Arrested Development's UK Tour 2010

9 cities. 9 shows. 10 days!! What an amaziing experience.

While we are still in the midst of the tour, I had to take this opportunity to talk a little bit about our experience (from my point of view) touring the United Kingdom and singing every step of the way.

So far we've visited London, Exeter, Brighton, Birmingham, and Scotland! We still have Bristol, Sheffield, Dublin, and Leeds to go. I'm really looking forward to visiting Ireland!!

The great thing about touring is that you meet so many interesting people who have so much to share. The sad thing is that we don't always get to take a few days off to explore our surroundings. But I'm not complaining.

What I enjoy most about traveling abroad is that you see so many different lifestyles, cultures, belief systems, etc that without warning you begin to remove limitations from your own life. Personally, I've noticed a definite change in how I approach solutions to everyday problems I face. This comes with a great level of stress relief (although stress is not eliminated!)

I think that is the main lesson I've learned from all of my travels - there is always a solution to a problem. Sometimes you have to change your prospective to see it.

Anyway, I won't make this post to wordy! Be sure to follow this blog and check back for more cool updates and posts! Here are a few pics for you to enjoy!


The castle outside my window in Scotland!


A crowd shot from the stage in Brighton, England!


JJ Boogie (our guitar player)


Statue in Exeter, England


a shot of the beach in Brighton


the crowd having fun in Scotland

The Wonderful World of Eshe!

Montsho Eshe is 1 of 4 remaining, active, original members of the 2x grammy award winning hip hop group, Arrested Development. She's a dancer, singer, songwriter, mother, teacher, leader, model, actress, and one of my favoritest people in the world! Her passion for life, family, dance, and helping others is most inspiring.

Recently, Eshe was asked to be the front page model for a hair magazine called Beyond Braids. I caught up with Eshe while she patiently sat and got her hair braided by natrual hair care stylist extraordinaire, Naeemah Serwaa for Benevolentcreationz. Naeemah has been braiding hair since she was a child and she's so passionate about it! Her work is very detailed and immediately grabs the attention of others. You can see more of her work on her facebook page. (click on her name and you will be directed there).



Then we headed over to Reggie Anderson's photography studio where Ms. Eshe immediately went to make up and waredrobe for a fun afternoon of posing for pics.


Reggie Anderson (photographer) and Eshe hard at work. They make it look so easy!





I'll admit, I had a great time being in the company of so many talented and creative people. Reggie Anderson has worked with subjects from all walks of life including an endless list of celeberties. Reggie was kind enough to allow me to snap some pics of him as he worked with Eshe and he also gave me a few pointers working with my own camera. (I'm very proud of my Fuji Film Finepix digital camera, but his camera was waay cooler than mine!) If you've passed the hair products isle at your favorite store, then you've seen his beautiful work. Click on his name to view more.

Ejoy these fun pics!


Eshe and her beautiful daughter!


From left to right: Naeemah Serwaa (hair stylist), Eshe, Eddie Spencer (owner of Beyond Braids Magazine)




Peyton keeping busy while hanging with mom

*Feel free to click the links and learn more about the awesome people mentioned in today's blog. You can also search for them on twitter and facebook.

**Please note that all of these pics were taken by my camera. Reggie Anderson's pictures are way better!

I couldn't resist the opportunity!! Here are a few pics of Eshe modeling Earjeans :o) 2 of the 4 earrings pictured were sold immediately after we took these pics!!

Arrested Development performs live at Mood's Music!

Last Saturday afternoon, Arrested Development performed music from their latest album, 'Strong' at Mood's Music, Atl's #1 source for great music from around the world!

Mood's was filled close to capacity with both fans and media as the group had an indepth conversation with Jodine for Jodine's Corner. The group answered a wide range of questions ranging from how music has changed since they first hit the scene in the early 90's to describing what fans can expect from 'Strong' and the legacy they wish to leave this world. After they took a few questions from the audience, crew members cleared a few couches and chairs to make room for the group to do a 4 song acoustic set. The energy in that place was amazing!

Here's a clip of the interview...courtesy of Rasa Don (original member of A.D.)


What's next with Arrested Development? If you're in the Atlanta area, be sure to watch Fox 5 at 9am on Wednesday, Aug 25th to see them perform their song "We Rad" live on the air!

Then grab your lawn chairs and picnic baskets and make your way to Chastain Park to see Arrested Development open for Tears For Fears live in concert! It will be a night to remember. Click here for ticket information

For all things Arrested Development, click here to view their web page and join their mailing list.




A.D. Performing live in Mood's Music


A.D. performing "Bloody" Live on Fox 5 earlier this summer

more pics from the tour

Touring this summer was a blast!!

Wow. Summer has gone by pretty fast for me this year and while I wished it moved a little bit slower, I had a blast! We (Arrested Development) did a lot of touring this summer-mostly in the U.S. and Canada. The summer time is perfect for outdoor festivals and we saw a lot of them!

We kicked our touring off with a trip to New Orleans,LA for the Essence Festival. The streets were buzzing with folks from around the country eager to see their favorite artists live in concert. Performers included Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, Mary J Blidge, and many many more!





Then we headed to Louisville, KY to celebrate the 4th of July with Michael Franti in concert live on the waterfront! There were at least 10,000 people in attendence!





After that, we did a couple of trips to Canada for the Winnipeg Folk Festival and the Surry Folk Festival.
We returned back to the states for a 7 city tour on the East coast- visiting NY, MA, and VA. While in NY, we did a lot of interviews including a really cool convo with Cat Greenleaf for Talk Stoop on NBC and an interview with BET's The Deal. (I will be sure to post links to these interviews when they air.) We met a lot of fun people on this tour and did a lot of laughing! (pics will be posted on the next post. my computer is acting up!)


After that tour, we continued to tour Canada, adding Regina and Ottawa to the line up. It's an amazing feeling to share the love of music and creativity with so many people around the world.

For complete list of pictures you can visit my facebook page and the pages of our band memebers.

You can search the following names on FB (if that link doesnt work)

Arrested Development
Jason JJboogie Reichert
Montsho Eshe
Speech
Za' Williams
Juan Adams

We are also on twitter

More pictures coming soon.... Til next time, keep smiling!

The Procrastination List

Hello everyone! Today's post is about something we all may have dealt with at one point in our lives - Procrastination. By definition, to procrastinate means to put off or delay - to go or move slowly so that progress is hindered. Ouch. Reading that hit me like a ton of bricks. As much as I wanted to be productive and make serious progress in my life, I was the reason why I remained stationary. Learning this lesson brought me to my latest project called "The Procrastination List". (My version of The Bucket List- member that movie?) Anyway, what I did was very simple. I made a list of things I've been saying I need to do for the past 2 weeks or so and I made a self commitment to complete them all this week! My list had over 20 things on it!! wow.

Day One: Bright and early Monday morning (yesterday), I grabbed my list and started moving. As I completed my tasks, I would cross them off. (simple enough) Thing was, the more things I crossed off, the lighter I started to feel - it was like I lost weight or something (also on the list, lol)! Crossing off each item felt so good, I was anxious to cross off another. This helped me to stay focused and by the end of the day, I had completed 10 things! *side note* I took my list with me everywhere I went and as I worked, more things came to my head to add to my list. At first, I felt discouraged because I thought I would never get this list done if I keep adding stuff to it. BUT, as it turns out, adding to the list kept me goal focused and before I know it, I was making some serious progress in a short amount of time.

Day two : So excited to get started, I grabbed my list and highlighted what I hadn't accomplished the day before and I started working on that. Then I got a call from my sister who needed me to handle something for her. I was willing to help but that meant time away from my list. *NOTE* Distractions are the open door to procrastination if you are not focused on your goal. *End Note*
I kept my list with me at all times and referred to it often. I also added "help my sister" to my list so that once I completed that task I crossed it off. It is now 7:39pm and I have completed 6 items. (hitting send on this blog post makes 7 :o) Then on to Day three...

I'm looking forward to seeing all the things I get accomplished this week and curious to know what new opportunities I can now take advantage of because I got rid of procrastination!

How many of you made a New Year's Resolution's list? It's now the middle of March. How close are you to reaching those goals? Don't let this year go by without accomplishing your old goals so you can make some new ones! Pick a large goal then break it down to smaller ones. As you get them done, cross them off and when you have crossed off that last item, Congratulations, you have reached your goal!

Life is to short to spend it standing in place. Let's make it happen, yall!! Hope this helps someone like it's helping me!

Sincerely,
Tasha LaRae

P.S. Please feel free to post your comments below. And I invite you to start your own "procrastination list". We can help each other stay focused :o)

It's Fun Rocking Earjeans!

Well hello, everyone! I hope this blog finds you smiling this wonderful Tuesday morning :o)

I am excited about today's blog because it features some of my dearest friends showing off their Earjeans! I have a lot of fun making Earjeans and it's even more fun when I get text messages, emails, pictures, etc from satisfied customers who say they get tons of compliments on their Earrings. I thought it would be really cool to start a running blog segment where we show off their pictures and talk a little about them. If you want your picture featured, just send me a good picture (doesn't have to be professional just great lighting where we can see your face and your earrings really good) to earjeans@yahoo.com and put "Earjeans Pics" in the subject line.


Earjeans Diva: Queen La
North Carolina

Beautiful woman, inside and out! I love her positive attitude about life and making every moment count.




Earjeans Diva: Donnita Hathaway
Chicago, IL

Fabulous woman! Full of creativity, drive, and always knows how to make something happen!




Earjeans Diva: Judith Franklin
Georgia

Another beautiful spirited woman! An amazing singer and friend :o) (Hope you are enjoying Africa, Judith!)


Earjeans Diva: Sherron Days
Georgia

Another beautiful woman inside and out! So pretty!



Earjeans Diva: Kayte Burgess
Canada

Another singing, soul diva! Kayte Burgess is a name you won't want to forget! An amazing voice and really fun person to be around.


Earjeans Diva: Avery Sunshine
Philadelphia, PA

So many things I can say about this power house of a woman! Shine on, Ms. Sunshine! Sang!!!
Yall check her out!! Buy on Itunes


Thank you all for being who you are! I am so grateful to know you and equally grateful that you are all rockin Earjeans!

Until next time, keep smiling and being beautiful YOU!

Tasha LaRae

Behind the Scenes - Making of "Greener" Music video with Arrested Development

Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well. I wanted to share with you some behind the scene footage of Arrested Development shooting the music video for our 2nd Single "Greener" from our latest CD 'Strong'.

"Greener" is a song about everyone doing their part in taking care of the earth. It also spreads a message of hope that we all can make this place a better place to live. We shot this at Botanical Gardens in Atlanta, GA. If you've never been, it's a beautiful place to visit ;o) So here are a few pics for you. Scroll to the bottom to watch the final version of the video!! Enjoy!

Namir as "The Sunshine"
Jimmie, our wonderful director!
Here's a shot of the crew getting ready for a different scene
A picture of yours truly ;o)
Baba Oje sitting in deep thought. and he didn't know I was taking his pic!
Eshe (yellow dress) and Mia (make up artist) prepping Peyton for her next scene as "The rain cloud"
The guys hanging out (Speech, One Love, JJ Boogie, Za, Ras)
Speech in action
Namir and Peyton happy to be on the set!


Watch the final version on "Greener"

Make up: Mia Young
Stylist/Wardrobe: Harley

New Year's in Japan 2009/2010

So much to tell about this trip! I'll do my best to tell it all...

At 4:30am December 25, 2009 we all arrived at the airport in Atlanta to catch a 6:30am flight to Houston, TX. We catch a connecting flight about 2 hours later headed for Tokyo (13 hour flight) Needless to say, we got some great sleep on the plane. (at least I did!)

Around 3:45pm December 26 we land in Tokyo (they are 12 hours ahead of us on the east coast) and we checked into the hotel - only to leave an hour later to head to JWave radio for an interview and an on air live performance. The city was lit up with white Christmas lights and lots of people walking about the city. So pretty... Anyway, we sing two songs, "Tennessee" and "the World Is Changing" and answer several questions. Then we took a few pics and headed to our hotel for some much needed rest.

The next day, we have sound check at Billboard to make sure the sound is right for the show day #1. The wait staff at Tokyo Billboard is so nice! After each show they would line up in the hallway and cheer for us as we returned to our dressing room. It was so cool. They fed us in between shows (the food was delicious!) then we freshened up for show number 2! Yep, that's right! We did 2 shows per night and each show was at least 70 minutes long. And for those of you who have been to an Arrested Development concert, you know we don't sit still! BTW, our first show was recorded and aired live on Pay Per View (that was cool!) After the shows, we signed autographs and took a lot of pictures (see below). We performed for 2 sold out crowds!!

Next day, we got to sleep in because we didn't have to be back at Billboard until 6pm. And that day, I slept until 4pm! I was wore out completely. I slept so good I didn't even get food. I just drank water and ate the meal replacement bars I brought from home, ha! Show day #2 was just as successful as the first day. Both shows were sold out and we were signing autographs for a long time. It's really cool to look out in the crowd and see people singing along to the songs- just proves that there is no language barrier in music. The audience seemed to be drawn to the music by the feeling they got as they heard it. It was awesome.

Now with 4 shows down and 4 more to go, we pack up and head to Osaka which is an hour flight away from Tokyo. This was a travel/free day as we did not have a show that night. A break I believe we all needed.

The last 2 days of 2009, we spent on stage rocking in Osaka! We played to 4 sold out crowds and it was a blast! The more we did the show, the better it got. People dancing everywhere and singing along to all the songs-amazing. I even saw a couple who appeared to be in there late 50's early 60's singing and dancing to the music. So encouraging!

The second show we did on New Year's Eve was also recorded and it was the best show of the entire tour! People screaming everywhere, over 80% of the audience stayed on their feet the entire time! We sang for about 70 minutes then took a 20 minute break. We came back on stage at 5 minutes til the new year with wine glasses and noise makers to count down the new year. A hugh clock is displayed on the screen and then the count down begins 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! The entire room is filled with celebration, toasts, and cheers! Then we sing about 4 more songs and end our concert. Shake a ton of hands and give well wishes to everyone. About 5 minutes after we've left the stage, someone comes backstage and asks us to do a double encore because the fans have been cheering for us to come back for the past 5 minutes! Can you believe that? That is so awesome! I was so humbled by the entire experience. And we went back out and did 2 more songs! I don't know where they got all that energy from but I'm glad they had it!

I returned to my hotel room exhausted and exhilarated! It was hard to sleep but I eventually drifted off to sleep.

This trip was one of the funnest trips we've taken and I look forward to more shows in 2010. Here are a few pics from the tour taken by different members of the group.

For more pics, info, tour dates, videos, etc you can visit our website at www.arresteddevelopmentmusic.com and join our mailing list.

We are all on facebook (arrested development), myspace, and twitter- which ever social network you prefer ;o)







A.D. advertisement in the subway/ Tokyo in the daylight/President Barak and Michelle Obama dolls!

Pic of candy in a coner store in Tokyo/ street life in Japan/ Sold out A.D. CD stand in HMV record store!



Fans stand in line for autographs after Tokyo show/ Billboard Live sign/ more autograph sigings



A.D. group shot at JWave radio station.