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 :)