Top 5 Musical Memories of 2023

2023 was a great year for Jim Gaven, Founder/CEO of Key of Awesome Music, as far as producing original work goes. In looking back over the last 365 days, it was decided by the team to do a Top 5 Musical Memories of 2023 as a 'Year in Review'. If you are someone who is constantly looking to achieve and move on to the next goal, it can be difficult to pause for a moment and reflect on what you've done to get to where you are right now. Give yourself permission to celebrate the wins, no matter how small or big they are. It is a great exercise to improve your mental health over the long-term.

So, without further ado, in chronological order, here are The Top 5 Musical Memories of 2023 for Key of Awesome Music:

1. Releasing 2 Full-Length Albums this year: Anything is Possible on January 1st, and Infinite: Part 1 on December 19th. Also, we released 5 instrumental albums featuring the hang drum in the keys of D minor, G minor, as well as other non-traditional musical instruments.

Anything is Possible:

https://jimgaven.bandcamp.com/album/anything-is-possible

Infinite: Part 1:

https://jimgaven.bandcamp.com/album/infinite-part-1

2. Getting to 1,000 Subscribers on YouTube and really making waves with our Long-Form Videos and YouTube shorts. This enabled us to monetize our channel with over 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours. Thank you 🙏 so much for your support!

3. Receiving the Kindred Choice Award on June 24th from the Kindred Awards organization. This is a regional organization who showcases and promotes singer/songwriters/artists/musicians/bands in the Christian genre. Covering NJ, PA, DE, NY, and MD, it is quite an honor to be noticed by them in this fashion, so thank you, thank you, thank you!

4. The Day of August 25th, Jim Gaven's son spent the entire day with him. From performing at a children's library to leading a group session at a day program for adults with developmental disabilities to performing at Burlington County Institute of Technology, it was a day to be remembered. An unofficial bring your child to work day at the end of summer proved to be just what the doctor ordered!

5. Writing a dozen songs with Song on the Spot (songwriting workshop collaboration we have with SKIT (Special Kinds of Improvisational Theater) and the individuals we and they support who have developmental disabilities), and then recording them at Blue Light Digital Sound. We Performed at an annual concert on June 3rd in Hopewell and Recorded 5 of these original songs under the moniker, The Helping Hands.

Here is where you can listen to our 2nd EP,

The Thursday Night Sessions: Volume 2

Let us always remember to not only believe in our abilities, but to act on them in the pursuit of making the world a better place. For, if we choose to use our abilities for the greater good, you as well as everyone else will benefit from them. This goes for anyone who has ever lived on Planet Earth, and is how society continues to move forward with innovation and invention. It is a positive domino effect that can continue for as many generations following the current one...as long as we don't suppress, stifle, or bury our talents. When we think of it in this way, we ought to come to the realization that we owe it to ourselves and society to be our best selves every day...to really give it our best and to show up. One day at a time can add up to 365 days of goodness over and over again.

Happy New Year and Welcome 2024!