Let Music manage your Inner Life

I read a great article about an incredible musician in NY, who has always let music manage his inner life. Inner life? I first thought what is his inner life? But it all made sense. I've been doing it all my life.

Music has played a huge role all my life. I remember being a young child, maybe four, living in Long Island and hearing Santana and The Beatles. Songs from these artists bring me back to being young again and I remember how I felt about myself and my surroundings like it was yesterday.

And just like you, music has eased my heartaches, my sadness, lifted my moods, and built my self-esteem, established dreams and aspirations. In my early twenties, I went through a break-up and a job loss within a week of one another. Right after, I kept having dreams I was playing electric guitar! The truth was, I owned one and kept thinking I would like to take lessons again and become a really good player. After several dreams of me being a rock goddess (or maybe I was playing a mean air guitar?), I decided to pay attention to the wake up call.


So, I am sure some of you are reading this and can relate to those songs you like to crank up from your past. I always loved anything Aerosmith and of course, there is Boston, "Long Time," or rocking out to AC/DC Back in Black elevates my mood, and helps me let myself go and relax for a moment before I shift back into Mommy mode.

Music moves me in so many ways and in some many different genres. It amazes me on a day that I might be down, and it's been a little more frequent lately with the economy in turmoil and hearing one sad story after the next, that music has a way of helping me make sense out of it all and reflect on what is really important and what matters.


The other night, I realized that a good station to set the mood for homework or just to try to get everyone to chill to is 94.7 The Wave, because my kids dial it down a notch and actually relax. I actually have more patience! And they know a lot of the songs, because it's our mellow station. My daughter has been falling asleep to The Wave for almost 2 years now. Of course, we do love KUCI 88.9fm for the diversity and range of music and PA shows. In fact, one morning on the way to school, one of the DJs was playing a Sesame Street song that was completely wacky and hilarious! In my sleepy state, we laughed all the way to school. And the kids are still talking about it!


So to sum up this long ramble, don't be afraid to crank it up a notch when you drop those kids off or right before that big important meeting, or maybe on your way to seeing your in-laws. And get your kids dancing around the house to your music. We all need to manage our inner lives, our contentment, our uncertainties, the day in - day out chaos of our lives and if music can do this for you GREAT! And if you don’t even listen to the radio, have I got a show for you! E-mail me and I will tell you about some of the artists from my LIVE show at KUCI 88.9fm Moms Rockin' the House - or my podcast show Momz Rock the House.com.


You can find me here: janeane@momzrockthehouse.com. And if you're out and about on Thursday's, tune in to KUCI 88.9fm (10am PST or streamlining at www.kuci.org) and you just might find yourselves cranking up what I'm playing! ROCK ON ladies!


Have a safe, Happy and Healthy Holiday! May 2009 be a great one for you and yours!

My interview with Tish is ready to check out!

My interview with the founder and president of Daisy Rock Guitars, Tish Ciravolo, is ready for you to listen to! I just love her story about how she was inspired to start her company based on her daughter's daisy flower doodle, her love of music and a really close friend who inspired her musically and professionally. It's a great interview, so check it out!

I have actually had some great ideas generated around the dinner table with my young daughters. They are so open and creative, and I love how their minds work. When we get older, we tend to let our creativity fly out the window and worry about what others think of what we did, what we said and what we thought, and never make the time to nurture our creative interests. I like the innocent and pure ideas of my girls and how one little idea can become something big if you pay attention. As a matter of fact, Momz Rock the House was a name created by my daughter and I while we were bouncing around show names and I said, "Momz Rock..." and she finished my sentence with ...."the House!" And my show Momz Rock the House was born!

Kathy Valentine of the Go Gos, Emily Wagner of Motherhoodlum and Tish Ciravolo of Daisy Rock!

Wow! The past few weeks have been really crazy busy, but all good, with lots of great pre-recorded interviews and people contacting me after hearing my live show at KUCI on Thursday's 10am-12:00pm and now this site, momzrockthehouse.com. What really makes me smile are the e-mails and CDs that fill my mailbox week after week. And I just finished speaking with some incredible women that will be included in the shows produced over the next few weeks.

First, Tish Ciravolo, Founder and Owner of Daisy Rock Guitars. What an amazing story she has to tell about starting Daisy Rock with inspiration from her daughter and her own strong musical background, and how the company has grown making a huge impact on girls and women around the globe. Plus the month of October, Daisy Rock is donating a portion of the proceeds of sales from the Daisy Rock Online store to Breast Cancer Research. You can learn more by plugging in at http://www.daisyrock.com/!

Then, Emily Wagner, writer, producer, actress (have you seen her in ER over the past 12+ years - too cool!) and Mom, who created an incredibly funny and well crafted comedy about the rollercoaster ride of motherhood -- check out http://www.motherhoodlum.offsprung.com/.

And just this week, I spoke with Kathy Valentine of the Go Gos (music with GREAT memories for me!) talking about her roots in music, life as a Go Go and now solo artist with her newest CD -- Light Years. Another great artist you will hear on my show each week!

These interviews and more coming soon to momzrockthehouse.com....so stayed tuned!

It is NEVER too late to ROCK! ...or at least try!

I have an electric guitar my Dad bought for me at 14 and I still love it. It holds such memories for me. I got my first guitar at 10, which I lost in a house fire. It was the cutest little Yamaha, but then at 12 I went to Manhattan (all by myself on a train with cash) and bought myself another one to replace it. (Can't imagine ever letting my daughter do that by the way!)

I started playing seriously in my early twenties (just a few years ago...ahem, alright several years ago in another chapter of my life). And now, I'm a Mom with an unfulfilled need to ROCK out on my electric guitar and where am I going to find some other Moms to form a band? Judy Davids of the Mydols did it at 42 and recruited some friends and 6+ years later, she is rockin' out across Detroit. So, as I always say...it is never too late to become what you might have been.

So, I am on a mission to find some moms/women who would like to start a band here in the OC!

It is never too late...to ROCK ladies!

Serious inquiries only please
janeane@momzrockthehouse.com

The Funniest Housewives of OC Show! Get a sitter, have a night out, leave your kids with your partner, husband - GO HAVE SOME FUN!

Funniest Housewives of OC!

Funny Frances, a hilarious OC, CA Mom is performing with the Funniest Housewives of OC! You can catch her in the first of three shows, starting in Brea on Oct 7 (next Tuesday, so get a sitter, leave your kids with your hubby, partner, or someone you love and trust and have a night out would you please, because don't we deserve it?!)...and also Oct 21 in Irvine and then in Ontario on November 11!

Funniest Housewives of OC! Visit www.myspace.com/funnyfrances for more info

Camp Lisa - New CD from Lisa Loeb

I just received the latest CD from Lisa Loeb and it is great! It is called Camp Lisa and if you ever went to camp or have kids in camp, you can really relate. It's a feel good CD that makes you reminise about camp days, the friends you made, the things you did, and all those cute songs that filled your head. Lisa has created a CD packed with songs anyone can enjoy; they are so clever and cute you can't help but sing along.


Here's a blip from her website:
Joining Lisa on the CD are some very special guest campers including Kay Hanley, Dave Gibbs, Nina Gordon, Jill Sobule, Lee Sklar, Maia Sharp and comedian Steve Martin. Produced by Loeb’s recently launched record label Furious Rose Productions and her writing partners and frequent collaborators Dan Petty and Michelle Lewis, Camp Lisa is largely inspired by ‘70s-style rock and pop and Loeb’s own cherished camp memories. The CD is a magical, musical destination for the kid in all of us. In its just-published review, L.A. Parent calls Camp “…enjoyable as a freshly made s’more.”

Had a BLAST at the Parenting and Kids Expo!

This past Saturday I emceed the 4th Annual Parenting and Kids Expo produced by Parenting Orange County Magazine at the Irvine Spectrum and it was so much fun! Yes, it was hot, but people were loving the vibe. Great vendors like Boogie Wipes, Saddleback Hospital, The Game Truck, KUCI 88.9fm, and so many more. Plus lots of freebies, like mac and cheese for the kids (and big kids!), gummy vitamins, KOCE, Strike Orange County, Greenedge Kids, and so many more. Plus, great entertainment from cloggers and international dancers to musical performers like the Hullabaloo Band, Stacy Robin and Adrina Thorpe. There was even a fashion show featuring organic environmental conscious products and the kids did a great job modeling.

Had a chance to meet lots of Moms, lots of people wanted my "Momz Rock!" black tank and others learned all about KUCI and my shows. It was really a great day playing music, meeting people and watching some incredible entertainment

Emceeing the Parenting and Kids Expo - Saturday August 2 in Orange County!

I am really looking forward to emceeing The 4th Annual Parenting & Kids Expo at the Irvine Spectrum Center, Saturday August 2! I will be at the KUCI 88.9 fm table, passing out program guides and other fun stuff, in between playing great music from my KUCI show and emceeing the bands, performers, fashion show and other great activities!

Entertainment includes:
The Hullabaloo Band • Adrina Thorpe • Stacy Robin • Arapana Dance Company
Kindorf Dancers • Global Rhythms Dance Studio • Clogger Dancers: Step N Out
The Academy of International Dance's World Fusion Dance Ensemble

There will also be a Scavenger Hunt • Prizes • Face Painting • Game Lounge
Fall Fashion Show • Rock Wall • Cutest Kid Cover Contest
Live Radio Broadcast — 95.9 THE FISH

Orange County Museum of Art Family Arts Day was a Blast!

I took my girls to the OC Museum of Art Family Arts Day and it was sooooo much fun! There was a great band playing, called the Breakaways, who played while we decorated t-shirts, made fish decorations (or whatever you call these cool things!) and walked around for a tour of the '60s art collection, Peter Saul and others were on display. Very interesting collection of artwork. We were mesmorized and I had a brief moment to myself when my girls were busy counting the 216 beer bottles on display.

The next event is in September, Back to School Cool! ...and we'll be there!

Yesterday, I hosted Momz Rock the House Music Fest at Original Mike's and it was really alot of fun! The performers, Adrina Thorpe, Stacy Robin, Debra Davis Band, Absinthe and Colette Aubrey were all absolutely amazing! The event, in Association with the Orangewood Children's Foundation, also included KUCI 88.9 fm were I host my radio show Moms Rockin' the House on Thursday's, OC Moms.com, The OC Register, American Red Cross of Orange County, Serenity Wellness Center, Parenting Orange County Magazine, Orange County Museum of Art, West Coast Radiology Center, Total Woman Atmosphere and Day Spa, Yogaworks, and lots of great giveaways like a signed copy of Judy Davids book, Rock Star Mommy, Bodega Chocolates, Lighfull Smoothies, Irvine Spine and Wellness Massage Certificates, OC Pavilion tickets, plus the new Momz Rock the House tank tops. We also gave away a gorgeous bubble gum pink Daisy Rock Guitar to an ecstatic 11 year old. Just love Original Mike's and we lucked out with incredible weather - and an amazing vibe!

ABOUT JANEANE BERNSTEIN

It is never too late to become what you might have been. - George Eliott

(photo by Ralph Palumbo)

Janeane was raised in Manhattan and Connecticut and...POOF! She is now the mother of two beautiful girls, happily married to an incredible man she met at a bookstore in Boston, DJ/Host of Momz Rock the House internet radio show, featuring women in the arts and experts in numerous fields. Thursday mornings from 10am-1pm, she hosts a LIVE show "Moms Rockin the House" on KUCI 88.9fm in Orange County - www.kuci.org.

In between juggling motherhood and radio, she records voice-over projects, writes, and dreams of learning how to shred on her electric guitar. Janeane holds degrees in Education and TV, Radio and Film from Syracuse University, and a doctorate in Educational Media and Technology (she calls it mental bookcamp!).
She left the corporate world after having her first child and dreaming of a more creative life, and began studying acting and voice-over in Boston at CP Casting thanks to a chance meeting with an older actress at a Syracuse alumni event (she is thankful no one recorded her on-camera class being 8 months prego!).

After landing in CA with her VO demo, husband and infant daughter, she studied voice-over in LA with some incredible commercial and animation casting directors. She is currently represented in Los Angeles by Solid Talent and the Berzon Agency for On-Camera and VO projects in Orange County, and was a recent finalist in the UCI Screenwriting Scene Festival this past spring. She just completed the UCI Screenwriting Program and her first comedic screenplay.
For the past two years, Janeane has been Regional Coordinator of "Mamapalooza Rocks the OC!" producing a Mom music festival each May in Orange County, CA. This year's international Mamapalooza festival was held at the UCI campus with incredibly talented Mom rocker Meredith Brooks performing her latest Children's CD, "If I Could Be..." Janeane has also been a weekly contributor on ChickChat Radio, a nationally syndicated XM satellite show, featuring a Mom rocker/musical performer each week from Mamapalooza. In July, she hosted the "Momz Rock the House Music Fest" in Orange County in Association with the the Orangewood Children's Foundation, and will be producing more events in LA and the OC.

Janeane believes that it is never too late to become what you might have been, and that chocolate and sleep are essential to motherhood.
www.momzrockthehouse.comwww.myspace.com/momzrockthehouse www.myspace.com/momsrockinthehouseStreaming LIVE Thursday's 10-1pm PST www.kuci.org KUCI 88.9 FM