Finding a Voice
Monday, July 30, 2007
Christela Belle: miracle baby
This story gave me shivers:
http://www.yourmusiczone.com/go/ymz/news_more/miracle_baby_arrives_at_audio_adrenalines_hands_feet_project_in_haiti/
http://www.yourmusiczone.com/go/ymz/news_more/miracle_baby_arrives_at_audio_adrenalines_hands_feet_project_in_haiti/
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Radio play!
A few weeks ago a random email came from Tom Martin of The Spirit Radio (tSr), inviting me to submit music for
online radio play and/or set up an artist page. I'm already very happy with my IndieHeaven site, but tSr's Bronze membership is free, so I thought it would be worth a try. This morning I uploaded the 3 free songs, the album cover, and some other info. All day I've been playing tSr through iTunes, just to get a feel for the station, when suddenly, about 15 minutes ago, I heard "Good Storyline" starting to play and thought maybe iTunes was malfunctioning. Nope! It was my first airplay!!!
On Tuesday night I went with my dad, sister Starla and niece Emma to a Theresa Sokyrka concert here in Spiritwood. She performed with a great keyboard player, and was quite sweet and personable. There were about 300 people and she was totally in her element. Introducing one song, her keyboard player said it was a radio hit and Theresa repeated it, "The song was a hit!" adding incredulously, "On the radio!" as if she's still surprised.
Well, having my song played for the first time on a radio station -- and just happening to be present for the moment -- does not a hit make, but I kind of felt a little kinship with Theresa in that moment. That's my song! That's my voice! On the radio!
online radio play and/or set up an artist page. I'm already very happy with my IndieHeaven site, but tSr's Bronze membership is free, so I thought it would be worth a try. This morning I uploaded the 3 free songs, the album cover, and some other info. All day I've been playing tSr through iTunes, just to get a feel for the station, when suddenly, about 15 minutes ago, I heard "Good Storyline" starting to play and thought maybe iTunes was malfunctioning. Nope! It was my first airplay!!!
On Tuesday night I went with my dad, sister Starla and niece Emma to a Theresa Sokyrka concert here in Spiritwood. She performed with a great keyboard player, and was quite sweet and personable. There were about 300 people and she was totally in her element. Introducing one song, her keyboard player said it was a radio hit and Theresa repeated it, "The song was a hit!" adding incredulously, "On the radio!" as if she's still surprised.
Well, having my song played for the first time on a radio station -- and just happening to be present for the moment -- does not a hit make, but I kind of felt a little kinship with Theresa in that moment. That's my song! That's my voice! On the radio!
Friday, July 27, 2007
listen ...
I spent a few hours this evening uploading pictures, songs and posting lyrics here: www.indieheaven.com/artists/colleentaylor. Soon (hopefully by the end of August?) you'll be able to buy my songs and/or CDs via this site. Stay tuned ...
In the meantime, we're long overdue for an update, aren't we? I saw Linda H at camp and she reminded me that she reads my blog -- which always somehow floors me, that real people actually read my writing here. I get the site stats every week, and consistently there are 60-100 people visiting per week ... and no, I don't visit my own blog to inflate the numbers! :) Well, having a real face and name attached to those largely anonymous stats encourages me to post something.
You probably won't be surprised to know that I've been a little distracted by a new phenomenon called Facebook. No wonder I've neglected the blog. Some of my friends (Erin, Dale) have figured out how to manage both, which inspires me to do the same. So, watch for that development in the near future ... but please don't hold your breath, just in case! The last thing I need is a liability suit from a suffocating blog reader!
What else have I been doing besides Facebook?
I've been occupying some of my time gainfully employed by my Aunt Linda as a housekeeper at her bed & breakfast, the Inn on the 10th. (Did you know that in some places housekeeping staff are now called Environmental Services workers? Hmmm. I prefer saying I do housekeeping at the b&b.) The Inn is about 7km out of Spiritwood and this morning I rode my bike out there for the first time this summer. Biking was my main mode of transportation in my last year at Regent College in Vancouver, but I haven't ridden seriously since then. Felt so good this morning -- except for a couple of saddle sores! On Saturday I'll try a gel cover on the seat.
I'm also starting a run of shifts at the local homecare office. I work there very casually as a "relief scheduler." How casual? Well, this past Monday was my first shift in three months! Fortunately it didn't take long to feel comfortable again.
At the beginning of July I did a little tour to sing 2 concerts: one at The House Coffee Sanctuary in Calgary and one private at my friend Deb's place outside Medicine Hat for the Christian Women's Club planning team.
The coffeehouse in Calgary was comfortably attended -- mostly by people I had personally invited via Facebook and over breakfast. Not much happens on a Saturday night in Kensington, even during the Stampede, so it's a good thing some of my friends and family could come! The breakfast guests were some people I met in Caronport that morning. I drove from Weyburn to Calgary on Saturday. As I approached Caronport, I called my friend Kim: "Want to come to Calgary with me?" I knew she couldn't, but had to ask anyhow. She said, "We're just feeding breakfast to our guests. Why don't you stop in? The waffles are ready." Turned out their guests were part of a group heading to Calgary that same day for a Living Waters conference, but they had nothing planned for that evening so several of them came to The House! What a delight to recognize them there.
Oh -- and I got THE SHOES! My brother's shoe store, Stride, is less than a block from The House, so after we had dinner at Niko's (highly recommended!), Tom & Lori dropped me off at The House and went to get my shoes to wear for the evening. Mmmmm. Perhaps standing for 3 sets of 20 minutes each is not the best way to break in a new pair of shoes, yet I didn't regret it.
It was a tremendous perk to spend two nights on Deb & her husband's acreage in a coulee on the prairie, to share their sumptuous food, to browse their yummy library, and to soak under starlight in their hot tub talking theology. If this is the life of a traveling musician, I'll take it! (Of course, there are a lot of miles to travel and a lot of work to be done in between.)
Whenever I'm in Medicine Hat I like to stop in on my sister-in-law's mother, Nell, usually for lunch. We had a nice little visit. Out of the blue, Nell asked, "Would you like a mandolin?" Would I?! I've been longing for one ever since Kim let me play hers many moons ago. Nell's husband had bought this mandolin at a garage sale several years ago to hang on the wall as a decoration. So I stopped at a music store for a case and strings, which a nice salesperson put on for me. The mandolin needs a bit of repair (particularly a new nut), but otherwise it's a decent sounding instrument and fantastic as a starter!
Book-ending my Alberta trip were stops in Caronport, plus 2 nights in Weyburn.
Last weekend I attended Free Methodist Family Camp at Arlington Beach. Stayed with my brother Jeff and sister Jaime and Jaime's four kids. Wrote a little song for Ross, the 3 year old ... using the mandolin! I walked in the annual 5K on Saturday morning and felt great afterwards. The weekend was intense but satisfying to have so many little visits with so many people. Amazing how many of my friends and family have little kids! Here comes the next generation. My highlight was the Saturday evening communion service. I wept through most of it. Don't remember when the grace of God and my sin and need for atonement have been more vivid.
On the 4-hour drive to and from the beach I listened to a book on CD: Good to Great by Jim Collins, a loan from my brother Tom. I've long been aware of this book and have gleaned great help from Collins' website, but it was good to get the whole thing from start to finish. It sparked a lot of reflection on my purpose and underlined my conviction about pursuing a music for a living. I know where I want to go and the steps to get there are becoming clearer and clearer.
One place I want and NEED to go right now is bed ... and I definitely know the steps to get there! Thanks for stopping by my blog, Linda H and everybody!
In the meantime, we're long overdue for an update, aren't we? I saw Linda H at camp and she reminded me that she reads my blog -- which always somehow floors me, that real people actually read my writing here. I get the site stats every week, and consistently there are 60-100 people visiting per week ... and no, I don't visit my own blog to inflate the numbers! :) Well, having a real face and name attached to those largely anonymous stats encourages me to post something.
You probably won't be surprised to know that I've been a little distracted by a new phenomenon called Facebook. No wonder I've neglected the blog. Some of my friends (Erin, Dale) have figured out how to manage both, which inspires me to do the same. So, watch for that development in the near future ... but please don't hold your breath, just in case! The last thing I need is a liability suit from a suffocating blog reader!
What else have I been doing besides Facebook?
I've been occupying some of my time gainfully employed by my Aunt Linda as a housekeeper at her bed & breakfast, the Inn on the 10th. (Did you know that in some places housekeeping staff are now called Environmental Services workers? Hmmm. I prefer saying I do housekeeping at the b&b.) The Inn is about 7km out of Spiritwood and this morning I rode my bike out there for the first time this summer. Biking was my main mode of transportation in my last year at Regent College in Vancouver, but I haven't ridden seriously since then. Felt so good this morning -- except for a couple of saddle sores! On Saturday I'll try a gel cover on the seat.
I'm also starting a run of shifts at the local homecare office. I work there very casually as a "relief scheduler." How casual? Well, this past Monday was my first shift in three months! Fortunately it didn't take long to feel comfortable again.
At the beginning of July I did a little tour to sing 2 concerts: one at The House Coffee Sanctuary in Calgary and one private at my friend Deb's place outside Medicine Hat for the Christian Women's Club planning team.
The coffeehouse in Calgary was comfortably attended -- mostly by people I had personally invited via Facebook and over breakfast. Not much happens on a Saturday night in Kensington, even during the Stampede, so it's a good thing some of my friends and family could come! The breakfast guests were some people I met in Caronport that morning. I drove from Weyburn to Calgary on Saturday. As I approached Caronport, I called my friend Kim: "Want to come to Calgary with me?" I knew she couldn't, but had to ask anyhow. She said, "We're just feeding breakfast to our guests. Why don't you stop in? The waffles are ready." Turned out their guests were part of a group heading to Calgary that same day for a Living Waters conference, but they had nothing planned for that evening so several of them came to The House! What a delight to recognize them there.
Oh -- and I got THE SHOES! My brother's shoe store, Stride, is less than a block from The House, so after we had dinner at Niko's (highly recommended!), Tom & Lori dropped me off at The House and went to get my shoes to wear for the evening. Mmmmm. Perhaps standing for 3 sets of 20 minutes each is not the best way to break in a new pair of shoes, yet I didn't regret it.
It was a tremendous perk to spend two nights on Deb & her husband's acreage in a coulee on the prairie, to share their sumptuous food, to browse their yummy library, and to soak under starlight in their hot tub talking theology. If this is the life of a traveling musician, I'll take it! (Of course, there are a lot of miles to travel and a lot of work to be done in between.)
Whenever I'm in Medicine Hat I like to stop in on my sister-in-law's mother, Nell, usually for lunch. We had a nice little visit. Out of the blue, Nell asked, "Would you like a mandolin?" Would I?! I've been longing for one ever since Kim let me play hers many moons ago. Nell's husband had bought this mandolin at a garage sale several years ago to hang on the wall as a decoration. So I stopped at a music store for a case and strings, which a nice salesperson put on for me. The mandolin needs a bit of repair (particularly a new nut), but otherwise it's a decent sounding instrument and fantastic as a starter!
Book-ending my Alberta trip were stops in Caronport, plus 2 nights in Weyburn.
Last weekend I attended Free Methodist Family Camp at Arlington Beach. Stayed with my brother Jeff and sister Jaime and Jaime's four kids. Wrote a little song for Ross, the 3 year old ... using the mandolin! I walked in the annual 5K on Saturday morning and felt great afterwards. The weekend was intense but satisfying to have so many little visits with so many people. Amazing how many of my friends and family have little kids! Here comes the next generation. My highlight was the Saturday evening communion service. I wept through most of it. Don't remember when the grace of God and my sin and need for atonement have been more vivid.
On the 4-hour drive to and from the beach I listened to a book on CD: Good to Great by Jim Collins, a loan from my brother Tom. I've long been aware of this book and have gleaned great help from Collins' website, but it was good to get the whole thing from start to finish. It sparked a lot of reflection on my purpose and underlined my conviction about pursuing a music for a living. I know where I want to go and the steps to get there are becoming clearer and clearer.
One place I want and NEED to go right now is bed ... and I definitely know the steps to get there! Thanks for stopping by my blog, Linda H and everybody!
Friday, July 06, 2007
coffeehouse this Saturday
This Saturday (July 7th) I'll be singing at The House Coffee Sanctuary in Calgary, AB.
Show Time: 8:30
Cost: Tips
Contact: siretona at hotmail.com
The House Coffee Sanctuary
126 - 10th Street NW
in the heart of Kensington
Calgary, AB
http://www.thehousecoffee.com/
Listen to some of my music: http://www.indieheaven.com/artist_main.php?id=69725.
Show Time: 8:30
Cost: Tips
Contact: siretona at hotmail.com
The House Coffee Sanctuary
126 - 10th Street NW
in the heart of Kensington
Calgary, AB
http://www.thehousecoffee.com/
Listen to some of my music: http://www.indieheaven.com/artist_main.php?id=69725.
Labels: music, performances, vocation
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
what you are lies with you
A few weeks ago I started reading a book to my Grandma. It is one of her favourites. In chapter three we came upon this quotation, and I have read it several times since:
And remember this. What you are lies with you. If you are lazy, and accept your lot, you may live in it. If you are willing to work, you can write your name anywhere you choose, among the only ones who live past the grave in this world. The people who write books that help, make exquisite music, carve statues, paint pictures, and work for others. Never mind the calico dress, and the coarse shoes. Dig into the books, and before long you will hear yesterday's tormentors boasting that they were once classmates of yours."
- from Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter
And remember this. What you are lies with you. If you are lazy, and accept your lot, you may live in it. If you are willing to work, you can write your name anywhere you choose, among the only ones who live past the grave in this world. The people who write books that help, make exquisite music, carve statues, paint pictures, and work for others. Never mind the calico dress, and the coarse shoes. Dig into the books, and before long you will hear yesterday's tormentors boasting that they were once classmates of yours."
- from Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter
