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Here it is! The whole five songs, waiting for you to take a listen. I'm pleased with the results as I think it shows a diverse array of styling... some bluesy and some just simple. I'd appreciate any feedback you have to give!
Hello! Sorry my posts have been so infrequent as of late, but I've had a thing or two up my sleeve. Most recently (last week) I made my way to a recording studio with friend and guitar player, Nick Mizock. We've been working on some jazz standards that we could kind of take on the road as a duo. It was an intense, but fun evening. The recording process is really a grueling one, but the results you can get in a studio are so spectacular. Here is a view from my cell phone in the isolation booth.
When all was said and done, we recorded and mixed five songs in one evening. No small undertaking, but we did it. I'm pretty stoked about the results.
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I want to share with you the results of one track. I'm working on getting all my ducks in order, but I've got this one up on the web to share. Hopefully you like it as much as I do.
Please comment on Summertime - STANDARDS by Davin Youngs and Nick Mizock →
Last week I had the privilege of teaching a master class with 6 terrific voice students who performed well and made themselves available for my teaching. It was a truly rewarding experience and I believe the audience and students both benefited. I took a video of the hour and a half and did my best to give you some brief glimpses in under eleven minutes. Take a look below!
We had the most lovely time on the Pacific Coast of Mexico in a little town called Sayulita. Despite the small size, the town offered much in terms of food and leisure. We had an amazing open air Villa on the side of a hill overlooking the ocean. Each morning we were able to sip coffee and watch surfers catch morning waves. By the afternoon we had carved out a comfortable spot in the sand for sunning, relaxing and reading. The evenings? Well, dinner of course. Lots of a seafood and many options. Overall, it was one of my favorite places I've been. The horseback ride to a secluded beach sort of sealed the deal. Here are a few visual cues.
Recently I've had a few singers I work with ask me to put together a track of the warm up sequence we do in lessons. This is something I've wanted to do, but haven't really taken the time to sit down and do... until this Saturday. I finally managed to piece together a recording that gets the bulk of what we do in warm ups and has minimal piano mistakes by me. Accomplishment! Anyway, if you've ever been curious about voice lessons, what they're like etc. or if you're looking to do some singing yourself, this is a good way to start. If you do these warm ups regularly it will really encourage good singing habits. Or! If you want you can just snicker at me using my singerly voice.
I'm hoping that someday in the not-so-distant future I can turn this into a video. One step at a time!
I'm still a bit on a terrarium kick. Not that we have any room in our house for more terrariums, but in case we did have an extra little spot I made some TINY terrariums. These seemed easier in theory, but it turns out my big fingers and oversized tweezers didn't make the task especially easy. But, I think the result is pretty cute.
Sorry things have been so quiet around here lately. I've been working on a number of things and just generally lazy about blogging. I will share some more soon, but today I just wanted to share these little buggers.
I had the privelege last weekend to take pictures at the wedding of Kaitlin Kostus and Robert Krums. I'm a reluctant wedding photographer. The funny part is, I quite enjoy the act, but I hate th pressure. No one wants the pictures to be more perfect than the photographer, but few situations involve taking pictures of more people with more variables. It is a crapshoot! But, when someone heeds my warnings about my style choices and my abilities and inabilities... and they agree to these, I will do the job. Here are a few from that day.
Hello!
The above photo is from quite some time ago, out the dining room window at my parents old house. I wanted to post this, because outside, right now, looks something quite opposite. They say we could top out at 60 degrees (F!) today and you know, it's January 6 and that just seems weird. But, we try not to complain because it seems at any moment the blizzard of 2011 could rear its ugly head and we could be cold and stuck... does that really sound so bad?
New Year Eve was a fun little success. We had a delicious evening of Korean BBQ and then made our way to Jessica and Ryan's where they celebrated the New Year and their new house. It was actually the perfect sort of NYE. Delicious food, no pressure and great friends.
And so now here we are in 2012 and I couldn't feel more confused about the whole thing. That seems dramatic, yes? But it's true. I feel like I want to make resolutions and I want to be committing to new things like the rest of you, but I don't quite know where to start. This isn't to say I'm unhappy with that which I have. In fact, I'm quite thrilled with all of it and I've worked very hard for it in the last year, but I want more! I want to feel progress and advancement and growth and contribution. It is this that is confusing me. Where does one start?
Hello friends! We have recently returned from some time away in Michigan, and now find ourselves on the eve of the new year. It's hard to believe it has come so quickly, but alas, we submit and we celebrate. I thought I'd share just a bit of our Christmas holiday as it really was a nice time with friends and family. As I did some singing on Christmas Eve here in the city, and also on Christmas morning, Scott and I managed to stay in town on the actual day to spend time with his family. His brother, a chef treated us to the most delicious salmon with mushrooms, mashed potatoes, and brussle sprouts. The whole dinner was topped off with some pie in a bag, which if you haven't ever had I recommend trying. It was delicious.
On Monday morning we got in the car and made our way east. I downloaded the audio version of Tina Fey's Bossy Pants which had us in stitches for the nearly three hour drive. After spending the day with folks and family, we picked up Robin and made our way to Grand Rapids to spend time with some of my dearest friends from High School and their partners. This is one of my favorite holiday tradiitons as it never ceases to amaze me how we almost instantly return to our giggly high school ways. These are good people and I love them just like I did some 12 years ago.
We awoke the next morning to snow that seemed just right and a little too late.
The early part of the day involved a trip to Kalamazoo where I introduced Scott to one of my favorite spots, Water Street Coffee Joint. We then just spent some time walking around downtown Kzoo before heading to my sister's for our actual Christms celebration.
The "Christmas" celebration was full of good family laughter, gifts and food. I'm so fortunate to be a part of a group of people that enjoy spending time together like we do and always manage to laugh our way through much of it. There was also a particular Christmas hat that gave us a few giggles.
Wednesday Scott and I made our for one final night in Saugatuck. He was in the beginning stages of a cold, but I still managed to talk him into a trip up Mount Baldy and a couple of good meals.
And now, here we are. It's New Years Eve and the holidays are drawing to a close. I can't help to feel a bit of a come down already as the last month has really been dedicated to all this celebratory. What does January hold? What does 2012 hold? God knows I don't have a solid plan but I guess when I reflect upon the last year, I can't help but take inventory of all the major things that have happened to me. Much of what happened this holiday season couldn't have happened last year and for that I am thankful. I suppose much of my frustration with the upcoming year is based upon the successes of the last. Maybe that is foolish, but when you make such headway, how do you take it all even further.
You know what? I'm going to worry about that tomorrow. Tonight I'm going to eat Korean BBQ and celebrate the New Year. HappyHappy to You and Yours.
