Author: angel

I am thrilled to announce the title of my upcoming record. Obviously if you’re not reading my posts, then you aren’t seeing this and you won’t know what the title is. So there!
But since you are here reading this like the good fans you are I will unveil!!!!
The title of my Sophomore album is “Waltz Me Awake.” It is from a line in my song entitled “Beautiful.” The lyric is as follows…

“Crazy cooing, morning sunshine, feeling your toes on my ankles, bare. Baby blinking, waking slowly, leaving our coats and keys on the stairs. Washing the sleep out of an open eye, you waltz me awake from a hushaby… In this ladle full of love that holds us, it is half full. It’s a story-like romance doled us, and it’s so beautiful.”

…So this little phrase means a lot to me, coming from a place of love, awareness, and stirring into life. It’s also a line that reminds me to not only walk through life, but to dance through it and enjoy everything and everyone around me. It also says you have to open your eyes and take it all in, or else you’re sleeping through it, missing the good stuff. So that’s what it says for me. Of course this little title can mean a million things to a million people, and who am I to argue how it touches them. So whatever meaning this phrase holds for you, well, enjoy it.

– Angela

So Ryan Hadlock and I went back into the studio a couple weeks ago for some final tweaks and to revisit the mixing process on a song. I started this record with 15 songs to lay down. Now we have 13 that have made it to the final sequence. Ryan has really outdone himself on this remix! I’m SO incredibly happy with the work we’ve done together. Couldn’t have done it without him!

Most folks now a days don’t really care about a sequence for a record. I can’t tell you how many times I hear from people in the biz that arranging your songs in an order that’s both artistically moving and marketably effective is irrelevant. Well I disagree. I still buy whole albums, I still sit down with my favorite new CD, take Amy Correia’s newest “You Go Your Way” for instance, and listen to the whole thing in its entirety, top to bottom with the CD case and credits in my little hands. Yes, I still do that. I know I must be in the minority at this point, but I know I’m not alone!

Part of finishing a record and making decisions about what will ultimately be included in that record remains unavoidably self-indulgent on some level. This is why I have lyrics up on my website (because I would want to read them,) it’s why I have full album credits on my site, it’s why Undertone’s booklet has the FULL credits of who recorded what and who played what, it’s why my newest record is going to most likely have 13 songs on it instead of the standard 11 max. These are all things that I want in a record and a musician that I listen to. These are things I want as a listener. I can only call this my own self-indulgence! 😉

So for anyone reading this if there’s something that you, as a listener, always likes to see in a record or a website let me know. Granted I can’t please everybody, and ain’t that the truth. But it’s good to know how it all looks from your perspective. Then it’s not just MY self indulgence.

On another note I’ll be announcing the title of my next record shortly, probably in one of these posts. So you will have to read it to be in the loop!

13 songs in my sequence, a new mix for the song No One, an album being sent to mastering in LA, and some big news to be announced shortly. Take care, and hope 2010 gets a little easier on us.

– Angela

So I promised I’d share more recording stories. And here’s another.

So Ryan Hadlock and I are in the studio mixing on Saturday, Oct. 17th. We’re right in the middle of “Too Late” when we start hearing thunder from an oncoming storm. Ryan jumps over to the board to make sure all of the automation is saved just in case the lightning knocks the power out or something. It’s been raining moderately/steadily all day.

Bear Creek is right outside the door of the studio (hence the name Bear Creek Studio!) There seemed to be twice as much water flowing down it than usual, so I know the skies have been generous as of late. In fact I had earlier seen Luna (Ryan’s lovable but stinky dog) lay herself down in the middle of the creek. Up to her neck! She’s not a little dog.

So just as we’re getting pretty far into the tweaks we simultaneously see AND hear a lightning/thunder strike. Very very close. It was SO loud. Poor Luna started shaking like a little leaf. I made an exception to smell like dog for the remainder of that day because she really needed some comforting. Poor thing. Also, the computer monitor flashed white, then black, then blue before returning to ProTools. I’m glad we saved everything!!!!!!!

The rain that would follow this amazing thunderclap is probably the most rain either of us had ever seen. Ryan said, “I wonder if you went out in this if you’d drown?” I was thinking the same thing. The sidewalk had 2 inches of water flowing down it. Not kidding!

And then Trevor (intern) walked in the side door from the house creating more than a puddle. He almost drowned!

It was the craziest storm I’d ever seen.

And it was a great mix!

Well, “I’m going to post again in a few days” turned into a couple months. Oops. 🙂

This record has ended up giving me opportunities I never thought I would have. For instance I never thought I would write a solo cello part for a song. MYSELF! I also never thought I’d end up writing duo clarinet and accordion parts in the studio with the talented people who played them. It never occurred to me that it was possible for guitarist Tim Young to complement MY guitar playing.

So I’ve been really humbled and honored by this whole process. The little (and some not so little) surprises end up making everything so wonderfully memorable. Things didn’t go exactly as planned, but in many cases the outcome was beyond my expectations.

Recording is going really really well. I must say that I didn’t know what to expect, but when we got there everything just seemed magical. Although there were some moments that were more weird than others. For example…

I guess I should start by explaining that all three of us (Cody Rahn, Dave Trump, and I) were all in eye-shot of each other, playing live, grooving, laying it down. Dave and Cody were in the same room, and I was in an isolation booth with a big window.

So part way into the song “Strange” I see something pop out from around the corner and disappear. I thought is was a little furry creature of some sort. ? What? It threw me off big time! I looked over at Cody, and he didn’t see it; he was just in his own space grooving. Then I look at Dave, and he’s got the same “What the…” look on his face that I did. We kept going, but I messed up all the lyrics on that take, even though I know that song like the back of my hand! It was SO strange. It’s somewhat ironic when something that cooky happens during the tracking of a song called “Strange.” Hmmm….

It was a squirrel! I little cute Douglas squirrell (a.k.a. Pine Squirrel a.k.a. Chickaree.) We dubbed it Dr. Strange-Love in lieu of my song “Strange” during which it first appeared. This squirrel continued to find its way INTO the studio WHERE WE WERE RECORDING for every day of basics and then some. They’d never had squirrels in the studio before my project, and they haven’t had them in their since. Strange huh?

The guys started calling me Snow White. 🙂

I meant to post this a couple weeks ago, but getting everything ready AND getting a new car AND dealing with the evil insurance company AND trying to figure out where the funds are coming from to finish this record-well, it’s been a dizzying time for me. Plus mercury just went into retrograde, so that must be why I’ve failed to update you until now. I will post again in the next couple days. I go back in to finish tracking on the 25th of September, so I’ll let you know more soon.

Thanks for reading!!!! Hope there aren’t too many typos in it since I’m doing this pretty fast. 🙂

– Angela

“I got back from my west coast tour with really hard calluses, a lot more friends, a whole load of miles put on my car (my cute little VW Jetta-Zoey,) and inspiration enough to make me want to do it all over again. 11 shows in 11 days, nine venues, three states, an entire iPod’s worth of music listened to, and a partridge in a pear tree. I couldn’t be more fortunate. The tour was a complete success!

First of all I want to thank a heap of people that helped in all sorts of ways and whom these shows would not have been the same without. Thanks to all of my family and friends that let me sleep on their couches along the way (including but not limited to Kai, Linda, Trude in Palo Alto, Bob and Julie and the beautiful Lambert family.) To all the folks at the Mandolin Cafe, especially Hanna for taking “the head” around. To the folks at the 9 Muses for springing me from the bathroom after I got locked in (a doorknob would’ve been nice.) Thanks to Don at the Seaside Signal for the wonderful photos and great company (along with Jerry and the wine) at Goose Hollow. To Jessica and Ken in North Bend for creating such a wonderful space as Colette’s for the community, the crepe was awesome (it’s been a LONG time) AND the phone call in Ashland (WOW! You guys are great.) Thanks so much to Dan Cooke and the folks at Evo’s for the burrito and making me feel so welcome. Thanks to Coffee Adventures for having me despite upheavals in schedule…free parking in San Fran baby! To Steve Key, The Clubhouse and Linnaea’s. Thanks to Vivienne and Hanna for the beads, rollerblading, and the praying mantis!

Everyone I met along the way added immeasurably to these shows. You all made it possible for me to come so far. And if I didn’t mention you by name blame it on the fact that I am writing this late at night.

I got a few write-ups in newspapers and a TV interview along the way, so check out the NEW PRESS PAGE. Now that I am home I can’t wait to be out there again. Although the process of making the NEXT RECORD is before me now. Cheers all! And I hope the darker season is only so in terms of literal sunlight. Sleep well, dream big, and always be ready for the next adventure!”

As some of you know I have been trying to get this recording started for quite a while. I think I’ve been dealing with the most nightmare combination of busy schedules and unforeseen setbacks (possible producers moving out of state, other recording project conflicts, traveling conflicts, and a producer having a baby in August!) The most resent setback is that I got into a pretty bad car accident at the end of June, totaling my car and giving me whiplash. It’s pretty hard to play your guitar when your fingers are numb! I was scratched up, traumatized and sore, but I’m healing and on my way back to raring to go! So please send me any spare “good thoughts” or “prayers” or whatever you want to call them.

Trying to find the RIGHT people to work on this record has been a challenge, but it’s been worth the wait. I am pleased to reveal I will be working with producer Ryan Hadlock of Bear Creek Studio. Ryan has worked with many local, upcoming artists along with national and international phenoms such as Ra Ra Riot, Johnny Flynn, The Album Leaf, The Gossip, Blonde Redhead, MXPX, Love of Daigrams, Alyse Black, and the list goes on and on…
I am privileged to be working with someone with such a keen ear and love for music. If you would like to check out Ryan and Bear Creek go to www.bearcreekstudio.com.

I will be posting how things are going in the studio as we go along. So check in as often as you like. We should be done with basic tracks and then some in the days I have booked through the middle of August. I am SO excited about getting back in the studio. Especially Bear Creek; it’s so beautiful!

Take care, wish me luck, and I’ll keep you posted!

– Angela