Eat St, Yayo's, & Music :)

Friday 11/11/11 was an exciting day for my family- our business Yayo's OMG (see the previous blog for more details) was filmed for an episode on Season 3 of the hit Cooking Channel show Eat St! The taping was done in the heart of Music Row on 18th Ave S in front of the offices of a great non-profit organization Conexion Americas...I was busy behind the scenes taking pictures & video of it all as the people of Nashville (including Mayor Karl Dean) came out to support Yayo's tv debut, and it was totally unexpected but the director decided he wanted to film me singing for the show as well!

So with my percussionist Billy Ramirez we put on an impromptu performance on the sidewalk and even got the crowd dancing a bit, haha :)


It was a cool expereince, and I will keep you all posted on when this show will be airing, sometime early next year- it was great to be a part of this with my parents, and I appreciate all the new friends we've made in Nashville who have supported us unconditionally in this new venture!

 Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving with your loved ones, and a beautiful start to the holiday season xoxo

A foodie project-Yayo's OMG!!!

Logo created by: Leti Bergen

For this blog, I'm going to veer off the musical topics, & tell you about another major passion of mine=FOOD & about the new business I started in Nashville with my dad!! That's right, I'm a self proclaimed foodie, love to try out all kinds of different cuisines and dishes, baking is an experience that gives me great joy =)!! But anyway- this passion for food is one of the many things I inherited from my dad-other than fanaticism for soccer, reading, & writing-but yes, my daddy-Chef Yayo is a culinary artist & lover of food (especially the food from his native Mexico) who can whip up just about anything in a matter of minutes and make an amazing dish!

So, when I moved out here to Nashville with my mom & sis to continue to work on my music career-my dad had to stay back in Florida because he and my uncle- Celebrity Chef ZeCarlos Jimenez were embarking on a new venture by opening up the Gourmet Mexican Mobile Food Truck- The Mexzican Gourmet

We have always been an extremely close family and the separation was really hard for us, so we tried to think of ways for my dad to be able to relocate to Nashville, and seeing that Nashville was beginning to open up to the Food Truck experience- I suggested to my dad that we should expand the food truck/catering biz by opening our own truck here in Music City!!

After a few months of planning, my dad and I became partners in this venture, he's the Chef & creative culinary boss & in my free time not doing music, I'm involved in the design, social media, branding aspect of the business :) We opened up in late June- Yayo's OMG! (my dad is Yayo & OMG stands for Original Mexican Gourmet) Mobile Food Truck & Catering Services- is a state of the art kitchen on wheels serving up "Vintage Mexican Cuisine w/ a modern twist to the beautiful people of Music City!


The locations of where the truck serves changes daily for lunch & dinner, and followers keep updated by the daily posts on Facebook & Twitter (would love it if you could click on the previous FB & Twitter links to follow & support Yayo's)
Having only been 5 months in operation, Yayo's already has a growing base of fabulous customers, Our "Legend Taco" was chosen as one of the Top 12 dishes of Nash Food Trucks in the Nashville Business Journal, & on Friday November 11th- Yayo's will be filming it's tv debut for Cooking Channel/Food Network's popular show Eat St!!


So whenever you're in the Nashville area, please be sure to look up & try out Yayo's OMG!- I might be bias when I say I believe it has the BEST Mexican food in town- but you will have to try it for yourself and see :)

Live on the Green (opening for Los Lonely Boys)

Well I'm happy to be blogging again, been keeping busy and hadn't had a chance to write a new post, but now I'm excited to write about the event I had the pleasure of being a part of last Thursday-Live on the Green!!! This is a concert series that happens in front of the courthouse in downtown Nashville and draws huge crowds of music lovers....The headliner for the night was Los Lonely Boys- the group of brothers that plays Texican rock n' roll- and I was invited to be a part of the opening act, as a guest performer with the local band Rumba....Got there early to do sound check,wind was blowing and it was super cold (especially for this Floridian girl) but I was pumped and ready for the show!!!

While waiting for the show to start, I got to escape the cold a bit and hang out backstage on one of the Lonely Boys tour buses-extremely cool for me because I've been dreaming about being on my own tour bus for a long time, different city every night, getting to go on stage and sharing my music= so I'm thinking this is a sign of what my future home will look like =)


Anyway, once showtime came, there were tons of people in the crowd, the vibe was great, and it's always such a blessing to get up on a stage and get to have that one on one moment with the audience-yes-music is pure bliss!!

Hopefully I can get some video of this performance posted on Youtube soon-and some new music uploaded to share with you all-thank you for continuing to stay with me on this musical journey, I always love to hear from all you beautiful people who I've come across over the years- you're an inspiration in music & in life............

ASCAP Songcamp

The last week of October, I had the honor of participating in the ASCAP SongCamp 2010 held at the ASCAP Nashville offices! A weeklong event which brings together top, award-winning songwriters from all genres of music, all in one place to do what they do best, make beautiful songs!

Below is a list of everyone who participated, some of the most talented individuals in the music business, who I had the pleasure of writing with during this event. Be sure to check out their sites and music! Hopefully soon you will hear the great songs written during this week released, I will keep you guys posted! xoxo =)

Estee Bullock
Paulina Aguirre
Michael Farren
James Fortune
Stan Jones
Deon Kipping
Jose Luis Morin
Perucho
Don Poythress
Sue Smith
Tony Wood

"Nashville Moonlight"

Lately I've been writing lots and lots of new songs and I really couldn't wait any longer to start sharing them with you guys! So, this week I'd like to introduce you to a song that I started writing right before I made my move to Nashville and finished up the day I finally moved in to my new home... I'll tell you a little story of how the idea came to me :)

In a meeting one day with my management team, someone mentioned that this was a great move for my career, and I was going to be like a flower blooming in Nashville =) I absolutely loved that phrase and when I got home immediately picked up my guitar and started working on the new song...adding little pieces to it everyday, inspired by all the mix of feelings and events leading up to the big day in which my family and I packed up a Penske truck and moved to the beautiful state of Tennessee!!!

I recorded an acoustic demo of this song called "Nashville Moonlight" and as a thank you for your continued support & friendship, you can download this song by clicking the "Free Download" link below! The lyrics are also posted below....Hope you enjoy it & can't wait to hear what you think! Love & Blessings~ Gio

Nashville Moonlight

The sky is a midnight blue
The truck's packed with memories stacked up 2 by 2
First the old and then the new
Only got goodbyes left to do

2 tears stream down my face
It's a bittersweet and long embrace
The time has come to move away
We knew this day would come someday

I'm goin to the place where I'll find my heart
And I'll show the world, just what I'm made of

Chorus

This flower's goin to blossom in the Nashville moonlight
I'm goin' to fly a Bluebird till I hit a strike
This flower's goin to blossom with the Tennessee rain
I'm goin' to stretch on through the field of endless dreams
Until I find my way

I'm walking out the same old doors
That I won't see anymore
But you gotta risk in order to win
When you got a dream this big

I'm goin to the place where I'll find my heart
And I'll show the world, just what I'm made of

Chorus

This flower's goin to blossom in the Nashville moonlight
I'm goin' to fly a Bluebird till I hit a strike
This flower's goin to blossom with the Tennessee rain
I'm goin' to stretch on through the field of endless dreams
Until I find

my way, the time, the place
is here and now
I'm off to find
What I have dreamed about
all my life
Here under the Nashville moonlight

Mix Nashville, Songsmith Night, & ACM Honors Awards

Hello everyone!

I've been a resident of Nashville for a month now, and have already had some pretty awesome experiences that I wanted to share with you.

First up was Mix Nashville, a 2-day event, full of panels featuring the top engineers, producers and music innovators from the Nashville music production community, including the Grammy-winning producer of Taylor Swift's Fearless album, Nathan Chapman.

There was much to learn from all the speakers, and if you want to see a recap of the highlights from MIX, check out video at the link below
http://mixonline.com/ms/nashville/video/2010_highlights_reel/


Another cool event was the monthly "World Music Nashville Songsmith Night", a songwriters clinic, where the featured guest speaker and performer was #1 Hit Songwriter Chuck Jones. His songs have been recorded by artists as diverse as Patti Labelle, Reba McEntire, Rascal Flatts, Randy Travis, Kenny Rogers, and many more. Everyone in the audience got treated to a medley of his hit songs, including “Your Love Amazes Me”. Another highlight of the evening was when Chuck brought up a special guest to sing with him on stage, his 8 year old daughter Savannah, who wowed us all with her awesome voice!

A lot of you know that I've been involved for a while now with the non-profit organization, Musicians on Call, who brings music to the bedsides of patients in hospitals. Well thanks to the Nashville chapter of Musicians on Call, I was invited to attend the Academy of Country Music Honors awards on Monday, Sept 20th. It was a fabulous night, hosted by LeAnn Womack, with performances by Martina McBride, Kenny Rogers, Buxton Huges, The Secret Sisters, Randy Travis, and more.

Speaking of Randy Travis, you might have seen the pic I tweeted from the event. There's a funny story behind this, because a few days before the ACM Awards I had finished reading a biography about Randy, called Randy Travis : king of the new country traditionalists by Don Cusic (which I highly recommend for any fans of Randy and his music). By the end of the book, I felt I had known Randy Travis all my life :) So it was really exciting, when on Monday night, as I walked into the Ryman Auditorium, standing very close to my seat was Randy Travis and his manager Lib Hatcher!!! I approached him, and told him that I had recently read his biography and was really inspired by it, also saying that just like him, I had recently moved to Nashville to pursue my dream! He was super nice, took the time to take the pic and ask me where I was from, and to keep working hard for my dreams. But the best part of all was when he said "Giovy, hmmm, that's a unique name, I've never heard that, I like it a lot" :)

So there you have it! Lots of exciting things happening here in Nashville, and the best is yet to come :) Will continue to keep you all posted! Thank you for reading, Love Always~ Gio

MOVE TO MUSIC CITY

Friends, Family, & Fans- the last few weeks have been a crazy but exciting time for me! As many of you already know, this is because I've made the long-awaited move to one of the coolest cities in the world- Nashville, Tennessee (the famous Music City, USA). A city rich in history and pretty much heaven for any singer/songwriter or true music lover, as many of us are!


I must admit that it's quite a change from Miami, Fl where I was born and raised, but I've definitely been charmed by Tennessee's gorgeous mountains/scenery, the friendly people, and inspiring music scene!








I'm really looking forward to immersing myself in this awesome community of songwriters who call Nashville home, along with continuing work on my debut album, among other projects :)



Will keep you all posted on a special release of new music that I have coming out soon....For now I hope you'll enjoy these pictures taken of my trip and new home, including a few shots of a performance at the world renown- Bluebird Cafe!! Stay tuned, and thank you always for continuing to support me in this beautiful journey!
Love & Blessings!