links for 2007-12-26
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As a child I fantasized that I would be a full-time singer in the Christmas genre. Though I have branched out a little, many of my favorite songs are still Christmas carols. When I recorded my album, Tonic, in Nashville, it was fitting to open it with a Christmas carol. Then last Christmas in Paju, some talented musician friends and I recorded another carol. Now, another Christmas, another carol.
I have begun a quest. I hope to add to this list of carols every year as a gift to you and a fun project for me. Take a listen and download them for free. Merry Christmas!
Angels We Have Heard on High, Christmas 2007 with Zach Bardon
Free download here
Peace on Earth, Christmas 2006 with Nolan Riley and Nathanael Nicol
Free download here
O Come, O Come Emmanuel, from my album Tonic released in 2006
Free download here
I hope you enjoy them. Have a wonderful Christmas week.
-Jessica
p.s. Thanks to Zach for finishing this song to share with everyone despite his stuffy head and persistent cold. Zach, I hope you feel better very soon.

p.p.s. You can buy my album Tonic online at iTunes, or buy a CD at CDBaby. They ship anywhere in the world, and if you order today, it might get to you by Christmas .
MERRY CHRISTMAS from your elf friends, Adam and Jessica. We have a special Christmas greeting for you, so click here to see it!
There was a whole elf dance party. Here is our friend Lucy…
And my parents! We get to celebrate Christmas with them in Seoul this year!
Hope you have a merry week!
-Jessica
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0goWGFCTBI[/youtube]
Alright, here is Adam and Jessica’s second appearance on Korean TV show, Surprise. Watch Adam in the throes of insanity caused by the mysterious skull around 5:55 into it, and then see Jessica, as a wily, young reporter pose probing questions and hear Adam’s authoritative response at 7:40. Simply riveting, I know.
We are having fun. Hope you enjoy.
(p.s. Sorry again about the video quality. Higher resolution on this one, but still have that ugly video-refresh shadow to contend with. Yuck.)
I told you I’d give you details, so here we go.
When we moved to Seoul from the country town of Paju in August, I put an ad online for other musicians in Seoul. I found some great guys, and we made Mosaic. We had a lot of fun playing together, and I loved singing again. I actually quit my job to pursue a hotel contract with them.
But then there was disagreement as to what sort of contract we would pursue. One guy wanted to be a pop/ top-40 cover band, but I felt a lot more comfortable singing in the roots and jazz realms. The other guys really just wanted to play music, whatever kind. We decided that it would be nicer to just play music together in a lower-pressure capacity. We officially disbanded. Since then, I’ve gone to a jazz jam with two guys, and two of us also recently recorded a Christmas song (that we’ll share with you soon). I’m glad to have made some good music friends in Seoul.
But, with the abrupt folding of the band, I found myself without a job and no hope of the hotel contract I was planning on. Adam began to train me and bring me into the voice actor’s world, and I’m slowly getting my feet wet in that career. It’s a fun job, and highly flexible. Adam has been getting more and more successful, working almost every day, and he’s also beginning to expand his range from just educational materials to commercial and corporate work.
We had to move apartments because my previous employer was providing our last place. We found an awesome apartment in a vibrant college area of Seoul, and we moved a month ago. We LOVE our new place and are so grateful for the circuitous path we’ve taken to get here. Interestingly, our new land-lord has a desire to convert some units of the building into a guest house, and we’ve already begun to talk about ways we can work with him and learn, since opening a guest house is our dream, too.
Through some of Adam’s voice-actor friends, we found out about another opportunity that would be flexible, give us some fun work, and also provide us with the ever-important visa. Three weeks ago, we began working for a Korean TV show called “Surprise”. There is a huge cast of foreigners, and each weekly episode has about five short stories with twist (i.e. surprise) endings. Then the stories are shown in front of a studio audience, and they vote on which story they believe is not true. Thus, most of the stories are loosely historical or based on bizarre urban legends. It’s a funny gig, and so far we’ve been all over the northern provinces of he country to film episodes. We’ve also made friends from Russia, Iran, Iraq, Canada, Nigeria, Moldova, France, South Africa, Switzerland, and USA among our cast-mates.
So far, I’ve only had bit parts, but yesterday, Adam played Santa in the Christmas special. He was actually one of six Santas in the mystery story, but he ended up being the “real” one. I know, I gave away the ending. Sorry.
Here is a brief part of Adam’s big debut last week in a story about a “remote viewer” working in the CIA. I apologize for the bad quality of the video, we’ll try to find a better way to tape the show in the future.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCiYmRhMNu0[/youtube]
And that’s the scoop for now. Again, sorry to leave you hanging. Thanks to those of you that visit our blog. It has been a busy time, but I do intend to pick up writing again. Take care, and I hope you’re enjoying the Christmas season.
-Jessica