Hello New

I'm not really the "sit down on social media and pour out my my heart, or VENT" kind of a guy. Honestly if I wasn't an artist, I probably wouldn't be on social media at all. But as 2014 has come to an end, I just needed to say this out loud. I don't really care if anyone reads it actually. It's more for me than anyone else I think. And I know it's a couple days late, but as I sit here thinking about 2014, I'm exhausted more than anything. Feeling the need to take a really big breath. And then exhale. Like, "Wow, we actually got through that hellish fiery furnace of a year". I mean, first our one year old breaks his collar bone, then gets second degree burns on his feet, then we surprisingly find out we're pregnant with #4! Only to find out a few weeks later that our unborn baby has a terminal disease with zero percent chance of surviving, then my dad has a heart attack, my best friend literally almost dies from a fluke viral infection in his heart, my wife's best friend, at age 33, has to have a hysterectomy, one of our closest family friends almost kills himself and his son drunk driving, my grandparents are in the hospital all year, I had the worst relational tension in my adult life (it was work related, my marriage is great :)), my wife was put on bed rest for months at at time, in and out of the hospital, children and friends died way too young, lucemia, babies in the ICU, two uncles died, Grandma died, the list goes on. It's like a friggin news real of 2014's worst moments in the world. But this wasn't THE WORLD. This was MY WORLD. My little tiny world. I mean, I'm exhausted just typing it. And yet in the midst of that there were some really beautiful moments. Two of my sisters had baby girls. My youngest sister graduated from college. After two VERY LONG years of pouring my soul into my newest album, it was finally done. I traveled the world. I had the best tour of my life in Brazil. I found new depths as an artist in 2014. I found new depths as Dad and Husband (having a wife and kids on bed rest or sick, or in the hospital half of the year will do that to a man). I feel healthier than I've felt in fifteen years. I'm more in love with my wife than ever before. I realized that growing up in a broken home really jacked me up - like bad, which has set me on a path of real healing and freedom. I've learned to trust God in a way I never have before. I value life more. And the little things. I value the little things more than ever before. I'm more aware of eternity, and a little less concerned with stuff - with the physical. I've honestly never been so glad that a year has come to an end. I've honestly never really cared that much. But if 2014 was the Russian dude in Rocky 4, then I'm Apollo Creed. I can't describe how thrashed I feel from this year. But as much disdain as I feel toward 2014, in so many ways I'm thankful. That might sound weird. But there's a big part of me that is thankful. Thankful for the hurt. Thankful for the suffering. Thankful for the fire. 

So... tomorrow, I'm going to bury my son. 

Let that sink in for a minute. 

There are actually no words to describe how that feels, so I won't even attempt it. But that kind of thing does something to a person. Something deep (again unexplainable). I don't even think I understand the depths of it myself. Maybe I never will. But I think it's kind of like fire. Sure, fire is real good at burning stuff. Bringing pain. Destroying stuff. I see it every year living in Southern California. I see the damaging effects of fire every time I drive up the San Bernardino mountains and take in the blackness of the charred pine trees that line Highway 18. But fire wasn't meant JUST TO BURN. Fire has a deeper purpose. 

Fire makes things beautiful. 

Yes. It is always HOT. And it always hurts when you're in it. No matter the size. No matter the source. It always hurts. But it also always does work. Good work. And for that I'm grateful. But I'm also grateful to be (hopefully) on the other side of it - coming out of the fire. To the place where the beauty starts to come out. Where I start to feel it's warmth and begin to partake in it's glorious benefits. So here's to a year of beauty. A year of healing. A year of new. 

2014, you were a gnarly one. You were like a never ending bonfire, that wouldn't let up. And so, for your tenacity, I respect you. I see you. I bow my knee to you. But it's time to be moving on now. PEACE! 

Hello new.

Life, Death, and Hope

The last two years have been one of the most vulnerable, challenging, and yet, beautiful of my life. As I worked non stop on a new album, I wrestled and dug deeper than ever before to write the most authentic songs I could find. I learned a lot. But I think, most of all, I learned that there’s is so much inside that I’m unwilling to face. Pain, hurt, fear, insecurities, love, so many things. And I thought when the album had finished that I was done with the depths. But I guess there’s deeper to go still. Not deeper into music, but into life. And not the fun fluffy part either. The dark, crappy part. 

As I write this, my eyes are filled with tears, and my heart heavy with a strange concoction of sorrow, and some sort of deep mystic peace. 

My wife and I have three beautiful kids. And now we’re expecting #4 (I know, we’re nuts). We’re 18 weeks in, and today we found out it’s a boy (we thought for sure it was a girl - guess you never know). Since we found out we were pregnant we have been overjoyed, and kind of tripping, at the idea of FOUR KIDS! When we found out we were pregnant, we were crazy shocked, but really excite, and were in great anticipation as we arrived at our first scheduled ultrasound. Everything seemed perfect. We saw the baby kicking, moving, and he even hiccuped on cue! Everything looked normal. Until we came to the baby’s head, and something wasn’t right. After deep examination and another ultrasound, the doctor informed us that our baby has “Anencephaly" - the absence of a large part of the brain and skull. It’s a tragic birth defect, that only ends in death. Often the brain will form (and work) as usual (hence the normal movement, hiccups, heartbeat, etc.) but without the full skull to protect the brain, the baby cannot survive outside of the womb and will die at birth. Many choose to terminate the pregnancy which, on some level, sounds like a reasonable thing to do, knowing that the baby has absolutely no chance of survival. But it’s impossible for us to wrap our brains, and hearts, around the idea of us being the ones to “pull the trigger”, as opposed to letting nature, through God’s design, take the baby when it’s time. 

So what’s the next five months of our life supposed to look like? And how are we supposed to deal? No clue. There’s no handbook for this stuff. And there’s no cute Hallmark card to make us magically feel better. There’s just reality. Sometime in early January 2015, a beautiful little boy will be born. We’ll name him (something lovely I’m sure), we’ll hold him, we’ll kiss him, we’ll weep with him, and we’ll say goodbye. That’s a sentence none should every have to write. It’s not how it’s supposed to be. I honestly can’t imagine the pain this will cause us, nor the pain that will come with seeing my wife walking around with a big pregnant baby belly, knowing that we’ll never bring that baby home. Or how it will feel to have people ask us when we’re due, what we’re having, or what we’re naming the baby. There will be no baby shower this time around. There will be no infant car seat in our car as we pull up to the hospital to give birth. The last several weeks have been very hard, and we don’t expect it to get any easier. Since the moment we got pregnant we had the overwhelming feeling (more than any other time) that this baby was an absolute gift strait from God. And he is. It is still a miracle to see a baby formed from a little tiny nothing. And even today, seeing the baby kicking and moving his little fingers. It’s a miracle. And it’s beautiful. But still, it hurts. Bad. I dread the thought of our kids seeing a baby growing in mommy’s tummy, only to know that they will never hold him, play with him, or talk to him. I hate that my wife has to deal with all the side effects of being pregnant, and has to be nauseous everyday, and will probably have to make more trips to to the ER because she’s dehydrated again from vomiting too much. And then to go through all of the agony of labor, only to to give birth to a baby we will never take home with us. A baby that will die in our arms. Pregnancy sucks for my wife (as for many women), but there’s always an amazing joy filled experience at the end - holding your beautiful (living) baby. But not this time. It’s tragic. And yet, as weird as it may sound to some people, we really do believe that God is good and that His love is never failing. And we feel it. Like for real. More than ever. But life still sucks sometimes. Sometimes real bad. Jesus said, “In this world you will have much trouble. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Someday, all things will be made right, and there will be no more sorrow, no more pain, and NO MORE DEATH. All will be overcome. And all will be made right. But for now, like King David wrote in his song “Even though I walk through THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, I will fear no evil, for YOU ARE WITH ME”. There’s something beautiful and rich about feeling the presence of God in the deepest, darkest pits. There’s something down here in the depths. Something I’ve never experienced when I’m on the surface where there’s rainbows, and pretty little flowers. And the presence - it’s everything right now. We honestly can’t survive without it. Without the real presence and comfort of the Almighty. He is the only thing that is bringing us deep peace (and even joy). It’s beyond the natural. And we’re thankful for it. We also know that we often don’t get to know “why”. And we’re ok with that. So we trust and surrender.  We choose to not surrender to depression, fear, or anger, but surrender to trust, to love, to peace. Seven years ago, when we miscarried twin boys (Zion and Hezekiah) and my mom said something through her tears: “Dom, our job as parents is to get our kids to Heaven someday. So, good job son.” It’s so sobering to think that HALF of our kids will be there together before us. Death sucks. The scriptures call death an enemy. An enemy, that when the Kingdom comes, will be defeated. There will come a day. And I long for that day. The day that death is no more. And her companions, sorrow, and fear, are no more. Come that day, come that day.

Open auditions for BASS player and KEYBOARD player

What: Dominic Balli is auditioning a new BASS Player and a new KEYBOARD Player. 

Who: Bass Players. And Keyboard Players. Preferable good ones, who like all urban music (reggae, hip hop, soul), like traveling, and like to have a good time. **All applicants should live within driving distance of LA/Ventura County, CA, or be willing to relocate to SoCal. All applicants must have a flexible schedule. In addition to monthly (sometimes weekly fly dates and local touring, all applicants must be able to tour multiple times a year for at least two weeks at a time (ie. This fall we will be on tour in Brazil for a month strait). Each applicant must be a legal U.S. resident and be able to travel in and out of the U.S. without hindrance.  All applicants must be professional level musicians who have a desire to serve the people (no divas please ;)). Applicants must be able to play reggae, hip hop, rock, and pop with soul. We are looking for a broad range of ethnicities in our applicants and love all shapes, colors and sizes. Additionally, while I love and respect people of all faiths and people of no faith, due to the nature of what I do, we are only auditioning applicants who are born again followers of Jesus. 

**It is very unlikely that we will hire someone who lives out of SoCal, or is not willing to relocate to SoCal. BUT, if that's you and you're absolutely amazing and interested, then you should probably audition as well. 

When: LIVE auditions are tentatively scheduled for the week of September 15, but preliminary auditions will be done through video submissions. 

How to audition: Step one: send an email to dominicballimusic@gmail.com, and we'll reply with all of the details re: how to go about submitting a video audition. 

And please help us spread the word if you can through. Here's a simple post to copy and paste: 

Dominic Balli is holding open auditions for a new Bass Player and Keyboardist! Check out his blog post at dominicballi.blogspot.com for details. 

  

If you are interested, have questions, or have any leads please email:
dominicballimusic@gmail.com

Thanks much!

Dominic

dominicballi.com

youtube.com/dominicballi

facebook.com/dominicballimusic

twitter.com/dominicballi

Living a Rock Star Life On a Poor Man’s Salary

My little brother got married last week. Naturally, it was a family reunion of sorts. The day before the wedding, I was hanging out with my 13 year old nephew who I hadn’t seen in a couple of years. He started talking to me about some current TV show that I hadn’t heard of. I told him, “I’ve never seen that one. We don’t have cable at our house.” He replied, “Uncle Dom, you travel all over the world and do all of this crazy stuff. You obviously have enough money to afford cable TV!” I chuckled, and mindlessly replied, “Well, it’s not because we can’t afford it. We just don’t want cable.”

 

The next day I was thinking about it and it occurred to me: “Actually, I’m not sure that we could afford cable, even if we did want it.”

 

How’s this for irony? I live, what seems like, a rock star life. And yet I can’t afford something that 90% of Americans pay for – cable TV.

 

I mean, let’s face it, I travel to these exotic places. I post pictures of my sick new studio, with beautiful interior design and awesome (and expensive) gear. I put out videos that are legit, I drive a pimped out tour van. People hear my music in places like Jamba Juice and Gold’s Gym all over the country. My albums are on the Billboard Charts, so on and so forth. Shoot, if I didn’t know better, I’d think I was rolling too!

 

But the truth is, I can’t actually afford to live the way I do. And honestly, it’s been like that since I stepped out to do full time music three years ago. Emily (my wife) and I purposed in our hearts, that we were going to do what we were called to do, and go where we were called to go, even if it didn’t make financial sense. And it’s been amazing. Sometimes downright scary. But always amazing.

 

Most of the time when I travel internationally, I don’t make a dime. Sometimes we have to empty our bank account just to get ourselves to these countries. And so, in those months, it requires a lot of faith in God to provide. And He does provide - most of the time through His people. For instance, my sick studio was built for us by a friend. He even rents the warehouse that’s it’s in. And everything in the studio (guitars, gear, even the decor) was given to us! Even my black limo-looking tour van is so dope because a friend donated his time, and his auto body shop, to basically “pimp my ride”! As for my music being played and displayed in cool places -  it pays pennies. Literally. Pennies. But it’s spreading light and love, so who cares about the pennies.

 

As we’ve launched this campaign to raise funds for my new album, it has aroused the question: “How is it possible that this dude makes enough money to live like he does, and yet he doesn’t have the funds to record a new album?” Well, here’s the answer: I don’tmake enough money to live like I do. When it comes down to it, my music doesn’t usually generate enough income for us to do the things we do, or live the way we live. It’s legitimately because of the absurd provision and faithfulness of God, and the overwhelming generosity of the brothers and sisters around us. 

 

The funniest part about this whole thing is that, for years, everyone (even a lot of my family) has assumed that we’re just raking in the dough (and I guess if I didn’t know better, I would assume that too). So… just to set the record strait - I do what do because it’s what I’m supposed to do. Sometimes that pays the bills. Sometimes it doesn’t. But either way, my commitment is to be as faithful as I can do the call. I have freely received,  and so I choose to freely give. To give of myself, my voice, and my song.

 

 

 

"Christmas in Cali" Album Cover Art Contest

Artists! We're just finishing up my new Christmas album Christmas in Cali and I'd like to do something different for the album art. Since I have no real specific vision for the art, I wanted to "bring it to the people" and let y'all create something fresh. So we're doing a contest to see who can draw up the sickest album art for this Christmas album. And as a thank you to the winner for being a part of the project, we'll give you $500 cash (and signed CDs of course). And for all the "non-winners" maybe there's an opportunity to work together down the road. Who knows?

So, if you're an artist (ie. painter, tattoo, digital, graffiti, etc.) then this is for you.

Can't wait to see what y'all come up with!!! Have fun.

Here's the "rules" and guidelines for the contest. 

THEME: "Christmas in Cali." Laid back. Feel good West Coast vibe. Positive vibes.

GOAL: Draw the sickest piece of art for the album cover for my new album "Christmas in Cali".

REWARD:
$500 cash (plus credits on album and a signed cd of course!)

DEADLINE for submissions: Nov 12, 2012.

SUBMIT TO: Submit art to: info@dominicballi.com (Note: a small jpg or photo of the art will be fine for your submission. If we end up going with your piece we'll get a high res version from you afterward.)

GUIDELINES FOR THE ARTWORK:
-No surfers
-No chicks in bikinis
-No dudes in speedos ;-)
- I'm thinking hand drawn is the direction I want, but a dope digital piece could be cool too.
-Must incorporate at least a little red and green so it feels Christmasy
- Must have text "Dominic Balli and "Christmas in Cali" on the art.
- "Dominic Balli" should grab your attention over "Christmas in Cali"
"Dominic Balli" should be (or appear to be) hand drawn, BUT must also be similar to, and reminiscent of, the original  Dominic Balli logo (NOTE: there are two Dominic Balli logos. Both are the same look but one has the "Dominic" stacked on the "Balli". The other has them side by side. Logos can be seen here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/american-dream/id451803116
And here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/public-announcement-bonus/id337464867

QUESTIONS?
Email: info@dominicballi.com

Have fun and merry-early-Christmas!!!

MONOCASE - The sickest gig bags out there!

If you haven't heard about monocase gig bags and backpacks, then you're missing out. These bags are sick! They look like a gig bag but they have hard case protection! I'm loving these things! Get on this, if you're not already!

Check it:

A bittersweet goodbye to a great friend and drummer...

Hi everyone,
We’re looking for a new drummer and we’re holding open auditions.

Ryan Bruce has been holding it down with me since the release of Public Announcement in April of 2008 and has been a huge part of what I do and has become a great friend. But, there’s a time for everything. Ryan has a family now, my touring schedule is more demanding than ever, and the season is just changing for all of us. So it’s extremely bittersweet that we have to say goodbye to Ryan and hello to a new drummer. We love you Ry.

Can you please help spread the word through facebook, twitter, to agents, managers, bands, musicians, music departments at churches, etc?

Here’s the info:

What: Dominic Balli is auditioning a new drummer.

Who: Drummers. Preferable good ones, who like reggae, like traveling, and like to have a good time. All applicants must live within driving distance of L.A./Ventura County, CA*. All applicants must have a flexible schedule. In addition to monthly (sometimes weekly fly dates and local touring, all applicants must be able to tour multiple times a year for at least two weeks at a time (possibly longer depending demand). Each applicant must be a legal U.S. resident and be able to travel in and out of the U.S. without hindrance.  All applicants must be professional level musicians who have a desire to serve the people (no divas please ;)). It probably goes without saying that the music is strongly rooted in reggae with elements of hip hop, rock, and pop so all applicants must be able to get down with that style. We are looking for a broad range of ethnicities in our applicants and love all shapes, races and sizes. Additionally, while I love and respect people of all faiths and people of no faith, due to the nature of what I do, we are only auditioning applicants who are born again followers of Jesus Christ.
*Note: Unless there’s someone on the other side of the country who is absolutely incredible, all applicants must live within driving distance of L.A./Ventura County, CA.

When: Live auditions are tentatively scheduled for Thursday, August 16th in Ventura CA, but preliminary auditions will be done through video submissions.

How to audition: Step one: send an email to dominicballimusic@gmail.com. We’ll take it from there.

Please help us spread the word if you can.
 
If you are interested, have questions, or have any leads please email: 
dominicballimusic@gmail.com



Thanks much!
- 
Dominic

dominicballi.com
youtube.com/dominicballi
facebook.com/dominicballimusic
twitter.com/dominicballi