I was mentioned in the N.Y. Times, pretty sweet!
“has an easy way with songwriting; certainly he could work with a Jason Mraz or a Matt Nathanson”
You can peep videos from that show on August 12th with David Milnes on keys, Jason Lunardi on drums, James Preston on bass, and my little bigger baby brother Rob Marnell on backup vocals.
Hey y’all, I’m resurrecting this bliznog, so I hope you subscribe to this bad boy!
So, yea, last night was a little difficult to relive, and there’s a lot of negatrons I could focus on, a lot of explaining I could do about what went down, why I feel I should’ve stayed, but I’m not here to do that. I feel enough of my talent and enough of the real me poked through Platinum Hit episodes to get an idea of the kind of songwriter and person to which I aspire. And I think people are enough aware of the various smoke & mirrors and editing tricks inherent to all reality TV to take everything, both good and bad, with a grain of salt from an In-n-Out Burger french fry. So, I’m not going to speak on any of that.
The truth is, there’s much too much positive to focus on from this entire experience. Like the people I met for starters. I met a best friend for life in the wonderful and amazingly talented Brian Judah. I fell for a truly special girl. I shared some of the most gut-busting laughs and cheeky smiles with incredible souls. I was humbled and learned from the awesome talent I was up against. I’ve already been browriting with some of these killer songsmiths that I got to know and love, and I look forward to the magic we’ll continue creating.
And, of course, there’s all the utterly awe-inspiring judges and guest judges we got to meet. I have nothing but respect and love for Kara DioGuardi, Jewel, Keith Naftaly, Evan Bogart and The Writing Camp, and every incredible industry giant that we were lucky enough to meet. And besides being beasts of songwriters, Jewel and Kara are just plain cool. Jewel, who we interacted with a little more, had us often cracking up, and both were full of incredible insight and advice. I could go on and on about them and all the other greats we met; but I’ll sum it up in that I learned a lot from the way they pushed and guided us, and I’m forever grateful. That alone is priceless. And I hope to get to continue learning from the people I met on and through the show.
I feel like I really grew as a songwriter. There were a ton of illuminating wakeup calls throughout the crazy process. We were forced to break outside of our comfort zones and really push ourselves to write killer lyrics, melody, and music. And I’m amazed at what we came up with under such insane, stressful, time-limited environs. It’s incredible to look back on how far we pushed our limits and what we were able to produce. It’s inspiring and brotivational, and a testament to what we’re really capable of if we push ourselves. Brian Judah, Scotty Granger, and I are really effing proud of “Where I Need to Be,” and we’re just so glad that that magic happened.
And if I may for a moment tweet my own horn: I’m proud of my performance throughout the show. I placed first in three hook challenges (counting Kara’s dollar in Episode 6 ;) and was a driving force in bringing them all to first place wins. I pulled off a white-boy hip hop upset and nailed Reggae. I wrote the hook and a good part of everything else on a song that is many a listener’s favetowns. I gave it my all every time, and I’m happy with every challenge and hook challenge in which I battled. I think even “All Day Sunrise” ain’t too shabby :)
In addition to all the awesome advice and connections made, I am forever grateful for the opportunity and the exposure it’s given us. And to all my fans, old and new, I am so grateful to all y’alls. All this love on Facebook and the Twatter has been absolutely wonderful. To witness people moved, inspired, and personally affected by something you created… it’s just amazing. It’s why we do it. And the show is an incredible, unique, and special avenue for us, and I’m so thankful. To anyone reading who believes in me and my music: thank you so, so much.
So I’m feeling great. I had great bromentum before the show, worked my butt off on it, and I’m keeping it going. I’m gonna keep giving it my all. I’m gonna tour through your town. Look for my new album coming soon (and download my current one on iTunes and Amazon!!!).
I’m Going Where I Need to Be.
<3
http://www.twitter.com/JohnnyMarnell
Seems like just yesterday I was helping him bring a bed downstairs from an attic…
and now he’s on TV. :’)
Celebrity Crush of the Week - Johnny Marnell from Platinum Hit
So the last time I tumbled about a music reality competition contestant being my crush of the week, he ended up engaged to an actress from Twilight. Fingers crossed history doesn’t repeat itself?
Aside from being adorbz and cray cray talented, he used to be in video game development, is a computer nerd, has been to E3 and Comic-Con and actually @replied me on Twitter, which only awesome people do. Hence, you guys should follow him on Twitter and check him out on Platinum Hit tonight on Bravo, so we can swoon over him together.
-Muse
Where I Need To Be (Johnny Marnell, Brian Judah, Scotty Granger)
