Thankful for you, thankful for the blessings of family, love, health & the gift of music. Praying for Peace during these trying times. Sometimes it’s hard to get on stage and be funny and clever, and sing when there are other people in pain – but then I remind myself: Music has always been a source of inspiration, hope and healing. It’s something that unites us at any age, and can be used to pay it forward.
My partner label Blue Elan Records has created something special: “A Blue Élan Christmas” featuring my cover of “Christmas is Here,” my original song “For Auld Lang Syne” AND the debut of my daughter Jette Betrue, singing the first song Chip and I ever wrote together: “Santa On Vacation.” If there is only one song you check out, please check out Jette’s – I PROMISE you will smile: CLICK HERE to LISTEN.
Jette: Mom, am I famous yet?
Me: Kind of.
Jette: Then can I have a facebook page?
Me: No.
***she farts***
Jette: How about a page for Princess Flufferina? #6YearsOld
Also featured on this fantastic 17 song compilation are my friends Janiva Magness, Colin Devlin and the legendary Jack Tempchin (hit songwriter for the Eagles), Rusty Young of Poco, Gary Hoey, Rita Wilson and many more. 100% of label profits will benefit the Alliance for Children’s Rights, a non profit organization that provides free legal services to many at-risk youth in the Foster Care System. The album is available now on iTunes, Amazon, and through the Blue Élan website by clicking here.Please join us in supporting this wonderful cause by purchasing this great album.
iTunes: http://apple.co/1Qx9gHF, Amazon: http://amzn.to/1NFWH6X
Also, please mark your calendars. I’ve got full length headlining set on Wednesday December 9 at Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach. We’ll be playing acoustic so that you can hear the lyrics 🙂 Joining me on stage will be Ali Handal, Tina Trevino, Chip Moreland and Carl Sealove. Surprise Special Guests too! Tickets available HERE, Reservations highly recommended. Dinner there is yummy.
Let’s face it – indie artists have no careers unless they have amazing, supportive Fans like I do. It’s because of you that I was able to put out 6 records on my own and it’s because of My Fans that I now have a record deal with Blue Élan. It’s because of my Fans that the last CD “Curve” reached a broader audience – word of mouth is the best promotion that I could ever have. So I think you get the point. It’s because of people like YOU that I can and will continue to make more music. And thanks to Blue Élan, my new partner/ record label, I get to do it more often 🙂
I know we’re in a digital age, but there’s something really special about holding music in your hands – a tangible representation can be a deeper connection. I personally love opening up a CD package, reading the lyrics and adding it to my collection that I can see and touch, as well as hear. Call me old school or old fashion – that’s OK. I’ll own it. I’m ….an adult (with a very active inner child).
So I made this CD for You and Me – a Limited Edition pressing that, not only will be signed personally by me to all those who PRE-ORDER it by OCTOBER 2, but also contains 3 acoustic mix bonus tracks that won’t be available on the iTunes version. Besides this offer through the Blue Elan Website, you’ll only be able to get it at my shows.
American Girl is, in some ways, an extension of “Curve,” where Dave Darling and I dipped our feet into the Americana world with some rootsy instrumentation. This time we’re fully committed.
I started writing the songs for this EP while I was on tour earlier this year. The long drives gave me time to think. Kevin So (my guitarist for the April ’15 Southern swing) asked me, on the road from Charlotte back to Nashville, how I began in the music industry… and stories that I hadn’t told for many, many years (some that I had forgotten) unleashed a torrent of emotion and a flood of memories. One of those memories was the original recording of Tom Petty’s “American Girl” for the movie Sugar & Spice. On the EP, you’ll hear a new, and probably surprising take on the same song. I would say I’ve learned a lot, experienced a deeper level of love and loss, and redefined my dreams over the last 15 years since I first recorded it. Also on the EP, and of great importance to me, are the originals: “Play” is an anthem about the healing power of music, and “Monarch” is a song inspired by the book Hope’s Wish, about a little girl named Hope Stout, whose amazing legacy includes the March Forth With Hope Foundation. The tune “See You In L.A.” was originally written with and about my friend Anna Danes, a beautiful jazz songstress who just recorded her album that includes a samba version of the song. Of course, I couldn’t help but infuse a little bit of myself – and the song addresses one of my biggest lessons in life: Patience. “Burdens and Bones” is perhaps the most personal. Although it comes off as a feel good rocker, it’s actually about a very dark time in my life that I can now sing about from a place of strength and wisdom. It’s about the challenges I faced as a young woman who met the notorious wolves in the music business when I first started.
And here’s the coolest thing – “An American Girl” is the first in a SERIES of EP’s that will come out over the next year or so. I’m already at work with Colin Devlin (of the Irish band The Devlins) on EP number 2.
#LUCKYGIRL
To hear a sampling of all of the tracks & PRE-ORDER autographed copies of “An American Girl,” click here: BLUE ELAN RECORDS – STORE
Orders will be shipped on or before October 9.
It’s my two year anniversary of the Big Boob Off. What is most amazing to me is that the day just slipped by without me noticing. I think that’s a good thing. It was a friend that re-posted my tweet from two years ago (as I was about to go into surgery) that shook me out of my state of bliss. You see, I’m living a dream right now. My children are happy and thriving, I’ve been able to spend quality time with my family and friends, we’re all relatively healthy (except for today’s emergence of Perry’s chicken pox), I’ve been touring and enjoying life as a working musician, and I’ve just finished recording a new EP called “An American Girl” thanks to my partnership with Blue Élan Records. Hoping to have discs in hand by the time I leave for the Midwest leg of my tour in September. I’m excited to preview some of the tunes when I play shows in Knoxville, Asheville and Charlotte next week.
I guess I want to use my “anniversary” as a time to remind myself and anyone who might stumble upon my ponderings, that cancer can sometimes be a catalyst to change life for the better. This is not true for everyone… I am LUCKY, BLESSED, and so FORTUNATE to have had incredible medical care and emotional support. But I had to seek it. I was my own best advocate. People contact me regularly about their boobs. Complete strangers are willing to tell me/ show me as if I’m an expert. And that’s cool. But here’s the deal – I’m not a Doctor. I know MY body, and YOU know YOURS…better than any Doctor because you’ve lived in it your whole life. If something feels “Wrong” or “Unusual” to you, go find out what it is IMMEDIATELY. Trust your instinct. Get a second opinion. If I had listened to the first opinion (“Take your foot off the emergency pedal” he said), I wouldn’t be alive to write this. Do what it takes to get the tests you need. Ask for help. I know financially this can be really, really hard. But I’d rather be alive and paying off the bill, than dead because I didn’t want to pay the price for an ultrasound or MRI. When it comes to cancer (aka the little f*cker), I don’t sugar coat. I’m happy to spread awareness, inspire healthy life choices and wear pink…but hey, let’s find a cure already!
So here is my Then and Now. That chick on the left was scared but determined, and held on to her sense of humor and faith though a really dark time. The one on the right sees the road ahead – and it’s beautiful, filled with opportunity, inspiration, love and a sense of peace that comes with knowing one’s purpose.
