What's Cooke'n Blog

I'm back...

Well, all vacations must come to an end....  unless of course you are rich enough to not need to work!

My glorious week in Snowmass/Aspen ended last Sunday and I've been back at the office all week trying to get caught up on emails and phone calls.  I came back to over 1000 emails in my inbox asking me everything from "Is Amy available to do a concert on _____ date?" (answer - pending) to "Would Amy be willing to give free Philosophy products to all FOA members?" (answer - that would be nice but not feasible) to everything in between.  I'm finally down to fewer than 200 emails so I thought I would take a break and say hello to all of you.

We are meeting next Monday with our webmaster to put the final touches on the full website.  I apologize for the delay in getting the full site up and running and hope that our interim site with blogs, message boards and store has been sufficient.  But the new site looks great and will have many fun and informational features.  It should be launched soon.

The other thing I am going to say is that June 8, 2009 promises to be a great night of music and memories for many Amy fans.  We will be announcing a special concert soon but wanted to at least put the date out there (especially for those of you on the east coast) so you could save it on your calendar.  I should be announcing the event in the next two weeks.

But, that is not the BIG announcement I keep hinting at.  We are making special plans for FOA members that I will be unveiling soon.  Ahhh.... the mystery and suspense, right? :)

Well, off to more meetings and emails.  Amy is still working in the studio on a handful of songs.  She is also trying to spend a lot of quality time with her family after such a busy fall/Christmas.

Happy Thursday... .More to come...

Jen

Greetings from Snowmass....

Sorry no blogging this week but I'm on vacation with Braden and a few friends.  I will be back to work and back to blogging next week.  In the meantime, I'm going to relax and enjoy the week...

Jen

LA Recap and photos

Amy and I are back in Nashville after a busy and fun-filled couple of days in Los Angeles.  The event was very fun and definitely star-studded.  Amy performed "She Colors My Day" and talked a bit about the importance of cancer research from some of her own personal recollections of growing up with a father who was a radiologist/oncologist.  If all goes as planned we hope to use this event as the launching pad for a big mother's day push for the "She Colors My Day" Philosophy products and song, with all proceeds going to the Women's Cancer Research Fund.  More details to come on that one...

We also met with the producer of the Three Wishes about a new idea.  Hmmm... Nothing to tell yet, but we are going to try to push a little idea down the road and see if something comes of it.

Amy also brought me up to speed on the production of some new songs.  They have recorded 5 so far and she is excited to play them for management but wants to put a few more touches on them first.  I'm anxious to hear them.

The flight home was smooth til we started our descent into Nashville and then it was like a rollercoaster.  We actually had to abort our first attempt at a landing due to a strong crosswind.  Scary.  It made me extra thankful to get back home...

So here are some photos from the event.  Enjoy.

Amy on the red carpet

 

Gwyneth Paltrow, Courtney Cox, and Rita Wilson on the red carpet

 

Gwyneth Paltrow accepting her award

 

Tom Hanks introducing Amy

Beyonce performing Crazy In Love 

 

 

Jay-Z and Gwyneth Paltrow

 

Tom Hanks and Steven Speilberg

A few photos from the event

What a fun night and more importantly - what a great cause!  I will post more photos this week once I can download them from my camera, but here are a few that I took with my phone.

Steven Speilberg introducing Gwyneth Paltrow as the "Courage Award Winner"

 

Amy performing "She Colors My Day"

 

Courtney Cox - "Nat King Cole Award" winner

 

Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna

 

Tom Hanks introducing Amy

   

Gwyneth Paltrow sitting at the table next to ours

 

 

Soundcheck....

Good Morning Sunny (but chilly) California....

I always love coming "home" to Los Angeles.  Although I grew up in Orange County, I attended UCLA and my grandparents home is located right off Laurel Canyon, so LA is a special place to me.  I woke up this morning and looked out my hotel window and saw the bright blue skies and sunshine and instantly had a smile on my face.  Although Nashville has captured my heart, there is nothing like a pretty day in Southern California.

Our flight was smooth and uneventful (just the way I like them!).  Ironically enough, Peter Cetera was sitting next to us on the flight.  He was flying to Los Angeles to catch another flight to Manilla for a concert.  In the "it's a small world" category - Kim Keyes had just called Amy while we were waiting to board our plane to say she was flying to Manilla for a concert with Peter.  And then up walked Peter.

I told Amy that if I was a good "blogger" I would have taken a picture of the two of them together and posted it on this blog and twitter but that I felt awkward asking them to pose.  She laughed and said, "I'm so glad you didn't ask"...  So, no pic.

In another "small world" moment, when we arrived at the hotel we were greeted by Amy's stage manager from the Heart In Motion and House of Love tours.  We hadn't seem him in years but when he heard Amy was coming from Nashville he waited in the lobby to see us.  He is now working with Beyonce, who is also performing at this event tonight.

This morning we are meeting the producer of Three Wishes for breakfast and to catch up with him and to dream/scheme a bit.  It will be good to see him.

The event is tonight.  I've been told this event is a big deal in Hollywood.  Lots of movie and music stars will be there.... and me.  I will try to sneak a few discreet pictures if I can. 

More to come....

Charity Event in Los Angeles....

Amy and I are flying to Los Angeles today so she can take part in a big charity event tomorrow night for the Women's Cancer Research Fund.  She has been asked to sing "She Colors My Day" and talk about her involvement with Philosophy and the commitment they have to raising funds and awareness to help find the cure for cancer.  The event is co-chaired by Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Steven Speilberg, and Kate Capshaw.  This year's honorees at the event are Gwenyth Paltrow and Courtney Cox.  It should be a fun night.  I will post pictures.  My big concern right now is trying to decide what to wear! :)

More to come...

Maya Angelou interview

Amy's interview with Maya Angelou will be replayed on Valentine's Day.  Please check www.Oprah.com for airtimes.  Amy said that being interviewed by Maya Angelou was one of the highlights of her career.  Tune in and listen if you can!

And speaking of listening, don't forget to check out the live recording from Houston of the Lead Me On 20th anniversary tour on Radio Amy for "Friends of Amy" members...

More to come,

Jennifer

FOA Members - New Music on Radio Amy...

We posted a stream of the Lead Me On Houston show. Let me know what you think. Happy listening....

Jen