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Kayla's Book & Youtube/1St Song Live/students? (And More...)
Entry posted by Donna
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Edit March 23 - Kayla's companion video to her book Mommy's Music
+ + +
Whoa!
whoa whoa whoa
Things are moving quite fast. I am happy! So MANY new experiences that seem to fit like a glove.
--- Another Kayla photography assignment, a bound book (of me). I thought it was
just going to her teacher! It's a 68 page pictorial w/ about a 5 page bio. Kayla is
also moving soon, we will miss her terribly! This 3rd year for her has been incredibly
demanding, she constantly shoots and edits. Look her up on Facebook - Kayla Peterson
Photography. Book Preview Link
The basic sections are: little me (toddler to about age 15 - including a shot of a friend jumping off my folks'
garage); young playing me (couple 8 x 10's age 19-23?); the producing section; Thorny Swale rehearsal;
Thorny Swale gig; The Latin Mass Choir (in which I was squinting and looking terribly serious...because I
needed reading glasses, but it took awhile to figure that out; and The Children.
--- Thorny Swale (the band I'm in) rehearsed our first original (one of mine) and played it live 1st time 
I haven't heard the tapes, but it felt SO GOOD doing it. We are on FB, and as we record or whatever, the
page'll show all that.
---- That's the other thing, I've written 4 songs in less than 3 months and I deem them to be some of the
best yet (heh - I think). Tonight I began another...
---- Only on paper so far, but it looks like I have my first drum students, plural! Cannot express what it means,
the thought of teaching is...just a total honor and so humbling to be asked.
---- OK - I had my 1st experience as a producer - Kayla was w/ me (that month that she followed me around
like a stalker for her book) so there are 2 pages of photo's of that session in her book.
---- I'm hoping to submit one of the new tunes to a MN project called Operation Jamm Fest - they're trying to
put together a CD compilation of local artists doing songs "which support our troops". It was very...unusual
to be able to contact them and say, "I actually have something that fits your parameters." A few of my tunes
have war or soldier reference here and there, but the new one is filled with this.
----I'm prepping to record w/ Dan and Scott. Boy...I think a lot has happened, it's hard for me to know cause
I'm always around myself - but I'm playing standing up now, got the peg attached to the guitar (when the venerable
repairman got out the drill to install peg for guitar-strap, I said, "this is like watching the baby's circumcision!" And
I had to leave the room! Didn't leave during my baby's circumcision, btw, but I did for the axe!). I'm able to get thru
singing/playing songs in my catalogue that were simply unthinkable before. Like the one about my 8th baby.... it
is complicated w/ various sections. Well, I got a scratch on the 4-track today. I keep finding things...finding little
ways to put in picking notes. One of the new songs has a whole section of just picking - unheard before, for me.
The metronome and I have regular dates, aye we keep a lot of company. And tho I'm not always doing the grueling
hard work of endless practice for recording prep, I find 6 out of 8 times during practice thinking "I'm getting better,
this (song) is getting better."
Drums too, little metronome. And it's really hard to stp once I start. Dylan was so cute, the other week he comes into
the living room: "Mom?! Are you OK?" I shut metronome off. "Yeah, fine -- whatsa matter?" He said, "Mom, you've been
playing straight for like 90 minutes! I was kind of afraid..." I just started laughing, because I felt so good and calm and
clear and clean.
Another time, he comes up: "Aren't you exhausted?!" I look at him. "No!" His eyes get big and he says, "Mom, you've been
playing non-stop well over an hour...you're not tired?" I look at him. "No! Hmm...wow! No, I'm not tired, not at all!"
---- The 4-track is back up! I am WAY over the moon again to be recording regularly. Can you believe it? I's
thinking about this, it was 2007 since I was recording, but because Dylan was on so ill, then on his death bed
for all we knew, and recovering for a year, I think it's been almost 3 solid YEARS since I was really recording
w/ any kind of modicom of sanity and peace. It's like no time has been lost - I seem to know more now than
before!
I recorded the band - which in my previous life, never thought I'd the gumption to set it up. Just went for it,
thinking of Prometheus and his mayonnaise substitute for squeaky foot pedal when the bloke had no oil...
It was nice for my bandmates, I think, to hear an actual mix -- which I got, my 1st as engineer for others
(so to speak even tho I was one of the others).
It's just so delightful and huge for me, to have attempted it - and esp. to get a mix where the instruments are
separated and there's some kind of clarity - esp. w/ stuff like 3 vocals + drums all sharing one track! We got
lucky with THAT!
---- I'm very excited about the band potential...really of all the players as individual musicians. Oh, btw, our
drummer (he did 60%, I 40%, it freed me up to front some), Mike had to quit, so we're 5 piece and I'm singing
drummer. Anyway: we have 3 lead vocalists - HOW it could get any better, well it couldn't. Everyone plays very
well. But the writing...I'm now undistracted enough to really hone in, and I want Buce (keys) and Mark (guitar), I
want all their snippets, motif's and songs. I told Mark that I am particularly keen on the uncovering of HIM, because
the real him as doing originals is untapped, and I think there's a LOT there.
3 of the 4 bandmates, they were the first pro band I was in (age 17). So...they got my back! I just LOVE them!
And Scott, our other bandmate, dude, I'm finding out this guys drums, but above all, as we play out, how com-
pletely tasteful his playing is. And he likes the funk (or equivalent).
----We had a very good experience, this last gig. Place had a good vibe and the audience was SO with us. OK but
beyond that, 1st set I played almost totally w/ brushes - the BRUSH part, too, not the rubber. That's how quiet we
began, and maintained reasonable level. I could hear everyone and everything. And concluded the word to use for
this experience is "beautiful". A beautiful experience.
I think there's more but really sick of myself now.
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