Stone Walters

It’s been a while since I last listened to “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” but wow…what a great album (even after all these years). I love it when a song or artist comes along that somehow has the ability to touch something deep inside me. Do you know what I mean?

Okay so here’s a question for you: What songs/artists touch or move you deeply? (You can add yours by commenting below.)

Here’s a few more of mine to get things rolling:

“A Song For You” by Donny Hathaway, “Secret Garden” by Bruce Springsteen, “Lively Up Yourself” & “Turn Your Lights Dow Low” by Bob Marley, “I Would Die For You” by Prince

I could go on and on and on….

Someone once told me that there are 4 kinds of people you’ll meet in life, all based on the four basic mathematic symbols: + x - /

Firstly there are people who add something to you (+). These are the people who help to make life’s journey enjoyable. They are the ones that know how to get you to laugh, or think, relax or know how to make sure you have a good time. All in all they are great company to be with and they always find ways to ‘add’ something to the quality and experience of your life.

Then there are the subtracters (-). These are the people who for whatever reason take more from you than they give. It may be because they are going through a difficult patch and need to draw on you for support. Or it may be because they are only concerned with what they can get out of any relationship. Their agenda is to take, take, take!

Then their are those who are ‘dividers’ (/). These are the people who actually mean you harm. They do things to hurt you, somethings intentionally, and often give themselves away by a constant stream of negative talk, gossiping, or behind the scene moves to assassinate your character and sabotage the things you are trying to achieve.

And finally you have the ‘multipliers’ (x). This is an extremely rare group, extremely rare. They are like gold dust! These are the people whose committment to you goes beyond the mistakes in your past, what you presently have or what you are currently experiencing in life. They see something more. They know there is more to you than meets the eye and most importantly they will self-sacrificially do whatever they can to see your potential fulfilled with…and heres the key…no strings attached!

Each group of people are valuable to you but in completely different ways. I’ll go into it a bit more in my next post

Thanks for stopping by,

Love Stone

“Every expert was once a beginner” - so don’t be afraid to begin something that may intimidate you at first.

The songs you hear on my page are the first songs I’ve every produced, arranged and recorded as an artist, in fact my debut album is the first I’ve ever made. When beginning the process of writing and recording and trying to figure out what all those buttons and faders did in the studio I had to remind myself that everyone has to start from somewhere, even the experts. Often the only difference between the expert and beginner is they refused to quit.

So…don’t be put off by the process required to achieve your goals. You can do it!!!!

Love Stone

I saw this over the weekend on ‘Live from Abbey Road’ and fell in love with it. It reminded me of the time I first heard Herbie Hancock’s cover of ‘Norwegian Wood’ by the Beatles from his ‘The New Standard’ album.

I was studying at Berklee in Boston, Massachusetts, at the time and It was a quiet and mild October evening, at that point in the year where Summer finally surrenders to Autumn. Outside my dorm room the the leaves on the trees had turned to that golden, burnt-orange brown, so characteristic of a New England Autumn, and Herbie’s playing just danced gently through the air. It was incredible.

On this song Herbie is joined by the British songstress Corinne Bailey-Rae. She is an incredible artist and sounds so beautiful on this song. I’m a big fan!

If you get the chance check out her version of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Creepin’. You can find it over at www.strippedmusic.com/arch_corinnebaileyrae.html .

Once again - simply beautiful.

Happy Monday to you all!!!!

I hope the weekend gave you the chance to do the things that refresh and recharge your batteries…if not there’s only 5 more days to go and you’ll get the chance to do it all over again!

Now for a little confession. I love blogging. It’s quickly turning into a new addiction. But at times it can be a little frustrating because I’m dyslexic. Everything I write contains so many ‘typos’, extra words, and sentences with the end of my thought at the beginning, that I’m often afraid no one will be able to make sense of what I’m trying to say except me!!!

But what is particularly special is the effect numbers have on me. In fact if you want to see my brain fry just ask me for my telephone number…you’ll be guaranteed a dazzling light show as my eyes roll round and round in my head and smoke shoots out my ears!

I once heard a story of a performer whose dyslexia constantly made him think that the audience was behind him on the stage. So he kept looking behind him because he thought the audience was creeping up on him. Wow! Can you imagine that? Hats off to him for finding a way to continue to express himself in spite of the challenges.

This got me thinking. I can’t begin to tell you the amount of times I have shut down, clammed up or even avoided a situation because I was afraid my dyslexia might go into full gear making me look, shall we say, less than intelligent. But in the words of Ann Landers ‘Dilemma’:

“To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk rejection.
To place your dreams before the crowd is to risk ridicule.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To go forward in the face of overwhelming odds is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
Only the person who takes risks is truly free.”

Thanks for that Ann. So in the likely event of future typos or strangely constructed sentences please forgive me. I’m just dealing with the creeping crowd behind me!

Love Stone

PS See you tomorrow!

The next time you need a confidence boaster to get you motivated, or simply when you’re feeling a little down, read this to yourself:

I asked God for Strength….And He gave me Difficulties to make me strong.

I asked God for Wisdom……And He gave me Problems to solve.

I asked God for Prosperity… And He gave me Brain and Brawn to work.

I asked God for Courage….. And He gave me Danger to overcome.

I asked God for Love….. And He gave me Troubled people to help.

I asked God for Favours….. And He gave me Opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted….I received everything I needed!

Another great and funky tune from Sam Sparro who brought us the modern classic “Black & Gold”. He’s currently on the road promoting his album. Check him out if this is your kind of thing.

And here’s “Black & Gold”.

A nice little track to enjoy the heat of summer with, or based on the weather outside my window wish summer would stay for more than 5 mins!

Natty’s debut album “Man Like I” is out this week for £5 from selected digital stores. Close your eyes, turn it up and picture yourself on some hot beach somewhere…then head over to lastminute.com!!!

I’ve been trapped in the recording studio with deadlines to meet and little time for “sleepy-sleepy” (as they’d say in the Dominican Republic). But…I am now a free man. FINALLY!!! And I’m itching to get on the road with some live dates.

So stay tuned and I’ll let you know when we’ll be in your neck of the woods.

Until then thank you all so much for your patience and I’ll see you soon.