Rain for Roots: Alice's Story (and a giveaway!)

Y'all who know me, know I'm all about relationships, so I'd like to introduce you to some friends of mine.  They are dreamers, they are makers of beautiful things, they are lovely women whose heart's desire is to teach young children the Good News.  They have come together to create a wonderful album full of music that does just that, called Rain for Roots.  

 

photo credit: Wendy Twit

They are pictured above with their children and/or husbands and if you look closely, you just might see some familiar faces.  The group is composed of Sandra McCracken, pictured with her hubs Derek Webb and their kids (yes, that Derek Webb, for those of you who know me from my 'covering songs by Caedmon's Call' era, long, long ago.), Katy Bowser (of Coaltrain Railroad fame and other fabulous projects) pictured with her hubs Kenny Hutson and their daughter, Flo Paris, pictured with her hubs Josh Oaks an their girls, Ellie Holcomb and her hubs Drew, and Alice Smith and her hubs Matthew Smith with their boys.  Such a collection of wonderfully supported women making beautiful things and this is Alice's part of the story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I recently got a chance to sit down with Alice Smith, who is the type A gal behind the scenes making it all happen, ie, project manager, publicity, and so much more, to hear about the growing of this garden of songs from her perspective.  Alice brings an amazing level of organization to things that makes my head spin!

First, tell us a little about the idea behind Rain for Roots, how it was born and how you became involved.

"The idea was God's idea. Truly, multiple women separately approached those involved and encouraged them to make scripture songs for children.  Katy began sharing the idea and found that the same idea was on the hearts of others.  Last spring and summer, every time we were together, the idea came up and then in mid-July (a few days after Flo very sweetly had a dinner gathering as a belated birthday celebration for Sandra and me) Sandra sent this email: 

"What should we name our girl-kids-music band? 
Should we do just hymns and psalms? 
Scripture readings in between songs (by the kiddos)? 
Let's brainstorm a list of songs we love... This could be super lo fi. And super fun. :)"

That sparked more brainstorming and kept the seed of the idea growing. Katy reached out to Sally during Hutchmoot and the 6 of us shared lunch at Marché to get Sally's thoughts on her own involvement.  At the time, we were thinking of writing out of her Jesus Storybook Bible but, the day before, Katy had seen and bought Sally's Baby's Hug-A-Bible. At that meal, Katy pulled it out of her bag and we started imagining what a 10 song album based on those 10 poems would be like.  This project, Rain for Roots' first release, is hopefully the first of many."

You and the other women who created the album -- Katy, Ellie, Flo, and Sandra  -- are neighbors in a very real sense. What role did the East Nashville community play in your collective hopes for the record and its audience?

"Relationally, a long history of knowing one another and being close both in proximity and in heart made collaboration an much more natural and easy process.  There is a lot of unity and trust among us and that foundation led to freedom in throwing out ideas, challenging one another with hard questions and working through various shifts in the make up of the project.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the strong support of all the husbands involved.  They did double duty as fathers and supporters and contributed their own expertise musically."

How did it feel to project manage who are also dear friends?

"I've loved them all as songwriters and though I don't know Ellie as well, it was a great joy to watch and help. Getting to know Sandra as a producer (her first time in this role) was amazing.  Her insight, wisdom, boldness, careful thought and musical sensibilities were easy to support.  Ellie dove in with both feet and her enthusiasm and encouragement along the way kept everyone engaged.  And, Flo too is a great part of this team of women, looking for ways to engage the neighborhood, adding to the resources we have to get the music out there and offering her heart at every turn along the way. I've worked with Katy, consulting on Coal Train Railroad, and within the Indelible Grace projects, so it was a natural mode for us to find. I still feel like we are at the very beginning of what I hope will be a long, multifaceted working relationship."

I have been thinking about your piece in Art House America and how you said, in part, that your art was creating relationships and connections and reveling in the beauty to be found around you (my own summation).  I know you to be a creative person in your own right and although you didn't sing on this album, I want to hear about the creative process for you in approaching this project.

"For me, this project has been a welcomed gift. It is a place, among friends, to contribute some of my own skills and passion while working to create something I deeply believe in. That, in itself, is something I've longed for for years. The process has been full of opportunities to trust God and to not let insecurity and fear get me down. 

In early October, only a few weeks after we got the go ahead from Sally to write to her poems, I was with Katy in Minnesota  when she wrote God Helps Baby Moses. It was a great joy to be part of the first hearings of that and the other demos and work tapes that were circulating via email. Each time Ellie, Sandra, Flo and Katy sent through a song, I was struck by how immediately memorable each was.  Their talent and heart for the gospel of Jesus shone through in such beautiful ways.

Later, in the studio with Sandra and Flo as they recorded Flo's God Rescues Noah From The Storm, they invited me to give input as they worked out the form of the song.  We experimented with a few ways of asking and answering the questions posed in the lyrics. We tried repeating a few of the sections to let the heavy truths sink in and linger; that God is the one who keeps his promises and does "just what he says he'll do". I loved the editing process; feeling the changes with each new form the song took, even with the same words and melody, so many options were there. This opened up to me a greater understanding of the work of songwriters.

Also, I observed Sally as she came in to listen to her words set to these melodies and, at some point, referred to her as a songwriter...which was a new title for her to add to author, speaker and poet. I LOVE seeing souls find their way into new roles.  

That same day, when we gave Sally the best seat in the studio to listen, I (somewhat shyly and concerned it may be out of turn) mentioned that I was missing the voice of the men on the project because, at that point, it was only women and kiddos singing.  Everyone agreed and a few days later Sandra sent out a sweet email to the husbands with the simple subject line "low notes?". 

I approached it as work I'm called to and am offering means of order and looking for relational connections that make sense to follow for sharing the work.  I'm incredibly proud of the songs and am enjoying the work so very much."

What has been the most meaningful experience to come out of this album for you?

"The most meaningful experiences have been the way God uses the songs themselves.  On Easter morning, after our church's sunrise service, our family came back home, groggy and bundled in sweaters from the cool morning.  Sitting in our living room, still trying to wake up, we sang Jesus Is Alive over and over again.  The boys lept and danced and I sat deeply encouraged that this batch of songs (and others to come in the future from Rain for Roots) are part of the soundtrack of our family.

Other times, I've woken up in the middle of the night with these songs on my mind.  God's spirit gently but strongly imparts that I am the little one being addressed and that I need to hear the promises for me and not just for my children and other little ones."

I personally love your ability to encourage and bring out the best in your artistic friends, me included, who may be a bit more disorganized that you are.  You have a way of not only perceiving a seed of an idea in others but then you help to awaken those ideas and teach others to discover hidden beauty in themselves.  I find that amazing.  What seeds did you see grow or help to grow in this project?  

"I helped oil what was already in motion and looked for ways to support the girls to help them accomplish the project.  That included everything from drafting a budget, to navigating complicated touring schedules to working out the license for the words.  The seeds for this project were given by God and we scattered them around but the growth has been His doing.  Right when we began tossing around the name Rain for Roots, our neighborhood group studied this passage from Mark:

Mark 4:26-28

²⁶ He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸ All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 

I am reminded that prayer and waiting are part of helping to make good things grow."

So we've heard from Alice the neighbor, the friend, the artist and manager. This question is for Alice the mom. How have your children responded to Rain for Roots? Any favorite moments during or after production that you'd like to share with us?

"I mentioned Easter morning above. I laugh looking back at the favorite moments as a mom.  Evan sang some background vocals on Jesus Is Alive and, for some reason, being in the studio and on a mic caused him to act in a sillier manner than I'd ever seen.  Derek and Sandra commented that he was almost singing harmonies (trans: he's so off key, I'm not sure this will fit). We continue to realize that Asher would have been a much better studio contributor as he dances around the house signing Jesus Is Alive along with God Makes Everything (our current household favorites).

Jesus Stops A Storm was the last song to be written and, early on, I wondered if perhaps I could give it a whirl alongside Evan who loves to make up songs.  One night, I asked him to sing the lyrics with me.  Within a few minutes, Evan was writing his own song on the same topic, singing "Jesus, Jesus! Lord of all...Lord of the baby, Lord of the talls, Lord of the building, Lord of the mom, Lord of the eyeballs, Lord of the toys, Lord of the bulls, Lord of the animals!"  I recorded the very sweet, somewhat theological dialog that followed came out of this singing time.

Sharing treasured conversations like these and watching the boys come to believe the truth in these songs gives new meaning to Jesus' words of "Let the little children come to me..."  Sally, Ellie, Flo, Katy and Sandra are not just letting them come, they have created a way for them to run in and to savor being there, at Jesus' feet, cared for and lavished with love."

 

And finally, hat are your hopes for the continuation of this project?  What is the next step for Rain for Roots?http://rainforroots.com/

"I hope for these songs to reach the hearts of as many of God's little ones as possible.  

Rain for Roots plans to continue recording, perhaps an album of Psalm Songs for Little Ones or Genesis Songs for Little Ones.  We imagine future projects drawing more directly from the words of scripture so that as they are learned and sung, the word of God is being memorized."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So friends, now is your chance to win a free download of this entire wonderful new album!  Are you ready?  All you have to do is go and post the free sampler download link (saying that you downloaded it) on your blog, your facebook page, or where ever you are online, and link back here in the comments.  The sampler download is on the bottom right hand corner of RfR's webpage. (Just put a link to your FB page or blog and be sure to leave your email or twitter handle so I can get ahold of you.) On Sunday afternoon, I will post the winner, so check back here for updates!

When you decide you love this album and can't live without it, head on over to Rain for Roots to by it (for only $8!) and enter 'truelove' for a 10% discount on the album (that makes it $7.20!), available to all my readers!

P.S. Exclusive interviews with the rest of the gals from Rain for Roots are available on the blogs of my fellow East Nashville Mom bloggers!
Read Flo's Story at Nala's Photography
Read Ellie's Story at Designs by Stephie
Read Sandra's Story at Life: Edited
Read Katy's Story at If Stones Could Talk

Update - Sunday May 20th!!
 I just got back from a long weekend of camping with my children and some other families and am not ready to finish the drawing up.  I'm extending until Wed. the 23rd to allow myself some time to finish a heap of smoky laundry.   See you Wednesday!
P.S.  Leave a way to contact you in the comments!  You can't win if I can't reach you! :)
Update - Wed. May 23rd.  Comments Closed!

And the random number chosen winner is Happy Wife!  Congrats, Kim!  Look for an email from me soon with your download code.
Ariana

Midnight musician

Sometimes, you just gotta wait til everyone goes to bed, pull out the guitar, ignore the schmutz on the carpet that you haven't vacuumed yet and pretend, for just 15 minutes, that you still are a musician, singing and rocking out the acoustic love. And then you write a song about your sweet babies and get all teary eyed and have to stop. Sheesh.

Through my daughter's eyes

I had a bit of an epiphany today.  Cora and I were watching a music video where the girl singing was all dressed up and looking beautiful, (Katy Perry - Firework.  I had been searching for fireworks photos for her) when she turned to me and said,"That's Mama singing!"
"It is?" I asked.
"Yes.  It's Mama singing," she answered adamantly.

Now let me just say, when I look in the mirror, I do not now, nor have I ever seen anything that resembles Katy Perry.  She is young and beautiful and I've never thought very much of the way I look.  But I realized as I put my little girl to bed, that in her eyes, I am beautiful and a great singer.  (And, apparently have a music video.)  I'm not gonna hem and haw about it, I know I can sing, but comparing me and a rock star?  Not even on my radar. 

Not so, to my little one.  In her eyes, I am that rock star.  It is inspiring.  It is beautiful.  I have a lot to live up to.  Apparently, I'm a firework.  And we all know how she feels about those.

To friends who are now famous:

Nashville is a funny town.  People come here with a plan, but Rock and Roll dreams either turn to bus-boy realities or rockets to stardom (after about 10 years of work).  I'm always a little sad when friends 'make it'.  Not because of jealousy, but because 'making it' often means that that person will grow a hedge between themselves and the people they used to know. 

I think of sweet friends who I played music with, wrote with, sang with, ate lunch at the street cafes with, who no longer return my calls.  It's odd.  Are they too busy meeting with record lables, stylists, producers?  Do they think I have some ulterior motive?  Are they too exahusted from driving from town to town and singing to carve out time for friends back home who knew them before the stylists, the lables, and producers?  Do we just not have anything in common any more?  Am I to busy with motherhood and my own life to be intentional with them?  Not sure.

It is hard to watch friends pull away.  It is a hard thing to miss them and to still want to tell them about my little girl, my expected son, how things are growing and changing with me and my husband, my life now, how the music I make now is mostly for kids under the age of 5 at the public library, and often is only heard by one little sweet baby girl (and how I much I love that!).  How I'm happy for them and thrill at seeing them in a music video when not to long ago, we were singing to the cakes (i.e. and empty room) together in some out of the way bookstore cafe.  To wish that we still could talk about our lives with the honesty and frequency of years past.

So to my friends who now grace the music channels and the radio: I hope you are well in heart, mind, soul, and body.  I hope that you have joy and peace in your day.  I hope you have time for quiet and rest.  I'm so proud to have known you, even for a little while. 

I wanna rock and roll

I wanna rock-n-roll
I wanna give my soul
I'm wanting to believe
I'm not too old (or pregnant)

Save You from Matthew Perryman Jones' 2008 album Swallow the Sea (parenthesis mine)

This is the season where every part of me starts to rebel against being pregnant, where my fitful dreams are filled with longings and bits and scraps of my history.  And some little selfish part of myself starts whispering in my ear that if I give all of myself to loving these children and being in this season of motherhood, I will eventually lose all of the things that made me.  I know it's a lie, but the fears still linger.  Next month, my 34th birthday will roll around and I'll still be growing this little boy inside me.  My 30's seem to be destined to be focused solely on the raising of these children and I honestly don't know how music (at least the agsty chick folk rock that I loved doing before Cora) fits into that.

Not that music is gone from my life.  I find myself playing children's songs for wild gangs of pre-schoolers in the basement of the local library branch and loving every moment of it.  But that little fear whispers that when my children are old enough for me to go back to music as a job, then I will be too old.  Some of that is the reality of the music industry, but most of that is what I tell myself in the dark moments when I am sick of the monotony of washing the same dishes over and over, of planning meals and cooking for my family every. single. day., and waking up in pain because my body does not like being pregnant. 

It's that old lie of finding my worth in what others think of me.  I play it on repeat like a cassette tape that automatically flips to the other side and just keeps going. (Remember that?)  I want some reassurance in the future that I will be worth something to people whose opinions, in truth, don't matter.  It's my reality today.  Even if, in the light of day, I can set it aside and say to myself, "that's not what's important". In the dark, between trips to the bathroom, it comes back in the yearnings of my dreams and how does one surrender their secret dreams?  I haven't figured out that yet.  I do my best to not let them bleed into the dawn and turn the sunrise to gray.

Much too much.

No excuses.  I'm just not a consistent blogger right now.  For all the same reasons.  Life and all it's responsibilities are just much too much right now.  I'm working a ton, all at home, for various folks, but it takes up all those little nap times that I'd use to blog or make something before.  Plus, add to that my very first garden and you have it all summed up, right there.  If you have about 6 and a half minutes, click the link below and think of Spring.  I am enchanted by this piece today and want to share it with someone.  (I was unable to embed it here.  You have to follow the link.  Sorry!)

Melodie for cello and orchestra Op.20 No.1 by Alexander Glazunov

On stage

the click of the pick
the scratch of the strings
the boom of the wood through my lungs as I sing
the moment, the lights, the song to the night
this is the thing I drink in.

(no.  It's not me.  I just got back from a Jen Knapp concert.  And like a dork, forgot my camera)

The coolest jazz for the coolest kids - The Coal Train Railroad

{As promised yesterday, this post is 2 of 2. 1 of 2 is here}

Your bellybutton stays the same. Did you know that? According to The Coal Train Railroad's song My Bellybutton Stays the Same, it does. Here's what my friend Katy says about her new album over on her site Hand Me Downs.

"It’s great jazz for kids! Coal Train is a collaboration between Katy Bowser and Chris Donohue. It’s music about kid stuff- juice, snuggling, naps, getting along, sharing- with music that we can all enjoy together. We weren’t kidding around when we made this music- we found the best jazz musicians in town [Nashville], with special guests like Jeff Coffin and Rod McGaha jumping in. Kids deserve good music, too."

And let me tell ya, she delivers. I got to hear an advance copy on the way to the pumpkin patch the other day and it is a rollicking good time! Katy Bowser's smooth voice sings about the most wonderfully silly things while the rest of the Coal Train Railroad lays down a gorgeous groove.

Right now you can pre-order the CD, which will be released on Thanksgiving Day, but in case you can't wait (like me) you can help spread the word by telling friends about it and getting two tracks to download for free!

For more info, visit their website: www.coaltrainrailroad.com, and become a fan on facebook. Trust me. Your children (or your inner child) will thank me! (be sure to roll over the widget below for a sample)

The Musician reappears

Just what IS in the works, you might be asking. Well, I'm not totally sure I'm ready to share it. It's kinda like being pregnant (no, I'm not pregnant) and not ready to share it with the world in general. But, if I don't share it, I may never do it! So here goes.

I'm in the writing phase of a children's album. I've told some friends and put the idea out there to some folks and I'm excited about it. Details will be forthcoming, but suffice it to say, I'm excited, and totally freaked out. One would think from the blog title, that some sort of musician is around here and since I'm not the Geek, that must be me! But my last album came out in 2003 and for a long time after I got married, I didn't play or sing. I think it's a Nashville thing.

I recently read a quote (I can't remember where) that talked about how in this age of connection and publicity there seems to be only one or two people who get to shine in their field. Those who may be good at that one thing can't possibly compete so they fade back into their communities and choose other work, therefore robbing their communities of their talents. Something like that.

In Nashville it often feels like that around music. If you aren't selling a million albums, filling arenas, and topping the charts, just pack it in and go get a day job. I know tons of people who are amazing musicians, but here, in this big pond, they are tiny fish. Smaller! They are the amoebas of rock and roll. (here, at least -elsewhere they might be giants) I've felt like I can't just sing, or write, or play, I have to be a "marketable package" and let me tell ya, I'm not that. This is my foray back into music post-family making and it still feels tender and new, like a tiny pink babe. So be gentle.

P.S. Speaking of Babes...mine pulled up for the first time from tummy up to feet while delivering a lasagna to my friend Bonnie on Friday. I'm so not ready for this! Here's my little coffee shop girl who never stops moving (hence the blur) with her hair fluff tufts shining in the setting sunshine.

Bless-ed

I'm writing a theme song for a camp this summer and I am a little stuck. The theme for the camp is the Beatitudes, specifically from Matthew 5, but how to distill them? I've read a lot of lesson plans on how to teach them to children, but most of them come across as a list of rules or good works that you can do to get close to God. I know there is nothing I can do that is 'good enough' to bring me to God, so it isn't a list of 'do this and you'll be blessed'.

So how to break it down for children ages 3-11 without making it sound like a list of rules? Here's a version from The Message. I like it much better. So I've been rolling this over and over in my mind. The message, though they may not get it now, is important. I want it to stick with them.

My thoughts so far:
Merriam Webster defines blessed as this:
1 held in reverence, venerated, honored in worship, hallowed ex: the blessed Trinity
2.beatific, blessed visitation, of or enjoying happiness, enjoying the bliss of heaven —used as a title for a beatified person
3.bringing pleasure, contentment, or good fortune

Enjoying the bliss of heaven or the 'complete happiness' of heaven...

This is more like a list of things that show how much I am loved and how every place I may be in, He is there with me, and in that is joy.

For example:
When I've reached the end of myself, He is there waiting for me.
When I grieve and am sad, I am held so close.
When I understand that I am his joy, his creation, just as I am, then I'll see how He delights in me.
When I am hungry for God, I'll be filled with the best food I've ever had.

And so on.

I'm going to continue rolling this around until it's a song. I'd like to remove all the Christian-ese until it's just a simple thought, a prayer, a praise, a joy, a song.

Thoughts on the Beatitudes?

In utero rocking to Gabe Dixon Band

I took a good nap this afternoon and went to hear the Gabe Dixon Band as well as spend my hoarded allowance on their new CD. It rocked, of course. Baby girl loved it too. She wiggled a lot! They played at the Belcourt which is always nice since it's also a theatre and the sound is great, but not so loud I have to wear earplugs. I've posted about this band before, here, and since it wasn't that long ago, I'll spare you another fangirl rant. Suffice it say, I had great time. More in the am. Good night!

Waffling

See...I told you. Here comes the fear (and arrogance!). $100 bucks (since I want to go to the panels, not just the concerts - Concerts only are $35) is too much to spend to hear other people talk about what I should already know by now! (God, I think a lot of myself...) Plus it'll be late, really late! Some of my favorite shows are not until 11:45 pm! I have a pregnant girl curfew of 10 pm! IN the bed, asleep by then. Can I take naps? Not unless I am bone tired and pass out in some uncomfortable position on my bed with my arms flung out in a way that is sure to make them go dead by the time I wake up.

But I told you to hold me to it, so I am still going. I've begun to ask around and see who else is going. Are you? Let's see some shows together!

On a strange side note, I have had these huge knots in my back just under my shoulder blades. I remembered what my personal trainer sister told me about a makeshift massage when you can't get a real one: roll around on a tennis ball! I don't have tennis balls, but I have racketballs! I put the ball under my back in just the right place and rolled it around the sore spots. It sure spared my Geek some sore thumbs trying to get these knots out! Thanks sis for the advice so long ago given and so helpful at 3am. I swear, I only want to see the backs of my eyelids at that hour for the next few months, but I am doubtful of this happening.

Existential Crisis - the mild version

Since I can't currently hold a pen long enough to put this in my journal, I am putting it here. If you'd rather not know the inner chaos of my brain, skip this entry.

A festival is hitting Nashvegas next week, NBN (Next Big Nashville) which is meant to showcase the NON-country side of Nashville. It's a weekend of great shows, great panels, great speakers, great info for the aspiring indie artist. I'd like to go.

Here's the hard part for me: I am afraid. I sort of think of myself as a washed up wanna-be musician in my darkest moments and those bleed over into the light. The Geek has a heartwarming way of telling me that it doesn't matter if I don't make any money at it, as long as I am doing what I love...my upbringing (however mistaken) tells me that if I am not contributing financially, I am not pulling my weight.

So I get into the story in my head (script pre-written by by character defects) and tell myself that my old music crowd will be secretly rolling their eyes to see me there, 6 months pregnant and not having put out an album in oh...say...nearly 5 years now! I think they will think me pathetic, mostly because I think of myself as pathetic. I tell myself I didn't try hard enough, I didn't go for what I dreamed of because I was afraid to fail, afraid to succeed, so I did nothing. Shouldn't I give it up yet? I mean, I currently can't even hold a pen or play my guitar!! Shouldn't I just settle down and be a mom, not worry about writing, singing, or any of the drama that comes along with being a full time musician? I try to. I try to do other things and divert the creative river that has to come out of me into tiny streams, but eventually, I see where the river should flow. And then the guilt follows, and then the determination wells up as I start to think I CAN do this...and then the fears start yelling in my head. "No one cares what you have to say.", "No one thinks the things you write are any good.", "No one will come to your concert because of how you look/sound/act. You are the quintessential dork, as always and you will never escape that." Then I give up and go back to diverting the river.

Perhaps this has something to do with being a mother. I see it as an end to part of myself, even though it is a welcome one. And yet, I don't want to resent my children for the part of me I had to set aside to become what I thought a good mother would look like. I don't want to wait until my children are all grown up to be myself again. I know THAT much is unhealthy. If I don't bring all of myself to the table, as a wife, as a mother, as a friend, as a human, I have nothing to offer.

The answer is to go and participate (and take care to drink lots of water so I won't swell up) and critics and cynics be damned, if there even aren't any besides the one in my head. Still, I could think of 100 reasons not to go, including how much it costs. Will it be a waste of my money if I end up doing nothing (financially solvent) with my music again? You can see the crazy train of thought here. I could ride this rail to the end!

I will go. I expect you to hold me to that.

Gabe Dixon Band - so much good music, so little allowance left!

The second album to make my 'must haves' this week! Whoa! The Gabe Dixon band led by the amazing Gabe Dixon will rock your face off. The next Stevie Wonder and THAT is saying something.
Read about this new album here.
Check out the songs here.
Join me here on September 12th to watch him rock out if you live in Nashvegas. He and the band put on a great show! Plus the Belcourt is just a happenin' little old movie theatre.
Watch this video to hear a bit of one of the most talented songwriters in the city right now.

Matthew Perryman Jones - Swallow the Sea ie. Matthew Rocks again!

Matthew Perryman Jones, one of the first people I met in the music industry when I moved to Nashville, has come out with his 3rd full length album.

After a year in Nashville, many struggles and horrible experiences, I had gone home to TX with a heavy heart. My good friend Kris put on this amazing record called Nowhere Else but Here and I was blown away. Then he said that I reminded him of this artist. Not sure how I was like a man, I asked him to clarify. He said it was the poetry and the stage presence. I was flattered because this guy was amazing. I read the album cover and realized that he lived in Nashville, and so, took a chance and emailed him.

Kindly, he responded and invited me out to meet a group of people for a beer. Being a good little Christian from TX, I balked. Beer drinking Christians? Oh, I was so young. I met the group and soon became part of a crowd that would go on to become some of Nashville's premier music makers, soul spillers and poets. You may not know their names, but you should. Or you have heard their work and never known it was them. Here's a few of them, which you should listen to, embrace and support:

Mandy Mann
Andy Osenga
Katy Bowser
There are more, but this post is about Matthew P.J.

For a long time, he took a break from music (at least partially from on the road and on the stage, although I hear he still rocked the worship at Midtown!) and then, with the grassroots support of many people, he released his second full length album Throwing Punches in the Dark - an independent record produced by Neilson Hubbard. An amazing record and on permanent rotation at my house.
Now comes the release of his third full length album called Swallow the Sea. Sure to be another huge success. It came out this week to much press. Written up here in the Tennessean. You can stream the whole album from the website: www.breakingoutthewindows.com Some are songs I have heard Matthew sing a hundred times (Feels like letting go) and others are as new to the world as is his little baby girl (A Song for Canaan). Without a clue feels like a song I've heard a thousand times in my heart but didn't have the words or the tune to sing it. It resonates. It calls. As does each song that spills out from this newest offering. Save You is the unrequited rock star's background music. It got a few slots on TV shows (I had to look this up, since we don't have TV) Kyle XY and Private Practice.
All in all, the album is beautiful and you must, no I insist, go out and get this album, attend his concerts and support this incredible musician.

Matthew has always been great about not being that lone rocker, gutting it out on his own. He has played with other musicians all around town, been part of alliances of musicians to support each other, and most of all, been entirely personable and kind. In the past it has been easy for me to envy the joy that my friends have when good things happen for them. A kind friend set me straight about that several years ago and I realized that it was a crappy place to live. Now I can laugh with him as wonderful things happen for his music. Growing up is hard, but good.

But enough about me! Here are some more places to listen to his stuff, including a live interview on the coolest radio station in Nashville:

Interview on music business radio's website, broadcast live on Lighting 100. Google it and enjoy!
Ten out of TN - an incredible collection of music and musicians who fly under the Nashville Music scene radar, including Trent Dabbs who's brain child this project is, Katie Herzig, and many more incredible musicians.

In case you don't know, you should.

Brooke Waggoner: amazing songwriter, pianist, singer. She and I played Edgefield uncorked! last year and that was the first time I got to hear her play. Asian melodies fused with Beatles-like hooks, expansive yet intimate orchestration backs up this little red head with her lilting voice, haunting lyrics, and as always, her beautiful and virtuosic piano playing as the foundation of it all. Go. Now! Listen. Love her. Buy her CD and support independent music!! Download her EP for free here.

Post edit - It was the Geek, as he so sweetly reminded me, who correctly identified her asian fusion meets Beatles style. She was excited that he 'got' what she was trying to do. (He was my merch man that night!)

Leigh and Matt - Making sweet music again!

This may be old news to everyone else, but WOW! Leigh Nash announced it on her Myspace blog and the world quietly turned on it's ear. I didn't know how much this space was lacking in my musical heart. I've missed the bold words, the stunning melodies, clear voice, and inspiring guitar riffs that make up this incredible band up. If you don't know Leigh Nash and Matt Slocum, maybe you'll recognize the name of their old band, now back together. Six Pence Non the Richer. (their site is slightly out of date, so check out other sources) They did a rockin' show this last Sunday @ 3rd and Lindsley with other Nashville wave maker - Trent Dabbs.

Some days there is just too much great music bustling around in my head and in the world around me. I feel like I need to expand to take it all in and let it all go.

Thats the news...and now for the weather!

It's spring!! Can you believe it?! Why does this seem like such a frickin miracle every year? It's almost as if I can't believe that the trees actually have leaves and the grass is any other color but a washed out tan. I grew up WAAAAY south of here and the tease of warm weather has been playing havoc with my brain!! I am halfway ready to pack up my bags and go south for the winter. I am so very tired of being cold. I should actually be a hibernator instead of one of those creatures who is awake for the winter.

Nothing amazing to report. We did end up finding a tenant and she moves in this weekend. The geek works 40 hours a week at a job, and I only work 20, so the care of the cottage is my other part time job. If I do it right on the front end, I earn about $500/month for not doing a whole lot, aside from the occasional repair job. I'm getting quite handy these days! Yesterday I bought tin snips and made a backsplash for the stove. Who'da thought I'd be this handy. (well...I did come by it honest. Have you ever met my Mama?)

Me and Freckles were at the dog park yesterday and someone called her a "rolly polley dog." I could have killed them! How dare you call my dog fat?! I think I'm projecting. She didn't seem to mind at all. It did, however, let me know that the change in her dog food was not a good change. Back to the expensive brand!
This summer I am headed to Longview, TX to head up the music for the Day Camp I grew up attending. It's not like what it was when I was a kid. We aren't even allowed to swim in the lake any more for 'insurance reasons.' How crappy is that!?! What if we based everything we did on how much it might cost us in insurance? We might just sit at home. I can't live as if I am guarding myself from insurance risks! Bring on the lake! As long as there are no alligator snapping turtles. Have you seen those?! Yikes!! Grampa used to sit an pick them off the logs with a rifle as they came up to sun. They'd eat the feet off of the ducks, wait for the ducks to drown and then eat the ducks. I like my toes intact, thank you VERY much.  Check out this guy!! OK. I digress....

So apart from killer turtles, I can't wait for the summer. I got to write the them song for the camp! It's about telling people about Jesus. The song is called "Go Fish." I love my job.

The Heartache Tycoon

I'm not the only rock star in my family.
My little brother actually lives up to that title lately. He's rocking my face off lately with his Americana Country as he seems to be really finding his groove. His newest song "Heartache Tycoon" is dripping with irony, his quirky sense of timing and humor as well as the back way he catches you with a killer lyric. It's not recorded yet, but it's gonna be great. He told me this song's been raising the roof at the local joints in Austin he plays regularly. I can believe it.

As for his style, he's more and more like a male Lucinda Williams lately but sometimes I think it's Ryan Adams and I listen harder and hear my brother's words! It's so very cool.

The reason for blogging about him is this: he called to tell me he was auditioning for Nashville Star! And he's just doing it for laughs. He has a whole fake act and costume and everything! We laughed last night that there's gonna be so much ham, people are gonna think it's Easter Sunday dinner! So if you see this tall, skinny, red-headed guy all in black with huge sunglasses, that's my brother! I gotta see when Nashville star comes on and if I can get it on the internet, since we don't have channels. In the mean time, check him out on myspace. He ROCKS! And yes, before you leave comments to this effect, I know we look A LOT alike.

Baroooo?

Not sure how this works at all, but somehow a post of mine ended up here. I am so not schooled in the ways of the (blogging) world. Too bad having my post on another blog didn't mean I actually got to jam with anyone. I guess the lesson is, music does not come to me, I go to it. Same as always. Can't believe I forgot that one.