A Time for Reflection
I’m thrilled to announce the release of our first ever LIVE DVD! How cool is that?! I am SO PROUD of this product and the work that it represents! It really feels as if, with the release of this video, I’m closing out the first chapter on this adventure in music. What’s coming next is always a mystery but one thing is for sure, the times they are a changing and a new era and a new way of doing things is imminent. It’s time to turn the page and to quote one of my songs from an album that’s still in the works, Soldier On.

This DVD truly represents many years of hard work, determination and perseverance. It hasn’t been an easy journey to get here and I have certainly learned allot about myself, about my music and a great deal about the business that is the ever-changing music industry along the way. One thing is for sure, I would not still be doing this if I did not love what I was doing. So calling it a labor of love, well yeah, that would be the perfect description.

Years, Months, Weeks, Days, Hours, Minutes & Seconds
When I sat down in my living room to screen this DVD outside of my studio for the first time, it truly began to dawn on me just how much work went into this thing. They say baby steps will get you to your larger goals, well I can certainly attest to the fact that there were indeed thousands of necessary “baby steps” along the way to make this DVD a reality. For the past two years, I had only seen this footage in terms of individual song clips on Youtube and seeing it in its entirety, as one concert production, had quite a different effect on me.

It’s truly amazing to think about how many hundreds of hours were spent, writing the songs, engineering the recordings, designing the album artwork, making the music videos, assembling the band, learning how to technically pull off a live show like this, rehearsing the songs, planning and promoting the live show, preparing the video projections for the show, staging the event, producing and editing all of the footage recorded at the concert, prepping all of the material for DVD, printing and shipping it to market….. I could go on but that is just scratching the surface on the amount of work that had to be done for this one event and this one product to materialize.

When you finish a studio album you get the same sense of accomplishment but there is something quite different about seeing a concert performance on the screen in front of you. It testifies to the amount of work that was involved in the project both visually and sonically. It’s almost as if a concert video removes a bit of the “Wizard of Oz” kind of mystique that can surround studio albums and replaces it with a greater sense of “reality”. Of course, maybe that’s just my point of view as the artist?

Like a fine wine, life unfolds and evolves in ways that you can never totally plan or prepare for. While you may have an educated guess of how to get there, you can steer things along the way but usually the end result is not always exactly what you had in mind. Sometimes it’s better, sometimes it’s not but all in all, it brings you to where you are today. Where am I today? Well, today I am truly thankful.

Thankful
I’m thankful for everyone that has helped and supported me over the years to nurture this dream of making music. I know that sounds like some rehearsed speech from an award ceremony but it is the truth. At first glance, looking at many of the physical products we now have in the catalog, you might think that I’m taking most of the credit myself. The reality of this is actually quite different. As with all of the works that I have taken on, without the people around me supporting and inspiring me; I could have never accomplished all of the things that I have done.

The unsung heroes are the people in my life that keep me motivated, keep me humble and help me by ensuring that the work has merit and is not all an ego trip. Let’s face it, the work is tedious, self absorbing and time-consuming. It hardly makes you the type of person most would want to hang out with on a day-to-day basis. Much of the time it hardly seems worth all of the fuss and sacrifices that are involved. Yet with a support system of family, friends and colleagues, as well as a sincere belief in what you are doing; things can happen, dreams do come true and the work is worth it in the end. It’s the love for the work and the love for those around you that keep the wheels of progress turning.

The Future
I really feel like the future has great things in store.  With the continued help and support of everyone around me; I know I’ll be able to enter into the next chapter with new determination and new resolve to keep working on the dream. At the same time, hopefully without sounding pretentious, I truly hope that along the way, I can help others’ with realizing their dreams as well.

Thanks for taking the time to read the blog and for supporting the music we are making. Without all of you that buy and support the music, none of this would be possible. – JOF

Press Release
Now available for PRE-ORDER the FIRST LIVE DVD from the John Orr Franklin Band! Recorded in October of 2009 at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Texas, this DVD contains a 75 minute long concert performance as well as music videos and many more bonus features.

The LIVE DVD serves as a testament bookending a trilogy of albums released by John over the last four years. Containing live performances of material from all three of the releases (Pathways, Transformation & Lighthouse), the LIVE IN AUSTIN DVD reflects the overall body of work that John and the band have accomplished and is the ultimate souvenir for fans of John’s music.

The DVD was produced by Blue Room Digital Productions in association with Austin Media Productions.

 The John Orr Franklin Band is:
John Orr Franklin – Vocals & Guitar
Ryan Redfern – Bass Guitar
Roberto Palladino – Drums
Chris Cribb – Keyboards

All DVD orders via bandcamp.com include the immediate download of the digital single “Out of the Zone”(LIVE).

For more information visit johnorrfranklinband.com or melodicrevolutionrecords.com

The direct link to pre-order the DVD is http://johnorrfranklin.bandcamp.com/album/transformation-live-in-austin-dvd