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Blog http://jadediary.com/home.cfm Sat, 12 May 2012 14:50:00 GMT http://bandzoogle.com #2 on the Triple J Unearthed Pop Chart! http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=2069856 As I write this my song, A Thousand Days, is #2 on the Triple J Unearthed Pop Chart! And #10 on the overall Unearthed Chart! 'A Thousand Days' jumped 61 places within a week! And it's made it to the #10 spot on the chart within 2 weeks. How excoitement. Triple J haven't played my song yet though. If you want to hear it on Triple J radio, please text  and request "Jade Diary's A Thousand Days" to 0439 757 555. It's +61 439 757 555 if you life outside Australia. The phone cannot be called, only texted to. If you haven't yet you can keep me high on the Unearthed chart by rating and reviewing my songs here: <a target="_new" href="http://www.triplejunearthed.com/jadediary ">http://www.triplejunearthed.com/jadediary . x Jade Diary

As I write this my song, A Thousand Days, is #2 on the Triple J Unearthed Pop Chart! And #10 on the overall Unearthed Chart! 'A Thousand Days' jumped 61 places within a week! And it's made it to the #10 spot on the chart within 2 weeks. How excoitement.

Triple J haven't played my song yet though. If you want to hear it on Triple J radio, please text and request "Jade Diary's A Thousand Days" to 0439 757 555. It's +61 439 757 555 if you life outside Australia. The phone cannot be called, only texted to.

If you haven't yet you can keep me high on the Unearthed chart by rating and reviewing my songs here: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/jadediary .

x

Jade Diary

]]> Sat, 12 May 2012 14:50:00 GMT 122A8E310B8FA958F14B3EF0C5815758 Reviews: "Love Thy Will Be Done" EP http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=2006477 The Sonic Reverie EP: Love Thy Will Be Done, Jade Diary Climbing the first rung of the ladder, 'Landscape of Dreams' brought Jade Diary to quite a few people's attentions as the project successfully crowdfunded the money for a second EP to be recorded. Tipping a few years away in raising and recording, it will all undoubtedly seem worthwhile when 'Love Thy Will Be Done', the result of the hard work, is given it's release in June. Fans of Lady Antebellum and Taylor Swift's charismatic take on country inspired pop should enjoy this collection of jangly, uplifting tracks, particularly the summery young love anthem,'Sublime'. Unsurprisingly, the title track isn't a coincidentally named original composition, but is a glorious take on the Martika track, complete with an ideal production to put the emphasis on Cheryl Lim's divine voice, shining at it's best, conjuring a scriptural atmosphere that sits perfectly alongside the lyrics. Cheryl's voice is both captivating and emotive but the drawing point is it's subtle nature. 'Long Way From Home' strips back the production to bring a focus tightly on the relatable story locked within the lyrics and sees her voice at it's mesmerising best. With a haunting backdrop, 'A Thousand Days' sees Cheryl bringing the passion and honesty of Sarah McLachlan into her touching deliverance and easily sits as one of the standouts from the EP. Save for the enchanting drop of the chorus with it's ambient beauty that reaches a perfect climax for it's final rendition. This is songwriting at it's best; an earnest message coated in a memorable hook and taken to new heights with the dedicated Lim at the helm. Don't expect to be hammered over the head with a forceful delivery, insisting you feel the message of the song; Jade Diary's music puts it out there and you can fetch however much emotion and meaning you like from it. Above all, this is music to enjoy. Not preaching, not politically charged but dealing with recognisable themes such as love and loss but doing it expertly. 'Love Thy Will Be Done' is a charming representation of Jade Diary's warmth and talent and when you're lazing in the garden on a Sunday afternoon, you'd struggle to find much better than this. Reviewer: Simon McMurdo Source: <a target="_new" href="http://thesonicreverie.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/ep-review-jade-diary-love-thy-wll-be.html">http://thesonicreverie.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/ep-review-jade-diary-love-thy-wll-be.html Mossip EP: Love Thy Will Be Done, Jade Diary Rating: 10/10 Jade Diary is the name taken by Australian singer songwriter, Cheryl Lim. Love Thy Will Be Done is her first EP release as a solo artist. The title track is a song written by Prince for Martika's first album. (Anyone remember the ex- Kids Incorporated star?). Most won't remember the original version, as it wasn't a huge hit. Jade Diary brings such life to the track that was a little too synth heavy. Cheryl Lim's voice is front and forward here, as it should be. Prince always wrote the best ballads for women, and this song is no exception. It is ethereal and romantic and super girly. Cheryl takes this song and makes it her own. The EP is 5 songs and is a preview for listeners. Her full length album will be out later in the year. Of the five songs, three of them are written by Cheryl. The other four songs share some traits with the title track. All of them possess the same dreamy melodies and they all have a strong vocal. Cheryl's voice can be compared to the likes of Jennifer Noble of Grey Eye Glances with a touch of Colbie Caillat thrown in for good measure. Another similarity that many of the songs share is a melancholic tone. "A Thousand Days" is a haunting song of forgiveness with a new age vibe. The lyrics convey sadness and are about forgiving a person who has hurt you. "A thousand days, a million stars. All that you said has turned into scars. It's time to say goodbye to the hate that blackens what's left of my heart." Cheryl's sings in a breathless, sultry way that still retains a certain innocence. There's something refreshing about a voice that is pure and free from all the overt sexuality that seems to have a hold on most pop music. Jade Diary is beyond that. This is music that is beautiful because its focus is on the lyrics and melody and not on shock value. "Tomorrow" is a song about a city dweller. The song paints a vivid picture of how one person can be lonely in the throngs of a big city, and yet remain hopeful for bigger and better things to happen in the future. Unrequited love is the theme of "Sublime," one of the EP's more upbeat sounding songs. The song has jangling guitars and a great beats, shades of Belinda Carlisle. This is pop perfection. The EP ends with the mellow "Long Way From Home." It is another song about a love that's gone, and it couldn't be sung prettier. In fact, Cheryl Lim sings about sad subjects better than just about any artist. Her voice is soothing and angelic. Sadness should not sound so good. Jade Diary is an artist to watch; a voice that isn't like every other out there. The three songs that she wrote are full of emotion and imagery. She will have you longing for the days when Lilith Fair was the concert to see, because surely she'd be part of it. Love Thy Will Be Done is just enough music to satisfy the listener, and it will help tide fans over until her full length album is released. If you are looking to sample a new artist, look no further than Jade Diary. Love Thy Will Be Done is a reminder of all that is good in music. This is an EP that will definitely be put on repeat on your iPod or stereo, because it is simply that good. It is one of this year's best listens. If you haven't heard Jade Diary yet, what are you waiting for? Review by: Andrea Guy Source: <a target="_new" href="http://mossip.livejournal.com/737221.html">http://mossip.livejournal.com/737221.html The Sonic Reverie

EP: Love Thy Will Be Done, Jade Diary

Climbing the first rung of the ladder, 'Landscape of Dreams' brought Jade Diary to quite a few people's attentions as the project successfully crowdfunded the money for a second EP to be recorded. Tipping a few years away in raising and recording, it will all undoubtedly seem worthwhile when 'Love Thy Will Be Done', the result of the hard work, is given it's release in June.

Fans of Lady Antebellum and Taylor Swift's charismatic take on country inspired pop should enjoy this collection of jangly, uplifting tracks, particularly the summery young love anthem,'Sublime'. Unsurprisingly, the title track isn't a coincidentally named original composition, but is a glorious take on the Martika track, complete with an ideal production to put the emphasis on Cheryl Lim's divine voice, shining at it's best, conjuring a scriptural atmosphere that sits perfectly alongside the lyrics.

Cheryl's voice is both captivating and emotive but the drawing point is it's subtle nature. 'Long Way From Home' strips back the production to bring a focus tightly on the relatable story locked within the lyrics and sees her voice at it's mesmerising best. With a haunting backdrop, 'A Thousand Days' sees Cheryl bringing the passion and honesty of Sarah McLachlan into her touching deliverance and easily sits as one of the standouts from the EP. Save for the enchanting drop of the chorus with it's ambient beauty that reaches a perfect climax for it's final rendition. This is songwriting at it's best; an earnest message coated in a memorable hook and taken to new heights with the dedicated Lim at the helm.

Don't expect to be hammered over the head with a forceful delivery, insisting you feel the message of the song; Jade Diary's music puts it out there and you can fetch however much emotion and meaning you like from it. Above all, this is music to enjoy. Not preaching, not politically charged but dealing with recognisable themes such as love and loss but doing it expertly. 'Love Thy Will Be Done' is a charming representation of Jade Diary's warmth and talent and when you're lazing in the garden on a Sunday afternoon, you'd struggle to find much better than this.

Reviewer: Simon McMurdo

Source: http://thesonicreverie.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/ep-review-jade-diary-love-thy-wll-be.html

Mossip

EP: Love Thy Will Be Done, Jade Diary

Rating: 10/10

Jade Diary is the name taken by Australian singer songwriter, Cheryl Lim. Love Thy Will Be Done is her first EP release as a solo artist. The title track is a song written by Prince for Martika's first album. (Anyone remember the ex- Kids Incorporated star?). Most won't remember the original version, as it wasn't a huge hit. Jade Diary brings such life to the track that was a little too synth heavy. Cheryl Lim's voice is front and forward here, as it should be. Prince always wrote the best ballads for women, and this song is no exception. It is ethereal and romantic and super girly. Cheryl takes this song and makes it her own.

The EP is 5 songs and is a preview for listeners. Her full length album will be out later in the year. Of the five songs, three of them are written by Cheryl. The other four songs share some traits with the title track. All of them possess the same dreamy melodies and they all have a strong vocal. Cheryl's voice can be compared to the likes of Jennifer Noble of Grey Eye Glances with a touch of Colbie Caillat thrown in for good measure. Another similarity that many of the songs share is a melancholic tone.

"A Thousand Days" is a haunting song of forgiveness with a new age vibe. The lyrics convey sadness and are about forgiving a person who has hurt you. "A thousand days, a million stars. All that you said has turned into scars. It's time to say goodbye to the hate that blackens what's left of my heart." Cheryl's sings in a breathless, sultry way that still retains a certain innocence. There's something refreshing about a voice that is pure and free from all the overt sexuality that seems to have a hold on most pop music. Jade Diary is beyond that. This is music that is beautiful because its focus is on the lyrics and melody and not on shock value.

"Tomorrow" is a song about a city dweller. The song paints a vivid picture of how one person can be lonely in the throngs of a big city, and yet remain hopeful for bigger and better things to happen in the future.

Unrequited love is the theme of "Sublime," one of the EP's more upbeat sounding songs. The song has jangling guitars and a great beats, shades of Belinda Carlisle. This is pop perfection.

The EP ends with the mellow "Long Way From Home." It is another song about a love that's gone, and it couldn't be sung prettier. In fact, Cheryl Lim sings about sad subjects better than just about any artist. Her voice is soothing and angelic. Sadness should not sound so good.

Jade Diary is an artist to watch; a voice that isn't like every other out there. The three songs that she wrote are full of emotion and imagery. She will have you longing for the days when Lilith Fair was the concert to see, because surely she'd be part of it. Love Thy Will Be Done is just enough music to satisfy the listener, and it will help tide fans over until her full length album is released.

If you are looking to sample a new artist, look no further than Jade Diary. Love Thy Will Be Done is a reminder of all that is good in music. This is an EP that will definitely be put on repeat on your iPod or stereo, because it is simply that good. It is one of this year's best listens. If you haven't heard Jade Diary yet, what are you waiting for?

Review by: Andrea Guy

Source: http://mossip.livejournal.com/737221.html

]]> Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:23:45 GMT 43CA1E359C5743D7B6C5631CF4DB1C26 Landscape of Mistletoe http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=1651799 Little known facts about Mistletoe (Thank you fount of all wisdom, the Internet) Phoradendron, the scientific name for American mistletoe, means "thief of the tree" in Greek. Although not a true parasite in scientific terms, mistletoe comes close, sinking its roots into a host tree and leeching nutrients from the tree to supplement its own photosynthesis. Hmmm... I think I've rambled on enough about mistletoe! I hope that my email finds you happy and well, enjoying this celebration of the birth of a child who would grow to a King who would rule hearts, conquer evil and divide nations. Love him or hate him, Jesus is the reason for Christmas. What's all this Santa and mistletoe business! ;) x The EP My EP is coming along nicely and will serve as an hors d'oeuvre to my album which is the 'main course'. <a target="_new" href="http://skeetmusic.wordpress.com/">David Skeet, my producer, and I are working hard to make everything sound beautiful and speccy (Aussie slang for 'spectacular' ;) which is why it's taking some time. Good things come to those who wait, so thank you for waiting my lovelies! x The EP release is scheduled for March 2012. The album will be released some time after the EP in 2012 ... Hurrah! New Logo The more observant of you will notice my new 'Jade Diary' logo. It took many back-and-forth emails and tweaks by talented Artist, Rebecca Morgan, and my very patient and lovely French Graphic Designer, Anne-Alexia Louarn (Alex for short ;) before we arrived at the final logo. Another Hurrah! Music Video My new music video shoot was a success and shot over two INSANE days with Giovanni C. Lorusso as Director and my lovely and talented 1st Assistant Director, Erin Kujda. It involved a crew of many extras, make up artists, smoke machines and hard-working crew. It was not without drama and incident (including difficulties with a smoke machine which was not churning out smoke in a consistent way). In spite of that, it was a fun shoot and we are really happy with the results. Giovanni is still cutting and prettying up the video while he is in Sardinia, so I am still eagerly awaiting the final video which will be released as the first single of my EP in March 2012. I want to wish you and all of your family and friends a very happy and wonderful Christmas and New Year! Thank you for your ears, hearts and minds. I am deeply thankful for your friendship and support! Love lots xox <a href="http://www.jadediary.com/freesongs"> <a href="http://listn.to/JadeDiarymusic" target="_new"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jadediary">

Little known facts about Mistletoe

(Thank you fount of all wisdom, the Internet)

Phoradendron, the scientific name for American mistletoe, means "thief of the tree" in Greek. Although not a true parasite in scientific terms, mistletoe comes close, sinking its roots into a host tree and leeching nutrients from the tree to supplement its own photosynthesis.

Hmmm... I think I've rambled on enough about mistletoe!

I hope that my email finds you happy and well, enjoying this celebration of the birth of a child who would grow to a King who would rule hearts, conquer evil and divide nations. Love him or hate him, Jesus is the reason for Christmas. What's all this Santa and mistletoe business! ;) x

The EP

My EP is coming along nicely and will serve as an hors d'oeuvre to my album which is the 'main course'. David Skeet, my producer, and I are working hard to make everything sound beautiful and speccy (Aussie slang for 'spectacular' ;) which is why it's taking some time. Good things come to those who wait, so thank you for waiting my lovelies! x

The EP release is scheduled for March 2012. The album will be released some time after the EP in 2012 ... Hurrah!

New Logo

The more observant of you will notice my new 'Jade Diary' logo. It took many back-and-forth emails and tweaks by talented Artist, Rebecca Morgan, and my very patient and lovely French Graphic Designer, Anne-Alexia Louarn (Alex for short ;) before we arrived at the final logo. Another Hurrah!

Music Video

My new music video shoot was a success and shot over two INSANE days with Giovanni C. Lorusso as Director and my lovely and talented 1st Assistant Director, Erin Kujda. It involved a crew of many extras, make up artists, smoke machines and hard-working crew. It was not without drama and incident (including difficulties with a smoke machine which was not churning out smoke in a consistent way). In spite of that, it was a fun shoot and we are really happy with the results. Giovanni is still cutting and prettying up the video while he is in Sardinia, so I am still eagerly awaiting the final video which will be released as the first single of my EP in March 2012.

I want to wish you and all of your family and friends a very happy and wonderful Christmas and New Year! Thank you for your ears, hearts and minds. I am deeply thankful for your friendship and support!

Love lots xox

]]> Sat, 24 Dec 2011 17:05:00 GMT D18BAA434FF03DA6A81DB561F85AFEB7 Cupcake anyone? http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=1216396 Cupcake anyone? Welcome to my never-ending tea party... This is a photo from a recent photoshoot and you can see more of the <a target="_new" href="http://listn.to/JadeDiarymusic">'tea party' shots we took that day at <a href="http://listn.to/JadeDiarymusic" target="_new">listn.to/JadeDiarymusic. My sis-in-law, Annie, made those tasty cupcakes by the way... thanks Annie! Remember to invite me 'round to the house for a few more for din-dins ok? ;) The photo-taking spree has not ceased, because I am preparing for PHOTOSHOOT Part Deux this Saturday! This time it'll be a different theme and I'm not telling what it is ....sssh. I think I'm just trying to re-live sad, old un-realised childhood dreams of becoming a model and fashion stylist haha. You can ask my shrink! Behind-the-Scenes: Recording 'Start Over Again' I've put together a short video of my behind-the-scenes fun in Sydney this past April. It's a recording involving cello (I LOVE Cello) of one of the 12 songs, 'Start Over Again'. This one's a ballad. The album is very diverse though, and you'll find a song for almost every kind of mood you might think of... :)  Click on the link or image below to have a squiz... <a target="_new" href="http://jadediary.com/media.cfm">Media <a target="_new" href="http://jadediary.com/media.cfm"> New Facebook Page The more observant of you may notice that I have dropped 'The' from my name.... now JADE DIARY. Facebook (double grrrrrrrrrr) would not allow me to change my facebook fan page name to 'Jade Diary'. Therefore I have had to start a brand new Facebook Fan page: <a target="_new" href="http://listn.to/JadeDiarymusic">listn.to/JadeDiarymusic. I would mighty appreciate you having a look and 'LIKING' my new page! x That's all for now my sweets! Love, Jade Diary <a href="http://www.jadediary.com/freesongs"> <a href="http://listn.to/JadeDiarymusic" target="_new"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jadediary"> Cupcake anyone?

Welcome to my never-ending tea party...

This is a photo from a recent photoshoot and you can see more of the 'tea party' shots we took that day at listn.to/JadeDiarymusic. My sis-in-law, Annie, made those tasty cupcakes by the way... thanks Annie! Remember to invite me 'round to the house for a few more for din-dins ok? ;)

The photo-taking spree has not ceased, because I am preparing for PHOTOSHOOT Part Deux this Saturday! This time it'll be a different theme and I'm not telling what it is ....sssh. I think I'm just trying to re-live sad, old un-realised childhood dreams of becoming a model and fashion stylist haha. You can ask my shrink!

Behind-the-Scenes: Recording 'Start Over Again'

I've put together a short video of my behind-the-scenes fun in Sydney this past April. It's a recording involving cello (I LOVE Cello) of one of the 12 songs, 'Start Over Again'. This one's a ballad. The album is very diverse though, and you'll find a song for almost every kind of mood you might think of... :) Click on the link or image below to have a squiz... Media

New Facebook Page

The more observant of you may notice that I have dropped 'The' from my name.... now JADE DIARY. Facebook (double grrrrrrrrrr) would not allow me to change my facebook fan page name to 'Jade Diary'. Therefore I have had to start a brand new Facebook Fan page: listn.to/JadeDiarymusic. I would mighty appreciate you having a look and 'LIKING' my new page! x

That's all for now my sweets!

Love,

Jade Diary

]]> Tue, 23 Aug 2011 01:40:00 GMT 9BD1C310383F0E480863D1F5104AD589 A Song about You http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=806654 Hellooooo! If this is the first time you're reading my blog... WELCOME! I'm Cheryl from Jade Diary and I write bittersweet singer-songwriter pop with touches of folk thrown in, intermingled with soul-revealing lyrics. Some say my music sounds like Jewel, Sarah McLachlan, Dido, Taylor Swift or Andrea Corr... well truth is, I sound like myself. Go to <a target="_new" href="http://jadediary.com/freesongs.cfm">http://www.jadediary.com and click on the music player at the bottom to have a listen.  I'm co-writing some songs with David, my producer, for my upcoming debut album and coming up with some really irresistible tunes! Can't wait to present them to you but you'll need a wee bit of patience! :) In the meantime I have a fun competition for you to participate in ... (drum roll please)... "Jaded and lovin' it!" Competition Prizes: - All who enter will be able to receive 2 FREE EPs to download (7 songs in total). - You also go into a draw to win an $80 <a href="http://www.amazon.com" target="_new">AMAZON Gift Card (buy books, CDs, DVDs) or $80 <a href="http://www.stopstaring.com" target="_new">STOP STARING voucher so you can look like a 40s movie star with their glamourous vintage fashion... where I got my green dress in the pics and where Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton and Rihanna shop! To enter all you have to do is: 1. Subscribe to my Jade Diary letters at <a target="_new" href="http://www.jadediary.com/freesongs">http://www.jadediary.com/freesongs . AND 2. Share this blog on your Facebook profile (just click SHARE below this blog) OR  email at least 10 of your friends encouraging them to read this blog. Please cc me at <a href="mailto:cheryl@jadediary.com">cheryl@jadediary.com if you are emailing your friends and include your friends' email addresses in the bcc section so you protect their privacy. OK, time for me to get back to songwriting and for you to start emailing some friends/family members! Closer Video I created a video of 'Closer' from my Girl With No Name EP that you can watch right here: <a target="_new" href="http://jadediary.com/media.cfm"> Twitter and Facebook wars Facebook vs Twitter ... I used to dismiss Twitter as nothing but a vehicle for John Mayer to quip about his life and Hugh Jackman to get excited about the 'Sydney Opera Center' ;) but I recently realised that it's really not as bad as I once thought! I'm celebrating the fact that I now have over 100 people following me on Twitter! Woohoo... <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jadediary">http://www.twitter.com/jadediary. If you are already on Twitter, show me some love! My <a target="_new" href="http://www.facebook.com/jadediary">Facebook page has had a recent makeover. If you have already 'liked' my FB page, then when you go to the page, you'll have to click on the 3rd tab which is 'BandPage' to see the changes. But if you've never 'liked' it before, then you'll see it in its full glory immediately :) Favourite ice cream flavour? By the way, if you have any questions you'd like to ask me from my favourite ice cream flavour to what is the overall theme of the album, feel free to reply to this email and ask them... your questions and my answers will be featured in an upcoming email :) I always love hearing from you! A Song about You Ever wanted to have a song written about yourself, or a person you love? Or have a burning topic that you want expressed in a song? Imagine how your girlfriend would feel if you had a song written especially for her and you asked for her hand in marriage in the song? Ever wanted to sing the song yourself? Well, now you can :) I am offering to write a song of your choice about anything or anyone, as long as the topic is one that I am comfortable writing about. Example: if you wanted me to write you a song that Hitler was a wonderful person and everyone should become a Ku Klux Clan member, then I couldn't do it! But you get the picture :) Just go to <a target="_new" href="http://www.indiegogo.com/jadediary">http://www.indiegogo.com/jadediary and contribute $1100 and I'd be most happy to write and record the song for you! If you have a burning desire to perform on it or sing, then this could be arranged too! If you want more information about this, just email me back and I'll answer any of your questions. All my best to you, Cheryl <a target="_new" href="http://www.facebook.com/jadediary"> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jadediary">
If this is the first time you're reading my blog... WELCOME! I'm Cheryl from Jade Diary and I write bittersweet singer-songwriter pop with touches of folk thrown in, intermingled with soul-revealing lyrics. Some say my music sounds like Jewel, Sarah McLachlan, Dido, Taylor Swift or Andrea Corr... well truth is, I sound like myself. Go to http://www.jadediary.com and click on the music player at the bottom to have a listen.

I'm co-writing some songs with David, my producer, for my upcoming debut album and coming up with some really irresistible tunes! Can't wait to present them to you but you'll need a wee bit of patience! :)

In the meantime I have a fun competition for you to participate in ... (drum roll please)...

"Jaded and lovin' it!" Competition

Prizes:

- All who enter will be able to receive 2 FREE EPs to download (7 songs in total).

- You also go into a draw to win an $80 AMAZON Gift Card (buy books, CDs, DVDs) or $80 STOP STARING voucher so you can look like a 40s movie star with their glamourous vintage fashion... where I got my green dress in the pics and where Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton and Rihanna shop!

To enter all you have to do is:

1. Subscribe to my Jade Diary letters at http://www.jadediary.com/freesongs .

AND

2. Share this blog on your Facebook profile (just click SHARE below this blog) OR email at least 10 of your friends encouraging them to read this blog. Please cc me at cheryl@jadediary.com if you are emailing your friends and include your friends' email addresses in the bcc section so you protect their privacy.

OK, time for me to get back to songwriting and for you to start emailing some friends/family members!

Closer Video

I created a video of 'Closer' from my Girl With No Name EP that you can watch right here:

Twitter and Facebook wars

Facebook vs Twitter ... I used to dismiss Twitter as nothing but a vehicle for John Mayer to quip about his life and Hugh Jackman to get excited about the 'Sydney Opera Center' ;) but I recently realised that it's really not as bad as I once thought! I'm celebrating the fact that I now have over 100 people following me on Twitter! Woohoo... http://www.twitter.com/jadediary. If you are already on Twitter, show me some love!

My Facebook page has had a recent makeover. If you have already 'liked' my FB page, then when you go to the page, you'll have to click on the 3rd tab which is 'BandPage' to see the changes. But if you've never 'liked' it before, then you'll see it in its full glory immediately :)

Favourite ice cream flavour?

By the way, if you have any questions you'd like to ask me from my favourite ice cream flavour to what is the overall theme of the album, feel free to reply to this email and ask them... your questions and my answers will be featured in an upcoming email :) I always love hearing from you!

A Song about You

Ever wanted to have a song written about yourself, or a person you love? Or have a burning topic that you want expressed in a song? Imagine how your girlfriend would feel if you had a song written especially for her and you asked for her hand in marriage in the song? Ever wanted to sing the song yourself?

Well, now you can :) I am offering to write a song of your choice about anything or anyone, as long as the topic is one that I am comfortable writing about. Example: if you wanted me to write you a song that Hitler was a wonderful person and everyone should become a Ku Klux Clan member, then I couldn't do it! But you get the picture :)

Just go to http://www.indiegogo.com/jadediary and contribute $1100 and I'd be most happy to write and record the song for you! If you have a burning desire to perform on it or sing, then this could be arranged too! If you want more information about this, just email me back and I'll answer any of your questions.

All my best to you,

Cheryl

]]> Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:15:00 GMT 82CE6C90C170BEA67494F2A99DE45FBF A rose for you http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=765485 Hey romantic people (everyone's a romantic at heart;) Happy 14th of Feb whether you're single or not! If you're attached, then it's time to celebrate your love for your partner. If you're single, then it's time to celebrate your singledom! Pre-Production As many of you know, I have a big 2011 planned and am currently working with producer, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/davidskeet" target="_new">David Skeet, on the songs which will feature on my album. We've got some fantastic songs for you (aaaaah.... PRESSURE!)!! No really, I'm looking forward to starting work on these beauties ... I have a few rabbits up my sleeve! There will be songs about good ol' fashioned love, heartbreak, fairy tales, mythical creatures, strange lands, joy, pain and peace. A roller-coaster ride of emotions ... just the way I like my albums. Pre-production will start mid-March where the songs will be started. I guess you can say we'll be 'drafting' up the songs during these sessions. Recording the Album The album will be recorded in Sydney! My bags will be packed and I'll be leaving in late March. Pretty exciting! My apology for the gratuitous use of exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!! Pre-Order the Album You can pre-order my album now at<a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/jadediary" target="_new"> http://www.indiegogo.com/jadediary for only $20! And there are only 57 days left for you to do this so what are you waiting for? Who is David Skeet? (See the copy and paste queen at work ;) You can hear some of David's excellent work at <a href="http://www.shelleyharland.com" target="_new">http://www.shelleyharland.com and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arFl_MfdULg" target="_new">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arFl_MfdULg David Skeet is an English born producer currently residing in Sydney. His formative years were spent in the UK where he developed a broad and eclectic taste in music. On his arrival in Sydney, he made his mark as an original and unique guitarist primarily with highly regarded band the Venetians who released 12 singles and 3 albums over a 6 year period and this, combined with Skeet's collaborative nature as a songwriter/arranger and skills as a multi-instrumentalist, cast the die to embark on a career as a record producer. Skeet lived and worked in Los Angeles for eight years as a producer/composer/recording artist with his own project God no.9 with singer Cassie Giles as well as working with other luminaries such as Dave Stewart, Andy Prieboy, Mark Goldenberg, Concrete Blond and worked extensively on soundtracks and artist developement. Since returning to Sydney he has produced the critically acclaimed album Trigger for Sony artist Sandrine, produced recordings for Brooke Fraser, Kate Miller-Heidke,The Church, George Byrne to name but a few and has completed production for albums by New York artist Shelley Harland, Wons Phreely due for release this year. Currently working on albums for The Falls, My Idle King, Merise and have just completed tracks for Tiare Helberg's Zephyresque and whose critically aclaimed Limited Edition EP, The Iconsolable Isolation Of Intimacy can be heard playing here. It's time for some zzzzzzzzzzzzzs! Have a wonderful week ahead :) Cheryl
Happy 14th of Feb whether you're single or not! If you're attached, then it's time to celebrate your love for your partner. If you're single, then it's time to celebrate your singledom!

Pre-Production

As many of you know, I have a big 2011 planned and am currently working with producer, David Skeet, on the songs which will feature on my album. We've got some fantastic songs for you (aaaaah.... PRESSURE!)!! No really, I'm looking forward to starting work on these beauties ...

I have a few rabbits up my sleeve!

There will be songs about good ol' fashioned love, heartbreak, fairy tales, mythical creatures, strange lands, joy, pain and peace. A roller-coaster ride of emotions ... just the way I like my albums.

Pre-production will start mid-March where the songs will be started. I guess you can say we'll be 'drafting' up the songs during these sessions.

Recording the Album

The album will be recorded in Sydney! My bags will be packed and I'll be leaving in late March. Pretty exciting! My apology for the gratuitous use of exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!!

Pre-Order the Album

You can pre-order my album now at http://www.indiegogo.com/jadediary for only $20! And there are only 57 days left for you to do this so what are you waiting for?

Who is David Skeet?

(See the copy and paste queen at work ;)

You can hear some of David's excellent work at http://www.shelleyharland.com and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arFl_MfdULg

David Skeet is an English born producer currently residing in Sydney. His formative years were spent in the UK where he developed a broad and eclectic taste in music. On his arrival in Sydney, he made his mark as an original and unique guitarist primarily with highly regarded band the Venetians who released 12 singles and 3 albums over a 6 year period and this, combined with Skeet's collaborative nature as a songwriter/arranger and skills as a multi-instrumentalist, cast the die to embark on a career as a record producer. Skeet lived and worked in Los Angeles for eight years as a producer/composer/recording artist with his own project God no.9 with singer Cassie Giles as well as working with other luminaries such as Dave Stewart, Andy Prieboy, Mark Goldenberg, Concrete Blond and worked extensively on soundtracks and artist developement.

Since returning to Sydney he has produced the critically acclaimed album Trigger for Sony artist Sandrine, produced recordings for Brooke Fraser, Kate Miller-Heidke,The Church, George Byrne to name but a few and has completed production for albums by New York artist Shelley Harland, Wons Phreely due for release this year. Currently working on albums for The Falls, My Idle King, Merise and have just completed tracks for Tiare Helberg's Zephyresque and whose critically aclaimed Limited Edition EP, The Iconsolable Isolation Of Intimacy can be heard playing here.

It's time for some zzzzzzzzzzzzzs!

Have a wonderful week ahead :)

Cheryl

]]> Tue, 15 Feb 2011 17:35:00 GMT FF0A47D7CA731AF5F4001F79CCDC4AEE The Album http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=637840 Hello! Hope you are having a great start to Christmas... only a few sleeps away! I'll be having a hot Christmas here in Perth... traditionally it gets up to 40 degrees Celsius... still dreaming of a white Christmas! Since I hit 100% on Sellaband, it's been a bit crazy. Working on songs, demos, organising recording... busy! All along, I have wanted to record a full-length album, however because of the uncertainty surrounding finding the funding on Sellaband for a full-length album (it would have taken much longer to reach my goal and there was a deadline), I had to settle on raising money for half an album (about 5 songs). Therefore I am now seeking an additional amount of money to record a full-length album. Please go to <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/jadediary" target="_new">http://www.indiegogo.com/jadediary or click on the image below to find out how I am going to record a full album and how you can pre-order it! <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/jadediary" target="_new"> You can go ahead and share my indiegogo link with your friends through facebook, myspace, email, twitter! And by the way, why does youtube always have to pick the most awkward looking image to freeze on?! Looks like a fishy face :-o Anyway, it's all pretty full on and exciting... looking forward to 2011 and I hope you are too! Merry Christmas to you and yours! Cheryl
Hope you are having a great start to Christmas... only a few sleeps away! I'll be having a hot Christmas here in Perth... traditionally it gets up to 40 degrees Celsius... still dreaming of a white Christmas!

Since I hit 100% on Sellaband, it's been a bit crazy. Working on songs, demos, organising recording... busy!

All along, I have wanted to record a full-length album, however because of the uncertainty surrounding finding the funding on Sellaband for a full-length album (it would have taken much longer to reach my goal and there was a deadline), I had to settle on raising money for half an album (about 5 songs). Therefore I am now seeking an additional amount of money to record a full-length album.

Please go to http://www.indiegogo.com/jadediary or click on the image below to find out how I am going to record a full album and how you can pre-order it!

You can go ahead and share my indiegogo link with your friends through facebook, myspace, email, twitter!

And by the way, why does youtube always have to pick the most awkward looking image to freeze on?! Looks like a fishy face :-o

Anyway, it's all pretty full on and exciting... looking forward to 2011 and I hope you are too!

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Cheryl
]]> Wed, 15 Dec 2010 14:43:25 GMT 54A85B060C33764FC60ED753F28B5D67 100% http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=561455 100% raised We made it. At 3.44am 6 November 2010 (Western Australian time) we reached <a href="http://www.sellaband.com/jadediary" target="_new">100% on Sellaband and raised 9600 Euros or about $13260 AUD for production of our new CD. And no, I did not celebrate with champagne sad to say... but with pineapple juice at 6.30am (yes I am boring that way :) It's been a crazy month!  I never expected this to happen so quickly. Well actually, if you consider the fact that we started fundraising on Sellaband in January 2008, it has taken close to 3 years in total.  In spite of that, the things that have happened in the last month have caused me to be a stunned mullet ... Urban Dictionary definition: a. in complete bewilderment or astonishment b. in a state of inertia very common in Australia. "Like a stunned mullet" "He just stood there like a stunned mullet." So thankful to all of you for helping me along the way - whether through encouragement or financial means. Currently I am in the process of working on some new songs. Once I am confident that our songs are strong enough, we will be going into the recording studio. Should be fun! Charity Rockfest 14 November Join us for our last gig of the year at the Newport, Fremantle. We perform at 4.30pm sharp! TAKE THE STAGE COMPETITION I would really appreciate your help in voting for this: We can win a chance to get treated like rock stars and perform in a concert in Melbourne/Sydney - in front of A&R people and win a Casio keyboard! Yes this is a different competition :) 1. If you could kindly go to this page: <a target="_new" href="http://www.whotune.com/#page=home">http://www.whotune.com/#page=home 2. Click on the GREEN 'REGISTER' button in the middle to register yourself as a fan or musician. 3. Once registered, click on the 6th box in the middle of the screen, on the 'flag' button. You will get a drop-down menu and you just need to click on the 'Take the Stage' option. Once you have done that, you will come to the competition screen. 4. Then you can vote for us by pressing the 'vote' button next to our song entry, 'Closer'. I found that you can vote more than once if you want to. You just need to refresh the screen by clicking on 'Competitions' then 'Take the Stage' again. So feel free if you want to :) You can vote up to 10 times a day. THANK YOU if you vote for us! Free songs coming your way if you let me know you have been voting. Just email me at <a href="mailto:cheryl@jadediary.com">cheryl@jadediary.com. Girl With No Name Video You can have a look at our new video of Girl With No Name. It features some photos of us performing around Perth and has lyrics! Go to <a href="http://jadediary.com/media.cfm" target="_new">www.jadediary.com/media to have a look! Have a really great week! Cheryl <a href="http://jadediary.com/home.cfm" target="_new">http://www.jadediary.com 100% raised

We made it. At 3.44am 6 November 2010 (Western Australian time) we reached 100% on Sellaband and raised 9600 Euros or about $13260 AUD for production of our new CD. And no, I did not celebrate with champagne sad to say... but with pineapple juice at 6.30am (yes I am boring that way :) It's been a crazy month! I never expected this to happen so quickly. Well actually, if you consider the fact that we started fundraising on Sellaband in January 2008, it has taken close to 3 years in total. In spite of that, the things that have happened in the last month have caused me to be a stunned mullet ...

Urban Dictionary definition: a. in complete bewilderment or astonishment b. in a state of inertia very common in Australia. "Like a stunned mullet" "He just stood there like a stunned mullet."

So thankful to all of you for helping me along the way - whether through encouragement or financial means.

Currently I am in the process of working on some new songs. Once I am confident that our songs are strong enough, we will be going into the recording studio. Should be fun!

Charity Rockfest 14 November

Join us for our last gig of the year at the Newport, Fremantle. We perform at 4.30pm sharp!

TAKE THE STAGE COMPETITION

I would really appreciate your help in voting for this:

We can win a chance to get treated like rock stars and perform in a concert in Melbourne/Sydney - in front of A&R people and win a Casio keyboard! Yes this is a different competition :)

1. If you could kindly go to this page: http://www.whotune.com/#page=home

2. Click on the GREEN 'REGISTER' button in the middle to register yourself as a fan or musician.

3. Once registered, click on the 6th box in the middle of the screen, on the 'flag' button. You will get a drop-down menu and you just need to click on the 'Take the Stage' option. Once you have done that, you will come to the competition screen.

4. Then you can vote for us by pressing the 'vote' button next to our song entry, 'Closer'. I found that you can vote more than once if you want to. You just need to refresh the screen by clicking on 'Competitions' then 'Take the Stage' again. So feel free if you want to :) You can vote up to 10 times a day.

THANK YOU if you vote for us! Free songs coming your way if you let me know you have been voting. Just email me at cheryl@jadediary.com.

Girl With No Name Video

You can have a look at our new video of Girl With No Name. It features some photos of us performing around Perth and has lyrics! Go to www.jadediary.com/media to have a look!

Have a really great week!

Cheryl

http://www.jadediary.com

]]> Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:35:00 GMT 321423C25D61D32495F156AB99D594E3 Big Changes ... http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=495432 Hello, How are you? I’ve been well but thinking about quite a few things these months since I last spoke to you. I want to let you know about a few major changes. <a href="http://www.sellaband.com/jadediary" target="_new"> Fundraising Deadline Sellaband recently introduced a new condition to all artists. All artists who are currently fundraising on Sellaband must now raise their targeted amount by September 2011 otherwise, all the money raised so far will disappear and we will not receive any funding. Sellaband have introduced this condition in order to separate the wheat from the chaff and get the desired outcomes quicker because they were finding that many artists have been inactive or taking a very long time to raise the targeted amount. The implication… While friends, family and believers have helped us raise 6107 Euros (about $8516 USD or $8640 AUD) so far, we still have a significant way to go before reaching our target. We must raise the entire 11,900 Euros by September 2011 otherwise all the money raised so far will disappear. That would mean countless hours of fundraising down the gurgler… :( By the way, we are the <a href="https://www.sellaband.com/en/searches?sort=amount_raised_reverse" target="_new">11th artist on the Sellaband charts (meaning that out of the hundreds of bands on Sellaband, we come in 11th based upon how much money we have raised so far). Also, we are the #1 Australian artist on the whole of Sellaband! What is Sellaband? “Sella-what?” I hear you say… well go to: <a href="https://www.sellaband.com/en/pages/how_it_works" target="_new">https://www.sellaband.com/en/pages/how_it_works Food for the Soul… What I am asking all of you to consider is this: Imagine you are a restauranteur and you put your heart and soul, time and money into making amazing culinary experiences that customers get nourished and delighted by. Now I want you to imagine what would happen if the restauranteur offered this food to people but very few were willing to pay for the meals. The restauranteur has to meet overheads, staffing costs, let alone the cost of the raw materials. How is the owner going to survive, and continue making his ‘works of art’ that he delights to give to his customers? This is what is happening to independent musicians such as me all around the world. We put our hearts, soul, sweat, time and money into making songs that people enjoy. It costs about $2000 AUD to record a song professionally in a studio. But today people see music as a ‘free’ commodity. However, bills have to be paid. We love what we do, but we cannot continue to do what we love if the well runs dry. I wish we could. <a target="_new" href="http://www.sellaband.com/jadediary">If you have gained any enjoyment from our songs, would you please consider helping us out at Sellaband to fund our next release? If you have any questions about Sellaband, I will be glad to answer your questions. <a target="_new" href="http://www.sellaband.com/jadediary">Click here now to buy 1 or more parts... <a target="_new" href="http://www.sellaband.com/jadediary"> You need a credit card to make the purchase. Alternatively, if you don’t like using your credit card to make purchases over the Internet, then email me and I will gladly make other arrangements with you. Buying 1 part to pre-order our next CD: <a href="http://www.sellaband.com/jadediary" target="_new"> If you buy more parts, you will also receive additional rewards. Find out more about our incentives at <a href="https://www.sellaband.com/en/projects/jadediary/incentives" target="_new">https://www.sellaband.com/en/projects/jadediary/incentives. Think of it as a way of pre-ordering the CD. And by doing so, you are keeping the music alive and helping an independent musician who really needs your help. Making music is a wonderful privilege and joy for me, but like I said, I need to survive too. I cannot continue to make music if no one wants to pay for the music I make. The Jade Diary is now a Solo Project If you have been following our history, you will know that we have had many line-up changes. After much thought, I have decided that The Jade Diary will no longer be a traditional 'band' in the U2 sense. It will now be a solo project. Meaning that I will be the solo artist and I will have musicians collaborating and helping me along the way. Some of these musicians will be familiar faces, others may not be. This is why the pictures of the 'band' on the <a href="http://jadediary.com/home.cfm" target="_new">websites have been replaced with pics of myself :) Isn't the fact that U2 have remained in pretty much its original lineup for such a long time... a miracle in itself? The Jade Diary will go on... just in a different form. I will be the face of The Jade Diary from now on! My love to all of you and deepest thanks for your generous support and encouragement along the way... Thank you for being a part of my dream. Landscape of Dreams video I am working with a French musician, Lyter, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/lyter911" target="_new">http://www.myspace.com/lyter911, on a new video for Landscape of Dreams. This will involve filming us against a green screen! How Matrix-like is that?! No, I don’t think I’ll be decked out in black leather, wielding guns, dodging bullets and karate-chopping my way through the ‘Landscape of Dreams’ but it should be a lot of fun anyway! Ah, I think it would be dangerous if I had a million dollar budget for this! ;o) Charity Rock Fest 14 November 14 November 2010, Sunday: 4.30pm Charity Rockfest (to raise funds for The Centre for Cerebral Palsy). Newport Hotel. Playing acoustically. Tickets for $15 will go to The Centre for Cerebral Palsy. Please come and support a great cause and have a great time listening to fantastic bands! <a href="mailto:cheryl@jadediary.com">Email me now if you want tickets … New Website Look, Pictures, Reviews Go to <a href="http://jadediary.com/home.cfm" target="_new">www.jadediary.com to have a look at new pictures and reviews! Love, Cheryl
How are you? I’ve been well but thinking about quite a few things these months since I last spoke to you. I want to let you know about a few major changes.

Fundraising Deadline

Sellaband recently introduced a new condition to all artists. All artists who are currently fundraising on Sellaband must now raise their targeted amount by September 2011 otherwise, all the money raised so far will disappear and we will not receive any funding.

Sellaband have introduced this condition in order to separate the wheat from the chaff and get the desired outcomes quicker because they were finding that many artists have been inactive or taking a very long time to raise the targeted amount.

The implication…

While friends, family and believers have helped us raise 6107 Euros (about $8516 USD or $8640 AUD) so far, we still have a significant way to go before reaching our target.

We must raise the entire 11,900 Euros by September 2011 otherwise all the money raised so far will disappear. That would mean countless hours of fundraising down the gurgler… :(

By the way, we are the 11th artist on the Sellaband charts (meaning that out of the hundreds of bands on Sellaband, we come in 11th based upon how much money we have raised so far). Also, we are the #1 Australian artist on the whole of Sellaband!

What is Sellaband?

“Sella-what?” I hear you say… well go to:
https://www.sellaband.com/en/pages/how_it_works

Food for the Soul…

What I am asking all of you to consider is this:

Imagine you are a restauranteur and you put your heart and soul, time and money into making amazing culinary experiences that customers get nourished and delighted by.

Now I want you to imagine what would happen if the restauranteur offered this food to people but very few were willing to pay for the meals. The restauranteur has to meet overheads, staffing costs, let alone the cost of the raw materials. How is the owner going to survive, and continue making his ‘works of art’ that he delights to give to his customers?

This is what is happening to independent musicians such as me all around the world. We put our hearts, soul, sweat, time and money into making songs that people enjoy. It costs about $2000 AUD to record a song professionally in a studio. But today people see music as a ‘free’ commodity. However, bills have to be paid. We love what we do, but we cannot continue to do what we love if the well runs dry. I wish we could.

If you have gained any enjoyment from our songs, would you please consider helping us out at Sellaband to fund our next release? If you have any questions about Sellaband, I will be glad to answer your questions.

Click here now to buy 1 or more parts...

You need a credit card to make the purchase. Alternatively, if you don’t like using your credit card to make purchases over the Internet, then email me and I will gladly make other arrangements with you.

Buying 1 part to pre-order our next CD:

If you buy more parts, you will also receive additional rewards. Find out more about our incentives at https://www.sellaband.com/en/projects/jadediary/incentives.

Think of it as a way of pre-ordering the CD. And by doing so, you are keeping the music alive and helping an independent musician who really needs your help.

Making music is a wonderful privilege and joy for me, but like I said, I need to survive too. I cannot continue to make music if no one wants to pay for the music I make.

The Jade Diary is now a Solo Project

If you have been following our history, you will know that we have had many line-up changes.

After much thought, I have decided that The Jade Diary will no longer be a traditional 'band' in the U2 sense. It will now be a solo project. Meaning that I will be the solo artist and I will have musicians collaborating and helping me along the way. Some of these musicians will be familiar faces, others may not be. This is why the pictures of the 'band' on the websites have been replaced with pics of myself :)

Isn't the fact that U2 have remained in pretty much its original lineup for such a long time... a miracle in itself?

The Jade Diary will go on... just in a different form. I will be the face of The Jade Diary from now on!

My love to all of you and deepest thanks for your generous support and encouragement along the way... Thank you for being a part of my dream.

Landscape of Dreams video

I am working with a French musician, Lyter, http://www.myspace.com/lyter911, on a new video for Landscape of Dreams. This will involve filming us against a green screen! How Matrix-like is that?! No, I don’t think I’ll be decked out in black leather, wielding guns, dodging bullets and karate-chopping my way through the ‘Landscape of Dreams’ but it should be a lot of fun anyway! Ah, I think it would be dangerous if I had a million dollar budget for this! ;o)

Charity Rock Fest 14 November

14 November 2010, Sunday: 4.30pm

Charity Rockfest (to raise funds for The Centre for Cerebral Palsy). Newport Hotel. Playing acoustically. Tickets for $15 will go to The Centre for Cerebral Palsy. Please come and support a great cause and have a great time listening to fantastic bands! Email me now if you want tickets …

New Website Look, Pictures, Reviews

Go to www.jadediary.com to have a look at new pictures and reviews!

Love,

Cheryl

]]> Wed, 13 Oct 2010 08:50:00 GMT 5D27EDF90E83FDB4C742768AFF101D41 VILLAGE KID @ THE PARAMOUNT 28th July Wednesday http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=367913 Hey everyone! Village Kid EP LAUNCH@ The Paramount 28th July Wednesday Really excited to be supporting: <a target="_new" href="http://www.myspace.com/villagekidband">VILLAGE KID at THE PARAMOUNT, 163 James Street, Northbridge, this WEDNESDAY 28TH JULY... Doors open 7.00pm Featuring: <a target="_new" href="http://www.myspace.com/alitowers">ALI TOWERS <a target="_new" href="http://jadediary.com/home.cfm">THE JADE DIARY (in acoustic mode) at 8.30pm <a target="_new" href="http://www.myspace.com/villagekidband">VILLAGE KID (pop with soul and lots of groove) We are <a href="mailto:cheryl.lim@iinet.net.au">selling tickets for $15 each: includes a PREMIUM DRINK + COLOURFUL GIRL EP BY VILLAGE KID. If you'd like a ticket, please <a href="mailto:cheryl.lim@iinet.net.au">email me right now... otherwise I won't be able to mail it out to you in time for Wednesday! Please support indie musicians :) Thirsty Merc! For those of you not familiar with <a target="_new" href="http://www.myspace.com/thirstymerc">THIRSTY MERC, they are a fabulous well-known Australian band that has recently released an incredibly addictive and infectious song called <a target="_new" href="http://www.myspace.com/thirstymerc">Mousetrap Heart. Can't get the freakin' song out of my head!!! Saw them last Thursday night, with ALI TOWERS and VILLAGE KID also supporting them at the Fly By Night Club. All the artists were fantastic, especially Thirsty Merc! I got autographs from Thirsty Merc and cheeky me also passed them our Landscape of Dreams and Girl With No Name CDs! They were sweet and said they'd play them in the car... well let's hope they do :) Hope they like our music! Really nice guys :) Closer We just uploaded a brand new track called 'Closer' to our player... <a target="_new" href="./home.cfm">check it out! Hope you have a great week and if you're in Perth, why don't you come down and head down to the Paramount this Wednesday! Cheryl

Village Kid EP LAUNCH@ The Paramount 28th July Wednesday

Really excited to be supporting:

VILLAGE KID at THE PARAMOUNT, 163 James Street, Northbridge, this WEDNESDAY 28TH JULY...
Doors open 7.00pm

Featuring:
ALI TOWERS
THE JADE DIARY (in acoustic mode) at 8.30pm
VILLAGE KID (pop with soul and lots of groove)

We are selling tickets for $15 each: includes a PREMIUM DRINK + COLOURFUL GIRL EP BY VILLAGE KID.

If you'd like a ticket, please email me right now... otherwise I won't be able to mail it out to you in time for Wednesday! Please support indie musicians :)

Thirsty Merc!

For those of you not familiar with THIRSTY MERC, they are a fabulous well-known Australian band that has recently released an incredibly addictive and infectious song called Mousetrap Heart. Can't get the freakin' song out of my head!!!

Saw them last Thursday night, with ALI TOWERS and VILLAGE KID also supporting them at the Fly By Night Club. All the artists were fantastic, especially Thirsty Merc!

I got autographs from Thirsty Merc and cheeky me also passed them our Landscape of Dreams and Girl With No Name CDs! They were sweet and said they'd play them in the car... well let's hope they do :) Hope they like our music! Really nice guys :)

Closer

We just uploaded a brand new track called 'Closer' to our player... check it out!

Hope you have a great week and if you're in Perth, why don't you come down and head down to the Paramount this Wednesday!

Cheryl
]]> Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:50:00 GMT FCA444051E45E5EF66C9E3B0ED69DE38 Village Kid & Thursday Night at Manhattan's! http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=354243 Hello! Manhattans Original Music Explosion This Thursday 15 July! Manhattans Bar, 243 Albany Hwy, Victoria Park WA Playing Times: The Jade Diary: 8:15-8:50pm Rachel & Henry Climb a Hill: 9:10-9:45pm The Blue Finish: 10:05-10:40pm The Midnight Collective: 11-11:35pm Hope you can join us! We're performing as an acoustic trio. Supporting Village Kid - EP Launch @ The Paramount 28 July We will be supporting <a href="http://www.myspace.com/villagekidband" target="_new">Village Kid a really amazing funk-pop band that have a horn section and full ensemble. Truly fine musicians and an amazing singer, Aaron Malone. I am in awe of them, and we feel very privileged to be supporting them on 28 July at The Paramount in Northbridge. We perform at 8.30pm. Currently selling tickets for $15. $15 includes: Entry Drink 'Colourful Girl' - Village Kid EP Bargain! ;) Please be quick and email me at <a href="mailto:cheryl.lim@iinet.net.au">cheryl.lim@iinet.net.au to reserve your tickets now! It's going to be a massive show... Pictures of our 19 June Single Launch @ The Civic Hotel <a href="http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/gallery/17317/1/The-Jade-Diary.htm" target="_new"> I know lots of you are overseas so couldn't make it to our single launch on 19 June ... so as a little compensation, you can go to <a href="http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/gallery/17317/1/The-Jade-Diary.htm" target="_new">www.fasterlouder.com.au/gallery/17317/1/The-Jade-Diary.htm to have a look at some pictures taken at the launch. CDs Very soon we will be raising the price of our CDs on the website, so if you'd like to get them at a discount, don't hesitate! You snooze... you lose! ;p Go to <a href="http://jadediary.com/store.cfm" target="_new">Store if you'd like to purchase some CDs! We always love hearing from you, so feel free to email us about anything... :o) Cheryl

Manhattans Original Music Explosion
This Thursday 15 July!
Manhattans Bar, 243 Albany Hwy, Victoria Park WA

Playing Times:
The Jade Diary: 8:15-8:50pm
Rachel & Henry Climb a Hill: 9:10-9:45pm
The Blue Finish: 10:05-10:40pm
The Midnight Collective: 11-11:35pm

Hope you can join us! We're performing as an acoustic trio.

Supporting Village Kid - EP Launch @ The Paramount 28 July

We will be supporting Village Kid a really amazing funk-pop band that have a horn section and full ensemble. Truly fine musicians and an amazing singer, Aaron Malone. I am in awe of them, and we feel very privileged to be supporting them on 28 July at The Paramount in Northbridge. We perform at 8.30pm. Currently selling tickets for $15.

$15 includes:
Entry
Drink
'Colourful Girl' - Village Kid EP

Bargain! ;) Please be quick and email me at cheryl.lim@iinet.net.au to reserve your tickets now! It's going to be a massive show...

Pictures of our 19 June Single Launch @ The Civic Hotel

I know lots of you are overseas so couldn't make it to our single launch on 19 June ... so as a little compensation, you can go to www.fasterlouder.com.au/gallery/17317/1/The-Jade-Diary.htm to have a look at some pictures taken at the launch.

CDs

Very soon we will be raising the price of our CDs on the website, so if you'd like to get them at a discount, don't hesitate! You snooze... you lose! ;p Go to Store if you'd like to purchase some CDs!

We always love hearing from you, so feel free to email us about anything... :o)

Cheryl

]]> Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:15:00 GMT 4B3541D43935373E7368CD0550DE123F Next Big Thing @ The Civic Hotel 2nd July! http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=334061 Hi! Next Big Thing Heat on Friday 2nd July, The Civic Hotel, Backroom, 981 Beaufort St, Inglewood The Next Big Thing is a well-known Battle of the Bands style competition in Perth and was one of the ways John Butler got discovered. Apart from songwriting, presentation, musicianship and other aspects, 10 points are scored by the judging panel for AUDIENCE RESPONSE. So WE NEED YOUR HELP!! Please come to scream for us! If you come and make yourself known, we'll give you free 'Girl With No Name' CD singles! That's how desperate we are... heck maybe even one of us will give you a kiss! I think Jarvis would be up for that... :p !! The line-up for the night, $10 entry, under 18s need to be accompanied by a legal guardian: Village Kid Trent Williams Michael Gabriel and The Quixotics Endora Good Little Fox The Jade Diary Short Fuse We will perform at 10:15 pm. So pretty please be there and help us become 'the next big thing'... :) <a target="_new" href="http://jadediary.com/store.cfm">Girl With No Name Singles for Sale now... Have a <a href="http://jadediary.com/files/01-Girl-With-No-Name.mp3" target="_new">listen to our new track, <a target="_new" href="http://jadediary.com/files/01-Girl-With-No-Name.mp3">Girl With No Name, mixed and engineered by Ken Ingwersen, Eddie Dale and mastered by Rob Agostini of Soundbaker Studio. Beautiful graphic design by Anne-Alexia Louarn. Featuring: 1. Girl With No Name 2. Closer (a beautiful love song written by Renee that I know you'll love... only available on the CD) 3. Sublime For a limited time only, we are offering <a target="_new" href="http://jadediary.com/store.cfm">'Girl With No Name' singles at the price of $5 (normal price $7) per CD. Also you can buy both Landscape of Dreams and Girl With No Name for the price of $12 for both (normal price $17 for both). <a target="_new" href="http://jadediary.com/store.cfm"> Click here to buy... Our Single Launch @ The Civic Hotel 19 June Our 'Girl With No Name' Single Launch on 19th June was fantastic! We had wonderful feedback from the crowd who really enjoyed our show and the other guests that night. People used words like 'entertaining', 'haunting', 'professional', 'great lyrics', 'fun to watch', 'catchy melodies', and 'looked fabulous' to describe our show. Supporting acts, <a target="_new" href="http://www.sonjadanne.com">Sonja D'Anne, Toni Italiano and <a href="http://www.myspace.com/astrotheband" target="_new">Astro were magnificent and we're honoured to play with them. Hope to see you on the 2nd July @ The Civic Hotel, Backroom! Cheryl on behalf of The Jade Diary

Next Big Thing Heat on Friday 2nd July, The Civic Hotel, Backroom, 981 Beaufort St, Inglewood

The Next Big Thing is a well-known Battle of the Bands style competition in Perth and was one of the ways John Butler got discovered.

Apart from songwriting, presentation, musicianship and other aspects, 10 points are scored by the judging panel for AUDIENCE RESPONSE. So WE NEED YOUR HELP!! Please come to scream for us!

If you come and make yourself known, we'll give you free 'Girl With No Name' CD singles! That's how desperate we are... heck maybe even one of us will give you a kiss! I think Jarvis would be up for that... :p !!

The line-up for the night, $10 entry, under 18s need to be accompanied by a legal guardian:

Village Kid
Trent Williams
Michael Gabriel and The Quixotics
Endora
Good Little Fox
The Jade Diary
Short Fuse

We will perform at 10:15 pm.

So pretty please be there and help us become 'the next big thing'... :)

Girl With No Name Singles for Sale now...

Have a listen to our new track, Girl With No Name, mixed and engineered by Ken Ingwersen, Eddie Dale and mastered by Rob Agostini of Soundbaker Studio. Beautiful graphic design by Anne-Alexia Louarn.

Featuring:
1. Girl With No Name
2. Closer (a beautiful love song written by Renee that I know you'll love... only available on the CD)
3. Sublime

For a limited time only, we are offering 'Girl With No Name' singles at the price of $5 (normal price $7) per CD. Also you can buy both Landscape of Dreams and Girl With No Name for the price of $12 for both (normal price $17 for both).

Click here to buy...

Our Single Launch @ The Civic Hotel 19 June

Our 'Girl With No Name' Single Launch on 19th June was fantastic! We had wonderful feedback from the crowd who really enjoyed our show and the other guests that night.

People used words like 'entertaining', 'haunting', 'professional', 'great lyrics', 'fun to watch', 'catchy melodies', and 'looked fabulous' to describe our show. Supporting acts, Sonja D'Anne, Toni Italiano and Astro were magnificent and we're honoured to play with them.

Hope to see you on the 2nd July @ The Civic Hotel, Backroom!

Cheryl on behalf of The Jade Diary

]]> Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:16:05 GMT 79E896116C4FAEBC4CCE0EE502C9ED42 Video Killed the Radio Star? http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=318750 Hi! Radio Interviews We will be doing 3 LIVE radio interviews in the next week (Perth, Western Australian time): Today (Friday) between 6pm - 7pm Twin Cities 89.7 FM. You can go to <a href="http://www.twincitiesfm.com.au/" target="_new">http://www.twincitiesfm.com.au/ to listen online for those of you who don't live in Perth! Monday night (14 June) around 8pm 'Twilight Zone' show on Radio Fremantle 107.9 FM. Go to <a href="http://www.radiofremantle.com/index.html" target="_new">http://www.radiofremantle.com/index.html to listen online. Saturday (19 June) around 2pm RTRFM 92.1. Go to <a href="http://www.rtrfm.com.au/" target="_new">http://www.rtrfm.com.au/ to have a listen! Girl With No Name 19 June Single Launch @ The Civic Hotel Just received the finished tracks from Rob Agostini of <a href="http://www.soundbaker.com/" target="_new">Soundbaker Studio who mastered them. They are sounding awesome and the artwork for the single cover is beautiful, thanks to Anne-Alexia Louarn from France, our Graphic Designer extraordinaire! Funny how the creative forces put into this single have come from different places around the world... Norway, France and Australia. I think the CDs themselves were printed and duplicated in Hong Kong or China (?)... ! Well everything's 'made in China' these days! Heehee... We are excited to share the single with you at our Single Launch on 19 June @ The Civic Hotel, 981 Beaufort Street, Inglewood. It's going to be a fantastic night... so don't miss out! Guest Appearances by: Sonja D'Anne & Toni Italiano (<a href="http://www.sonjadanne.com/" target="_new">http://www.sonjadanne.com/) ASTRO (<a href="http://www.myspace.com/astrotheband" target="_new">http://www.myspace.com/astrotheband) Entry: $12 with CD The Next Big Thing Heats - We're in! We got selected into The Next Big Thing Competition heats on 2nd July @ The Civic Hotel! Competing with Village Kid, Trent Williams, Michael Gabriel & The Quixotics, Endora, Good Little Fox and Short Fuse. Soundcheck Soundcheck organizers are having difficulty securing a venue for their grand Showcase show that we were requested to perform in as one of the finalists. They have informed us that they will give us at least 1 months' notice of the date and venue. So at this point in time, we are waiting to hear from them. I'm sure it will be really exciting when we finally get to Melbourne! Happy Birthday or Gratulerer Med Dagen Renee and Eddie! Happy Birthday or Gratulerer Med Dagen (oh Google, how did we ever live without you :) to Renee and Eddie who just had their birthday or are about to in the next week!  Spring chickens... ;) Hope you have a really wonderful weekend... I know we will! Cheryl on behalf of The Jade Diary

Radio Interviews

We will be doing 3 LIVE radio interviews in the next week (Perth, Western Australian time):

Today (Friday) between 6pm - 7pm Twin Cities 89.7 FM. You can go to http://www.twincitiesfm.com.au/ to listen online for those of you who don't live in Perth!

Monday night (14 June) around 8pm 'Twilight Zone' show on Radio Fremantle 107.9 FM. Go to http://www.radiofremantle.com/index.html to listen online.

Saturday (19 June) around 2pm RTRFM 92.1. Go to http://www.rtrfm.com.au/ to have a listen!

Girl With No Name 19 June Single Launch @ The Civic Hotel

Just received the finished tracks from Rob Agostini of Soundbaker Studio who mastered them. They are sounding awesome and the artwork for the single cover is beautiful, thanks to Anne-Alexia Louarn from France, our Graphic Designer extraordinaire!

Funny how the creative forces put into this single have come from different places around the world... Norway, France and Australia. I think the CDs themselves were printed and duplicated in Hong Kong or China (?)... ! Well everything's 'made in China' these days! Heehee...

We are excited to share the single with you at our Single Launch on 19 June @ The Civic Hotel, 981 Beaufort Street, Inglewood. It's going to be a fantastic night... so don't miss out!

Guest Appearances by:
Sonja D'Anne & Toni Italiano (http://www.sonjadanne.com/)
ASTRO (http://www.myspace.com/astrotheband)

Entry: $12 with CD

The Next Big Thing Heats - We're in!

We got selected into The Next Big Thing Competition heats on 2nd July @ The Civic Hotel! Competing with Village Kid, Trent Williams, Michael Gabriel & The Quixotics, Endora, Good Little Fox and Short Fuse.

Soundcheck

Soundcheck organizers are having difficulty securing a venue for their grand Showcase show that we were requested to perform in as one of the finalists. They have informed us that they will give us at least 1 months' notice of the date and venue. So at this point in time, we are waiting to hear from them. I'm sure it will be really exciting when we finally get to Melbourne!

Happy Birthday or Gratulerer Med Dagen Renee and Eddie!

Happy Birthday or Gratulerer Med Dagen (oh Google, how did we ever live without you :) to Renee and Eddie who just had their birthday or are about to in the next week! Spring chickens... ;)

Hope you have a really wonderful weekend... I know we will!

Cheryl on behalf of The Jade Diary

]]> Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:52:25 GMT FED591497F1BCCF29AE82A32F7F22394 New Look Website and Emergenza http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=289127 Hello, Busy busy busy... preparing for our Single Launch, Emergenza competition heat, working on new songs, recording ... lots going on! Having fun in the process... Emergenza We are competing in <a target="_new" href="http://jadediary.com/store.cfm">Emergenza, an international 'battle-of the-bands' type competition where bands compete for international exposure. 28 May Friday 9pm: The Rosemount Hotel, Northbridge, Perth. WE NEED YOUR VOTE ON THE NIGHT! The audience democratically selects all the bands going through the next rounds. The vote is open to the crowd and they vote as many times as they like for as many bands as they like. <a target="_new" href="http://jadediary.com/store.cfm">Pre-order your tickets at our <a target="_new" href="http://jadediary.com/store.cfm">Store with us for $15 each. You'll only need a credit or debit card to purchase... no need for Paypal account if you don't have one. If you don't want to purchase it through our store online, just <a href="mailto:cheryl@jadediary.com">email me and I will gladly make other arrangements with you. $15 includes: - entry into the Rosemount to see us and other bands perform/compete in Emergenza - and a LANDSCAPE OF DREAMS CD If you pay at the door on the night it will be $20 and you won't get a CD. You get to decide which bands stay or go... now that's power! Become Simon Cowell for a night... ;) To show your support on the night, you can choose to wear something in your favourite shade of green (jade ;)! Emergenza is the world's biggest festival for unsigned bands with more than 150 cities around the world. All national winners will play at the international final in Germany. The best band in the world as voted by the jury will then get a full production, a tour, music instrument and other technical material. New-look Website! Our website has had a face-lift, make-over, revamp... hope you like it! Check it out: <a target="_new" href="http://jadediary.com/home.cfm">www.jadediary.com There are also new <a target="_new" href="http://jadediary.com/photos.cfm">pictures of us! Question and Answer We'd love to answer any questions from you about our songs, us, our favourite breakfast food, most embarrassing album purchased, pet peeve etc. So if there was a question you were burning to ask, please <a href="mailto:cheryl@jadediary.com">email us and we'll try our best to answer you here in our next e-letter to you. Bring it on baby! Signing off, Cheryl on behalf of The Jade Diary
Busy busy busy... preparing for our Single Launch, Emergenza competition heat, working on new songs, recording ... lots going on! Having fun in the process...

Emergenza

We are competing in Emergenza, an international 'battle-of the-bands' type competition where bands compete for international exposure.

28 May Friday 9pm: The Rosemount Hotel, Northbridge, Perth.

WE NEED YOUR VOTE ON THE NIGHT! The audience democratically selects all the bands going through the next rounds. The vote is open to the crowd and they vote as many times as they like for as many bands as they like.

Pre-order your tickets at our Store with us for $15 each. You'll only need a credit or debit card to purchase... no need for Paypal account if you don't have one. If you don't want to purchase it through our store online, just email me and I will gladly make other arrangements with you.

$15 includes:
- entry into the Rosemount to see us and other bands perform/compete in Emergenza
- and a LANDSCAPE OF DREAMS CD

If you pay at the door on the night it will be $20 and you won't get a CD.

You get to decide which bands stay or go... now that's power! Become Simon Cowell for a night... ;)

To show your support on the night, you can choose to wear something in your favourite shade of green (jade ;)!

Emergenza is the world's biggest festival for unsigned bands with more than 150 cities around the world.

All national winners will play at the international final in Germany. The best band in the world as voted by the jury will then get a full production, a tour, music instrument and other technical material.

New-look Website!

Our website has had a face-lift, make-over, revamp... hope you like it! Check it out: www.jadediary.com

There are also new pictures of us!

Question and Answer

We'd love to answer any questions from you about our songs, us, our favourite breakfast food, most embarrassing album purchased, pet peeve etc. So if there was a question you were burning to ask, please email us and we'll try our best to answer you here in our next e-letter to you. Bring it on baby!

Signing off,

Cheryl on behalf of The Jade Diary

]]> Tue, 18 May 2010 01:30:00 GMT 98C12DA3FE6824914A94F82178CA9BBF Soundcheck and our UK fans http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=267364 Well hello everyone ... Soundcheck Most of you probably already know WE ARE PACKING OUR BAGS FOR MELBOURNE AND FLYING TO COMPETE IN SOUNDCHECK IN JUNE! We made it into the top 10 and so will be in the final showcase concert to compete for the grand prize of $50,000 and perform in front of industry professionals. The date of the showcase concert is yet to be known but it will be in the first two weeks of June. MASSIVE THANK YOU for your votes and support ... you really made a difference! We especially want to thank Gerry from the UK and his friends and family who faithfully kept us in the competition. Many months ago, I had given up on Soundcheck. I had never won anything in my life and so assumed this would be another similar situation. As an independent musician, it's easy to give up and lose hope. And so that's what happened for me. Then last year I received a message from Gerry from the UK telling me how much he loved our music, which he had discovered on the Soundcheck website. He had read the competition instructions carefully and told me that if we get enough votes to stay in the top 10 of the Elimination chart, we would get into the winner's chart at the end and perhaps a spot in the final top 10. Gerry believed that we had a chance to make it, so he rallied support from his friends and family. And we also did the same. We made it into the winner's chart in a few months. Initially it looked like we were not going to do very well as we hovered at around no. 20 of the chart. However there was one day when we shot up to 12, then 10, then finally to no. 6. It was stunning to see ... a miracle in my eyes. We ended up at no. 7. Only the top 5 were automatically going through to the grand final showcase concert. So we had to sit and wait to see whether the judges would select us through into the grand final. Several weeks later, and just this past Thursday on the 29th of April, I was at work, when my mobile rang. I looked at the number and it had an '03' in front of it. I smiled to myself thinking... 'maybe it's Soundcheck' (because '03' means that the caller is in Melbourne). And true enough it was! The guy on the line said: "Are you Cheryl from The Jade Diary?". I said: "Yes". Then he asked: "What equipment will you need on the stage for the showcase?". We didn't even know we were in the final, and he was asking us what our tech specs were! So I asked at the end of the call: "So, does this mean we're definitely in the final?". He responded: "Yes, as far as I know, you are act no. 5 on the night". So this is our story... full of drama, ups and downs, waiting, frustration and excitement! Life can really surprise you sometimes... Girl With No Name Have been really busy recording a new version of Girl With No Name as well. It was mixed by Eddie and his father, Ken Ingwersen. Ken is a well-known rock guitarist and producer in Norway. Check out his myspace: <a target="_new" href="http://www.myspace.com/keningwersen">http://www.myspace.com/keningwersen The result is pretty impressive and we look forward to releasing it to you on 19 June when we have our Girl With No Name Single Launch at the Civic Hotel (supporting acts: Sonja D'Anne & Toni Italiano, and ASTRO)! New photos and website redesign We have had a recent glamourous photo shoot at His Majesty's Theatre and you will see more photos in the coming weeks as we re-design our website. The red room shot is one of my favourite shots from the shoot. The photos were taken by the very talented Heather Robbins of <a target="_new" href="http://blog.redimages.com.au/">Red Images. Cheryl and on behalf of Renee, John, Jarvis and Eddie

Soundcheck

Most of you probably already know WE ARE PACKING OUR BAGS FOR MELBOURNE AND FLYING TO COMPETE IN SOUNDCHECK IN JUNE! We made it into the top 10 and so will be in the final showcase concert to compete for the grand prize of $50,000 and perform in front of industry professionals.

The date of the showcase concert is yet to be known but it will be in the first two weeks of June.

MASSIVE THANK YOU for your votes and support ... you really made a difference! We especially want to thank Gerry from the UK and his friends and family who faithfully kept us in the competition.

Many months ago, I had given up on Soundcheck. I had never won anything in my life and so assumed this would be another similar situation. As an independent musician, it's easy to give up and lose hope. And so that's what happened for me. Then last year I received a message from Gerry from the UK telling me how much he loved our music, which he had discovered on the Soundcheck website. He had read the competition instructions carefully and told me that if we get enough votes to stay in the top 10 of the Elimination chart, we would get into the winner's chart at the end and perhaps a spot in the final top 10. Gerry believed that we had a chance to make it, so he rallied support from his friends and family. And we also did the same. We made it into the winner's chart in a few months. Initially it looked like we were not going to do very well as we hovered at around no. 20 of the chart. However there was one day when we shot up to 12, then 10, then finally to no. 6. It was stunning to see ... a miracle in my eyes. We ended up at no. 7. Only the top 5 were automatically going through to the grand final showcase concert. So we had to sit and wait to see whether the judges would select us through into the grand final. Several weeks later, and just this past Thursday on the 29th of April, I was at work, when my mobile rang. I looked at the number and it had an '03' in front of it. I smiled to myself thinking... 'maybe it's Soundcheck' (because '03' means that the caller is in Melbourne). And true enough it was! The guy on the line said: "Are you Cheryl from The Jade Diary?". I said: "Yes". Then he asked: "What equipment will you need on the stage for the showcase?". We didn't even know we were in the final, and he was asking us what our tech specs were! So I asked at the end of the call: "So, does this mean we're definitely in the final?". He responded: "Yes, as far as I know, you are act no. 5 on the night".

So this is our story... full of drama, ups and downs, waiting, frustration and excitement! Life can really surprise you sometimes...

Girl With No Name

Have been really busy recording a new version of Girl With No Name as well. It was mixed by Eddie and his father, Ken Ingwersen. Ken is a well-known rock guitarist and producer in Norway. Check out his myspace: http://www.myspace.com/keningwersen The result is pretty impressive and we look forward to releasing it to you on 19 June when we have our Girl With No Name Single Launch at the Civic Hotel (supporting acts: Sonja D'Anne & Toni Italiano, and ASTRO)!

New photos and website redesign

We have had a recent glamourous photo shoot at His Majesty's Theatre and you will see more photos in the coming weeks as we re-design our website. The red room shot is one of my favourite shots from the shoot. The photos were taken by the very talented Heather Robbins of Red Images.

Cheryl and on behalf of Renee, John, Jarvis and Eddie

]]> Mon, 03 May 2010 21:40:00 GMT EFDFC1EB9472B19B08D2E0C1D7BBF2FB No. 6 on Soundcheck! http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=219190 Wow! No. 6 on Soundcheck as I type ... Pretty blown away by our meteoric rise up the charts on Thursday... when I started voting in the early morning we were about no. 18. By around 11pm we climbed up to number 9! Thank you for your votes... they mean so much to us. Please keep voting because there is still a significant gap between us and the number 5 spot where we need to be to get into the Showcase concert and win any cash prizes. We found it interesting when the top contestant Jordan Jansen (who has 14000 votes) came to our song entry and said: "You should seriously be in the final 10, I'm sooo sure you'll be picked to be in the Live Final, you're Amazing!!" Here is the link to vote again: <a target="_new" href="http://www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do?entryId=1512"> Have a wonderful weekend! Cheryl

No. 6 on Soundcheck as I type ...

Pretty blown away by our meteoric rise up the charts on Thursday... when I started voting in the early morning we were about no. 18. By around 11pm we climbed up to number 9!

Thank you for your votes... they mean so much to us. Please keep voting because there is still a significant gap between us and the number 5 spot where we need to be to get into the Showcase concert and win any cash prizes.

We found it interesting when the top contestant Jordan Jansen (who has 14000 votes) came to our song entry and said:

"You should seriously be in the final 10, I'm sooo sure you'll be picked to be in the Live Final, you're Amazing!!"

Here is the link to vote again:

Have a wonderful weekend!

Cheryl

]]> Sat, 27 Mar 2010 20:11:18 GMT D47B683C0A1E91595DF8F6323D9A1201 Following in Lady Gaga's footsteps? http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=210432 Hi, Just another manic Monday (woh-oh-oh)? Soundcheck Competition ... Pretty Please Vote for us starting today We have made it into the final round of the Soundcheck Competition. THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who have faithfully voted us into the final round! In this final round we need you guys to VOTE DAILY up till Monday 29 March Click the picture below to vote, and click on 5 stars each day up till Monday 29 March: <a href="http://www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do?entryId=1512" target="_new"> Or if that doesn't work, just click on these links below: <a href="http://www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do?entryId=1512" target="_new">www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do <a href="http://www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do?entryId=1519" target="_new">www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do The bands or artists with the top 5 songs will be able to perform in the Showcase Concert in the Eastern States, and be watched by industry executives. Also they will be in the running to win up to $50,000 in prizes. So if you'd like to help us become mega rock-stars (heehee) please vote for us daily starting today! Sellaband - Change of Target We have changed our target fundraising amount on Sellaband to $15,000 (instead of $35,000). Why? We have decided that our next release will be a 6-song quality EP instead of an album. Lady Gaga has released an EP (The Fame Monster), so why not us too? ....Not that we feel the need to start wearing giant shoulder pads and our underwear on the outside ;) This means we are already 30% of the way on to meeting our target of $15,000. <a href="http://www.sellaband.com/projects/jadediary"> Have a wonderful, fantastic week ... and thank you so much for your votes! <a href="http://jadediary.com/home.cfm"> 20 March at The Swan Hotel John, Eddie, Renee, Cheryl and Jarvis Hi,

Just another manic Monday (woh-oh-oh)?

Soundcheck Competition ... Pretty Please Vote for us starting today

We have made it into the final round of the Soundcheck Competition. THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who have faithfully voted us into the final round!

In this final round we need you guys to VOTE DAILY up till Monday 29 March

Click the picture below to vote, and click on 5 stars each day up till Monday 29 March:

Or if that doesn't work, just click on these links below:

www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do

www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do

The bands or artists with the top 5 songs will be able to perform in the Showcase Concert in the Eastern States, and be watched by industry executives.

Also they will be in the running to win up to $50,000 in prizes.

So if you'd like to help us become mega rock-stars (heehee) please vote for us daily starting today!

Sellaband - Change of Target

We have changed our target fundraising amount on Sellaband to $15,000 (instead of $35,000).

Why? We have decided that our next release will be a 6-song quality EP instead of an album. Lady Gaga has released an EP (The Fame Monster), so why not us too? ....Not that we feel the need to start wearing giant shoulder pads and our underwear on the outside ;)

This means we are already 30% of the way on to meeting our target of $15,000.

Have a wonderful, fantastic week ... and thank you so much for your votes!

20 March at The Swan Hotel

John, Eddie, Renee, Cheryl and Jarvis

]]> Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:45:29 GMT C0B8775BB637024179A7C868C64433D9 The rise and fall and rise again ... http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=193640 Hi, This is a pretty packed email to you because a lot of dramatic things have happened since my previous letter to you... Wanderer It's really exciting to unveil a new video that our fan, Laura, has made for our song, Wanderer. She's done a wonderful job and included Manga images in the video (I love Manga images). To have a look please go to: <a target="_new" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS3PJszejkQ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS3PJszejkQ I'm sure you'll agree she did a great job! The rise and fall and rise again of ... Sellaband Over the past weekend, Sellaband mysteriously had a 'server maintenance' problem and so the site was not accessible for a few days. We were puzzled as to why it took so long to fix their server. Then surprising news came out that Sellaband had in actual fact filed for bankruptcy. Some believers and artists were in panic mode because this may have meant that the efforts artists had put into raising funds on Sellaband would be completely wasted (weeks, years of their lives gone to waste) ... although I know that the funds that were invested into artists were always safe in Escrow (managed by a third party and unable to be accessed by the management or artists until an artist reaches his/her targeted funding amount). If Sellaband had gone down, believers would probably have had their funds returned to them. But thankfully we heard news that Sellaband had actually been bought over by a German company who have a strong reputation in music marketing. The company and new CEO, Michael Bogatzki, aim to continue fostering the community of artists and believers that Sellaband had started. Go to <a target="_new" href="http://www.sellaband.com/jadediary/">www.sellaband.com/jadediary/ to read a letter from the ex and new CEOs of Sellaband. This news brought much relief to artists and believers alike. We have spent countless hours of fundraising efforts on Sellaband. If Sellaband had not been bought over, this work would have been completely wasted. So this is fantastic news! I want to encourage you to help us make our dream of recording our first album a reality. Musicians pour their hearts and souls into their music, tirelessly gigging, creating, giving away their music. This we do for love, but it would be nice to get a little bit of money for it once in a while :)  If you have gained any enjoyment from our music, please help make our dreams a reality and purchase 1 or more parts at <a target="_new" href="http://www.sellaband.com/jadediary">www.sellaband.com/jadediary If we do not raise the money we need for our next album, then it may probably never be heard ... and that would be a shame because we have a lot of great songs we want you guys to hear. We are not rich. We are not supported by a major recording company. I wish we were. So this is what we have to do at the present time to help keep the music alive. So we really really need your help. The Cottlesloe Hotel 5 March Our next performance is at The Cottlesloe Hotel, Friday 5 March. 8.00pm. We will be performing as an acoustic trio again. The plan was to perform as a 5 piece band, but Jarvis, our bass player has had difficulties attending rehearsals (his ankle was broken a couple of weeks back). Heartbeat for Haiti 20 March gig We are holding a fundraising band night at The Swan Lounge. Hope you can join us for that one. Door sales will go towards Haiti disaster relief. There will be some other cool bands playing with us that night so bring your friends along and support a great cause. Soundcheck... 20 March voting madness! On 20 March all of us will be voting like crazy for our songs on Soundcheck. For a week all artists who make it to the final round (it's highlly likely that we will be in the final round) will have their votes counted. The top voted artists will then be in the running to win some big money and get a chance to perform at the Showcase concert in front of music industry professionals. We really really want to be at the Showcase concert! So get ready and rally your friends, work mates, Facebook friends, together to vote for us starting 20 March! <a target="_new" href="http://www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do?entryId=1512">www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do Whoa... that was a mouthful! Thanks for reading :) Cheryl
This is a pretty packed email to you because a lot of dramatic things have happened since my previous letter to you...

Wanderer

It's really exciting to unveil a new video that our fan, Laura, has made for our song, Wanderer. She's done a wonderful job and included Manga images in the video (I love Manga images). To have a look please go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS3PJszejkQ

I'm sure you'll agree she did a great job!

The rise and fall and rise again of ... Sellaband

Over the past weekend, Sellaband mysteriously had a 'server maintenance' problem and so the site was not accessible for a few days. We were puzzled as to why it took so long to fix their server. Then surprising news came out that Sellaband had in actual fact filed for bankruptcy.

Some believers and artists were in panic mode because this may have meant that the efforts artists had put into raising funds on Sellaband would be completely wasted (weeks, years of their lives gone to waste) ... although I know that the funds that were invested into artists were always safe in Escrow (managed by a third party and unable to be accessed by the management or artists until an artist reaches his/her targeted funding amount). If Sellaband had gone down, believers would probably have had their funds returned to them.

But thankfully we heard news that Sellaband had actually been bought over by a German company who have a strong reputation in music marketing. The company and new CEO, Michael Bogatzki, aim to continue fostering the community of artists and believers that Sellaband had started.

Go to www.sellaband.com/jadediary/ to read a letter from the ex and new CEOs of Sellaband.

This news brought much relief to artists and believers alike. We have spent countless hours of fundraising efforts on Sellaband. If Sellaband had not been bought over, this work would have been completely wasted. So this is fantastic news!

I want to encourage you to help us make our dream of recording our first album a reality. Musicians pour their hearts and souls into their music, tirelessly gigging, creating, giving away their music. This we do for love, but it would be nice to get a little bit of money for it once in a while :)

If you have gained any enjoyment from our music, please help make our dreams a reality and purchase 1 or more parts at www.sellaband.com/jadediary

If we do not raise the money we need for our next album, then it may probably never be heard ... and that would be a shame because we have a lot of great songs we want you guys to hear.

We are not rich. We are not supported by a major recording company. I wish we were. So this is what we have to do at the present time to help keep the music alive. So we really really need your help.

The Cottlesloe Hotel 5 March

Our next performance is at

The Cottlesloe Hotel, Friday 5 March. 8.00pm. We will be performing as an acoustic trio again. The plan was to perform as a 5 piece band, but Jarvis, our bass player has had difficulties attending rehearsals (his ankle was broken a couple of weeks back).

Heartbeat for Haiti 20 March gig

We are holding a fundraising band night at The Swan Lounge. Hope you can join us for that one. Door sales will go towards Haiti disaster relief. There will be some other cool bands playing with us that night so bring your friends along and support a great cause.

Soundcheck... 20 March voting madness!

On 20 March all of us will be voting like crazy for our songs on Soundcheck. For a week all artists who make it to the final round (it's highlly likely that we will be in the final round) will have their votes counted. The top voted artists will then be in the running to win some big money and get a chance to perform at the Showcase concert in front of music industry professionals.

We really really want to be at the Showcase concert! So get ready and rally your friends, work mates, Facebook friends, together to vote for us starting 20 March!

www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do

Whoa... that was a mouthful! Thanks for reading :)

Cheryl
]]> Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:30:00 GMT B81288ADEC9814E2CC57434A4DAA1823 Hearts and Red Packets ;) http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=183459 Hi, Happy Chinese New Year (Gong Xi Fa Cai) and Valentine's Day xx Gotta love Valentine's Day... a day of pain and rejection for some, nonchalance for others, smoochy-woochiness, red hearts,  and the sound of cash registers working tirelessly for Hallmark and florists around the world. Sorry for being a cynic! No... really, have a lovely Valentine's Day - whether or not you have someone special in your life! And now for an inundation of love from me to you: Being the melancholic girl I am, I had to sneak in a broken one to you as well. ;) We have a <a target="_new" href="http://jadediary.com/media.cfm">new video for you if you're in the mood for some youtube and there's nothing smoochy-woochy about it ... Recently we did a cover of a John Mayer song called 'Why Georgia'. Outside of the US it's probably not a very well-known song, but I love it because it's so well-written and beautifully captures this sense of loneliness, fear and uncertainty in life that we all experience from time to time. Just go to <a href="http://jadediary.com/media.cfm" target="_new">http://www.jadediary.com/fr_media to view it. Have a few gigs coming up including one on 5 March at The Cottlesloe Hotel (full band). Hope you have a wonderful week ahead of you! Cheryl
Happy Chinese New Year (Gong Xi Fa Cai) and Valentine's Day xx

Gotta love Valentine's Day... a day of pain and rejection for some, nonchalance for others, smoochy-woochiness, red hearts, and the sound of cash registers working tirelessly for Hallmark and florists around the world. Sorry for being a cynic! No... really, have a lovely Valentine's Day - whether or not you have someone special in your life!

And now for an inundation of love from me to you:

Being the melancholic girl I am, I had to sneak in a broken one to you as well. ;)

We have a new video for you if you're in the mood for some youtube and there's nothing smoochy-woochy about it ...

Recently we did a cover of a John Mayer song called 'Why Georgia'. Outside of the US it's probably not a very well-known song, but I love it because it's so well-written and beautifully captures this sense of loneliness, fear and uncertainty in life that we all experience from time to time.

Just go to http://www.jadediary.com/fr_media to view it.

Have a few gigs coming up including one on 5 March at The Cottlesloe Hotel (full band).

Hope you have a wonderful week ahead of you!

Cheryl

]]> Sun, 14 Feb 2010 11:28:57 GMT C1466A13856B608A0D1CA477E313F680 Happy New Year! No. 1 on Soundcheck... http://jadediary.com/home.cfm?feature=669160&postid=150438 Happy New Year's Eve or Day (depending on when you read this)! 2010 is upon us and you've probably got a mental checklist of New Year resolutions ... 'get in shape', 'cure global warming', 'win a Grammy' or for those of you with lower expectations: 'try not to get abducted by aliens'.   The new year for us promises to be a super busy year with a lot of hard work, performances and blatant, unabashed self-promotion! It's going to be a 'look at me, look at me' kinda year (for Kath and Kim fans read: 'look at mooi'). Soundcheck Competition = No. 1 and Featured Artist Thanks to your daily votes we are currently no. 1 (as I write this) on the <a target="_new" href="http://www.soundcheck.com.au/home.do?group=L">Soundcheck Competition Elimination Chart. Also <a target="_new" href="http://www.soundcheck.com.au/home.do?group=L">'Featured Artist of the Week' which is really fantastic! What does being on the Elimination chart mean? Well, if we stay in the top 10 of the elimination chart by 22 March, we get in the final round of the competition. Once in the final round, all songs competing have their votes turned back to 0. So in the last 2 weeks of the competition fans will vote madly for their favourite songs.  We calculated that we need a minimum of 200 votes per day for 16 days to ensure our placement in the top 5 by the end of the competition. The top 5 will be given a chance to win up to $50,000 and perform in the Showcase event with lots of A&R managers and record labels checking them out.  This is definitely something achievable for us, if we continue to have your daily votes to: a) keep us in the top 10 of the Elimination chart until 22 March; b) get us into the final top 5 by the end of the final round starting 22 March 2010. Here are the links to vote again: <a target="_new" href="http://www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do?entryId=1513">http://www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do?entryId=1513 <a target="_new" href="http://www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do?entryId=1518">http://www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do?entryId=1518 <a target="_new" href="http://www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do?entryId=1519">http://www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do?entryId=1519 <a target="_new" href="http://www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do?entryId=1512">http://www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do?entryId=1512 It would be awesome if you could vote for all the songs :) So a BIG THANK YOU to you for voting for us, listening to our music, supporting us on Sellaband, reading our E-letters, sending us encouraging messages on Facebook, myspace, email etc. Every little thing you do really matters to us ... hey it's not easy being a starving, tortured artist... ;o)  All right ... try not to overdose on champagne, caviar or excessively off-key versions of Auld Lang Syne tonight and you're all set for 2010! Have a really fantastic year from Renee, Jarvis, John, Eddie and me at The Jade Diary. Cheryl Happy New Year's Eve or Day (depending on when you read this)!

2010 is upon us and you've probably got a mental checklist of New Year resolutions ... 'get in shape', 'cure global warming', 'win a Grammy' or for those of you with lower expectations: 'try not to get abducted by aliens'.

The new year for us promises to be a super busy year with a lot of hard work, performances and blatant, unabashed self-promotion! It's going to be a 'look at me, look at me' kinda year (for Kath and Kim fans read: 'look at mooi').

Soundcheck Competition = No. 1 and Featured Artist

Thanks to your daily votes we are currently no. 1 (as I write this) on the Soundcheck Competition Elimination Chart. Also 'Featured Artist of the Week' which is really fantastic!

What does being on the Elimination chart mean? Well, if we stay in the top 10 of the elimination chart by 22 March, we get in the final round of the competition. Once in the final round, all songs competing have their votes turned back to 0. So in the last 2 weeks of the competition fans will vote madly for their favourite songs.

We calculated that we need a minimum of 200 votes per day for 16 days to ensure our placement in the top 5 by the end of the competition. The top 5 will be given a chance to win up to $50,000 and perform in the Showcase event with lots of A&R managers and record labels checking them out.

This is definitely something achievable for us, if we continue to have your daily votes to:

a) keep us in the top 10 of the Elimination chart until 22 March;
b) get us into the final top 5 by the end of the final round starting 22 March 2010.

Here are the links to vote again:
http://www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do?entryId=1513
http://www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do?entryId=1518
http://www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do?entryId=1519
http://www.soundcheck.com.au/showEntry.do?entryId=1512

It would be awesome if you could vote for all the songs :)

So a BIG THANK YOU to you for voting for us, listening to our music, supporting us on Sellaband, reading our E-letters, sending us encouraging messages on Facebook, myspace, email etc. Every little thing you do really matters to us ... hey it's not easy being a starving, tortured artist... ;o)

All right ... try not to overdose on champagne, caviar or excessively off-key versions of Auld Lang Syne tonight and you're all set for 2010!

Have a really fantastic year from Renee, Jarvis, John, Eddie and me at The Jade Diary.

Cheryl

]]> Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:05:00 GMT C2247668F84CF95070255EC25C359E47