my little sister is getting married! i can hardly believe it myself. it seems like it was just yesterday that i was ordering her around and forcing her to do dance routines and skits for my parents... making her play games like... school... and barbie mansion... and... restaurant... i still recall one saturday at my grandma's house that i convinced her it would be "fun" to turn all of our books into a library complete with card catalog... ya... sorry jess... 

anyway... it's coming up really fast! she picked up her dress last week and i mailed the invitations for her bridal shower. i couldn't be happier for her. for a million reasons... but the number one reason is... SHE IS HAPPY! really really happy. 

jess is getting married out of state and i am trying to earn extra cash to cover my airfare and hotel... when i had this weird realization all of a sudden that i have paintings in spades. i have piles of paintings at work and at home... and so i have decided to hold a sale. a nifty fifty sale. if you have seen one of my paintings at a show or on my website in the past... and maybe it was just a little out of your price range... this could be a great chance to purchase it for a fraction of the cost... every single painting on the nifty fifty page is $50. no matter the size or subject matter. 

if there's a piece that you've always been interested in but it's not included in the nifty fifty... please email me... now more than ever i could be in the mood to make a deal :) 

as always i still accept trades and barters... so even the other starving artists out there are welcome to shoot me an email... you know who you are... 

watch the nifty fifty for updates and additions in the month of March. 

i will leave the page up until April 1st... but once something sells it's gone.  these are all originals and there are no prints. i have included some of my very favorites!

NIFTY FIFTY SALE 

if you have any questions about the sale... please feel free to email me: reachtheartist@gmail.com 

a few years ago... when Harrelson Trumpets was still in it's infancy... operating out of a kitchen office, a two car garage, a basement milling shop/trim kit finishing room and from time to time, a bathroom photo studio... there was something we were hearing a lot about... social media and youtube. i used myspace at that time in conjunction with my etsy.com artist's profile/shop to promote my paintings and my art shows. i was making a lot of contacts quickly and easily and i thought it was something that could easily translate to the trumpet music business. at that time we really didn't have the resources time-wise to shoot video and post it where people could see it. we were busy assembling, packing and shipping trumpets and sometimes... if we were lucky... getting through all of the phone calls and emails that were coming in. we were seriously a small business with growing pains. we haven't stopped growing... not once... since we sold our first trumpet. we also have done very little in the way of advertising. my position has shifted repeatedly over the years... to fit the needs of this ever-changing company. one amazing thing about operating with such a small staff... staff meetings can be quite short, concise and productive... sometimes as easy as... "do you think that makes sense... yes, me too, ok... good... now do it... ok... talk to you later..."  well, currently... a normal day could find me updating the webstore, designing fliers for a new campaign, shooting photos for an upcoming sale, editing video, tracking clients gigs... conducting an interview... or, like today... organizing our hundreds of youtube videos into some sort of cohesive playlist set. our models often evolve, as does our shooting technique... after going through the videos today i realized we've really come a long way... just in the last few years. the thing i love best about my job is watching this thing we've built grow into it's own monster. we now have clients all over the globe... and yet, our advertising still consists almost 100% of client word of mouth... or song of mouth... our horns speak for themselves... and then our clients shout their praises also. from where i sit it is overwhelmingly obvious... but i suppose not all of you know that. trust me... i design the advertising... which we usually throw on facebook or our website... we have only ever advertising in one publication... and yet we have hundreds of clients in every genre on continents and stages all over the world. it's extremely exciting. 

well, now for show and tell... here's the youtube channel we started not that long ago... and hopefully now the option of selecting particular models in organized playlists will make it easier for you to navigate.


I realized today when working on this that we've had over 111, 600 views on our youtube channel... that's almost 1000 more than we had yesterday. i just wanted to say thank you to everyone that has taken the time to listen to the music we are trying to make here every day. we really do put our hearts into it. and have done nothing but that since the day we began. 

which brings me to one of my favorite quotes of all time... something i live by... not just at work... but in everything i do:

“Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard, and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.” — Conan O’Brien 

a little preview of the latest shipment back from plating... this mouthpiece belongs to Jason... and there's a trumpet that goes with it... 

in other news... our milling machine decided to seize up and fill the shop with electrical smoke... we've got the guys here now working on it... and hope to be up and running again soon... it's always something... 

so... by now you all know about our involvement with the Big City Players Movie Project!
But I wanted to let you all know that the Kickstarter Campaign is up and running! We are very excited to partner with Dave Richards and the rest of the Big City Players to make this movie a great success! Check out the Kickstarter Page Here!

There are great incentives for getting involved in the process... Harrelson Trumpets is offering gift certificates, keychains and even TRUMPETS! to people that donate... you should really check out the incentives section... you could essentially support this amazing project and at the same time receive a completely custom collectible one of a kind Harrelson Trumpet for yourself! 

Here's a little video we made showing just how the Big City Players Keychains are designed and machined in house at Harrelson Trumpets!

i spent some time this morning talking with david richards... dave's been a client of ours for quite some time now... and a real partner in that he's helped to spread the word about our horns. currently dave is living and playing in new york city... a gigging musician that recently bit off a giant piece of work... a film project. harrelson trumpets is partnering with him on some aspects and we are very excited to watch it play out. i personally... will be keeping tabs on dave and the project at large as well as working to bridge harrelson trumpets and his efforts around the country ... wherever this project takes him. when i talked to dave this morning... i asked if he has a blog going... or somewhere online i can check in on his progress... get updates... and just generally stalk him while he's up to his neck in things in the coming months... he laughed and said... well... i set up a blog... but with filming... and performing... and setting everything up... it's hard to slow down long enough to then talk about it too... something i understand all too well... we have the same happy "problem" here at harrelson trumpets... but... like i have discovered in the recent year especially... people can't get excited about things they don't know are happening... and so... i take it upon myself to spread the word as loudly and as often as i can... for our company... and our artists... and our clients... and now... too... for dave and the big city players... here's a little preview... and trust me... i will be talking your ear off about this project in the coming months! just try not to be excited :)!



Here's some more information... 


Release Date TBA
Genre True-Life Documentary
Description This is a full length documentary on the journey of a jazz musician in the trenches of New York. David Richards, a former professional baseball player of 18 years, follows his dream to be a jazz trumpeter in New York City. After a tumultuous career in sports, filled with great levels of success and touches of bad luck, he follows his original dream of being a musician. We get a close look at the w...See More

StarringDavid Richards, Richie Cannata, Gil Paris, Bernie Williams, Frosty Lawson, Tommy Morimoto, Bill Gulino, Neville L'Green, , AND MORE TO BE ADDED

Produced By Southpaw Media