renewed

*Here's a new song I've been working on, and I think I finished it officially last night.


verse
she wonders where she belongs
she wonders who, she belongs to
she feels so lost and alone
if only she knew, to look to you


chorus
she would find her worth
is not determined by another
she would find a love
more intimate than any other
she would finally find
the missing link from deep within her
she would find herself renewed


verse two
she struggles day after day
to follow her heart
to find her place
she gets a little lost along the way
if only she could see
beyond what people say


chorus
she would find her worth
is not determined by another
she would find a love
more intimate than any other
she would finally find
the missing link from deep within her
she would find herself renewed


bridge
she looks for constant comfort
in things that fade away
she longs for what
only you can offer
if she'd just make a change


chorus
she would find her worth
is not determined by another
she would find a love
more intimate than any other
she would finally find
the missing link from deep within her
she would find herself
she would find herself
she would find herself
renewed

headway!

I just got back from a little lunchbreak where I took subs to the boys who are officially in the studio all week from 9 - 5 working very hard on my record. Today Brent was working on organ and it sounds killer! I listened to a few of the tracks they'd been working on and I was shocked to hear it sounding like a full band professional record. Each track has such a full sound and has some really great musical ideas going on behind the vocals. I was also equally stoked to see they were already on their third track of the day, which gives me hope that they will get a lot done this week! Progress! Yippie!

what a weekend!

So my lovely music packed weekend started last thursday. I had a show booked to open for Chris Trapper at the Ironwood in Calgary. Luckily my day job is fairly flexible since I mostly only report to myself, so I took a half day off Thursday afternoon to drive down to Calgary, and a half day off Friday morning to drive back home.


Brent, my fantastically talented and supportive brother in law came to play with me so he did the same with his work. Thank heavens for that! Jered (husband) and Alissa (friend) also tagged along - I felt like I had a lovely little entourage! We got to Calgary around 3pm, Jered's dad got us a free hotel room at a really nice place with points since he's a fancy club member so we checked into the room and got changed, then went for a drink. Soon after we were on the road to the Ironwood, I never have a clue where I'm going in Calgary so I was happy to have the human map - Brent - AND the mapquest app to get us to the Ironwood safely and efficiently!


About an hour before the show we the got very sad news that poor Chris had flown through the night, had a million cancelled flights and upon finally arriving in Calgary his body just crashed & he was pretty sick. So the owner came over to let me know that Chris wasn't coming. I was a wee bit devastated initially, but then we decided to roll with it and play a 90 minute set instead of our initially planned 30 minute set. I had a good crowd of friends and family from the Calgary area that haven't ever really gotten to see me play live so that was a real treat. Thanks to everyone who came out I really felt the love!


The next day on our drive home I got an email from Chris apologizing for missing the show the night before and inviting me to sing with him at his Edmonton gig the following night. I over enthusiastically accepted, being the calm, cool & collected female I am (ha).


Friday afternoon we arrived back to work for the afternoon, and then headed to the Winspear Centre for Martin Sexton. That. Guy. Is. A. Freak. He is honestly an overflowing cauldron of genious musical talent. He puts on an amazing show, gets the crowd involved and so absolutely loves what he's doing that you can't help but have a big goofy grin on your face for the whole show. Chris came out and sang a song with Martin (Glorybound - killer!) so that was good to see him feeling better.


Saturday morning we had a 2 hour long rehearsal for our church cd release show next Saturday night. I am happy to say I wrote and sing a song on the C3Metro Come Alive EP that is available now on iTunes (search C3Metro). I had a baby shower that afternoon (ok, not so musical) and then that evening I took two girlfriends to the Northern Lights Folk Club for Chloe Albert & Chris Trapper.


What a night! Chloe was as lovely as ever (even though she admitted to being fairly sick - you'd never know) and Chris played two full sets. He invited me up in the second set to sing his most recent song "Into The Bright Lights" the title track of his most recent digital EP release (http://www.christrapper.com/) My videographically talented girlfriend Alissa happily obliged me and filmed the following:





After the show, the girls & I went out to a seedy country bar and listened to yet even MORE live music and danced our hearts out. Sunday was church (more singing) and the superbowl (snore). I almost rounded the weekend out with a monday night songwriter's circle, but after a work trip to Camrose that had me up at 5am I was DONE. I curled up on the couch with my dog, read, had a bubble bath & went to bed early. My heart is full today!

progress

As I write this, Jered (husband & drummer) and my friend Peter (guitarist) are in the studio with my engineer Randor working away on two of my songs, Drifting & This Scar for my album. It has been a while since I blogged about my recording process. That's mostly because there wasn't much to blog about, it's definitely been a little popcorn process, a bit of recording popping up here and there. BUT I am excited to report that we've booked a solid week at the end of February where Jered & Brent are going to take off work (we'll be paying Brent what he usually gets paid at work) to get all the last bits & pieces HOPEFULLY finished.
I even have a lovely dobro player in Nashville working away today on two of my songs, Too Easy & Prairie Belle (the title track of the record). So although at one point it felt like my record would never be finished, I may ACTUALLY be seeing a slight flicker of the light at the end of the tunnel.

It would be really fantastic for this album to come out by the spring (and my 28th birthday). I have been nominated for a 2011 Edmonton Music Award (the first ever!) for "Artist to Watch in 2011". I want to earn that nomination and perhaps that award by actually having something to show this year and release this record!!!

Along with progress on the record,  I have been very inspired lately and have been writing and concocting songs in my head. I always feel so productive when I'm in the midst of a creative process. That is the tricky nature of the beast though, because once the song is finished then I have this weird feeling of being stumped. To have a continuous creative flow would be such a blessing... alas, work & life sometimes get in the way!

Anyways I just had to write and burn off this little excited steam I have today because I can't wait for things to be finished. Wait for it though folks, I'm sure once the album is done I'll be whining and crying for the days when we were in the midst of the project. What can I say, I'm hard to please!

Thanks for reading. xo

grey area

another new song... on a bit of a songwriting roll & it feels good. not saying these songs are masterpieces by any stretch of the imagination, but they're creative flow and that's what's exciting.

grey area

verse
i'm afraid of falling into a grey area
i'm alone for so much of my very own hysteria

prechorus
what if i can't find my way
what if i can't find my way out

verse two
i'm too small, to take in the wonder of it all around me
i'm unsure, of everything from what we were to how we should be

prechorus
what if i can't find my way
what if i can't find my way out

chorus
it can't always be so black or white
what about the pieces in between
the parts i don't know
intimidate me so
i'm not too sure what to believe

what about the grey area
i'm in a grey area

bridge
i'm overwhelmed
i'm in too deep
i'm waiting for the world to crumble from beneath my feet

i'm too far gone
i'm far too weak
i'm waiting for the world to crumble from beneath my feet
i'm waiting for the world to crumble from beneath me

prechorus
what if i can't find my way
what if i can't find my way out

chorus
it can't always be so black or white
what about the pieces in between
the parts i don't know
that intimidate me so
i'm not too sure what to believe

what about the grey area
i'm in a grey area

new song

So as usual there have been chunks of time where we have recording sessions scheduled & work being done on the album, and then there are chunks of time where nothing is being done. We have two sessions scheduled for the next week and I'm hoping to get the guitar tracks done soon! In the meantime I've been fairly productive with writing new songs. Here is one.

chameleon

verse
do you know who you are
do you know who you want to be
sometimes you go a little too far
try a little too hard
bend a little too easy

pre chorus
so stop looking for yourself
in the pieces of everybody else

chorus
you know this ain't no competition
why can't you celebrate what makes you different
you're always changing in & out of your skin
it's almost as if, you're a chameleon

verse two
what's the use holding back
what's the use, hiding at all
when you're so much more than that
between the cracks
so much potential

prechorus
so stop comparing yourself
to the timelines of everybody else

chorus
you know this ain't no competition
why can't you celebrate what makes you different
you're always changing in & out of your skin
it's almost as if, you're a chameleon

bridge
where do you end, where do you begin
it's hard to tell, when you're so busy blending in

chorus
you know this ain't no competition
why can't you celebrate what makes you different
you're always changing in & out of your skin
it's almost as if, you're a chameleon

renewed!

So yesterday my guitar player for this album I've been trying to make, went into the studio for the first time. Unfortunately the scheduled time that worked best was during the day time and I had to be at my day job, but I did get Jered to sit in on the session & I got to sneak away from work for an hour or so to listen & give my wee input.

They were working on my song "Clearer Day" which is a song about picking yourself up when you're feeling completely low, brushing yourself off & telling yourself you're going to be alright, and praying for a better time, a "clearer day" to come. As far as guitar goes I'll fully admit I don't really hear specific ideas for this song. I know Jered, Brent and Randor would have more direction to give Peter (the lovely & amazing guitar player that has agreed to help us out on this record). Peter had some really fantastic ideas, and contributed so many beautiful sounds that really take this song to a whole new level. After months of no work being done on my album, I am fully renewed and excited to see how these songs that have basic structure right now, will develop and grow.

Since I have never recorded any full band songs before I'm so curious for how the concept of the full album will come together. What genre will it be? What will people hear as my influences? How will people feel when they're listening to my songs? It's funny when you're in the studio & you hear this little song you wrote, just you, sitting at your ancient pre-WWII Homer piano, coming alive and becoming WAY bigger than you had ever conceptualized. What a beautiful thing. What a thrilling & slightly scary thing. I have hoped & prayed for this album for so long... can people who are not involved in creating music, but involved in listening to it, ever competely comprehend what an emotional process making an album can be??? My heart longs for this record. To sing the final vocals & harmonies.. to hear it mixed & mastered, to see in a pretty little package. Maybe it's just me, maybe because I've been waiting to make this record for so bloody long, I've become slightly obsessed. But I feel like I'm not only getting to better know myself & my music through this process, but beginning to understand the common bond I will have with other people who have recorded their material and put it out there for people to grasp onto.

Like I said, I am fully renewed by hope, by excitement and by love for this album that is slowly making it's way.