Happy New Year!  Feeling good?

I didn't exactly go big for NYE this year, so no hangover for me, unless by "go big" you mean, "in bed by 12:01am" but more on that later.

What a wonderful year we had in 2011… it was very good year. It was a year of firsts.  It was a year of accomplishment and it was a year of seeing vision fulfilled.  Instead of blabbering on, month by month, highlight by highlight, endlessly about it, I've decided to break it down into a Q & A style, so you can read what parts appeal to you.  Especially if "limiting time on the internet" is one of your New Year's resolutions.

So here goes. 2011 in 27 questions. (Arbitrary number, I know)

Continued...

When I was 18 years old, I got lost in Sacramento.  There were no smart phones to speak of, no google maps.  Just a tired old Rand-McNally roadmap from the 70's that I had "borrowed" from my parents mini van.  Turning the map over and over, I was now trying to figure out which way was up as I sat in the parking lot in an abandoned skate rink while my 1965 VW beetle idled, in sputtering pops beneath me.  "Where the f*ck am I?", I said to myself.  

I was in Sacramento...

People always ask me where I am from.  Specifically, what town I'm from.  I think it's because people want to understand me, or more likely, it gives them a point of reference when to listening to my music.  Maybe it gives them something to talk to me about. At the very least, I usually get a... "Where is that?"

I don't know if it's my rambling nature or if in a past life I was a gypsy, but I've always had a hard time associating myself with one place.  That being said, there is a duality to which I am from.  I grew up in a small town called Manteca, Ca.  Manteca also known as "Lard" by Spanish speakers and by other people from other small towns who want to poke fun at my small town. In some ways, there's lots of which to poke fun. Manteca is a dairy town. And when I was growing up, there was a sugar factory on the south side of town that had a very strong and pungent aroma that could be enjoyed just by driving by on the freeway. And it's surrounded by farms. But in all of it's stink, Manteca is a charming, middle American town with lots of families and churches but not exactly what you'd call a music town.  So it makes sense that I got my start singing in church choirs just like many people.  And when I was just out of high school, I managed to "borrow" an ID...

It is only appropriate that the first show, of my first solo tour, begins as it all began.  In a house concert.

A good friend, HG, who lives in Seattle, Washington offered her home and then went the extra mile to promote it.  With her spreading the word by showing people my music way before I played a note, we were able to sell out the show before I ever stepped off the plane.  As you can imagine, I was ecstatic.  A new city and a sell out show?  Never happens.  Humbling, really.  And I was once again reminded of how much of what I'm doing is a direct result of you.  The listener.

The day of the show we ran the usual errands, picked up chairs, some snacks and beverages and talked about Seattle.  What a beautiful place.  It's amazing that this is my first time ever visiting the Pacific Northwest and I couldn't wait to see everything.

Luckily my friend HG is the perfect tour guide and should be Seattle's official Evangelist because from the top restaurants, to local hangouts, to music venues and neighborhoods... she basically convinced me to move to Seattle.  And it was sunny.  And warm.  Not the Seattle I'd heard about at all.  (Don't worry, SF.  I haven't moved.  Not yet.)  But there was one eerie moment in all of this warm welcome tour... she mentioned something I had never of heard before... 

Closed.  Shuttered.  Dark.

There are many words to describe a certain unnamed Portland venue that night.  Had I really come 650 miles from San Francisco to play a show, to find the place deserted?

There's another one.  

Deserted.

After a sold out CD Release House Concert in San Francisco, I've decided to do it again!

New location, new hosts, new incredible artist sharing the stage with me...

Will you join us?

(Just for reading this blog you can use the Facebook special "FBspecial" for 50% off this week!)

From car accidents to stolen identities to being right next to being picked for NBC's The Voice... here's the recap of the adventure.

"Somewhere The Sky Is Blue"

This is an epic song title.  It's fitting then that this song is the biggest song on the album in terms of production. The title was given to me from a friend.  And to many others... you see, "Somewhere The Sky Is Blue" was a public songwriting challenge.  Hundreds of songwriters writing the same song. Sort of a funny place for "real" inspiration if you think about it, but given the right circumstances, as I have found, you never know where your next song will come from.  Or, how much it will mean to you.

My buddy KC Turner started a song writing club/challenge inspired by Bob Schneider and the great songwriters of Austin, TX, where you have one week to write a song to a title, use the title in the song and post it on youtube within a week.  Simple, right? 

"Will you always play this song, even after you're 30?" - Scotty V.

Scotty is right.  "As Good As Dead", the first song on the album, is a snapshot of a time in my life where I was really searching for the meaning of my choices. It's not that I no longer search for meaning, of course. But turning 30 was, and is, a really interesting time to see yourself for what you've done. I originally wrote the song right after I decided to make a go at the music business and to be honest, I was very critical of myself because of it. Who am I to do such a thing? Isn't this all an exercise in Narcissism? Or worse? 

Or am I forging a road that will be my own?

So many questions.

I'm in the studio today and listening to the final mix of "The Thief," my new album that is available after June 4th.  (You can rsvp for the release show at kc@kcturnermusic.com, subject line "Roem Baur")

I thought I would share a short story about how the album came about and the song that came all the way from Buenos Aires, Argentina, "No More Sunsets."

Honestly, this may be my favorite song on the album.  Even if it has a very sad theme, it's cathartic.  And maybe that's the reoccuring theme of the record.  A friend and I were just talking about what this record means and what "kind" of record it is... I stumbled over my words as there was so much I wanted to say... so much has led up to finally finishing something, finally saying something.  And in that sense, it is cathartic.  So maybe...