Fort Worth Baby 

I have to say I absolutely love living in Fort Worth!  After my last cruise ship which was the Carnival Pride (well my last full contract), I stayed in Buckhead for a little over 6 months from November 2016 till the end of May.  Then I got on the Carnival Glory & Freedom with Danielle and I've been in Fort Worth since July. 

 

Happy to announce I'm playing Fred's Texas cafe on Easter sunday April 1st and I'm super pumped!

Cool people in the Caribbean  

So this past week has kind of been a whirlwind.  Lots of craziness ensued...and one of the highlights was having my Cruise Director Schwartz and Playlist cast sing "happy birthday" to me in the Atrium.  



The other highlight of this past week was jamming with Nate Gleason...who is a member of a pretty awesome band whose name I won't disclose at this moment.  However, definitely check out the last video of us jamming together.



There were a lot of cool people I met this cruise.  The first people I talked to this week were Bill and Judy -- and they came around to just about every set.



I've also been continuing the Country night once a week (I wish it could be more) which has been awesome.


Needless to say -- this was one heck of a cruise.  I can't believe how many amazing people I was able to meet.  I look forward to seeing what adventures the Carnival Pride holds for me in the weeks to come.

 

Birthday Cruise 

Hey people!
It was my first official cruise out of Baltimore this week, and I have to say the people were so much fun!  I was still able to have my country set, (though it was one as opposed to the typical 5-7 in texas).  I have to admit I missed playing Texas country but was super excited when my buddy requested some Randy Rogers at the end of one of the sets.

One of the highlights of my cruise was meeting this babe Sheila...making all of these other ladies jealous, and making me blush!


That was a fun night, and my first time playing in the RedFrog Pub.  What a fun night with everybody up and dancing.


These folks nicknamed me "Phelvis" which I thought was hilarious.  I was keeping over laughing ok stage when I heard them refer to me as Phelvis the first time.  I then proceeded to play "Suspicious Minds"


I met tons of cool people this cruise, and I'm so appreciative of the support I got that made this week a fun one, leading up to my birthday which I'll be celebrating in Baltimore today (until about 2:30 pm when I promptly return to the ship for my next set!).  Honestly, I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday than playing music and being surrounded by such awesome people!



Another highlight for me was getting to jam out with a band called Temperature that just had this amazing sense of groove.  It was fun to go electric for a bit.  This is the band, plus some of their fans




 

New Adventures in Baltimore! 

Hello folks,
Well I've been MIA for a couple of weeks - if you were wondering why, it's because I have been going through an interesting transition.  I was recently promoted to the position of Soloist Music Director.  
 

Essentially, what that means is, I will continue to do my job of performing every night for about 4 hours, and on top of that I'll be managing the musicians on board my current ship.

The cool thing about this is I'm the first person in CCL history to go from my position as a solo player to the MD position.  It has always been someone from a showband or Rock Band and that being said, I'm putting in a lot of effort to learn the ropes and make sure I do a great job!


So after going to Miami for a 10-day intensive training, I was sent to the Carnival Pride this past Sunday on an emergency assignment.  I am scheduled to be here until 11/6/16 and will be seeing some amazing ports of call, including a private island called Half Moon Cay as well as multiple overnight stays in Bermuda!

Half Moon Cay:



The team here is awesome, though it's in transition right now with a temporary band that was sent here until the casting people (you have no idea how hard these guys work) can fill the spot with a band ready and willing to do a full contract.

But I've got a couple new tracks that have been recorded that are being sent out for mixing, and I just got the final version of my song "Whiskey is my Remedy" back!  So excited for y'all to hear that - it is available as a free download on the "Music" page of this website!

Till next time!

-Phoenix

Cruise Adventures with Phoenix 6/27/16 

Hey everybody!

It has been an amazing few weeks on the Carnival Liberty!  I've just passed the 3 week mark of being here, and arrived on June 4th of this year.

For those of you that don't know, I play approximately 4 hours a day (that is the amount of time I spend on stage not including warm-up, set up, or breaks!).  

My average contract length comes out to about 4 months - I luckily get an average of one day off a week currently, though right now my days off are separated in an 8 day/4 day cycle.  That means right now I'll be playing for 8 days straight before my next day off!  Good thing I love what I do, just have to make sure to take care of my voice which I do by hydrating, warming up before sets, and pacing myself.



I also like to get some fresh air out in Mexico...and hang out with Iguanas!

These are just a few of the amazing people I have met in the last 3 weeks.  I'm happy to say that over 200 people have signed up for my e-mail list.  These crowds have been so supportive and welcoming and it means the world to me.  I love you all so much.




Needless to say it has been an awesome time.

On top of everything, I've written 2 new songs.  One was cowritten with the singer from the show band Holly Angel.  What a gifted songwriter and performer!  

Another one I just finished, it's still in the early demo stages but stay tuned for a soundcloud or Youtube post soon.

Also -- can't forget the exclusive free song I'm giving away.  I re-recorded my vocals and sent it off to 360 Recording in Houston, Texas for Mixing and Mastering!

Everyone who has signed up for the e-mail list will receive it.  

Thank you all for being there for me.  I can't explain how much it means to me.

Love,
Phoenix