I have some wonderful news to report: My new album is just about done! All that is left are some final touches on the artwork, and then it will be off to the manufacturer.
I know that Right On Time is (ironically) a little late in coming... but there is a good reason, I promise! Instead of finishing it this spring, I went back into the studio so I could add the song I wrote for my granny, called "You Are Royalty To Me". I hope you agree when you hear it that it was worth the wait!
I am so excited about Right On Time for many different reasons. First, I made the record that many of you have been asking for: more personal, less production, and more light-hearted. Would you believe there is even a photo of me smiling on the cover! :)
There is definitely a personal feel to the songs, like it's just me in a room with my guitar. Even though we did add some other instruments, they are understated and sweet.
Also, I am so happy that Ann Getsinger has once again loaned me a few of her gorgeous paintings to include in the album art. It's turning out just beautiful and I can't wait for you to see it. And hear it! :)
We plan to ship out the record to y'all who pre-ordered it by August 20th. So, if you've moved, please send me your new address to make sure you get it right away!
I really can't wait for you to hear it!! If you haven't ordered it yet, it will be available online starting September 17th. Also, if you live in Minnesota, that's the date of my CD release concert at the Cedar Cultural Center.
Right On Time is coming soon!
Do Unicorns Exist?!
A while back I was listening to Minnesota Public Radio and the topic of conversation was the economy and how it’s affecting the music industry. The guest was David Prince, a journalist in the music business, and he was talking about why pop music seems to have been largely unaffected by the economic woes so many other industries have experienced. The guest and interviewer Kai Ryssdal surmised that people need an escape from their woes and pop music can provide that much needed respite.
I think that could also mean that people need to feel a connection to others during this difficult time. Great! Totally get it.
So I was on board with this interview, until the end part anyway. Kai Ryssdal asked the guest: "What about indie music? I mean some of the folks out there just doing their own thing."
And David Prince replied: "You know, I think of indie music in a lot of ways as the most elitist … Because if you have the opportunity to really pursue a music career in this day and age and do nothing else, then you probably have some expendable income."
He went on to call indie musicians "Indie yuppies".
Hearing this mainstream music guy say that independent musicians must be independently wealthy kids made me laugh out loud and simultaneously feel invisible and a bit sad. This "expert" on music trends doesn’t know my career path even exists.
I went home and told my partner about the interview as well as about the sadness I felt at being a bit invisible in the larger music community. I explained his belief and was surprised to see her nodding.
"Of course he said that! You don’t exist," she said, laughing. "You are a unicorn."
What?! I realized after a few seconds of shock and confusion that she is right. Then I laughed out loud too. It’s true: when I meet people outside of the independent and folk music community, and tell them I am a performing musician, they look at me like I’m a mythical creature.
I struggle with how to describe what it is I do to someone who has no reference point other than big stars playing music to loads of people in a stadium or American Idol. Inevitably there’s always the question… "Have I heard one of your songs?" And if they haven’t, they ask: "Why haven’t I heard of you?" and then they assume I mean I play music in my garage.
That’s it. There is no in between. Either they heard me on the radio or saw me on American Idol, or I am a hobby musician. They don’t know anything else exists.
Do people believe that performing musicians have only chosen this career path because they want fame and fortune? And that they cannot be successful (and probably can't exist) if they don't have it?
Don't get me wrong. I would love fame and fortune... if tons more people knew about my music and liked it, that would be great!
However, I believe that having a career as a performing musician is mainly about service. And what I mean by that is, if I'm asking people to pay money to come to a show and spend their evening with me, then I should be offering something of value to them.
What I'm trying to do with my music is to open people’s hearts... including my own, because that is something that I need in my own life. And I have found that when I successfully open people’s hearts through my songs and performances, then there are people who come to shows and buy CDs (and invite me to sleep on their couches too!)
I may not be famous, but it is definitely a career. And I'm not getting rich… but neither are social workers or teachers or anyone else in a service industry job. And I don't have a secret funding source! :)
So, what am I saying? Unicorns exist! And not only in the music industry!
We all know people who are quietly doing amazing things in this world, creating beautiful art or other acts of service, without fame and fortune (thus, completely under the radar).
The concept of the unicorn is exciting to me because we are all working somehow in our own way to make this world a better place, to contribute. Even if we are invisible to many!
So, THANK YOU to all of you who already knew that unicorns exist... and if you are a unicorn and you keep hearing people deny that you exist… don’t forget you are not alone!
Thank you for being here with me on this journey! I hope to see you very soon :)
I think that could also mean that people need to feel a connection to others during this difficult time. Great! Totally get it.
So I was on board with this interview, until the end part anyway. Kai Ryssdal asked the guest: "What about indie music? I mean some of the folks out there just doing their own thing."
And David Prince replied: "You know, I think of indie music in a lot of ways as the most elitist … Because if you have the opportunity to really pursue a music career in this day and age and do nothing else, then you probably have some expendable income."
He went on to call indie musicians "Indie yuppies".
Hearing this mainstream music guy say that independent musicians must be independently wealthy kids made me laugh out loud and simultaneously feel invisible and a bit sad. This "expert" on music trends doesn’t know my career path even exists.
I went home and told my partner about the interview as well as about the sadness I felt at being a bit invisible in the larger music community. I explained his belief and was surprised to see her nodding.
"Of course he said that! You don’t exist," she said, laughing. "You are a unicorn."
What?! I realized after a few seconds of shock and confusion that she is right. Then I laughed out loud too. It’s true: when I meet people outside of the independent and folk music community, and tell them I am a performing musician, they look at me like I’m a mythical creature.
I struggle with how to describe what it is I do to someone who has no reference point other than big stars playing music to loads of people in a stadium or American Idol. Inevitably there’s always the question… "Have I heard one of your songs?" And if they haven’t, they ask: "Why haven’t I heard of you?" and then they assume I mean I play music in my garage.
That’s it. There is no in between. Either they heard me on the radio or saw me on American Idol, or I am a hobby musician. They don’t know anything else exists.
Do people believe that performing musicians have only chosen this career path because they want fame and fortune? And that they cannot be successful (and probably can't exist) if they don't have it?
Don't get me wrong. I would love fame and fortune... if tons more people knew about my music and liked it, that would be great!
However, I believe that having a career as a performing musician is mainly about service. And what I mean by that is, if I'm asking people to pay money to come to a show and spend their evening with me, then I should be offering something of value to them.
What I'm trying to do with my music is to open people’s hearts... including my own, because that is something that I need in my own life. And I have found that when I successfully open people’s hearts through my songs and performances, then there are people who come to shows and buy CDs (and invite me to sleep on their couches too!)
I may not be famous, but it is definitely a career. And I'm not getting rich… but neither are social workers or teachers or anyone else in a service industry job. And I don't have a secret funding source! :)
So, what am I saying? Unicorns exist! And not only in the music industry!
We all know people who are quietly doing amazing things in this world, creating beautiful art or other acts of service, without fame and fortune (thus, completely under the radar).
The concept of the unicorn is exciting to me because we are all working somehow in our own way to make this world a better place, to contribute. Even if we are invisible to many!
So, THANK YOU to all of you who already knew that unicorns exist... and if you are a unicorn and you keep hearing people deny that you exist… don’t forget you are not alone!
Thank you for being here with me on this journey! I hope to see you very soon :)
Possibilities to live into...
New videoblog is up! Click here!
It’s been such a busy and really great November so far for me. I just got back from New York City, where I’m working on the new album. I’m recording with Ben Wisch, who produced my last record “Break The Spell”.
This recording already has a very different sound than Break The Spell, in part because there is a different set of songs and in part because of the approach this time around. I listened to the feedback you shared in the online survey , and I am very determined to make it more intimate, a little more raw, and even more honest somehow, and I think these songs really lend themselves to that treatment.
You can still complete the survey here.
Whenever I’m in New York City, my generous friend Signe lets me stay at her house. Thank you Sig!!! This time around, she also gave me another gift. She showed me a book she’s been reading called “The Art Of Possibility” by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander.
Wow!! I LOVE this book. It truly has been the backdrop for this album coming into being. In particular I feel moved by the chapter entitled “Giving An A”. Benjamin Zander was teaching at a conservatory, and he wanted to teach his students more than just the technical excellence of music... He wanted to inspire them to truly bring themselves into how they were playing, how they were expressing and relating to the music they were interpreting.
To do this, Benjamin Zander sat down with his partner, Rosamund Stone Zander, and they devised a plan to give every student an "A" grade at the beginning of the semester. The following two passages are directly quoted from the book describing what they did:
[Excerpt from page 27, The Art of Possibility]
“Each student in this class will get an A for the course,” I announce. “However, there is one requirement that you must fulfill to earn this grade: Sometime during the next two weeks, you must write me a letter dated next May, which begins with the words, “Dear Mr. Zander, I got my A because….,” and in this letter you are to tell, in as much detail as you can, the story of what will have happened to you by next May that is in line with this extraordinary grade.”
“In writing their letters, I say to them, they are to place themselves in the future, looking back, and to report on all the insights they acquired and milestones they attained during the year as if those accomplishments were already in the past. Everything must be written in the past tense. Phrases such as “I hope,” “I intend,” or “I will” must not appear. The students may, if they wish, mention specific goals reached or competitions won. “But, “I tell them, “I am especially interested in the person you will have become by next May. I am interested in the attitude, feelings, and worldview of that person who will have done all she wished to do or become everything he wanted to be.” I tell them I want them to fall passionately in love with the person they are describing in their letter.”
[End of excerpt]
So, you might be asking… "well those are great ideas Ellis, but what does that have to do with you making a record?!" My answer is: Everything! I LOVE this idea so much, I wrote a letter to myself from next summer, looking back on the process of creating this album and how it came to deserve an "A". If it already has the grade A before it’s even completed… imagine the possibilities! I feel so much more open to the possibilities when the potential to fail is removed. What if there is no doubt that this record will be great?!
Again, this quote from the book describes it perfectly:
“This A is not an expectation to live up to, but a possibility to live into” (p. 26).
This idea of giving this new recording an "A" helped me to perform each song last week without worry, and with more joy and freedom. It helped me to frame the record in terms of possibility, not in terms of doubt. I’m excited because it’s working! I feel more at ease and joyful about making this record, and that is already coming through in how the basic tracks sound. I cannot wait to watch it all unfold, and hey, it's already an "A", so I really can't mess it up!! :)
I hope you are having a wonderful November, and I hope I get to see you soon!
So much love, peace and music,
ellis
It’s been such a busy and really great November so far for me. I just got back from New York City, where I’m working on the new album. I’m recording with Ben Wisch, who produced my last record “Break The Spell”.
This recording already has a very different sound than Break The Spell, in part because there is a different set of songs and in part because of the approach this time around. I listened to the feedback you shared in the online survey , and I am very determined to make it more intimate, a little more raw, and even more honest somehow, and I think these songs really lend themselves to that treatment.
You can still complete the survey here.
Whenever I’m in New York City, my generous friend Signe lets me stay at her house. Thank you Sig!!! This time around, she also gave me another gift. She showed me a book she’s been reading called “The Art Of Possibility” by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander.
Wow!! I LOVE this book. It truly has been the backdrop for this album coming into being. In particular I feel moved by the chapter entitled “Giving An A”. Benjamin Zander was teaching at a conservatory, and he wanted to teach his students more than just the technical excellence of music... He wanted to inspire them to truly bring themselves into how they were playing, how they were expressing and relating to the music they were interpreting.
To do this, Benjamin Zander sat down with his partner, Rosamund Stone Zander, and they devised a plan to give every student an "A" grade at the beginning of the semester. The following two passages are directly quoted from the book describing what they did:
[Excerpt from page 27, The Art of Possibility]
“Each student in this class will get an A for the course,” I announce. “However, there is one requirement that you must fulfill to earn this grade: Sometime during the next two weeks, you must write me a letter dated next May, which begins with the words, “Dear Mr. Zander, I got my A because….,” and in this letter you are to tell, in as much detail as you can, the story of what will have happened to you by next May that is in line with this extraordinary grade.”
“In writing their letters, I say to them, they are to place themselves in the future, looking back, and to report on all the insights they acquired and milestones they attained during the year as if those accomplishments were already in the past. Everything must be written in the past tense. Phrases such as “I hope,” “I intend,” or “I will” must not appear. The students may, if they wish, mention specific goals reached or competitions won. “But, “I tell them, “I am especially interested in the person you will have become by next May. I am interested in the attitude, feelings, and worldview of that person who will have done all she wished to do or become everything he wanted to be.” I tell them I want them to fall passionately in love with the person they are describing in their letter.”
[End of excerpt]
So, you might be asking… "well those are great ideas Ellis, but what does that have to do with you making a record?!" My answer is: Everything! I LOVE this idea so much, I wrote a letter to myself from next summer, looking back on the process of creating this album and how it came to deserve an "A". If it already has the grade A before it’s even completed… imagine the possibilities! I feel so much more open to the possibilities when the potential to fail is removed. What if there is no doubt that this record will be great?!
Again, this quote from the book describes it perfectly:
“This A is not an expectation to live up to, but a possibility to live into” (p. 26).
This idea of giving this new recording an "A" helped me to perform each song last week without worry, and with more joy and freedom. It helped me to frame the record in terms of possibility, not in terms of doubt. I’m excited because it’s working! I feel more at ease and joyful about making this record, and that is already coming through in how the basic tracks sound. I cannot wait to watch it all unfold, and hey, it's already an "A", so I really can't mess it up!! :)
I hope you are having a wonderful November, and I hope I get to see you soon!
So much love, peace and music,
ellis
Video Blog online: The next album and NaNoWriMo!
Today Ellis posted a video blog online. Check it out!
Getting to see my heart...
This month I've been enjoying the transition here in Minneapolis into fall. Maybe I say this about spring every year when I'm relieved that winter is over, but fall is my favorite time of year! I love the crisp cool air, the golden orange-y yellow green leaves that hang for a time, beautiful and bright, and then fall peppering the ground in full color. I love how I feel connected to the change somehow. It seems to encourage reflection. It reminds me to savor every day before the snow falls. Maybe just being reminded to savor every day is the thing that moves me most.
It's been nice to be at home for a minute or two. After such a wonderful experience in Sisters, Oregon at both the song camp and the festival earlier this month, I've been writing and re-writing songs for the upcoming album I'll be recording in November. I'm looking forward to trying out some revisions on the road in October! I'm kinda playing hop scotch a bit all over the country, so definitely keep an eye on my tour page because I'm probably coming to your town!
In addition to writing, I've been "taking care of business" here at home; doing small improvements around the house and in general preparing to be on the road for the next few weeks.
Part of this "taking care of business" plan also involves taking care of my health. Before reading further: DON"T WORRY! I've been told that the following is fairly normal! I've had a minor heart murmur for at least the last few years and probably my whole life, but I've never told anyone about it. I just thought because it didn't hurt, it was just some random odd thing and not a big deal. While that is most likely true (the no big deal part), I casually told my regular doctor about it during a checkup and she immediately scheduled an echo-cardiogram to get it checked out officially.
I've been so fortunate in my life to be pretty darn healthy. I've never had surgery and I've not had to have any tests other than just your regular check up stuff. So, the echo- cardiogram was really a profound thing to me. I got to SEE my heart beating on an ultrasound machine.
It was a strange and beautiful experience. It was probably about 30 minutes worth of testing, so I was looking at my heart for quite a while. The funny part of this was that the room was very clinical, clean, white, and silver and as I'm watching my heart there is a radio playing avant garde jazz music in the background... I'm not kidding! It was surreal. I felt like I was in a strange science fictiony art film.
I felt in awe watching my heart work so hard continuously with no complaining...well, maybe that's the heart murmur... just my heart making me remember to appreciate it!
My physical heart is not something I think about very often. I think about my emotional heart every day (what I call the happiness meter :). My emotional heart, the feelings associated with just being a clunky human, seem to often have a tight quality for me. Maybe it's a human thing or a cultural thing growing up in the West, but I often feel that familiar pull towards self-improvement. Self-improvement means "happier"!! That pull is often tinged with a dissatisfaction that is painful. The more I "self-improve" the more "unhappy" I get. So, every day I am working toward releasing those expectations and moving in the direction of accepting how things are.
The funny part is, at this point in my life things are really great! It hasn't been easy for me to see my great life, I think because of this drive to make things even greater.
Part of accepting how things are, is accepting this irregular physical heart beat and not ignoring it anymore. It also might be accepting this "irregular" person and stop trying so hard to improve things.
I'm working on a new song that kinda captures this idea, and I think it's going to be the October song of the month. If I get a good response from folks, I think it may sneak it's way onto the new record!
Hope you have a wonderful month. Like I said, I'm traveling all over the darn place. It's like my song "Coming Home To You"!! If you live in Massachusetts, Maine, Arkansas, Illinois, Minnesota, Georgia, Alabama, Washington, or Oregon, I'm coming home to you THIS MONTH!! Hope to see you soon.
So much love, peace and music,
ellis
It's been nice to be at home for a minute or two. After such a wonderful experience in Sisters, Oregon at both the song camp and the festival earlier this month, I've been writing and re-writing songs for the upcoming album I'll be recording in November. I'm looking forward to trying out some revisions on the road in October! I'm kinda playing hop scotch a bit all over the country, so definitely keep an eye on my tour page because I'm probably coming to your town!
In addition to writing, I've been "taking care of business" here at home; doing small improvements around the house and in general preparing to be on the road for the next few weeks.
Part of this "taking care of business" plan also involves taking care of my health. Before reading further: DON"T WORRY! I've been told that the following is fairly normal! I've had a minor heart murmur for at least the last few years and probably my whole life, but I've never told anyone about it. I just thought because it didn't hurt, it was just some random odd thing and not a big deal. While that is most likely true (the no big deal part), I casually told my regular doctor about it during a checkup and she immediately scheduled an echo-cardiogram to get it checked out officially.
I've been so fortunate in my life to be pretty darn healthy. I've never had surgery and I've not had to have any tests other than just your regular check up stuff. So, the echo- cardiogram was really a profound thing to me. I got to SEE my heart beating on an ultrasound machine.
It was a strange and beautiful experience. It was probably about 30 minutes worth of testing, so I was looking at my heart for quite a while. The funny part of this was that the room was very clinical, clean, white, and silver and as I'm watching my heart there is a radio playing avant garde jazz music in the background... I'm not kidding! It was surreal. I felt like I was in a strange science fictiony art film.
I felt in awe watching my heart work so hard continuously with no complaining...well, maybe that's the heart murmur... just my heart making me remember to appreciate it!
My physical heart is not something I think about very often. I think about my emotional heart every day (what I call the happiness meter :). My emotional heart, the feelings associated with just being a clunky human, seem to often have a tight quality for me. Maybe it's a human thing or a cultural thing growing up in the West, but I often feel that familiar pull towards self-improvement. Self-improvement means "happier"!! That pull is often tinged with a dissatisfaction that is painful. The more I "self-improve" the more "unhappy" I get. So, every day I am working toward releasing those expectations and moving in the direction of accepting how things are.
The funny part is, at this point in my life things are really great! It hasn't been easy for me to see my great life, I think because of this drive to make things even greater.
Part of accepting how things are, is accepting this irregular physical heart beat and not ignoring it anymore. It also might be accepting this "irregular" person and stop trying so hard to improve things.
I'm working on a new song that kinda captures this idea, and I think it's going to be the October song of the month. If I get a good response from folks, I think it may sneak it's way onto the new record!
Hope you have a wonderful month. Like I said, I'm traveling all over the darn place. It's like my song "Coming Home To You"!! If you live in Massachusetts, Maine, Arkansas, Illinois, Minnesota, Georgia, Alabama, Washington, or Oregon, I'm coming home to you THIS MONTH!! Hope to see you soon.
So much love, peace and music,
ellis
