I am endorsed by BARI mouthpieces.  I play them on all my horns.  They are very affordable and great sounding!
Friends were congratulating me on being in Downbeat Magazine and I had no idea what they were talking about.  I found it quite amusing when I finally saw the ad...
 

Last night I played a gig at the Tampa Fine Arts Museum for a silent auction fundraiser for Lion Eye Institute. The guest performer was Scott MacIntyre, the blind contestant of the 2009 American Idol series. I wished I could have gotten a picture to share with everyone. But I was busy playing the VIP party so all the VIPs could get a picture with him. Kind of cool...he and I have something in common as I was in a couple of American Idol contests (an online version of American Idol called American Idol Underground - both are owned by the same company- Fluid Audio Networks) I won one contest in 2006 and came in second in another year...

I just got my copy of the Saxophone Journal!  And I was so excited to see my smiling face on the cover.  It may not be Rolling Stone but it is an international publication.
I had a fun time chatting with my interviewer, Thomas Erdmann.  He made it fun and easy to share my views.  I was pleased with the article and if you are interested in reading it it will be posted to this website.
 
http://s111.photobucket.com/albums/n148/Lyecats/Saxophone%20Journal%20Article%20Mar%20Apr%202010/

I just activated my twitter account - want to follow my tweets?
If you have a twitter account are you called a twit or a tweet?
hmmm sounds like an interesting Halloween costume idea...I could go around saying "twit or tweet!"
 
http://twitter.com/Staceyknights

I finally tested for black belt!  Woohoo!  It was hard preparation but this long term goal has finally materialized.
I have been going to a martial arts studio that practices eight styles as one for four years now and I am totally hooked on martial arts as an exercise that incorporates both my mind and my body.  The discipline is great and I am amazed at how much I have gained personally from this part of my life.
So tonight I am celebrating at A Taste for Wine where I'll be performing with BRad Carlton from 8-11pm
241 Central Ave
Downtown St Petersburg

Recently I auditioned to sing the National Anthem for our wonderful Hockey team the Tampa Bay Lightning. The audition was a nerve-racking experience! I had never tried out for such a thing before. It was a bonus that I knew both Canadian and American Anthems well.
I got the call last week that I was added to their roster for Anthem performances at the games! Ithink I will get 4-5 games out of the 42 home games they have scheduled this season. Cool huh?
So if you are a "Hockey Fan" watch for me on TV!

My local Smooth Jazz Station WSJT 94.1 is having a contest for best Smooth Jazz Artist. The prize is a trip on the Smooth Jazz cruise to Cozamel in May 2009 for the band and me.
Click this link to vote for us - http://www.wsjt.com/Best-Band-Competition---Vote/2958678
Voting is easy; no sign up or passwords. The best part is only one vote per person!
The online voting goes from September 15 thru 26. Hurry!
Thanks for Supporting the music!
The contest to be selected for the next level of competition (a live performance contest for the 3 top groups at the Venue October 2)

Wow,
I never aspired to sing the National Anthem but tomorrow I go to a call-back for the Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey Team (Stanley Cup Winners 5 years ago)
My best asset was being able to sing the Canadian National Anthem. Hardly any other auditioner was prepared to sing it. It helped to have a feeling for Canada as a country in the process.
So I am a hopeful to sing for 11,000 fans for a few home games this season. Keep your fingers crossed!
PS Thanks to Carol Bryant of Select One Realty for getting me on board with the auditioning process - I wouldn't have done it without your encouragement and support.

Ah, summer´s here again…for me it´s a slowing down period for work - hard on the wallet but good for retooling the career machine for bigger and better. There is hours of uploading and expanding my internet presence, finding new musician sites for potential exposure. It´s sort of fun but there is always the question of fruitful. I repeatedly set my intention for better gigs because I want bigger audiences and concert settings to do what I consider my purpose.
Currently I´m in the midst of selecting a promoter for radio play, updating my press kit and bio, entering other contests for songwriting, building electronic press kits for different sites that expose your music to buyers, applying for consideration at festivals and concerts around the country, and trying to find a publisher, and a great booking agent to go outside of my current area. That´s a lot of typing and calling! Thank God for the internet, because so much can be done there.
One thing I am trying to do is to streamline all the places I can be found and to get a calendar that is universal to all the sites where I am listed. I may be in luck if I can only remember what site I saw that on….
And the other thing I will do is probably change the newsletter to become a link to read it on my website. That way you can just go to my calendar page and see what shows are coming up. Saves me a little time and just as easy for you to go to for info.
Some highlights from this last couple of months.
-My CD release party was a huge success!
-I took 2nd place in the American Idol Underground Big Push Contest.
-In May, I was listed as one of the top emerging artists for 2006 by American Idol Underground and I got a write-up in the American Idol Magazine.
- I was chosen as one of 44 out of thousands of applicants to be listed in the Independent Artist Registry, an independent talent evaluation service for record labels, promoters, and talent buyers and the new book with my listing came in the mail today (I was excited!!!)
- Part of my prize from American Idol contest that I won last year was a promotion package to 400 radio stations through a company called MUSICsubmit.com. My campaign for the new CD begins this week.