think it's cool to do music thttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifhat can branch out a little farther into the world. Other than that, I don't really think I'm all that cool."

Jake'll be the first to tell you that his music is a harmony of his inner most thoughts and feelings. His songs are a rich tribute to (as well as a search for) life, family, morality and everything that's good in the world.

Step Lightly Create Out Loud was not only the creative result of Cubworld but also the collaborative effort of 686 fans from 44 different countries who invested in Cubworld, helping him raise $50,000 for a recording contract with Sellaband.com, which made him the first U.S. SellaBand recording artist with this distinction.

Nat: "Jake, what's your biggest dream that has come true thus far?"

Jake: "Waking up during the recording of my album in New York, knowing that all I was going to do that day was MUSIC. It was a dream come true."

Jake's official site.
Cubworld's SellaBand page.

**Don't forget to comment below to be entered into the drawing.**

Loving it.

Totally loving New Soul by Yael Naim.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Shooting!

xoxo,
Nat

Loving Colbie Caillat

Richie and I (Richie in particular) LOVE this song. I know it's hit the mainstream already, but I learned something interesting about Colbie that I wanted to share. I was reading a little bit about her, and did you know that she attributes her early success to MYSPACE? How about that! See, where there's a will (and a mentionable amount of talent) there's a way (take Paul Potts as a prime example)! You don't have a venue to showcase yourself? CREATE YOUR OWN! People really have every opportunity in this day and age to live all of their heart's desires. What a world! What's your dream? Go out and make YOUR mark!

Raising Sand

Check out this new album called Raising Sand. It's a collaborative effort by Allison Krauss (bluegrass icon extraodinare) and Robert Plant (Led Zepplin). It's beautiful. There's a song on the album called "Your Long Journey." Click for a cry (it's track 13 once you're on the page. . . sorry I looked and looked but couldn't find an embedded version of this song). It's sweet (as in tender, not as in Saweet!). It makes me think of my Gavin.