Well, yes and no...In a continued effort this year to break out of the box, the homemade wooden one I built back in the man shed, I've been invited to play with along some friends to accompnay rising Country Rock star Madonna Nash. She is from here in Wilmington, but is currently in the midst of recording a pure Nashville produced album. Our first big performance will be at a benefit concert at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, SC on May 21st. I have handfulls of free tickets if anyone is interested in going.

It should be fun as I get to do what I love most and play 4 different instruments in one show. I've been putting my old antique banjo and slide guitar into use as well as a newly acquired mandolin courtesy of my sister and her friend Jacob. It's in the shop being repaired at the moment so hopefully I'll have it in time to rock out. That along with designing my new pedal board with some fresh new additions has made this season of music making really different and really fun. I'm searching back to my punk rock roots so who knows what will come out.

New t-shirts are in!!!! As soon as I can find time, I'm going to create a little mini store on the site where you can purchase the new T-Shirts that were made for me and really for all of you. It was a combined effort of love for my 30th birthday from my friends and family. They are available in S, M, and L. So just shoot me an email if you're interested in purchasing one.

In an effort to expand my musical skills, I've been working the past few weeks creating a jingle for a local clothing store and scoring a song for my church's newest video series. It's been alot of work and fun, but it's not done yet so I have to get back to work. I'll make it available when it eventually goes up. In the meantime, please enjoy a word from me...

Reduce Reuse Reduce from J Sun Productions on Vimeo.

So in preparation for the upcoming premiere of the documentary Red Fish Can't Jump next week I'm calling in friend Theo Milojevich who you may not know but most definitely have heard playing the drums on a couple songs off of the Phoenix & the Fish. He, and Ed Sumter on Bass and hopefully my sister on acoustic strings, will be joining me for a live performance prior to the start of the movie at Level 5 in downtown WIlmington on Thursday night the 21st. Should be pretty rad.

In chatting with the friend and director of the film, Luke Pearson, I came to the realizating just now that the cover of my album actually has what appears to be a Red Drum on it...call it coincidence, fate, divine inervention...or a "Meeting" perhaps. Either way, it feels like a good partenering. THe movie is getting some great attention in the media and is filled with tunes from both of my albums and some original never before heard material as well.

I'll be heading to Costa Rica the day after the premiere to lead a group of adults for WB Surf Camp. I'm frothing about some warm weather even if its flat when I get there. On the other side of the trip, there are plans in the works for a little mini tour up the Carolinas with longtime friend/OBX pro surfer Jesse Hines and Mike Doyle, the director for Movement, to premiere my other very good friend Russel Brownley's film about the surf club in Bangladesh, "Gum For My Boat". Keep your ears and eyes open for dates cause it will come up quick!

New things abound on the last day of 2009. After an amazing stay on the island of Kauai surfing crystal clear waves and swimming with sea turtles, I'm back in Wilmington and working on all kinds of new projects. Having recorded some new material for Red Fish Can't Jump, the film will set to premiere here in town on the 21st I believe. The next day I hop a plane to Costa Rica for a week of Surf Camp. Looking forward to more warmth for the winter and seeing a good friend down there who's been teaching.

I've also spent the last two months riding a modern version of an ancient form of surfboard. I can't stop riding them and have since started researching and shaping a few. I'm hooked and I don't care who knows it! Flat finless and full of speed, the Alaias are beautiful hand shaped boards made of Paulownia wood which originates in China but is grown just south of the border in...South Carolina. I may have to give up my music aspirations to start shaping full time!....we'll see!

Check out my separate blog to follow the sliding adeventures of the alaias...J Sun Alaias

I'm stoked to be spending some time with the family somewhere warm right before Christmas. I'll let you kno where later, so as not to make anyone feel bad. But I have had a great winter so far. Aside from working steadily with my awesome Surf Camp family developing new camps for next year, interviewing new instructors, and just being blessed by getting to spend time there, I've also found myself doing quite a bit a video work.

Focusing so much on music for the past few years, I haven't really had a second thought about it, but now it seems to all be weaving together. It's not that I haven't been playing music. I've actually been recording some new material that has a very different flavor to it while still pressing ever deeper into the infinite world of exotic and cultural/tribal sounds, if you will. Working at Screen Gems doing Voice Overs and Dialouge Replacement has certainly been cool, but more so is teaching a lot about post production sound. Work I've been doing with Port City Community Church has also always been a great insight into the world of editing. So in the meantime, I've been creating little commercial projects here and there. Feel free to stop by my Vimeo site after cruising around here for while to see some of the projects. A few are still Top Secret, to be revealed at a later time. http://vimeo.com/jsunproductions