Creative for life workshop

Creative leap
Have you ever wondered why some people can live amazingly productive, creative lives, and why you can’t seem to?

I am offering a very unique CREATIVITY workshop. No, it’s not about just making you smarter, wittier, or more intelligent. It is so much more.

You are actually already creative, but I will help you to unlock a creative life. This workshop will unblock you from being stuck between phases of your life, careers, relationships, goals, etc. It is about moving out of the limits of your mind into an awakened consciousness and spaciousness.
You will be meeting aspects of yourself you have not met and will be using their energies for something new. It is about being alive, responsive and engaged in everything you do. It is about being CREATIVE FOR LIFE.

You will work hard, but it will be very fulfilling. Prepare for a ‘second wind’ and experience a more conscious, radiant, productive life.

I have run this ever-evolving workshop about 90 times in a span of about 15 years. Students, housewives, CEOs, religious workers, artists, teachers, professionals, and all kinds of people have benefitted from this. I will be doing this online for now.

DATE: Feb 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22. (I suggest you attend ALL sessions. Do not miss more than one day)
Time: 6 to 8PM Manila time.

This is a call you’ve been hearing. Answer it. Write me for details and question.

A Guitar story

In the late 1980’s, the late guitar legend Rudy Lozano who had played in a lot of APO’s albums sold me his old Fender Telecaster. I was quite happy to have acquired it then even if I hardly played it. I had other guitars and I preferred to play my acoustic ones. It was my son Mio who had just learned to play who ended up taking more interest in it. In fact, he played it a lot.

When we moved to Sydney in 2004, my son joined a band. He used the Fender Telecaster in many gigs. When he lost interest with the band, the guitar was set aside. It was not played for years. About a month ago, I opened the Fender case which had remained closed for a long time and tried to play the guitar. It was in awful shape. It was hardly playable. It sure needed a lot of fixing. One pick-up had stopped working. The strings definitely needed to be changed. And the bridge was very misaligned.

With my old/new Fender Telecaster

When I brought it to the guitar store and opened the case, the man receiving it exclaimed loudly, ‘Well look what we have here folks!’. He was quite surprised at what he was looking at and he turned ecstatic as he stared at my old guitar. He said it was quite a find. A person beside him started to google to find out what year it was made. It turned out that it was a 1974-75 model. Someone in the store suggested that it could easily sell for 15K Aussie dollars! I could hear ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ everywhere. Everyone in the store had gathered around admiring it.

But the ecstasy changed quickly when an old man who worked in the store asked why I had changed one of the the pick-ups. He asked me if I still had the old one. And he noticed the bridge was not original and that there were changes made in the string apparatus of the guitar. Almost immediately, the speculation about the appraised value of the guitar started to go down quickly from the princely price of 15K to a measly 800 AUD!

Curious about the old man’s comments, I immediately called my son and asked him if he had made any changes to the guitar. He said yes he did. He changed one of the pick-ups to a hum bucking oner. And no, he does not know where the original pick-up wis now. When I turned off the phone, I laughed at the situation . How could luck change so quickly. I told the people who worked in the store that I just wanted it fixed. And no, I was not interested in selling it. The small crowd that had gathered immediately dispersed.

After three weeks, I picked up the Fender Telecaster from the store. I was glad I had it fixed. I played it before paying for it. It felt new and very solid. I loved the feel.

Now that it in great condition, I plan to play my Fender Telecaster as much as I do my Spanish acoustic guitar.

This is one of my resolutions this 2021.

My social media links

Even if APO ended about 10 years back, I have not stopped writing songs and recording them. I have done 3 solo albums since and did collabs with The Bloomfield, and Faith Cuneta. Last year Boboy and I collaborated and sang Quarantine Baby and Friends in Music, our latest release.
I was 14 when I wrote my first song. I am still writing, singing, and recording to this day. I just love bringing creations in my head to life. My songs are like my children. Some are easily likeable and charming. Others are more laid back, late bloomers who take more time to warm up to you. I a a prolific father musically. If I don’t record them, it is like I committed creative abortions.
http://jimparedes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Screen-Shot-2021-01-05-at-11.00.28-pm.png
I would like to invite you to subscribe to my Jim Paredes Spotify account , and my Jim Paredes Youtube Channel and listen to my many children. You may enjoy them.

Spotify: Jim Paredes
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTK3drP9F_h0Jq1b4DvxeSA
Twitter: jimparedes

Friends in Music Video

Our tribute to all the people we have performed with. WE DEEPLY REGRET THAT WE DO NO HAVE PICS OF EVERYONE. These include management, musicians, arrangers, singers, technicians, stage people, producers , TV people ad fellow performers, friends in school, fans who were part of our long career. This is our simple way of saying THANK YOU.. I wrote this decades ago. We have only sang it about 4 times. It is time to give it a proper recording. The title on youtube is Friends in music 2021

Songwriting workshop 2021

My rough, working studio

Here’s something to look forward to this 2021.
Announcing my 7th Online Songwriting Workshop Schedule.
When: January 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30, 31
Time: 9am to 11 AM (Manila Time)
Each class runs for 2 hours.
Participant must have some proficiency in playing guitar or piano. This is a hands-on class and will require students to write at least 4 new songs during the run.
Send me a message here or on FB messenger for details.