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Showing posts from August 6, 2010

Magical Moment 189, "Redeemed"

Today was my third EP pre-production meeting with Modern Vintage Recordings . We’re very early on in the recording process and so far, have only laid down guides for each song. A guide is a simple piano and vocal track that sets the tempo and key before the real recording begins. From these guides, we’ll come up with an entire instrumental arrangement for each of the 5 songs. After that is recorded, the next step is to record vocals. And finally, everything will be mixed and mastered to perfection. My last meeting didn’t go so well. I was nervous, distracted, and had a difficult time playing my songs in time with the electronic click track. I realized a few days later that we completely forgot about one of the songs, “Throw Some More Dirt,” and when I reminded the production team, they called me in again to lay down a guide for it. Thank goodness they did, because today went fifty bazillion times better than last time. So much better in fact, that after we laid down “Throw Some Mo

Magical Moment 188, "Boredom Beads"

I recently started attending open mic nights around the city to gain a little more experience and confidence in my performing. It’s a little bit of a process. The night begins at 6 pm when we leave our house an hour and a half before the sign-up starts, allowing time to fight through the rush hour traffic. Once we find a parking spot, plug the meter, and walk several blocks to the café, restaurant, or bar, I stand in line to draw a random number. I’ve done open mic nights in North Carolina, and in Lincoln a long time ago. There were like, 5 people willing to brave the stage. But in New York City, the anxious, artistic crowds are so numerous, the line is backed up out the door. Some nights, I get lucky and draw a number under 20, other nights it can be as high as 50. And at 8 minutes or 2 songs per person, that adds up to a late, late night of waiting your turn. At a recent open mic night, Eddie and I sat at our small, round table drinking water and feigning interest for hours.  And w

Magical Moment 187, "Drown in My Own Tears"

Thank goodness I have so many videos from the Play Me, I'm Yours project. I've committed to One Magical Moment Per Day, but to be honest, there are days when it's difficult to find that moment. There are days when I can't remedy my "blues," and conjuring up a fluffy paragraph or two just seems hypocritical. But when I look back at some of my videos, I can pull out a memory to share with you all and hope you see something in it that makes you smile for a moment. So here is a "blues" song from Gansevoort Plaza in Chelsea. I love the depth of this song by Ray Charles and I wish I could do it justice. Hope you enjoy.

Magical Moment 186, "The Cutest Thing Ever"

As I walked Joy, she drew the normal amount of attention from strangers cooing over her sweet, innocent face. I paused on the sidewalk to speak to a mother whose tiny baby scooted on his stomach on a blanket covering the grass. I kept Joy on a short leash so she wouldn’t scare the baby, but soon let it go lax as I got caught up in conversation. A mere moment later, I looked down in time to see that the little baby had scooted himself to the edge of the blanket and pulled himself up onto his hands and knees. It took all his strength to hold up his wobbly frame. Joy saw him, and though she was practically bursting with excitement and her tail wagged so hard it nearly knocked her over, she instantly dropped to her stomach just a few inches from the baby’s fascinated facial expression and inquisitive large blue eyes. She now was the same height as the baby and slowly inched herself straight towards him as he continued to fearlessly crawl towards her. There they were, both on all fours an

Magical Moment 185, "Groundhog Day"

At a lovely picnic area on the small Army base of Fort Dix, you’ll find well-landscaped grass, a sparkling pond, and lots and lots of groundhogs. My husband’s Reserve unit held a family picnic today after a Change of Command ceremony, to which I hesitantly attended. Big social gatherings, plus people I don’t know, equals some anxiety for me. Plus I still feel weird being a new civilian around military. This morning at the ceremony, I snapped to attention when the General entered the parade field, then quickly looked over my shoulder to see if anyone noticed the Army spouse in flip flops and a sundress make a fool out of herself. At the picnic area, I soon found myself relaxed as I walked Joy around the pond. That was when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye scurrying across the ground, then got very excited when I realized it was too large to be a squirrel and too small to be a dog. I inched closer to examine the critter. It was one of about 10 groundhogs I would see thro

Magical Moment 184, "Before the Next Teardrop Falls"

This is a video from the Play Me, I'm Yours project . There are pianos made for classical music, there are pianos made for jazz music, and then there are pianos that are just perfect for honky-tonk music. This piano at Willoughby Plaza was one of them. Enjoy " Before the Next Teardrop Falls ." To see more photos, click here . To see more videos, click here .

Magical Moment 183, "Note Passing"

When I was in elementary, junior high, and senior high school I wrote and passed hundreds of notes to my best friend Deb. We would scribble them down on crunched up notebook paper, text book covers, even on our hands and sneak them to one another somehow during class. We told secrets, gossiped, and had more inside jokes than we could ever keep track of. I remember several years ago, sorting through old memories before I moved to Texas. I had to decide what to leave, what to take, and what to throw away. And when I came across a shoe box of 10 year old notes between Deb and I, I just couldn't let them go. To this day, I still recognize her handwriting at a mere glance. When we found ourselves in college together, we still passed notes, only in a different format. I remember sitting through my criminal justice courses and having an entire conversation with Deb via text message, while she received and responded from the nurse's building. We complained of boredom, made weekend ka