Recording: Day 2 (Toe Tapping & Tears for Fears)

Today we tracked bass and drums; cause for some serious toe tapping.

Meet the drummer: Jamie Wollam.

Stuart is using his hands as "cymbals" to communicate to Jamie how
he would like the drums to sound.

Joe plugs his bass in and records his brilliance right along with the drums.

My job right now? Listening. I know. It's tough.

Stu steps into the room where Jamie is set up to discuss ideas.

Lunch. Yum.

Jamie pulls up a youtube video of him playing at the Walton with Tears for Fears. On April 13, he goes on tour with them. Yeah. No big deal. Tears for Fears is only ONE OF MY FAVORITE BANDS EVER!

Jamie likes to lay on the ground a lot.

Jamie is also vain. This is the 10th picture we took before he was satisfied with his appearance; after all, he does work as a male model on the side. Only joking of course! (about it being the 10th picture. It was actually the 15th).

Thanks for following along with me on my recording adventure. More to come soon . . .

Recording: Day 1

When I first heard this song, I fell in love with it. I wanted whoever produced that song to produce songs for me. I found him and somehow, with a little time, a little wishing, a little luck and a little work, I found myself in his studio today recording the first part of my new album.

Meet: Stuart Brawley

And partner in crime: Joe Corcoran

And Trusty Assistant: Drew Harris

Stu has a little Casio that makes cool sounds . . .

A Yamaha that makes lush sounds . . .

An AKG microphone that makes vintage sounds (me likey) . . .

An organ that makes . . . organish sounds . . .

And a robot. I don't know what kinds of sounds the robot makes.

Drew knows how to work the console. But even if he didn't, his hat would make him seem legit.

Joe is witty and almost as brilliant as his guitar parts.

After a day of setting tempos, selecting keys, and laying down some scratch tracks, Stuart made me some herbal tea . . .

And sent me home with a lemon from his tree.

I have a feeling I'm going to like it here in the Back Yard.

I Want to Love You Tender

Lately I have been researching music videos in an attempt to find cool ideas for the one I'm going to make this year. My friend Jessica Cope sent this one to me. The choreography is simply astounding. See for yourself.

Wannabe

I am a wannabe. A wannabe recording engineer, a wannabe interior designer, a wannabe anthropologist, and lately:
a wannabe photographer.

This is Justin Hackworth. He is the real McCoy.

On Friday afternoon last week, I glanced at Twitter for a split second and saw this tweet from Justin: "Anyone want to assist me at a photo shoot today? Sure could use some help." Without hesitating I posted back a "Yes." These are not Justin's photos (his are WAY better) but rather my documentation of that photo shoot on my iPhone camera.

After seeing the genuine interest and patience that Justin has and the way he makes his subjects feel so at ease, I knew I could never do what he does. I'll stick with writing songs tucked away in my office like a hermit, thank you very much.

I told Justin that if I could get married all over again, I would spend the large part of my budget on the photography. "Everyone always tells me that!" he replied. It's one of the very few tangible things you walk away with to remind you of your wedding
for the rest of your life.

Do you remember this? Maybe you are smack dab in the middle of it right now. How beautiful. Enjoy every minute.

But even more beautiful are my red Converse. Don't you think?

Thanks for the lovely time, Justin and for the portrait you took of me at the very end. To see more of Justin's work, click here.

Courage to Shine

(First time meeting fan and new friend, Jane Marie Smith.)

The "Courage to Shine" benefit concert for Bulgarian orphanages was one of the best performance experiences I've ever had. The crowd was awesome. Thank you so much to all who came and supported this cause. I thought you might like to see the evening in photos.

Scarfed a Gandolfo's sub backstage inbetween songs. I was starving!

Ryan Tilby delivered the goods on his sparkly, silver bass.

Who doesn't love Peter Breinholt? Always a favorite.

Jeremy Barron - the man behind the curtain.

Russ Dixon makes a surprise appearance.

Sam Payne: one of the most talented and genuine people I know.

Deborah Gardener, CEO of One Heart Bulgaria (left) and Kelly King Anderson, founder of Startup Princess and board member of One Heart Bulgaria (right). These are the ladies with whom I traveled across the world with and visited the orphanages. Find Deborah on the cover of "Wasatch Woman" magazine in news stands right now!

P.S. I posted a brand new song on the music player to the right. My friend Aaron Ashton wrote this song for his album, "Split the Difference." If you don't know Aaron, you MUST hear his work on the violin. He is unmatched in talent and you will love his music. Check it out on itunes!

The Winner Is . . . (and a Farewell to Music Success in Nine Weeks)

WEEK 9!!!!!!

Business is a daily subject of conversation in our home. My husband and I are both business owners and the boys are quite the entrepreneurs themselves. Last week the boys set up a grocery store in the living room several times and over the weekend my youngest was intent on earning enough money to buy a "pillow pet." Saturday's cookie sale boasted a total earnings of $8! (Thanks to all of our neighbors.)

This last week of Music Success in Nine Weeks has caused me to reflect on the business strategies I've been learning about. How will I tie all of these together? Certainly a plan of continuum for the things I've implemented is in order. I'll be piecing that plan together during the next few days. I'm envisioning some cool events to keep things alive around here. How about a private concert for my main blog readers where you can hear my new songs before the upcoming album is released? A podcast could be cool. Ooh, I've always wanted to do a tour where I throw a benefit concert for someone in your town . . .

Here's an idea:

Post a creative idea of your own on how to keep my fans involved and I will mail a free CD of my album "Feather in the Wind" to a randomly selected commenter.

(McCann Purcell: was the client of the day . . . until he threw a rock at Thatcher.)