up and down

it has been a weird day.
the day started off with a feeling of accomplishment and elation, because after months of pouring my heart and soul into my personal music project grant application for the alberta foundation for the arts, i was finally finished and handed it in 3 days early of the deadline. i have also been working on a music therapy project grant for the hospital i work for, so i dropped that off also. the afa office is just a few blocks from home so i drove to work bopping to the radio feeling a great sense of hope that maybe i will get a grant, and be able to record a full length album this winter.

then i got to work, and sipped on my chai latte and checked my emails. i was really looking forward to a weekend full of shows. i was supposed to be opening for a winnipeg folk artist named kerri woelke fri, sat AND sun night. maybe it's a little silly but i was feeling good about three consecutive shows because i haven't ever had that. and i was looking forward to meeting a more experienced singer/songwriter and having her listen to my set. anyways one of my emails came from rob, a local concert promoter who had set the series of shows with kerri up. the email said kerri wasn't coming. she has been struggling with vocal health problems and had to cancel. well, isn't that lovely? nothing like last minute notice.

so it's almost time to go home, and get ready for tonight's show but i'm not even sure if i'm still playing. i have been promoting these shows for months, so i'm sure some friends & family of mine are coming but just for a one set show, just me? not that that's a problem, just i HATE being unorganized.

throughout the day i've felt excited and anxious about the cmt songwriting contest, a little lost and confused about what's going to happen with these shows this weekend now that we have no headliner, then i start thinking about next week and the ccma weekend in winnipeg. i'm such a rollercoaster of conflicting emotions!

the weekend will fly by, as will next week and suddenly i'll be in winnipeg. by this time next week i'll be sitting in some songwriter's session. hopefully i'll have control of my up and down emotions by then?

signed, your broken heart

*this is a song i recently wrote with my friend casadie jo pederson
www.myspace.com/casadiejpederson

i'm gonna put pen to paper
sit down and write a letter
that won't be easy to read

it's been two months
and a couple days
since my whole world was changed
when he walked away, from me

with just a single phone call
who knew that he would end it all
and leave me here alone to cry

too many tears, and too much pain
makes me wanna fly away
and just forget he said goodbye

it's time to pick up the pieces
off the hardwood floor
put them back together
even stronger than before
it's not gonna be easy
i know it's gonna be hard
but i'm ready when you are,
signed, your broken heart

i'm gonna forget the heartache
every stupid mistake
he brought along for the ride

no more cheating lies
i'm gonna dry these eyes
and find somebody who can
heal me on the inside

and pick up the pieces
off the hardwood floor
put them back together
even stronger than before
it's not gonna be easy
i know it's gonna be hard
but i'm ready when you are
signed, your broken heart

your truth

you lift me up
you fill my cup
until i overflow

among the crowds
i cry out loud
that i need you so

and it hurts to see
that they don't even
know you

so i'm praying just
to have the strength
to show them your truth

my simple song
my simple heart
my simple faith

will it be enough
to show your love
to show your grace

and it hurts to see
that they don't even
know you

so i'm praying just
to have the strength
to show them your truth

©2008 lisanicolegrace

lay my life down

when the wrong in the world
is weighing on me
and i feel too small to do
anything
i just lay my life down
i lay my life

when the meaningless grind
of the day to day
is all consuming
in every way
i just lay my life down
i lay my life

you alone are all i need
you're the bread of my life
you're the air that i breathe
so i lay my life down at your feet
i lay my life down at your feet

you alone are the only one
who can fill me up
till i'm overcome
so i lay my life down at your feet
i lay my life down

i lay my life down
i lay my life down
i lay my life down
i lay my life down

you alone are all i need
you're the bread of my life
you're the air that i breathe
so i lay my life down at your feet
i lay my life down at your feet

you alone are the only one
who can fill me up
till i'm overcome
so i lay my life down at your feet
i lay my life down

©2008 lisanicolegrace

prairie bell

*i've had this song churning around in my mind for a while now, and finally finished it last week and then put chords to it last night with jered (husband) and brent (brother). it was inspired by my friend ryan's niece, who's name is prairie bell. when i heard her name i thought to myself, that is me! i am a prairie bell! a city girl on the outside (i admit i'm a bit high maintenance when it comes to make up & hair) but a prairie girl on the inside (i love the prairies, the countryside, country music, etc). soon after i started writing this song... which i hope will be the title of my full length album that will be in the works in the winter/spring of 2008/09.

prairie bell

in my daddy's backyard
there's a sky stretching out
just as far as i can see
with my arms open wide
and my head thrown back
i know i'm right where i want to be
and when i'm flying home
from wherever i've been
there's a view below i know so well
it's a patchwork of snowy farm
and windy highway that's home
to this prairie bell

when i'm home
there's no place i'd rather be
and when i'm gone
you know i take a little piece with me
and it doesn't take long
for this sentimental soul to tell
about the patchwork of snowy farm
and windy highway that's home
to this prairie bell

in this city girls' heart
there's a little soft spot
for a field blowing in the breeze
like a river of gold
growing up from the ground
when it's starting to surround me
and when i'm driving home
from wherever i've been
there's a road i only know so well
among the patchwork of snowy farm
and windy highway that's home
to this prairie bell

when i'm home
there's no place i'd rather be
and when i'm gone
you know i take a little piece with me
and it doesn't take long
for this sentimental soul to tell
about the patchwork of snowy farm
and windy highway that's home
to this prairie bell

some say home is where the heart is
you'll find, no greater truth than this

in my daddy's backyard
there's a sky stretching out
just as far as i can see
with my arms open wide
and my head thrown back
i know i'm right where i want to be
and when i'm flying home
from wherever i've been
there's a view below i know so well
it's a patchwork of snowy farm
and windy highway that's home
to this prairie bell

it's a patchwork of snowy farm
and windy highway that's home
to this prairie bell

©2008 lisa nicole grace

ep release

This last month or so has been insane, hence the reason my blog has been somewhat neglected. A few months ago I decided that I wanted to do something with all the experimental recording Jered and I have been messing around with in our basement studio. I was booked for a show at Axis Cafe for July 18th, so I decided to make that show my deadline for an EP ("extended play" sort of a mini album). My usual musicians Jered and Ryan are on tour this summer with Shane Yellowbird (a canadian country artist) and were/are out of town that day... so I rounded up some new musicians and started rehearsing. Now that show is 23 days away and I'm just finishing up recording (probably officially finished next week). I found an incredible mixing/recording engineer named Randor @ a local studio called Turnkey Studios (friendly plug - http://www.turnkeyaudio.com) who is going to clean it all up and get it ready for my release. So hopefully by this time next week I'll have that all turned over to Randor and then can take a little breath. But not for long because I want to make some cute t-shirts and magnets to also sell at the release. I also still have a few rehearsals left before the show.
This great singer/songwriter from Red Deer Bryan Torwalt (another friendly plug - www.myspace.com/bryantorwalt) will be opening up for me.

It's going to be a very exciting show! And I will FINALLY feel like I've accomplished SOMETHING by having a recording that I can use to apply for grants to make a full length recording soon. I have a little two - three year plan that's been cultivating inside my head over the last few weeks, here it is:

• Summer 2008 : Finish EP and use it to apply for fall 2008 Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Canada Council and Rawlco Radio grants.
• Winter 2008/2009 : Receive grant (relyin on the power of positive thought) and start recording.
• Spring/Summer of 2009: Full length Album Release show somewhere in Edmonton (perhaps Myer Horowitz Theatre?? Again positive thoughts)
• Summer/Fall of 2009: Apply for touring grant.
• Winter 2010 GO ON TOUR. Of course I'm just planning this all on my own, so I'd probably just travel to where my family has been scattered across Canada and get them to help me with promoting a show. Cafes, restaurants, halls, churches, wherever will take me. I'd like for it to be at LEAST 3 months (which means I'll have to grow some balls & quit my job or take a temporary leave)
• And when I've finally accomplished these things, I'll come home... start working again, and start trying to make a baby (or two: twins).

So there it is! I thought by maybe physically writing/typing it down somewhere that it would encourage me to get this stuff accomplished. I'm excited for what's in store.

cheers!

transparent

you’re not always what you seem
with that insincere smile there on your lips
you’re always so quick to blame
and you’re never too easily convinced
you say that you’re not the stubborn one
you just don’t like to change your mind
you say that you’re not the lonely one
you just always end up left behind

i can see right through this masquerade
and i don’t believe a word you say
you think you’ve got everybody fooled
but the joke’s on you
i can see right through your lying eyes
right down to the fear that sits inside
it’s just so useless to pretend
because you’re so transparent

you won’t admit that you’re wrong
but there’s a look of defeat there on your face
you say you’re just too far gone
and you’ve never been one to keep the faith
but baby you are the stubborn one
what will it take to change your mind?
before you end up the only one
left all alone with your foolish pride

i can see right through this masquerade
and i don’t believe a word you say
you think you’ve got everybody fooled
but the joke’s on you
i can see right through your lying eyes
right down to the fear that sits inside
it’s just so useless to pretend
because you’re so transparent

i can see through
i can see through
i can see through
i can see through
you

i can see right through this masquerade
and i don’t believe a word you say
you think you’ve got everybody fooled
but the joke’s on you
i can see right through your lying eyes
right down to the fear that sits inside
it’s just so useless to pretend

i can see right through this masquerade
and i don't believe a word you say
you think you've got everybody fooled
but the joke's on you
i can see right through your lying eyes
right down to the fear that sits inside
it's just so useless to pretend

because you're so transparent
because you’re so transparent

© 2008 lisa nicoe grace