First Day of Tracking.

Who wants to spend 7 hours in the studio on a sunny weekend day in May?

um, ME!

Last Saturday was the best day I've had in a long time. I'm talking years. And I barely did a thing. I just listened, commented and took it all in. Niall (my sweet and talented photographer/boytoy/executive album producer) & I went to the studio around 1pm, and arrived to a full house. Adam (awesome producer) was there, along with Betsy (coolest guitar-badass/friend I know), Kevin (bassist extraordinaire) and Brady (drummin' all night long). Betsy is the only musician I knew personally, and I was trusting that Adam had chosen the right drummer & bassist. Aaaand he did. They were awesome. Knew everything backwards and forwards, had cool interesting ideas to add, and best of all, were responsive to Adam and my direction.

So warning, I'm about to lay on the cheese, but... It was nothing short of freakin' magical. They were playing MY songs (specifically, *spoiler alert!* Deaf Ears, Linger & Fight or Flight). And they sounded so real - so full - so awesome. I kept looking over to Niall and smiling - with this HUGE "I'm such a dork - I'm SO excited - this couldn't be cooler" kind of look on my face. I can't wait for you all to hear it.

Special thanks to my sweetness for the photos, capturing something I don't ever want to forget.

Where Does the Time Go?

Things have been so insanely busy lately.

As an independent, DIY artist these days, you have to do everything. I'm talking things that people like Carrie Underwood have a team of 75 people doing. This blog is focused on the making of my first record - which is by far the most exciting and already rewarding experiences of my life. But it is a HUGE undertaking. Supremely time consuming (and $ consuming). The record is all I can think about, but it is just a small percentage of what I'm doing to move forward my music.

These days, I spend my time researching and contacting venues in order to book shows. Keeping my EPK (electronic press kit) up to date, is a job in itself. Updating it with new shows, quotes, mp3s and pictures... sigh. It is a never-ending process. In terms of booking, though, I've been a lucky lately, and a few very cool shows have fallen into my lap; I got a call last week about doing a show at Silos (adorable wine bar) in Napa on July 8th, then an email about doing a daytime gig in Redwood City in June, and most exciting - I'm adding to a bill on August 12th at The Hotel Utah with a new friend, Keeley Valentino (whose songs I can't stop singing - check her out).

Then there is promotion - a whole other animal. I spend hours putting together the Promo Posters for Facebook and all that jazz (and believe me, I'm the furthest thing from a graphic designer). This week's project has been finding sponsors (we just signed on Kelly Wooden with the Redding Chase Bank), setting up places to reserve tickets online and inviting people to a Backyard Concert & BBQ I'll be doing in my hometown on June 26th. It is SOOO exciting, and the man who is throwing it is just WONDERFUL to be offering up his home - Gerry Gitchell. So glad I met him (randomly) in San Fran earlier this year. It's always exciting when friends have ideas for shows - and to see this huge concert materialize is super fun.

Oh then the web updating - keeping my website up to date and relevant, being active on Facebook & Twitter, sending out mailing list emails, running contest like the iPod giveaway I'm doing in July, posting my shows to online publications - and a big push I'm working on - keeping this blog up to date! I have like 6 unfinished entries; I'll get better and more timely, I promise. And I'm trying to feel out the Blog World a bit - figure out what the RSS feed is (is that a really dumb comment?) and meet some more bloggers! Just takes time, I guess.

Notice I have yet to even mention writing music, singing, practicing my piano skills... Some days are like that, where all I do is music business stuff - and I hate going to bed realizing that I didn't play enough music. Because why the hell else am I doing all this other crap? I'm not a promoter, booker, manager, publicist, videographer or web designer at heart; I'm a musician. And if I have to do all of the former in order to make it work; to get my music heard, to earn a living doing what I'm most passionate about, so be it. I'm in this whole-heartedly at this point. There is NO plan B. Eat, sleep, dream, breathe music.

This is it. Here goes everything.

Choosing Songs. Who Knew I was a Commitment-Phobe?

I've been writing songs for over five years now.  Some of them have been god-awful, others I still love.  I think at this point I've written almost 100 songs.  Which makes this process of choosing 11 songs for this record terrifying.  Why 11?  With that number I believe the record has enough substance, but there is also room for growth, if along the way I find funding for more.  The flexibility is comforting.

I've been in and out of the studio recently working on pre-production with Adam.  Choosing 11 songs was almost too easy.  We agreed on almost every decision - and now I have this list.  This list of 11 songs that will go on my very first record.  The weight of that set in on me, and now I'm having second thoughts.  I'm listening to all the songs that didn't make the cut, and I'm feeling sad about them.  Its like they are now officially abandoned, and I feel guilty.  I have friends of mine, people who have supported me over the years, asking why their favorite live song isn't going on the record.  Melodramatic, I realize, but it breaks my heart!

Something I'm considering to soften the impact of all this, is to put out a demo-sampler now, and include live tracks of these songs that won't be on the record.  I've been looking for something to give people at shows, so maybe a live CD would be perfect for that purpose.  Give people enough to get excited about the full-length studio record & give some of those older songs their day in the sun...  Might be just the thing :)