http://www.jjheller.com/journal.asp JJ Heller's online journal en-us http://www.jjheller.com/journal.asp#66
We were just up in Washington (you can check out our video) where it got down to 9 degrees! We took advantage of the abundance of snow, and went sledding. It was a lot more work than I was expecting (i.e. walking up hill thigh-deep in snow), but it was great fun.

While we were in Washington, we also went to a World Vision Artist retreat in Seattle. It was inspiring to hear about what World Vision is doing on behalf of the poor, and it made me feel honored to be a small part of their organization. Being there and hearing the stories reminded me that these are real people we’re helping. Sometimes they seem so far away and make-believe, but the accounts we heard reminded me how real they actually are. I was so moved to hear about person after person in a desperate situation finding hope through the smallest act of generosity.

We also heard from some of our Nashvillian friends that while we were away, we got some air time on our favorite local radio station, Lightning 100. Our song “Grow” was featured on their local artist spotlight for one week. Unfortunately, we never actually got to hear it because we were in Washington the whole time. We weren’t too disappointed though, because we figure that we’ve heard the song before :)

Peace!
*jj

]]> JJ Heller 2008-1-26 http://www.jjheller.com/journal.asp#67
CLICK HERE to visit her new blog. ]]> JJ Heller 2007-12-31 http://www.jjheller.com/journal.asp#65 This has been such an exciting time for Dave and me! If you’ve been watching our video journals, you know that we went back into the studio to track one more song called “Grow.” It’s now the first track on “The Pretty & The Plain,” and we feel like it adds a lot to the record. AND it’s light-hearted and fun, which balances out all our deep, heavy songs.

We’re now waiting from a call from our printer (it's so hard to be patient!) to let us know that our CD’s are done being manufactured. We’re SO excited to actually hold the finished product in our hands. Most of what we do in our music career is intangible, so it’s really great to physically see the fruits of our labor. I can honestly say that the artwork for The Pretty & The Plain is the most beautiful and unique that I’ve ever seen on CD packaging. We’re glad we decided to pay the money to have someone else design our projects this time. Wake Up The World looks really great too. It conveys the idea of Christmas without being to cliché in the imagery. We love it.

We’re booked up for the fall, and we’re looking forward to playing our new songs for all of you wonderful listeners. We’ll see you on the road!

*jj

p.s. October is my birthday month... I'm turning the big 2-7!

]]> JJ Heller 2007-10-5 http://www.jjheller.com/journal.asp#64
So far everyone who has heard our new music (a bunch of our musician friends) says that we’ve grown a lot since “Only Love Remains,” and that they really love the new songs. This new collection is a bit different than our last release, but we’ve come to believe that if our art is not growing, it’s dying. Dave and I have become really attached to these new songs, and we can’t wait for all of you to hear them!

We’re still waiting on the designs for both projects, so when we get the final artwork, we’ll be ready to start printing. As of now, we’re hoping for an October release date for both CD’s, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Now begins the waiting game…

*jj
]]> JJ Heller 2007-8-17 http://www.jjheller.com/journal.asp#63
I have mixed emotions about recording so soon. Part of me really wants to have more time to write so that we can make this an amazing record, but the other part of me is excited to finally track these songs that have become really special to me.

We’re still really proud of Only Love Remains, so it will be interesting to see how we feel about these new records. I didn’t intend for it to happen, but most of the songs have taken on a somewhat nostalgic, old-timey feel. Now we have to figure out if we’re going to play that up or tone it down. We also have the daunting task of deciding which songs make it, and which ones get cut.

Thanks so much for being a part of all this!
Love & Peace,
*jjh

]]> JJ Heller 2007-7-18