Promises :)

So, in my response to the comments on the last post, I said I'd put something else up tonight. I've been putting up partial song clips for two reasons:

1) I still want you to be surprised and excited when you get the finished product

and

2) Some parts of these songs are still missing instruments, etc.

So, this clip will have a bit more on it, and background vocals, but "Nothing to Do With You" will sound something like this...

Done, and not done.

Well, I'm done. Or at least, done singing.

I'm currently at BWI, on my way back to Nashville from Boston. As of last night, I'm done with all the vocals and background vocals for the album. I'm so happy, and this weekend was the first time that I got to hear the tracks in their near-finished form. They still need a few elements (a sweet guitar pattern here and there. organ. magic.), and then to be mixed and mastered. But even as they are, I'm in love with them.

Every once in a while (but not all that often) I sit on the subway as I did this morning, and wonder what it's like to be that girl across the aisle. She had a very nice coat. She looked like she was on her way to a job that was dependable, lucrative and well-respected. I imagine she had an office. Owned a condo. Her income in June is the same as her income in November. That must be awesome.

Every time I wonder what it's like to be someone else or mentally trade places, I happily return to the path I'm on. Making this album has not only affirmed my career choice, but reminded me that I'm extraordinarily lucky.

And I am extraordinarily lucky because of you. You have donated to this album, and without that it simply would not have been possible. There is big gray cloud that seems to loom over the music industry these days. I suppose the folks who are afraid have every right to be. The ways they made music and made their livings are changing. I, however, am hopeful. As long as there are musicians, there will be music. And as long as there are folks like you, it will be heard.

Here are some sneak peaks...

Kamikaze Love:


Like You Mean It:


The Boston Song:

Ah! Overdue, I know :)

So, I'm off to Boston again in a few days. We'll be recording the final round of background vocals, and finalizing a lot of other parts, too. I can't wait. (It really does get hard to be away from the project. Brian has been diligently mixing and adding guitar parts for the past month. It's sounding great!)

Songs are at different levels of completion, and there are several songs that won't have much production beyond just me and the piano.

This song, "Somewhere" doesn't have any other parts yet, and we probably won't add much. I'm currently working out a second vocal part. Here it is for you, a bare bones version. Let's see how it ends up :)

Or I'll just put a song up now...

Well, what can I say. Thanks so much for bugging me to blog about the album. It got me thinking about the album... and then playing the keyboard... then adding a midi part to this song. Now it's 12:44 and I'm excited.

What I just added is the dreamy affected electric piano sound on this. Keep in mind, my new track hasn't been lined up, this is unmixed, it's missing the background vocals, etc. But you get the picture.



Yay!

-Kate

Updates! This Just In - Making an Album is Wicked Hard

I seemed to have forgotten that fact after making my last album. (I think it's similar to how women are designed to forget the pain of childbirth so that they continue to procreate. Now that I've insulted every woman who's ever given birth, let's move on...) Anyway, I can't thank you guys enough for your patience. I'm going to try to have another song up here for you this week, but in the meantime, I'll just write this quick post to remind you that I'm alive (and that the album is VERY much alive).

I got one of those "fallen tree" emails to remind me to post here. Thanks guys - I need the reminders! I'm STILL working hard on the album. I went to Boston last weekend and recorded some background vocals. The fabulous Kristin Cifelli came and sang on three songs, too. It's going to be awesome. I can't wait!

Right now, I could be described as a "giant ball of stress," as I REALLY REALLY want the album to be out in time for the holidays. The challenge proving most difficult is that the producer and studio are in Boston, and the artist (er... me) is down in Nashville most of the time. I've been racking up some frequent flyer miles, and just bought ANOTHER plane ticket today. (Ooh. By the way, Southwest is having a killer sale!)

Anyway, the artwork is evolving, too. Check this out!

I guess that's it for now. Check back this week - I'll have all or some of "Why It's Blue" posted.

(And S.W. - thanks for the email. I am most definitely not trapped under a fallen tree. :)
What do you guys do when you want to use an emoticon within parenthesis? I opt for the above maneuver - dual purpose parenthesis.

Update Shmupdate...

So, let's all thank Terry for bugging me to update this blog. Just know – when I go a few weeks without a post, it's because I'm busy making things awesome.

OR it's because I'm trapped under a fallen tree. Shoot. We need a plan.

Ok. If you don't hear from me for a few weeks, send me an email with the subject "Are you trapped under a fallen tree?" and if I don't respond within 2 days, please call my parents. In the event that I'm NOT trapped under a fallen tree, I'll take it as a friendly reminder that I need to update my blog.

Moving on...

The new album is certainly progressing! My initial goal of releasing it in the fall was ambitious. Too ambitious, in fact, but I promise it will be worth the wait. I still hope to release it before Christmas (blatant capitalism), and will keep you updated on that.

I flew to Boston a few weeks ago to add vocals to the rest of the tracks. As of now, we have lead vocals for all but one song. Here are some (top secret) samples for you. Please keep in mind that these are the ROUGH tracks, and they'll have fancy things like background vocals and sequins mixing/mastering on the final product.

The Boston Song (preview):


Kamikaze Love (preview):


I've also been working with the fabulous Abby Getman on the album artwork. She sent through some proofs, and the album will look something like this...

Awesome, huh?

I'm off to Boston again next weekend so that the amazing Kristin Cifelli can add background vocals. Barring any tragic tree incidents, there will be more updates soon.

Thank you so much for being a part of this process, and believing in me enough to help fund the album of my dreams :)

-Kate

Can Kate Fit In...

So, I'm back in Boston, and recording my butt off (then eating Indian food at 11pm, which promptly puts my butt back on). We now have vocals done for half the album, and I couldn't be more thrilled with how it's sounding.

---

Back when we were in college, we used to go on mini-tours ("we" being the band, including Brian, the album's producer) to play colleges throughout the northeast. The most memorable tour moments often occurred in the hotels—including the invention of the game "Can Kate Fit In..." (which is exactly what it sounds like).

Anyway, we brought the game out of retirement tonight, while grabbing some dinner at the grocery store:

A proposition...

Dear Kate's body,

First off, let me say I'm really sorry about the sleep thing. I really meant to get you some of that on Saturday night, but then I ended up inviting some friends to come to Chattanooga with me for a gig, and well, you know... road trip. And THEN I meant to rest yesterday, but I had a crazy amount of consulting work to do. I've been so busy, in fact, that both of my blogs are way neglected.

Here's my proposition.

I give you:
-At least 8 hours of sleep for 4 out of the next 5 days
-Lots of vegetables
-A crapload of vitamins
-Laura's suggested concoction of: 1 cup black tea, lemon juice, 2T honey and a shot of whiskey (she swears it works!)
-No long drives for a little while

and you:
-Postpone getting sick until next Tuesday, since I fly to Boston to record vocals for the album this weekend.

Heck, I'll even get you a massage. Well, ok, that's for both of us.

Sincerely,
Kate

...Back in Nashville

Dear Diary,

I mean BLOG! Dear BLOG! I was totally not about to write diary-worthy secrets concerning boys and how my teacher gives way too much homework. I would never...

Anyway, I got back to Nashville a little over a week ago. Brian (the fabulous guitar player/producer from all those video blogs) and I both definitely needed a little recovery time, but we checked in last night, and I have comfortably returned to obsessing-over-the-album mode.

Confession: It's really hard to be be away from Boston, and working on the album from afar, but I'll be back up there in a few weeks, and I'm working on midi parts and arranging harmonies from down here. In fact, today's multimedia portion of the blog is all about midi! (Note: These audio clips have no vocals and may be of absolutely no interest to you.)

Here's a sample of "Why It's Blue" - still in its rough form, and no vocals yet, but you can tell it's going to be cool. Pardon the audio quality here, I dumped it into Garageband to make a short clip:




Now, here it is with a midi part I added (just a rough version. Consider this a first draft.):



Fun, huh? I heart technology.

New Video!

Yay. I finally threw this footage together into a video blog. If you can't tell, I'm having the time of my life making this album :)

Hooray for Graphic Design

Dear top secret blog readers (a.k.a. album supporters),

I am so excited about the graphic design for the album! Thanks so much to those of you who voted on the poll about album lyrics. I met with Abby Getman today, and the album art is going to be fantastic! (I do plan to keep some things a surprise, but with Kamikaze Love as the title, we're envisioning a World War II  direction as far as fonts and graphics.)

The front of the album is going to be one of Abby's awesome illustrations, but I will have a picture of me somewhere on the album (probably the back). Here are the two finalists, taken by Markus Kleinen in Alexandria, VA:

I need your input!

Hey folks...

I still have a bunch of footage from the bass and piano recording sessions that I need to edit, but I have some decisions coming up that I'd love your input on.

Because they're running a promotion (and do good work), I think I'm going to use Diskmakers for the replication of the CD. I'm leaning towards the 4 panel digipak. (You can view it here if you're a nerd like me and into such things.) Budget wise, this makes total sense. I've also noticed that, personally, the way I experience a CD has evolved, and I no longer sit down with the lyrics like I used to. I dump it right into my iPod or pop it it the car stereo. Because of all these things, I'm leaning towards having the lyrics available online, but not printed on the packaging itself. (If I were to print it on the packaging, I'd need a bigger digipak and the cost would jump).

So, the question is: How important is it that the lyrics are on the packaging? I've made a poll in the sidebar.

(Bonus: here's a video of my hilarious bass player telling a hilarious story. I posted it on my normal blog today, too.)

A set of unnecessary charts.

We've had a lot of coffee... Brian is particularly addicted, as you can see:

It may appear that I am drinking more coffee than Steve Sinatra, but he was only here for four days, so his daily average was more than mine. This graph demonstrates his sudden drop off:

 Steve Belleville doesn't drink coffee. And I am a nerd. That is all.

Update!

Tom's gorgeous piano. Sigh.

So week 2 is over! As of now we have the "basics" done for 9 tracks (that's the band, plus the piano parts, which I recorded on a gorgeous piano at Tom Eaton's studio this weekend). I have video footage of this stuff, which I plan to edit and post soon.

Thanks for voting on the title! Kamikaze Love was my favorite, too, and is now the official title of the album. I'm meeting with an amazing designer, Abby Getman, next week to go over ideas for the cover. You can see some of her work here:

Abby's Photostream

Let's see... what else?

Oh, I'm totally sick. As it turns out, working into the wee hours for days at a time is bad for you. Luckily, I'm already feeling better and still have over a week until we do my vocals. Also, I'm doing a CD fundraiser house concert in Durham, NH this weekend. If you're in the Northeast, and want to attend, send me an email at kate AT kateklim DOT com.

Alright... videos and more interesting posts than this one up soon. Promise :)

-Kate

What a week...

Well, this first week (and craziest week) of recording is over. And what a week it was. Really, it was a week of making music with 3 of the nicest, most talented guys I know, and trying to capture the best of those moments for the record. So far, we're succeeding at that (I think) and having a great time doing it.

Brian Packer (producer and guitar player) and Steve Sinatra were in my college band, and we spent a  fair bit of time recounting stories from "the good old days," including the time Steve dared me to work the phrase "Purple pony" into my banter at Alfred University, or the "Best Western Olympics" which, among other things, resulted in this picture (right), which Steve proudly uses on his facebook profile.


Bassist Steve Belleville has has caused me to nearly pee myself at least 4 times, with stories like "mom releases iguanas into the wild" and "Steve and brother explode things in the backyard." We have many Steves. And by many, I mean two. I hope to be an honorary Steve by August.

So, in short the collaboration over the music is feeding my soul... and I'm laughing my butt off. Of course, I made you this video, too.

And so it begins...

First of all, let me confess that about 50 percent of the time, when I attempt I type the word "begin" I accidentally type "being." So this post was ever-so-briefly called

"And so it beings"

But then I fixed it.

So, what's beginning (or being-ing) you ask? The new CD of course, and a temporary move to my former home, Boston. I'm currently in Downingtown, PA in fact, and making my way north over the next few days.

It's an interesting feeling, being at the beginning of a project like this. (I barely made it through that sentence alive! So many words to mis-type.) I'm excited to make the album, and to spend time making these songs sound for you like they always have in my head. I've got a great band lined up, and a general idea of what will be on the CD.

But it's also scary. Years have been spent writing these songs, months have been spent raising funds and planning the album, and now it's time to make it real. (Gulp.) And hopefully, really good.

You've been sent the link to this blog because you've pre-ordered or donated to the album. I can't thank you enough, and that fact that you believe in this project makes the aforementioned scary things slightly less scary. So thanks :) I plan to keep it current with videos, updates, and other album related news. Feel free to comment on posts. I welcome your input. After all, you're a part of this.

So, fun stuff:

Here are the songs that are (tentatively) going to be on the CD, along with some videos and mp3s to whet your appetite. (Some of them have been "sponsored" via my fundraising campaign and I've noted that.)

Kamikaze Love (sponsored):


*Note: In the pre-song banter in the above video, I stated that I thought I was done with the "Kamikaze Love" portion of my life. This video is about two years old. And I was wrong ;)

Recover (sponsored):



-Like You Mean It (sponsored):


-Nothing To Do With You (sponsored):


-Can't Wait:


-Why It's Blue

-Somewhere

-Franklin

-The Boston Song

-Even When It's Bad (sponsored)

-Porcelain Doll (sponsored)

-Running For

So... there ya have it. Thanks for the support. The fact that people are willing to pay money to listen to the ideas in my head constantly amazes me. I'm a lucky girl.

-Kate