3 Of My Records: A Mission Statement, A Call For Submissions, A Call to Create Something Beautiful

Friends,

I’m kicking off a new (art/music/what-have-you) project that NEEDS the input of others to work.  It’s simple, to the point, and will say more about me/you/us/others than you might initially think.  And it starts with a very simple request:

Fill in the blank: 3 of my records that/to/for/whose/from _______________

For example:   3 of my records that make me feel like a teenager again

                        3 of my records whose album art creeps me the F out

                        3 of my records for nights spent in solitude

You get the gist.  Right?  Right.  So here’s all you do (it's purposefully simple):

1. You complete the thought: “3 of my records that/to/for/whose/from, etc. _____________
2. Snap a photo(s) of your 3 records (yes, these should be records you own!).  Make the photos conventional or unconventional.  Use effects.  Use weird angles or lighting or whatever.  Get creative/weird with it.
3. Send completed thought and photos to 3ofMyRecords@gmail.com with your name or an alias you’d like used.  PLEASE add a few thoughts or a paragraph explaining your selections!  If you want the photos and the thought to speak for itself, also great!
4. I’ll post submissions to the site.  Done!  

A few notes on why I am and am not doing this:


· This is definitely an art/idea concept for the sake of itself. I have ZERO ambition to make money off this. So no ads or anything like that. I sincerely think the sharing of the what and why of the music we own is a worthy subject of artistic inquiry.

· While I plan to post some of my own submissions, this really MUST be about the input of others in addition to myself. Even I get bored with a site devoted exclusively to my own opinions (believe it or not). I think there’s true beauty and discovery in seeing what others including friends, family and total strangers have to say in regards to 3 records they love, need, are haunted by, etc.

· My old blog, Music Jerk Rob’s Music Blog, is MOSTLY dead moving forward. Having said that, for the sake of posterity and the fact that there’s a great deal of content I’m proud to have created over the last several years, I’m rolling that old blog’s content into this new site/URL. It gives me the flexibility to throw out the occasional list or playlist because those are things I like to do. But those will definitely take a backseat to the “3 of my records” content. It was time to do something new and the inspiration for this hit me like a ton of bricks (let’s hope they’re the good idea bricks instead of the bad idea ones).

· As some of you more astute observers will note, I am continuing to utilize the Blogger platform for now/a variety of reasons. If any of you would like to contribute to sprucing up the layout or designing a banner or logo of some kind, my ears/mind is definitely open. Overall, my goal is to keep this simple. But I’m fortunate to have so many friends who both own records AND know a lot about web/graphic design.

· Finally, please SPREAD the word!  I look forward to the day when I start to get submissions from total strangers! If you think this idea/bit has anything to it, please consider sharing and encouraging others to submit. In short, I am utterly fascinated by people who own records and the reasons they love them.

So that’s it. I look forward to hearing from you soon. The maiden post from me will come later this week!

Love and reverence,

Rob