tag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:/blogs/latest-news--2?p=2Latest News2021-12-08T09:53:13-06:00Chuck Starrfalsetag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/68335472021-12-08T09:53:13-06:002023-12-30T01:38:50-06:00Who is Chuck Starr Vol 1 Podcast Edition25:08Chuck Starrtag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/62758682020-04-08T05:06:37-05:002023-12-18T00:46:48-06:00Who is Chuck Starr Part 14<p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="font_large">Hello Everyone, I have been going back and forth on what to write. How to address everyone. How to keep everyone's attention, especially with this virus, and while I've been trying to figure this out, I realize that I am losing days of not posting at all. To be exact my last "Who is Chuck Starr" post was May of 2019. WOW! Almost a year ago. There has been so much that has happened in the past year that I am realizing just how fast time is moving, and also how much I am losing time by trying to be perfect. Trying to create the perfect post for my blog or Facebook. Trying to finish and release the perfect song. Trying to build a perfect relationship. Trying to post the perfect photos on IG. Trying to be the perfect performer. I am realizing that perfect isn't the key. Consistency is the key. Being genuine, being myself is key. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="font_large">I realize that I struggle to show the world who I am because I get in my own way. My own way of thinking. My own way of feeling. I am a very hands-on person. I like to interact in person. I want you to look into my eyes in person, and feel my heart. You can shake my hand in person and feel my intentions. Those traits are hard to get out on a photo or a video, and I struggle with that. I love to laugh and joke and play games. I enjoy traveling, singing, performing. I love writing songs. I love playing basketball. I love watching sports. I love family and family time. I love having alone time, but I also enjoy being around people. I have a lot of energy on most times. I am a night owl. I think a lot. I am definitely always in my head. I get insecure about things. I lose my focus. I procrastinate. I come up with what I call great ideas and plans. I get excited about the plans with the intention to execute the plan, but I don't follow through. I still remain positive. I am a dreamer. I have goals that I want to accomplish and I will accomplish. I enjoy eating healthy, but I love milkshakes, M&MS, ice cream, homemade brownies, strawberry shortcake, pancakes, pizza, a nice sandwich. I literally can eat pizza every day if you let me. I enjoy the summer more than any other season. I love Christmas time. I love music. I love the process of creating music. I love Jesus. I am very devoted to my faith. </span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="font_large">There are a lot of things that I left off this blog that I will share with you. That was on purpose because I will continue to write more blogs and I will dive deeper into me. I am just happy and blessed to be able to share on a platform with you. I definitely have a story to tell. So buckle up. This is going to be a very very fun ride.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="font_large">Thank You for Your time. I wanted to keep this short and sweet. To the point, but more is coming. Have a blessed day.</span></p>Chuck Starrtag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/57576952019-05-17T12:41:51-05:002023-12-18T00:47:23-06:00Who is Chuck Starr 13<p><span class="font_large">Thank you for taking the time to read my new blog. I want to start this out by plugging my new song "High on me." I am so glad that I was able to release this song, that I wrote last December. With this song, I wanted to have a more upbeat, and happy feeling song. I feel like in life we focus a lot on the negative, and forget that we have a lot of positives. At the end of the day, all we need to do is smile. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I am definitely guilty of this way of thinking. I am a person that works on personal growth every day, and I am not perfect. I've made decisions at times that weren't the best decisions, but they are decisions that I can fix, and get better at, and you can too. Let's all be better every day. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">"High on You" was a process once I decided that I wanted to release the song. I began the song with the synth line. I wanted the synth of the song to be very noticeable. I then created the drum pattern with a double kick and built around the drum with all the other instruments then I sent the track to my engineer/producer Torrey Bryd. Torrey then let me know what I was missing within the beat and added on his flavor to the song. Torrey then mixed the song. I felt that the drums needed to be changed, so Torrey made that adjustment on his end. I was not sure about my vocal after the drum change, so I went back and recorded my vocal parts again. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Once the song was completed, Torrey mastered and sent it over to me for release. I liked the track but felt that the song could go in another direction. So I stripped the beat, kept my vocals and sent the track to Craig Powe to work on a remix version. Craig then sent his version of the track back to me. I listened to the track and decided to send it to Dj Blendz, Q dog, and Jon Jones, and Chris Boyd for their professional opinions. They all provided great feedback. Craig listened to the feedback and finished the track. Now we have "High on You" </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I will also be releasing the other version of the song, that was created with Torrey at a later date, as a bonus track to my followers and supporters. I am blessed to have good people in my corner during this process. Special Thanks to Torrey Bryd, Craig Powe, Dj Blendz, Q dog, Jon Jones, and Chris Boyd for being apart of the creation of the track. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">"High on You" Chorus Lyrics. <br>I was so "High on You" <br>But you didn't know it <br>You were "High on me <br>Never did you show it <br>We were missing love <br>So baby let me make you smile, smile, smile, smile <br>We were in between <br>A kind of love we missed <br>So we were in feeling <br>That cycle never ends <br>We were missing love <br>So baby let me make you smile, smile , smile, smile. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I have attached the lyrics to the chorus. Click on the link to sing along. <a contents="https://urlgeni.us/spotify/VdV8 " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://urlgeni.us/spotify/VdV8">https://urlgeni.us/spotify/VdV8 </a></span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I will now continue with my Copenhagen story. So once in Copenhagen, I felt that I needed to explore. My bandmates and I were allowed to take the hop on hop off bus for free since we were with the band, I had always seen these buses in New York City, but I had never ridden on one. So this was the time to ride one. The first destination was unknown. We didn't' know where we were heading. We were just excited to be in Copenhagen. I am a city guy, and I love buildings, so when I saw a bunch of buildings in my view, I felt that it was time to get off, and the band agreed. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">The area was nice. There were a lot of little cafe's and restaurants, and there was also shopping, a lot of shopping. I was not in Copenhagen to shop, but when I saw Zara, I had to see what they had, and I was very impressed with the selection of men's blazers. I was also impressed with the prices. I bought a blazer, pants, shirt, and socks for 100 bucks. I was winning. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">After we left the store, we did not know how to find the hop on, hop off the bus, so we decided to walk. That was a terrible idea. We felt that we were closer than we actually were. It took us 2 and a half hours, to get back to the ship. It's safe to say that during the month that I spent in Copenhagen I did figure out how to use the hop on, hop off bus. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large"> Every place that I was able to visit in Europe I collected a magnet. Unfortunately, in Copenhagen, I forgot to purchase a magnet. I procrastinated, I pushed it back, I told myself that I would get it the next time. Ultimately no magnet. Overall Copenhagen was an amazing place.</span></p>Chuck Starrtag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/57467402019-05-08T02:13:29-05:002023-12-18T00:48:00-06:00Who is Chuck Starr Part 12<p><span class="font_large">Hello, It has been a while since I have posted. I have so much to write about. I have experienced so much this past year and I am very excited to share it all with you. So get out your popcorn and enjoy the read. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Before I began. I have a confession. I am terrible at social media. It is bad, and therefore, I am wasting the time of my wonderful fans, and I am not able to build my brand because of it.I I write this to you because in my very last blog entry (Who is Chuck Starr Part 11) The last question asked was, is there something that I need to improve about myself? My answer was to get better with social media, or to be more accurate. I actually said improving my social media. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">As you see I have failed, I have actually gotten worse. That is OK though. No need to beat myself up. Especially since I have been blessed with another day to share this with you now, so I am starting over again. I am back, and my goal is to write at least one blog entry per week. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Now to the good stuff. I have been traveling, performing music, and seeing some amazing places along the way. I have been growing also as a musician and a person. Being away from the country, I was able to see other cultures and how they live. Trust me. it is different. I am a city boy. I enjoy big buildings and having stores around. I really like the access of being able to go to the store. Being overseas was a different experience, and I will explain every place to you with my blog. I will start with Copenhagen Denmark. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Getting to Denmark was an adventure, we were flown from Memphis TN, to Minneapolis MN, from Minneapolis MN, to Paris France, and Paris France to Copenhagen Denmark. it was crazy to leave Memphis at 11am and arrive to your destination on the next afternoon. because of the industry I am in, I have friends that must do this on a regular basis. This was my first time and I definitely give credit to anyone flying 25 hours. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Flying out of Memphis began very rocky. My bandmates and I were trying to check in at the counter and was told that once we got to Paris that we were going to have to pick our bags up from baggage claim then check our bags in over again. That meant we were going to have to get our bags and go through immigration, get a stamp, then turn around and come back through the check in counter and then through security again. We spoke to a representative and was informed that this was normal and it would be a smooth process once we arrived in Paris. Later on I will explain how that was a LIE!! (In my Maury voice) My bandmates and I proceeded with the flight and flight one was a good flight. One flight down. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">The next flight was the flight I was worried about. It was a 9 hour flight, and I had the middle seat. I was super bothered by this. How was I going to fit in the middle? Who would be sitting next to me for 9 hours? How would I sleep sitting in the middle? I can’t even use the armrest properly sitting in the middle. This was a problem. I was determined to ask the ticket desk did they have any window seats available. I also was hungry, so I decided to first eat some food (McDonalds) of all places. I was able to get a great laugh in, because one of my bandmates got frustrated over paying 5 dollars for a McChicken and fries. I then went to the ticket desk to ask for a seat change, and I was blessed. I got a window seat in the same row where I would have sat in the middle, so I had no one sitting next to me. I was winning. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Once I arrived in Paris things turned bad. I ended up having to pick up my bags and check them in again. That was a nightmare. I almost missed my connecting flight, but I made it. If I could give anyone some advice this is what it would be. If you travel to Paris France make sure that you exchange your money to the Euro before you get to the airport. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Once we arrived in Copenhagen it was beautiful, it was nice and hot, matter of fact they said that it was the one of the hottest days ever. I was ok with that, my plan was to get to the hotel, shower, find something to eat and sleep. This plan definitely changed once I arrived. First of all the power outlets were different, so that meant no cell phone or computer for me. Next the restaurant across from the hotel had very high prices. The burger was 13,000. Yes you are reading this right, but it actually was not expensive at all because the money converted. My full meal was around 15 bucks with tip. Last but not least the hotel was hot, and there was no air conditioning. I was burning up at first, but got comfortable once I put the small fan on that I was provided with. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I have much more to share about Copenhagen, so I will leave things here for the moment. Thank You for supporting.</span></p>Chuck Starrtag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/53406012018-07-11T08:15:17-05:002023-12-18T00:48:32-06:00Who is Chuck Starr Part 11<p><span class="font_large">I will start this blog out like this Memphis,TN is fun! I have always heard about Memphis being a great place for music. I am here to tell you that was is a very true statement. The music in Memphis is awesome. It is music everyday at basically every hour, just on Beale street alone. The streets are filled with people (more on the weekend) great smells of BBQ in the air and once again music. To be around this atmosphere of music is motivating. I am learning so much musically here that it's incredible. I realize that I have been missing out with not having the knowledge of music theory. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Music theory is actually so important. I was told that I was blessed with the talent to create beats, and to have a good ear for music itself, but I needed more music theory knowledge to fully enhance my craft. Me being here in Memphis has shown me the importance of music theory. I am learning a lot in this little bit of time. Just today I learned that you can play a C major chord with C as the low note and E and G on top, or you can play a C major chord with E as the low note and G and C on top. Changing the order of the notes can give the chord a different color. This knowledge of music theory has helped me create a new beat that I will share in a future song with you. I am looking forward to learning more. I am also looking forward to learning to truly play an instrument. I have began the piano again and it is going well, but everyday in rehearsal I become more and more fascinated with the guitar. The guitar scares me though. I am undercover clumsy, meaning I break stuff on accident. I could see myself breaking the strings. I know that shouldn't deter me away from playing the guitar, but I will be honest the thought of breaking the string is fully in my head. The guitar is so versatile, and seems easier to travel with, so I think I have made my decision. It's time to learn the guitar.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">The reason I am down in Memphis is because I am now apart of the "BB Kings All Star Band" as the lead male vocalist. I will be touring, so keep an eye out on my facebook, and instagram pages as to where I will be traveling the next couple of months. I will now go ahead an answer more questions that I received.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">1.What is a typical day or week like for me? A typical day for me could vary, I am a pretty laid back person with drive. I am a vocalist so sleep is very important for my voice to heal, but my sleep pattern isn't normal, because I'm a night owl. I get more creative at night. I call it my second wind. I began to feel sleepy then 'boom'. I get the itch to develop a new song, or beat, or just work on something that I have already started. With that being said here is how my days are spent in Memphis. I wake up around 8am. I go do a light workout at the gym for around 20 minutes to get my blood flowing. I then come upstairs to change my shirt and I go eat breakfast. After breakfast I take a shower and I usually get sleepy again, so I set my clock, and take an early nap. Once I wake I have to brush my teeth again, and I will start the process of going over the music that I need to know for rehearsals. Around 1pm, I began getting dressed and I head out for rehearsals at 1:30pm. I arrive at the the rehearsal studios around 1:45. From there I will do a very light warm-up for my voice which consist of lip trills and breathing techniques. Rehearsal begins at 2pm. After Rehearsal, the band and I are usually very hungry, so we head over to the famous BB Kings Blues Club to eat some great food and listen to some awesome music. From there, I will go take a little nap, and once I wake up I will go over my songs that I need to know for the following day's rehearsal. my next move is to go eat again. I get hungry when I do music, it pushes my brain a lot which I guess makes me get hungrier. I don't know if that is really what happens. I am going with that story though. After I finish my music review and feel comfortable about the following days rehearsal. I then work on my own music. I have made it a point to put at least 2 hours a day into my craft. This has made me even more focused and I am looking forward to sharing the finish product with you.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">What is something you need to improve about yourself? There are many things that I need to improve, so this answer could be very long winded. Fortunately I am just going to focus on one improvement today, and that is improving my social media. I am terrible at social media. I have been battling this for years. I am just not consistent and consistency is what wins in the social media game. I preach being positive so I know that I need to change my outlook on social media to being more positive, but i definitely struggle with it. My problem is. I either forget to post, or I get into my head as to what I'll post. Then once I do that, I won't post, so I am eliminating all chance of interaction that I could have with anyone consistently. They say that the first step is admitting that you have a problem so I just admitted it. I will work on improving my social media interaction.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font_large">Thank you for reading. I will continue to post. </span></p>
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<p> </p>Chuck Starrtag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/53197352018-06-27T09:02:17-05:002023-12-18T00:48:58-06:00Who is Chuck Starr 10<p><span class="font_large">Thank You for joining me again. It is amazing to see how my blog is growing with viewers. I am happy to be able to share my life, and growth with others. I have promised to answer questions that have been asked, so I am going to continue with that.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">1. What were you like in High School? HAHA High School. WOW. I was a very popular student in high school, BUT that came with a cost. I was very outgoing, competitive beyond measure, very forgetful, very social, hands on, supportive, and driven. I have a story for each one of these statements too. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">The outgoing me would talk to anyone, make sure that the students, and teachers were having good days in school, cracking jokes with my classmates, and team mates. I was also responsible for running school errands for the teachers. My duty was to hand out the dreaded green slip, for students to come to the principles office. You could also find me sweeping the gym floor for the gym teacher. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I was very competitive. Seriously. It used to be bad. Everything to me was a competition for the most part. There were rules of engagement though. I wasn't trying to compete against team mates during games for better stats, or trying to upstage them. That wasn't fair in the world of competing, but everything else was fair game. If you challenged me in something then you better bring your "A" game because I had the mentality that I wasn't going to lose. I didn't care if we were playing cards, a board game, a video game, trivia, or basketball. I was determined not to lose. It's funny looking back at those times because I realize that I had a serious problem. I just enjoyed competing, I would play basketball at lunch time, and get so caught up in the game, that I would forget to bring my books to class. I would at least make it too class on time. I hated going to class sweaty and hot. I couldn't do that, so I made sure to dry off, and put on a fresh shirt, before entering my next class. Notice that I said I forgot to take my books to class. I used to leave my books on the lunchroom table, and I would not remember to grab them while running to be on time for class most days. I also used to forget to take my homework home after football, basketball, and track practice. My short term memory was wack. I have a great long term memory though. smh. Go figure. Just in case anyone is wondering YES I still definitely passed all my classes, and graduated with honors. I just made it harder for myself than I should have. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I was a very social person in high school. Pretty much got along with everyone. My friends and I even had what you would call a high school frat called "AP" I still don't know what "AP" meant till this day. I feel like we got the name from a movie or something, and rolled with it. It was fun to have our own little clique. We weren't bullies. We were the opposite of bullies actually. We actually would bully each other in weird ways, like playing punching games, or funny games like spin the bottle, and if it landed on you then you had to go do something funny like sing my little tea cup in front of the cheerleaders. What great memories. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I feel like me being social gave me a bad reputation sometimes, because it would be taken out of content as I was being flirtatious. In high school, I did win The most flirtatious award from my peers. SMH. One of the many awards that I won. I actually didn't like that I won that one though. I wasn't flirtatious. I was nice to people. It would frustrate me that because I was nice to people and smiled that I was labeled a flirt. I am a libra, so if your into astrology at all you will find that trait in many libra's, but it doesn't mean that we are flirting. I wasn't always flirting. I was being nice. My peers also voted me the most athletic so I guess the competitive side of myself prevailed.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">2. If you couldn't sing or you were not an athlete, What career would you do? This question is a good one. My answer to this is that I would continue to help inspire the youth. Kids are so innocent, and want direction. They want structure. They want consistency. Even if they don't know it at the time. I feel that there are too many cases where the youth are neglected and they lose their trust in life period. One of my most rewarding jobs that I held onto was working for the Buckeye Ranch where I was a youth counselor and case manager at a residential mental health facility. I actually felt during my time that I was making a difference in youth's lives. To see some of the things that a youth has to go through at that age when they should be focused on just being a kid is sad. I saw that the youth were forced to grow up too fast but was not equipped for it. The thing that bothered me the most was seeing the treatments that were delivered for the child, and meds prescribed to them for something like hypertension. When the real problem for hypertension was given the child more time to run around outside. I mean I love animals (dogs are my favorite) but in my opinion our kids should be allowed as much time to run around as we value walking our dogs. These kids have energy that they will get rid of in some way. Unfortunately a lot of times they decide to make bad decisions with that extra energy or lack of attention shown to them. That follows them into adulthood. I get very passionate about this. This subject is definitely one where my stubbornness comes out. When I get on the BIG stage, with the BIG lights , and the BIG crowds, I will use my influence to bring more awareness to this. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">You have all been reading my blogs so I will make this part of my blog interactive, to see who is getting to know me better. I will give you 2 lies and 1 truth. Who can guess my truth.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">1. After a great performance I truly enjoy grabbing a beer and relaxing. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">2. I used to quite jobs mid shift just to play a game of basketball.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">3. My cousin was an outstanding swimmer, he challenged me to a swim race, and I won.</span></p>
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<p><span class="font_large">Thank you for tuning in. I am looking forward to seeing the answers.</span></p>
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<p> </p>Chuck Starrtag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/52707712018-06-01T16:57:31-05:002023-12-18T00:49:35-06:00Who is Chuck Starr Part 9<p><span class="font_large">I am always asked the question of, Who inspired me? or Why do I write the music that I write? What is the thought process of my writing style. Is there a bigger goal to be had from music? These questions have made me sit and want to open up to YOU. I truly am very passionate for life, through life through my beliefs, and I will help you get to know me more today with me answering these questions. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Who inspired me? To me this question can be answered in many ways. There are many people that have inspired me throughout my walk of life and ultimately my love for music. My Parents, they inspire me. In this world today, it seems to be a trend to quit at life, goals, dreams, love, rather than work on something that could be special. The trend is to harbor all of past pain and not grow past it to create a better future. The trend seems that we give up on things easily. Well my parents have been married for 40 years now. They inspire me to want to grow, to want to fight for what want I believe in, or who I believe in. I am inspired by my parents because they won't allow the situations around them dictate how they feel for each other. That is inspirational. I am very blessed to be in this situation because there are A LOT of broken families out there, which I've witnessed first hand. I know that these situations can be very difficult on a person. That is where I learned that my inspiration of having my parents together could be spread from me to others less fortunate and I could help inspire and help others get that Love or attention that is missing form their lives. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I was inspired by my eighth grade teacher (John Hudak) Yeah (I definitely had to include his name) who told me that I was crazy to believe that I could ever be on the BIG stage, with the BIG crowds, and the BIG lights. He used to put percentages up on how many entertainers were successful, against the number of people that failed. He really used to emphasize how hard it was to succeed in entertainment. His point of view was that everyone feels that they can do it and it would be better to make it a hobby than a career, but then would tell me focus on doing something else more relatable and easier to accomplish. That was hard for me to hear everyday, but at the same time I was beginning to form a drive in me. That is still driving me till this day to fully succeed. Through the years especially the past 8 months. I have realized that maybe his intentions were not to hurt me or discourage me. What if Mr Hudak already saw something special in me, and was seeing if I had the mental strength to survive the road that I was wanting to take on my journey. What if he felt that was the best way to guide me? To see if I could withstand it? Was Mr Hudak playing reverse psychology on me? Did he see a drive in me that was different that the others? These are questions that I've began to ask myself. I realize that as a human I always want to think of the negative, but as a human the negative is what has been weighing me down and putting doubt within my mind and brain, causing me to lose focus on what I need to accomplish, with the talent that I was blessed with. I am being taught to really look at both sides of the coin. Yes it puts you in direct contact with the flame. Yes you may get burnt, but what if that scenario provides you with the knowledge so that you can began to shine like gold. While still maintaining your integrity.What if that knowledge is what opens the door to your true happiness and potential. I am guilty of NEVER seeing the other side of the coin to someone's intentions. I will never know what his true intentions were of me, but I won't allow myself to think negatively of the situation anymore especially since, I am still driven by that, so Thank You Mr Hudak. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I was inspired by Michael Jackson. The first music video that I saw was Beat it. This video was awesome. I wanted to go out and have this Red Leather Jacket with the glove. I didn't want the high water pants. The kids in school would've definitely cracked jokes on me for that. I feel that only Mike can pull that off. High water pants with penny loafers. Only Mike could pull that off and still be a gangster in the video. That was confidence. That was drive. Commitment into his craft and his dance moves inspired me. I've never seen so many people pass out at a show than I did with Mike. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I was inspired by Usher. When I saw Usher in concert it was amazing. First of all, this was an outside concert and I was sitting in the second row. Right in front of the stage. The show also included Nas and Faith Evans. I thought I was special because Faith Evans shouted me out during her song and said that I was handsome. Yeah I fell for it. When Usher came out to perform it was this huge production. He had a band, dancers, lights, fireworks, loud booms, stairs, costume changes, it was incredible. I knew at that time that this was what I wanted. The BIG stage, with the BIG lights, and the BIG crowds. I still remember the feeling that i had that evening. I am still inspired by it. Funny story is years later I received his concert "The Truth Tour" on a double DVD. I literally played that video everyday. I actually need to pull it back out and study it. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I am inspired by ALL of my life experiences. I have been through some stuff. Most that I put myself through with the decisions that I made. I've put myself into some situations that I am blessed to have made it through, and I am so thankful that i am covered by God. This covering has definitely put me on a great path. It is providing me knowledge that is beyond me. The life experiences that inspires me helps me write my music. That is my writing process. My number one writing factor is LOVE. I feel that the world needs LOVE. There are a lot of people out here that needs love. They are yearning for true love, and happiness. So I write about my experiences rather its a good experience or bad. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">For example My first single "Fire it up" When I originally wrote it, I was writing the song, not as, where I was at in life, but what I was seeing from others. I had friends around me and the passion and love they had even through all of their fights, and break ups, and moving on, they still found their way back to each other and that was beautiful to me, so I began to write "Fire it up" to give that feeling to everyone that maybe experiencing having that one person that Fires them up. That one person that they can't get over or stop thinking about no matter what. I mean the first line of the song says this. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Now lately I've been thinking about How much time I'm wasting I got you on a cliff Ready to fall </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I wrote these lyrics because my boy really loved this girl. There was not another girl for him. She was his soulmate and she felt the same towards him, but she was slipping away, because of past hurt they had experienced the lack of trust, and communication. Late October 2017. I decided to release "Fire it up" over again because, I now had a deeper conviction personally to the song. The song that I had originally written being inspired by friends around me. Had turned into my own life story, so I did the song over, but sung with more passion and conviction because I related to the song more than ever. I truly enjoy writing. I enjoy inspiring people myself, and I am looking to do just that with my music. I definitely have more inspirations that I will share in future post.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Make sure to check out "Fire it Up" Every sale of the song, every like, every comment, every subscribe, every share, every post you make on your own of the song, goes along way with spreading the song and it's message. Please feel free to go purchase it, It is 99 cent on my website. Trust me it is a great investment. I truly appreciate every one and your support of me.</span></p>Chuck Starrtag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/52542812018-05-24T10:13:37-05:002023-12-18T00:50:10-06:00Who is Chuck Starr Part 8<p><span class="font_large">Hello all of my fans, and friends, I guess everyone. It has been a while since I have written. I am now off of the ship, I had a successful show on April 20th. My second niece was born, and I am now currently building my brand (Chuck Starr) to be on the BIG stage, with the BIG lights, and the BIG crowds. I feel super behind in keeping up with everyone, I told you that I am very terrible at this lol, but that is the thing about being alive everyday you are able to become a better person by learning yourself and growing, so I have a chance today to still share with you everything that has been going on and continue to get better at this social media thing lol.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Being off the ship has sent me into such a whirlwind mentally. You don't realize how big of a change things are on land compared to the ship until you are off. Like eating, I got so sick of the food onboard. The selection was terrible, when I reached an island and was able to eat different food, I yearned for the chance to just get on land permanently so that I could have good food. I am on land now, and though I am getting good food, I've become lazy. I don't feel like cooking. Sheeesh I can't win lol. On the ships it is a plus to be able to just wake up and go make you a plate, eat, and go back to sleep to rest my voice until it's time to workout and then ultimately start my shift. Not to get sidetracked but it is easier to stay in shape on the ship. There are 2 gyms a track, steam room, and on most ships a basketball court. All in walking distance lol. I get off the ship and have to drive to the gym and basketball. BOOOOO. LOL. I catch myself missing those features. Another thing is being in the same place for an extended period of time. For example I've been in Ohio now for a month, it is becoming weird. I am so used to being on a different island everyday or every other day. Nassau Bahamas, one day, then Half moon Cay beach the next. Cozemel Mexico one day, then Key West the next day. The Beaches, water, shopping, different cultures. I miss it BUT there is nothing like spending time with family and friends. You just don't get that time back, so seeing the same scenery everyday now actually has a great perk. Ultimately though the ship has great features like a bi- weekly paycheck in your account so that your not broke, and all the other pluses that I named earlier. Doing boat drills, training's, useless meetings, and having questionable food options. I would choose land. Land ultimately provides me with the chance to be on the BIG stage, BIG lights, and BIG crowds.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I know that I have a lot of catching up to do on this blog. I have soooooo much to tell. I will take it easy here and guide everyone back in. SOOO you will have to be patient lol. I enjoy typing that word because that is one of the biggest things that I have personally put focus on in my life. Sheesh. Have you stepped back and thought of things of the past and shook your head and wondered why you handled a situation or problem the way that you did? Well I am guilty of it fully. I am a person that reflects, so since I reflect I put myself through past scenario's and I'm like "man" there was an easy solution there, If I would've been able to remain patient and seen the bigger picture from BOTH sides of the coin. Crazy thing is a lot of situations are laughable now. Not that they weren't big problems, and not that they didn't matter to the friendship or relationship. Just the fact that they reached a level of danger, to the emotional side of yourself. If you know me, you know I love to laugh, I enjoy having fun, I enjoy socializing, I enjoy talking, lol, I enjoy speaking deep on matters, I am very opinionated and that used to get me soooo into my emotions because, I thought that I was always right. lol. I mean I know what I am talking about a lot of times, but I CLEARLY do not know it all lol. I realize that though my aggression can be attractive, it can also be a turn off and intimidating to people, and that is the part I used to not see or understand about myself. Patience is key and I've enjoyed working on my patience. I've had moments where I have still failed in my test of patience. BUT my growth from where I was. By far outweighs my negatives now, so trust me I will completely master this patient thing.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I have a burning question is there ever a deadline to fighting for something that you want? This is a general question you can apply this for friendship, relationship, and or career. Is there a deadline? If you believe in something or someone, but they aren't expressing interest back, as if they are gone forever do you give up or do you stay and fight because you belief in what you had. Would you give up on your career if things became hard? </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I am very interested in everyone's answers. I am very happy to be back to writing. Also I give everyone of you permission to stay on top of me to write and be consistent at this. I will also make sure to go back to past blogs and answer all the questions that I still have to answer. I will also fill you in on more of what I am working on.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Thank You for your time </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>Chuck Starrtag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/51354872018-03-19T05:27:09-05:002023-12-08T02:39:55-06:00Who is Chuck Starr Part 7<p><span class="font_large">Thank You Everyone that has asked questions. I am noticing a trend with the questions that some of them are very personal. I am opening up my life, and I know everyone wants to know the juice or scoop on things, but at the same time positivity, and growth is key, so some of the questions I will answer, but others I will respectfully decline answering. Here are some great questions that I was asked and I will began the process of answering questions with this bunch of questions. I have a show coming up on April 20th at Arlene’s Grocery in New York City, so I feel these questions will prepare the audience better. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>Who is My Favorite artist? </strong></span><br><span class="font_large">My All time Favorite artist is Usher. I began liking Usher when I was in high school. I thought I was cool because I had a car and was able to drive to school. At the time I was playing basketball and before practice a couple of the fellas wanted me to drive to Wendy’s so that we all could eat. I was not going to pass on this opportunity. On the way to Wendy’s. Usher’s song “Nice and Slow” had come on the radio. I just could not stop singing that song. By the time the Basketball team began playing real games, “Nice and Slow was the song that we listened too while we prepared to play. Well let me clarify that was the song I decided to act a fool singing before we played to keep everyone loose. I had the privilege to see Usher in concert when he released his 8701 album. Usher was the headliner with Faith Evans and Nas as his opening acts. That was an awesome concert. I remember seeing Usher come out to sing “U got it bad” at the concert. That was that “it” moment. That was the moment that I became a true Usher fan. I remember telling myself that I wanted to be on a BIG stage like that, with the BIG lights, costume changes, dancers, props, awesome band, and the Big crowd with screaming fans. It was just so electric, how he was able to captivate the crowd. <br>Musically I grew up liking Michael Jackson, Prince, The Winans, Fred Hammond, and John P.Kee. Besides Usher these are the artist who molded who I am as an artist. I also need to give a special shoutout to Bruno Mars because he is my current favorite with Usher. Bruno’s music is just amazing. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>Who would I love to tour with? </strong><br>It would be great to tour with Usher, Bruno Mars, or Maroon 5. I feel like the atmosphere and the energy for those shows would be amazing and I would love to be apart of that. I actually am so anxious to be on tour. I feel like me working for Carnival has given me the platform to really work on my craft and get better. I am now wanting more. I want the BIG stage. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>How do I prepare mentally and physically for a performance? </strong><br>I prepare mentally by visualizing what I am going to do before I get on the stage. I like to put my “game face on and get in mode. Which is basically me zoning out on what I need to do to fully be ready to feel the music, so that I can in return, give that energy and emotion to the crowd. This is very important to me because, I truly enjoy what I do and want to be prepared to give you my best. <br>Physically I warm up with funny vocal scales in the shower. That vocal exercise really relaxes my muscles. I also enjoy going to the steam room or lifting weights before I perform. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>Do I get nervous? </strong><br>I don’t get nervous to perform anymore. I get super exciting, and my adrenaline rushes. That is what I have to control because if my adrenalin is too high, its hard for me to control my voice and that is bad for me. My parents recently just cruised and I actually became a little nervous before performing for them but that left pretty fast. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>Do I have any rituals? </strong><br>Well my rituals now is just making sure that I am prepared, I have to have my rose on, I need to match colors, with my Chuck Starr hat and Red shoes. I also need to say a prayer before I perform because Jesus provides me the gift to perform and sing. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>How was Romantic movie created? </strong><br>I was going to answer this question in a brand new post but I feel that I am behind with posting and Romantic Movie has been released so I will post on it now. Romantic movie was actually originally one of my first songs created. I was working with a producer named Tiger and that’s when I created the original of “Romantic movie”. The song never made it out of the studio though. A couple years later I gave it another go with another producer and my bands keyboard player Pearl. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">The song sounded good but just wasn’t giving me that “it” factor anymore, so it never made it out of the studio. I actually didn’t think that I would use this song again. 2 years later. I began working on another song called “Dance with me” I was anxious to get this song heard fully because my best friend at the time “D.C” was in my ear saying that it was a nice song. I began creating the beat for it, which I was assisted by my guitar player Luke and bass Player Martin. I felt that the beat was coming along well, so I continued to work on it. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">One day while working on the track I realized that I had added more lyrics to the original vocals so that I could fill up the space. By doing this it messed up the flow. I then became interested in writing a new song. That is where Romantic Movie was recreated. I began to sing the hook of my previous version of Romantic Movie and liked how it was working with the track, so at that moment I decided that I would write a brand new version of Romantic Movie, but I would keep the original chorus, so I began writing the song. It was a fun process. I felt that it was sounding good BUT I wasn’t sure that it was stronger than my other song “Dance with me”, so I decided to record both versions as a demo. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">After both songs were done I wanted “D.C” to be involved and provide me with feedback. After hearing both songs “D.C” told me that “Dance with me” was different, and told me that I had made too many changes to the song, and that it was not in sync with the beat anymore. D.C then added that “Romantic Movie was nice and that I should finish it. I took the advice in stride and decided to go full on with “Romantic Movie”. I sent the song to my brother Doc bluuz, so that he could let me know what he heard to add to the track. Doc immediatlely mentioned the drums, and said that a double kick would set the song off. I listened to the track and agreed. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">After changing the drums, I asked for the opinion of “D.C” again. “D.C” suggested that I add female vocals to the track, so “D.C” and I recorded female tracks for the song. These tracks were never used but one tip that “D.C” provided that was huge was adding the bridge to the track. I was stuck on if I should add a bridge or not, and I developed the bridge of the song off a response from the female vocals that were placed on the track. Doc heard the new version of the track and loved it but felt little things were missing. I began to get excited of the possibilities with this song so I decided to get the opinion of my boy DJ Blendz. Blendz heard the track and said that it was a hit, but provided me information that I needed to get the track to reach it’s full potential. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I began to work effortlessly overnight for many nights to get this done. I finally thought that it was done, and sounding right. I was going to release it to Spotify and get it into the hands of DJ blendz. That was the plan until my friend Sam heard it. Sam loved the song, but felt I needed to get the track mixed and mastered by a professional. I knew what he was saying but I was wanting to release the song and I had put in a lot of time mixing it myself, but I took heed to the advice and I involved the sound engineer Rhett. Rhett worked on the track BUT the vocals that I recorded were done on the ship. SO they weren’t top quality. Basically I needed to do them over. Sam then suggested to me that I record the vocals in a real studio. At that time my contract was winding down, so I decided to contact my boy Tyler who is a producer to schedule studio time. At that time I got the idea to redo the bass and drums with live players. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Once off the ship and out of rehearsal I dove into getting Romantic Movie finished. I had it played live in the studio. I liked it but felt that the bass and drum could have still been cleaner. I sent the track to my other brother Chris to get his opinion and he told me that he liked the track but I needed to take the track of a full key so that it would be fun and not dark. I listened to the track and was like my brother is right. If it’s brighter then it is easier to dance to. I decided to reach out to Torrey who is a producer and also mixed and mastered “Fire it Up” to work on the track. Torrey said that he would work on Romantic Movie, and clean up the bass and drums. I was like ok here we go, this should be nice and easy. All Torrey needed to do was create a funkier drum pattern and play the bass line with staccato. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I sent Torrey all of the sounds from the song. 2 days later Torrey sends back the track and the bass and drum line was completely different lol. I was like uh oh originally, so I sent it out to Doc Bluz to hear it and Doc called me and told me that this was a hit. I listened to it a couple more times and fell in love with what Torrey had done. I gave Torrey the go ahead to finish the track, he finished it so I sent ti to my bro Q and Doc They both loved it. Meaning Romantic Movie was ready to be released. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I am very appreciative to EVERYONE that was involved in this project at some point. As you can see there are a lot of things that goes on behind the scenes to get something to reach it’s full potential. I hope you were able to get some insight as to what I do so far with the answers to the questions. Thank You once again for visiting I will continue the next couple of blogs the same way, answering questions. I am behind in answering everyone’s questions so that is next on the list. If you have anymore questions especially after reading this blog please feel free to ask.</span></p>Chuck Starrtag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/50736022018-02-11T13:35:12-06:002023-12-10T11:05:27-06:00Who is Chuck Starr Part 6 <p>Hello, so I've been missing for some weeks. I haven't forgotten about you all at all. </p>
<p>Performing on the ship is going awesome. The band is amazing and we have had incredible guest. I feel honored to be blessed to work on my craft on a nightly basis. I definitely see the growth that I am having because of the experience of performing so often. </p>
<p>My single "Fire it Up" is also doing well I am I 3 new Spotify curated playlist. I am on internet radio. I am on the charts of internet radio sitting at 122. I'll be in Vents Magazine and I've been in 5 different blog features. That's not counting the video which was only sitting at 419 views in the first week, it has now jumped to over 6,000 views and that will definitely continue to climb thanks to you my fans. </p>
<p>Stay tuned with everything musically because there are some BIG things brewing, that I can't fully share now but, just know that it's huge, so keep me in prayer please. </p>
<p>I'm going to leave this blog entry open for questions, so feel free to ask me a question, or if there is something that you want to know about me, I'll write my next blog on that. </p>
<p>Until then Thank You for tuning in and supporting. I say this a lot appreciate you, but us true I do. You do not have to support me like this but you do So Thank You. </p>
<p>You can also check out the following links to check out and support my music. </p>
<p>Spotify Playlist: </p>
<p>New Songs 2018 - 18,696 followers <br><a contents="https://open.spotify.com/user/22geympzgpcckueuh7ry6rvqy/playlist/6LiMgEigXF9Id4dHhePFzu " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://spotify.com">https://open.spotify.com/user/22geympzgpcckueuh7ry6rvqy/playlist/6LiMgEigXF9Id4dHhePFzu </a></p>
<p>Play it 'til you hate it - 2,008 followers (position #14) <br><a contents="https://open.spotify.com/user/oocdiddy/playlist/2cjySDOU0ikjqjBa7JDgaV?si=4iRXdHm_RfKxY2AfB4X7PQ " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://spotify.com">https://open.spotify.com/user/oocdiddy/playlist/2cjySDOU0ikjqjBa7JDgaV?si=4iRXdHm_RfKxY2AfB4X7PQ </a></p>
<p>R/Indieheads (reddit playlist) - 471 followers (position #218) <br><a contents="https://open.spotify.com/user/hannah_blundell/playlist/4myPKJt7PIybpjoh9tcCJy?si=RxeEtpc3QEeWe3cMlLar5g " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://spotify.com">https://open.spotify.com/user/hannah_blundell/playlist/4myPKJt7PIybpjoh9tcCJy?si=RxeEtpc3QEeWe3cMlLar5g </a></p>
<p>Blogs and Magazines: </p>
<p>- Solo Vibes; “Fire It Up” Premiere (January 9th, 2018) <a contents="http://www.solovibesmusic.com/2018/01/chuck-starr-fire-it-up-music-video.html " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://solovibesmusic.com">http://www.solovibesmusic.com/2018/01/chuck-starr-fire-it-up-music-video.html </a> - Hit Addiction; “Fire It Up” Feature (January 13th, 2018) <a contents="http://www.hitaddiction.com/chuck-starr-fire-it-up-music-video/ " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://hitaddiction.com" style="">http://www.hitaddiction.com/chuck-starr-fire-it-up-music-video/ </a><br>- Getz Famous; “Fire It Up” Feature (January 14th, 2018)<a contents=" http://www.getzfamous.com/check-out-chuck-starr-fire-it-up-on-youtube/ " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://getzfamous.com" style=""> http://www.getzfamous.com/check-out-chuck-starr-fire-it-up-on-youtube/ </a><br>- Noisebeast; “Fire It Up” Feature (January 21st, 2018) <a contents="http://noisebeast.com/2018/01/21/chuck-starr-fire-it-up/ " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://noisebeast.com" style="">http://noisebeast.com/2018/01/21/chuck-starr-fire-it-up/ </a><br>- VENTS Magazine; “Fire It Up” Interview (February 9th, 2018)<a contents=" http://ventsmagazine.com/2018/02/08/interview-chuck-starr/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://ventsmagazine.com" style=""> http://ventsmagazine.com/2018/02/08/interview-chuck-starr/</a></p>Chuck Starrtag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/50052912018-01-05T18:52:01-06:002023-12-10T11:06:06-06:00Who is Chuck Starr part 5<p><span class="font_large">First off Happy New Year to everyone. I am not really huge on New Years resolutions, but I am really huge into creating daily goals. I mean New Years is just another day right? Well I will say that I am thankful, and blessed to have been able to experience a New Day and New Year. My goal is to have daily growth in all areas of my life. A lot can change in just one year, so I realize if I put my focus into the correct areas of my own personal growth. Then my results will be enormous. My personal growth lesson of today has everything to do with love.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">What is Love? Can anybody answer this? Will there be a lot of different answers to what love is? I definitely feel that every question that I just asked will garner a different answer and reaction. That is okay. That is the biggest thing that I am learning about LOVE. I mean let's face it. We all grow up differently. Different backgrounds, cultures, family dynamics, morals, and religious beliefs. I'm making this point to say not everyone is taught the same, and I truly doubt that we are sat down by our parents and given directions on what love is, and how to love LOL. I mean am I right? Better question is does anyone agree? I have recently learned that the way we express our opinions, could be taken out of context, if the parties involved are not clear of the intentions. What I am saying is, you could have a different opinion than someone else, but you don't have to make the person feel as if you are trying to belittle them, compete, upstage, or not pay attention to their opinion, and or feelings, because that is where your love or care could be put into question. <strong>(It took me until recently to get this)</strong> I've never ever, ever, ever, thought of this in this way before, especially when I am trying to express my feelings. I am not thinking of upstaging, or any of the other things that I mentioned above, but to many people that view love as an action word, may feel that your placing your actions in the wrong place. Basically if your putting so much time and effort into just trying to prove a point, instead of getting to the point of seeing why the person is feeling the way that they are. Then you could be viewed as not showing enough love.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Story time. I am going to open up big time here and show you super growth from myself, I was dating a girl some time ago. We had met in NYC at an event that I was performing at. She was fun, cool and very outgoing, <strong>(I definitely attract the outgoing ones LOL)</strong> problem with meeting her was that I was just getting out of a 2 year relationship that ended basically because of timing. She felt that she needed to find herself. She told me that I showed her what love was. I didn't know what that meant. I was young and confused but I had to accept it because her decision did not change. Now I will explain how this all spiraled out of control and how I picked up traits that I had been carrying with me to the other relationships. The feeling that I was feeling didn't feel good, I was hurt, and I knew that I did not want to feel this way. Of course I am human, so I was being human asking advice, hoping someone had the magic answer. I kept getting the same advice to move on. There are plenty of fish in the sea. Go be happy. Forget her she is missing out. Just go have fun. WE need to Really look at this advice. I get it. I understand why this advice is given, but we have to stop giving negative advice. ALL of the things said here wasn't right to do and I will explain how this advice can backfire. Here comes my actress girlfriend which I truly wasn't ready to move on with at that time, but decided to anyway.<strong>(Which I now see was super selfish)</strong> So of course we started out cool with the honeymoon phase. Feeling happy all the time. Then life hit, and a more supportive and deeper approach for the relationship was needed to be taken, and we weren't prepared to handle that yet. So we ended up arguing a lot, disagreeing a lot, and things got worse. Our communication was lacking. I felt I didn't have a voice. If she was mad I had to sit there, and listen to her talk for hours until she felt that her point was proven or understood. If I interrupted then she would run to the bathroom and cry, come out and say that I wasn't listening, and then I would have to sit there another 2 hours getting talked to about a problem that probably could've gotten resolved fast if we were both apart of the conversation. This trait created something in me where I lost myself, and I punished other relationships moving forward because, I made a vow to myself that I would never go into another relationship and not talk. Bad news was I became super bull headed, and I punished people that didn't deserve to be punished. Shouldn't this trend have changed if I started over with someone new? Shouldn't the new girl have gotten a fair shot? Well she should have, but I was blinded by my own ways. I was blinded by my own hurt. She wasn't treated fairly when I view things this way. I was stuck in my ways of making it a point to talk. Not just to talk but to be heard. It was disrespectful to me if you didn't allow me to voice my concern. I mean sheesh. I realize now that I was wrong. I was very wrong. I didn't realize it then, but I do realize now that I wasn't healed from the actress that wouldn't let me talk. So in return I was never ready to move on, so I kept this vicious cycle going. A cycle that most of the world is facing and suffering from, because we must move on so fast, but the timing is wrong and you meet someone who is ready to settle down and your not ready, and then they get hurt and this cycle repeats over and over. Now I can understand why no one wants to fight for a relationship, or why we question if the relationship is over when things gets tense. Then one day while sitting still I realized what one of the issues was. Forgiveness. I never forgave myself or her.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Okay Chuck this is getting deep what are you talking about? I know you are asking me this. Well here you go. Look at the domino affect. I was dumped, which caused hurt within myself, I moved onto fast when I wasn't healed from getting dumped. The new girl could pick up on this, but had her own insecurities. My insecurities then kicked in as well because she was testing my insecurities, now neither of us are growing because instead of figuring out the problem we continue to add too it. She would talk to me for hours and I couldn't respond. I told myself that this would NEVER happen again to me. We broke up, I got into another relationship. I was dominant now, you wasn't going to talk to me unless I spoke. Now I just carried 2 different relationships into this relationship onto a girl that didn't deserve this, but I wasn't aware because. I didn't ever address it within myself and forgive myself for moving on with the actress to fast, when I knew that I wasn't ready. I didn't forgive myself for carrying baggage into a new relationship and hurting her with my baggage, insecurities and ego. I didn't forgive the girl for dumping me to find herself. I didn't forgive the the actress for not communicating correctly with me. Do you see the domino effect and damage done because nothing was forgiven. God forgives us every second. The more that we don't forgive the more layers of hurt we continue to carry around with us. I realized that if I took the time to forgive myself, my ex and any other issue that I hadn't resolved, then I would have been able love myself freely. In return I could've given my all to love them freely because I wouldn't have bought in any baggage which in return would had given everyone a clean slate to grow together. Let's stop looking for temporary happiness, it's okay to forgive. I forgive myself and anyone else that I allowed to cause me hurt.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I was blessed to watch an interview special with Jay-Z. What made this special great was the fact that Jay-Z spoke on the fact that people are out here hurting. That struck a chord with me, and it also opened my eyes wider, because we don't realize how many people are crying out for help. I was one of them. This gets me to this viewpoint on my role of daily growth. This is a very important thing that I have been shown, I realize in a relationship, or friendship. That asking if the person is okay genuinely can go along way with how someone feels, but the true statement that is not said enough is, that I truly want to understand you. How can I understand you as a person better? What are you struggling with to make you feel hurt or not wanted? What are your deepest imperfections that you can't forgive within yourself? What happened in your past that is causing you not to trust? Why are you so scared to hurt? What can be done to build your trust? What makes you who you are? Why do you think the way that you think? Could you help me understand where your happiness lies? I ask these questions today because a lot of times these questions are avoided. These questions are avoided because we don't take the time to ask them, because we are caught up in ourselves to much to notice. These questions are avoided because we as humans are scared to communicate. We are scared to feel like we may have given the other person too much of ourselves. We are scared to open up that door because it could be used against us in the future. We GET so caught up in our own views as to how things are supposed to be through our ego's or through our own hurt and fear, that we don't fully give a chance to give ourselves, and that is where I had been lacking as a leader, a man, and a future husband. As a man I am supposed to take the lead, but it takes both of our efforts to conquer this fear together through God.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">As you can see I can get emotional. I am a very passionate guy, very passionate, bull headed, stubborn, I am a leader. I am also loyal, caring, humble, loving, competitive, driven, determined, motivated, fun, compassionate, and corny. Yeah I admit it. I have a lot of cornball corny moments, but those are the moments that make the greatest stories LOL. I am a performer/singer as you all know. I am a very social person, my love language is physical touch. My right eye squints when I am hitting a high note while singing, I have to use my hands when I am speaking, and I can't hide how I feel about things because my face will tell the story. These are some of my characteristics, that make me who I am. With that being said we are all made different. I know you are wondering Chuck what are you saying. I am getting there. I am long winded LOL. What I am trying to say is love is unconditional. We are all different, but the moment we become accepting of the other person, and how they express their love and who they are as a person, that will be the moment that your true love for them can shine through and you can enjoy one another. That is my learning experience.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">It's crazy what happens, and what you are shown when you stand still and focus on getting yourself fully together. The things that can be accomplished. You can't be scared to be you, but you can't be scared to allow someone else to be who God created them to be either. My daily growth has been accomplished. Thank you for reading. This is fully my opinion that I wanted to share with you. I am fully invested in my personal growth and with my personal growth I will be able to fulfill my life's purpose of leading and inspiring others. I told you 2018 would be a huge year. Don't forget to mark your Calender's for the release of my single "Fire it up" on numerous streaming stations (<strong>Spotify, itunes, tidal, apple music, shazam, pandora)</strong> to name a view and The Video will also be released on Jan 9th on VEVO, youtube. I am very excited about this and appreciate everyone's support. Get ready to go on this ride because things are about to become interesting. Thank you again for all the support. Keep a lookout for Who is Chuck Starr part 6. I will discuss life on the cruise ship since I will be joining the Carnival Liberty for 3 months from Jan 7th - April 15th 2018. I will discuss my next daily goal. I will also discuss the excitement of my new release of "Fire it up" and I will keep you updated on the blogs, festivals, and late show appearances and performances <strong>(Hint Hint Jimmy Kimmel)</strong> that I will be blessed to be apart of later on in the year. I am very excited to share. </span></p>
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<p> </p>Chuck Starrtag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/49998102017-12-30T06:09:13-06:002023-12-10T11:01:14-06:00Who is Chuck Starr part 4<p><span class="font_large">This entry is going to a fun entry. I will warn you now though. Grab your coffee, snacks, breakfast, whatever you need to enjoy your reading experience, because this one will be long. I feel like talking today. I have worked so very hard and dreamed of the day to create my very own music video. As I stated in past post. I was doing things so backwards. I was performing without any product to sale. I did not have control over my brand. I mean for real I didn't have a vision for my brand at all. I just wanted to perform and sing, with no clue that I needed to handle the business side of things if I were to make this career and dream of mine work.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Five years ago, Doc Bluz and I were creating music at the house, I was in my zone, working on a track called "Speechless" and out of no where Doc tells me that we need to have a music video. Immediately I said no LOL, so Doc asked me why and I explained that we had to have a single first to release before we could think about a video, and I told him that performing was more important LOL. Just reading this and remembering makes me laugh because I definitely thought I knew what I was talking about. I mean I was not completely wrong but in this instance I was not right either LOL. I mean I am admitting my mistake. Sheesh, I can feel you guys shaking your heads at me now. I was being hard headed and stubborn I get it, but hey I was passionate about my craft, and Doc understood that and I appreciate him fully for that. Needless to say that conversation didn't come up again that day. Doc and I continued to work on the "Speechless" Track.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Two years later while working on The first version of "Fire it up" Doc was in my ear again about this music video. I once again was in denial. I wanted a music video. I truly did. I just didn't know how to go about creating it, and music videos can get very costly, with all that is involved, so I was once again against it. This time though Doc became very adamant about getting this done telling me that I was not seeing the big picture, and that people are visual people. He said if I released my song and the video together than it would have a greater impact. I actually heard what he was saying and I definitely agreed with him since he put it that way. He was definitely right. I asked Doc would he mind looking into videographers in the area so that we could make this happen and Doc said " I got you bro." That actually was a great moment because though we didn't see eye to eye at first. We were able to find a resolution. Doc was passionate about this, but this was the right resolution. Well there is more to this story, I ended up not listening to Doc. I was being hardheaded and I was excited to let the world hear my single, so I released it. LOL telling this story has me laughing while I am typing. Man I was a handful LOL. To my defense I was just excited. The video was going to take too long for what I thought I was supposed to do then. (<strong>Ok no more excuses LOL, Ill finish the story</strong>) That is exactly what I told a disappointed Doc Bluz, but Doc being my brother, believing in me, believing in the gift that Jesus blessed me with and him seeing the hard work that "we" had put in for years understood. He also knew I had to go through the process LOL. Even if the process was going to take me in a full circle to wind up back at this same conversation.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">That time I was also busy with something else important. I was going through my auditions for Carnival. Once I got my ship. I told Doc that I was going on the high seas to perform for four months. Doc was happy for me and told me to do my thing. Once on the ship after a couple weeks, I had met a video tech named Kyle and spoke to him about music videos and got the awesome idea to create a music video on the ship. I was excited and called Doc and he wasn't as happy LOL. Basically if I did it on the ship I would eliminate him from being in it and he was by my side with this project the whole time. (<strong>He actually NEVER said that too me BUT I could read him through the phone LOL)</strong>, so I told him when I got off the ship we would do the video. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I like to keep my word. Keeping your word is important, and my intentions towards everything in life is always good and positive, but sometimes my intentions don't work out the way that I see them. I mean at the time the idea goes through my head. It seems genius. My great intentions I planned, to do the music video when I got off the ship, got detoured by something that I definitely didn't imagine would happen when I joined the ship. I fell in LOVE with a girl on the ship! True story. (<strong>I will explain that one too you one day</strong>) In no way did she slow me down from my goal of creating the video. I actually slowed myself down because I always wanted to talk to her on the phone, face time, and or text. Sheeesh c'mon, I was in love. You can't get mad at me for that one right? It became a long distance relationship once off the ship so that is where my time was being spent. One day Doc reached out to me too see how the numbers were going and told me that it was time that we made a bigger push towards the music. We had to capitalize on the market. I agreed with him so we spoke on future plans, and envisioned BIG stages and BIG crowds. I then told him that we needed a music video. He laughed and said I've been saying this for years bro.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Months went by I actually joined two more ships in between (<strong>The Vista and the Sensation</strong>). I had my music equipment on the Carnival Sensation and began working on another track called "Romantic Movie" Now I want you too pay close attention to the name of that song because this song "Romantic Movie" is what began the full process of this story. For my loyal fans and friends that are reading every post and sharing, "Romantic Movie" will be my second single release. (TEASER) so Martin (BASS) and Luke (GUITAR) heard my track and played in parts for me on this track and really bought the track to life. I originally was writing a different song to this track that I created. (<strong>I'll give you this story at another time) </strong>I was receiving a lot of positive feedback on this track, a lot of people liked the sound of the song. I felt like was sitting on a hit song here, but I was on the ship so I needed to wait until I got off the ship to complete it. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Once off the ship I dove into this song, I was motivated, I was determined, I had stuff on my brain, and I was committed to this project. I invited my live band to come to the studio to finish the creation of the track. <strong>(If you follow me on facebook then you can go to the videos and get a teaser of me in the studio with this song and this moment I am speaking of now if you don't follow me, then go follow) </strong>This song was in the process of getting finished and I called Doc to discuss business moves about the song "Romantic Movie" during this conversation Our thoughts switched to another song that I had released two years before "Fire it up" Doc had the idea too release it again since it was out already, because the song "Fire it Up" had great potential but I released it too prematurely, and if I had released it at the right time then we would have another hit. Doc was onto something, so I told Doc if we released "Fire it Up" again than we would have to record it over and update the sounds of the songs while still keeping the essence of how I heard the song to be originally. Doc agreed with me, so we moved forward with our business plan where we ended up finalizing our team, which included an outstanding producer named Torrey out of Augusta Georgia.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I had been sitting on Torrey's contact info for a while. I was waiting for the right time to call since I was traveling with the ships. I didn't know what too expect but Torrey came highly referred to me from my good friend Courtland. I reached out to Torrey and he was cool. He has a lot of musical knowledge, and he plays most of the instruments himself. I sent him my track and I asked could he pull this production off and he said yes. Torrey worked on the track and sent it to me, I told him my corrections and sent it back to him. This was a process of ours and I loved it. I realized that I should've been allowing the professional's to do this anyway LOL. I have the ear, and I create the demo's, but sending the track off to let the Pro's handle it was definitely a better option. We finally settled on a track of "Fire it up" that we liked. It was very nice, but it wasn't there yet. I wasn't getting the feeling that I wanted. Torrey kept working on the track. I mean sheesh we were 8 hours away from each other trying to get this track done right. Not to mention the hours spent working. I was literally up working on average of seventeen hours per day. Everything was about music. Doc had an idea about the track to add more bounce, and my bro Q said that we needed to eliminate a specific sound in the track because it was too high pitch. I heard everyone's opinion and I made the necessary adjustments and relayed it to Torrey, so on Thanksgiving day Torrey and I stayed on the phone for 3 hours making sure that the track was right. Then Torrey sent me the version that I was going to share to the World.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">In the meantime Doc Bluz was on the back end working on booking the video shoot. Our team had already told us what dates we needed to get things finished, in order to be able to get the release date that we wanted. Doc reached out to a close friend Daniel who wanted to shoot the video for us, but was working on an important project already, but he referred us to Lou. I had a vision on how I wanted the video, and a message that definitely wanted to relay to the world. Doc and I hammered out all the details of the video. Doc then met up with Lou and presented the details of the video with Lou, then guess what we had our director for the music video and our date booked for December 17th in New York City. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Next thing we had to do was build the cast. Since the shoot was in NYC, I needed to find a female to play the part that lived in NYC as well. With all the stuff that I was doing to get the song together and the materials that I needed I to get to the team. It seemed like I was pushing the video to the side again, but I was not. The video was fully on my mind, and I had the perfect person to play the female part, Liz. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Liz is my home girl that I had met ironically five years before at an audition in NYC for another project. Liz is also an awesome vocalist as well, and a firecracker when mad. She was acting lol (<strong>Check out the behind the scenes live video on FACEBOOK</strong>) We had always kept up with each other, but with life changes we hadn't spoken to each other for about 3 years, so I reached out to Liz to see if she wanted to play the part and she was on board with it. This shoot was awesome. We all had chemistry and the plot of the video was ready to take flight. It was fun. It felt like I was hanging out with family. Lou really did an awesome job of bringing my vision of the video to life. <strong>(I would tell you what the video is about but you have to go watch it on January 9th) </strong>After the shoot we dove into editing the video. Lou worked countless hours to get the video done. It is amazing to see what all goes behind editing. It'd crazy to think that 5 years ago, Doc bought up doing a music video and now it has gotten finished, and I could not be more excited to share this hard work and dedication with everyone.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I want to send a huge shout out to my good friend Vic for allowing us to shoot the music video on his property. Also a shout out to Anthony and Son Panini Shop for allowing us too shoot scenes in front of the Brooklyn sign of your shop and bringing us free coffee, and water. Thank You everyone for reading this post, It truly means a lot to me that you take the the time out of your day and schedules to give me a little time. I promise it's the little things that get me excited. Other than 2018 coming and I will be on the BIG stage, with the BIG crowd, in the BIG room. I am truly looking forward to January 9th 2018. When I release my hit single "Fire it up" to Spotify and other various streaming outlets like Apple music, Tidal, and Itunes, just to name a few. Also the release of the video "Fire it up" will officially be released to my new VEVO channel ChuckStarrVEVO and also youtube. Make sure you continue to spread the word, about the release. According to my team this will be a huge release, and all of this will be possible because of the support and believe that you continue to show me as fans. Thank You very much. This will be my last post until after the New Year, but make sure to enjoy the New Year be safe out there. I am excited for 2018. It is going to be an amazing year. JUST WAIT ON IT!! Trust the process!</span></p>
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<p> </p>Chuck Starrtag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/49765292017-12-28T02:56:19-06:002023-12-30T01:38:50-06:00Who is Chuck Starr part 3<p><span class="font_large">When you make up your mind to do something. Then you have to do it. You have to see it through. That sounds very simple. I mean it is simple until your are tested, and the testing is inevitable. Your not going to be able to avoid the test. Trust me, but I feel that if you trust the process, then you will be able to accomplish what you set out to accomplish. For me I have to accomplish performing on the BIG stage, in the BIG room, with the BIG crowds.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I feel that we as humans have phases of maturity in life. Some people grow faster than others in reaching their goals and dreams. Some people have to fully learn themselves first and love themselves before they realize how to achieve the goal or dream that they are working to accomplish. This road causes some people to just quit because they don't want to face the obstacles that may deter them from trying to achieve their goal. They feel that it is easier to just settle and be comfortable in life rather then possibly feeling disappointment and or hurt. Wheewww that word "hurt". That word is one of the most overlooked and powerful words around. It's a word that has great impact to our lives. Hurt is a very scary word because feelings are attached to the word. That feeling puts so much fear into us humans, that we lose ourselves, or lose the essence of who we are, or could be, because we are scared to give ourselves fully to anything or anyone. Hurt causes us to lose the security within ourselves, which in return forces us to lose security into others. How can you trust someone if you can't trust yourself. When your "hurt" you can view yourself as a failure, as a disappointment, as being weak, soft and you began to create self doubt. When your "hurt" you allow yourself to make emotional decisions that we regret later on. Then your left with asking yourself "what if". Does this sound familiar? Well it was all too familiar for me. This was an insecurity that I had to deal with within myself. It was very hard to deal with when I didn't fully know what the source was.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I'll share this story on how I got in with Carnival. I love cruising I am a gold member with Carnival, on the guest side of things. One cruise On the Carnival Breeze I decided to perform Superstar live Karaoke. This karaoke was with the live band. I was excited to perform but I had a long day, playing basketball and enjoying all of the great activities That Carnival has to offer. I remember drinking lemonade and brother's Brandon and Ralph told me to quit drinking the lemonade because I was going to lose my voice. LOL. I was not listening, but funny thing is that night that I was going to do this karaoke my voice was going out. Go figure right, so Ralph kept telling me it was the lemonade, but Brandon kept telling me that I still had to perform, so I went to look at the book. I knew I needed to choose something in my key, and I remembered that "Superstition" by the great "Stevie Wonder" was a song in my key. I was super nervous, my voice was going in and out and I didn't know what was about to happen with this performance. I take ALL performances serious, even karaoke. I am representing myself, so my name was called to perform and I did my thing LOL. I danced. I had the crowd sing along, I had the band play solo's. The crowd loved it. I wont lie. I loved it too. I was truly blessed by Jesus to have my voice for that performance. Well the female singer/host of the karaoke live loved my voice and had me do karaoke later in the cruise where Matt the cruise director heard me and told me to try- out at carnivalentertainment.com. I was excited and my bro's were telling me that I had to do it, so I did. There was one problem. I tried out for the wrong part. I saw Singer/dancer and was like that's me. I mean it seemed weird that during my audition I had to do pirouettes, and kicks. I was like man I didn't know they did that stuff on stage lol. Well I was then invited to a live audition, so I went, and this was an eye opening disaster. I get there and realize that I was auditioning for the playlist shows (Broadway format) I had no training with this. Then the dance leader says that we were going to dance first instead of singing because, he did not want to fall in love with our voices. I was in over my head at this point, but I was going to give it a go. I look around, and everyone is stretching. I'm an athlete so I was like ok its game time lets do this. They began with the first dance steps of the routine. I had it, then the second, I was good, then the third, bring it on, then the fourth. Now this is where things began to unravel for me LOL. The dance steps were becoming more complicated and I couldn't pick them up in time, so they split us up into teams, and boom we had to audition the steps. This was it I was thinking, somehow I felt that maybe I would remember all the steps, but I realized that I was fooling myself, and I didn't want to ruin the other guys auditioning because I couldn't remember the steps. The music starts. It was on. Step one check. Step two check. Step three check. My confidence is growing, Then things took a wrong turn after step four, As suspected I didn't remember the steps anymore, so I had to do my own thing. I wasn't going to quit and stand there, so I did the nay nay, with some Michael Jackson Billie Jean moves, and a little running man. I looked like a complete fool. Long story short I didn't make that audition, but I was guided to the right department to audition, and that was just being a vocalist. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">During this process I made 3 different online audition videos to finally get through. 3 months later I received an email being offered the position of Male Rock Band Vocalist for The Carnival Sunshine. I was excited, I accepted the position, and I quit my job. This is where the twist happened. I was waiting for email confirmation with detail of flights, band members, and date I would officially start. I had not received anything so I emailed the booking department and was told that they doubled booked that ship with another male vocalist. They apologized but I had to wait until another ship came open, but they didn't have information on when another ship would come open, so here I was jobless and hurt thinking they didn't want me. I remember I called my bro Q. He could hear the defeat in my voice, and he told me to trust the process things will work the way they were supposed to. I heard him, but I was so hurt and disappointed that I began losing faith in myself and my gift. I didn't understand why I would get so close to my goals or things that I wanted and then they are ripped away from me. I felt that I had sung that song over and over in my life. Needless to say I didn't give up, and I received a phone call 1 month later for me to join the Carnival Imagination out of Long Beach. I was excited but I asked the right questions this time, like will this one go through LOL. It went through and now I am heading towards my fourth contract and fourth ship. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I shared this long story because I was tested with hurt, but I matured enough to fight through and believe in God's process for me. Trust the process. Don't give up on yourself because you feel hurt. Keep moving forward. Because with obedience, hard work, faith and patience, the right doors will began to open, but what door will open if you give up on yourself or use people because your hurt. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Thank You for reading. Chuck Starr part 4 will be next and I will share the excitement of creating my first official music video in NYC. It was a fun experience and January 9th you will see the debut of what is going to be my hit song "Fire it up". This song is going to get me on the late shows, radio shows, festivals and will help me achieve my goal of reaching the BIG stage, in the BIG room, with the BIG crowd. I have included the audition, so feel free to crack a smile at my kicks and dance moves. Due to copyright I had to remove the music used while I was dancing so just imagine what I could have been dancing to while you watch LOL. To view please click the link below.<iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="MC-0qmzeit0" data-video-thumb-url="https://img.youtube.com/vi/MC-0qmzeit0/mqdefault.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MC-0qmzeit0?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="180" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe> </span></p>
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<p> </p>Chuck Starrtag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/49705962017-12-12T04:26:30-06:002023-12-04T00:34:53-06:00Who is Chuck Starr Part 2<p><span class="font_large">Life sometimes has a funny way of throwing things at you. The thing is sometimes you take yourself through life's obstacles because you're either being motivated, determined, driven, or just plain stubborn. My journey with music has definitely put me in the category of being stubborn. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">When I first began music I was so excited to jump in, I was all over NYC, Monday night I performed Karaoke at “ The Fat Black” and an open mic Featuring Cheryl Pepsi Riley at The Village Underground. Tuesday night was midnight open mic night at "Cafe Wha". Wednesday night was open mic with Miss Matlock at "Club Groove" or Club Iguana if I felt like traveling further into the city. Thursday was the Ashford and Simpson "Sugar Bar". Friday and Saturday night were "The Lulu Lounge" for Karaoke. as you see I was up and at it doing music every night and still going to work during the day. I felt like I was getting somewhere, I needed to take myself more seriously, I needed a stage name so I began to call myself C.Boyd.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">C.Boyd that is easy to remember right? Pretty catchy right? Well, I can't say that it was I truly struggled to introduce myself as C.Boyd even though that was basically my real name anyway. I felt that I was ready. I was new and jumping into the music game. To get me started I took the advice of a club promoter at Club Iguana. Which was the very first stage that I performed in NYC. The promoter's name was Free. He told me that if I wanted to be taken seriously in this music game I would have to start performing original music. I liked that idea, but I truly did not know where to get started. I had music written, but I had no tracks, no music to put the vocals on. One evening I was singing at the open mic at Club Iguana and met a producer named Michael Taylor. He told me that he made beats and said that we should create a song. I was happy, and of course, I said yes, so we set up a time to discuss the type of song and began the process.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Creating this first original song opened my eyes to a lot of things. Especially the process of getting a record done. It was fun but definitely tiresome, First I had to sing my song over and over for Michael so that he could create a melody line with the beat that was attractive. Next, we listened to a lot of music and sounds that were popular at that time to create the right sound, and vibe to fit the music that was out at that time. Next, we had to separate the track to fit the music form (For example intro, first verse, chorus, second verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, outro) Once we got that Michael breezed through making the beat. I then had to put my vocals on it. After that, it had to be mixed and then mastered. This process was long, at least I felt it was at the time, but it was so fun. The name of that song was "Clinging on" and it was the first song I had ever recorded. I went on to record two more songs with Michael. "Too little too late" and "Communicate". I also recorded a song called Ken and Barbie with another producer named Adam. So now I had 4 songs finished at the time. I was ready for the next step of the process which was Performing. This process was rather difficult at first, I had to reach out to club owners, or promoters via email and most of them only dealt with a major artist, to their defense I was reaching out to major clubs and performance halls in the circuit. One evening I was performing at the Club Iguana for Open Mic and the promoter free approached me and said, hey do you have your original music now? I said yes, and he wanted to listen to the tracks. After listening to the music he told me that I had some good music, and he wanted to book me to perform at Club Iguana. That was not the best part though. He always used to push that he had a record label called Magic records. I thought this was huge because he used to always name-drop big wigs in the industry of people associated with his label and also people that he could connect me with, so he told me that he would audition me with a show on my own, and if I performed to the standards of the industry he would sign me to his label. The biggest catch was that I had to sell 20 tickets at 20 dollars a piece and a two-drink minimum. What?? This was crazy. I wasn't even from New York. How in the heck was I going to sell these tickets, I wasn't going to say no. So I told him that I could do it. I had two weeks to sell the tickets. it was a struggle, a lot of long days and nights, some begging, but I sold all the tickets.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">This is the part where things began to get very complicated and forced me to have thick skin. So I sold all the tickets but I lost focus on the show, I needed a band I needed to rehearse. I needed 30 min worth of material to perform, and I had no clue how to get that, so I contacted Michael to see if he could help guide me and he got me on a website called craigslist. I had never heard of this site at that time but I just had to create an ad saying that I needed a band and wait for people to reply. Well, he was right. I got a lot of replies and I put a band together literally lol. We rehearsed for 5 days straight. I only had the full band together on day 1 and day 5. New York is so big with music that a lot of the musicians use gigging as their full-time job. These guys that I had were special though literally. We rehearsed in a church. I had to constantly buy pizzas to keep their attention and they always wanted to take breaks. They were very confident in themselves though, they kept telling me that the show would be great. I didn't see it though. our playlist of "U got it bad", "My Prerogative", "Clinging On", "Ken and Barbie", "Too little too late", "Communicate", and "Back at one" was not seeming like it was coming together. Finally, things took a turn on day 5 and we sounded OK. It's now showtime, I go out and I sing and perform my heart out. The band did OK, but the crowd liked it. I was excited. I thought I was about to get signed to a label, even though I hadn't heard of this label before. Free said that I did good, he said that he saw potential, but that I wasn't ready. He said that I sounded too much like a gospel singer, my voice was too unique, I was pitchy because I wasn't breathing correctly, and I was singing too hard. The crowd only liked me because I was an attractive guy, so I could get the attention of the ladies, plus they were trying to be nice to me. He felt at some points I was going to get "Showtime at the Apollo boos and Mr. Sandman would come out with his hook to drag me off stage. He said I had performing potential, but I didn't know yet how to fully put that together in the performance on stage. He also doubted if I could get many of the people to come back to watch me again. He said I needed to learn key moments in my performances, and that I did too many unnecessary actions at the wrong times in the song, so which took the fun out of my performance. He told me that my songs "Clinging On" and "Ken and Barbie" were pretty decent songs, but said I should think about just writing songs. He said if he graded me it would be a low D. He told me that I was too fresh in the game and I may be able to turn it around with hard work, but I may just be better cut out, writing songs for other artists, performing karaoke and at open mics. That was very tough for me to hear, but me being an athlete I was used to criticism, I didn't think he would be that blunt though sheesh, The one thing I knew is that I was blessed with a gift, and I knew that I had the ability, so I decided that I had to work harder. Free called me the next day and told me that he wanted to give me another shot, in two weeks. I felt like I was getting a second chance. I got the band together again and I worked hard, I sold the tickets and I was practicing, I was going to prove that I had what it took.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">3 days before the show I got a call from my cousin. This was my favorite cousin I won't say his name ( he will know who he is though) I looked up to him so much. He could do no wrong in my eyes, he was the older brother in my eyes. I constantly wanted his approval in everything that I did, from sports to music to fighting to getting girls, anything that I could do to impress him, but he would never show up when I needed him. He never saw me play a game, in my whole high school career. Never saw me sing in church, so when he called me saying that he was coming to NYC and he was going to come to my show, I got super excited. He promised me that he was coming. I worked extra hard for the next couple of days until showtime. That day I was wondering when I would hear from him, and when I did hear from him. He said that he wasn't coming. He didn't lie there because he never showed up to my show. I was hurt because I felt that he did this to me again. He sees how excited I get to have him show up to an event and he never comes. I mean could you come to one event just one time? Every time he did this it made me feel unwanted and unimportant, it made me feel like everything, and everyone else was more important than I was. It seemed that if anyone other than me contacted him he was there. I used to always say that I wouldn't do that to him. If he needed me I would be there. But to bring this up was like me throwing a good deed that I did into his face, and that was wrong so how was I supposed to let him know how I felt? One day he and I got into a huge argument and I challenged him to a fight, I was serious I just wanted to fight him, but I knew that wasn't going to solve anything, I was just hurting. This trait actually affected me in life. I notice that I hold on to people for a time, so with my friendships, and relationships, I expect to get out of them what I would put in. I want to be placed above everyone else. I want to get a feeling from them that I am important, and that I am wanted. I was caught up in my emotions and took things personally when they probably had nothing to do with me. This is a side of me that truly gets misunderstood because I really do not want any harm, and my intentions are never to hurt but I am human also. This is one reason why I became guarded, and became more stubborn. I have a past too. Learning this about myself has helped my relationship with my cousin very much recently we are very strong and I love you Cuzzo. Ok back to the story I got off track like always, but that was important to share. I told you that I was going to open up my life to you wheeewww lol. These are old stories that I buried within myself.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">So I performed the show and I felt that I did good, the crowd once again seemed into it. I went to talk to Free but he was gone. I felt that it was weird, I wanted feedback. I wanted to know if I did any better, my bandmates told me that I had done well, and then I was approached by another promoter named Mike. He told me that I sounded awesome and that he would love for me to perform at his establishment called the Baggot Inn. This was located in the village on West Fourth and Mcdougal. I was excited because, He felt that I did good, so of course, I had to have gotten better. The crazy thing is that I never saw Free again. What I learned about music venues in New York, is that Free was just a promoter that took advantage of us. There are so many aspiring artists that is driven and motivated. It becomes easy to run a scam. We are artists looking for an opportunity in New York, so basically he never owned a label, he never knew the people he said that he did, and ran off and pocketed all of that money. I will say that I will be great full to him because of the hard criticism that he told me. It made me want to be better at my craft and made me want to get on the BIG stage more and work harder. It kept me focused to work on my flaws and show myself that I belonged in this music industry. It keeps me humble at the same time. It definitely put me on a road to getting better, and I went through so many more mazes and learning experiences that I will share with you in my next blog Who is Chuck Starr part 3. Thank You for reading. I also have two bonus tracks for you <a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="track" href="/track/1371653/clingin-on" style="">Clinging On</a> and <a contents="" data-link-label="" data-link-type="track" href="/track/629826/ken-and-barbie" style="">Ken and Barbie</a></span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Click on the highlighted links to listen to the songs and you will see just how far I have come lol. Thank You for your time. I am already looking forward to sharing more with you.</span></p>
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<p> </p>Chuck Starrtag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/49499952017-11-27T20:53:53-06:002023-12-15T00:34:14-06:00Who Is Chuck Starr Part 1<p><span class="font_large">Allowing people into my private life has always been very hard for me. Hence my social media activity. I used to be terrible at posting. I would either not remember to post to the social media outlets or I wouldn't feel secure enough to post on my private life. Through this journey of learning who Chuck Starr is. You will get to know how guarded I can be. How stubborn I can be. How dominant I can be, and how I am realizing how my dominance can be intimidating to some and or taken the wrong way by others. I will open up to you about my journey of finding out how to love myself and accept myself. How I recently looked into the mirror and realized that there are things that I am doing wrong that I can fix, like facial expressions, tone of voice, and hearing the other person speak. You may have good intentions, but if those intentions are perceived another way, then you didn't accomplish what you set out to accomplish. I will open up as to how I am learning to be more patient and the importance of that. There are a lot of things in your own personality that you can't see. Some things that we can see but try to avoid as humans, and some things you have to face head-on. It takes things happening in your life to put you in the correct direction of your life's purpose. At least that is what has happened to me. Last but not least you will find out why Music is my passion. Why I inspire to be the best at my craft of being a performing artist, and how I inspire to be an inspiration to people. I have so many stories to tell lol. I laughed because if you are in my inner circle, you know that I can get very long-winded with my stories, so since I'm going to share who I (Chuck Starr) am, then I can and will be as long-winded as possible. I am now ready and prepared to let you into my world. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I was born Charles Boyd, on Oct 13th, in Columbus Ohio. I had a huge Afro as a baby, and I had a lot of energy. I grew up in church, and every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, you could find me at church. My Father and Mother used to hear me singing around the house, so they decided to have me sing in front of the church for a Christmas Program. I was 5 years of age and I sang Away in the Manger. That is where it all started.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">As I was growing up I began singing in the church junior choir, traveling to other churches, PAW conferences singing, and performing. It was an awesome experience. At the time I also was very much an athlete. I loved sports. When I was younger I wanted to play all the sports with my cousins, but they would say that I was too young. I did not like that at all. I felt that I could play with them, so I began practicing by myself every day so that I could one day be good enough to play with my older cousins. This process was developing me in a way that would define me as a youth, into my teenage years, and followed me into my adult life. <strong>(I will explain later)</strong> I developed a chip on my shoulder. I just wanted to compete. Competition became an addiction to me, but it also created a do not lose personality. I hated to lose, and if I lost, then I would work even harder not to lose the next time. I put so much of my time into sports that music ended up taking a back seat. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I played football, where I was a 4-year starting Varsity Award Winner, Freshman of the Year, All-City First team, Numerous Players of the week, All-District First team, All-State, and All Regional First team. I was a highly sought-after recruit from many Division 1 colleges such as The Ohio State University, Notre Dame, Michigan, Indiana, Nebraska, and Wake Forest just to name a few. I also was invited and attended the wonderful 100 which was an event for the 100 top high school football players. I also played Basketball where I was a 2-year starting Varsity Award Winner. I was 3rd team All City and All District honorable mention. Then there was track. A sport that only got one season out of me. That was a funny experience because I couldn't imagine doing a sport where I was required just to run. I actually hated running but decided to run just to get into better shape for my senior season of high school football. Track didn't look too promising for me at first, after 3 weeks of running for conditioning, and passing the baton for the relay, I did not have an official event. Most of the track athletes ran before and already had their perspective events chosen, it was my first year and I had no clue as to what I wanted to do. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Even though I did not have an event chosen. I knew that I could jump very well, so I decided to go try the high jump, I did very well on my first jump and it felt easy so, I said let's raise the bar and I will attempt another jump. That jump was a disaster. As I was running to attempt the jump, I took my step to jump and slipped, my arms flew back I actually hit the ground but somehow hit the bar, so I was on the ground with the bar on top of me, definitely very clumsy. My coach and teammates were laughing at me, to be honest, I had to laugh at myself, it was embarrassing to say the least, but it was funny. My coach told me to go try another event. <strong>(I will be honest though, I just slipped but I would've done very well at that event.) </strong>so I went over to the long jump. I had a great friend who also excelled at that event and was at the long jump pit working on his craft, so I joined him and he gave me the basics. Next was my turn to try so I ran down the runway and jumped. It was silent and my friend Carrick, left me at the long jump pit, without saying a word, next thing I know my coach had come over and instructed me to jump again, so I jumped again and my coach told me that this was my event. I know I am becoming long-winded so I will shorten this story. I ended up jumping my first track event in Jordan's and I won. I went on to buy track shoes and went all the way to winning the district with a long jump of 22 feet. I came in second place in the regional, where I jumped 22 feet 4 inches. I then went on to the states where I jumped 22 feet 6 inches. I was disappointed because my final jump was well over 23 feet <strong>(Which would have been the winning jump)</strong> but I fouled by having my toe cross over the board. I ended up placing 7th in the state (boo). </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Sports gave me an understanding of how to express my passion, sports provided the discipline needed to remain focused when under pressure. Sports provided the drive needed to not give up on yourself. Sports provided the confidence to believe in yourself and your abilities. Sports also allowed me to gain the tools of becoming a leader. The problem I ran into with sports was that I couldn't separate it from life when I got older and stopped playing. I spent a lot of my adult life time-warped on all of my past accomplishments. You can't talk to people in life as you would talk on the football field. These are some of the many lessons I had to learn and that I am still learning. I was blessed though, because another dream and passion of mine, came to life, and it allowed me to bring all of the attributes that I learned from sports and apply them. That dream is Music.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Music has always been a part of my daily routine. Even though it took a backseat to sports, It really didn't take a backseat to sports, because I was always singing. I was that guy listening to slow jam music before games. I was that guy singing songs before games but felt weird singing slow songs very nice and in key, before a game or practice in front of a bunch of high school boys, so I would sing the songs off-key as if I couldn't sing so that they would sing along with me. The funny thing is when I decided to sing for real many of them didn't believe me and were shocked that I actually really could sing. The path that I took for sports provided me a physical and mental platform to do something that has always been in my heart and that is music. I was in NYC and I went to an open mic event the song that I decided to sing was "Ordinary People" by John Legend. The way I felt onstage, made me realize that music was my calling.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">My Pathway to music has definitely been a journey worth sharing. I heard an old video of me singing the other day and I realized just how far I have come even through all the tests and trials that I faced. Make sure to keep an eye out on my website, I will be releasing Who Is Chuck Starr Part 2. My next blog. I will open up to you about my test and trials in the music industry. I will discuss why I became guarded in life and talk about my stubborn ways. I will also open up about what my first original stage name was, before Chuck Starr. If you would like to know something specific about me make sure to ask and I will discuss it also. Let's interact. Thank You for your time. I hope that you enjoyed this read. I have so much more in store for you.</span></p>
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<p> </p>Chuck Starrtag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/49424482017-11-21T10:00:22-06:002023-12-15T00:32:05-06:00Thanksgiving<p><span class="font_large">Wow!! Thanksgiving is here. I am very excited. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I know I know, I sound very greedy when I say this, and it is fine. I feel greedy and I am ok with that LOL. All jokes aside Thanksgiving brings back so many cherish able memories, of my childhood, into my teenage years, and from my teenage years into my adulthood. Every year thanksgiving makes me reflect on the year that I had, because to me the year is basically over when thanksgiving ends.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I have a strange way of looking at this I guess, this year ends thing when thanksgiving ends, but to me it makes sense. After Thanksgiving you have Black Friday, yes I named Black Friday, because to many people, being able to shop. Is a holiday within itself. Then you have Christmas which comes super fast, (make sure to come back to the blog around Christmas) I will be sharing so many stories for you about my FAVORITE holiday. Getting back on track after Christmas is my fathers Birthday, and then New Years. So hopefully you see why I feel that the year is over when Thanksgiving passes. If you don't its ok lol. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Last year at this time I was in a position that I was not used to. I was on my second contract with Carnival cruise lines, I was contracted to be on the ship from Nov-Feb. That means that I did not spend Thanksgiving with family. That was difficult. First of all I was in a flourishing long distance relationship, we had not seen each other in over 2 months at the time but was counting the days until we could see each other, and not having the chance to spend my first Thanksgiving with her physically made me sad, and also made me miss her even more. Secondly I was not used to missing Thanksgiving with my family period. I am a huge family person, and to me you just don't get that time of creating memories back. I was very appreciative of the efforts Carnival gave to make Thanksgiving feel normal but it was not the same. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">My Thanksgiving used to consist of my family and I eating at two places, both sets of my grandparents. It was super fun, to think of it puts a smile on my face. As time moved on our family is now down to only one side of grandparents.Because both my grandmother and grandfather on my mothers side passed away. The memories still continue though. We would prepare food on Thanksgiving eve. Yes I used to cook, I used to make Homemade dinner rolls, ham, sometimes greens, you know I added to the feast lol, but getting back on track, I would wake up to my family, laughing, cracking jokes, dancing, watching the football games and of course eating awesome food. I can't wait to eat mac and cheese, greens, turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cornish hens, corn, baked bean casserole, salad, pasta salad, fresh dinner rolls, sweet potato pie and so many desserts. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Thanksgiving has always provided me the opportunity to reflect, on the year, and gets me prepared for the following year. This year has had so many great moments, some very challenging moments and sad moments. I am looking forward to creating fun memorable memories with family this year though on Thanksgiving.</span></p>Chuck Starrtag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/49271242017-11-10T03:52:22-06:002023-12-15T00:29:09-06:00The First Release<p><span class="font_large">Well my first single release was "Fire it up" I released it 2 years ago. I was very excited to have released this single, because I considered it my work. This song has come along way and it is still getting better. I originally wrote the song to a pop track at 4am. A track that I received free online. I was excited, and I felt that I had created a hit song. I remember telling my brother Doc Blues that I had wrote a number 1 billboard charting song, and that it was time for us to plan on being on the big stage, with the big lights and the big crowd. My other brother X (Deric) would laugh in support, as all 3 of us would jump around saying it's time, like we were in high school getting ready for a football game.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Well it all sounded good, The reality was I didn't have the music for the song yet. I didn't own the rights to the track I had written too, I didn't know the BPM to the track and I didn't have the stems to even sing over the track to be mixed properly. I was stuck, but I wasn't stuck for long. An opportunity came along for me that I needed a band for, and that opportunity was me headlining The World Famous BB.Kings in times square. (</span><strong><span class="font_large">I have a lot of stories and I am good at getting off </span><span class="font_large">t</span><span class="font_large">rack so I will tell you about my BB Kings experience in one of my next Blog entries)</span></strong><span class="font_large">. The irony of this was that I performed "Fire it up" at the show. I know your asking me how did you do that song with no track. Easy the band helped me create the track. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">After the show I began working with the keyboard player. We worked on the track and created something very nice. He was awesome to work with and he and I created a very nice track, but I felt that the track needed more needed more life. So I decided to start the song from scratch and create the beat with my software. I had to get all of these sounds out of my head. There were a lot learning curves, to say the least but I worked on that track literally day and night.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Once the track was finished I mixed and mastered the track, and began letting people hear it for approval. I received a lot of positive feedback on the song so I decided to release it to Spotify. Sad thing is my song totally flopped. I was expecting it to just be noticed, I put all this work on the track and didn't give notice to the promotion side of things. I used to be very very terrible at social media. Now I have a better understanding as to what I need to do.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">So here I am now promoting my song "Fire it Up because for one it's a great song, 2. I am releasing another version, and 3. I have a strong follow up song coming after it, so now I have a plan. On Spotify I have over 2,000 monthly listeners with the song and over 1000 followers and that number is growing thanks to wonderful fans like yourself. Go to the videos section of the website and check out the acoustic version of the song "Fire it up." The video and the remix of the song will be out shortly as well so be on the lookout. Now I feel the Big Stage, Big lights and Big crowd is within reach.</span></p>
<p> </p>Chuck Starrtag:chuckstarrmusic.com,2005:Post/37149272015-05-25T17:56:25-05:002023-12-15T00:27:49-06:00The Grammy AwardsI must say this was the most awesome experience EVER. I sat front row at the Grammy's literally. It was the greatest concert I have ever been apart of. It was wonderful to see Nas and Jay Z up close and it seems like they have a lot of respect for one another. Jamie Fox bringing his daughter to get a picture with everyone, was amazing. Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert sitting behind me. The Legendary Paul Mccartney and Madonna sitting behind me. I was able to be seen on National television during the Madonna performance. It was just an epic night and I am looking forward to creating more epic grammy memories in the future.Chuck Starr