A Work In Progress

I don’t know why, or where it comes from, but I have always had a personal obsession with completion. Is it just me? I don’t know where it comes from—society, our human nature, the American philosophy—but I think we all somewhat seek that, for endings and no lose ends. We all really want things to feel settled.

But isn’t there beauty in the process? Someone I just met reminded me that life is a journey to which you never arrive. And if you think of it is a journey, you’re not disappointed by not “arriving.”

I don’t know about you, but for me the summer flew by! I thought by the end I’d have so much “completed,” but one season really just transitions into the next and life doesn’t stop. This summer, I hoped to experience what post-grad life would be like: to work part-time and do my music outside of that. I didn’t realize I had made expectations for myself until they were broken. And I knew it would be a learning process, but I thought by the end of the summer, I would have “arrived.” But the biggest thing I realized is that I am still a work in progress. And I still have so much to learn.

I had three major goals this summer to move forward in: putting media online, performing regionally, and recording my EP! I did move forward in all of these areas, but not nearly in the ways that I had expected. And in a way that is beautiful, because even though I didn’t end up where I thought I would, I learned so much along the way. Here are some highlights from my summer!

Performances

I started out the summer by making an exhaustive list of open mics in the major cities of Colorado—Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Littleton, and various mountain towns. And I never made it to all of them, but I narrowed it down. Some of my favorites were The Stargazer’s Theater in the Springs, Connor O’Neill’s in Boulder, Swallow Hill and Pickin’ On Tennyson in Denver, Cannon Mine Coffee in Lafayette, and Highland’s Cork in Denver. In just a few weeks, I established connections that gave me opportunities throughout the summer to perform and network.

Check out some YouTube Videos from Pickin' On Tennyson here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY93v_c4CBE

At Swallow Hill, I met Stina Lan who introduced me to a producer she was interning for and visited a few open mics with me (she is awesome! Check her out: http://www.facebook.com/StinaLan). I also met Steve Rothenberg, who is an incredibly talented guitarist and composer, and who recruited me to play at Blueberries Coffee Shop in Littleton a few times, including last Friday! I met Calvin Weatherall at Pickin’ on Tennyson’s open mic and got invited to play at the Freedom Festival—which was interrupted by only a minor flash flood…it was unforgettable J. I also got invited to join the Songwriters Circle at Christ Covenant Community Church with Pete Buchwald and Ben Rogers (Ben is ridiculous, Check it out: www.facebook.com/benrogers)!

But my favorite performance this summer was at the Erie Farmer’s Market. Plus, everyone gave me free stuff for playing! Hehe. Everyone seemed so grateful for my music that day and gave me a bunch of free produce—I got an iris bulb, a fresh golden delicious apple, and an opportunity for a private gig.

First Presbyterian Church of Boulder allowed me to use their sanctuary and amazing sound system to pre-release several songs from my new CD with a full band of my talented friends, Joe Cutshall (I loove his music! http://www.facebook.com/joecutshallmusic ) Conor DeFehr and David Barnes!) and so much good promo and media came from that—plus we rocked the house! I also played the Oriental Theater later the same evening through a crazy turn of events!

But in between shows, I met two homeless men outside of the church and I think it changed my life. I played them a few of my songs, and it was the first time someone saw through my music and into my soul. The words they spoke and prayed over me were life-changing. My goal with my songs is truly to change lives, and one man in particular, Onesimus, showed me that through my music, I can both minister and encourage others with what I do.

One of the best parts of the summer was definitely the UMS Music Festival! On Friday, I volunteered at the Skylark Lounge, and on Saturday at the Irish Rover. On Sunday, I got to see my friends perform, including Megan Burtt and JJ Mattot and the Artic, plus awesome performers like Nathaniel Rateliff and Rob Drabkin. It was unforgettable. I met so many awesome people from super talented artists to local industry professionals and got to enjoy so many diverse local bands.

Recording

The other biggest part of my summer has been working on my upcoming EP release! “Come Running Back” will be officially available on October 26^th for pre-release! I’m so excited! I spent a lot of the beginning of the summer working over the forms of the songs, chords and lyrics with Pete Buchwald (Check him out: http://www.myspace.com/cafeep ). He’s a recording professor from the University of Colorado Denver with incredible producing and songwriting skills who is helping me with this project. We narrowed down the strongest songs and talked over the production, then hired three out-of-this-world local Denver musicians to play on the project: Daren Hahn on drums, Bijoux Barbosa on bass, and Brian Monroney on electric guitar. They knocked my songs out of the park and it was so rewarding to hear my music with their professional and personal touch. We’re now adding the final layers, editing, and mixing it, and can’t wait to bring the first draft to the Durango Songwriters Expo the first weekend of October.

Media

By divine providence, I met an incredibly talented videographer, Claire Kigger (props girl!), who volunteered to shoot a promo video while I was recording at Colorado Sound the next day! We have some awesome footage, and I’m so excited to release the album trailer to you soon!

I’ve also been interning for Megan Burtt and learned so much about using online mediums, services, and social media in an effective way. If you haven’t heard of her, check out her Facebook, she is an awesome role model and beyond talented songwriter (http://www.facebook.com/meganburtt).

Fun

And what about fun?! I did work a lot, but I made it out to Philadelphia with my Mom for a weekend to visit my grandparents, and found myself at the cutest east coast farm stand ever! Check out more photos on my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/84423818@N03/

I lounged at the People’s Fair 2012 and saw the amazing and ever-inspiring Olivia Reudeen (http://www.facebook.com/oliviarudeen), went to an awesome film showing of Forks Over Knives catered by The Water Course, went to a beautiful wedding in Flagstaff, AZ, and ran a half-marathon in Steamboat! Oh ya, and did I mention I ran the Boulder Bolder in a pink tutu with Special Olypmics?! Way to start it out right! Now I’m just hitting the books in my last year of school.

All things considered, it was a pretty productive summer. I learned that I’m still learning, and I’m ready to keep learning, and to keep pushing forward. I’m still a work in progress—I will always be, but I hope to see the beauty in the process until I find myself at completion.

Keep an eye out for the upcoming release, and enjoy the lingering summer. :)

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens: 

        a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot, 

       a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build, 

       a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance, 

       a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

       a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,

       a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak, 

       a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8