If you weren’t able to make it to Cafe Muse last week, or you live somewhere far, far away from sunny LA, you can still be a part of the debut of our side project, “East Paris.” Our new song “Balloon”:
Each day this week I’ll be posting new video snippets and lyrics from the six songs that Mike and I wrote together for February’s RPM Challenge on our tumblr page. We’re going to actually keep at it into March, recording these songs properly. I look forward to sharing the completed project with you as it comes together!
Mike and I have decided that we will take part in this year’s RPM Challenge and attempt to write, record, and release an album digitally all the course of that oh-so-short month, February. Which means we need to get crackin’! It also, in my opinion, takes a village to create an album in a month, so we’ll be working with friends to gather additional inspiration from unexpected sources – blogs, plays, poems, drawings. Art begets art! We hope, anyway. :) Please stay tuned – we’ll be creating a special blog just for the project, and I’ll be keeping everyone up to date here, too.
"into the quiet" release 3/31 - photo Lacey Huszcza
I’m pleased to report that we had a very successful launch for “Into the Quiet” last night at Molly Malone’s! Everyone there, from Nico the doorman to Richard the soundman and everyone in between could not have been nicer. We had family, old friends and new fans in the crowd and they were attentive and excited – meanwhile, Tim, Aaron, and Mike totally rocked it. And the electric guitar debut came off without a hitch (not pictured here, but I swear, I really played it). I can’t wait to play more solos!
I’m so grateful to my band and to everyone who came out to support us last night. Because of you, I am a happy, lucky girl. Thanks for being a part of the journey – onward and upward!
So, we’re going to be partying at Molly Malone’s tonight at 9:30. I’m really excited to share this music with people, many of whom will be hearing the songs for the first time. And I’ll also be whipping out my electric guitar! That’s right…it’s gonna be like Newport…prepare to be rocked! Hee hee. My band – Timothy Young, Aaron Sterling, and Mike Chiaburu – is incredible, and if you have half as much fun listening to them as I do playing with them, well, it’s going to be a good night. Hope to see you there!
Can you believe it? I’m not sure I can! But it’s true, on March 30, when you click on that little iTunes icon, you should be able to find my new album, “Into the Quiet” there for purchase! And if you’re old-fashioned, you can buy the album from CDBaby instead.
In the meantime, I hope you’re been enjoying the little preview of the album that I’ve been giving you each week. Check out my music page for the latest!
Finally – LA people – CD release SHOW is Wednesday, March 31, 9:30 pm at Molly Malone’s. I rehearsed last night Mike Chiaburu, Timothy Young and Aaron Sterling, and it was SO much fun. I even pulled out the electric guitar…I can’t wait for you to join the party. I promise I’ll announce some tour dates soon for the rest of you, and in the meantime, you can always listen to the album…yay!
I know that updates have been few and far between…what is it about the summer? Between the craziness that is actually recording an album, there have been lots of out-of-town visitors, lots of house-sitting, and generally the sorts of things that keep me away from my computer and make it impossible for me to keep track of time.
The album is chugging along all the while, however. After the lovely parts were added by both Peter Adams and Timothy Young, I went back into the studio and did some vocal overdubs, re-singing some songs and doubling or harmonizing with myself on others. Tim was there coming up with parts and generally cheering me on, as was Mike for some of the session. This album is challenging, vocally, to say the least. Both pitch and mood-wise, the highs are fairly high and the lows are low. Paradoxically, I find myself both fighting to ignore what I’ve learned through my classical training and also really relying a lot upon it. I think about Shirley Verrett, and my jaw, and my tongue, and about the soft palate, and breath control…singers will know what I mean. And yet what’s coming out is, well, rock ‘n roll! My musical life has been a pretty interesting journey so far.
Ryan will be getting to the mixing very soon, hopefully even in the next couple days, which means that the album will more or less be in its final form pretty shortly. The journey towards releasing it is, however, just beginning, as anxious as I might be for everyone to hear it NOW. I will certainly keep you posted.
Hey folks! Briefly, here’s what’s happening: Mike Chiaburu and I went into Ryan Freeland’s Stampede Origin studio with Aaron Sterling and Tim Young, and we(basically) made this album happen! We recorded everything live, and I even did live vocal takes while playing acoustic guitar (I may re-do and add some vocal parts here and there soon). I loved the energy that we had, playing as a band. Since those initial few days of tracking, Tim has added some killer guitar parts to fill out the whole thing, and as we speak, I am listening to some keyboard parts that Peter Adams added from his home studio. I feel like it’s Christmas, and this album is my favorite present. Or maybe…like I found a puppy…can we keep it, huh, can we? Hee hee. In other words, I can’t believe how well it’s going, and I’m very, very excited.
More news to come, as we move on to the next phase!
I’m pleased to report that we surpassed our fundraising goal of $5,000. I’m so grateful to everyone who donated, and I promise, we’ll make a great album for you!
Mike and I went into Ryan Freeland’s Stampede Origin Studio today with Aaron Sterling and Timothy Young to start laying down some tracks. It went really well, and I’ll be writing more about it over the next couple days, and sharing some photos, etc. Stay tuned for more!
I could never do justice to Haviland Stillwell’s show by merely describing it, but I will say that she was off the charts amazing, and the crowd was eating out of her hand. I had a fantastic time playing/singing back-up, and I must say, the crowd really seemed to dig “Manage,” the song I wrote for her to sing. I’ll post a video for that as soon as it becomes available, but first off, check out our version of “Crazy on You”:
Tim Young on electric, Aaron Sterling on drums, Mike Chiaburu on bass, and little ol’ me strumming my butt off. Hell yeah! Grrrrl power. :)
I’ve been a very quiet blogger as of late (shame on me, I know), but I have not quiet musically, thank goodness. Here are just a couple things I’ve been up to:
Mike and I continue to work with Tim Young, uber-guitarist (not to mention uber-writer and producer) to demo songs for an upcoming album that we hope to record late Spring/early Summer. Without revealing too much, I can certainly say that I’m really excited about the direction that the album is taking! I’ve got a new show coming up at a great new venue, Cafe Muse, on April 10. I hope to unveil a few of these new songs then. The venue is so laid-back, and shows are always FREE – which should in itself be music to everyone’s recession-worn ears. I’ve been talking to the amazing Gaby Moreno about performing, and just to bring the lovely/talented lady quotient to crazy heights, Haviland Stillwell will likely also make an appearance…
…which brings me to the final new development in my musical life. I’ve written a song for Haviland that she’ll be performing (probably with me providing some guitar and/or backup vocals) on April 23 at the Upright Cabaret. It’s been a really great challenge to bring her experiences to life and write a song that she can really make her own. I can’t wait to hear Ms. Stillwell herself perform it! Her concert is shaping up to be an amazingly fun, eclectic evening, and I can’t wait for it, myself. Stay tuned…
