music

A Christmas Music Message for You

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

I was wondering what to send out to everyone as part of a Christmas message, and it hit me. Why not something more personal like me and my sister playing some Christmas music?

Every year, my friends and I have a dinner together and host an acoustic night. We invite a small group over, I bring in some sound gear, and perform along with a few others. So this year, I recorded my numbers to share with you all.

This first one is me singing with my sister, ‘O Holy Night.’ We winged this for the first time together as we performed. I printed off some words and chords, and we talked it through before going on (I’ll sing first, then harmony together on chorus, then a harmonica break, then harmony together on verse and chorus once more through). I really liked how it sounded.

For my second number, I got out my tenor sax to play and sing one of my all time favorite jazz and Christmas numbers, ‘Christmas Time is Here.’ It’s a Vince Guaraldi chart written for Charlie Brown.

A few things I have always loved about the original 1965 Charlie Brown Christmas program were the very things CBS hated about it. First, Linus quotes Luke 2, and in a wonderfully moving way too. CBS thought that was just inappropriate. Second, I love all the great jazz music throughout, which CBS considered bar music not to be mixed with a cartoon. And finally, actual children were used to voice the characters which CBS disapproved of, thinking adults should have recorded everything I suppose in an awful baby talk. Thankfully CBS lost, and Charles Schulz got his way, partly because it was too late to change anything. It was an immediate success and became one of the highest rated and most adored Christmas programs ever.

I love watching it and am moved by it still to this day.

(Video note: my camera feed died part the way though, so I did a freeze frame, but the sound continues.)

As a plug for my sister, she recently crossed 1 million spins on Pandora. 🙂 If you’d like to hear more of her music or to get some of her CDs, visit MusicByElise.com

Thank you for listening. I hope you enjoyed these. Merry Christmas, everyone!

My 2013 Christmas Gift for YOU, A New Christmas CD!

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Every year at this time, I design, layout, and print about 20,000 Christmas audio CDs for a client and friend, James Conlee.  I always make sure that I get some copies to give to all my current clients in their Christmas orders.  This year’s album is called Choirs of Angels.

With every order between now and Christmas, you’ll get your own copy (while supplies last).

Conlee-Christmas-2013

This is a project amongst friends. I do the layout, design and packaging, the album is produced by one of my best friends, James Conlee, and the artwork/painting is by another friend of ours, James Christensen, a famous painter whose work can be seen and purchased through Greenwich Workshops.

This year, his painting used for the cover is “Evening Angels,” which is incredibly colorful and intricate. His paintings are always incredibly captivating and really makes the entire project extra wonderful.

Christensen-Evening-Angels-web

I design all of the CDs that James Conlee produces, and I think that this is the 14th CD I’ve designed for him. The music for this particular project was recorded with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and with The Madeleine Choir of Salt Lake City.

So for all my holiday clients that are ordering this time of year, whether you get a large collection of various wall portraits or even just reorder one small 8×10 print, I am giving you a FREE Christmas CD!  The cover painting is phenomenal, the music is phenomenal, and the whole production is worth owning! In fact, if you’re a current client and don’t have anything to order right now, still call me and stop by and I’ll make sure you get a copy too.

We are getting close to Christmas and there’s still time to get in if you’d like something wonderful. Some things can still be made up for Christmas if you call and get in quickly, 801-728-3317.  And remember, I’ll include a Christmas CD with your order.

And until next time, America.

Portraits for Lisa Hullinger’s Music CD

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Lisa Hullinger had me create some portraits for her commercial project, her music CD titled Fairytales. We did two different shoots to get some variety of both studio and outdoor, and here are some of my favorite images.

This first one ended up as her album cover. It’s a very pretty image of her that shows personality, and also has a sense of spontaneity with her hair blowing.Cox_LHullinger-S-2046-color

This next image is great! It’s got a nice feel while being very simple in its composition.Cox_LHullinger-S-2139-cn

The pretty weather and location I think fit the mood of her design, as well as having a nice, relaxed feel. It was hard picking a favorite!

Cox_LHullinger-S-2006-cnCox_LHullinger-S-2099-cnCox_LHullinger-S-2102-cnCox_LHullinger-S-2157-cnCox_LHullinger-S-2197-cn

And here are a couple of my favorites from the indoor studio shoot.

Cox_LHullinger-S-208-bwCox_LHullinger-S-132-bw-with-Bry's-Custom-Retro-Edge

Lisa did a great job at the shoots which made the sessions very fun. All of the songs on her album are original, she sings and plays on them, but you can tell that she paid attention to making sure that everything sounded great. I love it when artists follow their dream to write songs and take all the steps to produce an album, while paying attention to the fine details. I appreciate her including me in her project as her photographer, and I wish her luck with her project.

If you would like more info on her album and to hear samples, check out her website, LisaHullinger.com.

Until next time, America.

My 2012 Gift for YOU, A New Christmas CD!

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Every year at this time, I design, layout, and print about 20,000 Christmas audio CDs for a client and friend, James Conlee.  I always make sure that I get some copies for myself that I can give to all my current clients and friends.  This year’s album is especially beautiful and I’m excited for you all to see and hear it.

With every order between now and Christmas, you’ll get your own copy (while supplies last).

This produced every year by one of my best friends, James Conlee who produces and oversees the entire album.  In fact it is a joint project of friends in many ways because the cover painting is by another friend of ours, James Christensen (a famous painter with Greenwich Workshops).

This year, his painting used for the cover is “Cecelia,” which is incredibly colorful and beautiful. I love the different uses of various types of brush strokes, the various hues, and the beauty of the entire piece, though James Christensen’s paintings are always incredibly captivating. His artwork really makes this CD artwork wonderful.

I had a hard time cropping his image for a square cover, as the entire painting is so wonderful. I did however, use some tricks with the type over the painting to make it blend in more and seem more like gold leaf embedded into the canvas.

It’s a little known fact that I design all of the CDs that James Conlee produces, and I think that this is the 13th CD I’ve designed for him. The music for this particular project was recorded with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and with The Madeleine Choir of Salt Lake City.

So for all my holiday clients that are ordering this time of year, whether you get a large collection of various wall portraits or even just reorder one small 8×10 print, I am giving you a FREE 2012 Christmas CD!  The cover painting is phenomenal, the music is phenomenal, and the whole production is worth owning! In fact, if you’re a current client and don’t have anything to order right now, still call me and stop by and I’ll make sure you get a copy as well.

We are getting close to Christmas as far as appointments go, so if you’d like some fantastic images of yourself or your family, now’s the time to get in the studio.  Give me a call at 801-728-3317 to set thing up.  And remember, I’ll include a Christmas CD with your order.

And feel free to check out my main website at BryCox.com, and until next time, America.

Portrait for American Idol’s Carmen Rasmusen’s New Project

Posted by BryCox (Admin)

Carmen Rasmusen has recorded a new project for Desert Book, a talk on CD!  For the project, she came in for a fun photo shoot to get a great image for the cover of the CD.   This was the favorite and ended up being the cover.

It was a fun shoot and we created some amazing images  — some smiling, some serious, some color, and some black and white.  Here is another one of my favorites.

But in the end, the top image won out and the CD is now finished and on shelves.  Here’s an image I took with my iPhone while strolling through the store.

You can get the CD here from the official Deseret Book shopping site, deseretbook.com.  Also, check out Carmen’s commentaries as a blogger for the Desert News.  Good luck on your new CD, Carmen!