These days I’m all about pursuing my dreams, getting what I want my way!  I’ve spent so much time waiting for things to come my way and I’m very proud of myself for getting some thangs DONE!  It’s crazy how fast time flies and then I neglect my blog more than normal!  One day when I’m not plagued with work I will get better about writing more consistently but for now, I just hope you all stick with me!  I have great stories to tell!

First, a little catch up.

I left you last time whilst standing on a rooftop and shouting about my excitement over recording my first album.  I can barely believe that we did this one month ago.  “We” meaning myself and of course Megan and Mike, the brains of the operation. Their guidance, their musicianship, and their knowledge impressed me on a daily basis.

I arrived in North Carolina and had lunch with my dear Megan.  She is the friend who I can not talk to for a year and our conversations will be better than ever when we reunite.  She is the definition of that friend BUT it’s so much better now that I get to see and talk to her.  If we lived closer I know these conversations, these projects, and this camaraderie would be all the time. I treasure our time together.

I spent almost week with Megan, Mike and their two adorable kiddos.  At night, it was all about the album and getting down to business, but during the day we got to hang out, talk, and play with the kiddles. Such personalities!  I just fell a little more in love with them every day with every hilarious observation or thought they shared. I’ve known Mike since Megan started dating him in college, but we got to hang out too!  An amazing all around guy, hilarious, great dad with such talent. It’s so rare as an adult to spend an extended amount of quality time with the people you love.  To share and create something we love was the bonus.

And what a bonus indeed.  Jamming til late at night on music I love, that I picked… Singing my heart out…. Going again to make it perfect…. Reminding myself that I am a singer, a musician, and a performer even though I’m not earning a living at it…  I am all of these things and I lived like it for a whole week.

As a singer and a teacher, I know all about technique and color and placement and this and that, blah blah.  I’ve spent a good amount of time in a recording studio, singing and teaching. I have worked with excellent teachers and coaches all of my life who have been tough on me, but having friends work with you is REAL. When I knew I sucked and wanted to try it again, they were like yeaaa do that. Authentic, folks.  It’s the goods. We worked a little every night on our long list of songs which we whittled down from 15 to 10 tracks.  I’m a perfectionist and so are they.  Multiple takes were on the agenda for every song, making little tweaks everywhere. On the last night, I was struggling big time with the last song, frustrated with where it was and what I was or wasn’t doing vocally, and Megan, embracing her inner Tim Gunn, yelled “Make it work!” Inspiration to say the least! I learned so much about myself and my voice.   It’s awe-inspiring how even in my thirties, I feel like I’m figuring everything out all over again.  I’m a woman.  I’m a wife. I’m a hard worker. I hopefully will someday be a mother.  All of this changes everything.  I’m not a kid out of college anymore, pretending to be a grown up.  Everything is different.

I’m forever grateful to my collaborators Megan and Mike; this album is as much about them as it is about me. As a performer, you must have a ton of support because it’s such a tough business.  The world falls apart or you set it on fire— the roller coaster never ends. I’m sharing this with everyone who supported me along the way.  It’s as much a love song to them as it is to my amazing husband and family, especially Mom. I’m so proud of what we’ve done and I cannot wait to share what we’ve produced.

So that’s my life!  The tracks are currently in post-production, mixing and layering instruments.  I haven’t heard a thing and I’m only going slightly insane because I know they are in such good hands. We will officially release in October and I’ll announce the official release date soon!   Next on the agenda:

EUROPE with the HUBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then coming back to make T-shirt quilts and open an ETSY store of my crocheted items!

What a year!  2015 pristine.

 

PS: I answered a lot of questions that I wondered to myself in the last blog too.

“Could I afford it?”

I’m not rich by any means, but there was no Kickstarter campaign for my album. It came from my hard work.  I was extremely lucky to know people with recording studio experience and facilities who were more than willing to work with me who magically are also musicians who play multiple instruments.  Pure luck and truly the only reason I’m able to do all of this. I paid for a talented photographer to do my cover art, I paid for the licenses to every song, sheet music and access to distribution, I paid for a flight to go record with my friends, and I paid for a really hot dress to wear for my cover shoot.  When I make hard copy CDs, I will incur those costs as well, but all in all, I was smart and thrifty.  I would rather people buy my album than help produce it.  Hint, Hint! After this amazing learning process, I can help people out if they have questions.

“Did I feel like a fool for putting out my own album?”

Hell no.  I’m going to be proud as punch when this hits the internet.  I’m still in shock that it all happened.  It doesn’t feel real yet.

“Would people think that next I was going to put on shows in my basement?”

Well, fuck them if they do.  When they hear the quality of this recording, no one will doubt for a moment that I work with incredibly talented people and I am a vocal force to be reckoned with.

Clearly, it all went well.