When I started PlanetSoul.com in January 2007, I did it to promote the indie soul artists who I love and respect immensely, and expand on the SoulTalk audio interviews that I’d been doing since 2005. Unfortunately, the endless hours and energy required to manage and maintain the website, interviews, net radio station, artist submissions, eStore, contests, the weekly 2-hour local radio show, MySpace profile, etc. and then promote it all meant very little of me was left for my husband and two young children. As much as I loved the music and having a vehicle like PlanetSoul to promote it, days quickly turned into weeks and months of not existing in the present and enjoying my primary gig as a wife and mom, but instead constantly working to maintain it all. And the fact that the time I was putting into the site wasn’t contributing to my family financially made matters worse. Of course, I didn’t create PlanetSoul for the money, but I also didn’t anticipate the costs required to develop and maintain it and the lack of revenue it ultimately generated. 

So I’ve had to make the difficult but necessary decision to entirely refocus my energy on my family and put PlanetSoul.com on hiatus. Consequently, I’m now a familiar fixture at my kids’ elementary school, both as volunteer and substitute teacher. In the Fall, I’ll be looking into a new career as an elementary school teacher and spending some time volunteering for the Obama campaign (yes we can ). I’m excited about this new chapter and how it will benefit my family. And who knows? Perhaps I’ll hip some kids and voters to a little indie soul.

As I prepare to leave for a vacation with my three favorite people (see above ) this week and go “offline,” I wanted to take an opportunity to thank all of the indie soul artists, radio, media, and website folks, promoters, publicists, managers, and others who’ve put their hearts (and in most cases, their money) into this indie soul movement, and have provided so much encouragement, support, and inspiration to me as I tried my best, like them, to promote and share this music we all love. Thanks a million to Craig Chapman, Chai Footman, Detrel Howell, Pam Nichols, Chris Rizik, George Littlejohn, Selina Robinson, Elsa Lathan, Silawn Lewis, Mike Kitchen,  Brandon Felton, DJ Sean Sax, Soul Jones, Son of Soul, John Dean, SOBO Magazine, Jodine Dorce, Francis Jaye, Drake Phifer, Terry Bello, the PlanetBloggers, my online fam (Pink Room Fam at lalahhathaway.com, Rahsaaniacs at Rahsaan Patterson’s Yahoo! Group, the ERFs at ericrobersonmusic.com, eVangelists at vanhunt.com, Bravebirds at blisslife.com), and of course, artists like Rahsaan Patterson, Lalah Hathaway, Eric Roberson, Van Hunt, Adriana Evans, Angela Johnson, and countless others who inspire so many with their one-two punch of artistry and hustle in an industry and economy that’s endlessly challenging. (Sidebar: please check out SoulTracks.com’s fantastic new article on indie success and PlanetSoul.com’s new SoulTalk interview with indie soul artist on the rise Ra-Re Valverde.) 

Thanks again to all who continue to create, support, and promote the music – the world is better because of your contributions and passion.

I’d like to end this lil’ diatribe with a classic from Sade – an artist/goddess I’ve been missing something terrible lately . This groove right here completely describes how I’m feeling at the moment, and hopefully, how I’ll feel for the next 40 years.  

Please take some time this Summer to savor the sweetness and warmth of the season and may we all remember to Cherish The Day…every day.

With love & gratitude from my soul,
-D.
xoxoxoxo

Thanks Rah…I know I speak for so many when I say, that as far as singers go, YOU are THE PROTOTYPE. 

In honor of his birthday, I asked Rahsaan’s mother, Paulette Waters, to share a special memory about Rahsaan as a child, and she provided this gem of a story:

“Rahsaan actually sang before he talked. Everything about music and the love of melody must have been hard wired into a special place in his brain. From the time he could sit up, he responded to everything musical. The records we played at home and especially television commercials. I started to use the tv commercials to teach him how to spell. Letting him sing the commercials and telling him the letters that were in his name. One day, he announced to me that he could spell his name. Naturally I was delighted and asked him to please spell it.

He responded by singing “R-O-L-A-I-D-S” Rolaids!! Well I must admit he got the “R” right. He also got the pitch right as well as the actual tone and voice of the person who sang the commercial. Not bad for 1 1/2 years old.”

This year, Chris and his team have taken the awards to the next level, with the SoulTracks Awards show. The SoulTracks Awards are THE awards show for indie soul.

Tickets are available now: SoulTracks Awards Show

Visit www.SoulTracks.com to cast your vote and find out about this year’s awards ceremony being held at Detroit, Michigan’s Cobo Center!

Special guest Detrel Howell (one half of “One Nation Under The Soul Shack” and longtime moderator of Rahsaan’s Yahoo! Group) will be joining Deb for the Tribute to discuss some classic Rahsaan cuts and his contributions to music.

At 10 pm EST, it’s time for the SoulTalk artist interview. Deb will have Rahsaan live on the air to discuss his new CD “Wines & Spirits” and she’ll be playing selected songs from the new album, which hits stores September 25th.

The PlanetSoul Radio show is broadcast on Tampa, Florida’s WMNF. Listen to the live stream of the entire show at http://www.wmnf.org. (NOTE: you’ll need to have WinAmp loaded prior to listening – visit http://www.winamp.com for free download.)

Congrats to Silawn Lewis for coordinating this worthwhile and much needed recognition of independent soul aritsts!

Visit the Agape Artist Promotions MySpace Profile

Visit http://www.artistrymusic.net to hear the new song.

 Check out Van’s MySpace Profile for the full story and to hear a couple new joints.

The future of Internet radio is in immediate danger! Royalty rates for webcasters have been drastically increased by a recent ruling and are due to go into effect on July 15 – retroactive to Jan 1, 2006! To protest these rates and encourage the millions of net radio listeners to take action and contact their Congressional representatives, a national Day of Silence will be held today, June 26. Webcasters across the United States will observe this day of silence in a number of ways, including dedicating entire programs to the campaign to save Internet Radio and broadcasting complete silence.

Help Us With A Final Push!
We urge all friends, listeners, artists, mangers, and music lovers to support us in this effort to lower these rates to a fair level. For an easy way to help keep diversity in music alive on the internet, please visit:

Columbia Records is proud to work once again with Prince in the release of “Planet Earth” — the latest full-length studio collection from the multi-platinum Grammy-winning artist — available in North America on Tuesday, July 24, the culmination of a worldwide launch beginning July 16.
To read the press release, click here.

Listen to Prince’s new single here.