12/25/06

Happy Holidays to all family, friends, and fans!!
Thank you all for supporting my music and giving me a wonderful, successful year of helping me make my dreams come true! Stay tuned -- there are some wonderful projects about to be launched in 2007!!

12/16/06

We're enjoying a little Holiday R & R, having a family reunion at the lovely Westgate Resort in Las Vegas, courtesy of family friend David Siegel -- thanks so much, Dave! Tonight we saw Cirque du Soleil's latest amazing multi-dimensional show, "Ka". They have truly taken stagecraft to a completely new level! It is always an inspiration to behold such incredible artists.

12/10/06

We attended the very inspirational Celebration of Oneness multi-media event in Pasadena, particularly a panel headed by our dear friend Kate McCallum entitled "The Transformational Power of Art and Media" -- right up my alley! There were numerous outstanding high-profile speakers, including Rev. Michael Beckwith, and showings of some great spiritual films, including "The Secret". A clip from John Banks's and Fritz Heede's "Illuminated Manuscripts" DVD was also played as part of the Harmony Channel presentation. The event culminated with the Elevate Film Festival, which again put my favorite fire-dancing couple Tangee Veloso-Pueblos and Dalmacio Pueblos up on the silver screen!

Incidentally, I was one of the lucky ones to download a copy of "The Secret" during their initial free Google Video giveaway. I understand the DVD which is available for purchase at thesecret.tv is a different edit, but here is the free download for those of you who may be interested.

11/29/06

I finally posted all my videos / video greeting cards on YouTube. You can see my YouTube page here: http://youtube.com/NijoleS

11/26/06

Here's a hilarious video about Lithuania that my Lithuanian friend (and fan!) Ona Hagreen brought to my attention -- looks like someone put a LOT of work into this too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KovEUZNTYOw

11/21/06

Received an update today from the CEO of Harmony Channel -- he mentioned the 4 artists whose music video promotions created a bump up in their viewership, and I was one of them! Thank you to everyone who checked out my video on Harmony Channel -- you helped to support cutting edge inspirational broadcasting!

11/19/06

Last night was the 20th Anniversary of the founding of the Agape International Spiritual Center (of which I've been a member since around 1994), so Fritz and I gave a special gift package of our various CD's and DVD's to Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith -- he is the minister who married us in an elaborate ceremony we staged at our home some years ago... I owe so much of my success to the teachings of Rev. Michael and Agape and I am forever grateful!

11/18/06

A very, very sad event today -- memorial service for our dear friend Nigel Holton who was also a music composer -- drowning accident in New Zealand. He was a very prolific composer, having scored over 80 feature films, documentaries, and short films, and released 2 CD's of his work. His bereaved girlfriend, Katina Mastellos, was the beautiful belly dancer at our wedding. The Maori tribe gave Nigel a very special funereal ceremony. We miss you, dear sweet angelic Nigel -- may you be finding your bliss now...

11/15/06

Fritz went off today for a meeting with Jon Anderson to show him all the work we've done on the songs so far -- and I was thrilled to hear that he not only loved all of it, but became very enthusiastic and inspired about the possibilities! YAY! These are the moments we LIVE for!!! But it's not over yet -- we still have a lot of work left including recording other instruments and vocalists, not to mention the mixing and mastering. A few more months...

11/11/06

Whew! Was a busy weekend at the TAXI Road Rally, which was EXCELLENT!! I ran into old friends, including Lis Lewis from back in the day when I used to teach singing as well -- Lis is currently the vocal coach for CBS TV's Rock Star: Supernova show. The most inspirational presentations were by Gilli Moon about promoting yourself as an indie artist, and also Nancy Moran who gave us unbelievable scads of brilliant ideas and resources for finding our own unique niche. Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby, was also his very inspirational self. It's always best when musicians talk to musicians -- the "suits" aren't NEARLY as helpful!

11/7/06

Fritz recorded Gilbert Levy's excellent ethnic percussion for the Jon Anderson album over the weekend -- sounding GREAT!! I have finished all my vocal recording -- might have to do a pick-up here or there -- and I've started recording Fritz singing HIS parts. He'll have about 12 vocal parts per song -- I'm recording, arranging and editing his parts as well.

11/2/06

Been keeping my nose to the grindstone, recording, arranging and editing background harmony vocals for Fritz and Jon Anderson's upcoming Trance-scendent Dance album, so I haven't updated here in a long time... We were contacted by a Yes news website to verify rumors flying about this album, so we are indeed listed on it: http://www.bondegezou.demon.co.uk/wnja.htm#artek

9/24/06

John Diliberto of Echoes radio (http://www.echoes.org) came by today to interview Fritz about the making of his upcoming CD soundtrack to the art DVD "Ritual Path". Since I am singing on 3 of the tracks, to my surprise he interviewed me too! We'll keep you posted about when that interview will air -- it should be posted on the Echoes website as well.

9/22/06

Happy Autumn Equinox and New Moon! For a special treat, I have posted Emmy-nominated composer Jamie Dunlap's re-mix of my song "Parallel Universe" here for you to download for FREE! Simply right-click or Ctrl+click the link and choose "Save link as" or "Download linked file". Enjoy, and let me know how you like it!

9/21/06

Well, the podcasts are really coming now! PC Podcast with Pete Cogle who lives in Lindfield, Sussex, in the UK, has also picked up my song "Rise" for his episode # 60, which you can hear here. This is all VERY exciting!!

9/20/06

Another podcast, Keith Gottschalk's Podrophenia, has picked up my song "Rise" -- that must be the hit, what do you folks think? You can hear it on his Magical Mystery Podsafe Tour of Sept. 14, 2006 here.

9/18/06

Prescriptive Music today sent us a contract which will license both my music and Fritz's for their CD compilations sold by hotels and spas, among others. Thanks SO much to my Lithuanian girlfriend, Rima Raulinaitis and her friend Bridgette Strong of MTI Builders for recommending them to me! I sang at Rima's wedding a LONG time ago and she found me on Amazon.com and MySpace, where we re-connected! I LOVE how the Universe works!

9/17/06

Anji Bee's Chillcast has picked up my song, "Rise". The Chillcast is a podsafe podcast that specializes in playing silky smooth music to chill out to. My song appears second on her episode # 30 and you can hear it here.

9/12/06

Very exciting!! I purchased a beautiful scale-changing harmonium from India and it arrived today! As a young girl fresh out of music school, I had the rare opportunity to see Nico (Velvet Underground) play live in Chicago and she was so inspirational -- just she and her European harmonium. I wanted my own harmonium ever since and have finally been able to realize that dream! Though it's a bit different from Nico's, I'll be playing it differently than she did too. Who knows -- maybe my next album will come from this?!

9/3/06

The last few weeks I've been busy creating a new website for my producer and love of my life, Fritz Heede. We finally uploaded it today in preparation for his upcoming release "Ritual Path", on which I sing a few tracks, as well as renowned lead singer of Yes, Jon Anderson. Now that that's behind me, I can focus on starting to record background vocals for Jon's Trance-scendent Dance album, co-written by him and Fritz. That won't be released till next Spring or so. Sign up for that update on Fritz's website!

9/1/06

My music video on Harmony Channel has been extended for another month -- YAY! I will be played thru the end of September, so if you get Comcast Cable TV or Time Warner (who recently bought Comcast), go to the Video On Demand menu, look under Music for Harmony Channel, and look for me under their Spirit Zone. You can watch my video any time you like! And if you want to support them for providing such a wonderful Visual Mood Music service, you can purchase my CD from their website at the MoodZones Store. ;->

8/31/06

Hah! One thing leads to another -- I am now on a Japanese social networking site called recommuni.jp -- here is my page. Fun, eh?! Don't we love the worldwide web!! I have been noticing more Japanese names in my sales at CD Baby -- coincidence?

8/29/06

What a treat! I have the privilege of having my song "Parallel Universe" re-mixed by my dear friend, talented musician and composer Jamie Dunlap -- see his website here. Jamie is an Emmy-nominated composer for the History Channel, Maris Entertainment, MTV and has been scoring South Park for over 5 years. And his version of "Parallel Universe" is really killer -- I'll be posting it here soon...

8/14/06

By the way, last week I succeeded in placing my CD's for sale in a retail store on Main Street in Santa Monica! The store is called FITO and carries unique gifts and accessories -- they have the cutest shoes from India, Thailand, Mexico, etc., not to mention gobs of jewelry. Their address is 2801 Main Street in the Bobbi Leonard building. If you stop by, say hello to Blake or Maria Elena!

8/7/06

Hey, this is kind of fun! I just got listed on a Japanese Internet radio site -- music-islands.com. Check it out -- my CD and photo look so cool surrounded by all the Japanese characters that I can't decipher!

8/1/06

Today is the official premiere of my music video for "In My Dreams" on Harmony Channel, offered thru Comcast Cable Networks. Harmony is a unique new concept in programming, offering Video-On-Demand (whenever you want to watch it) and specializing in Visual Music in a number of different mood zones. If you subscribe to Comcast or Time Warner Cable TV, go to the Video On Demand menu, click on Music, and click on Harmony Channel -- I'm in the Spirit Zone.

7/28/06

Wow. What a month of fruitless business meetings that took a lot of time with no results. Except for the meeting with Jon Anderson yesterday -- Fritz is collaborating on a new dance album with him, and I will be singing backup vocals! Got some wonderful clarity on the project -- Jon is truly an amazing human being. The rest of the month was under the spell of Mercury retrograde, but Mercury turned direct this evening so now it's onward and forward!

6/28/06

M.A.C. Makeup Pro Store in Beverly Hills sponsored a reception in honor of multi-Oscar-winning makeup artist Ve Neill. Ve's work includes "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Beetlejuice", "Edward Scissorhands", "Batman", and many more amazing makeup innovations in the industry. Ve happens to be one of Fritz's long-time friends, so we were delighted to attend this special celebration:



6/21/06

Well, I haven't had the chance to make one of my E-Cards in a while! But it felt good to spend some time and put together a Summer Solstice greeting for the longest day of the year. Since the sun is highest in the sky on this day, I thought it appropriate to do an animation for a short snippet of my song "Rise" -- you can see/hear it here. If you haven't seen my other E-Cards, go to my Gallery page and click on E-Cards.

6/17/06

Nothing to report in a while because I've just been spending my time submitting my URL to other sites and swapping links -- general e-commerce housekeeping... But today I had one of my childhood dreams come true -- a dear friend of ours asked me to sing the "Ave Maria" at his wedding in Santa Barbara. I prefer the Bach/Gounod version, because I find it more dramatic. It was really a treat to hear the entire church reverberate on the high notes!

5/25/06

Looks like I'm going to be doing more video work -- I had to finesse a few tweaks to my upcoming music video for Harmony Channel, so I spent some time hooking up a small TV so I can have an honest video monitor in my home studio (which shows video vastly differently from a computer -- I've learned a LOT in this area these days! New software programs, etc...). After sending out a revised version of my video, I'm starting on cataloging all the raw video footage I've taken in the last couple of years. Hmmm... Should catalog all the photos I've taken over the years, too -- nah, I have too many!

5/12/06

I am finally customizing my site at MySpace -- I've had it up since the CD Release party, but haven't had much time to spend inviting friends, sprucing up my page, etc. I created a song that is a compilation of 5 of the best songs on my CD -- I am giving this one away for free. So check out my site, download a free song compilation, and if you're a member, add me to your Friends! I'll return the favor... :-)

5/6/06

Back in the studio again for John Banks' and Fritz Heede's new DVD project. The main body of music is almost complete -- it's about an hour long and I wrote and sang vocals for 2 of the pieces, besides other guest artists (including Jon Anderson of Yes and kaRIN of Collide). Now I am working on some improvisations for the "Loops" section they are including -- these are going to be extra-long loops this time, so they don't repeat for quite a few minutes. The entire project is looking and sounding AMAZING!

5/1/06

Here's something of interest for radio programmers and DJ's -- a new Internet technology offered by AirPlay Direct which allows artists to upload their songs in broadcast quality! So now radio programmers no longer need to request CD's or keep stacks of CD's lying around the studio -- they can simply search the AirPlay song catalog at their leisure to discover new talent. I uploaded every song on my CD(in 360-bit MP3 format which is the highest available) so if you are a member (free for radio professionals), you can find my page here.

4/29-30/06

An amazing seminar in Studio City by Bashar (bashar.org) entitled "Changing Core Beliefs" -- one of his best! A lot of practical and helpful information. My CD was playing before and after, and a few attendees purchased some copies. Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) was spotted in the crowd, among others... he seems like a very down-to-earth nice fellow. A very inspirational weekend indeed!

4/17/06

That was a hectic week, but I finished the new "In My Dreams" video for Harmony Channel (Comcast Cable) and Fed Ex'ed the master to them on Saturday, in time to even have a little Easter holiday R & R. We decided to go to Native Cafe in Calabasas for dinner and lo and behold! As I'm sitting there enjoying an amazing meal created by their award-winning chef, my song "Everything" comes over the speaker system! I had forgotten that I had given a CD to the owner of Native Cafe many months ago. I heard 5 of my songs during the course of my dinner! That was a thrill!

I posted my new "In My Dreams" video here so you can see it -- again, it's all my photography except the photos taken OF me by Karen Williams. There's a nice section of photos in the middle that I took in Lithuania a while back at their huge Folk Song and Dance Festival...

4/7/06

Today I received an email from the VP of Programming for Harmony Channel, which is a Video On Demand service offered through Comcast Cable Network. They saw my 2-minute Flash animation (electronic greeting card) of "In My Dreams" and asked me to create a full-length version to broadcast on their station in the fall! And I was just about to get started creating my Spring Equinox / Easter greeting animation. Have to put that aside and get cracking -- they have a deadline of next week!

3/31/06

Tonight we went to see Jon Anderson play at the Roxy. What a great show! Jon played a MIDI guitar that he used to trigger patches and samples that gave him a really full sound (he performed solo). And behind him were projected John Banks' visuals! It felt great to see a member of our team represented up there! And afterwards, we talked with Jon and made some plans to do more music together in the future. Will keep you posted!

3/20/06

We are back from a lovely trip to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico! It's a wonderful artist colony with really old Spanish colonial buildings from the 16th century. We met up with friends from LA there, and made some new artist friends as well -- most notably, a really talented painter from Toronto named Betty White. Here's her website: http://www.bettywhite.ca/. We also saw a great world class trio play what they call "Gypsy Jazz" -- what a treat! I'm inspired now to get those vocals finished and my new website UP!

3/2/06

Okay -- now I can tell you what I've been working on! I've been writing and recording some vocals for the sequel to John Banks' and Fritz Heede's amazing DVD "Illuminated Manuscripts". I've created choral harmonies for two of Fritz's pieces. And today I heard the vocals that Jon Anderson (lead singer of 70's super-group YES) has contributed to the sequel. Wow. Absolutely amazing. The man is a total pro! ;-) And an unparalleled talent. 10 part harmonies and all kinds of counterpoint backups -- really cool. Great words, too. And I'm thrilled to think I'm going to be sharing the same album with his vocals -- WOW. Look for the launch by this fall!

3/1/06

LA Yoga Magazine has a review of my CD in the March issue -- thanks to Michael Mollura who is a fervent supporter of our spiritual community and events here in LA! The album is in English AND Lithuanian, Michael... ;-) But you're right -- it isn't meant for Yoga practice. But I hope yoga practitioners will enjoy listening to it at other times...!!

2/10/06

This may not mean much to some of you, but to me it was HUGE. I was doing my usual 30 minute walk up in the hills around my neighborhood when there in front of me was a real EGRET. At first I thought it was a plastic one, but then it moved. I've been living in LA for 25 years and I've never once seen an egret around here, especially not here in the Valley, in the hills, far away from any water. Wow. What a gorgeous creature -- it was all white with beautiful long legs and very long pointed beak. And when it took off it was so majestic -- I wish I'd had a camera with me. Some amazing sign of something, I think...

2/9/06

I've been busy writing and recording -- more on that later! In the meantime, I want to spread the love with my latest Flash animation in time for the Valentine's weekend! Click here to see my Valentine greeting for every one of you.

1/18/06

I was again listening to Jim Ladd's "Headsets" show tonight and what a thrill it was to hear my song "Phoenix" kick off the opening of the entire show tonight! Right after his famous recording of Jim Morrison saying "Is everybody in? The ceremony is about to begin!", Fritz's electric guitar starts. How cool is that?! Thanks to everyone who called into the station to say how much you love my music!

1/11/06

What a way to begin the New Year -- with a radio debut on one of L.A.'s biggest radio stations, 95.5 KLOS-FM! Legendary DJ Jim Ladd -- besides his usual 10 PM -2 AM slot -- does a Wednesday at midnight one-hour commercial-free program called "Headsets", where he introduces elements of his classic "Theater of the Mind" style and philosophies. I was absolutely THRILLED to be included among rock 'n roll legends Robert Plant, Bruce Springsteen, the Moody Blues, and the Rolling Stones as the sole female voice! Thanks, Jim, for supporting my album and bringing it to the attention of a new set of listeners! And thanks to Stew Herrera for making this happen! Stew is himself a talented DJ, voiceover artist, production director, singer/songwriter/musician, a friend and a great guy!
Click here to hear Jim Ladd back announcing what he played.

All content © 2006 Nijole Sparkis.
Only copy and distribute this content with proper attribution -- thanks!

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"Parallel Universe"
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CLICK song titles
to HEAR music samples:
In My Dreams
Parallel Universe
My King
Sky High
Phoenix
Now I'm Here
Everything
Sweetest Fruit
Fateful Day
Rise
Evening Prayer