The Snow Angel

Sometimes, I reflect on the people who have graced my life. I am grateful for you, each of you. There is a place in my heart that is only whole when I think about the things I have learned from the memories we've shared. Only when I think about the kindnesses and the hardships fought do I truly appreciate the wonders of each of us. There is no telling what the impact of a stranger or a loved one will yield in your life. When my grandfather passed away, my life changed.

I went out for a walk a couple days ago. The snow had been coming down quite hard and I felt weepy. My grandfather passed away Boxing Day 2006 and I do get a little sensitive this time of the year, whether I realize it or not. He was a very large presence in my life and the reason I am so passionate about music. I left the house hoping that nature would give me some perspective and by doing so, faced my fear of being eaten by a coyote in the night times. I live in rural Nova Scotia, it could happen.

The wind was calm and the flakes were big. I didn't make it very far down the road when I found myself captivated by these beautiful trees, back-lit and covered with snow. Sometimes, you have to be vulnerable before you can see the beauty around you.

I miss him a lot this year. Some years are worse than others. I feel him strongly, I can hear him clearly sometimes, like a whisper in the winds; He guides me ever so gently where I need to go. 

The Seasons are Changing

A couple weeks ago the Quiet Parade and Ria Mae came and played a show and myself and Cory LeBlanc from Rain Over Saint Ambrose were each asked to play a few acoustic songs to kick off the night. Unfortunately since it was my husbands first night lobster fishing for the season, I wasn't able to stay and enjoy the other bands. I got to share the stage with Ria Mae a couple summer's ago at the Harmony Bazaar Festival in Lockeport and she is absolutely fantastic. The Quiet Parade is always a treat as well! Thanks goes out to Lynn Hemeon for capturing my performance of Sweetheart.



Over the next few weeks I will be getting into the Christmas spirit while the hubby is away on the water providing for our family. Upcoming Christmas Events and a house concert are on my Calendar and in the New Year, I will be ready to pick things up again. I also have an album to finish up and I am very excited for the finished result.

Crystal Porter - In the Ghetto (Elvis Presley Cover)

It has been ages since I've posted anything on You Tube and not for lack of content. It has been a busy summer and to be honest, I hadn't really thought much of it. I might have had a couple passing thoughts about posting something but they were washed away in the busy flow of things.

I have managed to write a few new songs, amid the travel, performances, gardening and general summer activity. I've also had to learn a lot of covers for various reasons like weddings and very lengthy set lists.I thought it might be fun to upload some covers over the next few weeks.

I present to you my rendition of Elvis Presley's song "In the Ghetto" based upon Natalie Merchants interpretation. Enjoy!


 

Sweetheart

So, I've been working on this new song for the last couple weeks and I'm mostly just tweaking with lyrics right now. When out of nowhere comes this song, I received it nearly completely whole and the lyrics came about as naturally as they can. In under an hour this new song had life and I felt like Doctor Frankenstein. It's called Sweetheart, I hope you enjoy it.

Masks

While writing the song "Masks" the Blue Masks poem came to mind:

"She had blue skin and so did he. He kept it hid and so did she. They searched for blue their whole life through, then passed right by - and never knew."

We all wear them sometimes, often to protect ourselves from situations where we think we might feel pain. We have masks that we wear everyday and there are masks that we reserve for special occasions.  I wonder how many we can detect in our own lives and what life would be like if we each began to embrace our vulnerabilities and loved all of those things within ourselves...sounds like a lot of work though! ;-)

Without further delay on this beautiful sunny day, here is my newest song:

Peace of Mind

Over the winter, I managed to get a little bit of writing done during my windy day hibernation. Over the last couple weeks I've developed 3 songs. Two of these songs have lyrics that around around 75% complete. The song below was the last in the series of 3 and it is the only one with completed lyrics. It's pretty fresh, having been written this last week. The performance took place at Rudders in Yarmouth during a Musique de la Baie Showcase last Sunday afternoon. Enjoy!

Rhythm Tracks - Check

I've been a busy little bee in our basement studio. We have Pro tools set up here, this way we can take in our tracks here without having to travel back and forth to the city, or rush our recording sessions. It is nice to know that we are compatible with other studios so if we want to send things out for mixing and mastering, we can. Last week, I took it upon myself to get a few guitar tracks under way. I got the guitar rhythm tracks done for 3 songs so far. I still plan on recording a few more, including a couple that I wrote on the piano once we get the midi section of the studio geared up. Then we'll select the ones that turned out the best and go from there.

The Gardener (Original)

I'm no master gardener but I am certainly passionate about it. In the warm months, the garden is my home away from home. Close friends have often joked about building me a mud hut in the garden area so I would never have to come back to the house. I love to play in the dirt and I love to be outside in the sunshine. I can often be seen softly strumming the guitar in my garden complete with a cup of tea, my yoga mat and a blanket. I love garden yoga and I feel so rejuvenated with the warm sun beating down on me, I breath deeper, feel better and all of that love gets put right back into the garden.

I ♥ Banjo #Music

I watched a documentary called "Give Me The Banjo" a last week. It is narrated by Steve Martin and I had a difficult time sitting through it; which by the way, had nothing to do with the movie. In fact, I loved it. I have watched it 3 times since then and I find it inspiring. Come to think about it, that is the very reason I had a difficult time watching it. The first time I sat through it, Mat and the boys were jamming in the basement and I really didn't want to interrupt their session. Not that it would have been a bother, but they are working on new material and I just wanted to let them be. So instead, I spent the entire first half of the movie daydreaming about the banjo every time I heard a banjo play in the movie. This is a frequent occurrence. I soon realized I had missed over half of the movie. I began the movie again. This time I watched the movie, well most of it. I still daydreamed about ol' Betty, it is rather unavoidable. Betty...

Betty is my Banjo's name. I call her "Banjo Betty" to be precise. She has a beautiful twang and is an excellent starter banjo. She is not electric, so I will have to invest in a banjo pickup if I ever decide to take her onstage. I met her in a music store in downtown Yarmouth. She had been there for quite sometime. Each time I walked into the shop, I would stand in front of her and I would just fantasize about our potential relationship. I never had the money to take her home. Some time afterwards, the music store closed down and they had a half price sale. I woke up in the morning determined to bring Banjo Betty home. I looked in the mirror that morning and even utter some positive affirmations about me coming home with the banjo. It turns out that 5 minutes after I purchased it, someone else came buy looking to purchase it. I was already grateful that Betty had become a part of my life, I felt that gratitude grow like the Grinch's heart.

The third time I watched the movie, I did it with Betty in my arms. I plucked playfully along with the soundtrack. My heart was singing as loud as Banjo Betty.

Thoughts - Storytelling, Expression

I often reflect upon the things that are important to me to help me gain perspective and even work through insights. This process sometimes helps me understand myself in a new way or expand upon ideas which are already familiar to me.

Music is important to me.

Family is important to me.

These two ideas are constant variables in my life. I will always be a mother and I will always live and breath in song. Those two things are interwoven into the very depths of my being.

Creative Expression is important to me.

Storytelling is important to me. 

I love a good story and I place a  high value on creative expression. Those two things shape why I enjoy video editing and songwriting so much; through both mediums I create and tell stories. During this process I expend much pent up energy. I love the satisfaction of knowing that what I made did not previously exist. Most of all, I get to know myself a little better each time something is created. It took a while to release that the things I make are imperfect, just like me. These creations aren't just imperfect though, they are expressions of MY imperfection. The times when I have loved and lost contains a story, as does each heart strand connecting you to another person, idea, belief or inanimate object.

Ya know, we often don't dig deep enough into our own selves to observe our story unfold. In the same breath, we don't often pull ourselves away from our own selves to observe the story. It is too easy to succumb to distraction; and not that distraction isn't good sometimes. I have personally observed that it is vital to balance the times when you allow yourself to be distracted with the times when you need to clearly be focused. Sometimes, in order to be completely present you need to allow your mind to drift and your attention to shift. Sometimes, this is the way new stories are made.

Balance and Perspective, I value you too.

Little White Lies (Original)

For the approval of the midnight society, here is the latest song that I have been working on. I call it 'Little White Lies'.