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New Video Posted, Tiny Desk Contest entry!

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VIVA TINY DESK! Thank you all so much for bringing the contest back for another year! So far, it’s been my favorite motivator for getting an occasional new video posted. 😀 I write and perform primarily with voice and guitar, but I’m really fond of this new a cappella number. Hope you like it, too!

I said yes to a really intimidating challenge in early February of 2015: I agreed to be part of a group of songwriters who’d each write a new song each week for 52 weeks, using a random prompt. This very week, we finished our 52nd prompt. I had NO IDEA I could pull off anything like this, but it’s amazing what this challenge has done for my creative output- and fearlessness. I can’t recommend this kind of thing enough to other creative folks.
This song is one of my favorites of the 52 new ones that I wrote as part of my songwriting group. The lyric prompt for that week was “in my pocket”…which immediately became DRAGON in my pocket for me and my faboo/nerdy imagination.
(Apologies for all the cuts – I had to edit around a whole lot of wind noise. Apparently the wind quite liked what I was doing here, because for a while it seemed to pick up every time I opened my mouth to keep singing. There’s still a little bit of it in the vid, and I apologize for that, too. At least the wind is an active listener?)

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Raise Your Glass. Turn it up.

Raise a glass of starstuff and chase your living dream.
May it always be that we are more than what we seem,
living by example, until our separate brilliance
can rise-
that wild example, those mismatched eyes.

I’m heartbroken that David Bowie has died. He showed so many of us that it was a Good Thing to be brilliant and creative and freaky and bisexual and Fucking Strange. I’m just one little blip of light in the sea of raised lighters today, but I’m holding my own as high as my arm will allow.

I will grieve, and then I will continue to sing loud and to be weird and to Not Apologize for it, because when I was at my most young and most lost, someone dear to me made me a Bowie mix-tape, and I listened, and the stars came out again, and I have not lost them since.

Raise your glass. Blast “Ziggy Stardust” if it helps. Or Outside, or “Wild-eyed Boy from Freecloud”, or Earthling, or or or. Write your own. Put on glitter eyeliner today (every damn day) if you want. I will be right there with you.

Here is Buzzfeed’s article on this master’s last, entirely orchestrated release and accompanying videos- both of those are terrifying, necessary, and profound.

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And a Playlist in a Pear Tree!

AT LAST, I’ve edited and uploaded the full Stolen Season digital release concert for YouTube: ten songs, all performed and filmed live in my studio, plus one filmed live in Betsy’s cello studio! Watch and enjoy, and happy 2016, everyone!

#StolenSeason Temptress video is up!

I’ve got three more #StolenSeason videos to edit and upload before the new year. Wish me luck! I hope this little house-concert-style project has been worth the wait for you all.

Listen

Listen:

someone who wants something from you is complimenting your looks, your mind, or your initiative.

Say thank you, but consider keeping your cards close until you find out what they’re after. Sometimes you can tell what they want. A reaction. A promotion. A compliment in kind. A weakness. More than you care to give. Sometimes you can tell that they want something from you in return for what they say. Sometimes it’s all right. Sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes they know it. Sometimes they don’t.

Sometimes you can tell. It will get easier with practice.

Try.

Listen:

someone who truly cares about you is saying “I love you,” or “you look great,” or “you make me so proud,” or “thank you for coming.”

Say thank you, and try to believe them. These are the people who mean it, and who want nothing in return for their words of affirmation. I know that it’s hard to believe them when you’re feeling awful, or your heart is broken, or you’re so accustomed to receiving compliments from people who give them to you in order to further an agenda. But try.

Try.

Some of us will see people we only see once a year this holiday season. Some of us will see people we haven’t seen in ages. It will be awkward. It could be painful. It could be the start of moments which will become joyful memories in the coming months.

Grab hold of those shining moments, and let the rest fall away.

If you can.

If you cannot let it fall away right now, remember to breathe.

I don’t know why it’s so much easier for me to remember the words and the people that hurt me, than it is to remember the kind, sometimes life-changing things people have said to me. I don’t know why I have to fight to remember those things and fight to forget the others.

But my wish for you this time of year, this year, this moment, is that it will be easier for you to remember the words and the people who love you, who say wonderful things that you can barely believe, that they really mean, because they care about you. Take care. Be well. You have my support, in lyrical form, whenever you can access it, whenever you like. It’s not much, but I mean every word. Thank you.

New Song, Free Downloads, Achievement Unlocked

Here’s my spooky, goth industrial new seasonal song about Krampus! You may grab it for free, or for the price of your choosing.  This music style isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but believe it or not, it’s one of my favorite influences.  I like letting this part of my creativity out of the box from time to time.

I’ve wanted to write a Krampus carol for ages, folklore nerd that I am.  Achievement unlocked. 😉  Lyrics and inspiration and spookiness here.

For the other side of the sonic coin, here’s my acoustic Winter Solstice tune, which is also available for free or for whatever you’d like to pay.  The meaning of the lyrics is heartfelt.  Whomever and wherever you are this season, I wish you safe and sound.

Reminder: One! More! Show!

I’ll be singing for free at Conway Arkansas’ Pagan Pride Day celebration this Saturday! It’s my last concert for 2015, and the weather forecast looks mighty fine.  The event runs from 2-8pm in Laurel Park, and absolutely everyone is welcome.  There will be vendors, concerts, workshops, a raffle, and more!

My recording studio just got a remodel of sorts!  Since its awakening in late 2011, The Pixiehouse has had no insulation, and so it was a fair weather workspace at best.  That didn’t stop me from suffering chilly winter temps and sweltering summer temps alike in order to Get Shtuff Done, but I won’t have to do that anymore.  My partner and I worked together over last week to install insulation in the walls and ceiling, and the comfort level of my beautiful little space has already increased in so many ways!  I’m still putting its aesthetic aspects back together, but it’s functional again….and LOTS warmer!  If I have it in me, I’ll film and post a new video tour of the space for YouTube soon.

Today’s PPD Concert Rescheduled for November 14!

Today was to be Conway (Arkansas) Pagan Pride Day’s 2nd annual event, but the organizers have wisely chosen to reschedule the day’s festivities for November 14th. As I wasn’t looking forward to getting washed away, I’m 100% ok with this. 🙂 Sheldon and the other event wranglers have been extremely accommodating and kind to me ever since they first got in touch with me about performing at the first Conway Pagan Pride Day, which was last fall. I’m very proud to be part of what they’re doing, and I’m glad they found a way to keep from getting rained out entirely!

Here’s the info on the event as it currently stands.

Since I don’t have an event today, I’m enjoying the unexpected downtime by getting a little work done, walking around in the quiet misty morning, and making plans to visit old friends.  My bobtail cat Gawain took a walk with me earlier, and so did my camera. 🙂

 

 

Oct 24 Concert Rescheduled for Nov 14!

Tomorrow was to be Conway (Arkansas) Pagan Pride Day’s 2nd annual event, but the organizers have wisely chosen to reschedule the day’s festivities for November 14th.  As I wasn’t looking forward to getting washed away, I’m 100% ok with this. 🙂 Sheldon and the other event wranglers have been extremely accommodating and kind to me ever since they first got in touch with me about performing at the first Conway Pagan Pride Day, which was last fall.  I’m very proud to be part of what they’re doing, and I’m glad they found a way to keep from getting rained out entirely!

Here’s the info on the event as it currently stands.

It’s raining buckets at my house right now, for the first time since I came home to conclude my summer tour last month.  The visiting flocks of wild geese are having a pool party about it.  I’d almost forgotten what rainy days feel like.  Because of this, there’s a joy and excitement in the air, at least for me.  If I didn’t know better, I’d say that that means I need to get out more.  🙂 I freely admit that I’ve missed rainy days, even though a string of them wreaked a bit of havoc on my summer concerts.  Sometimes it’s good to have a day to appreciate small changes, rain drops, and quiet.   Hope you’re having a day of contentment, too.

 

What I’m Listening To Lately

Got to share some stage time last weekend in Memphis with the mastermind of this project. Buck has a big tasty producer brain in his head. Check it out!

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