This week is all about the rhythm section.  I was ecstatic to get maestro Timmy Jones of Remedy Drive to play drums on this record.  Timmy played most of the drums on White/Gold, and I’ve always loved the way he plays.  Since he was only in town for two days, surprising his mom for Mother’s Day (and everyone says, “aaawwww”), we had to record all of his drums tracks on Monday.  This made for a very early start to my week*.  Always a pro, Timmy knocked it out, and we ended up finishing ahead of schedule.

The rest of this week has been spent comping and editing the drum tracks and laying down the bass.  Tomorrow Richard and James will becording bass tracks while I’m in Nashville playing for a bunch on publishers, pitching them some of my songs.  I’ll post more photos next week!

*it should be noted that, as a childless woman, I have no real concept of what it means to wake up early

I must admit, I wasn’t really a fan of John Mayer’s first two albums (I’m not sure he was either), but he’s really been soaring since his third release Continuum, my favorite of his.  Mayer likes to play with genres, and on his new album Born and Raised, out May 22nd, he plays with 70′s folk-rock.  The entire record is streaming for FREE all day today in iTunes.  Here’s how you can get it:

1) Find “Born and Raised” in John Mayer’s iTunes store.

2) Beneath the heading “iTunes Notes” you’ll see a link that says “Listen to Entire Album for Free”.  Click that link.

3) An audio player will open in iTunes. Click “Listen Now”

I’ve listened down to the record once, and immediate standouts were “The Age of Worry” and “Something Like Olivia”.  What were your favorites?  Still going to pre-order the album?

Beginning this week, my music is now available on Noisetrade, an online catalog of independent music that fans can download free of charge, in exchange for promoting the music to their friends via email, Facebook, and Twitter.  It essentially empowers music fans to be a marketing team for their favorite artists, which is pretty cool.  You will notice my fancy new Noisetrade widget to your right ————————————->

Share this website with your friends, and discover music you’ve never heard before.  Don’t wait for the radio

In honor of Mother’s Day weekend, I’m making this song a free download through Sunday. I released it as a single a few years ago, and it’s still one of my favorites. I wrote it as a lullaby, not just about moms, but about the love that all parents have for their children.

Have a great weekend!

This Monday, I started recording my third album, a six-song EP (currently untitled) that will be out later this year.  As I’m newly** equipped with a camera phone*, thanks to my tech support/youngest brother, I thought I’d give you a quick peek behind the scenes.  It’s been an awesome week of pre-production, and even at this bare bones stage, it’s exciting to hear the record already taking shape.  I’m happy to be re-teaming with engineer/producer/instrumentalist triple threat James Joseph on this project, who I worked with on 2010′s White/Gold.

James, really getting into it

Failing at iPhone photography

After painstakingly going through all of my demos, James and Richard and I settled on a group of six songs that could gel into a cohesive, uptempo album.  The rest of the week has been spent solidifying song tempos, lengths, production ideas, and players.  Tracking for the record starts next week.  Can’t wait!

 *I realize that before pictures were taken on cell phones, people used actual cameras, which can still be purchased readily at a number of nearby retailers.  But you are looking at a girl who has lost every camera she’s ever had.  My track record with phones is slightly better.

**yes, I know it’s the 21st century and camera phones have been around for a long time.  I’ve always been a late bloomer

Big things are happening in May  Watch this video to find out what!

A few months ago, we got a very interesting call from Richard’s great uncle.  He and his wife were scaling down their collection of antiques, and, knowing that we were both musicians, they thought we might like to have their Mason & Hamlin baby grand piano.  We were stunned.  We rarely get to see Uncle John and Aunt Patricia, since they live in Shelbyville, Illinois, and we know that they have many other immediate family members that they could have easily chosen to give such a unique gift.  Aunt Patricia said that she had been praying about who to give the piano to for a long time. She wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate it, and none of their kids or grandkids were especially musical.  When she and Uncle John heard me and Richard perform at Richard’s grandmother’s funeral last summer, she said she knew it should go to us.   How incredible!

All Mason & Hamlin pianos from the early part of the 20th century were handmade in Boston, so the company didn’t make as many as the Steinway factory.  They also have a bigger, fuller sound than most baby grand pianos.  Uncle John and Aunt Patricia bought theirs in the 1940′s.  It is symetrical mahogony, with curves on both sides.  All the strings were replaced 7 years ago, so it plays beautifully.

The smaller dimensions (5 X 5 feet) make it more compatible with apartment living, but our apartment is still too small, so Richard’s mom has graciously volunteered to keep it at her house for now.  We will be toting mics and equipment over there soon to capture it!  I cannot wait for my brother Luke (my Outliers counterpart and true piano player of the family) to come home this summer and write some songs on it

Sometimes I feel like I am overwhelmingly lucky.  Like, too lucky.  Like maybe I’ve double-dipped into the universal fondue pot of luck (I don’t know why fondue) and have unintentionally shortchanged some poor guy getting a flat tire on Poplar Avenue right now.  I didn’t mean to, dude!   Let me make my case.  I chose the apartment in which I currently reside based purely on location and cost (read: it is cheap and within walking distance of a Tan-N-Go).  The flats had seen nary an update since they were built right after WWII, but I quickly made peace with the window unit air conditioning and dishwasherless kitchen (hello, paper plates!).  You get what you pay for, right?

Wrong!  I will now turn your attention to Exhibit A, the beautifully landscaped front porch of my cheap, amenity-free apartment building.  When I moved in, the only available unit was directly across from two long-time residents who, for their own personal enjoyment, landscaped our little 4-unit building FOR FREE.  They routinely buy mulch and groundcover and gorgeous flowers and transform our building entrance into a lush garden.  One of them even bought a table and chairs so that everyone in our building could enjoy it!  This is where I spent most of yesterday, writing songs on my Mac, enjoying a pink lemonade, and taking in the scenery.  Do I make my case?

I waste an awful lot of time focusing on what I don’t have, what I wish I had, what other people my age have.  Discontent is an American pasttime.  When I snap out of it and actually start paying attention to the incredible things I do have, I honestly feel like the luckiest person in the world.  What in your life makes you feel like a lottery winner?

You can vote for me once a day through May 9.  Stop by my friend Brenda’s page to vote for her as well!  Finalists will be announced mid-May.

LOST: one authentic rattlesnake guitar strap

LAST SEEN: my home studio

RESPONDS TO: “whoa! awesome!”, “so cool”, or “the coolest”

REWARD: one original song, in the key of your choice

It was seven years ago, while attending the Smithville Bluegrass Jamboree in Smithville, TN,  that I first laid eyes on the most beautiful guitar strap I’d ever seen.   Of the festival’s highlights, which included a flatfoot dance contest and a hot rendition of “Boil Them Cabbage Down” by a 13-yr old fiddling champ, the silver-haired gentleman peddling handmade snakeskin accessories was the standout.  One of his many goods was an Alabama Rattlesnake guitar strap.  I was in love.  But the strap was, understandably, fairly expensive, and so I left the Jamboree strapless* and with a heavy sigh.  Fortunately for me, I was attending the fest with my doting Dad, who observed my googly-eyed reaction to said strap and covertly got the vendor’s phone number.  A full six months later at Christmas, lo and behold, I unwrapped a rattlesnake strap of my very own (dads really do knock it out of the park sometimes).

About two weeks ago I noticed my beloved strap was missing.  I have searched every guitar case, every corner of my apartment, my car: no strap.  My deep dread is that I somehow left it at a gig.  If that is the case, it is probably gone forever.  But I am still hoping against hope that it miraculously appears in my laundry basket.

*not this kind

image courtesy of http://snakeskinstraps.com/