I can’t believe it’s been Nov 2022 since I last published anything here. I guess I’ve been focusing on my recovery (I recently had an altercation with a surgeon’s knife). Each month I thought I would get back into the studio, but it kept on being pushed back and it wasn’t until Feb 2023 that I felt well enough to visit Cobbler Cottage Studios in Crich again. David my producer, engineer, mixer and master extraordinaire – played me back the final cut of the songs through a premium set of speakers – and I will be blown away. It is really very odd to be listening back to your own songs – and thinking “you know, this gal isn’t so bad” – almost forgetting it is me on the other end of the speaker cone. I hope that doesn’t sound too vain, but I surprised myself. In the end, the 9th track was dropped. So many months have elapsed since October when I was last in the studio, David felt it would be hard to re-capture the mood. The 9th track would have stuck out like a saw thumb. It was a good call. So the 9th track called “Woman on a wire” will appear on my second album. Since finishing recording in October of last year, I’ve written a further four songs. The plan is to leave it a year or two until the next album so I will have a clutch of songs that have been well worn in before heading to the studio. Between that time I’ll be doing my “demos” and putting them out online.
I really owe a lot to David and his partner Mel. It was David who collared me after a session in a local pub and said I should record. To be honest I was a bit taken aback, and thought him a bit loopy! But he must have seen something in that night’s performance that was worth committing to a recording. I guess that’s life, we are often surrounded by others who have more faith in us, than ourselves. So, really this album wouldn’t exist without David’s hard work and encouragement. I guess I should also acknowledge my brother in that – who dared me to write “just one more song” to make up an EP, and ended up recording an album instead. That wasn’t part of the plan. But back in Feb 2022 when I started writing I had no idea whether the muses would desert me after 3 songs.
So where am I now? Well, the music has been rendered into a special format that uses at CD pressing plants. A local photographer friend of mine, Phil Richards has taken the photos for the album artwork – and I’m working with an online album cover designer. I’m days away from uploading the whole lot to the intermediary who works with the pressing plants. It’s been an interesting insight into the processes that happen in the background to create a CD. Yes, I know CDs how very 1990s. I mean who has CD player this day (I do!). CDs still remain a very cost-effective and durable way to get high-quality music to people who don’t necessarily use services like Amazon Music, Spotify or Apple Music. It’s a very easy way to distribute music at gigs rather than giving people download codes and such. CDs still offer independent artists (yes, I’m an artist now, allegedly) the best ‘margin’ on making and distributing music. Being an independent musician is a bit like being a small business. You have costs, margins and profit. Of course, my main goal is to recoup my outlay in making this music with the hope to be able to fund other endeavours such as the “difficult second album” (apparently they call this the Sophomore Slump in the US – which rather sounds like a dance craze from the 50s. You know – everyone’s doing it, everyone’s doing the Sophomore Slump)
As well, as the cost of recording and producing the CD, I’ve decided that my gigs will now have a merch table. One of the tracks on the album is called “The Robin” named after the small red-breasted bird. Folklore states that “when robins appear, loved ones are near”. It’s inspired by the feeling that both my Mum and I had, that an almost daily visit by robin during Winter, was actually the soul/spirit of my dearly departed Dad. Really the song I all about the love with have for loved ones (what else) and the desire to be near to them, even when they are far away. That could be because they have died, or simply because they live far away in foreign lands – or like a friend they come and go in your life, with the changing of the seasons. Very like the robin. So anyway, I’ve sourced some rather lovely robin themed merch for your delectation at gigs.
So I’ve had some cute robin mugs created, and some badges as well. The badges are made by local artist, Susy Moody.
So, it feels like it won’t be long until the CD is available. I just hope my health keeps on improving so I can get out there and play it for you.