What happens when you share a vision

Just got back (again) from Toronto where Douglas and I and my son Ryan (who has a great ear for music) sat down to listen to the tracks again. Douglas has been working on them since I left them with him in June and this was the first time I'd heard his progress. I'm really excited at how this collection of songs is shaping up.

Douglas has filled out the sound using his own guitars, mandolin, piano, and even some synth cello and English horn! He outlined his plans to me to add pedal steel, accordian, bodhrain, electric guitar and more in the next month, so by the end of October we should be ready to go to the mixing stage.

Danny Greenspoon, a 'musician's musician' in Toronto has agreed to take care of the mixing, working with Douglas to make all the hard final choices as to instrumentation, relative volumes, etc. Then it's off for Mastering.

The highlight of this visit to Toronto was watching and listening as Douglas sat down and played an exquisite piano solo for Silent Night, Starry Night during the playback. Hearing that confirmed for me that I'd made the right decision in handing my 'baby' over to him. He's making it better by far than I could have imagined.

Post-production begins!

I'm off to Toronto this weekend and am taking with me the early mix of the 13 songs for the new CD. I'll be meeting with my final mix producer Douglas Cameron over the weekend to pass along the tunes and lyric sheets to him.

Douglas is a master instrumentalist and wonderful singer with several recording projects to his credit. John and I are really looking forward to seeing what finishing touches Douglas will suggest for this album. We've left quite a few 'blank spaces', ie. solos that haven't been done yet, etc. for him to fill in or to suggest players for, so we'll see what develops over the next month.

Stay tuned!

The final song list

So yesterday we decided to pare down the song list. We were in the process of working on 18 songs, and I knew at some point I was going to have to make a decision about which songs to keep on the record. In order not to put too much time and energy into the songs we would eventually defer to a future project, we've put aside 5 songs and now have a comfortable, lucky 13!

The drum tracks are in!

We got the drum tracks back from Kid Carson in Toronto and I couldn't be more pleased with the results. His playing adds amazing energy to the tunes. Long-distance recording has its challenges though.

We recorded the 'bed tracks', that is basic guitar, bass and vocal, to a click track (an electronic metronome) which was supposed to make his job easy. Unfortunately I'm not used to playing to a click track so I played slightly ahead or behind the beat in places. Luckily with the recording program Sonar, John was able to synchronize these spots so that everything lines up on the beat. It's not an exact science though, and sometimes there's patch-work to do, but all in all we're happy.

Thanks to Kid for his great work!

Piano tracks done today!

Today, Easter Monday, was a special day in the recording studio. It was the day Susan Reininger, Director of the Pot Pourri Choir (of which I am a member) came in to add piano tracks to two of the new songs.

Susan is a very busy lady who not only directs the choir part-time, but also plays organ for Emmanuel United Church, and teaches privately. I am both honoured and touched that she would make the time to learn these pieces and to write out the musical notation for me to keep.

"Angels in Her Pockets" and "Beautiful Dream" are both now graced with her tasteful and tuneful piano playing. Thanks Susan!

'God and Dog' , the song by Wendy Francisco

At the beginning of the process of making my new CD, there was one song I knew I wanted to include. It wasn't one of my own, however. The song was brought to my attention by my friend Christa Wilde. She sent me the link to a song called 'God and Dog' by Wendy Francisco.

When I heard it my heart just went BOOM! If you're not a dog lover, then it won't resonate with you, but it hit me hard. So when I started putting songs together for the CD, I contacted Wendy and asked for permission to record the song. (www.godanddog.com).

She granted me that permission, so one of the first songs I recorded early this year was 'God and Dog', a simple guitar and vocal done live. I didn't want to add anything to it because the song is so simple and pure. Little did I know when I recorded it that I would soon be facing the loss of my own beautiful little dog, Whimsey.

Whimsey passed away this morning in our arms after a sudden worsening of heart and kidney problems. She would have been 15 in August. I think now that it was a miracle I recorded 'God and Dog' before today as I certainly would not have been able to do it now.

And so the new CD will be dedicated to our darling girl. Good-bye my Whimsey...until we meet again, I hope!

Good times with Douglas Cameron at Hugh's Room

Hugh's Room in Toronto is a fabulous restaurant and entertainment space catering to those who love primarily acoustic music. While in that city this past weekend, my hubby Ted and I along with our son Ryan and his gal Lisa and our good friend Barbara checked out the 'Neil Young Tribute' night at Hugh's.

One of my oldest and dearest musical friends, Douglas Cameron, was on the bill. He opened the night solo, playing his exotic-looking banjola. Later he came back to prove his incredibly versatile skills by playing piano and mandolin. There's really no instrument he can't play. And his voice...well, there's nothing he can't sing either.

For those of you who've read this far, here's a secret: Douglas has agreed to do the final mix-down of my new CD at his Toronto studio. I'm thrilled and can't wait to get the basic tracks done so we can start working together...

'Beautiful Dream' now in print

I just got my copy of 'Mitre', Bishop's University's creative magazine and was thrilled to see the lyrics for my song 'Beautiful Dream' right near the top of the list of poetry entries. This song is my quintessential Canadian love pastoral.

Here are the opening lines...

I'm dreaming of a river, and an old birch-bark canoe
Paddles split the surface, and water-drops like jewels
Trees that line the shore all standing straight and tall
Somewhere in the distance a whip-poor-will's call...

I ask you, how often do you get to sing 'whip-poor-will' in a song?

'Shy' Di adding her sweet soprano to the mix!

This CD is really about collaboration. I want to get as many of my friends on it as possible, and that's why I've asked my good friend Di Plant of Knowlton, Quebec to lend her talents to two of the songs. The two we're working on together are 'Little Stone' and 'Lullabye for Baby Boy'. Sweet and simple, these two songs are my two little pearls. Not flashy but precious anyway.

Di is a multi-talented whirlwind on the local entertainment scene. She has starred in several musical theatre productions at Arts Knowlton, and is also a co-member of the Pot Pourri choir. She's also the consummate hostess and is famous for her generosity in opening her home to friends. Thanks Di!

An old friend steps in to play drums...

My old friend Kid Carson, a 'player' on the music scene in Toronto for decades, who once starred in that city's production of 'Hair', has graciously offered to add drum tracks to five of the songs on the new album.

We're going to be sending the songs to him in Toronto from here in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, where he'll add the drums tracks to the existing rhythm guitar, bass and lead vocal tracks.

I met Kid in the early 80s at Fat Albert's Coffee House in T.O. where he used to take time out of his busy schedule running his own 'back-line' musical equipment rental company to play guitar and sing some original tunes. He's still in business and still playing drums with some of his hundreds of musical friends and acquaintances.

You can find Kid on Facebook and at his company website www.kiddiecarmusic.com.

She sings like an 'angel'...

Thank you to France LePitre for her beautiful background vocals on two of the songs for the new CD. We recorded her vocals yesterday and her voice really soars on those high notes!

All the basic tracks are done!

Yesterday John and I completed the recording of the "basic" tracks for all the songs, with me playing guitar and singing the lead vocals. There are 16 songs in all on the CD (at the moment!), and all but one are originals.

I hope to add various other voices and instruments to the mix over the next several weeks. Drums, bass, piano on a few songs, lead guitar, hopefully some more exotic instruments like pedal steel and mandolin and maybe even a cello! The biggest challenge now will be keeping track of where we are in the process, so I've decided I'd better get myself a good journal!

More to come...

My new CD...what to call it?

So the working title was 'C major, Ursa minor'...which I really like. C major is the first chord I think I ever learned on the guitar when I was 11 years old. Ursa minor is another name for the Little Dipper constellation. Ever since my Dad taught me about the stars, I've loved looking up at the night sky and identifying my old favourites. But there's more.

Ursa is the latin word for 'bear'...so Ursa minor means 'little bear'. One of the songs on the CD is called 'Where the Wild Things Are', a song I wrote in memory of Timothy Treadwell. More about him later.

But it also reminds me of my little dog, Whimsey, who is my sweet long-term companion. She'll be 15 years old this summer!

New hairdo...new photos!

Yup! Decided to cut my bangs. Just fresh from the hairdresser I got my sweet hubby Ted to take some new photos. Hope you like the one above!

January 27, 2011 - I'm getting song lyrics published!

I got word a few weeks ago that the lyrics to my song 'Beautiful Dream' are going to be published in Mitre, the literary magazine out of Bishop's University

The launch of Mitre will happen in April, 2011...I'm hoping the CD will be ready to go by then so I can do a simultaneous launch.

If you'd like to pre-order a copy of Mitre, please contact me and I'll forward you the editor's address. And of course, if you'd like to pre-order a copy of my new CD 'C major, Ursa minor' let me know that too!

January 27, 2011 - Started vocal tracks!

I'm very excited. Yesterday I spent two-plus hours in the studio with John Cameron and in just a short time managed to do the melody vocal tracks for 8 songs! There are 8 more to go, and I'm writing 2 more songs now. We'll see which ones make it to the final CD.

When we were done, John mixed them down quickly and burned them to a CD so when I left, I could pop it in my car's CD player. All the way home I was working out harmonies for the songs. So much fun! I'm probably going to do some of the harmony tracks myself, but will be inviting friends to add their voices too. I love collaborating with others because it brings in new energy that can add a unique quality to the recording.

I believe I've chosen the first track for the CD. It's called 'Enough' and it's a song I actually wrote in 2007. It's going to be bare-bones...just one voice and guitar.

John is doing an amazing job with the sound. He's letting me use a microphone that dates back to 1974. It lends a wonderful warm quality to my voice. Then he adds a little reverb, but not too much. He's even offered to play bass, so he's going to try working on one song this week and we'll see how it goes. A really multi-talented guy!

Keep watching this space for more news!