Anchor - Preview the Album

The cover for my new album, "Anchor," was photographed by Wendy Whitacre and designed by Jed Wells.

A week from today, I will celebrate a year's worth of writing.

A year's worth of soul-searching.

A year's worth of dreaming.

A year's worth of scheming.

A year's worth of wondering.

A year's worth of sweating.

Four weeks of Telefunkens.

Four weeks of Hammonds.

Four weeks of Canadians (and one Southerner).

Four weeks of host families and hotels.

Four weeks of Los Angeles.

And four weeks of happiness.

As part of the festivities, I'm posting my new album, "Anchor," for you to preview from now until it releases next week. Just click play on the music player to the right. Thanks for all your support during this time and happy listening.

P.S. For a chance to buy the album before it releases in stores, come celebrate with me at my release concert on Monday, August 2nd at the Covey Center in Provo at 7:30 p.m.! For tickets, call (801) 852-7007 or buy online at www.coveycenter.org.

P.P.S. How do I stay balanced with all this stuff and be a mom at the same time? C'mon. Do you really think I have all the answers to that? Not really. But I have found a few things that work for our family. Read about it today on www.makeitworkmom.com!

What's Going On Around Here?

What's going on around here lately?
Plenty of monkey business, I can assure you of that.
But in between these matters of (monkey) business, I've managed to :

Make an appearance on Park City TV.
That was fun.
Thanks to host, Ori Hoffer and band members, Spencer Harrison and Ryan Tilby for joining me!

Also on the list of things I've managed to do:
band practice.

This is band practice and monkey business combined.
I can count on Stuart Maxfield for that.

Meetings! And more meetings! Where Sarah Wiley has us all wrapped around her finger and we make plans about how to revitalize the arts in downtown Provo (and if you come to my release concert, the money you buy your ticket with will go towards creating a free concert series downtown).
Do you like my new (used) shoes?

And lucky for me, at our last meeting, I got to hold Ever Kendrick . . .

and stare at Jacob Jones' feet the whole time.

But wait. There's more. I'm working on the music video for "Anchor." This would be my first time working on a green screen - which will later make it possible for me to look like I'm in a hand drawn 2D world. Film is fascinating.

My favorite part of the video so far?
I get to wear a different pair of wings on each scene.

For more on my comings and goings, check out this swell article that my friend, Nicole Sheahan wrote about me today.

Krista Crafts Quilts for Karl - Brought to You by the Letters, C, Q, and K

Have you ever been to one of my concerts? You may have seen my face on stage at those shows, but the real person who coordinated them is the beautiful southern belle in the photo above. And yes, she will once again be the muscles behind my release concert on August 2nd. Krista Maurer has been doing PR, booking and management for me since I got my first record contract. The woman is a marvel. She can do EVERYTHING so incredibly proficiently it's sort of disgusting. Ask Karl Malone if you want. He just commissioned her to make a quilt for him (OUT OF HIS OLD JERSEYS!). Yeah, she gets to cut them up. Can you imagine? But anyway, because of her ability to do everything so well, I have always been able to trust in her for everything. If you see her at the show, give her a hug and tell her what an amazing job she is doing, will you? Right now, it is not a stretch to say that my life would fall apart without her. Thanks for everything, Krista!

The Photos

Meet: Wendy Whitacre

During the countdown to my CD release concert in a few weeks, I'll be featuring all of the people behind the scenes who were involved in helping me to make this album. Today, I'm jazzed about introducing you to Wendy Whitacre of Blue Lily Photography. You've seen her work all over the internet, gracing blogs far and wide. I actually can't even remember how our paths crossed, but all I know is when they did, the vision I had for the album photos somehow transferred into her mind by osmosis and she shot almost exactly what I had imagined.

Magic.

Click here to go to Wendy's blog and see the photos from our shoot for yourself.

P.S. Wendy travels all over the map to take pictures of people. She just may be in your neck of the woods soon. I see that Portland, Seattle, Calgary and Utah are all on the upcoming schedule!

(One of my favorite photos from our shoot).

COME ONE, COME ALL!!!!!!!

You are invited to the release concert for my brand, new album,
Anchor.

Improv comedy group, The Thrillionaires will be joining me, so I promise that you will laugh very hard.

I will also be performing
"All About Your Heart,"
so you may want to pack a few extra tissues in your pocket.

Know that the money from your ticket purchases will all go toward the revitalization of the arts in downtown Provo, and more specifically a free rooftop concert series in downtown beginning in September!

What else? You will be able to buy Anchor before it releases in stores. Then you can brag to your friends on Facebook that you heard it first.

The Details:

Anchor Album Release Concert
08.02.10
7:30 p.m.
The Covey Center
425 W. Center St., Provo, UT
$12 or $10 for groups of 6 or more
Buy tickets at www.coveycenter.org
OR
Call (801) 852-7007

A very special thanks to CJane of cjanerun.com for making this event possible.

Also, thanks a million to my other sponsors:
Justin Hackworth Photography
Groundloop Records
Spark
&
Bella's Fresh Mexican Grill

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU THERE!!!

It's That Time

It's that time.

Time to begin rehearsals.
Time to book shows.
Time to surrender to the outcome of my efforts.
Time to let the album I've been incubating take wing.

Last night I rehearsed a few new songs with Ryan Tilby and Spencer Harrison.
They are the best of the best.

Join us today on Park City TV at 6:00 p.m. for a few live tunes and an interview with Ori Hoffer about my album that hits stores on August 4th.

You'll hear a little banjo, a little uke, some guitar, and even mandolin.

And don't you worry, the keytar will also make an appearance.

30 Strangers

Hi. I needed to not blog for a while. I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about. But now I'm back and well rested from the blogosphere. I want to tell you about an event in downtown Provo (my town) called the 30 Strangers exhibit. What is the 30 Strangers Exhibit? I'll tell you. A brilliant man and fine art photographer by the name of Justin Hackworth spent 30 days in April photographing 30 mothers and daughters whom he had never met. Instead of charging a sitting fee, he asked the ladies to donate the money to the Center for Women and Children in Crisis. I'm telling you, this man is my hero. Today (Friday, July 2nd), you can come and see these gorgeous portraits of mothers and daughters between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. at 26 West, Center St. in Provo. For a $75 donation to the center you can also book a mother/daughter portrait sitting at the exhibit tonight as well. I'm definitely going to be signing up for that!

I love people who find creative ways to help out in their community. That's why I'm really excited to be on a committee with Justin Hackworth as well as Courtney Kendrick and Sarah Wiley to help breathe new life in downtown Provo. We're working on some fun ideas for the downtown we love so much. But for now, you can support both downtown and women and children in crisis at the same time by stopping by the 30 Starngers event tonight. I'll see you there!

P.S. For more information about the 30 Strangers exhibit, click here.