What's New

Sitting down to share about what’s new—I’m finally back in Nashville after several weeks working at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan. I stepped back into an extremely busy (but exciting and satisfying) schedule here at home. A friend recently started sending out weekly e-mails to stay connected with close friends, almost like a newsletter but in a very personal way. They call it “Friday Five” so I’m going to steal that model and give you my Friday (Monday) Five.

1) Collaboration with Charlie Peacock: A few years ago, I sang a song at a fundraiser event for the not-yet-opened Rudy’s Jazz Room at Douglas Corner. Afterward, I walked to the back of the room and a man at the bar complimented my performance. We talked for a minute, and when we introduced ourselves he said, “I’m Charlie Peacock.” I said, “Nice to meet y—Charlie Peacock? Like… Charlie Peacock?” What can I say? I have a way with words. At the time, I was familiar with the fact that he was a pretty significant record producer. Give it a quick google. What I didn’t know is that he’s also a jazz pianist/composer. Fast forward a few years (to this past February). I had the opportunity to arrange 2 of Charlie’s original songs for vocal trio. So I got with my partners in crime/harmony, Hollie Hammel and Bethany Merritt, and we recorded my arrangements of Charlie’s song. These songs are finally available and I would LOVE for you to take a listen! We recorded them live—no click track, no punching in. Just singing and playing together.

iTunes: https://apple.co/2lBwuoV
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2kghUCZ
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2lzakDA

2) Upcoming Performances: You can check out my performance calendar page for dates, but I have shows on the calendar in Nashville, Huntsville, Chattanooga, Hamtramck (near Detroit, MI) and Dallas! I’m always looking to add more out of town shows—please let me know if you or someone you know would like to host a house concert!

3) Current Projects: Here’s a sampling of what I’ve done since getting home from Michigan, plus a few upcoming projects. The day after I got home, Husband and I got to play bass + uke duo for a fancy dinner party downtown. It started later than expected so we took a nice walk to get some decaf coffee beforehand. The next day, I had a morning session for a local music education software company. I’ve wanted to do work for this company for a while now, so I was grateful to finally get the chance! I recorded a short children’s song written by a brilliant friend, so there were tons of fun harmonies and jazzy details to enjoy. That afternoon, I got to sing background vocals for another brilliant friend, Cody Fry. It was a video shoot that probably won’t be released until well into 2020, but I will be excited to share once it is available. Thankfully, the weekend was a bit slower so I had time to rest and fight off a gnarly cold. Tonight I’ll be playing solo at a hotel on West End. Tomorrow, I play at Plaza Mariachi (truly one of the best destinations in Nashville) from 12-1, then a full band show at Rudy’s Jazz Room from 6-8:30! On Thursday, I get to help write children’s music for the software company I mentioned, and on Friday I’ll be playing at a coffee shop in Huntsville!

4) Babies: I didn’t know it was possible to have so many pregnant friends. A handful have already had their gorgeous babies, and I can’t wait to meet the little ones I haven’t met yet. Some are pregnant with miracle babies, some with unexpected babies, and some have had more babies than expected (God bless the parents of multiples). I’ve always wanted to record lullaby covers of pop songs from the early 2000s and now I will just have to get moving with that.

5) Recording: This isn’t real news but just something that’s on my mind all the time. I MUST do some recording in the next year! I can’t believe I don’t have any recordings of standards. So I’m just publicly declaring my intention to make moves on that in the very near future.

Thank you for reading! New videos on Instagram, new tutorials on YouTube, new events on Facebook. Until next time!