I love playing piano for ballet rehearsals. It was something that intimidated me at first and took me a few months to understand and get used to, but now I feel pretty confident every time I go into work that I know just what the instructor is looking for out the pianist. I let the tiniest things get to me however, and when someone mentioned that I may want to try and learn more "classics" to play, I began to doubt myself. I like to take the songs I already know and put a new spin on them, like  Hotel California , music from Disney movies, and other out of the box songs. I've gotten positive feedback doing this too. (Though I have also forced myself to learn Coppelia, Esmerelda,  Giselle , and Raymonda Ballet music. Never thought I'd ever play anything like that!)  I'm one of the few non-Russian pianists on staff and when I hear the others play Chopin, or Rachmaninoff from a studio down the hall I shrink down to about 2 inches. So, this week, bound and determine ...

I sang for a room full of people today in a small, dark room. They were people from my past - long, and not so long ago - and one I've never even met. I'm in my final and most challenging phase of recording my album of original songs with Modern Vintage Recordings. Vocal tracking has intimidated me since the beginning of this project. For most of the tracks, we recorded all the music and instruments, and when that was complete, I recorded my vocals inside an intimate booth with a microphone and headphones. When doing this, you may be surprised to learn that we rarely track an entire song from start to finish. Instead, we do the verse a few times, then the chorus, and so on. This way, we can re-do any particular section as many times as necessary to get it  perfect . And there is so much to get perfect when recording vocals; tone, pitch, breath, pronunciation, volume. It's quite exhausting. But on one track, we decided to record a simple piano and vocal, live in the studio...

I'm now going through the most difficult part of recording my album with Modern Vintage Recordings...the vocals! This is a song I wrote years ago with a very country, straight forward sound. The geniuses at MVR, got the idea to put a groove/funk vibe to it, which I LOVE! I'm SO SO SO happy with the way this track turned out. It is still incomplete, no bass yet and no vocal reverb or auto-tune. Just very dry, almost immediately after the final vocal tracking took place. I am especially in love with the background harmonies that one of my audio engineers, Jason Cummings, arranged. It reminds me of the Beach Boys meets funk. Love it! Enjoy! For my OLD version of "I Still Think About You," click here . The progress of recording an album: Progress

It's nearly midnight, I'm alone, on a rainy, thunder stormy night. What better way to spend the evening than write a new, melancholy song? That's a pretty good time for me.  I tried several new things on this song that I've never done before. First of all, I'm playing with a keyboard. I'm a hardcore "piano-only" kind of girl, but the sound affect fit the glum mood of the song so well! Second, there's no real verse-chorus format. Mainly, I just wanted to play around with odd chords and uncommon dissonance in the melody. This is a chord progression I would  never  use if I were trying to write a catchy-sounding, get-stuck-in-your-head kind of song. It's weird, quirky. A little off beat. And honestly, I was hoping the microphone on my computer would pick up the steady rain and pounding thunder outside my window to add to the atmosphere.  Some people who hear my music automatically get concerned that I'm depressed or love sick over someone. I...