Birthday, Voice Tracking, Internship

Today is my brother, Erik's, birthday! He is 24. We celebrated by mixing I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm on our upcoming Christmas album Jazzy Christmas To You II! (Check out Jazzy Christmas To You! on iTunes.) We also voice tracked O Come, O Come Emmanuel and While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night yesterday!

Okay, so maybe that wasn't actually part of the festivities...but we did have a fun breakfast of German Pancakes (an oven soufflé dish, click here for a recipe that's similar to ours), presents (of course), Dairy Queen ice cream cake (a Chaston tradition), birthday signs all over the house recounting his accomplishments and activities during the previous year, game playing, and movie watching. All in all, a pretty sweet birthday!  (We had Happy Joe's Taco Pizza yesterday to kick off the day's celebration!)

A highlight birthday present for Erik was an orange label LP first edition release of Chicago's first album when they called themselves Chicago Transit Authority--a title that the CTA required them to discontinue using, hence the band name simply being Chicago!

I only have two days left of my internship at Y105. I am really going to miss being on-air with Chris Farber on the Y105 Wake-Up! I have absolutely loved interning with Cumulus again (I interned last summer, too)!

After doing the "Olympic Moment" during the Olympics on the morning show, I started doing a "Back-to-School Tidbit." I love researching for the spot! Tomorrow, I'm going to talk about safety tips for college students and their parents. Tune in at 9:50 a.m. CST on Y105.

More tomorrow!

Love Song? You Bet!

So I'm known for my angry, confrontational, "you-don't-love-me," "you-are-a-jerk" original songs. People who know me personally are often shocked I write so many of these songs because I am very happy, well-adjusted, and cheerful.

I have performed and recorded covers of many love songs, but I've never written one. Frankly, I have tried REALLY hard to write a love song, but never could get words to work out the way I liked. That changed a few months ago...NOT because I am dating someone I love!

I've never had to deliver a song on a topic before, but a last semester class required I do just that. Plus, I was assigned a co-writer, Justin Jensen. Musically, our styles complimented each other and we were able to knock out a beautiful love song, "The Moment," which just landed on iTunes today. It's a duet and features Justin on voice and piano.

My next point. I learned I could write on demand with the right co-writer.  This is liberating because I have overcome the "I-can-only-write-songs-about-what-I'm-feeling-right-now" writer's block.

So who knows? Now that I've made this break-through, it may even spill over into my cover art, which has never shown me smiling on the four albums and two singles I have released thus far. Maybe you'll see a demure grin on the next cover!  Maybe!

"My World" is finally on iTunes AND the Next Single...

What a great surprise to hear my new single, "My World," playing again on Y105 in Iowa this morning! And the long version is finally up on iTunes...just took a bit longer than expected!

Between co-hosting the morning show on Y105, arranging for recording sessions in August, pitching to do a charity gig, operating the board for radio remotes, Erik and I mixed a new single today.  

Now this song has a story!  I don't want to give away too many details, but it is the first non-angry/hurt song I've ever written.  I co-wrote it with my new songwriting partner, Justin Jensen, who plays piano and sings on the recording (okay, so I CAN tell you it is a duet).  

More details tomorrow!