WEAKEND PLANNER FEELS THE HEAT, CRANKS UP THE AC

CALENDAR
Fri, June 29^th
7:30pm
Brad Paisley with Jack Ingram, Taylor Swift and Kellie Pickler @ Coors Amphitheatre in San Diego.

9:00pm
Breaking Benjamin w/ Sick Puppies @ House of Blues Sunset

BET presents One Night with Ne-Yo, Trey Songz, and Paula Campbell @ House of Blues Atlantic City.

Weekend Warriors @ Judge Roy Bean’s, Simi Valley, CA

Spoon @ Sled Island Music Festival, Calgary

Buckcherry, Finger Eleven and Default @ Festival of Lights

10pm
Zac Harmon @ Harvelle’s, Santa Monica

Los Lobos @ Avi Hotel & Casino, Laughlin

Sat. July 30
5:00pm
Ride On Organization Barn Dance: A fundraiser for the Ride On Chatsworth therapeutic horsemanship program. Located at 21126 Chatsworth (West of DeSoto & East of Topanga) in Chatsworth, CA. For more info on this event and organization, call 818.700.2971 or visit www.rideon.org

7:10pm
Padres vs. Dodgers @ Chavez Ravine: Brad Penny takes his 10-1 record against Jake Peavy. These have been the two best pitchers in the National League so far this year, so I expect an incredible game that I hope the Dodgers win.

8:00pm
Lyfe Jennings @ House of Blues Orlando.

The Police w/ Fiction Plane @ New Orleans Arena

Breaking Benjamin w/ Sick Puppies @ House of Blues Anaheim

The “True Colors” Tour featuring Cyndi Lauper, Deborah Harry, Erasure, The Cliks @ The Greek, Los Angeles

Sun, July 1^st
7:00pm
John Mayer w/ Ben Folds @ Blossom, Cleveland

8:00pm
Joan Armatrading @ Ford Amphitheatre, Los Angeles

Sara Evans @ Grant Park, Chicago

The Panic Division @ The Beat Kitchen, Chicago

Spyro Gyra @ Spring Mountain State Park, Las Vegas

Toby Keith @ Smirnoff Music Centre Dallas

9:00pm
Michael Schenker Group @ Granada Theatre, Dallas

The Mooney Suzuki @ Dante’s, Portland,OR

JE-C’S NEW MOVIE RUNDOWN
Ratatouille
Starring the voices of: Patton Oswalt, Brad Garrett, Ian Holm, Janeane Garofalo, Peter O’Toole
Synopsis: Remy is a little rat with big dreams of becoming a world-class chef. So he makes a home under a fancy Parisian restaurant and forms an unlikely bond with a lowly garbage boy, Linguini (Lou Romano), that will take them both to new, unimagined culinary heights, that is if Remy doesn't get caught by the real chefs first.
Thoughts: The early buzz on Ratatouille has been nothing but positive, and this could be one of the best Pixar animated films yet! It looks like the perfect family movie for the holiday weekend.

Sicko
Starring: Michael Moore
Synopsis: Controversial filmmaker Michael Moore aims his camera at the diseased American health care industry for his latest documentary.
Thoughts: I wanna say this movie will be really good, but how can I do that when the material will be very upsetting? I think it will be one of the most important movies of the year, however, and I recommend that everyone see it.

Also out this weekend:
Live Free or Die Hard: The reviews have been really good, and some people say this is the best Die Hard yet. I don’t know if I really believe that, but it looks like it could be really good.

JE-C’S ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Here’s a recap of some of the artists I have featured:
Digital Summer: www.myspace.com/digitalsummer
Lennex: www.myspace.com/lennex
Captiol Risk: www.myspace.com/capitolrisk
Judge Jackson: www.myspace.com/judgejackson

ARTIST EMPOWERMENT IN THE NEW MUSIC INDUSTRY
The Mythical Battle of the Right Brain vs. the Left Brain
By Barrett Yeretsian

With a proud smirk, the musician leans over to the beautiful woman at the bar and says, "I'm such a 'right-brained' person. You know, the creative artist type. Numbers, organization and business have never been my thing. I just make music…I leave the rest to the people who wear the suits."

It is as if the muses from above hand a script to all aspiring artists and tell them that they have to define themselves in this way if they are to become artists. It is true that there are different parts of the human brain that are responsible for different faculties. It is also the case that certain parts of an individual's brain may be more developed, whether because of genetics or because one has worked harder to cultivate those regions of the brain over others. I will argue that a "whole-brained" artist, the artist who develops both sides of the brain, is the empowered artist of the future. In the new music industry, great art is only a part of the story.

As artists, we tend to glorify the dominance of the right hemisphere of our brain and undermine the critical role of the left hemisphere. The left hemisphere of the brain is responsible for the linear processing of information by arranging pieces in logical order and then inferring conclusions. The process of decision-making in the left hemisphere is based on proof and logic and it tends to be objective. People who have "left-brain-dominance" are highly organized planners who have a realistic worldview. This is a far cry from the mysterious persona that artists try to embody.

The right hemisphere of the human brain, on the other hand, processes information intuitively and in a non-linear fashion. This hemisphere's processing tends to be visual and creative, with more focus on aesthetics, feelings and emotion. Those with "right-brain dominance" are often unorganized and have trouble prioritizing. Studies have shown that artistic ability tends to be housed in the right hemisphere of an artist's brain.

We come again to the critical distinction between the mysterious persona that an artist tries to embody in public and the traits that an artist has to develop to achieve his/her goals. Though we tend to process information in our dominant side, the truth is, both hemispheres work together in almost every aspect of our lives. Save for people who have had one hemisphere of their brain removed, there is no strictly "right-brained" or "left-brained" person. Dominance is a preference, not an absolute, and though it is mysterious and intriguing to consider oneself a "right-brained" artist, the artists of tomorrow are those who work hard to cultivate all of their faculties, not just their creative side.

An artist who only works on developing the right hemisphere's faculties is like blind ship captain with a broken compass who tries to navigate through the rough seas with only intuition, feeling and creativity. Compare that to another captain who has 20/20 vision, as well as superior knowledge of the seas, weather patterns, and his ship's construction. The ideal captain integrates the attributes of both captains as he confidently takes the helm steering the ship towards his destination while taking a moment to breathe in the exhilaration of the open sea. Savvy?

In the coming weeks we will be delving into which parts of the left hemisphere need to be cultivated in order for an artist to achieve empowerment. We will also explore the development of an artist's intuition, creativity and the relationship of an artist with his/her emotions, the faculties controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain. Next week's column, "Entitlement: The World Serves Me," will be exploring the idea of more dangerous, unreasonable expectations.

Barrett is currently producing several very talented artists, composing for film and television, performing with and writing songs for several of his own projects and teaching the drums at all levels. He welcomes and encourages any and all feedback relating to his column. You can email him at: [email protected]